Category: TV Dramas (Page 59 of 235)

NBC kills “Southland” in a manner which will annoy even those who DIDN’T watch it

October 9, 2009 /

It’s one thing to kill a show when it’s been struggling in the ratings but hasn’t managed to gain a sufficient foothold with viewers. It’s quite another to pull the plug after the show has been renewed for a second season, several episodes have been completed for said season, and it hasn’t even made it back to the airwaves yet.

Sadly, you’ve probably deduced that it’s the latter which has happened to NBC’s “Southland.”

The news broke yesterday via The Hollywood Reporter, who revealed that production on the John Wells-produced cop series is being shut down before any episodes of its second season even make it to air. “Southland” was originally slated to make its return to NBC on at the same time the rest of NBC’s new shows emerged, but instead of having Season 2 kick off on September 18th, the 9 PM timeslot was filled on that Friday by “Dateline NBC.” So it has remained ever since. Plans had been afoot for the series to come back on October 23rd, but…well, obviously, those plans changed.

You barely need to read between the lines of Wells’ statement on the matter in the Reporter’s article to see that it was uttered through gritted teeth:

“I’m disappointed that NBC no longer has the time periods available to support the kind of critically-acclaimed series that was for so many years, a hallmark of their success,” Wells said. “We remain extremely proud of ‘Southland’ and are actively looking for another home for the series.”

Wells may have managed to maintain his politeness in the midst of being profoundly pissed off, but the same can’t be said of Michael Cudlitz, one of the stars of the show.

PopEater.com offered up a piece about the show getting its walking papers from the Peacock and cited Cudlitz’s comments on his Twitter account, which – as of this writing, anyway – remain out there for the world to see:

* Don’t go quietly…….. People need to know when they fuck up this big. Saw ep 2.1 …….. Dumb fucking people.

* season was so fucking good this year…….. I mean good.

* we are still in production. The shows are very, very good………… They have broken their word. I should know better.

* Honestly, not bitter. Kinda pissed. I still believe the show would have done well on Fri.

I reckon we’ll never know if “Southland” would’ve succeeded on Friday nights or not, but here’s hoping that someone…maybe TNT?…will be agreeable to saving the series and giving it a chance to play out for at least a little bit longer. Wells and his cast sat for a panel during the TCA tour in August, and the plans for the upcoming season sounded promising. This actually was a surprise to me…not because I didn’t like what I’d seen during Season 1, but because when NBC’s President of Primetime Entertainment, Angela Bromstad, talked about it, it sounded like it was going to be turning into a show that would feel more at home on CBS.

“I think we’ve made some creative adjustments. I think they tried to do too much in those six episodes, and instead of re-piloting the pilot and letting the audience get more familiar with these characters, they sort of…you know, it became very serialized, and they were a large, large ensemble. So it’s really going to focus on Regina King and Ben McKenzie and the two sets of officers and detectives and sort of focus on, you know, crimes and how they come together.”

To me, that sounded like they were basically going to be getting rid of the type of stuff that Wells brought to shows like “E.R.” and “The West Wing.” But when we talked to Wells later in the tour and Bromstad’s comments – which he hadn’t heard – were brought up, he first smirked and said, “Well, I think we are all interested in reading what Angela had to say to you the other day,” then tried to calm us down:

The show we are making is the show that we wanted to make. I think that, for people who have been watching the show, they will recognize it as the same show, and I think some of the more serialized elements that began to take over a couple of the final episodes will be less serialized, so that someone who shows up and just watches that episode will fully understand what’s happening in the episode. But we are very proud of the show we were making last year, and I think for most casual viewers of the series, they will not see a significant difference in what the show is bringing to them when they watch it. What they had asked us to do when we were coming back was to make certain that the characters of the patrol officers and the detectives were appearing in every episode. When we originally began planning the series, we had talked about doing episodes that would be solely about one group or one character, and they’ve asked us not to do that in the future or move towards that. They would like it to be an ensemble show, which has all of the characters in it on a weekly basis.

In the end, I think you have to trust Wells’ track record as a producer and presume that he and fellow producer Christopher Chulack would’ve still made Season 2 of “Southland” more than worth checking out.

