Girl Detective

I’m thankful they’re done. Maureen Ryan of The Watcher is, too, and she captures why quite well.

We’re a few weeks into the fall 2007 television schedule. On Wednesdays, I’ve already dropped Bionic Woman; the writing was terrible and uneven, and the lead was miscast. Instead I’m watching Dirty Sexy Money and Life, the latter of which is perhaps my favorite new show of the season.

Charlie Crews (played by English actor Damian Lewis) was wrongly imprisoned for twelve years, during which time he got the crap beaten out of him and read a book on Zen. Exonerated by DNA evidence, he emerged richer, odder, and with an interesting desire to have his old police job back.

Crews wobbles between his Zen leanings and his understandable desires for revenge and to know what really happened. He’s a strong main character with a good supporting cast. This is reminiscent of House and Monk. I’m worried that it’s scheduled against the much more lauded DS$, yet it’s being re-run on USA, so check it out whenever you can; it’s worth it.

There were some disappointments in the second week of the new fall television season. How I Met Your Mother ’s funniest moments were jokes about New Jersey, which is too easy a target. Heroes has too many bad story lines to maintain momentum for any good ones. Bionic Woman had stilted dialogue and dreadfully trite storylines for Jaime, both on the job and with her sister. Even the scenes with Katee Sackhoff were dull, though “I was hacked” is an intriguing plot thread. I am probably going to give this show one more episode. And Top Chef irked me with its gimmicky, worthless live bits.

I didn’t have time to watch Bones, Reaper, Life, or Dirty Sexy Money, but I’m afraid to risk the time on them. Maureen Ryan didn’t like Reaper, so I’ll probably skip it. Any other advice?

High points were the bittersweet premier of Aliens in America, House and his new crew, Dale’s comeback and near win on Top Chef, the return of 30 Rock with Alec Baldwin’s new reality show, and Creed’s new hair and jargon at the Office.

I really liked the final episode, but I really hated the live intermissions. Yes, it was nice that the contestants got to have family and friends there, but still. Waiting this long seems cruel to them, and gimmicky to me. Bravo, do not condescend to me.

Loved the celebrity sous-chefs. Todd English looks even more suspiciously even-featured than Rocco DiSprito, though Rocco looked awfully cute, I thought. Wished they’d brought back Tre and Lia; best of luck to you two. You went before your time, I thought. All the eliminated chefs seemed to do a good job of backing up their Exec. I felt very bad for Casey. The editors highlighted her trouble with the altitude, showing her gasping a few times. And the fact that the only dish they liked of hers was actually executed by Howie had to be a tough blow. But that emphasizes what was so exciting about both the series and the finale–as in any creative endeavor, a combination of inspiration and good fortune can trump technical skill.

I think Hung deserved to win. Two excellent dishes and two good ones is an impressive feat. And while the judges belittled his molten chocolate cake, he was the only contestant this season to be able to pull off a better-than-OK dessert.

I was thrilled by Dale’s strong finish, and hope he’s not out of the chef business much longer.

Season 4 of Top Chef has begun to film in Chicago. (Link thanks to The Watcher)

Note to NBC: longer isn’t better, even with something I love, like The Office. It’s just two episodes smashed together, and ones I would rather see a week apart than endure re-runs sooner than I have to. There were many laugh-out-loud moments about a car accident that made me feel both entertained at the show and horrified at myself for laughing. This was combined with the Office’s usual moments that induce horrified gasps, like a “dangling participle”, and cat-clawed frozen-french-fry bags. No matter. It was still very funny, and has more than earned its Season Pass on my Tivo.

As the new season approached, I was feeling indifferent about My Name is Earl, which I’ve always found just entertaining enough to keep watching. It’s best moments almost always come from new Emmy winner Jaime Pressly as Earl’s brash ‘n’ trashy ex. So I put Earl on trial last week during its dragging hour-long season premiere. I didn’t laugh once. Sure, there was a decent jab at Lutherans, and “You’re like an albacore around my neck” was pretty good, but it wasn’t enough for me to keep watching this season. So long, Earl.

My husband G. Grod and I both recognized the name Kay Lenz on the list of House guest stars last week, but for different reasons.

