Goooooooooosechill!
Um. That was excruciating. I almost had to turn it off. But does that make it good? Thoughts? I’m kind of at a loss.
B-Minus.
Really?
30 Rock might be the smartest and funniest comedy currently on television. It’s certainly in the top three. That being said, can we really heap upon it praise after praise when it consistently delivers the most uninspired B-stories this side of Full House. For as sharp as this show’s writing can be, I simply don’t understand why every episode tends to have a secondary arc (usually involving Pete) rife with cliché. I mean, really? Pete get’s his hand stuck in a vending machine?
This has made me realize that 30 Rock is perhaps too tight for its own good. Take away these completely idiotic and disjointed B-stories and do you know what you’re left with? A fifteen minute show. They might as well cut it down and just put it on after Aqua Teen on Adult Swim (making it without a doubt the most expensive 15 minutes on television).
Though perhaps the lameness of these stories is the joke. Maybe they’re a parody of the type of sitcom fare that usually gets an audience to respond. That has to be the case, right? A show this funny wouldn’t produce material so tepid otherwise, right?
“Top Chef” — The Elements
BLEEP
As you may or may not know, I love Top Chef. This is of little surprise. Somewhat ironically, Top Chef itself has become a show of little surprise. Like all reality fare, you can set your watch to Top Chef. Milling about. Guest judge. Quickfire. Elimination. Faux-drama. Serving. Actual drama. Judges table. Winners. Losers. That’s the show every week and I love it.
This week something different happened, and I’m curious if anyone else thought it was odd. In every season there is that point where the contestants start getting familiar with one another then start screaming at one another. Usually this happens during the meat of the episode — maybe while buying supplies at the grocer or something. This week the episode was ostensibly over. The winner was announced and the loser was told by the Preposterously Hot™ Padma Lakshmi to pack their knives and go. Credits should have rolled, but they didn’t and there was still two minutes left in the broadcast.
Cue: screaming. Spike yells at Antonia. Dale yells at Lisa. Jennifer yells at someone (honestly the whole thing was cut together so haphazard it was hard to tell where the bleeping was supposed to be directed). There was no music and it wasn’t part of the “coming up” — don’t get me wrong, I loved it. It was just oddly placed.
Pitchfork.tv — The Critics Give Back (or, I give it an 8.3)
Look, I have no idea if Pitchfork Media is still the indie-rock behemoth it once was. Maybe it’s bigger. Either way it is an unmistakable brand and is one of the few sites formed in the 90s that hasn’t either dissolved or been purchased by some major media conglomerate, so love it or hate it, accolades should be given. Monday, the site launched a spin-off called Pitchfork.tv with the stated goal of creating the first television channel to exclusively showcase independent music. On face value it seems like yet another web-video portal of the YouTube age — something akin to Funny Or Die. To my great pleasure, it isn’t anything like that, and in fact works so well because it just may be the first website that actually reproduces a reasonable facsimile of what watching television is actually like.
There is no user-submitter material here, and thank god. If I’m tired of anything in the web-video revolution it’s trolling through piles and piles of crap looking for the one or two gems. Web-video needs programmers, and this site is meticulously programmed. It’s broken down into sections labeled, Featured, Shows, Pitchfork Live, One Week Only and Music Video, each category with a small collections of video clips to be played one after another or on demand (one especially cool feature is that if a video ends the next one in sequence is cued up immediately and played).
As for what those videos are, there is a pretty even collection of repurposed material and exclusive content — right now the feature-length documentary LoudQUIETLoud: A Film About the Pixies is being show in the “One Week Only” category in its entirety.
The big question is where advertisements eventually fit into the equation. Right now there isn’t a single sponsored frame on the site (it’s like in high school when a new FM station used to launch and would be wall-to-wall music for the first week), but one has to imagine this will change — probably sooner than later. I’m guessing it will be a mix of banner ads and video spots though the site is so expertly crafted, I’m hoping they’ve found a way to make their business model just as seamless.
Being an independently-operated shop probably makes all of this a lot easier on their part in terms of rights acquisition and reason enough to suspect it may be some time before more “web TV channels” start popping up, but it is an optimistic sign of things to come.
Canada On Strike.
