Category Archives: TV

"30 Rock" isn't over – but should it be?

Posted on April 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

Alec Baldwin’s recent comments about the end of 30 Rock were quickly rebutted and walked back. Initially promising one more season, Baldwin changed his tune to five more, placating fans still shell-shocked by Arrested Development. But as the critical darling nears the 100 episode mark, would ending it be such a bad thing?

After four seasons of rewriting the book on the TV sitcom, the fifth season has been mixed, at best. Story lines have been underdeveloped and quickly discarded. After making Jack’s struggle to balance work and romance a focal point for several seasons, he finally married alpha-female Avery (Elizabeth Banks) and had a child. But with Banks’ limited availability, the “Jack as husband and father” story line has been kiboshed. The same can be said about Tracy’s newest child and Jenna’s romance with the crossdressing Paul (Will Forte). Instead of continuing to mine new material, the writers have fallen back on “Tracy/Jenna as diva” gags that have been run into the ground.

Story lines are driven by character interactions, and while we have seen most combinations multiple times, new characters (and new angles) have been neglected. While writing-out dimwit cast member Josh (Lonny Ross) wasn’t a big loss, abandoning his replacement Danny (Cheyenne Jackson) has been. The show rehashed a gag about forgetting about Danny this season, but scripting around his character would give the show a much needed infusion of new blood.

However, the most significant problem is the amped up writing. Compared to the earliest seasons, the latest episodes are too frenetic, the jokes too contrived. Going for the cheap joke and the throwaway reference makes the show resemble Family Guy. As South Park deftly satirized:


30 Rock is still fantastic TV, but it no longer lingers in the collective consciousness or holds up on repeat viewings. The problem is magnified by a show that manages to out-30 Rock 30 Rock: Community. Community has taken the reins on the Thursday night block, playing to the strengths of a talented ensemble. The show is “meta” at its finest, even topping 30 Rock‘s forays into the examination of the sitcom medium.

Ending 30 Rock now would preserve the show’s reputation as a television classic, while letting Community shine. While NBC probably won’t do it, it should. Making way for new classics keeps the Peacock vibrant… even if this topic will pop up again after about 50 episodes of Community.

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Catching up on "Bob's Burgers"

Posted on April 13, 2011 | Leave a comment

The Simpsons is the standard to which every animated family sitcom is compared. Fair or not, America’s Favorite Family continues to loom large, despite a continuing decline in quality. Seth MacFarlane has built a career out of copying the Simpsons template, taking three slots of Fox’s Animation Domination block (even if only one – American Dad – is worth watching these days). Fox is the House that Bart Built, and they’ve always been eager to develop new cartoons as long as they mesh with the flagship.

Bob’s Burgers, currently finishing its first season on Fox, is no different. The show focuses on the daily struggles of the Belcher family, with the off-beat, deadpan humor that creator Loren Bouchard brought to Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist and Home Movies. Considerably more grounded in realism (in a sitcom kind of way) than MacFarlane’s shows, Bob’s Burgers has the simplicity of early-season Simpsons and King of the Hill. There aren’t too many zany, premise-based cutaways, and you won’t find a talking dog/fish/alien/baby, just the working class tribulations of a burger joint proprietor and his strange clan.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/231513/bobs-burgers-meatsiah#s-p1-sr-i1

Like Archer, Bob’s Burgers is buoyed by fantastic voice work. H. Jon Benjamin plays yet another title character, making Bob more Coach McGuirk than Sterling Archer. In a bit of gender-bending, Dan Mintz and John Roberts voice two of the Belcher women: the painfully awkward Tina and the shrill matriarch Linda, respectively. Gene is what I imagine Eugene Mirman was like as a child: willing to do anything for attention and without a sense of self-awareness. The breakout talent – and character – is Louise, distinctly voiced by Kristen Schaal (late of Flight of the Conchords). The baby of the family, Louise is one part Bart and one part Roger the alien.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/220684/bobs-burgers-birthday-gift#s-p4-sr-i1

Like King of the Hill, the show incorporates workplace comedy into a traditional family sitcom. Most episodes revolve the family struggling to keep the business alive, whether under threat from the health inspector (“Human Flesh”), robbery (“Hamburger Dinner Theater”), or local competition (“Burger Wars”). Pretty standard fare, but always with a subversive twist, be it cannibalism, cross-dressing, or animal anuses.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/224936/bobs-burgers-horse-butt#s-p3-sr-i1

Bob’s Burgers did what most Fox shows don’t: it got renewed for a second season. It is currently on hiatus until early May, but the first ten episodes are available on Hulu. If you miss the heart that The Simpsons used to have, or if you’re tired of the lowest common denominator comedy of Family Guy, watch Bob’s Burgers.

