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Last Fall, I eagerly jumped into the new TV offerings and proudly backed a number of losers: No Ordinary Family, Running Wilde, (*# My Dad Says, and Outsourced. All four shows appeared problematic from the outset to most critics and I valiantly defended them based on either potential or the fact that they were already pretty good.
Some of these shows I slowly watched decline in quality and took too long to admit to myself that they were lost causes. No Ordinary Family initially had some flaws (TGIF-levels of family mushiness) and some strengths (great sidekicks, cool special effects) and strengths but the weaknesses got more annoying as it became more apparent that the writers were incapable of fixing it.
Outsourced faltered in the last couple of episodes but was a good run. I still think the critics, the audience, and other assorted pop culture pundits didn't give it a chance. #$)* My Dad Says never had a lot to offer and I never expected much from it beyond some pleasant one-liners, so I was never disappointed.
Running Wilde, on the other hand, was somewhere in the middle. I never found it unenjoyable to watch but if you put a gun to my head, I might be forced to admit against it's detractors that it ran into a bit of a holding pattern with its characters. Defending the show was made a harder task by the fact that even Mitch Hurwitz wasn't even on my side: He later admitted that the network stifled his vision.
I still never have found any middle ground, however, with the TV show "Mister Sunshine." This show has not generated an ounce of enthusiasm in pop culture from anyone: The critics and blogosphere basically shrugged it off as mediocre and, unlike some shows, no one has even suggested in response that it's worthy of some kind of "brilliant but cancelled" status.
The show stars Matthew Perry as a caustic GM of a sports arena in San Diego with Allison Janey as his zany boss (and she achieved a pretty unique tone of zaniness, I might add). Perry's mild brand of droll pessimism is countered by the annoyingly optimistic James Lesure. He also has a friend-with-benefit-turned-ex played by Andreas Anders, and another cloud cuckoo lander in the form of his boss' estranged son played by Nate Torrence.
Looking at potential reasons why this show didn't take off, one explanation might be that two other recent series-"Better off Ted" and "Archer"-took workplace craziness to further extremes and with more effectiveness.
I'd argue that while "Mr. Sunshine" isn't' the sharpest satire of the bunch, it has some very strong characters. A number of the side characters-the creepy yet sexy assistant played by Portia Doubleday, Torrence, Janey-were all big scene stealers and they were usually stealing scenes from someone you liked watching.
It's true that the characters all seem borrowed from other places:
Perry's character wasn't that far off from Studio 60, Janey's characters are usually nutty, and both Liesure and Andreas Anders were playing those same kinds of characters on other shows as well.
Still, this was a show that was one of the ones I most looked forward to watching week after week.
Showing posts with label fall tv 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fall tv 2010. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Winter Shows Part II
My take on the new winter shows:
Mr. Sunshine, ABC-Mr. Sunshine has a lot going for it: Allison Janey, Nate Torrence, Matthew Perry, Andreas Anders, and the setting of a sports arena among other things.
I like what Nate Torrence and Allison Janey have done with their characters. Andreas Anders wears on me just a little bit but that's also because she has the misfortune of having to take that same winning screen persona and tweaking it for the fourth time in 6 and a half years (For those of you keeping score: Fall 2004-Joey, 2006-Class, 2009-Better off Ted, January 2011-Mr Sunshine) because that's just the nature of the TV industry. The same problem applies for Perry and James Lesure: I've seen these exact characters in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Las Vegas. As a result, I feel like I'm watching a show that exists within the same universe as those two shows where Matt Alvey quit show business and decided to manage a sports arena and Mike Canon quit the Montecito to join him.
As a result, the show struggles to define its own brand. It feels like a cross between Aaron Sorkin, Scrubs and a less colorful Wes Anderson film. If the show's going to go quirky, I hope we see more quirkiness out of Perry, Lesure and Anders. As it stands, Torrence and Janey are carrying the show and could become breakout characters if the show builds any traction.
One last little note: I liked that the pilot ended on a pretty strong note. It wasn't sappy but not meaningless either. We got the sense that Ben (Matthew Perry's character) would begin to reexamine his life a little but it wasn't going to be a drastic makeover.
Off the Map, ABC-I would estimate that, even though this is an exciting medical show that takes you to the third world, 80% of the show's content is entirely interchangeable with Grey's Anatomy. The focus is on interpersonal relationships, characters with chips on their shoulders trying to prove themselves, romances, and occasional medical emergency.
Bob's Burgers, FOX-Is anyone else irritated by the growing trend that bad animation is making some sort of stylistic statement that ultimately enhances our viewing experience? Two of my favorite animated shows as of late have gone the South Park route of sloppy-is-trendy with regard to animation: "Life and Times of Tim" and this show. Nonetheless, Bob's Burgers is far weaker than the other shows on the Sunday night animation line-up which is going to doom it to unfavorable comparisons. I still like it, however. There's a lot to this show that's not particularly groundbreaking, but i do like the way the ensemble seems to bounce off each other. The three kids are all utterly oblivious to the wishes of their dad and there's a Malcolm in the Middle vibe with the frustrated parent character.
Retired at 35, TV Land-An old-fashioned system is never really out of date as long as audiences exist who grew up on that format. The main appeal of this show is George Segal who won this TV reviewer over on "Just Shoot Me." Jessica Walter is already on Archer so there hasn't been as much of a chance to miss her. The show had a novel premise and was solid enough in the pilot to keep me going. In the second and third episodes, however, the show drifted into pathetic. In focusing so heavily on the sex lives of the older characters, the show is trying too hard to be edgy and putting unnecessarily gross images in my head. The show also fails to answer the question of how the son doesn't seem to mind actively participating in his parent's sex lives as a wing man (for the father) or a buffer (for the mother). I was glad to see local TV star and short-lived SNL castoff Casey Wilson back on the airwaves although it looks like she's a guest star.
Mr. Sunshine, ABC-Mr. Sunshine has a lot going for it: Allison Janey, Nate Torrence, Matthew Perry, Andreas Anders, and the setting of a sports arena among other things.
I like what Nate Torrence and Allison Janey have done with their characters. Andreas Anders wears on me just a little bit but that's also because she has the misfortune of having to take that same winning screen persona and tweaking it for the fourth time in 6 and a half years (For those of you keeping score: Fall 2004-Joey, 2006-Class, 2009-Better off Ted, January 2011-Mr Sunshine) because that's just the nature of the TV industry. The same problem applies for Perry and James Lesure: I've seen these exact characters in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Las Vegas. As a result, I feel like I'm watching a show that exists within the same universe as those two shows where Matt Alvey quit show business and decided to manage a sports arena and Mike Canon quit the Montecito to join him.
As a result, the show struggles to define its own brand. It feels like a cross between Aaron Sorkin, Scrubs and a less colorful Wes Anderson film. If the show's going to go quirky, I hope we see more quirkiness out of Perry, Lesure and Anders. As it stands, Torrence and Janey are carrying the show and could become breakout characters if the show builds any traction.
One last little note: I liked that the pilot ended on a pretty strong note. It wasn't sappy but not meaningless either. We got the sense that Ben (Matthew Perry's character) would begin to reexamine his life a little but it wasn't going to be a drastic makeover.
Off the Map, ABC-I would estimate that, even though this is an exciting medical show that takes you to the third world, 80% of the show's content is entirely interchangeable with Grey's Anatomy. The focus is on interpersonal relationships, characters with chips on their shoulders trying to prove themselves, romances, and occasional medical emergency.
Bob's Burgers, FOX-Is anyone else irritated by the growing trend that bad animation is making some sort of stylistic statement that ultimately enhances our viewing experience? Two of my favorite animated shows as of late have gone the South Park route of sloppy-is-trendy with regard to animation: "Life and Times of Tim" and this show. Nonetheless, Bob's Burgers is far weaker than the other shows on the Sunday night animation line-up which is going to doom it to unfavorable comparisons. I still like it, however. There's a lot to this show that's not particularly groundbreaking, but i do like the way the ensemble seems to bounce off each other. The three kids are all utterly oblivious to the wishes of their dad and there's a Malcolm in the Middle vibe with the frustrated parent character.
Retired at 35, TV Land-An old-fashioned system is never really out of date as long as audiences exist who grew up on that format. The main appeal of this show is George Segal who won this TV reviewer over on "Just Shoot Me." Jessica Walter is already on Archer so there hasn't been as much of a chance to miss her. The show had a novel premise and was solid enough in the pilot to keep me going. In the second and third episodes, however, the show drifted into pathetic. In focusing so heavily on the sex lives of the older characters, the show is trying too hard to be edgy and putting unnecessarily gross images in my head. The show also fails to answer the question of how the son doesn't seem to mind actively participating in his parent's sex lives as a wing man (for the father) or a buffer (for the mother). I was glad to see local TV star and short-lived SNL castoff Casey Wilson back on the airwaves although it looks like she's a guest star.
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Winter TV Show Update: Five Sketch Shows and Three New Shows
Click here for 10 Movies that should be remade.
My critique of various new TV shows:
1. With The Onion News Network, I thought it was odd that the pilot didn't put up the show's strongest material first. The first episode consisted of a 3 or 4-minute bit devoted to the guy who made the hand job and a white woman who will be tried as a black. The first segment is overly crude and the second is too oddly specific. Having seen and laughed at so many of their videos over the internet and you have to ask yourself how a creative time with such a higher rate of hits then misses can make such big mistakes in choosing material for its pilot.
The second episode got slightly better but the snow in New Orleans joke was overdone. The bits about congress forgetting how to pass a bill and escorts needed for women in the army were both hilarious but in two different ways: The former was more goofy and brash while the latter was a subtle bit of sharp satire that passed itself more as news. When the Onion writes a really memorable article or makes a really memorable video clip, it's the kind of thing you remember for days on end and tell everyone you know about. I also particularly enjoyed the bit on Martin Luther King's to make people sort of equal and have institutionalized racism rather than outright racism.
The show is smart to come up with a distinct format that runs from episode to episode. The anchor is memorably passive-aggressive and the guy working the infographic is clearly below her in the pecking order. There's also usually one running news story that the show goes back to two or three times; the closest thing they have to a motif. The anchor's passive-aggressive personality doesn't seem like it builds up towards a larger payoff. It's just a way to sprinkle the script with more laughs per minute and it's already run out of gas by the third episode.
Fans of the web videos will also recognize some of the same features. There are the cheery morning hosts (think a female and male version of Kelly Ripa) who act cheery when they're not supposed to. In the last episode, one of the reporters covered a town stoning of a teenage couple who's annoyingly affectionate and decided to join in. It was a pitch-perfect sketch with a very subtle escalation from normality to insanity (that's the key to a lot of sketch comedy).
There's also the "In the Know" panelists which takes the same kind of skewed off-center perspectives that characterize the Onion and put them in round table debate form. The internet versions of this involve five people and usually run a minute or two longer which allows the sketches to fully flesh out and escalate. Unfortunately, the "In the Know" segments are too short to get to that level.
2. Onion Sports Dome-Unlike Onion News Network, I feel like Sports Dome hit the ground running when it aired. It's the same creative team as ONN and the same style of comedy, so if I had to come up with a reason why one works better than the other, Sports Dome follows and parodies a single format very closely whereas ONN is simultaneously parodying the McLaughlin Group, morning talk shows, the CNN news desk, Fox-style infotainment, and more which requires a more delicate balance. Also, Sports Center and the greater realm of sports reporting in this country is just an area of humor that desperately needed its void to be filled.
3. Portlandia Fred Armisen and Carrie Bowenstein's brilliant new sketch series has much more in common with the Onion's TV shows than I would have originally thought. Their material has already been tested out on people through the internet and they stay well within the lines of parody much of the time. Their target is yuppie culture which is most exemplified by Portland, Oregon. I already read Stuff White People Like and would have thought that there wasn't much you could do that hasn't already been done with this theme, but Armisen and Bowenstein have an even sharper eye. It's as if you're looking at the culture through a microscope with a higher power of magnification. The sketches also are very well-structured as stand-alone pieces. The two sketches with the feminist bookstore owners are examples of how well the annoying cashiers can keep the sketch's momentum going so well with a sort of circular conversation that gets funnier as it goes along.
4. Funny or Die Presents-This came out last year but I watched my first episode very recently and found more of the sketches missing than hitting. Come to think of it, that's very true of the website as well. It's a lot more die than funny. Additionally, it's often the case that when it's funny, it's specifically because of the presence of a celebrity. Funny or Die, the TV show, is devoid of celebrity cameos and highlights the show's inconsistency. I fully disclose that it's based entirely on one episode, but that was the pattern I was seeing.
And lastly, one show that's not new, but I wanted to use as a basis of comparison.
5. College Humor Show This TV series was from 2009 and failed after a 6-episode run but the website's video section is as strong as ever. From a sketch-writing perspective, collegehumor.com is strong. Their sketches are sharp, well-structured, escalate well with twists and turns, etc. The website's staff is also prolific producing a volume of quality sketches on a weekly basis that rivals Saturday Night Live. That being said, I feel like for such a large cultural force, there's very little commentary about this comedic institution. There's probably over 1,000 times more commentary on the internet written about SNL's failures than there is for collegehumor.com. I'm not sure if I'm that person considering I'm going to limit myself to a few minutes on a work break, but....
Still, there are two key problems to College Humor as a brand:
1. They haven't expanded their budget. They still shoot sketches in their office and their attempts to expand outside of their office in select sketches usually don't convince you that they're in an authentically different place. Sketches shot in an office with little or no illusion that it's somewhere else are reminiscent of the Sweded production trend that came out of the movie "Be Kind Rewind." Ironically, if you look at the credits section, you'll see that they have a crew devoted to the production: The short films have directors, production assistant and even a DP so they seem to take themselves seriously as film makers.
2. With the exception of Jake Hurwitz and Amir Bluminfeld when they're making their Jake and Amir skits, Collegehumor.com's Hardly Working series doesn't care about establishing characters. There are about 8 or 9 regulars to the collegehumor series and they all pretty much have the same character traits. Dan Geurwitch is slightly nerdier than the rest but that's only if it serves the sketch. Considering Jake and Amir were able to make strong characters, it's a shame that no one else really has that skill.
Coming up....
Retired at 35, The Cape, Off the Map, Bob's Burgers and Mr. Sunshine
My critique of various new TV shows:
1. With The Onion News Network, I thought it was odd that the pilot didn't put up the show's strongest material first. The first episode consisted of a 3 or 4-minute bit devoted to the guy who made the hand job and a white woman who will be tried as a black. The first segment is overly crude and the second is too oddly specific. Having seen and laughed at so many of their videos over the internet and you have to ask yourself how a creative time with such a higher rate of hits then misses can make such big mistakes in choosing material for its pilot.
The second episode got slightly better but the snow in New Orleans joke was overdone. The bits about congress forgetting how to pass a bill and escorts needed for women in the army were both hilarious but in two different ways: The former was more goofy and brash while the latter was a subtle bit of sharp satire that passed itself more as news. When the Onion writes a really memorable article or makes a really memorable video clip, it's the kind of thing you remember for days on end and tell everyone you know about. I also particularly enjoyed the bit on Martin Luther King's to make people sort of equal and have institutionalized racism rather than outright racism.
The show is smart to come up with a distinct format that runs from episode to episode. The anchor is memorably passive-aggressive and the guy working the infographic is clearly below her in the pecking order. There's also usually one running news story that the show goes back to two or three times; the closest thing they have to a motif. The anchor's passive-aggressive personality doesn't seem like it builds up towards a larger payoff. It's just a way to sprinkle the script with more laughs per minute and it's already run out of gas by the third episode.
Fans of the web videos will also recognize some of the same features. There are the cheery morning hosts (think a female and male version of Kelly Ripa) who act cheery when they're not supposed to. In the last episode, one of the reporters covered a town stoning of a teenage couple who's annoyingly affectionate and decided to join in. It was a pitch-perfect sketch with a very subtle escalation from normality to insanity (that's the key to a lot of sketch comedy).
There's also the "In the Know" panelists which takes the same kind of skewed off-center perspectives that characterize the Onion and put them in round table debate form. The internet versions of this involve five people and usually run a minute or two longer which allows the sketches to fully flesh out and escalate. Unfortunately, the "In the Know" segments are too short to get to that level.
2. Onion Sports Dome-Unlike Onion News Network, I feel like Sports Dome hit the ground running when it aired. It's the same creative team as ONN and the same style of comedy, so if I had to come up with a reason why one works better than the other, Sports Dome follows and parodies a single format very closely whereas ONN is simultaneously parodying the McLaughlin Group, morning talk shows, the CNN news desk, Fox-style infotainment, and more which requires a more delicate balance. Also, Sports Center and the greater realm of sports reporting in this country is just an area of humor that desperately needed its void to be filled.
