As in, the middle of the week, and the surprisingly solid two hour comedy block ABC's instilled into Wednesday nights.
Before I get to that though, I realize I neglected to cover Tuesday's Glee. So here's the gist of it: It was probably the strongest episode this season so far, shifting focus to characters that always seem to hang on the Glee-verse's periphery and giving them more narrative exposition. In laymen's terms, Mercedes was fierce, and thank goodness she stood up and pointed out the Rachel Berry favoritism, Mike Chang was awesome and made West Side Story's dancing gangsters cool. Didn't really care for the assumption that Asian parents are only grades driven and don't encourage extracurriculars or other career ventures. And Glee needs to step away from Coldplay's catalog and never cover a song of theirs again. "Fix You" was rendered as schmaltzy and melodramatic.
Luther's back, and just as morally ambiguous as ever. There are aspects of the show that drive me batty, namely the glacial pace at which the title character and his band of skeptical detectives try to solve the case. Things I've learned about Luther:
- sucks if you work under him and some psychopathic homocidal maniac decides you're bargaining leverage (you're on your own)
- he really is a big softie, and the girl he rescued has a horrible mother
- the guy that played Stan Shunpike in the HP movies did an unnervingly good job as Cameron
And now, to the comedy block....
Can I just say that I LOVE The Middle? Sure, Modern Family gets all the glory and attention, but the Hecks and their middle class house replete with messy kitchen and aged furniture warms the cold, dark recesses of my heart. Frankie flips out after eating chips from a bag that Axl's deposited his toenail clippings in (GROSS) and flips out after a series of surmounting annoyances. The kids spend the entire episode coming to terms with the fact that they need to alter their behavior lest they drive their mother crazy, and finally put the idea into action when they find out a half hour before her return that she's coming home. I love that their solution is to dump everything in the backyard.
Suburgatory is snarky, good fun. It's weird to see SNL alums as the overly perky neighbors to a former L&O detective, but the gossipy male neighbors and the triumphant hibachi BBQ save were ridiculously funny.
Modern Family is at its best, I think, when it focuses on Jay and Manny and Cameron and Mitchell. Claire comes off as a tad too shrilly sometimes, which always makes me want to change the channel. Cam and Mitchell spend the day passive aggresively handing the kitchen cleaning duties off to one another (actually Cameron acts as though he wants to do it himself) while Jay tries to help Manny sell wrapping paper
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Happy Endings was one of those, "I guess since I'm sitting here I might as well watch teh hours." kinds of shows. I can't hate since it had dumb teens buying baby jumpers as a fad, a LOTR joke, and a guy working a food truck.
Revenge never manages to get a full sit down watch, and that's a shame because the underlying story is great, but I can't deal with all if half the time it jumps to randy teens trying to get it on.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Weekend Roundup
So, Monday's are technically the start of the new week. Oh well.
Doctor Who finished off the reboot's sixth season with a decent finale. It wrapped up the River Song arc, which was losing its luster by this point. Moffat & co at least managed to keep the story coherent. I hope the Christmas special is an improvement on the better part of this season.
Boardwalk Empire was fantastic! Poor Nucky's starting to realize that everyone he relied heavily on is turning against him, and attempting to forge their own path in the process. I love seeing the self-reliant side of Margaret Schroeder; who sharply puts an Irish politico in his place after he mistakes her for being meek, and in the best scene ever, uses her maid's clothing and plays the widow card to sneak into Nucky's office and steal his cash and ledger from right under the officials' noses. I can't wait to see what the writers do with her character.
One of the things BE does really well is reflect the differences characters experience in similar situations. Nucky failed to secure the support of those he relies on and spent the episode grasping for what power he has left, while his counterpart, Chalky White, silently exerted it in one of the best scenes the show has produced. Chalky spent the entire episode in jail and most of it being harassed by a smartass who didn't know a thing about the Black community in Atlantic City. The man gets a beatdown from the four or five men occupying the cell after insulting Chalky's wife, literacy skills, garb, and shooting his mouth off incessently. In an impressive and frightening display of quiet menace, Chalky inquires after each of the five men's families, reflecting the power he has over his community and without lifting a finger, condemns his harasser to serious lesson.