I’m not usually a South Park watcher, not because I have anything against the show but because it’s one of those programs that is just never really on my radar. Still, every now and then someone says to me, “Hey, try to see last night’s South Park” and I usually will make the effort. This week was one of those times. I’m glad I pulled it up. The title, “Canada On Strike,” kind of sums up the plot: Canada goes on strike in an attempt to get “some of that internet money.” Canada is, of course, a stand-in for the writer’s guild. Over the course of the episode Canada’s initial, simple plan for more cash is thwarted when they realize they don’t really have any leverage — and then their people start starving to death, buddy. The B-Story involves the boys trying to get some money to pay Canada so as to end the reruns of Terrance and Philip. Their plan involves posting a viral video and ultimately squaring off against the Star Wars Kid, Chris Crocker and a sneezing panda.
The episode was seldom LOL-funny, but it was extremely sharp in its satire. South Park has the enviable position of being the one narrative program on television that can actually remain somewhat current because their typical episode production schedule is something like six days. This is in comparison to The Simpsons where an episode takes six months. By the time they get their strike response on the air next October, I’m sure the laughs will be bigger, but the points will be far less piercing.
This would also be a good time to point out that a new website, South Park Zone, offers every single episode of South Park ever produced for free… and legal.
Watch Canada on Strike.
The art of villainy
I feel like television often gets short shrift when it comes to truly memorable villains. Perhaps this is because the nature of the medium requires it to keep moving and any villain truly noteworthy will eventually have to be confronted otherwise the danger dissolves from the story (even at seven I was never particularly worried that the Joker would ever pull one over on Batman). Television is medium more about foils. Whether it be Flanders, or Ben on Lost, or Phil Leotardo or even, I suppose, the One-Armed Man, the “bad guy” is often much more of an annoyance to the protagonist than a genuine source of terror. TV doesn’t see many Anton Chigurhs.
This isn’t to say there haven’t been some real bastards on the small screen. Recently, Hearst from Deadwood comes to mind. As does Anthony Anderson’s character from The Shield, Antwon Mitchell, and of course Marlo from The Wire. With the debatable exception of Marlo, none of those characters lasted much beyond a single season. I bring this up because Dale on The Riches is turning into one of television’s great villains. He’s always been a shadowy figure but Tuesday’s episode really brought his dark side to the forefront. What makes me optimistic about his future on the show is how his actions are derived from constantly being beneath other people. He wants what the Malloy’s have and hates the fact that they have it and he doesn’t. His problem is that in the hierarchy of human ability Dale is genetically a low-rung, and I think the motivation for much of his behavior is that he knows this. Add to that this new character, Quinn, one of the travelers just released from prison after 20 years. He is a far more sinister son of a bitch than anyone else on the show and even he towers over Dale. He makes him squirm (not the least of which due to the fork he jabbed into his arm). This in turn amps up Dale’s more evil tendencies. (The scene with he and Dahlia was brutal.) It is quite the clever dynamic, especially since Dale now feels like a character in for the long haul on the series whereas Quinn has a certain Ralphie Cifaretto quality about his appearance — maybe more plot device than human (certainly a villain, nonetheless).
I guess what I’m saying is that since Todd Stashwick is becoming such an amazing force of the show I really hope his character ends up sticking around… and that they are able to maintain his villainous ways.
Hulu is kind of rad, no really.
Whomever or whoever? Enjoy this awesome clip from perhaps my favorite episode of The Office ever, “Money,” courtesy of Hulu.
Living in something of a television black-hole with almost obscene amounts of free-time, I’ve frequently found myself over at the NBC/FOX video-joint Hulu, which just went public a few weeks back. As far as sanctioned video is concerned, there might not be a better destination online (though I will also add that the revamped Daily Show website is wholly usable). So far I’ve re-watched the first half of this season’s episodes of The Office, more than a few 30 Rocks, The Jerk, The Three Amigos and (strangely?) Dude, Where’s My Car. The experience, which is where any video-based website lives and dies, is so good I almost want to classify it as “feel-good.” There’s something almost novel about the notion of getting content that for so long has been on the fringes of legality now packaged in a super-slick wrapper sanctioned by all of the powers that be (including our once-short-shrifted writers). More after the jump…
Frontline: Bush’s War
I just finished part one of Frontline’s two-part documentary series, Bush’s War, about the administrations lead-up to the Iraq war and how it has been fought since. Frankly, I can not wait to get to part two. If you’ve already seen the second half, please don’t spoil it in the comments for everyone else. Suffice to say, I’m betting that all of those guys get sent to prison, or are, at the very least, impeached. There is just no way that they skate on this. Talk about your cliffhangers!
