(Sorry I didn't get to this earlier in the week. Also sorry that I'm offering a blanket apology rather than personally apologizing to the three of you who'll read this.)
Three Up
3. Stan Larsen. After spending most of the season moping around and doing the wrong thing, Stan finally sets himself in the direction of the right thing by getting the public to remember his daughter and get justice done. It's not always pretty - his statement during Richmond's press conference goes off the rails at the end - but between this and throwing Terry out of the house, he's beginning to reassert himself.
2. Darren Richmond. He's back on the campaign trail, and when Gwen's attempt at getting Stan to make a statement via subterfuge (a plea deal she can't deliver, and which Stan wisely passes on until it's in writing), Richmond goes to the Larsen house and has a good conversation about wanting to find the killer and how Stan needs to get people to remember Rosie if they're not doing a good enough job themselves. He also tells Gwen he will tell the truth about what he was doing the night of the murder, which she's not thrilled about, but it never comes to pass that we see. He's not all the way back, but he's getting there.
1. Nicole Jackson. The chief of the Kalimish tribe and head of the Wapi Eagle casino, she's asserted from the start that Rosie, as a minor, couldn't be in the casino. When Linden confronts her later that there's proof she was in the casino, Jackson uses her clout (and the lack of Linden's jurisdiction) to get Linden removed from the casino. She's taking a more direct approach with Holder, and with the backing of Ames and the mayor, she has to feel pretty good that whatever secret she's hiding on the 10th floor of the hotel will remain safe.
Three Down
3. Terry Marek. One of the boys mentions that the cops talked to Terry, and when she can't explain to Stan what they wanted he presses and learns that the boyfriend that just threw her over was Michael Ames. She also mentions that she had a role (if not the sole role) in getting Rosie hooked up with Beau Soleil. This enrages Stan, and he throws her out. She's now more alone than she's been in the entire series.
2. Jack Linden. Jack is clearly enamored with the idea of staying with Holder for the foreseeable future, but then has to make do when he and his mom move into yet another hotel. After getting a list of increasingly paranoid orders from his mom, he hunkers down rather sullenly. We next see him in the room with men claiming to be from Child Protective Services, answering a call about Sarah's neglect (question: did the call come from Jack's dad or Nicole Jackson, and how did whoever call find them?). Jack then sneaks out of the bathroom window, and with Sarah (who faked a call), they run away. Sarah tries to comfort him, but Jack is in the passenger's seat, sad and angry and not wanting to talk to his mother at all. I would not want to be in that kid's head.
1. Stephen Holder. Things start off well for him - he's a gracious host and his book on butterflies gives Linden an idea about checking out the casino and surrounding land. Holder is sent into the casino to sniff out new construction, and gets a lead to check out the 10th floor from a male hooker (his second stop after getting set up with an elderly female hooker). He can't get on to the 10th floor, but gets another break when a maid gives him a matchbook, and when getting off the elevator says she hopes the family got Rosie's backpack back OK. The matchbook has the time and location of a meeting, though it's questionable Holder will show, as he gets picked up casino security and is driven out to the woods, where a cross-section of the local Kalimish start to beat the tar out of him. Even worse, they kick-dial Linden, so not only is Holder possibly getting beat to death, his partner gets to hear it over her phone. Things went south really quickly, didn't they.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Sunday, May 06, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men
Three Up
3. Stan Rizzo. He doesn't have many lines in the episode, but he may have the best one when, after Megan announces she's quitting, he explains why he gets by saying that she works like crazy, sweats out the results, and generally stresses out over something as prosaic as beans. Better to chase a dream than go through the wringer for something like that. His words have an impact, too, as Peggy clearly reacts to what he says.
2. Michael Ginsburg. He kills a pitch to start the episode, has a funny interchange with Megan (and Peggy by interjection) asking if she gets clothes or has to act in her own clothes, and then closes his night by saying that the lame song Ken suggests for his ad is "stabbing me in the heart" (it's certainly not suggestive of the Beatles, which is what they were supposed to be going for).
1. Megan Draper. So she starts the episode lying to get out of work so she can go to a call back for a play. She doesn't get the part, but the experience solidifies her desire to return to acting full time. She tells Peggy this first, and while Peggy's not supportive she does get Megan straightened out enough to tell Don. Don is very understanding, and tells Megan to quit the next day. She does this, and while it's hard for her, she gets through it and is much happier, if a little oblivious to the concerns others have over her departure. She ever tries to get Don to listen to the Beatles, which is about as brave as her quitting.
Three Down
3. Peggy Olsen. She gets caught up in Megan lying to Don about her call back, and then gets stuck with extra work when Megan quits. She then fills in for Megan during a presentation for Cool Whip, and winds up arguing with Don over why Megan left. He more or less blames Peggy and the rest of the staff for being cynical and petty. Peggy does blow the tag line for the ad ("Just taste it!"), but she's mad at Don over his role in having Megan come aboard, but also mad that she's losing someone with obvious talent. She does have a small disagreement with Joan about Megan, nothing to damage their growing relationship but interesting in their differing opinions on Megan's skills and Don't taste in women.
2. Don Draper. Don is very supportive of Megan's quitting, but underestimates the resulting problems, most notably with Peggy. He's also concerned for himself, as seen in the none-too-subtle use of an elevator shaft to suggest the yawning chasm that may be opening up now that Don won't be with Megan pretty much 24/7. Don's Cool Whip pitch and resulting argument with Peggy is ugly, and while he's likely arguing from truth (Megan had voiced a similar opinion of her coworkers in the past), he also doesn't recognize the stresses that came with marrying (and then promoting) Megan. He even has to get marriage advice from Roger, whose suggestion of keeping to a schedule came from his ex-father in law. I'm assuming Roger didn't follow it. Don ends the episode listening to "Tomorrow Never Knows" by the Beatles, and turning it off before the end. His overall apathy towards music is problematic, on top of everything else.
1. Pete Campbell. Having failed in seducing his driver's ed classmate, Pete finds a new object of philandering in Beth, the wife of his train buddy Howard, who has started to use an apartment in the city to cheat. It starts with Pete giving her a ride home, and he tries to cover for Howard, but it's flimsy cover at best. They do it in the living room, and afterwards Beth makes it clear it's a one time thing. Pete doesn't believe in one time things, calling Beth and wangling an invite to their house under the cover of buying insurance. Beth continues to state she doesn't want to get into an affair. He schedules a rendezvous at a hotel, but Beth doesn't show up. At the end of the episode she does draw a heart in window fog for Peter, which gives Peter hope even as Beth tries to resist.
3. Stan Rizzo. He doesn't have many lines in the episode, but he may have the best one when, after Megan announces she's quitting, he explains why he gets by saying that she works like crazy, sweats out the results, and generally stresses out over something as prosaic as beans. Better to chase a dream than go through the wringer for something like that. His words have an impact, too, as Peggy clearly reacts to what he says.
2. Michael Ginsburg. He kills a pitch to start the episode, has a funny interchange with Megan (and Peggy by interjection) asking if she gets clothes or has to act in her own clothes, and then closes his night by saying that the lame song Ken suggests for his ad is "stabbing me in the heart" (it's certainly not suggestive of the Beatles, which is what they were supposed to be going for).
1. Megan Draper. So she starts the episode lying to get out of work so she can go to a call back for a play. She doesn't get the part, but the experience solidifies her desire to return to acting full time. She tells Peggy this first, and while Peggy's not supportive she does get Megan straightened out enough to tell Don. Don is very understanding, and tells Megan to quit the next day. She does this, and while it's hard for her, she gets through it and is much happier, if a little oblivious to the concerns others have over her departure. She ever tries to get Don to listen to the Beatles, which is about as brave as her quitting.
Three Down
3. Peggy Olsen. She gets caught up in Megan lying to Don about her call back, and then gets stuck with extra work when Megan quits. She then fills in for Megan during a presentation for Cool Whip, and winds up arguing with Don over why Megan left. He more or less blames Peggy and the rest of the staff for being cynical and petty. Peggy does blow the tag line for the ad ("Just taste it!"), but she's mad at Don over his role in having Megan come aboard, but also mad that she's losing someone with obvious talent. She does have a small disagreement with Joan about Megan, nothing to damage their growing relationship but interesting in their differing opinions on Megan's skills and Don't taste in women.
2. Don Draper. Don is very supportive of Megan's quitting, but underestimates the resulting problems, most notably with Peggy. He's also concerned for himself, as seen in the none-too-subtle use of an elevator shaft to suggest the yawning chasm that may be opening up now that Don won't be with Megan pretty much 24/7. Don's Cool Whip pitch and resulting argument with Peggy is ugly, and while he's likely arguing from truth (Megan had voiced a similar opinion of her coworkers in the past), he also doesn't recognize the stresses that came with marrying (and then promoting) Megan. He even has to get marriage advice from Roger, whose suggestion of keeping to a schedule came from his ex-father in law. I'm assuming Roger didn't follow it. Don ends the episode listening to "Tomorrow Never Knows" by the Beatles, and turning it off before the end. His overall apathy towards music is problematic, on top of everything else.
1. Pete Campbell. Having failed in seducing his driver's ed classmate, Pete finds a new object of philandering in Beth, the wife of his train buddy Howard, who has started to use an apartment in the city to cheat. It starts with Pete giving her a ride home, and he tries to cover for Howard, but it's flimsy cover at best. They do it in the living room, and afterwards Beth makes it clear it's a one time thing. Pete doesn't believe in one time things, calling Beth and wangling an invite to their house under the cover of buying insurance. Beth continues to state she doesn't want to get into an affair. He schedules a rendezvous at a hotel, but Beth doesn't show up. At the end of the episode she does draw a heart in window fog for Peter, which gives Peter hope even as Beth tries to resist.
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: The Killing
Three Up
3. Alexei Giffords. He finally confronts Stan at Rosie's graveside, and is able to give him crap about how Stan got himself kicked out of Kovarski's gang (which I'm not sure is true, though giving Stan money to start his business may be the Kovarski equivalent of a golden parachute) and how Stan should have been capped rather than Alexei's dad. Stan pushes back on why Alexei hasn't made a run at him, to which Alexei notes if it wasn't for Rosie, Stan would be dead by now.
2. Gwen Eaton. Back in DC, she's watching Richmond's first interview with some colleagues, who note that he'll never get back into the race unless he can get rid of the stink caused by the murder charges. After (or I suppose during) a dinner with her dad, in which she learns he wants her to resume her role as his "secret weapon" - something she's been doing for him since she was 14 - she decides her path leads back to Seattle. She shows up at the hospital, and says she's back to get Richmond past the murder charges and into the mayor's office. Darren snubs her at first, but later relents and brings her back on - in strictly a professional capacity. Sure.
1. Darren Richmond. He's back on the trail, and while his assumed confidence isn't always believable - he says he never felt down about being shot - he uses the story about Jamie's grandfather to make a point about getting through adversity - and it's clear he's back in the saddle. To then get Gwen back to clean up the murder mess - and perhaps resume her more personal role at a later time? - is just additional firepower in his quest to take down the mayor.
Three Down
3. The Marek sisters. Terry has an awful breakup scene with Michael Ames, who says he's not leaving his wife and even gets a little physical with her in telling her not to call anymore. At the end of the episode she shares a very awkward look with Stan, perhaps wondering if it's OK to jump him on the rebound while he's still technically married to her sister.
Speaking of Mitch, she winds up spending more time with runaway Tina after she's "locked out" of her room by her boyfriend. They spend an entire day together, and after some rough patches (Mitch pushing Tina too hard to get her to call her mom, and Tina awkwardly making a pass at Mitch, thinking this may still be something kinky) Mitch wakes up the next morning to find Tina is gone and has robbed her. No catharsis for you, Mitch.
On the plus side for us, we do learn the name of Rosie's real dad from a letter in the memory box Mitch has been toting around. He's not someone we've met yet, as fas as we know.
2. The Ames family. Jasper gets riled by the cops when they intimate his dad was sleeping with Rosie while Jasper could get nowhere with him. He later confronts dad in public, leading later to Michael going to the police station to confess to sending a (joke?) blackmail text to his dad from Rosie's phone. Michael is happy to let Jasper spend the night in jail based on a felony charge of using the phone to extort money. Later, the cops talk to Mrs. Adams, who says she lets her husband play in return for having money and status. She also notes that they were out of the country when Rosie was conceived (there goes the theory that Rosie is Michael's daughter). So while we have the dysfunctional family circus here, things look even worse when the chief of the tribe that own the Wapi Eagle casino shows up at a Mayor Adams function at the Ames home. A conspiracy seems to be brewing.
1. Sarah Linden. Every time she seems to make progress in this episode, something sets her back. A decent interview with Stan about Rosie's parentage? Countered by a bad theory that Michael Ames is the father. Linden learns about the blackmail text? Turns out it was a joke. Take your kids to Holder's due to a creepy drawing hung on her fridge the neither she nor Jack put up, fall under the surveillance of some guy smoking in his car. And all along, have Carlson and others pull warrants and give reminders of the last time she buried herself in a case. She's getting closer to the truth, but may not be around to see it
3. Alexei Giffords. He finally confronts Stan at Rosie's graveside, and is able to give him crap about how Stan got himself kicked out of Kovarski's gang (which I'm not sure is true, though giving Stan money to start his business may be the Kovarski equivalent of a golden parachute) and how Stan should have been capped rather than Alexei's dad. Stan pushes back on why Alexei hasn't made a run at him, to which Alexei notes if it wasn't for Rosie, Stan would be dead by now.
2. Gwen Eaton. Back in DC, she's watching Richmond's first interview with some colleagues, who note that he'll never get back into the race unless he can get rid of the stink caused by the murder charges. After (or I suppose during) a dinner with her dad, in which she learns he wants her to resume her role as his "secret weapon" - something she's been doing for him since she was 14 - she decides her path leads back to Seattle. She shows up at the hospital, and says she's back to get Richmond past the murder charges and into the mayor's office. Darren snubs her at first, but later relents and brings her back on - in strictly a professional capacity. Sure.
1. Darren Richmond. He's back on the trail, and while his assumed confidence isn't always believable - he says he never felt down about being shot - he uses the story about Jamie's grandfather to make a point about getting through adversity - and it's clear he's back in the saddle. To then get Gwen back to clean up the murder mess - and perhaps resume her more personal role at a later time? - is just additional firepower in his quest to take down the mayor.
Three Down
3. The Marek sisters. Terry has an awful breakup scene with Michael Ames, who says he's not leaving his wife and even gets a little physical with her in telling her not to call anymore. At the end of the episode she shares a very awkward look with Stan, perhaps wondering if it's OK to jump him on the rebound while he's still technically married to her sister.
Speaking of Mitch, she winds up spending more time with runaway Tina after she's "locked out" of her room by her boyfriend. They spend an entire day together, and after some rough patches (Mitch pushing Tina too hard to get her to call her mom, and Tina awkwardly making a pass at Mitch, thinking this may still be something kinky) Mitch wakes up the next morning to find Tina is gone and has robbed her. No catharsis for you, Mitch.
On the plus side for us, we do learn the name of Rosie's real dad from a letter in the memory box Mitch has been toting around. He's not someone we've met yet, as fas as we know.
2. The Ames family. Jasper gets riled by the cops when they intimate his dad was sleeping with Rosie while Jasper could get nowhere with him. He later confronts dad in public, leading later to Michael going to the police station to confess to sending a (joke?) blackmail text to his dad from Rosie's phone. Michael is happy to let Jasper spend the night in jail based on a felony charge of using the phone to extort money. Later, the cops talk to Mrs. Adams, who says she lets her husband play in return for having money and status. She also notes that they were out of the country when Rosie was conceived (there goes the theory that Rosie is Michael's daughter). So while we have the dysfunctional family circus here, things look even worse when the chief of the tribe that own the Wapi Eagle casino shows up at a Mayor Adams function at the Ames home. A conspiracy seems to be brewing.
1. Sarah Linden. Every time she seems to make progress in this episode, something sets her back. A decent interview with Stan about Rosie's parentage? Countered by a bad theory that Michael Ames is the father. Linden learns about the blackmail text? Turns out it was a joke. Take your kids to Holder's due to a creepy drawing hung on her fridge the neither she nor Jack put up, fall under the surveillance of some guy smoking in his car. And all along, have Carlson and others pull warrants and give reminders of the last time she buried herself in a case. She's getting closer to the truth, but may not be around to see it
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men
Three Up
3. Sally Draper. The episode opens with Sally calling Glen, who is apparently at some sort of boarding school now. Nice to see they're still in touch, both so they have someone to talk to and for future storyline possibilities. The phone call has the added bonus of taking out Pauline (more on that anon). Sally gets to spend time with Don and Megan and Megan's folks, and gets to see Don get an award from the American Cancer Society (and inadvertently freak Don out with her look for the ACS event, in a dress with make-up and knee-high boots). She gets to have Roger as her "date" for the event, which goes well until it really doesn't (also more on that anon). The episode ends as it begins, with Sally talking to Glen, this time saying that the city is "dirty." There are some tough growing up moments for her - she even tries eating fish, which she hates - but all in all she ends up in the positive.
