Archive for category episodic TV
Rich Juzwiak on VH1, FourFour Blogs
Posted by admin in episodic TV, pop culture on February 10, 2010
VH1 Blog
I first learned about pop culture blogger Rich Juzwiak while listening to the Frenemies episode of This American Life in which he appeared. From there I started reading his Celebreality coverage on the VH1 blog, as well as his overall pop culture coverage at his own site, FourFour. I recently caught up with him via email to get his perspective on many aspects of pop culture. Juzwiak can also be found here on Twitter. My thanks to Juzwiak for his time and thoughts.
Tim O’Shea: What kind of fortitude do you have to do the in-depth analysis of reality TV like you do on a regular basis–what keeps it interesting for you?
Rich Juzwiak: I think as a culture, we’re all quite taken with ourselves as a culture — there’s a sort of cultural narcissism that goes on with our obsessive need to report about ourselves and then report on that reporting. Bottom line: human beings are fascinating, especially at their behavioral extremes, which reality TV invites.
Archer: A Brief Reaction
Posted by admin in Animation, episodic TV on January 17, 2010
Archer on FX
I think it would be better to see more than just two episodes of FX’s new animated comedy/adventure series, Archer, before making a full analysis of the show. But after only two episodes (the show premiered at 10 PM with two episodes on January 14), I find myself giving it a Season Pass status on my Tivo and looking forward to the next new episode. The show’s premise as defined at the website is “an animated, half-hour comedy set at the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS), a spy agency where espionage and global crises are merely opportunities for its highly trained employees to confuse, undermine, betray and royally screw each other.”
The animation is incredibly rudimentary, possibly in an effort to emulate the vibe of a great many of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim shows. In fact, the show’s creator, Adam Reed (according to Wikipedia) has been an actor/writer/director/producer on Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo at Cartoon Network. But I could care less about the animation–the appeal to this show is partially its writing, but mostly the voice casting. Fans of 2003’s Arrested Development will be pleased to see Jessica Walters cast in the show, she plays the head of ISIS, as well as Archer’s mother. Walters plays the character almost as acerbic, witty and dysfunctional as her character on Arrested Development. As a fan long ago of Comedy Central’s Dr. Katz, I was pleasantly surprised to find that H. Jon Benjamin (best known as Ben Katz [the doctor's unambitious, quirky son]) was cast in the lead role of Archer.
In the episode’s premiere (described here), Archer is training another series cast regular, Cyril, on how to be a spy. Cyril asks if he will be taught karate as part of training, leading to my favorite bit of dialogue so far, when Archer responds: “Karate: : The Dane Cook of martial arts?”
It’s a quirky and great show so far, but be advised, to say the show features adult themes and language is an understatement.
Shows Cancelled Too Soon: 2007’s Journeyman
Posted by admin in episodic TV, streaming video on January 15, 2010
Another series partially hurt by the Writer’s Strike of 2007, but mostly canceled due to low ratings, was 2007’s Journeyman. While the show, about an unwilling time traveler (played by Kevin McKidd) and its impact on his family, only last 13 episodes, it’s a delightfully far-reaching 13 episodes. Set in San Francisco, in one episode toward the end of the 13-episode run, they even deal with the 1989 earthquake. Despite its limited run, I loved how the show explored family dynamics, like an adult son’s sense of abandonment (from when his father left the family) coupled with his fear that his time-traveling would force him to abandon his own son.
The casting of Reed Diamond as McKidd’s brother was an amazing bit of casting–as they looked like they could be brothers.
It’s unlikely to ever be released on DVD, but fortunately Hulu hosts the entire 13-episode run.
To get you started, here’s the pilot.
Jamie S. Rich on Film Criticism
Posted by admin in Film, episodic TV on January 13, 2010
Many folks that I have met in the comic industry are multi-tasking, multi-talented people. Case in point: writer/critic Jamie S. Rich. When Jamie S. Rich is not writing graphic novels (his and Joëlle Jones’ You Have Killed Me made my top books for 2009 at Robot 6), his critical analysis can frequently be read at DVD Talk or at his own blog, Confessions of A Pop Fan. I recently email interviewed him to get some of the thinking behind his critical analysis.
Tim O’Shea: In a recent post, on the topic of best of 2009 movie lists you wrote: “in case you’re not sick of best-of lists yet (I’ve avoided most, and it’s still like a lot of white noise to me)”. What annoyed you about from a most of the best of movie lists from 2009?
Jamie S. Rich: It’s nothing about any specific choices, it’s just that there is so many lists out there now, the chorus has gotten too large. There is no definitive voice, no standards. I mean, there are now lists just to keep up with the lists, a conglomeration of top 10s and top 15s and the like. What with the end of the decade countdowns also going on, I am just at a loss to see what purpose it serves anymore. I’m not a big fan of crowdsourcing, because I think that it eventually kills the formation of legitimate opinions. Even before that was a term, you could see how certain lines of thinking took root and critics and fans alike would start parroting one another. It’s something I wrote about when I reviewed the most recent DVD release of The Godfather trilogy. People don’t bother to watch the third one and react to it in their own way, they already have the common thinking to draw on. It’s like, right now, I can log on to Facebook, and I’ll see ten updates in my friends list about Avatar, and all say the same thing. “Looked great, but the story was boring,” like this is some new opinion of great value. Okay, sure, and…?
Suggestions for NBC to Fill the 10 PM Slot (Expanded)
Posted by admin in episodic TV, late night TV, talk show on January 12, 2010
OK, so the other day, I said I lost the draft of a post. It appears that I misplaced it. Since this version is a tad more informative and less primal, I present it for you. Sorry for the technical snafu folks.
