[Jim and I continue our discussion of the fall TV season. This is part two. Here's part one.]From: Jesse
To: Jim
Subject: I'm taking this email chain and I'M PUTTING IT IN A MUSEUM FOR CRAZY PEOPLE
Jim, I'm telling you: if you had ever been forced to watch Nip/Tuck,
you would not be watching Glee. I don't care if you say its good. I
don't care if a dozen naked women spell out "Glee is an entertaining
show" on their boobs and bounce up and down while I read it. I. Don't.
Care. Since we as a culture have decided that
Godwin's Law is null and
void, I feel fully justified in saying the following: hearing that Ryan
Murphy is making another show is like hearing Hitler is working on a
follow up project to the Holocaust. Not. Interested.
As for new
shows this season, its only Community for me. I understand your
hesitation: the show is walking a fine line between absurd humor and
saccharine sweetness, and there have been some unsteady moments on that
tightrope in the first couple of episodes. But between my love of Joel
McHale (sometimes when I'm watching The Soup I feel like someone has
stuck a hypodermic into the joke center of my brain, extracted out the
juices, and distilled them into a TV show made entirely for me) and the
lack of new show options, I'm in it to win it. It's already given me a
new catch phrase: "I'm taking this, and I'm PUTTING IT IN A MUSEUM FOR
CRAZY PEOPLE." That makes the Suze laugh every time.
The only
other new pickle on my plate, so to speak, is Mad Men. Not a new show,
so I'm playing catchup. I'm watching Season Three as it airs and
simultaneously watching Season One on DVD (okay, its actually on
Blu-Ray, but I feel like a douche saying I'm watching something on
Blu-Ray. What a fucking horrible product name.)
Mad Men is wonderful,
but you probably can't guess what my favorite part is. Given up? Okay,
I'll tell you. Listen: everybody talks about John Hamm's performance as
Donald Draper. Everybody talks about Christina Hendricks as the
impossible curvy Joan Holloway. Everybody talks about the fastidious
details of the clothing, the technology, and the casual sexism. But why
doesn't everybody talk about the show's most inspired creation? Roger
Sterling is a singular creation in the history of mankind. He is the
world's most perfectly constructed one-liner delivery mechanism. He is
brilliant. Tell me you love Roger Sterling as much as I love him.
With
the dearth of inspiring new content for my DVR this season, the result
is a much lower bar to clear to stay in the rotation. That's why, in
addition to indispensables like The Office, 30 Rock, Dexter, and Family
Guy, I'll be keeping my eye on some more questionable content, like a
Gil Grissom-less season of CSI, and... Dollhouse.
Dollhouse. Oh,
Dollhouse. Jim, you did see what Dollhouse is doing this season, right?
Joss Whedon got on the phone with his casting director, and told him,
"Bring me an actor from every show nerds have ever cared about! I want
those nerds frothing at the mouth!" Already announced as joining the
cast for either a guest spot or a recurring role this season: Jamie
Bamber (Captain Apollo from Battlestar Galactica), Alexis Denisof
(Wesley Wyndham-Price from Buffy and Angel), Summer Glau (River from
Firefly and John Connor's pet terminator from The Sarah Connor
Chronicles), and... AND... Ray Motherfucking Wise, aka Leland Palmer.
Ray Wise! I would watch Ray Wise eat a turkey sandwich for 30 minutes a
week. Don't believe me? I basically have: I sat through a whole half
season of the insufferable "Reaper" because just when I was about to
change the channel/pass out from boredom, Ray Wise would show up and be
awesome for 10 minutes. Does any of this get you excited about (the
incredibly improbable) season two of Dollhouse? Or have you already
checked out?
-----
From: Jim
To: Jesse
Subject: Is it possible we still have more to say about House?
Your loss on Glee. It's got a great cast, a fun premise, and is pretty
damned entertaining.... and don't get me wrong, I love Joel McHale. I'm
not a regular Soup watcher, but I've always enjoyed the hell out of him
when I have tuned in. I'm really looking forward to seeing him in The
Informant, and was prepared to really love Community, but it's just not
grabbing me as of yet.
Mad Men, how strange that you were the one who told me I
needed to watch the show during its first season, but I stayed a
dedicated viewer and you lost your way? Last week's episode, with the
lawnmower, took the show to another level for me. I hadn't enjoyed a
scene in a TV show since I first learned the meaning of the phrase
"Dude, you've got some Arzt on you." Oh, and it's not Blu-Ray. It's
Blu-ray. Sony is very specific about that, further emphasizing the
absurdity of the brand name. As for Roger Sterling. He's amazing. He's
fantastic, he's awesome, and he has no problem wearing blackface. Just
like Ted Danson.
Dollhouse is going to get another season out of me,
it really picked up its game last year after a rocky start. I'm not
going to be watching the premiere until next weekend, though -- Elisa
and I want to rewatch the last episode of the first season, and also
the unaired extra episode that is on the Blu-ray (see how I spelled
that?) box set.... plus, I was at her place the night of the season 2
premiere, and she is still living in standard definition. Dollhouse
demands HD.
I knew about Mr. Alyson Hannigan's role, but the
others are news to me. Good stuff, though, especially Leland Palmer.
I've never watched Reaper, but Elisa said that your description was
spot-on. He was also awesome on 24. And in RoboCop. But not in Powder.
Powder sucked.
Most of the shows I'm picking up again are
no-brainers: 30 Rock, The Office, SNL, Curb Your Enthusiasm, South
Park, Dexter: these shows have all been consistently awesome, and I
have no reason to believe that they're going to fall off. I'm also
picking up Sons of Anarchy for season 2, but have already fallen a
couple episodes behind. The premiere was really good, and I'm enjoying
Ron Perlman's chin in HD... but it's not a show I would recommend to
the masses. It's well written, acted, etc, but not appointment TV. If
you didn't see the first season, you shouldn't jump into the second...
If the idea of Biker Hamlet in northern California appeals to you, give
the first season a Netflix.
Fringe is another renewal for me. I had issues with
the beginning of the series (the two-part pilot was practically
unwatchable), but I held on thanks to crazy John Noble and an
extremely-likable Joshua Jackson. And Lance Reddick. I just wish he was
naked more, like on The Wire, so i could remember that he is able to
crush ordinary humans with very little effort.
The X-Files-esque monster of the week show has
started to build its own mythos, and as we discussed last year, is JJ
Abrams-branded entertainment through-and-through. This season's
premiere was solid, with plenty of good moments, some weird stuff, and
a surprise ending that I saw coming a mile away. Still, I'm going to
keep coming back for more.
The last returning show, is one that we had
quite
the discussion on last season. House. After going back and forth with
you spitting out thousands of words as to how to fix the show, I can't
help but wonder if we've seen a glimpse of a better, smarter, season of
House.
The premiere was everything that I had wanted to
see from the show for quite some time. There was no medical mystery, no
formulaic patient crap, hell, none of the supporting cast (save a brief
cameo by Wilson) was present. It was show about House. Andre Braugher
had a nice guest spot, reminding me once again how bad Homicide was
after he left the show.
Laurie as House dealing with his demons in the
psychiatric hospital -- House Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, if you will
-- was very reminiscent of Nicholson's turn as RP McMurphy.. a bit less
manic, perhaps, but that must have been in the writers' minds as they
penned the episode. Regardless of its influences, the most important
thing is that it was a good episode. Let's hope that they can keep this
up after House returns to work at Princeton Plainsboro.
How about you? Any other DVR renewals? Cancellations?
