Much Ado about Nothing (Yay!) and A Week of New NBC Comedies (Yay?)

I’ve spent the better part of this week at the Toronto Film Festival, and coming from a person who loves TV, I have to say it was a pretty successful trip. Not only did I get to see Joss Whedon’s latest feature, Much Ado About Nothing; I also had the pleasure of viewing Breaking Bad‘s Aaron Paul and Parks and Rec’s Nick Offerman in their bleak but honest film Smashed.

Now, anybody who loves the Whedonverse or Shakespeare for that matter, should/must see Much Ado. I didn’t get to see Whedon in person (heart-breaking, I know) but it was still my favorite of the festival. Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof, better known as Wesley and Fred, play Beatrice and Benedick, and they are the standouts in the film, both for the chemistry between them and their ease with Shakespeare’s iambs. But there are Whedon characters all over the place and they are wonderful to watch. Fran Kranz plays Claudio;  Reed Diamond, Don Pedro; Nathan Fillion, Dogberry; Sean Maher, Don John; Clark Gregg, Leonato; and Tom Lenk, Verges. That’s, respectively, Topher and Dominic from Dollhouse, Captain Malcolm Reynolds and Simon Tamm from Firefly, Agent Coulson from The Avengers and Andrew (my favorite) from Buffy. Basically, I geeked out hard. Oh, and it’s also a really good movie.

Smashed was very different from Much Ado, but no worse in quality. It is the story of a woman, Kate, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead of, in my mind at least, Scott Pilgrim fame who decides that she is an alcoholic and must stop drinking. The movie is honest, poignant, and ultimately gut-wrenching, especially when it deals with Kate’s marriage to Charlie, played by Aaron Paul. I have made it no secret that Jessie is my favorite character on Breaking Bad and in this movie, Paul brings the same bravado mixed with naiveté that makes me love him on his TV show. Nick Offerman also plays a role in the film as Kate’s well-intentioned mentor. It’s a departure from his comedy work, but he does a good straight man as well.  So, if you like the either show, or if you are a glutton for punishment and you like movies about couples falling apart (think Blue Valentine), then I say get thee to a theater come October 12. You won’t be sorry.

Having spent all that time at the festival, without access to regular American television, I have only just caught up on this week’s premieres. Imagine my joy when I get to come home from a two hour drive, plop down in front of my TV, and watch The New Normal, Go On and Guys with Kids. Honestly, what could be better? Besides, you know, a root canal, or a bikini wax or watching the scene from Siriana where George Clooney gets his fingernails ripped off (oof, I shutter just thinking about that scene). Ok, ok, it’s not actually that bad. But I wouldn’t call the experience good either. All three shows are flawed, severely in some cases, and it makes me wonder how many are going to make it past the three episode hazing period I give them.

Guys with Kids
Let’s start with the worst. Oh, there are so many things wrong with Guys with Kids. Pace, characterization, cliché, originality. It’s a total mess. First off, it doesn’t help that the show is filmed in front of a live studio audience. Does that make me a horrible person to say that? I used to love shows with audiences. I grew up on them. But then again, those shows were better in every other area. And tastes have changed. The live studio audience to me indicates that I’m going to find tired, cliché jokes that are delivered by actors hamming for the camera. And that’s exactly what Guys with Kids delivers. Think Scrubs’s “My Life in Four Cameras” but not funny.

Jesse Bradford especially is subject to overacting, dropping jokes like they are very heavy bricks, while Anthony Anderson clings on to the joke that he hasn’t been out of the house in years like it is his last cookie. And the women, Jaime-Lynn Sigler and Tempest Bledsoe come off as one-note characters just there so the men have something to complain about. There was a funny moment with Kareem Abdul Jabbar, but it wasn’t enough to save it for me. We’ll see if I can last two more episodes. D

The New Normal
My first thought about The New Normalwas that it was disorienting. Then I realized that because of Hulu’s annoying configuration, I had watched episode 2 before seeing the pilot. Realizing my error, I went back and rewatched everything in the correct order, and things made much more sense.

Now, The New Normal is one of the shows that NBC has been advertising heavily ever since the Olympics, and I would imagine that it is the one of the new shows that the network is proudest of. I mean, it’s got the gays, and a movie star (Ellen Barkin), and a sort of movie star (Justin Bartha) and a Broadway star (Andrew Rannells, aka, the guy from The Book of Mormon), and did I mention the gays? It’s so edgy and progressive that it has to be good, right? Well sort of.

