Sunday, September 24, 2006

Six Heroic Degrees of Shark

Heroes

After seeing the pilot presentation for Heroes back in May, I wrote it off as just another tired scifi-themed show. So imagine my surprise when, after seeing the entire pilot, I found myself actually enjoying the show! Who would have guessed? After all, I don't think that I've enjoyed a "regular person becomes a superhero"-themed show since 1981's Greatest American Hero. Anyway... Heroes borrows several pages from the Lost playbook of storytelling, and that's why the show appealed to me. With appealing characters, many mysteries yet to be revealed, and several surprises yet to play out, Heroes is definitely worth a look.

Heroes debuts this Monday (September 25) at 9 on NBC.



Shark

James Woods is a great actor. He really is. And for his first venture into series television, he's picked a great character for himself in Sebastian Stark, a/k/a Shark. However, it just didn't grab me enough to make me want to come back for more. Sorry, Jimmy; I hope that you won't hold it against me - hey, everyone knows that I'm not a big crime-and-procedurals guy. And whatever you do, please don't let it keep you from coming back to Warwick for a visit.

In a nutshell, Sebastian Stark is a loud, outrageous, even theatrical high-priced defense attorney who one day has a change of heart and decides to join "the good guys" by working as a prosecutor for the government. If you like outrageous characters, such as the lead character in House, then you should give Shark a try.

Shark premiered last Thursday at 10 on CBS.



Six Degrees

Six Degrees is a tough show to describe. Bascially, you take the "six degrees of separation" theory, and apply it to a group of New York City residents... residents who are all experiencing lives filled with drama, to varying degrees (no pun intended).

The pilot was okay. Just okay. But, despite my tepid reaction to the first episode, I'm recommending that you come back for more. Why should you come back for more, you may be asking? Well, Six Degrees happens to be a J.J. Abrams-produced show... and Abrams is the man who gave us the reigning champion of must-see dramatic television (the beloved Lost) so I will be giving it another try, and I suggest that you do so as well. On reputation alone, Abrams has earned it.

Six Degrees premiered this past Thursday at 10 on ABC.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Good Show / Bad Accents

With its season finale upon us this Sunday night, Showtime's Brotherhood has been a beacon of light in an otherwise dark sea of (mostly) bad reality shows and Summer reruns. Dark and brooding, Brotherhood has over the course of the season developed into a compelling, richly-drawn character study. The acting is top-flight (even if the attempts of the cast to affect a Rhode Island accent aren't), and the cinematography is spectacular. Of course, the fact that the entire series was shot in Rhode Island doesn't hurt my opinion of the show.

With that in mind, I now have some good news and some bad news about Brotherhood to share with you.

The bad news? Well, the ratings haven't been good. Not good at all. In fact, the ratings have been pretty soft. And that's in the Summer, when competition is minor.

The good news? Despite the low ratings, Showtime has renewed Brotherhood for a second season. The premium network has signed on for an additional 10 episodes of the series. So why would Showtime pick up the show for another season? Easy - the critical acclaim. The critics of America adored Brotherhood. Showtime hasn't rececived this typre of exceedingly-positive press for one of its original series since the days of It's Garry Shandling's Show almost twenty years ago.

If you haven't had a chance to catch the first season of Brotherhood, then you're in luck: the series is currently available via Showtime on Demand. If On Demand is out of your reach, then be sure to pick up the Brotherhood season-one DVD, hitting store shelves on September 26. Believe me - you'll be glad that you did.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

More from CBS

Get ready, television aficionados, because tomorrow (Monday, September 18) is the official start of the 2006-07 Fall television season. To that end, here's a look at a couple of new entries coming soon to CBS:


Jericho

Fans of Lost should not miss Jericho. It's the story of a small midwestern town and its inhabitants dealing with the aftermath of nuclear explosions on both the east and west coasts of the United States.

