a) "Treme"
As big a deal as a new David Simon series invariably is for me, I kind of am just assuming that anything he does not set in Baltimore will never have the kind of resonance for me that his Baltimore shows/books have had, even beyond the simple fact that "The Wire" is a tough act to follow. And as worthy as post-Katrina New Orleans is as subject matter, I have a hard time seeing this beyond nearly as complex or fascinating a show, just because there's such a singular event and problem to draw everything back to. Still, this is pretty damn exciting, especially given that it features several of my favorite "The Wire"/"Homicide"/"The Corner" actors alongside guys like John Goodman and Steve Zahn who are capable of great things with the right material. The pilot seemed to be more setting things in motion and establishing a tone than anything else, and I hope that a real plot kicks in in the next few episodes, but right now I'm enjoying just watching this cast & crew go to work.

b) "Tough Love: Couples"
The first two seasons of "Tough Love" struck a fine balance between reality TV sleaze and self-help cheese, and this incarnation looks to lean more toward the latter, but I'm kind of cool with that, and it looks like there are a few nutjobs and douchebags that will keep it interesting. My general interest in what makes couples tick and why some work and some ultimately don't is probably the same reason I'm one of the only people who doesn't seem to hate "The Marriage Ref."

c) "Justified"
It feels like this show is FX's attempt to repeat the success of "Sons of Anarchy," putting kind of anachronistic character(s) into a modern setting and trying to convincingly cultivate a lawless small town environment without straining plausibility too much (in that show it's an old-fashioned biker gang, in this one it's a wild west-style lawman wearing a cowboy hat). That show has a whole lot of interesting relationships going on, though, where "Justified," which was based on a short story, feels kind of spread thin from a shaky foundation, and the pilot establishes a dynamic between three main characters that is just not interesting at all. Plus Timothy Olyphant may be the movie star coming to TV here, but it's not like he's ever carried any especially good movie, and I'm not totally convinced in his ability to make this show work, likable as he is. But the show is slowly getting better after a slow start, as it gets into more procedural type cases for him to work on, and the last episode with Alan Rock committing a bunch of senseless acts of violence felt like a whole different world from the boring first couple episodes.

d) "Ugly Americans"
Time and experience has proven that Comedy Central doesn't really know all that much about comedy, and that their great shows may have happened more or less by accident, but it still amazes me when they put on shows like this with virtually no comedic value at all. Like, this is barely even a show.

e) "Spartacus: Blood and Sand"
My line about enjoying "True Blood" has been that I just appreciate a premium cable show going balls to the wall with as much sex and violence as it can get away with, but this show (which could easily be called "Blood and Bare Asses" instead) pretty much disproves that theory by being completely amateurish and boring. My wife has been watching it a lot, but I think she might be enjoying it on the same level as SyFy original movies. It almost makes 300 seem artful and restrained.

f) "Parenthood"
I like the rhythm this show has been setting, where every character has one plot or arc they're dealing with and it just plays out in small increments in each episode and overlapping with other characters in ways that aren't too predictable or mechanical. That may not seem like much, but it's so easy in shows like this for the writers to get antsy and throw a bunch of crazy developments into the gears to make things more exciting, and instead they're being more patient about it. I still have a hard time buying the cast as a family -- I know a 17-year gap between siblings isn't unheard of but the idea of Erika Christensen, who's the same age as me, having Peter Krause as a big brother is weird to me. Plus noone looks alike, it's just central casting attractive white people central.

g) "Lost"
The last season has just been flying by, and while I'll withhold a lot of my criticisms depending on how the remainder pans out, I have been enjoying the last few episodes a lot more than the first few, pretty much since they got out of that boring styrofoam temple it's been getting consistently more entertaining. I wish they didn't keep stringing along the flash-sideways thing for so long, but it's starting to pay off, at least. I really want my mind to be blown by something big, though, and I mean soon, not just in the finale.

h) "American Idol"
I know there's only so many theme weeks they can do with this show that would actually work, but these guys are fuckin' killing me with the same shit over and over. Beatles week and Elvis week back to back? Please! I would love to be a producer on this show and try to bring the slightest bit of freshness to these song selections. I'm still just kind of half-heartedly watching this season, tuning in for the first half of episodes and then flipping to "Lost," so I don't really have much of an opinion besides rooting for Siobhan, even when she's not great or does the big notes too much, and not really buying the hype with Crystal. The guys are all different flavors of bland, pretty much.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 16, 2010 at 5:01 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.