To me, she was David Cassidy’s ex-wife, and thus the target of my pre-teen jealousy. To G, she was the woman with lots of guest appearances and bad movies in the 80’s. In any case, on House last week she looked like a plastic surgery train wreck. After looking up her bio at both IMDB and Wikipedia, I found we both should have known her as the voice of American Maid from The Tick cartoon.

Incorrectly, I thought she was the actress who played Annette Funicello’s ventriloquist dummy in “Mary Ann and Miss Sophisticate“, who Mr. Rourke brought to life on a 1980 ep of Fantasy Island that I remember for its disturbing-to-me-at-the-time combination of sex and violence. But no, the live dummy was played by Maren Jensen, who also played Athena on the original Battlestar Galactica, and had a feature in a Tiger Beat “Girls Rule!” spread.

The other fantasy on that FI ep was “Jungle Man,” starring Dennis Cole, the soon-to-be ex of Jaclyn Smith (Charlie’s Angel Kelly Garrett) at the time. He decided to stay in the fictional universe of his jungle man.

Jaclyn Smith’s Wikipedia entry details why she was the queen of the mini series, and makes me wonder if want to seek out the TV miniseries version of The Bourne Identity.

Can anyone please explain WHY all this is taking up space in my brain 2+ decades later?

We’ve got a Tivo with dual recorders. That should be enough. Three shows on at the same time shouldn’t inspire gynmastics, but rather prioritization. But the Wednesday 10pmEST/9pmCST time slot is troubling to me. I’m watching Top Chef already, I liked Dirty Sexy Money, but I’d also like to check out Life, about a Zen cop out for revenge. TC ends next week, but Project Runway starts (Yay! Finally, indeed, Tim Gunn) Wednesday November 14, so there’s only a few weeks till the time slot is overfull again.

There’s a lot of critical love for Wednesday nights, (here from Everybody Loves Saturday Night). Maureen Ryan of The Watcher, urges ABC to ditch Big Shots and move DSM to the post-Grey’s Anatomy spot. Entertainment Weekly says Life is likely to be cancelled because of the time slot collision with DSM. Other channels are showing Life at later times, so I still plan to check it out.

Dirty Sexy Money is probably the best reviewed and most promising new show this fall. That’s a heavy mantle to carry; Studio 60 faltered, then fell under it last year. DSM has a deep bench of talented actors (Peter Krause, Jill Clayburgh, Donald Sutherland) and a pilot that defies easy categorization. It’s a drama, but it’s funny. And not just funny, but dark and absurd in the manner of, say, Arrested Development. The pilot was good, but the series has to live up to its hype. Two things bothered me in the pilot. It took far too long for Krause’s ethical lawyer to say “I quit”. And Krause doesn’t seem nearly suspicious enough at the murky facts at the end.

Glowing reviews here from Onion AV Club, Teevee.net, and Entertainment Weekly.

At the end of last season, all of House’s team had been fired or quit. The new season begins, and they’re not back. He’s on his own and desperate for someone to bounce his ideas off of, yet he adamantly resists the pleas of Cuddy and Wilson to hire a new team. In a brilliant move, Wilson kidnaps House’s new electric guitar and sends him ransom notes to try to force House’s hand. Whether it was Wilson’s escalating guitar threats or that House almost killed his patient (several times), there is a team on deck at the end. This is a great twist, and it’ll be interesting to see how long it’ll be till (or if) the old team returns. I was thrilled to read at the Onion AV Club that the next ep is likely to be even better.

As always, the show isn’t shy about drawing parallels between House and Sherlock Holmes–acerbic wit, drug problem, diagnostic skill, and address number. Wilson, kinder but hardly as brilliant as House, fits well into the Holmes role. In an email, M from Mental Multivitamin wondered if others see a Hamlet/Horatio between the two. I think it’s a great comparison. House is borderline mad and alone, while Wilson tries (and so often fails) to influence House through reason and patience. And House leaves both justice, by way of saved patients, and emotional wreckage in his wake.

On a more superficial note, co-stars Jesse Spencer and Jennifer Morrison (Chase and Cameron, respectively) broke their engagement. That return to work will have to be awkward.

