It's Been a While :: Here's a Bunch of Stuff

I've been finishing up my spring semester over the past several weeks, and, as such, I haven't had as much time as I'd like to devote toward voicing my deeply important opinions about my favorite storytelling medium. So I figured rather than desperately claw away at a gigantic pile of back-viewing, I'll just get back up to speed with a series of miniature reviews. Think of it like youtube comments, except that I probably won't bring up illegal immigrants or Hitler.

Newsish:

Lie to Me gets third season pick-up... for 13 episodes.

Fox never has faith in anything. So it comes as no surprise that while they haven't had the balls to give up on Lie to Me yet, they still refuse to let it run like a show they trust. Odd considering I don't know what Fox thinks might magically happen in season three of the show. This is it fellas. This is your audience. These are your numbers. Pick a viewing season, order a full 24, or shut the fuck up and go home already.

To clarify, there's nothing wrong with a 13 episode season if that's what you do. Frankly, more shows would benefit from a 10-13 season rather than 24, but in the states, and on network, 13 means is you're a bubble show. ...or there's a writers strike. I've enjoyed season two up until present, but there still isn't much of an ongoing serial element, which is going to be the eventual death of the series.


Starz Cancels Party Down

Seriously? Were it not for the unexpected juggernaut of Community, Party Down would have been the most promising sitcom is years. As history stands, it comes in a distant second place, but even still. It was creative, loveable, and outrageously funny. Given the lack of sets, special effects, or heavy promotion (although the promotion wasn't awful), I'm guessing that the cast had a hefty price-tag, and the ratings didn't offset the cost. Still, why doesn't anyone have any pride in their programming anymore? Starz is a bottom-feeding third-tier movie channel and it was nice to see them offer up a really impressive piece of original programming. What else does the crumby wouldbe HBO have? (Granted, I have not seen "Gravity", which might be decent.) As a newbie in the original programming world, a savvy business move would have been to absorb the cost of Party Down to cater to the hip, indie-TV audience, and help draw more viewers in to other subsequent projects. Instead we get twenty great episodes and starz will return to the place to watch three-year-old movies in your underpants while you're drunk.

Reviewish:

Family Guy – Season 8

Family Guy has undergone an unusual transformation process. In 11 years, it's gone from being a grab at The Simpsons, to being a grab at South Park, to finally becoming something truly unique and special. I thought season seven of Family Guy was a stand-out, and building on that, season eight may be the show's finest yet. The series has reached a point where character development normally begins to stagnate, yet Family Guy always seems open to exploring new relationships and aspects of it's cast. Seemingly at the moment a character begins to fall into regular patterns, or become mono-dimensional, Peter and company will tack on a much needed additional layer substance. The best examples this season were the expansion of Quagmire, the newfound disdain between he and Brian, and the taming of Lois' predictable "voice of reason." The highlight episode, and I think perhaps one of the ten best in the show's history, was "Brain and Stewie" which beautifully exemplified the complex, multifaceted relationship between the two. It's strange how Seth MacFarlane can manage to bring more humanity to a cartoon dog and baby, in-between poop jokes, than most modern dramas can when they're being deadly serious for 44 minutes. The show is also eager as ever to make fun of itself along the way, which is something it's predecessor The Simpsons could take a lesson from (no, one Bart-Man joke in ten years doesn't count has having a sense of humor about yourself.) This season was richly textured and laugh out loud funny. I'm really excited about round 9 of Family Guy.

Lost – Seasons 1-4

I'm trying to get over my anti-boner for shows which are a mainstream success. I know it's a bad habit, but it's not my fault I'm so hopelessly punk-rock. I'm approaching my 30s and I've come to realize that not everything HBO shits out in infallible, and not everything on network is The Biggest Loser. It's easy to clinically pick apart promising procedural dramas or subject myself to five painful season of Bones, but when something is touted as true television art and it doesn't have boobs or cusses, I'm hesitant. In truth though, Lost is probably the best television series since...

um.

Lost is possibly the best television series that's ever been. Had John From Cincinnati been given more time, then history would have unfolded differently, but it's hard to find anything else that even begins to encompass the depth or complexity of Lost... at least that didn't eventually wonder into the realm of hapless postmodern bullshit. I'm not going to actually give you a review of the show because that seems silly, given it's cultural impact and the fact that I have two season left, but if you haven't watched it, watch it, and if you won't, you're sort of an idiot.

The Cleveland Show – Season 1

Cute. A very nice little homage to 70s sitcom spin-offs with enough laughs to not make you regret watching it. It's the least strong of Fox's Sunday animation block, but it's a fitting enough replacement for King of the Hill until something better comes along.

Royal Pains – Season 1

I like Psych. I manage Burn Notice. I didn't need a combination of the two. Skip and/or Kill it with fire.

Archer – Season 1

Can't get back on the air fast enough. Adam Reed's boldly self-conscious drop-pause-egotism humor meets the golden pipes of H. Jon Benjamin. Nothing rewarding about the series from a storytelling or development standpoint, but unrealistically funny dialog, one-offs, and gags. Endlessly quotable.

NCIS: Los Angeles – Season 1

So far beyond derivative you might actually suffer brain-death if you try to watch more than one a day. This is why adults tell kids that TV is bad for them. ...poor LL Cool J.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation – Season 10

Unexpectedly great and easily the best season in six years. Worthy of it's own full review, which I'll get to, hopefully. If, like me, you wrote the series off years and years ago, this is worth giving the franchise another shot.

Community – Season 1

Best sitcom in a decade. Will discuss further at a later date.

Futurama – Season "Six" ...so far.

The first episode was off. The second episode was a travesty unto the series. The third was... pretty good.

I'm torn so far.



Anyway, boosh, there ya go.