Category: TV Dramas (Page 193 of 235)

Things looking grim for “Studio 60”

March 2, 2007 /

The writing was on the wall.

Viewers might have seen the last episode of “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” Aaron Sorkin’s much-anticipated, then much-derided drama for NBC. The series, about the behind-the-scenes machinations of a television sketch show not unlike “Saturday Night Live,” is being pulled a week earlier than expected after its season-worst ratings performance. It’s unlikely to be renewed for a second season.

And if “Studio 60” comes back to finish its six remaining episodes, it will have everything to do with the respect accorded Sorkin and nothing to do with a last-ditch effort to save it.

The Courier Press goes on to give reasons why the show failed:

The premise wasn’t so much flawed as doomed. It turns out that most Americans didn’t care at all about the career woes and personal crises of pampered Hollywood writers.

It’s hard to argue this point. It’s impossible to know how America wants to spend its time when “Dancing with the Stars” and “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” are huge hits. It’s just unfortunate that a show about “the career woes and personal crises of pampered Hollywood writers” can’t find its niche and survive for more than a season. Of course, there was really only one writer who had a big part on the show – Matt Albie (played by Matthew Perry).

It was a drama about a comedy show, but the skits weren’t funny. In fact, much of the show was decidedly unfunny.

This I don’t buy. As far as the skits go, there weren’t very many of them, but Sarah Paulson’s impersonation of Juliette Lewis and The Nic Cage Show were both pretty good. If the folks on SNL can’t come up with consistently funny material, I don’t know why we have such high expectations for Sorkin. I thought the rest of the show was decidedly funny. Especially the relationships between the four main characters – Albie, Harriet Hayes (Paulson), Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford) and Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet).

The cast was a bad fit. Aside from Matthew Perry (who was a wonderful surprise) and Timothy Busfield (who was underused), not much else worked.

Paulson and Peet were both terrific, and Whitford fit the Lorne Michaels-mold well. I also thought Steven Weber was hilarious as network president Jack Rudolph, and I wasn’t a fan of “Wings.”

The article goes on to point out all the perceived problems with the show. In the end, it’s hard to argue that America hasn’t grown tired of Sorkin’s writing and creative style. “The West Wing” was still going strong creatively, but saw a dip in ratings over the last few seasons. Even the writer’s fans weren’t sticking with “Studio 60” throughout the season.

But that makes me wonder – when there’s a deathwatch attitude surrounding a show from the get go, are there a certain of number of viewers who bail early because they don’t want to become invested in the show only to have it cancelled? Would the show have done better in the ratings if viewers could watch it in a vacuum?

Of course, this is just a paper in Evansville writing about the demise of the show. It hasn’t officially been cancelled. Maybe there’s still hope.

External TV, TV, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

“The Black Donnellys” is worth a look

March 1, 2007 /

Tonight, NBC is showing an encore presentation of the pilot for “The Black Donnellys.” Here’s how the network describes the crime drama:

Meet the Donnelly brothers: Tommy, Jimmy, Kevin and Sean. There is nothing these four Irish brothers wouldn’t do to protect each other, and for them that means lying, cheating, stealing and, occasionally, calling the cops. Narrated by wannabe gangster Joey “Ice Cream,” this gritty series bears witness to the Donnelly brothers’ sudden involvement in organized crime, focusing on how they go from boys to mobsters, and showing how their new life affects their relationships with friends, family and lovers.

Paul Haggis, who wrote “Crash,” “Casino Royale” and “Flags of Our Fathers,” and Bobby Moresco, who produced “Crash” and “Million Dollar Baby,” serve as the show’s executive producers. Haggis also directed the first three episodes.

The pilot is strong. With four brothers around the same age, it was a bit tough at the start figuring out who is who. But by the midpoint of the episode, everything falls into place.

The show is about organized crime, so it’s darker than your normal network fare. It might eventually carry the torch once “The Sopranos” is done for good. Like it’s predecessor, “The Black Donnellys” has a sense of humor. And with Haggis and Moresco on board, the show has a chance.

External TV, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

Large and in charge

March 1, 2007 /

It’s been only three days since the broadcast of the 79th Annual Academy Awards and it appears that Hollywood still can’t say goodbye to the Little Indie That Could. How else do you explain Hurley’s sudden discovery of an old VW van turned over in the jungle, not to mention the humorous subplot involving Sawyer, Jin and Charlie helping him jumpstart the car by pushing it down a hill? I’m not complaining – it’s been a long time since the writers last delivered such a light-hearted episode – and I’m just happy to see that we’re finally back on the original island again.

And so are the rest of the survivors, apparently, as they all welcome back Kate and Sawyer with open arms. Heck, even Hurley gives Sawyer a great big hug when they meet up later in the episode. The two on-again-off-again lovers get right back to business when the return, however, and while Sawyer heads off to help Hurley and the gang with the van (not to mention teaching Jin a few new English phrases to wow the wife), Kate begins hatching a rescue plan with Sayid and Locke… which leads them to Rousseau, yet again. This time, though, she’s more apt to help after discovering that her daughter is, in fact, very much alive.

This week’s flashback was dedicated to Hurley – namely his relationship to his father (played by Cheech Marin) and the curse that has surrounded him ever since winning the money – and while we didn’t learn anything of particular interest, we did learn a little bit more about the big guy’s past. Like how his father left him at a young age, only to return 17 years later (gee, I wonder why?) Or how only days after purchasing the Mr. Cluck’s restaurant that he used to work at, it’s blown to bits (along with news reporter Tricia Tanaka) by a meteor… or an asteroid. Some kind of falling rock from space. Tough luck, kid, but at least your situation isn’t nearly as bad as Charlie’s is. Dude is very bummed, and he’s got good reason, too. Luckily, Hurley’s to the rescue, and it looks like he’s prepared to do whatever it takes to keep Charlie’s mind off his impending death.

