... IS ER USUAL CREDIT MUSIC????
GOD DAMNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Monday, September 25, 2006
The new shows roundabout...
Well, 'tis the season. I've watched about 10 pilots last week, so here's the skinny on the good and the bad, according to my gospel.
6 Degrees (Thursday, ABC,9).
Let me be clear: this show is completely stupid. Here, I've said it. The concept is that anyone is connected, so we meet 6 people living in NY city, and by the end of the pilot. 1 knows 2 who knows 3 who etc, until 5 know 6. Oh my God, that's crazy!
Do they really think we're stupid? I mean, you can take any 6 people who know each other and use the pilot to explain how they met, and here you go? Is that a concept? Is that a story? Am I supposed to care is a limo driver is stupid enough to spend all his cash on tracks? Am I supposed to believe that picture of a woman crying on her front steps is beautiful?
I expected a little more from JJ. After MI3 and the Alias finale, the master is losing his touch.
6 degrees was shooting in my street the other day, so expect a shot of the manhattan bridge in Episode 5 or 6, if it's not canceled yet. (People take picture of that bridge everyday, and believe me, I've never seen a good one. You can see the same shot, for a fraction of a second, in the MP3-phone commercial).
Actually expect this show to be canceled after only 2 episodes.
Brothers and Sisters (Sunday, ABC, 10).
Wow, expect the unexpected!
Who knew this new show, with actresses as annoying as Calista Flockhart - remember Ally McBeal? Beuark- and Sally Field - among a million annoying roles, Abby Lockhart's mom on ER - who knew, was I saying, they could be the main actresses of such a good show? The concept of the large family with multiple branches, some of them turning into deamons, has been used so many times, I had given hope.
Brothers and sisters, though, is a real hybrid. Think Alias without the action. Cheers without the Humor. Doesn't promise much, does it? That's what I thought too! That's right, just a large family and all their secrets. No cheese. Think Soap Opera for Prime Time. 7th heaven without christian values.
But add a lot of wit and political satire (pronounce sat-tire, like ms Field - haha, ms Field), amazing direction, and Ron Rikfin (Sloane in Alias). Good stuff.
Expect an Emmy (if not golden globe) for the ex-Ally McBeal, whose next role should be Skeletor. Seriously, the number of jokes on her weight in the pilot was too astronomical to be subtle. This kid should eat (and leave Harrison Ford alone).
Grade: 9/10
Jericho (Wednesday, CBS, 8)
After Smallville and Roswell, I introduce today the new sci-fi-meets-everyday-life series-with-the-name-of-the-town-it-takes-place-in-as-a-title.
Pretty simple stuff here. The people living in Jericho, Kansas, realize big cities around them have been nuked. They don't know if they're the only survivors, or why. The story focuses on a few touching characters, the mayor, his son, a ex-cop that knows too much, etc.
I actually really liked the pilot. It has its cheesy moments, but as a fan of said faux sci-fi genre, I got my fix. Succeeds where Invasion didn't last year.
Now the big question is, what kind of show is it gonna be? If they let the sci-fi stories breathe, it could be really cool (a la Alias and X-Files). If they follow too much stupid WB teenage stories (Smallville, Roswell again), it will very fast become boring. Whatever, this will probably be around at least a full season.
I have to add: I love how very little is said when the nuking happens. You just see the mushroom, and understand, like the characters, what's happening. 60 years after the last civilian nuking, the stygma is still very much alive, and it plays on it beautifully - an awkward sentence if I ever wrote one. A welcome rest from all those shows who need a voice-over to explain (or confuse) their story-line (back to 6 degrees). And Skeet Ulrich (of Scream fame, duh!) rules.
Grade: 7 or 5, we'll see.
Studio 60 on the sunset strip (Monday, NBC, 10).