2. Don Draper. While the ACS award is the big event of the episode, Don shows flashes of his prior greatness when he lands the Heinz account over dinner (though Megan did most of the work - the ad idea is hers, and she alerts Don that they're getting fired after she has a chat with the Heinz guy's wife in the bathroom). He also shows a softer side with Megan when her parents have a fight in their apartment. He's not still clear as to the nature of their relationship - and Emile's relationship with his female grad assistant - but he's picking it up and is appropriately consoling to Megan. Don does take a hit at the end, when Ken's father in law has a talk with him noting that all the corporate fat cats who make up the ACS board are happy to give him awards, but will never bring him any business because his anti-tobacco letter makes them scared that he'll do the same thing to them.
1. Roger Sterling. Roger continues on his way back. He's still processing his LSD trip, but it's making him think clearer in a couple of ways. The first is with his relationship with Mona, his first wife. He meets her for drinks to commiserate his failed marriage, but he also recognizes how helpful she was to him with clients, and he asks her for help with some of the ACS crowd. He's also clearer about business, if his attempts to work the room at the ACS event is anything to go by. And while it may not be an example of clearer thinking, he is back on the prowl as well, as he charms his way into getting a blowjob from Megan's mom. Only problem is that it's witnessed by Sally Draper, though she looks too shocked to tell her dad or anyone else about it.
Three Down
3. Pauline Francis. While she's bellowing for Sally to set the table for dinner (and wandering the house cocktail in hand), she trips over the phone cord and breaks her ankle. She winds up needing Sally to call for help, and it's to Sally's benefit that she does so calmly. It's luck for Pauline that Sally didn't call a cab and leave her wallowing in the hallway.
2. Peggy Olsen. Abe calls and sets a firm dinner date for a weeknight, which Peggy takes even though it screws up her schedule. She's now worried that Abe is going to dump her, but Joan says is a man makes this sort of date, he has a proposal. And Abe does, sort of: he wants to move in with her. Peggy, who has dressed and mentally set herself for a marriage proposal, covers her disappointment reasonably well and agrees to move in (though she does answer "I do" when Abe asks if she still wants to eat, a dig that goes way over Abe's head). They later invite Peggy's mom to dinner to tell her about this, which goes as well as expected: she decides to leave before dessert (and takes the dessert back), noting she can't support their living in sin. She's convinced that Abe is going to use Peggy and dump her when he finally decides to settle down. It was actually somewhat subdued for Peggy's mom, I was expecting holy water to make an appearance. Oh, Peggy is also a little jealous about Megan's success with Heinz, but manages to let her happiness for Megan and the firm win out.
1. Emile and Marie Calvet. Megan's parents are not exactly a happy couple. They bicker a lot, with Emile (who is some sort of leftist professor) saying Marie wants him to be miserable until he dies, while she flirts with pretty much any man, which I assume is partially in response to her belief that Emile is having it off with his grad assistant. She's also a bit of a lush, just for good measure. Emile doesn't approve of the money that Don makes or advertising in general, and thinks Megan is settling by working for SCDP. Marie scores the ultimate hit on their marriage, though, when she follows up her flirting (and Roger's reactions) by giving him head at the ACS dinner. For all of Megan's protestations that her parents are always like this and get through things fine, this is clearly not a happy marriage, even for the sort of tortured French Canadian union you'd expect from stereotyping.
3. Sally Draper. The episode opens with Sally calling Glen, who is apparently at some sort of boarding school now. Nice to see they're still in touch, both so they have someone to talk to and for future storyline possibilities. The phone call has the added bonus of taking out Pauline (more on that anon). Sally gets to spend time with Don and Megan and Megan's folks, and gets to see Don get an award from the American Cancer Society (and inadvertently freak Don out with her look for the ACS event, in a dress with make-up and knee-high boots). She gets to have Roger as her "date" for the event, which goes well until it really doesn't (also more on that anon). The episode ends as it begins, with Sally talking to Glen, this time saying that the city is "dirty." There are some tough growing up moments for her - she even tries eating fish, which she hates - but all in all she ends up in the positive.
2. Don Draper. While the ACS award is the big event of the episode, Don shows flashes of his prior greatness when he lands the Heinz account over dinner (though Megan did most of the work - the ad idea is hers, and she alerts Don that they're getting fired after she has a chat with the Heinz guy's wife in the bathroom). He also shows a softer side with Megan when her parents have a fight in their apartment. He's not still clear as to the nature of their relationship - and Emile's relationship with his female grad assistant - but he's picking it up and is appropriately consoling to Megan. Don does take a hit at the end, when Ken's father in law has a talk with him noting that all the corporate fat cats who make up the ACS board are happy to give him awards, but will never bring him any business because his anti-tobacco letter makes them scared that he'll do the same thing to them.
1. Roger Sterling. Roger continues on his way back. He's still processing his LSD trip, but it's making him think clearer in a couple of ways. The first is with his relationship with Mona, his first wife. He meets her for drinks to commiserate his failed marriage, but he also recognizes how helpful she was to him with clients, and he asks her for help with some of the ACS crowd. He's also clearer about business, if his attempts to work the room at the ACS event is anything to go by. And while it may not be an example of clearer thinking, he is back on the prowl as well, as he charms his way into getting a blowjob from Megan's mom. Only problem is that it's witnessed by Sally Draper, though she looks too shocked to tell her dad or anyone else about it.
Three Down
3. Pauline Francis. While she's bellowing for Sally to set the table for dinner (and wandering the house cocktail in hand), she trips over the phone cord and breaks her ankle. She winds up needing Sally to call for help, and it's to Sally's benefit that she does so calmly. It's luck for Pauline that Sally didn't call a cab and leave her wallowing in the hallway.
2. Peggy Olsen. Abe calls and sets a firm dinner date for a weeknight, which Peggy takes even though it screws up her schedule. She's now worried that Abe is going to dump her, but Joan says is a man makes this sort of date, he has a proposal. And Abe does, sort of: he wants to move in with her. Peggy, who has dressed and mentally set herself for a marriage proposal, covers her disappointment reasonably well and agrees to move in (though she does answer "I do" when Abe asks if she still wants to eat, a dig that goes way over Abe's head). They later invite Peggy's mom to dinner to tell her about this, which goes as well as expected: she decides to leave before dessert (and takes the dessert back), noting she can't support their living in sin. She's convinced that Abe is going to use Peggy and dump her when he finally decides to settle down. It was actually somewhat subdued for Peggy's mom, I was expecting holy water to make an appearance. Oh, Peggy is also a little jealous about Megan's success with Heinz, but manages to let her happiness for Megan and the firm win out.
1. Emile and Marie Calvet. Megan's parents are not exactly a happy couple. They bicker a lot, with Emile (who is some sort of leftist professor) saying Marie wants him to be miserable until he dies, while she flirts with pretty much any man, which I assume is partially in response to her belief that Emile is having it off with his grad assistant. She's also a bit of a lush, just for good measure. Emile doesn't approve of the money that Don makes or advertising in general, and thinks Megan is settling by working for SCDP. Marie scores the ultimate hit on their marriage, though, when she follows up her flirting (and Roger's reactions) by giving him head at the ACS dinner. For all of Megan's protestations that her parents are always like this and get through things fine, this is clearly not a happy marriage, even for the sort of tortured French Canadian union you'd expect from stereotyping.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: The Killing
Three Up
3. Mitch Larsen. Not sure she's actually a winner, but she's at least made steps towards winning. After seeing the same girl on the road and at her motel, Mitch buys her a meal and gets a chance to get into her life a bit. The girl, roughly the same age as Rosie, kind of connects, but is still wary enough about Mitch's questions to keep her distance. She eventually takes off with her no good boyfriend, leaving Mitch alone again. Mitch looks sad at being abandoned again, but also looks like she's beginning to understand where she is now that Rosie is gone.
2. Alexei Giffords. Also not a complete win, as his mom gives him up to the cops, but after playing the hard guy he begins to give Linden and Holder information - until they have to let him go and a Janek-provided lawyer takes him to Janek. But he eventually comes to them and gives them information they need - that Rosie was scared of someone in a Town Car and that she learned (though we don't know how) that Stan was not her real father.
1. Darren Richmond. This was looking like a big loss for Darren, given his nightmare of Belko shooting him and his inadvertent wetting himself. But then Jamie shows up after meeting with a contact (and apparent former girlfriend) in the DA's office, who lets Jamie know about the faked toll booth photo. This changes Richmond's tune dramatically, as he swings from despair to a plan to destroy the mayor in about five minutes.
Three Down
3. Tracey Marek. She's mostly been in the background keeping a handle on the kids, but her role in the Larsen household comes into question when her parents stop by. They're concerned about Mitch, but her dad also notes that her staying at the Larsen household is unseemly, and he's worried she'll end up alone as the men in her life tend to be transient. It doesn't help when, later on, Stan comes into her room and they kiss. Before they can get too into it her phone rings, but the new complexity of her situation hits Tracey hard. Not so hard that she can't keep the Beau Soleil appointment the phone call was apparently about, but whatever she may have been feeling about Stan is now front and center.
2. Sarah Linden. Parental issues come to the fore again, as she tries to help Jack through being sick via phone, which leads to a visit from his dad (he's actually in the room when she gets back, he's lucky she didn't shoot him). He's concerned about Linden caring more about Rosie than her own son, and there's a hint of truth to his accusation. Linden also has work issues, as she continues to run into roadblocks set up by Captain Carlson. There's also a weird blackout at her place before Holder and Alexei show up, which sets her on edge. The professional end of things pick up at the end, but there are troubles looming.
1. Stan Larsen. Let's see, Stan gets grilled by his in-laws about Mitch's absence and then tries to give possible suspect names to Linden when he sees Alexei in an interrogation room. A meeting with a lawyer suggests that Stan's going to do time, and when he gets home he seeks comfort from Tracey. So even when he tries to do good, bad results. He'll be lucky to just get some jail time at this point.
3. Mitch Larsen. Not sure she's actually a winner, but she's at least made steps towards winning. After seeing the same girl on the road and at her motel, Mitch buys her a meal and gets a chance to get into her life a bit. The girl, roughly the same age as Rosie, kind of connects, but is still wary enough about Mitch's questions to keep her distance. She eventually takes off with her no good boyfriend, leaving Mitch alone again. Mitch looks sad at being abandoned again, but also looks like she's beginning to understand where she is now that Rosie is gone.
2. Alexei Giffords. Also not a complete win, as his mom gives him up to the cops, but after playing the hard guy he begins to give Linden and Holder information - until they have to let him go and a Janek-provided lawyer takes him to Janek. But he eventually comes to them and gives them information they need - that Rosie was scared of someone in a Town Car and that she learned (though we don't know how) that Stan was not her real father.
1. Darren Richmond. This was looking like a big loss for Darren, given his nightmare of Belko shooting him and his inadvertent wetting himself. But then Jamie shows up after meeting with a contact (and apparent former girlfriend) in the DA's office, who lets Jamie know about the faked toll booth photo. This changes Richmond's tune dramatically, as he swings from despair to a plan to destroy the mayor in about five minutes.
Three Down
3. Tracey Marek. She's mostly been in the background keeping a handle on the kids, but her role in the Larsen household comes into question when her parents stop by. They're concerned about Mitch, but her dad also notes that her staying at the Larsen household is unseemly, and he's worried she'll end up alone as the men in her life tend to be transient. It doesn't help when, later on, Stan comes into her room and they kiss. Before they can get too into it her phone rings, but the new complexity of her situation hits Tracey hard. Not so hard that she can't keep the Beau Soleil appointment the phone call was apparently about, but whatever she may have been feeling about Stan is now front and center.
2. Sarah Linden. Parental issues come to the fore again, as she tries to help Jack through being sick via phone, which leads to a visit from his dad (he's actually in the room when she gets back, he's lucky she didn't shoot him). He's concerned about Linden caring more about Rosie than her own son, and there's a hint of truth to his accusation. Linden also has work issues, as she continues to run into roadblocks set up by Captain Carlson. There's also a weird blackout at her place before Holder and Alexei show up, which sets her on edge. The professional end of things pick up at the end, but there are troubles looming.
1. Stan Larsen. Let's see, Stan gets grilled by his in-laws about Mitch's absence and then tries to give possible suspect names to Linden when he sees Alexei in an interrogation room. A meeting with a lawyer suggests that Stan's going to do time, and when he gets home he seeks comfort from Tracey. So even when he tries to do good, bad results. He'll be lucky to just get some jail time at this point.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men
Three Up
3. Ken Cosgrove. He wasn't in much of the episode, but for what he was in he managed to keep the Heinz reps calm after Peggy lit into them for their indecision. Good work to keep them as clients at all.
2. Roger Sterling. Odd to have him as a winner, what with his marriage ending and all, but he's clearly comfortable with it, even when Jane says it'll be expensive. That's helped by the LSD trip he went on with Jane and some of her friends. It should not surprise that triumphant music comes forth every time he opens a liquor bottle.
1. Bert Cooper. At first it just appears that he gets a couple of throw-away lines, as usual for Bert, but he picks up the win at the end of the episode when he calls Don out for his shirking. For all of the discussion of Don's hands-off attitude by other characters, it's Bert that manages to say something and get Don to actually think about it.
Three Down
3. Peggy Olsen. With all of the weird days on tap, her's might actually be the weirdest. She starts the day getting into a fight with Abe, who can't put up with her permanent focus on work and her general lack of attention to their relationship. She then has a bad meeting with Heinz, who reject her latest pitch, which causes her to go on the attack and then get pulled from the account. She goes to the movies to cool off, where she shares a joint with a strange guy and gives him a handjob in return. She goes back to work, sleeps late, gets an odd phone call from Don, and has an odd conversation with Ginsburg about his being born in a concentration camp, which both think is impossible. She ends up calling Abe to come over because she's ostensibly spooked by Ginsburg's story, but she really just needs him there.
2. Megan Draper. We finally get to see where the fault lines are in the Draper marriage, as Megan broods over being pulled out of the Heinz presentation so she can go on a trip upstate with Don to a Howard Johnson's. Things come to a head with her disdain for orange sherbet, which sparks an argument with Don over her role as wife and as work subordinate. The fight ends with Megan making a reference to Don's real family, which causes him to take off on her. She then gets herself to a bus station and home, where the fight continues when Don returns. She then gets chased around the apartment until Don catches her, and they sort of reconcile, but it's clear that Megan is still disturbed by the ease with which Don was able to leave her at the HoJos.
1. Don Draper. The honeymoon is over. His fight with Megan exposes how much he has not considered the difficult position she's in, and leaving her at the HoJos further shows the continuing turmoil he's in over his real family. His fears of losing Megan - seen both in his waiting for her and in the end of their fight at their apartment - also show that he's in a vulnerable position personally. Then on top of that he gets upbraided by Bert, and rightfully so. To then have Roger pop his head into the conference room to say it'll be a great day - followed by the parade of creative types - is just the icing on the cake.
3. Ken Cosgrove. He wasn't in much of the episode, but for what he was in he managed to keep the Heinz reps calm after Peggy lit into them for their indecision. Good work to keep them as clients at all.
2. Roger Sterling. Odd to have him as a winner, what with his marriage ending and all, but he's clearly comfortable with it, even when Jane says it'll be expensive. That's helped by the LSD trip he went on with Jane and some of her friends. It should not surprise that triumphant music comes forth every time he opens a liquor bottle.
1. Bert Cooper. At first it just appears that he gets a couple of throw-away lines, as usual for Bert, but he picks up the win at the end of the episode when he calls Don out for his shirking. For all of the discussion of Don's hands-off attitude by other characters, it's Bert that manages to say something and get Don to actually think about it.
Three Down
3. Peggy Olsen. With all of the weird days on tap, her's might actually be the weirdest. She starts the day getting into a fight with Abe, who can't put up with her permanent focus on work and her general lack of attention to their relationship. She then has a bad meeting with Heinz, who reject her latest pitch, which causes her to go on the attack and then get pulled from the account. She goes to the movies to cool off, where she shares a joint with a strange guy and gives him a handjob in return. She goes back to work, sleeps late, gets an odd phone call from Don, and has an odd conversation with Ginsburg about his being born in a concentration camp, which both think is impossible. She ends up calling Abe to come over because she's ostensibly spooked by Ginsburg's story, but she really just needs him there.
2. Megan Draper. We finally get to see where the fault lines are in the Draper marriage, as Megan broods over being pulled out of the Heinz presentation so she can go on a trip upstate with Don to a Howard Johnson's. Things come to a head with her disdain for orange sherbet, which sparks an argument with Don over her role as wife and as work subordinate. The fight ends with Megan making a reference to Don's real family, which causes him to take off on her. She then gets herself to a bus station and home, where the fight continues when Don returns. She then gets chased around the apartment until Don catches her, and they sort of reconcile, but it's clear that Megan is still disturbed by the ease with which Don was able to leave her at the HoJos.
1. Don Draper. The honeymoon is over. His fight with Megan exposes how much he has not considered the difficult position she's in, and leaving her at the HoJos further shows the continuing turmoil he's in over his real family. His fears of losing Megan - seen both in his waiting for her and in the end of their fight at their apartment - also show that he's in a vulnerable position personally. Then on top of that he gets upbraided by Bert, and rightfully so. To then have Roger pop his head into the conference room to say it'll be a great day - followed by the parade of creative types - is just the icing on the cake.
Monday, April 16, 2012
The Pact
One thing I forgot to mention yesterday about Ken Cosgrove - he and Peggy apparently have a pact that if he leaves SCDP he'll take Peggy with him (which is why they were so awkward in the diner at the start of the episode). I don't think we knew that before. Interesting to think that they'd leave, but it makes sense. Ken isn't going to get past Pete, and Peggy is fed up with Don enough that leaving would be a blessing. It'll be fun if it ever goes into action.