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The final bell for "Lights Out"

Posted on April 6, 2011 | Leave a comment

The first and final season of Lights Out reached its conclusion last night. In the nine episodes that have aired since I last wrote about the show, Lights Out answered my critiques, and then some.

Throughout the show, Patrick “Lights” Leary is torn between two families, pitting the needs of his wife and kids against the needs of his siblings and parents. It’s a complicated dynamic that doesn’t quite run parallel to the tension between Lights’ desire to do things the right way versus the necessary way. Stacey Keach was a constant bright spot in the cast, even if a late-season appearance by Lights’ mother played out predictably. As the season progressed, Johnny (Pablo Schreiber) became more sympathetic, more damaged than malicious, while their sister Margaret (Elizabeth Marvel) moved in the other direction. The only shortfall continued to be the weakly characterized children, but there is only so much you can do in 40 minutes chunks.

Lights fought his way back from the street to the ring to challenge “Death Row” Reynolds. Along the way, he helped train a loser, took out the vicious Javier ‘El Diablo’ Morales, and survived various underworld diversions. The shady world of boxing promotion was on full display. Neither the characters nor the audience could pin down Hal Brennan or Barry Word, thanks to nuanced performances from character actors Bill Corwin and Reg E. Cathey. The excellent David Morse showed up as a punch drunk boxer (and cautionary tale). Eamonn Walker was mesmerizing as headcase trainer Ed Romeo. Unfortunately, he played the role of Magical Negro, coming out of nowhere to offer a new perspective on life and boxing to our white hero, before returning to whence he came.

The central dramatic issue of the show was how far Lights would go for the championship belt. As far as morality, Lights was not without fault; he was a button man and a cage fighter; he’d get someone to intimidate a witness. Yet the physical cost of fighting, and the threat of Pugilistic Dementia, loomed larger than any prison time. By the end of the show, Lights got what he wanted, but at what cost?

After a season of declining ratings, the decision not to renew Lights Out was an easy one for FX. And unlike a show like Terriers, the end feels natural. Where else could the writers take this show and these characters? Lights’ narrative is complete, recasting the show as a 13-episode, 9-hour miniseries. In a backwards sort of way, FX is crafting shows in the British style: short runs that tell self-contained stories. Lights Out proves that not every show needs to go 12 rounds to be a knockout.

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First thoughts: "The Borgias"

Posted on April 4, 2011 | 1 comment

After the success of The Tudors, it was only a matter of time before Showtime cracked open the history books for another sexy historical drama. Even more scandalous than the House of Tudor was the House of Borgia; the latter is the subject of Showtime’s latest offering.

The Borgias were an Italian noble family of Spanish ancestry that rose to power in the late 15th century. On their list of accused crimes: adultery, simony, theft, rape, bribery, incest, and murder. Not too shabby for a family whose patriarch gained the highest perch in all of Renaissance-era Europe: the Papacy.

The Borgias is the brainchild of Neil Jordan, the writer/director behind The Crying Game. It is a well-dressed historical drama, with lush costumes and sets befitting noble courts. Jeremy Irons brings considerable heft to a cast of (mostly unknowns) as Rodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI. It looks like François Arnaud, who plays Rodrigo’s son Cesare, will be a major focus, as he ruthlessly acts as Cardinal and consigliere for his father.

The two-hour premier of The Borgias focused on Rodrigo Borgia’s controversial transformation into Pope Alexander VI. The politics of the College of Cardinals, the Borgia clan’s complicated relationships, and Cesare Borgia’s behind-the-scenes machinations also provide grist for the program. It also features the sex and violence that have come to define premium cable dramas; in this case, it doesn’t feel forced.

However, the show is flawed by the Shakespearean reading given to the dialogue – a British accent the stand-in for Italian and Latin intonations. But if you can get beyond that, the show has promise. This period of history is particularly rich – so rich, in fact, that there is another show in development about the same figures. Tom Fontana, who created Oz, does the same for Borgia for France’s CanalPlus. Let’s hope that Fontana brings the same no-holds-barred approach to his version of the Borgia mythology. For now, The Borgias has the advantage of being the first horse out of the gate.