Watching You Watch
Let me describe my current situation: I have just moved from New York City to Nashville, Tennessee. To make the move as streamlined and economical as possible I opted to leave behind several things. One of those things was my trusty 20″ Panasonic tube standard-definition television. Televisions are (or rather, were) quite the bulky piece of equipment. Because of this decision I have been keeping myself up-to-date in the world of televised media by watching whatever I can on my computer. Because we now live in a world where there are myriad legal (and perhaps a few legally dubious) options for television content on computers I have to assume that this is not a method of consumption unique to me and my current situation. I have to assume many thousands (millions?) of viewers watch video on their computers or, frankly, it probably wouldn’t exist.
This leads me to a very interesting development that I believe to be unique to the process of watching video on a computer monitor. Tonight I was catching the most recent episode of FX’s stellar drama The Riches when the screen dipped to black where the commercial would have been had I been watching on legit cable (let’s just gloss over the fact that it wasn’t). Well, because one sits so much closer to the screen while watching video on a computer, when that video dips to black it is not unlikely for the viewer to catch a rather revealing glimpse of themselves in the reflection of the suddenly black monitor. It is one of those rare moments when one sees themselves as they actually are, completely unencumbered by pretense. For me, during this episode of The Riches I two-times caught myself grinning like an idiot as the drama of the episode escalated to the point of cliffhanger just before cutting away to commercial. It is rare in life to see oneself with this degree of utter realism. In the morning, while looking into the mirror while brushing our teeth we know what to expect. It’s an image we’ve seen millions of times before. In the presence of cameras we may believe the image being captured is reality, but more often than not what we see is the adoptive presence of someone who knows they are about to be seen and recorded.
But those unexpected flashes of black, where we suddenly see ourself as an active participant, that’s where the truth lies. Smiles, grins, looks of horror, boredom, curiosity, these are the most accurate reviews for any program on the air. Next time you start streaming something to your computer, don’t be surprised if what you see if yourself.
“How I Met Your Mother” — Ten Sessions
Stunt casting!
Kind of a perfect episode last night on the HIMYM front, no? What worked so well with the Britney stunt-casting was how her roll was so easily replaceable. It worked because she didn’t need to be there and was utterly forgettable. Had things been reversed and she played the Sarah Chalke character it would have been an unmitigated disaster for reasons aside from the fact that she is clearly a horrible actor. Most sitcoms put the guest star front and center. I respect HIMYM for dropping her into the background (to and extent).
But that is not the most interesting thing about Monday’s episode. Clearly the noteworthy addition was the fact that we might have “met the mother.” There were certainly a few clues, the most significant being Stella’s declaration that she “went out on St. Patrick’s Day,” where we, the audience, know the mother happened to be. What is interesting about all of this is the fail-safe the series’ creators have build into the show. As of right now they don’t if they are coming back next season. If Moonves decides to pull the plug in a month or so, all of the groundwork is laid for an easy wrap-up. Now, if things get carried out for another season (or even another two) they are also in great shape because nothing is in stone, it can all just be written off as coincidence.
If you have the time I encourage you to check out Whitney Matheson’s Pop Candy Podcast from two weeks back where she talks with series co-creator Carter Bays about the show’s future and plans on how they hope to reveal “the mother” (with varying degrees of vague response).
Must see: Two Banned Episodes of “The Boondocks”
EVIL!
Cartoon Network banned the last two episodes of the brilliantly sharp The Boondocks second season because the episodes took square aim at BET. It seems in the current age of mega-media conglomerates what is off-limits is taking shots at the boys club. BET and Cartoon Network are not owned by the same companies (Viacom owns BET and Time Warner owns Cartoon Network) though it is apparent that these companies want absolutely no ill between them, as you never know when one will try to join forces (or buy) the other. (A less speculative report of the story via the Canadian Press.)
It’s our loss, as those two episodes, entitled “The Hunger Strike” and “The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show,” are brutal in their pointedness and hilariously funny. The first episode follows Huey as he stages a hunger strike until BET is taken off the air, its office’s shut down and “all of its top executives commit Japanese ritualistic suicide.” In the second episode BET gives Uncle Ruckus a reality show (Uncle Ruckus being a recurring older, black character who hates black people). The framework for both of these episodes is a super-villain-like boardroom at the BET headquarters where they attempt to execute their master plan: the destruction of all black people.