3. Portlandia Fred Armisen and Carrie Bowenstein's brilliant new sketch series has much more in common with the Onion's TV shows than I would have originally thought. Their material has already been tested out on people through the internet and they stay well within the lines of parody much of the time. Their target is yuppie culture which is most exemplified by Portland, Oregon. I already read Stuff White People Like and would have thought that there wasn't much you could do that hasn't already been done with this theme, but Armisen and Bowenstein have an even sharper eye. It's as if you're looking at the culture through a microscope with a higher power of magnification. The sketches also are very well-structured as stand-alone pieces. The two sketches with the feminist bookstore owners are examples of how well the annoying cashiers can keep the sketch's momentum going so well with a sort of circular conversation that gets funnier as it goes along.
4. Funny or Die Presents-This came out last year but I watched my first episode very recently and found more of the sketches missing than hitting. Come to think of it, that's very true of the website as well. It's a lot more die than funny. Additionally, it's often the case that when it's funny, it's specifically because of the presence of a celebrity. Funny or Die, the TV show, is devoid of celebrity cameos and highlights the show's inconsistency. I fully disclose that it's based entirely on one episode, but that was the pattern I was seeing.
And lastly, one show that's not new, but I wanted to use as a basis of comparison.
5. College Humor Show This TV series was from 2009 and failed after a 6-episode run but the website's video section is as strong as ever. From a sketch-writing perspective, collegehumor.com is strong. Their sketches are sharp, well-structured, escalate well with twists and turns, etc. The website's staff is also prolific producing a volume of quality sketches on a weekly basis that rivals Saturday Night Live. That being said, I feel like for such a large cultural force, there's very little commentary about this comedic institution. There's probably over 1,000 times more commentary on the internet written about SNL's failures than there is for collegehumor.com. I'm not sure if I'm that person considering I'm going to limit myself to a few minutes on a work break, but....
Still, there are two key problems to College Humor as a brand:
1. They haven't expanded their budget. They still shoot sketches in their office and their attempts to expand outside of their office in select sketches usually don't convince you that they're in an authentically different place. Sketches shot in an office with little or no illusion that it's somewhere else are reminiscent of the Sweded production trend that came out of the movie "Be Kind Rewind." Ironically, if you look at the credits section, you'll see that they have a crew devoted to the production: The short films have directors, production assistant and even a DP so they seem to take themselves seriously as film makers.
2. With the exception of Jake Hurwitz and Amir Bluminfeld when they're making their Jake and Amir skits, Collegehumor.com's Hardly Working series doesn't care about establishing characters. There are about 8 or 9 regulars to the collegehumor series and they all pretty much have the same character traits. Dan Geurwitch is slightly nerdier than the rest but that's only if it serves the sketch. Considering Jake and Amir were able to make strong characters, it's a shame that no one else really has that skill.
Coming up....
Retired at 35, The Cape, Off the Map, Bob's Burgers and Mr. Sunshine
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Top Ten Shows of the Year
As if there aren't already 8 million of these floating around, here's my TOP 10 OF THE YEAR!!
1. Boardwalk Empire, HBO-The creation of the mob during prohibition is one of the most formative chapters of American history and if edgy film and television is going to practically be synonymous with gangster stories, someone might as well get to the heart of the matter. With Martin Scorsese and Mark Wahlberg among the producers, the show is in good hands. In addition, Steve Buscemi steps into a rare leading man role and deserves an Emmy for it.
2. The Choir, BBC, Office/Jamie Oliver's Food Food Revolution, ABC-Both those shows were insightful, educational, relevant and, ultimately, inspirational. One show involved a British chef's quest to fight America's obesity epidemic with Huntington, West Virginia as a starting point. Oliver, best-known as the Naked Chef (famous enough to be a punchline on Saturday Night Live), was supplied with his own ready-made villain in the form a radio DJ who believed Oliver was just out for fame and the town didn't care about lettuce. In winning the evil DJ and the town over, Jamie Oliver gave us some great tear-inducing drama and got us on board his cause and character. Consider me Team Jamie Oliver.
On the other side of the pond in England, choir master Garreth Malone attempted to tackle arts education in a coed school, a boy's academy and a community choir. Like Food, Food Revolution, it seems like an easy formula to mine some drama but then the tears start flowing and you're genuinely moved. Both shows were a reminder that reality TV doesn't have to be about artificial competitions when real life can be quite compelling.
3. Breaking Bad AMC-This is Breaking Bad's third year on my top 10 list but the first year in which it is considered the preeminent show on television which merits a bit more exploration:
Crime dramas are only effective to the extent that they can relate their universe to an audience comprised largely of people uninvolved in the criminal underworld who see meth rings, Mexican drug cartels and the like as largely abstract occurrences. Hence, films that deconstruct the gangster genre like Goodfellas, American Gangster and Scarface largely win the audience over if they can create enough of an arc where that violent gangster was once an ordinary Joe Schmoe.
Breaking Bad used two entire seasons to carefully lay the groundwork out for that ordinary Joe Schmoe to become a truly unsympathetic character (or would you argue he still retains his sympathy?? it's certainly a balancing act) which makes his moral demise all the more richer. What's more, he's paired with somewhat of a lowlife in Jesse Pinkman and as Aaron Paul's win at the Emmys demonstrated that character has morphed quite unexpectedly into a moral barometer of sorts.
The show's momentum can't be denied because it's the most ambitious on television. It sets characters on a collision course with each other and its as if the writers are on a dare to see how long they can keep the characters from colliding.
What I wrote about Breaking Bad 2 years ago on my 2008 list: http://bit.ly/eXUdIF
4. Futurama, Comedy Central-Whether I was Futurama's biggest fan or just a casual one before the show came back (I'd put myself somewhere in the middle), I fell in love with the show all over again during its run this summer. To be resurrected from the dead like Futurama is somewhat of a miracle in the world of TV, but the downside can be greater expectations. For me, the show met and exceeded the bar. The writing was sharp, the visuals were imaginative and the plots were consistently ambitious. If the episodes failed, you can at least say that they fell hard because they aimed high. The show also earns points for experimenting with new dynamics (i.e. Bender and Amy, Hermes and Bender, Amy and Nibbler, Fry and the Professor) between characters.
5. Modern Family, ABC-I enjoyed Arrested Development immensely but I also interpreted its success at the time to conclude that the traditional family sitcom couldn't exist unless it was being mocked and/or subverted. That changed when I saw Modern Family.
Modern Family went into new territory by bringing humor without a hint of irony. The show mines comedy out of the quirks of Dumphy, Prichett and Prichett-Delgado clans and mines drama of the forces that threaten to tear those family bonds apart. Is is significant that the comedy doesn't suggest that the family is worthless and the negative vibes in the family are always overcome (or at least ameliorated) by episode's end.
6. Party Down, Starz-I honestly have never heard of the Starz Network which is why it took me so long to discover this gem. Starring Adam Scott, Megan Mullally, and Lizzy Caplan (best known for this Jason Mraz video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oieBnV_HFB0), this show centers around a ragtag band of dreamers in Los Angeles working on a catering team together to pay the bills but hoping for bigger things. Their characters' varying degrees of disconnect from reality is contrasted with the very close proximity these people are to the people who nonchalantly live their lives. The show also manages to be edgy in bringing characters to the screen who aren't in love with their lives without being unnecessarily crude or depressing (a sin I find Weeds and Entourage guilty of).
7. Terriers, FX-There are so many procedural shows out there that it's hard for any one show to distinguish itself. So how does Terriers make the list? Likable protagonists that you can latch onto are a start. The pair of amateur detectives are mellow and easy-going (kind of functional versions of the Dude in Big Lebowski. The Dude did solve a crime over the course of the film but that was by pure coincidence. I do want to be specific in my comparison here, because Terriers isn't a stoner comedy) which is refreshing considering so many characters in cop procedurals take themselves so seriously. Like the characters, the plots also meander but in a good way: plots don't necessarily resolve themselves from episode to episode and the viewer can't really be sure where the show is going next.
The show also has noirish overtones and reminds me very much of Chinatown in the sense that a land deal becomes so much more than it seems on the surface.
8. Glee, FOX-Some critics felt that the show had a sophomore slump but I don't think that's the case with this show at all. Hot hits with the teenage demographic usually are the big fad one season and disappear pretty fast (i.e. The O.C., Gossip Girl, Everwood). At least for now, however, the show is strong enough to overcome the fact that it no longer has novelty working in its favor.
The episodes occasionally miss but I admire the show for trying to approach serious topics like anti-bullying, the limits of teenage aspirations, and prejudice, with a sense of gravity.
The additions in the second season have only made the show better. Dr. Carl (John Stamos) has been a much better rival for Emma Pillsbury's affections than Coach Tanaka and the additions of Sam combined with the expansion of Brittany, Mike Chang and Santana have been very effective at balancing out the melodrama stemming from the Finn-Puck-Rachel and Rachel-Quinn-Finn love triangles.
Further Reading on the Backlash and Continued Popularity of Glee
9. Parks and Recreation, NBC-This show has better characters and a better ensemble than most shows on TV. Amy Poehler, an SNL alum who gradually transformed into the show's MVP by her 8th season, is more than talented enough to lead a sitcom as bureaucrat. The supporting cast of players in the Pawnee parks department isn't just notable for being good: The writers and actors deserve credit for having the characters evolve as the show hit its stride. Despite being a polar opposite to Leslie Knope, Anne (Rashida Jones) has become the yin to Leslie's yang. Similarly, Andy (Chris Pratt) has gone from "the other guy" to a lovable hanger-on and Aubrey Plaza's unrivalled ability to deadpan has stopped overshadowing April's development.
The show is a welcome compliment to The Office and a great example of how to follow up something great without changing directions entirely.
10. No Ordinary Family, ABC-Think Heroes if the show were to compress all of the disparate storylines from Heroes into one family. There are also two sidekicks who make the show better with every minute of screen time they get. Romany Malco plays an impassioned district attorney and good friend of the dad (Michael Chilkis) and the other (Autumn Reeser) is an adorably nervous (and easy on the eyes) lab assistant of the mom (Julie Benz) and brings with her an overeagerness to live out her comic book fantasies through her. The show can get a little corny, but it has impressive special effects and an arc that's just now starting to considerably deepen.
Article of Best new fall shows of 2010 including Modern Family
Best show I discovered a year too late to put on my Top 10 List for last year and which I haven't seen this year because I couldn't find any bit torrent for it and HBO won't even allow itunes downloads for:
In Treatment, HBO-The raw drama, the power of the performances, the insight into the human psyche is, to quote Shawn Stockman on NBC' The Sing-Off (and if you saw his critique of Committed on that show you'd know what I was talking about), "What it's all about, man." The root of what makes drama good is right here. There's nothing but a room, a couch and a chair with a patient who we slowly learn about as the weeks go on and a psychiatrist who's pretty damn good at his job. More specifically, we're watching that guy pretty damn good at his job in four out of every five episodes. On that 5th episode, we learn how much of a basket case he is when he visits a psychiatrist of his own (Editorial note: I have restrained myself from watching the "Paul goes to therapy" episodes because I find it ruins the illusion).
[Ed. note: I since put it into my top 10 for 2009]
Runners-Up:
Sing-Off, NBC, Burn Notice, USA, The Office, NBC, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, FX (my #1 last year), Archer, FX, Outsourced, NBC (Still a fan and avid defender!)
Other articles of mine:
The Evils of Craigslist:
http://bit.ly/etV1vJ
The Morality of the Characters on it's Always Sunny in Philly
http://bit.ly/g70Aka
Which Filmic Version of Washington Suits you Best:
http://bit.ly/h4i5n1
A Day on the Set with the Extras on How Do You Know?:
http://bit.ly/gUWO0r
1. Boardwalk Empire, HBO-The creation of the mob during prohibition is one of the most formative chapters of American history and if edgy film and television is going to practically be synonymous with gangster stories, someone might as well get to the heart of the matter. With Martin Scorsese and Mark Wahlberg among the producers, the show is in good hands. In addition, Steve Buscemi steps into a rare leading man role and deserves an Emmy for it.
2. The Choir, BBC, Office/Jamie Oliver's Food Food Revolution, ABC-Both those shows were insightful, educational, relevant and, ultimately, inspirational. One show involved a British chef's quest to fight America's obesity epidemic with Huntington, West Virginia as a starting point. Oliver, best-known as the Naked Chef (famous enough to be a punchline on Saturday Night Live), was supplied with his own ready-made villain in the form a radio DJ who believed Oliver was just out for fame and the town didn't care about lettuce. In winning the evil DJ and the town over, Jamie Oliver gave us some great tear-inducing drama and got us on board his cause and character. Consider me Team Jamie Oliver.
On the other side of the pond in England, choir master Garreth Malone attempted to tackle arts education in a coed school, a boy's academy and a community choir. Like Food, Food Revolution, it seems like an easy formula to mine some drama but then the tears start flowing and you're genuinely moved. Both shows were a reminder that reality TV doesn't have to be about artificial competitions when real life can be quite compelling.
3. Breaking Bad AMC-This is Breaking Bad's third year on my top 10 list but the first year in which it is considered the preeminent show on television which merits a bit more exploration:
Crime dramas are only effective to the extent that they can relate their universe to an audience comprised largely of people uninvolved in the criminal underworld who see meth rings, Mexican drug cartels and the like as largely abstract occurrences. Hence, films that deconstruct the gangster genre like Goodfellas, American Gangster and Scarface largely win the audience over if they can create enough of an arc where that violent gangster was once an ordinary Joe Schmoe.
Breaking Bad used two entire seasons to carefully lay the groundwork out for that ordinary Joe Schmoe to become a truly unsympathetic character (or would you argue he still retains his sympathy?? it's certainly a balancing act) which makes his moral demise all the more richer. What's more, he's paired with somewhat of a lowlife in Jesse Pinkman and as Aaron Paul's win at the Emmys demonstrated that character has morphed quite unexpectedly into a moral barometer of sorts.
The show's momentum can't be denied because it's the most ambitious on television. It sets characters on a collision course with each other and its as if the writers are on a dare to see how long they can keep the characters from colliding.
What I wrote about Breaking Bad 2 years ago on my 2008 list: http://bit.ly/eXUdIF
4. Futurama, Comedy Central-Whether I was Futurama's biggest fan or just a casual one before the show came back (I'd put myself somewhere in the middle), I fell in love with the show all over again during its run this summer. To be resurrected from the dead like Futurama is somewhat of a miracle in the world of TV, but the downside can be greater expectations. For me, the show met and exceeded the bar. The writing was sharp, the visuals were imaginative and the plots were consistently ambitious. If the episodes failed, you can at least say that they fell hard because they aimed high. The show also earns points for experimenting with new dynamics (i.e. Bender and Amy, Hermes and Bender, Amy and Nibbler, Fry and the Professor) between characters.
5. Modern Family, ABC-I enjoyed Arrested Development immensely but I also interpreted its success at the time to conclude that the traditional family sitcom couldn't exist unless it was being mocked and/or subverted. That changed when I saw Modern Family.
Modern Family went into new territory by bringing humor without a hint of irony. The show mines comedy out of the quirks of Dumphy, Prichett and Prichett-Delgado clans and mines drama of the forces that threaten to tear those family bonds apart. Is is significant that the comedy doesn't suggest that the family is worthless and the negative vibes in the family are always overcome (or at least ameliorated) by episode's end.
6. Party Down, Starz-I honestly have never heard of the Starz Network which is why it took me so long to discover this gem. Starring Adam Scott, Megan Mullally, and Lizzy Caplan (best known for this Jason Mraz video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oieBnV_HFB0), this show centers around a ragtag band of dreamers in Los Angeles working on a catering team together to pay the bills but hoping for bigger things. Their characters' varying degrees of disconnect from reality is contrasted with the very close proximity these people are to the people who nonchalantly live their lives. The show also manages to be edgy in bringing characters to the screen who aren't in love with their lives without being unnecessarily crude or depressing (a sin I find Weeds and Entourage guilty of).
7. Terriers, FX-There are so many procedural shows out there that it's hard for any one show to distinguish itself. So how does Terriers make the list? Likable protagonists that you can latch onto are a start. The pair of amateur detectives are mellow and easy-going (kind of functional versions of the Dude in Big Lebowski. The Dude did solve a crime over the course of the film but that was by pure coincidence. I do want to be specific in my comparison here, because Terriers isn't a stoner comedy) which is refreshing considering so many characters in cop procedurals take themselves so seriously. Like the characters, the plots also meander but in a good way: plots don't necessarily resolve themselves from episode to episode and the viewer can't really be sure where the show is going next.
The show also has noirish overtones and reminds me very much of Chinatown in the sense that a land deal becomes so much more than it seems on the surface.
8. Glee, FOX-Some critics felt that the show had a sophomore slump but I don't think that's the case with this show at all. Hot hits with the teenage demographic usually are the big fad one season and disappear pretty fast (i.e. The O.C., Gossip Girl, Everwood). At least for now, however, the show is strong enough to overcome the fact that it no longer has novelty working in its favor.