OK, just so you know, Aaron Sorkin is one of my hero. West Wing is, simply put, the smartest show of the last decade. But can you apply the same witty and fast flowing dialogue to a show about Television, and what happens backstage at a late-night sketch show? I'm not convinced, yet, and I won't give up either. Brad Whhhithhhford - I never know where the h are, so I put 3 everytime I had a doubt. But let's call him Josh Lyman. Josh, then, and Matthew Petty are brilliant, Amanda Peet is a big casting mistake (thank you Dalton), the rest is pretty boring and nothing I haven't seen before. Hopefully this is all due to the need for exposition. The sets, at least, are cool. But I had such high hopes for this show, as a TV addict, I feel already cold about it. Now the Alias pilot, that was something!
Grade: Jury still out.
Men in trees (Friday, ABC, 9)
ABRAHAM BENRUBI ALERT!!!!!! Our favorite TV character actor ever (Larry Kubiak on Parler Lewis, Jerry on ER), is back, as, guess who? A big guy with a tender heart. Who knew?
But the heroine of the show is Marin, played by Anne Heche, a relationship guru who ends up in a small Alaskan Town after a break-up. Difficult to know, so early in the series, if the stupid advice given in the VO (yes, annoying VO once again) is to be taken seriously. But the characters are good, the atmosphere original (I never saw northern exposure), and it moves easily enough. As a cheap (thank God for Vancouver) friday night show (what's the jewish term for DVR?), Marin might just be here a while and even move to a better time slot. Here's to a new heroine (she won't replace Sidney Bristow on Alias, but oh well).
Let's also note that it was very smart for ABC to premiere the show on a Tuesday a week before any other new show.
Grade: 7/10
Smith (CBS, Tuesday, 10PM).
Here's an ovni. A heist series, with Ray Liotta as an anti-heroe and Virginia Madsen, his wife. I had no sympathy for the characters, the plot was boring, the pace slow, the actors disappointing. In a post-alias world, difficult to believe. I'll give it another try, but if the second episode is not awesome, Smith will return to anonymity. And someone get Ray Liotta some lips, god damned!
Grade: 2/10
Justice (Wednesday, Fox, 9)
A team of lawyers defend even the most disgusting suspects. Victor Garber (Jack Bristow in Alias) is their master.
I was actually pleasentely surprised, especially by the ending, where you get to see what really hapenned at the scene of crime. But this has been done so many times, I refuse to spend an hour every week on it. And procedurals are not my thing. I don't even watch CSI, so why bother... Stick to SVU if you like that stuff.
Grade: 5/10
The Class (CBS, Monday, 8):
We'll finish with a sitcom. I never expect anything from a sitcom, 90% of what's out there is horrible. I usually wait til October and see if anything stands out. But I liked the concept for The Class, and guess what? The pilot was pretty awesome.
The idea is simple, as it should be. Some guy organizes a reunion of his 3rd grade class 20 years later. The characters are interesting, and that's all you need for a sitcom. The first episode was hilarious, but that's because David Crane (of Friend's fame) made sure it had a joke every 5 second. The only way this is gonna be good on the long run, though, is if the writers build some situation comedy. If I want jokes, I'll go on humor.forum.quebec. If I want TV comedy, I'll tune to reruns of Seinfeld. And hopefully, to The Class, every Monday.
Grade: 8/10, if it holds...
OK, I've managed to mention Alias for every show, so I'm done. Stay tuned for Heroes, 30 Rock, The Nine, Knights and Ugly Betty, later this week.
6 Degrees (Thursday, ABC,9).
Let me be clear: this show is completely stupid. Here, I've said it. The concept is that anyone is connected, so we meet 6 people living in NY city, and by the end of the pilot. 1 knows 2 who knows 3 who etc, until 5 know 6. Oh my God, that's crazy!
Do they really think we're stupid? I mean, you can take any 6 people who know each other and use the pilot to explain how they met, and here you go? Is that a concept? Is that a story? Am I supposed to care is a limo driver is stupid enough to spend all his cash on tracks? Am I supposed to believe that picture of a woman crying on her front steps is beautiful?
I expected a little more from JJ. After MI3 and the Alias finale, the master is losing his touch.
6 degrees was shooting in my street the other day, so expect a shot of the manhattan bridge in Episode 5 or 6, if it's not canceled yet. (People take picture of that bridge everyday, and believe me, I've never seen a good one. You can see the same shot, for a fraction of a second, in the MP3-phone commercial).
