New Mini-Series: The Red Road

If you are looking for a variation on Justified, but this time set in the mountains of New Jersey, you may want to check out tonight's premiere of the Sundance Channel's The Red Road.   The term "Red Road" is a Native American concept of taking the right path, and that is quite a tall order in the story that unfolds.  Here is the story via the Sundance Blog:

THE RED ROAD is a gripping, dramatic thriller that presents two distinct visions of America today as played out through the conflict between two different men.  The series revolves around a local sheriff (Henderson) struggling to keep his family together while simultaneously policing two clashing communities: the small town where he grew up just outside of New York City, and the neighboring mountains—home of a federally unrecognized Native American tribe.  After a terrible tragedy and cover-up further divides these worlds, an uneasy alliance is forged between the officer and a dangerous member of the tribe (Momoa).  As each of the two men find themselves increasingly compromised by the other and the emotional ghosts of their collective pasts begin to emerge, the lives of both quickly unravel, leading to terrible consequences.

If you want to see the pilot episode immediately or miss the premiere, the episode is available on the Sundance Channel's website.   I already viewed this first episode and look forward to the remaining five episodes of this mini-series.  

The "Native American tribe" in question is an interesting story by itself.  The story involves the Ramapough Mountain Indians, a tribe recognized by the state of New Jersey but not the Federal government.  The tribe states it is a Lenape tribe that mixed with others in colonial times, from runaway slaves to the Dutch and Hessians.  This mix is apparent in the first scene in the series, where a Native American dance is underway while the viewers clearly come from a variety of racial backgrounds.  The open question on tribal status is clear when the main character from this tribe chastises a few kids playing cowboys and indians, noting that the stories of Native American ancestry are just that - stories.  

Given all the new shows and new seasons starting up this winter, you may feel you lack time for one more show.  If so, put this on your list of shows to see later.  It is worth your time. 

Spies, Hippies, and Vikings

The rest of February will be busy with the return of three television favorites.  The spy-thriller The Americans returns tonight on FX for its second season.  With the demise of ABC's Assets, a real-life story of America's spy industry, it appears we like fiction better.  

Tomorrow you can see the fourth season of IFC's Portlandia, the crazy comedy that highlights a strange corner of American culture.  Check out The Celery Incident if you want to see what you are missing.  

And finally, if you want a little bit of "history" to fill your night, you cannot go wrong tomorrow night with the second season of the History Channel's Vikings, where two brothers find themselves on different sides of a dispute that threatens everything they have built together.  This clip will help you to catch up on season one.  Yes, two full nights of intrigue, comedy, and bloody battles.  Not bad at all. 

New Shows This Week: Mind Games and Mixology

The winter continues to be very busy with the introduction of two new series from ABC.  Here is a quick summary.

-- Mind Games (February 25):  Christian Slater is back again with another new series.  It seems nothing sticks with him and I am not sure this new venture will be any better.  Here is the quick ABC summary:

With a little bit of science, a dash of con-artistry, plus a smattering of Jedi mind tricks, brothers Ross (Christian Slater) and Clark Edwards (Steve Zahn) can tailor a plan to influence any life-altering situation, thereby making their clients' dreams come true and their nightmares go away. They are partners in Edwards and Associates, an unusual business based on the belief that people's decisions are influenced by their environment in ways they're not aware. 

This new show seems to be a one-hour version of the movie Inception where the goal is to get inside someone's head and change their behavior, which could be an interesting premise for a show.  The trailer gives a good overview of how the gang goes about its work, but may give away a little too much. 

-- Mixology (February 26):  This premiere seems to be less about getting into someone's head, but rather getting them into bed (okay, maybe there is a parallel).  The 13 episodes of season one follow 10 people over one night at a bar as each tries to "connect," one might say.  Mixology is written by the same team that gave us The Hangover.  Of course, that could mean monkeys, tattoos, and professional boxers, but the trailer indicates the show may go in a different direction. 

Netflix Program Overwhelms the Internet

Last week, with the release of season two of Netflix's House of Cards, Netflix users noticed a perceptible slow down of service as many Americans started to watch the entire series from the comfort of their living rooms. As a result, Netflix and Comcast just penned an agreement to improve the download service available to Netflix customers on the Comcast network.  Yes, as Netflix consumes more and more of the Internet bandwidth, the threat of Internet TV is becoming clear to the major cable providers.  I think Frank Underwood said it best in a recent episode of House of Cards:

...every kitten grows up to be a cat. They seem so harmless, at first, small, quiet, lapping up their saucer of milk. But once their claws get long enough, they draw blood. Sometimes from the hand that feeds them. For those of us climbing to the top of the food chain, there can be no mercy. There is but one rule: Hunt or be hunted.

