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TV Recommendations for the week of October 3, 2005
By Chris Ryall
I've done a lot of these columns in the past 40 months. Outside of taking four months off the column around my wedding and honeymoon, I've been here every week, offering up 40+ listings and usually 35+ dumb jokes about said listings. So I thought I'd shake things up for one week. Rather than spend time telling you in jokey-but-accurate terms that Freddie Prinze Jr's new sitcom, debuting this week, is as bad as you'd expect, I thought I'd pick ONE show for each day this week and go into a bit more depth about it. Yep, that's right, for one week only, no doubt, TV RECOMMENDATIONS are going to actually be recommendations. I wouldn't get used to that, though.
Monday, October 3
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT -- 8 PM, Fox
Big surprise I'd lead off with this one, right? Other than defenses of FAMILY GUY from angrily stoned fans, the one thing I heard most often last year from people was that I spent too much time stumping for this show. The past two seasons, actually. Which would maybe be a fair complaint...
...if people had actually started watching this very worthwhile show. But clearly my job isn't done yet.
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, which had struggled the past two seasons, despite "Chrisical" acclaim and Emmy awards, was given a new night this season, Monday nights. EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND was finally gone (not that Emmy voters seemed to think so), so maybe there was a place for a more clever, more funny and more challenging sitcom on Mondays instead?
Turns out, no so far. You know how NBC's MY NAME IS EARL debuted to huge ratings and is seen as an early hit already? ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT's premiere episode was the opposite of that.
I've been trying to watch these first few episodes from the perspective of someone who maybe is just checking the show out for the first time, to see if it's hard for someone new to get into. And then when I hear Michael Bluth, responding to his sister who's sitting on a copy machine and handing Michael a photocopy of what she thinks is the new Swedish car she wants, to which Michael replies, "That's not a VolVO," I wonder how anyone wouldn't laugh at that. The show is bizarre, yes, and getting moreso. It's also seemingly getting more risque (witness last week's moment of Buster sniffing his detachable hand after learning it was used by his mom and dad in the bedroom), but it's still so funny. And the show even worked in a good crack at Donald Rumsfeld--on Fox, no less. The show's rapid-fire jokes and subtle comedic touches and lack of a laugh track might all be keeping the RAYMOND crowd away, I don't know. All I know is that the show is, in all likelihood, doomed. So I'm going to do what the show's cast and producers are doing, just have as much fun with it while it's still here.
It's only after it goes away that I'll rant about the fact that this show couldn't make it but TWO AND A HALF MEN could...
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: David Rakoff
The Late Show with David Letterman: Freddie Prinze Jr., Beck
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Denise Richards, Emeril Lagasse, Liz Phair
The Jimmy Kimmel Show: Jessica Alba
Late Night with Conan O'Brien: TBD
The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Julian MacMahon
Last Call with Carson Daly: Maceo
Tuesday, October 4
GILMORE GIRLS -- 8 PM, WB
There are shows I enjoy more on Tuesdays now (the aforementioned EARL, and THE OFFICE, and soon, SCRUBS), but GILMORE gets the mention here just for the way it's gone from being a strict "chick" show (juvenile single mom is "mothered" by her more mature daughter) to one of the better-written and acted shows on TV. Like many of the more entertaining shows or movies, the dialogue isn't at all realistic--it's hyper-realistic, with each person having the perfect pithy comeback to the person talking to them. This is a show all about one-upmanship, and the cast constantly rises to the occasion in that regard. Lorelei, the mom played by Lauren Graham, seems most at home with the fast word exchanges and interplay, but her daughter (Alexis Bledel, last seen in SIN CITY or THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS, depending on your gender) is more than capable and has grown into quite the actress, too. The show's worst elements are when mom and daughter aren't talking, which is why this current season is off to a bit of a slow start. Yes, the thing about Luke and Lorelei finally getting together and getting engaged has been a long time coming, but it's not as engaging as the interplay between Lorelei and Rory.
