Fri, 14 May 2010

Spring 2010 TV: Tuesday

Well, this one came a bit quicker, eh? Tuesday has always been a mixed bag, though with a fairly solid CBS primetime lineup to anchor it.

NCIS, formerly called Navy NCIS, a show I sorta stumbled across by accident one day when a friend mentioned it in passing. It's another of Donald P. Bellisario's "the military ain't so bad, see?" shows, but I give the man a huge amount of slack because of his past contributions. I mean, really: Baa Baa Black Sheep, Battlestar Galactica (the 70s version), Quincy M.E., Tales of the Gold Monkey, Magnum, P.I.? Quantum Leap, fer pity's sake! (The only TV show who's con I attended.) Even JAG was pretty good. And now NCIS, a show that's nearly always watchable, and sometimes verges on brilliant. When they killed off Sasha Alexander's character at the end of season 2, that was a real gut punch that I did not see coming. And the sniper sequence at the start of the current season, #7, was quite enjoyable in a Ramboesque vengeance-is-mine sort of way. Plus I've always liked Mark Harmon ever since I first saw him in the excellent Reasonable Doubts, and where else can you see a legend like David McCallum every week? Oh, and that Pauly Perrette is a delight, and the rest of the cast ain't bad either. I give it an A, with occasional flashes of A+.

NCIS Los Angeles is an unnecessary spinoff, though spinoffs have worked pretty well for the CSI series. I like the cast well enough, and would watch a 90-minute informercial on the ShamWow every week if Linda Hunt were presenting it, but the show has so far failed to rise to the level of its parent, and has failed to grip me very hard. I still watch it, but mostly because of the excellent but underused Ms. Hunt, and because of its placement on the schedule. It's a B for me, with frequent dips into B- or even C territory.

The Good Wife is an excellent new offering starring the fantastic Julianna Margulies and reliable hunk Chris Noth. I'm delighted to see the adoreable Archie Panjabi working on US television, and Christine Baranski continues to charm me even during her brief moments on screen here. The premise, the writing, the acting, all top-notch, and I always make sure to catch this one every week. All around solid A with frequent forays into A+.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent has long been my favorite L&O spinoff, even with the cast changes, and seems to be appearing on Tuesdays now. It won't be the same without Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe, though; while retaining the same basic format, it seems to have lost the cerebral intensity it had with Goren and Eames at the helm. I also mourn the loss of Jamey Sheridan, although Eric Bogosian was a suitable replacement. And I've always liked Chris Noth as a detective, and Julianne Nicholson was just totally yummylicious. Now, if it weren't for the always quirky and entertaining Jeff Goldblum (RIP Raines) I might even give this a pass; my jury is still out on Burrows and Mastrantonio. NBC-Universal has made it hard enough to catch, with the full-time switch to USA, but I still keep an eye out for it, and when it shows up I give it a look. Catching old eps in syndication is thankfully still an option. Solid B show that used to be A+, sigh.

And there's Tuesday. Coming up, some greats on Wednesday!

Posted at: 10:48 | category: /Reviews | Comments (0)

Spring 2010 TV: Monday

The planets have aligned again, and it's time for what appears to be a semi-annual blog posting, this one a continuation of my TV review series.

The Monday schedule has wavered a bit since last fall, but has some mainstays that still make it my favorite night for TV viewing. Also has some wanderers that might as well get mentioned on Monday as any other day.

CBS Comedies on Monday night are da bomb, to steal a phrase that is already outmoded. I guess over the years I managed to age into CBS's target demographic, and that's fine with me, as long as they keep making shows like these. They have three solid winners on Monday night, and one thirty-minute slot they don't know how to fill. I realize they're hoping to edge comedy into Wednesday night too, but as much as I like Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jay Mohr, I never managed to get hooked on the Wednesday lineup.

But Monday's comedies really do it for me. First on the current schedule is How I Met Your Mother, a show I fell in love with from the very first episode. My wife, usually a sucker for romantic comedies of all sorts, never cared for it, but it's been a favorite of mine from the start. The cast is perfect, the jokes are funny, and the romance is heartwarming. I think the framing device is under-used, even though most people seem to hate it. My only real complaint is that the "mother" is kept a bit too remote and speculative. I always get a charge whenever they mention her, or the yellow umbrella, or anything to do with Ted meeting her, but even though they started this season out with a bang, assuring us that she was in the same room with him at school, she's fallen completely off the radar again.

I realize that the show runners are walking a fine line here, because once the mother appears the show changes its focus forever, and it has been successful as it is, not as it will be. But as long as they've milked this mysterious someday-to-appear woman without actually showing us anything concrete, I'm sure they could milk the appeared-but-not-yet-married woman just as long. They need to trust the cast and the writers to deliver a good show regardless of what the actual plotline is doing. What none of its fans want, including me, is for it to age into low ratings without a satisfactory conclusion to the main storyline. Wrapping it up in two or three series-finale episodes just ain't gonna cut it.

Next on the Monday CBS schedule is the slot without a show. For a long time it was Rules of Engagement, then it was Worst Week, then Accidentally on Purpose. I never cared for the latter two, although apparently Accidentally is going to be renewed, more's the pity. Rules is good, albeit a bit lightweight, but I keep watching it because I've always liked Patrick Warburton, and I have a huge crush on Megyn Price.

