Who are the Real Zombies?

Is it just a coincidence, or is AMC's The Walking Dead trying to tell us something?  Coming just two days before the national election, I can see some startling parallels to our current situation.  For instance, "zombie" is defined as "...a human being who is being controlled by someone else by use of magic."  Now I don't know if Fox News has any real magic, but I would have to say it has an awful lot of control over a number of scared Americans in this current economy.  In fact, the road sign below was flashing a warning in Texas just last year, so we cannot say we did not see this coming.
And how does one take out a zombie?  Well, I would like to think we can simply break the spell through a more thorough study our current options in this economy and a rational discussion.  I expect tonight's show will have a few more options, as Hollywood always does.  I would also like to think we can simply shame some of the more extreme elements in our society, act like adults, and agree that we all have the same goal but a few different ways to get there.  Yes, reasoning with a zombie, but also taking out the witch doctors controlling them.  I don't even think I am the first one to bring up witches in this campaign season.  So, sit back, enjoy the show, and think about what you can do to break the zombie spell and bring a little bit of sanity to this world.  Hollywood can only do so much.

Rubicon - Modern Day Spying?

I noted in my last update that I enjoy the new show Rubicon.  Well, I have watched the entire season and I hope to see more.  The New Republic had a good article on the show, noting that the show had the feel of a 1970s version of spying rather than our current period:

Yet as that last detail shows, it’s not easy to credibly imagine a '70s-style conspiracy taking place in the 2010s. At a time when the very survival of newspapers is in doubt, the idea that an all-powerful military-industrial cabal would use newspaper crosswords to send a signal feels laughably out of date. Likewise, the show’s attempt to recreate the mise-en-scene of those '70s films meant that practically no one at API—supposedly the most clued-in and powerful part of the intelligence community—is ever seen sending an e-mail or consulting a database; instead, they check out printed reports from a library, or make calls on an (easily traced) landline.  

However, I believe that is part of the charm.  In a time of high-tech gadgets, super computers, smart phones, and twitter, it was a nice change to see a show where the team sat around a conference table discussing motives, geography, and ideas.  You had a sense that each of the team members would be great contestants on Jeopardy.  This came to the surface at the end of the show when the FBI shows up looking for a list of potential terrorist targets and you truly get a sense of how the intelligence teams' collective mind works differently than the "feds" and their predictable approach to a crisis.

The show is unpredictable, well-acted, full of shadows, and always one step ahead of you (similar to their prey).  I will take this over gadgets any day.  I am hoping for a second season, but nothing has been said yet.

The Fall Tsunami

Okay, I am coming out from under the tsunami of fall programming.  I still do not understand the clustering of so many programs.  I probably give up on half of them since I simple do not have time to see them nor room to store them.  To date, I have a list of over 50 television programs that I hope to get back to someday, though I am less than optimistic.

Few of the fall shows have impressed me, and I am still finishing up new shows from the spring and summer, such as Rubicon, which many critics had called slow and dark, and yet it was just what I was in the mood for when it started - a detailed unraveling of a story with a collection of personalities who kept you interested.  TV has not done so well with such stories in the past, but I am glad they are still making them.  I particularly like the main character Will Travers, played by actor James Badge Dale, who was also excellent HBO's miniseries The Pacific, which aired earlier in the spring.

And while we are talking about this pre-fall release of programs, I have already noted my feelings on The Gates, Haven, and Louie.  I liked Louie from the start, whereas The Gates and Haven grew on me a little more slowly.  And this is the point, I had a chance to enjoy these shows in an otherwise boring season of returns.  This is the way to build an audience.

So, as I was saying, this fall season was too much, though I did watch quite a few of the new programs.  As the new season rolled out, I liked Terriers, decided I did not like Nikita, and then found the true gem of the new season - Fox's Raising Hope.  This new show brings together a talented pool of new and known actors to show the modern day mix of Roseanne meets Raising Arizona.  Is it brilliant?  Not at all.  But is it worth 30 minutes at the end of a long day?  Absolutely.  And while it has an odd start with van sex, a baby, and the the execution of the mother, it will grow on you like a fungus (that tickles).

That's about it.  NBC's The Event did not leave me asking "What happens next?"  Instead, I was asking "What were they thinking?"  It was a waste of Jason Ritter's talents, who has not really had a break since Joan of Arcadia.  I was already tired of Lost by the time it ended and I suppose I am not looking for that level of drama again for some time. This is something the networks do not always get.  Just because something worked before does not mean it can be used over and over again.  I believe this was proven with the short-lived FlashForward, which I admit I watched for awhile and yet my interest waned as did that of most viewers.

I have seen plenty of other shows that are worth picking apart for the pure enjoyment of it, but I will try that another time.  Of course, many of these shows are already being canceled, so we shall see which ones will be around to analyze.

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.