tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4963562988758568752024-02-20T14:01:35.547-08:00Sitcoms Are StupidVincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-75089254576973194462017-02-28T13:28:00.000-08:002017-02-28T13:28:08.435-08:00In which I try to figure out whether or not "Legion" is good<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Okay, so is <i>Legion </i>good?</div>
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I know it <i>looks </i>good. The special effects are great. The sets are beautiful. The entire thing feels like a well-designed nightmare. Like <i>Fargo</i>, Noah Hawley's previous series (and the one that made him The Greatest Storyteller Known To Humankind, according to the internet), there is so much care and precision put into every single shot that just the visuals of the series alone probably qualify as a masterpiece. Still, as much as I enjoyed <i>Fargo</i>, I never quite flipped my lid over it as much as most people seemed to, and that was because I felt that the show was visually mindblowing but ultimately kind of empty. There was <i>something </i>there, moreso in the first season than the second (which I thought got too tied up in its own mystery to say much of substance), but it never moved me the way the very best prestige dramas do. <i>Breaking Bad </i>may have looked beautiful, but the reason it connected with so many was because of the relentless story behind it about an ordinary man who turned into a villain, and the how and why of how he got there. It was a relevant, poignant story during a time where many ordinary people not unlike Walter White themselves felt like their lives were falling apart. Whether or not you rooted for him (I mean, I would hope that most sensible people were no longer rooting for him by the end of the series, but I'm sure the <i>Breaking Bad </i>subreddit would love to prove me wrong!) you could understand him. I bring up <i>Breaking Bad </i>because that show was also a visual masterpiece, and it has inspired an army of clones that have similar visual precision but fall flat when it comes to proving their worst otherwise. But you could also sub in <i>The Sopranos </i>or <i>Mad Men </i>or whatever prestige television series with deep underlying themes that you choose. What are the deep, underlying themes of <i>Fargo</i>? What is that show trying to say other than "we went to film school and understand how to compose these cool ass shots?".</div>
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I do think that <i>Legion </i>wants to say something, though - something about mental illness and being trapped by your past and your own demons. I just don't know that it's <i>succeeding </i>at it. I was very underwhelmed by the show's pilot, which seemed like a classic "look, we're using mental illness as a science fiction twist!" story, which is a plot point that always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The second episode was a little better, and the third episode was probably my favorite yet, the only one so far that I felt really made any attempt to engage with David and his condition as anything other than a plot device. The show occasionally approaches interesting human moments, like David worrying that Sydney wouldn't love him anymore after seeing his memories as a junkie, or David snapping at Melanie and demanding that the only thing he cares about is his sister's safety. But it doesn't linger on those moments too long, and quickly dives back into the mystery and the cinematography of it all. And that's fine! The show is beautiful and weird and confusing. But when you're bringing up issues like addiction and mental illness, I don't think you can just sweep them away when you get a cool shot, or use them as little more than a way to throw your viewers off the trail of your central mystery. My hope is that Hawley is smarter than that, and this will be leading to a place that has something more to say than "look at this really confusing plot we wrote!". I'm not holding my breath, but it would be nice for Television's Greatest Storyteller to, well, live up to that title.</div>
Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-69240079381730651092017-02-27T23:19:00.003-08:002017-02-27T23:19:20.202-08:00"Crashing" (HBO)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was not especially excited for <i>Crashing</i>, even though I generally like Pete Holmes and have a deep love for comedy. But there have been so many shows about comedians in the past few years, all of which follow a very similar "kind of funny, kind of sad look at a comedians' personal life" formula, that it was hard for me to let out anything other than a resounding "meh" when I first watched the trailer and saw the ads. I mean, c'mon. We're living in Trump's America now. The problems of rich and very privileged comedians should be at the very bottom of the barrel of issues that television expects us to care about, right? That's not a totally fair statement - entertainment is escapism and we all need a little escapism these days - but it's hard not to watch shows like that and think, "come on, just admit you have it <i>pretty </i>fucking good, guys."So anyway, it was surprising to me when I watched <i>Crashing </i>and actually really enjoyed it. It's true, it's yet another show that doesn't hide its <i>Louie </i>influences, but there is something about <i>Crashing </i>that sets it apart from the rest of the pack, a little bit. Part of it is Holmes himself, who is funny and winning and charming and seems to have found a proper vehicle for his talents, but there is also something that very few shows about "the biz" acknowledge: failure.</div>
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<i>Crashing, </i>at least right now, is a show about an aspiring comedian who is not very good at being a comedian. He's a youth pastor who just got out of a marriage to the only woman he has ever dated and was living a cozy suburban life, using his wife's money to haul ass into the city and perform at open mics, saying it was like "his version of medical school", ignoring the fact that medical school guarantees you a six-figure salary and open mics don't guarantee you jack shit. More importantly, Pete's character is really not even funny, at least not "comedian" funny. He's sort of funny in the way you'd expect a small-town pastor to be, cute for a chuckle on a Sunday morning mass but certainly nothing you're going to be expecting to see headlining his own Netflix special anytime soon. Holmes has said he sees <i>Crashing </i>as the story of where he was ten years ago, so maybe we're going to watch his character eventually become the successfully and well-liked comedian he is today, but I kind of hope that doesn't happen, because <i>Crashing </i>is very upfront about failure in a way most industry shows are not. In the first episode, Artie Lange tells Holmes point black after watching him bomb on stage: this isn't medical school. Most people get nowhere and make no money. It's not for everyone, and not everyone is cut out for it. Most shows would then transition into an inspiring scene where our hero wins over the crowd and it's clear that, no, he's going to beat the odds and make it. But not <i>Crashing</i>. Holmes gets mugged, loses everything, spends the night crashing on Lange's couch, then drives him to a gig in Albany where he opens for Lange and completely bombs once again. And not only is he bombing, but he no longer has an income, is technically homeless, and can barely afford to eat. There's something about those kinds of problems that digs a little deeper than the "I'm rich and famous but sometimes I get sad" narratives of most comedians' autobiographical TV shows. I like most of the shows! But in an age where so many people struggle just to get through each day, shows like <i>Crashing </i>are the types of shows more comedians should be trying.</div>
Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-72817866540602709402016-12-31T15:45:00.002-08:002016-12-31T15:46:36.859-08:00Best TV of 2016<br />
Best-of lists are kind of dumb. Right? I love them, but they’re kind of dumb, especially in our era of “peak TV.” There’s so much television out there, covering so many different styles and genres and tastes, that who’s to say that any one person’s “best 20 TV shows of 2016” will have any bearing on you? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I totally compiled a top 20 list that I’m going to post somewhere and I spent weeks analyzing it and mulling it over but at least like, I’m <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">acknowledging</em> it’s dumb, right? Right.<br />
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Anyway, even if I don’t think “top TV lists” are necessarily the <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">right </em>way to spotlight the best that TV has to offer, I do think it’s nice to look back at the year in television and look at some of the great stuff it’s whipped up over the past 12 months. And I always think the “Best TV Episodes” lists do a little bit better of a job of capturing some of the joy that watching really great TV gives you. No matter how much Netflix wants to change it, TV is still an episodic medium, and no other medium quite matches the feeling of watching a really perfect episode that captures everything you love about a show in a mere ~30–60 minutes. So here’s some of the 2016 TV episodes that did just that for me.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Superstore — “Labor”</strong></div>
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<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Superstore </em>is a quietly strong little sitcom consistently plugging away Thursday nights on NBC. (Shameless plug: I wrote about why I think the show is great and underrated for VICE last month and you should <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://www.vice.com/read/superstore-succeeds-by-shedding-a-light-on-service-workers" href="http://www.vice.com/read/superstore-succeeds-by-shedding-a-light-on-service-workers" target="_blank">totally read it.</a>) The show started off seeming kind of like “generic workplace sitcom set in a big-box store”, but gradually distinguished itself with a compelling cast of characters and a subtle-but-effective focus on workers’ rights, and the show’s first season finale “Labor” felt like the major turning point in that direction. The episode finds teenage mother-to-be Cheyenne unexpectedly go into labor while on the clock, leading to store manager Glenn to give her two weeks of paid maternity leave — which gets him fired. The employees, angered at both their company’s lack of benefits and careless dismissal of their dedicated store manager, stage a walk-out, and although sitcom rules dictated that the walk-out be quickly remedied when the show returned in the fall, Cloud 9 has felt just a little bit more rebellious ever since.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Crazy Ex-Girlfriend — “That Text Was Not Meant For Josh!”</strong></div>
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<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Crazy Ex-Girlfriend </em>is so good at so many things, from wacky sitcom hijinks to showstopping musical numbers to serious explorations of mental illness — and it’s always at its best when it manages to seamlessly combine all of those elements in one swoop. Perhaps the best example of that was the sublime “That Text Was Not Meant For Josh!”, which may be the show’s darkest and finest hour. The episode finds Rebecca in her most perilous Josh situation yet (she accidentally sent him a text admitting that she moved to West Covina because she was desperately in love with him) bringing her to her most drastic invasion of Josh’s privacy yet (she breaks into his apartment to find his phone and delete the text) and, after he catches her, her most over-the-top lie to cover her ass yet (she pretends that she was in his apartment because someone broke into hers and she needed to be somewhere she could feel safe.) She manages stages a break-in with the help of Paula and her husband, and while the break-in and Rebecca’s scheming are well-executed comic bits that earn plenty of laughs (that Textmergency number!!!), it all inevitably comes crashing down, and Rebecca finds herself in a spiral of self-loathing that culminates in the show’s most cutting and heartbreaking musical number yet (“<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">You ruined everything, you stupid bitch” </em>Rebecca sings to herself.) There are so many plates being spun here, and the fact that <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Crazy Ex-Girlfriend </em>absolutely nailed all of them demonstrates why it was one of TV’s best shows in 2016.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Broad City — “Burning Bridges”</strong></div>
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The ever-reliable <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Broad City </em>took some surprising risks in 2016, and it resulted in a season that wasn’t quite as consistent as its first two but pushed the show in some exciting and intriguing new directions. The best example of that was arguably the “Burning Bridges” episode, which is the only episode of <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Broad City </em>that may be more notable for its emotional elements than its comedy (although it had plenty of great comedy as well in its <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Mrs. Doubtfire </em>homage.) “Burning Bridges” finds Abbi on a secret date with lovable douche Trey, but when she winds up at the same restaurant as Ilana and her family (who she turned down previously), Abbi has to scramble to keep her cover. Of course, she doesn’t, and it ends with the only major Abbi/Ilana rift that we’ve seen on the show thus far. Of course, it’s remedied quickly, but the same can’t be said for Abbi and Trey’s relationship, which ends on a surprisingly sad note. Kudos to <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Broad City </em>for expanding its dramatic palate a bit more and totally landing it, without losing what made it great in the first place.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">The Americans — “The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears”</strong></div>
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<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">The Americans </em>has gotten more tense and foreboding with each season, but this season felt particularly pressing: between the sudden execution of Nina, the FBI finding out about Martha’s ties to the Russians followed by her shuffling off to the Soviet Union, Paige blowing her parents cover with Pastor Tim, and Phillip and Elizabeth often finding themselves at odds over their plan for their families’ safety, the pressure just didn’t stop mounting. So this late-season turning point, in which the Jennings take a break from their spy work and the show time-jumps seven months to show them at the other end of a length vacation, was both refreshing and kind of devastating: on one hand, it was nice that our Soviet protagonists got some time off, but the way all of their happiness happened off-screen and we had to dive back into the trenches with them at the other end demonstrated how their stress and turmoil are never <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">really </em>over. <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">The Americans </em>is all about the concept of sacrifice and how far you’re willing to go for your cause, and it’s increasingly feeling like the Jennings are going to have to make a tough decision between their family’s livelihood and their country very soon.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">BoJack Horseman — “That’s Too Much, Man!”</strong></div>
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Most of the “best episodes” lists I’ve seen pick the largely silent “Fish Out of Water” episode to represent <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">BoJack’s </em>stunning third season, and while I mean no disrespect to that incredible episode (which was a masterclass of animation that could easily hang with the best of Pixar, come at me), the one that continues to haunt my dreams is the season’s penultimate episode, “That’s Too Much, Man!”. It has become a pattern for the penultimate episode of a <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">BoJack Horseman </em>season to completely break your fucking soul (Season 1’s “Downer Ending” saw a torn BoJack begging Diane to tell him that he’s a good person, Season 2’s “Escape from L.A” saw BoJack reach the point of no return after being caught in bed with his old friend Charlotte’s teenage daughter), but even then I still wasn’t prepared for this episode to break me as much as it did. “That’s Too Much, Man!” follows BoJack’s weeks-long bender after he misses out on an Oscars nomination, but the focus is really on his former TV daughter Sarah-Lynn, who is newly sober after several years of drug addiction…until BoJack convinces her to join him on his spiral. The two travel around visiting various characters that BoJack has wronged over the course of the show’s run, from Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter to Angela to, yes, good God, even Charlotte’s daughter Penny…but it all comes to an abrupt end in a planetarium, after Sarah-Lynn fatally overdoses on a batch of heroin appropriated named “BoJack.” The episode is such a gutpunch that five months after watching it, I still don’t feel totally emotionally recovered. (If you want to be even more devastated, rewatch Sarah-Lynn’s first episode in Season 1 and notice all of the heartbreaking parallels between that episode and this one. Or don’t. You’ll be very, very sad.)</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">You’re the Worst — “You Knew it Was a Snake”</strong></div>
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This is another one where I’ve mostly noticed lists championing one particular episode (“Twenty-Two”, and rightfully so, given its deft exploration of Edgar’s PTSD) so I figured I’d throw some love to an episode that I’ve seen get less attention but I thought was just as great. This episode, aired as the first part of a two-part season finale, felt more like a stage play at times than a sitcom episode: it took the show’s three central couples, locked them each in a room together, and set them up against each other, highlighting all of the problems that have been mounting between them over the course of the season. It was thrilling, honest, funny, and heartbreaking, which at this point should be expected from this show, but it still manages to knock me off my feet every time it pulls off an episode like this. Season 3 may have had less of a clear narrative structure than past seasons, but it still knocked it out of the park when the moment counted, and this episode was a perfect example of that.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">black-ish — “Hope”</strong></div>
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<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">black-ish </em>has done an incredible job over the course of its three seasons of mixing heavy racial issues with primetime-friendly family sitcom hijinks, making it one of the most essential network television sitcoms in several years. There is perhaps no better example of this than this year’s “Hope”, which tackled the subject of police brutality head-on as the Johnsons watched as another police officer failed to be convicted of shooting an unarmed black man. “Hope” is heavy and heartbreaking, just as it should be, but it never crosses the line into treacly. A comic runner about the Johnsons struggling to decide what to order for take-out helps things from getting too dark and also makes it feel like an actual family grappling with this issue, rather than mouthpieces for TV writers. The tightrope act that <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">black-ish </em>walks is one of the most difficult on TV, so the fact that it gets it right so often and produces episodes as fantastic as “Hope” is a seriously impressive feat.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">The Good Place — “…Someone Like Me as a Member”</strong></div>
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<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">The Good Place </em>was funny and intriguing from the start, but over the nine episodes it’s aired so far it has grown from being “fun and promising” to “a surprisingly thoughtful, deep analysis of some of the most complex questions about the afterlife and destiny.” It’s also a really funny sitcom, with a very talented cast and some excellent joke writing and pitch-perfect comic bits. The show’s midseason finale is perhaps the best example of that delicate balance — it’s an incredibly funny episode with some hilarious bits (such as the amazing cactus runner and the “Nixon karaoke” scene, which gave me some of my biggest laughs on TV this year) but also brings all of the philosophical questions the show has been posing (like “is there such a thing as soulmates?” and “is the concept of good and evil really fair?”) to a head. It sounds like it’s impossible to pull of, and it’s pretty damn hard, but <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">The Good Place </em>has been nailing it so far.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Bob’s Burgers — “Glued, Where’s My Bob?”</strong></div>
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<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Bob’s Burgers </em>hit 100 episodes this year, and the show’s 100th (or advertised 100th, anyway) episode was a great example of why it remains one of TV’s most consistently delightful shows. “Glued, Where’s My Bob?” takes a ridiculous situation (Bob literally gets glued to a toilet on a day when a magazine is supposed to tour the restaurant) and turns it into a half-hour of top-notch jokes, catchy songs, and surprisingly resonant warmth. It was reminiscent of some of the earliest <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Bob’s </em>episodes (which often revolved around something going horribly wrong for Bob during an important moment) but showed how far the show has come since those days by peppering in all of our favorite recurring characters and ending in a sweet, warm place. <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Bob’s Burgers </em>may not be the shiny new thing on the block anymore, but there were few shows in 2016 that made me happier.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Atlanta — “B.A.N.”</strong></div>
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It’s difficult to pick just one episode of <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Atlanta </em>for this list, which tried on so many different tones and styles in its breakthrough first season and pretty much nailed them all. There are so many things that excite me about this show, but one of the best and most surprising aspects of it how it was willing to be a completely <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">different</em> show from week-to-week (not unlike the community college-based sitcom that Donald Glover hailed from.) “B.A.N” was perhaps the best example of that, as the show took a break from the whimsical, dreamlike season of narrative TV it had been up to that point to completely nail a <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Chapelle’s Show-</em>style takedown of entertainment panel shows. Paper Boi’s reaction shots in this episode alone are probably one of the funniest things you’ll see all year, but the entire episode is some perfectly executed comedy. It bears almost no resemblance to the show it was in every other episode (although it still has the show’s signature surreal absurdism and subtle social commentary), but that’s what makes it so damn fun.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Insecure — “Real as F**k”</strong></div>
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The first season of <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Insecure </em>was the definition of a slow burn. It started off seeming like a funny, light dramedy with well-defined characters and a lot of genuinely funny dialogue, but it slowly revealed itself to be even more than that, as it subtlety dug deep into its lovable cast of fuck-ups and revealed their inner-most desires and flaws. <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Insecure </em>slowly peeled away at each of its central relationships until they all finally came to blows in the season’s penultimate episode “Real as F**k”, which followed Issa to her first successful work project in quite some time but found every other aspect of her life falling apart. “Real as F**k” dealt with the fallout of the revelation that Issa cheated on Lawerence with her college sweetheart in appropriately gut-wrenching fashion, but perhaps the most emotional scene came from her coming to blows with her best friend Molly, as the two people whose friendship provided the backbone of the series hurled insult and after insult at each other. What’s especially great about <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Insecure </em>is the way it doesn’t paint any of its characters as right or wrong, even as they do undeniably misguided things — its empathy for each of its characters’ flaws and fuck-ups is what made <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Insecure </em>one of the best new shows of 2016.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt — “Kimmy Meets a Drunk Lady!”</strong></div>
