Network Television Rundown: New Setting, Same Old Story

Well, it's that time of year again. The leaves are changing into their glorious display of reds and yellows and oranges, the cold wind is blowing in from the east, and Gossip Girl has started a new season, full of promise and fresh plot lines.

Wrong!!

If you haven't seen the two episodes of Gossip Girl so far, then SPOILER ALERT: IT'S STILL MOSTLY A WILL THEY/WON'T THEY OF CHUCK & BLAIR AND SERENA, DAN, & NATE.

I really want this season to be good. I'm glad that Jenny is gone, because her plot was really annoying last season, and I'm glad that (so far) there isn't much in the way of adult (Rufus and Lily) plot to distract us from the young, beautiful people doing terrible things to each other. I was excited that the first two episodes were actually shot in Paris, where we join our friends Serena and Blair as they sort out their boy problems (yet again) and compete with each other in ridiculous ways (yet again). But despite the ridiculous cliffhanger that ended the last season and the pretty, sparkling Paris backdrop, the characters are reverting to their old, two-dimensional ways.

Blair is still in love with Chuck, but of course something always gets in the way. She compensates for her feelings of insecurity by acting like a bitch and by creating ridiculous competitions with Serena. She is still her own worst enemy. She ruined a date with a prince because she was too concerned with being part of high society and not following her heart blah blah blah zzzzzzz.

Dear writers: please let Blair grow up a little bit already. Thanks. I like her so much and I'm always rooting for her to rise above all this high school stuff, but she seems to get pulled back in again and again. I cannot keep watching her make a fool out of herself. This is not Frasier; let's show some character growth.

And where is Serena in all this? Why, grappling with her bad girl past and her desire to set her life straight, of course! Just like in the first season. And who is she left choosing between? Dan and Nate. Enough, already. Dear Serena: Nate is hot and loves you. Dan is a douche bag. Doi. Choose Nate.

I'm the most angry with how quickly the Chuck plot seemed to resolve. Chuck missing, disappearing from society, assuming a new identity in Paris...that could be interesting. But of course both Blair and Serena find him in one episode's time and convince him that he cannot run away from his life, etc. I wish it had taken a little longer for Chuck to return to NY and to his old circles. I'm also irritated that Chuck was shot and left for dead in an alley in Prague and he is some how found, tended to (without any medical or police intervention? Really? I mean, I know this show isn't exactly striving for realism, but come on...) and ends up in the very city where Blair and Serena find themselves. It all just seemed a little too easy...even for the CW.

Now, I've talked about--nay, criticized--Gossip Girl over and over again, and maybe I'm just as bad as it is for spouting the same old tired critique. But I keep coming back, and that should say something. I have faith in this show. I want to like it, and so I watch, and watch, and even though when I sit down to say something about it I'm usually forced to acknowledge how much the writers are just giving me the same old thing, I enjoy each episode. So what is it that keeps me coming back?

I really like the Serena/Blair relationship. I love how much they love each other, despite their consistent problems. I love that Chuck Bass will always be Chuck Bass, and that even his attempt to escape that identity lasts for fewer than two episodes. I love the clothes they wear. I love how much I hate Dan Humphrey. I love looking at Nate. I love this show. But often, when we love something, we expect so much more from it. I hope that this season gets past the same old stories and gets into something, if not new, at least a little bit more interesting.

Some things that I am looking forward to: Dan has a baby with Georgina! That's pretty great. And everyone is largely OK with it, which is amazing. I'm also pleased that Dan chose Vanessa and Nate has his new girlfriend (who I think might be a serial killer? Is that what we were supposed to get out of her cryptic phone calls and her crazy newspaper clippings? Help me out, GG fans.) and that neither chose Serena. What will you do now, S? So despite my disappointment in the first two episodes, maybe they're just setting the stage for great things to come this season. Or maybe, the characters will continue to make the same mistakes, over and over, and I'll keep watching, because that's the human condition. Maybe GG is really making a profound statement about what it is to exist in our culture, where we run around in circles, doomed to repeat the same stupid mistakes in different situations, operating under the illusion of progress.

Or maybe I just like the clothes they wear.

Cable Television Rundown: AMC is the new HBO (Thoughts on Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Mediocrity)

Folks, we've got a problem. DoktorPeace's master thesis (I assume this is what he is doing in Luxumborg, working on this thesis) is this: Qualler Thinks Everything On HBO Is Superior To Everything Else Because It's For What The Quallsack Family Subscribes. Well, Doktor, your thesis is about to be proven wrong! Because, I, Qualler, think HBO is quite inferior to the greatness that is AMC.

Yes, AMC, the network that otherwise shows pan-and-scan censored versions of Air Force One is also the place for the best original programming on television. Breaking Bad completed its third season in June with what I consider the best television season since the fourth season of The Wire. Alternately tense, action-packed, darkly humorous and powerfully dramatic, fantastically acted, with some of the best monologues delivered on a TV show since the master of monologues, In Treatment, it's just a damn great show that fired on all cylinders in season three. And, Rubicon, the political thriller starring The Pacific's James Badge Dale that looks like (in its opening episode, helpfully embedded below) a cross between Conspiracy Theory and the slow burn of Mad Men. Aaaaaand, at this weekend's Nerd Fest Mixed With Hollywood, aka Comic-Con, the "sizzle reel" killed (pun!) for the zombie drama helmed by Frank Darabount The Walking Dead, which premieres in October. So, AMC, outside of the great Mad Men, has a leg up. (Although, in my book, Breaking Bad is already better than Mad Men, but that more highlights how awesome Breaking Bad is.)





Mad Men, of course, returned last night with a great episode, "Public Relations". It featured great writing, great performances, and a revitalized setting, with Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce now situated in a very mid-60s style office, and with Don spending a lot of personal time alone in his crappy new apartment while Betty literally shoves marshmallows down poor Sally's throat. AMC, in fact, unleashed a new marketing slogan last night, something about how AMC is the home of the best original stories on TV. AMC, you are correct.

HBO has other competition, too. FX finished an excellent debut season of Justified, is headed toward its third season of Sons of Anarchy, and is currently airing the best comedy on TV, Louie, along with a new season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on its way this Fall. And Lights Out, the new boxing drama helmed by In Treatment showrunner Warren Leight is on its way. Meanwhile, even Dexter looks to be awesome this upcoming year.



Moral of the story: AMC is king, FX is doing well, we like Dexter...HBO, you have some stiff competition.

Cable Television Rundown: Let's hear some Breaking Bad theories, people.

Once upon a time there was a show that came into my life and afforded me not only hours of viewing pleasure but, perhaps more importantly, hours of hypothesizing, arguing, re-hypothesizing, and speculating pleasure.

I'm talking, of course, about LOST.

I came to LOST late in the game, but I caught up quickly, sometimes avoiding family and friends for days so that I could watch just ONE MORE EPISODE!!! And once I did catch up, I found that the true joy to be derived from a show like LOST is not really in the watching, but in the discussion that it prompted with fellow LOST viewers. Half the fun of watching LOST was the theories--reading about them, arguing over them, and creating some of our own.

Well, I haven't been able to flex my theory muscle in awhile, and that saddens me. Last night I was watching episodes of season three of Breaking Bad, and I thought "why not theorize about other shows?" So, good friends, here are my top Breaking Bad theories. If you watch the show yourself, I urge you to add your own in the comments section. If you are not caught up on your season three episodes, beware the *MAJOR SPOILERS* below. If you don't watch Breaking Bad at all...what's wrong with you? Seriously. Just watch it. You won't regret it.

Theory 1: There is no baby.
I think that "Holly," the "baby" that was "born" when Walt had to make a huge drug deal which caused him to miss her birth, exists only in Walt's head. Think about it--we haven't seen this baby in some time. Where is she? I think she is just a manifestation of Walt's guilt and sense of conflicted obligation toward his family.

Theory 2: As Walt becomes less of a villain, Jesse will become more of a villain.
OK, this is my only real theory. But it's a good one! I think that in seasons one and two Walt's character becomes less and less likable as he goes from a man who is only trying to provide for his family to a man who just wants more and more money and power. He becomes less sympathetic as that second season progresses, and Jesse becomes more sympathetic. Jesse grows from an irresponsible drug dealer (and user) to a more dynamic (if somewhat pathetic) character. We learn that his family has abandoned him, that he has no real friends, and then when Jane dies (at Walt's hands) he loses everything. By the end of season two, Walt is pretty despicable, but Jesse is now the underdog that we really want to see succeed.

