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Thursday, June 10, 2010
Power Rankings! on hiatus; other finale tidbits.
Sesame Street
Who's No. 1, Count?
The Power Rankings! announced, apparently a little too subtly, that it was going on hiatus recently. But people kept emailing and sending tweets about when it would return, so this is just a friendly reminder that it is, in fact, on hiatus, set to return most likely in August prior to the start of the fall season (and yes, in time to catch some "Mad Men" - wouldn't want to deny one of my favorite series a chance at No. 1 again, since it kicked off these rankings in the top slot).
It was a lot of fun doing The Power Rankings! and as this season wound down (the "Glee" and "Justified" finales didn't get a chance to be dissected much or ranked at the end), I wanted to look back on some of the highlights. But first, if you're curious as to why the rankings are on hiatus - and let's face it, who wouldn't be curious - it was a combination of time off, time consumption and some upcoming vacations that will knock out much of June. Plus, a lot of series had their finales, necessitating a reduction in the overall 15, down to 5 at one point when it was really hectic. July would only make a viable, quality-dominant rankings list even harder to muster (I love summer cable shows, but the fledgling efforts of broadcast networks probably couldn't sustain a big list). In late July through early August I'll be in Los Angeles for the Television Critics Association summer press tour (aka the Death March With Cocktails) which virtually rules out any TV watching (ironic...). It will be hard enough to find the time to deconstruct the first couple of episodes of "Mad Men" (but I will). So, to make a long story even longer, look for a mid August return to the Power Rankings!
Of course, the shame of it at this moment is missing out on the mad scramble in the last weeks -- "Glee," "Treme," "Justified" etc. I think it's overwhelmingly clear that "Breaking Bad," which dominated the No. 1 slot, will go out on top (and I'll have the final Spoiled Bastard deconstruction of this season up on Monday). But there was a truly amazing glut of great shows that really fueled the Power Rankings! and made my viewing that much more pleasurable. I did roughly 33 weeks of TPR! and here are some insights and memories:
How about "The Pacific" really giving everybody a run? Right in the "Breaking Bad," "Treme," and "Lost" juggernaut, "The Pacific" really rose to the occasion with some quality episodes. "Modern Family" and "30 Rock" did fantastic as well. Some series started strong and then dropped off. Others, like "Community," made impressive comebacks. I really championed the incredible Season 2 renaissance of "Parks and Recreation," while we all witnessed the rise and fall of "Damages" and the harrowing decline of "The Office" and "Big Love."
Though following 15 series religiously every week (in addition to everything else) was a little trying, it proved there was plenty of room for high quality broadcast shows (many of them hitting No. 1, like "Lost," "30 Rock," Modern Family"). Over the course of the 33 weeks, there were high rankings for varied offerings like the Olympics, TNT's very surprising "Men Of A Certain Age," BBC America's "The Inbetweeners," FX's "Archer," PBS's "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" and the fan-fueled appreciation of Cartoon Network's "The Venture Bros."
Finally, the long-running No. 1's are really what stood out. "Mad Men," which battled long and hard against eventual No. 1 "Sons of Anarchy," which in turn mostly held off "Dexter." Then "Lost" eventually ceding to "Breaking Bad" (which periodically succumbed to "The Pacific"). Greatness always rose to the top.
Can't wait to start the The Power Rankings! again. Until then, there will be more TV related stuff right here on The Bastard Machine, plus The Bastard Machine Facebook page and daily Twitter snarkiness, news and observations.
| Jun 10 at 01:04 PM
Monday, June 07, 2010
"Breaking Bad" Spoiled Bastard. Ep. 12: "Half Measures."
It would take a mouth full of words to describe this.
This is a Spoiled Bastard. It contains spoilers. That's the point.
FYI: The Bastard Machine is on Facebook, minus the ignorant trolls. Also, Twitter, where there's a mixture of news, insight and snark.
