TV Diary
1. "American Gangster"
I was a little skeptical about this show, since the whole idea of a show on BET further reaffirming black gangster mythology's place in popular culture seems like beating a dead horse, especially after the recent movie and Jay-Z album of the same name. But I have to admit, the way they approach each episode's subject with documentary-level scrutiny and factual stories, really cuts through the bullshit, so you get to learn something about these people besides all the namedrops in rap lyrics. The only episode I've gotten really into so far is the one about Little Melvin, the Baltimore drug kingpin who's kind of legendary around here, and ended up with a bit part on "The Wire" after they based a bunch of stories in the show on him.
2. "Samantha Who?"
Been meaning to catch this for a while, now that I've seen an episode I might try and watch it regularly. Nothing special premise/tone-wise, not too different from a lot of the semi-high concept comedies on the air these days. But Applegate and Esposito are two of the only sitcom babes in the biz who are actually have really sharp comedy chops, so they carry it and make it worthwhile. I'm hoping that if nothing else, the writer's strike will allow me to catch up on repeats of shows I've wanted to watch, but have been on opposite shows I'm already into.
3. "Notes From The Underbelly"
Kinda overly chatty sitcom, feels like it's going for the same kind of tone as "How I Met Your Mother" but doesn't quite hit the spot or have as strong an ensemble. Really I want to keep watching this show just for Melanie Deanne Moore, who I didn't realize was so hot when she was in those annoying Gladware commercials a few years ago.
4. "Fearless Planet"
This is being aired alongside an encore of Discovery's awesome "Planet Earth" mini-series from earlier this year, so I was wondering if it would be redundant or overly similiar. But it's pretty much on a whole different deal, aside from the theme and the great camerawork. No soothing Sigourney Weaver narration, more stuff involving actual humans, more about danger and thrills, which is not as interesting to me, but still pretty cool.
5. "Cash Cab: After Dark"
J.G. and I watch "Cash Cab" fairly often, and it's one of the more original game shows to come along in recent years. But I'm still puzzling over this spin-off, which as far as I can tell is no different from the original except that it's 60 minutes instead of 30, the cash prizes are a little bigger, and it all takes place at night (but I'm pretty sure not all episodes of the original were shot during daylight, either). The title makes it sound like some kind of weird "Taxicab Confessions" crossover, which, to say the least, would be a lot more interesting.
6. "Keeping Up With The Kardashians"
It's easy for me to take the high and mighty road with slutty famous chicks who are famous for being famous (and slutty) when I don't find most of them attractive really at all. But man, Kim Kardiashian, I have to admit, I just think she's fine as hell, if in a real superficial video chick way. Even I can't stomach a tedious reality show about her annoying family, though. If an eye candy chick really wants to be on TV, I suppose a reality show is a little more honest than trying to act, but it's not like her life is actually interesting.
7. "Chelsea Lately"
This Chelsea Handler chick keeps popping up on the E! channel, first as a talking head on their wannabe-VH1 list shows, then on the mediocre weekly "The Chelsea Handler Show," and now on the nightly talk show "Chelsea Lately." She's kind of hot in a leathery, overly tanned L.A. way, and kind of does the shocking, talking dirty schtick, albeit in a much more informal "one of the guys" way than, say, Sarah Silverman. The boasting point of this show is supposed to be laid back interviews that aren't just about plugging the guest's project, but there's still a little bit of awkwardness there. E! will probably cancel this and then give her a sketch comedy show or something.
8. "Best Week Ever"
I was pleasantly surprised to see my onetime acquaintance and co-star Amy Schumer pop up a couple times as a talking head on this show about a month ago, although I haven't seen her on there since. Good to see that "Last Comic Standing" opened up some doors for her, though. I still don't think this is as good a pop culture clip show as "The Soup," but I end up watching both every week anyway. It's interesting how they're 2 of the only shows completely unaffected by the WGA strike, though, presumably because all the writing is done by producers and on-air talent who aren't in the guild or officially designated as "writers." But it's getting kind of awkward how they have to constantly talk about the strike and make jokes about how there's fewer new shows to cover, without ever really addressing how they're still churning out new episodes.
