MagneticMediaFed

Generally speaking, I like to watch television when I get home from work at night (which is typically sometime shortly after midnight), then go to bed, marinate on it a bit and write up a post in the morning. Last night, after having watched the outstanding season finale of Damages, I went to bed and had one of those really vivid dreams that more or less picked up right where the series left off. Based on my dream I’d like to say to the suits at FX that a second season could be really cool (especially if it involves Patty throwing me in a trunk). More after the jump…

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I’ll tell you what, gang. Damages is a hard show to warm to, but sticking with it was probably the smartest thing I’ve done all year. Part of the problem is it’s really hard to see where they were trying to go in those first almost half-dozen episodes or so, and even if you got the sense of a bigger picture it seemed like they couldn’t possibly pull it all off. Well, after last night’s (sorry, I gotta say it) tour de force episode I believe — good god do I believe. More after the jump…

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I think the first of Thursday’s IASIP double-feature was the episode I had been waiting for all season, and again I think we can thank “the waitress” for making this happen. After three weeks (and six episodes) of good, but certainly not great, comedy from television’s most self-obsessed foursome, we were finally delivered the goods. What starts out as the gang trying to get a large sum of money to sell their bar eventually turns into everyone working at an T.G.I.Appleli’s and exploiting the kindness of that poor waitress, whose curious fascination with Denis has gotten her nothing but trouble. More after the jump…

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I missed recapping last week’s episode, which in hindsight was a mistake as the hour was so absolutely jam-packed with plot and reveals it might have been a high water mark for the series. I suppose this is to be expected. Being the ninth of thirteen episodes dramatically, the series reached that emotional climax. From here on the story will unravel to its inevitable conclusion (a conclusion that is still a mystery at this point, but which is quickly approaching). The brilliance in last Tuesday’s episode came a lot from the editing, and the jumping around on the timeline. This week, things were much more straightforward, though obviously building upon the events that had just transpired. More after the jump…

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This is what happens, Larry…

I really love the way Damages is able to tell a fairly complicated legal mystery while keeping the individual episodes focused with laserlike precision. Last night’s, for example, had a lot happening but basically dealt solely with one character, Larry, the long-time Frobisher employee on the take (now from both sides). His thoroughly depressing manipulation by both sides of the case was then paired against a perhaps too preachy plotline involving Ellen’s parents and their own legal troubles. The overall story was pushed forward significantly (including another look at that ambiguous scene last week involving the maybe-death of Greggory Molina) but also managed to keep Larry front and center. It doesn’t hurt that everything here seems to be connected — or at least it won’t hurt if they can bring this all together by season’s end. More after the jump…

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The problem with attempting to be ‘the funniest show on television’ is that it is impossible to live up to the hype. I feared last night’s premiere episodes of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s third season were going to be absolute disasters. It turned out they were pretty OK. Nothing to set aside for the record books, but still packed with enough jokes to make me (and the drunk guy sitting next to me) laugh at pretty regular clip. More after the break…

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The wait is almost over. After a year without laughter (er, something like that) It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia returns to FX Thursday night at 10:00pm for TWO (!!) brand new episodes. To celebrate, how about a T-Shirt giveaway?

Here’s how to enter: tomorrow night, write down the names of both episodes (i.e. “Charlie Had Cancer” and “Mac Bangs Dennis’ Mom”) and then e-mail them to me (rick [at] magneticmediafed [dot] com). A winner will be chosen at random from all the entries and announced on Friday.

So simple, even Charlie could do it.

Head games.

Kind of a clunker of an episode this week, marred by far too many head games and far too little action. Sure, the story progressed, but only in the sense that we’re now certain of what we already suspected: everyone is playing everyone else — a sentiment that became abundantly clear about thirty minutes into the first week’s episode. More after the jump…

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Ah, the pinewood derby. Simpler times, no?

There were two interesting things going on in this week’s episode of Damages on FX. The first was Arthur Frobisher’s futile attempt at saving his name. With the help of a ghostwriter he gets a publishing deal so that he may get his side of the story told. Unfortunately, the publishing company is far more interested in his side of the accounting scandal that’s at the crux of the series. Arthur is more interested in telling America about his childhood and how he overcame his dyslexia. More after the jump…

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Let’s rob Aurthur Frobisher!

