TV Rants and Raves 09.23.09

Posted by Ben Piper on 09.23.2009

Rants and raves about Community, Bones, Fringe, the Emmys & Neil Patrick Harris, the House premiere, Michael Emerson's must-deserved Emmy win, and much more! It's all covered in the latest edition of TV Rants & Raves!

TV Rants and Raves Issue # 14.

Hello, Everyone! I'm this week's guest host with regards to this here shindig, Ben Piper. Bryan unfortunately couldn't grace us all with his B-movie loving greatness due to a long lingering family concern that has raised its ugly head once again. Hence, why you've got me to kick around this time out.

As before when I subbed in, half this stuff is my own musings, the other half is Bryan's usual shtick that I'll try to stick to.

To Bryan. * Guy nod *. You know why.

Let's do this.

TV Rants and Raves

So this past week the fall season kind of officially began with the return of most of the Thursday major network shows we can look forward to the rest of this fall. In previous years, I've watched NBC's comedy line-up on that night, but with the cancellation of My Name Is Earl, my complete indifference towards both 30 Rock (Tracey Morgan grates on my nerves, and I just never could really get into it) and Parks And Recreation, and the hit and miss nature of The Office lately, I decided this year that my Thursdays will be spent mostly on FOX.



"Yes, we're both good looking and having fun. Sue us"

Bones is one of the crime procedurals on TV today that I can still tolerate, in that it is more about the characters than the "crime of the week" that they have to solve. Sure, they go through all that rigamaroll, but when it comes down to it, it's all about the central characters.

In the season premiere that aired this past week, last season's much-maligned finale was explained in a way that is plausible. Booth just had major brain surgery, Brennan was sitting at his side telling him a story, and he subconsciously took all that info and basically ran with it, resulting in his coming out of a coma thinking and feeling that he was in love with her. Mmkay, I'm cool with that.

I liked that Booth spent most of the episode struggling with getting back to who he was before (his choice of socks, his dislike of clowns, etc.) while struggling with the feelings that he was harboring that may or may not have been true, due to said surgery.

Cindy Lauper as a guest star was a nice touch as well, considering that her songs have been referenced on the show more than once. And besides, for a woman in her early fifties, she's still damned cute. They are considering her for a recurring status. I think they could have worse ideas. (And they have, I'll get to that)

While TNT has been re-airing repeats of old episodes for a while now, this new episode felt like catching up with old friends that I have missed. Ah, new eppy's. All is right in the world…

I only hope that if and when they decide to pursue the same killer throughout multiple episodes as they have done in the past, they don't drop the freakin' ball on the culmination of said chase. Case in point, the Gormogon. Interesting premise, to be sure. Cannibalistic serial killer with a complex M.O., whose threat was built up over the course of an entire season, only to be killed at the end in a way that can be mildly stated as "underwhelming". When asked who the Gormogon was, Booth quickly responded by saying that he was ‘nobody'.

See, the kicker of this whole storyline was that Zac Addy, Brennan's beloved lab assistant had along the way become the Gormogon's apprentice and had aided his killing spree. While the surprise came out of nowhere, it made no goddamned sense whatsoever! The explanation was lame and convoluted, and the end result was a bad choice all around, as Zac was a popular regular character that wound up being written off of the show as a result.

So here's to hopefully no eye-rolling or head shaking on my part (or yours) as this season's episodes play out.



"…And… We're walking. We're walking. We're walking…"

Remembering the last time I filled in for Bryan and I spoke of True Blood; "Just when I think the show can't get any freakin' weirder, it does".

The same thought applies to Fringe.

Bryan commented last week on last season's brain-bending finale, in which FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham finally met William Bell, founder of the enigmatic Massive Dynamic Corporation. That in and of itself would not be all that big a deal (outside of the fact that Bell is played by Leonard Nimoy) if it weren't for the fact that the meeting took place inside a still standing World Trade Center that exists in an alternate reality.

And the season two premiere basically picked things up right where they left off, but in a didn't see it coming sort of way. The episode began with the after effects of a car crash in New York, with one of the participants running away from the scene. The FBI is called in when the other car involved is found to belong to Olivia, but she herself is nowhere to be found. Moments after Olivia's Fringe counterparts Peter and his addle-minded yet brilliant mad scientist father Walter (I can't help but to think of them as Pacey and Denethor, though) arrive on the scene; she comes crashing through the windshield of her SUV and lands hard on the street in front of them.

I know, trippy, huh?