9. "Family Guy"
I'm starting to get really fed up with this show. I've tried to watch some of the new episodes this season, and it just seems like they're getting worse and worse, mostly by going for more and more politically incorrect jokes. The 100th episode special, which featured a lot of interviews with appalled test screening audiences, only seemed to reinforce the fact that "Family Guy" is increasingly hanging their hat on a 'shocking' image a la "South Park." But they're never gonna be as bold or transgressive as that show, partly because they're on a broadcast network, and they shouldn't even try since that was never what was good about "Family Guy." And to go make the obligatory "Simpsons" comparison, they were just hitting their stride of the show's very best era around episode 100. If FOX decides to keep renewing "Family Guy" year after year the way they've done with "The Simpsons," can you imagine how mind-bogglingly awful and incoherent it will be by the 19th season?
10. "C.S.I."
I've probably said this before, but the way "C.S.I." occasionally puts its main characters in the line of fire, I guess to show that their job actually can be dangerous and isn't all nerdy lab work, was an asset in the past that's started to catch up with them. The show's been on for long enough now that pretty much every major character has been either almost killed, or kidnapped, or attacked my a suspect or something, usually for a season finale. The last one, where Sarah was the one in danger, was kind of interesting since it moved along the long running subplot of her secret relationship with Grissom, but it also effectively ended it, and her character in the show, since she ended up leaving the unit a few episodes later, and is no longer mentioned in the opening credits. Now it looks like they might be picking Warrick off next, with the weird William Friedkin-directed cliffhanger this week. There were a bunch of things tone-wise that were off in the episode, and it's always annoyed me how Warrick is basically a normal, competent secondary character who occasionally out of nowhere hits the skids gambling or popping pills or something. The cast of this show has always been its strong suit and what's made it way better than "C.S.I. Miami" or "C.S.I. New York," so messing with that probably isn't a good idea.
I was a little skeptical about this show, since the whole idea of a show on BET further reaffirming black gangster mythology's place in popular culture seems like beating a dead horse, especially after the recent movie and Jay-Z album of the same name. But I have to admit, the way they approach each episode's subject with documentary-level scrutiny and factual stories, really cuts through the bullshit, so you get to learn something about these people besides all the namedrops in rap lyrics. The only episode I've gotten really into so far is the one about Little Melvin, the Baltimore drug kingpin who's kind of legendary around here, and ended up with a bit part on "The Wire" after they based a bunch of stories in the show on him.
2. "Samantha Who?"
Been meaning to catch this for a while, now that I've seen an episode I might try and watch it regularly. Nothing special premise/tone-wise, not too different from a lot of the semi-high concept comedies on the air these days. But Applegate and Esposito are two of the only sitcom babes in the biz who are actually have really sharp comedy chops, so they carry it and make it worthwhile. I'm hoping that if nothing else, the writer's strike will allow me to catch up on repeats of shows I've wanted to watch, but have been on opposite shows I'm already into.
3. "Notes From The Underbelly"
Kinda overly chatty sitcom, feels like it's going for the same kind of tone as "How I Met Your Mother" but doesn't quite hit the spot or have as strong an ensemble. Really I want to keep watching this show just for Melanie Deanne Moore, who I didn't realize was so hot when she was in those annoying Gladware commercials a few years ago.
4. "Fearless Planet"
This is being aired alongside an encore of Discovery's awesome "Planet Earth" mini-series from earlier this year, so I was wondering if it would be redundant or overly similiar. But it's pretty much on a whole different deal, aside from the theme and the great camerawork. No soothing Sigourney Weaver narration, more stuff involving actual humans, more about danger and thrills, which is not as interesting to me, but still pretty cool.