If running over two people and then shooting one of them in the head at close range is a "half measure," who can wait to find out what will happen in the season finale, "Full Measure" come Sunday? It's probably safe to say, even without having seen the final hour, that "Breaking Bad" has been as brilliant as it ever was this season. And the testament to the quality of the series is always that assumption -- that it's great until proven otherwise. Twelve episodes into a 13 episode season? Great. In "Half Measures" viewers got one of those beautifully complicated endings that "Breaking Bad" seems to churn out almost effortlessly. A dramatic act occurs and it reflects like a broken mirror back on those involved, particularly our man Walter White. In the blink of an eye, in the final scene, Walt surfaces from his sea of moral decay to prove that he's more than a dispassionate scientist providing for his family. That his go-along-to-get-along attitude toward what amounts to Albuquerque's Wal-Mart O' Meth operation can be broken by a bond - an obligation to protect Jesse, who he sees as an innocent in all of this madness. So Walt, adrift in denial and rationalization, finds his moral compass and acts on it. And yet - and yet! - in that very act of saving Jesse, he simultaneously furthers his own descent into malevolence.
Look, you can get the best writers in the TV business and lock them in a room, talking about a man's fate, his destiny, the shading of that man's complicated moral situation. But until you actually put it on paper in a way that rings true, from episode to episode, there's no accomplishment or pay-off. It's all talk. That is to say, Vince Gilligan and his writing staff sent Walt on a journey in Season 1 and here we are one episode away from the Season 3 conclusion, and that journey has found Walt teetering in all kinds of complicated, troubling directions. One upstanding, hard-working man gets cast by fate into a funhouse mirror maze of jaw-dropping, nearly improbable immorality. He grows ever more unlikable as the episodes churn and yet we can't write him completely off. We want to believe there's a way back. Yes, plowing over two drug dealers in your battered Pontiac Aztek in a scene of awful brutality (and strange justice) might seem like the next logical (or illogical) step in Walt's de-evolution. But how can you not watch that scene, with its riveting "Run!" capper, and not think it was heroic? Also: stupid. Here's a guy who could barely lift a handgun in the pilot and he calmly walks over, picks one up and methodically puts a bullet through a man's temple, blowing out the other side in a bloody stream. How do you get moral redemption from that dark act?
But the writers did. And they also cleverly set up a storm of boiling blood, resentment, retribution and severely tangled priorities. Your move, Gus.
Hit the link for more: Read More »
| Jun 07 at 08:01 PM
Friday, June 04, 2010
Fridays were almost dead. Long live Fridays (with popcorn)!
Since it was almost impossible to find this anywhere on SFGate.com, I decided to post it. Who knows if I'll end up watching any of these shows regularly next fall, but the point is you can't let Fridays die. And it was heading that way....Here's to just entertaining the tired masses at the end of the week.
| Jun 04 at 05:00 PM
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
"Breaking Bad" Spoiled Bastard. Ep. 11: "Abiquiu."
I'll be the Danny. Let ME break bad.
"Breaking Bad" has always invested a lot of time in imagery, right from the start of the series, so it's wise to take what it gives you seriously. Same goes for the dialog, no matter how unadorned it might be (no swelling or ominous music to tell you how important it is). Everything matters on this show. This is true of almost all great series. There are no wasted moments. In "Abiquiu," we got a set-up episode (there are two episodes left, and you can bet they'll be riveting) that was also nicely self-contained and bracketed by visual imagery at the beginning and weighted words at the end.
The episode started with a flashback of Jesse and Jane looking at a painting titled "My Last Door" from Georgia O'Keeffe (the artist lived there for years and a museum of her work is still there). Of course, Jesse thought the paintings were going to have vaginas in them. But out in the car, talking about why you would paint something over and over again, the two have a discussion about why anyone would do that. Jesse just thinks O'Keeffe is trying to get it right - perfect, even. (No doubt a lesson he's learned from Walt, who his meth to be absolutely perfect, thus separating the scientist's mind from the artist's mind). Jane says all the paintings are different, just like every day, every sunset - everything we do repeatedly is different. O'Keeffe loved the door, Jane says, and painting it repeatedly had its purpose. "To me, that's about making that feeling last."
Of course, this echoes Jesse's phone calls to Jane's answering machine after she died. And in this episode, in that very scene, we get the shot of Jane putting out her cigarette, the one with the lipstick that brings all the memories back to Jesse, the ones he wants to last.