The Borgias airs on Showtime, Sundays at 10pm.

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"Nurse Jackie" and "United States of Tara" return tonight

Posted on March 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

Showtime is the network built by women. Starting with Weeds in 2005, Showtime’s emergence as a drama powerhouse on par with HBO coincided with focusing on dark comedies about strong female characters (even in ostensibly male-oriented shows like Dexter and Californication). Two of the shows responsible for the network’s premium cable dominance return for third seasons tonight, after second season finales that asked as many questions as they answered.

When we last saw Edie Falco’s Nurse Jackie, things were starting to catch up with the no-bullshit title character. After two seasons of popping pills, banging pharmacists, and generally carrying on a double life, Jackie faced an intervention of sorts, as husband Kevin and best friend Dr. O’Hara finally started to figure things out. Her reaction? “My name is Jackie, and I’m an addict.” Cue tear-stained, molar-baring laughter. “Blow me.” It was a pitch-perfect end to the season.

While the show is sharply written and features a host of well-drawn characters, Nurse Jackie fits Showtime’s high concept model to a tee: main character strives for normalcy while dealing with a deep, dark – and possibly illegal – secret. As shows like Weeds and Dexter have found success, the greatest challenge seems to be making the show compelling while continuing to raise the stakes. However, with no end game in sight, the plots start to strain under the weight, pushing on the audience’s credulity.

Jackie now faces the same problem. With things out in the open, what is the show about? From the finale, a mea culpa from Jackie followed by a long recovery seems neither in character or particularly interesting. Judging by the trailer, it looks like Jackie’s infidelity remains a secret; the Jackie-Kevin-Eddie dynamic will be further complicated as Kevin’s sister Tunie (Jaimie Alexander) enters the picture. With that new twist, and the best hospital staff dynamic since early Scrubs, watching Jackie dig a deeper hole is as much schadenfreude-filled fun as ever.

While Nurse Jackie is somewhat hamstrung, United States of Tara continues to expand upon its premise. The nature of Toni Collette’s dissociative character allows for new developments, within reason. From the original trio of personalities (Alice, Buck, and T), new elements of Tara’s psyche have emerged: her id personified as Gimme, her internal therapist Shoshana, and the infantile Chicken. It’s a bit of a full house, but each break-off persona is organically linked to a specific stress or trauma, and watching Collette stretch and contort into each role is fascinating.

After hitting a wall in her treatment and the search for the root causes of her condition, Tara continued down the rabbit hole in the second season. With help from her sister Charmaine, she found Mimi, the woman with whom the girls were inexplicably fostered during their youth (and the model for Alice). As the girls finally confront their parents, their mother’s evasive behavior and their father’s worsening mental health only raised more questions (is their mysterious half-brother really gone? Probably not). Meanwhile, the family dealt with their own issues: Charmaine and Kate broke off unhealthy relationships, Marshall confronted his sexuality, and Max (the best husband ever) struggled to hold the whole mess together.

From the trailer, it looks like a new persona will enter the mix, along with some new people: the magnificent Eddie Izzard returns to TV as Tara’s psychology professor. And while Max, Charmaine, Kate, and Marshall will undoubtedly have their own trials and tribulations, the show belongs to Tara – all of her.

Showtime runs Monday nights, at least for the next few months. Nurse Jackie airs at 10PM followed by United States of Tara at 10:30PM.

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TV theme song classics (90s edition)

Posted on March 14, 2011 | 1 comment

With the news that Nickelodeon will be re-airing classic 90s shows like Clarissa Explains It All and The Adventures of Pete and Pete, I’ve decided to take another look/listen at some of the television theme songs that defined Millennial childhoods.

Polaris – Hey Sandy (The Adventures of Pete and Pete)

Polaris, a side-project of college rock band Miracle Legion, were basically the house band for the surreal Nickelodeon dramedy, performing much of the show’s original music. “Hey Sandy” is a jangly, pre-grunge tune that may actually be about the Kent State shootings (what!). Pete and Pete is also notable for its famous guest stars, most of whom were not so notable to your 10-year-old self, like Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, LL Cool J, and Michael Stipe.