Of the two offerings Whitney Cummings' has this fall, I think 2 Broke Girls is the better project. It's certainly not without its faults, and the fact that it's a CBS comedy makes me question the level of taste even if it has some appeal. My problem with the show is that while it has its genuine moments (which a better part of their comedic line up seem to have: HIMYM, TBBT), it either tries too hard with regards to jokes: beating jokes down like a dead horse, or completely offensive:rape jokes, stereotypical Asian presentations.
I want to like 2 Broke Girls, I really do. I love that the focus isn't on them trying to find partners (HIMYM, I love you, but 7 seasons in and I need a break from Ted's single whinging), but I spend half the show cringing. The attempts at progressive jokes are tried, and for a show that's supposed to be set in a racially, culturally diverse and vibrant city (NYC), it seems lacking.
Doctor Who finished off the reboot's sixth season with a decent finale. It wrapped up the River Song arc, which was losing its luster by this point. Moffat & co at least managed to keep the story coherent. I hope the Christmas special is an improvement on the better part of this season.
Boardwalk Empire was fantastic! Poor Nucky's starting to realize that everyone he relied heavily on is turning against him, and attempting to forge their own path in the process. I love seeing the self-reliant side of Margaret Schroeder; who sharply puts an Irish politico in his place after he mistakes her for being meek, and in the best scene ever, uses her maid's clothing and plays the widow card to sneak into Nucky's office and steal his cash and ledger from right under the officials' noses. I can't wait to see what the writers do with her character.
One of the things BE does really well is reflect the differences characters experience in similar situations. Nucky failed to secure the support of those he relies on and spent the episode grasping for what power he has left, while his counterpart, Chalky White, silently exerted it in one of the best scenes the show has produced. Chalky spent the entire episode in jail and most of it being harassed by a smartass who didn't know a thing about the Black community in Atlantic City. The man gets a beatdown from the four or five men occupying the cell after insulting Chalky's wife, literacy skills, garb, and shooting his mouth off incessently. In an impressive and frightening display of quiet menace, Chalky inquires after each of the five men's families, reflecting the power he has over his community and without lifting a finger, condemns his harasser to serious lesson.
Of the two offerings Whitney Cummings' has this fall, I think 2 Broke Girls is the better project. It's certainly not without its faults, and the fact that it's a CBS comedy makes me question the level of taste even if it has some appeal. My problem with the show is that while it has its genuine moments (which a better part of their comedic line up seem to have: HIMYM, TBBT), it either tries too hard with regards to jokes: beating jokes down like a dead horse, or completely offensive:rape jokes, stereotypical Asian presentations.
I want to like 2 Broke Girls, I really do. I love that the focus isn't on them trying to find partners (HIMYM, I love you, but 7 seasons in and I need a break from Ted's single whinging), but I spend half the show cringing. The attempts at progressive jokes are tried, and for a show that's supposed to be set in a racially, culturally diverse and vibrant city (NYC), it seems lacking.
Fringe Fridays - One Night in October
I think Fringe may be the best exploration J.J. Abrams has offered of the possibilities supplied by alternate universes. From the can of worms Walter Bishop has wraught on his and Walternate's universes by stealing the "other" Peter, to the minute choices individuals make that alter entire lives.
This week both Olivia and faux-Livia teamed up with Alt-Lincoln to track down and stop a serial killer in the other universe by using his alter who diverged from his inherent destructive behavior because of one person. The outcomes for both versions of the professor were sad, to say the least.
Walter is taking more drastic steps to block the apparations of Peter by covering any reflective surfaces, and blasting Mozart to drown out the sound of Peter's wavering voice. Peter's sacrifice at the end of the last season is gearing up to be the big question I hope this season will solve, "What happened to Peter Bishop?"
This week both Olivia and faux-Livia teamed up with Alt-Lincoln to track down and stop a serial killer in the other universe by using his alter who diverged from his inherent destructive behavior because of one person. The outcomes for both versions of the professor were sad, to say the least.
Walter is taking more drastic steps to block the apparations of Peter by covering any reflective surfaces, and blasting Mozart to drown out the sound of Peter's wavering voice. Peter's sacrifice at the end of the last season is gearing up to be the big question I hope this season will solve, "What happened to Peter Bishop?"
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