All right. As the
new "season" (in quotes because the term has so many different
meanings now) begins there are several observations I shall make, to which you
may all feel free to call bullshit upon as the spirit moves you.
First: Casting
the superb Andre Braugher in "Brooklyn 99" is rather like surrounding Sir
Laurence Olivier with the Keystone Kops. Braugher has great comedy chops, as
amply evidenced in the great and underrated "Men of a Certain Age." That show, however had great writing, a great
supporting cast and NOT Andy Samberg! There was once a truly funny, well
scripted cop show called Barney Miller.
This train wreck is the reverse in every way. Weak supporting cast, stupid premise,
lousy writing, et al. In the real world, the character played (badly) by
Samberg would have been rent into tiny pieces by his coworkers and fed to the
fishes and the Braugher character would have eaten his gun.
Second: Know that
I love and admire everything about Michael J. Fox - except his new show. The
writers apparently are of the same school as the writing staff of "Brooklyn 99"
in their belief that every single line of dialogue has to be humorous.
Discussing this debacle with several friends we discovered that we had all
recorded it and that we all felt embarrassed to be watching by the halfway
point and changed to another program. Fox is a brave man and a good actor who
deserves better.
Third: Just as
the first two shows are pretentious and unbelievable, so is "Agents of
Shield." - at least the unbelievable part. There is no pretense, however,
since it is exactly and effectively what
it tries to be - a comic book writ large
on the small screen. This format, complete
with the occasional wink and a nudge to let you know they're in on the joke,
has served Stan Lee and the Marvel dynasty well. It's fun, action filled, and
the very last second spoilers at the end are a nice touch, ala The Avengers and
Iron Man. You almost have to watch just to see who shows up. I'm waiting for
Pepper Potts!
In the category of
auspicious start, James Spader
and "Blacklist" shows promise.
"Ironside" shows promise as well. Most of the new half hour family sitcoms (shows centered around families, all
dysfunctional in some way) seem desperately trying to be what Modern Family
already is - hilarious with heart. Most, statistically will fail. "The
Crazy Ones" has a decent chance,
since it would be foolish to count out Robin Williams. Most of these shows are striving desperately
for "quirky" not realizing that "The Big Bang Theory" owns
the title and will for as long as Jim Sheldon is alive.
So much for new
stuff (for this post). Thank goodness
Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu are back in "Elementary" and Mr.
Reese, Finch and Carter are at it again in "Person of Interest." Of course the topper is the return of
"Blue Bloods" - the exact antithesis of “Brooklyn 99” - a cop show
with heart, great cast, great writing and believable story lines. Tom Selleck seems to have been born for the role of Frank
Regan (or Jesse Stone). I know of no
other actor doing TV these days who seems so effortless and comfortable in the
skin of his character.
Of course these are just my brain droppings, let me know if
you agree or disagree.
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