In closing, I feel like I should offer up this comment from Wells during the “Southland” panel about NBC’s decision to wipe out five hours of programming in favor of “The Jay Leno Show.” I don’t think I’m wrong in suggesting that he might well have offered a more succinct response if the panel had taken place on NBC’s TCA day rather than on the Warner Brothers lot, but whatever the case, it strikes me as ample proof that, although he might not be happy that NBC has kicked “Southland” to the curb, he’s probably thrilled at the possibility that he has a chance to peddle his wares elsewhere:

“Well, you know, it would be disingenuous for me to say anything other than this is what I do for a living, and we lost five hours’ worth of time periods that had been known throughout the history of the network for putting some really terrific shows on. So I wish NBC and Jay Leno well, personally. He’s a very nice guy. But I hope he falls flat on his face and we get five dramas back. I mean, you know, that’s what I do for a living. That’s what I think should be on network television at 10:00. It should be an opportunity for narrative programs to be on the air. So it’s only one more thing that’s going to force more and more dramas into the basic cable and pay cable world. And they made the decision that they felt was necessary to make for financial purposes and whatever other decisions they had, but I hate it.”

Actors, External Entertainment, External TV, News, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

Sons of Anarchy 2.5 – Smite

October 6, 2009 /

We haven’t seen much of John Teller’s transcript since Piney gave Jax his copy at the end of last year, but you’d be kidding yourself if you didn’t think it still played an important part in the overarching story of the season. In fact, even though Jax now has a nice leather-bound copy, he still goes searching for the one he nearly burned to a crisp, only to discover the box it was hidden in missing from his garage. When he asks Gemma about its whereabouts, she simply shrugs it off as something she threw away when making room for the baby, even though both of them know that’s not the truth. That can’t make Jax feel any better about the situation, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he begins looking into his father’s death now that he knows what Clay is capable of.

Of course, Gemma has more important things to worry about for the time being. After getting into a foot chase with the lady that kidnapped her while out shopping, Gemma accidentally clocks Tara in the face when she approaches her from behind. When Tara suggests that her jumpy nerves are a result of not telling anyone about the rape, and even recommends a therapist that might help, Gemma accepts the offer, only to walk away right before her appointment begins. I’m not sure why she’s so hesitant to tell anyone about the incident, because someone’s bound to find out eventually, and it will probably be Tara or Wayne who finally squeal.

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Case in point: Wayne has already told David about the attack. Granted, it was a necessary move on his part, because David was ever so close to cooperating with Ethan. Heck, he was even given all the evidence needed to prosecute the Sons for blowing up the meth lab, not to mention his own blackmail video of him accepting a bribe from Darby. After Wayne explains that it was exactly his by-the-books approach to lawmaking that convinced him he was the right person to take over, however, David quickly decided to make things right. Along with giving Jax and Clay the DVD that incriminates Opie for his part in the explosion, he also helps them prevent his older brother, Jacob, from buying up some cheap land with the help of LOAN. I don’t think that means the Sons can look forward to working with David when he finally becomes Chief, but they can at least expect him to stay out of their way while they take care of Ethan Zobelle.

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Sons of Anarchy, TV, TV Dramas

Mad Men - Don Draper in light grey suit and yellow tie

Mad Men 3.8 – Rome If You Want To

October 4, 2009 /

There haven’t been many episodes in the history of “Mad Men” which have quite as streamlined as this week’s entry: it was split evenly down the middle between Don and Betty and Pete. Oh, sure, other characters made appearances during the course of the hour, but when you look back at the description of the episode on TiVo (“Don and Betty go on a business trip; Pete helps a neighbor”), it’s hard to argue against its simplicity because, well, those were the two stories this week.

When we first see Pete Campbell this week, he’s reading…”Ebony”? Has the world gone topsy-turvy…? No, of course not. This is just the residual effect of his discussion about how African-Americans have specific purchasing tendencies. Leave it to Pete to dive headlong into the concept. But what else has the guy got to do? His wife’s away…and it shows, with his offer to buy the guys a drink. The poor bastard is definitely one of those guys who can’t stand to be alone, and his tendencies toward alcoholism are evident, if only by his television viewing habits. (Many a member of AA has testified that they took their first drink while watching “Davy & Goliath.” But don’t quote me on that, since I just made it up.) In his quest to keep busy, Pete helps out his neighbor’s au pair, Gudrun, by offering to help solve her dilemma with the dress that she accidentally messed up, which results in a couple of interesting developments. The first, of course, is that the trip to the store leads to an unexpected encounter with Joan, whose face is almost as red as her hair when she’s outed by Pete in her post-Sterling-Cooper gig. She replaces the dress for him, he asks her not to mention the incident to Trudy, and it’s pretty evident that she’d prefer that he kept his mouth shut about seeing her, too. When he goes to return the dress to Gudrun, he promptly hits on her and gets shot down when she assures him that she has a boyfriend. He shrugs and accepts her claims until he gets a few drinks in him, at which point he returns to the apartment in the wee hours, says he deserves the chance to see her in the dress, and then quickly gets her out of it.

