Week in TV: August 8-14

True Blood

Always good to see everyone getting back in Bon Temps - the out-of-town storylines aren't bad, but they make the seasons feel disjointed week-to-week. It'd be nice to see Bill and Sookie decide to spend some time apart and then actually do that for a sustained period of time, but I guess there's always Season Four. Hopefully, Alan Ball and his writers will put a bit more temporal distance between seasons three and four - when you step back and consider that it's maybe two months from the beginning of the first season to now, everything feels kind of crammed together. More space in the pacing could really make the show feel less...frantic.

Mad Men

- I'm sure that this is the kind of episode that a certain contingent of Mad Men fans despise (the kind who think the show would be better with Betty gone entirely) but I kind of loved it, though it was definitely meandering plot-wise. A big factor is the degree to which I love Anna Draper - she's probably my favorite of the show's range of tertiary characters. Don's been acting like such a sleazy lush recently, and Anna represents such a fresh breath of air as the woman who "knows everything about [him] and...still love[s him]."

- A standout episode for Jared Harris; Don and Lane drunkenly watching the Japanese monster movie was one of the funnier things I've seen on TV in recent months. And I'm intrigued to see how the dynamic between Joan and Lane continues to play out; their irritated sniping at one another played like one of those things that becomes significant in retrospect once you reach the end of the season.

Degrassi: The Boiling Point

The new format has worked well, and hit a high point this week with the "My Body is a Cage" two-parter, which featured the show's best-executed storyline in years. (I keep meaning to mention how much I love that they've switched to contemporary song titles.) Utilizing the daily structure well, the writers did a good job in past weeks of slowly integrating Adam as a new student and then focusing episodes on his being transgendered. Jordan Todosey deserves serious acclaim for her performance as Adam - she frequently kept the story emotionally grounded and kept it from veering too deeply into after-school special territory. (Seriously, whatever the Canadian equivalent of an Emmy is, she deserves at least a nomination.)

So You Think You Can Dance

- A satisfying conclusion to an underwhelming season. Though both Kent and Lauren were solid throughout the season, I think Lauren showed just a bit more skill and versatility across the different genres. I won't write too much about what I think the show needs to fix, but I will link to an Entertainment Weekly online piece that clearly addresses some of the show's most pressing problems.

- I didn't comment on it in the relevant week, but as I watched the Top 4 show back again, I was really struck by Adechike's "where I came from" package. The producers behind the show could have pushed his "story" so much more - I mean, "young black urban male finds himself through dance, with assistance from the High School of Performing Arts"? That's, like, 1/6 of the plot of the original Fame - it is literally cinematic. I try not to be a conspiracy theorist, but being the third-best guy in his season puts him in the same company as All-Stars Pasha, Mark and Ade, and it never seemed like he was getting a comparable level of respect or admiration from the judges.

Rewatched:

Pushing Daisies, "Pie-lette" and "Dummy"

From one of those moods where boredom conspires with Netflix Instant Watch - I own the DVDs, but they're on loan to a friend. Things I forgot I missed about this show, in no particular order: Digby, all the pies, the coroner, and the way Jim Dale says, "The facts were these."

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Decided to give it another watch, since The Collected Works of Joss Whedon seems to be the summer's overarching project. It's interesting that there's not really any dancing in Dr. Horrible - it's not absolutely vital to all musicals, but most do have some. I'd love to see the kind of eye he might bring to a feature musical, since the big ones these days seem to be guided by choreographer-directors (Shankman (who choreographed the famous Whedon-directed Buffy episode "Once More with Feeling")/Marshall/Ortega). The part of my heart devoted to wishing fervently for a big-screen take on Company thinks Whedon could do a good job with it - cynical/funny is sort of his sweet spot.