Damages continues to be a pleasant summer distraction. This is especially true this week with the the addition of a fairly thin Donal Logue as Tom’s exercise/lawyer friend. His energy provided a needed bit of juice to a story that has way too many hot and cold moments. More after the jump…

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Are people still watching this?

When Damages premiered a month back I found it compelling enough to keep recording it each Tuesday on my DVR, though clearly not compelling enough to actually watch those recorded episodes. Thanks to some free time over the weekend I was able to catch up on the past three weeks worth of episodes. The results were mixed. The series has moments of brilliance. Unfortunately, the meat of the episodes has a tendency to drag. This is due largely to the thoroughly underwhelming supporting cast reciting some of the cheesiest non-procedural dialogue this side of Knots Landing (full disclosure, I’ve never seen Knots Landing, but it was the funniest TV show name I could think of at the moment). Despite the dialogue being (more or less) crap, the plot is as twisted as the wreckage of Oceanic 815 and because of that, it always ends with you interested in seeing another episode. More after the break…

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“I think Mac is a serial killer.”

If you don’t think you’ll be able to make it until September 13th when the new season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia comes back to FX (or even September 2nd, when the first two seasons are released on DVD), there is good news. Thanks to that delightfully unholy union between Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and MySpace, a brand new episode (dubbed “exclusive pre-season”) of the very funny series is available online for your viewing pleasure.

I checked it out last night and it hit all the right notes (those notes typically being the ones where Charlie adopts a crazy persona that he doesn’t entirely understand — this time as Mac’s lawyer after watching way too much Law & Order). As to whether this is an actual episode of the third season, or some sort of holdover from last year is yet to be seen, but right now, today, it’s new and it’s funny (and sunny!).

Eee-eeevil wo-man!

After one episode, Damages isn’t likely to leave you glued to your television, waiting with unrivaled anxiousness for the next episode. It’s a fine, serviceable piece of cable drama, but it isn’t a knock-out… yet. The good news is despite the limpness of the premiere we’re left with the impression of future growth. The final scene, revealing a very unsurprising “twist,” packed a decent punch. The White Stripes song “I Think I Smell A Rat” delivering some much needed awesomeness to the end of a pilot that was all set-up and no action. In a way it can be added to a long list of pilots that really give you little sense of what the future of the series has in store. More after the break…

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Hot hot heat.

Oh, Tommy Gavin. When will you get your life in order? Rescue Me is not the same show it was in its first season and by no means its better second season. The series is so obsessed with putting its characters into unfathomably bizarre romantic situations it’s hard to get excited when they’re actually fighting fires and in legitimate danger. More after the break…

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1) Rescue Me begins its fourth season tonight on FX. It’ll be interesting to see if the series can right itself after the disasterous last third of season three. Whether or not the sink into complete absurdity is yet to be seen, though either development will be interesting to watch — at least for a while.

2) Elsewhere in basic cable, Bravo premieres the third season of Top Chef tonight (Top Chef: Miami — no joke). The show might not only be the best reality competition show on any network, but also one of the best cooking shows. Food + TV = Bliss

3) Friday will mark the final broadcast of The Price Is Right with Bob Barker as host. This is something that we all should certainly watch, not just to pay our respects to Mr. Stick-Mic himself to so we can remember what it was like to stay home from school when we were eight or how we’d spend the dog days of summer avoiding the heat. It’s also significant because how often are we reminded of the suggested retail price of lima beans?

4) HBO has posted the second episode of John From Cincinnati to HBO On-Demand, despite the episode not being shown on the actual network until Sunday night. I don’t know if this is going to be a recurring thing or not (like last season’s The Wire), but it’s certainly a good place to stay ahead of the game. I watched the episode and found it to be better than the first and probably a defining moment for the series. You will know after finishing it whether or not John From Cincinnati is for you (it’s certainly for me). I’ll post my thoughts early Monday morning, but feel free to add relevant comments here in the meantime (or, hell, even irrelevant comments. Just not irreverent comments. No one likes a smart alec, Mr. Smart Alec).