Blogulator Radio 76: Post Election Blues

Click here for the latest meandering, self-important, predictable episode of The Newsroom. Stay for the new episode of Blogulator Radio.

It's been a rough comedown from the hoopla of last week's election, but Qualler and Brigitte are here to brighten your days with an all-new episode of Blogulator Radio. The crack research team at TheBlogulator.com has been working tirelessly to bring you the election news you need, and in their research, unearthed an unfinished script(*) for an election day episode of HBO's The Newsroom by Aaron Sorkin, which Qualler and Brigitte read for your enjoyment. They also give their general thoughts on the progress of season seven of Dexter and have some opinions on ABC's new sorta-good-in-a-on-the-background kind of way, Nashville.

(*)Not really written by Aaron Sorkin. Thanks, @ProfessorScraps and @sarCCastro.

Blogulator Radio is brought to you in part by Netflix, where you can stream your favorite TV shows and movies from your TV, computer, or many other devices as often as you want for just 7.99 a month. Start your free two week trial today and help support independent netcasting. For up to the minute updates all up in your upness, be sure to subscribe to Blogulator Radio via iTunes or RSS

Quick Hits: The 64th Annual Emmys / Feeling Shamed That We Are "Only TV" And Not Movies Awards

The Emmys were last night! It was a glorious night to celebrate all that is right with television. Like Jon Cryer of television's most beloved comedy, Two and a Half Men. Also, such megastars of film who were gracious enough to slum it on television, like Julianne Moore of HBO's Game Change and Kevin Costner of Hatfield & McCoys miniseries, which is also a genre of television that is universally beloved.

Seriously, though, I don't get why the Emmys spend so much friggin' time on miniseries and movies these days, especially considering other nominees like American Horror Story, Sherlock Holmes, and Luther are only nominated in that category on account of making it in by squeezing said series into that category due to rule technicalities. (Even though other series that could have made it in on the rule technicalities and had a legitimate reason to do so, like Luck from HBO, were not even nominated.)

Anyway, here were some other thoughts of mine on the television industry's annual reminder that people in the industry shouldn't judge shows in the industry (unless they are in agreement with me, of course!) Chris and Jerksica will have a lot more tomorrow in netcast form, but here are my written thoughts.

(HOMELAND SPOILERS AHEAD. CAUTION.)

• Wow, I'm remarkably pleased with Claire Danes and Damian Lewis sweeping the acting categories. Danes was a shoe-in, but Lewis' was much more nuanced and thus, I felt like he had less of a chance to pick up the acting. But we all know that when the Emmys decide something, they're gonna probably decide it for a long time.
• That said, although the more I think about Homeland's first season being something of a perfect season of television, the more I wish it were set up as a one-season show. For one: the actual perfect ending to season one clearly would have been Tom Walker shooting Brody in the alley. Bam, terrorists still win the day in the end, Carrie Matheson still solves the terrorist quagmire (but still gets her memory wiped out, y'know, cuz of the patriarchy), we win but, ultimately, we lose. Instead, because of Showtime's record of running their valuable properties to the ground (a la Dexter and Weeds), we have no reason not to believe that this series peaked in its first season and, four more years down the road, will still be trotting Danes and Lewis out for a fifth season where they both keep Narrowly Avoiding Big Things Happening. I want to be optimistic about what happens creatively on this show in the future, but I just don't know.
• Haha, suck it, Mad Men! 0 for 17! 
• I'm so glad I didn't actually watch the Emmys live until the end, because man, Jimmy Kimmel is not a funny guy.
• Oh yeah, Modern Family won again. It's starting to approach Frasier territory in terms of predictability of winning series awards, except that Frasier was a lot funnier. Modern Family is fine, though, and it could be worse, I guess. Even though, like our friend Carrie Raisler pointed out last night, I could name a lot of shows off the top of my head that are better comedies than Modern Family. (Girls, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Archer, Louie, Parks & Recreation, Community, 30 Rock, Awkward, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, etc.)
• Gigolos was not nominated for a single Emmy. Now, that is a real shame.

Blogulator Radio 69: It's a Treat To Break This Bad

Click here for a real...wait for it..."treat" of an episode. #groan

In what is sure to be the final installment of Bad Title Puns About Breaking Bad, at least for 2012, Qualler, Brigitte and Chris discuss the finale of season 5.1 of the mega-awesome AMC drama. Within the discussion, the dynamic trio make connections to The Sopranos, Kirkegaard, and Treat Williams (because, hey, remember Treat Wiliams?) The gang also keep referencing a fabled “lost” episode of BR that was recorded directly before recording this one. If you ever run into that episode somewhere on the internet, let us know, mmmkay? Anyway, this week’s episode is heavy on Breaking Bad spoilers and touches upon The Sopranos in general, non-specific spoiler ways, so be forewarned.

Blogulator Radio is brought to you in part by Netflix, where you can stream your favorite TV shows and movies from your TV, computer, or many other devices as often as you want for just 7.99 a month. Start your free two week trial today and help support independent netcasting. For up to the minute updates all up in your upness, be sure to subscribe to Blogulator Radio via iTunes or RSS.

Being a modern show for modern people, we’ve got all sorts of ways to find us online. We’ve got your Facebook and your Twitter and your Google+. Of course we always welcome comments or questions either in the comments below or through email at bradio@fancypantsgangsters.com.

Doctor Who: Your Next Favorite Show

Trying to explain to my non-nerdy friends why Doctor Who is probably the greatest show on television is a challenge because its premise is so overtly sci-fi—the last of the Time Lords travels through time and space with a female companion (and sometimes her boyfriend), having adventures, saving the world, and exploring what it means to be human.  I find myself saying, using the same language as Friday Night Lights fans, “But it’s not about time travel! It’s about the triumph of the human spirit!”

It’s hard, I know, to get past the show’s overabundance of esoteric wibbledy-wobbledy time-wimey...stuff. The Doctor can reincarnate as different actors, for example, and the series currently airing is a reboot of a show from the 1960s, so the three doctors of this iteration are technically the 9th Doctor (Chris Ecclestein), the 10th Doctor (David Tenant) and the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith).  The companions also come and go, too which can be sort of confusing: there's Rose (the sweetheart) and her boyfriend, Mickey (the bro); Martha (the not-Rose); Donna (the misfit); and Amelia (the other sweetheart) and her husband, Rory (the dope).  But that’s all you need to know!  That’s it!  Everything else gets explained in the show, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t matter!  Because as I’ve explained before, it’s not about the technicalities and pseudo-science.  It’s about humanity! WATCH IT.

If you still aren’t ready to make the commitment, I’ve put together a list of some of the most important episodes.  I’m not going to say that you should only watch these episodes because obviously you should watch ALL OF THE EPISODES but these will give you a pretty good idea of the best and worst of Doctor Who.