5. "Cash Cab: After Dark"
J.G. and I watch "Cash Cab" fairly often, and it's one of the more original game shows to come along in recent years. But I'm still puzzling over this spin-off, which as far as I can tell is no different from the original except that it's 60 minutes instead of 30, the cash prizes are a little bigger, and it all takes place at night (but I'm pretty sure not all episodes of the original were shot during daylight, either). The title makes it sound like some kind of weird "Taxicab Confessions" crossover, which, to say the least, would be a lot more interesting.
6. "Keeping Up With The Kardashians"
It's easy for me to take the high and mighty road with slutty famous chicks who are famous for being famous (and slutty) when I don't find most of them attractive really at all. But man, Kim Kardiashian, I have to admit, I just think she's fine as hell, if in a real superficial video chick way. Even I can't stomach a tedious reality show about her annoying family, though. If an eye candy chick really wants to be on TV, I suppose a reality show is a little more honest than trying to act, but it's not like her life is actually interesting.
7. "Chelsea Lately"
This Chelsea Handler chick keeps popping up on the E! channel, first as a talking head on their wannabe-VH1 list shows, then on the mediocre weekly "The Chelsea Handler Show," and now on the nightly talk show "Chelsea Lately." She's kind of hot in a leathery, overly tanned L.A. way, and kind of does the shocking, talking dirty schtick, albeit in a much more informal "one of the guys" way than, say, Sarah Silverman. The boasting point of this show is supposed to be laid back interviews that aren't just about plugging the guest's project, but there's still a little bit of awkwardness there. E! will probably cancel this and then give her a sketch comedy show or something.
8. "Best Week Ever"
I was pleasantly surprised to see my onetime acquaintance and co-star Amy Schumer pop up a couple times as a talking head on this show about a month ago, although I haven't seen her on there since. Good to see that "Last Comic Standing" opened up some doors for her, though. I still don't think this is as good a pop culture clip show as "The Soup," but I end up watching both every week anyway. It's interesting how they're 2 of the only shows completely unaffected by the WGA strike, though, presumably because all the writing is done by producers and on-air talent who aren't in the guild or officially designated as "writers." But it's getting kind of awkward how they have to constantly talk about the strike and make jokes about how there's fewer new shows to cover, without ever really addressing how they're still churning out new episodes.
9. "Family Guy"
I'm starting to get really fed up with this show. I've tried to watch some of the new episodes this season, and it just seems like they're getting worse and worse, mostly by going for more and more politically incorrect jokes. The 100th episode special, which featured a lot of interviews with appalled test screening audiences, only seemed to reinforce the fact that "Family Guy" is increasingly hanging their hat on a 'shocking' image a la "South Park." But they're never gonna be as bold or transgressive as that show, partly because they're on a broadcast network, and they shouldn't even try since that was never what was good about "Family Guy." And to go make the obligatory "Simpsons" comparison, they were just hitting their stride of the show's very best era around episode 100. If FOX decides to keep renewing "Family Guy" year after year the way they've done with "The Simpsons," can you imagine how mind-bogglingly awful and incoherent it will be by the 19th season?
10. "C.S.I."
I've probably said this before, but the way "C.S.I." occasionally puts its main characters in the line of fire, I guess to show that their job actually can be dangerous and isn't all nerdy lab work, was an asset in the past that's started to catch up with them. The show's been on for long enough now that pretty much every major character has been either almost killed, or kidnapped, or attacked my a suspect or something, usually for a season finale. The last one, where Sarah was the one in danger, was kind of interesting since it moved along the long running subplot of her secret relationship with Grissom, but it also effectively ended it, and her character in the show, since she ended up leaving the unit a few episodes later, and is no longer mentioned in the opening credits. Now it looks like they might be picking Warrick off next, with the weird William Friedkin-directed cliffhanger this week. There were a bunch of things tone-wise that were off in the episode, and it's always annoyed me how Warrick is basically a normal, competent secondary character who occasionally out of nowhere hits the skids gambling or popping pills or something. The cast of this show has always been its strong suit and what's made it way better than "C.S.I. Miami" or "C.S.I. New York," so messing with that probably isn't a good idea.
This entry was posted
on Friday, December 07, 2007 at 11:40 AM.
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