Monsters of Television

“Just melt the ice, Bobert!”

I love Matthew Perry. Let me just affirm that first. Chandler was my favorite character on Friends and I have loved the majority of his film career (that includes “17 Again”). That makes the following very hard for me to say.

Mr. Sunshine is really not that good.

Could I be any more disappointed? I was very excited for Matthew Perry to be back on TV and producing and writing and starring in his own new show. I was sure it would be great. And he is. The show itself? Not so much.
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“I hear you, cherished partner.“

So I recapped the preview of Perfect Couples that aired back in December and found a great deal to dislike in the episode. I was going to skip viewing the pilot, but Matt begged me to check it out just for his own amusement. Adding to this review happening is that the folks who got screener copies of this episode and the second episode said that these episodes were somewhat better than the preview episode.

They’re not wrong, but Perfect Couples remains an obnoxious show that I have no desire to ever revisit again. (Sorry, Matt.) Read more »

“Why isn’t anyone ever just whelmed?“

I haven’t really read comic books in years, and even then I was a Marvel guy (though I’ve been reading bits of DC lately). That said, I’ve always enjoyed DC’s animated work.  Batman The Animated Series was my Batman (and his rogues gallery, of course) more than Michael Keaton’s performance or Frank Miller’s takes. While I’m not a Superman fan, I appreciated the animated series (great voice work), and the Justice League series were very good. In fact, with the exception of The Batman (interesting ideas, but never liked the execution), I’ve enjoyed most of the DC animated series.

Needless to say, I’ve been looking forward to Young Justice for a little while. Part of this stems from the above, but the behind-the-scenes crew (Greg Weisman (Gargoyles, Spectacular Spider-Man (actually pretty good if you haven’t seen it)! Please, and thank you) is very solid as well, creating a one-two punch that really can’t be denied.

The pilot 2-parter is, as expected, well-made and entertaining from an action perspective. And while only the pilot, it hints at the narrative and character richness that marked the Justice League shows. I’m pretty optimistic about the show’s development.

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“You cozy?”

Downtown Atlanta after the zombie apocalypse: parking is still a hassle.

The Walking Dead holds a special interest for me. I’ve never read the comic. I’m not really a horror or zombie movie fan. Media properties operating in a dystopic post-apocalypse are exhausting.

But that tank scene at the end was shot two blocks from my old apartment.

Before I moved to LA two months ago, I lived in the metro Atlanta area for 17 years, inside or on the fence (I-285) for 11. I know a lot of people that have either worked in the production as extras, PAs, or other minor roles as well as people that have worked on the post-production of each episode (apparently they shot A LOT of footage in order to get every angle of walker attacks). I’ve been through their struck sets and watched people made up as ghouls amble toward Five Points station. Atlanta is a city I am very familiar with.

For instance, I know that the the scene where Rick rides the horse “into” town (the one also depicted on the poster) shows him on Freedom Parkway heading into downtown while everyone else seems to be heading toward Little 5 Points, as if commercialized bohemians were going to save them. And that he’s facing I-85, not coming from it.

All that aside, I feel like The Walking Dead does do something special for the horror genre. While it doesn’t necessarily tread new ground in an industrial sense, it does do something that horror movies have trouble achieving in their 90-minute running time. Here, they have the opportunity to build complex characters and stories at AMC speed.

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As part of the new fall season coverage, we’re doing what we call audition reviews for new shows. An audition review doesn’t necessarily mean the show will enter the normal rotation, but it will provide an initial reaction to a new series. Especially in light of time shifting practices, we think this is a valuable way to read brief reviews on new series to help you decide if you want to watch the show. For those who watch it live, it’s a good way to begin a conversation about a new series. These reviews will typically be shorter than our regular reviews, and may include thoughts from more than one of our writers.

Matt’s Take

You’ve all heard the pitch before: No Ordinary Family is a live action version of The Incredibles. There are similarities to be sure, but it quickly (a little too quickly) establishes its world and characters and dives into creating its own mythology.

Through the first act I was not too impressed. For starters, the 3 minute long trailer we were given over the summer made the show come across as cheesy and boring so of course that is what I was expecting going in. The exposition flies by at supersonic speeds, introducing us to the four members of the Powell family, their problems, and crashing their plane in the Amazon River all in about 5 minutes. I understand getting all of that out of the way quick and early but it felt rushed. To top off my early discontent: interview style narration.

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Isn't this supposed to be Jennifer Connelly in a dress...?

As part of the new fall season coverage, we’re doing what we call audition reviews for new shows. An audition review doesn’t necessarily mean the show will enter the normal rotation, but it will provide an initial reaction to a new series. Especially in light of time shifting practices, we think this is a valuable way to read brief reviews on new series to help you decide if you want to watch the show. For those who watch it live, it’s a good way to begin a conversation about a new series. These reviews will typically be shorter than our regular reviews, and may include thoughts from more than one of our writers.

In the show HBO hopes will make itself not TV again (it’s been floundering with its original programming due to a mess of executives, like a broadcast network), Steve Buscemi plays Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, the gangster/pillar of the community that has been allowing Atlantic City to thrive. But times, as they say, are a changin’, and Nucky has to figure out how to navigate the feds enforcing Prohibition and young upstarts, like his driver Jimmy (played by the never aging Michael Pitt).

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As part of the new fall season coverage, we’re doing what we call audition reviews for new shows. An audition review doesn’t necessarily mean the show will enter the normal rotation, but it will provide an initial reaction to a new series. Especially in light of time shifting practices, we think this is a valuable way to read brief reviews on new series to help you decide if you want to watch the show. For those who watch it live, it’s a good way to begin a conversation about a new series. These reviews will typically be shorter than our regular reviews, and may include thoughts from more than one of our writers.

Read more »

As part of the new fall season coverage, we’re doing what we call audition reviews for new shows. An audition review doesn’t necessarily mean the show will enter the normal rotation, but it will provide an initial reaction to a new series. Especially in light of time shifting practices, we think this is a valuable way to read brief reviews on new series to help you decide if you want to watch the show. For those who watch it live, it’s a good way to begin a conversation about a new series. These reviews will typically be shorter than our regular reviews, and may include thoughts from more than one of our writers.

Matt’s Take

Oh boy.

Short and sweet. Well, short and sour. This show is not good. I wanted it to be. I love Keri Russell and I love Will Arnett and I wanted nothing more for the two of them to have a triumphant return to television. But this isn’t it.

There are jokes, you can tell where they are, they’re just not funny. The premise is forgettable, the supporting cast is unimpressive, it’s just a mess all around.

That’s all. I’m gonna go drown my sorrows in Felicity and Arrested Development episodes now.

As part of the new fall season coverage, we’re doing what we call audition reviews for new shows. An audition review doesn’t necessarily mean the show will enter the normal rotation, but it will provide an initial reaction to a new series. Especially in light of time shifting practices, we think this is a valuable way to read brief reviews on new series to help you decide if you want to watch the show. For those who watch it live, it’s a good way to begin a conversation about a new series. These reviews will typically be shorter than our regular reviews, and may include thoughts from more than one of our writers.

The Event is the newest super-mystery show aiming to take over LOST‘s role as the hot mythology show on broadcast network TV. Interlocking characters, ambiguous questions and motivations, time out of joint (narratively speaking anyway). Oh, and Luke Danes without a baseball cap. Yeah, we dare you to recognize him without it, too.

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