First Episode Where It Gets Really Good: Season 2: Episode 4:“The Girl in The Fireplace”

Okay, so the first season is pretty universally agreed to be not great. The 9th Doctor lacks the intensity and charm of the 10th doctor and the boyish enthusiasm of the 11th, and the first season never really gets away from cheese and camp. This episode marks the beginning of the show’s maturation. Rose is at her best—confident, witty, and independent—and David Tennant’s 10th Doctor begins to show his emotional volatility and his disregard for the consequences his lifestyle has on the lives of those he touches. After a first season of run-ins with campy aliens more flatulent than frightening (literally, there are farting aliens), the clockwork villains in this episode are both imaginative and creepy. And as a final mark of the show’s step away from frivolous camp, this is the first episode to explore the consequences of the Doctor’s time travelling; if time is inconsequential to him, how do his actions affect those for whom time is inescapable?

The Worst Episode: Season 2—Episode 10: “Love & Monsters”

This episode aired after one of the most intense, brilliantly written episodes of the whole series, and it’s just THE WORST.  It starts off following this adorably British guy named Elton who gets involved with this group of people who are trying to find the Doctor, but mostly end up being friends and starting an Electronic Light Orchestra cover band.  So then this alien enters the scene and BLAH BLAH BLAH it’s awful, but in the end, Elton’s girlfriend becomes a sentient slab of concrete with just a face.  They make a joke about their sex life.  It’s uncomfortable.  The whole episode is campy and episodic and a throwback to the not-terribly intelligent episodes that started the series.  There may be worse episodes in the first season, but it’s the disappointment after coming down from such an amazingly complex episode that makes this one such a stinker.

The Best Episode:  Season 3—Episode 10: “Blink”

It’s hard to describe how terrifying this episode is because, in true Whovian fashion, the description of it sounds really stupid.  The episode stars Carrie Mulligan (Carrie Mulligan, you guys!) as a video shop clerk who keeps uncovering strange messages from a mysterious man warning her that she’s in danger.  She works to uncover the mystery ploddingly, but eventually discovers that she’s being pursued by an ancient race of aliens called the “Weeping Angels” which appear as statues but advance toward you as soon as you stop looking at them.  I KNOW IT SOUNDS STUPID BUT IT’S TERRIFYING!! The episode demonstrates a central conceit of Doctor Who—the mundane and unavoidable suddenly become a source of great danger—and the episode plays out like the best and most suspenseful Hitchcock.  If you only watch one episode of Doctor Who, make it this one; you won’t be able to stop.

Saddest Episode: Season 4—Episode 13: “Journey’s End”

Remember how in Battlestar Galactica, they FINALLY get to Earth and they’re all happy and celebrating and then at the end they’re all standing on the desolate, radioactive beaches, and staring mournfully into the cloudy sky?  Take the feeling you felt watching that and multiply it by a million and you’ll know what it is to watch “Journey’s End.”  This is the last episode for the Doctor’s most misfit companion, Donna, played by the brilliant comedienne, Catherine Tate.  Donna is sarcastic, biting, outspoken, and loud, but painfully insecure.  Despite being exactly what the emotionally complex 10th Doctor needs, Donna is never convinced that she is clever enough to be his companion.  At the end of her run in the show, Donna is not only given the opportunity to become infinitely intelligent, but she also gets to see herself the way the Doctor sees her: as a wonderful, capable human being, worthy of love and respect.  AND THEN IT ALL GETS RIPPED AWAY IN A TERRIBLE MOMENT OF TRAGIC IRONY.  You’ll need, like, eight boxes of tissues.

Scariest Villians: The Silence: End of Season 5/Beginning of Season 6

Picture this: You’re just living your life, making dinner, chopping up some onions at your kitchen counter, maybe listening to some Pandora and singing quietly.  You turn around to grab something out of the fridge and BAM! there’s a 7-foot-tall vaguely human creature wearing a suit and standing in your kitchen.  This creature looks at you, instructs you to kill yourself, then tells you to turn around.  The second you take your eyes off of it, you immediately forget its existence while it still lurks behind you, but subconsciously pour rat poison in your soup.  (That was a terrible example, sorry.)  Could you imagine what a menacing threat such a species could pose?  It could be standing behind you constantly, at work, at school, in your bedroom, in your car, and you would never know.  They could exist in the White House, in the offices of business leaders, in the homes of our friends and families, dictating the course of human affairs for—what? years? decades? centuries? The storyline involving the Silence is masterfully written and composed, and it’s some of the creepiest, scariest television you’ll ever watch.

Blogulator Radio 67: Breaking Bits and Boardwalks

 Click here to be transported to a magical world of wonderful things that exist in Atlantic City, which are not at all less glamorous than they first appear.

In this week’s episode of Blogulator Radio, Qualler and Brigitte attempt and flail at a few “bits” that they flailed wildly at, because they remember a time when they thought they were going to be performers on Saturday Night Live like their favorite castmember, Dana Carvey (seriously, they both love Dana Carvey, but this episode is not about Dana Carvey sadly, but we digress.) Nevertheless, they get some good TV talk in, manage to remind listeners to check out the latest episode of The Voice Behind featuring Nicholas Briggs, the voice of the Daleks on Doctor Who, and get into discussion of the following topics:

0:00-3:15 – Bickering over what the topics are of the day
3:15-4:45 – Making fun of The Newsroom
4:45-21:15 – Breaking Bad, season five, episodes five and six
21:15-22:15 – Being incredulous about the fact that ESPN creepily shows the Little League World Series
22:15-23:15 – Breaking Bad bit — Brigitte as Jesse/Skylar, Qualler as Walt
23:15-45:30 – Boardwalk Empire bit, then talking about the first season
45:30-1:02 – Weekend Comfort Food, like CBS Sunday Morning and Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Miami Dolphins

Blogulator Radio is brought to you in part by Netflix, where you can stream your favorite TV shows and movies from your TV, computer, or many other devices as often as you want for just 7.99 a month. Start your free two week trial today and help support independent netcasting. For up to the minute updates all up in your upness, be sure to subscribe to Blogulator Radio via iTunes or RSS.

Being a modern show for modern people, we’ve got all sorts of ways to find us online. We’ve got your Facebook and your Twitter and your Google+. Of course we always welcome comments or questions either in the comments below or through email at bradio@fancypantsgangsters.com.

Catching Up: Boardwalk Empire

HBO's Boardwalk Empire is a show that, on paper, has all the makings of a Great Drama. Its central premise revolves around the mafia dealings surrounding the bootlegging industry in the 1920's. It, like most HBO shows, has a ridiculously high production value. It has a terrific cast in Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Kelly MacDonald and Michael Shannon, with scene-stealing moments by Michael K. Williams and Dabney Coleman. Its pilot was directed by Martin Freakin' Scorsese! 

