TV Diary
1. "Lewis Black's Root Of All Evil"
I love Lewis Black as a standup, but "The Daily Show" has always utilized him in the most one-dimensional way possible, as basically a more apoplectic Dennis Miller. And Comedy Central giving him his own show seemed like it might be a "Colbert Report"-franchising of that persona into its own timeslot. Thankfully, this show has a novel format that allows Black to do what he does best in small doses and alternate with 2 other guest comics, who each take sides in a pro/con debate. It's essentially a much more structured version of the saggy, improv-heavy mess that was "Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn," and at least based on the one episode I've seen, it works really well. But then, that episode featured Paul F. Tompkins, who I've always liked and has been the only funny person on "Best Week Ever" for a while now.
2. "The Millionaire Matchmaker"
One of the more repulsive reality shows to come down the pike lately, and yet I could not look away. The whole world and profession it depicts is inherently fascinating, which I suppose is why they made a TV show about it. I mean, at this point there are a ton of non-famous millionaires who are just normal, dorky guys who mostly got rich by having no social skills and putting all their time into their career. So it's interesting to see what kind of complete crackpot woman who doesn't appear to understand anything about sex, love, dating or marriage can convince these guys to hire her to find them a mate. I hope a lot of her potential clients see this show and it's a wakeup call that they can do better on their own.
3. "The Riches"
Last year on this blog I gradually charted the downward trajectory of my initial excitement about the first season of this show and ultimate disappointment with how the finale ended with a lot of loose ends and lame cliffhangers. But I was still optimistic that the 2nd season would get back on track after some of the more sensationalistic plot twists got resolved and the show could get back to realizing its early potential. And though the season premiere unfortunately piled on more twists and violence in lieu of plot, it was thankfully kind of short (seriously, I swear there were only 25 minutes of new stuff padded out with recaps of the first season and teasers for future episodes), and the 2nd episode was much better. Shame the strike cut this season short with only 7 episodes, but at least that's only a small commitment for me in case this show continues to squander its potential.
4. "How I Met Your Mother"
I was skeptical about the Britney stunt, but it totally worked out: its highest ratings ever, helping assure its renewal for next season, and Britney was actually pretty secondary to the actual plot of the episode, with the much more attractive Sarah Chalke taking the main love interest role. The last few episodes have been kind of lacking in the Lily and Marshall department, though, they used to be one of the funniest things about the show.
I love Lewis Black as a standup, but "The Daily Show" has always utilized him in the most one-dimensional way possible, as basically a more apoplectic Dennis Miller. And Comedy Central giving him his own show seemed like it might be a "Colbert Report"-franchising of that persona into its own timeslot. Thankfully, this show has a novel format that allows Black to do what he does best in small doses and alternate with 2 other guest comics, who each take sides in a pro/con debate. It's essentially a much more structured version of the saggy, improv-heavy mess that was "Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn," and at least based on the one episode I've seen, it works really well. But then, that episode featured Paul F. Tompkins, who I've always liked and has been the only funny person on "Best Week Ever" for a while now.
2. "The Millionaire Matchmaker"
One of the more repulsive reality shows to come down the pike lately, and yet I could not look away. The whole world and profession it depicts is inherently fascinating, which I suppose is why they made a TV show about it. I mean, at this point there are a ton of non-famous millionaires who are just normal, dorky guys who mostly got rich by having no social skills and putting all their time into their career. So it's interesting to see what kind of complete crackpot woman who doesn't appear to understand anything about sex, love, dating or marriage can convince these guys to hire her to find them a mate. I hope a lot of her potential clients see this show and it's a wakeup call that they can do better on their own.
3. "The Riches"
Last year on this blog I gradually charted the downward trajectory of my initial excitement about the first season of this show and ultimate disappointment with how the finale ended with a lot of loose ends and lame cliffhangers. But I was still optimistic that the 2nd season would get back on track after some of the more sensationalistic plot twists got resolved and the show could get back to realizing its early potential. And though the season premiere unfortunately piled on more twists and violence in lieu of plot, it was thankfully kind of short (seriously, I swear there were only 25 minutes of new stuff padded out with recaps of the first season and teasers for future episodes), and the 2nd episode was much better. Shame the strike cut this season short with only 7 episodes, but at least that's only a small commitment for me in case this show continues to squander its potential.
4. "How I Met Your Mother"
I was skeptical about the Britney stunt, but it totally worked out: its highest ratings ever, helping assure its renewal for next season, and Britney was actually pretty secondary to the actual plot of the episode, with the much more attractive Sarah Chalke taking the main love interest role. The last few episodes have been kind of lacking in the Lily and Marshall department, though, they used to be one of the funniest things about the show.
This entry was posted
on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 11:34 PM.
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Michael : 9:59 AM