Three Up, Three Down: The Killing
Three Up
3. Steven Holder. He's back to the Holder we recognize, giving Linden crap while taking it in return. He also manages to do some police work, as he helps make connections leading to Alexei Giffords, the anime-tatted bicycling partner of Rosie Larsen.
2. Sarah Linden. She makes the greater connections, using her personal experience of the foster system and relationship with her own case worker, Regi, to get the background on Alexei that connects him to the Larsens by his dad, Piotr, who may have been killed by Stan so he could get out of the mob. On the down side, Linden is getting sued by her ex-husband for joint custody of Jack, contending that she's a negligent parent. And by what we've seen, that may not be that far from the truth.
1. Janek Kovarsky. He gets Belko's body from the morgue and arranges for the funeral, scooping Stan and giving him a chance to mock Stan for his life choices. Later, when Stan figures out that Janek used his trucks to move Beau Soleil, he goes after Janek, only to get further humiliated. Janek continues to get his pound of flesh out of Stan.
Three Down
3. Stan Larsen. He's less stupid in this episode, but he's still getting humiliated by Janek. Home life isn't any better, as he's having issues with Tommy and Mitch is still gone. His business appears to be infiltrated by Janek, as the widow of the man he allegedly whacked stops by to tell him he got what he deserved.
2. Tommy Larsen. He's been reluctant to go to school, and when forced to do so he locks his brother in the trunk of the car and loses it with aunt Terri, screaming at her that she's not his mother and to go home. We then learn that he's getting picked on at school and teased about Rosie. This leads Stan to give Tommy his version of the It Gets Better speech by telling Tommy the kids teasing him about Rosie are stupid, and that the next time he's getting pushed around he needs to punch the biggest kid on the bridge of the nose. For Stan, this is a positive parenting step.
1. The Darren Richmond Campaign. Darren plans to end his campaign, losing the will to continue when the mayor comes in and gets to act all supercilious. Jamie is trying to help Darren, both politically and personally, but fails at both when Darren tells him to get a life outside of the campaign and, when Darren says he needs to get out of the hospital, Jamie tries to haul him out of bed but gets crushed by him instead. Finally, Gwen has to go over Darren's morning routine with Jamie, which makes her realize what she's lost by quitting the campaign and moving to DC. It looks like they're going back on the attack next episode, but for now they're about as low as they can be.
3. Steven Holder. He's back to the Holder we recognize, giving Linden crap while taking it in return. He also manages to do some police work, as he helps make connections leading to Alexei Giffords, the anime-tatted bicycling partner of Rosie Larsen.
2. Sarah Linden. She makes the greater connections, using her personal experience of the foster system and relationship with her own case worker, Regi, to get the background on Alexei that connects him to the Larsens by his dad, Piotr, who may have been killed by Stan so he could get out of the mob. On the down side, Linden is getting sued by her ex-husband for joint custody of Jack, contending that she's a negligent parent. And by what we've seen, that may not be that far from the truth.
1. Janek Kovarsky. He gets Belko's body from the morgue and arranges for the funeral, scooping Stan and giving him a chance to mock Stan for his life choices. Later, when Stan figures out that Janek used his trucks to move Beau Soleil, he goes after Janek, only to get further humiliated. Janek continues to get his pound of flesh out of Stan.
Three Down
3. Stan Larsen. He's less stupid in this episode, but he's still getting humiliated by Janek. Home life isn't any better, as he's having issues with Tommy and Mitch is still gone. His business appears to be infiltrated by Janek, as the widow of the man he allegedly whacked stops by to tell him he got what he deserved.
2. Tommy Larsen. He's been reluctant to go to school, and when forced to do so he locks his brother in the trunk of the car and loses it with aunt Terri, screaming at her that she's not his mother and to go home. We then learn that he's getting picked on at school and teased about Rosie. This leads Stan to give Tommy his version of the It Gets Better speech by telling Tommy the kids teasing him about Rosie are stupid, and that the next time he's getting pushed around he needs to punch the biggest kid on the bridge of the nose. For Stan, this is a positive parenting step.
1. The Darren Richmond Campaign. Darren plans to end his campaign, losing the will to continue when the mayor comes in and gets to act all supercilious. Jamie is trying to help Darren, both politically and personally, but fails at both when Darren tells him to get a life outside of the campaign and, when Darren says he needs to get out of the hospital, Jamie tries to haul him out of bed but gets crushed by him instead. Finally, Gwen has to go over Darren's morning routine with Jamie, which makes her realize what she's lost by quitting the campaign and moving to DC. It looks like they're going back on the attack next episode, but for now they're about as low as they can be.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men
Three Up
3. Trudy Campbell. She's apparently past her post-partum depression, as she plans a dinner party and even gets Don to show up, much to everyone's surprise (and glee). She makes a gracious hostess, and even has a spot of fun when the kitchen sink blows due to Pete's incorrect, though temporarily successful, repair of a drip (though she was clearly unaware of how Don's quick and more permanent fix would cut Pete off at the testicles). And she even gets to show off the baby!
2. Roger Sterling. After weeks of having nothing to do, Roger gives Lane some unsolicited but useful advice on how to handle a dinner with a new-found friend who intends to bring Jaguar to SCDP as a new account. When Lane can't seal the deal, Roger comes to the fore when the new friend says he wants to have a little fun after a second dinner. Roger's knowledge of a local high-class house of ill repute just about seals the deal... until the friend's wife discovers the next morning that her husband has chewing gum on his nether region. Roger also gets to chew out Ken on his secret writing career, using his past experience as an account exec (and more recent past as a failed author) to tell Ken that if he's doing his job right, he doesn't need the writing. And Roger gets a couple decent one-liners, so a nice week for him, finally.
1. Don Draper. OK, it's a bad sign that Don can't excuse his way out of a dinner party against Trudy Campbell. But when he actually shows he's treated like royalty, as Pete and Ken know it's a big deal that he's there. Don also gets to drink as much as he wants, make Peter look like a boob due to his lack of home repair skills, and have sex with Megan in the car on the way home. Not a bad night. Later, while at the classy whorehouse, Don earns the approbation of the madam when he talks about growing up in one that was much less classy and doesn't stray. He gets to further put Pete in his place by noting that Pete has much to lose if he fools around on Trudy, but mostly gets attitude from Pete, due to the irony of one of advertising's greatest swordsmen giving disapproving looks and advice regarding infidelity. It's kind of a fair cop, but Don saves it by noting that if he'd met Megan first, he would never have gone the way he did.
(Though Megan was probably a gawky Quebecois pre-teen when Don met Betty.)
Three Down
3. Ken Cosgrove. Ken runs into Peggy at the diner near the office, and he's trying to sneak a stranger by her. She browbeats him at the diner and later at the office, and he finally admits that the man works for a publisher, and they were talking about printing a collection of short stories Ken has been writing under an assumed name. Turns out he's now writing sci-fantasy stories. The meeting didn't go well. Later, at Pete's party, we see Don and Megan try to dance around not knowing Ken's wife's name. He does get chewed out by Roger about the writing as the episode is closing (Pete apparently mentioned it to Roger), and he admits to Peggy that his writing career is over. But at the end, we see Ken writing a new story, under a new pen name.
2. Lane Pryce. At the start of the episode Lane is grousing about having to go to a pub to watch soccer with a bunch of ex-pats he doesn't know. Turns out they're going to watch the World Cup final where England defeated Germany, and Lane's mood is much improved. It's here he meets the man who has the Jaguar account to move, and they develop a bit of a friendship. But that takes a serious hit at the dinner where Lane is trying to get information about the account. Turns out Lane doesn't get his friend's hint about finding some fun, which indirectly leads to the loss of the account. Lane is furious about this, and the response of the other partners - laughing, due to the circumstances of the loss - makes him even madder. The one saving grace is that when Pete dismisses Lane as unnecessary, Lane challenges Pete to a fight to avenge the insult. And Lane gives Pete a good pasting, which is always a good thing.
Lane does feel badly about the fight, but manages to make himself feel even worse when he makes a pass at Joan after she brings him some ice. She handles it quite gracefully, giving Lane a little dignity back. Still, not a good week for Lane.
1. Pete Campbell. Nothing goes right for Pete. His kitchen handiwork goes kaboom, and he's upstaged by Don when trying to fix it. He gets his ass kicked by Lane, and has no one in the office to commiserate with (the best he can do is telling Don in an elevator ride that he has nothing, a reference back to their discussion after the whorehouse visit (where Pete indulged, but only when the woman goes all "you're my king" on him). But the worst thing, from Pete's perspective, is that the high school senior he's been chatting up in driver's ed (he's finally getting his license now that he lives in the suburbs) throws him over for some jock who missed the first couple of classes. Pete seems to realize then that he's no longer the young ad exec who can get the girl and succeed in the office. He's marooned in the 'burbs and isolated at work. From his perspective, he really doesn't have anything.
3. Trudy Campbell. She's apparently past her post-partum depression, as she plans a dinner party and even gets Don to show up, much to everyone's surprise (and glee). She makes a gracious hostess, and even has a spot of fun when the kitchen sink blows due to Pete's incorrect, though temporarily successful, repair of a drip (though she was clearly unaware of how Don's quick and more permanent fix would cut Pete off at the testicles). And she even gets to show off the baby!
2. Roger Sterling. After weeks of having nothing to do, Roger gives Lane some unsolicited but useful advice on how to handle a dinner with a new-found friend who intends to bring Jaguar to SCDP as a new account. When Lane can't seal the deal, Roger comes to the fore when the new friend says he wants to have a little fun after a second dinner. Roger's knowledge of a local high-class house of ill repute just about seals the deal... until the friend's wife discovers the next morning that her husband has chewing gum on his nether region. Roger also gets to chew out Ken on his secret writing career, using his past experience as an account exec (and more recent past as a failed author) to tell Ken that if he's doing his job right, he doesn't need the writing. And Roger gets a couple decent one-liners, so a nice week for him, finally.
1. Don Draper. OK, it's a bad sign that Don can't excuse his way out of a dinner party against Trudy Campbell. But when he actually shows he's treated like royalty, as Pete and Ken know it's a big deal that he's there. Don also gets to drink as much as he wants, make Peter look like a boob due to his lack of home repair skills, and have sex with Megan in the car on the way home. Not a bad night. Later, while at the classy whorehouse, Don earns the approbation of the madam when he talks about growing up in one that was much less classy and doesn't stray. He gets to further put Pete in his place by noting that Pete has much to lose if he fools around on Trudy, but mostly gets attitude from Pete, due to the irony of one of advertising's greatest swordsmen giving disapproving looks and advice regarding infidelity. It's kind of a fair cop, but Don saves it by noting that if he'd met Megan first, he would never have gone the way he did.
(Though Megan was probably a gawky Quebecois pre-teen when Don met Betty.)
Three Down
3. Ken Cosgrove. Ken runs into Peggy at the diner near the office, and he's trying to sneak a stranger by her. She browbeats him at the diner and later at the office, and he finally admits that the man works for a publisher, and they were talking about printing a collection of short stories Ken has been writing under an assumed name. Turns out he's now writing sci-fantasy stories. The meeting didn't go well. Later, at Pete's party, we see Don and Megan try to dance around not knowing Ken's wife's name. He does get chewed out by Roger about the writing as the episode is closing (Pete apparently mentioned it to Roger), and he admits to Peggy that his writing career is over. But at the end, we see Ken writing a new story, under a new pen name.
2. Lane Pryce. At the start of the episode Lane is grousing about having to go to a pub to watch soccer with a bunch of ex-pats he doesn't know. Turns out they're going to watch the World Cup final where England defeated Germany, and Lane's mood is much improved. It's here he meets the man who has the Jaguar account to move, and they develop a bit of a friendship. But that takes a serious hit at the dinner where Lane is trying to get information about the account. Turns out Lane doesn't get his friend's hint about finding some fun, which indirectly leads to the loss of the account. Lane is furious about this, and the response of the other partners - laughing, due to the circumstances of the loss - makes him even madder. The one saving grace is that when Pete dismisses Lane as unnecessary, Lane challenges Pete to a fight to avenge the insult. And Lane gives Pete a good pasting, which is always a good thing.
Lane does feel badly about the fight, but manages to make himself feel even worse when he makes a pass at Joan after she brings him some ice. She handles it quite gracefully, giving Lane a little dignity back. Still, not a good week for Lane.
1. Pete Campbell. Nothing goes right for Pete. His kitchen handiwork goes kaboom, and he's upstaged by Don when trying to fix it. He gets his ass kicked by Lane, and has no one in the office to commiserate with (the best he can do is telling Don in an elevator ride that he has nothing, a reference back to their discussion after the whorehouse visit (where Pete indulged, but only when the woman goes all "you're my king" on him). But the worst thing, from Pete's perspective, is that the high school senior he's been chatting up in driver's ed (he's finally getting his license now that he lives in the suburbs) throws him over for some jock who missed the first couple of classes. Pete seems to realize then that he's no longer the young ad exec who can get the girl and succeed in the office. He's marooned in the 'burbs and isolated at work. From his perspective, he really doesn't have anything.
Monday, April 09, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: The Killing
Three Up
3. Jack Linden. After getting dragged all over Seattle in the last couple of episodes, he and Sarah have finally landed somewhere they can cook, and he shows some independence as he continues watching a meal Sarah started before getting a work call. He also adds a bit of background to the investigation when he talks about the anime character whose tattoo is on a mystery guy in one of Rosie's movies. He also gets to tweak Sarah when he notes that she bought him the anime book at some point in the past, and that it's full of sex and violence. Nice parenting!
2. Janek Kovarsky. Stan brings the Polish mobster back into the case when he asks him to kill Rosie's killer. Janek manages to get under Stan's skin by making contact with his sons, but then gets Stan back into his graces by providing him with details about Rosie's death that the cops didn't tell Stan. Janek also says that the Beau Soleil thing is a dead end, as they only used Russian women, But we learn later that Janek is involved with Beau Soleil, and may have used Stan's employees to torch the building that housed the Beau Soleil servers just before a warrant was to be executed.
1. Sarah Linden. Not only has she managed to find something that passes for a home for Jack, but she makes some decent progress on the case, between the anime tattoo, the footage that links Larsen's moving company to the Beau Soleil arson, and discovering Holder's double cross with Rosie's backpack. She even manages to talk Holder off of a Seattle highway, apparently restarting their partnership.
Three Down
3. Darren Richmond. He's working hard to get back to normal - he's stopped taking morphine, wants to start rehab immediately, and swears he felt the warmth of the sun on his legs. He's even planning to attend an event at the end of the week to get back into the election, spurred in no small part by a mayoral press conference. But he comes back to earth when a doctor's test leads him to report sensation when he's not being touched, followed by a nurse he's been flirting with being able to change his catheder without him feeling it. When he finally stabs himself with a campaign pin, only to find he doesn't feel it, he realizes the road back to the campaign is much, much longer than he wants.
2. Steven Holder. So much for whatever "up" he had from last week. He's in a downward spiral this entire episode, starting with blowing off a N.A. meeting, followed by having his son reject a ride to school because his mom doesn't want him taking rides from dad. After beating up a dealer and stealing meth from him, Holder has sex with one of the former junkies from his N.A. group and, realizing he's hit bottom, winds up walking out into traffic on a Seattle highway. Linden talks him back in and gives up Rosie's backpack, so hopefully he's going to build back up after coming way down.
1. Stan Larsen. Poor, dumb Stan. He's gone back to Janek for help, not realizing that Janek is going to use Stan to protect his own interests. Stan is also told by Terry that he's incapable of taking care of the boys on his own, which past experience suggests is pretty much true. And it turns out that he likely has Janek-connected arsonists - and perhaps Rosie's actual killer - working for him. And unlike Holder, who seems to have realized what direction he was heading in, Stan seems poised to lumber right into whatever ending Janek has planned for him. Or just randomly doing something stupid that'll put him back in the jug.
On the other hand...
While we were led to believe that Don's evening of infidelity and murder on last night's Mad Men were fever-induced, I do think there's an alternative theory. In this case, Megan came back to the apartment, discovered the dead woman under the bed, and used her lingerie ninja cleaning skills to dispose of the body and remove any evidence of the struggle. She feeds him the fever dream line, he buys into it as most likely, and she keeps her work in reserve for when their marriage inevitably blows up.
Megan could even offer out this service to others, kind of as a French-Canadian Winston Wolfe. I'd suggest she contact Joan Harris, but it looks like the Viet Cong is going to take care of her problem.
Megan could even offer out this service to others, kind of as a French-Canadian Winston Wolfe. I'd suggest she contact Joan Harris, but it looks like the Viet Cong is going to take care of her problem.
Sunday, April 08, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men
Three Up
3. Michael Ginsburg. He shows his genius during a pitch to a shoe company, but almost blows it when he goes into a long discourse about the darkness of the Cinderella story, which results in the company keeping SCDP on but changing the campaign from what was presented to the Cinderella thing, which Don doesn't like as it's cliche. Don dresses down Michael afterwards, and Ken has to clue Michael in on the fact that he almost got fired, but all in all Michael gets to show his creative genius in a couple of different ways. He just needs to learn when to turn it off.
