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Episodes

Posted on Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

Dave!Ooh! There's lots of new television happening lately!

And though I've got work piled to the rafters, I'm watching it all so I don't risk missing something great. Well, not all of it, but a lot of it. Here are the shows I found that are worth talking about...

   

Episodes Poster

Episodes • Showtime, Sundays @ 9:30pm.
A long time ago in a magical far away place known as "Hollywood," I worked for nine long months on a project that was doomed to failure from the very first minute I arrived. Of course I had no idea. That's because nobody told me, even though they knew it all along. On the contrary, most everybody I ever met told me the exact opposite of what was really happening at any given moment, because keeping you happy with a fog of sunshine, half-truths, and lies is the horrifying reality of how things work in Hollywood. Not for everyone, of course, but for most people. Including me. Episodes is a 7-part series about Sean and Beverly Lincoln who are a husband-and-wife team responsible for a wildly successful British television comedy about the headmaster of an upper-crust English school. They are lured to Hollywood with bold promises and tempting perks to create an American version of their hit series. The show is, of course, doomed to failure from the very first minute they arrive. Their witty and smart headmaster played by a respected British actor is re-cast as a hockey coach played by Matt LeBlanc ("Joey" from Friends) and things just get worse and worse. There are some laugh-out-loud moments, but the show is so eerily accurate to my "Hollywood Experience" that I spend most of my time having nasty flashbacks and can't enjoy it properly. Still, it is surprisingly good despite it all, and I can't wait for each new episode. Watch it from the beginning if you can. Rating: B

   

The Onion News Network Studio

Onion News Network • IFC, Fridays @ 10:00pm.
Started as a satire newspaper at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, The Onion is most widely known for their scathing parodies of popular news. I first discovered it in Milwaukee back in the 90's, and became an instant fan. This was made a lot easier in the late 90's when took their brilliance online. The crazy news stories were quickly eclipsed by even crazier news videos that were funnier than most anything else you could find...

It was only a matter of time before The Onion got a television show to string together all their hilarious videos, and here it is. Packed with plenty of laugh-out-loud bits and "I can't believe they did that" moments, The Onion makes no attempt to cover actual news and instead invents plausible events that could be true but, thankfully, are not (much like most news organizations now-a-days). This is must-see essential television viewing. Rating: A+

   

Portlandia Cast

Portlandia • IFC, Fridays @ 10:30pm.
Anybody familiar with Portland, Oregon knows that the city is ripe for parody, thus Portlandia was born. Pegged as a place where the ideal of the 90's are still alive and well, the show features interconnecting sketches staring SNL's Fred Armisen and Portland guitarist/actress Carrie Brownstein as an assortment of unrelated characters. Over the course of a half-hour, they poke fun at the Birkenstock-and-granola culture of the city with a loving, yet brutal touch. The result is kind of hit-or-miss but, overall, I found it funny and plenty entertaining. The trick will be keeping things fresh once the novelty has worn off. There's only so many jokes about soy lattes, feminist book stores, and organic food you can make... and most of them are in this first episode. Rating: B-

   

Harry's Law Promo Shot

Harry's Law • NBC, Mondays @ 10:00pm.
It would be easy to dismiss this as yet another one of David E. Kelley's quirky legal shows (which it is) except for one big thing... it stars Kathy Bates. The incredible Kathy Bates who can appear in absolutely anything and be brilliant no matter how bad the material may be. Here she plays "Harriet Korn" a patent lawyer who gets fired from a posh law firm and ends up opening up her own practice in a former shoe store. The quirky gimmick being that her assistant insists on continuing to sell shoes, so the shop ends up being a combo law-office-slash-shoe-store. Ha ha ha. Ultimately, there is nothing new here. David E. Kelley is being David E. Kelley with his typically over-the-top stories and dialogue that shoehorn legal drama into alternating wacky and heart-breaking situations. Meh. Kathy Bates will keep me tuning in, but I'd watch her in a 30-minute infomercial for laxatives, so that's no big feat. Ultimately Harry's Law has a lot of room for expansion and improvement, and I am hopeful we'll see both. But I would be deeply saddened if Kathy Bates was pulled down into the lunacy that Ally McBeal and Boston Legal became, so this necessary move may end up ruining the show. Time will tell. I would probably rate this a C- if not for Bates, which knocks it up a grade. Rating: B-

   

Fairly Legal Cast

Fairly Legal • USA Network, Thursdays @ 10:00pm.
I will preface this review by saying I have fallen in love with series star Sarah Shahi. Very few people could elevate the rather flat and uninteresting story to be found in Fairly Legal to anything worth watching, but Shahi has an infectious energy that does just that. Kate Reed is a competent lawyer working at her father's law firm, but decides she's had enough and quits to become a mediator. Then her father dies, her step-mother takes over the law firm, and suddenly Kate is having to keep a lot of balls in the air as she juggles her professional and personal life (including an ex-husband who happens to work for the District Attorney). That could be a great concept for a show, but it doesn't work as well as you'd hope. The writers seem to think that having Kate rush around town perpetually late for appointments in her overloaded schedule is charming, but it gets very annoying very fast. It's as if they just don't know what to do with her when she's not mediating, so they pile on a bunch of crap in a failed attempt at filling space with frantic humor that doesn't quite gel. I can only hope that things will eventually settle down so they can focus on Shahi's performance instead of her running shoes. Rating: C

   
Man I wish I didn't love television so much, it would open up a lot of free time.