Last season was filled with Lost-wannabes: Invasion, Surface, Threshold, etc. But none of those shows managed to capture that mysterious, claustrophobic, uh-oh-what-just-happened and what-the-hell-is-going-to-happen-next feeling. Jericho does manage to capture that feeling. The pilot creates a feeling of helplessness for its characters from the moment that the bombs hit, and the sense of mystery comes from the fact that the inhabitants of Jericho have no idea where the bombs came from or if there are more coming. As communication services and utilites begin to fail, the towspeople find themselves isolated (again, shades of Lost) and are suddenly thrust into their own version of a new world order.

Jericho has serious potential to turn into something captivating. Consider it the duty of all Lost fans to check out the pilot of Jericho.

Jericho premieres Wednesday, September 20 at 8:00pm.



Smith

In a 180-degree turn for CBS, this crime show is NOT about the good guys; instead, the story is told from the point-of-view of a master criminal and his not-too-nice associates. The pilot for Smith was well-produced, and the cast (led by Ray Liotta and Virginia Madsen) is attractive and capable. However, the pilot was somewhat of a letdown for me. I guess that I've been spoiled by The Sopranos; I had expected this to be much more of a character-driven show (a la The Sopranos) than a show about the execution of the crimes themselves. With a little more character expositon and a little less crime execution, CBS could have a winner in Smith.

Smith premieres Tuesday, September 19 at 10:00pm.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

A Couple of Reviews... and Hey, Isn't That An Iron Chef Sitting Next To Us?


The Class

The sole new comedy on the CBS Fall lineup is The Class (which debuts this Monday at 8). With a definite Friends-ish feel to it (likely due to its producers), The Class uses a highly-contrived plot device (a group of late-twentysomethings reuniting twenty years after having shared a third-grade classroom) to set up the “sit” in this sitcom.

The cast is very appealing, and there were a few genuine laugh-out-loud laughs in the pilot. Unfortunately, the show feels too “set up”… almost too contrived… as if the producers, writers, and actors are struggling to get us to buy into the highly-contrived situation. This pilot crammed an awful lot of exposition into a twenty-three minute comedy… probably too much for the format. But it’s a show worth keeping an eye on: it’s got a great pedigree in its producers and writers, and its young cast shows a great deal of potential. If the producers can rise above the way-too-forced set up, then they just may have something here. For now, though, the jury’s out.



Til Death

Fox is attempting to update its early hit Married with Children with Til Death, a new half-hour which premiered last Thursday. Brad Garrett assumed the sardonic “Al Bundy” role as the long-suffering husband of Joely Fisher (a barbed but less caustic version of “Peggy Bundy”). As in Married, this old, seen-it-all married couple finds themselves with new neighbors, an idealistic newlywed couple. As the format goes, it will be up to the old married couple to help squelch the idealism of the newlyweds.

Garrett and Fisher work well together, but the show feels overly familiar, to the point where we, the viewers, know exactly where the show is going even before it gets there. While amusing enough, Til Death already feels as if it’s growing stale… and that’s after only one episode! If you want to see the bickering couple shtick done right, then pick up the DVD collection of the “classic 39” episodes of The Honeymooners. If those shows don’t make you laugh, then nothing will.



Iron Chef!

From the “what were the odds against THIS ever happening“ department… I found myself last weekend in the company of an Iron Chef. Yes, an honest-to-god Iron Chef… of the famed television Iron Chefs. I was at a Foxwoods VIP after-party (following the Food and Wine Festival), when who should sit down practically next to my guest and me but Morimoto himself. He was there with his entourage, and he was quite gracious when my guest and I went over to say hello and to introduce ourselves. Other “Food TV” personalities eventually made it to the after-party, including Tyler Florence (who couldn’t have been nicer), Tom Colicchio, and TV’s first Top Chef winner, Harold Dieterle. All in all, it was a fun party… and it made for some great people-watching (including a security guard who was a dead-ringer for “Mario” of Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong video-game fame).



