Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Please, No More Reality TV

This week is a hard one for serious tv watchers because we also need to focus on the news headlines. Thursday morning could bring about a Writer's Guild of America strike which would almost definitely lead to reruns and more reality tv shows. This would be the first strike in 20 years and would hit not just the viewership hard, but also the economy of California and the United States. Yup, that's right what you watch and how much you watch it means more money for America.

A writers' strike shuts down production quickly. Though networks have been hording new shows expecting this strike to happen, and we will see some returns of shows from last season that have been saved up for "good" filler, we will also see A LOT of reruns and some really really bad reality tv concepts, like Farmer Wants a Wife which the CW began development on last May. Aren't there already enough bad dating shows on the television. Does anyone really want to see a bunch of city girls so desperate to find a mate they sign up for a CW reality show where they are put on a farm doing chores in heels? I can already picture the first few episodes and I don't really want to see anyone covered in manure when I turn on my television for a night of relaxation. And seriously, how old is the try to milk a cow for the first time joke?

So this is it, this is your last chance to contact the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and let them know a strike will lead to a tv shut-off. Leave a comment on their website http://amptp.org/contactus.html or call them at 818.995.3600. Let them know that the writers are the reason your turn on your set and they deserve a fair compensation package.

Here is a copy of my message to the AMPTP:
"Message re: Give the writers what they deserve

I am a huge television watcher. So much so that I started my own blog http://katiestv.blogspot.com. I watch approximately 24 hours of scheduled, scripted, television every week. Please work with the WGA to find a good compromise. You are letting down your viewers by not giving the writers a fair compensation package. If reruns and reality television are what come on due to a strike you could prevent, I am turning off my tv and I am urging my readers to do the same."

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Comedy Without the Funny

Today Fox announced they were picking up a full season of Back to You. CBS has already picked up Big Bang Theory. How is it that some of the least funny comedy on TV is being picked up so early on?

I urge you to try out two other new half hour comedies instead of tuning into Back to You and Big Bang Theory (not that you were tuning into those in the first place).

1. Carpoolers- ABC Tuesday 8:30-9:00pm- Four men, all at different stages of domesticity, carpool together which leads to conversations that get played out in the home. Unlike Back to You this comedy is able to cross multiple age ranges and connect with male and female viewers with great comedic lines and timing. The numbers haven't been helped by a less than mediocre lead in with Cavemen (I couldn't get through the whole first episode). However, this is a laugh out loud comedy that should be invested in for at least a half hour of mindless entertainment.

2. Aliens in America- CW Monday 8:30-9:00pm with replays Sundays 7:30-8:00pm- This may be the new generation of The Wonder Years. Awkward teen boy deals with having a hot younger sister and a Pakistani foreign exchange student to further solidify his low man on the totem pole place in his Wisconsin high school. Think The Wonder Years connection is a bit of a stretch? just compare the ongoing issues of the Vietnam War of The Wonder Years with the War on Terror of Aliens in America and I think you will start getting my point. Aliens in America is a surprising (and definitely welcome) output from a network that seemed to be shedding all connection with functioning family shows.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

What I Am Watching

As Premiere Season comes to a close I decided it was time to go through my weekly line-up.

Monday- 8:00-8:30pm How I Met Your Mother CBS - Still far and away the best comedy on tv.
8:00-9:00pm Chuck NBC - As much as I have enjoyed the first few episodes, I think I am going to get tired of this. It may not make it beyond a season.
9:00-10:00pm Heroes NBC - I have picked this up this season after trying it out when it premiered last year and being bored by the slow movement of the plot. The pace is quicker now and I can't wait for Kristen Bell to finally appear.
9:30-10:00pm Samantha Who ABC- Premiere wasn't too bad.
10:00-11:00pm The Bachelor ABC
10:00-11:00pm Journeyman NBC- Yes, I am still trying to like this show.

Tuesday-
This is my let down day of the week. Since the CW cut Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars last year there is nothing great to fill the void, just some average (that may be pushing it) shows that are fairly forgettable. However, this last week I stumbled onto Carpoolers and I may have to change that statement (for at least half an hour) if the show continues to be as funny as last week's was.
8:30-9:00pm Carpoolers ABC
9:00 - 10:00pm House Fox