The episodes occasionally miss but I admire the show for trying to approach serious topics like anti-bullying, the limits of teenage aspirations, and prejudice, with a sense of gravity.
The additions in the second season have only made the show better. Dr. Carl (John Stamos) has been a much better rival for Emma Pillsbury's affections than Coach Tanaka and the additions of Sam combined with the expansion of Brittany, Mike Chang and Santana have been very effective at balancing out the melodrama stemming from the Finn-Puck-Rachel and Rachel-Quinn-Finn love triangles.
Further Reading on the Backlash and Continued Popularity of Glee
9. Parks and Recreation, NBC-This show has better characters and a better ensemble than most shows on TV. Amy Poehler, an SNL alum who gradually transformed into the show's MVP by her 8th season, is more than talented enough to lead a sitcom as bureaucrat. The supporting cast of players in the Pawnee parks department isn't just notable for being good: The writers and actors deserve credit for having the characters evolve as the show hit its stride. Despite being a polar opposite to Leslie Knope, Anne (Rashida Jones) has become the yin to Leslie's yang. Similarly, Andy (Chris Pratt) has gone from "the other guy" to a lovable hanger-on and Aubrey Plaza's unrivalled ability to deadpan has stopped overshadowing April's development.
The show is a welcome compliment to The Office and a great example of how to follow up something great without changing directions entirely.
10. No Ordinary Family, ABC-Think Heroes if the show were to compress all of the disparate storylines from Heroes into one family. There are also two sidekicks who make the show better with every minute of screen time they get. Romany Malco plays an impassioned district attorney and good friend of the dad (Michael Chilkis) and the other (Autumn Reeser) is an adorably nervous (and easy on the eyes) lab assistant of the mom (Julie Benz) and brings with her an overeagerness to live out her comic book fantasies through her. The show can get a little corny, but it has impressive special effects and an arc that's just now starting to considerably deepen.
Article of Best new fall shows of 2010 including Modern Family
Best show I discovered a year too late to put on my Top 10 List for last year and which I haven't seen this year because I couldn't find any bit torrent for it and HBO won't even allow itunes downloads for:
In Treatment, HBO-The raw drama, the power of the performances, the insight into the human psyche is, to quote Shawn Stockman on NBC' The Sing-Off (and if you saw his critique of Committed on that show you'd know what I was talking about), "What it's all about, man." The root of what makes drama good is right here. There's nothing but a room, a couch and a chair with a patient who we slowly learn about as the weeks go on and a psychiatrist who's pretty damn good at his job. More specifically, we're watching that guy pretty damn good at his job in four out of every five episodes. On that 5th episode, we learn how much of a basket case he is when he visits a psychiatrist of his own (Editorial note: I have restrained myself from watching the "Paul goes to therapy" episodes because I find it ruins the illusion).
[Ed. note: I since put it into my top 10 for 2009]
Runners-Up:
Sing-Off, NBC, Burn Notice, USA, The Office, NBC, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, FX (my #1 last year), Archer, FX, Outsourced, NBC (Still a fan and avid defender!)
Other articles of mine:
The Evils of Craigslist:
http://bit.ly/etV1vJ
The Morality of the Characters on it's Always Sunny in Philly
http://bit.ly/g70Aka
Which Filmic Version of Washington Suits you Best:
http://bit.ly/h4i5n1
A Day on the Set with the Extras on How Do You Know?:
http://bit.ly/gUWO0r
Sunday, December 26, 2010
15 Favorite TV Characters of the Year 2010
Be sure to check out this list of top ten websites of the year
And another article to click on
List of my 20 favorite characters on TV:
1. Gus, Breaking Bad (Giancarlo Esposito)-This mysterious guy provides a voice-a rhyme and reason- to the forces across the border who previously were just standard thugs. Gus is very business-like but deceptively deadly. Much like Walter, he has a dual identity and even is a prominent member of the community. He voluntarily chooses to place himself a little too close for comfort to the local law enforcement (something which Walter doesn’t have the luxury to do) by becoming a prominent sponsor to the local department.
2. April, Parks and Recreation (Aubrey Plaza)-Much has been made of Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) as the breakout star of the Office, but April Ludgate won my heart from day one. Much like the comics of early and mid-20th Century filmdom, April’s humor comes from Aubrey Plaza's physicality: In this case her detached expressions and deadpan voice make you relish practically everything she says. Her deadpan makes the way she toys with men’s hearts (i.e. "Sister City") or prospective clients (“94 Meetings”) all the more delicious. It also makes her vulnerabilities or the times in which she’s genuinely invested in the world around her seem all the more surprising.
3. Erin, The Office (Ellie Kemper)-As a late comer to the proverbial party of Dunder-Mifflin, Ellie Kemper had her work cut out for her in order to stick out in such a large ensemble. I think she pulled it off with flying colors. In a world full of neurotic people, Erin’s unique idiosyncrasies (her naivette, eager-to-please attitude, etc.) command our attention because of the subtlety with which Ellie Kemper imbues them into the character. Kemper also commits to the littlest details in every scene. If you turn away while Erin is on screen, you usually miss some little gem that compliments the action.
4. Asha (Rebecca Hazelwood), Outsourced-As one of the few defenders of Outsourced, I gotta stack as many characters as I can in here. People criticize this show for being one-dimensional with its characters and falling on old clichés, but I’m pretty impressed with how the show was able to smooth out the rough edges of its supporting cast and give us distinct characters within the first 7 or 8 episodes. Each of these characters refutes stereotypes and each character's traits are contrasted by another character on the show (i.e. Manmeet's overconfidence is contrasted by Gupta's sense of self-shame) which illustrates the diversity of this culture in terms of personalities.
I like Rajeev's passive-aggressiveness and find that it adds a healthy dose of conflict to the show in comparison to other workplace comedies. I also like Manmeet and how he mines quite a bit of humor out of his sexual repression without ever seeming to be a downer.
But the breakout star is Asha. It’s easy to see why Todd would mistakenly fall for Asha: She’s smart and relatable and to this guy who’s lost in this foreign land, she feels less foreign than anyone else. She also makes the antiquated (at least by our standards) life choice seem pretty sexy.
5. Michael Weston, Burn Notice (Jeffrey Donovan)-Apologies to James Bond and Jason Bourne, but Michael Weston is my new idea of the perfect spy. Grounded, intelligent, unpretentious and most importantly, focused when he needs to be, Michael Weston is the guy I want at 3 AM coming to my rescue when the fate of the world (or at the very least, Dade County) is on the line
6. Kate Beckett, Castle (Stana Katic)-Castle works because of the interplay between Castle and Beckett and the reason and that's because Katic keeps the will-they-or-won't-they balance in check pretty well through her deadpan obliviousness to his charms. She's a strong and grounded character and is one of the few characters from the world of TV procedurals who's troubled past angle isn't terribly overdone.
7 and 8. George (Romany Malco) and Katie (Autumn Reeser), No Ordinary Family-The sidekicks of No Ordinary Family are really what make the show. Lab assistant Katie is such a delight because not only is she beautiful yet nerdy (every fan boy’s dream), but she’s so unashamed of said nerdiness. She’s also a little bit of a neurotic mess and a lot of humor is mined out of that.
George is very much the opposite, but he adds the same elements to the show that Katie does: He provides loyal support to the hero. His presence provides a more serious take on the superhero genre: The seriousness of crime and how important it is to put a stop to it. George is a great improvement on Romany Malco’s previous TV role on Weeds.
9. Mr. Schuester, Glee (Matthew Morrison)-With many large ensemble shows and films, the protagonist is often little more than a piece of cardboard around which the rest of the cast can show off their trademark quirky characteristics. It’s the thankless straight men to all the funny men that populate the show. With that, it’s easy to gravitate towards the show’s main sources of drama (Kurt or Rachel), edginess (Puckerman), sex appeal (Emma Pillsbury) or humor (Sue Sylvester), but Mr. Schu's where it's at, folks.
Aside from giving into a few temptations when it comes to the ladies, Mr. Schu is not only a stand-up guy but he inspires passion in his students and, goshdarnit, I feel a little inspired by him as well.
Vulnerable characters are always attractive, and one of Mt. Schu’s vulnerabilities is Glee Club itself. He needs the Glee Club just as much as they need him because it becomes clear pretty early on that teaching people to sing is his life’s calling and not teaching Spanish or taking more paid vacation than your average employee. When it’s threatened (by Sue or Holly Holiday) then you feel sorry for him.
Mr. Schu has taken a lot of flack from the critics this year, so I feel an extra strong need to step in and defend him.
10, 11. Phil/Lem, Better off Ted (Jonathan Slavin and Malcolm Barrett)-When I referred to protagonists being carboard for the other characters to bounce off, Jay Harrington in BoT would be the perfect example of cardboard extroadinaire. Then again, you have to give credit to the four other cast members for being fantastic that anyone playing Ted would have a hard time keeping up.
If I made this list last year, it might be girl-next-door Linda (Andreas Anders) making the cut, but I’m going to use this space to explore the wonderfully peculiar creations known as Phil and Lem. These two are fundamentally out of touch with the rest of the office (and by extension, all of humanity excluding people who went to MIT or pretended they did) is hours of endless fun.
The apotheosis of office nerds, Phil and Lem are so lovable because they embrace their status as outcasts. Additionally, the way they worship Ted and are scared of Veronica indicates that the two will stay that way forever. The highlight for Phil and Lem this season was the episode where they tried to scientifically devise the perfect system of insulting someone. It's possible that Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation could have come up with insults more organically than those two.
12. Jay, Modern Family (Ed O'Neill)-Sofia, Haley, and Manny are all funnier but Jay really is at the heart of the show and I have to admire Ed O’Neill because in the 90’s, he single-handedly tarnished the image of fathers in pop culture with his negative portrayal of dads in the lazy, misogynist slob that was Al Bundy. Jay, on the other hand, is just a little rough around the edges, but he emanates such warmth. It’s a remarkable balance and a remarkable transformation.
13. Fa’ad, Running Wilde (Peter Sarifinowicz)-Creator of The Hangover and Old School, writer-director Todd Phillips referred to Zach Galifanakas in the Hangover and Will Ferrell in Old School as “That's the Third Lead, which is the best comic position you can have. Todd used Ferrell like that in Old School. We had it with Steve Carell in Anchorman. It's the guy who gets to break all the rules. He has no story responsibility. He just gets to fuck shit up.”
(source: GQ magazine)
Fa’ad falls under this newly coined trope. He is entirely unnecessary to the plot. The screwball romance between Emmy and Steve could play out just as well without him there, but Fa’ad works his way into the schemes nonetheless and always managed to punch up the action in interesting ways. He single-handedly made the episode "Trade-Off,"* simply because of Fa’ad’s mispronunciation of “A-list” and his discussion of his competition with his brother “Fazul.’
*Not sure, if that's the name of the episode. Don't make me have to look it up, people. "Trade Off" is an apt name for the episode. Just roll with it.
14. Andy, Parks and Recreation (Chris Pratt)-Parks and Recreation has a pretty strong ensemble, in fact. Andy is another guy worth singling out because he’s come around so much since the first season. He started out as basically “the other guy” for an eventual Mark/Anne romance with his unattractive immaturity. Along the way, he’s retained a certain naivette and youthful exuberance (much like Erin on The Office) but he’s definitely grown up quite a bit. I admire how Chris Pratt has been able to make the growth happen in a way that’s been convincing to the character while simultaneously retaining the humor in Andy.
15. Senor Chang, Community (Ken Jeong)-I'll give this year’s most inexplicably suddenly critically respected show it’s due by throwing in Senor Chang to my list.
What a wild card, huh? The guy is a brutal dictator of a teacher and then it turns out he’s not a teacher at all. Now, he wants to be friends with the group or possibly destroy them. It feels like the writers just stick him with whatever label they want whenever it’s convenient, but I don’t really mind because Ken Jeong can be entertaining with whatever circumstances you give him. You also relate to Chang: Teachers want to be popular and well-liked too and if they could get away with it, I could see them wanting to trade places with the coolest guy on campus.
16. Ron Donald, Party Down (Ken Marino)-Ron Donald spent the first few episodes of the season in a Shakespearean downfall from his throne as head of his own Soup 'R Franchise. Then he came back as team leader and entertained with his one-of-a-kind style of mangement. The Ron Donald Do's and Don'ts, people. That's what it's all about.
17. Manny Delgado, Modern Family (Rico Rodriguez)-Manny probably ranks in the top 3 in maturity among the entire Prichett/Delgado/Dumphy clan and he's only 11. A perfect foil to the ADD-riddled Luke as well as new stepfather Jay, Manny is a lovable lug.
18. Avery Jessup, 30 Rock (Elizabeth Banks)-Finally, a woman who can keep up with Jackie D. Her introductory scene on a news talk show in which she and Jack connect through their mutual rudeness to the third guest was pure comic gold.
19. Jamie Oliver, Food Food Revolution (Himself)-How I wish I had an enthusiastic grown man running around my high school cafeteria and trying to get me to eat my vegetables. A class act, Oliver was a man who was very easy to root for in this very moving reality show which brought the issues of obesity to light.
20. Kelinda Sharma, The Good Wife (Archie Punjabi)-This was a year in which Indian women proved more sexy than their caucasian counterparts. As investigator to Alicia's law firm, she really elicits a lot of attention whenever she's in screen.
And another article to click on
List of my 20 favorite characters on TV:
1. Gus, Breaking Bad (Giancarlo Esposito)-This mysterious guy provides a voice-a rhyme and reason- to the forces across the border who previously were just standard thugs. Gus is very business-like but deceptively deadly. Much like Walter, he has a dual identity and even is a prominent member of the community. He voluntarily chooses to place himself a little too close for comfort to the local law enforcement (something which Walter doesn’t have the luxury to do) by becoming a prominent sponsor to the local department.
2. April, Parks and Recreation (Aubrey Plaza)-Much has been made of Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) as the breakout star of the Office, but April Ludgate won my heart from day one. Much like the comics of early and mid-20th Century filmdom, April’s humor comes from Aubrey Plaza's physicality: In this case her detached expressions and deadpan voice make you relish practically everything she says. Her deadpan makes the way she toys with men’s hearts (i.e. "Sister City") or prospective clients (“94 Meetings”) all the more delicious. It also makes her vulnerabilities or the times in which she’s genuinely invested in the world around her seem all the more surprising.
3. Erin, The Office (Ellie Kemper)-As a late comer to the proverbial party of Dunder-Mifflin, Ellie Kemper had her work cut out for her in order to stick out in such a large ensemble. I think she pulled it off with flying colors. In a world full of neurotic people, Erin’s unique idiosyncrasies (her naivette, eager-to-please attitude, etc.) command our attention because of the subtlety with which Ellie Kemper imbues them into the character. Kemper also commits to the littlest details in every scene. If you turn away while Erin is on screen, you usually miss some little gem that compliments the action.
4. Asha (Rebecca Hazelwood), Outsourced-As one of the few defenders of Outsourced, I gotta stack as many characters as I can in here. People criticize this show for being one-dimensional with its characters and falling on old clichés, but I’m pretty impressed with how the show was able to smooth out the rough edges of its supporting cast and give us distinct characters within the first 7 or 8 episodes. Each of these characters refutes stereotypes and each character's traits are contrasted by another character on the show (i.e. Manmeet's overconfidence is contrasted by Gupta's sense of self-shame) which illustrates the diversity of this culture in terms of personalities.
I like Rajeev's passive-aggressiveness and find that it adds a healthy dose of conflict to the show in comparison to other workplace comedies. I also like Manmeet and how he mines quite a bit of humor out of his sexual repression without ever seeming to be a downer.
But the breakout star is Asha. It’s easy to see why Todd would mistakenly fall for Asha: She’s smart and relatable and to this guy who’s lost in this foreign land, she feels less foreign than anyone else. She also makes the antiquated (at least by our standards) life choice seem pretty sexy.
5. Michael Weston, Burn Notice (Jeffrey Donovan)-Apologies to James Bond and Jason Bourne, but Michael Weston is my new idea of the perfect spy. Grounded, intelligent, unpretentious and most importantly, focused when he needs to be, Michael Weston is the guy I want at 3 AM coming to my rescue when the fate of the world (or at the very least, Dade County) is on the line
6. Kate Beckett, Castle (Stana Katic)-Castle works because of the interplay between Castle and Beckett and the reason and that's because Katic keeps the will-they-or-won't-they balance in check pretty well through her deadpan obliviousness to his charms. She's a strong and grounded character and is one of the few characters from the world of TV procedurals who's troubled past angle isn't terribly overdone.
7 and 8. George (Romany Malco) and Katie (Autumn Reeser), No Ordinary Family-The sidekicks of No Ordinary Family are really what make the show. Lab assistant Katie is such a delight because not only is she beautiful yet nerdy (every fan boy’s dream), but she’s so unashamed of said nerdiness. She’s also a little bit of a neurotic mess and a lot of humor is mined out of that.