Also Watched: Rubicon, Top Chef

Best of the 00s: One Season Wonders and Other Short-Lived Shows

Freaks and Geeks (NBC, 1999-2000)

Looking back at the decade, I see Freaks and Geeks as a formative show in my media consumer evolution. It was the first show that I loved that wasn't watched by very many people, and the first I watched that was cancelled mid-season. I was a thirteen-year-old eighth grader and I couldn't believe that no one around me was embracing this show I found so amazing. Its cancellation was also the first time that I really thought about the relationship between networks and viewers - I briefly considered boycotting NBC, but realized that the absence of one Nielsen-box-free tween wasn't going to make a bit of difference. Finally, the complete series was also the first DVD box set I bought on my own. I *may* have raised the box over my head and done a celebratory dance in the store - maybe.

Undeclared (Fox, 2001-2002)

Undeclared has never quite received as much press as Freaks and Geeks within the Judd Apatow pantheon, but it deserves to be recognized for a take on college life that was funny and authentic. Jay Baruchel's gangly geekiness may never be better served.

Wonderfalls (Fox, 2004)

One of Bryan Fuller's imaginative spotlights in the decade's TV landscape, Wonderfalls is distinguished by a delightfully cynical heroine - twenty-something slacker Jaye remains rare among young women as depicted on television - and a uniquely quirky concept - Jaye hears what may or may not be the voice of God advising her through inanimate objects.

Reunion (Fox, 2005-2006)

As much flak as Fox gets for quickly canceling underperforming shows, they probably showed the most willingness to give oddball shows a chance of any of the networks over the past decade. Case in point - Reunion. The show was probably too overstuffed, concept-wise, featuring a murder mystery revolving around six high school friends with each episode taking place in a different year beginning in the mid-eighties. In the early episodes, at least, it was just clever enough to be innovative, drawing out the present-day character introductions to gradually sculpt the mystery and featuring some fantastically soapy twists. As cheesy as it could sometimes be, it deserved a full season.

The Black Donnellys (NBC, 2007)

The Black Donnellys may have been better in theory than in execution - the show's mythologizing of the early years of four brothers who it was implied would become well-known criminals always made the show's future seem more interesting than its present. It wasn't helped by the fact that shows on cable had the freedom to display the kind of violence necessary to driving home to consequences of living in a criminal world. Still, it was probably the best that could be done with a modern gangster show on a major network.

Swingtown (CBS, 2008)

When critics talk about Swingtown, they often remark that the show might have been better served had it been picked up by a cable network rather than notoriously stodgy CBS. To me this implies that the show's problem was insufficient salaciousness, but it was always more about the emotional fallout of testing a marriage's sexual boundaries than the act itself. It was pretty much doomed from the start - airing on Friday nights during the summer (remember when there used to be original programming on Saturday nights? That feels like another age entirely) - but the show's central six actors - Jack Davenport, Molly Parker, Josh Hopkins, Miriam Shor, Grant Show, and Lana Parilla - made the material vibrantly heartfelt.

Kings (NBC, 2009)

To return to the previous point, it's easy to see how Kings might have been served by being a cable property rather than a network one, particularly with NBC's fraught relationship with scripted dramas over the past few years. Kings displayed the kind of ambition that is rarely seen in any new shows, modernizing the Biblical story of Saul and David and mixing in grandiose Shakespearean overtones, featuring riveting performances by Ian McShane and Sebastian Stan. All the episodes are on Hulu - I highly recommend it.

Joan of Arcadia (CBS, 2003-2005)

Recently (I want to say New Years Eve or Day) I got sucked into watching a mini-marathon of Joan of Arcadia on SyFy with my sister and mother. I'd forgotten what a warm show JoA was; the "God speaks to teen girl" premise could have been much cheesier than it was - instead it exemplified the best of what "family" television can be. Plus, any show where you can nickname a recurring character "Hot God" definitely merits inclusion on a best-of list.

Dirty Sexy Money (ABC, 2007-2009)

I don't talk about it very often, but I love soaps. The unabashed embrace of melodrama and sense of freedom from conventional narratives often creates thrillingly outlandish TV. In its first season, DSM embraced the ethos of classic primetime soaps like Dallas and Dynasty, particularly aided by great family chemistry among the actors playing the self-absorbed, moneyed Darlings. The show tried to do too much in its post-writers-strike second season, but there was a brief moment when it seemed like it could start a true 80s revival.