In season three, Jesse seems like he's improving his life--he goes to rehab, he wants to get out of the game (sort of). But once again he has no place to turn. Meanwhile, Walt loses everything, and begins to regain some of his humanity as we see he does sort of care about his family. After Jesse is beaten up by Hank, he seems to lose any last trace of wanting to get his life together. At the end of the last episode I saw, Jesse had planted his friends at an NA meeting in order to gain new customers. That's pretty bad...and I don't think it's something that Jesse of season two could have done. Walt, on the other hand, still wants to provide for his family, and it seems like his softer side is coming back a bit.

Theory 3: That Pollo guy (Gus) is not to be trusted.
I don't trust this guy. My theory is that he won't like Walt threatening him and will act like Walt's friend, but he isn't really his friend. He's just looking out for Number One. Watch out, Walt!

Theory 4: Skylar is a grade A jerk face.
I was so bummed when Skylar made that speech (full of lies) to Marie about how Walt earned his money gambling. She made Walt sympathetic (this is when I think Walt remembered why he really starting cooking in the first place, and sort of had an "oh yeah, I'm NOT just the bad guy" realization) as she went on and on about how he did it because he was too proud to accept charity, and he needed to provide for his family, etc. I was all happy for a moment, thinking that maybe Skylar was coming around, and really felt these things about Walt. Was she ready to forgive? But then when Marie left, Skylar snapped at Walt saying that she thinks Hank was injured because of him and that he needed to provide for Hank--basically telling Walt that Hank's blood was on his hands. Was Skylar just bullshitting with Marie, or did she really sort of believe that Walt did what he thought he had to do? Was this scene a fantastic display of Skylar's internal conflict regarding her feelings toward Walt, or did it just show us what a good liar she can be? Do we trust her?

Cable Television Rundown: 2010 In Review, Halfway Through

Since we're just about halfway through the year, and since I loooove lists, and since it is really weird to watch True Blood and Treme back-to-back on account of the shows both taking place in Louisiana but one dealing with weird neck-twisting vampire sex and the other dealing with the really real realities of finding real dead bodies underneath boats in abandoned houses so I'm feeling in a weird kind of mood where I need to soothe my brain with some lists, here is Qualler's Top 10 Shows of 2010 1/2.

Because the year isn't complete, and because I'm not quite ready to rank them totally, it's gonna be a little haphazardly thrown together. I typically start my Top 10 list thought-process this way -- throwing a bunch of crap on the wall to see how it sticks, then move stuff. Bear with me.

Definitely awesome shows
First, Breaking Bad, because it does so many things that I love to see in a TV show so well -- intense action, darkly comic character interactions, and overarching themes. Quickly, Breaking Bad has become my favorite show on TV because of these elements, and I can't wait to enjoy the rest of season three this summer.

Treme has succeeded as well by being as well-written as Breaking Bad but does things I don't think I have ever seen by immersing the viewer into an environment, letting us swim a little bit, fall in love with the characters, bop along to the music, and let stuff happen. Arguing that Treme is low on plot is pointless; the point is not the plot, but is the realism and the humanity. As Chris pointed out at TV night at our place last night, it's a hopeful show, one that I will certainly spill a lot more internet ink on in the future.

Justified, Lost, and The Pacific were all really, really awesome in their own ways, too. But what was most surprisingly interesting (and will continue to be interesting) is ESPN's sports documentary series 30 for 30. Yes, ESPN has what can surely be described as the network's first "good show" ever. By taking idiotic talking heads out of the equation and passing the cameras to actual documentary filmmakers, the series has produced more quality sports documentaries through this series than HBO has with its more vaunted documentary sports department.

In particular, the episode "June 17, 1994" was a jarring piece of work that one doesn't even need to be a fan of sports to be jarred by. The date itself is famous for having been the day that OJ Simpson went on his Ford Bronco drive in California, but a bunch of other sports-related stuff happened that day, too (The NY Rangers celebrated their first Stanley Cup since 1954, Arnold Palmer played his last round of PGA golf, Game 5 of the NBA finals took place in NYC, the World Cup kicked off in Chicago, etc.) The doc is a damning criticism of the 24-hour News Cycle which was, in some ways, born that day, using only footage from news broadcasts and sporting events on that day to show how rampant speculation and misinformation has been a part of how journalism is conducted and has been conducted since at least 1994. It also shows how morbid curiosity can seem fun at the time it happens and be proven to be totally and utterly tasteless in hindsight (see: gag-inducing murder jokes told by baseball announcers during the Kansas City-Seattle MLB game shown in the doc.) And yes, this thoughtful programming airs on ESPN, the network that also employs Stuart Scott.



I also highly recommend the episodes "Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks", which mostly deals with Spike Lee and how he interfered with a lot of NBA games in the 90s, "Muhammed and Larry", a doc that covers the later years of Muhammed Ali's career that most people don't remember (i.e. when he started sucking and was a little crazy), and especially "No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson", directed by Hoop Dreams documentarian Steve James, which covers NBA star Allen Iverson's trial over a high school brawl set to the backdrop of race relations and James' relationship with his hometown.

Shows that will definitely be awesome but haven't started yet
Obviously, those would be the heavy-hitters of Fall: Mad Men and Sons of Anarchy. Duh.

Shows that the jury is still out on
I'm curious about what Dexter is gonna do this year to follow up on last season's mostly placeholder but mostly entertaining placeholder season, while for the most part True Blood this year has been exactly what I expected: entertaining and totally forgettable except for the parts where awesome stuff happens (which I think I can list here: Sookie doing mindreading stuff, Eric flying, Jason being funny, and guest stars entering the show to act well and/or get naked). AMC's Rubicon I'm quite certain will be good because of the network's excellent track record and because the pilot shows that it will be an homage to 70s-era conspiracy thrillers in a cool kind of way. And, I think Boardwalk Empire, written by Sopranos staff writer Terrance Winter and starring Steve Buscemi will be good, at least based on the cool costumes and stylish mobster violence. High hopes, HBO - high hopes.

Cable Television Rundown: All True Blood Did For Me Was Get Me Excited For A Game of Thrones!

True Blood premiered its third season last night on HBO. And, like I've mostly felt about True Blood's run through it's first two seasons, I felt, pretty, well, fine. Yes, I am glad that it is back, and I derive great pleasure from watching True Blood. Then, when it goes off the air, I pretty much forget about it. It doesn't linger on the brain for too long the way Treme, or Breaking Bad(*), or In Treatment do, but it does do some things well. And, I've consciously decided not to be annoyed by the things that are dumb, but rather just to get bored by them. And instead of rehashing the same old pseudo-complaints that I've hashed out here throughout the years, I'll just make you a list of things I liked and things that made me bored.

(*)Of which I am voraciously avoiding spoilers of last night's season finale. I just started season three this weekend, and I am beyond ecstatic at where this season is going. At the end of the day, I think this series will go down as my favorite of 2010 and "the best" as well.

Stuff I liked:
1) Jessica doing everything and anything. She's quickly become one of my favorite characters, all teen angst and self-discovery. Her turn to bad (sorta) at the end of last season was one of the more promising plot twist. Plus, her romance with Hoyt is heartwarming in the face kinkiness like Jason Stackhouse visualizing bullet holes in the foreheads of the two ladies he was gettin' it on with. Which leads me to..
2) Jason Stackhouse being funny. In the first season, Jason was supposed to be kinda serious but was inadvertently funny. Then, the writers discovered that Jason is a lot more interesting and entertaining when he is inadvertently funny on purpose. In this episode, he didn't have too much funny, but when he and Andy Bellefleur hang out, it's usually good for a chuckle or two.
3) Vampires moving really fast. Seriously, this was all it took for me to keep giggling through the season premiere. Every time a vampire moved somewhere super fast, I giggled. Especially when Bill moved really fast for, like, five second straight, I giggled even more! I don't know what it is that makes it so silly to me, but vampires moving really fast is just plain funny.
4) Zeljko Ivanic returned. He's one great actor who deserves to be on a show and in a role better than a vampire judge dude who shows up every now and again and/or a weird polygamist who gets shot up with hormones and also has no fingernails, like his role in Big Love.
5) Werewolves are cool. And, it's cool when Bill Compton has to come out of the dirt. Always is cool when that happens.