The dialogue on the show, which supposedly was punched up by Aaron Sorkin (SPORTS NIGHT, WEST WING, mushrooms), is a testament to the strength of the show's creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino. It's often the shows that feature a creator's singular vision that are the most creatively satisfying, and this show definitely needs to only keep going until Sherman-Palladino loses interest. The last thing anyone wants is for this show to become THE WEST WING minus Sorkin.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Cameron Diaz
The Late Show with David Letterman: Terrell Owens
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Charlize Theron, Dane Cook, Sinead O'Connor
The Jimmy Kimmel Show: Jane Kaczmarek
Late Night with Conan O'Brien: TBD
The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson: TBD
Last Call with Carson Daly: Bill Paxton, Liz Phair
Wednesday, October 5
LOST -- 8 PM, ABC
I'm not exactly picking dark horse shows here, am I? But the thing with LOST is, expectations for the show's second season were about as high as any show in recent history--maybe only new seasons of THE SOPRANOS face the same level of scrutiny--and the potential for it to fall flat on its face was equally great.
Shows whose central premise is a mystery have to be careful not to drag out the mystery too long, but they also have to be careful not to reveal too much. It's a fine line to walk, and some shows choose to reveal one big mystery and then lead off with another, more forced secret, to keep people watching (see: season 2 of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES thus far). LOST had to play it even trickier--if they started off the season with more questions about the hatch and what was in it, they'd be accused of floundering, of hiding things until they figure it all out. After all, there are so many pieces to this show, from the "evil" numbers to all the numerous little signs and portends that show up in every episode. Can this all really have been a plan, or are they making it up as they go along? From the bits I know of this season, it definitely seems the former rather than the latter. But it'd all depend on how season 2 gets going.
You want to know what's in the hatch, the producers seemed to be asking in the premiere episode's opening minute. Fine--we'll show you, we'll show you more than you expected and leave you even more confused about things at the same time. It was a masterful opening, and the rest of the premiere didn't feel like it's missed a beat. The DVD release was well-timed, and now even more people are talking about the show and what it could all still mean. At this point, it's going to be hard for the actual explanation to live up to expectations, and even already, the bits inside the hatch are already a tad enervating, but the show is overall still so good that I'm willing to hang in through an ever-more-convoluted myster. So far, unlike Michael, I have no desire to leave the island.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Sen. John Edwards
The Late Show with David Letterman: TBD
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Elijah Wood, Nickleback
The Jimmy Kimmel Show: Anthony LaPalgia
Late Night with Conan O'Brien: TBD
The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson: David Duchovny
Last Call with Carson Daly: Harland Williams, Keane
Thursday, October 6
JOEY -- 8 PM, NBC
The show is better than ever this year and... okay, sorry, I'm kidding. Actually, the new "Must-See" comedy in this time slot is...
EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS -- 8 PM, UPN
It's too early to anoint the show a "classic" or anything along those lines, but this is already shaping up to be one of the funnier new shows of the season (other contenders include HBO's EXTRAS, NBC's EARL and the second season of THE OFFICE, also an HBO show). And the thing is, so far, Chris Rock's Daniel Stern-like WONDER YEARSian voiceover is a nice bonus, but already not essential for the show to work.
The WONDER YEARS reference is apt here, since this show also manages to nicely balance somewhat wicked humor with sweetly nostalgic reveries. But they key here is in the casting. Little Chris Rock, played by 12-year-old Tyler James Williams (it feels really weird to look up an actor at IMDb.com who was born in 1993... hell, IMDB.com is probably older), is perfect on the show, slightly cartoonish in appearance, with the skinny legs and big feet, but he's also sympathetic and just good at delivering a line. He doesn't feel like a "child actor." The rest of the cast, notably Chris's mom and dad, also feel more real than you'd expect on a sitcom. Much like EARL, the premiere episode was funnier than the second show, but that's no reason to fear. The pilots are what hook us, and now these next few shows, if done properly, will really sell us on the relationships between the characters. Style, and then substance. So far, this show seems to have equal quantities of both. And we've already met the show's "Winnie Cooper," too. About time we get a new, and possibly superior, WONDER YEARS.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: TBD
The Late Show with David Letterman: David Gray
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: George Clooney,
Jesse James, Blue Man Group
The Jimmy Kimmel Show: (R)
Late Night with Conan O'Brien: TBD
The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Henry Winkler
Last Call with Carson Daly: Vanessa Marcil,
Musashimaru Koyo, Tony Yayo
Friday, October 7
GHOST WHISPERER -- 8 PM, CBS
Suddenly I'm just recommending shows that I reviewed this past summer, like I'm out to prove that they guy who does the TV PILOT REVIEWS here, also named "Chris Ryall," really knows his stuff. But while I do think the other shows talked up so far are worthy, I'm only listing this one by default. See... I never watch any of these Friday night shows with any regularity. I've TiVo'd them all at one point or another (gotta do the column research, you know) and find some of the shows insipid (yep, you, HOPE & FAITH) and some just uninteresting to me (NUMB3RS). I suppose BERNIE MAC is also a decent enough show, but by Friday, I just don't care about any of these shows. If pressed, I'd check in with this show, GHOST WHISPERER, if only because I have a little crush on Jen Love Hewitt. But the show, which tries overly hard to be sentimental and engaging, really isn't. Or even if it is, the sameness of every episode so far (okay, I've watched them both thus far) make me think that the only thing that'll change from week to week is Love's wardrobe. Thus giving me reason to watch, so maybe they do know what they're doing.