George is very much the opposite, but he adds the same elements to the show that Katie does: He provides loyal support to the hero. His presence provides a more serious take on the superhero genre: The seriousness of crime and how important it is to put a stop to it. George is a great improvement on Romany Malco’s previous TV role on Weeds.
9. Mr. Schuester, Glee (Matthew Morrison)-With many large ensemble shows and films, the protagonist is often little more than a piece of cardboard around which the rest of the cast can show off their trademark quirky characteristics. It’s the thankless straight men to all the funny men that populate the show. With that, it’s easy to gravitate towards the show’s main sources of drama (Kurt or Rachel), edginess (Puckerman), sex appeal (Emma Pillsbury) or humor (Sue Sylvester), but Mr. Schu's where it's at, folks.
Aside from giving into a few temptations when it comes to the ladies, Mr. Schu is not only a stand-up guy but he inspires passion in his students and, goshdarnit, I feel a little inspired by him as well.
Vulnerable characters are always attractive, and one of Mt. Schu’s vulnerabilities is Glee Club itself. He needs the Glee Club just as much as they need him because it becomes clear pretty early on that teaching people to sing is his life’s calling and not teaching Spanish or taking more paid vacation than your average employee. When it’s threatened (by Sue or Holly Holiday) then you feel sorry for him.
Mr. Schu has taken a lot of flack from the critics this year, so I feel an extra strong need to step in and defend him.
10, 11. Phil/Lem, Better off Ted (Jonathan Slavin and Malcolm Barrett)-When I referred to protagonists being carboard for the other characters to bounce off, Jay Harrington in BoT would be the perfect example of cardboard extroadinaire. Then again, you have to give credit to the four other cast members for being fantastic that anyone playing Ted would have a hard time keeping up.
If I made this list last year, it might be girl-next-door Linda (Andreas Anders) making the cut, but I’m going to use this space to explore the wonderfully peculiar creations known as Phil and Lem. These two are fundamentally out of touch with the rest of the office (and by extension, all of humanity excluding people who went to MIT or pretended they did) is hours of endless fun.
The apotheosis of office nerds, Phil and Lem are so lovable because they embrace their status as outcasts. Additionally, the way they worship Ted and are scared of Veronica indicates that the two will stay that way forever. The highlight for Phil and Lem this season was the episode where they tried to scientifically devise the perfect system of insulting someone. It's possible that Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation could have come up with insults more organically than those two.
12. Jay, Modern Family (Ed O'Neill)-Sofia, Haley, and Manny are all funnier but Jay really is at the heart of the show and I have to admire Ed O’Neill because in the 90’s, he single-handedly tarnished the image of fathers in pop culture with his negative portrayal of dads in the lazy, misogynist slob that was Al Bundy. Jay, on the other hand, is just a little rough around the edges, but he emanates such warmth. It’s a remarkable balance and a remarkable transformation.
13. Fa’ad, Running Wilde (Peter Sarifinowicz)-Creator of The Hangover and Old School, writer-director Todd Phillips referred to Zach Galifanakas in the Hangover and Will Ferrell in Old School as “That's the Third Lead, which is the best comic position you can have. Todd used Ferrell like that in Old School. We had it with Steve Carell in Anchorman. It's the guy who gets to break all the rules. He has no story responsibility. He just gets to fuck shit up.”
(source: GQ magazine)
Fa’ad falls under this newly coined trope. He is entirely unnecessary to the plot. The screwball romance between Emmy and Steve could play out just as well without him there, but Fa’ad works his way into the schemes nonetheless and always managed to punch up the action in interesting ways. He single-handedly made the episode "Trade-Off,"* simply because of Fa’ad’s mispronunciation of “A-list” and his discussion of his competition with his brother “Fazul.’
*Not sure, if that's the name of the episode. Don't make me have to look it up, people. "Trade Off" is an apt name for the episode. Just roll with it.
14. Andy, Parks and Recreation (Chris Pratt)-Parks and Recreation has a pretty strong ensemble, in fact. Andy is another guy worth singling out because he’s come around so much since the first season. He started out as basically “the other guy” for an eventual Mark/Anne romance with his unattractive immaturity. Along the way, he’s retained a certain naivette and youthful exuberance (much like Erin on The Office) but he’s definitely grown up quite a bit. I admire how Chris Pratt has been able to make the growth happen in a way that’s been convincing to the character while simultaneously retaining the humor in Andy.
15. Senor Chang, Community (Ken Jeong)-I'll give this year’s most inexplicably suddenly critically respected show it’s due by throwing in Senor Chang to my list.
What a wild card, huh? The guy is a brutal dictator of a teacher and then it turns out he’s not a teacher at all. Now, he wants to be friends with the group or possibly destroy them. It feels like the writers just stick him with whatever label they want whenever it’s convenient, but I don’t really mind because Ken Jeong can be entertaining with whatever circumstances you give him. You also relate to Chang: Teachers want to be popular and well-liked too and if they could get away with it, I could see them wanting to trade places with the coolest guy on campus.
16. Ron Donald, Party Down (Ken Marino)-Ron Donald spent the first few episodes of the season in a Shakespearean downfall from his throne as head of his own Soup 'R Franchise. Then he came back as team leader and entertained with his one-of-a-kind style of mangement. The Ron Donald Do's and Don'ts, people. That's what it's all about.
17. Manny Delgado, Modern Family (Rico Rodriguez)-Manny probably ranks in the top 3 in maturity among the entire Prichett/Delgado/Dumphy clan and he's only 11. A perfect foil to the ADD-riddled Luke as well as new stepfather Jay, Manny is a lovable lug.
18. Avery Jessup, 30 Rock (Elizabeth Banks)-Finally, a woman who can keep up with Jackie D. Her introductory scene on a news talk show in which she and Jack connect through their mutual rudeness to the third guest was pure comic gold.
19. Jamie Oliver, Food Food Revolution (Himself)-How I wish I had an enthusiastic grown man running around my high school cafeteria and trying to get me to eat my vegetables. A class act, Oliver was a man who was very easy to root for in this very moving reality show which brought the issues of obesity to light.
20. Kelinda Sharma, The Good Wife (Archie Punjabi)-This was a year in which Indian women proved more sexy than their caucasian counterparts. As investigator to Alicia's law firm, she really elicits a lot of attention whenever she's in screen.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
The Revolving Door of TV Job Openings
They say TV is an erratic business where if you find yourself without a show come pilot season, you're screwed. This list I compiled is of all actors who have returned to TV after previous success in the industry. It illustrates that there usually is a lot of opportunity in TV every year.
Over the last two years, these are actors managed to find their way onto a TV show after enjoying previous success. The show in parenthesis is their previous success:
2010:
Alan Cumming, Good Wife (The L Word)
Amy Ryan, In Treatment (The Office)
Andre Braughter, Men of a Certain Age (Gideon’s Crossing)
Andy Richter, Conan (Andy Barker PI)
Autumn Reeser, No Ordinary Family (Entourage/Valentine)
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland (Golden Girls)
Blair Underwood, The Event (LAX)
Bob Oderink, Breaking Bad (Mr. Show)
Bobby Canavale, Blue Bloods (Third Watch)
Bradley Whitford, The Good Guys (Studio 60)
Bridget Moynihan, Blue Bloods
Carly Pope, Outlaw (Popular)
Chloris Leachman, Raising Hope (Mary Tyler Moore Show)
Chris Parnell, Archer (Miss/Guided)
Colin Hanks, The Defenders (Mad Men)
Craig T Nelson, Parenthood (The District)
Dana Delaney, Body of Proof (Desperate Housewives)
David Cross, Running Wilde (Arrested Development)
Debra Winger, In Treatment (New Adventures of Wonder Woman)
Elizabeth Banks, 30 Rock (Scrubs)
Henry Winkler, Royal Pains (Sit Down Shut Up)
Howie Mandel, America’s Got Talent (Deal or No Deal)
Jane Leeves, Hot in Cleveland (Frasier)
Jason Lee, Memphis Beat (My Name is Earl)
Jason Ritter, The Event (The Class)
Jeri Ryan, Body of Proof (Shark)
Jerry O’Connell, The Defenders (Do Not Disturb)
Jerry Seinfeld, The Marraige Ref (Seinfeld)
Jessica Walters, Archer (Arrested Development)
Jim Belushi, The Defenders (According to Jim)
Jimmy Smits, Outlaw (Cane)
John Stamos, Glee (ER)
Jon Voight, Lone Star (24)
Judy Greer, Archer (Miss/Guided)
Julianne Moore, 30 Rock
Julie Benz, No Ordinary Family (Dexter)
Katy Segal, Futurama (Sons of Anarchy)
Keri Russell, Running Wilde (Felicity)
Khandi Alexander, Treme (CSI: Miami)
Laura Linney, The Big C (John Adams)
Lauren Graham, The Parenthood (Gilmore Girls)
Louie CK, Louie (Parks and Recreation)
Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope
Matt Walsh, Outsourced (Dog Bites Man)
Maura Tierny, The Whole Truth (ER)
Meghan Mullally, Children’s Hospital (Will and Grace)
Michael Chiklis, No Ordinary Family (The Shield)
Melissa Leo, Treme (The L Word)
Mike O’Malley, Glee (Yes Dear)
Nicole Sullivan, #@*% My Dad Says (King of Queens)
Olivia Munn, The Daily Show (Attack of the Show)
Peter Krause, Parenthood (Six Feet Under)
Peter Serafinowicz, Running Wilde (Saturday Night Live)
Phil LaMarr, Futurama (Futurama)
Ray Romano, Men of a Certain Age (Everybody Loves Raymond)
Rob Corddry, Children’s Hospital (The Winner)
Rob Huebel, Children’s Hospital (Best Week Ever)
Romany Malco, No Ordinary Family (Weeds)
Scott Bakula, Men of a Certain Age (Enterprise)
Scott Caan, Hawaii Five-0
Steve Zahn, Treme
Taran Killam, Saturday Night Live (Scrubs)
Timothy Olyphant, Justified/The Office (Deadwood)
Wanda Sykes, The Wanda Sykes Show (New Adventures of Old Christine)
Wendy Malick, Hot in Cleveland (Jake in Progress
Will Arnett, Running Wilde (Arrested Development)
Will Forte, 30 Rock (Saturday Night Live)
Will Sasso, #&@& My Dad Says (Less than Perfect)
Will Shatner, #%@& My Dad Says (Boston Legal)
Zach Woods, The Office (Internet shorts)
2009:
Alison Pill, In Treatment (Book of Daniel)
Allison Brie, Community (Mad Men)
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (SNL)
Andy Richter, Tonight Show (Andy Barker: PI)
Andreas Anders, Better off Ted (The Class)
Azziz Azziznari, Parks and Recreation (Human Giant)
Benjamin McKenzie, Southland (The OC)
Cheri Oteri, Sit Down Shut Up (SNL/Just Shoot Me)
Chevy Chase, Community (The Chevy Chase Show)
Chris Noth, The Good Wife
Chris O’Donnell, NCIS: Los Angeles (Head Cases)
Christa Miller, Cougar Town (Scrubs)
Christine Barinski, Good Wife (Happy Family)
Courtney Cox, Cougar Town (Dirt)
Dan Byrd, Cougar Town (Aliens in America)
David Koechner, Hank (Saturday Night Live)
Dimitri Martin, Important things with Dimitri Martin (Stand-Up with Dimitri Martin/Daily Show)
Ed O’Neill, Modern Family (Married with Children)
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie (Sopranos)
Eliza Dushku, Dollhouse (Tru Calling)
George Lopez, Lopez Tonight (George Lopez Show)
Heather Locklear, Melrose Place (LAX)
Henry Winkler, Sit Down Shut Up (Arrested Development)
Hope Davis, In Treatment
Ian Gomez, Cougar Town (Norm)
Idis Ebra, The Office (The Wire)
Jane Lynch, Glee (Arrested Development)
Jason Bateman, Sit Down Shut Up (Arrested Development)
Jason Schwartzman, Bored to Death
Jenna Elfman, Accidentally on Purpose (Dharma and Greg)
Jay Harrington, Better off Ted (Coupling)
Jessalyn Gilsig, Glee (Heroes)
Jesse Tyler Furgeson, Modern Family (Do Not Disturb)
Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (Saturday Night Live)
Joel McHale, Community (The Soup)
Jon Mahoney, In Treatment (Frasier)
Julianne Margolis, Good Wife (ER)
Katie Segal, Sons of Anarchy (8 Simple Rules)
Kelsey Grammar, Hank (Back to You)
Kevin Alejandro, Southland (Drive)
Kristin Chenowith, Sit Down Shut Up (Pushing Daisies)
Kenan Thompson, Sit Down Shut Up (Saturday Night Live)
LL Cool J, NCIS: Los Angeles (Friday Night Lights)
Leonard Nimoy, Fringe (Star Trek)
Mark Fuehrstein, Royal Pains (Good Morning Miami)
Michaela Watkins, Saturday Night Live (New Adventures of Old Christine)
Mike O'Malley, Glee (Good Wife)
Nathan Fillion, Castle (Firefly)
Neil Flynn, The Middle (Scrubs)
Nick Kroll, The League/Sit Down Shut Up (Cavemen)
Olivia Williams, Dollhouse
Paulo Costanzo, Royal Pains (Joey)
Patricia Heaton, The Middle (Back to You)
Paul Sheer, The League (Best Week Ever)
Portsia de Rossi, Better off Ted (Arrested Development)
Rashida Jones, Parks and Recreation (The Office)
Selma Hayek, 30 Rock (Ugly Betty producer, Mexican soap operas)
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family (Knights of Prosperity)
Susan Sullivan, Castle (Dharma and Greg)
Ted Danson, Bored to Death (Damages)
Will Arnett, Sit Down Shut Up (Arrested Development)
Will Forte, Sit Down Shut Up (Saturday Night Live)
Zak Galifanakas, Bored to Death (Dog Bites Man)
Miscellaneous Notes:
-What's in parenthesis isn't the actor's most well-known gig, but often, it's their last gig. That is likely not 100% accurate
-If anyone cares to update the list and make it more accurate, much appreciated.
-Mike O'Malley is listed in both 2009 and 2010 because he was given a recurring guest role in 2009 and given a permanent role in 2010. The query is about how many opportunities there were for actors and he was given an opportunity in each year.
-Recurring guest roles are added here such as John Stamos for Glee or Will Forte, Selma Hayek, Elizabeth Banks and Julianne Moore. I made a judgement call as to whether the character was important to the story and could be reliably counted upon to appear again.
-Famous enough movie stars who haven't dabbled much in TV get a place on the list too, but I generally leaned towards people who haven't been on TV before
-Some people here such as Olivia Munn, Wanda Sykes, Jerry Seinfled and Andy Richter were added to the list even though they are filling in hosting roles. The reason is because they have a history of acting as well. Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno got new gigs but neither of them has any history of acting so they weren't on the list.
-In the case of Phil LaMarr, his last role on TV was Futurama. It was cancelled and then revived.
-Voice actors are included such as Will Arnett, Will Forte or Henry Winkler who have acted outside of voice acting. Voice actors such as H. Jon Benjamin (Archer), Bily West (Futurama), and Tom Kenny (Sit Down Shut Up) are just voice actors.
