I Take It All Back

A few months ago, I reported the demise of Studio 60 as expected and acceptable. But I'd like to take it all back.

Not every episode was great. But all of them were better than most of the tv shows being produced for next year. And the great ones were truly fantastic. Leave it to Aaron Sorkin to write one of the most satisfying and engrossing series finales I've ever seen. It was a happy ending for everyone, but didn't descend into cheesy montage. The acting was superb (which means the writing was too). Even Sarah Paulson's performance as Harry ceased to grate on me in these past few episodes.

I would like the show back. I know it's not coming back. But I would like it back.

Barring that: please give me another series written by Sorkin and starring Timothy Busfield, Matthew Perry, and Bradley Whitford... oh, and maybe Allison Janney too. Maybe Rob Lowe and Mary-Louise Parker could even drop in from time to time. Would that really be too much to ask? (Perhaps I should just occupy my TiVo by recording reruns of the West Wing...)

Aurora Borealis: A Truly Terrible Movie

In addition to watching the handful of new shows I posted about here, I've been using my Netflix queue a fair bit lately. One of the themes in my queue is Josh Jackson. I've been working my way through his back catalog, not because it's excellent but because I simply enjoy watching him on screen. Americano was surprisingly good, with Dennis Hopper playing an intriguing and more than a little crazy ex-pat who Josh's character meets when he goes to Spain to run with the bulls. Shadows in the Sun matched up Josh's character with a reclusive ex-pat writer played by the ever-brilliant Harvey Keitel. And then, last night I watched Aurora Borealis in which Donald Sutherland played Josh's ailing grandfather (who was a bit of a recluse, though not an ex-pat). Yes, there seems to be a theme here. Put Josh on screen with a talented, distinguished actor and the two of them have a nice time growing Josh's character up for 2 hours. But in each of these movies there also has to be a love interest for Josh's character (of course) who also helps him grow up. In Americano and Shadows, the women were delightful, believable if unremarkable actresses who seemed to have a little chemistry with Josh. Last night, the woman was Juliette Lewis and I thought she was awful! I don't know if it was her voice or something about her mannerisms, but I thought she was the most annoying "leading lady" I've seen on screen in ages. And there was absolutely no chemistry between Josh and Juliette. During the scenes with Donald Sutherland and the talented Louise Fletcher (who played Josh's grandmother), I cared about the characters and enjoyed watching. Whenever Juliette showed up on screen, I thought about turning the darn thing off (and I have a very high tolerance for annoying TV).

The writing was excellent and the story was compelling and I kept thinking how one terrible casting decision could spoil a whole movie. The words were coming out of Juliette's mouth, and they sounded like she was reading the lines that were actually designed for someone else! (I think Keri Russell or Rachel McAdams would have been my choice for the recast, but any number of women would have worked...)

Anyway, this is one you can leave off the Netflix queue!

What I'm Watching this Summer

With almost all my regular appointment viewing on hiatus for the summer (or canceled forever, R.I.P. Star's Hollow), whatever shall I watch? Well, it actually hasn't been too hard to sprinkle my TiVo To Do List with a few summer flings, some of which may actually be good enough to watch during the winter months too (if they're allowed to stick around that long)!

Hidden Palms: Ok, so this little summer fling by Kevin Williamson (Dawson's, Scream) is not the classiest show that ever was. It's not quite as sharp and quippy as the first season of The O.C. But it has a neat undercurrent of mystery that Dawson's and the O.C. never had, so it's got enough that's new to keep me interested. I'm hoping the writing will sharpen a little once we get to know the characters and can deal with a bit less exposition. Only 8 episodes on this one though. And I'll be surprised if the CW picks it up (although they definitely need SOMETHING for their schedule, having canceled Gilmore and Veronica Mars).

Falcon Beach: This is one of the shows I probably should just not admit I'm watching. It's terrible. No really, it's terrible. And I watch it every week during the summer. It's in its second season (Why and how? No idea. But I'm still watching...)

Army Wives: This Lifetime original series is really surprisingly good. It's produced by one of the executive producers from Grey's and really well written. It has a great ensemble cast that clicked with me right from the start. (I love Kim Delaney from her role as Rebecca on The O.C.). It portrays a really nice cross-section of army life on one base (different ages, different ranks, different social classes, even different genders and races -- one of the "wives" is a black man whose wife is an officer.)

The Starter Wife: Oh this show is just plain fun. It's billed as a mini-series: 6 or 8 hours I think with no intention of a pick-up, which is too bad. It has a bit of an Ally McBeal sensibility at times because it's funny and has silly dream/fantasy sequences in places. The entire reason this show works is Debra Messing. She's great. She has all the comedic timing she needs, but also has the dramatic, expressive face to pull off this rather melodramatic role without sounding ridiculous.

