TV Diary
a) "Scrubs: Med School"
It seems like nobody's especially happy to see "Scrubs" dragged out with a new semi-spinoff with a new cast of characters and a few of the old ones hanging out Mr.-Belding-and-Screeching along, whether they liked the show and hated its (pretty slight) decline over the years or they hated it all along and just wanted to see it finally die. As corny as it is to admit it, I do generally enjoy this show, and I laughed at these new episodes, and was glad that the one best new character from the last season, Denise, is still on. Definitely pretty weird the way they segued this stuff, though, and most of the new cast isn't terribly promising, and I have no idea how much J.D./Turk/Kelso/etc. are sticking around or if they're just doing a few transitional episodes. This show needs Dr. Cox to be worth a damn, though.
b) "V"
I never saw the original show they based this on, but it seems well regarded and I figured this might be worth a try. But man, a couple episodes in it's pretty bleak, in that "this is sci-fi so we don't have to worry about coming up with a good 'plot' or interesting 'characters'" way where some genre shows just expect the premise to drive everything and make no effort at actual good fiction. Elizabeth Mitchell has such an intangible creepiness to her that putting her in this show but not as one of the aliens is almost as wrong as "Lost" turning her into one-of-the-Others-that's-really-one-of-us.
c) "The Wanda Sykes Show"
I have a theory that after Rosie and Ellen (and Paula Poundstone, I guess), television executives are prepared to give talk shows to any and all lesbian comedians, and the fact that Wanda got her own show within a year of coming out is strong supporting evidence in my favor. She's really naturally funny in any context, but what little I've watched of this has been unpromising, it looks like they have that lame-ass format of devoting a lot of the showtime to having several comedians sit around and aimlessly riff on current events, which really just never works and only reminds me shit like "Chelsea Lately."
d) "The League"
I don't particularly like football, fantasy or otherwise, which may be part of why I'm not really into this show, but I think it's also not very good. It has some promise, though, I like the cast and the overall tone, and occasionally it makes me laugh, it just doesn't get all the way there.
e) "Secret Girlfriend"
I haven't seen "The Jeff Dunham Show," but I feel pretty confident in declaring this the worst piece of shit Comedy Central's ever put on the air. I don't even know what the point of it is other than showing moderate amounts of T&A, it's one of these shows that mistakes a general air of crude levity for actual comedy.
f) "Rescue Ink"
It seems like there are so many animal rescue shows on cable now and most of them are horribly depressing, but this one has the somewhat amusing angle of being a bunch of tough-looking tattooed dudes saving the endangered little kittens and puppites, and overall I think the show hits the right tone of making you feel strongly about what they're doing while showing you enough good deeds that you're not totally bummed out about it all.
g) "Gary Unmarried"
This show is totally stupid and predictable, but in a fairly functional and entertaining way, and it's starting to get into a nice groove. The recent run of episodes with Rob Riggle guesting as Jay Mohr's brother were good, I wouldn't mind seeing him as a regular. Paula Marshall hitting middle age and finally having a show that lasts more than one season playing a bitchy ex-wife is kind of a bummer to me, though, she was pretty much my dream woman in all of the many cancelled shows and guest star turns she had on various sitcoms in the '90s.
h) "That Metal Show"
I appreciate VH1 Classic putting a show featuring dorky guys talking about a niche musical interest on the air, but man I wish it was actually any good. Eddie Trunk is like Matt Pinfield if Matt Pinfield was just way too edgy and exciting for you, and Jim Florentine is some kind of disturbing zombie that's totally incapable of vocal inflection, which makes it really bizarre that his day job is as a standup comedian.
i) "Hoarders"
I am not the most organized person in the world, and I have some unfortunate packrat tendencies, so watching a show like this just gives me real "there but for the grade of god go I"-type chills at what my vice could've become if I didn't keep it under control (honestly, if my wife hadn't rightfully made me get CD shelves before the baby was born, my music collection would still look a bit like some of the habitats you see on this show). But man this is really harrowing stuff, beyond just hitting somewhat close to home for me.
