The Right Network?

Clearly Fox News is not be enough for the growing Tea Party movement and resurgent Republicans.  As a result, the Right Network is here to add a little more content.  And what does this new network hope to accomplish?  In its own words, we are told:

We seek to present the values and beliefs that America was built upon. We aim to be straight shooters and will always come to the party with a potent point-of-view. But we will not dominate the conversation… we'll stimulate it. And we will listen happily as the many voices of the Right combine. We'll always encourage debate and we will not shrink from the fight, if it's a fight worth having. 

So far the programming is thin, with programs such as short cartoon called "Flatbed & Ned" and "Soapbox Guy."  I enjoyed the first part of a documentary program "Do As I Say," where the narrator does a pretty good version of Michael Moore from the Right.  I am all for duking it out with solid research and a bit of humor.  I just hope there is room for moderate voices from the Right rather than the loony-right, which is where I would put flaky Michele Bachmann who wrote a piece on 9/11 posted to the network site.  If you look at the comments to her piece the individuals are not really all that stimulating in their viewpoints.  Time will tell.

Terriers is No Dog

I have to say I enjoyed the pilot of FX's Terriers the other night.  The two main characters, Hank (Donal Logue) and Britt (Michael Raymond-James), made an odd yet interesting couple.  Hank is the crusty, hard-drinking, ex-cop with a heart of gold whereas Britt is the trusty side-kick with a Peter Pan complex.  How they met is not yet clear, nor do we really know much about Britt's past.  But this is the first show and I am intrigued to learn more.  And the pilot's plot involving two murders is either part one of a two part story or the basis of the entire first season.  What I already see going on is Hank charging at windmills while dragging along loyal Britt (who continues to look back at his girlfriend pining for a baby). 

It is clear that not ever enjoyed the show. Slate had its own take on the new series:

That those heels head in so many different directions at once is the show's own Achilles'. A typical episode of Terriers jolts abruptly from cutesy escapades to head-cracking fights, from loud escapism to misty tenderness, from easygoing comedy to strained seriousness. The tonal unevenness feels less like the conscious product of an ambitious design than the unplanned consequence of an exceedingly ambitious one. 

I should add that the Slate critic has already seen the first five shows before penning a review, whereas I only have one show under my belt.  That said, I look forward to watching the next four to formulate a more informed opinion.  I expect I will enjoy my research.

New September Season

This week begins a new, very full season.  In addition to the return of Vampire Diaries, which surprised me with its decent acting and straight-forward story (versus True Blood), two new shows caught my eye.

--Terriers:  The FX network has a new addition Wednesday nights at 10pm ET/9pm CT.  Yes, it is the same old ex-cop, private eye story, but it could have a fun twist and good acting.   Variety magazine says "Tonally more similar to "Justified" than to FX's blacker-than-black crime dramas, and featuring a breezy chemistry between Logue and Raymond-James, 'Terriers' demonstrates it's possible to cobble together something worth watching without most of the usual bells and whistles -- or much in the way of sex and violence, although the language is pretty blue."  Given how much I like Justified, I will give it a try.

--Nikita:  The CW is getting into the assassination business starting Thursday nights at 9pm ET/8pm CT.  While I am not always thrilled with such thrillers, at least it is going beyond the typical cops and robbers.  It appears to have the typical "nice girl until they killed her boyfriend spin" we have seen in Alias and other shows, though I guess a career needs to start somewhere.  Slant Magazine was not impressed: "Nikita is just another bland spy drama, an excuse to put women in skimpy outfits—Alias without a heart, Chuck without the sense of humor, and Covert Affairs without the good casting."  Oh well.

Truly Boring

I have seen enough.  While HBO's True Blood started out interestingly enough, and I more or less enjoyed the first two seasons, it is hard to care about these characters anymore.  It has always been primarily about sex and blood, but now it has so many additional characters and stories that you really forget what you liked about the show.  And I have already seen too many sides of Sookie and Tara to really care whether or not they become the next special on Sam Merlotte's menu.  It was probably the introduction of werewolves, southern politics, and Sam's dysfunctional family that threw me over the edge (not to mention the Nazi flashbacks, random kidnapping of Bill and Tara, and the love affair of Lafayette).  HBO's website shows 11 new characters this season, versus 7 in season two.  Sometimes a show just needs focus and good storytelling, and I no longer get this.  It was a fun idea, but I am ready for a hurricane to wipe out the town of Bon Temps and purge us of this bloodletting.