At the end of the episode, we get a really wonderful, strangely out of pattern scene where Gus invites Walt for dinner (I also loved how the phone ringing in the lab seemed so funny and ominous at the same time, as Walt and Jesse tried to figure out who the hell would be calling). Anyway, at dinner no doubt called to utter these very words, Gus gives Walt some advice: "Never make the same mistake twice."
But just what are those mistakes?
That's going to be your dramatic arc for the next two episodes (and probably beyond). But the advice couldn't have been followed less closely by anyone in "Abiquiu." Jesse meets another recovering addict, just like Jane, at his NA meetings. He's either making the same mistake twice or about to fall in love again - making that feeling he had with Jane last. Skyler, on the other hand, is getting herself farther into Walt's drug world, thinking she can game the system somehow for profit (by laundering Walt's drug money through the old car wash where he worked) - the same naive vision Walt had when he started this ill-advised odyssey. Could it be that Skyler has just gone through the last door? Is she - yikes - breaking bad?
Hit the link for more: Read More »
| Jun 01 at 03:42 PM
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Power Rankings! Fab 15 gets top-loaded, series end, interest wanes!
Welcome to the "Power Rankings!" for the week ending May 23. We're back with the full Fabulous Fifteen version, though its days seem to be numbered given the attrition rate of series finales and the fact that a lot of summer programming just isn't going to cut it. Look for a truncated version soon enough and then, mirroring the TV industry itself, a possible hiatus until fall. In the meantime, let's get ranking. If you want to find out how the Power Rankings! are compiled and how they started, click here. FYI: The Bastard Machine is on Facebook. And Twitter. And we're off:
| RANK | SHOW | PREVIOUS | TREND | COMMENT |
| 1 | Lost |
4 | ↑ | How could it not be No. 1? Two episodes in the same week, plus the super-sized SERIES finale? Come on. Besides, even when "Lost" was at its most maddening, we never missed an episode. It was often thrilling and intriguing even during its weaker episodes. But guess what? Those are not the ones we choose to remember this week. We're really going to miss "Lost" and the stories of its characters. While the finale catered more to the heart than the mysteries, it went out as a gigantic hug (surrounded by bright lights) to fans who stuck with it. You can bet there won't be this kind of ambitious, serialized storytelling on network television for a while. Sad, that. |
| 2 | Breaking Bad |
1 | ↓ | If you didn't like "Fly," you haven't fully grasped what "Breaking Bad" is trying to do as a television series. While it's fine to only like the episodes that appeal to your particular aesthetic, to get annoyed at episodes like this only reinforces that you're not getting the experience as intended. |
| 3 | Treme |
2 | ↓ | Everyone steps down a notch with the big send off to "Lost." This series is, like we said before, becoming more fully rounded. The only thing missing was a funeral procession for "Lost." Step lightly and blow those horns for the money, boys. |
| 4 | Justified |
5 | ↓ | If you take a look at the shows either leaving TV for good or those bowing out with season finales, it's good to know that "Justified" has joined the mix and looks to have some life ahead of it. Like "Treme," this show has become better as the storytelling expands. |
| 5 | Friday Night Lights |
N/A | ↔ | Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can't lose. Welcome to the Top 5. And despite NBC's strange handling of this program - giving it life through a full five seasons but essentially forgetting about it in almost every other way - we should be happy that it will charge into the summer with a rejuvenated sense of creative steam. |
| 6 | Glee |
N/A | ↔ | Since we only had the Fab Five version last week, everything from here on out in the rankings seems like a fresh start. Though "Glee" has been erratic, when it delivers on its quirks and strengths, it makes for entertaining viewing. Still wish Fox had spun off Sue Sylvester for her own sitcom. |
| 7 | Parks and Recreation |
N/A | ↔ | NBC is maddening (you might find a trend emerging there). This series is still the front-runner for Comeback Series of the Year and the reward is, what? Oh, right, to be pulled off the schedule after the season ends and placed in midseason. Someone tell NBC to actually watch the show, then watch "The Office." Then make better decisions. |
| 8 | Fringe |
