I'm burned out on TV adaptations of feature films, and I haven't even watched any. Rush Hour, Frequency, Megaforce...Wait, there hasn't been a Megaforce TV show? Why not? I'd watch that.
(Fargo is great, but I don't count that because it just feels like a different entity than the movie. More importantly, it doesn't fit my narrative.)
Imagine my surprise when I watched Lethal Weapon and enjoyed it. I was kind of surprised I watched it, period. It's far from a classic, and when historians write epic tomes detailing The Golden Golden GOLDEN Age of Television, there will not be chapters devoted to autuerist analyses of the series. If that's not qualification enough for my praise, let me make another confession: I didn't notice who directed the first episode, but I saw esteemed helmsman McG credited with the second. If I saw that episode of Lethal Weapon in a theater and paid 15 bucks for it, I'd probably roll my eyes and think, "Another dumb McG action movie!" Then of course I'd investigate why the hell I paid 15 bucks for an hourlong presentation with 17 minutes of commercials.
On the telly, though, Lethal Weapon is that escapist fun entertainment that actually does what it sets out to do. Oh, there is a healthy dose of angst to go along with its car chases and buddy comedy, but stick around--it's never too long before something outright fun comes along to prevent you from dwelling on the heavy stuff. Mind you, that is not at all a jab; I appreciate the effort to include some depth into the routine, but I also enjoy the execution of the formula.
As Riggs, Clayne Crawford (if that IS his real name) brings an appropriate amount of swagger and likability to the unhinged (but with a good excuse) PTSD-suffering maverick. Likability is a big deal when you're trying to make people forget Mel Gibson, and I mean that on several levels. As family man and perpetually exasperated partner Murtaugh, Damon Wayans reminds us how talented he is. He made me laugh out loud about a minute into his first scene.
This isn't the kind of show you need to watch closely nor watch every week, which is perhaps both a virtue and a detriment in this day and age. I also wonder if the spectacular effects and stunts in the pilot (and in the second episode to a lesser extent) will be sustained on a weekly basis. For now, though, consider this an appreciation of a simple buddy cop show that doesn't surprise at all except in the most important way: by being good at what it does.
Showing posts with label Fall TV 2016. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fall TV 2016. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Fall TV 2016: The Good Place
I remember when Parks and Recreation debuted, and I kind of wanted to like it but was really underwhelmed. Even then I had way ore stuff I wanted to watch than hours to watch it, so I moved on after giving it a shot. the common refrain for the rest of the show's run was, "yeah, it started out not so great, but then it got great." I tried it again but just didn't get into it.
The Good Place is another NBC sitcom from the same showrunner, and while the first two episodes are pleasant and offer an intriguing premise, they just don't grab me. If I were watching NBC TV in a block and this series came on before/after something I couldn't miss (something I MUST SEE, one might say), then I'd probably watch it without reservation. In 2016, I time-shift everything, and thus I'll probably wait until everyone says the show is great before I seek it out again.
I love the concept of the show. After death, Kristen Bell's character enters the afterlife, making it to not Heaven, exactly, but certainly not Hell. In fact, it's "the good place." Only thing is, she got there due to some kind of mistake. While Ted Danson's character explains that we build up points through our lives for doing good, and that sum determines our destination after we die, we learn that Bell did not actually accumulate tons of good points. To the contrary, she was kind of a jerk.
So Bell tried to adapt to life in the good place while avoiding being found out, even though weird things are happening as a result of her being there under false pretenses. This premise is intriguing and offers a lot of possibilities. It's a legit concern to wonder how long they can run with this, but my feeling is, why worry about that at the beginning?
The bigger issue to me is that the show is amiable and interesting but not all that compelling. I don't find Bell a remarkable comedic presence, and no one else in the supporting cast (I do like her haughty neighbor) stands out. The best reason to watch from what I've seen? Danson, by far. Unlike Bell (sorry, Marsheads or whatever you Veronica Mars fans call yourselves), he is a bona fide television star, someone who is always magnetic and always someone I want to watch (Uh, unless it's on a CSI). His character here is new on the job and a little unsure of himself, and it's a refreshing change-up from the veteran performer--and one that works.
The writing isn't sharp enough in episodes 1 and 2 to make me stick around, however, and I feel that if they can't make this funny right off the bat, I worry about the rest of the series. I am perfectly willing to be told I'm wrong, though, even if it takes a season or two.
The Good Place is another NBC sitcom from the same showrunner, and while the first two episodes are pleasant and offer an intriguing premise, they just don't grab me. If I were watching NBC TV in a block and this series came on before/after something I couldn't miss (something I MUST SEE, one might say), then I'd probably watch it without reservation. In 2016, I time-shift everything, and thus I'll probably wait until everyone says the show is great before I seek it out again.