Actually expect this show to be canceled after only 2 episodes.
Brothers and Sisters (Sunday, ABC, 10).
Wow, expect the unexpected!
Who knew this new show, with actresses as annoying as Calista Flockhart - remember Ally McBeal? Beuark- and Sally Field - among a million annoying roles, Abby Lockhart's mom on ER - who knew, was I saying, they could be the main actresses of such a good show? The concept of the large family with multiple branches, some of them turning into deamons, has been used so many times, I had given hope.
Brothers and sisters, though, is a real hybrid. Think Alias without the action. Cheers without the Humor. Doesn't promise much, does it? That's what I thought too! That's right, just a large family and all their secrets. No cheese. Think Soap Opera for Prime Time. 7th heaven without christian values.
But add a lot of wit and political satire (pronounce sat-tire, like ms Field - haha, ms Field), amazing direction, and Ron Rikfin (Sloane in Alias). Good stuff.
Expect an Emmy (if not golden globe) for the ex-Ally McBeal, whose next role should be Skeletor. Seriously, the number of jokes on her weight in the pilot was too astronomical to be subtle. This kid should eat (and leave Harrison Ford alone).
Grade: 9/10
Jericho (Wednesday, CBS, 8)
After Smallville and Roswell, I introduce today the new sci-fi-meets-everyday-life series-with-the-name-of-the-town-it-takes-place-in-as-a-title.
Pretty simple stuff here. The people living in Jericho, Kansas, realize big cities around them have been nuked. They don't know if they're the only survivors, or why. The story focuses on a few touching characters, the mayor, his son, a ex-cop that knows too much, etc.
I actually really liked the pilot. It has its cheesy moments, but as a fan of said faux sci-fi genre, I got my fix. Succeeds where Invasion didn't last year.
Now the big question is, what kind of show is it gonna be? If they let the sci-fi stories breathe, it could be really cool (a la Alias and X-Files). If they follow too much stupid WB teenage stories (Smallville, Roswell again), it will very fast become boring. Whatever, this will probably be around at least a full season.
I have to add: I love how very little is said when the nuking happens. You just see the mushroom, and understand, like the characters, what's happening. 60 years after the last civilian nuking, the stygma is still very much alive, and it plays on it beautifully - an awkward sentence if I ever wrote one. A welcome rest from all those shows who need a voice-over to explain (or confuse) their story-line (back to 6 degrees). And Skeet Ulrich (of Scream fame, duh!) rules.
Grade: 7 or 5, we'll see.
Studio 60 on the sunset strip (Monday, NBC, 10).
OK, just so you know, Aaron Sorkin is one of my hero. West Wing is, simply put, the smartest show of the last decade. But can you apply the same witty and fast flowing dialogue to a show about Television, and what happens backstage at a late-night sketch show? I'm not convinced, yet, and I won't give up either. Brad Whhhithhhford - I never know where the h are, so I put 3 everytime I had a doubt. But let's call him Josh Lyman. Josh, then, and Matthew Petty are brilliant, Amanda Peet is a big casting mistake (thank you Dalton), the rest is pretty boring and nothing I haven't seen before. Hopefully this is all due to the need for exposition. The sets, at least, are cool. But I had such high hopes for this show, as a TV addict, I feel already cold about it. Now the Alias pilot, that was something!
Grade: Jury still out.
Men in trees (Friday, ABC, 9)
ABRAHAM BENRUBI ALERT!!!!!! Our favorite TV character actor ever (Larry Kubiak on Parler Lewis, Jerry on ER), is back, as, guess who? A big guy with a tender heart. Who knew?
But the heroine of the show is Marin, played by Anne Heche, a relationship guru who ends up in a small Alaskan Town after a break-up. Difficult to know, so early in the series, if the stupid advice given in the VO (yes, annoying VO once again) is to be taken seriously. But the characters are good, the atmosphere original (I never saw northern exposure), and it moves easily enough. As a cheap (thank God for Vancouver) friday night show (what's the jewish term for DVR?), Marin might just be here a while and even move to a better time slot. Here's to a new heroine (she won't replace Sidney Bristow on Alias, but oh well).
