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So far I have been pleased with the quality of the latest
seasons for a variety of television programs, from British kings and other
upper class all the way to American marshals and police. In the case of Merlin and Downton Abbey, you
had happy endings with a marriage and promised marriage (not to give anything
away), which could have signaled the end of both programs. Fortunately, Merlin should be back for a
fifth season and Downton Abbey for a third.
That said, things may continue to change. Just as Merlin lost AnthonyHead (Uther) this past season and continued without a significant bump, Downton
Abbey may lose Maggie Smith (Lady Violet) after the upcoming season. While her wit will be sorely missed, the show
has enough solid acting and interesting characters to continue.
As far as Justified and Southland, though the blood-letting
was over-the-top at times (e.g., a human head in a SUV's wheel well and a
severed arm, to name a few), both shows had solid character development and a
cast we cared about. In Justified,
Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) found another worthy foe in a Detroit
mobster (Neal McDonough) affectionately called "babyhead" (don't
ask). Where would Marshal Raylan be
without the seasonable bad guy (or gal) who has to be terminated in the
season's last episode? Predictable? Yes.
Yet good TV nonetheless. And
luckily, it should be back for a fourth season.
Southland also had its moments as we watched officer Ben
Sherman (Ben McKenzie) continue to grow in his career while dealing with some
of his own demons. What was hard was
watching detective Lydia Adams (Regina King) hiding her pregnancy from
everyone, including herself at times, while still trying to be superwoman in a
stretched police forth. And officer John
Cooper (Michael Cudlitz) continued with his own recovery from addiction to pain
killers while working with a crooked cop (Lucy Liu) looking for the next stripe
on her sleeve. All in all, a great drama
that I hope to see return for a fifth season.
Remember William Shatner's $#*! My Dad Says on CBS, where the strange name was almost impossible to find on you cable guide? And then ABC had Good Christian Bitches, later changed to GBC. Well, now ABC has Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, premiering tonight at 9:30 pm EST. I think we can figure out the "B" in this case as well.
Other than this odd title, what can we expect? Here is ABC's summary of the new show:
A wide-eyed Midwestern girl moves to New York City to pursue her dream job only to find herself living with an outlandish girl with the morals of a pirate. June's (Dreama Walker) well-planned well-organized life takes a drastic turn when she arrives in New York to find that the corporate finance job she moved there for no longer exists. As she tries to navigate her newly single life in the big city, her Midwestern scruples are constantly put to the test by her wild and sophisticated party-girl roommate Chloe (Krysten Ritter) and Chloe's best friend, the actor James Van Der Beek (James Van Der Beek). The two girls form an unlikely friendship that leads them both to unexpected places and often-illegal experiences.
Most of the press has concerned the return of James Van Der Beek, the "star" from the earlier Dawson's Creek. Admittedly, Van Der Beek has done a nice job making fun of himself recently (see A**hole for Hire on Funny or Die - sorry, I had to play with the title), which has endeared him with past fans who saw him as a one-note character. The question now is whether his presence on this new show will become a worn-out gag or help the show gain both viewership and staying power. I have my doubts that this new series will stick around, and would like to say "Don't Trust the Suits in ABC," but I may watch the first episode to see what happens.
Showtime broadcasts season four of Nurse Jackie this evening (9 pm EST). Yes, after everything she has put herself and her family through the first three seasons, she is still with us. Without giving too much away, let's just say relationships and drugs continue to be a problem for Jackie. Enough said.
I like this 2009 New York magazine commentary on the first season (particularly the comparison to Hawkeye Pierce), which equally applies as we go into this latest season:
It’ll be interesting to see how audiences react to such a female character: Like Mad Men’s Don Draper, Jackie is never entirely knowable. She’s a charismatic cipher, a con woman in the scrubs of a saint—loving but manipulative, with a trickster’s impulses. Hugh Laurie’s Dr. House is one obvious analog; Jackie’s got a bit of Hawkeye Pierce in her too—a sharp-elbowed player who earns her sanctimony with the intelligence of her outrage. But the fact that she’s a woman, and a mother, is unsettling and new for TV: With her hair in flattened porcupine prickles, eyes squinting shrewdly, Falco’s bold, aggressive adult physicality (and her sneaky, bossy sexuality) is a welcome jolt in a universe of coltish supermodels. When the first episode mimics Mad Men’s final-curtain revelation, it’s a jolt to realize that this is a working mom who is perpetually stoned.
Showtime's Borgias returns this evening (10 pm EST), and I am guessing sex, family intrigue, and papal politics will keep all of us interested for another season. I was not sure if the program would make it past its first season, but I am glad it did.
The Borgias have grown on me, I am afraid to say. The antics of Jeremy Irons and his brood bring bright colors to a very dark period for the Catholic Church. And while Easter Day not be the best day to kick off such a show, as with Game of Thrones we were eagerly awaiting the series' spring return.
I like how The Hollywood Reporter summarizes the the start of the second season, yet the words could just as well summarize season one:
What propels Borgias most adroitly early this season is that for all the scheming Rodrigo Borgia (Jeremy Irons) did to get his hands on the papal robes, he cannot quite fathom how the same tricks might be undoing his own family. Like Tony Soprano, he's got trouble at home.
Let the new season begin.
Starz is trying its own hand at another period piece, this time Magic City. The new show, starting tonight at 10 pm EST, takes us to the Mad Men period. However, instead of New York Waspish businessmen, we find ourselves with the Jewish mob in Miami. Starz has done well with gladiators (Spartacus), Chicago politics (Boss), and even kings (Camelot). Okay, maybe not kings so much, but I am willing to give them a chance on this new show.
Set in Miami Beach in 1959, Starz advertises the story in this way:
As Ike Evans rings in the New Year at his luxurious Miramar Playa Hotel, Havana falls to Castro’s rebels. It’s a turbulent time in Miami, but it’s THE place to be. The Kennedys, the mob and the CIA all hold court here. And Ike, he’s the star of his hotel.
But everything comes at a price.
To finance his dream, he sold his soul to mob boss Ben “The Butcher” Diamond. Ike’s wife Vera, a former showgirl, and his three kids think he’s an honorable man, but he can’t break his pact with the devil. His life is a façade.
In fact, nothing at the Miramar Playa is what it seems. By day, it’s diving clowns and cha-cha lessons. By night, escorts have secret liaisons with husbands in the family cabanas, while Miami’s seedier residents and the law drift together to hear legendary singers, musicians and comics.
As Ike’s world threatens to implode, he fights for his family, and the Miramar Playa, in Magic City.
The pilot has plenty of action (you can view the first three shows at no cost on the Starz site). It also has a nice golden hue, similar to Mad Men, but the location (plenty of sun), cars, and architecture give the series a more upbeat setting, even if the main characters are still running around in dark suits. Compared to ABC's failed Playboy Club, Magic City comes across as a fresh story with interesting characters rather than the stereotypical characters of many programs (and I include HBO's Boardwalk Empire as a series that tends to ape rather than expand on the past). In fact, I was thinking the television-version of the mob was limited to dreary New Jersey, whereas Florida is so much more scenic. Can you picture the The Sopranos poolside in every episode? I think I will be watching more.
Update: I am happy to read in Entertainment Weekly that Starz has ordered a second season of Magic City.
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