2. Sally Draper. She's stuck with her step-grandmother while Betty and Henry are stranded due to an airplane mechanics strike. She doesn't like her discipline (which isn't all that bad, really), and wants her to tell her about the Chicago nurse killings that are all over the papers, but grandma refuses. When Sally sneaks the paper into bed she freaks out and can't sleep until given one of grandmother's little helpers. She's still zonked under the couch when Betty and Henry return. Nice to see Sally forge some sort of maternally-based relationship, even if does include serial killing and abusing prescription drugs. That is actually a step up from Betty's approach.
1. Don Draper. He starts off the episode with a cold, which kind of sucks, but he then he runs into a freelancer that he had an affair with and she's clearly interested in restarting a relationship, to to extent that she finds out where he lives. She goads him into having sex, and when she suggests their affair will continue, regardless of Don't protestations, he strangles her. But wait! It appears that the entire sequence with her (after their initial meeting) was some sort of fever dream, and when Megan says she was worried about him for being sick, his reply that she has nothing to worry about goes deeper than she knows. It's an odd kind of win, but given how widely he played the field when married to Betty, it's a win.
Three Down
3. Roger Sterling. The anti-roll continues for Roger, as he completely forgets to put Michael on to some emergency work for Mohawk, who is unaffected by the strike and picking up more business covering for other airlines. So he has to buy off Peggy to do the work (she gets $400 out of him, thanks in no small part to the liquid courage coursing through her veins). He's worse with almost nothing to do than he was when he actually had nothing to do.
2. Peggy Olsen. She starts off on a roll getting the $400 off of Roger, and then builds on it when she finds Dawn sleeping in an office (it was too late to get the subway home, and cabs won't go into her neighborhood). Peggy invites Dawn to stay the night, and they have an interesting conversation about being different in the office, and everything goes well... until Peggy take a too-long look at her purse before going to bed, giving Dawn the obvious cue that Peggy has some concern that Dawn will steal from her. Dawn is gone before Peggy gets up, leaving her alone with her unexpected racism.
1. Joan Harris. Glenn is home from Vietnam, but the happy return is short-lived, cut off when he announces that he has to go back in 10 days and do a year-long tour. Joan is upset by the news but is working through it when she learns from her mother in law that Glenn volunteered to return. When arguing about it afterwards, Glenn notes that he's needed in Vietnam, where he gets to command a number of doctors and other medical personnel. With the suggestion that his family isn't enough, Joan says he's free to go - right now. Glenn threatens to never return if he walks out the door now, to which Joan just shrugs. He goes, and she knows it's over (and will be permanently when he is inevitably killed over there). She puts on a strong face, and even gets to bring up his rape of her during their fight, but in the end, in bed with her mom and Kevin, it's clear she's unsure if she's up for single motherhood.
Monday, April 02, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: The Killing
Not sure how well this concept is going to work for this show, which so rarely has three characters you could define as "up." But I'll do the best I can.
Three Up
3. Jamie Wright. In the wake of Richmond's shooting he manages to keep the campaign going and even gets to take a swing at one of the mayor's aides. He's doing his best to keep everything together. Still, he's not very up given how things are working out.
2. Stephen Holder. As cocky as he is for making the Richmond collar and getting promoted to homicide, he quickly figures out that things don't add up in the Larsen case, especially when the sudden appearance of Rosie's backpack outside of the Larsen house doesn't prompt significant inquiry. He then reasserts his badass self by taking the backpack, though what he'll do with it is up to question as he's been told that he was basically set up to steer the case towards Richmond.
1. Sarah Linden. She's the first to twig on to the idea that there's some sort of conspiracy at play, and makes quick connections to Holder's former boss in Narcotics and a representative of the mayor. She also pieces together some information from Gwen to check out Richmond's favored kayaking area. Still, for the new progress she has no idea who to trust or even if she and Jack are safe. Her personal life is certainly not at the top of the positive scale.
Three Down
3. The Larsen family. You could probably populate this entire section with Larsens. Stan has seen Mitch walk and his right hand man kill himself. The boys are feeling the absence of their mother keenly, and don't even feel safe in their own home. And Terry has to move in after whoever was paying her rent cuts her off, though she covers by taking a maternal role.
2, Belko Royce. He's got one dead (his mom) and one gravely injured (Richmond), and when he tells Stan that he shot Richmond for Stan and Rosie, Stan's sad, pitying looks tells Belko he's lost the trust of the man he looks up to the most. That, coupled with the fact that he's not going home soon, despite Holder's comments to the contrary, leads Belko to grab a cop's gun and kill himself.
1. Darren Richmond. He's been shot, paralyzed, will have a colostomy bag for the rest of his life, and to top it all off, Linden has figured out what Richmond was doing the night of Rosie's murder - trying to kill himself due to the guilt he feels over his wife's death. So while he's been cleared, he now has to live with the aftermath of his shooting and the potential of his suicide attempt going public.
Three Up
3. Jamie Wright. In the wake of Richmond's shooting he manages to keep the campaign going and even gets to take a swing at one of the mayor's aides. He's doing his best to keep everything together. Still, he's not very up given how things are working out.
2. Stephen Holder. As cocky as he is for making the Richmond collar and getting promoted to homicide, he quickly figures out that things don't add up in the Larsen case, especially when the sudden appearance of Rosie's backpack outside of the Larsen house doesn't prompt significant inquiry. He then reasserts his badass self by taking the backpack, though what he'll do with it is up to question as he's been told that he was basically set up to steer the case towards Richmond.
1. Sarah Linden. She's the first to twig on to the idea that there's some sort of conspiracy at play, and makes quick connections to Holder's former boss in Narcotics and a representative of the mayor. She also pieces together some information from Gwen to check out Richmond's favored kayaking area. Still, for the new progress she has no idea who to trust or even if she and Jack are safe. Her personal life is certainly not at the top of the positive scale.
Three Down
3. The Larsen family. You could probably populate this entire section with Larsens. Stan has seen Mitch walk and his right hand man kill himself. The boys are feeling the absence of their mother keenly, and don't even feel safe in their own home. And Terry has to move in after whoever was paying her rent cuts her off, though she covers by taking a maternal role.
2, Belko Royce. He's got one dead (his mom) and one gravely injured (Richmond), and when he tells Stan that he shot Richmond for Stan and Rosie, Stan's sad, pitying looks tells Belko he's lost the trust of the man he looks up to the most. That, coupled with the fact that he's not going home soon, despite Holder's comments to the contrary, leads Belko to grab a cop's gun and kill himself.
1. Darren Richmond. He's been shot, paralyzed, will have a colostomy bag for the rest of his life, and to top it all off, Linden has figured out what Richmond was doing the night of Rosie's murder - trying to kill himself due to the guilt he feels over his wife's death. So while he's been cleared, he now has to live with the aftermath of his shooting and the potential of his suicide attempt going public.
Sunday, April 01, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men
Three Up
3. Don Draper. In tonight's episode, he got to learn that Betty called him about her malady and didn't tell her husband, got to mess with a teenage girl's head and mock Harry Crane when trying to sign the Rolling Stones to do a Heinz ad, is still married to Megan, and didn't have to do any actual work. Not a bad outing. He also has the result of the firm's EOE "ad" working for him. She's named Dawn, which kind of cracks people up.
2. Michael Ginsberg. He's the newest copywriter at SCDP, brought in to work the Mowhawk account. His initial meeting with Peggy doesn't go well - he's spends most of it channeling Woody Allen, but with more crazy. He almost talks himself out of meeting Don, but has a good enough portfolio for Peggy to give him a chance to meet Don. In that meeting, Michael is normal, almost charming, or at least is when Peggy lets him talk (as she keeps interrupting to hold off his neuroses). He also lives with his (I'm assuming) widowed dad, who sings what I assume is a Hebrew blessing over his son when told he got the job. I think I'm going to like these two.
1. Pete Campbell. The episode doesn't start well for him - Roger moved a meeting regarding Mohawk out of Pete's new office and into his own - but Pete gets the last laugh when he assembles the SCDP staff to announce Mohawk's return. That he gets to do so and intimate that Roger will be working under him on the account is icing on the cake.
Three Down
3. Harry Crane. He accompanies Don to sign the Rolling Stones, and gets in to see them. He even gets them to sign on to sing an ad for Heinz. Except that the group he actually signs are The Tradewinds. This might not be such a bad deal in a decade, as it looks like they'll become the band Styx (assuming Wikipedia is right about their early years and I'm making the correct logical leap). Crane then pounds sliders (he's got the munchies after smoking a joint with a teenaged girl) and complains about not getting food when he brings dinner home for the family. Don gets to mock some more, but more gently than last week. Pretty much the usual sad sack Harry as usual.
2. Roger Sterling. He's all set to handle the Mohawk account and even have his own creative staffer to handle the writing, but then gets presented as the "day to day" guy on the account by Pete. This makes him feel even more ineffectual than usual, as he notes to Don over a drink. I do like that these two are friends (of a sort) again. Don better get used to hearing this type of complaint, though.
1. Betty Francis. Betty has gained a significant amount of weight since we last left her, and it's due to something she's carrying. Sadly for her, it's not a baby. It's a lump on her thyroid, which is discovered when she goes to get a prescription for diet pills at the suggestion of her mother in law. Thankfully, the lump is benign, but this does suggest that her weight gain is psychological. From the last scene, where she's sharing ice cream sundaes with Sally, it seems that food is the lone place she's finding happiness in her current situation, even though Henry clearly loves her. Henry also learns of her call to Don from Don, when he calls to check up on her diagnosis. That's probably mitigating some of those feelings.
3. Don Draper. In tonight's episode, he got to learn that Betty called him about her malady and didn't tell her husband, got to mess with a teenage girl's head and mock Harry Crane when trying to sign the Rolling Stones to do a Heinz ad, is still married to Megan, and didn't have to do any actual work. Not a bad outing. He also has the result of the firm's EOE "ad" working for him. She's named Dawn, which kind of cracks people up.
2. Michael Ginsberg. He's the newest copywriter at SCDP, brought in to work the Mowhawk account. His initial meeting with Peggy doesn't go well - he's spends most of it channeling Woody Allen, but with more crazy. He almost talks himself out of meeting Don, but has a good enough portfolio for Peggy to give him a chance to meet Don. In that meeting, Michael is normal, almost charming, or at least is when Peggy lets him talk (as she keeps interrupting to hold off his neuroses). He also lives with his (I'm assuming) widowed dad, who sings what I assume is a Hebrew blessing over his son when told he got the job. I think I'm going to like these two.
1. Pete Campbell. The episode doesn't start well for him - Roger moved a meeting regarding Mohawk out of Pete's new office and into his own - but Pete gets the last laugh when he assembles the SCDP staff to announce Mohawk's return. That he gets to do so and intimate that Roger will be working under him on the account is icing on the cake.
Three Down
3. Harry Crane. He accompanies Don to sign the Rolling Stones, and gets in to see them. He even gets them to sign on to sing an ad for Heinz. Except that the group he actually signs are The Tradewinds. This might not be such a bad deal in a decade, as it looks like they'll become the band Styx (assuming Wikipedia is right about their early years and I'm making the correct logical leap). Crane then pounds sliders (he's got the munchies after smoking a joint with a teenaged girl) and complains about not getting food when he brings dinner home for the family. Don gets to mock some more, but more gently than last week. Pretty much the usual sad sack Harry as usual.
2. Roger Sterling. He's all set to handle the Mohawk account and even have his own creative staffer to handle the writing, but then gets presented as the "day to day" guy on the account by Pete. This makes him feel even more ineffectual than usual, as he notes to Don over a drink. I do like that these two are friends (of a sort) again. Don better get used to hearing this type of complaint, though.
1. Betty Francis. Betty has gained a significant amount of weight since we last left her, and it's due to something she's carrying. Sadly for her, it's not a baby. It's a lump on her thyroid, which is discovered when she goes to get a prescription for diet pills at the suggestion of her mother in law. Thankfully, the lump is benign, but this does suggest that her weight gain is psychological. From the last scene, where she's sharing ice cream sundaes with Sally, it seems that food is the lone place she's finding happiness in her current situation, even though Henry clearly loves her. Henry also learns of her call to Don from Don, when he calls to check up on her diagnosis. That's probably mitigating some of those feelings.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Mad Men: Three Up, Three Down
So Mad Men is finally back, and with it a new attempt at a regular feature: Three Up, Three Down. The idea here is to identify the three characters who had the best and worst turn of events per episode. Hopefully this won't be too much of a rip-off of Grantland's character power rankings.
Three Up
3. Pete Campbell - I generally enjoy watching Pete's flailing around and getting the cold shoulder from the other partners, as he usually gets what he deserves. But facing marginalization due to his crappy office and Roger's continual crashing of his meetings, and an ongoing issue at home as Trudy works through post-partum depression, it was kind of nice to see him win one. He got his bigger office and managed to pull a nice one over Roger, sending him to Staten Island for a phantom 6 am meeting. I'll admit to also liking the awkward moment he had with Peggy when she was with Joan's baby, more for my own entertainment than anything else.
2. African-Americans. As a group they've never fared well on this show; Don almost got a man fired in the first episode by asking about his smoking preference, and Carla got a raw deal when Betty let her go. So when a group showed up at the SCDP office after seeing the EOE ad they ran to tweak Y&R for their water-bombing protesters, it was a strong move forward. I'm very excited to see the integration of the SDCP office.
1. Megan Draper. I don't know if there's a supporting character that's become more important more quickly than Don's secretary-turned-wife. Her ability to make Don happy and her quick rapport with the kids marked a sea change in Don's personal life. Her further willingness to accept Don's past and embrace it shows even greater capacity to lead Don away from the darkness in his life. And then there was her performance of "Zou Bisou Bisou" at the surprise birthday party she threw for Don, equal parts charming, sexy, and kind of goofy. Throw in her kinky cleaning in lingerie make-up sex plan and she's absolutely riveting. Well done Jessica Pare, and here's to hoping you spend more of the season singing in French than writing coupons for condiment companies.
Three Down
3. Lane Pryce. I almost went with Peggy here for her pot-influenced dressing down of Don at his own birthday party, but in retrospect Lane gets the nod as we really saw in this episode the loneliness that's at his core. Sure, his wife is in New York now, but they are contented at best. The continuing cash flow issues at home and work aren't helping. And then there was his not-so-subtly racist decision to hold onto a wallet he found in a cab rather than hand it over to the non-white driver. His phone banter with the owner's "girl" was sad-cute, which just became sad when the owner showed up to claim his wallet and can't stop talking about what a gentleman Lane is. Pryce's pep talk to Joan helped balance things out a bit, but I was kind of worried he was going to make a pass at her. I still am, to be honest.
2. Harry Crane. I have a feeling he'll show up here often, as he is SCDP's punching bag. Still, it was a pretty bad episode for him. He gave Don a walking stick for his birthday, which went over as well as you'd think. He spent a fair amount of time telling Stan what he'd do to Megan if given a chance - with Megan standing behind him for most of it. Finally, he allows himself to be bought out of his old office so Pete could have a better space. The $1100 aside, a pretty sad week for Harry. He'll have more.
1. Roger Sterling. You know Roger is facing the an ever-expanding void when he has to start crashing Pete's meetings in order to stay in front of clients. And then he has to pay off a secretary to spend some time covering his office! Roger has sunk, and can't quite find a way out. That's as true at home, where he realizes he's lost the Marry Your Secretary sweepstakes to Don. He's dismissive of Jane in a few settings, making one wonder at what point she'll become the next ex-Mrs. Sterling. That their bickering led to spoiling the surprise of Don's birthday party was just icing on the cake. Roger really needs to find a new client to occupy his time.
Three Up
3. Pete Campbell - I generally enjoy watching Pete's flailing around and getting the cold shoulder from the other partners, as he usually gets what he deserves. But facing marginalization due to his crappy office and Roger's continual crashing of his meetings, and an ongoing issue at home as Trudy works through post-partum depression, it was kind of nice to see him win one. He got his bigger office and managed to pull a nice one over Roger, sending him to Staten Island for a phantom 6 am meeting. I'll admit to also liking the awkward moment he had with Peggy when she was with Joan's baby, more for my own entertainment than anything else.
2. African-Americans. As a group they've never fared well on this show; Don almost got a man fired in the first episode by asking about his smoking preference, and Carla got a raw deal when Betty let her go. So when a group showed up at the SCDP office after seeing the EOE ad they ran to tweak Y&R for their water-bombing protesters, it was a strong move forward. I'm very excited to see the integration of the SDCP office.
1. Megan Draper. I don't know if there's a supporting character that's become more important more quickly than Don's secretary-turned-wife. Her ability to make Don happy and her quick rapport with the kids marked a sea change in Don's personal life. Her further willingness to accept Don's past and embrace it shows even greater capacity to lead Don away from the darkness in his life. And then there was her performance of "Zou Bisou Bisou" at the surprise birthday party she threw for Don, equal parts charming, sexy, and kind of goofy. Throw in her kinky cleaning in lingerie make-up sex plan and she's absolutely riveting. Well done Jessica Pare, and here's to hoping you spend more of the season singing in French than writing coupons for condiment companies.
Three Down
3. Lane Pryce. I almost went with Peggy here for her pot-influenced dressing down of Don at his own birthday party, but in retrospect Lane gets the nod as we really saw in this episode the loneliness that's at his core. Sure, his wife is in New York now, but they are contented at best. The continuing cash flow issues at home and work aren't helping. And then there was his not-so-subtly racist decision to hold onto a wallet he found in a cab rather than hand it over to the non-white driver. His phone banter with the owner's "girl" was sad-cute, which just became sad when the owner showed up to claim his wallet and can't stop talking about what a gentleman Lane is. Pryce's pep talk to Joan helped balance things out a bit, but I was kind of worried he was going to make a pass at her. I still am, to be honest.