Over the last two years, these are actors managed to find their way onto a TV show after enjoying previous success. The show in parenthesis is their previous success:
2010:
Alan Cumming, Good Wife (The L Word)
Amy Ryan, In Treatment (The Office)
Andre Braughter, Men of a Certain Age (Gideon’s Crossing)
Andy Richter, Conan (Andy Barker PI)
Autumn Reeser, No Ordinary Family (Entourage/Valentine)
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland (Golden Girls)
Blair Underwood, The Event (LAX)
Bob Oderink, Breaking Bad (Mr. Show)
Bobby Canavale, Blue Bloods (Third Watch)
Bradley Whitford, The Good Guys (Studio 60)
Bridget Moynihan, Blue Bloods
Carly Pope, Outlaw (Popular)
Chloris Leachman, Raising Hope (Mary Tyler Moore Show)
Chris Parnell, Archer (Miss/Guided)
Colin Hanks, The Defenders (Mad Men)
Craig T Nelson, Parenthood (The District)
Dana Delaney, Body of Proof (Desperate Housewives)
David Cross, Running Wilde (Arrested Development)
Debra Winger, In Treatment (New Adventures of Wonder Woman)
Elizabeth Banks, 30 Rock (Scrubs)
Henry Winkler, Royal Pains (Sit Down Shut Up)
Howie Mandel, America’s Got Talent (Deal or No Deal)
Jane Leeves, Hot in Cleveland (Frasier)
Jason Lee, Memphis Beat (My Name is Earl)
Jason Ritter, The Event (The Class)
Jeri Ryan, Body of Proof (Shark)
Jerry O’Connell, The Defenders (Do Not Disturb)
Jerry Seinfeld, The Marraige Ref (Seinfeld)
Jessica Walters, Archer (Arrested Development)
Jim Belushi, The Defenders (According to Jim)
Jimmy Smits, Outlaw (Cane)
John Stamos, Glee (ER)
Jon Voight, Lone Star (24)
Judy Greer, Archer (Miss/Guided)
Julianne Moore, 30 Rock
Julie Benz, No Ordinary Family (Dexter)
Katy Segal, Futurama (Sons of Anarchy)
Keri Russell, Running Wilde (Felicity)
Khandi Alexander, Treme (CSI: Miami)
Laura Linney, The Big C (John Adams)
Lauren Graham, The Parenthood (Gilmore Girls)
Louie CK, Louie (Parks and Recreation)
Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope
Matt Walsh, Outsourced (Dog Bites Man)
Maura Tierny, The Whole Truth (ER)
Meghan Mullally, Children’s Hospital (Will and Grace)
Michael Chiklis, No Ordinary Family (The Shield)
Melissa Leo, Treme (The L Word)
Mike O’Malley, Glee (Yes Dear)
Nicole Sullivan, #@*% My Dad Says (King of Queens)
Olivia Munn, The Daily Show (Attack of the Show)
Peter Krause, Parenthood (Six Feet Under)
Peter Serafinowicz, Running Wilde (Saturday Night Live)
Phil LaMarr, Futurama (Futurama)
Ray Romano, Men of a Certain Age (Everybody Loves Raymond)
Rob Corddry, Children’s Hospital (The Winner)
Rob Huebel, Children’s Hospital (Best Week Ever)
Romany Malco, No Ordinary Family (Weeds)
Scott Bakula, Men of a Certain Age (Enterprise)
Scott Caan, Hawaii Five-0
Steve Zahn, Treme
Taran Killam, Saturday Night Live (Scrubs)
Timothy Olyphant, Justified/The Office (Deadwood)
Wanda Sykes, The Wanda Sykes Show (New Adventures of Old Christine)
Wendy Malick, Hot in Cleveland (Jake in Progress
Will Arnett, Running Wilde (Arrested Development)
Will Forte, 30 Rock (Saturday Night Live)
Will Sasso, #&@& My Dad Says (Less than Perfect)
Will Shatner, #%@& My Dad Says (Boston Legal)
Zach Woods, The Office (Internet shorts)
2009:
Alison Pill, In Treatment (Book of Daniel)
Allison Brie, Community (Mad Men)
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (SNL)
Andy Richter, Tonight Show (Andy Barker: PI)
Andreas Anders, Better off Ted (The Class)
Azziz Azziznari, Parks and Recreation (Human Giant)
Benjamin McKenzie, Southland (The OC)
Cheri Oteri, Sit Down Shut Up (SNL/Just Shoot Me)
Chevy Chase, Community (The Chevy Chase Show)
Chris Noth, The Good Wife
Chris O’Donnell, NCIS: Los Angeles (Head Cases)
Christa Miller, Cougar Town (Scrubs)
Christine Barinski, Good Wife (Happy Family)
Courtney Cox, Cougar Town (Dirt)
Dan Byrd, Cougar Town (Aliens in America)
David Koechner, Hank (Saturday Night Live)
Dimitri Martin, Important things with Dimitri Martin (Stand-Up with Dimitri Martin/Daily Show)
Ed O’Neill, Modern Family (Married with Children)
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie (Sopranos)
Eliza Dushku, Dollhouse (Tru Calling)
George Lopez, Lopez Tonight (George Lopez Show)
Heather Locklear, Melrose Place (LAX)
Henry Winkler, Sit Down Shut Up (Arrested Development)
Hope Davis, In Treatment
Ian Gomez, Cougar Town (Norm)
Idis Ebra, The Office (The Wire)
Jane Lynch, Glee (Arrested Development)
Jason Bateman, Sit Down Shut Up (Arrested Development)
Jason Schwartzman, Bored to Death
Jenna Elfman, Accidentally on Purpose (Dharma and Greg)
Jay Harrington, Better off Ted (Coupling)
Jessalyn Gilsig, Glee (Heroes)
Jesse Tyler Furgeson, Modern Family (Do Not Disturb)
Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (Saturday Night Live)
Joel McHale, Community (The Soup)
Jon Mahoney, In Treatment (Frasier)
Julianne Margolis, Good Wife (ER)
Katie Segal, Sons of Anarchy (8 Simple Rules)
Kelsey Grammar, Hank (Back to You)
Kevin Alejandro, Southland (Drive)
Kristin Chenowith, Sit Down Shut Up (Pushing Daisies)
Kenan Thompson, Sit Down Shut Up (Saturday Night Live)
LL Cool J, NCIS: Los Angeles (Friday Night Lights)
Leonard Nimoy, Fringe (Star Trek)
Mark Fuehrstein, Royal Pains (Good Morning Miami)
Michaela Watkins, Saturday Night Live (New Adventures of Old Christine)
Mike O'Malley, Glee (Good Wife)
Nathan Fillion, Castle (Firefly)
Neil Flynn, The Middle (Scrubs)
Nick Kroll, The League/Sit Down Shut Up (Cavemen)
Olivia Williams, Dollhouse
Paulo Costanzo, Royal Pains (Joey)
Patricia Heaton, The Middle (Back to You)
Paul Sheer, The League (Best Week Ever)
Portsia de Rossi, Better off Ted (Arrested Development)
Rashida Jones, Parks and Recreation (The Office)
Selma Hayek, 30 Rock (Ugly Betty producer, Mexican soap operas)
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family (Knights of Prosperity)
Susan Sullivan, Castle (Dharma and Greg)
Ted Danson, Bored to Death (Damages)
Will Arnett, Sit Down Shut Up (Arrested Development)
Will Forte, Sit Down Shut Up (Saturday Night Live)
Zak Galifanakas, Bored to Death (Dog Bites Man)
Miscellaneous Notes:
-What's in parenthesis isn't the actor's most well-known gig, but often, it's their last gig. That is likely not 100% accurate
-If anyone cares to update the list and make it more accurate, much appreciated.
-Mike O'Malley is listed in both 2009 and 2010 because he was given a recurring guest role in 2009 and given a permanent role in 2010. The query is about how many opportunities there were for actors and he was given an opportunity in each year.
-Recurring guest roles are added here such as John Stamos for Glee or Will Forte, Selma Hayek, Elizabeth Banks and Julianne Moore. I made a judgement call as to whether the character was important to the story and could be reliably counted upon to appear again.
-Famous enough movie stars who haven't dabbled much in TV get a place on the list too, but I generally leaned towards people who haven't been on TV before
-Some people here such as Olivia Munn, Wanda Sykes, Jerry Seinfled and Andy Richter were added to the list even though they are filling in hosting roles. The reason is because they have a history of acting as well. Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno got new gigs but neither of them has any history of acting so they weren't on the list.
-In the case of Phil LaMarr, his last role on TV was Futurama. It was cancelled and then revived.
-Voice actors are included such as Will Arnett, Will Forte or Henry Winkler who have acted outside of voice acting. Voice actors such as H. Jon Benjamin (Archer), Bily West (Futurama), and Tom Kenny (Sit Down Shut Up) are just voice actors.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Last night's Glee: Substitute
Here's my review of Glee. On a side note, I'm learning when I write these reviews how hard it is to resist finding out someone else's opinion on the show right after you watch it. Fortunately I managed to stay entirely away from any message boards or sites until I formed an entirely original opinion on the show. For all I know, every other person who watched the show thought the exact opposite of me and that's the fun of it:
One good thing about Glee being erratic is you never know what to expect. The show might go in directions that are entirely self-defeating and stupid because the writer’s have done that before. This week, the shit really hit the fan. Over the course of the episode, Terri was back in Will’s life, Will was fired, Sue had taken over as principal, and Gwyneth Paltrow’s Holly Holiday was going to take over the Glee Club. You can’t accuse Glee of being predictable if at least one of these changes didn’t get reset to the status quo by episode’s end (who knows if that’s the last we see of Terri).
On the major changes to happen this week: Sue taking over for Figgins is at least where we are at episode’s end. I have no way of knowing how long this will last, but it obviously can’t or shouldn’t. Aside from Iqbal Theba being one of the better
actors on the show, the current power structure with Figgins-Will-Sue is far more effective than Will being at the mercy of Sue.
On Terri’s return: If I’m not mistaken, the general consensus last year was that Terri’s craziness was too much, even for Glee. I never felt she was particularly out of tune with some of the show’s other characters (see Rachel, Sue), but I love the new Terri and I can’t see the Terri haters of old legitimately not liking this new development. Which brings me to the point that it was a mistake for both Will and the show’s writers (if Will’s emphatic refusal is to be believed) to have Terri leave so soon. On-again off-again romantic pairings are what drama is all about.
As for the main plot, Gwyneth Paltrow was a perfect guest star. Yes, it was stunt casting. She´s an Oscar winner but she also added a lot and fit the tone perfectly. Most importantly, it was so apparent how much fun she was having that it became contagious. Gwyneth’s exaggerated caricature of a fun-loving Dead-Poets-Society-wannabe substitute was the perfect foil to exaggerated caricature of a bitter teacher Sue Sylvester and especially exaggerated prima donna Rachel. When Holly Holliday responded to Leah Michelle’s threat of going to the nurse, with “You suck!” that was the best moment of the show.
The premise that Holliday served as a genuine foil, on the other hand, to Will was a little bit harder to buy. The acting certainly sold it: Gwyneth Paltrow got “more real” (to quote Clone High) in her heart-to-heart moments with Will. I don’t remember Will being that much of a taskmaster as the flashbacks made him out to be, but since it was acknowledged at episode’s end in a realistic way, I don’t mind this at all. In fact, it ended in a happier place than I expected with Holliday at least getting her job back. Paltrow is probably too busy a movie star to make too many returns, but I at least liked that in the fictional universe, good things happened to good people.
With Glee the endings do not make or break the episodes. My (possibly outlandish) theory is that things generally get melodramatic and fantasical in the middle third of the episode and if the characters can shrug the drama off and become more realistic at episode’s end, it feels to the audience like we’ve been taken into and out of a fantasy and back to real life again. Musicals are all about fantasy so this kind of mirrors our TV viewing experience.
Other random notes:
-Do not know how to spell Prima Donna...the spell checker told me it was two words
-Harry Shum Jr. as Michael Chang is nicely coming around. It is very clear that he has more of a dancing background than the others and the duet was gold. Whether it was better than Joseph Gordon-Leavitt's version when he hosted SNL is a tough call.
-The Leah Michelle/Gwyneth Paltrow duet didn't really feel necessary. I've already forgot it.
-The writers are usually careful not to portray Will as a womanizer. He has had flings and relationships and gains points by admitting that some of the things he's done (i.e. Vocal Adrenaline Coach Idina Menzel, trying to romance Emma with the Rocky Horror Show) were mistakes. He also has used caution and discretion (i.e. Emma, April Rhodes). Tonight's episode was definitely a step backwards in that direction. The writing room should keep Will away from ill-fated romance for a while lest he lose more good guy points with the audience.
-Santana is regularly getting the best lines in the episode these days.
One good thing about Glee being erratic is you never know what to expect. The show might go in directions that are entirely self-defeating and stupid because the writer’s have done that before. This week, the shit really hit the fan. Over the course of the episode, Terri was back in Will’s life, Will was fired, Sue had taken over as principal, and Gwyneth Paltrow’s Holly Holiday was going to take over the Glee Club. You can’t accuse Glee of being predictable if at least one of these changes didn’t get reset to the status quo by episode’s end (who knows if that’s the last we see of Terri).
On the major changes to happen this week: Sue taking over for Figgins is at least where we are at episode’s end. I have no way of knowing how long this will last, but it obviously can’t or shouldn’t. Aside from Iqbal Theba being one of the better
actors on the show, the current power structure with Figgins-Will-Sue is far more effective than Will being at the mercy of Sue.
On Terri’s return: If I’m not mistaken, the general consensus last year was that Terri’s craziness was too much, even for Glee. I never felt she was particularly out of tune with some of the show’s other characters (see Rachel, Sue), but I love the new Terri and I can’t see the Terri haters of old legitimately not liking this new development. Which brings me to the point that it was a mistake for both Will and the show’s writers (if Will’s emphatic refusal is to be believed) to have Terri leave so soon. On-again off-again romantic pairings are what drama is all about.
As for the main plot, Gwyneth Paltrow was a perfect guest star. Yes, it was stunt casting. She´s an Oscar winner but she also added a lot and fit the tone perfectly. Most importantly, it was so apparent how much fun she was having that it became contagious. Gwyneth’s exaggerated caricature of a fun-loving Dead-Poets-Society-wannabe substitute was the perfect foil to exaggerated caricature of a bitter teacher Sue Sylvester and especially exaggerated prima donna Rachel. When Holly Holliday responded to Leah Michelle’s threat of going to the nurse, with “You suck!” that was the best moment of the show.
The premise that Holliday served as a genuine foil, on the other hand, to Will was a little bit harder to buy. The acting certainly sold it: Gwyneth Paltrow got “more real” (to quote Clone High) in her heart-to-heart moments with Will. I don’t remember Will being that much of a taskmaster as the flashbacks made him out to be, but since it was acknowledged at episode’s end in a realistic way, I don’t mind this at all. In fact, it ended in a happier place than I expected with Holliday at least getting her job back. Paltrow is probably too busy a movie star to make too many returns, but I at least liked that in the fictional universe, good things happened to good people.
With Glee the endings do not make or break the episodes. My (possibly outlandish) theory is that things generally get melodramatic and fantasical in the middle third of the episode and if the characters can shrug the drama off and become more realistic at episode’s end, it feels to the audience like we’ve been taken into and out of a fantasy and back to real life again. Musicals are all about fantasy so this kind of mirrors our TV viewing experience.
Other random notes:
-Do not know how to spell Prima Donna...the spell checker told me it was two words
-Harry Shum Jr. as Michael Chang is nicely coming around. It is very clear that he has more of a dancing background than the others and the duet was gold. Whether it was better than Joseph Gordon-Leavitt's version when he hosted SNL is a tough call.
-The Leah Michelle/Gwyneth Paltrow duet didn't really feel necessary. I've already forgot it.
-The writers are usually careful not to portray Will as a womanizer. He has had flings and relationships and gains points by admitting that some of the things he's done (i.e. Vocal Adrenaline Coach Idina Menzel, trying to romance Emma with the Rocky Horror Show) were mistakes. He also has used caution and discretion (i.e. Emma, April Rhodes). Tonight's episode was definitely a step backwards in that direction. The writing room should keep Will away from ill-fated romance for a while lest he lose more good guy points with the audience.
-Santana is regularly getting the best lines in the episode these days.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Looking at Outsourced and Community this week
Thoughts on "Outsourced" after this past week's episode "Home for the Diwalidays":
After just seven or eight episodes, the show has smoothed out the rough edges on its more two-dimensional characters. While these characters are often criticized for being stereotypical and culturally crude, from a functional episode, I think everyone in the ensemble brings something to the table and that’s rare.
For example, look at Madhuri. She fits into all sorts of conventions of a girl with little to no confidence: she’s shy, she’s less direct with Todd than Asha, she was the last to make an upsell, etc. We might even read into her character, some implicit feminist cultural about the nature of caste oppression and its effect on women in India, but the critical consensus is that the show is written by cultural boobs so those readings tend to get dismissed. As I’ve mentioned before, the show’s obstacles are a double-edged sword because if the show would look any more realistically than it already is at an oppressed woman like Madhuri, it would cease to be a comedy.
Even if we cut out the cultural aspects and judge Madhuri as a staple sitcom character, I’m impressed at her growth. Along with Gupta, she has been one of the slowest characters to grow on me, but she’s been used well the past few weeks. There was a good self-referencing gag a couple of episodes ago where she went to a Halloween party dressed as a lamp shade and her presence wasn’t noticed by the other characters or the audience either. This week, Madhuri showed some cunning by massively overcharging Rajiv for a sari. It was a direction consistent with what we’ve seen from her so far, it was a direction forward for her character, and it worked within where the episode was heading. All of these things deserve recognition.
What's also admirable is that the one character who's a little less than three-dimensional, Tanya, is used sparingly. She's regularly cut out entirely of episodes and only is used when she's important to the plot. Speaking of weeks in which Tanya is important to the plot, this week's episode answered a question that was previously irking me: Why haven’t Tanya and Todd gotten together already? She’s so ridiculously forward with him and the show dallied a couple episodes too long in not answering why he wouldn’t have responded to her. It wasn’t just a matter of Todd’s hang-up with Asha but he seemed a little unaware that this woman whom he clearly finds attractive was right there in front of him holding up a large sign that said “Please boink me.” Well, no worries. In any case, Todd and Tanya made up for all the sex they weren’t having in the last couple episodes here, so everything was squared away there.
On another note, I also am loving Rajiv’s character and his passive-aggressiveness last night. The gag where he caught Todd on camera but accidentally opened himself up to blackmail ran just a little long but it was pretty funny nonetheless.