The Presidents of the USA – Cleveland Rocks (The Drew Carey Show)

In the third season, the Drew Carey Show featured a new theme song: a cover of Ian Hunter’s 1979 “Cleveland Rocks.” While more famous for songs like “Peaches,” “Lump,” and their cover of “Video Killed the Radio Star,” the PUSA bring their usual post-grunge spin to the anthemic classic.

Rachel Sweet – Theme to Clarissa Explains It All (Clarissa Explains It All)

Rachel Sweet had a bit of a pop career in the 80s before retiring from the music business, and she also composed this totally 90s theme song classic. The nonsense vocal samples – “na na na,” “way cool,” “all right all right,” “just do it” – sound like Casio keyboard samples. That didn’t stop it from defining the early 90s for most of our cohort.

Splendora – You’re Standing on My Neck (Daria)

As Nickelodeon fans grew up, they found a welcoming home at MTV. If Clarissa was more sarcastic, she’d be Daria. The show, originally a spin-off from Beavis and Butthead, far surpassed its sophomoric origins and became the biting high school satire that still holds up today. Splendora might have peaked with this song, but they’ll live on in the hearts of Generation Y cynics forever.

[wpaudio url=”/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Splendora-Youre-Standing-On-My-Neck.mp3″ text=”Splendora – You’re Standing On My Neck” dl=”0″]

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Thoughts on the first season of "Portlandia"

Posted on March 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

The 90s gave us many things, among them grunge, The Real World, apathy, and other touchstones of Generation X. Usually relegated to the bottom of the list is sketch comedy, even though countless classics emerged during the decade: In Living Color, Mr. Show, The State, and Upright Citizens Brigade, just to name a few.

So it’s fitting that IFC’s Portlandia launches with the song “Dream of the 90s.” According to the show, the stereotypical 90s lifestyle – piercings and tattoos, environmentalism, bicycling, coffeeshop culture – is still going strong in Portland, “the city where young people go to retire.”

The sketch comedy show from SNL’s Fred Armisen and ex-Sleater-Kinney member Carrie Brownstein films on location and skewers the crunchy Northwestern city with great affection.

The targets of parody basically equate to examples of hipster culture, to the point where Portland is a stand-in for hipster meccas like Williamsburg and Austin. Widening the net definitely makes the show more relatable, but it sacrifices any sense of nuance about Portland’s specific character. This probably isn’t a big loss; if you want accuracy, watch the Travel Channel.

Skits about OCD locavores, adult hide-and-seek leagues, and feminist book stores hit their marks; “putting birds on things” and hand blown lightbulbs, not as much. Occasionally, the perfect mix of concept, execution and editing results in instant classics: terrifying “Google culture” offices and competitive readers (“I did not like the ending.”) are terrific.

Armisen and Brownstein carry the bulk of the show by themselves, playing a variety of recurring and one-off characters. In true sketch show fashion, they have no problem cross-dressing and gender-swapping for effect. Guest actors fill out the roster with hilarious results: Steve Buscemi, Heather Graham, and Aubrey Plaza make appearances, and Kyle MacLachlan shows up in a few episodes, known only as The Mayor.

The show’s use of indie musicians, however, is mixed. In a biting bit of satire about the state of the music industry, the couple hires Aimee Mann as their housekeeper. The two bounce between super-fan and super-yuppie, dishing out cleaning tips and insulting other female singer-songwriters (Sarah McLachlan wins the award for the Best Cameo of All Time). Unfortunately, the SXSW parody episode entitled “Blunderbuss” is a one-note joke stretched over twenty minutes, with fan-service cameos by James Mercer, Colin Meloy, Corin Tucker and Gus Van Zant wasted.

By the last episode, I found the series to be sputtering and grasping for straws. I’m not sure that there is enough material to mine for the recently-greenlit second season. If the first season felt like mid-90s SNL, I fear the second will feel like MadTV.

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Still not watching "Archer?" Here's your chance.

Posted on February 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

Looking for the funniest show on television? Forget NBC’s resuscitation of Thursday night “Must See TV” or ABC’s ensemble gem Modern Family – turn to basic cable.

FX’s Archer, for the uninitiated, is an animated show from the mind behind cult classics Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo, Adam Reed. The title refers to main character Sterling Archer (the impeccable H. Jon Benjamin), a narcissistic, hedonistic secret agent at the dysfunctional spy agency ISIS.