2. Harry Crane. I have a feeling he'll show up here often, as he is SCDP's punching bag. Still, it was a pretty bad episode for him. He gave Don a walking stick for his birthday, which went over as well as you'd think. He spent a fair amount of time telling Stan what he'd do to Megan if given a chance - with Megan standing behind him for most of it. Finally, he allows himself to be bought out of his old office so Pete could have a better space. The $1100 aside, a pretty sad week for Harry. He'll have more.
1. Roger Sterling. You know Roger is facing the an ever-expanding void when he has to start crashing Pete's meetings in order to stay in front of clients. And then he has to pay off a secretary to spend some time covering his office! Roger has sunk, and can't quite find a way out. That's as true at home, where he realizes he's lost the Marry Your Secretary sweepstakes to Don. He's dismissive of Jane in a few settings, making one wonder at what point she'll become the next ex-Mrs. Sterling. That their bickering led to spoiling the surprise of Don's birthday party was just icing on the cake. Roger really needs to find a new client to occupy his time.
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
There goes the Fred Flintstone cameo
I mentioned it in passing in the last post, but Fox officially cancelled Terra Nova yesterday, and for the claims it's being shopped around it's probably not coming back. This doesn't bother me terribly, as I'd given up on the show a while ago (though I've seen in more than one place that it was improving with the last few episodes).
What I did find interesting was this piece (which made me change the original title of this post) talking about longer-range effects of the cancellation. I have mixed feelings about each point.
Harder to get sci-fi on prime time network TV - this is probably true, though it was hard enough to get sci-fi on beforehand that it may not matter much. Fox does seem the most disposed to bring sci-fi shows to air, and I expect they'll lick their wounds and try again. That or they'll get on the Once Upon a Time/Grimm fantasy train - is HBO still trying to get American Gods on the air?
Tighter budgets - I suppose the cancellation could exacerbate this, but isn't this where network TV was heading given smaller audiences?
Less ambitious programming - not sure I buy this, the networks have every incentive to continue being ambitious in the face of competition from basic cable, the Internet, etc. They need to manage how that ambition is used, something that I think comes through with shows like Awake, whose double-track story is ambitious in a way that networks can handle in the current financial climate.
I suppose we will see fewer shows set 85 million years in the past, though.
It was a true family-friendly show - well, sort of - I don't know if some of the dino violence was really good for all ages - but it was a more family friendly than, say, The River. I don't expect this cancellation will put the kibosh on networks trying to find shows that appeal to the kids and their parents, but I do wonder if that's even worth it anymore. Aren't the kids off in their room streaming Disney Channel shows or something while the folks are in the living room watching Dancing With the Biggest Loser Network Fashion Stars?
What I did find interesting was this piece (which made me change the original title of this post) talking about longer-range effects of the cancellation. I have mixed feelings about each point.
Harder to get sci-fi on prime time network TV - this is probably true, though it was hard enough to get sci-fi on beforehand that it may not matter much. Fox does seem the most disposed to bring sci-fi shows to air, and I expect they'll lick their wounds and try again. That or they'll get on the Once Upon a Time/Grimm fantasy train - is HBO still trying to get American Gods on the air?
Tighter budgets - I suppose the cancellation could exacerbate this, but isn't this where network TV was heading given smaller audiences?
Less ambitious programming - not sure I buy this, the networks have every incentive to continue being ambitious in the face of competition from basic cable, the Internet, etc. They need to manage how that ambition is used, something that I think comes through with shows like Awake, whose double-track story is ambitious in a way that networks can handle in the current financial climate.
I suppose we will see fewer shows set 85 million years in the past, though.
It was a true family-friendly show - well, sort of - I don't know if some of the dino violence was really good for all ages - but it was a more family friendly than, say, The River. I don't expect this cancellation will put the kibosh on networks trying to find shows that appeal to the kids and their parents, but I do wonder if that's even worth it anymore. Aren't the kids off in their room streaming Disney Channel shows or something while the folks are in the living room watching Dancing With the Biggest Loser Network Fashion Stars?
New on TV Roundup
Quickish hits on three news shows I've been/just started watching.
Alcatraz is the one that most fits my interests. In 1963, the prison closed and the prisoners were transfered... except they weren't. They've been showing up in the present day - at the behest of whom it's not known - and doing the sorts of things that got them sent to the Rock in the first place.
Set against them is an unlikely pairing of a San Francisco cop and a comic book store-owning Ph.D. who is an expert on Alacatraz. They work, nominally, for a secretive federal agent who heads up a group that apparently expected the inmates to return and has been working to find them. He also has an assistant who appears to have also been a psychologist attached to the prison at the time of the vanishings. Confused yet?
For all the time traveling and whatnot, the show itself isn't that hard to sort out. The plots are split into the current time and an early '60s timeline when the prisoners were still in prison. That timeline includes appearances by the warden, a deputy warden (who didn't jump) and the prison doctor (who apparently did). Conceptually it makes sense, but in practice I think it's limiting, as the current day plot lines all seem to end out of the blue. Better that than a lot of exposition, I suppose.
Decent cast - Sam Neill plays the fed, Jorge Garcia gives us Lost fans a fix as the Ph.D., Parminder Nagra as the shrink, and Robert Forster as the cop's "uncle" - but they don't have enough to work with.
Ratings have been meh, and Fox is cranking through episodes in a way that guarantees it won't air during May sweeps. Still, now that House and Terra Nova are gone, there's a pretty large hole to plug on Mondays.
Theoretically, that hole could also be plugged by Touch, which was previewed a while ago and will start to air regularly later this month. It's the story of a man (played by Kiefer Sutherland) who has to parse the number-based clues brought to light by his son (who is autistic, or who has a condition similar to autism, it's still being sorted out). In the preview episode it led Keifer to delay a man from boarding a bus, which allowed him to be on site to save a bunch of kids from dying on a burning bus (it also turns out the guy used to be a fire fighter, and he had some sort of interaction with Keifer's wife, a 9/11 victim, on that day).
If this all sounds vaguely one-worldy mystical, it's because the show is from the mind of Tim Kring, who took a similar look using people with superpowers on Heroes. This isn't that sort of show at all, but there's a similarity of tone and feel, from the subplot involving a cell phone to the somewhat self-important opening narration (which is still light years less annoying than what Heroes used to throw at us).
Hard to say where this is going based on one episode, but without more substance to balance out the show's main gimmick I don't think it'll do well long-term.
Finally, I finally watched the first episode of Smash, NBC's Broadway drama, and I was pleasantly surprised. It has a good cast used well, from Debra Messing's slightly neurotic show writer to Anjelica Huston's imperious producer. The show also helps makes cosmic sense of Katherine McPhee's loss to Taylor Hicks on American Idol all those years ago. She plays the ingenue who is up for the lead in a new musical about Marilyn Monroe, squaring off against the long-time chorus girl played by Megan Hilty (a Broadway lead in her own right).
All of the characters fill some sort of stereotypical role, such as the lecherous but brilliant director and the alternatively supportive and put-upon husband, but the acting and writing is good enough to keep things fresh. I am not looking forward to the inevitable clashes from the adoption Messing's character and her husband are trying to finalize, though. I'd much prefer some garden-variety cheating.
A strong premiere has given way to middling ratings, it's getting some help now by airing right after The Voice. Even with average numbers, Smash benefits from airing on NBC, which has great yawning chasms on its schedule, especially where drama is concerned. And based on some of the pilots NBC is working with (including an hour-long dramatic take on The Munsters and a show which appears to be based on the educational computer game Oregon Trail), you'd have to think Smash will be back. I just hope NBC doesn't try to push it as their big hit drama. The show's not strong enough for that. It really needs to be treated as the sort of solid show that NBC can build upon. God knows they have a lot of building to do.
Alcatraz is the one that most fits my interests. In 1963, the prison closed and the prisoners were transfered... except they weren't. They've been showing up in the present day - at the behest of whom it's not known - and doing the sorts of things that got them sent to the Rock in the first place.
Set against them is an unlikely pairing of a San Francisco cop and a comic book store-owning Ph.D. who is an expert on Alacatraz. They work, nominally, for a secretive federal agent who heads up a group that apparently expected the inmates to return and has been working to find them. He also has an assistant who appears to have also been a psychologist attached to the prison at the time of the vanishings. Confused yet?
For all the time traveling and whatnot, the show itself isn't that hard to sort out. The plots are split into the current time and an early '60s timeline when the prisoners were still in prison. That timeline includes appearances by the warden, a deputy warden (who didn't jump) and the prison doctor (who apparently did). Conceptually it makes sense, but in practice I think it's limiting, as the current day plot lines all seem to end out of the blue. Better that than a lot of exposition, I suppose.
Decent cast - Sam Neill plays the fed, Jorge Garcia gives us Lost fans a fix as the Ph.D., Parminder Nagra as the shrink, and Robert Forster as the cop's "uncle" - but they don't have enough to work with.
Ratings have been meh, and Fox is cranking through episodes in a way that guarantees it won't air during May sweeps. Still, now that House and Terra Nova are gone, there's a pretty large hole to plug on Mondays.
Theoretically, that hole could also be plugged by Touch, which was previewed a while ago and will start to air regularly later this month. It's the story of a man (played by Kiefer Sutherland) who has to parse the number-based clues brought to light by his son (who is autistic, or who has a condition similar to autism, it's still being sorted out). In the preview episode it led Keifer to delay a man from boarding a bus, which allowed him to be on site to save a bunch of kids from dying on a burning bus (it also turns out the guy used to be a fire fighter, and he had some sort of interaction with Keifer's wife, a 9/11 victim, on that day).
If this all sounds vaguely one-worldy mystical, it's because the show is from the mind of Tim Kring, who took a similar look using people with superpowers on Heroes. This isn't that sort of show at all, but there's a similarity of tone and feel, from the subplot involving a cell phone to the somewhat self-important opening narration (which is still light years less annoying than what Heroes used to throw at us).
Hard to say where this is going based on one episode, but without more substance to balance out the show's main gimmick I don't think it'll do well long-term.
Finally, I finally watched the first episode of Smash, NBC's Broadway drama, and I was pleasantly surprised. It has a good cast used well, from Debra Messing's slightly neurotic show writer to Anjelica Huston's imperious producer. The show also helps makes cosmic sense of Katherine McPhee's loss to Taylor Hicks on American Idol all those years ago. She plays the ingenue who is up for the lead in a new musical about Marilyn Monroe, squaring off against the long-time chorus girl played by Megan Hilty (a Broadway lead in her own right).
All of the characters fill some sort of stereotypical role, such as the lecherous but brilliant director and the alternatively supportive and put-upon husband, but the acting and writing is good enough to keep things fresh. I am not looking forward to the inevitable clashes from the adoption Messing's character and her husband are trying to finalize, though. I'd much prefer some garden-variety cheating.
A strong premiere has given way to middling ratings, it's getting some help now by airing right after The Voice. Even with average numbers, Smash benefits from airing on NBC, which has great yawning chasms on its schedule, especially where drama is concerned. And based on some of the pilots NBC is working with (including an hour-long dramatic take on The Munsters and a show which appears to be based on the educational computer game Oregon Trail), you'd have to think Smash will be back. I just hope NBC doesn't try to push it as their big hit drama. The show's not strong enough for that. It really needs to be treated as the sort of solid show that NBC can build upon. God knows they have a lot of building to do.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Real Housewives of Lima, Ohio
I don't watch any of the Real Housewives shows on Bravo - I have no interest and figure they're about as real as Desperate Housewives - and generally dislike it when one of the women on the show crosses over into the mainstream for some reason.
But I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at NeNe Leakes' turn as McKinley High synchronized swimming coach Roz Washington. It's wasn't the most nuanced performance - she basically yelled all of her lines at Sam Evans in one go - but it seemed to fit the character. I think in very limited doses, she could become a fun part of the show.
That being said, how does McKinley afford a synchronized swim team? Shouldn't they take that money and put it towards hiring teachers who, I don't know, teach? Or maybe an assistant principal who can roam the halls and take down slushy assailants? I know making a list of the improbable goings-on on Glee could be a full-time job, but this one's been sticking in my head for a while.
(That and the fact that Rachel and Kurt only seemed to know about NYADA when Emma told them about it. In what universe do two hyper-motivated Broadway wannabes not know about this school? It's almost as unbelievable as Rachel not knowing Cats had wrapped.)
But I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at NeNe Leakes' turn as McKinley High synchronized swimming coach Roz Washington. It's wasn't the most nuanced performance - she basically yelled all of her lines at Sam Evans in one go - but it seemed to fit the character. I think in very limited doses, she could become a fun part of the show.
That being said, how does McKinley afford a synchronized swim team? Shouldn't they take that money and put it towards hiring teachers who, I don't know, teach? Or maybe an assistant principal who can roam the halls and take down slushy assailants? I know making a list of the improbable goings-on on Glee could be a full-time job, but this one's been sticking in my head for a while.
(That and the fact that Rachel and Kurt only seemed to know about NYADA when Emma told them about it. In what universe do two hyper-motivated Broadway wannabes not know about this school? It's almost as unbelievable as Rachel not knowing Cats had wrapped.)
Friday, February 10, 2012
Closing the House
So word came this week that this will be the final season for House, which will wrap after eight snarky and Vicodin-fueled seasons. No question the show stayed too long at the fair, as the last season or two haven't been the most interesting. You know you're in trouble when you can't make the main character's jail time an interesting - or at least fun - episode.
A number of people have pointed to the House-Cuddy relationship as the thing that turned the series, but I think the problems predated that. For me, the break seemed to start when House hired the new team. I don't have anything particularly against the actors, but I found the characters alternately flat (Taub, for all of his foibles, is not that interesting) and gimmicky (Thirteen: she has no name! she's bisexual! she has Huntington's! she's disappeared! now she's back! now she's gone again!). Bringing back Chase and Foreman hasn't helped, as Chase has no obvious purpose other than having sex with women, while Foreman has regained some value as House's boss.
I actually think the new team members could have helped inject some life into the show, but between Adams' relentless optimism and Park's rudeness we just got more archetypes for House to play against each other.
Which leads to the biggest problem the show's had - where to take House. The show seemed to be going somewhere when House was committed - a relatively clean House trying to get beyond his natural instincts would have been something to watch - but House just fell back into his old ways. Which, while possibly realistic, wasn't as much fun.
There were other stumbles along the way. The third season story arc where House is the subject of a cop's obsessive investigation was excruciating, and the less said about Martha M. Masters the better. But in the main, I think the show ran out of ideas on how House's life was supposed to go. I can only hope the show comes up with something fitting for the finale.
A number of people have pointed to the House-Cuddy relationship as the thing that turned the series, but I think the problems predated that. For me, the break seemed to start when House hired the new team. I don't have anything particularly against the actors, but I found the characters alternately flat (Taub, for all of his foibles, is not that interesting) and gimmicky (Thirteen: she has no name! she's bisexual! she has Huntington's! she's disappeared! now she's back! now she's gone again!). Bringing back Chase and Foreman hasn't helped, as Chase has no obvious purpose other than having sex with women, while Foreman has regained some value as House's boss.
I actually think the new team members could have helped inject some life into the show, but between Adams' relentless optimism and Park's rudeness we just got more archetypes for House to play against each other.
Which leads to the biggest problem the show's had - where to take House. The show seemed to be going somewhere when House was committed - a relatively clean House trying to get beyond his natural instincts would have been something to watch - but House just fell back into his old ways. Which, while possibly realistic, wasn't as much fun.
There were other stumbles along the way. The third season story arc where House is the subject of a cop's obsessive investigation was excruciating, and the less said about Martha M. Masters the better. But in the main, I think the show ran out of ideas on how House's life was supposed to go. I can only hope the show comes up with something fitting for the finale.
Thursday, February 02, 2012
What if... there were no hairdressers?
I won't be watching tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy for a while, but based on the ads I can one thing for sure: the greatest change if the doctors had made different decisions in their lives seems to be their hair. There are some fugly 'dos on tap, and I don't know if I'll be able to focus when I finally do watch the episode as I'll be too distracted.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
X-ed Out Factor
So the big TV news today is the house clearing at The X Factor, as host Steve Jones and judges Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul were shown the door. From what I can gather, Jones was thought to be too hard on contestants, Scherzinger never connected with fans, and Abdul was too "soft," which could hardly have been a surprise given the light touch she used for criticism on American Idol.
As much as this shake-up puts the show in the news, I don't think it will do anything to correct what I saw as the main problem with the show when it first aired: the format is tired and the show itself too derivative of the other music performance reality shows. I think what's really hampered the show was The Voice, which beat The X Factor to featuring live performances and teams mentored by an industry heavyweight. The only twist The X Factor could come up with - having the teams be all of one type - didn't bring enough interest, especially with the team made of groups. If you have to create two groups out of rejected individual performers, then you may want to reconsider if you need a team of groups at all.
I suppose some really big names may bring in more viewers - Mariah Carey is getting mentioned quite a bit as a future judge, and there's been some idle speculation about Ryan Seacrest moving over to host - but regardless of who they bring in, what the show really needs is a truly fresh approach. I have no idea what that would be, but I'm not the one getting paid millions by Fox. Good luck, Simon.