N/A | ↔ | Alternative universes. That's also a theme this year...People in sci-fi just love that kind of stuff. And here, it works. "Fringe" was a series we all but wrote off last season. But we gave it another chance this season and it hooked us harder than expected. A really entertaining hour that almost never felt wasted. Can't wait for it to return (and get weirder). |
| 9 | Community |
N/A | ↔ | Thus begins the strange part of this week's Power Rankings! A lot of sitcoms had their season finales and, based on those, ended up ranked in an order not necessarily representative of our love for them. See? It really is a week-to-week episodic thing we're doing here, otherwise "30 Rock" and "Modern Family," our enduring loves, would be higher. But "Community," despite having what amounts to two back-to-back finales, did an excellent job of going out strong. We had our doubts early in the season, then had a resurgence of faith. Well played, "Community." |
| 10 | Modern Family |
N/A | ↔ | Um, shouldn't the season have ended in Hawaii? This seemed like a tacked on, forgotten episode. Maybe because it was? It was typically funny but felt like filler. That takes nothing away from the fact that "Modern Family" was the funniest new sitcom on television - one of the few shows we want to watch on time without delay. An excellent season. | 11 | 30 Rock |
N/A | ↔ | We could have picked five or 10 better episodes from this season to go out on, but there is the slightest bit of serialization in these things so we get what we get (and don't get upset). Strange, though, that "30 Rock" is our favorite comedy and it ends at No. 11. That certainly takes nothing away from a season full of belly laughs (yes, actual belly laughs - one of a few shows that can make us laugh out loud, repeatedly). It will be interesting to see where the story arcs go next season. |
| 12 | Parenthood |
N/A | ↔ | No season finale yet, but this series has settled in nicely as well. It was absolutely designed for hugging and learning so you can't fault it for what was in the DNA. The laughs have been good and the character development improving. Sometimes you can see an ensemble come together as the writers figure it all out, and that's happening here. |
| 13 | Nurse Jackie |
N/A | ↔ | And now to the part in the headline about interest waning - and the need to scale back the rankings as we move into the summer. "Nurse Jackie" has been off this list for a bit. Why exactly is a mystery that can best be explained by our reluctance to click play on the DVR when we see it. While "Nurse Jackie" has vastly improved its peripheral characters from its freshman season, not enough happens on this show. And while Edie Falco remains at the top of her game and is an actress who can seemingly do no wrong, having her character carry the whole show is exhausting to watch. |
| 14 | United States of Tara |
N/A | ↔ | Talk about trends. This is another series we gave up on, came back to, found implausibly arduous, then abandoned again. That makes (at least) two shows where the thought of watching them every week seems like a burden. Television shouldn't be that way. While there's a lot to love in both "Jackie" and "Tara," they both take a singular theme and repeat it in various ways too often. |
| 15 | The Office |
N/A | ↔ | Sadly, this seems more like a postmortem more than honoring a series for making it back on the rankings. Watching "The Office" became a lot like watching a favorite athlete too late in their career. Or like a party balloon lose air - slowly. What's left to like about "The Office"? It seems artificial in so many ways and, most important, it's just not that funny anymore. And hasn't been. Wrap this thing up - maybe that will invigorate the writing staff. |
FALLING:
"Lost" is over forever. And that's taking a toll on our psyche. Beyond the season finales mentioned above, there seems little reason or motivation to keep following some of the shows we begrudgingly included here to make it to No. 15. A pruning is in order.
RISING?:
What's bubbling up is the notion that a good chunk of the summer fare - intriguing though some of it may be - will not make the effort beyond a Fab Five really worth it. So, keep that in mind, plus an almost certain hiatus for vacation(s).
SUNK!:
"The Good Guys" on Fox. That made the fall schedule already? Really?
| May 26 at 01:39 PM
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
"Breaking Bad" Spoiled Bastard. Ep. 10: "Fly."
Does this man look sane?
This is a Spoiled Bastard. It contains spoilers. That's the point.
FYI: The Bastard Machine is on Facebook, minus the ignorant trolls. Also, Twitter, where there's a mixture of news, insight and snark.