Pushing Daisies (ABC, 2007-2009)

Pushing Daisies presented such a vibrant visual world, any attempt at verbal description feels automatically insufficient. Like Bryan Fuller's other shows, Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me, Daisies was so unique that it was almost shocking that it ever made it to air. The show's murder mystery structure kept its bright, inventive universe from veering too far into twee-ness and the central quartet of Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Kristin Chenoweth and Chi McBride were uniformly excellent.

Life (NBC, 2007-2009)

With better ratings, Life should have made Damian Lewis the next Hugh Laurie - that is, a Brit playing a quirky American in a semi-procedural show. I can't say I quite recall how Life's twisty conspiracy ultimately ended, but it offered just enough of a twist on the average cop show to be engaging.

Dollhouse (Fox, 2009-2010)

Sure, Dollhouse hasn't quite ended yet, but it still qualifies with only two thirteen-episode seasons. Dollhouse was a slow starter - Fox executive interference is credited for emphasizing procedural repetition in the early episodes. As the first season came to an end, particularly in the DVD-only finale "Epitaph One," the writers began to explore the darker implications of the show's central identity-wiping technology and made it one of televisions most uniquely compelling hours.

Best of the 00s: Best TV Music Moments

Television offers so many different examples of the rich potential in uniting images and music - both original to the show and previously recorded. This list seems a little intense, but here's my chronologically-ordered rundown of some of my favorite television music moments of the decade:

"Lady" - Styx and Nick Andopolis (Jason Segel), Freaks and Geeks - "Boyfriends and Girlfriends" (1/16/00)

It seems fitting that this particular moment came only a few weeks into the decade, because Freaks and Geeks still feels so formative to me as a television viewer. There isn't much to say about this that I haven't already, but I'll add that I love that nearly a decade later I can still see Jason Segel being goofy on television on a weekly basis.

"Heat Wave" - Martha and the Vandellas, American Dreams - "Pilot" (9/29/02)

A few weeks ago, I was reading a quote from Jon Hamm where he observed that Mad Men is not American Dreams, particularly referring to the latter's featuring black characters within its narrative. The musical moment here, which comes about four minutes into the clip below, highlights the fundamental difference in tone between the decade's two major depictions of 1960s life - while Dreams featured many of the conflicts that defined the 60s, it also placed some value on a sense of warmth and community. The explosive sense of joy that came when "Heat Wave" kicked in, emblematic of the show's use of popular music, made this a truly wonderful pilot.

"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" - Clay Aiken, American Idol - "Season Two Wild Card Performance Show" (3/4/03)

True Confessions Alert: When the second season of Idol aired, I was sixteen years old and I loved Clay Aiken. I was never one of those fans that was deeply invested in his mythic heterosexuality - I just though he had a beautiful singing voice, and voted for him every single week. There are other performances I could have chosen (this past week's Community reminded me of how much I liked his "Somewhere Out There," and he had one of the few non-terrible finale songs in many seasons of the show) but I went with the wild card performance that got him into the top 12.

"Shakin'" - Rooney, The O.C. - "The Third Wheel" (1/7/04)

Before they added the Bait Shack in Season Two and built performances by popular musicians into the show, the first season episode featuring this performance by Rooney felt novel. (To me - I mean, I wasn't old enough to have seen the same kind of thing on previous teen shows.) It also remains a favorite for introducing me to a band I continue to love.

"If You Leave" - Nada Surf, The O.C. - "The Goodbye Girl" (3/3/04)

Music Supervisor Alexandra Patsavas has been behind several TV music moments that prompted me to then purchase said music - I believe this was the first. She chose several gorgeous covers for moments on The O.C. - Ryan Adams' take on "Wonderwall," Petra Haden's "Yellow" - but this may have been the best. It featured the departure of a great character before that kind of thing took the show downhill, and drew upon the John Hughes music legacy without feeling forced.

"It Ain't Easy Being White" - G.O.B. and Franklin Delano Bluth (Will Arnett), Arrested Development - "Righteous Brothers" (4/16/05)

Was there ever a more perfect representation of G.O.B.'s all-consuming self-absorption than Franklin? This song serves as just one example of what made Arrested Development totally unlike anything else on television.