My first thought, actually, was that besides the whole surrogacy element, the show is pretty much a rewrite of the well-conceived, poorly executed Running Wilde. You have the single mom who is trying to teach her daughter how to live and you have the kind-hearted benefactors who are kooky and a little profligate. Luckily for us, this show was more watchable than its cancelled predecessor. It’s flawed, definitely, but let’s start with the good things.

The best thing? Andrew Rannells, hands down. He is perfect as his character, Bryan, campy without being hammy, shallow without being cruel, different without being alienating. He sold me in the first scene where he talks about his future child calling him “Daddy.” The genuine emotion in that scene made me care for the character, and if I continue watching this show, it will probably be for him.

The rest of the cast is pretty great as well.  Georgia King plays a very believable, struggling single mother and Bebe Wood is rather adorable as her child. Plus she does a really spot-on impression of Little Edie. Justin Bartha isn’t perfect yet – after The Hangover, I have a little trouble seeing him in this role – but there is definite room for improvement from what I see. As for Ellen Barkin, she is the person that everyone is going to latch onto for her over the top bigotry, and yes, it was enjoyable at times, but I hope that they tone her down in the future. You can only do so many “fudge-packer” jokes before it gets old. And then there’s Nene. I am a little loath to mention her because she is so bad that she’s really out of place in the show. From the two episodes so far, she’s thrown in for a few seconds at the beginning of the show to make a few poorly delivered one-liners and then she flies off into the ether. I hope it stays that way, or better yet, she disappears entirely because she completely lacks comic timing. But I guess we’ll have to see how things go moving forward.

The other flaws in the show? Well, I’m not a fan of the random talking heads, like the two mothers in the pilot on the playground or the doctors in the second ep. It seems out of place, like the showrunners can’t decide if they want to be a mockumentary or not and so are splitting the difference and muddling the storytelling. In that same vein, the 30 Rock-style flashback/fantasy sequences are a pretty jarring. They appear as jokes shoe-horned into the episodes because the writers couldn’t figure out a joke to fit in the actual storyline. In several of the Community commentaries, Dan Harmon talks about how hard it is to write a comedy without the cross-cutting and fantasies, and I agree. I wish that The New Normal would either commit to the element, the way that Scrubs and Family Guy do, or eliminate the style all together. The half-measure that they are using right now does not appeal.

Over all, though, I liked the show enough to come back for at least a few more episodes. We’ll see if things improve. B-

Go On
The final viewing of the night went to Go On, Matthew Perry’s latest attempt to regain televisionary relevancy. I had watched the pilot back in August when it aired after one of the nights of the Olympics. Both then and now I was struck by its similarity to Community, a show which NBC has tried to disavow since its very beginning. This irony was not lost on me. But really, both are shows about curmudgeonly guys who are forced to join a group of misfits and actually finds out that he might have a place there. However, whereas Community is bold and bizarre (and awesome) in its storytelling and boundary-pushing, Go On seems to be taking a much more pedestrian and accessible path. It will probably benefit from this, but I don’t see it reaching the incredible highs that Community has.

That said, of the three shows, I laughed the most at Go On. By far, the actors have the best comic timing, which isn’t surprising given their pedigree. Not only is Perry from Friends, but there is John Cho from Harold and Kumar, Sarah Baker from The Campaign, Bill Cobbs, from nearly every role that Morgan Freeman turned down, Tyler James Williams from Everybody Hates Chris, and Seth Morris and Brett Gelman from a handful of Cartoon Network shows and Will Ferrel movies. Oh, and then there is Allison from Kings – not a comedy, but something you should really watch if you haven’t already. It’s excellent.

So, there is definitely a lot of potential in this show. And storytelling-wise, the writers seem to know how to break a show. The pilot has a clear focus of getting Perry into the group, and I feel that each character was given a moment to present him/herself through the bracket-type pain-off. And you can definitely see how things will move forward, with Perry accepting the group more and more and the group changing for the better because of the his saner, un-Stockholm-syndromed influence. The end of the episode was especially impressive, with the group chasing after the Google-car. If future episodes have that type of heart, I think I could latch on to it.