Stuff that made me bored:
1) Sookie doing stuff that was not mindreading. It is a little troublesome that I only like Sookie, ostensibly the central character, when she's reading people's minds. But seriously, she is so freakin' boring when she's just walking around talking to people and not reading people's minds. Season two had it right when she met her mindreading friend, but that was quickly abandoned. My fingers are crossed that her mindreading will be a central part of the new season.
2) Tara being sad. Does Tara do anything other than be sad? She has no type of power, so to make up for that, she should do more stuff than be sad. Sadly, she doesn't. Makes me bored.
3) Pam, suddenly becoming a major character. I guess this annoyed me more than it made me bored, but I promised myself I wouldn't get annoyed, but why is Pam suddenly interacting with everyone all the time? Snoozefest!
4) Sam looking for his family. I assume this plotline will pay off in the future, but right now, suddenly seeing him look for his parents just seems totally off-kilter with the other stuff that is going on, which is mostly just stuff that is an aftermath of how the second season ended. It's a little taste of a Lifetime movie in the middle of weird vampire sex stuff.

Granted, this is all just stuff that makes me bored, and because I am contractually obligated by the season of summer to run my brain at only about 80% of its capacity, having the ability to choose to tune out certain plotlines works out well. So, True Blood, you are the perfect disposable entertainment to come around to me every summer.

More importantly, though, is HBO's new teaser trailer which also debuted last night for their upcoming new series Game of Thrones. I'm midway through the first book in George R. R. Martin's masterful series right now, and it is one helluva book, even if Brigitte consistently makes fun of me for reading something with dragons. When I tell her that it "transcends genre," she laughs at me more. Well, Brigitte, next March, when everybody's watching the HBO series, you'll be changing your tune. So, here are the things I like about A Game of Thrones and the things that make me bored.

Stuff that I like about A Game of Thrones (the novel, from my reading so far):
1) Arya Stark, the spunky, overlooked daughter in the Stark family. So lovable and so spunky! As a middle child, I totally relate. I hope she kicks some Robert Lannister ass as she gets older. Also her bastard brother Jon Snow is pretty cool (literally, he's a bastard, born out of wedlock. In this series of novels, that's a big deal.)
2) Tyrion Lannister, the dwarf/imp. And holy CRAP, could Peter Dinklage be more perfectly cast in this role in the HBO series?! And not just because Tyrion is a dwarf like Dinklage is, but because Dinklage is perfectly quick-witted for the role. Damn, that's gonna be awesome.
3) Viserys and Danerys Taragaryn, weirdly abusive brother/sister relationship. But Viserys is such a little weasal and Danerys is learning how to control him. The part where she sends for him to meet with her for dinner is wicked awesome.

Stuff I am bored by:
1) Only one thing: Eddard Stark. He's kinda boring. And, he's gonna be played by Sean Bean, who is also a boring actor. Whenever there's an Eddard chapter, I get kinda bored. But oh well.

Here's the teaser trailer below! SO EXCITED!!!!!

Winter Is Coming

Television Rundown: Qualler's Emmy Nominations (Which End Up Becoming A Long and Rambling Way Of Saying Breaking Bad Is Awesome)

Dudes and dudettes! It's summer! And, although The Blogulator certainly gives its own awards at the end of the year, it's time to start the debate for what has to be at least the third m0st h0tly debated awards show of the year behind the Oscars and the Golden Globes: the Emmys. And although Emmy nominations don't come out until mid-July, I'm gonna go out of my way and make all the necessary nominations, trim the Emmy categories down to five nominations instead of the six or seven they seem to go with these days, and take the drama and suspense out of what is at least the third most dramatic and suspenseful awards show out there. For the interest of not caring about supporting actor and actress nominations for dramas and in recognition that comedies work mostly because they are ensembles, and in the interest in knowing that The Pacific is the only miniseries/movie of the year that matters (and, it's umbelievably great, so give it all those awards necessary), I have narrowed the categories down to four: Best Drama, Best Actor in a Drama, Best Actress in a Drama, and Best Comedy Series.

Drama: Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy, Lost, Treme, Breaking Bad

Mad Men is the obvious choice for Best Drama for the TV season, which in its third season crafted the pitch-perfect television season, creating memorable singular episodes ("Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency") and powerful climactic moments (Don Draper calling his wife Betty a whore). But, that's kinda boring to give the Best Drama award to the same show three years in a row, isn't it? Sons of Anarchy is a bundle of nerves, alternating violent outbursts with tender character moments. Lost might have in retrospect mislead viewers a little bit this season, but in the end made me think and replay its moments in my head more than any series has since the end of The Sopranos. (Definitely in a good way.) Treme has a lot to live up to, being the follow-up to The Wire, and while its inaugural season has yet to finish, is slowly but surely building its credentials as another David Simon masterpiece. And Breaking Bad deftly combines the memorable moments of Mad Men with the teeth-clenching dramatic tension of Sons of Anarchy while adding a spectacular visual touch both in cinematography and in visual symbolism. Pretty much, it's the perfect TV show.

Qualler's winner: Lost, but only because of how much the final season has stayed in my brain. If upon finishing Breaking Bad season three replaces that spot in my brain, then Breaking Bad is the definite winner.

Actor, Drama: Timothy Olyphant, Justified, Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad, Michael C. Hall, Dexter, Terry O'Quinn, Lost, Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad

That's right, Jon Hamm isn't even NOMINATED in this category. Yes, I think his acting job in the third season of Mad Men was respectable, maybe even downright good. But, these five dudes are so many kinds of awesome that it's not even fair. Olyphant, Cranston, and Hall basically carry their respective series on their backs (though, to be fair, Olyphant and Cranston benefit from being on extremely well-written shows and Hall is by far the most magnetic part of a show that has become more-or-less hit or miss. In case I didn't make the point strongly enough just now -- Olyphant is really, really awesome in Justified.) Terry O'Quinn, as Locke/Flocke/Smokey/Sideways Locke has the ability to bring me to tears just by giving that little Locke smile he gives. And, he's got to get major props for being so able to shift from Sideways Locke to Smokey Locke in adjoining scenes and still be able to tell me who is currently on the screen. Meanwhile, Breaking Bad is fantastic in its writing, and its acting, but it totally works even better with Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman, Walter White's (Cranston) constantly striving sidekick. As Walter White continues to do terrible things, one cannot help but totally feel for Jesse, the most sympathetic meth-cooking young adult in television history.

Qualler's winner: Bryan Cranston. Who would have predicted in 2002 that the dad from Malcolm in the Middle would become the star of the best show on TV, about a chemistry teacher turned meth cooker?

Actress, Drama: Khandi Alexander, Treme, Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy, Elizabeth Moss, Mad Men, Chloe Sevigney, Big Love, Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad

For some idiotic reason, Alexander, Sagal, Moss, and Sevigney are all classified as "supporting" actresses in the official Emmy ballot, which makes no sense to me. They're all arguably main characters on each of their shows. Another reason the supporting acting category should just be zapped. No matter, though. Alexander is absolutely awesome as the strong-minded, tough Ladonna Batiste-Williams. Sagal is incredible as the strong-minded, tough, and vulnerable Gemma. Moss, the career woman who is, yes, strong-minded, tough, and vulnerable. (Am I a sexist?) Sevigney, meanwhile, was one of the only good things about the fourth season of Big Love, including her charge that the fourth season was "horrible" (in retrospect, it definitely was). And whether you dislike or flat-out hate Skylar White (played by Anna Gunn) in Breaking Bad (I personally actually like her character), Gunn plays the hell out of her character. And whaddya know? She would actually be nominated as a Lead Actress, which actually makes sense. Good job, Emmy voters.

Qualler's winner: My head says Khandi Alexander as the representative of Treme and its stellar cast, but my heart says Anna Gunn and her superb overall performance. If Lost taught me anything, it's to follow my heart. Anna Gunn, you are my winner.

Comedy: Modern Family, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Party Down, Better Off Ted, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

All five of these shows (including the dearly departed Better Off Ted) work as excellent ensemble comedies, with the common thread that they all contain some relatively sane people, and some spectacuarly insane people (okay, I'm having a hard time thinking of anybody sane on Sunny). Modern Family re-defined the Frasier category of sitcoms, proving that sitcoms can be highly intelligent and goofy even if they are multi-camera shows not shot in front of a studio audience / laff-track. Curb, while occasionally hitting some dry spells in its most recent season, still has the ability to be explosively funny, which it was for most of the season. Party Down, meanwhile, benefits from what is probably the best cast in terms of working together on TV. Better Off Ted was delightfully insane and a much better workplace comedy than either of those other two workplace comedies on NBC, and Sunny was nothing more than delightfully insane. I haven't seen Parks & Recreation or Community but if I did I'd probably put those on here, too. Meanwhile, I have finally seen DoktorPeace's point on Glee and removed it from the DVR rotation. The "back nine" episodes to the first season, from what I've seen, are exactly as I predicted from a drama by Ryan Murphy: overstuffed with pointlessness and malnourished in the plot movement category.