Man, I really hope the writers don’t decide to off Charlie any time soon (the character’s next episode is only a few weeks away), especially when there are plenty of others that could just as easily go. Hasn’t he been through enough already?

External TV, Lost, TV, TV Dramas

Jericho, Episode 13: Winter Comes, Heather Goes

February 28, 2007 /

Well, now that they’ve gotten the flashback episode out of the way, “Jericho” has gotten back into that whole “Little House on the Prairie” mindset a little bit, a tendency that made so many earlier episodes less than thrilling…but while not every major character in town got a decent amount of screen time this week, the ones who did appear tended to have some pretty good stuff in their respective scenes.

Winter’s bad in Jericho, and after Gray Anderson paints the bleakest possible picture of what things will be like over the course of the next couple of months (“Where are the dancing girls?” asked an annoyed Johnston), the townfolk are looking for fuel alternatives…and it’s interesting that when the time comes to send out an exploratory party to a trading post of sorts at a nearby fairground, everyone literally turns to look at Jake. The fact that Jake’s group ends up consisting of his dad as well as Heather and Dale makes for an interesting dynamic that we haven’t seen before, and their expedition was easily the most interesting thing going on in this episode. It’s a decidedly dark moment when the gang realizes that they ain’t kidding around at the trading post about stringin’ up folks who misbehave. Heather finds someone she knew back in the day, and they give them a tour of the joint. The news tower is a cool concept, as are the various constantly-updated lists of what items are most in demand. They’re realizing that the suspects on the list of who bombed the US are shrinking…even as, apparently, the number of US Presidents is growing. (We’re up to six now, it seems.) There seems to be some sort of slavery operation going on at the place, but we didn’t get much of a look at it before Dale pulled his jackass stunt of stealing the machinery they’d been trying to work out a deal for. At first, it struck me as a bit odd that this friend of Heather’s would leap to the cause of our team as quickly as they did…but, then, it WAS a pretty shady operation; maybe they were just waiting for an opportunity, and it finally presented itself. Heather’s departure with her friends led to a decidedly schmaltzy speech – followed, of course, by a sweet embrace between her and Jake – but it was, at least, surprising that she opted to leave like she did.

In other news, Robert Hawkins is dealing with the sudden reappearance of his old partner, who’s observed that Hawkins is in possession of a package of some sort; it seems as though the two of them are on approximately the same wavelength as to their feelings on the organization to which they formerly belonged. Fortunately, we get a surprisingly successful division between the emotional turmoil on Hawkins’ family and the drama with the goings-on with their former employer. Gail Green is still royally pissed off at her son’s new lady friend, Mary, but they finally sit down and talk…which, surprisingly for a show that so often leans toward sentimentality, doesn’t immediately result in a happy ending; the reveal of Gail’s note at the end of the episode was actually rather a sweet moment. Emily Sullivan and her husband got just enough time in the episode to make me twitch; I have absolutely no idea what the hell to make of this revelation that her husband claims to have been taken by a light during his absence.

Still interested. Still coming back next week.

External Entertainment, External TV, Jericho, TV, TV Dramas

Heroes, Week 17: “Just a paper salesman,” my ASS!

February 27, 2007 /

First things first: how freaking weird was it to see H.R.G. before he wore the glasses that resulted in his acronymic nickname? He looks like a cross between Bruce Campbell and Henry Rollins. Surely a sweeps guest spot with one or the other as H.R.G.’s brother is must-do…!

Okay, so a decent amount of this week’s episode was spent in flashback…but, y’know, who doesn’t enjoy a good flashback? Am I right? It’s a device that keeps “Lost” consistently interesting, and the use of one on “Jericho” last week resulted in considerable reinvigoration for the show. With “Heroes,” however, we really haven’t done much traveling into the past – Hiro not withstanding – to get answers, so this was a nice change of pace…and make no mistake, these were damned good flashbacks, aided by the creative decision to do them in black and white, which gave them a decidedly noir feel.

Within the first few moments of the first flashback, we not only get an appearance by Eric Roberts as H.R.G’s sinister supervisor but also the line of the week, courtesy of H.R.G.: “I’m comfortable with ‘morally grey.'”

So H.R.G. used to work with Doctor Invisible…and not only has Hiro’s dad has been connected to these events since long before his son first tapped into his ability to manipulate the space-time continuum, but he’s way more deeply involved that we ever would’ve expected based on his initial pair of appearances. (Count on seeing more of George Takei on future Monday nights.) And, okay, I don’t think this is just me: did they or did they not do some computer adjustments to make the baby look like Claire…? Anyway, other historical highlights were the fact that Li’l Brother Voodoo actually managed to look creepier 14 years ago than he does now and the fact that Claire was responsible for selecting her adopted father’s trademark eyewear.

The present-day events move along at a nice, rapid clip. Every time Radioactive Man lit up like a neon sign, all I could think was, “Whether he blows his stack or not, these people are going to be dead of radiation poisoning within the week.” As ever, Greg Grunberg plays Matt with the perfect frantic edge, but, seriously, Jack Coleman really needs to win a Best Actor Emmy for his performance this year; I realize it’s as much to do with the scripts as it is his acting, but, still, you’re constantly fighting between wanting to distrust his every move and hoping to God you can actually believe what he’s saying…and at the conclusion of this episode, for the first time, we unabashedly and unreservedly can feel certain it’s the latter.

OR IS IT…?!?!?

Nah, I’m just kidding. For once, I’m pretty sure it is.

External Entertainment, External TV, Heroes, TV, TV Dramas

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