The second episode was rockier; while trying to up the ante, I think the writers bit off a little more than they could chew. Instead of the one, well-defined story, there were three: Ryan and Sonia with her cats, Ryan, Steven and George with the basketball and Ryan and Carrie with his still-present grief over his wife’s death.  The cats storyline was the best and by far the funniest. I laughed not only when everyone kept showing up with yet more felines, but also with Perry on the phone surrounded by cats and even more when Perry had to give the cats away on the side of the road. (I currently have a friend who is trying to do the same thing, and the image was just great.)

The George story of an blind man being robbed of his precious signed basketball was also great. The image of George sitting in the group circle with all his worldly possessions gave me a chuckle, and then when he started to play Coltraine, I really laughed. So random, yet so funny. This was probably the smartest joke of the episode, but I have to admit, the whole story nearly fizzled out after it. In fact, I thought they forgot about it until Ryan takes George to the basketball game. And even then, it was strange when the whole screen went black so we could hear the game.  Nice in theory, not so effective in practice.

And then there was Carries’s story. This was the least effective for me, just because it is the most well-tread. We have all seen the lonely person latch on to another friend, only to drive said friend crazy. It was done on Scrubs in “My Persepctive”; it was done on Community in “Home Economics”; and it was done on Friends in “The One with the Princess Leia Fantasy” Yes, it was sweet when Ryan got the text saying that Carrie was thinking about him. But it wasn’t enough to save the whole plot.

At this point, I think I might add Go On to my weekly viewing, but it will take a few more episodes to say for certain. Until that time, I think I will enjoy myself. Either that or NBC will cancel it before giving it a chance, which would be about my luck. We shall see, won’t we? B

Happy viewing!!

-Mary

Emmy Tidbits

The Emmy nominations were today, and for the most part, I’m whelmed. Because if you can be underwhelmed and overwhelmed, you should be able to be whelmed.

I’m quite happy with the comedy writing noms (Yay, “Remedial Chaos Theory,”) And I’m very pleased to see Breaking Bad rack up some recognition, especially for Gus and Jesse, but also, Parks, Louie and Community should have gotten more love. But, oh well. I need to learn to live with disappointment. I’m already trying to resign myself to the idea that Modern Family will probably win some things even though they are the worst. Hrumph.

Out of everything, though, my favorite piece of trivia that I have learned about these nominations is this:

For the first time since 2006, The Office wasn’t nominated for anything. At all.

Yup. It’s the end of an era, folks. So many shows started around the same time as The Office: Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, How I Met Your Mother, House, 30 Rock. I feel like a lot of my college and post-college years were built around these shows. And now, that chapter is closing, or has closed in some cases. It’s a little sad, but also exciting. The great thing about television is that there is always something new to obsess over just around the corner, and I for one cannot wait for for the next batch of shows that should be taking their places any month now.

Here’s looking to September to see how all this news turns out, both for the Emmys and the new freshman crop.

Happy viewing!
-Mary

Plagiarism…I mean, I can’t say it better than this

I would love to write a review of this week’s Breaking Bad, but after reading reviews at other sites, I realize that I could never verbalize my thoughts as well as this.

Matt Zoller Seitz at NYMag.com:

“Skyler’s haunted face is the image I’ll take away when I think about this episode. Now that the full extent of Walt’s ruthlessness has been revealed, she’s looking more like what she actually is: not a full partner in a criminal enterprise, but a prisoner in an abusive marriage. She’s the spouse of a brilliant psychopath, a man who keeps insisting that all his violence and terror is on behalf of her and their children, but who’s clearly on a power trip and that often verges on delusions of godhood — and not without reason. When all the evidence flew through the air and slammed into the concrete wall, I thought of Magneto in the X-Men films, and of the awesome and terrifying telepathic powers displayed in films like Scanners and The Fury. The hints of omnipotence (in Walt’s mind, anyway) were driven home in that exchange between Mike and Walt after the evidence locker sequence.  Mike wanted assurance that the plan actually worked. “Am I supposed to take that on faith?” Mike asked. “How do I know?” “Because I said so,” Walt replied, which is exactly what a parent tells children when asserting authority. Daddy said everything will be fine. Now shut up and go to sleep.”

Brilliant.

Pre-lab Prep: My Hopes for Breaking Bad Season 5

Well, as some of you may know, and all of you should know, the fifth and final season of Breaking Bad starts today. This is perhaps one of the best shows ever. Period. If you haven’t seen it, and you love TV (which, if you’re reading this, you obviously do), you must needs watch this show. I have yet to meet someone who hates it. Sure, they think it’s gross, tough, pessimistic and sometimes hard to watch, but no one denies that it’s an epic piece of art. It’s that good.