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<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s </em>second season took a little bit to get off the ground, but once you got past the tone-deaf “address the critics” episode, you’ll find a season that’s actually even better, funnier, and more poignant than its first. While Season 1’s designed-for-network-TV status kept it from fully addressing the darkness of the show’s premise, Season 2 had no such restrictions, and while the show didn’t necessarily plunge straight into the pitch black, the way it dug into Kimmy’s trauma in the back half of the season was genuinely brave. The introduction of Tina Fey as Andrea, Kimmy’s alcoholic therapist who is a completely different person during her drunken nights than her professional days, was a seriously winning addition, both as a great comic character and a stark reminder that Kimmy’s desperate need to “fix” everyone around her has some dark undercurrents. Plus, this is the episode that gave us all of those fake “Now That’s Sounds Like Music!” songs, so…</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Orange is the New Black — “Toast Can’t Never Be Bread Again”</strong></div>
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The reactions to <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Orange is the New Black</em>’s heartbreaking death this season were incredibly mixed, but it’s hard to deny the power of Poussey’s final tribute in the season finale, which mixed the aftermath of her murder with a beautiful, joy-bursting adventure with her around New York City prior to her arrest. The finale does a great job of showing why the character was so beloved and just why the outcry over her death was so extreme — this was one of the warmest characters not just on <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Orange is the New Black </em>but on television in general, and Samira Wiley’s portrayal of her was truly magnificent from start to finish. Even if I understand why <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Orange </em>felt the need to use her death as a way to comment on social issues (whether or not it was successful is up for debate), it’s hard for me to accept that she’s actually gone, and <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Orange is the New Black </em>— and its characters — will never be the same without her.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Veep — “Mother”</strong></div>
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<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Veep</em>’s fifth season didn’t miss a beat despite losing its showrunner, and “Mother”, in which Selina says goodbye to her mother in the midst of a bitterly contested election, is a perfect example of just how biting, caustic, and hilarious the show is when it’s working at its ultimate best. Considering the horrific track of politics this year, it would be easy for <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Veep </em>to stop seeming like a funny comedy and start seeming like a horrifying documentary, but luckily Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s flawless performance manages to keep things hilarious even when they’re feeling a bit too real. “Mother” serves as both a political takedown and a character study, as Selena uses the death of her (cold, distant) mother to her political advantage while showing little actual emotion at her mother’s passing. It’s a little too real, maybe, but also, it’s just really funny.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Mr. Robot — “</strong> <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">eps2.6_succ3ss0r.p12</strong>”</div>
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Look, there’s no denying it: <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Mr. Robot</em>’s second season was a giant fucking mess. It was strangely plotted, had too many unanswered questions, and seemed more concerned with tricking its audience than actually developing a compelling storyline. Still, there were some really good moments among the ruins that made the season a worthwhile endeavor despite its weaknesses. One of those was moments was the “Successor” episode, which almost completely sidelined Elliot and focused on the show’s supporting cast (which, no disrespect to Rami Malek’s continued great performance, carried the show this year.) The episode hones in on Darlene, and its focus on her attempts to be a leader shed a light on both her character and the importance of Elliot as this universe’s center. It’s also an episode that’s heavy on the dark moodiness that the show continues to do well: Season 2’s strengths lied in the way it portrayed the post-hack world as dark, unforgiving, and not what anyone really asked for, even if fsociety had technically “succeeded.” Even if this season was kind of all over the place, there was enough good in it that I’m still on board to see where this goes next year.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">The Chris Gethard Show — “One Man’s Trash”</strong></div>
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<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">The Chris Gethard Show </em>has been quietly producing some of the best, most innovative TV for several years now. What started off as a weekly public access show centered around a bunch of misfit comedians connecting to lovable weirdos around the country has seamlessly transitioned to cable via the Fusion network, and while the show’s first Fusion season was good, it did take some adjusting into its brighter lights and higher budget. The show’s second Fusion season, though, produced some of the best, weirdest, most surprising material it’s ever cranked out, and the very best of it was what’s referred to as “the dumpster episode”, which has a very simple concept: Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas, and the viewing audience have to guess what’s in the dumpster on stage. I don’t want to spoil anything, because the episode is a genuine thrill ride from start to finish. (I was lucky enough to be in the audience for this episode and I can confirm that it was probably the highest-tension live show I have ever seen.) Just go in with an open mind and prepare to have your mind blown by the end of it.</div>
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Okay and HERE'S my full top 20 list: </div>
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1. BoJack Horseman 11. You're the Worst</div>
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2. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 12. The Good Place</div>
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3. Atlanta 13. Orange is the New Black</div>
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4. The Americans 14. Veep</div>
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5. black-ish 15. Broad City</div>
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6. Lady Dynamite 16. Search Party </div>
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7. The Chris Gethard Show 17. Bob's Burgers</div>
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8. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt 18. Stranger Things</div>
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9. Insecure 19. Better Call Saul </div>
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10. Superstore 20. Full Frontal w/ Samantha Bee </div>
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Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-36207011720343690922016-03-04T23:37:00.002-08:002016-03-04T23:42:24.018-08:00I watched all of Fuller House<img src="http://img2-2.timeinc.net/people/i/2016/news/160118/fuller-house-1024.jpg" height="300" width="400" /><br />
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Over the past week, I have, for some reason, watched every episode of <i>Fuller House</i>. I'm not alone, of course: the show was so popular that it trended on Twitter for days and has already been renewed for a second season. That said, if you haven't watched it yet, please: do not watch <i>Fuller House</i>. It is not good, by any means. Even if you loved the original show, even if you have some twinge of nostalgia for it, it is not worth your time.<br />
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So then why did you watch every episode, you might ask me? Why not just stop after the first two when you realize, hey, this show is cheesy as fuck and so was the original show and why are you wasting your time? That's what all of the normal people did, the ones who at all value their sanity. I don't really have a clear answer for you. I guess it's because, like many people, I grew up with <i>Full House</i>, for better or worse, and I've seen every episode of the terrible original series so many times that it seemed wrong for me not to watch whatever else these assholes have up their sleeve. Still, I figured I would at least try to make my suffering worth something vaguely productive, so here I am, writing a blog post about how <i>Fuller House </i>made me <i>feel </i>inside.<br />
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<b>1. <i>Fuller House </i>is not a good show, but it's not really any worse than <i>Full House</i>. </b><i>Fuller House </i>was met with extremely negative reviews and a divided fan response, which may lead you to believe it was somehow a disappointment compared to the already dreadful original series. But <i>Fuller House </i>is basically of the same quality of the original <i>Full House. </i>In fact, if I were being daring, I might argue it's actually a little bit better, if only because it's kind of in on the joke (which, in a way, makes hating on it less fun.) My guess is that a lot of people view the original series through rose-tinted glasses and don't realize how totally cornball and awful it is, and also I don't think the Netflix binge-model is really right for this "turn your brain off" style of sitcom, which might seem acceptable in bite-sized, after-school bits but really exposes its true shittiness when you stack it all together. Honestly, the quality difference between the two comes down to this: <i>Full House </i>was bad in a very '90s kind of way, while <i>Fuller House </i>is bad in a uniquely 2016 kind of way. <i>Full House </i>is the archetype of the soulless, mass-produced network family sitcom that was a staple of the '80s and '90s but is mostly confined to the Disney Channel these days. There's little consistency, absolutely no self-awareness, and really no attempt at any sort of depth or understanding. But sitcoms have evolved in the past 20 years, and now even lukewarm family sitcoms are slick and single camera and self-aware and have a baseline quality even when they're mediocre. <i>Fuller House </i>understands this and attempts to mimic it. Storylines actually continue from one episode to the next (an unheard of occurrence on <i>Full House</i>, a show that had at least six different sets of grandparents), there is an actual attempt at a few character arcs (they mostly fail, but they try!), and there are way, way, <i>way </i>too many meta jokes. <i>Fuller House </i>is not good, but it's not good in a way that at least feels relevant to our time period.<br />
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<b>2. </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">Fuller House </i><b>doesn't know if it wants to be a nostalgia piece or a standalone show</b><i style="font-weight: bold;">. </i>The weirdest thing about <i>Fuller House </i>is that it seems genuinely unsure about whether it wants to simply reminiscence on its past or try to be something new. <i>Girl Meets World, </i>the <i>Boy Meet World </i>continuation on the Disney Channel, has made it to three seasons and not-so-terrible reviews because it's basically become its own thing, occasionally referencing the show it spins off from but also establishing a world of character of its own. (I haven't seen much of <i>Girl Meets World, </i>but I'm told it's basically fine for a kids' sitcom, and that it's become its own thing.) <i>Fuller House </i>sometimes seems like it wants to do the same thing. The show introduces a bunch of new characters (DJ and Kimmy's kids) but it never really does anything with them except saddle them with really annoying catchphrases and the typical <i>Full House </i>"one signature character trait." (Jackson is apparently some kind of wannabe rebel, Max - the new worst character on the show now that Michelle is absent - is a loud asshole, Ramona speaks Spanish and want her parents to get back together, and the baby is, uh, a baby?). When it focuses on the kids (it hardly does!) it seems like your run of the mill <i>Disney Channel</i>-esque family sitcom, which is whatever! It could continue on as that, and I would totally stop caring about it, but a bunch of pre-teens would probably be into it, and I could stop watching it and be on my merry way. But, no. Just when it seems like it's heading in that direction, Stephanie busts out a "how rude!" and Uncle Jesse comes trotting back in and it becomes totally clear just what the fuck show this is.<br />
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<b>3. <i>Fuller House </i>could actually be good if it was, like, a different show. </b>There are very, very, very, very rare inklings where you could almost see a good show in <i>Fuller House. </i>This is mostly due to the fact that the show has a surprisingly not awful rock in DJ Tan - uh, sorry, <i>Fuller </i>(yes, the title is a fucking pun), who is maybe a little bit of an "overworked single mom" stereotype (who in the <i>Full House </i>universe isn't a stereotype to some degree?) but mostly sells that character trait and makes it a believable struggle. That's a better center than <i>Full House </i>ever had (it never really cared to analyze the fact that it was about a non-traditional family), and while it doesn't really add up to anything, it's at least, I don't know, <i>there</i>. (On the other hand, just like the original show, there is almost no mention of the dead spouse that lead to the show's premise, except for like once or twice when it's convenient to the plot.)<br />
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<b>4. <i>Fuller House </i>is stuck halfway between making fun of itself and taking itself seriously. </b>The biggest failure of <i>Fuller House </i>is that it really never embraces its satirical center nor does it go full cheese. It is definitely more self-aware than the original series - there are a lot of meta jokes about the implausibility of a lot of the show's wackier sitcom shenanigans, and there are actual lines suggesting that the Tanner family is kind of a bunch of privileged white-bread dicks, which floored me a little - but it also fails to go full <i>Brady Bunch Movie </i>in its satire. It still insists on ending every episode with a talk and a hug, it still gives its characters easy outs at every corner, and it's still, well, about a bunch of privileged white-bread dicks who shamelessly appropriate Indian culture without even batting an eye. A lot of the show's tongue-in-cheek "can you BELIEVE this?!" material comes in the first few nostalgia-heavy episodes that have to deal with the sheer implausibility of the show's concept. By the halfway point of the season, the show starts recycling some of the exact same tired plots that plagued the original series. I nearly lost my shit when there was ANOTHER fucking plot about everyone trying to hide a giant barn animal from everyone else in the house, which I swear happened like seven times in the original series. (Not to mention when Stephanie DROVE HER CAR through the kitchen and they tried to hide that. Why do these people think you can hide giant, house-destroying situations?!). ANYWAY, the point is that even if it pretends it has, <i>Fuller House </i>hasn't learned. It's the same old shit, recycled yet again, and I guess that's what we wanted! Which brings me to my final point...<br />
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<b>5. This kind of shit is what we want, isn't it? It's what we deserve, isn't it? </b>Look, <i>Fuller House </i>only exists because we asked for it. We watched the syndicated re-runs as kids, we grew up and realized it was awful but kept watching it anyway, we started shitting on it and making fun of it only increasing its hype more, we made Buzzfeed lists and quizzes about it and all of its other terrible '90s sitcoms - we brought this onto itself. Because the truth is, there is something addicting about the specific dose of shared, hated nostalgia of these kinds of shows that's addicting, and that makes even the most skeptical of us watch the entire thing on Netflix and make a blog post about it later. That's why this thing exists in the first place, right? <i>Fuller House </i>doesn't learn, people don't learn, and you know what? I don't learn, because this shit has been renewed for a second season, and as much as I tell myself I'm not going to watch it, I probably am! Fuck it! Fuck it all! I'm probably going to go listen to that stupid Carly Rae Jepsen cover of the theme song right now too!!!<br />
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Anyway! Um, don't be like me, don't make my mistakes - please, don't watch <i>Fuller House</i>.<br />
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(On the other hand, at least Jodie Sweetin and Andrea Barber are getting paid, right? Good for them.)Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-2773617280416769602016-02-22T19:01:00.002-08:002016-02-22T19:01:44.069-08:00Netflix's "Love" demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of the binge-watch model <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Over the weekend, Netflix dropped the new Judd Apatow rom-com series <i>Love</i>. As with all Netflix releases, a good chunk of the internet spent the weekend binge-watching and dissecting the series to exhaustion, although the furor around <i>Love </i>seems a bit more muted compared to past Netflix shows. It could just be the sparkle of the Netflix model's all-at-once release method is starting to wear off a bit after three years, or maybe it's just that <i>Love </i>feels a little less splashy then, say, the intensity of <i>Jessica Jones </i>or the sprawling character showcase of <i>Orange is the New Black </i>or the colorful absurdity of <i>Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Love </i>is, more or less, your typical Apatow romcom stretched out across 10 half-hours. As an indie-esque romcom, it's pretty good! The story, though a little messy, is engrossing enough that I chose to spend my entire lazy Sunday watching til the end to find out if these two silly kooks worked it out in the end. (Spoiler alert: they did!). The performances are all fairly strong, particularly from Gillian Jacobs (who brings her now-signature lovable mess character to dark, fascinating places) and Claudia O'Doherty (who brings so much to her sidekick role that she arguably steals every scene she's in). Like pretty much every single Apatow movie, there are some really amazing scenes and a whole bunch of nonsense that definitely should've been cut, but all in all, it mostly hangs together. Still, <i>Love </i>is not a movie, as much as it feels like one most of the time. It's a television show. And while <i>Love </i>might have made a fine movie, it's doesn't quite know how to be a good TV show.</div>
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It's really hard to talk about <i>Love </i>without bringing up <i>You're the Worst</i>. Normally I don't love comparing shows because every show is different and each show has different goals, but the goals of <i>Love </i>and <i>You're the Worst </i>feel incredibly similar in many ways. Both shows are about a particularly privileged group of people living in Los Angeles. Both shows are about two leads who would be considered "unlikable" in most respects. And both shows are about those two leads learning to deal with each other's flaws and etching out a seemingly inevitable relationship. There are some differences between the two: while <i>Love </i>is a cinematic dramedy, <i>You're the Worst </i>is, at its heart, a satirical sitcom. <i>You're the Worst </i>certainly has its heavy moments (particularly in its transcendent second season) but its overall tone is a lot more outwardly comic than <i>Love</i>, which is an occasionally funny, often very depressing look into post-addiction life and the struggles to maintain an intimate relationship. Additionally, <i>You're the Worst </i>seems to feel that its protagonists' relationship is, ultimately, good for both of them. Whether or not Jimmy and Gretchen are endgame, it's clear to see how the show suggests their budding romance is genuinely improving both of them as people. With <i>Love, </i>that's far less clear. When the season ends with Rust and Mickey kissing at the spot they first mess, the tone is half wistful, half utterly depressing. These are two broken people, and the show doesn't seem convinced that they aren't breaking each other down even more. That final kiss is perhaps the very best scene in the show's entire first season, and it makes the journey there make far more sense in hindsight.</div>
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That, in essence, is one of the strengths of the streaming model and its inherent serialization - the end, in most cases, justifies the journey that got us there, no matter how messy that journey is. Most of the pieces I've read about <i>Love </i>today describe it as a show that has "a slow start, but makes it worth it in the end", or posits that the show "finds itself in its last few episodes." I'd quibble with this just a bit - to me the show never quite matched the heights of its second episode, which is the first time Mickey and Gus meet and the only time they seem like they might actually work as a couple - but, in general, the show does become more focused as it goes on, and after a really messy patch of episodes (episodes 3 and 4 are almost completely useless to the show's narrative), the show does snap into focus in its back half, once Mickey and Gus actually go on their first date. Once the show hits that point, it becomes easy to forgive some of the questionable, go-nowhere scenes that got us there. If <i>Love </i>were airing week-to-week, I doubt I would've made it that far - truthfully, I probably would've bailed after that awful threeway scene in the pilot - but when all of the episodes are laid out in front of you, it's hard not to think "alright, this is leading <i>somewhere</i>." (Plus, what else is there to do on a boring Sunday afternoon?). And then it does! And when it does, and when that "somewhere" is actually pretty satisfying, it's easy to think "well, they nailed it. They may have had trouble getting there, but they nailed it!".</div>
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Yet when a show is so focused on nothing but what it's leading up to, it starts to feel like it's missing something. This is where the <i>You're the Worst </i>comparison seems most apt. <i>You're the Worst </i>is generally structured like a traditional sitcom in that, while there is an overarching plot to its seasons, each episode is still, well, an episode. There are A stories, B stories, and sometimes C stories that come to some sort of conclusion at the end of 22 minutes. These stories work not to just establish the narrative of the season, but to study the show's characters, expand the show's world, and find out what makes the people who inhabit that world funny and interesting - and not just Jimmy and Gretchen, but Edgar and Lindsay and Becca and Vernon and Sam and...you get the point. All of these people serve purpose to Gretchen and Jimmy, sure, but they're also strong characters independent of their ties to the show's leads. This helps to create a world so well-developed that the show's two season finales both take place at giant parties that involved pretty much every member of the show's large ensemble, and never once when focusing on that ensemble are you wondering "okay, but what's going on with Jimmy and Gretchen?".</div>
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Compare that with <i>Love</i>, where pretty much every character is immediately defined by their relationship to Mickey and Gus. Bertie - the show's strongest character outside of its two protagonists - still mostly only appears in scenes involving one of the two (with the exception of a minor, underdeveloped plotline involving her hooking up with one of Gus's friends). The show does have a fairly sprawling supporting cast, and some of the most delightful scenes are when we get a behind-the-scenes look at the comically terrible show that Gus tutors for, but we don't get to see any of this working independently. We only get to see it when we're learning something that suggests why Gus or Mickey should be together, or shouldn't be together, or can't be together. Everything in <i>Love </i>serves the purpose of leading to that final scene at the gas station. And while that final scene is great, it doesn't change the fact that there's not really much of a show leading up to that point. The very best streaming shows - <i>Bojack Horseman, Orange is the New Black, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt - </i>find a way to combine the allure of the binge model with the episodic structure that works to create the very best TV. If <i>Love </i>wants to go from being a nice idea and a generally fine television show into a genuinely great show (and I do think the potential is there for that to happen), it needs to take cues from those shows and start acting like...well, a TV show.</div>
Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-27995258543932602662016-01-27T19:41:00.003-08:002016-01-27T19:47:10.773-08:00NBC's Superstore will be my favorite show in 8 months<img height="225" src="https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/superstore-nbc.jpg?w=670&h=377&crop=1" width="400" /><br />
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<i>Superstore </i>is not a perfect show. At this point, it's not even a great one. It's solid, funny, charming and has a likable cast, but there are still plenty of kinks to be worked out. The show occasionally goes too broad with its humor, some of its characters feel more like stereotypes than actual human beings, and it has a tendency to beat you over the head with its character development, rather than letting it progress naturally. Of course, the same could be said of the earliest episodes of almost any network television sitcom, from broad hits like <i>Friends </i>to beloved cult classics like <i>Community </i>and <i>30 Rock</i>, to <i>The Mary Tyler Moore Show </i>to <i>Cheers</i> to <i>Seinfeld </i>to <i>Parks and Recreation </i>to <i>New Girl </i>to...okay, you get the point.<br />
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We live in an era where "network television sitcom" tends to draw minds to either "overly broad, unhip CBS-style comedy" (think <i>The Big Bang Theory) </i>or "family sitcom", of varying quality (from the excellent <i>Black-ish </i>and <i>Fresh Off the Boat </i>to the reliably solid <i>The Middle </i>to the mediocre, paint-by-numbers humor of latter-day <i>Modern Family). </i>The most exciting new comedies - the ones that draw the most attention, the most love, the most thinkpieces - tend to be niche, alt-style cable and streaming comedies, shows that come fully packaged with a distinct voice and point of view. These shows, from <i>Broad City </i>to <i>You're the Worst </i>to <i>Bojack Horseman</i>, recall some of the same mechanics as acclaimed dramas (creative freedom, distinct visual styles, unique viewpoints) to create some truly exciting, riveting, and excellent television. These are some of the best shows on television, no doubt, and we're extremely lucky to live in an era where they're in no short supply. But I still hold the old belief that there's a value to the age-old format of network television sitcoms, the kind of shows where you get a wide-ranging cast of actors and writers together and churn out a product whose primary purpose is to draw advertising dollars but, in the very best of cases, winds up stumbling upon something great. And lost in the era of niche cable comedy is the fact that, in the past year or so, there's been a bit of a renaissance of the network sitcom.<br />
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Now, it sort of feels like someone talks about "the resurgence of the sitcom" every few years. It seems to be an endless cycle of "the sitcom is dead!", only to be followed by "the sitcom has returned!", and the cycle repeats itself again. Indeed, it hasn't been that long since network television was blessed with a line-up of all-star hitters, from NBC's last great Thursday night line-up (<i>Community, The Office, 30 Rock, Parks & Rec) </i>to <i>Happy Endings </i>to <i>Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23 </i>to the beginnings of <i>New Girl </i>and <i>Bob's Burgers. </i>But while that line-up featured sitcoms doing their best to analyze, freshen, and deconstruct their form, the current network renaissance seems to be dominated by shows that are trying to get their unique stories told to as wide of an audience as possible. During the Eddie Huang/<i>Fresh Off the Boat </i>debacle, Huang (whose autobiography serves as the basis of the show but severed ties with it after ABC was unwilling to realistically portray his often gritty, heavy novel), when asked why he didn't take his story to a more auterer-friendly cable or streaming network, responded that he felt a need to bring his story to as many people as possible, and the only place to do so was on network television. We may be heading into an era where every show is specifically designed to appeal to a certain niche audience, but we're not there <i>yet. </i>There's still broad, network shows designed to appeal to a large amount of people. And however long that may be, it's great to see shows taking that opportunity to tell stories of people that aren't always represented on TV.<br />
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Maybe that's why I have such a soft spot for <i>Superstore. </i>I've spent many years of my life working shitty retail jobs, only getting through the day by reciting various funny sitcom lines in my head, over and over, to forget a little bit about the rather mundane reality I was stuck in. Seeing TV actually portraying that shitty retail job - even if it does a mixed job of portraying it accurately - certainly has an element of catharsis to it. And truthfully, there's not a lot of television shows that even attempt to broadcast the everyday mundane, struggling existence that a large majority of us put up with. One thing that sitcoms in particular have lost a step in recently - from the prestige to the mainstream - is creating relatable, down-to-earth realities. Since <i>Friends </i>ruled the '90s, it seems the large majority of comedies have a need to give their characters an element of glamour, whether or not it's actually realistic to their situations. Yes, there are exceptions - <i>The Office, The Middle, Broad City - </i>but in general, there's a trend in TV comedy to promote escapism over realism. This makes sense, to an extent - people watch TV to escape their realities, after all - but sometimes I want to see characters whose lives are kind of a big, boring ass mess, just like mine is! That's what makes <i>Superstore </i>work so well for me so far. Between the wacky hijinks and the sometimes thin character stereotypes, there's an element of sadness, the idea that these people are kind of stuck going through the motions and aren't sure how to get out of it. The show doesn't fully realize this is about itself yet, but it's slowly getting there - the most recent episode, "Color Wars", did a great job of balancing the wacky, big box silliness (a sales competition where everyone wears Red and Blue and the reward is $100 and a pizza party) with a little twinge of well-delivered sadness (Amy is so into the competition because money's tight and she needs cash to fund her college classes that her asshole husband doesn't support).<br />
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If <i>Superstore </i>can perfect that balance, it could go from being a pleasant, entertaining way to pass the time to one of network TV's best, most poignant comedies, one that helps restore the idea of a workplace comedy that accurately depicts the kind of workplace most of us actually work at. I think there's some solid evidence that the show is working towards being this kind of show as it heads towards finishing its abbreviated first season, and here's to hoping September will bring a splurge of pieces talking about how much <i>Superstore</i>'s second season has turned the corner and become the latest, greatest NBC comedy, because having a sitcom that actually gives voice to some of the most underappreciated workers in the country would be pretty damn sweet.Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-68057365170545405072016-01-10T22:35:00.002-08:002016-01-10T22:42:17.937-08:00A love letter to sitcoms<img src="http://www.glamour.com/images/entertainment/2012/12/happy-endings-cast-main.jpg" height="231" width="400" /><br />
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Hulu quietly added the entire run of <i>Happy Endings </i>to its library last week. <i>Happy Endings, </i>if you are sadly unaware, was a hilarious, weird, well-crafted little gem of a sitcom that aired on ABC from 2011 to 2013. It was never a substantial ratings hit, hence its too-short three-season run, and its previous unavailability on streaming platforms combined with its somewhat generic "friends living together in a big city" premise (that the show quickly rose above) kept it from being a cult hit along the likes of <i>Arrested Development </i>or <i>Parks and Recreation</i>. But at the time, it was one of the funniest shows on television, a proud member of what we may eventually know as the "last golden age" of sitcoms on television. This was a time around the late 2000s/early 2010s, from about 2008 to 2013, where there was a sudden uptick in quality of network television sitcoms, heralded by the much-cherished block of NBC Thursday sitcoms at the time (<i>30 Rock, The Office, Parks and Recreation</i>, and <i>Community). </i>These shows, heavily influenced by the adoration of shows like <i>Arrested Development </i>as well as animated sitcoms like <i>The Simpsons </i>and <i>Futurama</i>, managed to bring TV comedy to a new level. As <i>The Office </i>took its British counterpart's dry wit and realism and mixed it with big swings of emotion, <i>30 Rock </i>set the joke-per-minute ratio to astonishing heights all while serving as a cutting satire of the entertainment industry. And then came <i>Parks and Recreation, </i>daring to have a big heart and a sunny worldview in an era where most sitcoms were downbeat and cynical, as <i>Community </i>tore apart the sitcom structure and re-examined it on a weekly basis. These were unique, strange, big swing shows that could only survive as long as they did on a network failing as hard as fourth-place NBC was at the time. And they went onto influence shows like <i>Happy Endings, Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23, </i>and <i>New Girl</i>, which helped round out an era where network comedy felt more daring and alive than either.<br />
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That era died a fairly fast death, though, as network TV ratings plummeted and streaming services heralded in a brand new world. NBC phased out its much beloved but low-rated and aging comedies for generic procedurals with half the creativity but double the ratings. <i>Happy Endings </i>and <i>Don't Trust the B </i>were cancelled, and while <i>New Girl </i>holds up a fort of generally strong comedies over on FOX and ABC has assembled a line-up of surprisingly strong family comedy, the sparkle and wit once found on network TV not so long ago now mostly exists on cable and streaming comedies like <i>Broad City, You're the Worst, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, </i>and <i>Bojack Horseman</i>, places where these niche shows can conform to their own rules and structure without having to worry about appealing to a broad audience. It's great! I love it! I really do!<br />
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But as someone coming of age just as the NBC Thursday night line-up became the most exciting collection of comedy on television, I can't help but feel nostalgia for the old line-up. It's ridiculous to get nostalgic for a time that is barely even gone, but as I've been navigating this post-grad world as someone who wants to do fucking <i>comedy </i>for a living, the era has been on my mind a lot lately. I remember five years ago when every Thursday I would tuck myself into bed and watch the entire NBC Thursday line-up (taking a snack break during <i>Perfect Couples</i>), forgetting about whatever my anxious 17-year-old brain was fretting about at the moment and immersing myself in weird, rough-around-the-edge worlds like Pawnee and Greendale, where I felt I belonged. I remember nights where my friends would ask me to hang out and I would tell them I was "hanging out with my other friends" - yes, I was referring to TV characters. (I was not the coolest high schooler.) I remember realizing how happy these shows made me, how great it felt to just sit back and laugh all night, and I remember how it finally gave me a sense of purpose and direction in life. These were the shows that led to me writing my own comedy and finding my own voice. These were the shows that led to me majoring in motherfucking <i>television</i>, of all things. (Okay, it was communications with a <i>focus </i>in television, but ya know, still.) And weirdly, marathoning <i>Happy Endings </i>this weekend brought a lot of those feelings back. I guess it's because I've never stopped endlessly watching shows like <i>Community, Parks and Recreation </i>and <i>30 Rock</i> - they've become regular "leave them on repeat endlessly" shows for me - but <i>Happy Endings </i>was almost like a re-discovery, and it brought me back to being barely graduated from high school, believing that a career in comedy was the most exciting direction I could go in.<br />
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Now, I have graduated college with my useless degree. Comedy is slowly becoming something resembling a job to me (though not one that pays), as I attempt to navigate my way through the New York improv scene and learn just how the fuck to actually <i>do </i>what I want to do. It's not exactly the fun comfort zone it was when I was a teenager, although it's still something that guides my everyday life and overall being. But watching <i>Happy Endings </i>reminded me of a time when it was, which reminds me of why I am, like an idiot, attempting to do this whole comedy thing anyway. It made me realize just how much joy it brings me at its root. It made me remember how great that feeling of watching someone take the thing you feel so passionately about - the thing that gives your awkward, strange, generally useless self meaning - and do something great with it is. And that's a nice, necessary reminder sometimes.Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-37975142647512151142016-01-05T23:46:00.004-08:002016-01-06T00:15:17.244-08:00This is not a hot take on Making a Murderer <img src="http://cdn29.elitedaily.com/content/uploads/2015/12/31151311/Making-a-Murderer.jpg" height="200" width="400" /><br />
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I watched two episodes of <i>Making a Murderer </i>today. I will probably finish the series, because I have a relentless need to fit in with a bunch of strangers on the internet who do not know I exist, and because it's pretty interesting! And yet, I will do so knowing that each and every episode of the show will fill me with dread and possibly send me into an existential crisis. You see, I have been given a brain that cannot handle even the slightest bit of uncertainty. I've had full meltdowns over gloomy weather forecasts, I constantly assume any ailment on my body is going to spell out my untimely death, and don't even get me started on the whole "is there life after death?" thing - I've had to lock myself in bathroom stalls to get myself to calm down over it. Truthfully, I don't really know what's wrong with me. I am guessing I have some kind of anxiety disorder, likely some form of OCD, but I can't get myself to a doctor because I'm convinced they're going to tell me I'm an idiot who's making it all up. Also, that shit's kind of expensive.<br />
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ANYWAY! I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but those two episodes of <i>Making a Murderer </i>gave me that familiar feeling I get whenever I've tried to watch shows like <i>CSI </i>or <i>Law & Order </i>or oh, Jesus, <i>Criminal Minds. </i>Especially goddamn <i>Criminal Minds</i>. They ZOOM IN on open wounds! Why are they allowed to do that?! Crime drama has always unsettled me to an extreme degree. I remember when my parents would watch crime documentaries and procedurals when I was a kid, and they would always just make me feel <i>terrified</i>. Part of that was normal childhood fear, the kind you get as a kid slowly realizing the world isn't what Disney movies told you it would be. But even as a little kid, the idea that human beings could commit such heinous crimes bothered me in a really deep way. My mind couldn't process it. "Well, if the people who do this are human, and I'm human, then what's the difference between me and them?". That thought would set me off for days. I would watch <i>CSI </i>and I would get legitimate anxiety if the revealed killer was someone I found myself identifying with at all through-out the episode. Hell, even if it was shallow, like they were short or had brown hair or something, I would think "oh my God, that short, brown-haired dude killed that mailman and stuffed him into a fish tank. I'm short and I have brown hair. Could <i>I </i>do that?!". Even at a young age, I realized this fear was completely irrational, and yet the hilarious thing about anxiety is that you can continue to worry about something <i>even as you're totally aware it is completely and utterly irrational</i>.<br />
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Anyway, these fears intensified as I got older, and they hit a breaking point sometime in college, when I spent a summer paralyzed in fear that I would one day find my inner serial killer and go on a rampage, often triggered by things like ho-hum episodes of network crime procedurals or movies starring dirty looking white men. I didn't really think I would be a serial killer, but the idea that I was physically capable of being one was enough reason for me to think it was a possibility, which was enough reason for my brain to run with that fear and send itself into a spiral of depression and horror. I pictured myself sitting in prison as my friends and family members gave interviews about "what a great person they thought I was" and how "they just aren't sure what happened." I pictured myself sitting in a cell thinking about my hopes and dreams, dashed - thanks to my secret destiny of being a murderer that had been with me since a child and had suddenly come out with absolutely no warning or reason whatsoever. In my mind, being a deranged killer was something you were born with, something that you just <i>were</i>, and that if I was having these thoughts, it meant I was one of the unlucky chosen ones. Again, half of me knew this was ridiculous. Half of me wanted to take my brain out, smack it, and ask what the <i>fuck </i>was wrong with it. But the half that was thinking these thoughts overtook the rational half. As I've learned, an OCD mind is one that gets stuck on a particular thought and can't let go. Lots of people probably have the passing thought of "whoa, what if I was a killer? That'd be weird, right?", but someone with an OCD mind thinks "wait, why did you think that? Do you want to think that? Is this a sign? Are you <i>choosing </i>to think that?". This thought process was not exclusive to the idea of committing heinous crimes - I would watch shows where a character loses their mom and spend the next few weeks saying "I love you" to my own mother every time I saw her, in fear it could be the last time. (And I lived at home, so I saw her <i>a lot</i>.) I would watch a movie where someone got into a car crash and be afraid of even being in a car for the conceivable future.<br />
But, naturally, imaging myself as a murderer was the most disturbing to me, and therefore left the biggest impact.It got to the point where I would dread waking up every morning and hearing this cycle of fear repeated over and over again, so I decided to do something about it. I did self-help exercises and minor forms of cognitive behavior therapy - anything I could find on my own, because I was too scared and too broke to afford actual therapy. And, surprisingly, it helped. A lot. I don't have those thoughts anymore, although my OCD tendencies tend to pop up in other (less dramatic and awful) forms. I've accepted the reality that: yes, we are all physically capable of doing terrible things, but if we don't want to, then we don't, and that's that. There is no part of me that wants to be a serial killer, so I'm not going to be one. Life is cool that way!<br />
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And yet, when I watch things like true crime shows, the uncertainty of it all sort of re-aggravates my brain. After I watched those two episodes of <i>Making a Murderer, </i>I drove my girlfriend home, carefully making sure that no one around was murdering anyone and could potentially pin it on me. Yes, I knew this <i>probably </i>wasn't going to happen. But it could. I mean, it's not impossible. It's not science fiction. It's not unicorns. It's happened to other people. It happened to Steven Avery, once, maybe twice. And as much as my brain knows that worrying about this is ridiculous, I think the reason <i>Making a Murderer </i>(and <i>Serial, </i>ect) is that everyone, a little bit, has that fear. And everyone knows that fear is mostly irrational, but it's a <i>little </i>justified. Because we're all human beings. Steven Avery is a human being. He's a human being who is accused of some terrible things, a human being who had some terrible things happen to him, and a human being who actually <i>has </i>done some terrible things. Let's be honest, he's not someone most of us would go and grab a drink with. But he's a human being, just like the rest of us. And both he and us deserve to live in a world where you can feel reasonably safe that if you don't commit a crime, you won't be imprisoned for it. It's not too much to ask for. And I guess that's why I'm going to finish <i>Making a Murderer. </i>It'll wreak my brain, but at least I'm more equipped to handle it now than I used to be. One of the most effective tools for treating anxiety is exposure therapy. I guess this is my exposure therapy. This terrible thing <i>could</i> happen to me. It probably won't! There's a 95% chance it won't! But it <i>could. </i>And running towards that fear, rather than running away from it, is what's going to keep me healthy in the long run. We all need to run towards that fear, because we should live in a world where that fear is as ridiculous as it could possibly be, and the only way to do that is to watch these things. Educate ourselves. Get angry about the system. Get angry about the system by realizing that you are not immune from the system. You <i>can be </i>Steven Avery. He's not an alien, he's not a monster, he's a human being. He might be a human being who killed someone. He might not be. You're a human being, you haven't killed anyone (hopefully!), but who knows? One day someone could think you did. It's a scary thought, but it's reality, and we need to be aware of that in order to accept it and make it right for all of us.<br />
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So, yes, I guess what I'm saying is, <i>Making a Murderer </i>is AMERICA'S exposure therapy, and...oh...no. This is totally a hot take on Making a Murderer, isn't it?Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-14824492665823200482016-01-04T23:57:00.000-08:002016-01-04T23:57:33.887-08:00Best TV of 2015Hi everyone! I know I've done a really shitty job of updating this blog recently. I'm going to try to fix that this year, for real. It's part of my *<i style="font-weight: bold;">~New Years Resolution~</i>*. So that means I'm definitely going to stick with it. Maybe. Probably. Maybe. (No, for real, I'm going to try really hard.) And maybe I'll try to use this blog for more than just television reviews, like it was before. It'll probably still be mostly for television, let's be real, because that's like, 95% of what I think about at all times. But maybe I'll talk more about how TV shows impact my life! Or what they mean to me! And maybe I'll talk a little bit about music and movies, too! Who knows what the future has in store?! But, for this post: who cares what the future has in store? Let's talk about my favorite TV of 2015!<br />
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I've been making "best of TV" lists for a few years now, and every year it becomes harder and harder to narrow my list down. Part of that is because my tastes have broadened past the "silly sitcoms only" territory that they once stuck to, but a larger part of that is that the amount of TV has absolutely exploded in the past few years. Yeah, you've heard about it, you know we're living in Peak TV, you don't need me to lecture you about it. But while Peak TV might be a nightmare for executives trying to counter-program against a mass glut of exceptionally unique television shows, it's a dream for people like me, who just <i>love television so much </i>and often like shows that didn't stand much of a chance in the old, mass appeal mandated system. So just know that this list leaves off plenty of shows that I really did love. I extended the list to 25 this year, and I feel these 25 shows do a fairly good job of representing both what I personally dug this year as well as the true diversity of programming available to us today. So let's go!<br />
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<b>25. The Middle</b><br />
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It's not easy for a sitcom to stay fresh for so long, nevertheless a <i>family </i>sitcom with children who age and, as we've been taught to think, become less funny. But <i>The Middle </i>has become the rare show that's becoming more mature, more thoughtful and more poignant as it grows up around its characters. In 2015, we saw Sue Heck graduate high school and discover the world outside of the bubble she's been living with. We saw Mike deal with the fact that he's not going to be around forever and how to cope with that slowly growing realization. We saw Axl realize that his high school glory days are over and that he's going to have to start to forge his own path in life rather than relying on everyone else to figure it out for him. And we saw one of the most subtle yet effective coming out scenes I've ever seen on television. These are all heavy topics that would've seemed impossible when <i>The Middle </i>started and seemed like another run-of-the-mill family sitcom, and the fact that it's consistently knocking them out of the park while still remaining light and funny shows just how much the show has grown over the years.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"The Graduate", "Risky Business", "Halloween VI: Tick Tock Death"<br />
