Among a number of things I've been meaning to write about - which would fill something like, say, a five day gap in posting - is something about the current television season. One hard part is that "current" is such a cloudy term when discussing TV these days; the old paradigm of a TV season starting in fall and ending in May is definitely out the window... yet structurally, the various runs of series don't necessarily stray from that all that far (I suspect that the best examples of shows that pay no attention to old notions of a "season" are really the Reality and contest shows, anyway).
A couple of caveats: I don't have HBO, so don't ask me about Boardwalk Empire. And I don't have Showtime, though probably only Californication still captures my interest (I frankly admit to being baffled by the fascination with Dexter, what I know of it). And I'm not sure, just now, that pay cable is essential viewing anyway. I've foud plenty to watch without it.
And so, herewith the shows that have captured my interest, and probably explain, on any given evening, why I'm not writing. It's roughly by the days they originally air... though really, a lot of my viewing happens by DVR. That, I thiunk is the most brilliant invention ever. :)
- Hawaii Five-0. (CBS) From the inute that this remake was announced, I was sure I would watch, and I haven't yet been disappointed. The minute that the opening scenes crash into the familiar theme song - late sixties go-go lounge music never had it so good - I know I am home again. I recommend it alone for the winning performances of Scott Caan and Grace Park as Dano and Kono, respectively, but the whole foursome is top notch, the Hawaiian setting is gorgeous, and the adventure mysteries crackle with a fresh energy, the kind that finally puts a nail in the procedural coffin of Law and Order type shows. This is where the action is.
- Gossip Girl. (The CW) After an especially dud Season 3 (i got it on DVD for Christmas, and after a few episodes it's all but unwatchable), the GG writers and cast seem to have heard the wake up call to get back to basics - the show has managed to tidily dispose of lingering hangovers from Season 3 (including the easing out of Taylor Mumford's hopeless Jenny Humphries) and set a fresh course with some new carachters and some old sensibilities. All of which cements its status as the latter day Dynasty - campy, soapy melodrama among the rich and beautiful. Which isn't the worst way to go.
- RuPaul's Drag Race. (Logo) Ru has managed to top each incarnation of her drag competition, with Season 3 delivering the best cast yet - these queens are beyond fierce. Already, four episodes in, there's been pushing, shoving, one drag queen picking up another while lip synching for their lives, and several thrown cocktails. The drama! It's severe! But the real payoff is just how stunning most of the drag is, week after week. I'm addicted to Raja and Manila Luzon, both strikingly beautiful and creative. But who knows how this will shake out It's not reality tv... it's Surreality TV.
- Being Human. (SyFy) I wasn't sure whether I'd care for SyFy's import of this British cult fave, a "let's put a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost in a house and see what happens" premise that could go very wrong, very quickly. Surprisingly well written, the show boasts strong performances from all three of its leads, and the premise works better than I expected. It also helps that Sam Witwer (the vampire) is gorgeous.
- The Good Wife. (CBS) This is Mom's favorite new show (even though it's Season and technically not "new"), and I have to admit it's better than I expected. I'm not a huge fan of Julianna Margulies (I never got the excitement she generated on ER, nor ER generally), but she's delivering a calm, sensitive performance week to week as the wife of a philandering DA forced to resign in a sex scandal, now running to regain his office. And sure, the real appeal is that it's one of the few shows on TV about an intelligent woman with a job... but the real secret of its success, I think, is that it doesn't treat the audience like we're idiots. Well acted, nicely plotted... you should be watching.
- Glee. (Fox) Yes, I watch Glee, more or less... and that's not necessarily a ringing endorsement. Ryan Murphy's love it or loathe it follow up to Popular (same ideas about high school, without the songs), is surely the most ambitious weekly series going, and as often a puzzling failure as it is an over the top success. Writing a musical is not easy - despite the lwack of repect many have for the genre - and it's even less easy when you're stealing already written songs to fill out your score. There's just too many opportunities to mess up - the songs may be wrong, or the spoken dialogue doesn't (frequently) rise to a high enough standard, or the plotting is weak, or the stories don't work... all of that and more has often made Glee more train wreck than shining star. Case in point: this season's strongest episode so afr, may well have been the "Britney Spears" tribute, when the show's numbers couldn't help but mimic Brit's own video friendly style. Other themed episodes - like the dismal Chrstmas special or the muddled Rocky Horror tribute - are a hodegepodge of weak dialogue, bad numbers, and preposterous plots. How long Murphy can walk this tightrope, I don't know... but I feel like I'll have at least have to try and keep up... because you never know when an all boy chorus will burst into Teenage Dream or Hey Soul Sister.
- Archer. (FX) Among a slew of animated, sarcastic, slightly raunchy comedies, Archer may well be the one that goes the furthest while being screamingly funny (yes, that includes the scattershot, scatalogical Family Guy). Sterling Archer is a James Bond like superspy at a fly by night Agency called ISIS, run by his mother, Mallory (Jessica Walter, at her boozy, blowsy best). Arxher's main rival is his ex girlfriend Lana, sexier and smarter. Utterly irreverent, thoroughly rude, Archer goes there. And stays there. And it's hilarious, I swear.
- Supernatural. (The CW) This may be the last hurrah for the adventures of brothers Sam and Dean Winchester - after you've fought Lucifer himself, where is there to go? - but the reason to watch is the quality of the writing and the performances and the fact that the show remains approachable and understandable even you're just getting up to speed. I had my doubts about the show managing to work past last year's grand finale, but the writers managed to work their way into a fresh storyline... and Jared Padalecki's soulless Sam turned out to be some brilliant actorly work when he regained his humanity last week. Now the pair seem to be facing the literal "mother of All Evil" and even that seems to be working out. If this is it... I hope they manage a great ending. But I'm still hoping for a Season 7. Or a movie.
Some more of what I'm wtaching: Primeval, Southland (now on TBS), The Closer, Raising Hope, Burn Notice, White Collar, Psych, Royal Pains, Law and Order SVU, The Vampire Diaries (The Vampire 90210), and I can't wait for more episodes of BBC's Sherlock.
What I've stopped watching: Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, CSI Miami (It's gone from bad camp to simply bad), Two and a Half Men, Brothers and Sisters, American Idfol (but I think Steve Tyler and Jennifer Lopez are doing fine), those ABC sitcoms, and almost anything from NBC... especially Saturday Night Live, which despite some bright spots has become Example A of fratboy humor gone seriously wrong.
Oh, and a brief list of prime time cable newsers, from preferred to loathed in roughly this order: Parker Spitzer (he's great, she's miserable, and they do better covering the stories that matter), Ed Schultz (old style liberalism with brio), Cenk Uygar (the new guy on MSNBC in Ed's old spot), Rachel Maddow (when she's good, she's really good, and when she's bad it's hopeless), Special Report with Bret Baier (he's so bad, it's funny), Anderson Cooper 360 (he's so earnest it hurts.. mostly him), The Last Word (O'Donnell will be the new Olbermann if he keeps the hectoring up), Great van Susteren (it's hard work making conservatism this dull), Sean Hannity (the undiluted conservative line), Bill O'Reilly (Blow hard, baby Blowhard), Chirs Matthews (inappropriate and incoherent? Thats a special kind of terrible), Piers Morgan (it's hard being shallower than Larry King, but he's trying), The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer (Atrocious. Simply atrocious).
I know you hate NBC - on principle? but if so, I forget which one - but you really should give Parks & Recreation and Community a chance.
Posted by: jinb | February 15, 2011 at 03:58 PM