Roger Ebert’s health has kept him from his show Ebert and Roeper for over a year now. Cohost Richard Roeper has worked with many guests, but with the new season, a few changes were evident. The signature thumb review was gone; films were recommended or not. Ebert co-owns the trademark, and has withdrawn permission for the thumbs, as the contract for the show is negotiated with Disney. The show title is now At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper. My new crush, the meticulously groomed (NB: not code for gay, just an observation), smart and snarky Robert Wilonsky warms Ebert’s seat each week for the foreseeable future. The show continues to be a good weekly update on what’s coming out, and what’s worth seeing in the theater, on DVD, or not at all.

Check out the new, extensive archives at the Ebert and Roeper site.

One of the best and funniest of the fall’s new shows. I’m not the only one to think so: see The Watcher, Everybody Loves Saturday Night, Teevee.net, Entertainment Weekly, and The Onion AV Club. It’s a dark, comedic fantasy about a slacker named Sam whose parents sold his soul to the devil, and the bill comes due on his 21st birthday. It’s a little like Buffy with Boys. Robert Wise is charming with a perfect undercurrent of scary as the devil. Sam is non-threateningly cute, he’s got a less-good-looking-but-funnier friend named Sock, and his love interest is sweet but not (yet) cloying. The first ep was directed by Kevin Smith, and made me laugh out loud several times, mostly at things Sock did. This got an immediate season pass on my Tivo.

There’s been a fair amount of griping about the Bionic Woman reboot of the 70’s sci-fi series. I have fond memories of that show from my childhood, which I dare not test by actually tracking down old eps. (Though there is that one with Kristy McNichol as a telekinetic, now that I think of it.)

The criticism focuses most on English star Michelle Ryan’s lack of charisma, though she doesn’t seem to have much to work with, given the character as written. Jaime Summers is a college dropout, a bartender, and a caregiver for her technologically transgressive little sister, who was left on Jaime’s doorstep by their drunk father. Lindsay Wagner’s Jaime was a famous tennis player, whose athleticism brought her to the notice of the bionic scientists. BW 2007 gets her hardware upgrade courtesy of her mad scientist boyfriend, reluctantly financed by shady government types. Other snarks center on the all-over-the-place pilot.

I don’t disagree on either point. Ryan’s Summers is not compelling, and there’s a lot going on. But Katee Sackhoff, one of my favorite actor’s from Battlestar Galactica, has a treat of a recurring role as Sarah Corvus, the original bionic woman. Miguel Ferrer is also good as the head government baddie, who I kept wishing would be named as Oscar Goldman. And a crowded pilot means there’s a lot to explore if the season pans out.

A cameo by Aaron Douglas, who plays Chief Tyrol on Battlestar Galactica, shows that BW creators are hoping to snare the BG geek audience. They’re at least got me, for now.

Some other opinions at Teevee.net, Onion AV Club, The Watcher.

I strongly considered dropping Bones from my Tivo’s season pass list. I liked it last season, but didn’t love it. The eps were uneven, and the mysteries were often boring. What stood out was the ensemble cast, and that’s not necessarily enough to keep me aboard during a crowded fall TV season with a handful of promising new shows. But Entertainment Weekly had only good things to say, and the gals at Everybody Loves Saturday Night liked the premiere so much I knew I might have to give it another chance, and I’m glad I did. The season premiere was funny, icky, and engaging. So Bones remains on my season pass list, for now.

That last scene, though, with Brennan and Booth on a bench was seriously undermined by the painfully fake DC Mall backdrop.

I feel like a bad geek that I don’t love, or even sometimes like, Heroes. With all the media blitz and the love from places like Entertainment Weekly, I feel like a curmudgeon that I can’t join the chorus, especially because it’s so connected to, and respectful of, one of my favorite media mediums, comic books. I mean, Tim Sale did all the Isaac paintings last season; how cool was that?

The problem with a team show, though, is that there are going to be weak links. The more characters I like, the more I like the show. And here’s how the numbers stack up, for me:

Like: Claire, her dad HRG, Peter Petrelli, Hiro, Ando, Sylar

Don’t like: Parkman, Molly, Mohinder, Nathan Petrelli, Mrs. Petrelli, Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Muggles.