This sets up what is sure to be a great season to come, and I cannot wait. This first episode set the basic foundation, in that a prospective new member of the Fringe Division team was introduced, (Special Agent Amy Jessup, played by former Deal Or No Deal suitcase opener Meghan Markle) which should prove interesting. Seems like she is equating all the stuff the Fringe division has previously investigated to Biblical scripture. (You know, that whole pesky "end of days") The other major wrinkle that came out of the episode is the man that ran away from the accident at the start. Turns out he is a shape-shifting soldier from "over there" whom was sent to make sure that the meeting between Olivia and William Bell didn't occur. Now that it has, he's basically ordered to kill Dunham in order to keep the details of the conversation she had with Bell from coming out. (she's got a bit of amnesia due to the whole flying through the windshield thingee) So that whole thing is now set at a slow burn, sure to drive up sparks to come.

Did I mention that before the end of the episode, said shape-shifting soldier from "over there" managed to take the form (and in the process murdered) one of Olivia's most trusted FBI cronies?

Fah-que if you're pissed that I've now spoiled it for you if you hadn't seen it yet. It aired last week, you had all weekend to watch, so as far as I'm concerned it's now fair game. Just be thankful that I didn't do worse, because I easily could have. I've got season long spoilers in my back pocket. Nothing overt, but still…

Kudos to Joshua Jackson for the great selling of a two word line, "Oh, yeah", when asked if his character's father is insane. It's the little stuff that resonates most sometimes.

And John Noble continues to be golden in his performance as Walter Bishop. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite characters currently on TV.

Although, the last we saw of Walter in season one, he was in the company of "The Observer", whom told Walter that "it was time to go". Go where? (Kinda obvious, really) and how did no one else pick up on the fact that Walter went AWOL at the end of last season but turned up just fine at the start of this one? Interesting.

Both Bones and Fringe air Thursday nights on FOX.



I also managed to catch the pilot episode of Community when it was repeated Saturday night on NBC. (What, all my plans fell through. Don't you judge me!)

I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Joel McHale is putting his best foot forward with regards to stepping out of his E! Soup shadow by playing a smarmy lying lawyer (is there any other kind?) forced to return to community college in order to not be disbarred permanently.

To say that the character plays to the guy's strengths is kind of an understatement. What made it work for me though is the assembled ensemble cast. And no, I'm not going to now list them off one by one with my thoughts on them, because it was just one episode, That, and I'm short on time.

I will say however, that this initial episode impressed me and made me laugh. So I hope that NBC will continue to air repeats of the show on Saturday night so I can keep track of it, as it's something that could grow and work and be a hit, ultimately.

Besides, anything that gives Chevy Chase steady work is also okay in my book.



"Apparently, the only way I'm allowed to hold one of these things publicly is by hosting the show itself"

The 61st Annual Emmys were telecast this past Sunday, and I watched it so you wouldn't have to. That, and there was nothing else really on. (Besides a great Cowboys-Giants game that I missed so I would have some added content in the column this week.) You can thank me later.

I kicked around the notion of live-blogging it, but ultimately that would have made the column too long and you would probably have given up and skipped ahead once I got to the reality portion (trust me, I did as well with the use of my handy dandy DVR. The dance number was neither needed or wanted, so I fast-forward past it) so we'll just stick with personal highlights.

Neil Patrick Harris did a great job hosting the show. (A far cry better than last year's five-person reality show host mish mash) He was funny and quick on his feet (Especially after he lost best supporting actor) and besides, the guy has a great singing voice, so when the show opened with a song rather than a monologue, I wasn't cringing from the get-go.

And besides, we got a Dr. Horrible sighting. When it was leaked in the media earlier in the week that NPH would reprise his uber-villain from Joss Whedon's Emmy-winning internet enterprise, my first thought was ‘Is Nathan Fillion on board"? Of course he was, and it was glorious.



Seriously, how cool was that?

Then there were the awards themselves, which for the most part were greatly predictable. 30 Rock? Check. Mad Men? Check. Bryan Cranston for a second year in a row? (which I was cool with) Check. Baldwin, Close, Amazing Race? Check.

But that's not to say that there weren't some pretty big upsets in some major categories. Starting with the very first one presented.

Kristen Chenowith won Best Supporting Actress-Comedy. While I never tuned in to Pushing Daisies I always thought Chenowith had a wholesome yet hot kind of appeal to her, so I was happy that she won. Once she took the stage to accept her statue, she was already in tears, and she came off as absolutely adorable, admitting that she's currently unemployed and quickly went on to put out public feelers to Mad Men, The Office and 24 to hire her.

I can so see her guesting on The Office.

Toni Collette upset Tina Fey for best comedy actress for her lead role in Showtime's United States Of Tara. Didn't see that one coming.