Qualler's winner: Modern Family, which was the most consistent and endearing comedy of the television season, gets the slight edge over Curb.

So, Blogureaders, what is your dream Emmy ballot for the recently ended TV season?

Television Rundown: Watching Chris Watch LOST (and the American Idol Finale)

On Wednesday, May 26th, at approximately 7:30pm, Chris watched the LOST series finale. He avoided all spoilers to the best of his ability. The following is my attempt to capture his reactions to the last episode. He was pretty excited, and nothing was going to interrupt this last enjoyment of what I would consider one of his favorite series.*

Chris's first laugh: When Saywer says "Oh, well" in reference to trying to rescue Desmond from the well only to find he is already gone. Chris laughed and said, "Oh, Well! Get it!"

When Vincent reappears, Chris said "Of course! Wait, what has he been living on?" Then when we saw that he is living with Rose and Bernard, and Chris said "OF COURSE!!! Vincent only hangs out with black people."

When we first saw that Richard Alpert is not dead but merely dazed from the Smoke Monster, Chris said, "Damn right, he's not dead. Fuck you, Sean." Adding after a moment, "He's even handsome when he's dirty!"

During the first "remembrance" (when Sun and Jin remembered everything during the ultransound), Chris said, "Clip show!" Clip show, indeed, Chris (but one of the more creative ways to end with a clip show, in my opinion). Now, when Qualler and I watched this scene, we were both completely in tears. Chris did not seem very moved. Probably because he hasn't experienced a love as strong and lasting as Sun and Jin's love in the way that Qualler and I have (sorry, Jerksica). Let's see whether any of the other reunions and remembrances bring Chris to tears.

During a scene on the island Chris commented that the music is a little silly.

In the scene before Jack operated on Locke, Jack said, "There's a chance I might kill ya!" and both laugh. Chris said "He IS gonna kill him!" He also wanted to point out that Jack is an egotistical jerk because he kept using the phrase "fix you" when speaking to Locke. I agree with Chris in general, but this episode really redeems Jack for me. Let's see whether Chris has a similar experience. My prediction? Probably not. I'm also thinking that, if Chris doesn't cry at/enjoy the reunion scenes, he is not going to love this finale. But let's just keep reading to find out!

The scene when Richard finds a gray hair really moved me, too. I thought it was beautiful. I tried to get Chris to react. His reaction? "So? Miles has tons of gray hairs."

He was really excited, however, when Miles and Richard found Lapidus just moments later.

Chris seemed really surprised to find out that Juliet was the mother of Jack's son. He also wanted someone to wipe the stupid smile off his son's face.

The reunion between Sayid and Shannon is about to happen! What will Chris's reaction be? "No waaaay...YEAH! The most awkward romance of all time." As Sayid peered into Shannon's eyes, Chris said, "Remember when we were on the beach and we fucked?" (as Sayid talking to Shannon). When we see Boone talking to Hugo, Chris said in a whiny voice "I want Mr. Eko!"

When Locke, Desmond, and Jack peered down the cave into the light, Chris said, "It's just like the Goonies. There's treasure down there!" Um.

When Charlie was up on stage about to play with Driveshaft and Daniel, he noticed Claire in the crowd. Of course that scene made me start to cry a little, too (I guess I'm sort of a crier). It made Chris say "What? Cross fade to Michael Giacchino?"

As Desmond was removing the cork in the big cave of light, Qualler compared the scene to Raiders of the Lost Arc, then I compared it to Aladdin, and then Chris compared it to Prince of Persia. Qualler then asked if he had seen Prince of Persia, to which Chris replied, "No." After the cork was uncorked, and the earth began to shake, Chris said with excitement in his voice, "Volcano?!?!" He got really excited when we found out that Locke/The Man in Black is now mortal.

When we heard Driveshaft playing, Chris laughed with glee and said, "Hahahaha, it's totally lame!!!"

During the (re)birth of baby Aaron, Chris made us stop the recording so that we could watch the last ten minutes of American Idol. I asked him if he cared more about who would win AI or if he cared more about Aaron being born. He said that he didn't care about Aaron being born. He was pretty upset about Lee DeWize winning, which he vehemently blamed on "more girls watching the show than boys!" As he switched back to LOST, angry that Lee had won, he said with a sigh "alright, LOST, make up for that [the dumb guy winning]." He then laughed as Aaron was born and Kate handed him to Claire.

When, back on the island, Ben was trapped under a tree, he simply cried "Whaaat?" When Miles and Kate talked over their walkies about taking off on the plane, Chris asked, "Are they going to take off just in the nick of time line in 2012?" Then, as Locke and Jack raced towards each other in the rain on a cliff, Chris yelled "SPARTAAAAA!" and as it cut to commercial he let out a noise that can only be described as "Whahahahaaaaaaiiiii?" as he flailed his limbs in the air. After commercial, when Locked stabbed Jack in his side, Chris said, "Gaaaaah!!!!!!!!" He made similar noises that ranged from "Gaaaa!" to "Hahaaaaa!" throughout the rest of this scene, also interjecting "SO MANY ONE LINERS!" with glee and a clap of his hands when Kate shot Locke and said "I saved you a bullet!" Then, when we flashed sideways and saw that Jack's neck was bloody (like in the other reality!) he let out a squeal that I took to convey surprise and delight. At this point I felt as if Chris was starting to get sucked in...

(When Sawyer came to make sure that Sun and Jin were safe, and Sun and Jin were all smiling and Jin said "I'll see you there," he didn't have any accent at all. Why?? Maybe in heaven there are no Korean accents.)

After Locke/The Man in Black was defeated and Jack told Kate that she had to get on the plane, and Ben said that he would go down with the island, Chris asked, "Wait, how did they get Ben out from under that tree?" Good question, Chris.

Around this point in the episode Chris started to get frustrated, and as Kate and Sawyer jumped off the island into the water so that they could make it to the plan in time, he asked, "Wait, what about Hurley and Ben?" then added, through clenched teeth, "There are too many people to keep track of!!"

Chris exclaimed his most enthused "Whoa!!!" when Sawyer unplugged the vending machine and all the lights turned off. When I questioned his reaction, he said, "Have you ever seen The Trigger Effect? No power makes people go crazy!" When I asked whether the Juliet/Sawyer reunion and flash back moved him at all, he said, "A little bit. Though, I still haven't quivered, per se."

Chris had no noticeable reaction when Jack told Hugo to take his place and take care of the island. During my first viewing of this scene, I was (you guessed it!) crying.

Later, when Jack was trying to put the cork back into the island, Chris cried out again in frustration, "What about BEEEEEEEN? And Desmond?" Then, after a pause, as Jack struggle with the giant cork, he said, "It all comes down to putting something in a hole."

About 15 minutes from the end of the episode, Chris said, as Kate told Jack that she would wait for him inside the church, "It's really going to be HIS [Jack's] funeral!"

At this point Chris wanted island Jack to turn into smoke. He also questioned "Hurley and Ben against Jack?" and mumbled something in his most excited/anxious/frustrated voice. When Jack opened the coffin, Chris whispered "It's empty....get inside!" When Christian showed up, Chris squealed, "Whaaaaaat?" Then, as Jack remembered dying and he and Christian embraced, Chris said it was, "Just like God and Jesus." What? When Christian said "there is no now here" Chris squealed/shouted "BECAUSE THEY'RE IN HEAVEN?!?!" I couldn't tell whether this was a happy shout or an angry shout...or maybe something in between?

And now for my post viewing interview with Chris.

Well Chris, what did you think of the episode, overall?
Well... (long pause) I'm gonna use my words carefully. Hm. Best. (pause) Show. (longer pause) Ever. Question mark. End commentary.

Well, folks, there ya have it!

As for my own opinion of the series finale: still undecided. I definitely liked it overall, and I cried tears of pure joy as I witnessed each reunion (except for Sayid and Shannon. I never cared about that little tryst.) However, I didn't love the very end. My first reaction was "so...they're all dead." The more I thought about it, analyzed it, read about it, the more I liked it...and the more I didn't like it. But, I don't know what I would have changed to make it any better. I think it's always sad when things end, and I've always been a little disappointed with any series finale. Except for The Sopranos. That finale was flawless.

*Chris made me pause the recording at 8:50 so that we could see who won American Idol.