Deadliest Catch/After the Catch: Ah, the one show I can watch with my boys. We TiVo it and then enjoy it together on the couch before G's bedtime. He's fascinated. After the Catch is a new series to accompany the original; the captains just sit around with host Mike Rowe in a Seattle bar and swap fish stories. And we're fascinated. My dad asked at dinner the other night why anyone watches this. I'm not really sure, but it's just about the best "reality" TV out there. I think it's good because it really seems real. It's just a long documentary, rather than a contrived social experiment or a game show.

Studio 60: I've said my peace about this show. Last night's episode was fantastic. Last week's was not. The week before that it was good. Who knows what the rest of the run will bring, but I'll be watching to find out.

My Boys: The only half-hour comedy on my TiVo season pass list returns in July for a 9 episode run. Can't wait to see what P.J. and the boys are up to!

... and streaming...

The Bachelor: I didn't watch this season. It's not my favorite reality show (because I find it more than a little distasteful to watch this guy "date" multiple women at the same time). But this year's bachelor is hot and ABC posted the last 4 episodes on their website, so I'll watch them and see who "wins."

Six Degrees: This is one of those shows that everyone forgot about. The last 8 episodes never ran on ABC, but they're streaming on the website, so I'll watch them when nothing else is sitting in my TiVo's Now Playing list for me!

All in all, not a bad summer of TV.

S60: K&R ... wow.

Wow. Just wow. I think I get it now. Studio 60 was never supposed to be a funny story about a comedy show. That's 30 Rock. No, S60 was supposed to be about a world where smart people have to try to write some funny lines in the middle of a not very funny world. The sketches weren't supposed to be funny. The show wasn't supposed to be funny. Sure, there are supposed to be amusing moments (back in the day, how many times did we laugh at something C.J. Cregg said or did -- or sang?), but really the tone of the show should have had much more in common with the West Wing from the very start.

Tonight's episode was perfect. Better than the "Disaster Show" episode that I praised a couple weeks ago. It reminded me of the way that the West Wing did drama. There's something big going on in the world -- there's a war in Afghanistan -- but it's connected to the characters' lives in a bunch of different ways, and we get to see how the characters struggle with that and make sense of it (rather than having Aaron Sorkin preach to us about what's right and wrong -- or struggle to make light of it). The vagaries of network politics and ratings just didn't pack enough punch for those of us who live outside of L.A. to make us care, but tonight there was enough there to make me care.

I loved the montage of Harriet and Matt fighting about religion for 8 years, and then the pay-off when Matt says a little prayer, in his own way, for Jordan at the very end of the episode as he and Harry are headed off to the hospital.

I loved that Jordan asked about the cut and clarity of the ring before she said yes, and then teased Danny about the ring size as they wheeled her off to surgery. Not because these lines were funny (though they were) but because they were human and touching and just plain good writing.

And so I wonder what might have been if the network execs and Sorkin's own demons hadn't run this thing off the tracks.

Here's to hoping that the last couple episodes stay this good and then to watching out for Sorkin's next adventure.

TV Squad blogger Jay Black fervently disagrees, although many of the commenters on his blog agree with me.

From the Blogosphere

I have lots to say about Hidden Palms, which is a summer fling worth a look. (It was created by Kevin Williamson of Dawson's fame and, with full episodes available for streaming on the CW's site, you can tune in whenever the spirit and general dearth of good options on the tube moves you.) But I've been studying all day and don't feel like being coherent for more than a few lines. Instead, a quick hit of interesting links:

• A nice Q&A with Alexis Bledel regarding her new movie and leaving Rory behind.
  
• I definitely want to see Keri Russell's movie about pie (ok, I'm sure it's not really about pie, but the website is). I'll watch Felicity in anything.
• An interesting essay by the show-runner for the best show on TV ... Friday Night Lights of course.
• What I'm reading (when I'm not studying): "The Billion-Dollar Kiss: The Kiss that Saved Dawson's Creek and Other Adventures in TV Writing" by Jeffrey Stepakoff, former staff writer for ER and producer for Dawson's.
  

A New Endeavor

I've started a new blog, which most of the readers of this blog will have no interest in visiting. Nonetheless, it is there. Visit it if you like. When and if you do, please note the disclaimers. You rely on my understanding of the law at your own peril. I am not (yet) a lawyer, nor do a play one on TV. If you too are studying for the bar (and even if you're not, but are feeling particularly argumentative), feel free to leave comments and questions regarding my "napkins."