March 23, 2008

Canterbury’s Loss

It was reported recently (okay, not that recently, but this column isn’t exactly news of the day) that the CW has eliminated its entire comedy development department. I have mixed feelings about this move. On one hand, in the combined history of the WB, UPN, and the CW, they have produced a grand total of two funny sitcoms. The other hand? One of those two comedies, the struggling Aliens in America, debuted this year. (The other, also-struggling Everybody Hates Chris, is only in its third season.)

This development season also yielded Reaper, which returned last week (when I rambled about The Wire). It’s an hour-long dramedy, but it’s much more comedy than drama. I love the show, but is there ever any real sense of danger? Is there an epic, Buffy-and-Angel-esque love story brewing between Sam and Andi? I couldn’t tell you whether the “drama” or “comedy” development teams worked on this show, but the fact that neither Reaper nor Aliens in America has been handed an early renewal troubles me.

At first, I laughed off suggestions that they’d be canned; neither show has been on the air since November, so it seems reasonable that CW execs would wait to make a decision until they see how the shows perform. Well…they aren’t performing well, but it’s hard to define what ratings-weakling the CW considers “well enough.” Aliens and already-renewed Chris hold roughly the same viewership as they struggle in their new home on Sunday nights; Reaper manages to hold the bulk of its Smallville lead-in, and Smallville has also been renewed.

There’s reason for hope, but there’s also reason to worry. The CW may give these series a chance to grow. Then again, the network just downsized its comedy development team out of existence, without recognizing that their network airs the only three comedies worth watching. Good decisions aren’t exactly flowing in the land of America’s Next Top Pussycat Doll.

Aliens in America (The CW) — I’d like to hear from people who haven’t seen Rent: was this episode even close to funny without having any idea about the show? This episode felt like a breath of fresh air after last week’s surprisingly lackluster offering, but I have to wonder if I laughed harder because all the Rent and community-theatre jokes appealed to my inner nerd.

The subplots here worked like a well-oiled machine, furthering development of these characters and their relationships. In particular, I enjoyed the expanding relationship between Claire and crush-stricken Raja. The teen-hotline “heavy-breathing” gags were great, but the fact that they motivated Raja to call pretending to be someone else, then turning into himself, then having his lie exposed and ruining his chances… It’s like a Dawson’s Creek episode played for (intentional) laughs.

Canterbury’s Law (Fox) — Julianna Margulies returned to regular series TV (we always need that “regular series” qualifier because she’s popped up in numerous TV guest appearances and miniseries starring roles) last week, when I was rambling about The Wire. After seeing the first two episodes, I’m not sure what to think. I liked Margulies quite a lot on ER, but her performance in the pilot was strangely off-kilter. In a few scenes, she really sold herself as the “tough attorney”; in an equal number of scenes, she didn’t sell anything to anyone at any time. My assumption/hope is that the pilot was patched together with a number of reshoots (as they often are), which were perhaps too rushed for her to really nail the role.

This week’s episode solidified both the character and the performance, so it’s clear she’s gotten into the groove and she’s up to the challenge. The second episode also presents us with this idea that Canterbury’s Law will be a little more Rescue Me than House.

While House often attempts long-term story and character arcs that run for five or six episodes, they…rarely do it well. It’s an above-average medical procedural that tries (and fails) to be more. I’d be much happier with the show if it just accepted what it was. The occasional shake-up of the formula is fine, but we don’t need Chi McBride and David Morse skulking around trying to make trouble. Rescue Me, on the other hand, is perfectly content to have its characters just…sit around being themselves. They manage to incorporate a big fire sequence into nearly every episode, but it’s very much a soap opera that occasionally has fires.

If Cantebury’s Law (produced by Rescue Me’s Denis Leary and Jim Serpico, and featuring a few moonlighting Rescue Me writers) gives us the same level of character depth as Rescue Me, it could have a good run. Otherwise, it’s a fairly run-of-the-mill lawyer show. But hey, at least it’s not Ally McBeal Starring a Dude (damn you, Eli Stone!).

Everybody Hates Chris (The CW) — I love that this show has gone in the direction of having Chris be a down-on-his-luck nerd, working his ass off to get into the cool club. He spends half the episode trying to get invited to a spin-the-bottle party, then spends the remainder of the episode trying to avoid getting his ass kicked for kissing a girl he didn’t even want to kiss. It was a funny setup executed in a way that both avoided and embraced certain clichés.

It left little time to develop its subplots. The story of Julius’s jealousy of Rochelle’s former flame barely existed. The psycho-Drew storyline was kind of funny, but kind of uncomfortable. It’s never a bad thing to see Mr. Omar get a comeuppance, but Drew’s never exhibited that kind of behavior before. While it makes sense that he’d develop cheapskate and aggressive traits from his parents, I wish there had been more build-up to the change. It might sound like I’m overthinking a sitcom, but usually the writers do the overthinking for us. They curiously dropped the ball this time.

Jericho (CBS) — The past two episodes of this show have been great. I’m really disappointed to see it get canceled. Again. I guess I can’t argue with the “too little, too late” theory, because even I was ready to give Jericho up before its ill-conceived three-month break last year. I stuck with it, and I was rewarded for my trouble, but CBS has gone and shoved it up my ass.