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<b>24. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia</b><br />
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Another long-running sitcom that has remained fresh but for entirely different reasons, <i>Always Sunny </i>continues to be a deranged delight ten years into its run. Season 10 was somehow one of the show's tightest and funniest seasons, with nearly every episode clocking in as a near-classic. The show continues to subtlety experiment with its form, with a series best episode mimicking <i>True Detective</i>'s famed one-shot sequence and another hilarious episode playing entirely as an episode of <i>Family Feud </i>with the Reynolds family. There's not many sitcoms that I would eagerly be awaiting an 11th season of, but <i>Always Sunny </i>is a proud member of that short list.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Charlie Work", "The Gang Misses the Boat", "The Gang Goes on Family Fight"<br />
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<b>23. Parks and Recreation</b><br />
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<i>Parks and Recreation </i>remained a delight through-out its entire run, but it sometimes felt as if it was struggling to find a purpose in its later seasons after it pretty much gave all of its characters an endless supply of everything they had ever wanted. That all changed in its 7th and final season, which made the bold move of jumping three years into the future and exploring how everyone had grown and changed, then showed us where they all ultimately ended up. This season almost felt removed from the rest of the series, which allowed it to function less as your typical season of the show and more as an intricate character study of each member of the ensemble. That's pretty much the best kind of victory lap any fan could ask for, and it led to <i>Parks & Rec </i>going out on a really lovely note.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Leslie & Ron", "The Johnny Karate Super Awesome Musical Explosion Show", "One Last Ride"<br />
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<b>22. Brooklyn Nine-Nine</b><br />
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<i>Brooklyn Nine-Nine </i>might be the most quietly consistent show on television. It rarely makes a big splash, but week in and week out it makes me laugh more than most other shows on TV, and it has the biggest, best and most lovable sitcom ensemble this side of NBC Thursdays. The show had a particularly strong run of episodes this past fall as it experimented with its dynamics a bit, finally pushing together its two romantic leads and actually managing to pull it off. It's also the only place you can go to find truly unique characters like Captain Holt and Gina Linetti, characters that make me laugh with pretty much every word that comes out of their mouth in a way that very few characters can. Maybe it's not quite a game changer, but there are few places on television I'm more eager to return to each week than the 99.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Captain Peralta", "Ava", "Yippie Kayak"<br />
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<b>21. Orange is the New Black</b><br />
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<i>Orange is the New Black</i>'s third season was more understated than its first two installments, trading in some of the high-stakes drama for more of a laidback, hangout vibe. There were times when the show seemed to be hugging the "comedy" side of its comedy-drama hybrid surprisingly hard, almost as if it had forgotten that it was show about, well, prison. And yet in the back half of its season, that laidback vibe came crashing down in a very classic <i>OITNB </i>fashion, bringing us some of the most heart-wrenching plot developments the show has ever attempted. It all led us to a finale that stands as one of the show's very best episodes, one that had the show's full armory of grounded comedy, heart-pounding drama, and bittersweet undertones proudly on display.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Empathy is a Boner Killer", "A Tittin' and a Hairin'", "Trust No Bitch"<br />
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<b>20. Community</b><br />
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<i>Community</i>'s sixth season shouldn't have happened. It only existed thanks to a last-minute save from Yahoo, of all places, and it did so with nearly half of its original cast having departed. And yet, the show managed to put together a sixth (and final) season that struck the right balance of humor, warmth, and experimentation that made so many of us fall in love with the show in the first place. It was a season that fully addressed the show's changed dynamic by centering itself around the idea of Jeff slowly watching his fellow study group members figure out their leaves and move past Greendale, as he's stuck repeating the same notes over and over again. In typical <i>Community </i>fashion, this was explored through an endless parade of winky sitcom tropes and genre parodies, albeit ones that seemed rather grounded and toned down compared to previous seasons. It all ended in a series finale that was an absolutely perfect way to send off these characters, one that makes me feel at peace that it's probably the end of the road for a show that's grown to mean a lot to me. (I still need that movie, though.)<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing", "Modern Espionage", "Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television"<br />
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<b>19. Inside Amy Schumer</b><br />
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Amy Schumer had a big year in 2015, with her new HBO special (at the Apollo!) and her massive comedy hit <i>Trainwreck </i>and her budding friendship with Jennifer Lawrence. But it was the third season of her weird little sketch show <i>Inside Amy Schumer </i>that had her best work of the year, churning out sketch after sketch of insightful, funny commentary on what it's like to be a woman in the entertainment industry and, more broadly, the world. Schumer comes from that dying '90s/00s brand of "mean is better" comedy that sometimes gets a little <i>too </i>cruel, but she's managed to outlast most of her other contemporaries from that time by making her comic targets big, powerful ideas in need of derision - things like sexism, patriarchy and unrealistic expectations for women in the media. As Schumer makes her way towards the A-list, here's to hoping she continues doing great, gutsy things like <i>12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer. </i><br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Last Fuckable Day", "12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer", "80s Ladies"<br />
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<b>18. Transparent</b><br />
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<i>Transparent </i>didn't have the tight narrative arc of Maura's coming out to rely on this year, which made the show's focus a bit more generalized and less specific to Maura herself. That could've been a death knell for the show, but instead if allowed it to double down on the deeply flawed Pfefferman clan and constantly tested them and analyzed how exactly they came to be the way they are. Additionally, the show's widened scope allowed it to speak out on plenty of real-world issues facing the trans and LGBT community, such as the exclusion of trans rights from certain aspects of feminism, the concept of privilege, and a handful of other topics that made <i>Transparent </i>feel like a show very much rooted in our current real-world discourse on these issues. Oh, and also, it was pretty damn funny! The first season of the show often felt like a half-hour drama, but the show seemingly discovered its comic side this year, all while nailing some pretty heavy subjects. It's not always perfect, but <i>Transparent </i>is a show that I'm very glad exists.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Kina Hora", "Mee-Maw", "Man on the Land"<br />
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<b>17. Black-ish</b><br />
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<i>Black-ish </i>really came onto its own in 2015, combining super-smart and fast-paced writing, subtly strong character work, and a deft handle on real-world issues to become one of the sharpest network comedies in recent memory. Not only is pretty much every cast member, from toddlers to grandparents, giving it their all, and not only are the Johnsons one of the most lovable and relatable families on TV, but the show has gotten surprisingly excellent at handling seemingly taboo topics. One episodes features an in-depth analysis around the N-word debate, while another episode dealt with gun control in a surprisingly level-headed manner. It's the first show in quite a while to emulate the Norman Lear method of combining great, memorable characters with sharp takes on social issues, and it's made it a true standout in this vast television landscape.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Elephant in the Room", "The Word", "Charlie in Charge"<br />
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<b>16. Fargo</b><br />
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<i>Fargo's </i>first season was one of the most unexpected delights of 2014, taking what seemed like a highly questionable revival of a beloved Coen Brothers' film and turning it into one of the most thrilling new dramas of the year. The second season of <i>Fargo </i>took what made Season 1 so great and improved on it, creating a highly memorable cast of characters and getting them involved in a tightly-written conspiracy bigger than each and every one of them, then sat back and let all of the pieces fall. This created one of the most genuinely entertaining shows of the year, utilizing its knockout ensemble to its full potential each and every week. And whenever <i>Fargo </i>seems like it's about to skirt off the rocks (remember when they brought in aliens?), it manages to make a hard right turn and ground everything in genuine emotional groundwork. <i>Fargo </i>won't be back on our screens until 2017, but it sure made every moment it was here worth the while.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"The Myth of Sisyphus", "Rhinoceros", "Loplop"<br />
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<b>15. Veep</b><br />
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One of the most consistently hilarious comedies on television continued to swing big in 2015, as Selena Meyer unprecedentedly rose to the position of president. Luckily for us, Selena is just as incompetent of a president as she was a veep, and her disastrous reign led to an unraveling of her entire staff that somehow ended up in all of them having to testify before Congress in a series-best, form-breaking episode that doubled as CSPAN congressional hearing. <i>Veep </i>ended in a cliffhanger this season as Selena remains unsure of whether she's been re-elected to the presidency, and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for her and her increasingly ridiculous political career.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"East Wing", "Convention", "Testimony"<br />
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<b>14. Fresh Off the Boat</b><br />
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<i>Fresh Off the Boat </i>was one of my favorite new shows of the year and the funniest new network comedy by a comfortable landslide. The show manages to combine the sweetness of a family sitcom with gutsy plotlines dealing with racial stereotypes and prejudices, all while tossing in some of the most jokes-per-minute since <i>30 Rock. </i>Both <i>Fresh </i>and its ABC counterpart <i>Black-ish </i>feel a bit like a "next generation" of family comedies, allowing voices to be expressed that previously were being ignored on network television, all while having the lightning speed, live action cartoon tendencies of shows like <i>Community </i>and <i>Happy Endings</i>. It's been a while since a network comedy was on as much of a hot streak as this show is right now, thanks both to its extremely strong writing and top-notch performances from its dynamic leads, Constance Wu and Randall Park.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Fajita Man", "Boy II Man", "The Real Santa"<br />
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<b>13. Master of None</b><br />
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It's easy to compare <i>Master of None </i>to <i>Louie - </i>both shows take high-profile comedians into a short-story format and let them ruminate on particular topics that pique their interest. But by the end of its excellent first season, <i>Master of None </i>felt like something wholly unique - a show that was sometimes funny, sometimes sad, often beautiful and always offering a fresh perspective on topics that aren't always front and center on television. Whether it was the meaning of family, the struggle of immigrants, the hardships of getting old or the idea of what it means to live a "normal" life, Aziz and his writers were constantly exploring questions that they didn't quite have the answer to but were always pushing towards some kind of understanding of. Topped off with a surprise breakout performance from Noel Wells as Aziz's love interest, <i>Master of None </i>was one of the most fully formed and genuinely enjoyable shows of the year.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Parents", "Indians on TV", "Mornings"<br />
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<b>12. The Americans</b><br />
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<i>The Americans </i>continues to get more gripping every season, with the show's third season being its darkest and best season yet. This was a season that dealt with Paige's gradual realization that her entire life is a lie, leading into one of the tensest and most explosive scenes of television this year. It was also a season that found Phillip and Elizabeth being forced to go into darker and darker places, as the show continued to make its protagonists question themselves and the integrity of what they do. As always, I'm incredibly excited to see how this show manages to answer the various questions it continues to pose for itself, and I have total confidence that it's going to do so in a satisfying way while keeping me at the edge of my seat the entire time.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Dimebag", "Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sleep?", "Stingers"<br />
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<b>11. Bob's Burgers</b><br />
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After so many years of being the warmest, funniest show on TV, you would figure that <i>Bob's Burgers </i>has to decline in quality at some point, right? Nope. <i>Bob's Burgers </i>continues to be one of my absolute favorite ways to spend a half-hour, and there's few things that brighten up my day more than a Netflix marathon with the Belchers. In terms of the show's 2015 output, it continued to be just as strong and funny as ever, continuing to explore the sweet, off-the-wall dynamics of our beloved Belcher clan while continuing to explore the show's ever-expanding universe of well-rounded and off-beat characters. <i>Bob's Burgers </i>has been renewed for several more seasons already, so here's to spending a whole bunch more time with the best family on TV.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Housetrap", "The Oeder Games", "The Nice-capades"<br />
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<b>10. Review</b><br />
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<i>Review's </i>first season was already one of the best dark comedies I've ever seen, but the second season took things to new, glorious heights. With his life already completely destroyed, Forrest returned to the show that stole his entire world from him with a sort of cautious optimism that was completely destroyed time and time again. From blackmail to violent cults to assault to flat-out <i>murder, </i>there was nothing too far for <i>Review </i>Season 2, and the show once again drove its deranged lead character completely insane by the end of the year. I've seen some call <i>Review </i>the <i>Breaking Bad </i>of comedy, and after finding myself just as nervous to get through an episode as I was with that show, I'm inclined to agree.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Brawl; Blackmail; Glory Hole", "William Tell; Grant a Wish; Rowboat", "Murder; Magic 8 Ball; Procrastination"<br />
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<b>9. Doctor Who</b><br />
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Peter Capaldi has been nothing short of a force as The Doctor. He's possibly the best actor to ever land the role, and he's been doing a banner job of bringing all of the warmth, terror, anger, and power required of it. Capaldi's Doctor wears his frustration and his pain on his sleeve. So when the show itself is as good as<i> </i>it was this year - the best season since Matt Smith's debut season five years ago - it all adds up to <i>Doctor Who </i>operating at the very top of its game, and when it's capable of doing that, there's not much like it on TV. This year, the show experimented with longer stories, with most episodes spawning two episodes instead of wrapping up in a neat 44 minutes. That gave the show time to breathe and fully develop each of its ideas, whether it be a Zygon invasion that stands in for current world issues, or a woman who the Doctor accidentally makes immortal, or a brutal companion death that the Doctor does everything in his power to try to reverse. <i>Doctor Who </i>will always be one of my favorite shows on TV, but that doesn't mean it's always one of the <i>best </i>shows on TV, so when it actually does earn that distinction, it makes it all the better.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"The Girl Who Died", "The Zygon Invasion", "Heaven Sent"<br />
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<b>8. Jessica Jones</b><br />
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<i>Jessica Jones </i>felt like a new kind of superhero show. There was no spandex, no flawless, powerful heroes representing what we all aspire to be, no deus ex machinas swooping in at the last minute to help the good guys win. Instead, <i>Jessica Jones </i>was a dark, grounded superhero drama set in something vaguely resembling our reality, where everyone's a little complex, even the heroes make some questionable decisions, and the issues the characters face mirror issues in our own lives - misogyny, sexism, PTSD. Combine all of that with some total dynamite performances (Krysten Ritter is a force as the titular Jessica Jones, but David Tennant's performance made Kilgrave one of the best, most chilling villains of all-time) and a slick film noir aesthetic, and you have one of the most unique, interesting and exciting shows of 2015.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"AKA Ladies Night", "AKA WWJD?", "AKA Smile"<br />
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<b>7. Mr. Robot</b><br />
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<i>Mr. Robot </i>was one of the strangest, most interesting, and overall best viewing experiences I had in 2015. Held together by its main character, the highly unreliable, drug addicted, mentally ill narrator Eliott, the show constantly brought you to a place where you <i>thought </i>you knew what was going on, until completely shattering all of your expectations at the last moment. In addition to a poignant narrative that gets a lot right about the highly digital world we live in, <i>Mr. Robot's </i>core strengths lie in both its complex plotting and unique cast of characters, all of which added up to make this paranoid tech drama one of the biggest surprises and one of the most exciting new shows of the year.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"ps1.3_da3m0ns.mp4", "eps1.7_wh1ter0se.m4v", "eps1.8_m1rr0r1ng.qt"<br />
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<b>6. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt</b><br />
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From <i>30 Rock </i>co-creators Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, <i>Kimmy Schmidt </i>borrows a lot of its comic sensibility from its esteemed and beloved predecessor, with a wonderfully loopy cartoon universe and some of the most finely crafted gags you'll ever see in your entire life. But while <i>30 Rock </i>was a sardonic satire of the entertainment industry, <i>Kimmy Schmidt </i>is a darkly funny and oddly uplifting tale of human survival and connection, one that never forgets the dark roots of its premise (a woman trapped in an underground cult is finally released and gets to explore the 'real world') but also continues to push her forward into her sunnier future. Ellie Kemper was a revelation as the hopelessly optimistic Kimmy Schmidt, constantly putting on a happy face even as the world was telling her not to, but the rest of the cast was also up to task, from breakout star Tituss Burgess to Fey/Carlock staple Jane Krakowski. There are few shows I'm looking forward to more in 2016, as <i>Kimmy Schmidt </i>(which was originally produced for NBC but was thankfully swapped to Netflix) can finally loosen its reigns and operate within the freedom of Netflix.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Kimmy Goes to a Party!", "Kimmy's in a Love Triangle!", "Kimmy Rides a Bike!"<br />
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<b>5. Mad Men</b><br />
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<i>Mad Men </i>finally came to a close in 2015, and what a close it was. The final seven episodes reminded us of everything we loved about the show as it tore down the foundation as we knew it, folding the beloved Sterling Cooper & Partners and sending its workers off on their own journeys, whether that was an upward track at McCann (for Peggy), their own independent company (Joan), or happily married with children (Pete). The show's finale, in particular, was a revelation, giving us yet another question we can all chew on for years (did Don write that Coke commercial?) while offering perfect closure for every single character we've grown to live. (Also, Don totally wrote the Coke commercial, c'mon guys.)<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Time & Life", "Lost Horizon", "Person to Person"<br />
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<b>4. Rick & Morty</b><br />
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<i>Rick and Morty's </i>second season doubled down on the extreme creativity demonstrated by its transcendent debut year, topping itself with endless creative concepts and even more cutting emotional depth. The show succeeded by bringing the entire family in on the action, as Summer became a regular traveler on Rick & Morty's trips through time and space, and the show tied the sometimes rote Beth & Jerry "marriage in crisis" plots into the bigger sci-fi concepts, with great results. <i>Rick & Morty </i>ended this year with an extreme emotional wallup and a giant cliffhanger that puts the entire fabric of the show into question, and I am already clawing for more episodes ASAP to see where the show goes from here.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Total Rickall", "The Ricks Must Be Crazy", "The Wedding Squanchers"<br />
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<b>3. Bojack Horseman</b><br />
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<i>Bojack Horseman </i>was one of the year's best slow burns in its first season, going from a funny but (seemingly) not particularly deep showbiz satire to one of TV's greatest ruminations on depression, self-improvement and what it means to be a good person over the course of just 12 episodes. The second season took this to an entirely new level, giving Bojack everything he could ever want - his dream job, a great girlfriend, some upward trajectory in his life - and watching him slowly destroy all of it, even as hard as he tried not to. There were few shows that gutted me this year as much as this one did, and it managed to do so while remaining a hysterical cartoon about a Hollywoo<strike>d</strike> where humans and talking animals co-exist in total harmony. Not many shows reach that level of creativity, but <i>Bojack Horseman </i>does it with ease.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Hank After Dark", "Let's Find Out", "Escape from L.A."<br />
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<b>2. Broad City</b><br />
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2014's biggest breakout comedy somehow got even better in 2015, taking Abbi and Ilana's ridiculous antics to even greater heights while exploring their unique dynamic in even more interesting and in-depth ways. <i>Broad City </i>remains one of the most positive, life-affirming shows on television - it casually drops references to its characters taking anti-depressants, does a plotline about pegging like it's hardly a big deal, and has its characters trip out in Whole Foods on weed and Vicodin with zero judgement. With endless acceptance combined with a well-drawn haunted house-esque comic universe where you never know what the girls are going to encounter next, <i>Broad City </i>continues to be the show that puts me in the best mood after watching an episode (or five).<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Wisdom Teeth", "Knockoffs", "Coat Check"<br />