The New Roswell: The CW's Star-Crossed

Remember that story about a group of stranded kids from another planet who try to fit into a high school setting?  And two of the alien kids were siblings?  And one of the alien boys falls for an Earthling girl?  And he even shows his powers in the first episode of the show by healing another student?  Well, you may remember the story as The WB's 1999 series Roswell, but it has been reincarnated as Star-Crossed on the 2014 version of The WB - The CW. The first episode premiered last Monday (February 17th) and you can still see it on The CW's website.  Overall, it was interesting enough, but so far it pales in comparison to other recent alien invasion stories.

But first, here is the basic story from the CW: 

When Emery was 6 years old, an alien spacecraft crash-landed in her small town. Whether they came in peace or with more sinister intentions didn’t matter: a fierce battle erupted as humans fought for control over their new rivals, an alien species called the Atrians. In the midst of the conflict, Roman, a 6-year-old Atrian boy, found his way to a shed behind Emery’s house, where she protected him from harm, bringing him food, comfort – and friendship. In their brief time together, Emery and Roman forged a deep bond, but the authorities wasted no time tracking Roman down and capturing him in a violent confrontation. Emery has grown up believing that Roman was killed that day. Ten years later, the Atrians have been acclimated to life on Earth, but they are interned in a heavily-guarded camp known as the Sector to keep them separate from humans. Now, for the first time, a group of Atrian teens will enroll in a suburban human high school, with the goal of testing the feasibility of human/alien integration. The eyes of the nation and the whole world are fixed on this historical social experiment, an endeavor fraught with suspicion and fear. In the mayhem of the first day, Emery is amazed to learn that Roman was not killed by the authorities and is, in fact, one of the Atrian students. Their childhood bond is quickly rekindled - in a school and a society that distrusts everything about the Atrians, Emery and Roman have found each other again. However, their relationship is threatened by the small-mindedness of their respective communities and the political agendas of people in power. While the world around them rages with anger and prejudice, their bond becomes increasingly strong and increasingly dangerous. As an epic Romeo and Juliet romance unfolds, a violent encounter between Roman’s father and Emery’s father occurs in the Sector. Can Roman and Emery’s love - and peace between the species – survive?

And now a few comments.   First, similar to Roswell, the alien kids are almost identical to human kids.  In this case, a few simple tattoos are the only variation, and I can already see future episodes where human kids start acquiring similar tattoos because it is "cool" to be an outsider.  Of course, the alien healing powers and even reference to a second heart may mix things up down the road, but the variation in biology to date has not been all that overwhelming, which makes this more of a show about fitting into high school than any commentary on alien otherness, as you get in the movie District 9.  Similar to District 9, you do have a ship in the middle of the city, but this one is a wreck rather than a hovering monster.  And for some reason, 10 years after the alien crash the hulking damaged ship in Star-Crossed is still being dismantled.  You would think the Pentagon would have moved it out of the main shopping district of Baton Rouge, but maybe they have other things to do than investigate AN ALIEN SPACESHIP! 

Some of my favorite recent invasion TV shows include SyFy's Defiance and TNT's Falling Skies.  In the first, you have a terra-reformed Earth after a horrible alien space war where our planet was collateral damage.  In the second, you have a still smoldering Earth with the alien occupiers continuing to wipe-out the last few humans.  Both are bleak and have little time for high school romances.  So my suggestion is that you check out these other shows if you want to see a true clash of cultures.  However, if you want to see an alien-version of Twilight or Dawson's Creek, this is the show for you.  And if you want to see the original alien boy meets girl and takes her to the prom, you still cannot go wrong by revisiting Roswell.

Weekend Family Shows: A Substitute Dad and a Blind Dad

Two new shows premiere this weekend on NBC illustrating different family dynamics.  Both are being shown right after the end of the evening Olympic games.  Here is a quick preview:

-- About a Boy (February 22nd, half-hour episodes):  Yes, this is the same Nick Hornby story that was turned into a movie with Hugh Grant.  Yet NBC believes a retelling of the story over many more hours will be a success.  You can be the judge.  Here is the basic story via NBC:

After writing a hit song, Will Freeman (David Walton, "Bent," "Perfect Couples") was granted a life of free time, free love and freedom from financial woes. He's single, unemployed and loving it. So imagine his surprise when Fiona (Minnie Driver, "Good Will Hunting," "Barney's Version"), a needy single mom and her oddly charming 11-year-old son, Marcus (Benjamin Stockham, "1600 Penn"), move in next door and disrupt his perfect world.