So when it premiered in 2010, why didn't I get into it?

Maybe because, despite everything on paper, I wasn't immediately sucked into the Boardwalk Empire world the way I was for a Sopranos. Maybe because the hype machine surrounding the series could in no way live up to the reality of the series in general. Maybe because, despite being soundly competent in every way, there wasn't one show-stopping scene in the pilot that I could point to as being a "THIS!" kind of moment. Maybe because it is just too sprawling of a show to get fully immersed in after one episode. (Actually, mostly because we cancelled HBO after the third episode of the first season, but the above reasons are valid, as well.)

Now that we are HBO subscribers again, Brigitte and I have given Boardwalk Empire a second chance, and have made our way through the first three episodes once again. Though I still have some minor qualms, it is a series that I am getting to be fully invested in, finally. Here are my main thoughts on the show so far:

• Wow, this show is ridiculously well-produced. I mean, wow. It's as if it takes the period elements of Mad Men that are well produced and throws millions more dollars at the production to make it that much glossier. If anything, I would be on board with a series that is just people dressed in Swinging '20s stuff and singing about how The Dumb Girls Know How To Make Love (episode three, "Broadway Limited".)
• That said, production can't carry everything all the time, but after three episodes, there does seem to be some forward momentum in the plot, even if it's incremental momentum. Through three episodes, we know that Nucky is a guy who is powerful but has a heart, Mrs. Schroeder is afraid but sort of likes the attention Nucky is giving her (AND is totally adorable), Jimmy wants to make a name for himself, and Agent Van Alden is Nucking Futs. Like most serialized dramas these days, the wheels are just starting to spin after three episodes.
• I love me some Michael K. Williams, but could he be a bigger anachronism? I get that it's crazy that he says the word "motherfucker" to Nucky and Nucky doesn't understand it, cuz it's the '20s, but is it just me or does he literally just seem like "Omar, But The '20s"? I mean, I don't have any issue with that cuz he's awesome, but so far he seems less like a character and more like fan service.
• How adorable/heartbreaking was it when Mrs. Schroeder's kids asked when the new baby was coming? Sigh.
• Agent Van Alden seems like he would be a good Crazy Dude Friend to Brother Justin on Carnivale. And they clearly should have tried to take the fat guy who got shot to Doc Cochoran in Deadwood to keep him alive (though the dentist office scene was pretty hilarious.) I'm always looking for HBO crossovers, though (like, HELLO, Will McAvoy's therapist on The Newsroom should CLEARLY be Dr. Paul Weston from In Treatment!)
• What a difference watching Dawson's Creek makes in my enjoyment of this series. Michael Pitt went from the Poor Man's Leo to Dude From Dawson's Creek and made me enjoy his character a lot more.

Season three starts in September, so Brigitte and I have a lot of catching up to do.

The Blogulator Presents: Episode of the Month, July, 2012

It's been a busy last couple of months for the Blogulator crew, what with all the TV to watch! (And a few real life things, so back off.) They've squeezed in a few favorite episodes for the month of July (wait, how is it mid-August already? What is happening with time? Where am I?) and below are some of the crew's favorite episodes of TV that aired at the year's slightly-after-midpoint. And because we were all too Minnesota Nice to each other, none of us picked any episodes of Breaking Bad to write about.

Bunheads "Movie Truck" (ABC Family)

We missed doing an Episode of the Month post for June, but if we did, it would have been "For Fanny," the second episode of Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino's new show, hands down. It took an infuriating twist from the pilot and did something extraordinary with it, imbuing a comic dialogue-driven drama with more genuine emotional heft than it really had any right to being a show on ABC Family. But we missed June, so I'll settle for "Movie Truck," which was more classic quirky Sherman-Palladino, but did something very important that the show has taken its sweet time doing: making me care about the teenagers. Michelle and her mother-in-law Fanny have been a pretty ideal odd couple pairing and anchor for the show, but they've been trying to shoehorn in stories of Fanny's dance students since the pilot with little success. This time, however, with a simple sneaking-out-of-the-house-after-dark scenario, we get to know Boo, Sasha, and the other two (okay, so some work is still needed) in ways that actually have made me want to see Michelle actually teach them and get excited for future episodes. [Chris]

Louie, "Daddy's Girlfriend Pt. 2" (FX)

Every episode of Louie's third season to date has been fantastic in its own way. Scenes like the season premiere's surprise parked-car-smashing scene, or the second episode's Gorilla joke, third episode's bar conversation between C.K. and his vacation bromance buddy, or "Daddy's Girlfriend Pt. 1" and its extensive use of Louie's "looking at pretty girls" music are among the highlights of the season thus far. But "Daddy's Girlfriend Pt. 2" has been the season's best to date. Parker Posey turns the Manic Pixie Dream Girl meme on its head by delivering as Emmy-worthy of a guest performance as one can possibly deliver. She's alternately terrifying, hilarious, tragic and life-affirming all in one episode. Woody Allen film editor vet Susan Morse has been this season's primary editor and has improved the general "independent film" feel of the show this season, but this was the most Allen-esque episode of all, what with C.K. and Posey walking around New York together in an Annie Hall-twisted-inside-out kind of way. And it ends with a moment of grace, with Posey sitting on the ledge of the building and affirming her love of life, and ending with a beautiful shot of Manhattan at night. I'm a sucker for those things, so naturally, I'm a sucker for this episode. [Qualler]

Bunheads, "What's Your Damage, Heather?" (ABC Family)

First off, use a quote from Heathers as your episode title and you're almost guaranteed to get some love from me. Secondly, this is the second episode in a row with almost no Kelly Bishop (last episode she had a quick on the phone cameo and this episode Sutton Foster had an imaginary argument with the Kelly Bishop in her head). And while I absolutely love Bishop, her absence really allows the rest of the cast to shine. Foster truly comes into her own in this episode, trying to not lose her mind teaching all the dance classes, being a surrogate mom (against her will) to the spoiled, yet troubled Sasha, then getting heat from the parent of one of her students. She also hired the one-eyed plumber that the whole town knows you never hire to do plumbing (they just use him to "keep an eye on things"). All in all, another hilarious episode that manages to tug on the heartstrings so sneakily, I found myself laughing just as I was tearing up. If this show goes away, I'm going to be so heartbroken. [Sarc]

Blogulator Radio 65: The Olympics Are Not (Breaking) Bad And Also Homeland

Click here to listen to the newest episode of Blogulator Radio. It will be 50% less douchey than Ryan Lochte.