Jon Cryer? Seriously? I chalk this up to the dude being nominated the previous three years and the TV academy throwing the guy a frickin' bone. I thought for sure that NPH would win this hands down. He had all the buzz, and for whatever reason Jeremy Piven was no longer standing in his way. (I'm personally guessing that after winning so many times in a row, Piven finally graciously recused himself.)

But my personal highlight of the night?



About damned time…

Yup, ol' bug eye, Michael Emerson finally gets his just rewards. He has played the duplicitous Lost villain for the past few years, and finally was recognized for his work. I marked out. Greatly.

I still think that Josh Holloway was screwed out of a nomination, (double nominations for Boston Legal?!) seeing as I thought he was this past season's acting MVP, but oh, well. At least Ben Linus finally was rewarded for being one of the creepiest guys on TV today.

Other personal Emmy highlights;

The majority of the best supporting actress-comedy category sporting various strange eye wear as their names were read = weird and random. Vanessa Williams not willing to play along with the joke = humorless diva.

Sarah Silverman not being outdone by wearing a fake mustache and keeping a straight face while her name was being read in the leading actress comedy category = golden.

Timberlake's response? (after he lost it and couldn't help but laugh at the image) Even better. " Well, that's what hormones will do to you." To her credit, Silverman kept her straight face throughout.

Ricky Gervais. How continuingly awesome can this guy be when presenting awards? Sure, throw him out on stage, let him do his bit for a couple of minutes, crack the crowd up, and move on.

I'd call again for him to be this next year's Oscar or Emmy host, because he'd be so great at it, but it'll never happen. Hollywood goes so out of its way to be so self-congratulating that it would never fly. He'd spend too much time improvising and entertaining the viewing audience that all the self-fellacio the bigwigs planned would have to be cut.

Jimmy Fallon actually made me laugh. Who knew?

And having "The PC Guy" doing the announcements as the winners headed to the stage was pretty inspired, mixing facts with out and out made up stuff. Made for something interesting and different from other award shows.

All in all, it was a pretty decent show. And I'm not at all bitter about the fact that I watched it rather than the Giants-Cowboys game.

No, not at all… (he says biting his tongue.)



"As grumpy as I wanna be…"

Monday brought the season premiere of House. What has always attracted me to this show is first and foremost Hugh Laurie's fantastic performance as the caustic, mean-spirited, drug-addicted miserable bastard of a brilliant diagnostician that makes a habit of not only abusing drugs, but his only friend, his boss, his subordinates, and his patients. (Plus anyone else unfortunate enough to get caught in his sights) In the hands of anyone else, this is easily a character that the viewer cannot stand, as let's face it, he's a rotten son of a bitch.

But with Mr. Laurie playing him, despite all the attributes I've described above, you cannot help but like the guy. He's funny as hell, brutally honest (when he's not lying through his teeth) and damned good at his job.

And you feel sorry for him at a certain level as well. He's shut off from the world, by his own choosing. His meanness towards others is a self-defense mechanism, for if he won't let people get close to him, then he won't care about them. As a result, he can't be hurt.

All of this came crashing down around him towards the end of last season. It started with the death of Amber, a former subordinate that had since become the girlfriend of his best (and only Friend) Wilson. While he did not cause her death directly, and fought valiantly to save her, even going so far as to put his own health at risk several times in the process, he was responsible for her being at the wrong place at the wrong time that caused her ultimately life-ending injuries.

And then Kutner, another doctor working under House, unexpectedly committed suicide without explanation. Both death's rocked him deeply, and much more than he himself was willing to admit, for over the course of the last several episodes last year House was frequently hallucinating having conversations with Amber. He figured it was all the Vicodin he was taking, so he made an effort to wean himself off of it, with the help of his boss, Cuddy, whom he's always had a flirtation with.

And that's when he hit rock bottom. After clearing out his system, and finally having sex with Cuddy due to their mutual vulnerability, it all came to a head and he figured it all out. The truth was that he didn't have sex with Cuddy. He hadn't gotten himself clean of the Vicodin. He was still so goddamned high on the stuff, that he hallucinated the entire scenario. Both Amber and Kutner were there to help point that out to him.

As a result, he didn't just check himself into rehab, he went straight for a loony bin.

And that is where the premiere took things up. It was a ballsy choice, considering that the entire two hours took place inside the asylum, documenting House's progress (and lack thereof) and the only other regular character that popped up was Wilson in a cameo.

Considering that House's main adversary was played by Andre Braugher? Awesome wrapped with a ribbon.