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<b>1. You're the Worst</b><br />
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<i>You're the Worst's </i>dark, realistic and surprisingly sweet take on romantic comedy made it an immediate standout in Season 1. In Season 2, the show built on the goodwill it had slowly accumulated over its first season by dealing with an altered dynamic (Jimmy and Gretchen are now living together) with aplomb, using its central couple's resistance against settling down as a way to more closely analyze their own faults and insecurities. That led to the show's slow and perfect reveal that Gretchen suffers from clinical depression, and the show's handling of the topic was perhaps the most honest and upfront portrayal of mental illness I've ever seen on television. It perfectly understood the issue from all sides - we sympathized with Gretchen while rooting for Jimmy to do the right thing, even though we weren't even sure what the right thing was ourselves. It was complex, heavy stuff, but it never felt overbearing as the show remained funnier than ever, honing and strengthening its sense of humor while continuing to expand its comic universe. It all ended in a genuinely heartwarming finale that left the characters exactly where you'd want them to be, leaving me incredibly eager to see what the show has in store for the future. There was nothing quite like <i>You're the Worst </i>this year, and I have total faith that it's going to continue being one of the best, funniest and most interesting shows on TV.<br />
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"There is Not Currently a Problem", "LCD Soundsystem", "Other Things You Could Be Doing"<br />
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There you have it, guys. 2015 was a seriously great year for TV, and I can't wait to see what 2016 has in store for us. Hopefully whatever it is, I'll be writing about it it right here on this very blog! PEACE OUT.<br />
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<br />Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-16873209994636681672015-08-29T23:24:00.001-07:002015-08-29T23:24:43.585-07:00I HAVEN'T POSTED IN MONTHSI haven't posted in a months so why not start with this long rambling post about Community?!<br />
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I started a Community rewatch today, for the first time in a while. Some things I've noticed!</div>
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1) The version of Social Psychology on Hulu is slightly different than the version on the S1 DVD (which was the first time I watched it.) What the hell! The DVD has some cut scenes (like the Chang scene in the cold open). Is the Hulu version the producers' cut or something?</div>
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2) I don't think this show gets enough credit for how diverse its characters are, not just in ethnicity but even in just their backgrounds and personalities. Like, it's interesting to see a show where people like Britta and Shirley or Troy and Pierce can talk and generally get along despite being polar opposites. A lot of shows, comedies in particular, focus on a particular subset of people that are all pretty similar in class/age/race/ect, usually the subset that the creator or audience is in....especially in this new niche programming world we're living in. I love a lot of those shows so I'm not knocking it or anything, but I had forgotten how rare <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Community</i> is in that regard.</div>
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3) Speaking of which, these early episodes got me thinking about where S1 of Community would fit in today's TV landscape. I was thinking it would probably end up on cable or streaming, but honestly, I think it would just be a flat out different show. Ambitious shows masquerading as mainstream fare don't really exist anymore, because cable and streaming allows those kinds of shows to be profitable on their own.<i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Community</i> kind of came at a perfect time, then, didn't it?</div>
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4) "Introduction to Film" is always a lot more emotional than I remember it being. And it fucks me up every time!</div>
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5) It's weird to see Gillian playing the straight woman in the episodes. I keep expecting Britta lines to end with a joke, and then they just...don't.</div>
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6) Community S1 also feels like a show people would be writing a zillion thinkpieces about, if that was more of a thing in 2009. It dealt with some of Tumblr's favorite issues before Tumblr even existed. (Race! class! sexism! activism!) Maybe <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Community</i> and shows like it even influenced the Tumblr generation that followed shortly after?</div>
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That's all for now. Hopefully more to come!</div>
Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-7499090650719146742015-01-21T06:48:00.002-08:002015-01-21T06:48:41.875-08:00I LOVE BROAD CITY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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HI GUYS! It's now a new year! Well, it has been for a while, but this is the first time I am posting in it on this here blog. Television is, basically, back with a vengeance now - most broadcast shows have returned from their winter breaks, and there's a slew of shows on basic cable that have just started new seasons. One of them is <i>Broad City</i>, which is currently my favorite show on television, a show that resonates extremely deeply with me despite it being, mostly, an incredibly silly comedy. But if you can't tell from everything I've posted about this blog, I really, really love comedy (I know, how boring), so to see it executed so freely and so perfectly on a weekly basis is kind of like, the best thing ever.<br />
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But what ultimately makes me love and connect with <i>Broad City </i>so much is because it's one of the few shows on television that lets its character be totally and completely free. The Abbi and Ilana of <i>Broad City</i> (which I assume are at least slightly different than the Abbi and Ilana of real life) live completely by their ids, never worrying much about how they come off or societal pressures or how other people want them to live. They live <i>for them</i>. This is so refreshing not just because characters, and <i>especially </i>female characters, rarely get written like this, but because hardly any <i>people </i>actually live like this. Of course, there's good reason to - to be a functioning member of society, you need to think about other people, and concern yourself at least a little bit with what those other people think of you. But holy shit, is it fun to sit down and watch a show where <i>no one cares about any of that</i>. Even better, Abbi and Ilana aren't concerned with making their characters "TV ready" in terms of how they act and behave - they're honest, they're real, and they make you feel a little bit better about being a human being. So much of TV or film or art in general is often centered around the idea that there's a best version of yourself that you should be living, which is a nice idea but just winds up making you feel shitty in your moments where you're kind of falling apart. <i>Broad City </i>is here to remind you that there is no best version of yourself. There's just you. And that you is sometimes great, sometimes awful, sometimes a mess, sometimes covered in pepperspray while you're standing on the subway holding a shower pole. It wants you to know that all of that is okay, and that being you is okay. Even when it's not. And that's why I love <i>Broad City</i>.<br />
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Also, it's hilarious!Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-39628208666344633112014-12-19T16:00:00.001-08:002014-12-19T16:02:16.882-08:00A guide to the best Christmas TV episodesThe Christmas season is here, and you know what that means: TELEVISION. Because that's what everything means!<br />
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Seriously, Christmas specials are one of the key components of the Christmas season for me. There's something about the characters from my favorite shows indulging in yuletide cheer and getting festive that just...gets to me. So I've compiled a list of some of my favorite TV Christmas episodes. These are the episodes I typically have on repeat this time of year, so please enjoy them and do not shatter my soul by saying they suck.</div>
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<b>Community - "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas"</b></div>
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<i>Community </i>might be the show with the best track record for Christmas episodes - gas leak year aside, every Christmas episode the show produced was a classic, from Season 1's heartfelt and down-to-earth "Comparative Religion" to Season 3's nightmare-inducing <i>Glee </i>parody "Regional Holiday Music". But I have a special place in my heart for "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas", which is not only my favorite <i>Community </i>Christmas episode but one of my favorite pieces of Christmas pop culture in general. "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" is simultaneously exploding with cheer and deeply depressing - which, to my mind, are the only two emotions that should ever be used when depicting the Christmas season. It follows Abed as he has a serious psychological breakdown after his mother tells him she won't be visiting him for Christmas anymore - he begins seeing his entire life as if it's a stop motion Christmas special where his only task is to find the true meaning of Christmas. The way his perplexed and worried friends put aside their hesitations and join him in his Christmas wonderland of delusion is completely heartwarming in a way that makes me tear up every time I watch this episode, and it also delivers perhaps the best "meaning of Christmas" I've ever been given: "the meaning of Christmas is the idea that Christmas has meaning." "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" is basically all of my tender, cynical, and painfully nostalgic about Christmas all wrapped up into a funny, heartwarming, slightly devastating and just all around beautiful half-hour of television. </div>
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<b>30 Rock - "Christmas Special"</b></div>
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<i>30 Rock</i>'s approach to holiday cheer is to cynically expose some of the darker aspects of the holiday while mixing in few doses of the genuine pathos and comfort that the season can bring, which is exemplified well in plotlines like Colleen ruining Liz's Christmas to prove to Jack that she's not so screwed up after all, or a montage of Jenna and Paul dressed up as 2 "black Swans" singing <i>O Holy Night. </i>But the episode that nails this balance best is Season 3's "Christmas Special", which finds Jack accidentally running over his mother with his car and having to care for her through the holiday season. The entire episode is about people whose Christmases aren't lining up how they wanted them to and the ways they deal with it - Liz being left in the dust by her family this year results in her overcompensating with a Letters to Santa program, and Jack's unexpected holiday with his mother leads to him forcing the <i>TGS </i>crew to put together a live Christmas Eve special where he can make up for all of the Christmas Eves spent playing piano as his mother went to town on a random dude in their living room. But it's this haphazard special that leads to Liz helping Jack realize that the reason her mother spent Christmas Eve putting out was so that him and his siblings could afford presents that year. It's the mix of sick, sweet, disturbing and heartwarming that <i>30 Rock </i>portrayed so well in its Christmas episodes.</div>
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<b>Parks & Recreation - "Citizen Knope"</b></div>
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"Citizen Knope" is more of a Christmas-adjacent episode than a full out Christmas episode, centering around Leslie's adventures as she deals with her suspension from city hall after the fallout of her relationship with Ben. But it still uses the season of giving to build a seriously heartwarming plotline in which the entire Parks departments gets together to show their support for Leslie and offer to take over her terminated City Council campaign, doing so in the form of an elaborate Gingerbread house. That's the entire spirit of Christmas distilled in one plotline right there, and it's also the spirit of <i>Parks & Rec</i>, whose shiny optimism that comes out of even the most unfortunate circumstances is a perfect fit for the Christmas season.</div>
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<b>Bob's Burgers - "Christmas in the Car"</b></div>
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<i>Bob's Burgers </i>is a show that often puts our beloved Belcher clan in dire circumstances and than uses off-beat humor and surprising acceptance to get them out of it, and "Christmas in the Car" does that with a little Christmas sprinkle. The Belchers set out on Christmas Eve to find a new tree after their old one dies and wind up on a seemingly life-threatening chase by a giant Candy Cane truck. Of course, in typical <i>Bob's </i>fashion, everything gets a warm and mushy ending when Bob and the truck driver come to an understand and exchange dutch babies. Don't worry, it'll all make sense if you're a <i>Bob's Burgers </i>fan.</div>
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<b>American Dad - "Rapture's Delight"</b></div>
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<i>American Dad </i>is sometimes unfairly accused of being a rip-off of <i>Family Guy</i>, which is totally unfair because it's way better than <i>Family Guy </i>has ever been. While <i>Family Guy</i> has devolved into a lazy conveyor belt of shock humor, <i>American Dad </i>at its best is a completely surreal, absurdist animated comedy that goes to weirder depths than nearly any non-Adult Swim show I've ever seen. "Rapture's Delight" is the perfect example of that, as it takes what seems like a normal Christmas episode and turns it into a story about the rapture, the antichrist, and Armaggedon. The extent the show commits to this is impressive enough, but the way they managed to interject the typical Christmas show sentiment without losing a touch of the extreme absurdity and darkness of the rapture is what makes this a true Christmas classic to be enjoyed through the ages.</div>
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<b>Doctor Who - "A Christmas Carol"</b></div>
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<i>Doctor Who </i>airs a Christmas special on Christmas Day every year, but none of them are really true Christmas classics - if they're not dealing with a regeneration (as many of them do) then they're typically bland and watered down byproducts of the show itself, often placing easily marketable concepts and guest stars over anything resembling actual quality. (Remember the one where Kylie Minogue rode the Titanic?) But the one exception to this is 2010's "A Christmas Carol", the best Christmas special the show has ever produced by a long shot, and an episode that truly does feel like the holiday classic a <i>Doctor Who </i>Christmas special should aspire to be. The episode is a takeoff of, yes, <i>A Christmas Carol</i>, centering around the Doctor trying to change the childhood Christmases of an evil and powerful man named Kazran Sardick who is tasked with saving Amy and Rory's lives by releasing them from the cloud they're trapped on but refuse to do it. <i>Doctor Who </i>is at its best when it's able to mix its ambitious sci-fi concepts with deep-rooted human emotion, and this special truly shines in that regard, as the Doctor's travels through Sardick's past tap into some really heartbreaking and heavily nostalgic Christmas feelings for pretty much anyone who's ever been a child on Christmas before. Not every <i>Doctor Who </i>Christmas special meets the mark, but this one is so good it makes up for all of the other ones.<br />
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<b>South Park - "Woodland Critter Christmas"</b><br />
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You know what this is. It is the most beautiful, fucked up, disturbing, horrifying Christmas special to ever air. Yes, I love Mr. Hanky too, but this is a work of dark art and it needs to be seen by all. </div>
Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-80872305779095025242014-12-18T11:57:00.000-08:002014-12-18T11:57:01.573-08:00The weirdest, most wonderful TV moments of 2014In our viral, millennial culture (ugh, someone punch me for that please), it's more important than ever to create individual scenes and moments that stick out and stay in our brains. 2014 saw so many oddly creative, completely weird, and totally surreal moments that have stuck with me, in some cases, for months and months, so I thought I'd make a quick list compiling the best, weirdest, most memorable TV moments of 2014 in no particular order.<br />
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<b>Orange is the New Black - Morello's Backstory</b><br />
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(From Season 2, Episode 4: <i>"A Whole Other Hole"</i>)<br />
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Through out all of the first season, we heard tales of Morello's fiance on the outside, sort of wondering why he never visited but nevertheless generally accepting her tales of a happy future outside of Litchfield. All of that was devastatingly destroyed in a single montage, which revealed that Morello's fiance is an ex that she spent years stalking and is continuing to do so, using the prison van to find his house, put on his <i>real </i>fiance's wedding dress, and live out the fantasy that she's convincing everyone is real. I couldn't find a clip of the actual scene, so just use this YouTube clip of "Almost Paradise", a cheesy love ballad that the show scored the scene with, turning it into a terrifying and heartbreaking cry for help.<br />
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<b>Mad Men - Bert Cooper Serenades Don Draper</b></div>
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(From Season 7, Episode 7: "Waterloo") </div>
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<b><br /></b><i>Some fairly major spoilers for Mad Men Season 7 follow, so if you haven't caught up, don't read. If you do read, then it's your own goddamn fault. </i> Some shows might put a tense cliffhanger as the close to the first half of their final season, but <i>Mad Men</i>, instead, decided to have a recently deceased character come back from the dead and serenade its protagonist about the soul-sucking contract he has just signed. And we wouldn't have it any other way.</div>
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<b>Too Many Cooks</b></div>
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Too Many Cooks is an 11-minute short that premiered on Adult Swim's "Infomercial" block at 4 AM, got uploaded to YouTube by a bunch of stoners, and completely captivated the country for a few weeks. I don't need to explain why. I can't do it justice. I just need you to watch it. </div>
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<b>Community - Dean Pelton's Peanut Rap</b></div>
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(From Season 5, Episode 9: "VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing") </div>
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The Dean has had many different costumes over the years, but the best of them all came this season, when he dressed up as a peanut and offers an apology rap that quickly turns racial and disturbing. This is perhaps Jim Rash's best work ever, including that movie he won an Oscar for.</div>
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The "Rixty Minutes" episode of <i>Rick and Morty </i>is probably my favorite TV episode of the year, and part of that is due to the completely improvised intergalactic TV show ads. One of the best was what <i>Rick and Morty </i>imagines a futuristic <i>SNL </i>would look like, starring a bunch of inanimate objects and Bobby Moynihan. </div>
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<i>Bob's Burgers </i>produces some of the best music around, and that all came to a head when the show had Gene produce a musical that puts together <i>Die Hard </i>and <i>Working Girl</i>, creating the beautiful speicman known as..."Work Hard or Die Tryin', Girl."</div>
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When <i>Broad City </i>opened its ninth episode with an elaborate music video parody, I was confused and thought I had changed the channel or something. Then I realized: nope. This is a music video, that they created, to showcase Abbi's $8,000 check from a dating service that used one of her drawings. It's wonderful, as is the snap back to reality after the fact.</div>
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<br />Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-28432842443203913942014-12-17T16:21:00.000-08:002014-12-19T16:40:04.738-08:00Best TV of 2014With a vast array of television shows to choose from each year, it seems a little bit redundant to declare each year the "best one" for the medium. And yet, every year it's hard<i> not</i> to do that, as the huge amount of content available to us produces so much amazing material that you <i>have </i>to get excited about it. The past few years of television have felt especially vital, too - they've been years of change, both in the television shows we consume with old stalwarts like <i>Mad Men, 30 Rock, Breaking Bad, </i>and <i>Parks and Rec </i>either ended or ending soon, to the way that the consumption of television is rapidly reinventing itself. This list features shows from network television, cable, and streaming services - a variety that would've been unthinkable even five or six years ago. So here I break down the top 20 shows that best captivated my interest this year. I went with 20 because there was so much good stuff on this year that I felt <i>too bad </i>leaving anything out. I know I'm indecisive, okay?! LEAVE ME ALONE.<br />
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ONE NOTE: I didn't put <b>Last Week Tonight with John Oliver </b>on this list because I always forget to categorize it as a TV show and not just, like, a way of life. But rest assured I love it. It's the best news-comedy hybrid on television right now, which is not nothing in a world with <i>The Daily Show </i>and the swan song of <i>The Colbert Report</i>. SORRY, JOHN OLIVER, but I love you anyway. Oh, and the same can be said of <i>The Chris Gethard Show, </i>which I also love but forget it's a television show and not just a hangout with some old, weird friends. I LOVE YOU TOO, CHRIS GETHARD. I LOVE EVERYTHING. Actually, I'm hoping to do an individual piece on <i>The Chris Gehtard Show </i>sooner rather than later so I'll give it the love it's due then. Until then, enjoy this list, if you want to!<br />
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Now in its sixth season, it's only natural that <i>Parks & Rec </i>has lost some of the element of surprise from the time when it was a transcendent and refreshing spin on the old workplace comedy chestnut. But although this past season was probably the show's weakest, it still managed to be a funny, entertaining and consistently delightful half-hour, and considering the amount of affection we've stacked up for these characters over the years, that's enough to keep enjoying our time in Pawnee. Especially impressive was the shows' finale, which changed up its game quite considerably for its upcoming final season and proved that maybe it did have a few more tricks left in its bag after all.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Ann and Chris", "Galentines' Day II", "Moving Up"</div>
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<b>19. Black-ish</b></div>
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In a season that has made a strong case for the idea that cable has completely replaced network as the go-to for good comedy on TV, <i>Black-ish </i>has remained an important "except for...", as it's the only new network comedy this season that shows any sort of promise for the future of the medium. But <i>Black-ish </i>didn't earn the distinction of the seasons' best new comedy by default - it's a hilarious and creative family sitcom, one that balances social issues and family hijinks better than any show has managed to do in probably decades. Not only that, but the Johnsons are just a genuinely awesome family, the kind of TV family that you look forward to spending some time with every week. Shows like <i>Black-ish </i>are perhaps the last remaining argument for the worth of the network sitcom. Also, it's just really funny.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Crazy Mom", "The Prank King", "Black Santa/White Christmas"</div>