Comments

  1. claire says:

    It’s all about Kathy Bates, man. Love her. As for the rest, found myself thinking, “Yeah, I suppose I’m up for more David E. Kelly legal speeches on the state of things today.”

    Just read that his Wonder Woman pilot got picked up. I have hopes for it.

    Gave “The Cape” a shot despite its horrible name. Liked the 1st two eps well enough, but the 3rd- argh. Wasn’t a good sign when as soon as the baddie of the week appeared, I mistook him for the hero because he had so much presence and was totally handsome. sigh. But really, it was the boneheaded things the Cape did. Some of it was direction/how it was shot, and some was just ridiculous writing considering he used to be a cop. I dig Summer Glau, but the show’s on thin legs with me.

    • Dave2 says:

      I really, really, really didn’t like “The Cape.” It was just so darn boring and hokey. After two episodes I couldn’t stand it any more and gave up. Originally I reviewed it on this entry with a “D” rating, but decided not to give it any attention so I could focus on shows that are actually worth watching. This is really sad, because it would be nice to have a descent super-hero show on television. 🙁

  2. Ren says:

    Denny Crane!

    • Dave2 says:

      Denny’s eccentricities were there from the start, but he was still a lawyer. As the show went on, I got the feeling Denny was at the firm more for comic relief than anything else, which is really too bad. I liked “Boston Legal” for a while there (BETTY WHITE!) but ultimately gave up on it.

  3. Sybil Law says:

    I caught the last half of Harry’s Law the other night (by accident) and it was interesting, but I ended up reading instead, so… not that interesting. I’m willing to check it out again, though.

    • Dave2 says:

      It was interesting. But the show is walking a dangerous line in that it’s got a pretty liberal bias, and risks alienating half the country… which can’t be good for ratings. If that’s how they plan on keeping things interesting, you might want to enjoy it while it’s still on the air!

  4. Invader_Stu says:

    I like the sound of Episodes but I think it might lead to some confusing conversations:

    “Have you seen the latest episode of episodes?”
    “Episode of what show?”
    “Episodes.”
    “What are you talking about?! what show?!”

  5. Jeff says:

    Your closing comment was ironic to me because as I was reading this I kept thinking… “geez, when does Dave have time to watch all these shows?”

  6. Avitable says:

    I’ll have to check Episodes out On Demand. I saw the ONN, though, and laughed my ass off. I wonder if they can keep that up, especially the lead anchor’s aggrandizing attitude, without it getting old.

    • Dave2 says:

      I thought about that, but ultimately I think the material is so outrageously funny that it will outlast us getting tired of the people delivering it. The Onion has been doing this so well for so long that I really do think they have a shot at making this show hold up for the long run.

      Assuming they aren’t overloading themselves with the pressure to deliver a new show every week AND keep their website going. Maintaining comedy at a level this high cannot be easy.

  7. shiny says:

    I’ve watched the first two installments of “Episodes.” I’m a sucker for the “show within a show” motif — which is why I LOVED “The Larry Sanders Show” on HBO. In fact, it’s reminiscent of an episode they had where the head writer Phil writes the script to a very edgy pilot picked up by the network. They pretend not to butcher it, but they end up screwing him over and making it a pet project for Dave Chapelle where it’s a very different animal than what it once was.

    It’s also reminiscent of a 1992 film starring Robert Wuhl called “Mistress,” where Wuhl’s character has a great film to pitch, but each of his financial backers demands that his mistress be cast in the film jeopardizing the integrity.

    Anyway — Episodes is an uncomfortably funny show. I especially liked the hot tub scene in the first installment.

    • Dave2 says:

      Wow. I wasted a lot of words trying to come up with “uncomfortably funny” – maybe you should have written this review!

      The only show that has come close to this (but from a much different angle) was “ACTION!” starring Jay Mohr and Illeana Douglas. That show was beyond uncomfortably funny in that it added a healthy does of sex and violence to the mix. Still, a genius show!

  8. Michelle M. says:

    I love Kathy Bates and was excited to find out she was starring in Harry’s Law. Still love her, but not the show. I found the other characters annoying (and am not a fan of law shows anyway). I hope it will get better.

    Watched Perfect Couples the other night. It was horrible.

    • Dave2 says:

      Just like “The Cape,” I originally had reviewed “Perfect Couples” on this entry with a D+ rating. But I deleted it because it just wasn’t worth the time and made my entry too long. The show is pretty awful. The shame is that I think Kyle Bornheimer is a really good comedic talent, and deserves better. Sadly, he may not get a chance since this is his third strike on a failed television show (preceded by the dreadful “Worst Week” and “Romantically Challenged”… which I actually kind of liked). Oh well… that’s show business for ya!

  9. I’m so so behind on TV that I think I can honestly say that it’s over for me and there’s no way to ever catch up. Also ominous that I’ve never even heard of any of these shows 🙁

  10. I watched the premier of Harry’s Law last week. Very well done.

    Fairly Legal is queued up here. Will give it a try to see what’s it all about.

    • Dave2 says:

      I’d be hard-pressed to pick a favorite between the two. I think both shows are fairly mediocre in concept and execution. It comes down to the starts, which are both very good… with perhaps an edge to Kathy Bates, whom I love in everything.

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