Few series are in such command of all the ingredients that go into greatness as "Breaking Bad," and in "Fly" the series managed to tap into some of the brilliant Season 1 tenseness and the hitting-on-all-cylinders minutia of Season 2 to complete an episode as powerfully minimalist as any the series as ever produced. With "Fly," Season 3 now has its polar opposite poster episodes for how to portray what you're capable of. In "One Minute," creator Vince Gilligan and his superb writing staff were able to deliver a purple bruise of an episode that culminated in a wild, bloody parking lot shoot out with The Cousins and Hank. In "Fly," Gilligan and company crafted what was essentially Walt's finite intellectual implosion, a kind of minor stroke that stopped his blinders-on rationality right in its tracks.
Throughout its run "Breaking Bad" has been able to shift gears as radically and deftly as "The Sopranos," a series that despite all of its critical acclaim is barely credited with that particular kind of genius (probably because some of those shifts so utterly upset a certain subset of the fan base who thought the show was about the mob when it was actually about Tony's inner demons as played out through his immediate family, not the Family). In any case, "Fly" is reminiscent of any number of "Breaking Bad" episodes where Gilligan slows the action down (exponentially, in some cases) and focuses on small, important moments. In this episode, an examination of Walt's interior worries, the execution was brilliant. Obviously it was a visual thing of beauty, from the multiple POV camera work to the rush of color and wonderful use of sound; the intersection of humor with pathos -- these elements becoming so standardized in their consistency that it's almost unnecessary to point them out. But no, the work that really stood out in "Fly" was the writing and the pacing.
By the time Walt first encounters the fly - he's distracted by the total amount of the meth output being off (thanks to Jesse's skimming) -- he's already at a tipping point in his brain. (How the last minute comes directly back to Jesse's skimming is so snap perfect after what proceeds it that all you can do is applaud; not forgetting the strands is fine writing.) Anyway, the point is that it's not the fly. It's Walt's brain. He can't sleep. He comes to the superlab in a bother. It's his subconscious, knocking loudly. The fly at first looks to be a metaphor before we come to view it as real, once Jesse gets in on the hunt. And though it's not a literal metaphor for Walt's cancer or his nagging guilt about how his best laid plans have come undone, it's still a fly in the ointment of sorts, "a contaminant" that sets Walt off on his interior world of wonder about how everything he wanted for his family is now tainted. You can't kill the fly - you can't uncontaminate the imperfection that so nags at Walt, a die-hard perfectionist, from inside.
The burden of a great television series is that there are no shortcuts. In the first season of "The Wire," McNulty and crew didn't just get the wire. They had to jump through legal hoops - all the proof you need to clone a pager, for example. Prezbo didn't just magically come up with how to break the pager codes. He worked at it. And explaining them wasn't easy. But in those - and many other instances - "The Wire" did just that: explain. In detail. No corner cut. Boring? Sure, if you're easily bored or watching the wrong show. Any other show - "Law & Order" or similar middling crap - just has that stuff materialize. Great shows don't. And just as the initial episodes of Season 3 of "Breaking Bad" dealt with so much emotional fall out (and plenty of people thought the early episodes were too slow), so too does Walt's intellectual and moral fallibility need to be scrutinized. The guy who's capable of essentially taking back his home and family by force - even holding his baby while the cops talk with Skyler about her complaint against him -- can't just suddenly be an ass. He can't flip that switch and sustain it. He's not wired that way. And in "Fly," we saw a crack begin.
Hit the link for more: Read More »
| May 25 at 02:53 PM
Monday, May 24, 2010
"Lost" Spoiled Bastard. "The End."
Well, I probably could have posted this well in advance. My thought last night was that I'd just let people go off in praise of the show or in hatred of the ending, whatever course they chose. But I ill-advisedly thought that I should wait until I watched every second of everything "Lost" on Sunday night, then try to add some perspective first before opening the flood gates. But honestly, the decision NOT to dissect this final season of "Lost" was the right one. Because even if I spend the next several days meditating on what it all meant, I doubt any flashes of brilliance will change what I already believed:
1. "Lost" is about the characters first, the mythology second.