Yes, Pete’s still just as lecherous now as he was with Peggy in Season 1. The difference this time…? He gets nailed to the wall by the au pair’s boss, who basically says, “If you can’t keep it in your pants, at least don’t take it out in the building.” When Trudy gets home, we bear witness to the incredibly awkward elevator ride with her, Pete, and Gudrun, and once they get back into their apartment, Pete has something approximating a nervous breakdown when Trudy comes on to him. Surely it’s not out of guilt…or is it? I really thought he was on the verge of asking for a divorce for a second. Instead, he admits to no wrong-doing (or if he did, we didn’t actually get to see it), but he does inform her that she shouldn’t leave him alone again. Translation: whatever happened while she was gone is her fault, not his.

Mad Men - Don Draper in light grey suit and yellow tieAs for the Don and Betty storyline, it’s really far more about Betty than Don this week. When their storyline kicks off, Don’s off to catch lightning bugs with the kids while Betty continues on her quest to try and save the reservoir. As it turns out, the quest proves successful when her dear Mr. Francis turned up at the city council meeting and, by throwing his weight around as the governor’s right-hand man, saved the day and got the reservoir a reprieve. In return for his assistance, Francis decides he deserves a kiss. The sexual tension immediately prior to the lip-lock was downright palpable, and although Betty didn’t exactly seem ready for a roll in the hay afterwards (she just wore her usual pissed-off expression), she neither pulled away during the event nor complained afterward. It seemed clear that there would be more to this relationship…but, then, the Drapers flew off to Rome on a Hilton-related business trip and seemed to rekindle some of their marital magic. Betty put on her best beehive (or a hairstyle not entirely unlike one, anyway) and utilized her knowledge of Italian to shoot down a couple of rico suaves, seemingly doing a bit of roleplaying with Don up until the point that Connie turned up. I liked his description of Don as “an indecently lucky man,” and, indeed, Don got nice and indecent with Betty while in Rome, so much so that it really looked like the two of them had finally fallen back in love with each other.

Unfortunately, it seems that what happens in Rome stays in Rome: almost as soon as they got back, Betty had returned to full bitch mode, a move made all the more surprising by Don’s attempt at being romantic via his jewelry purchase. I guess we can blame that on Sally, whose macking on neighbor boy Ernie in her parents’ absence led to her treating her teasing brother like he was her opponent in Mike Tyson’s Punchout. Upon her return, Betty actually offered a moment of sweetness and understanding to her daughter about her first kiss…but, apparently, the conversation led her on a trip down Memory Lane that made her learn to hate Don all over again.

All told, it was another slow week on “Mad Men.” Let’s hope things pick up a bit next week.

External Entertainment, External TV, Mad Men, TV, TV Dramas

Sons of Anarchy 2.4 – Eureka

September 29, 2009 /

If there’s one thing that continues to impress me about the Sons of Anarchy, it’s the way in which these guys conduct their business. The whole idea of participating in a charity ride as a cover to do their gun runs is pure genius. Not only do the cops stay out of their way, but they also look like heroes to the community. Nevertheless, something was bound to go wrong, and when Bobby brought out his worse for wear Fat Boy to ride on the job, it was pretty much a given that it would play a part in the incident. No sooner had the Sons picked up the guns and started north to drop them off when Bobby’s bike kicked back a cloud of smoke, forcing Tig off the road and into a ditch. The accident wasn’t as bad as it looked, but Tig was still busted up enough to require medical attention.

Unfortunately, his insurance plan didn’t cover him at the hospital, and while they were all waiting around for transport to a hospital that would stitch him up, a van full of bounty hunters swung by to pick him up. As it turns out, Tig has an outstanding warrant in Oregon (one that even he’s forgotten about), and while Clay and Jax butt heads over whether they should continue with the drop or rescue their captured comrade first, Tig buys them some time by provoking the bounty hunters to beat him up, knowing that they can’t turn him in until he’s patched up. The rivalry between Clay and Jax has been heating up ever since the death of Donna, but this is the first time that it’s directly affected everyone else in the club. Fortunately, Piney could care less about Clay’s orders these days, so he grabs a flatbed truck and, with the help of Jax, Chibs, Juice and Half-Sack, busts through the motel where Tig is being held to rescue him.

sons_of_anarchy_2-4

Clay isn’t at all happy about their recklessness, but what’s most upsetting to him is that Jax refuses to be a team player. When your stepdad orders the murder of your best friend, only to kill his wife, however, you can kind of understand why Jax may still be holding a grudge. I cannot wait until he finally exposes what really happened to the rest of the club – especially now that Opie is acting all hunky-dory around Clay – but the chances of that happening anytime soon are pretty slim. Of course, the fact that Clay has threatened to kill Jax if he brings it up again certainly isn’t going to change his feelings on the matter. Quite the contrary, really, since it only goes to show that Clay will take out anyone who gets in his way. My guess is that Clay and Jax will continue to butt heads until Gemma is left with no other option but to unite them by exposing her secret.