As much as this shake-up puts the show in the news, I don't think it will do anything to correct what I saw as the main problem with the show when it first aired: the format is tired and the show itself too derivative of the other music performance reality shows. I think what's really hampered the show was The Voice, which beat The X Factor to featuring live performances and teams mentored by an industry heavyweight. The only twist The X Factor could come up with - having the teams be all of one type - didn't bring enough interest, especially with the team made of groups. If you have to create two groups out of rejected individual performers, then you may want to reconsider if you need a team of groups at all.
I suppose some really big names may bring in more viewers - Mariah Carey is getting mentioned quite a bit as a future judge, and there's been some idle speculation about Ryan Seacrest moving over to host - but regardless of who they bring in, what the show really needs is a truly fresh approach. I have no idea what that would be, but I'm not the one getting paid millions by Fox. Good luck, Simon.
Friday, December 30, 2011
New Year, Old TV
I'm not much of a New Year's celebrant, and from a TV perspective it offers up two of my least favorite offerings - Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve and the Tournament of Roses parade. The former offers too much hype and the painful appearance of Dick Clark, whose post-stroke speech is often incomprehensible. I hope that every year will bring a sign of improvement, but have been disappointed. The parade, meanwhile, bores me. I don't like watching parades on TV generally, and am annoyed that this particular parade is covered by something like 20 networks at the same time.
The one New Year's TV tradition I absolutely love is the Twilight Zone marathon on SyFy. It's a great alternative to the aforementioned crap and when bowl games get out of hand. As a service to you, dear readers, here's a schedule of when some of the more notable episodes will run (all times Eastern):
Saturday
"In Praise of Pip" (9:30 am) - I tend to enjoy all of the Klugman episodes, and find this one about a bookie who learns that his son has been wounded in combat especially poignant. It's taken on greater meaning now that I have sons of my own.
"The Rip Van Winkle Caper" (12:30 pm) - one of my favorite "gotcha" episodes, though more for the way the gang at the center of this heist disintegrates, proving there truly is no honor among thieves.
"The After Hours" (4:30 pm) - I find this episode creepy, less for the ultimate reveal than for the department store, with its missing floors and such. I kind of fear having the same thing happen to me.
"A Game of Pool" (5:30 pm) - to me this is the first classic episode of the marathon, as Jack Klugman's pool shark faces off against the greatest hustler of them all (Jonathan Winters) - even though the hustler is dead.
"Stopover in a Quiet Town" (7 pm) - I have to admit I like this episode because I like the comeuppance served to the main characters, a disagreeable couple who wake up after a bender unsure where they actually are.
"A Penny for Your Thoughts" (8 pm) - Dick York plays a bank clerk who can hear people's thoughts. I like the comedic tone of the episode, and it's one of my favorite ones where an unexpected circumstance allows a meek character to succeed.
"Nick of Time" (10 pm) - a newlywed couple finds themselves at the mercy of a penny-operated fortune-telling machine when their car breaks down. The episode features William Shatner as the husband.
"Kick The Can" (11 pm) - I admit I like this story of a nursing home resident who tries to get his fellow elderly to play like children more for its later reference on The Simpsons than for the actual episode. But it's still a good one.
Sunday
"The Midnight Sun" (12 am) - an enjoyable episode, both for the way people cope with the slowly inevitable date Earth now has with the sun, and for the way the episode resolves as a quasi-gotcha.
"People Are Alike All Over" (12:30 am) - enjoyed for the idea that aliens, rather than being giant insectoids with a taste for human flesh, are jerks just like the rest of us.
"Two" (2 am) - Elizabeth Montgomery and Charles Bronson star as what might be the last combatants in a war that's killed everyone else. The leads do a nice job of acting this out without the help of lengthy dialog.
"The Lonely" (4 am) - a man sentenced to a long stretch alone on an asteroid is sent a robot companion to help pass the time. A bit predictable in the outcome, but a nice example on how no man can be an island.
"The Arrival" (5:30 am) - a plane arrives at an airport without passengers, and each of the three men investigating the incident see something different. If I'm remembering this episode correctly, the ending is given kind of out of the blue.
"The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank" (7:30 am) - a young man comes back to life at his own funeral, and has to convince the town that he's not the devil. You can imagine how that turns out.
"The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms" (11:30 am) - three National Guardsmen get more than they bargained for during their weekend drill when they happen upon Custer's Last Stand. Probably my favorite time travel episode.
"It's a Good Life" (2 pm) - classic episode about a town that lives to please a small boy (Billy Mumy), who can use his mind to make life unpleasant - or non-existent - if you displease him.
"The Invaders" (4:30 pm) - dialog-free story about a woman fighting off alien invaders.
"Living Doll" (7:30 pm) - Telly Savalas plays a man who has his life threatened by one of his daughter's dolls. We have a number of toys here that speak in a similar voice and with similar phrases to the doll, so I've taken to making up creepy statements like "it's murder time" when the toys come out.
"The Obsolete Man" (8 pm) - the lesser known of Burgess Meredith's bookcentric episodes, in this one he plays a librarian who is to be put to death because society no longer needs books. I do like this one for the impassioned defense of knowledge at the end.
"Time Enough at Last" (9 pm) - the other episode, where Meredith plays a bank teller who only wants time to read - and gets it when a nuclear strike happens while he's in the vault. May have the best-known gotcha ending of the entire series.
"A Stop at Willoughby" (9:30 pm) - an ad exec finds himself wanting to get off at this idyllic town, but always just misses the stop. He finally makes it off at the end of the episode, with a neat gotcha as to the nature of Willoughby at the end.
"The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" (10 pm) - a neighborhood loses power, and the fear that it's due to an alien invasion leads residents to turn on each other, thinking that each is an advance scout for the invasion.
"To Serve Man" (10:30 pm) - the other entrant in the best-known gotcha ending, although there's a tacked on bit at the end that kind of ruins the surprise. Nicely done overall, though.
"Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up" (11 pm) - alien invasion played more for humor, as an alien is tracked to a local diner. The ending is a double gotcha, which I really enjoyed the first time I saw it.
"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" - another classic, featuring William Shatner as an airplane passenger who keeps seeing a gremlin outside the plane, trying to cause a crash. He's the only person who sees it.
Monday
"Nightmare as a Child" (2 am) - a teacher is freaked out by a girl who knows too much about the teacher's past. I've probably under-represented the supernatural episodes, but this is one I remember liking.
"What's in the Box" (2:30 am) - a nagging couple finds their marital trouble is now being reported on the TV. I really think this would be a great basis for a movie version of The Lockhorns.
Enjoy this weekend's trip into an alternate dimension!
The one New Year's TV tradition I absolutely love is the Twilight Zone marathon on SyFy. It's a great alternative to the aforementioned crap and when bowl games get out of hand. As a service to you, dear readers, here's a schedule of when some of the more notable episodes will run (all times Eastern):
Saturday
"In Praise of Pip" (9:30 am) - I tend to enjoy all of the Klugman episodes, and find this one about a bookie who learns that his son has been wounded in combat especially poignant. It's taken on greater meaning now that I have sons of my own.
"The Rip Van Winkle Caper" (12:30 pm) - one of my favorite "gotcha" episodes, though more for the way the gang at the center of this heist disintegrates, proving there truly is no honor among thieves.
"The After Hours" (4:30 pm) - I find this episode creepy, less for the ultimate reveal than for the department store, with its missing floors and such. I kind of fear having the same thing happen to me.
"A Game of Pool" (5:30 pm) - to me this is the first classic episode of the marathon, as Jack Klugman's pool shark faces off against the greatest hustler of them all (Jonathan Winters) - even though the hustler is dead.
"Stopover in a Quiet Town" (7 pm) - I have to admit I like this episode because I like the comeuppance served to the main characters, a disagreeable couple who wake up after a bender unsure where they actually are.
"A Penny for Your Thoughts" (8 pm) - Dick York plays a bank clerk who can hear people's thoughts. I like the comedic tone of the episode, and it's one of my favorite ones where an unexpected circumstance allows a meek character to succeed.
"Nick of Time" (10 pm) - a newlywed couple finds themselves at the mercy of a penny-operated fortune-telling machine when their car breaks down. The episode features William Shatner as the husband.
"Kick The Can" (11 pm) - I admit I like this story of a nursing home resident who tries to get his fellow elderly to play like children more for its later reference on The Simpsons than for the actual episode. But it's still a good one.
Sunday
"The Midnight Sun" (12 am) - an enjoyable episode, both for the way people cope with the slowly inevitable date Earth now has with the sun, and for the way the episode resolves as a quasi-gotcha.
"People Are Alike All Over" (12:30 am) - enjoyed for the idea that aliens, rather than being giant insectoids with a taste for human flesh, are jerks just like the rest of us.
"Two" (2 am) - Elizabeth Montgomery and Charles Bronson star as what might be the last combatants in a war that's killed everyone else. The leads do a nice job of acting this out without the help of lengthy dialog.
"The Lonely" (4 am) - a man sentenced to a long stretch alone on an asteroid is sent a robot companion to help pass the time. A bit predictable in the outcome, but a nice example on how no man can be an island.
"The Arrival" (5:30 am) - a plane arrives at an airport without passengers, and each of the three men investigating the incident see something different. If I'm remembering this episode correctly, the ending is given kind of out of the blue.
"The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank" (7:30 am) - a young man comes back to life at his own funeral, and has to convince the town that he's not the devil. You can imagine how that turns out.
"The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms" (11:30 am) - three National Guardsmen get more than they bargained for during their weekend drill when they happen upon Custer's Last Stand. Probably my favorite time travel episode.
"It's a Good Life" (2 pm) - classic episode about a town that lives to please a small boy (Billy Mumy), who can use his mind to make life unpleasant - or non-existent - if you displease him.
"The Invaders" (4:30 pm) - dialog-free story about a woman fighting off alien invaders.
"Living Doll" (7:30 pm) - Telly Savalas plays a man who has his life threatened by one of his daughter's dolls. We have a number of toys here that speak in a similar voice and with similar phrases to the doll, so I've taken to making up creepy statements like "it's murder time" when the toys come out.
"The Obsolete Man" (8 pm) - the lesser known of Burgess Meredith's bookcentric episodes, in this one he plays a librarian who is to be put to death because society no longer needs books. I do like this one for the impassioned defense of knowledge at the end.
"Time Enough at Last" (9 pm) - the other episode, where Meredith plays a bank teller who only wants time to read - and gets it when a nuclear strike happens while he's in the vault. May have the best-known gotcha ending of the entire series.
"A Stop at Willoughby" (9:30 pm) - an ad exec finds himself wanting to get off at this idyllic town, but always just misses the stop. He finally makes it off at the end of the episode, with a neat gotcha as to the nature of Willoughby at the end.
"The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" (10 pm) - a neighborhood loses power, and the fear that it's due to an alien invasion leads residents to turn on each other, thinking that each is an advance scout for the invasion.
"To Serve Man" (10:30 pm) - the other entrant in the best-known gotcha ending, although there's a tacked on bit at the end that kind of ruins the surprise. Nicely done overall, though.
"Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up" (11 pm) - alien invasion played more for humor, as an alien is tracked to a local diner. The ending is a double gotcha, which I really enjoyed the first time I saw it.
"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" - another classic, featuring William Shatner as an airplane passenger who keeps seeing a gremlin outside the plane, trying to cause a crash. He's the only person who sees it.
Monday
"Nightmare as a Child" (2 am) - a teacher is freaked out by a girl who knows too much about the teacher's past. I've probably under-represented the supernatural episodes, but this is one I remember liking.
"What's in the Box" (2:30 am) - a nagging couple finds their marital trouble is now being reported on the TV. I really think this would be a great basis for a movie version of The Lockhorns.
Enjoy this weekend's trip into an alternate dimension!
Thursday, November 03, 2011
New on TV: Pan Am
It's 1963. The jet age has dawned, and we're going around the world with the crew of a Pan Am Clipper. That crew is made up of a captain searching for his gone-missing stewardess girlfriend, his co-pilot who appears to be Pan Am's version of Pete Campbell, and four stewardesses. Two are sisters, one the black sheep of the family, the other the golden child who bolted from her own wedding and wound up on the cover of Life magazine after joining Pan Am. One is a burgeoning feminist/free thinker, as we're shown by her living in the Village and having some guy at her apartment using Marx as an excuse to not answer the phone. The fourth is a Frenchwoman who was apparently sleeping with a married man, which she learned when he brought his family on a flight.
Oh, and did I mention that the black sheep has been recruited by the CIA at the suggestion of the stew who went missing?
Ridiculous espionage subplots aside, there is a certain charm to this show. The sisters have a troubled relationship, but they're secure enough with each other to be honest and have each other's backs when their manipulative mom shows up on a flight. The captain, as much as he's trying to project the alpha male characteristics expected of someone in his position in 1963, is clearly hurting, and his dedication to find his girlfriend is a welcome vulnerability.
The other characters, well, I'm not so sure where they're going. They may be a little to tightly defined as horndog/bohemian/French, and it'd be nice to see them get some range.
As for the show's ability to capture Mad Men's vibe, well, no. They try very hard, certainly with the costumes and music, but try too hard by inserting incidental dialog that sounds like a forced attempt to remind us that it's 1963. The writers do not have Mad Men's ability to come up with dialog that sounds like it would be spoken by people in the 1960s but not sounding like they're trying to prove that it's the 1960s.
Still, this is a pleasant enough show, and the airline setting does allow for a broad range of locales and potential plots. I don't know how much of a chance we'll have to explore the world with this crew, though, as the show's ratings are dismal, thanks in no small part to the anemic numbers put up by Desperate Housewives, whose last season is, almost unbelievably, stupider than any of the previous seasons. I also don't see a good time for them to move the show to without possibly making the show weaker, ratings-wise.
So while this experiment in ripping off basic cable is going better than The Playboy Club, I wouldn't actually call it a success. It's likeable enough, but it doesn't keep me from hoping that March 2012 would just get here already.
Oh, and did I mention that the black sheep has been recruited by the CIA at the suggestion of the stew who went missing?
Ridiculous espionage subplots aside, there is a certain charm to this show. The sisters have a troubled relationship, but they're secure enough with each other to be honest and have each other's backs when their manipulative mom shows up on a flight. The captain, as much as he's trying to project the alpha male characteristics expected of someone in his position in 1963, is clearly hurting, and his dedication to find his girlfriend is a welcome vulnerability.
The other characters, well, I'm not so sure where they're going. They may be a little to tightly defined as horndog/bohemian/French, and it'd be nice to see them get some range.
As for the show's ability to capture Mad Men's vibe, well, no. They try very hard, certainly with the costumes and music, but try too hard by inserting incidental dialog that sounds like a forced attempt to remind us that it's 1963. The writers do not have Mad Men's ability to come up with dialog that sounds like it would be spoken by people in the 1960s but not sounding like they're trying to prove that it's the 1960s.
Still, this is a pleasant enough show, and the airline setting does allow for a broad range of locales and potential plots. I don't know how much of a chance we'll have to explore the world with this crew, though, as the show's ratings are dismal, thanks in no small part to the anemic numbers put up by Desperate Housewives, whose last season is, almost unbelievably, stupider than any of the previous seasons. I also don't see a good time for them to move the show to without possibly making the show weaker, ratings-wise.
So while this experiment in ripping off basic cable is going better than The Playboy Club, I wouldn't actually call it a success. It's likeable enough, but it doesn't keep me from hoping that March 2012 would just get here already.
New on TV: Terra Nova
It's 2149, and Earth is screwed. Population growth, pollution, whatever, it's clear that the planet is not going to be able to sustain life - at least human life - for much longer. At some point in the relatively recent past, a hole in space-time was discovered that allows people to be sent back 85 million years on to a parallel Earth. The idea, apparently, is that this new Earth will serve as a lifeboat for at least a segment of humanity.
That's where the Shannon family comes in. They've been selected for the 11th pilgrimage (mom is a doctor), but there's wrinkle; dad is in prison thanks to his assault on a police officer who discovered that the family had an illegal third child. Mom is apparently more resourceful than first thought, as she engineers a lame escape for her husband and lays down enough bribes to get him through the portal - with their third child.
Terra Nova is run in a quasi-military camp style, led the no-nonsense commander who founded the colony as the very first pilgrim. But there's trouble in the past, as a group of people from the sixth pilgrimage - know as Sixers - split off from Terra Nova and are actively trying to thwart it. They live in the jungle, steal supplies and energy as needed, etc. They also have a belief - not stated explicitly but suggested via comments as subtle as a jackhammer - that this new Earth is actually the old Earth, and the Terra Nova settlement is a ploy made by various people back in 2149 to gain or maintain power.
The Shannons, for their part, get mixed up in this pretty quickly when the dad saves the life of the commander, leading him to a favored spot on the commander's security team. The dad has also been a captive of the Sixers, and is beginning to suspect there's more here than meets the eye. There is also a variety of family drama - a son who resents his dad for being away, a daughter who's already caught the eye of a solider, and none of it is all that interesting.
In fact, this write up is, I think, at least as interesting as the show, a condition I ascribe to the lack of dinosaurs. Oh, there's at least one dino per episode - and there was one episode where a flock of flying dinos attack the Terra Novans, as they've built their settlement on the dino's nesting ground - but the real draw for watching this show isn't to see what bits they've ripped off from Lost or how problematically on the nose it was for them to cast the Marine commander from Avatar as the Terra Nova commander. I want to see dinosaurs, lots of them, preferably fighting each other. That would be at least as interesting as the whole thing with the Sixers (which I think they've tipped too early) and much more interesting than the family dynamics stuff.