Television Rundown: Lost...For Words! (Spoilers)

In lieu of writing any kind of meaningful analysis of the Lost finale (which, I suspect, will come out in the next few days, and perhaps in a special four-blogger blog "roundtable" featuring me, Chris, Brigitte, and Sean some time this week), I'll just say this.

*SPOILER ALERT, OUT OF RESPECT FOR CHRIS, WHO HAS YET TO WATCH THE FINALE*

That was . . .

. . .

. . .

good.

Yes, I can say, with 110% confidence that the first 2 hours and 10 minutes of the series finale of Lost, "The End", was among the greatest pieces of television I have ever seen. Emotional payoffs for many of our central characters mixed with unbelievable action and cinematography (when the rain came after Desmond pulled the plug in the cave, when the camera got all shaky and the rain poured and they were all muddy...my jaw was pretty much on the floor the whole time) made for what was definitely an A++++ finale.

Then, the last 20 minutes...

Wow.

Just...wow.

I should preface that by saying that I started watching Lost a year ago, after long resisting the pressure to dig into it. I had too many shows to watch on my plate, and I wasn't ready to commit to what I originally deemed to be Survivor meets Jurassic Park (which, you must admit, based on the original promos back in 2004, is exactly what the show looked like!) So, by starting the show on DVD, and burning through seasons one through five in something like six months or so, I never was as interested in the show by the many mysteries of the island, of the mythology that was so intricately woven into the reason I assume people watched it for six straight seasons.



So, the final blow, that (seemingly) the entire series really, truly, was some kind of spiritual journey, to find Heaven, or Nirvana, or whatever comes after our physical lives...well, that smashed me in my emotional, and spiritual head.

It's gonna take me a while to process how it concluded that way, and I'm not entirely sure that if I watched it again, I'd be as blow away by it, but...

Wow.

I also am starting to realize that the whole "Group of people take spiritual journey, have lots of crazy stuff happen to them along the way, they (seemingly) die, but in some other reality, they come back together, oh and the main guy gets to the end of his quest to find that he has truly reached the end of his journey" thing is yet another similarity to Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. But, somehow, so much more satisfying.

One last thing: Dear KSTP Channel 5 Eyewitness News: Eff you for constantly telling me about the severe thunderstorm warnings in northern Minnesota. Your loud beeping noise and constant reduction of the size of my screen that lasted through the entire 2 1/2 hour episode annoyed me infinitely more than that one episode where ABC had that V clock running. I don't care about the weather, and I know it's some kind of public safety thing or whatever, but come on. Series finale of Lost here. Shut up, please.

So, Lost fans: what did you think? Surely, there will be more here later this week, but for now, this will have to do. And in case you missed it, here's Sean's final "Drawing with Sean" Lost tie-in.

Cable Television Rundown: Moral Relativism in The Pacific (A Kneejerk Review)

This Winter and Spring has brought to us a plethora of excellent television dramas, most of those presenting to the viewer many a moral dilemma. It started with this winter's season of Big Love, in which Bill Hendrickson became a mini-Tony Soprano style state senator that allowed his co-workers to be thrown under the bus. It has continued with the final season of Lost, where good characters do bad things, and bad characters do badder things (but might only do those bad things because they had mommy issues, but that's another story). Recently, Brigitte, Lady Amy, Chris and I arrived at the penultimate episode of the second season of Breaking Bad, in which Walter White does some, um, morally ambiguous things. (Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad things!)

Which leads to the partially stodgy, partially joyless, partially horrendously disturbing, wholly beautiful production value, mostly perfect HBO miniseries The Pacific, which ended its ten part run last night. The things that the central characters did in the war were at times heroic and at times horrifying.

The miniseries did a fantastic shot depicting how war causes people to lose their humanity in a way both familiar and fresh. It's an oft-done template to take a few soldiers, show them what their life was like before the war, put them in some war action, and bring them home. But what sets this miniseries apart was the sheer brutality of war, depicted in a grueling, demanding, horrifying way not seen in any other war movie (even the oft-compared Saving Private Ryan), especially parts five through nine. The battle scenes were aided by excellent overall lead performances by James Badge Dale, Joseph Mazzello (yes, the kid from Jurassic Park) and Jon Seda, and especially the supporting performance by Rami Malek as the effed-up soldier named Snafu. And, that $200 million budget was well spent on the many, many explosions, bullet holes, blown-up brains, and stunningly gorgeous shots of beaches and sunsets. Yes, parts five through nine had more blown-up brains per capita than your average Evil Dead movie. (It goes without saying that the superb musical score by Hans Zimmer helped out quite a bit.)

For as steadily as parts one through four of the minseries set the stage for the three stories that were followed, parts five through nine are an absolute chore to watch, a seemingly never-ending mashup of war action that is less exciting and more simply grueling to watch. Parts of part seven and part nine rank amongst the most gruesome productions I have ever seen, movie or television. Certain sections of the war drudgery, both involving Mazzello's Eugene "Sledgehammer" Sledge, are not likely to leave my brain any time soon. (Without spoiling too much, they both involve lots and lots of blood.) Our ironic brains are trained to handle ultra-violence with a wink and a nod to irony, but there's no winking and no irony in the way the violence of the Pacific theater were fought.

And, as corny as our ironic brains initially interpret generally any historical fiction such as this, it cannot be stressed enough how well this miniseries does in presenting plainly the sacrifice American soldiers made not just for the good of the country, but for the good of the world. Naturally, that does not mean everything the soldiers did in the miniseries was good and noble -- in fact, the soldiers did some despicable things, Walter White-level things (but, in some ways, more plainly horrifying.) The point, then, is that war strips away a human's dignity. And, a war rips apart families, from the families that stayed home after soldiers shipped off, to families that were ripped apart between the battles of war.

And it may not be an easy thing for we ironic people to admit, but, damn, we should be grateful for the majority of us not needing to be caught in a situation where we have to make morally ambiguous decisions. Where shows like Breaking Bad clearly set out the reasons why we choose to either make a morally right or wrong decision and there are clear rewards for doing the morally wrong thing (like, millions of dollars, or the possibility that you won't get arrested, etc.), The Pacific presents those decisions in a way I would expect them to be presented in real life: no incorrectly redeeming reason for doing something wrong. When a dude from Mobile, AL, who previously had never seen anything too horrifying in his life, is suddenly in the situation where he either should or should not cut out the gold teeth from the corpse of a dead Japanese soldier just for fun, you know there isn't a whole lot of reward in the situation.

Which is what makes The Pacific so rewarding. It takes the standard "war movie" template and both follows it and inverts it to show the real insides, the guts of war. Folks, they ain't pretty. And they aren't scrubbed somewhat clean by a Spielbergian sheen, nor are they a completely inward experience like a Terance Malick film. It rips your soul out, twists your body inside and out, and spits you out, expecting you to go home after it like nothing happend. "They taught me how to kill (Japanese soldiers)...I got pretty damn good at that," Sledge said in last night's finale. This miniseries does a pretty damn good job of showing us that.

Cable Television Rundown: Justified, aka Law and Order: Rural Kentucky

I'm not one to normally recommend that one watch a modern dramatic television series beginning with an episode in the middle of its first season run. But, FX's new semi-serial (yes, only semi-serial! I am watching a series where its current focus is not on events purely of serial nature!) procedural plays like a rural Kentucky version of Law and Order. Six weeks into its run, it has produced mostly good results, with the definite highlight in episode four, "Long in the Tooth" (now available on Hulu, and embedded below):



The fourth episode of Justified guest stars the incomparable Alan Ruck as a mob accountant-turned-fugitive dentist with a mean streak. Ruck has so much fun with his role as, basically, a version of his character Cameron from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, had Cam continued to hold his repressed rage within for 30+ years. Timothy Olyphant's Raylan Givens, Justified's main character, meanwhile, stalks Ruck's dentist character with confidence and general bad-assery. His personal demons, alluded to in every episode and eventually pushed forward with future episodes, ride in the background while the "case of the week" procedural aspect comes to the forefront.

That's what makes Justified a rarity in these days of cable drams: it focuses on the case-of-the-week procedural aspects. Ask Lady Amy and our friends over at Munch My Benson about how good procedural shows can be: the Law & Order franchise in particular has gotten much right about how to mix compelling story of the week narratives framed by familiar cops and criminals. But, these days, cable networks run the risk of losing their all-so-important critical cache by, on the surface, producing shows that are nothing more than weekly procedurals.