For the time being, Gemma is trying to deal with the situation on her own. When her attackers send a taunting message through the mail in the form of a Michael Myers mask, however, Gemma decides to confront them by returning it to the store on the name of the bag that it came in. Apparently, she doesn’t realize that the store has since been replaced by Ethan Zobelle’s cigar shop, which means that she never actually knew who attacked her in the first place. I find that a bit implausible since they made a point of showing AJ’s tattoo during the rape scene, but regardless, Gemma definitely knows the truth now, and so does Chief Wayne, who had the best scene of the night when he confronted Ethan in the cigar shop. Gemma, meanwhile, follows AJ to some sort of meeting with the intent of killing him when she hears him talking to his kid on the phone. Conscience is a bitch, but just because Gemma isn’t willing to shoot someone with a family doesn’t mean Clay feels the same way. In fact, if he’s willing to kill his own stepson, shooting AJ should be a walk in the park.

Sons of Anarchy, TV, TV Dramas

Mad Men 3.7 – Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt

September 27, 2009 /

There was always going to be a very good chance that this week’s episode would in no way live up to the level of excitement set by last week’s episode. I mean, really, how do you top the de-foot-ification of a British ad exec? Even taking that into consideration, however. tonight’s “Mad Men” still seemed pretty slow.

Not bad, just slow.

Mad Men - Don Draper in hat

When we first see Don Draper, he looks like he’s been through the wringer, but when we next see him, he’s getting spiffed up for work. There was a brief moment where I thought it was a case of quick recovery, but, no, we were flashing back to see the path that led him to this point. After a momentary stop in the living room to offer up his complete indifference to Betty’s plans for the living room (but still nonetheless throw in a suggestion that the interior designer apparently didn’t see herself), Don was off to work, where he was surprised to find that Conrad Hilton was already waiting for him. It was hilarious to see the guys at Sterling-Cooper giddy as schoolgirls about Hilton’s presence, but Hilton was all business, indicating his disappointment in the lack of a Bible and family photos in Don’s office. Despite these issues, Don still found himself on the fast track to handle accounts for the Waldorf Astoria, New York Hilton, and Statler Hilton…but not, however, until he signed a new contract with Sterling-Cooper. Although Don’s insistence in remaining without a contract may have ostensibly been a business move, I couldn’t help but notice his comments about how he gave his word to Hilton. Wow, remember the days when a man’s word could actually serve as his bond without any contracts needing to be signed to back it up?

Betty and her gaggle of gal pals in the Junior League, meanwhile, were tackling environmental concerns, leading Betty to contact her close personal friend Henry Francis in an attempt to get him to help them with their cause. The two of them had a lovely luncheon, but it wasn’t until the closing moments of their time together – when Henry put his hand over Betty’s eyes to keep her from looking at the eclipse – that a spark really went off with Betty. Interesting…

Don spent a lot of time in the office deflecting questions about the Hilton situation, even enduring Pete trying to get his mitts on the account, but when Peggy tried to get her foot in the door to assist…man, talk about shitting on someone’s parade. I’m not saying that his comments were completely and totally what led her to sleep with Duck, but they sure as hell didn’t hurt. Their close encounter was one which I didn’t see coming, but I think it’s fair to say that Peggy’s starting to get the hang of using her feminine abilities to get what she wants in the business world. I’m not saying it’s right, I’m just saying that she might be able to use them to her advantage.

A few random comments:

* Betty once again proved what a grouch of a mother she is, yelling at her son for hanging up the phone, even though he did exactly what she told him to do. Be more specific next time, Betty. He’s only a kid, for God’s sake!

* I don’t know what to make of this thing with Don’s teacher, except to observe that it’s hard to believe Don’s going to hold out much longer without acting on her obvious attraction to him.

* I’m probably supposed to have been fascinated and enthralled by the surrealistic scene of Don picking up the high hitchhikers, only to take a couple of reds, see a joke-telling hillbilly, and get punched in the face, but I just thought it was weird, personally.

For me, the best moment of tonight’s episode was the one-on-one scene between Don and Cooper, when Cooper subtly but pointedly brought up his knowledge of Don’s identity as a way of hinting that it might be a good idea to sign the contract. Hey, it worked, didn’t it?

Here’s hoping next week’s “Mad Men” is more exciting than this week’s…

External Entertainment, External TV, Mad Men, Reviews, TV, TV Dramas

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