With that said, I’ve been rewatching the first four seasons of the show in preparation for tonight’s premiere. It’s been a wild ride, not only because there were a lot of things I had forgotten about, but also because you can see the little hints even at the beginning that lead up to where we are now. And, upon second viewing, I have a few predictions for this last season.

So, here they are. I’m going to say right off the bat, I know nothing about what is going to happen this season. These are just speculations. And most likely, I’m going to be wrong about everything because this show has the uncanny ability to surprise me.  However, if I’m right, I will gloat about it as much as possible. Either way, you can’t blame me for spoilers. These cannot be misconstrued as that.

1. Jesse will find out about Walt poisoning Brock – This is kind of a gimme. Of course, he will find out. Jesse keeps getting smarter while Walt keeps getting dumber, so ergo…  If, for some reason, this doesn’t happen, then I say Jesse finds out about Walt’s involvement with Jane’s death. Walt almost spilled the beans in “The Fly,” so it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the truth to finally came out.

2. The conflict of the season becomes a war between Walt and Jesse – Season four officially rid us of many big bads. The cartel is gone. Gus is gone. So where’s the conflict? Yes, the DEA is always a looming threat, but for my money, Walt v. Jesse will be the main conflict of the final season, especially if I’m right about prediction #1. The two characters have had their blows in the past, like last season’s epic fist fight, but they’ve always been relatively loyal to each other. How exciting would it be if this partnership truly dissolved and they went at each other for real? Imagine Walt’s cold logic and egomania coming up against Jesse’s keen instincts and ultimate morality. I’m excited just thinking about it.

3. Hank is the one to catch Walt – There’s a point in season four, when Hank thinks that Dale was Heisenberg, where Hank laments not catching the guy himself. He mentions that he wanted to be Popeye Doyle, and get the guy on his own. Well, I surmise that he’s going to get his wish. Whether he figures it out himself (which would be awesome) or Walt confesses to him (also awesome), I’d put money on Hank being the one to finally bring the great Heisenberg down.

4. Walt takes the blame for everything to save Jesse – At its core, the key relationship of the show has been between Walt and Jesse, the dynamics of which have driven the show forward. I would expect that if shit went down, Walt would protect Jesse, like a father protecting his son. Even if this season puts the two at odds, this would reconcile things. And it would be Walt’s legacy, the indication that he hasn’t been completely corrupted by his actions. It would mean redemption, which is something Walt certainly needs to strive for.

5. Junior gets hurt/killed – How has this not happened yet? Honestly? Hank has ended up in the hospital multiple times. Jesse has been beaten up at least once a season. And practically everyone who is/was close to Jesse has gotten into some kind of trouble (Jane/Brock/Combo). But Walt’s immediate family has stayed safe. It seems to me that this is just tempting fate. Walt said that he has has the shadow of death looming over him since his diagnosis, but I’m not sure that necessarily means his own. The threats are eventually going to become real, and I think Walt’s son, the person who Walt has been doing all this for, will be the victim. I hope I’m wrong here, but I’ve got a feeling in my gut that I’m not.

6. Someone important dies – Well, duh, you say. And I agree. It has to happen. There’s no way we are going to come out of this without a painful, gut-wrenching loss. That would be too easy, and this show is not easy by any means. Junior is my obvious choice, but my money is also on Skyler or Marie. Or, hell, it could be Jesse, which would thoroughly break my heart. Or it could be Walt himself. The cancer could come back and take him out the way he hoped to go. Or he could pull a Sydney Carton and do the “far, far better thing.” (That would support my #4 prediction, at least). But who knows, really? All I know is that I expect to cry at least once before it’s all said and done. And I’m kind of looking forward to it.

7. I have a heart attack from the stress of the season – This isn’t an actual possibility, except if I keep making my own butter (that stuff is like meth), but never have I experienced a show that is so intense. Even rewatching, when I know exactly what’s going to happen, has caused my blood pressure to rise. So, I expect that this season will be no different in terms of stress. At least my nails won’t be able to grow to long. So there’s that.

Well, we’ll see, won’t we? I do realize that I won’t know if I’m right about these for another year because of the way the final season is being broken up, but no matter. I’m still super excited for tonight. I cannot wait to be sucked into this world all over again!!

Got opinions of your own? Let me know in the comments.

Get Excited!!

Beware the Ides of July! It can’t come soon enough!