Let's also note that it was very smart for ABC to premiere the show on a Tuesday a week before any other new show.
Grade: 7/10
Smith (CBS, Tuesday, 10PM).
Here's an ovni. A heist series, with Ray Liotta as an anti-heroe and Virginia Madsen, his wife. I had no sympathy for the characters, the plot was boring, the pace slow, the actors disappointing. In a post-alias world, difficult to believe. I'll give it another try, but if the second episode is not awesome, Smith will return to anonymity. And someone get Ray Liotta some lips, god damned!
Grade: 2/10
Justice (Wednesday, Fox, 9)
A team of lawyers defend even the most disgusting suspects. Victor Garber (Jack Bristow in Alias) is their master.
I was actually pleasentely surprised, especially by the ending, where you get to see what really hapenned at the scene of crime. But this has been done so many times, I refuse to spend an hour every week on it. And procedurals are not my thing. I don't even watch CSI, so why bother... Stick to SVU if you like that stuff.
Grade: 5/10
The Class (CBS, Monday, 8):
We'll finish with a sitcom. I never expect anything from a sitcom, 90% of what's out there is horrible. I usually wait til October and see if anything stands out. But I liked the concept for The Class, and guess what? The pilot was pretty awesome.
The idea is simple, as it should be. Some guy organizes a reunion of his 3rd grade class 20 years later. The characters are interesting, and that's all you need for a sitcom. The first episode was hilarious, but that's because David Crane (of Friend's fame) made sure it had a joke every 5 second. The only way this is gonna be good on the long run, though, is if the writers build some situation comedy. If I want jokes, I'll go on humor.forum.quebec. If I want TV comedy, I'll tune to reruns of Seinfeld. And hopefully, to The Class, every Monday.
Grade: 8/10, if it holds...
OK, I've managed to mention Alias for every show, so I'm done. Stay tuned for Heroes, 30 Rock, The Nine, Knights and Ugly Betty, later this week.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Reflection of the soul
OK, I gotta say a word about this new Survivor. As you may or may not know, I'm a huge Survivor fan. And when I say huge, I mean huge. I never miss an episode. Actually, you'll usually find me on Thursday nights, standing on my bed, jumping and screaming like Tom Cruise on Oprah, professing my love for the show.
I will sing the beginning credits (something like: "ooooheeee ohhaaaa oheee oheee ohaaa"), yell "No Way!" when there's a surprise elimination, and "come on"s and "you gotta be kidding me" during reward and immunity challenges. But my favorite part is definitely the end of the first episode's introduction, when host Jeff Probst usually stands on some whacky vehicles (what's it gonna be this time? Chopper? ULM? Air Balloon?) and declares: "20 Americans, 40 days, only one! Survivor!).
Oh my god, I can't wait for tomorrow!
And then, there's this season twist. As you know by now, starting Thursday, 20 Americans will be divided into 4 tribes by race. The whites, the blacks, the latinos and the Asians. When this was announced, it didn't take long for groups of all kind to start complaining. Racism! Voyeurism! Outrage!
Here's my take. Is CBS racist?
Of course not, their only point is to increase their ratings, and they will no doubt succeed. No season of the show has been so much discussed since its debut and Richard Hatch's bare bottom.
Will the show be racist?
I honestly doubt it. I can't imagine contestants insulting each other's races and religions on prime time TV. No, like Ken Tucker on Entertainment Weekly, I bet we'll, at worst, see some stupid but innocent stereotyping, and at best, learn some slang (when is the best time to use the word "brother" and when should it be "dawg"?).
What impact will the show have on America?
Now that's the big question. Cause if CBS and the show itself is not racist, that doesn't mean it won't influence the racist views of some viewers. CBS, like any media, holds a responsibility towards its audience. To entertain and educate. And it's not so much about what the message will be, as it is about how it will be perceived.
* I have no doubt that the anti-black and anti-Latino racists of America will see whatever they want to see, and be comforted in their views. At worst, things won't change. At best, an amazing contestant will stand out, some fantastic quote about tolerance will be remembered, or even better: an alliance, a friendship. Then, a handful of viewers will think about it. All in all, nothing much.