When Marcus begins dropping by his home unannounced, Will's not so sure about being a kid's new best friend, until, of course, Will discovers that women find single dads irresistible. That changes everything and a deal is struck: Marcus will pretend to be Will's son and in return, Marcus is allowed to chill at Will's house, playing Ping-Pong and gorging on steaks, something his very vegan mom would never allow. Before he realizes it, Will starts to enjoy the visits and even finds himself looking out for the kid. In fact, this newfound friendship may very well teach him a thing or two that he never imagined possible - about himself and caring for others. Also starring is Al Madrigal ("Gary Unmarried"). 

And here is a less charitable summary from HitFix:

Really, the entire pilot is a watered-down version of the plot of the book and movie, compressed into 23 minutes and with all of the darkness removed. And once Will and Marcus have gone through so much in so short a period of time, and he's broken down Fiona's defenses enough for her to recognize that he's a good, and needed, influence on her son, there's no story left to tell.

It sounds like the pilot episode may be enough.

-- Growing Up Fisher (February 23rd, half-hour episodes):  This new series has a family with a different twist - a blind dad.  One can argue a similar family situation was recently tried by NBC with a better known actor - Michael J. Fox in the Michael J. Fox Show - but we have plenty of room on the TV dial for variations on a theme.  The network's only concern may be that the Michael J. Fox show has already been canceled, so this either indicates the network is on a dangerous path or the way is now clear.  Anyway, here is NBC's story summary:

It's not every family that's brought closer together by divorce, but then again, the Fishers are anything but typical. Take Mel Fisher (J.K. Simmons, "The Closer," "Law & Order"), for example. He's chopping down trees, showing his daughter how to drive, and playing football with his son… except that Mel's blind. Then there's Joyce (Jenna Elfman, "Dharma & Greg," "1600 Penn"), who is your typical teenager - really into fashion, busy with school - but the problem is she's Mom. That makes it difficult for her actual teenage daughter, Katie (Ava Deluca-Verley, "Southland"), whose advice (and clothes) Joyce is always seeking. At the center of all this is Henry (Eli Baker), the Fishers' 11-year-old son. Having always been his dad's eyes and wingman, Henry is less than thrilled when his job is outsourced to Mel's new guide dog, Elvis. While the boy is at first reluctant to accept the changes that Elvis brings, adult Henry (voiceover by Jason Bateman, "Arrested Development," "Identity Thief") realizes upon reflection that his parents' split finally allowed the Fishers to become one happy (divorced) family. 

A Different Family: The Fosters

In my earlier post on my favorite new shows from 2013, I mentioned ABC Family's The Fosters as a nice addition to TV family dramas.  The family consists of a bi-racial lesbian couple raising five children - one biological son, adopted girl/boy twins, and two foster siblings.  Well, it appears Emily Nussbaum from The New Yorker magazine is also a fan of the show.  In her article "Sweet and Low," she states:

"The Fosters" is a perfect example of why it makes sense to bake diversity into the premise of a TV show - once its there, you don't have to add it later, through romantic interests or a "diverse" plot in Season 3, as many cable dramas have done.  The characters fee like individuals, not like abstractions.

This is an excellent point.  Once you get past the construction of the family, what you have is the typical problems of a family with a number of extra twists.  For instance, does the biological son have privileges beyond the adopted children?  Will the foster children be sent back or can they too be adopted?  And what happens when potential "brother" and "sister" find they are attracted to one another?  This is not Flowers in the Attic, but honest questions about a constructed family. 

Amazon Pilots Part II: Sorting Them Out (The After and Bosch)

A clown, a cop, and an old lady enter an elevator...  This is the set up for a bad joke and a particularly bad pilot titled The After.  I still cannot determine if this Amazon pilot is a serious drama or a comedy masked as a bad drama.  

The setup to the story is pretty basic.  A group of people become stuck in an elevator (including a clown). The elevator stops operating and the group need to climb out at the garage level.  While there, they learn they are stuck in the garage with no power, another couple joins them (a lawyer and prostitute, of course), and they encounter escaped convicts, one of whom is shot to increase the drama.  Then they learn the learn they were in the elevator for three days, a story line they never pick up again.  Then...okay, I am already tired. Just say it later involves one random explosion, crowds inexplicably running around in the city, an escape to a mansion, Latino thugs, and ultimately (spoiler! - if you really care) an alien.