It seems like nobody's especially happy to see "Scrubs" dragged out with a new semi-spinoff with a new cast of characters and a few of the old ones hanging out Mr.-Belding-and-Screeching along, whether they liked the show and hated its (pretty slight) decline over the years or they hated it all along and just wanted to see it finally die. As corny as it is to admit it, I do generally enjoy this show, and I laughed at these new episodes, and was glad that the one best new character from the last season, Denise, is still on. Definitely pretty weird the way they segued this stuff, though, and most of the new cast isn't terribly promising, and I have no idea how much J.D./Turk/Kelso/etc. are sticking around or if they're just doing a few transitional episodes. This show needs Dr. Cox to be worth a damn, though.
b) "V"
I never saw the original show they based this on, but it seems well regarded and I figured this might be worth a try. But man, a couple episodes in it's pretty bleak, in that "this is sci-fi so we don't have to worry about coming up with a good 'plot' or interesting 'characters'" way where some genre shows just expect the premise to drive everything and make no effort at actual good fiction. Elizabeth Mitchell has such an intangible creepiness to her that putting her in this show but not as one of the aliens is almost as wrong as "Lost" turning her into one-of-the-Others-that's-really-one-of-us.
c) "The Wanda Sykes Show"
I have a theory that after Rosie and Ellen (and Paula Poundstone, I guess), television executives are prepared to give talk shows to any and all lesbian comedians, and the fact that Wanda got her own show within a year of coming out is strong supporting evidence in my favor. She's really naturally funny in any context, but what little I've watched of this has been unpromising, it looks like they have that lame-ass format of devoting a lot of the showtime to having several comedians sit around and aimlessly riff on current events, which really just never works and only reminds me shit like "Chelsea Lately."
d) "The League"
I don't particularly like football, fantasy or otherwise, which may be part of why I'm not really into this show, but I think it's also not very good. It has some promise, though, I like the cast and the overall tone, and occasionally it makes me laugh, it just doesn't get all the way there.
e) "Secret Girlfriend"
I haven't seen "The Jeff Dunham Show," but I feel pretty confident in declaring this the worst piece of shit Comedy Central's ever put on the air. I don't even know what the point of it is other than showing moderate amounts of T&A, it's one of these shows that mistakes a general air of crude levity for actual comedy.
f) "Rescue Ink"
It seems like there are so many animal rescue shows on cable now and most of them are horribly depressing, but this one has the somewhat amusing angle of being a bunch of tough-looking tattooed dudes saving the endangered little kittens and puppites, and overall I think the show hits the right tone of making you feel strongly about what they're doing while showing you enough good deeds that you're not totally bummed out about it all.
g) "Gary Unmarried"
This show is totally stupid and predictable, but in a fairly functional and entertaining way, and it's starting to get into a nice groove. The recent run of episodes with Rob Riggle guesting as Jay Mohr's brother were good, I wouldn't mind seeing him as a regular. Paula Marshall hitting middle age and finally having a show that lasts more than one season playing a bitchy ex-wife is kind of a bummer to me, though, she was pretty much my dream woman in all of the many cancelled shows and guest star turns she had on various sitcoms in the '90s.
h) "That Metal Show"
I appreciate VH1 Classic putting a show featuring dorky guys talking about a niche musical interest on the air, but man I wish it was actually any good. Eddie Trunk is like Matt Pinfield if Matt Pinfield was just way too edgy and exciting for you, and Jim Florentine is some kind of disturbing zombie that's totally incapable of vocal inflection, which makes it really bizarre that his day job is as a standup comedian.
i) "Hoarders"
I am not the most organized person in the world, and I have some unfortunate packrat tendencies, so watching a show like this just gives me real "there but for the grade of god go I"-type chills at what my vice could've become if I didn't keep it under control (honestly, if my wife hadn't rightfully made me get CD shelves before the baby was born, my music collection would still look a bit like some of the habitats you see on this show). But man this is really harrowing stuff, beyond just hitting somewhat close to home for me.
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on Saturday, December 05, 2009 at 1:55 PM.
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