They’ve managed to become the top network despite not having any good shows. Wouldn’t you think they’d want to keep around one or two low-rated “cult” shows, critical darlings (okay, Jericho wasn’t exactly a darling, but even the most cynical critic has to admit it’s improved exponentially since it started) that don’t have quite as large an audience as their endless procedurals and bland sitcoms?

Look at me, CBS: as soon as Jericho bows out next week, I will no longer watch your network. Not because I’m boycotting it; because there isn’t a single thing on your channel I want to watch. That may not mean something right now, but it will when America suffers from “awful, repetitive procedural fatigue.” (It could happen.)

King of the Hill (Fox) — This is the second episode this season that has suffered from “extremely blunt satire” syndrome. Ed Begley, Jr., is always a welcome presence, but his Stephens Davies character was too much of a caricature of Oprah-approved fear-mongering “professionals.” The episode still contained a number of laugh-out-loud moments—my favorite was Peggy’s decision that everyone should walk around the house in their underwear—and a tidy resolution, but it wasn’t up to the show’s usual standard of excellence. Even so, any show that can elicit laugh-out-loud moments in its twelfth season still has a lot of gas in the tank. Hear me, Fox?

Lost (ABC) — Lost has really been on a roll this season, and Thursday’s episode was no exception. Answering more questions than usual, the bulk of the story took place in flashback, showing what’s happened to Michael since leaving the island…and why he’s back. He is, not surprisingly, Ben’s “man on the boat,” but the writers handled his journey and return more smoothly than I would have thought. Always desperate to keep his son safe above all other things, Michael’s stumbled into a downward spiral of horrible decisions. It’s also nice to see Sayid isn’t the forgiving type. (Too often on this show, characters seem to quickly forget major sources of conflict that occurred only days ago, island-time.)

Do we really have to wait a full month for the next episode? Damn you, writers’ strike!

Medium (NBC) — The two-parter spanning the past two weeks had a lot of great moments, but the resolution felt a little unsatisfying. This isn’t the first time Allison has been given clear, obvious clues in her dreams and…totally missed them, but come on, put two and two together! Journeyman’s wife and Miles Silverburg running away together, combined with him performing strange dental work on a prostitute, combined with death by fire? The whole thing fell into place right after that sequence, yet it still took Allison 40 minutes to figure out what happened, resulting in the most eventful bail hearing in the history of time.

On the bright side, her character has been established as someone who’s sort of slow on the uptake. Sometimes that can be frustrating, but at least it’s a consistent characterization. The thing I don’t understand is, after explaining her dreams to Joe, Scanlon, and Devalos…nobody puts the pieces together until Allison hears about Arielle’s Barcelona dream. It’s hard to complain when I liked the story told in the two-part episode, but that’s just a nitpick I have to mention.

Reaper (The CW) — It still has its flaws, but I love this show. Like Arrested Development, not even stunt-casting the unfunny Jamie Kennedy can hurt it. In fact, dare I admit I actually liked Jamie Kennedy as a sneering but talentless rock star who sells his soul to Satan in exchange for rock stardom? Even more than the performance and the role, I loved the idea that Sam is becoming less interested in sending escaped souls to hell and would rather emphasize on saving souls before they get there. Even more than that, I loved the idea that human nature will inevitably get in the way. If Kennedy’s hand hadn’t been eaten, he would have sold his soul to Satan without question.

This week’s episode was even better, although it left me wondering why Sam’s dad is even listed as a regular cast member. The parents made their first appearance since, like, the third episode…and now Sam is moving out, implying even less screen time for them. Still, I think moving out is the right thing for Sam, Ben, and Sock—if we ever want to see these characters get the development they deserve. The actors give these characters so much that I feel like I know them, but there’s still so much unexplored territory for all of them.

On a related note, the Sam-Andi angst still needs work, but adding Cady to the mix has made that story infinitely more interesting. I hope they keep her around for awhile now that Sam doesn’t think she’s the spawn of Satan. (I still think he’s wrong, but who knows? It’s actually funnier to have an unhinged girlfriend who’s a card-carrying human.) I also enjoyed the gay neighbors/demons and the power-sander joke. Despite its flaws, I’m loving this show again.

The Riches (FX) — The Riches has returned for a strike-shortened season, and I’m both pleased and confused with the premiere. I enjoyed most of the story involving Wayne, Hugh, and Dale—especially the partnership between Wayne and Dale that I imagine will set up the storylines for this season—but the road trip with the rest of the family, leading to the hospitalization of “Mom” under suspicion of abuse…was underwhelming, almost an afterthought, which is not the kind of story you’d want for a premiere. I guess it was illustrating that they’re total boobs without Wayne holding them together, but I kinda think that undermines what each member of the family puts on the table. Maybe the car theft cliffhanger will pay off next week, redeeming the entire thing. I hope so.

D. B. Bates is a film critic and television viewer who has often shouted at fictional characters who probably wouldn’t listen to him even if they could hear him and existed in reality. Interested in explaining to D. B. the many ways he got it wrong? E-mail him.

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