The episodes did air in Canada, because… well, what the hell do they care? This means they are readily available on the torrent sites (look for episode numbers 214 and 215). Unfortunately for our law-abiding friends, The Boondocks is not readily available for consumption online. Adultswim.com seems to have clips, but not whole episodes and the show isn’t on iTunes. The best we can do is dig through YouTube looking for soon-to-be deleted episodes.
I was able to find the completely unedited opening to “The Hunger Strike” on HipHopDX.com. NSFW (especially if you work for BET)
“Meet Kevin Johnson” — LOST
Uh… daddy issues?
Last November when the WGA strike kicked off, word was that the as-of-that-moment eight completed LOST episodes were going to end on a cliffhanger that — if the strike ended up putting a premature end to the season — would drive the audience crazy. Show-runners Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof suspected that if episode #408 were to air with no follow-up for six to eight months there would be riots, a mass exodus of viewers from the show, the streets would run red with the blood of infidels — you get the idea, people would be pissed.
It turns out they were more or less right. Thursday’s episode, another solid entry into the season 4 canon, ended with not just one possibly-infuriating cliffhangers, but two. Sayid gives up Michael/Kevin Johnson to the Widmore crew, an act that may or may not be the right thing to do depending on whose team on which you think everyone is playing. Then back on the island Ben tells Alex, Rousseau and Carl to head for “the sanctuary” where two of the three ultimately get gunned down. Then the episode ends. Knowing that this will be resolved in a couple week (there are five more episodes slated for this spring) makes this ending OK. If this were it, however, frankly, I’d be rather annoyed. So annoyed, that I probably would have stormed the AMPTP headquarters with a large mallet and wrecked havoc until the strike ended. Luckily for all of us, that will not have to be done.
Otherwise I’m giving the first two acts of season four Lost 4 out of 5 Flaming MagneticMediaFed Television Icons.
LOST returns on April 24th
“Zoo Food” — Top Chef
I don’t have a lot to say about the current season of Top Chef as we’re still in that awkward stage when there are far too many contestants to get attached to any one in particular (unless we’re talking about Andrew, who I see as a *slightly* more profane version of myself, except that he can apparently, y’know, cook), but I absolutely had to use this screen-grab of the preposterously hot Padma Lakshmi.
As for the show itself I do feel like we’re in for a potentially great season as the cast has a hellova lot going for it (and Chicago just strikes me as a better food city than Miami). For starters the producers seem to have cast not just one token asshole, but several. I guess I shouldn’t say “asshole” but instead “super-competitive.” My favorite characters to root against are the ones who get overly into the whole “I’m better than you so get the frak out of my way” game show mentality. Let’s think about this. If the show is essentially a series about picking the head of a new restaurant its really much more about finding someone who you’d actually want to work for than just whoever can cook the best tartare. So yeah, there are a lot of them. As we start burning through contestants I suspect that things will really amp up in the drama department (which I felt was missing from much of last season).
And of course there’s Padma, and the increasingly likelihood of Chef Tom wearing a beret.
Suspension of disbelief
Don’t buy it, but love it.
Yesterday afternoon, while watching the second season premiere of The Riches I began to think about the general improbability of the action on the show — how the set-up is so inherently ridiculous I’m astonished that they’ve already gotten an entire season under their belts and can hardly fathom the creators putting out at least another half-dozen this spring. I mean, how have these characters not been caught yet? But the thing is, the show works. I mean really works, like way better than a lot of those series that actually have believable plot lines. I started to think about which method makes for a better television experience. The short answer is its all about execution. The longer answer is after the jump…
“I’m done with this gangster sh!t”
The Wire comes to a brilliant conclusion.
Series finales are always cursed with high expectations. Fans of any show luckily enough to meet its natural conclusion can attest to this. Sure, there have been some great ones, but for every Newhart there are dozens of Seinfelds (unless you subscribe to the theory that the Seinfeld conclusions was more of a post-modernist joke, but for the sake of this discussion let’s say it wasn’t). The Wire, the greatest dramatic series in television history, whose finale aired Sunday night, was note perfect from the first frame to the last. More after the jump…