As one would expect from FX, though, there is a twist. Raylan Givens, shipped from his job as a US Marshall back to his hometown, tackles various cases while slowly-but-surely uncovering his own personal demons, and his mixed relationship with his hometown. So, while the procedurals work individually (and especially well in an episode like "Long in the Tooth" with a fantastic guest acting performance), the serial elements are there, too. And frankly, Olyphant is so perfect for this role that I could forsee this show working both as a procedural and a serial drama for a long time. In this show's case, mixing the procedural with the serial should pay some long-term dividends, making it one of those rare shows that I can actually watch somewhat passively and enjoy as much as I would intensely.

Hypester Alert: Cable Television Rundown Mashup

Happy tax day everybody! In celebration of the official end of tax season, enjoy this special edition of Hypester Alert. This time, I mash up two of my features to create an extra special column. Hooray for mash-ups!

The Pacific
So, obviously, big budget (think $200 million) miniseries produced by HBO are totally hyped on many levels. They're advertised to death by the big budget behemoth that is HBO. They are relentlessly reviewed by critics everywhere. They are discussed in high school history classes. They are, folks, the very definition of hypester TV. So when parts one and two of this 10-part miniseries were entertaining but a little stodgy, I was getting somewhat ready to write this miniseries off as yet another product of the HBO hype machine.

Then, part three debuted and played a little like an episode of Mad Men -- all period costumes, hushed romances, and deep longing. Part four focused on James Badge Dale's character Robert Leckie and the psychological aspects of warfare. (Side note: Dale has been a revelation in this miniseries. To think that the only other thing I've seen him in was when he had to cut off his own arm on the third season of 24...) And finally, part five dug into the unbelievably intense warfare, depicting the horrifying two-month-long battle, the Battle of Peleliu, which fully utilizes that $200 million budget.



And, frankly, part five got me fully hooked, emotionally and viscerally. All the set-up in the first four parts was setting up the rules of the miniseries. We learned enough about the soldiers and about the method of warfare that when the first truly intense battle sequence commenced, it was truly jawdropping. Sure, it may have lifted an element or two from Saving Private Ryan, but something about the way the war was waged, in an environment totally unfamiliar and with a mission so vague, was absolutely horrifying. I had to pick my jaw up off of the floor by the time the episode finished. Five more parts to go, and I cannot wait to see how the rest of the miniseries develops.
Hypester assessment: Worthy of Hype



Glee
The show that I so badly want to love to hate but can't help but love came back to Fox on Tuesday night with an installment that had me starting to tell Brigitte that I was finally getting kind of sick of the show and ended with me begrudgingly loving it. After a self-imposed four-month break from new episodes, the first season continued with an episode jam-packed with what made the show successful in its first run -- fun song sequences juxtaposed with sad romances.

What lacks in Matthew Morrison's main character Will Scheuster is made up for in spades by the scene-stealing of Jane Lynch. Lynch is just so damn funny and so incredibly evil that she makes up for any lame, going-nowhere scene with Morrison involved. And Lea Michele, playing the confident-yet-insecure Rachel, is still a standout performer and character on the show.

Still, I am feeling very, very wary of where this show is headed. The ratings are through the roof, and creator Ryan Murphy has promised that things will essentially only get "bigger and better." That means awkward things like Jane Lynch doing a music video of Madonna's "Vogue" that premiered with Tuesday's episode. Um, what's the point of singing a song and making a fake music video that is exactly the same as the real thing? Knowing how Murphy's own Nip/Tuck fell off the rails when he grew tired of working on the show, I fully expect this show to implode any time soon. Enjoy your run as a Worthy of Hype show, Glee...you're officially on watch.
Hypester assessment: Worthy of Hype (barely)

Lost
Whether or not you think the "flash-sideways" episodes thus far into the season have been worth it, the final season has (predictably) become mindblowingly awesome. Tuesday night's "Everybody Loves Hurley" was yet another great episode that has rendered me unable to analyze the many things going on. At this point, it's just time to sit back and enjoy the ride.
Hypester assessment: Worthy, worthy, so worthy of Hype.

Cable Television Rundown: Oh Chloe, You Don't Need To Apologize (Big Love Season Four Controversey)

In a recent interview with the venerable AV Club, actress Chloe Sevigny called the recent season of Big Love "awful" and compared it to a telenovela. (In a bad way.) In another recent interview with the also very venerable Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly, Sevigny apologized profusely for her statements that season four was, indeed, "awful." Chloe, I understand the reason for apologizing and for throwing Sean O'Neal of The AV Club under the bus by stating that your comments were taken out of context. But, there is no need to apologize. You were right the first time.

What's surprising about Sevigny's interview with The AV Club was the frankness in which she discussed the ins and outs of the writers' room. It's not often you seen an actor making serious critiques of the writing of a show (outside of the context of the Katherin Heigls of the world.) But in this case, Sevigny is dead-on correct. The reason this show worked in the past was that there was at least a semblance of reality in the occasionally off-the-wall situations the characters got themselves into. But, in this latest season, reality seems to have completely gone out the window. Worse, the interesting plots that were set up at the end of season three, with Bill starting a family church and the continued fallout of Joey whacking Roman Grant, were all but buried by the Bill Hendrickson for Senate plot.

Although Sevigny alluded to the fact that the episode order being cut to nine for this season was a reason why the quality was lower, the fact is there were many, many strands of plot that c0uld have been completely left out that would have solved the problem of not enough episodes. We didn't really need the weird Mexico plot, especially based on how rushed the strand felt at the end. We didn't even really need a follow up to the Ben-Margene quasi-romance, because that was, again, buried after a couple of episodes. And we most definitely did not need anything to do with JJ impregnating Sevigny's Nicki Grant. Overall, we got a lot of strands of plots that didn't go anywhere and/or were not at all dramatically satisfying.

What's surprising to this blogger is the fact that Big Love, a firmly established drama that had previously shown its goods, is 50% less genuinely dramatic than the new half-hour dramedy (that's what I'm officially calling it) How to Make It in America, which just continues to improve with its best episode yet having aired last night. Whatever happened in the writers room for Big Love this year, I sincerely hope showrunners Will Scheffer and Mark V. Olson think back to what made the show good in the first place and try to re-establish itself. Until then, kudos to Sevigny to have the guts to say what she actually thinks and demand good television writing.

Update: The AV Club posted an audio snippet of the actual interview here, that pretty much quashes any talk of being "taken out of context."

Cable Television Rundown: Sometimes, Douches Aren't Really Douches, If You Get To Know 'Em

One of the best lessons one gets from watching a lot of television is that sometimes, people who you think are douches aren't really douches deep down. This spring, I have personally learned a lot about the types of people who, while I wouldn't normally go out of my way to "chill" with them, I have learned that people who you think are douche on the surface may, while being douchier than you probably are, not be as douchey as you think they are.

That guy who is way too into men's fashion to not be a douche, for example? He's probably trying to just make it in his day-to-day life. His love life might even be in shambles, despite your preconception that he's totally getting all the hot ladies. The dude who wears the giant cowboy hat and shoots neo-nazis around town even though it's currently 2010? Dude's probably got some deep-set rage issues that you'll probably learn more about in future days. Guy who's really into smoking cigarettes and serving the country in the 1940s? Come on, he's not a douche, he's in World War II.

Yes, you could say I've learned a lot about life through television. And, this spring, cable television doesn't get much better. Here's my Cable Television Rundown for March 2010.

How to Make It In America: Okay, can we give a prize to the show that upon first glance seemed to be the most likely to be an Entourage clone and then totally outdo my expectations? Because, when HBO announced that they were going forward with a half-hour series produced by the Entourage gang of producers (like Mark Wahlberg, who as you know produced Entourage) called How to Make It in America, about two friends in New York hustling their way toward "the American dream," I was about to smack them upside the head for producing what sounded like garbage and not getting the greenlight for a full year of In Treatment episodes of instead (yes, also produced by the Entourage gang.)

Much to my easy-to-stereotype mind's surprise, How to Make It is easily HBO's most lovable new half-hour shows in years. What's made the show more successful in my book than other recently premiered half-hour shows like Bored to Death and Hung is the establishment of a cohesive, likable environment. Despite Zach Galifinakis and Jason Schwartzman being intensely likable, funny fellas, the truth is an entire show built essentially around Zach being a sad-sack and Schwartzman making funny faces in a trench coat makes for less than interesting television. And, despite Thomas Jane and Jane Adams delivering fearless, hilariously deadpan lead performances in Hung, the show has some work to do in terms of establishing something interesting beyond their great interplay.

