Sunday, September 21, 2008

Small Screen Saturation

EMMY Awards live blogging tonight?

Since I've been out of town for over a month, I've been playing catch up on the crowded DVR. Watched a bunch of Project Runway. I'm rooting for Jerell and Korto at this point and so eager to see nasal nasty vintage-obsesse Kenley given the boot ... even if she does amusingly list 8 time Oscar costume design winner Edith Head among her favorite designers.

I also stared at wee descriptions of Saving Grace episodes but didn't hit play. Holly Hunter is super but I just don't really feel the show. I am never eager to watch. If your show stars lawyers, doctors, cops or detectives I feel like playing on the web instead. Maybe if I was 10 and hadn't already seen 30 years of those jobs dramatized. I'm no mathematician or census professional but I suspect doctors, lawyers, detectives and cops combined make up less than 10% of the jobs that people have in the world so why do they make up 88% of television occupations? Get some talented writers and actors involved and I am fully confident that they could make an exciting relevant series about a zookeeper or a corporate recruiter or a video game designer or even a dry cleaner you know? TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT. I'm begging you.


I also watched a couple of the new Season 2 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles episodes. Shirley Manson from Garbage is a new T-villain but not as angry & fun as she used to be in music videos. I'm not really sure why I watch this show. It's predictable, unoriginal, awkward. It is improving as it goes and addressing criticisms (suddenly John Connor, the eventual savior of mankind is less whiny and more decisive) which is usually a good sign for longterm health or at least the sign of a competent show runner. Still and all, it's living off the glories of two frankly incredible James Cameron movies. Those movies must have done a number on me because every time that classic familiar ominous march/drone score kicks in, my stomach tightens. I keep watching.

I'm saving Mad Men for last, following the 'go out with a bang' theory. Although Mad Men is so subtle that "bang" isn't the right word at all. I remain delightfully perplexed that so many people love it. It requires attention and thought and... well, if people are asked to do that at the movie theater they revolt and proclaim "boring" and choose something with lots of guns or Will Ferrell instead.

14 comments:

Robert said...

Kenley is pure evil isn't she?

Oh, the Emmys. Lee Pace being the only person nominated from a regular show I watch (oh why didn't I start with Mad Men from the top?), I haven't much of an interest. The only real anticipation is who will win Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries for the John Adams guys. They were all so brilliant!

Anonymous said...

Amen to your comment about TV occupations. Its about time someone with talent made a show about one of these less-explored career fields.

Rob said...

"If your show stars lawyers, doctors, cops or detectives I feel like playing on the web instead."

SNL did a very funny parody last night of the flooding-the-airwaves nature of these TNT shows, doing a mock commercial for their new show, "The Looker," starring Penny Marshall.

Anonymous said...

Good luck to Mad Men and 30 Rock.I'm also rooting for these people-Michael Emerson-Lost, John Hamm-Mad Men, Kristin Chenoweth-Pushing Daisies and Neil Patrick Harris-How I Met Your Mother

Hayden said...

Even though Holly Hunter is the superior actress, Kyra Sedgwick plays the gritty cop 1000000x better than her on the small screen.

But Glenn Close CLEARLY owns this category.

Michael B. said...

So according to my facebook..."predicts that Mad Men, 30 Rock, Cranston, Close, Emerson, Wilson, Baldwin, Applegate, Piven, Williams will win the Emmys tonight."

Oh and I met Thomas Dekker (from Sarah Connor Chronicles) last night @ the BAFTA Tea Party and we talked and he said he has a movie called Whore coming out with Megan Fox and....Ron Jeremy. I've only seen an episode or two of SCC and I don't really love it.

Oh and I think the Emmys will be a lot of fun tonight. They have good presenters, they are dedicating the past shows with famous lines and scenes, and I heard the sets will revolve around TV shows.

RC said...

i'd say Mad Men is the best way to go out for sure!

Unknown said...
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Roberta Lipp said...

(yeah so my co-worker Daniel helped me with laptop issues and apparently was signed into google. So I deleted 'his' comment. Let's try that again.

I am also perplexed at Mad Men's popularity. I get why so many people want to see it, but not sure why people are sticking with it. I'm thrilled that they are, of course.

But maybe we underrate its entertainment value. Maybe Weiner is even that much better at this television thing than we give him credit for. Maybe he has figured out how to create television for smart people and for everyone else.

Roberta Lipp said...

arghh! close parens there after the first paragraph.

I need a nap. See you all at the Emmys!

Danielhardy23@gmail.com said...

The Good News: that Mad Men is being rightly hailed by Emmy, and loved by audiences. With the Coen Brothers at number 1 in the movie charts, this proposes that there may be some good taste in them thar hills.

The Bad News: that The Wire has been ignored for the fifth and final time. However, it will outlast every single existing TV show as a true american classic. Bring on the great pop culture sift of time...

Deborah said...

We've got live-blogging up for Emmys at Ye Olde Basket of Kisses.

I love Saving Grace. 80% of the story is about the characters, 20% about cop stuff, and the characters are fascinating. Holly Hunter is stunning. There was a late-season episode where her dog ran away and she just lost it; curled up on the dog bed crying "I want my dog!" like a five year-old. It was just heart-stopping stuff.

They tend to get the whodunnit part over with right quick so they can get back to the interpersonal. Plus, these are a very select group of cops; they are Oklahoma City cops, mostly dealing with the aftermath of the McVeigh bombings in very personal ways. Here in New York we sometimes forget that someone else was going through this before. I find that very interesting as part of the background on these characters.

Anonymous said...

Kenley isn't very nice is she? What about Leanimal? Ms. Judy Noodles should be by BFF.

Also, ANTM was completely robbed.

Anonymous said...

Mad Men/Lawrie/Close/Danson/Wilson
30 Rock/Baldwin/Fey/Harris/Williams