Community: "Cooperative Calligraphy"
In contrast, Community is a show in its second season. The show felt a little bit awkward in its pilot but viewers have gradually warmed up to it. It's now being counted as a favorite by many viewers I've heard from. The strength of the ensemble has been cited as one of the show's major strong points.
I can't help but watching "Community" this season and just wondering what the hell these these guys are thinking during some of the show's stranger episodes. Last week's episode had a very trippy A-plot that seemed a little incongruous with a B-plot that was a bit melodramatic (Abed becomes a "Mean Girl"). At the same time, I thought "Messainic Myths and Ancient Peoples" was an amazing episode and it did push the envelope a lot, so being a little more outlandish has gotten the show places. This week, however, the show just got too rediculous for me.
I mean, let's be honest: They based an entire episode around Annie losing a pen.
I lose pens all the time. I don't even know where the hell my pens come from. If I see a pen lying around somewhere, I usually take it, it's the most inconsequential thing in the world. Some people might call that relatable, but this episode is asking is to believe that seven grown adults would strip themselves down and tear apart a room for a pen?
A lot of dramatic situations are based around people forced into confined spaces. I believe this is called the "Ship of Fools" theory in film/literature analysis which says when characters of different social classes are put together in a confined space it becomes a microcosm of society. This episode was a pretty lackadaisical attempt to create that effect. Any sane person would have just walked out of the room. Annie's craziness was, in fact, something they took a stand against in the penultimate episode of last season.
Some people might say it wasn't really about the pen but that the pen was just a launching pad to larger issues within the group. That doesn't take away the fact that the episode is already asking us to make a big enough leap in logic to accept that the pen could act as a launching pad in the first place.
How difficult would it have been to replace pen with something of value like wallet, credit card, wrist watch, or a locket?
My point, here is that "Community" is getting off pretty easily for its stumbling while the new sitcom on the block has to fight tooth and nail for any semblance of respectability.
After just seven or eight episodes, the show has smoothed out the rough edges on its more two-dimensional characters. While these characters are often criticized for being stereotypical and culturally crude, from a functional episode, I think everyone in the ensemble brings something to the table and that’s rare.
For example, look at Madhuri. She fits into all sorts of conventions of a girl with little to no confidence: she’s shy, she’s less direct with Todd than Asha, she was the last to make an upsell, etc. We might even read into her character, some implicit feminist cultural about the nature of caste oppression and its effect on women in India, but the critical consensus is that the show is written by cultural boobs so those readings tend to get dismissed. As I’ve mentioned before, the show’s obstacles are a double-edged sword because if the show would look any more realistically than it already is at an oppressed woman like Madhuri, it would cease to be a comedy.
Even if we cut out the cultural aspects and judge Madhuri as a staple sitcom character, I’m impressed at her growth. Along with Gupta, she has been one of the slowest characters to grow on me, but she’s been used well the past few weeks. There was a good self-referencing gag a couple of episodes ago where she went to a Halloween party dressed as a lamp shade and her presence wasn’t noticed by the other characters or the audience either. This week, Madhuri showed some cunning by massively overcharging Rajiv for a sari. It was a direction consistent with what we’ve seen from her so far, it was a direction forward for her character, and it worked within where the episode was heading. All of these things deserve recognition.
What's also admirable is that the one character who's a little less than three-dimensional, Tanya, is used sparingly. She's regularly cut out entirely of episodes and only is used when she's important to the plot. Speaking of weeks in which Tanya is important to the plot, this week's episode answered a question that was previously irking me: Why haven’t Tanya and Todd gotten together already? She’s so ridiculously forward with him and the show dallied a couple episodes too long in not answering why he wouldn’t have responded to her. It wasn’t just a matter of Todd’s hang-up with Asha but he seemed a little unaware that this woman whom he clearly finds attractive was right there in front of him holding up a large sign that said “Please boink me.” Well, no worries. In any case, Todd and Tanya made up for all the sex they weren’t having in the last couple episodes here, so everything was squared away there.
On another note, I also am loving Rajiv’s character and his passive-aggressiveness last night. The gag where he caught Todd on camera but accidentally opened himself up to blackmail ran just a little long but it was pretty funny nonetheless.
Community: "Cooperative Calligraphy"
In contrast, Community is a show in its second season. The show felt a little bit awkward in its pilot but viewers have gradually warmed up to it. It's now being counted as a favorite by many viewers I've heard from. The strength of the ensemble has been cited as one of the show's major strong points.
I can't help but watching "Community" this season and just wondering what the hell these these guys are thinking during some of the show's stranger episodes. Last week's episode had a very trippy A-plot that seemed a little incongruous with a B-plot that was a bit melodramatic (Abed becomes a "Mean Girl"). At the same time, I thought "Messainic Myths and Ancient Peoples" was an amazing episode and it did push the envelope a lot, so being a little more outlandish has gotten the show places. This week, however, the show just got too rediculous for me.
I mean, let's be honest: They based an entire episode around Annie losing a pen.
I lose pens all the time. I don't even know where the hell my pens come from. If I see a pen lying around somewhere, I usually take it, it's the most inconsequential thing in the world. Some people might call that relatable, but this episode is asking is to believe that seven grown adults would strip themselves down and tear apart a room for a pen?
A lot of dramatic situations are based around people forced into confined spaces. I believe this is called the "Ship of Fools" theory in film/literature analysis which says when characters of different social classes are put together in a confined space it becomes a microcosm of society. This episode was a pretty lackadaisical attempt to create that effect. Any sane person would have just walked out of the room. Annie's craziness was, in fact, something they took a stand against in the penultimate episode of last season.
Some people might say it wasn't really about the pen but that the pen was just a launching pad to larger issues within the group. That doesn't take away the fact that the episode is already asking us to make a big enough leap in logic to accept that the pen could act as a launching pad in the first place.
How difficult would it have been to replace pen with something of value like wallet, credit card, wrist watch, or a locket?
My point, here is that "Community" is getting off pretty easily for its stumbling while the new sitcom on the block has to fight tooth and nail for any semblance of respectability.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Review of this past Thursday in TV
Originally, this was gonna be the whole past week in television but time constraints prevented that. The five grades are all very high but last week they would have been significantly lower (The Office and Community last week both dissapointed me, for example). Also, every other show I saw this week (Running Wilde, Castle, No Ordinary Family and Modern Family) was a lower grade and I just didn't have time to get to those shows.
30 Rock “Reaganism” A
A-Plot: Jack is having a perfect day and comes up with some ninth-inning challenges he needs to fix (mainly in the form of Liz’s love life) to be able to keep his hot streak rolling
B-Plot: Jenna convinces Kenneth to assist in scamming a Caravel Ice Cream shop and creates a monster in the process (Kelsey Grammar guests here in a wonderful role)
C-Plot: Tracy can’t do a commercial to save his life
The difference between a great 30 Rock episode and the kind of episode that makes you mourn the old days of 30 Rock isn’t much at all. This wasn’t a big gimmicky week like last week’s live show, but they had a pair of solid storylines to start out with and infused them with great anarchic fun. The C-plot of Tracy Jordan messing up a TV commercial was Tracy being unleashed in a way that we haven’t seen him in a while.
Fun fact: Tracy is what tvtropes.org calls a Cloud Cuckoolander
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia “Mac’s Mom Burns the House Down” A-
A-Plot: Charlie and Mac (along with Dennis) try to get their mothers to live together
B-Plot: Dee gets sick. Fearing she won’t take care of him when he gets older, Frank tries to be a good dad and tend to her
Best episode I’ve seen in a while and that was solely on the strength of an exceptionally well-executed A-plot (the B-plot was pretty forgettable). The episode really had some great misdirection. The opening title and the fact that 98% of the show’s episodes don’t end happily led me away from believing that Mrs. Mac and Mrs. Kelly would be able to coexist and that’s where the storyline would end up. You know what? An occasional happy ending not only doesn’t hurt, it was actually very sweet. And as an added bonus, the dog miraculously survived. Just when I thought the show couldn't bring me any more joy. The best part was that they didn’t have to sacrifice the show’s trademark nastiness to accomplish this. I also loved how Charlie and Mac were trying to fit their moms into an episode of Golden Girls.
Community: A-
Plot: Shirley decides to make a Christian film for anthropology class. Abed, the always-entrancing film student decides to one-up her by making an extravagant meta-film on Jesus’ life that’s ridiculously complex, sacreligious on many levels and self-serving (the film’s name is “Abed”). Shirley is infurated
If you’re one of those reviewers that likes using the word “meta” (as in meta-textual or self-referencing) then you are going to have a field day with this episode. It is probably the most “meta” thing ever put on film. It references Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York” so that automatically makes it one meta-level above that. This episode was definitely a thinking man’s episode but in reality it probably didn’t make any sense. It was just complete anarchy. The show ended up just getting profoundly silly in the best of ways because that silliness was built out of this façade of grandeur that was the Abed film. Abed is usually relegated to the sidelines as a sort of zany wild card character who delivers golden little nuggets. When an episode is centered around Abed, it’s always been a more typical sitcomy episode (i.e. Abed’s dad is displeased with his career choice, girl has crush on Abed but maybe he’s too weird to approach her) and the plot tones Abed’s quirkiness down considerably and fortunately, that wasn’t the case here. It was also a good episode for Shirley who I think is the most limited character of the gang. The minus on the A is because the ending seemed like a cop-out.
The Office: “The Sting” B+
Plot: Dunder-Mufflin sets up a surveillance operation to try to learn the secrets of a suave salesman who’s stolen a lot of their clients
B-Plot: Andy decides to form a band. Creative disagreements ensue with Andy and bandmates Kevin and Darryl.
Overarching Plot/Long-Term implications: Dunder-Mifflin hires a new traveling salesman
It was nice to see Jim and Dwight working together like they did in “Traveling Salesman” although they didn’t show much of it. I think, on a larger note, my main problem with the episode came down to timing. They should have ended the episode with the introduction of the new salesman and left the quarrels between Danny and his coworkers for another episode to keep the suspense. It would have also given more time for the hijinks that this episode really thrived on. This episode had a set piece that turned into one of the most memorable scenes “The Office” has done in years: Meredith poses as a manger and as Oscar and Ryan try to intercept her she thwarts each of their plans brilliantly. The show works so well (or at least used to work so well) on awkward tension and that segment of the episode had you glued to your seat. The band subplot was a little cliché and the payoffs weren’t that great but I did like the Andy-Darryl chemistry. In the past, Darryl has been somewhat aggressive (he was downright intimidating and villainous to Michael in the first season’s basketball episode) so I'm glad to see an improvement there.
Outsourced: B+
Plot: Todd is accused of sexual harassment but he doesn’t know by whom
The sexual harassment episode is a staple (and if it isn’t, it should be one) because we’ve all seen that sexual harassment video and giggled at the lame acting. In India, as would be expected, the results were far different. It was pretty admirable to take that shared awkwardness we get when we watch the sexual harassment video and make a pretty solid episode out of it. The episode reminded me of how “Outsourced” isn’t getting the credit it deserves. Todd’s efforts to single out his accuser made for hilarious results that reminded me of actors improvising in an Adam McKay movie. The show’s good characters got better: Rajiv’s passive-aggressiveness was sprinkled in at the right places to punch up the tension with humor and Asha and Todd had some good moments. It’s becoming easy to see why Todd would mistakenly fall for Asha: She’s smart and relatable and to this guy who’s lost in this foreign land, she feels less foreign than anyone else. The lesser characters also had their moments: Gupta was used as a punch line as usual (the joke Manmeet made towards Gupta about him bringing shame to his family was awkward, but I might accept at as a cultural difference) but it ended with Manmeet making a nice gesture which shows that there’s hope for Gupta (at least for the other characters) and the shy girl (Madhuri) was used very well.
30 Rock “Reaganism” A
A-Plot: Jack is having a perfect day and comes up with some ninth-inning challenges he needs to fix (mainly in the form of Liz’s love life) to be able to keep his hot streak rolling
B-Plot: Jenna convinces Kenneth to assist in scamming a Caravel Ice Cream shop and creates a monster in the process (Kelsey Grammar guests here in a wonderful role)
C-Plot: Tracy can’t do a commercial to save his life
The difference between a great 30 Rock episode and the kind of episode that makes you mourn the old days of 30 Rock isn’t much at all. This wasn’t a big gimmicky week like last week’s live show, but they had a pair of solid storylines to start out with and infused them with great anarchic fun. The C-plot of Tracy Jordan messing up a TV commercial was Tracy being unleashed in a way that we haven’t seen him in a while.
Fun fact: Tracy is what tvtropes.org calls a Cloud Cuckoolander
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia “Mac’s Mom Burns the House Down” A-
A-Plot: Charlie and Mac (along with Dennis) try to get their mothers to live together
B-Plot: Dee gets sick. Fearing she won’t take care of him when he gets older, Frank tries to be a good dad and tend to her
Best episode I’ve seen in a while and that was solely on the strength of an exceptionally well-executed A-plot (the B-plot was pretty forgettable). The episode really had some great misdirection. The opening title and the fact that 98% of the show’s episodes don’t end happily led me away from believing that Mrs. Mac and Mrs. Kelly would be able to coexist and that’s where the storyline would end up. You know what? An occasional happy ending not only doesn’t hurt, it was actually very sweet. And as an added bonus, the dog miraculously survived. Just when I thought the show couldn't bring me any more joy. The best part was that they didn’t have to sacrifice the show’s trademark nastiness to accomplish this. I also loved how Charlie and Mac were trying to fit their moms into an episode of Golden Girls.
Community: A-
Plot: Shirley decides to make a Christian film for anthropology class. Abed, the always-entrancing film student decides to one-up her by making an extravagant meta-film on Jesus’ life that’s ridiculously complex, sacreligious on many levels and self-serving (the film’s name is “Abed”). Shirley is infurated
If you’re one of those reviewers that likes using the word “meta” (as in meta-textual or self-referencing) then you are going to have a field day with this episode. It is probably the most “meta” thing ever put on film. It references Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York” so that automatically makes it one meta-level above that. This episode was definitely a thinking man’s episode but in reality it probably didn’t make any sense. It was just complete anarchy. The show ended up just getting profoundly silly in the best of ways because that silliness was built out of this façade of grandeur that was the Abed film. Abed is usually relegated to the sidelines as a sort of zany wild card character who delivers golden little nuggets. When an episode is centered around Abed, it’s always been a more typical sitcomy episode (i.e. Abed’s dad is displeased with his career choice, girl has crush on Abed but maybe he’s too weird to approach her) and the plot tones Abed’s quirkiness down considerably and fortunately, that wasn’t the case here. It was also a good episode for Shirley who I think is the most limited character of the gang. The minus on the A is because the ending seemed like a cop-out.
The Office: “The Sting” B+
Plot: Dunder-Mufflin sets up a surveillance operation to try to learn the secrets of a suave salesman who’s stolen a lot of their clients
B-Plot: Andy decides to form a band. Creative disagreements ensue with Andy and bandmates Kevin and Darryl.
Overarching Plot/Long-Term implications: Dunder-Mifflin hires a new traveling salesman
It was nice to see Jim and Dwight working together like they did in “Traveling Salesman” although they didn’t show much of it. I think, on a larger note, my main problem with the episode came down to timing. They should have ended the episode with the introduction of the new salesman and left the quarrels between Danny and his coworkers for another episode to keep the suspense. It would have also given more time for the hijinks that this episode really thrived on. This episode had a set piece that turned into one of the most memorable scenes “The Office” has done in years: Meredith poses as a manger and as Oscar and Ryan try to intercept her she thwarts each of their plans brilliantly. The show works so well (or at least used to work so well) on awkward tension and that segment of the episode had you glued to your seat. The band subplot was a little cliché and the payoffs weren’t that great but I did like the Andy-Darryl chemistry. In the past, Darryl has been somewhat aggressive (he was downright intimidating and villainous to Michael in the first season’s basketball episode) so I'm glad to see an improvement there.