"Muffin Top" - Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski), 30 Rock - "Jack-Tor" (11/16/06)

I think it says a lot about popular dance music of the decade that this is what a parody of it sounds like. Props to Jane Krakowski for her 100% commitment to Jenna's insanity and total lack of self-knowledge.

Muffin Top - Celebrity bloopers here

"Let's Go to the Mall" - Robin Sparkles (Cobie Smulders), How I Met Your Mother - "Slap Bet" (11/20/06)

I think with How I Met Your Mother, a lot of people can't get past their association of the multi-camera setup and the laugh track as relics of a bygone age of comedy. It's too bad for them, because then they miss awesome stuff like "Let's Go to the Mall," the denouement of perhaps the show's best episode. It is simultaneously hilariously goofy and insanely catchy, making it a winner in every way.

"Open Your Eyes" - Snow Patrol, The Black Donnellys - "Pilot" (2/26/07)

This comes from a time when Snow Patrol seemed to be everywhere, particularly "Chasing Cars." This is an example of a song that I heard previously on another show (Grey's Anatomy in this case) but in this specific circumstance, it made me sit up and pay attention. The cascading notes that close the song, paired with the pilot's framing of the violent origins of a destructive crime family, gave the scene a dire, apocalyptic air that I still remember even though the show was short-lived.

"Wild World" - Cast, Skins - "Everyone" (3/22/07)

To some extent, this moment is emblematic of how significant music can be to a show, and how much can get lost in translation. The music rights for Skins, a British show, don't apply to the U.S. releases of the show, which in most places just means that popular songs get switched out for genre-similar approximations. However, the DVD version of the first season finale cuts out this moment - where members of the cast sing the Cat Stevens classic - out completely, causing a scene jump that makes little narrative sense. On top of that, it's also a unique, beautiful moment that serves as an example of what makes Skins so excellent.

YouTube won't let me embed: Link

"All Along the Watchtower" - Bear McCreary, Battlestar Galactica - "Crossroads, Part Two" (3/25/07)

"Crossroads, Part Two" was the first BSG episode that I ever watched on a television (as opposed to my computer) and the closing moments featuring this song epitomized that increase in quality. The ties between the people BSG depicted and people today was always sketchy - references to "Earth" and Greek gods made it clear that we weren't totally distinct, but bringing in Bob Dylan to *spoiler alert!* introduce four of the final five Cylons was a gamechanger. BSG composer McCreary's take on "Watchtower" is hauntingly beautiful, and though the associated backstory introduced in the show's fourth season never completely worked for me, the closing shot of this episode zooming in on our Earth is one of the show's best.

Someone's super-litigious, as I can't even find the associated clip on YouTube. This is one of many coupling McCreary's take on the song with pictures from the show: Link

"Sweet Dreams" - Eurythmics, So You Think You Can Dance - "Season Three Top Six Performance Show" (8/8/07)

The third season of SYTYCD is still my favorite - I think it was the one group of dancers that had an ideal balance between technical ability, versatility and personality. This is my all-time favorite routine of the show - the moment where Neil does the "plange" (my phonetic spelling) propelling himself up and over Sabra on the table, it felt like time was standing still.

"Hopelessly Devoted to You" - Olive Snook (Kristin Chenoweth), Pushing Daisies - "Dummy" (10/10/07)

There's a moment at the end of the Pushing Daisies pilot where Ned and Chuck hold their hands behind their backs, pretending to be holding each other's hand, where when I originally watched it I thought to myself, "I think I love this show." This moment, from the second episode, is when I thought to myself, "I know I love this show."

"Stripper" - Sohodolls, Gossip Girl - "Victor Victrola" (11/7/07)

From yet another Patsavas-supervised show, this moment functioned as the genesis for a great TV couple in Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass, and also served notice that Gossip Girl was decidedly departing from its source material.

"Mr. Roboto" - Jeffster (Scott Krinsky and Vik Sahay), Chuck - "Chuck vs. The Ring" (4/27/09)

This moment, from Chuck's second-season finale, represents the kind of go-for-broke spirit that defines the show's tone and makes its fans love it so fervently. That this was written and made it to air well before the creative personnel knew that the show would be renewed for another season just makes it that much better.