Qualler and Brigitte, seemingly out of different Breaking Bad-style puns that they can shoehorn into their Bad recap episodes, have nevertheless shoehorned in the title of said show into the episode title. But before digging into the spoiler-heavy discussion of season five's fourth episode "Fifty-One", Qualler and Brigitte discuss what is on the background of televisions all over the country these past couple weeks: the 2012 Summer Olympics! They tackle subjects such as, "What is up with NBC not showing everything constantly live like whoa, amiright?" and "What's up with Gabby Douglas's hair?" They round up their discussion with a SUPER spoiler-heavy deconstruction of the first season of Showtime's Homeland. Non-spoiler: this is an awesome show. Another non-spoiler: they made it through an entire episode WITHOUT once bashing The Newsroom! That's progress! 

Show breakdown:

00:00-16:45 The Olympics

16:45-38:50 Breaking Bad season five episode four: "Fifty-One"

38:50-56:22 Homeland season one

Blogulator Radio is brought to you in part by Netflix, where you can stream your favorite TV shows and movies from your TV, computer, or many other devices as often as you want for just 7.99 a month. Start your free two week trial today and help support independent netcasting. For up to the minute updates all up in your upness, be sure to subscribe to Blogulator Radio via iTunes or RSS.

Being a modern show for modern people, we’ve got all sorts of ways to find us online. We’ve got your Facebook and your Twitter and your Google+. Of course we always welcome comments or questions either in the comments below or through email at bradio@fancypantsgangsters.com. 

Blogulator Radio 63: Breaking Batman

Click here to listen to Brigitte and Qualler bicker more than Qualler really intends to. It's awfully hard for Qualler, though, because movies last for a long time, and recording late at night is hard. 

We now live in a post The Dark Knight Rises world, which of course means that Qualler and Brigitte find it necessary to analyze their favorite show currently on the air Breaking Bad with a Nolanesque lens. In this week's episode of Blogulator Radio, Qualler and Brigitte do just that, in an episode where they discuss their thoughts on episode two of the fifth season of Bad both before having seen TDKR and after seeing TDKR. Spoiler alert: there are mega-spoilers for both Breaking Bad and TDKR. Non-spoiler spoiler alert: Qualler and Brigitte both attempt to imitate Bane's silly voice.

Emmy Nominations: Snubs and (Non)Flubs

Chris posted yesterday about his Own Personal Emmys, and while I can get behind most of what he would have nominated, I deal in reality. (The difference, I guess, in being an English Teacher vs. being an Accountant.) Therefore, below are the actual nominations for the 2012 Emmys, along with a little bit of commentary by me.

Drama:
Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Breaking Bad (AMC)
Downton Abbey (PBS)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
Homeland (Showtime)
Mad Men (AMC)

No "traditional" broadcast dramas, three pay cable dramas, two standard cable drams. The shift into cable seems to be complete. I feel like Boardwalk Empire is weirdly underrated, even though it always seems to get a slew of nominations for things. So glad that Homeland replaces Dexter as the Showtime nomination. I can't really argue with any of these being nominated (though I wish the dearly departed Luck or the is-it-a-drama-or-a-comedy Enlightened would have gotten some love, too.)
Who should win: I'm a sucker for  what's new-and-fresh, so I would vote Homeland.
Who will win: Mad Men.


Actress in a Drama Series:
Kathy Bates, Harry's Law (NBC)
Glenn Close, Damages (Audience Network)
Claire Danes, Homeland (Showtime)
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife (CBS)
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men (AMC)

LOLZ at Kathy Bates for Harry's Law. You just can't help yourselves, can you, Emmy voters? Glenn Close also fits in the "movie actor gravitating to television" type of nomination (though her interplay with Rose Byrne is the one and only reason to watch Damages anymore.) Can't really argue with the rest of them. Some year, Lorraine Bracco will finally win in her title role for Emmy Justice. (Hat tip to the TV on the Internet podcast.)
Who should win: Claire Danes is so fantastic in Homeland in so many ways that she is clearly deserving, probably even moreso than my vote for the series itself above.
Who will win: Danes, because Homeland won't get the series, but it's gotten enough nominations that it needs to get something. Plus, the Emmys will be praised for voting for someone new, even though Claire Danes actually isn't really new.

Actor in a Drama Series
Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Michael C. Hall, Dexter (Showtime)
Jon Hamm, Mad Men (AMC)
Damian Lewis, Homeland (Showtime)
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

*Sigh*...Michael C. Hall. You don't always have to nominate him when the show has gone down the tubes, Emmys. This is a pretty stacked category now, though, especially with Damian Lewis joining the fold. I'm sure there are lots of snubs here (Timothy Olyphant, for example...) but meh.
Who should win: Jon Hamm is always great on Mad Men, though he never wins because he's often more subtle than his nomination peers. But this should be the year he wins, since he got to do some stuff where he was all crazy-like.
Who will win: My gut says Cranston, but my heart says Hamm.

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:
Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife (CBS)
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife (CBS)
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men (AMC)

I love how this category is "AMC stars versus Downton Abbey versus The Good Wife." So little diversity in the nominations. I'm kind of disappointed that none of the other Game of Thrones actresses got a nomination; Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey and Michelle Fairley were all tremendous in season two. But, these are all picks I can't really argue with at all.
Who should win: I'd always go with Anna Gunn, because her character has gotten so much more complex as Breaking Bad has gone on and Gunn has captured all of that tremendously.
Who will win: Thrice-nominated never-won Christina Hendricks has a chance, especially given the Joan-centric episode I would surmise she was submitted for ("The Other Woman"), but here's where Downton Abbey will break through. Give it to the dramatic version of Betty White, Maggie Smith.

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Giancarlo Esposito, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Brendan Coyle, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Jim Carter, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones (HBO)
Jared Harris, Mad Men (AMC)

I looove Giancarlo Esposito's nomination here -- a very pleasant surprise. And again, it's basically "AMC vs. Downton Abbey vs. Something Else" -- in this case, the very worth Peter Dinklage is the Something Else. A big snub: Mandy Patinkin for Homeland.
Who should win: As awesome as Esposito was as Gus in season four, Aaron Paul just completely owns Breaking Bad and is every bit an equal to Bryan Cranston. A constantly impressive body of work, which slightly edges Dinklage's scene stealing in Game of Thrones.
Who will win: Tough call, but I predict Dinklage gets the back-to-back Emmys.

Comedy Series:
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Girls (HBO)
Modern Family (ABC)
30 Rock (NBC)
Veep (HBO)

This is another example of Emmy voters not knowing when to stop giving a series nominations once it gets in the game. 30 Rock is still a worthwhile show, but it is far surpassed by shows on its own network like Parks and Recreation and Community. Also: Modern Family and Big Bang. (Brigitte gets mad at me when I point out how Modern Family really should be a multi-cam sitcom.)  And no Louie nomination. Sad. But hey! Girls! That's exciting! And Veep! Surprising, but also exciting!
Who should win: Louie, or Parks and Recreation, or Community, but none of them are nominated. So, Girls, the next best thing. Although, the invention of the Car Periscope could be enough to convince me to give the award to Curb. I seriously needed one when I was stuck in traffic yesterday. (And now as it turns out, it was actually invented on Seinfeld. Good reference, Larry David.)
Who will win: Modern Family. Remember the thing about not knowing when to stop giving series nominations? Same applies to series victories.