Bottom line, I'm a little disappointed with the show, and the ratings suggest that I'm not alone. My thinking: more dinos, more ratings. Make it happen, Fox.
That's where the Shannon family comes in. They've been selected for the 11th pilgrimage (mom is a doctor), but there's wrinkle; dad is in prison thanks to his assault on a police officer who discovered that the family had an illegal third child. Mom is apparently more resourceful than first thought, as she engineers a lame escape for her husband and lays down enough bribes to get him through the portal - with their third child.
Terra Nova is run in a quasi-military camp style, led the no-nonsense commander who founded the colony as the very first pilgrim. But there's trouble in the past, as a group of people from the sixth pilgrimage - know as Sixers - split off from Terra Nova and are actively trying to thwart it. They live in the jungle, steal supplies and energy as needed, etc. They also have a belief - not stated explicitly but suggested via comments as subtle as a jackhammer - that this new Earth is actually the old Earth, and the Terra Nova settlement is a ploy made by various people back in 2149 to gain or maintain power.
The Shannons, for their part, get mixed up in this pretty quickly when the dad saves the life of the commander, leading him to a favored spot on the commander's security team. The dad has also been a captive of the Sixers, and is beginning to suspect there's more here than meets the eye. There is also a variety of family drama - a son who resents his dad for being away, a daughter who's already caught the eye of a solider, and none of it is all that interesting.
In fact, this write up is, I think, at least as interesting as the show, a condition I ascribe to the lack of dinosaurs. Oh, there's at least one dino per episode - and there was one episode where a flock of flying dinos attack the Terra Novans, as they've built their settlement on the dino's nesting ground - but the real draw for watching this show isn't to see what bits they've ripped off from Lost or how problematically on the nose it was for them to cast the Marine commander from Avatar as the Terra Nova commander. I want to see dinosaurs, lots of them, preferably fighting each other. That would be at least as interesting as the whole thing with the Sixers (which I think they've tipped too early) and much more interesting than the family dynamics stuff.
Bottom line, I'm a little disappointed with the show, and the ratings suggest that I'm not alone. My thinking: more dinos, more ratings. Make it happen, Fox.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Making it Better - The Walking Dead
While it attracted a huge audience, the start of the second season of The Walking Dead did remind me of some of the things I didn't particularly like about the first season. Unfortunately, they're mostly about the acting. Still, in the interest of improving things, here are my five suggestions for making the show even more zombieriffic.
1. Actually use the word 'zombie.' While I understand (to some extent) the use of the term "walker," I have hard time believing that no one has used that term to describe what, culturally, we've known as zombies. I can only assume that the world depicted on the show never considered zombies as a concept, or did and called them walkers from the start. Anyway, the occasional dropping of the z-word would be a nice touch, if just to remind us that the show putatively takes place in our present.
2. Less chat, more splat. AMC is developing a bit of a rep for shows that are slow-moving and very talky (I think the last episode of Rubicon is just wrapping up now). That's an unfortunate tendency when you have a show whose hook is zombies and the killing of zombies. It seems like most interactions with the undead happen off camera or from the zombie point of view. We get to hear the kill, but not to see it, which is a shame. If we've learned anything from recent zombie movies, it's that we want to see the Zs dispatched in a gruesome fashion. The direction this show is taking makes the Foley artists happy, I'm sure, but zombies are more of a visual thing, and the show should open things up.
3. Use the chaos to your advantage, cast-wise. Look, this show doesn't have the strongest cast, and on top of that a number of characters are downright annoying. With a show like this, it should be easy to correct such things; annoying cast member gets eaten, less annoying cast member is found along the road or something. I think most fans have at least one character they'd gladly sacrifice in the hopes of improving overall quality. And while we're on the subject...
4. Bring back Merle Dixon. If you're going to have stereotypical characters, you might as well have ones that are maximally stereotypical and, if possible, crazy. Merle Dixon hits on all cylinders, and probably moreso now that he's down to one hand. Michael Rooker made Merle a mesmerizing figure, and it's a shame we got so little of him. I'm hoping he does return soon as the king of the zombies or something.
I would also appreciate a reunion with Morgan Jones, if only so we could have...
5. An end to the walkie-talkie monologues. I don't need to hear Rick fill the first minute of the show with exposition and half-baked suggestions (for example, telling Morgan to stay off the roads when Rick and company are just about to get on the road). I also blame these for the torpor that the pace of the show is stuck in. Start with some action and keep the pace up.
Still, all of this takes a back seat to what may be the real problem with the show: turmoil amongst the staff. Between the plan to fire all the writers and use freelancers and the parting of the ways with two executives (including Frank Darabont), the mess in this part of the show must have an impact on the actual product. Get your house in order, folks. We want to see some good old fashioned zombie killin'.
1. Actually use the word 'zombie.' While I understand (to some extent) the use of the term "walker," I have hard time believing that no one has used that term to describe what, culturally, we've known as zombies. I can only assume that the world depicted on the show never considered zombies as a concept, or did and called them walkers from the start. Anyway, the occasional dropping of the z-word would be a nice touch, if just to remind us that the show putatively takes place in our present.
2. Less chat, more splat. AMC is developing a bit of a rep for shows that are slow-moving and very talky (I think the last episode of Rubicon is just wrapping up now). That's an unfortunate tendency when you have a show whose hook is zombies and the killing of zombies. It seems like most interactions with the undead happen off camera or from the zombie point of view. We get to hear the kill, but not to see it, which is a shame. If we've learned anything from recent zombie movies, it's that we want to see the Zs dispatched in a gruesome fashion. The direction this show is taking makes the Foley artists happy, I'm sure, but zombies are more of a visual thing, and the show should open things up.
3. Use the chaos to your advantage, cast-wise. Look, this show doesn't have the strongest cast, and on top of that a number of characters are downright annoying. With a show like this, it should be easy to correct such things; annoying cast member gets eaten, less annoying cast member is found along the road or something. I think most fans have at least one character they'd gladly sacrifice in the hopes of improving overall quality. And while we're on the subject...
4. Bring back Merle Dixon. If you're going to have stereotypical characters, you might as well have ones that are maximally stereotypical and, if possible, crazy. Merle Dixon hits on all cylinders, and probably moreso now that he's down to one hand. Michael Rooker made Merle a mesmerizing figure, and it's a shame we got so little of him. I'm hoping he does return soon as the king of the zombies or something.
I would also appreciate a reunion with Morgan Jones, if only so we could have...
5. An end to the walkie-talkie monologues. I don't need to hear Rick fill the first minute of the show with exposition and half-baked suggestions (for example, telling Morgan to stay off the roads when Rick and company are just about to get on the road). I also blame these for the torpor that the pace of the show is stuck in. Start with some action and keep the pace up.
Still, all of this takes a back seat to what may be the real problem with the show: turmoil amongst the staff. Between the plan to fire all the writers and use freelancers and the parting of the ways with two executives (including Frank Darabont), the mess in this part of the show must have an impact on the actual product. Get your house in order, folks. We want to see some good old fashioned zombie killin'.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Nostalgia Isn't What it Used to Be
So now that the expected cancellation of Charlie's Angels is official, can the networks agree to a five year moratorium on trotting out new versions of old shows? There are some successes (Hawaii 5-0) and qualified successes (Nikita, 90210) in these revivals, but then you have these: Knight Rider, Night Stalker, Bionic Woman, Cupid, V, and Melrose Place (and if you want go back a little farther, throw in Dragnet, Star Search, Hunter, The Twilight Zone, and Family Affair). It may be too early to say where Prime Suspect is going, but based on ratings it's more likely to join the latter group.
The danger in this, of course, is that we get more offshoots of existing shows. I'd hate to prevent the return of The Five Mrs. Buchanans if what we get instead is NCIS: Presque Isle. Actually, I'd like to see how CBS would pull that off, though the jokes about Presque Isle not being on the water would probably wear thin after the second episode.
The danger in this, of course, is that we get more offshoots of existing shows. I'd hate to prevent the return of The Five Mrs. Buchanans if what we get instead is NCIS: Presque Isle. Actually, I'd like to see how CBS would pull that off, though the jokes about Presque Isle not being on the water would probably wear thin after the second episode.
Monday, October 10, 2011
The Beauty of DVR Viewing
The number of shows we record on our DVR generally has us catching up with regular season shows over the summer and watching summer programming during the first half of the new season, with occasional sampling of new shows to see if we're going to keep watching them. This puts me behind the eight ball in discussing developments on existing shows (like how much Glee apparently sucks this year, save Dot Marie Jones), but it has given us a great new approach to some of the summer shows, most notably Hell's Kitchen and Master Chef.
.The approach is simple: watch one episode of each show each night until it's over. I know this sort of condensed season viewing isn't new for folks (especially those of you who stream seasons or watch DVDs), but it's been very helpful for these two shows specifically, as:
1. You can blow through episodes quickly, as you can skip over the ads and excessive recapping (really, I don't need 30 seconds to remind me of what happened two to four minutes ago). Not too unlike regular DVR viewing, but some added value for these shows.
2. You get to know the contestants very quickly. This is less of a problem on Hell's Kitchen, whose contestants tend towards oversized personalities. But it's really helpful for Master Chef, whose contestant pool starts large and, even with a quick cutdown, remains large enough to allow you to lose people in the first few weeks. You see these people every night, though, and it's easier to keep track of folks.
(An aside for Master Chef: please stop the in-program ads for your knives and cookware. Graham Elliot deserves better, I think.)
I will say that this has helped Master Chef seem more compelling this season, though some more interesting competitors have helped, too. They're certainly easier to take than the braying jackasses who tend make up most of Hell's Kitchen.
.The approach is simple: watch one episode of each show each night until it's over. I know this sort of condensed season viewing isn't new for folks (especially those of you who stream seasons or watch DVDs), but it's been very helpful for these two shows specifically, as:
1. You can blow through episodes quickly, as you can skip over the ads and excessive recapping (really, I don't need 30 seconds to remind me of what happened two to four minutes ago). Not too unlike regular DVR viewing, but some added value for these shows.
2. You get to know the contestants very quickly. This is less of a problem on Hell's Kitchen, whose contestants tend towards oversized personalities. But it's really helpful for Master Chef, whose contestant pool starts large and, even with a quick cutdown, remains large enough to allow you to lose people in the first few weeks. You see these people every night, though, and it's easier to keep track of folks.
(An aside for Master Chef: please stop the in-program ads for your knives and cookware. Graham Elliot deserves better, I think.)
I will say that this has helped Master Chef seem more compelling this season, though some more interesting competitors have helped, too. They're certainly easier to take than the braying jackasses who tend make up most of Hell's Kitchen.
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Down the Rabbit Hole
Between the negative reviews and the falling numbers over its first three episodes, it should be no surprise that NBC's The Playboy Club was the first new show to get cancelled. Really, the writing was on the wall when Aaron Barnhart tabbed it American Dreams with boobs.
The more surprising info in that EW article is that Whitney got picked up for a full season. While it's not bleeding viewers, last week episode underperformed the previous year's episode of Outsourced. Then again, Outsourced got a full season, so it could just be that NBC will take the hit to have some stability. That must make Maria Bello happy, though reruns of Prime Suspect will show up in The Playboy Club's former spot for the next few weeks, which may help.
The show that's being mentioned as the long-term replacement is the newsmagazine Rock Center with Brian Williams. Based on the name I'm assuming the show is about football, or musicians, or football-playing musicians.
The more surprising info in that EW article is that Whitney got picked up for a full season. While it's not bleeding viewers, last week episode underperformed the previous year's episode of Outsourced. Then again, Outsourced got a full season, so it could just be that NBC will take the hit to have some stability. That must make Maria Bello happy, though reruns of Prime Suspect will show up in The Playboy Club's former spot for the next few weeks, which may help.
The show that's being mentioned as the long-term replacement is the newsmagazine Rock Center with Brian Williams. Based on the name I'm assuming the show is about football, or musicians, or football-playing musicians.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
New on TV: New Girl
If you read enough reviews of new TV shows, you start to see broad narratives develop as to why a show will succeed or fail. This isn't surprising, as mass media loves nothing more than adopting an already-developed narrative over something original. In the case of New Girl, though, the narrative is dead on.
The amount to which you love or hate this show will correlate exactly with how much you love or hate Zooey Deschanel.
But first, the set-up: a bohemian/free spirited/whatever adjective best describes Zooey Deschanel woman named Jess catches her boyfriend cheating on her, leading her to move out and find new lodgings with three (or four) men, who aren't that good with women to begin with, never mind the strange, weepy mess they've just taken on. The guys help Jess get back on her feet while she helps them... make rent, I suppose. Jess also has a model best friend (literally), whose main purpose here seems to be as translator between Jess and the guys.
So, Zooey. She plays Jess in the sort of charmingly quirky (or, as I've seen the role described, "adorkable") that doesn't exist in real life, but works on TV as a refreshing break from how women are usually portrayed in sitcoms. And it's a good thing that it's a sitcom, as I think it'd be hard to take Jess for more than 30 minutes in a sitting. Suffice it to say I'm on the fence about Zooey's adorkability, at least in this case.
The roommates are the sort of clueless men who, left to their own devices, would be on an ABC sitcom that gets cancelled before Thanksgiving. There's Schmidt, one of those "bro" guys who seems to put half of his take home pay into a "Douchebag Jar" and who, not surprisingly, has a highly inflated sense of self. Then there's Nick, a bartender who can't get over his last break up but at least acts rationally otherwise, making him the most likely roommate to fall in love with Jess whenever ratings demand that happen. Winston, a former pro basketball player (in Latvia), rounds out the group as the guy who is trying to figure out just what the hell happened while he was gone.
(There is also another character, Coach, who may or may not be a roommate, thought he was but he's apparently only in a couple of episodes. He owns a gym that also appears to be the location of the apartment.)
I know it'd be hard to have this show without the guy roommates - that being the whole point of the show, the guys and Jess trying to sort each other out - but they drag down the show. I'm especially not fond of Schmidt, who I think they're trying to make into some iconic supporting character, and trying too hard.
Overall it's not a bad show, but I'm not feeling compelled to watch regularly, which I guess tracks with the whole narrative I started with.
The amount to which you love or hate this show will correlate exactly with how much you love or hate Zooey Deschanel.
But first, the set-up: a bohemian/free spirited/whatever adjective best describes Zooey Deschanel woman named Jess catches her boyfriend cheating on her, leading her to move out and find new lodgings with three (or four) men, who aren't that good with women to begin with, never mind the strange, weepy mess they've just taken on. The guys help Jess get back on her feet while she helps them... make rent, I suppose. Jess also has a model best friend (literally), whose main purpose here seems to be as translator between Jess and the guys.
So, Zooey. She plays Jess in the sort of charmingly quirky (or, as I've seen the role described, "adorkable") that doesn't exist in real life, but works on TV as a refreshing break from how women are usually portrayed in sitcoms. And it's a good thing that it's a sitcom, as I think it'd be hard to take Jess for more than 30 minutes in a sitting. Suffice it to say I'm on the fence about Zooey's adorkability, at least in this case.
The roommates are the sort of clueless men who, left to their own devices, would be on an ABC sitcom that gets cancelled before Thanksgiving. There's Schmidt, one of those "bro" guys who seems to put half of his take home pay into a "Douchebag Jar" and who, not surprisingly, has a highly inflated sense of self. Then there's Nick, a bartender who can't get over his last break up but at least acts rationally otherwise, making him the most likely roommate to fall in love with Jess whenever ratings demand that happen. Winston, a former pro basketball player (in Latvia), rounds out the group as the guy who is trying to figure out just what the hell happened while he was gone.
(There is also another character, Coach, who may or may not be a roommate, thought he was but he's apparently only in a couple of episodes. He owns a gym that also appears to be the location of the apartment.)
I know it'd be hard to have this show without the guy roommates - that being the whole point of the show, the guys and Jess trying to sort each other out - but they drag down the show. I'm especially not fond of Schmidt, who I think they're trying to make into some iconic supporting character, and trying too hard.
Overall it's not a bad show, but I'm not feeling compelled to watch regularly, which I guess tracks with the whole narrative I started with.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
New on TV: The X Factor
If you've consumed mass media for more than three minutes over the last year, you've seen or heard something about Simon Cowell's new singing competition show, The X Factor. And if you've consumed mass media for more than three minutes over the last decade or so, you've probably seen a show that's very similar to The X Factor.
As much as the show would like to stake a claim to originality or uniqueness, it's pretty much American Idol meets America's Got Talent meets The Voice meets (insert show here). Auditions happen, some good and some bad (thankfully, this show isn't drawing out the bad like AI does). Judges say things, and some contestants are passed through to the next stage of the competition, all in the hopes of winning the $5 million grand prize (now actually in cash rather than a potential for making that much).
That being said, there are some differences between this show and Cowell's old show. Contestants can be any age 12 and up, and can include groups. Those making it past the audition are put into four groups (men, women, groups and "older performers") for mentoring and development prior to competing. In fact, this sounds a lot more like The Voice than anything else.
The auditions also take place in front of a live audience (like The Voice, again, which makes me wonder who is ripping off who here), comprised of 4300 of the loudest, most easily entertained people the producers could find. Seriously, this audience will clap and holler for pretty much anything (outside of the guy who dropped his pants during his audition, he got booed). I do think the audience makes a difference - it can build or erode confidence depending on the performance, certainly - but I wish it was a little less manic.