2. "Lost" was always about the journey, not the end.
3. "Lost" would never, ever answer all the questions it raised, nor explain the intricate mythology that enthralled everyone.
4. "Lost" was a magnificent example of high-brow entertainment, with lots of action, emotion, intriguing puzzles and above all else, a show that had to be watched the very moment it aired. It was the ultimate water-cooler series but it was never on the same level as, say, "The Wire" or "The Sopranos."
5. "Lost" will both disappoint and enthrall -- and it will remain, long after it's over, a series people talk about. But I don't think it will be
properly respected and placed in historical context until many years from now
.So my immediate reaction is likely to be my ultimate reaction: I loved watching "Lost." I embraced the characters. The ending pandered to my tastes in that way. But it failed on so many levels to answer questions that were important to people who invested time in them. It went out making about as much sense as it did coming in, which will undoubtedly be a disappointment. As a series finale it overjoyed the heart and annoyed the brain. But if I had to do it all over again, knowing how it all plays out, I'd still watch.
And you?
| May 24 at 10:19 AM
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Your ticket to ultimate "Lost" party. All the Dharma goods you can eat or drink.
All aboard.
Well, tonight is it. The "Lost" series finale. After it airs, I'll put up a "Spoiled Bastard" with some thoughts but mostly room for all the lovers and haters to have their say about one of the most talked about series on television. The DVR is set. The anticipation is high. And though there won't be a "Lost" Finale Party at the CrankyPants household, we are here to help if you're planning one. Or even if you just want to do something cool before (or even after) the show airs.
Mrs. CrankyPants has a good friend at her work, a graphic designer named Calixto. He's sent her home with cool Dharma inspired viewing goodies before, but has clearly outdone himself this time. He made her (and other "Lost" friends and fans) boarding tickets for Oceanic Air Flight 816 (you know, the safe one). It's modeled on the one used in the actual series (ABC is apparently auctioning off tons of "Lost" memorabilia later as well). But thanks to Calixto, you can download your own ticket and tons of other PDF files if you want to label your entire pantry. Beer, wine, water, cake mix, chocolate bars, peanuts, olives, soda -- you name it. Check it out.
Just a sample of the goodness.
Get working. Send out some invites. Make sure you've got the DVR set up. Oh, and please have your boarding pass and ID out. Thank you. Also: Have fun. Check back after the finale.
| May 23 at 12:00 PM
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Power Rankings! Fab Five version, totally Kafkaesque.
Welcome to the "Power Rankings!" for the week ending May 16. Yes, we know that was four days ago. Maybe more by the time you read this. But listen up - it was upfront week in TV Land. That's five columns a week, plus a review of "The Good Guys," plus Twitter-mania and Facebook front-loading. But whatever, they're here. We like this Fab Five idea. And as the network season comes to a close in May, we could end up with some serious stretching in the lower five of the usual Power Rankings!, so we're toying with the idea of making it a Top 10 list for the summer, cliche or not. Had to get this one up, though, because it's the end times for a lot of series just around the corner. If you want to find out how the Power Rankings! are compiled and how they started, click here. FYI: The Bastard Machine is on Facebook. And Twitter. And we're off:
| RANK | SHOW | PREVIOUS | TREND | COMMENT |
| 1 | Breaking Bad |
1 | ↔ | This series is starting to get that runaway train momentum fans love so much. The real artistry is that it works on so many different levels. This week those around him took the decision making away from Walt. He can change all he wants, but life is still happening TO him. Lots of great humor and solid drama this week and "Breaking Bad" continues its marvelous streak of riveting television. |
| 2 | Treme |
3 | ↑ | Ladies and gentlemen, we have a series. Each week, "Treme" has gone beyond the early "I love this but where is it going?" and further still beyond the "I love soaking in this and now want to move to New Orleans." In typical David Simon fashion, a multitude of storylines are emerging that are interesting, fertile and complex in their structure. That bodes well for a long run. |
| 3 | The Pacific |