 The writing is lousy, the acting is atrocious, and the mimicking of so many better shows that preceded it is sad.  I was not overwhelmed with the acting in NBC's Revolution, but those actors are Oscar-material compared to these clowns (okay, one clown and the others).  What is even worse is that the viewer ratings are overwhelmingly positive.  Do these people own a television?  I am with the 412 who gave it one star, only because I cannot give it zero stars. Here is one comment from the one-star category:

This show was so sloppily written with a bunch of stereotypical ethnic characters it was nearly offensive. Token black male prisoner, angry drunk Irishman, ethnic female cop, Mexican gang-bangers, sleazy white lawyer and his bimbo gf, rich Jewish lady, strong yet needy female lead. Bin this waste.

Enough said.  The good news is that I  completely enjoyed another pilot - Bosch. The pilot is a step above the typical police serial primarily due to the acting.  Titus Welliver (Sons of Anarchy) plays Harry Bosch, a divorced detective trying to keep his badge after a questionable shooting and related trial.  In the meantime, he starts to investigate the murder of a young boy while also initiating a relationship with a street cop.  

The pilot is based on a Michael Connelly's series with Harry Bosch, starting with The Black Echo.  Here is a quick summary of the book's plot (via Amazon), which is a completely different storyline from the pilot but gives you some background on Bosch:

For maverick LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch, the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal...because the murdered man was a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat" who had fought side by side with him in a hellish underground war. Now Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam. From a dangerous maze of blind alleys to a daring criminal heist beneath the city, his survival instincts will once again be tested to their limit. Pitted against enemies inside his own department and forced to make the agonizing choice between justice and vengeance, Bosch goes on the hunt for a killer whose true face will shock him.

All in all, the production quality was solid, the acting superb, and the story line strong enough for an audience to want more.  Amazon has a winner here.

The Supernatural Spin-off

Just as Buffy the Vampire Slayer produced the spin-off Angel, it seems Supernatural, another slayer series, will produce offspring.  The success of Sam and Dean Winchester has spawned the new series Tribes.  The 20th episode of the current season of Supernatural will bring to life a new set of characters that will then take the story elsewhere.   

TVLine has the layout of the new cast, noting the story will be set in Chicago and involve five monster crime families.  I guess Chicago is a good setting since it already hosted some monstrous crime families in the past.

It will be interesting to see if the new show can duplicate the success of the original.  Sam and Dean are today's darker version of the Hardy Boys, whereas the new show seems to be a more typical collection of characters.  As long as Tribes has similar writing and does not take itself too seriously, it should do well.  The Vampire Diaries already has its spin-off in New Orleans, so now Chicago has a chance. 

An Odd Valentine: House of Cards

On Valentine's Day you will have the opportunity to watch the second season of House of Cards on Netflix with your sweetheart.  However, Congressman Francis Underwood and his wife Claire are the furthest thing from a model couple for budding love birds.  Their relationship is a strange mix of calculating power, fear of others, and self-inflicted pain.  Its what the Republicans always feared about the Clinton marriage, but in this case it is true (on TV, that is). 

In season one we saw Francis (Kevin Spacey) get passed over for the Secretary of State position, and for the rest of the season he clawed his way back to the top over a series of bodies, both alive and quite dead.  In the meantime, Claire (Robin Wright) had her own struggles keeping her non-profit afloat using questionable financial resources while stepping over a few bodies herself.  This was truly a couple forged in hell bent on power through any means necessary. 

Are there many other players here?  Of course, as with any game of chess, but you always have your eyes on the king and queen pieces.  This is the modern version of MacBeth with plenty of sex and murder to keep the crowds coming back.  It is necessarily new?  No.  But it is well done and makes Washington a much more interesting and functional place than you might believe from the daily newspaper stories.  

Netflix made a shrewd bet when it spent $100 million on the two season series, and now it has committed to a third season as well.  That suits me just fine since this is a terrific series that keeps you at the edge of your seat.  That said, I think I will watch my episodes weekly since it lasts that much longer. 

New Pilots Proposed on Amazon

Last year Amazon reached out to the public and asked us to comment on a number of new pilots to determine which ones the company would develop into full-blown series. It worked well, and Alpha House and Betas were the resulting new shows.  I like both of these new series and look forward to another chance to be part of the selection process.  