Actress in a Comedy Series:
Lena Dunham, Girls (HBO)
Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly (CBS)
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl (Fox)
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep (HBO)

Lena Dunham! So great in Girls! Ah! Swoon! Really, all of these actresses are tremendous, so I'm pleased for all of them. The bits of Nurse Jackie I have sampled recently leave me feeling good about Ms. Falco, although she's not really comedic at all in the show (nor, is the show at all comedic. Half hour does not always mean comedy, Emmy voters / networks that submit themselves to those categories.)
Who should win: Amy Poehler, because she is the ray of bright sunshine in an already very sunny show.
Who will win: This seems like a tough one to predict, but I'll go with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, because the Emmys are a club like that.

Actor in a Comedy Series:
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Don Cheadle, House of Lies (Showtime)
Louis C.K., Louie (FX)
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)
Jon Cryer, Two And A Half Men (CBS)

Ay-yay-yay, Jon Cryer? To be nice, I'm assuming this is a "we feel bad for you having to work with Charlie Sheen" sympathy nomination. I mean, he's not the reason Two And A Half Men is what it is, but, geeze. I actually enjoy Jim Parsons in Big Bang, which probably doesn't make me the most popular Blogulator member, but popularity be damned! Don Cheadle = rewarding movie actors who make it in television (is House of Lies any good, anybody? It got pretty mixed reviews.)
Who should win: In terms of acting, I don't really think Larry David or Louis C.K. are tremendous actors in the traditional sense, but they are both indispensable to each of their shows. I'll give the edge to Louis C.K. since he has much more range than David.
Who will win: Probably Parsons, again.

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Kathryn Joosten, Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Julie Bowen, Modern Family (ABC)
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family (ABC)
Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
Kristin Wiig, Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Oof, this is a bit of a rough category. For one, I don't understand why Saturday Night Live keeps getting nominations -- did NBC just recently figure out they could submit actors here? I'm a little tired of Modern Family's schtick, but the actors are all good at what they do. So, yeah.
Who should win: Probably Martha Plimpton for Raising Hope but she's not nominated. So, between Julie Bowen and Sofia Vergera, I go with Bowen.
Who will win: Probably Vergera.

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Ed O'Neill, Modern Family (ABC)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family (ABC)
Ty Burrell, Modern Family (ABC)
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family (ABC)
Max Greenfield, New Girl (ABC)
Bill Hader, Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Again, the Modern Family awards, everybody! The biggest snub of all is not including Nick Offerman for Parks And Recreation. This might be the biggest snub that I can think of this year.
Who should win: If we're assuming someone from Family will win, then I'd give it to Eric Stonestreet, who is my favorite part of the show. Ty Burrell used to be until his character became a more cartooney version of Michael Scott.
Who will win: Burrell.

Writing for a Comedy Series:
"Pregnant", Louie (FX), written by Louis C.K.
"Pilot", Girls (HBO), written by Lena Dunham
"The Debate", Parks And Recreation (NBC), written by Amy Poehler
"Win, Lose, or Draw", Parks and Recreation (NBC), written by Michael Schur
"Remedial Chaos Theory", Community (NBC), written by Chris McKenna

Hooray for writing nominations for all the shows that actually should have been nominated for Comedy Series! I'm looking at you, Louie, Parks and Community.
Who should win: As far as individual writing awards go, "Remedial Chaos Theory" is one of the best-written scripts of the year, so I'd give it to that, even if I think the overall writing for the entire season of Girls is probably my favorite.
Who will win: This might be the Girls category that wins, so I predict Dunham will walk away with the trophy.

Writing for a Drama Series:
"Episode 7", Downton Abbey (PBS), written by Julian Fellowes
"The Other Woman", Mad Men (AMC), written by Matthew Weiner
"Commissions and Fees", Mad Men (AMC), written by Maria Jacquemetton & Andre Jacquemetton
"Far Away Places", Mad Men (AMC), written by Matthew Weiner
"Pilot", Homeland (Showtime), written by Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa & Gideon Raff

Ladies and gentlemen, the Mad Men awards! Again, I think it's weird that you can have one show get nominated more than once for writing, but I guess that's the rule.
Who should win: That pilot for Homeland was one of the best pilots I've seen in a long time, and since the better episode "The Weekend" wasn't nominated, I'll give it to "Pilot".
Who will win: Probably "Far Away Places" so Matthew Weiner gets his annual Emmy for writing, and because it was a season finale (something-something Matthew Weiner writes circles around everybody else.)

Other Snubs and (Non)Flubs

• Nothing for Archer. Boo. But yay for Bob's Burgers making it over Family Guy.
• Nothing for Treme or Enlightened or Luck. Boo.
• Community and Parks And Recreation don't get series nods but get the acting and writing nods. Very Oscar-like giving the consolation-type nominations to shows that aren't as popular as the others.
• No The Vampire Diaries! I mean, not that I was expecting anything, but still. There should be a "Most Holy Crap! Moments In A Drama Series" category next year, cuz it would clean house.
• Obviously there are a million other categories that I did not discuss here. 
• All in all, this is a pretty decent list of nominations.

Blogulator Radio 60: The Newsiest Newsroom Of All

New episode! Here! Quick, before Will McAvoy lectures you!

In this week's installment of Blogulator Radio, Brigitte and Qualler discuss the merits and demerits of Aaron Sorkin's latest "Hey Everybody, Shouldn't You Be As Smart As Me Cuz I'm Awesome And A White Guy Who Probably Know Better Than You, Internet Girl?" (okay, that was a bit harsh) television program The Newsroom, based solely on the pilot episode and the buzz surrounding the series in general, cuz that's what they do. In addition, they talk about the first few episodes of the similarly auteur-led series Bunheads, written by Amy Sherman-Palladino. (They're still waiting for a YouTube video similar to the Sorkinisms video that made the rounds yesterday. Palladinoisms, anybody?) They also have a few words for Lifetime's latest in its unofficial Dangers Of The Internet, Mostly To Do With Affairs Your Husband / Son / Male Figure In Your Life Is Having Because Of It film series talhotblonde, which was directed(!!!) by Courtney Cox. Finally, they have a few words for the newest seasons of the multiple iterations of Real Housewives. You get to hear Qualler's version of The Countess Luann's hit single "Money Can't Buy You Class." (Minus the heavy, heavy vocodor, unfortunately.) You get to hear Qualler talk about how awesome Homeland and Enlightened are, two shows from 2011 that he's catching up on. And it's all topped off by the theme song to Garfield and Friends, because that's how they roll.

