Fall TV Preview in 600 Words or Less

Hey folks!

I know. I've totally slacked on the blog lately. But with good reason! As some of you might know, I've been blogging over at the New York Observer in their Culture Czar section. The industrious reader of this blog might have noticed their stuff in a working RSS feed, directly on the right. See it there? Go look, I'll wait.

(Waiting)

(Waiting)

Welcome back! Anyway, I'll still be posting here as much as I can obviously, because I wouldn't want to disappoint my 23 readers. However, I wanted to direct you to a piece I wrote for the actual print version of The New York Observer--a Fall TV preview! It's short and fun and you can read it online or go out and buy the paper, which is on newstands now.

Here's a little blurb for you. Consider it a radio tease:

There’s also Life on Mars (ABC, Thursday, Oct. 9, 10 p.m.), a remake of the BBC show of the same name. The premise is intriguing enough—a New York City cop is hit by a car while chasing a bad guy and magically transported back to 1973—but it’s the cast that’s truly impressive: Harvey Keitel, Gretchen Mol, Lisa Bonet and Michael Imperioli. David E. Kelley was the original executive producer, but after some bad reactions to his pilot, he was replaced by the guys behind October Road (and this is not a good sign).

Read the rest of it here.

Shrug After Seeing: The Badness of Burn After Reading

Sometimes you can tell a lot from a movie simply by looking at the release date. When you see July 4th, you know that it's going to be a box office bonanza and huge populist entertainment. When you see Christmas, you know the film will have a high pedigree and a slew of critical praise and awards heat in lieu of actual financial success. And when you see early September, well, you know deep down that the studio didn't think the movie was strong enough to play with the big boys in October and November. Burn After Reading, the latest Coen Brothers movie, is a perfect September release. It's got the high class sheen and cast of a strong fall release, but without any of the actual quality that usual comes along with those dates.

Blinded with Science: Fringe Reviewed

"As you know, l'm quite keen on comic books. Especially the ones about superheroes. I find the whole mythology surrounding superheroes fascinating. Take my favorite superhero, Superman. Not a great comic book. Not particularly well-drawn. But the mythology... The mythology is not only great, it's unique. Now, a staple of the superhero mythology is, there's the superhero and there's the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When that character wakes up in the morning, he's Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic Superman stands alone. Superman didn't become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red "S", that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears - the glasses, the business suit - that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent. He's weak... he's unsure of himself... he's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race." -- Bill, Kill Bill: Volume 2

I couldn't help but think of that block quote from Kill Bill while watching the pilot episode of J.J. Abrams' Fringe. Mr. Abrams has become the master of the jaunty, seasons long narrative strain. From Felicity to Alias to LOST, each of his shows are these labyrinthine puzzles that require close viewing over many years. This is a great trick to getting a solid viewer base, but it doesn't really lend itself to massive CSI-level viewership. You get a certain amount of the audience hooked, meaning they watch every week, no matter how bad things get (see: Alias), but you miss out on the casual viewer.

Danger Beach: The Season Premiere of Entourage

It's not a secret that I intensely disliked the last season of Entourage. And to that you can certainly say, "lighten up!" It's true, I should. Even at its very best, Entourage was nothing more than a weekly dose of diverting fun. Who wouldn't want to hang out with Vincent Chase and his calvacade of man-boys, while they basked in their wealth of money, toys and women? It's the male fantasy come to life.

Bad Mexican: Prison Break Recapped

Prison Break is atrocious.

Let me clarify that statement.

As a longtime fan of the show, I never carried delusions that it was any great shakes. At its absolute best, during the breakneck first and second seasons, it was 24 mixed with the Loony Toons: goofy, unbelievable, clownishly violent and over-the-top, but all done with a wink and a smile; a nod that even the show's producers and stars didn't take what was happening on the television screen very seriously.