While this show is a huge hit in the ratings for numerous reasons, its forte is the medical mystery of the week scenario, and House and his team doing their best to cure the patient. Most times they do, sometimes they don't.

But this time, House himself was the patient. He spent the first hour of the episode doing what he does, causing havoc. He did everything that he could to disrupt the status quo of the asylum, in an effort to get Braugher's character to sign off on his release which would allow him to get back to practicing medicine. But unlike Cuddy, Tritter, &Vogler, all of whom have tried to set limits and put the good doctor in his place, Braugher's Dr. Nolan could not be budged, bartered, or leveraged.

It was only after House commandeered a visitor's car whom he managed to charm and befriend previously, named Lydia, (the sister in law of a catatonic patient she frequently visits) to bust out of the asylum to cheer up a delusional fellow patient that thought he was a superhero that things got real for him. He took the guy to a carnival, where they "fly" together with the help of a wind machine. While it was all fun and games before, things quickly take a bad turn.

As a result, the second hour was much more somber in tone. House acknowledges that he is deeply unhappy and needs help. While agreeing to take his medication and spend time in personal one on one therapy with Dr. Nolan, his connection to Lydia deepens, to the point that he shuts her out, seeing as that is what he does when he becomes afraid of personal connections. He admits that to her later, which ultimately brings them even closer together.

And then the breakthrough happens.

It was an outstanding episode. Real, honest, poignant, and emotional.

What this will mean for the character long term obviously remains to be seen, as I cannot fathom House allowing himself to be (gasp!) happy for more than a few episodes. We shall see…

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The TV Rants and Raves Theme Song of the Week

Enjoy. (Again, handpicked this week by BP!)




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And now, Dr. Phil.



"I'll be sitting at home sometimes when a friend of mine calls and asks me what I'm doing. I'll reply ‘oh, I'm just sitting here with my thumb up my ass.' Of course, he'll take that to mean that I'm bored, and then ask if I'd be interested in going out to dinner, or maybe playing some tennis or taking in a show. I simply don't have the heart to tell him ‘No, you idiot. I'm literally sitting here with my thumb up my ass massaging my prostate'."

"…"

"You gotta love those new-fangled hands free phones that they have now. That way I can have my thumb up my ass, my other hand doing it's own thing, yet I can still catch up with old friends and connect. And I can be completely honest when I say to my friend, ‘you know, I was just thinking about your wife'…"

My God, Phil, you are such an asshole. What in the hell is wrong with you?!

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And now, the weekly Fearnet update

What's on Fearnet this week? Why don't you go here to find out?

Yes, that's the Fearnet website, where you can check out free movies (the site gets new ones every Wednesday), horror news, and more. Plus, you can get information on how to contact Time Warner Cable as they still haven't reinstated the free, 24/7 on demand horror channel. What the hell are they waiting for?

The rat bastards. This is ridiculous.

We must keep the pressure on, though. That's all we can really do.

If you haven't done so already, please check out the Fearnet fans Facebook page, which can be seen here.

Come on Time Warner! We want our Fearnet!


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And now, your weekly "Jericho" update

Well, the "Jericho" comic book is still the big deal in "Jericho" world. The fine folks at Jericho Kansas.com seem to be the ones leading the way on this comic book awareness movement thing, and they've created Saving Jericho, the home for information on "Operation Comic Book" (Pretty cool name, huh?), and that's where you should go for all news regarding the coming comic.

And don't forget that you can still purchase the entire "Jericho" run on DVD. Go here to buy the entire series. If you're not into the whole "buying the entire series in one package" thing, you can get each season individually. Buy season 1 here, and season two here.

You can also preorder the "Jericho" comic book as a trade paperback here. It's not coming out until January 2010 but there's nothing like planning ahead if you can. You should also buy the individual issues when they come out starting in October, too. There's nothing wrong with being a completist.

The comic is about a month away. It's a pretty dang exciting time to be a "Jericho" fan. Let's keep that name out there! Yeah!

Long live "Jericho"!




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NASCAR and IRL thoughts

Unfortunately, I was unable to watch either race, so I cannot comment on them other than to say that Scott Dixon won the IRL race in Japan, and Mark Martin is off to a good start in the chase by taking the checkered in New Hampshire. Juan Pablo took second, and by all accounts, poor Jr. just can't catch a break.

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That'll be about it

Apologies for no strange thoughts or a douchebag of the week. The fact is, I was called in last minute and alas, I have run out of time, so we'll just have to make do with what we've got.

Bryan should be back next week. Until then,
-BP


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Cancer sucks.

Alzheimers sucks.

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