Blogulator Radio 57: Game of Thrones Meets The Never-Ending Story

Click here to listen to the new episode of Blogulator Radio. Get excited, but not as excited as Theon Greyjoy, please.

Hey, check it out! It's a highly topical fresh new episode of Blogulator Radio! Yes, straight from Sunday evening's record-breaking airing of HBO's new signature smash hit series Game of Thrones, Chris, Qualler and Brigitte dissect the minutia that was the second season. (And, as one would expect, there are MEGA-SPOILERS for those who have not finished season two included in the episode.) Among the things they discuss: their favorite characters of the season, their least favorite characters, the gratuitous nudity, the comparison between watching as a reader of the books and watching as a non-reader of the books, how cute Dany's dragons are (THE CUTEST!), geeking out at the extremely well-directed-and-written penultimate episode "Blackwater", the excitement / frustration at how the TV series / book series takes forever to get to the supercool magic stuff, and comparing Dany's journey through the House of the Undying to a similar journey a character takes in The Never-Ending Story, one of the only other Fantasy epics that the gang has also enjoyed. Yes, we are probably the only denizens of the Internet to compare and contrast Game of Thrones to The Never-Ending Story. Also, how goofy does Theon Greyjoy look in that picture? I know, right?

The Blogulator Presents: Episode of the Month, May 2012

It's been a crazy TV month in May, what with a month chock-full of cliffhangers, season-enders, and all-out balls-to-the-walls craziness. The Blogulator crew is here to discuss their favorite of that batch of individual episodes of the month. Bring it, gang.




Game of Thrones, "Blackwater", Aired 5/27/12 on HBO

We're now two seasons into this show and, much like how the novels are structured the penultimate episode of each season ends up being a total gutpunch. Whereas last season's "Baelor" was a gutpunch on a purely "holy @#$%, they just killed the show's biggest star!" level, the masterful "Blackwater", scripted by book author George R.R. Martin and directed by Neil Marshall, director of The Blogulator's favorite film of 2005 The Descent, is a gutpunch on an epic scale. And as we know from The Descent, few directors are as good at directing action sequences in the dark as Marshall is. Yet, it's the small scenes between just a few of the major characters that keep the episode grounded. Tyrion and Joffrey's banter before executing their plan is hilarious and true to both of their characters, while Cersei's downward spiral aided by a whole lotta wine gives her character an added layer of sadness, even though we also know she's pretty much a bad person. All of this makes the emotional devastation on Tyrion Lannister's face when he executes the "wildfire" plan as epic as the physical devastation of A Crapload Of Boats And People On Fire And Lit All Green. [Qualler]

Smash, "Bombshell", Aired 5/14/12 on NBC

 You guys probably realize by now that I don’t watch a lot of TV when it airs (why would I watch real TV when Netflix offers all 7 seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space 9??), so my choices for best episode of May were limited to two episodes of Smash.  Whoops.  So the Smash season finale, “Bombshell” it is!  And, really, if you remove all the stupid personal drama, all the cheating and the breaking up and the dating of celibate baseball fans, and just leave the professional drama of the musical itself, this episode is pretty good.  This is the first time we’ve been able to see the songs of Bombshell in succession, which mostly makes me want to see the fictional musical Bombshell. (So much tap dancing!) Plus, Karen’s performance gives at least a whiff of justification for her apparent inbred talent, something which has been self-evident to everyone involved in the show except its audience.  (Ivy is still way better, though.) (Can Meghan Hilty just have her own show?) (Can it also star Kristen Chenoweth?) (Can it take place in my apartment so that we can all be friends?)  Millennial Ellis has finally been fired, Dev is gone (sadly), and the show faces a second season of new creative direction and writing.  The rapidly-put-together final song, “Don’t Forget Me”, was beautiful and wonderfully sung, giving promise to a much-improved second season.  That Ivy swallowed a handful of pills in the last shot of the episode is something that I’ll willfully choose to ignore. [Sam]

Don't Trust The B---- In Apartment 23, "The Wedding...", Aired 5/2/12 on ABC

Comedies usually take a while to get going. Much like The Office and Parks & Recreation, Apartment 23 premiered mid-season and only a few episodes to make an impression (only 7 episodes this first season). But, much like Happy Endings before it, Apartment 23 has quickly developed into a hang-out show with characters that bounce off of one another interestingly and entertainingly. I'm not sure how far into production this episode was made(it's common practice for networks to shuffle eps around to put the best foot forward), but it can't have been too late as it includes James Van Der Beek's plotline of becoming a contestant on Dancing With The Stars (which is one of the many wonderful ideas this show has had). Whatever the case, this was one of the funniest episodes of television I've seen this season and it's also a great entry point for anyone that hasn't watched the show yet. In this episode, June is feeling depressed and decides to let loose, letting Chloe mold her into a fun-having machine. It turns into a Single White Female thing wherein June becomes so fun, JVDB starts hanging out with her more than Chloe. This all leads to a lot of great stuff for both Dreama Walker ("June") and Krysten Ritter ("Chloe") to play. There's also JVDB dancing and clips of him in a fake Guy Ritchie movie. All terrific stuff that shows what this now up-to-snuff series can do. This ep raised Apartment 23 to the ranks of Happy Endings, Community, Cougar Town and Parks & Rec as one of the funniest network comedies. [sarCCastro]

Mad Men "The Other Woman" Aired 5/27/12 on AMC

Everyone that knows who Joan Harris (née Holloway) is will likely be talking about this episode for years. We'll be at the senior center for our pancake feed, complaining about the haircuts the kids have these days, and one of the volunteers pouring us pulp-free orange juice will have crimson red hair. One of us will say to the other, "whoa, she looks like Joan fromMad Men L-O-L." And then the other one will say, "awww I miss having Don Draper on my TV every week." And then the first one will respond with, "oh man, remember when Pete pimped out Joan to that Jaguar guy?" The conversation will then drown in a flood of nostalgia that the kids with the bad haircuts and the redheaded juice pourer will not understand one iota. It may not be the most powerful episode of the vanguard series, and it's certainly not my favorite episode of Mad Men (it's not even my favorite of this season), but it needs to be noted here because it's a touchstone for its ballsy "it-went-there" storytelling, officially placing the series in a pantheon of not only great dramas, but fantastic conversation starters. I still feel weird about it, and am not sure I want to be having this conversation about our dear beloved Joan, but it's a hell of a conversation nonetheless. And that's why we write about television dammit. [Chris]

Revenge "Reckoning" Aired 5/23/12 on ABC

O. M. G. Revenge knows what a season finale should be.  Holy Hamptons. As soon as the episode begins, you can feel it.  The plot points quickly become infinitely more absurd, the dialogue more stilted, the facial expressions more overly-wrought.  In fact, I would bet that if you cut out all the moments in this episode where a character was just looking at something or someone silently with anger, shocked recognition, or despair, the show would run just ten or fifteen minutes. Without providing too many spoilers, "Reckoning" kills characters (at least two, maybe more!) and relationships, and sets up a hellva season two (long-lost parents! a love triangle, with pregnancy!). The waves of sheer delight and deliciously frothy over-the-topness will inspire many a dream for me until the waves of the Hamptons once again grace my television screen. [Jerksica]

Star Trek: Notes From an Enterprise Apologist

Disclaimer: This post is all about Star Trek.  You've been warned.