"Don't Stop Believin'" - Cast, Glee - "Pilot" (5/19/09)

Just when it starts to feel like network television is stagnating, something like Glee comes along. The pilot builds all the way up to this joyous burst of song, which managed to make "Don't Stop Believin'" feel fresh even at the close of a decade where it appeared regularly across channels and shows.

Emmy Thoughts

You know how sometimes you get into this groove of watching YouTube video after YouTube video, clicking through the related links until it's 2:30 in the morning and you're not quite sure how that happened? That happened to me last night. I'm totally ready to forgive The Hollywood Reporter for maybe giving my computer a virus (like two years ago - I have no real proof, just paranoid suspicions) because these Emmy Roundtable videos are gold.

I love the "Shut. UP!" faces on Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and Mary-Louise Parker when Sarah Silverman is talking about auditioning to play Jonah Hill's mother. Because, for real? That's probably one of the most concise summaries out there of what's wrong with the mainstream film roles available for actresses nowadays.

More discussion of age and how it plays out for actresses in film versus television. Personally, I wouldn't mind taking every "Best Actress in a Drama" nominee from this year who's not Elisabeth Moss or Glenn Close and replacing them with Jones, McDonnell, Paquin and King. On a completely shallow note, how fabulous does Mary McDonnell's hair look?

Writer/showrunners kind of fascinate me. They were essentially able to take their own creative energy and transform it into industry power. This roundtable has two of my faves, Alan Ball and Matthew Weiner - during the weeks when True Blood and Mad Men are both airing, I will just be losing my shit all the time all day long every Sunday. Talk about a two-hour block of heaven. Also, even when I disagree with her creative decisions, I still love Shonda Rhimes.

I love Weiner's unqualified disdain for spoilers. I'll try to be good this season, really!

So, I'll try to keep the Emmy commentary as brief as possible, since it's the kind of thing I can expound upon at length.

The Good

Big Love gets a Best Drama nomination - the Emmys can seem so stagnant sometimes that it's truly shocking when a show that's been airing for a few years gets recognized for stepping its game up. Big Love is probably one of the few shows that seemed to truly benefit from the writers strike, using the time to acknowledge and integrate the real-life compound raids in Texas. The result was an unbelievably rich season that explored the role of women in the show's patriarchal world to previously unplumbed depths.

How I Met Your Mother gets a Best Comedy nomination - the critical attention lavished on shows like Arrested Development and 30 Rock has resulted in those sitcoms that follow a more traditional format being maligned in turn. (My parents, for whatever reason, always seem kind of shocked that I like this show. My dad has, more than once, asked a skeptical, "You watch that?" to which I somewhat manically reply, "Watch it? I love it! I have all the DVDs! And a fake Robin Sparkles concert tee!") HIMYM is living proof that a laugh track does not preclude awesomeness. This past season was a bit disjointed, but I'm glad that they're finally getting recognition.

Elisabeth Moss gets a Best Actress nomination - as I said above, the Best Actress in a Drama category was kind of a letdown. Moss' nomination was the pleasant surprise in the category. Unable to resist the pull of my DVDs, I rewatched the second season of Mad Men and found myself drawn in again to Moss' portrayal of Peggy contending with her family, her religion and her boundless ambition. And then there's her soul-crushing monologue at the end of "Meditations in an Emergency," the season finale. (I'd post the clip if I could find it.) Unbelievable stuff.

Jeremy Piven goes unnominated - more fallout from the mercury poisoning debacle? Please, please, PLEASE let this be Neil Patrick Harris' year.

Jack McBrayer, Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski get nominated; Kristin Chenoweth gets nominated

The Annoying

Little major-category love for Pushing Daisies - truthfully, was I really expecting any? Not really - the last three episodes aired at 10 pm on Saturday nights in June - but it still stings. They did get a fair number of nominations in the Creative categories, which at least shows that someone recognized some of the show's merits.