Next is Two and a Half Men, which has held up remarkably well despite Austin Powers, er I mean, Angus Jones ageing from a cute kid into a still fairly cute teenager. (I love how they acknowledge that now in the opening sequence—priceless!) And despite Charlie Sheen trying every way he can to become a disgrace outside the set; he still delivers a solid Charlie Harper week after week on the screen. I first tried this show back when it premiered in 2003, and at that time I thought it was sarcastic and mean-spirited and didn't like it at all. I guess my mental state has changed since then, because it's still sarcastic and mean-spirited, but I also now think it's funny as hell, and wouldn't miss it for the world. Conchata Ferrell is especially funny in her role, but she's always been good in anything she does.

Rounding out the comedy quartet is the used-to-be-sleeper hit, The Big Bang Theory. Have enjoyed it since the first ep, and as a full-time professional geek, I think I my opinion has some standing. The premise is nothing special, but the execution is superb. Johnny Galecki has been good since Roseanne, and really shines here as the neurotic straight man who's only a straight man in the context of his much-weirder circle of friends. Have always liked Simon Helberg (totally loved Studio 60, was a crime when it was cancelled), and he does a fantastic job as the geek Casanova. Never saw Kunal Nayyar before Bang, but I hope to see a lot more of him in the future; his Raj is a masterpiece. He consistently gets some of the show's funniest lines, and delivers them masterfully. Kaley Cuoco had a bit of trouble getting into her groove as the geek's foil Penny, but by now she seems comfortable in the role and has developed a fine sense of comic timing and delivery. Plus she's cute as a kitten, and sexy enough to drive any geek to distraction.

But of course the show's real center is Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper. I never saw him before in anything, including Garden State, but now am on the lookout for his earlier work. Yes, Sheldon is frequently over-used in the show, and Parsons does have a tendency to mug a bit too broadly sometimes, but man, he has totally nailed the role of the geek's geek, the "East Texas doorknob" who makes the rest of the show's world turn. He's had me laughing so hard at times that I was afraid I was gonna pop a vessel, and that doesn't happen often. And is it just me, or is Sheldon going to be the one who winds up together with Penny?

Overall I give the entire block an A+, even when they replace Rules with some filler dreck.

Law and Order, the original, seems to have fetched up on the shores of Monday night these days, but I don't care. Wherever NBC chooses to put it, I'll find it and watch it. Still one of the best shows on television, and I've come to really enjoy the pairings of Anthony Anderson with Jeremy Sisto, and Linus Roache with Alana de Garza. Glad to see S. Epatha Merkerson getting a bit more meat in her role lately with her character's cancer, and Sam Waterston is excellent at filling Steven Hill's roomy shoes as the wise but fiesty DA. The show has been an A+ fixture of American television for 20 years, and here's wishing it another 20. [Late Update: I just read on cnn.com that L&O has been cancelled! This is just more proof that TV executives have no taste, and no sense. RIP, Law, I've loved you long and well, and you'll live on in syndication forever!]

House has been a big hit for Fox, and it's no wonder—it's a really good show. Veteran Brit legend Hugh Laurie makes it into a vivid experience, and the supporting cast, including the recent additions of Olivia Wilde and Peter Jacobson, back Laurie up admirably. Sometimes they stray into making Dr. House into a bit too much of a monstrous dick, but usually they keep me just this side of hating him. An A-quality show to be sure.

Castle is, I think, my new favorite show these days. I've always liked Nathan Fillion ever since Firefly (wasn't aware of him before that), and he plays the smartass playboy writer with verve and panache, and just the right touch of uncertainty and vulnerability. Fillion has owned every role he's played, and Castle is no exception. Stana Katic is a doll as the tough-but-human detective who tolerates the not quite fully matured Castle, and maybe even likes him. And the premise of a mystery writer solving real crimes has some appeal for me separate from the excellent cast. The supporting players do a fine job, especially that cute Molly Quinn, who I hope has a long future ahead on the screen. An A+ show that I'm happy to hear has been renewed.

The Best Thing I Ever Ate is a show on the Food Network that combines two of TV's favorite formats, the talk show and the infomercial. But the guests ham it up nicely, the food looks great, and the overall product is quite enjoyable. I always keep an eye out for it, however they may move it around. I give it a solid A.

Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern is a guilty pleasure of mine. It's kind of a reality show, but with just one guy, the loveable clown Andrew, going around the world eating things that most of us would scrape into the garbage. I guess they tried to expand it into a more travel-oriented show called Bizarre World (it is on the Travel Channel, after all), but apparently that didn't take, because Foods is back on with new episodes, just as funny and crazy and intriguing as always. Andrew is the perfect host for the show, without Bourdain's overtones of cynicism and disdain, without Rachael Ray's gushiness, just an average slob who happens to be a chef traveling around eating whatever the locals eat, and liking some of it and, um, not liking some of the rest of it. I give it an A, and hope they stop messing with the format.

Hoarders on A&E seems to be on hiatus for now, but it's a show that has a deep resonance for me. I think I'm right on the edge of being a hoarder myself, and my wife was a bit farther over the line. Together, I think we actually were clinical hoarders, but my biggest pleasure from the show is seeing the houses and being able to say, "Well, at least mine isn't that bad!" As a show that capitalizes on the pain of people in real personal trouble, I hate it. But as a show that helps those people move to a more positive place, I have been enjoying it. A solid B+ verging on A with some episodes. I guess The Learning Channel has their own hoarding-related show now, but I haven't managed to catch up with it yet. More on it if/when I do.

And that wraps up Monday. Maybe I can get a Tuesday review out sooner than the seven months (!) it took me to squeeze out this one.

Posted at: 10:45 | category: /Reviews | Comments (0)