Trekkers almost universally dislike Enterprise, the prequel series that aired in the early 2000s after Deep Space 9 and Voyager  went off the air.  It was the Star Trek series that officially killed the franchise (although one could also argue that the abysmal movies that came out around the same time may have had something to do with it).  I recently watched the entire series and was totally surprised by how much I still liked it.

Enterprise was airing when 24 was one of the most popular and critically acclaimed shows on television.  Jack Bauer created and then came to define the American obsession with the anti-hero, giving rise to Dr. House, Christian Bale’s Batman, every character on The Shield, Walt from Breaking Bad, Robert Downey, Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes, Dexter. In a television culture obsessed with über-smart badasses who intentionally break all the rules to get things done, where was there space for Jonathan Archer and the dewy-eyed optimism that defines Star Trek?  The truth is, there wasn’t.  Attempts to make the crew of Enterprise more badass (They don’t follow the Prime Directive! They stole that warp coil from that helpless ship! They’re helping overthrow the Vulcan High Command!) made the Trekkers cry out with disgust that the show had departed from Star Trek’s original ideals (they cry that out a lot, just FYI), and attempts to adhere to the idealism of the franchise’s premise just made anti-hero-obsessed viewers retch uncomfortably.  The show was doomed to fail.

You can tell it's edgier because Archer is dirty and sweaty most of the time.

But here’s the thing, friends: Enterprise is good. And this is coming from a self-professed Trekker (No, I don’t attend conventions, and no, I don’t read the books.  But I’ve seen every episode of every series except DS9 and am very versed in the canon).  The premise, for those of you who have lives in the real world, is that this is the first warp 5 Star Fleet ship, the first that is fast and efficient enough to be able to actively explore the galaxy, and pre-dating the Original Series by about 50 years.  The series’ first two seasons are pretty standard Star Trek fare: exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations, boldly going where no person has gone before.  Space is a bit lawless without the Federation to back them up, so Enterprise gets into a bit more scrapes than its later incarnations, but they’re still making peace and doing the right thing.

Facing declining ratings in the first two seasons, Enterprise changed its name (now Star Trek: Enterprise), theme song, and episodic story-telling in its third year to create a season-long arc wherein Enterprise is forced to navigate The Expanse (aka the Bermuda Triangle of space) in search of a many-specied alien race hell bent on destroying Earth.  The overlying storyline—that Earth and these Xindis are manipulated pawns in an even larger temporal war—was HUGELY unpopular amongst Trekkers and normals, but it afforded this franchise a little much-needed badassery.  In the end, of course, its Archer’s idealism and dewy-eyed belief in diplomacy that ends up saving the day, but along the way, he’s faced with impossible dilemmas that Picard, Kirk, and Janeway never had to deal with and  he makes decisions very different than the ones those self-righteous captains would make.  The season speaks to current events in a classic Star Trek way, but sometimes throws in an unexpected bad decision that makes humanity seem more…human.

This is the most evil of the Xindi types.  He's downright coldblooded.

But, you guys, the fourth season is incredible!  Rather than trying to create a season-long story line to draw in viewers from shows like 24, newly-appointed executive producer Manny Coto started writing shorter multi-episode arcs that were more closely tied to the traditional Star Trek canon, that dismantled some of the tropes of the franchise (Earth’s post-Xindi xenophobia, for example, is a marked departure from the franchise’s utopian visions of civilization), while laying the groundwork for the future series and addressing, in typical Star Trek fashion, topical ideas.  The episodes where Archer and T’Pol basically overthrow the Romulan-influenced and corrupt High Command by unearthing the true teachings of Surak, the father of Vulcan logic was AMAZING, full of twists and turns and deus ex machina, tearing apart the infallibility of the Vulcans while still legitimizing the people that they would eventually become.  The three-parter with Brent Spiner that delved into Earth’s Eugenics Wars, when our quest to create genetically-enhanced super soldiers started a worldwide war that killed over 30 million people was equally great.  Or what about the two-part “Through the Mirror, Darkly” which opened and closed, unexpectedly, entirely in the evil Mirror Universe (including a reshot title sequence celebrating Earth’s military triumphs) which not only tied into the Mirror Universe episode in The Original Series, but ended on an epically campy (and thus epically Star-Trek) ending?

See the hair?  That's evil Mirror Universe hair.

The fourth season found exactly what the first two seasons were looking for: a way to demonstrate humanity’s failings while at the same time showing its desire to improve itself and legitimizing the utopian civilization that came later.  Star Trek: Enterprise performed the amazing feat of justifying the weirdness and campiness of The Original Series while still being interesting and cutting-edge.

I apologize that this post has been one big nerd fest, but if you understand only one thing, I hope it’s this: Star Trek: Enterprise is the most underrated of the franchise’s incarnations and I think we all need to give it a second chance.

Voyager is still the best, though.

Pilot Talk: New Shows in April 2012

We've written and netcasted ad nauseum about HBO's new Girls (which, seriously, is pretty great, despite the potential for the hype-backlash-backlash-to-hype-backlash-to-backlash-to-backlash-to-hype cycle that could eat us all alive) and that's all well and good, but a few other shows have recently premiered on the TVs that I'd like to talk about a little bit.

So, without further ado...

Veep - Sundays at 10/9c on HBO
To be honest, I was slightly underwhelmed by the pilot of HBO's "other" new comedy series. I think it has something to do with my expectations for the show. Armando Iannuchi's 2009 film In the Loop was legitimately one of the funniest movies I have ever seen (or, at least, had me laughing the most while irritating Brigitte cuz she was napping and they all had British accents) so his new series on HBO has some major built-in expectations.

It might also have something to do with that Britishness that is lost in translation by taking the very Iannuchi-like dialogue style, pacing, situations, and directing style and throwing it into American politics. It almost feels like an HBO executive watched In the Loop (and its precursor, the BBC series The Thick of It) and cross-pollinated it with Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, without thinking too much about what that would actually look like. Not that it is a bad pilot by any means, but I do miss Peter Capaldi's totally-foul-mouthed character from In the Loop. Yeah, man, the creative cursing just doesn't work as well here so far.

But, I definitely see room for the show to grow, both in repeat viewings of individual episodes and as its first season progresses. In inviting us into Vice President Selina Kyle's office, we are introduced to an office environment that has a very classic office sitcom setup, with a cast that shows some serious promise, especially Anna Chumsley and Tony Hale. Yeah yeah, I'll keep watching, and probably laugh a lot. Now, throw Peter Capaldi in there somewhere and then we're really talking.