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<b>18. Archer</b></div>
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At the beginning of its fifth season, <i>Archer </i>unexpectedly blew the lid off of its entire premise, ditching the spy agency that had been so kind to it in the past four years and sending its characters on a crazy quest as newfound cocaine dealers. While the season didn't <i>quite </i>live up to the tall order that its premiere set up, it was still a reinvigorated season for the show, with a lot of interesting twists on character dynamics that were beginning to feel a little bit stale. As it heads into its sixth season with a return to the status quo mixed with some new surprises, <i>Archer </i>feels like it's in solid hands, and it can thank some of the experimental done by Archer Vice for it.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"White Elephant", "Baby Shower", "Arrival/Departure"</div>
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<b>17. New Girl</b></div>
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In the second half of its third season, <i>New Girl </i>showed some signs of losing its way. The Jess/Nick relationship, while entertaining, was beginning to push the other members of its ensemble out of the picture, and the show seemed to be struggling to balancing it with all of the other changes it integrated in the third season, such as the addition of Coach and new endeavors for Winston. Luckily, the show seemed to realize this and quickly course corrected in its fourth season, which might just be the most consistent season of the show yet, even if it doesn't reach the heights of the all-timer that was Season 2. Still, Season 4 of <i>New Girl </i>has managed to be a reliable dose of well-executed farce week after week, with a sprinkle of the characterization that made the show jump out in its early seasons. It may not be the world beater it once seemed to be, but damn if it isn't still one of the funniest shows on TV.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Basketball", "The Last Wedding", "Background Check"</div>
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<b>16. Community</b></div>
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With Dan Harmon back at the helm, 2014 was a comeback year for <i>Community </i>after the deep trenches of the gas leak year. While the show has definitely begun to feel like a late-in-life sitcom at times (see also: my <i>Parks & Rec </i>write-up) it still manages to pump out episodes that rank among the most daring things I've seen a half-hour sitcom attempted, and given how much experimentation the form recieved this year, that's actually a pretty big statement. The 5th season also turned out to be the final one of the show's run on NBC, as it moves to its new home on the internet next year, where it has always seemed destined to be. As long as it continue to pump out ideas as fresh and hilarious as commemorative sperm jars and MeowMeowBeenz, I'll support it wherever it goes.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Cooperative Polygraphy", "Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality", "App Development and Condiments"</div>
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Year after year, everyone forgets about <i>The Middle</i> when it comes time to do year-end lists, despite the fact that it has been one of the most consistently great network sitcoms for at least four seasons now. The show continuously manages to breath new life into the family sitcom format, portraying characters who are unique both for the form and for television in general, and by not pulling any punches when it comes to its honesty about the Hecks' financial situation and almost constant sense of conflict. As its characters age, <i>The Middle </i>is finding more and more ways to dig comic honesty out of the world of small-town America characters its created, and it's only continuing to be an absolute joy to watch.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Major Anxiety", "The Sink Hole", "The Christmas Wall"</div>
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After a strong start last fall, <i>Brooklyn Nine-Nine </i>solidified its place this year as one of the best ensemble shows on all of television, with a cast that completely pulls its weight in every direction and an array of characters that are diverse not just in their ethnicity but in their approaches to the world in general. The second season of the show has done a great job of deepening the roots between these characters and examining their bonds while beginning to experiment a bit with longer-term plotting, even successfully toying around with the idea of romantic arcs (though not going <i>too </i>far in that direction yet, thankfully). Like <i>Black-ish, Brooklyn Nine-Nine </i>is proving the strength of a show with a great group of characters that you look forward to spending 22+ weeks a year with.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"The Bet", "The Road Trip", "The Pontiac Bandit Returns"</div>
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<b>13. Louie </b></div>
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After a too-long hiatus, <i>Louie </i>returned this year with its more ambitious season yet, a season that almost completely abandoned the shows' previous structure of short, contained stories and instead focused on developing longer and even feature-length arcs. Still, the shows' sense of hard truth and deep-rooted emotional turmoil continued as Louie explored his relationship with the various women in his life, from his daughters to longtime companion (and new girlfriend?) Pamela to his past relationship with his own mother. While this was arguably <i>Louie</i>'s most inconsistent season yet, what it lacked in consistency it made up for in sheer ambition. </div>
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The first great show to be produced by Amazon Prime, <i>Transparent - </i>not unlike fellow streaming exclusive <i>Orange is the New Black </i> - uses its niche delivery method to tell a story that would struggle to get attention from a major television network. In this case, it's the story of Maura Pfefferman, a transgender woman who has recently settled upon officially making the transition late in her life. <i>Transparent</i>'s groundbreaking story of Maura alone was enough to make it one of the most captivating shows of the year, but the way it used Maura's revelation to deconstruct the rest of the Pfefferman clan's assumed gender and sexuality roles only added to the fact that this was one of the most intriguing new shows of the year.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"The Wilderness", "Symbolic Exempar", "Best New Girl"</div>
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<i>Nathan for You </i>was one of the strangest and most delightful pieces of pop culture I consumed this year, constantly keeping me on the edge of my feet more than most drama series are capable of doing. The shows' unique mix of cringe comedy, mockumentary, and reality show spoof continuously come together to produce some of the most hilarious television I've ever seen. In Season 2, the show began to hit on points of genuine pathos, as it gradually turned into the story of desperate inclusion for its lonely host. There's absolutely nothing on television like <i>Nathan for You</i>, which is what makes it something you absolutely need to watch.</div>
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It's hard for me to remain unbiased with a show like <i>Doctor Who, </i>a show that appeals so directly to each and every one of my personal preferences, but I don't think it's my bias speaking when I say that this season was one of the very best seasons the show has done to date. Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor has brought a new energy to the character, one that gets down to the anger and ache that always exists under the surface but is finally being brought out to the light. And also adding to a great season was Jenna Coleman, whose character Clara rebounded from some spotty characterization last season to become a really great antidote to the smarmy darkness that Capaldi brought to the table. The show used this perfect pairing to create a season that constantly put the very fabric of the show into question and reinvigorated the series to heights I wasn't even sure if it was still possible to reach. Capaldi is thankfully signed on for another season, and hopefully he can keep pushing the show into uncharted and exciting territory. </div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Listen", "Kill the Moon", "Flatline"</div>
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<b>9. Review</b></div>
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2014 was full of great, alternative comedies that ripped apart the sitcom structure and created something new and meaningful out of it. Out of all of the shows, the one that went to the most delightfully weird places was <i>Review</i>, a show about star reviewer Forrest MacNeil and his quest to review everything that his shows' viewers throw at him. <i>Review </i>would be great even if it was just the satire of critics that it appeared to be on the surface, but it soon became a dark, morbid tale of a man destroying his entire life for the sake of a silly television show, become one of the funniest shows of the year, as well as one of the saddest, darkest, and most disturbing. If 2014 is remembered as the year alternative comedy came to dominate the cable airwaves, <i>Review </i>will be a proud, strange and beautiful artifact of that movement.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Pancake, Divorce, Pancakes", "Best Friend/Space, "Road Rage/Orgy"</div>
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<b>8. Veep</b></div>
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After two seasons of portraying Selena Meyer as a comically inept narcissist, <i>Veep </i>took it to the next level this year by portraying her as something truly disturbing: a possible presidential candidate. This gave the show an added levity to its already near-constantly firing machine of beautifully crafted insults and nihilistic political humor, as all of the massive and terrifying fuck-ups Selena and her team encountered now actually <i>mattered</i>. It also allowed the show to cover some heated topics like abortion and equality with its trademark dark humor that doesn't even try to fix anything but instead points out just how massively screwed up it all is. With a surprise twist at the end of the season, the next season of <i>Veep </i>proves to be even more of a depressing, hilarious and painful journey to political turmoil for Selena Meyer. </div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"The Choice", "Alicia", "Debate"</div>
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<b>7. The Americans</b></div>
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In Season 1, <i>The Americans </i>was a gripping spy thriller, an unprecented role reversal that took a deeper look into what we always perceived were the "bad guys" in the Cold War. In Season 2, the show took a leap and became not just a spy thriller (though it was still very good at being that) but an analysis of what its characters value, how much they value it, and a test of how far they were willing to go to preserve it. Kicking off with a gruesome murder in the season premiere, constant fear crept around the surface of <i>The Americans </i>this year as Phillip and Elizabeth began to wonder whether their career was putting their childrens' wellbeing at stake. It all cultivated in a huge, unprecedented twist in its season finale that will make the shows' third season answer some very, very tough questions.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Comrades", "Behind the Red Door", "Martial Eagle"</div>
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<b>6. Orange is the New Black</b></div>
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It was going to be nearly impossible for <i>Orange is the New Black </i>to top its first season, a total surprise that burst onto the scene and practically made us rethink the way we all watched television. And yet...Season 2 somehow managed to, or at the very least, managed to match it. The second season expanded upon the shows' already giant universe, filling in the backstories for beloved characters like Taystee and Suzanne while simultaneously giving shades to characters that fell under the radar in the first season but came into prominent fruition in Season 2, such as cancer patient Rosa - nearly an afterthought in Season 1 that wound up being one of the key heroes this year. Between the addition of Vee and the divide she placed in the prison to the continuing saga of Piper and Alex to the isolation of Red from her prison family to the shocking dismantling of our perceptions of Morello to the strange friendship of Healy and Pennssatucky, Season 2 continued to do its job of making each and every inmate at Litchfield feel like a fully-rounded person that truly matters, and that mindset is what separates <i>Orange </i>from nearly anything else on TV.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"A Whole Other Hole", "You Also Have a Pizza", "We Have Manners, We're Polite"</div>
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<b>5. Rick and Morty</b></div>
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In a year of amazing comedy, <i>Rick and Morty </i>was a true highlight, a show bursting at the seams with creativity. Centered around the <i>Back to the Future-</i>esque adventures of grandfather Rick and his grandson Morty as they travel through time, space, and reality, <i>Rick and Morty </i>blended comedy and hard science fiction more successfully than any show this side of <i>Futurama</i>. Week after week, <i>Rick and Morty </i>took us to heights that seemed more ridiculous, more exciting and more amazing than anything we'd seen before, all while grounding itself in some genuinely moving family drama. That kind of balance is so incredibly hard to pull off, but <i>Rick and Morty </i>did it with aplomb, making me extremely eager to see what the show can come up with next.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Lawnmower Dog", "Rixty Minutes", "Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind"</div>
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<b>4. Mad Men</b></div>
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Thanks to AMC scheduling tomfoolery, <i>Mad Men </i>only aired seven episodes in 2014, but those seven episodes were something of a revelation. After the turmoil of last years' finale, Season 7 dealt with an exploded status quo - one that spelled out a dark end for our "hero" Don Draper. And yet, these seven episodes turned out to be more than just Don's death knell. They were the start of what I'm sure will be a doozy of an ending, a collection of episodes that brought together seven seasons worth of relationships and put a magnifying glass to them, showing which relationships were true and once were sprinkled with the artificiality that the characters of <i>Mad Men </i>treat as a second language at this point. The final absurdist scene, featuring a dead Bert Cooper singing to Don about how "the best things in life are free", brought everything this season was to a close: strange, surprising, a little disturbing... and yet somehow making perfect sense.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"A Days' Work", "The Strategy", "Waterloo"</div>
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<b>3. You're the Worst</b></div>
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Romantic comedy is an old chestnut at this point, so that only makes it even more surprising just how excellent <i>You're the Worst </i>turned out to be. By putting its leads together in the pilot and slowly deconstructing all of the expected romcom tropes, the show was able to focus in on its characters and create two people that we didn't just want to see get together, but that we just wanted to <i>see</i>, because they were both relatable, funny, and well-drawn characters. <i>You're the Worst </i>also benefited from being more than just Jimmy and Gretchen's story - Lindsay and Edgar served as supporting characters that gawk at the idea of just being supporting characters, demanding that Jimmy and Gretchen treat them on their own accord. Additionally, characters like Becca & Todd, Allan, and a special bookstore cat added to the mix to prove that <i>You're the Worst </i>wasn't just about Jimmy and Gretchen's relationship, it was also about the comical, screwed up world that they both inhabit, which only added to the richness of their compelling hook-up. Renewed for a second season, I'm really excited to see where <i>You're the Worst </i>will take that world when it returns next year.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Sunday Funday", "Finish Your Milk", "Fists and Feet and Stuff"</div>
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<b>2. Bob's Burgers</b></div>
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Another year, another string of amazing episodes with the Belchers, my favorite TV family with some of my absolute favorite TV characters. <i>Bob's Burgers </i>continued to deliver total acceptance in form of warm, weird, occasionally gross but always hysterical comedy, and this season saw the show produce some of its strongest and most creative ideas yet, from the My Little Pony spoof <i>The Equestranauts </i>that had some interesting things to say about cartoon fanbases, to a Working Girl/Die Hard musical entitled <i>Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl</i>, to a new and improved(?) use for baked beans. As you can see, I love a lot of television shows, so it means something when I say there's no show whose world I look forward to joining more than the loving and twisted world of <i>Bob's Burgers</i>.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Mazel-tina", "The Equestranauts", "Dawn of the Peck"</div>
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<b>1. Broad City</b></div>
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I've mentioned several times what an amazing year this was for comedy, and I don't think there's a show that represents that better than <i>Broad City, </i>which was the show I laughed at the most in 2014 and also introduced me and the rest of the world to the comic stylings of Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, whose humor offers a worldview that differs from anyone else's making television - both in terms of how upfront and honest it is about the struggles of young women in a big city (what other show would coin the phrase 'pussy weed'?) and in terms of just how beautifully, amazingly strange it is at every turn. The humor of <i>Broad City </i>is unlike any other - it's surreal yet grounded in some deep-rooted truth, it's smart and yet unafraid to appeal to its dirtiest impulses, and most importantly, it's just <i>so fucking funny</i>. This year in TV will be remembered as the year so many unique comic voices received a platform to share their stories, and the year that television proved there wasn't one specific way to tell a comedy story. And there's no better show that exemplified all of that than the fearless breath of fresh air that was <i>Broad City</i>.</div>
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<b>Standout Episodes: </b>"Working Girls", "Destination Wedding", "The Last Supper".</div>
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THERE'S MY LIST. Have a wonderful holiday season and watch all of these shows if you haven't. DO IT NOW.</div>
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Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-7601026330401453422014-12-01T22:28:00.000-08:002014-12-01T22:28:04.086-08:00In honor of NBC Thursdays<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Earlier today, NBC announced that it would be burning off the final 13 episodes of <i>Parks and Recreation </i>over the course of two weeks this winter, essentially dumping it off as fast as it possibly could so it could move onto something else. This is not particularly surprising. <i>Parks and Rec </i>has always been a low-rated show, and the fact that it made it to seven seasons is something of a miracle in and of itself. But it's still not hard to feel a twinge of sadness at this news. <i>Parks and Rec </i>is the last of a very particular brand of comedy on NBC (or at least, the last left on NBC: <i>Community </i>now<i> </i>lives on the internet, where it has always truly belonged), and its unceremonious dumping signals a hard end to an era that sparked some of the greatest, most original comedies to ever air on television. Of course, it's an end that's been in the works for some time: since 2012, to be exact, when network head Bob Greenblatt announced that it would be phasing out its "narrow, sophisticated comedies" in favor of more "broad, wide audience" shows. That move hasn't really worked out: since then, only one NBC freshman comedy has made it to a second season (<i>About a Boy</i>), and that show looks likely to be cancelled before it sees a third. But the networks' direction is clear. Between the cancellation of <i>Community </i>in the spring, the punt of Tina Fey and Robert Carlock's <i>Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt </i>to Netflix, and the race through the final season of <i>Parks & Rec</i>, NBC is obviously ready to close the chapter on that era in their history. It's cool - all eras have to come to an end, right? But it still seems take a moment to reflect back on just what a truly strange, unique, and all-around fantastic era this was for the network. It was an era that arguably shifted the direction of TV comedy in subtle but major ways, and most importantly, it was an era that gave us some truly fantastic comedy.</div>
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It all started in the mid-00s, when NBC was still recovering from losing <i>Friends, Fraiser</i> and <i>Will & Grace,</i> therefore sacrificing most of its cultural identity. TV comedy in general was going through a transitional period - this was the era of <i>Arrested Development</i>, the era where TV comedy was ready to go in strange new directions but the public wasn't yet willing to follow it. But in 2006, <i>The Office </i>started to experience a surprising sophomore surge (it had barely made it past its first season), as both critics and viewers became attached to the shows' mix of conventional and unconventional humor twisted with a fairly sizable helping of pathos. In many ways, <i>The Office </i>seems like the first show that used the off-beat, single-cam vibe and actually saw success with it, paving the way for nearly every beloved comedy that followed it. The success of <i>The Office </i>led to NBC picking up <i>30 Rock</i> in the spring of 2006, hailed by <i>SNL </i>scribe Tina Fey and boasting a similarly "off-beat workplace sitcom" vibe. <i>30 Rock </i>wound up pushing the format even further as it totally abandoned any idea of reality, constantly digging up the most bizarre, surreal, and outrageously hilarious jokes it could, pushing past traditional sitcom boundaries to become something that felt <i>different</i>. Then in 2009, <br />the line-up completed itself with the addition<i> </i>of <i>Parks and Recreation</i> and <i>Community</i>. As <i>Parks and Rec </i>settled into a bravely optimistic show that rejected cynicism and instead looked to build up its characters rather than tear them down, <i>Community </i>experimented with the very idea of what it meant to be a sitcom, constantly questioning itself and everything else on television as it told a strong emotional story about a bunch of unlikely friends sharing a bond. These four shows represented a mindset that both stuck to the tried and true sitcom formula while simultaneously tearing it down, analyzing what it was, and rejected the artificiality of it all. It was perhaps the most experimental night of comedy to ever air on network television, and it was <i>exciting</i>.</div>
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There was just one problem: other than <i>The Office</i>, none of these shows ever managed to become actual ratings hits. <i>30 Rock </i>barely made it past its initial 13-episode order and continued to be low-rated through-out its run. <i>Community </i>and <i>Parks and Recreation</i> were nearly cancelled so many times that each show had at least four different episodes meant to serve as series finales. In any other era, none of these shows likely would've even seen a second season, nevermind a sixth or seventh season. But they were lucky enough to be on NBC in the late '00s/early '10s, a network in such disarray that a bunch of low-rated comedies seemed like a win compared to fiascos like <i>The Jay Leno Show </i>and <i>The Cape </i>and fuckin' <i>Smash</i>. So because of NBC's total failure, we got an era of network comedies that got to push the boundaries of what a network comedy could be - and we got shows that were able to do that for seasons and seasons.</div>