If James Bond has been done to death, so has the spy parody (Get Smart, Austin Powers). Yet week after week, Archer manages to find new targets of ridicule, from double agents to the honeypot. And when the trappings of the spy genre aren’t in its sights, the show skewers ISIS itself for an absurd workplace comedy.

The world of Archer is intentionally anachronistic, with the style of the 60s (think Mad Men), the politics of the Cold War, and the culture and vernacular of the modern day. With Reed’s signature brand of vulgar black comedy and rapid-fire dialogue, Archer tailors Frisky Dingo into a more mainstream package.

The characters are well-drawn, both literally and figuratively. Archer’s relationship with his mother – and boss – Malory (voiced by and designed for Jessica Walter) would give Freud headaches. Complicating matters is his ex-girlfriend Lana (Aisha Tyler), another ISIS spy, and her (in)significant other Cyril (Chris Parnell), who doubles as ISIS bean counter.

Midway into its second season, Archer keeps getting stronger, building up running jokes and delving deeper into twisted secondary characters. The interplay between the inappropriate Pam and the clueless (and asphixiation-obsessed) Cheryl is a highlight, as is the show’s Q-like Dr. Krieger. In particular, Krieger gets funnier as the jokes get sicker. A brief rundown of Krieger’s antics: dosing interns, videotaping something “…darker” than bumfights, making his own breastmilk, and a brief affair with Cheryl that involved a mechanical claw and “slacking off.”

Archer is on a 30-day delay on Hulu, so the second season is just available now (the pilot will disappear in a few days). Stay tuned for the third episode this season, “Blood Test,” which is the show’s strongest offering yet. In a testament to the writing, the script weaves in references to both Of Mice and Men and William Burroughs, while Archer attempts to determine the paternity of a baby a prostitute says is his. (Spoiler alert: the baby appears in a later episode and the possibilities open up even more inappropriate humor.)

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Californication's Queens of Dogtown: Fake band, real covers

Posted on February 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

On last week’s Californication, we finally got to see Becca’s new band in action. The Queens of Dogtown cover of “Would?” by Alice in Chains is nothing groundbreaking, but it’s good for a little grunge nostalgia, and its dejected lyrics serve as a parallel for Hank’s latest trials and tribulations.

Like Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem and Drive Shaft before them, Queens of Dogtown is fictional. But that hasn’t stopped Showtime from setting up a Myspace page for the band and selling their songs as part of this season’s soundtrack. Along with “Would?,” The Queens cover the Misifts’ classic “Last Caress” and monster ballad “I Remember” by Skid Row.

Californication is the ultimate illustration of art imitating life. David Duchovny’s Hank Moody is drug-addled and sex-crazed, just like his novels, and in real life, Duchovny is a recovering sex addict. Following suit, the band’s frontwoman is played by Zoë Kravitz, the daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet. Kravitz is no stranger to the mic: she’s the lead singer for non-fictional band Elevator Fight.

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First thoughts: "Mr. Sunshine"

Posted on February 10, 2011 | Leave a comment

Matthew Perry has never been able to escape from the shadow of Chandler Bing, the fount of sarcasm that he played for 10 years on Friends. Mr. Sunshine, his new passion project on ABC, seems to embrace that fact.

Perry plays Ben Donovan, the manager of a second-rate San Diego arena, who is entering the mid-life crisis that typically befalls people who call it The Big Four Oh. His boss Crystal is played by Allison Janney, who seems intent on pushing the limits of the zany boss trope. Rounding out the cast are Las Vegas‘ James Lesure as Ben’s friend and polar opposite, Andrea Anders as his sometime-love interest, Portia Doubleday as his pyromaniacal assistant, and Nate Torrence as Crystal’s clueless son.

From the pilot, it’s obvious that the single-camera show is more Cougar Town than Modern Family. Perry is writing and producing the show alongside Alex Barnow and Marc Firek, the team behind the unremarkable sitcoms Rules of Engagement and ‘Til Death. The writing isn’t *that* bad, and there were a few oddball lines that get some laughs. Mostly, the show leans heavily on the comedic timing of Perry, Janney, and Anders (who was a gem on the short-lived Better Off Ted).

Here’s hoping the show can move beyond the de rigueur sitcom themes of commitment-phobic men and 40 year olds behaving badly. At the very least, it’s something to watch after Modern Family until Cougar Town returns.

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