Outsourced: B+
Plot: Todd is accused of sexual harassment but he doesn’t know by whom
The sexual harassment episode is a staple (and if it isn’t, it should be one) because we’ve all seen that sexual harassment video and giggled at the lame acting. In India, as would be expected, the results were far different. It was pretty admirable to take that shared awkwardness we get when we watch the sexual harassment video and make a pretty solid episode out of it. The episode reminded me of how “Outsourced” isn’t getting the credit it deserves. Todd’s efforts to single out his accuser made for hilarious results that reminded me of actors improvising in an Adam McKay movie. The show’s good characters got better: Rajiv’s passive-aggressiveness was sprinkled in at the right places to punch up the tension with humor and Asha and Todd had some good moments. It’s becoming easy to see why Todd would mistakenly fall for Asha: She’s smart and relatable and to this guy who’s lost in this foreign land, she feels less foreign than anyone else. The lesser characters also had their moments: Gupta was used as a punch line as usual (the joke Manmeet made towards Gupta about him bringing shame to his family was awkward, but I might accept at as a cultural difference) but it ended with Manmeet making a nice gesture which shows that there’s hope for Gupta (at least for the other characters) and the shy girl (Madhuri) was used very well.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Updates on New Fall Shows I've Defended Pt. II: )&#@ My Dad Says and Outsourced
A month ago when the new shows premiered, there were four series getting critical pans that I tried to gallantly defend. Here's an Update on $)&# My Dad Says and Outsourced:
3. #@)$*() My Dad Says on CBS:
What I said before:
"William Shatner, who can be easily pigeonholed in our heads as that caricature of his Captain Kirk character he's been doing for years, is delightfully fresh here. Thanks to the writing, his character is a relatively unique comic creation. The show has heart as well. When the father and son are dancing at the end of the pilot, it's an earned moment. The best indication, however, that I wanted to see more is simply that the show made me laugh. Numerous times."
How I feel about it now:
The show has no over reaching arcs with little change from episode to episode, so not much has changed. That's a good thing and a bad thing. I don't think will ever think this show will ever be brilliant but it's reliable. It's got good chemistry and it's funny. It was also one of the highest rated shows of the season.
4. Outsourced on NBC:
What I said before:
"Outsourcing has a natural go-to place for its humor in the form of culture clash jokes and the writing seems competent enough that they know how to mine it. Culture clash humor is going to rely more on the relationships between the characters than the "Hey, you guys are wearing funny hats" type of observational shtick. In that category, potential is developing in the network of relationships that’s being established. The protagonist has an American colleague (Diedrich Baker) who’s kind of boorish, a passive-aggressive assistant manager and a team of subordinates with whom he’s having several awkward Michael-Scott-like moments. There’s also an flirty Australian love interest but she’s been kept in the background so far."
How it's been coming along:
The show is gradually improving in characterization and plotting with each episode.
I'm already liking a lot of the characters who I couldn't differentiate between in the pilot. The soft-talking Indian woman and the awkward Indian guy who talks too much are still both a little cringe-worthy, I will admit but Maneet is a good confidante character, Asha is a very good character and the Rajiv is great. Aisha is a strong romantic foil to Todd and has bucked at least a couple stereotypes so far. The last episode showed more of this interesting tension within Rajiv as a guy who wants to usurp his boss but also has that non-confrontational ever-pleasing attitude that we tend to associate with most Indians who work at a call center.
Lastly, I applaud the show for handling the love triangles with range and sudlety. Normally, when a character has a crush on another there's practically a nametag on them stating as such. There were virtually no tipoffs that Todd might have made a move on Asha while Tonya (the Australian) gives us a big contrast with her directness. Love and infatuation comes in many forms and this is one of the few shows that really recognizes that.
A couple of bloggers who are former TV writers have also got onboard Outsourced. Ken Levine, who wrote for Wings, Becker, Cheers and a million other things, said that he doesn't necessarily dislike the show and sees potential but they tend to be going the safe route. Another former TV writer (for the Cosby Show), Earl Pomeranitz, detailed how fond he was for the show but thinks it will probably be cancelled.
In response to Earl: It got a full season renewal, so don't be so down. Thursday night shows that haven't been amazing have gotten a second year before. Christina Applegate's vehicle "Jesse" got a second season and the Mark Fuehrstein vehicle "Good Morning Miami" got a second season. Neither show was very good. That would basically mean that even if this show never catches on, it could easily produce 40-ish episodes.
And yet another somewhat tangential argument: For the first time since about 2002, NBC could be able to build a solid block of two nights of comedy (it tried in 2006 and failed). Office would have its swan song of a season, Parks and Rec would be back, throw in Community, 30 Rock, Outsourced and one to three new pilots and NBC has 6-8 shows to work with. They could try Outsourced on a different night and pair it up with Parks and Recreation or Community and it might be able to do fairly well (hopefully, the critics will either get behind it or the critics who are behind it will be a little less ashamed of it and a little more bold and proactive in it)
As for Ken: I think a lot of criticism might have to do with whether the show really feels like it's in India but if it was actually set in India and the show went 100% in making us feel like we were in India, trust me, it might be a great show but it wouldn't be broad enough to keep an audience. It would be like a weekly installment of Slumdog Millionaire. This isn't HBO where they have a niche market, this is NBC. They have to play it safe to some extent.
Related post:
My take on the best comedic shows of 2008
3. #@)$*() My Dad Says on CBS:
What I said before:
"William Shatner, who can be easily pigeonholed in our heads as that caricature of his Captain Kirk character he's been doing for years, is delightfully fresh here. Thanks to the writing, his character is a relatively unique comic creation. The show has heart as well. When the father and son are dancing at the end of the pilot, it's an earned moment. The best indication, however, that I wanted to see more is simply that the show made me laugh. Numerous times."
How I feel about it now:
The show has no over reaching arcs with little change from episode to episode, so not much has changed. That's a good thing and a bad thing. I don't think will ever think this show will ever be brilliant but it's reliable. It's got good chemistry and it's funny. It was also one of the highest rated shows of the season.
4. Outsourced on NBC:
What I said before:
"Outsourcing has a natural go-to place for its humor in the form of culture clash jokes and the writing seems competent enough that they know how to mine it. Culture clash humor is going to rely more on the relationships between the characters than the "Hey, you guys are wearing funny hats" type of observational shtick. In that category, potential is developing in the network of relationships that’s being established. The protagonist has an American colleague (Diedrich Baker) who’s kind of boorish, a passive-aggressive assistant manager and a team of subordinates with whom he’s having several awkward Michael-Scott-like moments. There’s also an flirty Australian love interest but she’s been kept in the background so far."
How it's been coming along:
The show is gradually improving in characterization and plotting with each episode.
I'm already liking a lot of the characters who I couldn't differentiate between in the pilot. The soft-talking Indian woman and the awkward Indian guy who talks too much are still both a little cringe-worthy, I will admit but Maneet is a good confidante character, Asha is a very good character and the Rajiv is great. Aisha is a strong romantic foil to Todd and has bucked at least a couple stereotypes so far. The last episode showed more of this interesting tension within Rajiv as a guy who wants to usurp his boss but also has that non-confrontational ever-pleasing attitude that we tend to associate with most Indians who work at a call center.
Lastly, I applaud the show for handling the love triangles with range and sudlety. Normally, when a character has a crush on another there's practically a nametag on them stating as such. There were virtually no tipoffs that Todd might have made a move on Asha while Tonya (the Australian) gives us a big contrast with her directness. Love and infatuation comes in many forms and this is one of the few shows that really recognizes that.
A couple of bloggers who are former TV writers have also got onboard Outsourced. Ken Levine, who wrote for Wings, Becker, Cheers and a million other things, said that he doesn't necessarily dislike the show and sees potential but they tend to be going the safe route. Another former TV writer (for the Cosby Show), Earl Pomeranitz, detailed how fond he was for the show but thinks it will probably be cancelled.
In response to Earl: It got a full season renewal, so don't be so down. Thursday night shows that haven't been amazing have gotten a second year before. Christina Applegate's vehicle "Jesse" got a second season and the Mark Fuehrstein vehicle "Good Morning Miami" got a second season. Neither show was very good. That would basically mean that even if this show never catches on, it could easily produce 40-ish episodes.
And yet another somewhat tangential argument: For the first time since about 2002, NBC could be able to build a solid block of two nights of comedy (it tried in 2006 and failed). Office would have its swan song of a season, Parks and Rec would be back, throw in Community, 30 Rock, Outsourced and one to three new pilots and NBC has 6-8 shows to work with. They could try Outsourced on a different night and pair it up with Parks and Recreation or Community and it might be able to do fairly well (hopefully, the critics will either get behind it or the critics who are behind it will be a little less ashamed of it and a little more bold and proactive in it)
As for Ken: I think a lot of criticism might have to do with whether the show really feels like it's in India but if it was actually set in India and the show went 100% in making us feel like we were in India, trust me, it might be a great show but it wouldn't be broad enough to keep an audience. It would be like a weekly installment of Slumdog Millionaire. This isn't HBO where they have a niche market, this is NBC. They have to play it safe to some extent.
Related post:
My take on the best comedic shows of 2008
Sunday, October 17, 2010
$(#@ My Dad Says and Outsourced
3. #@)$*() My Dad Says on CBS:
Hook: #@$*( My Dad Says comes from a unique source in the form of a guy on Twitter who started blogging funny things his old-fashioned dad was saying. That doesn't necessarily mean the show will be good, but it gets my attention because if the show is created by an outsider, I'll probably get a fresh perspective. Also, it is a perspective that is pretty relatable: Most of us have at least one elderly relative who casually says things in the privacy of their own home that would get us in a lot of trouble if those words came out of our mouths.
How it delivers: William Shatner, who can be easily pigeonholed in our heads as that caricature of his Captain Kirk character he's been doing for years, is delightfully fresh here. Thanks to the writing, his character is a relatively unique comic creation. The show has heart as well. When the father and son are dancing at the end of the pilot, it's an earned moment. The best indication, however, that I wanted to see more is simply that the show made me laugh. Numerous times.
What the detractors say: One reviewer (TV Guide) sees Shatner's character more as a "shallowly conceived grouch belching trite punch lines." Alan Speinwall and Joel Keller of AOL's TV Squad both think Shatner's character is too crude to solicit empathy although Keller thinks Shatner showed potential in one scene. There was also some criticism that the rest of the cast is somewhat weak in comparison to Shatner.
My defense: First off, the cast includes Will Sasso and Nicole Sullivan who might be taking a while to find their chemistry but they certainly have the talent as evidenced by their work on "Mad TV." Jonathan Sadowski was a last-minute replacement and he's the straight man to Shatner's funny man so he doesn't have to be the show's strongest link. The major question here is whether Shatner is convincing and it's just a matter of me buying it whereas others didn't.
Another thing to keep in mind is that this show is on CBS. The network's bread and butter is mediocre middle-of-the-road comedies like "Everybody Loves Raymond" "Yes Dear" and "Two and a Half Men." Admittedly, "Raymond" has more pathos, but none of those shows were innovative in anyway, whatsoever. At best, they were good for a few laughs in a familiar setting. If it can get past the initial torrent of negative reviews and survive its first season, there's no question "#@$* My Dad Says" could at least deliver at the bar set by the other shows on the network.
4. Outsourced on NBC:
The Hook: Outsourcing is interesting. An article on what life is like for an American middle manager transplanted to India would be intriguing so a TV show set in that world would naturally be intriguing as well. It’s not just because I was a geography major in college but because it’s relevant and has affected people I know.
How it delivers: Outsourcing has a natural go-to place for its humor in the form of culture clash jokes and the writing seems competent enough that they know how to mine it. Culture clash humor is going to rely more on the relationships between the characters than the "Hey, you guys are wearing funny hats" type of observational shtick. In that category, potential is developing in the network of relationships that’s being established. The protagonist has an American colleague (Diedrich Baker) who’s kind of boorish, a passive-aggressive assistant manager and a team of subordinates with whom he’s having several awkward Michael-Scott-like moments. There’s also an flirty Australian love interest but she’s been kept in the background so far.
Criticism: Todd van der Werff of the A.V. Club declares this is the end of NBC Thursday night's glory days. According to him, the show's scenes between Americans feel like they're on a different show than the ones portraying American-Indian culture clash and neither are executed particularly well. Some critics found the characters boring like the blogger from Film School Rejects who named this show the failure of the season. James Poniewozik acknowledges "satire is a dangerous zone" but says the show is a disappointment with cheap jokes that insult the audience.
My response: Again, it's a matter of placing too much emphasis on the pilot. Characters might be one-dimensional in the pilot because there's not enough screen time to develop everybody and give exposition in 22 minutes. The show's breakout characters in Parks and Recreation, Ron Swanson and Tom Haverford, seemed like dumb one-note characters in the pilot too. Swanson gave a speech about he preferred Chuck-E-Cheese to government and it seemed like the writers were trying too hard to inject the characters with quirks. Over times, his quirks formed part of a fully-fleshed personality that strengthened because it stayed consistent over several episodes. I could see three or four of these characters as pop culture stalwarts like Ron Swanson or Dwight from "The Office." In addition, there were only a few one-line gags in the pilot which is an indication that the show is going to be going for broader situational laughs.
Hook: #@$*( My Dad Says comes from a unique source in the form of a guy on Twitter who started blogging funny things his old-fashioned dad was saying. That doesn't necessarily mean the show will be good, but it gets my attention because if the show is created by an outsider, I'll probably get a fresh perspective. Also, it is a perspective that is pretty relatable: Most of us have at least one elderly relative who casually says things in the privacy of their own home that would get us in a lot of trouble if those words came out of our mouths.
How it delivers: William Shatner, who can be easily pigeonholed in our heads as that caricature of his Captain Kirk character he's been doing for years, is delightfully fresh here. Thanks to the writing, his character is a relatively unique comic creation. The show has heart as well. When the father and son are dancing at the end of the pilot, it's an earned moment. The best indication, however, that I wanted to see more is simply that the show made me laugh. Numerous times.
What the detractors say: One reviewer (TV Guide) sees Shatner's character more as a "shallowly conceived grouch belching trite punch lines." Alan Speinwall and Joel Keller of AOL's TV Squad both think Shatner's character is too crude to solicit empathy although Keller thinks Shatner showed potential in one scene. There was also some criticism that the rest of the cast is somewhat weak in comparison to Shatner.
My defense: First off, the cast includes Will Sasso and Nicole Sullivan who might be taking a while to find their chemistry but they certainly have the talent as evidenced by their work on "Mad TV." Jonathan Sadowski was a last-minute replacement and he's the straight man to Shatner's funny man so he doesn't have to be the show's strongest link. The major question here is whether Shatner is convincing and it's just a matter of me buying it whereas others didn't.
Another thing to keep in mind is that this show is on CBS. The network's bread and butter is mediocre middle-of-the-road comedies like "Everybody Loves Raymond" "Yes Dear" and "Two and a Half Men." Admittedly, "Raymond" has more pathos, but none of those shows were innovative in anyway, whatsoever. At best, they were good for a few laughs in a familiar setting. If it can get past the initial torrent of negative reviews and survive its first season, there's no question "#@$* My Dad Says" could at least deliver at the bar set by the other shows on the network.
4. Outsourced on NBC:
The Hook: Outsourcing is interesting. An article on what life is like for an American middle manager transplanted to India would be intriguing so a TV show set in that world would naturally be intriguing as well. It’s not just because I was a geography major in college but because it’s relevant and has affected people I know.
How it delivers: Outsourcing has a natural go-to place for its humor in the form of culture clash jokes and the writing seems competent enough that they know how to mine it. Culture clash humor is going to rely more on the relationships between the characters than the "Hey, you guys are wearing funny hats" type of observational shtick. In that category, potential is developing in the network of relationships that’s being established. The protagonist has an American colleague (Diedrich Baker) who’s kind of boorish, a passive-aggressive assistant manager and a team of subordinates with whom he’s having several awkward Michael-Scott-like moments. There’s also an flirty Australian love interest but she’s been kept in the background so far.
Criticism: Todd van der Werff of the A.V. Club declares this is the end of NBC Thursday night's glory days. According to him, the show's scenes between Americans feel like they're on a different show than the ones portraying American-Indian culture clash and neither are executed particularly well. Some critics found the characters boring like the blogger from Film School Rejects who named this show the failure of the season. James Poniewozik acknowledges "satire is a dangerous zone" but says the show is a disappointment with cheap jokes that insult the audience.
My response: Again, it's a matter of placing too much emphasis on the pilot. Characters might be one-dimensional in the pilot because there's not enough screen time to develop everybody and give exposition in 22 minutes. The show's breakout characters in Parks and Recreation, Ron Swanson and Tom Haverford, seemed like dumb one-note characters in the pilot too. Swanson gave a speech about he preferred Chuck-E-Cheese to government and it seemed like the writers were trying too hard to inject the characters with quirks. Over times, his quirks formed part of a fully-fleshed personality that strengthened because it stayed consistent over several episodes. I could see three or four of these characters as pop culture stalwarts like Ron Swanson or Dwight from "The Office." In addition, there were only a few one-line gags in the pilot which is an indication that the show is going to be going for broader situational laughs.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
In Defense of Four New Prime Time Comedies of the 2010 Season
Six new comedies came out on prime time this fall season and I've watched four of them: $#)%* my Dad Says, Outsourced, Raising Hope, and Running Wilde. I like them all and think that the kinks that came with the pilots can be eventually worked out.
The critical consensus is that of disappointment with some, if not, all of these shows. Since I've been liking everything I saw on the comedy front this season, it might look like I'm soft but it's more of an issue of me tuning out the crap. A good amount of TV is derivative and uninspired and I knew fairly early on that "Mike and Molly" and "Better than You" fit that category. The former (premise: fat schlub finds a woman willing to marry him) was also identical in premise to "King of Queens," "According to Jim," or "Still Standing"; the latter (some variation of newlyweds awkwardly adjust to larger social circle) looks indistinguishable from "Worst Week", "Til Death", "For Your Love" or "Everybody Loves Raymond." I was bored before I even tuned in and I'm thankful that only two shows on that level of blandness exist this season.