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So yes, that era is now over. But is it, really? The sensibilities of those NBC Thursday shows can be found today in cable comedies like <i>Broad City, Review, Rick and Morty, </i>and <i>You're the Worst </i>- shows that continue to push the boundaries of where a television comedy can go. Who knows if these shows would've happened without the influence of <i>30 Rock </i>and <i>The Office </i>and <i>Community </i>and <i>Parks and Rec</i>? These shows might not be on NBC anymore, but they live on. They live on in other shows, as well as on Netflix and Hulu and Yahoo and what have you. So we shouldn't cry when this era officially ends in February - instead, we should celebrate what it's accomplished. That's what Leslie Knope, Liz Lemon, Michael Scott, and Abed Nadir would want us to do, right?</div>
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<br />Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-40822009548139763752014-11-17T22:38:00.003-08:002014-11-17T22:38:59.712-08:00Season Review: Doctor Who - Season 8<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Doctor Who </i>Season 8 had a lot to prove. It had to prove that its new doctor, Peter Capaldi, was the right choice for the job. It had to prove that it had learned from the criticism and concerns surrounding the show's weak seventh season and could produce a better, tighter product. It had to prove that Steven Moffat, showrunner of <i>Doctor Who</i>, wasn't burned out and was still capable of producing material at the level of his earlier seasons (and his work during the RTD era of the show). It had to prove that Clara wasn't a mistake of a character and could actually be a relatable human being rather than just a concept. Now, this wasn't necessarily a perfect season. There were a few weak episodes (looking at you, Robot of Sherwood) and some head-scratching decisions, as are expected with pretty much any given season of <i>Doctor Who</i>. But this season surprised me in that it managed to prove every single one of my above points, and managed to make me feel completely comfortable about the direction of the show.</div>
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<i>Doctor Who </i>Season 7 had many problems, but the biggest one was its unwillingness to ever ground itself in anything even remotely resembling human emotion (other than the genuinely heart-wrenching exit of the Ponds). <i>Doctor Who </i>is a show that can float into whimsy so easily that it's important to have a human anchor at the helm, and each of the previous modern series companions did a good job of providing that anchor. But the show refused to let Clara serve that same purpose, never allowing her to escape what she was introduced as: the "Impossible Girl", the woman who the Doctor saw die - twice - and then magically came back. After this "mystery" was finally solved (Clara cloned herself to save the Doctor in a story that seemed to exist only to solve that very mystery), the show was too caught up on the 11th Doctor's upcoming regeneration to really give her the time of day that she deserved. So it was a relief in Season 8 to see the show spending so much time getting down to just who Clara <i>really </i>is, outside of an enigma. We learned a lot about her - her personality (turns out, she's a little obsessive and controlling but very passionate about the things she loves! Who knew?), what she meant to the Doctor, and what the Doctor meant to her. This allowed Season 8 to be rooted in the human emotion that keeps the show strong even when it's flying off the rails, which it tends to do, because it's <i>Doctor Who</i>.</div>
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But so much of Season 8's success has to be lent to Peter Capaldi, who immediately shattered any doubts about his capabilities as the Doctor by just <i>nailing </i>the role from basically the very beginning. Capaldi gave the Doctor a sinister edge that hasn't been at the forefront of most recent incarnations, making the show notably different from what it was during Tennant and Smith's long-running and (deserving) beloved tenures. This allowed the show to play with some of the formulas that became prevalent over the modern era of the show and even dating back to the classic era - episodes like <i>Listen </i>and <i>Murder on the Orient Express </i>toyed with the very concept of a monster and analyzed what defeating them <i>really </i>meant, in a way <i>Doctor Who </i>doesn't routinely go to but generally is wildly successful when it does. He was able to handle both the humor and the tragedy of his character with aplomb, and much of the season's darker material would be lost if it weren't for his capabilities. I'm <i>really </i>excited to see what else the show has in store for him, because this season proved that he could do whatever the show threw his way. </div>
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Now, yes, there were some weird pockets of this season. The Robinhood episode <i>Robot of Sherwood </i>was pretty dire, as was the similarly flaky <i>In the Forest of the Night</i>. The show spent a bit too much time assuring viewers that this was still the Doctor they know and love even if he happened to be kind of old, and there was the occasional pratfall of getting overly complex that Moffat tends to fall into. But by and large, this was the best, most consistent season of <i>Doctor Who </i>in many years - and arguably one of the strongest seasons the new show has produced. This is a show that can turn into something else on a whimsy, which is part of what I love about it - but I'm hoping it sticks with this vibe for a bit longer, because I'm really, really digging it.<br />
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<b>Final Grade: </b>A-Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-85630496923198368792014-11-10T08:13:00.000-08:002014-11-10T08:13:03.512-08:00ALERT ALERT BROAD CITY SEASON 2 TRALIER ALERT ALERT EVERYONE STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING. CANCEL ALL JOBS AND CLASSES ACROSS THE WORLD. THE BROAD CITY SEASON 2 TRAILER IS HERE.<br />
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If you haven't watched Season 1 of Broad City, DO IT NOW. Call in sick. Tell your friend that you died and can't go to lunch today. Or just tell them you have a bad case of diarrhea or something because it's only 10 episodes long and you could finish it in a day if you really tried! <i>Broad City </i>is the funniest show on television right now and one of the most original, creative comedies I've ever seen. If you still haven't seen it, it's not too late! You have two months to rectify that mistake before Season 2 premieres in January. So do it! Go! GO AND DON'T LOOK BACK.Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-32569600916729091342014-11-06T14:17:00.001-08:002014-11-06T14:18:38.317-08:00It's November so let's go ahead and make judgements on TV shows<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We're right at the start of November sweeps, a period of time where networks apparently are supposed to try to draw in big ratings for their affiliates but mostly don't bother and just keep churning out the same ol' shit, except for maybe taking that embarrassing low-rated sitcom off the schedule. But November sweeps is also about the time where you can start to make some judgements about the shows you decided to pick up this fall and decide just what, if anything, you're getting out of them. So let's jump right in!</div>
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<i><b>Black-ish </b></i><b>- </b><i>Black-ish </i>was basically the only new comedy this fall I had any faith in, and it hasn't disappointed me whatsoever. In fact, it's actually exceeded my expectations and fears - I had some worries that the show would water itself down after its surprisingly pointed pilot and become Just Another Family Sitcom, but over the past few weeks it's managed to nicely balance its fresh voice with the burdens of being a family sitcom on ABC. Similar to <i>The Middle</i>, <i>Black-ish </i>keeps its network television audience comfortable by never veering too far away from sitcom convention, but also keeps itself relevant and interesting by peppering in some unique jokes and gags that you wouldn't necessarily expect from a wholesome family comedy, such as the horror movie framework the show used for its Halloween episode,. The show has also managed to present us with some welcome twists on cookie-cutter family sitcom characters - while the pilot mostly presented Rainbow and Andre's marriage as your typical "crazy father and down-to-earth wife" pairing, the show has given Rainbow a unique personality of her own, making her off-beat and strange in ways that differ from what makes Andre off-beat and strange. She's no longer side-eying Andre and saving him from making a fool of himself - she's joining right in on on his ridiculous displays herself. (The best example of this is when Rainbow learns that Andre has put a camera in every room, including the fridge - at first she's a little perplexed, then seconds later she inquires: 'do we have any grapes?') Even the kids on <i>Black-ish, </i>often a weak point on family sitcoms, are coming into their own, developing personalities that allow them to exist as more than just plot devices and ways to make viewers marvel at their cuteness. <i>Black-ish </i>is not quite a perfect show yet (the show could still resist sitcom convention more than it does) but it's surprisingly fully-formed for a show this early in its run, and is one of the shows I most look forward to watching every week.</div>
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<b><i>Marry Me </i></b>- <i>Marry Me </i>still hasn't really figured out what it wants to be outside of "<i>Happy Endings </i>but without most of the cast", and that comes down to the fact that it has yet to establish a presence for anyone in the cast other than its two lead characters. That's not really unexpected for a show four episodes into its run, but the problem is that <i>Marry Me </i>is already sort of functioning like it's in its third season - it's not really giving us plots that get us to know any of the characters better, and leaves the work to its jokes to make us connect with these people. While those jokes are generally quite good (there's usually at least one line that makes me laugh uncontrollably each week), jokes alone aren't really enough to get me to understand who a character is. <i>Marry Me </i>desperately wants to be the kind of show you watch because you love the characters and will watch them do anything, but it's not doing the work it needs to get to that point. I'll keep watching because the show is genuinely funny most of the time, but it's not at the level of funniness it needs to be if it's going to completely disregard character work altogether. (Also, less Gil, please. He's playing the same character he does on <i>Broad City</i>, except everyone on <i>Broad City </i>realizes he's terrible).</div>
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<i><b>Benched - </b></i>Speaking of <i>Happy Endings </i>alumni, Eliza Coupe is starring in this new USA comedy, and although there have only been two episodes so far, it's shaping up to be one of my favorite comedies of the fall. That's not saying much at all, but there's some real promise here, with a killer cast (Maria Bamford! Oscar Nunez! Jay Harrigan!), a fairly good premise, and....well, you heard the Eliza Coupe part, right? <i>Benched </i>feels, in many ways, a lot like a network sitcom - it doesn't have the heir of experimentation that have aided many of the years' great cable comedies like <i>Broad City, Review </i>and <i>You're the Worst</i>, but it feels like a <i>good </i>network sitcom, the kind networks were making 4 or 5 years ago but now just make <i>Bad Judge </i>and think it's enough. <i>Benched </i>could stand to be a little funnier (it feels like it's requiring its actors to do most of the legwork right now, which isn't a terrible decision when you have actors as hilarious as these ones, but they'd be better served with really great writing) and its premise comes with a lot of cliches that the show doesn't do enough to subvert, but that's all basic early sitcom stuff. This has the makings of a show that could be something special, and I'm <i>really </i>hoping it realizes that potential, because a great sitcom with this team behind it would be mind-blowing. The biggest thing holding <i>Benched </i>back might be its network, which strangely announced it was abandoning comedy a few months ago (despite renewing its comedy <i>Sirens</i>) but promises this show has its full support. <i>It better</i>, USA. What else are you going to air, some procedural about beautiful and boring cops? (Yes, that's exactly what we're going to air, USA would probably reply).</div>
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<b><i>Mulaney - </i></b><i>Mulaney </i>has actually significantly improved upon its pilot, attempting to give itself at least a bit more direction and experimenting with the idea of actually having a plot rather than just being bits of recycled stand-up pieces. Unfortunately, it hasn't really improved to the point where I feel sadness about the fact that it's pretty much doomed to cancellation at this point (its order has been cut and it fell to a 0.7 rating this week, AKA the number that got <i>Manhattan Love Story </i>and <i>A to Z </i>cancelled). The show has bits and pieces that work (I really enjoyed Nasim Pedrad's character doing a <i>Little Shop of Horrors </i>homage about a potential new apartment in the shows' third episode) but it still fails to make any sort of an impact on the whole, feeling at times like a collection of scenes that are supposed to parody the idea of a sitcom rather than being, you know, an actual sitcom. Part of me wonders if <i>Mulaney </i>would've been better off on a cable network like FX or Comedy Central, where it would be free to play with the form without having to worry about being a multi-camera sitcom on a major broadcast network. As of now, it feels like an unsuccessful compromise of being a mainstream show and an experimental analysis of the form of a sitcom. It's a tricky balance to pull off <i>- </i>C<i>ommunity, </i>which more or less attempted the same thing, managed to pull it off successfully by just being both being <i>really</i> good at both sides of the equation<i> </i>and understanding when it was time to get weird and when it was time to ground itself. <i>Mulaney </i>seems like it's always attempting to do <i>both </i>at the same time - its scenes are generic and unimaginative but they're delivered like they're tongue-in-cheek, which doesn't satisfy the need of being a good experiment <i>or</i> a good sitcom. So I can't say I expect much more out of <i>Mulaney, </i>but hopefully it can at least send John Mulaney and the rest of this talented cast to a place that does a better job of complimenting their skills.</div>
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And now, while we're here, we may as well check in on some returning shows, right?!</div>
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<i><b>New Girl </b></i>- <i>New Girl </i>has been having a surprisingly excellent rebound season, managing to dust off the messiness of last year and start fresh by basically just simplifying itself to being a show about five funny people. This "back-to-basics" approach is one that plenty of shows that flame out attempt to regain their composure, but most wind up just giving everyone a sense of whiplash as they veer from messy and complicated territory into a show that's basically just the same show it was in its second episode. <i>New Girl </i>has managed to avoid that by never keeping its characters more complicated emotions far away, even when the show itself travels into silly, go-for-broke farce territory. The shows' most recent episode, "Background Check", was a great example of this - a bottle episode that stranded the entire cast in the loft for 20 minutes in basically real time, it brought out both the most wild and the most sincere in all of its characters. The show may not be hitting the heights it was in its first two seasons, but it's arguably more consistent then ever, and seems to finally be on solid ground.</div>
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<i><b>Brooklyn Nine-Nine </b></i>- <i>Brooklyn Nine-Nine </i>has become sort of a "turn off your brain" show for me, which is not all meant to be insulting - in fact, it's a compliment that I've given some shows I seriously loved in the past, shows like <i>Archer </i>and <i>Happy Endings</i>. What I mean by this is that it's a show that is almost entirely focused on its comedy, allowing me to just sit back and get myself immersed in its ridiculous world, then simply enjoy the ride. Every episode has me laughing more consistently than nearly anything else on TV, and when the show does attempt to raise the stakes and analyze its characters' psyches a bit, it does so surprisingly eloquently - proven especially by the Gina/Boyle affair, which was both some really hilarious absurdity and surprising advancements for both of their characters (who arguably got the least progression in Season 1, other than like, Hitchcock and Scully...who I still can't tell apart). So while a show like <i>Brooklyn </i>seems like one that would be a nightmare to closely analyze week in and week out, it's a show that I really love just sitting back and hanging out with.</div>
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<b><i>Doctor Who </i></b>- I'm going to do a post about the full season after it wraps up next week, but I would like to take this time to say how much I am really, really enjoying this season. Peter Capaldi is fantastic. Jenna Coleman is fantastic, and the show has done the near impossible task of turning Clara into a legitimately interesting companion. Having a female Master is <i>fantastic</i>. <i>Doctor Who </i>has the tendency to totally fuck up its finales so I'm not going to make any definitive statements just yet, but this is shaping up to be a contender for the best season of new <i>Doctor Who </i>yet. </div>
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<br />With that, let me end with the news that you were probably reading this post for, because you read every post on the internet hoping it will give you the answer - <b><i>Galavant </i></b>has a premiere date, and it is January 4. Life finally has meaning again.</div>
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Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-71502795175824347292014-10-29T22:01:00.004-07:002014-10-29T22:01:57.177-07:00What happened to the network sitcom?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Remember 2012? It seems like forever ago now, doesn't it? The entire country was in a fever of excitement over the least exciting presidential election of recent times, Instagram was just on its way to becoming a thing, and um...well, everything else wasn't that much different than it is now. Except comedy on network television was in a bit of a golden age. At the time, NBC's remarkable Thursday night line-up of <i>30 Rock, Community, Parks & Recreation </i>and <i>The Office </i>was still in tact (though it was occasionally interrupted by nonsense like <i>Up All Night </i>and <i>Whitney</i>), ABC was picking up their queue with three uniquely off-beat comedies of their own (<i>Happy Endings, Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23, </i>and <i>Cougar Town</i>) along with a handful of solid family comedy options (<i>The Middle, Suburgatory </i>and a slightly less decayed <i>Modern Family</i>) and FOX had the rising star that was <i>New Girl </i>alongside promising newbie <i>Ben & Kate</i>. Sure, not all of these shows were hits, but they showed a serious revamped creative energy sparked by the rise of the experimental single-camera comedy that was pioneered by <i>Arrested Development</i> and transported to popular success with <i>The Office</i>. Cable and premium channels had completely dominated the dramatic landscape, but network TV was still able to hold onto the integrity of the sitcom. It was as if there truly <i>was </i>some sort of merit to the archaic process of writing a network television show when it came to comedy, the process of getting a bunch of talented writers to collaborate around a singular creator's idea and create something special with it.</div>
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And yet, almost immediately after that golden age, the ax began to fall. NBC's Thursday night line-up was dismantled in the 2012-2013 season, as <i>The Office </i>and <i>30 Rock </i>were put to rest and <i>Community </i>lost its creator and its edge (only to eventually return again, but that's a story for a different day). It was all part of a new "broad comedy" initiative that was spearheaded by Greenblatt, an initiative that was technically unique to NBC but soon began to seep through the rest of the networks, as well. Now two years later, the remnants of the shows that once pioneered a golden age of network comedy are either dead (<i>30 Rock, The Office, Ben and Kate, Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23, Happy Endings, Suburgatory), </i>shipped off of network television to greener pastures (<i>Cougar Town </i>and <i>Community</i>) or on their way out (<i>Parks & Rec </i>and, if ratings keep going in the same direction, possibly <i>New Girl </i>as well). So what happened? Well, one might argue that none of these shows were ever cut out to be network television hits. Shows like <i>30 Rock, Parks & Recreation</i> and <i>Community</i> made it as far as they did basically on a technicality; they only survived because they looked marginally less terrible in the wake of their network's total collapse. (Unsurprisingly, it was when NBC began to rebound a bit that they started ditching them). <i>Happy Endings </i>and <i>Don't Trust the B </i>lost most of the audience from their <i>Modern Family </i>lead-in, then got cast off to another night and lost all of <i>their </i>audiences. To be fair, these shows probably had no place surviving on network television. They played fast and loose with the rules of the sitcom format, their humor often lied on the margins on what TV comedy was capable of, and they experimented in ways that a network television show is not supposed to experiment. It was totally understandable that network execs had to ditch them to pave the way for shows that could truly sell ad dollars. </div>
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Here's the thing, though: they didn't. They <i>tried</i>, sure. NBC's touted "broad comedy slate" of the 2012-2013 season promised to relate to the American people in ways their "overly sophisticated" Thursday night fare of years past didn't. The fate of all those shows? Every single one was cancelled by May. The only two comedies that survived the year were...<i>Parks & Rec </i>and <i>Community</i>. The next season was more of the same, but some minor success in other areas gave NBC enough confidence to axe <i>Community </i>and announce that the end was near for <i>Parks</i>. But here we are yet again, with a third straight year of failed NBC comedies: <i>Marry Me, </i>from the creator and one of the stars of <i>Happy Endings</i>, is barely surviving even with a strong lead-in from <i>The Voice</i>, and <i>A to Z </i>and <i>Bad Judge </i>are pulling in numbers that make the NBC Thursday ratings of years past look downright respectable. The pattern is mostly the same on the other networks (to ABC's credit, they've at least developed some hits in <i>Black-ish </i>and <i>The Goldbergs</i>, but also had this seasons' first cancellation with <i>Manhattan Love Story </i>and had a string of embarrassing failures like <i>Super Fun Night </i>and <i>Mixology </i>last season). FOX has given us the delightful <i>Brooklyn Nine-Nine </i>but has only been able to keep it alive by nursing it in between<i> </i>its high-rated animated shows; and on Tuesdays, it has a little NBC Thursday situation of its own, as fan beloved comedies <i>New Girl </i>and <i>The Mindy Project </i>repeatedly find themselves crushed by all of their competition. The networks can't make hit comedies anymore. Even mighty CBS is struggling: they have <i>The Big Bang Theory </i>but very little else: <i>2 Broke Girls </i>was set up to be their next anchor, but it has failed to live up to the task and now mostly relies on buzzy guest stars to pull in ratings that can be passed off as acceptable, and both their attempts to get a little weirder (such as their foray into single-camera comedy last year with <i>The Crazy Ones </i>or the darker comedy of <i>Mom</i>) and a little safer (such as the paint-by-numbers <i>The Millers</i>) have panned out to results that bring in less than half of what <i>Big Bang </i>does or even what <i>Two and a Half Men </i>did in its heyday. So the networks have abandoned quality, subversive comedy only to find that safe, bland options don't work either. So what <i>does </i>work?</div>