Lead actor Bryan Greenberg is kind of boring as lead character Ben, but the world he lives in is a fun one. But, unlike their Entourage counterparts, things are not handed to him and his friends on a douchey silver platter. His more optimistic (and as Chris points out, hyper) friend Cam works tirelessly with him to get their jeans business off the ground. Meanwhile, Eddie Kaye Thomas (yes, the whiny guy from American Pie) is suprisingly hilarious as the douchey-but-pathetic-but-actually-not-a-bad-guy stock broker dude with cash. Lake Bell plays Ben's former (and future) love interest Rachel with depth and (again) likability. And Luis Guzman is the trump card in the cast (like he is in Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love) playing the older hustler type (and Cam's uncle.)

All in all, it makes absolutely no sense that this show could be so enjoyable, but it does. We could all learn something if we paid attention to our douchey neighbors. Turns out, they might actually be likable people.




Justified: This show, on the other hand, has no reason to not be enjoyable. It stars Tim Olyphant, Qualler's favorite male actor this side of Gabriel Byrne. His smoldering good looks and cool demeanor have been assets to the great projects he's been involved in (Deadwood, Damages) and the crappy ones, too (Hitman, Dreamcatcher (with Hung's Thomas Jane, another of Qualler's favorite male actors, no less!!!)) And unlike Damages when he seemed slightly out of place wearing those half-buttoned-up shirts that Dexter Morgan wears, the dude's a flat-out badass cowboy in small-town Kentucky.

Where the jury is still out, then, is whether this series will develop both in the procedural-type way it displayed in its excellent pilot and continue to evolve his, and perhaps others, characters. The atmosphere of the pilot, all humid out-of-date police offices, dark night-time bridges with neo-nazis holding freaking bazookas, and smart dialogue, was great, but the problem with giving Tim Olyphant the lead role is my fear that he won't be able to project more of the depth that a series like this one eventually should demand. In Deadwood he was pretty much just asked to walk around with a mad face and keep things in order while characters around him pontificated about the meaning of life and society. Unlike another show that seems to be all about atmosphere and a charismatic lead actor (Dexter), Justified doesn't have the easy-to-lean-back-on crutch of lead character voice-over narration.

Then again, I'm willing to give this show the benefit of the doubt. I saw enough hints of the serial aspects that I'm willing to continue to watch. Even if it's just for the fantastically dude-centric atmosphere, I'll keep watching. FX has done a great job of evolving into Television for Smart Dudes Who Also Like The Occasional Explosion channel, and Justified fits into that mold well.



The Pacific: It's too early to tell if this miniseries will be either overall a well-funded but ultimately tired WWII flick or find itself into the rarefied air of war movies like Terrance Malick's The Thin Red Line, but part one happily broke the usual mold that HBO has with its original movies and miniseries in being less than easy to watch for the whole family (like the time the Qualler family ordered HBO to watch the quite-good-and-quite-family-friendly From The Earth to the Moon.) Chris and I watched the first part last night (while Brigitte and Jerksica did wedding stuff for Chris and Jerksica's wedding! What excellent gender division!), and Chris aptly described its nice balance between Saving Private Ryan populist work and The Thin Red Line's aching "war is hell" darkness. I definitely plan to watch the first two parts a couple of times to get a true differentiation between the characters. And I plan to watch again with Lady Amy, who will definitely like all of the action sequences. A serious, serious amount of explosions -- HBO's $200 million budget went toward a lot of quality 'splosions.

In particular though, a scene that tells me that this is nacho usual WWII film was the intensely sad scene featuring the fellow in the picture above, shooting a Japanese soldier straight-up. Seems like that little scene is a bit of a microcosm of the scary war we will experience in coming weeks.

Television Rundown: This Blog Post Needs a Facelift! And Other Things, In General

Last night brought us the 100th, and final, episode of one of the best examples of why television dramas should always have end dates. Yes, Nip/Tuck technically died exactly after The Carver sliced Christian Troy at the end of season two. Actually, a better series finale would have been the aforementioned season two episode "Rose and Raven Rosenberg". And while the finale wasn't the total trainwreck the series was had been at times after the second season (wait, why did I keep watching?), it was in some ways a more modest version of that episode. This final season did have a few very nice moments, but in general it was OK to see it finally go bye-bye, despite there not really being anything else on TV that has the same feel to it (other than Ryan Murphy's new show, Glee, which, if it goes Bigger and Badder as quickly as Nip/Tuck did, is definitely doomed to fizzle out quickly...) It will be nice to save room on the DVR for the following current and future series...

Parenthood: What if Brigitte (out of commission tonight, feel better, babydoll!) created Fan Fiction as her thesis to her upcoming Ph.D. program? It might come out a little bit like Parenthood, the new NBC series based on the 1989 movie with Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, Dianne Wiest, and a plethora of other "hey, I know that person" people. So, Brigitte's fan fiction is like, totally "Gilmore Girls meets the Handsome, Not Gay Brother of the Fischer Family of Six Feet Under" seeing that the two leads are Lauren Graham and Peter Krause. Also, with the other stars in the show, Brigitte could say that it's kind of a mash-up of Gilmore Girls, Six Feet Under, Coach, Arrested Development, Patch Adams, Punk'd, the movie Swimfan, (Graham, Krause, Craig T. Nelson, Mae Whitman ("Anne" from ArrDev), Monica Potter, Dax Shephard, Erika Christensen), mixed with a garnish of The Family Stone minus the unbearable We're-So-Accepting-Of-Others vibe of that movie and a dollop of grown-up heartstring-pulling that doesn't feel too cloying (yet). All of which is a really long-winded way of saying, this is a show that is pretty much impossible not to like. Welcome to the DVR archives, Parenthood.

The Life and Times of Tim: I'm doing something on The Blogutwitter (pimpin' our Twitter feed: twitter.com/theblogulator ... also see the sidebar down on the right) lately -- posting my fave quotes from the latest episodes of the new season of HBO's increasingly hilarious The Life and Times of Tim. It took me the whole first season to truly decide I liked this, then marinated over the year and a half it took to get a new season going, but Tim's world is getting to be pretty, pretty hilarious. "I'm Aimee with two E's and TWO DOUBLE D'S!!!" "The sin is in the meat." "W..T..Fuck?" Also anything The Boss says to Tim is hilarious. By all accounts the ratings to this series are not great, and not that HBO necessarily gives a crap about ratings, but the "save this show" formula is somewhere in "Ratings + Critical Acclaim + Buzz - Cost", so please do your part to keep that formula strong. Also here's the first episode of the new season below:

Lost: Duh.

And, some series coming soon...

Justified (FX): I already have a pretty big mancrush on Timothy Olyphant, almost so much so that I would have gone to see The Crazies and probably convinced Chris to drag along with me, despite his low "Will I See It?" percentage from last month. So, when it came out that Olyphant was gonna star on a new show from FX, aka Lifetime For Dudes, based on an Elmore Leonard short story and he was GOING TO WEAR A COWBOY HAT AND DO THE SETH BULLOCK WALK IN THE MODERN TIMES...well, you got me there, FX. And even better news -- respected TV bloggers Alan Sepinwall and Jace Lacob have already supplied their praises. Yep, I'm there. (Tuesday, March 16, 9 pm CST.)

The Pacific: The last time I tried getting The Blogulator + More Friends together to watch a historical epic HBO miniseries was their John Adams miniseries, in which I served meatloaf and mashed potatoes and Jerksica, Lady Amy, and Brigitte all thought it would be more fun to sing songs from the musical 1776 than to pay attention to the stirring dialogue and historically accurate costumes worn by Paul Giammati and Laura Linney, and naturally that didn't work out so well cuz I was the only one still watching at the end. The Pacific, however, I feel, will be a different story. Those who have no interest have already opted out of watching it at our place, and the previews for this one seem to suggest it will be less of a snoozefest than the aforementioned Adams (hey! I like snoozefests like that!) And we're gonna be pairing this with the other 10-part HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, calling our 10-week excursion War-Torn Sundays. TV Guide critic, in an exclusive conversation conducted via Twitter, suggested that The Blogulator "Bring aspirin". It's gonna be a paaaar-tay.

And finally...: HBO has greenlit one show and cast for another show that leave me feeling very, very excited. Game of Thrones has been greenlit to series, based on the fantasy Song of Fire and Ice book series that Little Qualler (LQ) keeps telling me to read. Considering I've not read a good old fashioned book series like that since The Dark Tower, it's next on my to-read list (after Blogulator friend Anna Jarzab's All Unquiet Things, natch) I'm definitely gonna read that and then enjoy the ess out of the TV series. And, Luck, the new David Milch (Deadwood, NYPD Blue, Philly) series about horserace gambling, has a new leading man, Dustin Hoffman, and a second banana, Dennis Farina. Oh man, hearing them walk around on horseracing tracks and using the word "fuck" 142 times per episode is going to be absolutely beautiful.

