Re-married with Children

By on Aug 25, 2009 in Previews |

2009-2010 New Series Preview, Part 3 ABC has four new comedies in the pipeline, and three of them have unfortunately unfunny previews: Hank, The Middle, and Cougar Town. If producers do put all the best bits in the previews, well… the outlook for those shows is bleak. But the fourth, Modern Family, looks to be riotous, and it has been earning acclaim from television critics more reputable than I. (You know, the ones who don’t have to rely on previews to pass judgment!) Modern Family follows three couples (and their progeny) in an Office-like mockumentary way: a couple raising three children, a newlywed couple with a May-December age gap, and a gay couple with an adopted daughter. And, in a hitherto secret twist, all the couples are related. Many shows of this ilk require a few episodes for the viewers to really understand the characters and thus understand the humor, but...

A Different High School Musical

By on Aug 18, 2009 in Previews | 3 comments

2009-2010 New Series Preview, Part 2 Statistically, only a third of all new shows avoid cancellation during their first seasons. I have no doubt in my mind that Glee will be among them this year. It’s riding the wave of popularity for all things song-and-dance, and yet it’s edgier, funnier, and so much more fulfilling—for my money, at least—than That Which Shall Not Be Named. Glee follows a teacher who, unsatisfied by his stagnant life, rekindles his dream of taking McKinley High’s glee club to fame and glory. He finds club members in some of the school’s most derided outcasts: a showbiz-obsessed goody-goody, a paraplegic nerd, a stuttering goth, a flamboyant fashionisto, and a Jennifer Hudson wannabe. And to bolster the social standing of the group, he also recruits a quarterback, one who actually starts to enjoy the club. In addition to the talent and humor of...

It’s a Little Pitchy, Dog

By on Aug 12, 2009 in Rants |

To know me is to know my profound distaste for American Idol. I hate the show not only because it employs some of the worst of reality-television practices, but also because more-deserving shows don’t stand a chance when they’re scheduled against it. So it always delights me when I hear of news that could damage the show’s standing, and recently, I’ve been very happy. First Paula Abdul quit the show, and now a video of Simon Cowell has been leaked that could really, um, dog his reputation and credibility. As I learned on TV Squad yesterday, someone has sniffed out the footage in which Cowell, dressed as a character named “Wonderdog,” is promoting his techno track entitled “Ruff Mix.” And the kicker: the melody is comprised of dog barks. (Like Conan said last night, this week truly is Bark Week.) Behold the horror: Apparently, Mr. Cowell...

“Kings”: A Momentary, Glorious Reign

By on Aug 6, 2009 in Raves |

Start with The West Wing. Now make the democracy an autocracy. Place that autocracy in a fictional country. Throw in marital strife, filial betrayal, oppressive corporations, hostile nations, wearisome wars, a young hero, and a tyrannical ruler. Pepper in some biblical references and glaze with poetic words structured in antiquated syntax. Do all this, and perhaps you’d have Kings, one of the most promising shows to have been cancelled this year. I watched the first episode when it premiered in March, knowing little more about it than the premise: a modern-day retelling of the story of David and Goliath. The “high-concept”-ness of that pilot episode intrigued me, but it was the second episode, “Prosperity,” that really impressed me—with its elegance of narrative and of style and with the quality of acting from Ian McShane, Christopher Egan, and the rest of...

The Future of Classic

By on Aug 1, 2009 in Raves |

The following post was originally published on my old blog on July 7, 2009. After watching the second-season finale of Breaking Bad, the dramatic series about a chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-dealer desperate to not let his cancer treatment bankrupt his family, I had one thought: thank God this show is on AMC. With the premiere of Mad Men two years ago, AMC went from musty movie channel to leading cable destination overnight. And now with the network’s second dramatic series Breaking Bad attracting its fair share of critical acclaim (and even a leading-actor Emmy win for Bryan Cranston), AMC is establishing itself as a network that values quality over quantity. Unlike the broadcast networks, it has no reason to fill its primetime schedule with series each fall and hope that at least a few are commercial successes (let alone critical success). It has the freedom to develop series...

What They Should and Should Not Have Done

By on Aug 1, 2009 in Rants |

The following post was originally published on my old blog on June 23, 2009. As I was discussing the sorry fate of Jon and Kate Gosselin with my mom earlier tonight (before the inevitable happened), we agreed that they are to blame for their level of media exposure. Yes, the paparazzi are nuts, but they knew that. The job of the paparazzi is to find scoop, and Jon gave it to them, no matter what his intentions were. And Kate is just as culpable for airing her grievances to People, probably to try to rally sympathy while earning a pretty penny—but all she did was come off as passive-aggressive. My mom and I talked about their overwhelming desire for all things material. Indeed, Jon recently professed that he only does the show for the goods and chattels that come with it. And to think that, at first, they claimed they were doing the show to pay for their children’s futures. They...