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Cable is what works. What network TV has lost in 2014, cable has gained. This year has seen a murderer's row of exciting, promising comedy debuts on cable, from the whimsical sci-fi hybrid of <i>Rick and Morty </i>to the surreal DIY vibe of <i>Broad City </i>to the constant form experiment that is <i>Review </i>to the twisted romantic comedy of <i>You're the Worst </i>to the already promising and surprisingly politically pointed underdog story of <i>Benched</i> - not to mention the achievement of returning shows like <i>Veep, Louie, </i>and <i>Nathan for You </i>- cable seems to be the place where the spirit of the turn-of-the-10s "anything goes" network comedy vibe has gone to thrive. And who's really surprised? Cable has long been the home of most of the most exciting drama on television, allowing the freedoms of the form to dig into holes that a network drama would be restricted from going to. Those freedoms now seem to be starting to be seen in cable comedy, which has had plenty to offer for a long time now (dating back to the days of <i>Curb Your Enthusiasm </i>and the premiere of <i>It's Always Sunny</i>) but, since the success of <i>Louie, </i>seems more comfortable than ever messing around with its own form. And maybe that's what killed the creativity of network television. There used to be a popular thought process that the restrictions of network TV led to some of the most creative comedies there were - <i>Community </i>wouldn't have felt so revolutionary if there weren't forms for it to break down. But now that those restrictions <i>have </i>been broken down, do we really still need to point them out? When there are shows abandoning the form as well as <i>Broad City </i>and <i>Review </i>and <i>You're the Worst </i>are, do we still need the restrictions? Network TV is dying, but maybe it doesn't have to. Maybe if it just breaks down the barriers that it sets for itself, it can run and play with cable just like we know it <i>really </i>wants to. Or maybe it can just keep showing endless singing competitions and <i>Big Bang Theory </i>spin-offs until the only people still watching it are people whose TVs are stuck on CBS and they can't find the remote. Either way, if you need me, I'll be watching cable. </div>
Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-91951136134310133802014-10-17T08:52:00.003-07:002014-10-17T08:53:22.126-07:00Pilot Review: "Marry Me" on NBC<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><u>Marry Me</u></b></div>
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<b>NBC, Tuesdays at 9:00 PM E.T. </b></div>
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<b>Who's involved? </b><i>Marry Me </i>was created by David Caspe, who also created the dearly departed <i>Happy Endings</i>, one of the funniest shows I have ever seen. It stars<i> </i>Casey Wilson, one of the stars of <i>Happy Endings, </i>as well as Ken Marino, who's well-known in the comedy world for appearing on cult hits <i>Party Down </i>and <i>Children's Hospital</i>. Basically, this show is a love letter to diehard TV comedy fans.</div>
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<b>What's it about? </b>Technically, <i>Marry Me </i>is about a couple that goes through a series of engagement mishaps until they finally and truly decide to call it official. But once upon a time, <i>Happy Endings </i>was about a couple that left each other at the altar, and it abandoned that premise by its third episode. I expect <i>Marry Me </i>to similarly depart from its original premise, although I assume Annie and Jake's relationship will play a little bit more into the shows' proceedings than Alex and Dave's did. Still, the show introduced us to a pretty big ensemble and I'm sure before long, this will be a show that we watch to hang out with them every week. </div>
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<b>Is it any good? </b><i>Marry Me </i>is one of the best comedy pilots this season, which isn't saying much given that it's been a pretty mediocre season for comedy pilots. But it's still a pretty good pilot, with a handful of genuinely hilarious lines and some decent character work. It is very obviously trying to be <i>Happy Endings</i>, which I have no qualms with given how much I miss that show, but I think it would be in the shows' best interest to develop at least something of a separate identity from that show because I spent a lot of this pilot thinking "well, this is good, but it's not as good as <i>Happy Endings</i>. Man, I miss <i>Happy Endings</i>". I would say the shows' first line of work would be to make its characters less like rom-com stereotypes - Casey Wilson brings a lot of good work to Annie to make her likable, but the character that exists on the page needs to be fine-tuned to be more relatable and a little less shrill. The same could be said of the supporting cast, who currently check a lot of stereotypical romantic comedy boxes ("free-spirited best friend!" "weird loner neighbor!" "overbearing mother-in-law!"). But compared to where <i>Happy Endings </i>was at this point in its life, <i>Marry Me </i>is actually ahead - <i>Happy Endings </i>had a pilot with bigger flaws and without the unique brand of humor that it developed and that is present in <i>Marry Me </i>already. So if <i>Marry Me </i>could improve as much as <i>Happy Endings </i>did over the course of its first season, it could turn into something really great. It's already got its sense of humor down pat, which is sometimes a difficult thing for a comedy to discover - all it needs to do now is make its characters a little bit more like people I'd want to spend time with.</div>
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<b>Will I be watching again?</b> Yes, absolutely. Other than <i>Black-ish</i>, this is my most anticipated comedy of the fall.</div>
Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-90135122959186791222014-10-08T15:51:00.003-07:002014-10-08T15:51:46.109-07:00Work hard or die tryin', girl (or, another Bob's Burgers appreciation post)<i>Bob's Burgers </i>returned to our television sets this past Sunday, and while I've already written substantially about what a unique and beautiful gem of a show it is, I thought I would briefly talk about its premiere, which was, in many ways, a showcase of everything the show does best. While the episode had some minor structural weirdness that kept it from being among the shows' all-time best, it still managed to be the bravest and liveliest premiere it's put on thus far, managing to be both a ridiculous extravaganza full of the absurdist showtunes that have become a hallmark of the show and one of the most compelling Gene-centric stories the show has done so far. The actual staging of the musical, which features the appearance of nearly every student of Wagstaff School that we've met so far getting together to put on a ridiculous mash-up of <i>Die Hard </i>and <i>Working Girl</i>, combines two of my all-time favorite things - ensemble pieces and ridiculous song lyrics - to make one of the best TV moments of the year so far. No, there is nothing substantial in this post. I just needed to restate how much I love <i>Bob's Burgers. </i>I love it so much, you guys.<div>
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Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-56762375290247611262014-10-06T13:54:00.003-07:002014-10-06T13:54:18.010-07:00Pilot Review: "Mulaney" on FOX<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><u>Mulaney</u></b></div>
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<b>FOX, Sundays at 9:30 PM E.T. </b></div>
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<b>Who's involved? </b><i>Mulaney </i>is created by...yes, John Mulaney. Solid guess. There's also an all-star cast here, from legends like Martin Short to Eliott Gould to promising <i>SNL </i>alumnus Nasim Pedrad. This show arguably has the most pedigree out of all of the new sitcoms premiering this fall.</div>
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<b>What's it about? </b>Uh, good question. Apparently, <i>Mulaney </i>is about the life of John Mulaney, an aspiring comedian and newly hired writer for big game show host Lou Cannon. Also, a bunch of people are friends with him and some of them live in his apartment and hang out with him and stuff, I guess...? <i>Mulaney </i>has pretty much no premise to speak of. It's just "here's a bunch of talented people acting together for some reason." Supposedly, the original pilot that NBC passed on centered around Mulaney waking up after a particularly embarrassing night of blackout drinking and deciding to quit alcohol and drugs and get his life back on track. It's a shame they didn't stick with that, because that's a fine premise for a show...at least, it's better than <i>nothing</i>. </div>
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<b>Is it any good? </b><i>...sigh</i>. I wish I could tell you it was. I am a huge John Mulaney fan - he's one of the best stand-ups in the game right now, and his "New in Town" special in particular is incredible, something I've watched hundreds of times by this point and am still not sick of. When I heard that he had landed a pilot with NBC a few years ago, I was ecstatic, because his style of humor is the type that I would've assumed could translate into a good television show pretty easily. And supposedly, it did, at least initially - the NBC pilot was apparently well-recieved even though NBC ended up passing on it (for the likes of <i>Welcome to the Family </i>and <i>Sean Saves the World</i>, mind you), so much so that FOX scooped it right out of their hands, much to the delight of the John Mulaney-loving internet. So just what the hell <i>happened</i>? The pilot we were presented with is an absolute mess, with no semblance of a story, no proper introduction to any of the characters, and seemingly no reason to exist at all. There is no plot to speak of whatsoever here, which isn't <i>usually </i>a big deal for comedy pilots (they tend to be plot-light and exposition-heavy) but I at least expect a good pilot to introduce me to a world of characters that I can see myself becoming invested in. <i>Mulaney </i>didn't even really bother to introduce us to anything. It just drops us off in the middle of a lukewarm rehash of one of Mulaney's best stand-up bits, which does not translate well to the constraints of a network television show. If I wanted to watch Mulaney's stand-up, that's what I would do, not a reheated mish-mash of it in multi-camera sitcom form. (A side note on multi-camera sitcoms - there was a lot of ire directed at this show just for choosing to be multi-cam, and while most multi-camera sitcoms made in the past 10 years have been pretty terrible, I don't think the format as a whole is completely flawed and I would like to see someone give it its proper due at some point). Still, I really do think that if it's given the chance (which it won't be), this should could turn into something. There's just too much talent at the helm here, and a lot of the problems are easily fixable (it's not that hard to just <i>make your show have a purpose</i>, and while Mulaney's a little wooden of an actor, plenty of comedians-turned-TV-actors have started out that way and improved). The show's humor is fairly solid, even if too much of it feels like watered down stand-up, and if the show could just sit down for a second and figure out what it wants to be, I really think it could all come together. Unfortunately, last night's ratings were dire, and it's unlikely that viewers will be kind enough to stick around and watch a work in progress. Here's to hoping the process of putting together a failed television show leads to some great stand-up bits, at least.</div>
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<b>Will I be watching again?</b> I will probably watch this hoping it turns the corner until FOX finally pulls the plug. So maybe we should hope that's sooner rather than later, for my own personal sanity.</div>
<br />Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-2405118566191220252014-09-29T22:03:00.000-07:002014-10-08T15:52:01.735-07:00TV Roundup - 9/23 to 9/28So I've experimented in the past with doing episode-by-episode reviews, and while I enjoy doing episodic reviews <i>sometimes</i>, the truth is that I don't always have a lot to say about every episode of every show. But I still feel like I should write a little something about where I stand with a bunch of the shows that aired in the past week. So here's a thing: each week I'll attempt to do a quick summary of some of the highlight episodes of the past week that I didn't get around to doing a full-length review for. Let's see what happens!<br />
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">New Girl </i>- <i>New Girl</i>'s second episode was not as strong as its premiere, but it was still a pretty fun episode of television, with two storylines that found a good way to utilize everyone in the ensemble. One of the weaknesses of Season 3 was that the strong Jess/Nick focus often left other characters in the dust, so it's refreshing to see an episode where everyone in the main cast gets at least one moment to shine. And this episode also did well by mixing up the pairings a bit: Schmidt/Jess is a combo we haven't gotten in quite some time, and running CeCe loose with the guys rather than keeping her as Jess's sidekick was a good way to dig into her character a bit more deeply than the show typically does. <i>New Girl </i>may not be the world beater it once was, but it feels like it's on solid ground right now, so let's hope it stays that way.<br />
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">The Middle </i>- <i>The Middle </i>returned for another year in much the same way it has in previous years, which is not a bad thing. This is one of the most consistent shows on television, always delivering the right note in a way that's familiar but still continuously endearing. The show can get away with some of the "more of the same" feel in a way that say, <i>Modern Family </i>can't because it actually does take the effort to gradually change and mature its characters, and that was well on display in this week's premiere, where Sue simultaneously gets her braces off and seems a little bit more weary of the world and Axl begins to confront the fact that his dad is aging and he's not quite sure how to handle it. This is pretty heavy stuff for an 8:00 family sitcom, and that <i>The Middle </i>handles it with the warmth and strength that it does demonstrates why it's still the go-to family show on television.<br />
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<b><i>Doctor Who </i>- </b>I'm actually <i>two </i>episodes behind on my Doctor Who reviews, but that's mostly because I didn't have all that much to say about last week's episode, which was a perfectly solid <i>Doctor Who </i>story that felt a bit inessential to the shows' central themes but still managed to be a good time overall. I have a lot more to say about the most recent episode, though, which was right up there with "Listen" as my favorite episode of this season so far. Sending the Doctor off into Muggle World is almost always a guaranteed good time, but this episode went even further than that and analyzed just what it means to be a companion of the Doctor. It also contained some surprisingly deep-rooted analysis of some of the Doctor's flaws and prejudices, including his apparent distaste for soldiers and his current hesitance to accept anyone that isn't Clara. We're about halfway through this <i>Doctor Who </i>season, and I have to say that I'm surprised at how successful it's been in terms of being an intricate analysis of just who the Doctor is - <i>really </i>is.<br />
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">Saturday Night Live </i>- <i>SNL </i>kicked off its 40th season in mostly uninspired fashion. There were some decent sketches - the Good Neighbor team continues to bring forth some of the most delightfully weird material <i>SNL </i>has ever seen, the show's skewers of the NFL were pretty damn solid overall, and new cast member Pete Davidson has some real skills that I'm ashamed to admit to because he's younger than me, but overall it was not the strongest of season openers, and it mostly wasted the extremely likable and game host it had in Chris Pratt. The new Weekend Update team in particular was a little bit painful - I'll give Michael Che some time to settle because he's had success on <i>The Daily Show</i>, but man, Colin Jost is just...not suited for this role, is he? Still, <i>SNL </i>premieres often feel like they're shaking off the cobwebs, so hope isn't nearly lost yet. Last season was a pretty rough one, but there's enough talent in this cast and writing staff that they should be able to pull it together.<br />
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">Brooklyn Nine-Nine </i>- Over the course of the year, I had sort of forgotten about <i>Brooklyn Nine-Nine, </i>which ended its run seemingly ages ago. I really enjoyed the shows' first season, but it never quite <i>wowed </i>me in the way that some of the excellent cable comedies that premiered this year did almost immediately. And yet, this premiere reminded me of just what a solid, funny and overall incredibly entertaining show <i>Brooklyn </i>really is. The cast is truly a hit list of some of the finest actors working in comedy today, and the shows' go-for-broke attitude leads to some of the fastest and smartest comedy currently on network television. This wasn't a perfect episode - the main plot with the mobster sort of just petered out, and a lot of the romance stuff felt shoehorned in (although I'm actually a fan of the totally absurd Gina/Boyle pairing), but it felt fresh and funny enough that it gave me hope <i>Brooklyn </i>could go on to not just become the best comedy on network television (though it'll have to battle it out pretty hard with <i>Bob's Burgers</i>, which returns next week) but could hopefully duke it out with some of those cable comedies to become a contender for TV's funniest show. It's not there yet, but it's <i>so close</i>.<br />
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Oh, and there was also a <i>Family Guy/Simpsons </i>crossover. I won't comment on that, because that way, I can go on pretending like nothing happened at all. Trust me, the healing process will be better this way.<br />
<br />Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-49991260294837038492014-09-26T16:44:00.005-07:002014-09-26T16:49:14.142-07:00You're the Worst is the best romantic comedy on television<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This fall, an undeniable trend has popped up in new sitcom pilots: romance. From <i>Selfie </i>to <i>A to Z </i>to <i>Marry Me, </i>so many sitcom pilots are obsessed with the idea of bringing the building blocks of romantic comedy to television - a feat that has never quite been achieved before. Sure, you have shows like <i>Friends </i>and <i>Cheers </i>and <i>The Office </i>that paired two of their characters together and captivated audiences through intricate will they/won't they arcs, but no show has ever used romantic comedy as the <i>main </i>building block of its world. Those aforementioned shows all had their groundwork in either workplace or friendship comedy (or, in the case of <i>Cheers</i>, both) that gradually integrated rom-com elements to push their central couple forward. But this fall sees an unprecedented amount of pilots that seem to be using the romantic comedy framework to frame their <i>entire </i>show. Perhaps this is due to the (very mild) success of <i>The Mindy Project</i>, or the (much less mild) success of <i>How I Met Your Mother, </i>both of which have been the closest thing we've seen to a straight-up romantic comedy in a long time. However, none of these shows hold a candle to FX's <i>You're the Worst,</i> the best example of romantic comedy on TV. In fact, not only is it the best romantic comedy on television, it's a solid contender for the best <i>comedy </i>on television. It's <i>that good</i>.</div>
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How good is it? It's so good that I have only seen nine of the ten episodes it's produced so far because the show hasn't been renewed for a second season yet and I'm scared of the possibility that I'm about to finish it for good. It's so good that each episodes gives me at least one burst of laughter where I have to pause the episode I'm watching and catch my breath. It's so good that it makes me care about two people it explicitly tells me I <i>shouldn't </i>care about by rooting their flaws in a fear that resonates with just about anyone who's ever been young and confused and afraid of their direction in life (also known as everyone). <i>You're the Worst </i>is a great romantic comedy, a great comedy, and just a great <i>show </i>because it understands that sometimes love is an outright terrible idea, and sometimes it's messy, and sometimes it's horrifying, and sometimes it's electrifying, and a hell of a lot of the time it gives your life purpose when it seems like you have nothing left. It also understands that there are many different types of love. There's the love between significant others, sure, but there's also the love between friends, or the love for yourself, both of which are just as vital and important as romantic love, and it understands that love is far more complicated than fancy weddings and life-long marriages and food processors. <i>You're the Worst </i>is a great show because it understands that<i> </i>we are all <i>the worst</i>, and that love is about being able to understand that you're awful and the person you love is awful and that you just have to sit with what makes you awful and trench through it to get to the good stuff.</div>
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Oh, and also, <i>You're the Worst </i>is a great show because it's really, really funny. This has been a great year for TV comedy, with prized possessions like <i>Rick and Morty </i>and <i>Broad City </i>and <i>Review </i>bursting onto the scene, and <i>You're the Worst </i>could stand tall with any of them, harkening an absurdist, go-for-broke humor styling that feels akin to the dearly departed <i>Happy Endings </i>at points. It's quickly assembled one of the strongest ensemble casts on TV, with all four of the shows' regular leads delivering the jokes and pathos constantly thrown at them at a whim. <i>You're the Worst </i>is a fantastic show, and you're probably not watching it, and it hasn't gotten a second season yet (though rumor has it that things are looking good) so go and do yourself and it a favor and burn through those ten episodes on Hulu right now - or at least, burn through the first nine and then sit around for a while and hesitate on starting the tenth because you don't want it all to end. You <i>owe</i> this to yourself. </div>
<br />Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-496356298875856875.post-28070982024557547992014-09-24T19:24:00.004-07:002014-09-24T19:25:39.571-07:00Pilot Review: "Black-ish" on ABC<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
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<u><b>Black-ish</b></u></div>
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<b>ABC, Wednesdays at 9:30 PM E.T. </b></div>
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<b>Who's involved? </b><i>Black</i>-<i>ish </i>has the impressive pedigree of both Anthony Anderson (Andre Johnson) and Laurence Fishbourne (Pops, who's credited as recurring). Tracee Ellis Ross has a handful of TV credits, from <i>Girlfriends </i>to <i>CSI</i>, but everyone else is relatively unknown. Creator Kenya Barris has previously been a staff writer on shows such as<i> The Game, Girlfriends </i>and <i>I Hate My Teenage Daughter</i>. This is his first gig as showrunner. </div>
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<b>What's it about? </b>"Black-ish" is a family comedy that centers about what it's like to be black in an upper middle class setting. Judging by the pilot, it seems to be an attempt to mix some standard family sitcom fare (overbearing dad! kooky old grandpa! level-headed wife that constantly has to talk down her husband!) with some more pointed social commentary about race and wealth. </div>
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<b>Is it any good? </b><i>Black-ish </i>is the strongest comedy pilot I've seen so far this season by a comfortable mile. That isn't saying a whole lot, but there is a lot to genuinely like here. The cast is immensely talented and already has pretty incredible chemistry - and even the kids, a difficult thing for family sitcoms to get right, are interesting and well-drawn character played by very capable actors. The show does fall into some of the typical ABC family sitcom pratfalls - the narration, which seems to be an unfortunate staple for this kind of show on ABC, is full of unnecessary exposition, and there are definitely more old sitcom chestnuts being brought out to play than I would typically prefer. But <i>Black-ish </i>seems at least vaguely self-aware of all of this, often spinning seemingly rote plots on their heads (a scene that builds to the typical "character thinks they're getting an honor but doesn't" reveal twists into said character getting that honor after all, albeit with a "but") and allowing things like Andre's overprotection of his son to spin into such absurdist territory that you sort of forget that it's a little bit hacky. And it's easy to forgive a few generic sitcom plots when so much of the material here covers topics that we haven't seen properly explored in television comedy in quite some time. <i>Black-ish </i>has an interesting and unique story to tell, and it seems capable of doing it in ways that are equally as interesting - the humor interestingly feels a lot like the humor of more "edgy" ABC fare such as <i>Happy Endings </i>and <i>Don't Trust the B--- in Apartment 23, </i>which lends itself well to the show's refreshing voice. The success of <i>Black-ish </i>will ultimately depend on whether it can set aside its role as an ABC family comedy and explore the more nuanced material it's obviously interested in. It should still manage to be a good show either way, but the latter show is something that is much more needed on television, so let's hope it trends more towards that one.</div>
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<b>Will I be watching again?</b> Definitely. This is probably the only new comedy this fall that I feel a strong need to stick with right now.</div>
Vincent http://www.blogger.com/profile/14407447784446012095noreply@blogger.com0