No love for the ladies of Big Love - Jeanne Tripplehorn did get nominated for her five-minute doppelganger act as Jackie O in Grey Gardens, which I suppose is something. However, I can't believe that there wasn't one spot in the Supporting Actress category for any of Big Love's unbelievable actresses. Look: I like Rose Byrne a lot - more than many other people do - and I don't think she's a bad actress. As the Duchesse de Polignac, she's one of my very favorite things about Marie Antoinette, and I think most people's quibbles with her work on Damages are more about the character than her acting. However, I can't in good faith say that she deserved an Emmy nod over anyone from Big Love.

No acting nominations for Generation Kill - the miniseries/movie acting categories often read like academy members just searched the eligibility list for names they recognized and used those to fill their ballots. It's a shame that no one from GK's less-famous ensemble got nominated - their work was so good that I kept watching even when I knew I had no idea what was going on. Hopefully, this summer's dramatic uptick in popularity for True Blood means that Alexander Skarsgard will be recognized for his all-around awesomeness in the future.

John Slattery over Vincent Kartheiser? Look, I love John Slattery as much as the next person - he manages to imbue Roger Sterling with so much humor and charm that it's hard to dislike him even when he's being an unimaginable sleazebag. However, Kartheiser deserves to be recognized for his continually stellar work - he makes Pete Campbell's bottomless need for approval so tangible as to be uncomfortable to watch. In the best way possible.

Mark Moses goes unnominated - the Guest Actor category is a weird place, a mix of one-offs by actors more well-known for their film work, former cast regulars returning to reprise their roles and actors who appear in multi-episode arcs. For whatever contractual reasons, Moses was a guest actor in Mad Men's second season, but he was a major factor in making that season as excellent as it was. The simultaneous attempts to exert power at Sterling Cooper and to hold on to his sobriety made Duck a compelling character, and Moses made him stand out even among a crowd of unabashedly ambitious people, all the way through to his season-ending implosion.

Hope Davis over Alison Pill? - well-acted but emotionally cold vs. well-acted and deeply emotionally affecting. Though I thought her performance was one of the year's best, I didn't automatically assume that Pill would be a nominee. However, since the nominations of Davis and Dianne Wiest show that some people were watching In Treatment, I'm baffled as to how Pill could not be nominated.

The Grave Miscarriages of Television Academy Justice

Cat Deeley goes unnominated - watching So You Think You Can Dance last Wednesday, I thought to myself, "Surely Cat Deeley will be nominated for a Best Reality Host Emmy." It's sort of an intangible factor - a warmth Deeley lends to the show, remaining positive without simpering or being patronizing to contestants. The reality categories need some shaking up in general - I still love The Amazing Race, but it plateaued a few seasons back. The television academy needs to get on its game and recognize the excellence of SYTYCD and its unparalleled host.

Battlestar Galactica goes unrecognized in major categories - such is the plight of the cult TV lover. "Maybe this year," you hope, willing others to see what you see in a little-watched show. The critics often agree, and what fans there are are intensely devoted. I hoped that maybe, in the last season of the show, when the acting was always top-notch, someone, anyone from the cast might get a nod. Mary McDonnell and Edward James Olmos pulled out some of their best work this time around, and though it ultimately can't take away from the quality of their performances, I'm sad that the academy didn't see fit to honor the final stretch of BSG episodes.

I just shouldn't make any comments about brevity anymore, because apparently it's a lost cause.

Screw You, ABC

No, really. I mean it.

When I was watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, and Kristin Chenoweth came on singing a cheery Christmas tune, tears sprang to my eyes just thinking about Pushing Daisies. Listening to her sing, I recalled how much I want Alfredo to come back so she and Raul Esparza can sing the beautiful duet of my musical-theater-loving dreams. But that will probably never happen now. Screw you, ABC. I mean, the fact that they didn't use the summer to show reruns of the strike-shortened season (of which there were only nine episodes. Nine.) just demonstrates the lack of regard they have for this show.

Gah!

On a partially related note, Ms. Chenoweth is not the only phenomenally talented member of the cast. I just watched this movie again, and, well, damn.

Tell me that man shouldn't be on my television all the time.

Sigh.