The judging panel is comprised of Cowell, Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger (replacing Cheryl Cole and her Geordie accent) and L.A. Reid. They do pretty much what judging panels do on these shows, and are thankfully more willing to be honest than the AI folks. I especially like L.A. Reid, who manages to be no-nonsense without being a jerk. The producers did try to drum up some sort of conflict with him and Cowell based on their disagreements over contestants, to no avail. At this point at least, there's no ill will there.
People who are into the whole Simon-Paula dynamic, or into the glitter and unicorn-filled world that exists in Paula's head, will be disappointed. In the early going, at least, they played nice and Paula was as coherent as the next person.
There's a heavy redemption angle to the show, as the ratio of successful contestant to compelling/emotional backstory was pretty much one to one. I will say that hearing about the importance of the audition or how someone's whole life is about this moment resonates more when its from a single mom in her 40s than some 19 year old whose "struggle" only exists in their head. I have nothing against redemption, just hoping this doesn't turn into Dr. Phil: The Musical or something.
Whether or not the show is worth watching hinges on your expectations. If you're expecting a singing competition that's new and fresh and full of Fox attitude, well, sorry, you're going to be disappointed. If you just like singing competitions and are sick of the parade of meh that's been coming out of AI the last few years, you may find something to like here.
As much as the show would like to stake a claim to originality or uniqueness, it's pretty much American Idol meets America's Got Talent meets The Voice meets (insert show here). Auditions happen, some good and some bad (thankfully, this show isn't drawing out the bad like AI does). Judges say things, and some contestants are passed through to the next stage of the competition, all in the hopes of winning the $5 million grand prize (now actually in cash rather than a potential for making that much).
That being said, there are some differences between this show and Cowell's old show. Contestants can be any age 12 and up, and can include groups. Those making it past the audition are put into four groups (men, women, groups and "older performers") for mentoring and development prior to competing. In fact, this sounds a lot more like The Voice than anything else.
The auditions also take place in front of a live audience (like The Voice, again, which makes me wonder who is ripping off who here), comprised of 4300 of the loudest, most easily entertained people the producers could find. Seriously, this audience will clap and holler for pretty much anything (outside of the guy who dropped his pants during his audition, he got booed). I do think the audience makes a difference - it can build or erode confidence depending on the performance, certainly - but I wish it was a little less manic.
The judging panel is comprised of Cowell, Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger (replacing Cheryl Cole and her Geordie accent) and L.A. Reid. They do pretty much what judging panels do on these shows, and are thankfully more willing to be honest than the AI folks. I especially like L.A. Reid, who manages to be no-nonsense without being a jerk. The producers did try to drum up some sort of conflict with him and Cowell based on their disagreements over contestants, to no avail. At this point at least, there's no ill will there.
People who are into the whole Simon-Paula dynamic, or into the glitter and unicorn-filled world that exists in Paula's head, will be disappointed. In the early going, at least, they played nice and Paula was as coherent as the next person.
There's a heavy redemption angle to the show, as the ratio of successful contestant to compelling/emotional backstory was pretty much one to one. I will say that hearing about the importance of the audition or how someone's whole life is about this moment resonates more when its from a single mom in her 40s than some 19 year old whose "struggle" only exists in their head. I have nothing against redemption, just hoping this doesn't turn into Dr. Phil: The Musical or something.
Whether or not the show is worth watching hinges on your expectations. If you're expecting a singing competition that's new and fresh and full of Fox attitude, well, sorry, you're going to be disappointed. If you just like singing competitions and are sick of the parade of meh that's been coming out of AI the last few years, you may find something to like here.
The Fifth Dentist
If you're my age you probably remember the ads for Trident gum that noted that four out of five dentists would recommend Trident for their patients who chew gum. And if you were like me, this ad left one question: what did the fifth dentist recommend? (Turns out it was not to chew gum at all.)
The ad never impacted my gum chewing habits, but it did give me an early lesson in the importance of language. A lesson that was piqued again this morning when I heard an ad on the radio for NBC's Thursday night sitcoms. The announcer wanted us to tune in to Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office and "the critically acclaimed Whitney."
That caught me aback, as the critical reaction to Whitney has been tepid at best (as noted here and here and here (scroll through), and here and here, for starters). So it makes me wonder: who, in this case, is the fifth dentist who is recommending Whitney?
The other idea that popped into my head is that NBC is trying to convince us that Whitney is critically acclaimed so it will fit with the other sitcoms, all of which actually are critically acclaimed (more or less, I'm hoping James Spader will bring some luster back to The Office). I'm thinking the people who actually watch the other shows will notice the difference (and those of us who watch the shows on DVR or On Demand will not really notice Whitney at all).
The ad never impacted my gum chewing habits, but it did give me an early lesson in the importance of language. A lesson that was piqued again this morning when I heard an ad on the radio for NBC's Thursday night sitcoms. The announcer wanted us to tune in to Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office and "the critically acclaimed Whitney."
That caught me aback, as the critical reaction to Whitney has been tepid at best (as noted here and here and here (scroll through), and here and here, for starters). So it makes me wonder: who, in this case, is the fifth dentist who is recommending Whitney?
The other idea that popped into my head is that NBC is trying to convince us that Whitney is critically acclaimed so it will fit with the other sitcoms, all of which actually are critically acclaimed (more or less, I'm hoping James Spader will bring some luster back to The Office). I'm thinking the people who actually watch the other shows will notice the difference (and those of us who watch the shows on DVR or On Demand will not really notice Whitney at all).
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Bring Out Your Dead 2011
Another year, another entry in the Ted Marshall Open TV death pool. As in years past, you choose ten shows that you think aren't going to be around for the next TV season, and you get 20 points for each show that goes away, with bonus points based on how you rank them (10 points for the show you most expect to get the axe, 9 points for the second-most, etc.). So who did I go with this year?
10 points - Desperate Housewives, it was announced last month that this will be the final season for the residents of Wisteria Lane, probably for the best as it's likely going to spend this year getting its clock cleaned by The Good Wife over on CBS. Truthfully, ABC should have cut their losses and cut this show when they did the time jump a couple of seasons ago.
9 points - One Tree Hill, also announced last month that this would be the venerable CW show's final season. I have no real comment on that, having never watched a second of the show.
8 points - Chuck, OK fans, NBC has already announced that the show is going away after this season, so please don't send me hate mail. You can send cans of chickpeas or inflatable giraffes or whatever signature item Chuck may have to NBC in an attempt to change their minds, but I think this time it's for real.
7 points - Rules of Engagement, now in the territory of shows I think will get cancelled, I went with this one as it is the only first-run scripted program scheduled for Saturday night. Make whatever jokes you want about a Friday night death slot, but at least each network is trying to program the night. Being stuck in the Saturday night gulag with Cops, college football and reruns suggests that CBS isn't particularly concerned with how this show fares.
6 points - How to Be a Gentleman, an effete magazine columnist links up with a manly man to learn how to be more masculine in this show that will air in the post-Big Bang Theory timeslot. The casting gives some indication as to how the show landed such a nice slot - it includes Kevin Dillon, Dave Foley, and Mary Lynn Rajskub - but it is one of the least well-reviewed new shows, and will be competing with The X Factor, Parks & Rec and Charlie's Angels. Not a good combination.
5 points - Man-Up, which is one of the many shows ABC has tried to foist on us over the last few years about men being men, not the least of which is its lead in, the Tim Allen-led Last Man Standing. Odd that these two manly men shows will lead into Dancing With the Stars and Body of Proof, both of which you think would skew female. I suppose a lack of manly competition at the 8 pm hour may give these shows some life?
I had considered going with Last Man Standing as well, as there is almost nothing nice being written about it, but after getting burned by Jim Belushi for years while incorrectly guessing the demise of According to Jim I get a little gun shy going after older male sitcom stars in relationship comedies.
4 points - Free Agents - speaking of poorly-reviewed shows, most of the real vitriol I've seen regarding new series has been for this latest adaption of a British comedy. At least until today, when Matt Gilbert of the Boston Globe kinda sorta said it was OK. It makes me wonder if most of the spleen vented at the show was over the ongoing inability of Americans to properly convert British shows. Regardless, it's apparently a stinkeroo that will not be saved by cast members like Hank Azaria and Anthony Head.
3 points - Whitney, one of NBC's two shows related to Chelsea Handler (the other, Are You There, Vodka?, bows in midseason, and while I was sorely tempted to choose it I've been swearing off midseason shows as the ones I pick tend to get renewed), starring comedian, Comedy Central roast regular and frequent Chelsea Lately guest Whitney Cummings. I've never seen her perform and don't watch Chelsea Lately or the Comedy Central roasts, but I know that both are edgier than your usual network fare, which makes it sad that she's been saddled with what might be the least edgy sitcom concept - the continuing saga of an unmarried couple living together. Reviews have been much more positive for Two Broke Girls, the CBS show she co-created and co-produces. Expect guest appearances starting sometime in January.
2 points - Unforgettable, the CBS show about a homicide detective who remembers everything from every day of her life - except, inconveniently, the details around the murder of her sister. Pretty much every review I've read of the show notes the irony of a show with this title being so, well, forgettable. Poppy Montgomery apparently adds nothing memorable outside of her first name, with this apparently being another in the long line of interchangable police procedurals.
1 point - Happy Endings, one of the 47 relationship comedies to premiere last season and apparently the only one that got renewed. Not sure why I went for this and not, say H8r, the CW's reality show where disliked celebs try to convince their biggest detractors that they aren't so bad. In retrospect I really should have gone with H8r, especially as Happy Endings will get to live in the shadow of Modern Family. Not that that helped Cougar Town all that much. Looking at the time slot, I could have also gone with I Hate My Teenage Daughter, which has racked up some of the most caustic reviews I've seen this season. So maybe a goof here.
And, as usual, there is an entry in the contest consisting of the top 10 shows picked by all participants. The ones I managed not to pick:
All My Children and One Life to Live, both of which I kind of assumed were already off the air, even though they were on the entry form. Pissed that I left so many easy points on the board.
The Playboy Club, NBC's attempt remora off of Mad Men. It's been getting fairly tepid reviews, and I'd toyed with the idea of including it, but in the end figured there were shows out there more likely to get cancelled.
Suburgatory, which I'm really surprised to see here based on the variety of positive reviews it's picked up. I suppose there's some resistance to the trope of the suburbs being hell compared to the city - it's not the most original premise - but from what I've read the show does manage to rise above its beginnings and fare well. Time slot may be a factor here, too - it's up against The X Factor and Survivor - so maybe ABC will do me a solid and swap it with Happy Endings?
10 points - Desperate Housewives, it was announced last month that this will be the final season for the residents of Wisteria Lane, probably for the best as it's likely going to spend this year getting its clock cleaned by The Good Wife over on CBS. Truthfully, ABC should have cut their losses and cut this show when they did the time jump a couple of seasons ago.
9 points - One Tree Hill, also announced last month that this would be the venerable CW show's final season. I have no real comment on that, having never watched a second of the show.
8 points - Chuck, OK fans, NBC has already announced that the show is going away after this season, so please don't send me hate mail. You can send cans of chickpeas or inflatable giraffes or whatever signature item Chuck may have to NBC in an attempt to change their minds, but I think this time it's for real.
7 points - Rules of Engagement, now in the territory of shows I think will get cancelled, I went with this one as it is the only first-run scripted program scheduled for Saturday night. Make whatever jokes you want about a Friday night death slot, but at least each network is trying to program the night. Being stuck in the Saturday night gulag with Cops, college football and reruns suggests that CBS isn't particularly concerned with how this show fares.
6 points - How to Be a Gentleman, an effete magazine columnist links up with a manly man to learn how to be more masculine in this show that will air in the post-Big Bang Theory timeslot. The casting gives some indication as to how the show landed such a nice slot - it includes Kevin Dillon, Dave Foley, and Mary Lynn Rajskub - but it is one of the least well-reviewed new shows, and will be competing with The X Factor, Parks & Rec and Charlie's Angels. Not a good combination.
5 points - Man-Up, which is one of the many shows ABC has tried to foist on us over the last few years about men being men, not the least of which is its lead in, the Tim Allen-led Last Man Standing. Odd that these two manly men shows will lead into Dancing With the Stars and Body of Proof, both of which you think would skew female. I suppose a lack of manly competition at the 8 pm hour may give these shows some life?
I had considered going with Last Man Standing as well, as there is almost nothing nice being written about it, but after getting burned by Jim Belushi for years while incorrectly guessing the demise of According to Jim I get a little gun shy going after older male sitcom stars in relationship comedies.
4 points - Free Agents - speaking of poorly-reviewed shows, most of the real vitriol I've seen regarding new series has been for this latest adaption of a British comedy. At least until today, when Matt Gilbert of the Boston Globe kinda sorta said it was OK. It makes me wonder if most of the spleen vented at the show was over the ongoing inability of Americans to properly convert British shows. Regardless, it's apparently a stinkeroo that will not be saved by cast members like Hank Azaria and Anthony Head.
3 points - Whitney, one of NBC's two shows related to Chelsea Handler (the other, Are You There, Vodka?, bows in midseason, and while I was sorely tempted to choose it I've been swearing off midseason shows as the ones I pick tend to get renewed), starring comedian, Comedy Central roast regular and frequent Chelsea Lately guest Whitney Cummings. I've never seen her perform and don't watch Chelsea Lately or the Comedy Central roasts, but I know that both are edgier than your usual network fare, which makes it sad that she's been saddled with what might be the least edgy sitcom concept - the continuing saga of an unmarried couple living together. Reviews have been much more positive for Two Broke Girls, the CBS show she co-created and co-produces. Expect guest appearances starting sometime in January.
2 points - Unforgettable, the CBS show about a homicide detective who remembers everything from every day of her life - except, inconveniently, the details around the murder of her sister. Pretty much every review I've read of the show notes the irony of a show with this title being so, well, forgettable. Poppy Montgomery apparently adds nothing memorable outside of her first name, with this apparently being another in the long line of interchangable police procedurals.
1 point - Happy Endings, one of the 47 relationship comedies to premiere last season and apparently the only one that got renewed. Not sure why I went for this and not, say H8r, the CW's reality show where disliked celebs try to convince their biggest detractors that they aren't so bad. In retrospect I really should have gone with H8r, especially as Happy Endings will get to live in the shadow of Modern Family. Not that that helped Cougar Town all that much. Looking at the time slot, I could have also gone with I Hate My Teenage Daughter, which has racked up some of the most caustic reviews I've seen this season. So maybe a goof here.
And, as usual, there is an entry in the contest consisting of the top 10 shows picked by all participants. The ones I managed not to pick:
All My Children and One Life to Live, both of which I kind of assumed were already off the air, even though they were on the entry form. Pissed that I left so many easy points on the board.
The Playboy Club, NBC's attempt remora off of Mad Men. It's been getting fairly tepid reviews, and I'd toyed with the idea of including it, but in the end figured there were shows out there more likely to get cancelled.
Suburgatory, which I'm really surprised to see here based on the variety of positive reviews it's picked up. I suppose there's some resistance to the trope of the suburbs being hell compared to the city - it's not the most original premise - but from what I've read the show does manage to rise above its beginnings and fare well. Time slot may be a factor here, too - it's up against The X Factor and Survivor - so maybe ABC will do me a solid and swap it with Happy Endings?
Sunday, July 17, 2011
At Least it Wasn't Raining
OK, I've finally seen the last episode of The Killing, and there are three things that bother me about the finale:
1. There is no way Belko Royce would get that close to Darren Richmond. The police and the press got their show by arresting Richmond at his rally, it seems highly unlikely they'd make him do the perp walk as well. Unless Mayor Adams is hoping for a Jack Ruby moment, in which case, thank you Belko.
2. How long will it take Richmond's defense to figure out the toll photo is a fake? If the cameras haven't been working for weeks, it's not going to be hard to discredit the photo. Unless the conspiracy against Richmond is very thorough, there's not going to be a way to remove all of the documented history of the cameras being out and produce "real" camera footage to back up the photo.
3. There is still no real physical evidence tying Richmond to Rosie as far as I can tell, making this Casey Anthony redux. Which I suppose will be OK if the purpose of Richmond's arrest is just to thwart his campaign.
Still, it was a very solid series and I'm looking forward to the second season. Kudos for the Emmy nods, especially Michelle Forbes, whose depiction of the shattered Mitch Larsen was quietly impressive.
1. There is no way Belko Royce would get that close to Darren Richmond. The police and the press got their show by arresting Richmond at his rally, it seems highly unlikely they'd make him do the perp walk as well. Unless Mayor Adams is hoping for a Jack Ruby moment, in which case, thank you Belko.
2. How long will it take Richmond's defense to figure out the toll photo is a fake? If the cameras haven't been working for weeks, it's not going to be hard to discredit the photo. Unless the conspiracy against Richmond is very thorough, there's not going to be a way to remove all of the documented history of the cameras being out and produce "real" camera footage to back up the photo.
3. There is still no real physical evidence tying Richmond to Rosie as far as I can tell, making this Casey Anthony redux. Which I suppose will be OK if the purpose of Richmond's arrest is just to thwart his campaign.
Still, it was a very solid series and I'm looking forward to the second season. Kudos for the Emmy nods, especially Michelle Forbes, whose depiction of the shattered Mitch Larsen was quietly impressive.
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