Something amazes me about NBC’s primetime/late night challenges. The Jay Leno 10 PM experiment did not work and will stop by mid-February 2010 (as confirmed by NBC and detailed in this New York Times article). Now NBC is struggling to quickly fill the slot in the short term, while ordering up multiple new pilots for the long run (including one that I’m very excited to hear about, a reworking of the Rockford Files, produced by House co-creator David Shore and Office star, Steve Carrell).
What amazes me about the short-term struggle is that after a few years of placing some of the Law & Order product on USA Network, why has NBC never considered airing Burn Notice (or any of the USA Network [owned by NBC Universal] original series), in the 10 PM slot? Back in August 2009, as noted in this TV Squad article, Burn Notice’s “August airings are burning down nine million viewers at a pop”. NBC wishes Leno could have pulled numbers on that level at 10 PM consistently.
Aviva Kempner on Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
Posted by admin in Film, episodic TV on December 30, 2009
Gertrude Berg
Whenever I discover a gap in my television/pop culture culture, I have an immediate need to fill that gap. Aviva Kempner’s documentary, Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, was an important person and project I knew nothing about. To fill this information chasm, I contacted Kempner for an email interview. As detailed at the Cielsa Foundation website: “Ciesla Foundation produces and distributes award-winning films about strong and important, but often unknown, Jewish heroes. Its mission is to educate and inform audiences about social and public interest issues of the past and present through storytelling and filmmaking….Award-winning filmmaker Aviva Kempner, whose credits include Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, Today I Vote for My Joey, The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, and Partisans of Vilna, is Ciesla’s director and founder. Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg chronicles the “humorous and eye-opening story of television pioneer Gertrude Berg. She was the creator, principal writer, and star of The Goldbergs, a popular radio show for 17 years, which became television’s very first character-driven domestic sitcom in 1949. Berg received the first Best Actress Emmy in history, and paved the way for women in the entertainment industry.” My thanks to Kempner for her time. I hope the interview motivates you to donate to the foundation and to Kempner’s efforts.
Tim O’Shea: I’m sure you have many ideas for subjects to pursue, but after wrapping 2002’s Today I Vote for My Joey how many concepts (ballpark figure) did you consider and set aside before deciding upon Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg?
Aviva Kempner: I was thinking about doing a few dramatic scripts and did not get much further than research. I also had a couple more documentary ideas but none were fundable at first glance. Another one did receive research funds and am now happily back on working on that film on The Rosenwald Schools. Once I went to the Jewish Museum in New York’s exhibit of Jews Entertaining America and saw the Molly Goldberg living room I knew that was my next film project.
Sneak Peek: Better Off Ted
Posted by admin in comedy, episodic TV, streaming video on December 7, 2009
The ABC sitcom Better Off Ted returns to the airwaves with new episodes this Tuesday, December 8. While I think this show would be better off Wed (as in, better off being shown on Wednesday night’s as lead in to The Middle), I’m just darn happy to have the show return. Here’s a sneak peek.
Dreaming about Reality TV
Posted by admin in Film, episodic TV on December 3, 2009
Clearly James Wolcott’s essay was still on my mind the other night when I went to sleep. That, or I am watching too much reality TV. Why? Because I had an actual dream last night that he was hanging out at one of Dr. Drew’s sober living houses–and one of the housemates had let her dog eat the pizza meant for the housemates. Dr. Drew and I were looking for leftovers in the fridge and I opined–that dog is probably eating better than Jeff Conway is these days. Then I turned to the camera in my dream and said: “No offense if that’s not true, Jeff. (Turning to Dr. Drew) Should we edit that out?” Clearly I must stop watching so much reality TV.
I’ve always wanted to be that witty or acerbic or tacky or snarky (whatever you want to call it) in my dreams. OK, not always–but definitely since the day, years ago, my then co-worker and pal, Doug, told me about a dream he had. Doug told me he dreamed that he was in the 1984 movie, Red Dawn. And in the midst of the dream/movie, he turned to the actors in the dream and said: “I’ve always hated this movie.” I love that Doug had the presence of mind to be that witty while in a REM state. That’s just the height of absurdist comedy to me.
TV Perspective: James Wolcott Lambasts Reality TV
Posted by admin in episodic TV on November 30, 2009
James Wolcott (Photo: Vanity Fair)
James Wolcott’s take on pop culture is clear cut and acerbic on a routine basis. Some critics, myself included, too often hem and haw as to our views on certain matters. Not Wolcott. Consider the following excerpt from the December 2009 Vanity Fair:
There was a time when idealistic folksingers such as myself believed that Reality TV was a programming vogue that would peak and recede, leaving only its hardiest show-offs. Instead, it has metastasized like toxic mold, filling every nook and opening new crannies. Idiocracy, Mike Judge’s satire about a future society too dumb to wipe itself, now looks like a prescient documentary.
I wish I could quote more of Wolcott’s analysis, but to fully appreciate his insight you need to read the whole thing yourself. To a certain extent, I’m saddened by the weight of his perspective. I hope he’s wrong and fear he may be completely right. On the bright side, there are critics that care about the state of affairs enough, that with any luck his critical eye can bring more folks along to his line of thinking.
[Hat Tip to NY Times' Idea of the Day for pointing me to this item]
Classic Interview: Dick Cavett on Charlie Rose
Posted by admin in episodic TV, late night TV, talk show on November 27, 2009
I should have mentioned this earlier in the week, but due to the U.S. holiday, I opted not to run a new interview this week. Hopefully, you have enjoyed the slightly increased posting level this week, however.
I love a good interview, and Dick Cavett is a damn good interviewer. So is Charlie Rose. So a chance to watch the two of them talk (from back in 2001)–a good opportunity.
I hope you agree.