Wednesday
Wednesday fills the void left by Tuesday with two of the best new shows.
8:00-9:00pm Pushing Daisies ABC - Without a doubt the runaway winner of this year's premieres. If you haven't read my post on consistency yet, I hold by all statements made as I watched the second show. I was also thrilled to see the writers/ director are making full use of the talent they have in Kristin Chenowith. If Private Practice catches on to the talents of Audra McDonald this might just become "Broadway Wednesday".
9:00-10:00pm Private Practice ABC - I am still a bit disappointed in this show. I am hoping Dr. Pete's development pushes the show along. Addison is portrayed too often with juvenile inclinations towards social behavior and control of emotion. She is a beautiful, accomplished, intelligent woman who has to keep telling people this because her actions and words make her seem less than she is. Why can't she have those qualities and be portrayed as a strong woman?
9:00-10:00pm Gossip Girl CW - I have realized that part of the reason this show appeals to me is my favorite movie of all time is Pretty in Pink. This show is all about the haves and have nots of high school. What it is lacking is a good male cross-over character from haves to have-nots and the fact that Chuck Bass does not hold a finger to the James Spader Steff. I found myself fast forwarding past the "Party of Indulgence" this past week because I didn't want to watch Chuck buying women in the absence of being at all appealing to any unpaid member of the female population. The real find in this show is Penn Badgley who perfectly plays the have not Dan trying to impress a have girl without crossing into a world that he doesn't agree with.
9:00-10:00pm Bionic Woman NBC - OK, I cheated. I don't actually watch the NBC telecast of Bionic Woman. I hop over to SciFi and DVR it when it shows there so I can get all three shows in for this time slot. Since Bionic Woman is my least favorite of the three, this works out perfectly. The dialogue is sophomoric and even the fight scenes are getting to be so too. Yes, there needs to be a learning curve to Jaime's abilities, but she also has enough strength to be able to pummel whomever comes after her that doesn't have bionic abilities, right?!?
10:00 - 11:00pm Life NBC - A refreshing take on a man done wrong. I would tune in just to see the fruit of the week.
10:00-11:00pm Dirty Sexy Money ABC

Thursday
My must watch night of the week
8:00-9:00pm Ugly Betty ABC
8:00-9:00pm Survivor: China CBS
9:00-10:00pm Grey's Anatomy ABC
9:00-10:00pm CSI CBS
10:00-11:00pm Without a Trace CBS

Friday
9:00-10:00pm Women's Murder Club ABC Nowhere near as dark as the promos led me to believe. I enjoy seeing an empowering woman show.
10:00-11:00pm Men in Trees ABC

Saturday
Catch-up time. There is never anything good on Saturdays

Sunday
8:00-9:00pm Viva Laughlin CBS The premiere was interesting enough to give this one a shot for a few weeks. I hope that future shows will have the cast members singing the songs without the original vocals at the same time.
9:00-10:00pm Desperate Housewives ABC This show is finally making its way back.
9:00-10:00pm Cold Case CBS
10:00-11:00pm Brothers & Sisters ABC
10:00-11:00pm Shark CBS

Thursday, October 4, 2007

The Importance of Consistency

It isn't enough to have a great idea or a new take on an old idea to make a good show. Coming up with a tone, establishing the tone, and following it through from casting to script to even wardrobe is essential. To demonstrate my point I have two new series that tried to take on an old idea with a new tone- one didn't have consistency and one did.

Moonlight- new take on an old idea, have a vampire run a p.i. business, or at least solve mysteries whether or not he is getting paid. The premise isn't all that different from Angel, however the cast doesn't have a hit like Buffy to spin from. The main difference in this new take is the tone is a bit film noir. The narration starts, and if it were shot in b/w it would have all the underpinnings of a Maltese Falcon television show. That's the first flaw, if it is film noir- or let's say tv noir not to discredit the great film noir genre, the tone set by the narration needs to carry through to each of the characters, the clothing, and especially the cinematography. Casting I can't complain about too much with the lead male and lead female- Alex O'Loughlin has a perfect tv noir narration voice and Sophia Miles could easily be cast into a tv noir based on her hair alone. However, the cinematography and script killed the tone. Why not at least shoot some of the scenes in b/w (besides flashbacks) and then transition into color to continue the tone, yet connect with a 21st century viewer? If a tv noir tone is what the aim is, then follow through to the hilt, otherwise ditch the tone and make another cliche vampire show. Lack of consistency will keep me from becoming a regular viewer.

Pushing Daisies- falls at the opposite end of the consistency spectrum. Another new take on an old story- a person can bring people back to life with an amazing gift. Where this show takes off from the old story is completely in the telling of the story. The show is like walking into a fairytale, possibly even a skewed Pleasantville. This show would not work if even one component was not inline with this surreal, off-kilter, fairytale tone. The setting, casting, script, wardrobe, narration, cinematography, every nuance of this show were perfectly aligned in the pilot episode. As long as the show is able to maintain this consistency this will definitely be a must-watch for me. In a time where many shows are trying to pull us into the real world through the horrific crimes and greed of humanity, Pushing Daisies seems to offer an entrance into a different time and place. The odd part is that horrific crimes and greed of humanity both played a role in the pilot. It just didn't seem as awful when it wasn't part of a real world and there was a delicious looking pie in the background.