The Late Show with David Letterman: Mick Griffin, Jack Hanna
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Rene Russo, Dominic Monahan, Wynonna
The Jimmy Kimmel Show: Nickelback
Late Night with Conan O'Brien: TBD
The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson: TBD
Last Call with Carson Daly: Julie Bowen, Dule Hilland, The New Pornographers
Saturday, October 8
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- 11:30 PM, NBC
Host: Jon Heder; Musical guest: Ashlee Simpson
Hmm. My noble experiment for this week's column seems to have already burned itself out, seeing as how I'm not overly familiar with any Friday night shows, and Saturday, home to COPS and clip shows, is even worse. Good to know, so I don't consider doing this again...
The show got the season off to a good start last week with Steve Carell as host and now this week, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE's Jon Heder steps in. But the reasons for watching don't seem to have changed--Fred Armisen, Seth Meyers and Will Forte. It's certainly not for musical guests like tonight's Ashlee Simpson (she faked her way through a live show last time--do we really need to give her a chance to redeem herself? This seems like a huge misstep, and it's way too early in the season for that.) We'll see how the new cast members fit in (last week's Pacino impression by Bill Hader, one of the new guys, was good, and already both new featured players showed that they're better at reading off cards than the still-awful Horatio Sanz), and how missed Tina Fey is while out on maternity leave, but as long as Forte's able to do his whiny, needy G.W. Bush, and Armisen is there for any general lunacy he's called upon to provide, it's going to be worth watching.
Oh, and yes, I DO plan to just ignore the fact that Horatio Sanz, easily the weakest cast member in a decade, is now offering awkward line readings during Weekend Update, too. Nice move, Tina, making sure that you have a job to come back to by putting the weakest possible person in your place. Hell, change your new kid's diapers on-camera, if you have to, if it means sparing us from Sanz.
Sunday, October 9
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM -- 10 PM, HBO
I heard some people complaining recently that this show felt tired, that they had had enough of Larry David getting himself into an awkward situation that would have been easily avoidable if he'd just keep his mouth shut. Which tells me they're missing the point of the show--that he can't keep his mouth shut.
The season premiere was already better than most shows last season--the PRODUCERS bit from last year was funny in places but it started to go off the rails. David's humor works better when it's grounded in the mundane. Somehow, he's great at showing that even the life of a millionaire isn't always easy. The fact that he can have us relating to the fact that he hates the taste of a sandwhich named after him in a local deli just continues to show that he knows what sorts of situations make us uncomfortable and how to mine that for comedy. The show's cast was great from the start, but after a few years of working together, they seem even more comfortable with each other, to the point where the show's like the comedic version of jazz--the actors riff off each other and seem to challenge each other to keep trying to one-up one another.
Or maybe I just miss Los Angeles and like the fact that Larry hits many of the same West Side locations I'm familiar with. Whatever the case, I look forward to the increasingly awkard and uncomfortable situations that Larry puts himself in. If only the seasons were longer.
All show times Pacific Standard Time and all opinions miss the regular column.
Chris Ryall
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