The other four new comedies each offer something original and for that they deserve our attention and the benefit of the doubt that given time they can grow. This is dually important because unoriginal and uninspired TV still populates the airwaves.
Here are those four shows:
1. Running Wilde on Fox
The Hook (What drew me into thinking that this would more than an ordinary show): Creator Mitch Hurwitz practically reinvented comedy with Arrested Development and Will Arnett and David Cross both excelled under his tutelage. The premise of a rich man who is absurdly out of touch with reality being brought down to Earth by the only woman he's ever had any contact with is certainly unique. On top of that, add in the two obstacles that she's: 1) Already engaged to someone and 2) Is voluntarily on the opposite end of the socio-economic spectrum than him
How the show delivers: The pilot was sluggish but by just the second episode we saw the kind of intricately absurd plotting that made Arrested Development so great. We also saw the complexities of the love triangle once David Cross entered the picture. Also, this show has the same chemistry between Cross and Arnett with a much better framework that pits the two against each other in a way that Arrested Development never did: Cross's character was an asexual outsider without any business accumen, so he never competed with Arnett's the way Arnett and Bateman would compete over girls and status.
What the detractors say: The pilot felt a little sluggish to the reviewers as well but there were other complaints.
Every character on AD was strong but the butler and the secretary characters don't really seem to add anything. Already, TV.com added Mr. Luntz (the secretary) to their list of least likable characters writing that, "He seems to be half-British and also weirdly half-effeminate, but he also has no real point of view."
Three reviews I've come across don't like Will Arnett as a lead character for a sitcom. Ken Levine "does not find him funny for a second", TV Guide says the show delivers "more smarm than charm" (an implication to Arnett who's comic persona is all about smarm) and Time Magazine's James Poniewozik makes the unfavorable comparison of Will Arnett as the lead to Jason Bateman in AD.
My defense: Even though the reviewers only have the pilot to work with, they should be ashamed of themselves for writing off Hurwitz so quickly. Poniewozik is already proclaiming that Hurwitz's talent will shine through eventually but probably not in this series which sounds like he's writing his epitaph. The massive improvement between the pilot and the second episode shows how promising this show can be. Will Arnett was deservedly nominated for a supporting Emmy as Gob and regularly stole the show from an incredibly talented cast. He is more of an extreme than Bateman's Michael Bluth but he's counterbalanced by greater extremes as well and there do exist relatively normal characters in the form of Migo and Puddle.
2. Raising Hope on Fox
The Hook: Just like Running Wilde, my interest in the show comes from the past work of it's creator Greg Garcia who was behind "My Name is Earl."
How the Show Delivers: I'll concede that the show's premise isn't as novel as "My Name is Earl." One show was about a lowlife crook whose winning of the lottery inspires him to make entirely unique life changes for the better and "Raising Hope" is just about a lowlife teenager who knocked up a girl. However, many of the same elements of "My Name is Earl"- characters driven toward unexpected self-improvement; exploring people on the socio-economic fringes of Americana; characters who are endearing in spite of their stupidity; moments that are genuinely touching- are here as well and that's a good reason to invest yourself in this show.
What the detractors say: Of the four TV shows, Raising Hope is getting the most positive reviews even those reviews are pretty cautious. Most have said that the pilot isn't that great but that it shows promise. Looking at a couple of those reviews at Time Magazine and AV Club), there seems to be some criticism of the show treating their characters with contempt as well as the gags being lazy. Former TV scribe Ken Levine, who blogs here wrote "this show felt like all the white trash jokes they couldn’t get to on MY NAME IS EARL they jammed in here."
My response: I am in agreement here that the show's humor is unimpressive early on and coming from desperate places. At the same time, I would expect a low laughs-per-minute ratio on a show like this in comparison to a better sitcom. The humor doesn't come from one-liners but rather our relationships to the characters and those will grow over time. Early on, the change in pace and the general weirdness of "My Name is Earl" meant it took a little while to grow on you as well.
3. #@)$*() My Dad Says on CBS:
Hook: #@$*( My Dad Says comes from a unique source in the form of a guy on Twitter who started blogging funny things his old-fashioned dad was saying. That doesn't necessarily mean the show will be good, but it gets my attention because if the show is created by an outsider, I'll probably get a fresh perspective. Also, it is a perspective that is pretty relatable: Most of us have at least one elderly relative who casually says things in the privacy of their own home that would get us in a lot of trouble if those words came out of our mouths.
How it delivers: William Shatner, who can be easily pigeonholed in our heads as that caricature of his Captain Kirk character he's been doing for years, is delightfully fresh here. Thanks to the writing, his character is a relatively unique comic creation. The show has heart as well. When the father and son are dancing at the end of the pilot, it's an earned moment. The best indication, however, that I wanted to see more is simply that the show made me laugh. Numerous times.
What the detractors say: One reviewer (TV Guide) sees Shatner's character more as a "shallowly conceived grouch belching trite punch lines." Alan Speinwall and Joel Keller of AOL's TV Squad both think Shatner's character is too crude to solicit empathy although Keller thinks Shatner showed potential in one scene. There was also some criticism that the rest of the cast is somewhat weak in comparison to Shatner.
My defense: First off, the cast includes Will Sasso and Nicole Sullivan who might be taking a while to find their chemistry but they certainly have the talent as evidenced by their work on "Mad TV." Jonathan Sadowski was a last-minute replacement and he's the straight man to Shatner's funny man so he doesn't have to be the show's strongest link. The major question here is whether Shatner is convincing and it's just a matter of me buying it whereas others didn't.
Another thing to keep in mind is that this show is on CBS. The network's bread and butter is mediocre middle-of-the-road comedies like "Everybody Loves Raymond" "Yes Dear" and "Two and a Half Men." Admittedly, "Raymond" has more pathos, but none of those shows were innovative in anyway, whatsoever. At best, they were good for a few laughs in a familiar setting. If it can get past the initial torrent of negative reviews and survive its first season, there's no question "#@$* My Dad Says" could at least deliver at the bar set by the other shows on the network.
4. Outsourced on NBC:
The Hook: Outsourcing is interesting. An article on what life is like for an American middle manager transplanted to India would be intriguing so a TV show set in that world would naturally be intriguing as well. It’s not just because I was a geography major in college but because it’s relevant and has affected people I know.
How it delivers: Outsourcing has a natural go-to place for its humor in the form of culture clash jokes and the writing seems competent enough that they know how to mine it. Culture clash humor is going to rely more on the relationships between the characters than the "Hey, you guys are wearing funny hats" type of observational shtick. In that category, potential is developing in the network of relationships that’s being established. The protagonist has an American colleague (Diedrich Baker) who’s kind of boorish, a passive-aggressive assistant manager and a team of subordinates with whom he’s having several awkward Michael-Scott-like moments. There’s also an flirty Australian love interest but she’s been kept in the background so far.
Criticism: Todd van der Werff of the A.V. Club declares this is the end of NBC Thursday night's glory days. According to him, the show's scenes between Americans feel like they're on a different show than the ones portraying American-Indian culture clash and neither are executed particularly well. Some critics found the characters boring like the blogger from Film School Rejects who named this show the failure of the season. James Poniewozik acknowledges "satire is a dangerous zone" but says the show is a disappointment with cheap jokes that insult the audience.
My response: Again, it's a matter of placing too much emphasis on the pilot. Characters might be one-dimensional in the pilot because there's not enough screen time to develop everybody and give exposition in 22 minutes. The show's breakout characters in Parks and Recreation, Ron Swanson and Tom Haverford, seemed like dumb one-note characters in the pilot too. Swanson gave a speech about he preferred Chuck-E-Cheese to government and it seemed like the writers were trying too hard to inject the characters with quirks. Over times, his quirks formed part of a fully-fleshed personality that strengthened because it stayed consistent over several episodes. I could see three or four of these characters as pop culture stalwarts like Ron Swanson or Dwight from "The Office." In addition, there were only a few one-line gags in the pilot which is an indication that the show is going to be going for broader situational laughs.
Thanks for reading and be sure to click on my work at examiner.
The critical consensus is that of disappointment with some, if not, all of these shows. Since I've been liking everything I saw on the comedy front this season, it might look like I'm soft but it's more of an issue of me tuning out the crap. A good amount of TV is derivative and uninspired and I knew fairly early on that "Mike and Molly" and "Better than You" fit that category. The former (premise: fat schlub finds a woman willing to marry him) was also identical in premise to "King of Queens," "According to Jim," or "Still Standing"; the latter (some variation of newlyweds awkwardly adjust to larger social circle) looks indistinguishable from "Worst Week", "Til Death", "For Your Love" or "Everybody Loves Raymond." I was bored before I even tuned in and I'm thankful that only two shows on that level of blandness exist this season.
The other four new comedies each offer something original and for that they deserve our attention and the benefit of the doubt that given time they can grow. This is dually important because unoriginal and uninspired TV still populates the airwaves.
Here are those four shows:
1. Running Wilde on Fox
The Hook (What drew me into thinking that this would more than an ordinary show): Creator Mitch Hurwitz practically reinvented comedy with Arrested Development and Will Arnett and David Cross both excelled under his tutelage. The premise of a rich man who is absurdly out of touch with reality being brought down to Earth by the only woman he's ever had any contact with is certainly unique. On top of that, add in the two obstacles that she's: 1) Already engaged to someone and 2) Is voluntarily on the opposite end of the socio-economic spectrum than him
How the show delivers: The pilot was sluggish but by just the second episode we saw the kind of intricately absurd plotting that made Arrested Development so great. We also saw the complexities of the love triangle once David Cross entered the picture. Also, this show has the same chemistry between Cross and Arnett with a much better framework that pits the two against each other in a way that Arrested Development never did: Cross's character was an asexual outsider without any business accumen, so he never competed with Arnett's the way Arnett and Bateman would compete over girls and status.
What the detractors say: The pilot felt a little sluggish to the reviewers as well but there were other complaints.
Every character on AD was strong but the butler and the secretary characters don't really seem to add anything. Already, TV.com added Mr. Luntz (the secretary) to their list of least likable characters writing that, "He seems to be half-British and also weirdly half-effeminate, but he also has no real point of view."
Three reviews I've come across don't like Will Arnett as a lead character for a sitcom. Ken Levine "does not find him funny for a second", TV Guide says the show delivers "more smarm than charm" (an implication to Arnett who's comic persona is all about smarm) and Time Magazine's James Poniewozik makes the unfavorable comparison of Will Arnett as the lead to Jason Bateman in AD.
My defense: Even though the reviewers only have the pilot to work with, they should be ashamed of themselves for writing off Hurwitz so quickly. Poniewozik is already proclaiming that Hurwitz's talent will shine through eventually but probably not in this series which sounds like he's writing his epitaph. The massive improvement between the pilot and the second episode shows how promising this show can be. Will Arnett was deservedly nominated for a supporting Emmy as Gob and regularly stole the show from an incredibly talented cast. He is more of an extreme than Bateman's Michael Bluth but he's counterbalanced by greater extremes as well and there do exist relatively normal characters in the form of Migo and Puddle.
2. Raising Hope on Fox
The Hook: Just like Running Wilde, my interest in the show comes from the past work of it's creator Greg Garcia who was behind "My Name is Earl."
How the Show Delivers: I'll concede that the show's premise isn't as novel as "My Name is Earl." One show was about a lowlife crook whose winning of the lottery inspires him to make entirely unique life changes for the better and "Raising Hope" is just about a lowlife teenager who knocked up a girl. However, many of the same elements of "My Name is Earl"- characters driven toward unexpected self-improvement; exploring people on the socio-economic fringes of Americana; characters who are endearing in spite of their stupidity; moments that are genuinely touching- are here as well and that's a good reason to invest yourself in this show.
What the detractors say: Of the four TV shows, Raising Hope is getting the most positive reviews even those reviews are pretty cautious. Most have said that the pilot isn't that great but that it shows promise. Looking at a couple of those reviews at Time Magazine and AV Club), there seems to be some criticism of the show treating their characters with contempt as well as the gags being lazy. Former TV scribe Ken Levine, who blogs here wrote "this show felt like all the white trash jokes they couldn’t get to on MY NAME IS EARL they jammed in here."
My response: I am in agreement here that the show's humor is unimpressive early on and coming from desperate places. At the same time, I would expect a low laughs-per-minute ratio on a show like this in comparison to a better sitcom. The humor doesn't come from one-liners but rather our relationships to the characters and those will grow over time. Early on, the change in pace and the general weirdness of "My Name is Earl" meant it took a little while to grow on you as well.
3. #@)$*() My Dad Says on CBS:
Hook: #@$*( My Dad Says comes from a unique source in the form of a guy on Twitter who started blogging funny things his old-fashioned dad was saying. That doesn't necessarily mean the show will be good, but it gets my attention because if the show is created by an outsider, I'll probably get a fresh perspective. Also, it is a perspective that is pretty relatable: Most of us have at least one elderly relative who casually says things in the privacy of their own home that would get us in a lot of trouble if those words came out of our mouths.
How it delivers: William Shatner, who can be easily pigeonholed in our heads as that caricature of his Captain Kirk character he's been doing for years, is delightfully fresh here. Thanks to the writing, his character is a relatively unique comic creation. The show has heart as well. When the father and son are dancing at the end of the pilot, it's an earned moment. The best indication, however, that I wanted to see more is simply that the show made me laugh. Numerous times.
What the detractors say: One reviewer (TV Guide) sees Shatner's character more as a "shallowly conceived grouch belching trite punch lines." Alan Speinwall and Joel Keller of AOL's TV Squad both think Shatner's character is too crude to solicit empathy although Keller thinks Shatner showed potential in one scene. There was also some criticism that the rest of the cast is somewhat weak in comparison to Shatner.
My defense: First off, the cast includes Will Sasso and Nicole Sullivan who might be taking a while to find their chemistry but they certainly have the talent as evidenced by their work on "Mad TV." Jonathan Sadowski was a last-minute replacement and he's the straight man to Shatner's funny man so he doesn't have to be the show's strongest link. The major question here is whether Shatner is convincing and it's just a matter of me buying it whereas others didn't.
Another thing to keep in mind is that this show is on CBS. The network's bread and butter is mediocre middle-of-the-road comedies like "Everybody Loves Raymond" "Yes Dear" and "Two and a Half Men." Admittedly, "Raymond" has more pathos, but none of those shows were innovative in anyway, whatsoever. At best, they were good for a few laughs in a familiar setting. If it can get past the initial torrent of negative reviews and survive its first season, there's no question "#@$* My Dad Says" could at least deliver at the bar set by the other shows on the network.
4. Outsourced on NBC:
The Hook: Outsourcing is interesting. An article on what life is like for an American middle manager transplanted to India would be intriguing so a TV show set in that world would naturally be intriguing as well. It’s not just because I was a geography major in college but because it’s relevant and has affected people I know.
How it delivers: Outsourcing has a natural go-to place for its humor in the form of culture clash jokes and the writing seems competent enough that they know how to mine it. Culture clash humor is going to rely more on the relationships between the characters than the "Hey, you guys are wearing funny hats" type of observational shtick. In that category, potential is developing in the network of relationships that’s being established. The protagonist has an American colleague (Diedrich Baker) who’s kind of boorish, a passive-aggressive assistant manager and a team of subordinates with whom he’s having several awkward Michael-Scott-like moments. There’s also an flirty Australian love interest but she’s been kept in the background so far.
Criticism: Todd van der Werff of the A.V. Club declares this is the end of NBC Thursday night's glory days. According to him, the show's scenes between Americans feel like they're on a different show than the ones portraying American-Indian culture clash and neither are executed particularly well. Some critics found the characters boring like the blogger from Film School Rejects who named this show the failure of the season. James Poniewozik acknowledges "satire is a dangerous zone" but says the show is a disappointment with cheap jokes that insult the audience.
My response: Again, it's a matter of placing too much emphasis on the pilot. Characters might be one-dimensional in the pilot because there's not enough screen time to develop everybody and give exposition in 22 minutes. The show's breakout characters in Parks and Recreation, Ron Swanson and Tom Haverford, seemed like dumb one-note characters in the pilot too. Swanson gave a speech about he preferred Chuck-E-Cheese to government and it seemed like the writers were trying too hard to inject the characters with quirks. Over times, his quirks formed part of a fully-fleshed personality that strengthened because it stayed consistent over several episodes. I could see three or four of these characters as pop culture stalwarts like Ron Swanson or Dwight from "The Office." In addition, there were only a few one-line gags in the pilot which is an indication that the show is going to be going for broader situational laughs.
Thanks for reading and be sure to click on my work at examiner.
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