And Finally...

For the two or three of you who are interested, local television is about to once again lower its standards, as I have once again been invited to act as master of ceremonies for the annual Public Access Awards… this year being held on September 29. The ceremony (also known as the PEG Awards), which honors achievement in public-access television programming, will be taped on that date for later telecast. Get your TiVos ready!

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Friends of Bad

With the arrival of September comes the Fall television season. This is the time, of course, during which new series are launched. With that launch spirit in mind, I'm pleased to announce the launch of a spin-off of this site. Yes, a TV Boy spin-off. The new spin-off site is called Friends of Bad, and whether or not this internet spin-off ends up being more of a Frasier or more of a Flo will ultimately be up to you, the gentle reader.

Friends of Bad actually resides on the Myspace site, and it serves as a repository for all that is so-bad-it’s-good: videos, music, photos, and more. Consider it a clearinghouse for the absurd and unusual.

To get things started, I’ve loaded the site with a few local television commercials and a dozen or so photos. In addition, a few early visitors to the site have shared their own bad videos (filed under the “comments” section on the main page).

There’s a feature of Myspace that allows page owners to “invite” fellow Myspace users to become “friends” of his or her site. To that end (and in the spirit of all that absurd), I’ve secured for the Friends of Bad site the “friendship” of some of the best personalities from the worlds of bad and/or unusual entertainment… including some of the most outrageous contestants from VH1’s Flavor of Love, and even The Brady Bunch’s Cousin Oliver himself. It seems only fitting, don't you think?

So what are you waiting for? Click on the link below, and become a “friend of bad.”

http://www.myspace.com/friendsofbad

Sunday, September 03, 2006

On Vanished, Jerry Lewis, Shock Treatment, and Lost...

On Vanished...


Fox has recently premiered its new Vanished series, and it has a look and feel to it eerily similar to that of NBC's new Kidnapped. You know the drill: prominent person disappears, family panics, and the authorities are called in to investigate. Sorry Fox, but... been there, done that.



On Jerry Lewis...

It's that time again. The time that all of us fans of "washed-up has-beens" wait for all year: the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon! The Jerry Lewis Telethon has become a sort of retirement home for celebrities whose careers ceased to exist years ago. Don't believe me? Then check out this less-than-stellar list of celebrities scheduled to appear on this year's telethon: Charlie Callas, Norm Crosby, Charo, Billy Gilman (Rhode Island's own!), and Yakov Smirnov. Yakov Smirnov??? Didn't his career come to a screeching halt immediatley following the fall of the Soviet Union? The poor guy - those jokes about Soviet oppression just didn't seem to have to have the same oomph once the USSR ceased to exist. Anyway... don't miss a minute of the "fun" - it all starts tonight at 9:00, and runs through 7:00pm on Monday.



On Shock Treatment...


Rocky Horror Picture Show fans, listen up: the bastard-child sequel to our beloved Rocky Horror, Shock Treatment, is being released on DVD this week. For the few Rocky Horror fans who are unfamiliar with Shock Treatment, allow me to bring you up to speed: Shock Treatment picks up where Rocky Horror left off, and follows the lives of Brad Majors and Janet Weiss (this time played by new actors, as Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon had long since moved onto much-more-successful acting careers by the time that this film was made) as they attempt to return to their normal lives in Denton after their encounter with the mad Dr. Frank N. Furter. Along the way, we meet several new residents of Denton, a few of whom are played by actors from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. On paper, this may all sound wonderful, but in theory, the whole Shock Treatment thing falls flat. Very flat. For truly devoted Rocky Horror fans, it may be worth seeing this movie, just because it's related to the original classic. But please do NOT go into this expecting another Rocky Horror, or you will be "shocked" by your deep level of disappointment.



On Lost...

And finally, the season-2 DVD of Lost will hit store shelves this Tuesday (September 5). Be there!