teevee 2009

A look back at some of the stuff I wrote about television this year. For what it’s worth, I think the quote below about Damages is one of my better ones.

The L Word: “We were supposed to like The L Word because it was about lesbians. If we didn't like it, we were bad people. If the show sucked, that didn't matter ... all that mattered was that the show existed in the first place. And we got the show we deserved, one that never worried about being good because being good was irrelevant. This is what happens when all you ask of art is that it reflects your own life.”

Battlestar Galactica: “I don't have to be a believer myself to appreciate the way this series showed how religion affects people's lives, and not just for the worse.”

Life on Mars: “It was all very Wizard of Oz-ish, which is fine, since the original had lots of that stuff too. Ultimately, the scenes about Sam Tyler's search for home were far more touching than I would have expected, and lifted the show above the norm.”

Damages: “[T]his is a show about shitty people doing shitty things to other shitty people. If that sounds like a bad show to you, stay away. But, if you know me, you know that I'm always up for a show that brings the shitty.”

24: “The show has such a tenuous link to reality that it's stretching to believe we honestly want to know how Jack feels about torturing people. We just want to see things blow up, and that's not because we in the audience are crass, it's because the show treats us like we're crass. And I have no problem with that. I just don't want to see whiny ‘character’ stuff. Blow shit up, put the country in danger, toss in a couple of useful guest stars, and leave it at that.”

Kings: “Mixing flamboyantly aggressive acting from Ian McShane with a bizarre mixture of alternate contemporary reality and the Biblical story of David, Kings was never going to appeal to a mass audience, but you’d think it would have had some cult success, if nothing else. But that never happened … it wasn’t a sci-fi hit, wasn’t a soap opera hit, wasn’t a religious hit, even though it had elements of all of those and more. It goes without saying that this was an ambitious show, and at times its ambitions extended beyond the show’s good qualities, i.e. it was erratic.”

Nurse Jackie: “Nurse Jackie isn’t up in the pantheon yet, but it has promise, and it has Edie Falco. You know I’m going to give every possible chance to a series where the heroine is a drug addict with a husband, two kids, and a boyfriend on the side who is the hospital pharmacist who supplies her with drugs.”

Weeds: “Weeds has gone from a comedy with serious undertones to a dark show with comic undertones to what we have now: a dark show that is rarely funny, and isn’t offering anything new. Nancy Botwin still makes terrible choices. She is still a terrible mother. She still stops every three episodes or so and realizes what a terrible mother she is. And then she continues to make terrible choices and to be a terrible mother.”

True Blood: “[Y]ou can always count on seeing some hunky guy showing off his abs, ass, or both, and little Anna Paquin’s good for half-a-dozen hot nude sex scenes a year. Basically, it’s The Tudors, only it’s on HBO instead of Showtime, and it takes place in a different century. And there are vampires.”

Mad Men: “Mad Men, which has always paid plenty of attention to the role of women in the time period of the series, finds new and heartening ways to show how women can advance, but those women are leaving the Bettys of the world behind. Being a wife and mother just doesn’t get it in the Mad Men universe, where people are largely defined by their jobs and wife/mother isn’t considered ‘real’ work. It’s entirely possible we won’t see much of January Jones in the future … Betty isn’t as necessary as she used to be … whereas Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (and the series itself) finds a way to bring Joan back into the fold.”

Curb Your Enthusiasm: “Some people seemed to think Larry went too far this season, but don’t they say that every season? Me, I thought the episode where he peed on the painting of Jesus, making it seem like Christ was crying real tears, was hilarious.”

Sons of Anarchy: “Season Two raised the show to the level of the best TV has to offer. It began with the brutal retaliatory rape of a central character, then followed the ramifications of that moment throughout the season. We saw strong characters made vulnerable, good people drawn into perilous situations, and a biker gang that was somewhere between Tony Soprano and Vic Mackey on the morality scale. Nothing happened in a vacuum … not only do these characters pay for their actions, other people pay as well.”

Glee: “I think the message of the show is supposed to be that we all have our talents that make us special, no matter where we fit on the high-school hierarchy of coolness. But the songs tell a different story: success is available to anyone with access to auto-tune. It is a rare song that isn’t produced into sterility.”

Dexter: “Dexter always teeters between letting the titular character remain what he is (an evil serial killer) and giving him growth as a human being (granted, anything human in Dexter is a step forward). This is problematic because if he remains the evil serial killer, the show goes nowhere, and it becomes just another show, but if they humanize him, the show loses the angle that makes Dexter unique.”

Lie to Me: “Tim Roth is so good as Cal Lightman, he makes Lie to Me must-see TV all by himself. … Hayley McFarland as Lightman’s daughter is a particular standout, as is the father/daughter relationship. It’s not something they touch upon every episode, but it’s nicely nuanced when McFarland shows up.”

Stargate Universe: “[T]here was never a time when I thought ‘I’ll be watching this show until it goes off the air.’ It’s not really my place to evaluate a show like this, with a built-in audience that doesn’t include me. So if you’re a Stargate person, YMMV. Me, I was bored.”

30 Rock: “I don’t think it’s past its prime, I laugh constantly at pretty much every episode, and I look forward to it each week, which isn’t always true for The Office.”

Dollhouse: “I’ve thought for awhile now that I would really miss this show when it’s gone, but I’m not so sure any more … I don’t know how much more I can take. And I mean that as a compliment. With Mad Men and Sons of Anarchy done for the year, Dollhouse may be the best show currently running on TV, and I’m as surprised about that as anyone.”

Comments

[Chris]

I don't know if I am like some of your other readers in this regard or not, but I watch few of the shows you write about on your blog. And yet I tend to read every word you write about them, because I am interested in your take on each show and I find myself genuinely in your examination of them even if I'm not interested in the show itself.

[Steven Rubio]

I'm pretty sure most of my readers are in your position. As I've said before, I am honored that folks are interested in what I have to say. I'd feel even more honored if folks would watch the shows I like :-). FWIW, I'd say Lie to Me is the one show on the above list that might have crossover appeal, i.e. my readers might like it, too.