Cable Television Rundown: Big Love? Tetherball? Really?

Yeesh, where do I begin, Big Love?

One, nine episodes of a season for a show that has previously existed on 12 in the first two seasons, then 10 in the third season, is just way too condensed. Obviously, this season has been rushed (and, frankly, last year felt as rushed at times), and as a result, there are about 10 million plots in the air at one time. Last week's episode, "Blood Atonement" haphazardly brought to a conclusion the bizarre saga of Frank, Lois, a bunch of birds, Kathy Marquart's twin sister, ultimately Ben, the Hollis Green clan, Mexico, and Bill/Joey coming to the rescue, which culminated in Lois chopping Hollis's arm off. If that sounds like something from a show not like the show you know Big Love to be...well, you are correct. In the end, Ben, Bill, and gang all came home, told everyone what happened, they showed them all hugging for about 20 seconds, and all was well. So, what was the point?

Another "what's the point" moment was Sarah Hendrickson's final episode last night, "Next Ticket Out". Last season, the much lauded episode "Come, Ye Saints" pulled everything that is great about the show together by deftly balancing the comedy of the Hendrickson family, their search for meaning in their religion, sadness and secrets, and ultimately, catharsis. And Sarah was the center of that episode, culminating in that memorable scene where the whole family pulled over to watch the sunset and comfort her after losing her baby. Of course, last night, being that Amanda Seyfried has decided to move on from the series to pursue films like Dear John (hey Brigitte, you promised you'd take me on my birthday!), her character's exit from the show was, again, rushed through by explaining that she's moving to Portland with Scott, and a sort of awkward scene that, again, lasted about 30 seconds to show that Bill still loves her, despite everything, near the end of the episode. This, after a weirdly epic game of Tetherball played between Bill and Goran, Margene's new husband(!!!) ("in paper only"). Hey, that reminds me that Ana came back and is pregnant with Bill's baby. Meanwhile, Bill is running for Senate, partially because he wants to out his family as a morally strong polygamist mainstream family, has opened a casino, and (ostensibly) still runs his Home Plus store. Wow, I watch TV to escape the stresses of our lives' many commitments, but when I watch Big Love this season, I just get anxious.

The one plot, though, that has paid dividends, is the one with Alby and the UEB trustee who committed suicide a couple episodes ago. This season, Alby has been revealed to be much more sympathetic than he has ever been. Last night's strongest scene, though, featured Alby pushing Nicki away from him, while the ghost of his father taunted him. It was very Anakin Skywalker Turning Into Darth Vader, minus the atrocious dialogue penned by George Lucas.

Still, this season has mostly been dizzying and, unlike last season where there was real emotional resonance behind the dizzying plot twists, this season has just left me exhausted.

Television Rundown: Crushing Under The Weight of Parallel Universes

The line between serial television drama and the sporting events that fill many minutes of my life is indeed a thin line. Two weeks ago, in the midst of dealing with the immediate trauma of seeing my beloved Minnesota Vikings get so damn close to making it to the Super Bowl for the first time in my lifetime and the first time in 33 years only to be denied the invitation in a you-can't-make-this-up fashion that Vikings fans seem to think can only happen to them (although Bill Simmons of ESPN comfortingly shows fans like me the reasons why that's just not true in this ultimately cathartic column), I wrote about how Margene from Big Love ultimately helped me get over their crushing loss. Two weeks later, I watched the actual Super Bowl, and realized that I still had repressed anger and sadness over the Vikings and, ultimately my, loss.

But serialized television has, if not completely healed, then, partially healed those wounds, especially with last week's (final) season premiere of Lost. I may be relatively new to the world of Lost, but the season premiere was nothing short of mind-bending, action-packed, and a helluva lot of fun. And it got me thinking, naturally, about the theories of parallel universes. In a parallel universe, Minnesotans were celebrating on Hennepin Avenue on Sunday night, Brett Favre announced his "real" retirement, Joe Mauer signed a 12-year contract, the groundhog did not see his shadow, and Minneapolis inherited the climate of San Diego, CA. Thanks, Lost, for opening up the possibilities.

So, along those lines, here is the status of the five recently premiering shows that I'm obsessing about, as compared to the alternate reality in which the Vikings didn't totally flop.

An Alternate Dimension In Which The Vikings Beat The Saints in the NFC Championship = Lost

Note: please see #87 running to the sideline for the Vikings, wide open. In the alternate reality, Brett threw it to him, he ran for another 3 yards, and Ryan Longwell hit a 45 yard field goal to put the Vikings in their first Super Bowl in 33 years. So, assuming that happened, the crushing, long-lingering feeling of disappointment didn't happen, and the party at our place two weeks ago ended thrillingly, with great joy amongst the people. That, friends, is how great the season premiere of Lost was last week. The opening scene, finding our heroes in a "flash-sideways" type of situation filled me with the long-sustaining joy that I can only imagine a Super Bowl win for our Vikings would have made me fee. Of course, assuming there truly are two worlds going on, perhaps in a dfferent universe the Vikings did win. Oh well...

Second-year Cornerback for the New Orleans Saints Tracy Porter, Again, Ruining A Potentially Huge Drive For The Opposing Team By Intercepting A Key Pass

Both of these shows,Damages and Big Love, have occasionally left me in a lull. For Damages, it was the entire second season, which meandered into plot twist after plot twist without actually making me care at all, a shame because of its breathtaking first season. For Big Love, it was the first few episodes of the newest season, which whipped through seven or eight episodes of plot in a condensed three episodes (for shame, HBO, for cutting the episode order of this season down to nine!) But then, much like a Tracy Porter interception that killed any hope at winning (like the NFC Championship) or tying the game (like the Super Bowl), sudden and welcomed momentum shifts took place. Big Love found its footing in the heartbreaking fourth episode "The Mighty and the Strong", which culminated with Bill Hendrickson giving his son the boot, and the season premiere of the third season of Damages, which brought the Grisham-on-crack vibe of the first season back with a bullet. And its stronger focus on Tate Donovan is a nice change. Which reminds me...

The Animated Half-Hour Sitcom Version of Damages Co-Star Tate Donovan...

is FX's new Archer. Sure, I much prefer Adam Reed's animated work on the Cartoon Network, most notably his Sealab 2021. And it's a little weird to hear the voice of H. Jon Benjamin as a handsome secret agent when I've mostly heard him as the hilariously sweaty and disgusting gym teacher in Home Movies. But, like Damages / The OC co-star Tate Donovan, Archer is, what I would call, a "capable" series. It's not gonna win any awards, nor will it be as prestigious as, say, the Glenn Close of animation (The Simpsons), or as under the radar as the Rose Byrne of animation (The Life and Times of Tim, which, as a side note, I'm really excited for its return!) but it'll do the trick, much like a Tom Shays / Jimmy Cooper rant about how he lost all his money in his investments or whatever.

That Unbelievably Corny New Ad For the Twins New Ballpark

I don't really have a TV show equivalent here, but I just wanted to highlight how embarrassingly bad this ad, which aired on Super Bowl Sunday, truly is. Seriously, if you ever wanted to know why the rest of America thinks of Minnesota as flyover country, just look at this commercial.

The (Kinda Existential) Realization That, Even If The Vikings Had Made It To The Big Game (In Our Reality, Not The Alternate Reality), The Exciting Journey Would Still Be Over Right Now

Sadly, though, Nip/Tuck seems to be the reflection that, even if the Vikings had made it to the Super Bowl and won, we would still today be February 11, and the season would be over, and we'd all move on with our lives. Okay, so the "final nine" episodes of Nip/Tuck truly are amongst their better hours and, while not quite living up to the heights of the first two seasons, are a reminder of what's past and what will soon be left behind. Face it, there's absolutely no buzz surrounding these last episodes, which seems to me to be a shame. The opening episode of the final nine, written and directed by series creator Ryan Murphy, was a succinct retelling of the show's initial mission statement, all on the vanity and subsequent attempts at redemption of the human spirit. Yet, in just a few short weeks, the final episode will air, and Ryan Murphy's only contribution to the television landscape will be Fox's Glee, which, based on recent casting news, seems headed toward the inevitable fizzle-out that Nip/Tuck faced after its slam-bang first two seasons. Yes, like that 2009 NFL season for the Minnesota Vikings, everything you love some day ends. Sometimes, those things are over even while they appear to be still living, like Nip/Tuck.