2 | ↓ | The strongest element to "The Pacific" was in viscerally giving the viewer more proof than they needed that "war is hell," particularly this unfamiliar warfare in the Pacific theater. The battle scenes in this superb miniseries were exceptionally great. Where the series flagged a bit was in the non-battle scenes and the finale was full of them. That didn't make it a weak episode, just weaker than the whole. Besides, endings are hard. Mostly because they're new beginnings. And what made "The Pacific" so mesmerizing was being right in the middle of it. |
| 4 | Lost |
N/A | ↔ | We didn't have nearly the problem others seem to have had with the back story about Jacob, his "mom" and brother MIB. It's all part of the puzzle - and that knowledge was certainly helpful this week during the penultimate episode. Since Sunday is the finale - forever - my guess is this show will climb a bit, despite the chorus of people who will undoubtedly be disappointed. You can't please everyone. But this was one of the few series on broadcast or cable where every week we were excited to see it and never wanted to time-shift it for ease of viewing. "Lost" is going to be missed. (Btw, I'll have one, possibly two, Spoiled Bastard opportunities on The Bastard Machine this week for those who really want to get into it. I'm putting off a full summation of the series until later.) |
| 5 | Justified |
5 | ↔ | We could have gone with "Modern Family" or "30 Rock" - remember, this is for the week ending May 16 - but in this shortened Fab Five version a special nod to the overall improvement of "Justified" seemed merited. A little bit like "Treme," there's been important growth in the construction of the series and how we viewers perceive Raylan. Now, "Justified" is not "Treme" and there are still structural weaknesses to it, but having a through-line rather than a weekly closed-ended story has made the drama reverberate more. We like the direction its headed. |
| May 20 at 03:01 PM
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Review: "The Good Guys," Wednesdays (tonight!) 8 p.m., Fox.
FOX
Comedy or drama. Pick one.
When is a premise better than the actual show? All the time, unfortunately. And no doubt the execs at Fox thought "The Good Guys," from "Burn Notice" creator Matt Nix, was really going to resonate. Take one newbie cop in Colin Hanks, (who looks a little like his father in the remake of "Dragnet") and pair him with an old-school cop in Bradley Whitford, who likes to drink on the job, has the whiff of the 1970s about him and seems to have watched a whole bunch of "Smokey and the Bandit" movies. Put the oil and the water together. Then blow stuff up.
Theoretically it could work. Whitford's mustache is a character unto itself in this series. And Nix has a pretty admirable track record of making "Burn Notice" light and fun and a guilty pleasure from season to season. And if you imagine that all of this is being done with a nod and a wink and a gigantic dose of irony, well, hey, it could be Fox's second funniest show behind "Glee." Except that the whole conceit tires pretty quickly. It lumbered well enough through an hour, but it's hard to imagine that a full season could be of interest. Maybe in the summer, sure, to offset some of the harder core dramas on cable. But Fox has already, without airing a single episode, slipped "The Good Guys" onto the fall schedule. Now that's confidence without much forethought.
The trouble is that "The Good Guys" wants to be more than Hanks' uptight cop "babysitting" Whitford (who looks like he walked off the set of "Life On Mars" because he wanted it to be a comedy, not a drama). "The Good Guys" wants to be a drama, too. It wants to have heart (Hanks pines for his ex); it wants to have action (things blow up all the time); and it wants us to take crimes in Texas seriously. You know, like a cop show. Only the pilot gets caught playing the nod and wink a little too often. Whitford's character is the hook. He's the reason to watch. His glasses, his mustache, his constant drinking on the job. He references the old school cop ways all the time. He doesn't believe in paper work or procedures; DNA testing is like some kind of witchcraft to him. He can't work a computer. And honestly, he's the show. Everything should revolve around him and his antics, even if it starts - as expected - to feel one-note after a while. Deviating from Whitford to other stories - to more mundane cop nonsense or even, please no, hints at romance, makes the whole show start to unspool.
And that's the balancing trick that "The Good Guys" is failing right now. Maybe Fox saw more episodes and it all evens out - meaning it reverts attention primarily back to Whitford. If not, "The Good Guys" may end up being just another show that sounded great in theory and on paper, but got old and rote when the cameras were on.
| May 19 at 02:54 PM
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