Meh: Nicki and Micah, new characters Maya and her brother

The season premiere didn’t do much for me. Last year I watched the first few eps, got bored, stopped watching, and started again toward the end when my husband G. Grod said it got good again. I don’t want to miss good stuff, but I dislike at least half the characters, and those aren’t good odds. Perhaps the addition of Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) will turn the tide.

Other opinions from The Onion AV Club, Entertainment Weekly, Everybody Loves Saturday Night, and The Watcher

Hilarious, and Neil Patrick Harris is full of awesomeness as womanizer extraordinaire, Barney.

I started watching this past summer in reruns. Like most comedies, it wasn’t necessary to know all the backstory to enjoy it. I’ve laughed out loud multiple times during each episode. Harris shines, but the rest of the ensemble cast does good work, especially Jason Segal, a member of the Judd Apatow crew. Highly recommended, this has a season pass on my Tivo.

Check out reviews from The Onion AV Club, ALoTT5MA, and The Watcher. And watch a 3 minute recap at Youtube that fills in a fair amount of history.

I thought last night’s finale part 1 of Top Chef was very satisfying. The least talented chef was eliminated for making some poor choices, while nice-guy, hanger-on Dale finally stepped up and won a challenge. Best of all, he did it by learning from past successes and mistakes.

I’m out of time, but for more commentary, see Anthony Bourdain and ALoTT5MA.

“Manhattan Project” SPOILERS AHEAD: Like Anthony Bourdain, I thought last night’s Top Chef ep was the best of the season thus far. Phil at ALoTT5MA also liked it a lot, and has good commentary. The contrasts between Casey and Hung were well highlighted, in both the quickfire and elimination challenges. Hung is the most cutthroat of the remaining competitors. He is classically trained, as he often snottily reminds us. Casey is not classically trained, but does a good job of executing modern dishes with classic influences. She is much more likeable than Hung, and she’s demonstrated over the past several episodes that she’s a talented chef.

The contrasts between the two of them and the other three were also well depicted. Brian clearly could have been either at the bottom of the tops, or the top of the bottoms, but he was squarely in the middle. And no matter how likeable Dale is–”I’m a big, gay chef, and I’m gonna outcook your a$$!”–that doesn’t account for the significant lapses he’s had, like forgetting a plate on the plane, and forgetting the sauce on his duo. Also, was he present earlier in the season when the judges derided one of the candidates for doing duets? And didn’t he learn a lesson from the boat episode, that one simple item is better than two complicated ones. To his credit, though, I don’t doubt that it’s hard, and I’m in a comfy viewing spot the day after the show and on my couch, not in a kitchen with professional chefs staring at me, and the most illustrious judging panel waiting for the dish.

I was relieved to see Sara eliminated rather than Dale, if only because he’s such a gigantic personality. Her dish looked good but sounded terrible, though I wondered if the couscous was good; I only heard it called underseasoned.

I very much enjoyed Casey’s comment on being a woman in what has been, and still largely is, a men’s club. Nowhere was this more evident than in the quickfire judge, Sirio Maccioni, saying that he’d like to pick her instead of Hung as the winner, because her dish was good AND she was pretty. Yet she faced down the stony-visaged kitchen chefs and stepped up to do a great job in both challenges. That indicated to me that she deserves to be there.

Does anyone else wonder how Lia and Tre would be doing, if they were still around? They seemed the most talented previous eliminations, to me.

I visited my sister Sydney over the weekend, and she introduced me to the bizarre VH1 show, The Pick-up Artist. (Weren’t they worried that people might confuse it with the wretched Molly Ringwald/Robert Downey, Jr. movie of the same name?) The show is so sexist and staged that it’s hard to believe. A guy named Mystery instructs a cadre of young nerds in the tactics of seduction. Mystery is pierced and sports both eyeliner and black nail polish. He’s not my idea of a dream catch, but apparently he does well enough, since he has his own show and a book, too. Then again, I doubt I’m in their target market.

Each week the nerds are given a different assignment to impress women. The nerds I saw included a cute but antisocial Indian guy, an overweight but attentive guy, a good looking but painfully shy guy, and a fourth whose niche I couldn’t determine, but he seemed similar to “good looking but painfully shy” guy. The internet research I’ve done suggests the show is for real, or at least as “real” as reality-based shows get. Not recommended, unless you’re looking for a car-wreck type viewing experience.