* Asians? Except if you live near the Chinatowns and Koreatowns of NY, LA or San Francisco, you probably know nothing about those communities. I see here a fantastic learning tool.
* I'm more afraid about the white tribe. I'm afraid they'll have content. I'm afraid they're so not used to face racism, they won't know how to handle their difference. I'm afraid of their blunders.
Some more about Survivor being a learning tool:
Already last Season, Bruce was a model of originality and respect of traditions and customs. This is true of all tribe: how will a religious and spiritually-guided person survive on the island without loosing his rituals? I'm Jewish, and the only reason I haven't already sent an application to the show, is because I don't know how I would keep shabbat and Kasherout on the island. We've seen contestant survive hunger, bad weather, mosquitos and sleep deprivation. It's time to see them survive an attack on their spiritual and religious soul. If they have one...
But back the racism. I think the show will be a reflections of its viewers, and of America. It's in the talks, the dinner arguments, the blogs, the magazine that we will discover, together, not if the show is racist, but if we are, if our society is.
As another reality TV host would say, the best thing to come out of it might be a reality check.
I will sing the beginning credits (something like: "ooooheeee ohhaaaa oheee oheee ohaaa"), yell "No Way!" when there's a surprise elimination, and "come on"s and "you gotta be kidding me" during reward and immunity challenges. But my favorite part is definitely the end of the first episode's introduction, when host Jeff Probst usually stands on some whacky vehicles (what's it gonna be this time? Chopper? ULM? Air Balloon?) and declares: "20 Americans, 40 days, only one! Survivor!).
Oh my god, I can't wait for tomorrow!
And then, there's this season twist. As you know by now, starting Thursday, 20 Americans will be divided into 4 tribes by race. The whites, the blacks, the latinos and the Asians. When this was announced, it didn't take long for groups of all kind to start complaining. Racism! Voyeurism! Outrage!
Here's my take. Is CBS racist?
Of course not, their only point is to increase their ratings, and they will no doubt succeed. No season of the show has been so much discussed since its debut and Richard Hatch's bare bottom.
Will the show be racist?
I honestly doubt it. I can't imagine contestants insulting each other's races and religions on prime time TV. No, like Ken Tucker on Entertainment Weekly, I bet we'll, at worst, see some stupid but innocent stereotyping, and at best, learn some slang (when is the best time to use the word "brother" and when should it be "dawg"?).
What impact will the show have on America?
Now that's the big question. Cause if CBS and the show itself is not racist, that doesn't mean it won't influence the racist views of some viewers. CBS, like any media, holds a responsibility towards its audience. To entertain and educate. And it's not so much about what the message will be, as it is about how it will be perceived.
* I have no doubt that the anti-black and anti-Latino racists of America will see whatever they want to see, and be comforted in their views. At worst, things won't change. At best, an amazing contestant will stand out, some fantastic quote about tolerance will be remembered, or even better: an alliance, a friendship. Then, a handful of viewers will think about it. All in all, nothing much.
* Asians? Except if you live near the Chinatowns and Koreatowns of NY, LA or San Francisco, you probably know nothing about those communities. I see here a fantastic learning tool.
* I'm more afraid about the white tribe. I'm afraid they'll have content. I'm afraid they're so not used to face racism, they won't know how to handle their difference. I'm afraid of their blunders.
Some more about Survivor being a learning tool:
Already last Season, Bruce was a model of originality and respect of traditions and customs. This is true of all tribe: how will a religious and spiritually-guided person survive on the island without loosing his rituals? I'm Jewish, and the only reason I haven't already sent an application to the show, is because I don't know how I would keep shabbat and Kasherout on the island. We've seen contestant survive hunger, bad weather, mosquitos and sleep deprivation. It's time to see them survive an attack on their spiritual and religious soul. If they have one...
But back the racism. I think the show will be a reflections of its viewers, and of America. It's in the talks, the dinner arguments, the blogs, the magazine that we will discover, together, not if the show is racist, but if we are, if our society is.
As another reality TV host would say, the best thing to come out of it might be a reality check.
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