Well, we now have another chance with a new batch of dramas and comedies.  You can check them out yourself and provide your input.  The five new adult shows are as follows:

-- The After (one-hour Sci-fi drama):  Eight strangers are thrown together by mysterious forces and must help each other survive in a violent world.

-- Bosch (one-hour police drama):  A homicide detective works to solve the murder of a boy while standing trial for the murder of a serial killer. 

-- Mozart in the Jungle (half-hour comedy):  Sex, drugs — and classical music — see what happens behind the curtains at the symphony.

-- The Rebels (half-hour comedy):  Julie is in over her head when her husband suddenly dies, leaving her the owner of a pro football team. 

-- Transparent (half-hour drama):  A family with serious boundary issues have their past and future unravel after a dramatic admission. 

I plan to watch all of them this week and provide feedback.  Compared to the networks, this seems to be a better way to go rather than killing new shows mid-season, which has to be expensive.  And here it is the public deciding rather than advertisers reacting to some social pressure group (of six paying members).  Give it a try.  

Crackle: Check Out the Second Season of Chosen

About this time last year I discussed Crackle's new online series Chosen starring Milo Ventimiglia (who also produces the series).  It turned out to be a good, yet gritty, thriller with his character being tasked to hunt and kill others while being hunted himself.  All of this was done in this strange setting where the police and others seemed to be in on this warped and deadly game.  Well, it is back and this time Chad Michael Murray plays one of the victims in this adult version of The Hunger Games, whereas Brandon Routh has a playboy role that we learn more about at the season progresses.  Here is Crackle's quick summary of the season two story:

Season two of Crackle’s original series picks up where the first left off, as Ian (Milo Ventimiglia) and Laura Mitchell (Nicky Whelan) take their daughter Ellie and hide out in a remote cabin hoping to escape the game and pull their family back together.

Back in the city, we meet Jacob Orr (Chad Michael Murray), a down-and-out bartender who is struggling to make ends meet as he takes care of his handicapped brother. On the way home from a party thrown by his millionaire best friend, Max Banyan (Brandon Routh), Jacob finds “the box” on his passenger seat. After being shot at by another “hunter,” Jacob quickly realizes that he has been thrust into the deadly game. He must rely on his most basic survival instincts to protect his new love interest, Avery Sharp (Sarah Roemer), and his brother — all while being forced to hunt down a target of his own.

Having watched the second season, I can only warn potential viewers that the program is more disturbing than season one.  Murray does a nice job holding the episodes together, while Ventimiglia and Routh have smaller but meaningful roles.  I thought Murray's talent was wasted on the never-ending One Tree Hill, so it is good to see him playing new characters.  In fact, I hope we see more of Ventimiglia, Murray, and Routh in more productions (though I won't say whether or not you will see them again the planned third season of Chosen since I don't want to give anything away).

Jack Gleeson: Being King is Not So Great

I am looking forward to the return of Game of Thrones on April 6th.  While I am sorry for the loss of some much-loved characters in the last season, plenty of characters remain in season four to either give us hope or boil our blood.  King Joffrey Baratheon is one character the effortlessly can cause good people conniption fits. 

But if you want to learn a little bit about Jack Gleeson, who plays King Joffrey, you might find his talk at the Oxford Union Society interesting.  Unlike King Joffrey, the limelight holds little appeal for the 21 year-old who looks forward to continuing his studies and Trinity College in Dublin (philosophy and theology).  One of his statements in particular seemed to summarize his disdain for the nature of celebrity in our society:

It was an atmosphere from which I instantly wanted to retreat.  I detested the superficial elevation and com-modification of it all juxtaposed with the grotesque self-involvement it would sometimes draw out in me.  Being a faceless member of the mob I soon realized is far more comforting than teetering on a brittle pedestal one inch of the ground.

Well said!  He went on noting how the role of celebrity embarrassed him and seemed to indicate how this one part of society was "revered almost religiously."  Quoting from scholars in anthropology as well as Dostoyevsky's work, Mr. Gleeson made some fascinating points during his 20+ minute lecture (which is what it was, him having brought prepared remarks).  It was much better than a discussion about his favorite scene in Game of Thrones, which was the point, of course. 

What is ironic is that this bright lad would have most likely lectured to an empty room if it had not been for his celebrity status.  We can only wish him well as he leaves the warping lights of fame and learns that the world holds much more in store for him.  And if a reader can find Justin Bieber, maybe you can send him a copy of Mr. Gleeson's remarks.