That said, it's definitely the only show on TV that has the girl actress from My Girl talk about "a fuckload of quiche."

(You can watch the entire unedited first episode on YouTube here.)

Grade: B+


Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 - Wednesdays at 9:30/8:30c on ABC
We netcasted the crap out of this show when it was first pitched, mainly for two reasons: Krysten Ritter, fresh off her stint on Breaking Bad and, well, mostly this reason: JAMES VAN DER BEEK playing HIMSELF! Amazing! So, how does it turn out?

Well, somewhat disappointingly, it's a bit of a mixed bag. For one, despite "the Beek from the Creek" playing himself, I forgot that most shows still have fairly standard setups, and Apt. 23  has a classic one: roommates who are an odd couple together! The show really centers on June (played by Dreama Walker) who moves from Indiana to New York and ends up rooming with "the B----" in question: that is, Krysten Ritter's Chloe. As a central tenant of the show, June and Chloe's relationship works fairly well, especially when their relationship takes somewhat of a surreal bent to it. Creator Nahnatchka Khan's credits include American Dad, so the animation-comedy-as-live-action makes sense.

The show does have some trouble with its side characters: Robin (played by Liza Lapira) is supposedly in love with Chloe but is just not very funny, while Eli (played by Michael Blaiklock) is, at least in the pilot, a one-note creeper who may or may not constantly be masturbating. Mark (played by Eric Andre) has promise, especially if he can continue to show up in weird places, like the coffee shop June stops at a few hours after she first meets him at her doomed job at the mortgage company she comes to New York to work at.

Of course, the element that attracted us to this show in the first place is Van Der Beek, YO! And, he is the most consistent comedic element of the show. The pilot gets some good mileage out of his past roles, both Dawson's Creek AND Varsity Blues. Van Der Beek is game for that kind of stuff while also playing a supporting "friend" kind of role for the two leading ladies, and while it is yet to be seen how long they can stretch the joke that he is on the show out, he's off to a surprisingly good start.

Overall, if the show can work out some of its kinks and maybe amp up the surreal aspects of the show, it could be a good successor to a show like ABC's Better Off Ted.

(Watch the pilot and the second episode on Hulu here.)

Grade: B

Girls Talk

Like everyone on the planet (aka Twitter & Tumblr), I watched the Girls premier this past week. Except I watched it on HBO.com, not HBO proper, because, like the Girls, I live in New York and am poor as hell and cannot afford premium channels (which is why this is a reaction to the pilot, not the subsequent episodes, which I haven't watched because they're not free on the Internet). In fact, watching the show has made me think seriously, for the first time in a while, about my first year in New York, when I was my absolute poorest and couldn't afford to have TV in my apartment, period. GOD, that year was hard. Looking backward, I mean. When I was in it, it was my life--only drinking at happy hour because a four dollar beer was all I could afford, subsisting mainly on homemade quesadillas (one tortilla microwaved with some cheese in the middle), and walking twenty-five blocks to avoid running down my MetroCard. When Hannah, the main character of Girls played by Lena Dunham, says that she did the math and she thinks she can afford to live in New York three more days, seven if she skips lunch, I knew exactly what she meant because that's pretty much the exact same position I would've been in if I'd lost my job.

The exact same position I'd be in now if I lost my job, in fact, though it's been years since I first moved here and I am (ostensibly) somewhat more gainfully employed. My point is, I get it. I've been there--in a lot of ways, I'm still there. I know that the blogosphere is full of Feelings and Opinions about Girls--some people hate it, some people love it, some people are wondering what the BFD is, it's just a television show or something? I guess I'm in the latter camp. I don't hate it. I don't love it. I understand it, but I don't identify with it, necessarily. Let me tell you why.

Girls, despite the subway ads that make it look slicker and at the same time grittier than it is (below), is in a lot of ways a hipster, post-ironic response to the over-the-top glam of the Sex and the City franchise. (Although you could make the point that the early seasons of Sex and the City were far from glamorous; do you remember how many turtlenecks Miranda wore?!?! The nineties were dark days.) One of the characters (Shoshanna, played by Zosia Mamet) even overtly references the show, and has a poster from the movie hanging in her NoLiTa apartment. I guess Girls is supposed to be "real", but of course it's just as stylized as Sex and the City was, only in the opposite direction. Girls is frumpy as hell and not apologizing for it. It's also got a bald, unvarnished sexuality about it that is unmatched on television; some shows are explicit about sex, but they're still coy about it, try to fancy it up, something with which Girls doesn't even bother. The writing is on point (not boring, but not too jokey-jokey), the characters are funny and endearing...all good things.



In a lot of ways, Girls is an absolutely perfect portrayal of entitled, self-obsessed Millennial ennui, except for one thing--these characters are way too self-aware. I know these people. They're not precisely my people, because my people are a bit too old, born just a bit too early, but I'm a human in the world--I interact with people like the Girls all the time, and let me tell you something: they absolutely, 100% DO NOT SEE IT. That's part of what makes them so damn irritating, but also part of what makes it possible for them to continue living as they do. Hannah seems to get that everything that comes out of her mouth is ridiculous, that her friends with benefits relationship with her mostly disinterested douchey dude Adam is beneath her (beneath anyone, really) and destructive, that her writing is stalled, that her career is a non-starter, that her relationships are codependent...and yet? I guess that's what the series is supposed to be about, but honestly, I just couldn't buy that they were all so aware, both of their own flaws and the flaws of the others.

I think that might be what the haters find so annoying about the show. The characters are unapologetically sexual (good) and unglamorous (fine), but they're also unapologetically entitled, lazy, dismissive, and dependent, with no inclination or willingness to better themselves, which I found frustrating. Like, if you want to be a writer, WRITE. If you want a job, APPLY FOR SOME JOBS. What's so damn frustrating about New York is its collective indifference to suffering, and the fact that it's bulletproof to hard work. The challenges that come from living here actually come from practically killing yourself to better yourself and the fact that most of the time that's not enough. So when I see a bunch of characters sitting around bitching and moaning that their college education isn't enough, I'm like, that's not New York's hard knocks, that's just straight up inertia.

But anyway. That's because I live here. There's a lot of stuff I like about the show, and the pilot is definitely enough to make me want to keep watching, if I could. And I fully expect the characters to grow and deepen and change; sure, they're caricatures now, but we're all caricatures when you first meet us, aren't we? And I'm sure that Lena Dunham, who has achieved much in her young life (like, I don't know, producing, writing, directing and starring in her own television show on HBO), has some narrative and character goals that this pilot is only serving to set up. So I'm not worried.

But I have to be judgey. I'm a Miranda, after all.