Monsters of Television

“Think of it like a Kardashian: what it lacks in refinement it makes up for in cargo space.”

One step closer to the Money Bin.

It has to be a difficult task to keep blue skies in a world of ethical gray.

When it has to make the choice, White Collar tends to shift more toward “blue skies” than toward the darkness that should lie in Neal’s gray heart. The heroes and villains are clear cut, the “criminals” are more than willing to help the Feds (sometimes only needing a minor amount of arm-twisting), and Neal seems to be all but reformed. Outside of a few sideglances and the occasional twinkle in his eye when he’s impressed by a heist, Neal is the model of turning away from the dark side.

And it doesn’t feel unnatural for him to do so. He and Peter have been getting along (Bomer and DeKay’s chemistry is pretty solid) and Neal clearly loves being able to use his criminal mind without having to make an escape plan. But the show blunts its edge by making it less about “once a con-man, always a con-man” serving a the man who caught him (and enjoys the spoils) in what is essentially a glorified indentured servitude and making it more of a buddy cop show where one has the police brain while the other has the street smarts. Besides hints from Neal’s thieving buddies like Alex or Mozzie, it was starting to feel like Neal had turned his back on his past, particularly with the painful music box plot out of the way.

That’s why I’m glad season 3 looks to bring more of that edge back to the show without all that “Kate” pretense. And we don’t have to hear more about the music box. And that there is (or at least should be) more opportunities for Alex to come back, especially with Hilarie Burton being raised to season regular on the show. What a nothing character she plays.

Read more »

“Oh, hello, sorry. Were in you in the middle of something?  Just had to say though, have you seen what’s on the telly? Oh, hello, Amy!  You all right, want to watch some television?  Ah! Now, stay where you are.  ‘Cause look at me. I’m confident. You want to watch out for me when I’m confident.“

I see you.

It’s kind of hard not just to squee. Really. It’s very difficult.

Doctor Who is one of those shows that can be deliriously fun, and this two-parter (particularly “Day of the Moon”) is just that. And it’s not only that it’s fun, but it’s clever and smart, and you’re never able to predict what’ll happen next because, well, who can predict Doctor Who (I mean, aside from River. But she cheats.)

After watching “Day of the Moon,” I feel like I could have reviewed both as individual episodes instead of as a pair, but previous experience with Moffat’s two-parters made me more inclined to review them as a unit. I’m going to focus more on “Day of the Moon” here since that’s where a lot of the meat is and where it seems like Moffat is starting to draw some very tight strings around his narrative.

Read more »

“Sometimes I come out here with my astronomy class and have starbecues.“

I am a bad fan of this show.  Not only did I know know when season 2 was starting, but I was also unaware that it had changed days. Shameful, I know.

So Titan comes back from hiatus with a good episode, one that expands its show’s universe a bit, something I’ve been waiting for the show to do. Earlier episodes had made gestures to this, with varying degrees of success, but with the range of characters we get to see in the episode, plus a nice flashback for the school’s history, I feel like “The Ballad of Scary Mary” is a good step in helping create a more fully realized world.

Now if only Kimmy weren’t drawn in such a problematic way, I’d be pretty happy. Read more »

“No, wait, actually that’s a half-burned-down McDonald’s.”

If you’ve been reading along with us since we’ve started, you know I had a turbulent relationship with 30 Rock last season, and kind of came around to the show again by the end of the last season. I was prepared to start this season, season 5 as the show kept reminding me, anew with fresh (if a bit lowered) expectations and also prepared for Carol and Avery to just be off-screen characters (I was correct on at least one count).

“The Fabian Strategy” has moments of hilarity (most of them centering around The Barefoot Contessa), but much like Jack’s prized relationship strategy, I feel like 30 Rock kept running away from me so much last season that now I’m just tired and happy to have it back and will accept most anything at this point, so long as it makes me smile for most of the 22 minutes. Read more »

“That’s why they call me the Bart Simpson of Scranton.”

Do it, Dwight. Do it.

Jerry Seinfeld gave an interview to Time where he mentioned a few episodes he wished he’d done before the end, including an all-Claymation episode and an episode featuring all the secondary characters with the main character story happening in the background. It appears to me that The Office, hearing the death knell with the exit of Steve Carrel (even if BJ Novak just got a 2-year extension), is ready to go full-steam ahead on a train already barreling out of control from its roots, no regrets in the caboose. The cold open to season 7 is a lip-synched, fourth-wall-breaking (although the genre lends to fourth-wall-breaking anyway) sequence with all the people from Scranton branch involved in a choreographed single-take through the office.

Read more »

“No saws! One circumcision was enough.”

Amy Fowler is not Sheldon’s girlfriend. Now that we have that out of the way.

The move to Thursday had many (myself included) worried for the continued success of The Big Bang Theory. Tonight’s premiere was phenomenal and if it can keep up the quality it has a fighting chance to reign supreme over the already doomed My Generation, the self proclaimed comedy underdog Community, the “Will they, won’t they? Just kill me now” Bones and Twi-lite Vampire Diaries.

The Sheldon/Amy (Shamy. Genius.) relationship is sure to be a major arc for season 4 and for good reason. Not only does a female version of Sheldon add a whole new level of humor to the show but it’s a great catalyst for some serious character development. And not just for Sheldon.

Read more »

“Is this you being me-TA?”

Oh, Community. I missed you and our wily knowledge of sitcoms (and of my funny bone).

A common trait for shows, of any genre, is to ramp up the things that seemed to work well in the first season and just keep doing it. Lost decided that it needed a lot more crazy mystery stuff because that’s what people were talking about, so ramp it up to 5 or 6 hatches and some creepy microfilm (and more survivors!). Veronica Mars went with a more layered mystery and more looks into Neptune, ramping up the noir Naked City (not as gritty, of course).

For its return to the screen, Community keeps the meta humor running full blast, and while I do find meta humor very funny and engaging, it does crowd out the less meta and more humane, emotional beats that I’ve always felt the show excelled at. Read more »

“Did you just say the word sexpionage?”

Having followed J.J. Abrams for my entire life it’s easy to see how he has gotten to Undercovers. It’s a little Mission Impossible III, a little Alias and yeah, some Felicity thrown in there as well. Abrams is at the top of his game with this action-packed, funny and just plain cool spy show.

I know I probably sound like a J.J. fanboy (and that’s because I am) but the show really does rock. Let’s break it down, shall we?

Read more »

“There are 2 big days in any love story.”

I’m understandably weary of How I Met Your Mother after being bloodied and bruised last season. I put it on warning that it needed to step up its game if even wanted me to be writing about it every week, let alone watching it. And while I know my warnings mean a whole lot to the show (I have a ton of clout, after all), I figured them too arrogant to take my word on thing.

I’m pretty happy to report that the sixth season premiere helped erase doubts with, essentially, a bottle episode (a rare thing for a premiere, yes?) (also, I use the term bottle episode as would be best applied for HIMYM, not another, less cut-away jokey show). I’m still a little cautious (they burned me so hard last season), but the episodes provides an umbrella to the pessimism storm.

And umbrellas are important. Read more »

“Why is nobody wearing shoes?”

After watching LUX all day, capping off the evening with an episode of Parenthood threatened to send me into a family-drama sugar coma, leaving me to ponder how affected I am from my childhood and why I have no paternal desire. But, instead, the season premiere left me less sentimental and more glad to see these characters again.

There isn’t a whole lot to say about this episode since it was mostly lighter fare and set-up for drama later on down the road but there were some interesting additions and wrinkles to this season that make me look forward to future episodes.

Read more »