I love the concept of the show. After death, Kristen Bell's character enters the afterlife, making it to not Heaven, exactly, but certainly not Hell. In fact, it's "the good place." Only thing is, she got there due to some kind of mistake. While Ted Danson's character explains that we build up points through our lives for doing good, and that sum determines our destination after we die, we learn that Bell did not actually accumulate tons of good points. To the contrary, she was kind of a jerk.
So Bell tried to adapt to life in the good place while avoiding being found out, even though weird things are happening as a result of her being there under false pretenses. This premise is intriguing and offers a lot of possibilities. It's a legit concern to wonder how long they can run with this, but my feeling is, why worry about that at the beginning?
The bigger issue to me is that the show is amiable and interesting but not all that compelling. I don't find Bell a remarkable comedic presence, and no one else in the supporting cast (I do like her haughty neighbor) stands out. The best reason to watch from what I've seen? Danson, by far. Unlike Bell (sorry, Marsheads or whatever you Veronica Mars fans call yourselves), he is a bona fide television star, someone who is always magnetic and always someone I want to watch (Uh, unless it's on a CSI). His character here is new on the job and a little unsure of himself, and it's a refreshing change-up from the veteran performer--and one that works.
The writing isn't sharp enough in episodes 1 and 2 to make me stick around, however, and I feel that if they can't make this funny right off the bat, I worry about the rest of the series. I am perfectly willing to be told I'm wrong, though, even if it takes a season or two.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Fall TV 2016: Pitch on Fox
I love baseball. I love television. I sure would love a great television show about baseball.
Unfortunately, I could not get through 15 minutes of Pitch, a new Fox show about the exploits of the fictional first female Major League Baseball player. On the one hand, the cooperation of MLB gives it a nice patina: Real uniforms, real logos, and a real team for the subject (the San Diego Padres), but the surface baseball verisimilitude ain't worth much when everything else feels so phony.
Someone please let me know if the pilot gets better after the point at which I bailed, but I just couldn't stand it. It was an overwritten collection of clichés and unlikable characters. None of it felt real to me. Leaving aside the issue of whether a woman could actually pitch in MLB at this time, I am willing to buy into that concept, but I don't want to see her and everyone her talking faux-cutesy dialogue attempting to...I don't know what the goal was.
It's like someone was trying to imitate Aaron Sorkin writing a show about baseball. The beginning tries to establish the lead and her agent as oh, so cool and oh, so determined. The laughable thing is the agent and one of her minions, trying to own the room and show how great she is, name-drop two male celebrities--one clearly in a romantic sense, one implied--widely thought to be gay, making someone's idea of hip chatter even lamer.
Then the pitcher, who I don't blame for having a chip on her shoulder given all the crap the character has no doubt had to endure in her career, faces off with the team's big dog superstar (an unrecognizable Mark-Paul Gathalazzzabhagugyar--uh, the guy from Saved by the Bell), and he gives her a pat on the butt. Really? I'm surprised he didn't grab his jock and spit chewing tobacco in the scene, too.
So of course there is a "showdown" between the two which they resolve with an inane Leonardo DiCaprio reference that brings to mind that forced scene in Crimson Tide when Denzel Washington has to respond to crewmen arguing over which artist's version of Silver Surfer was better. At least Crimson Tide had an excuse--someone paid Quentin Tarantino a lot of money to "punch up" the screenplay with that stuff--but what is Pitch doing with execrable exchanges like this one? It's supposed to be witty banter that shows the characters feeling each other out, then quickly bonding, and I think it's also supposed to establish the pitcher does not deny her femininity, but it plays like an embarrassment.
Don't think I am letting the male characters off the hook; what I saw of them was just as bad, but the first quarter of the episode was dominated by the ladies. I just have no desire to watch any more of this phony entertainment when real baseball is here and in playoff mode. There may have been a time years ago when the novelty of a strong female lead was enough to make a TV drama distinctive, but now so many quality programs revolve around such characters that you need better writing in order to make it worthwhile. If Pitch lasts through real spring training and I hear it's decent, I may revisit it, but for now, I've seen enough.
Unfortunately, I could not get through 15 minutes of Pitch, a new Fox show about the exploits of the fictional first female Major League Baseball player. On the one hand, the cooperation of MLB gives it a nice patina: Real uniforms, real logos, and a real team for the subject (the San Diego Padres), but the surface baseball verisimilitude ain't worth much when everything else feels so phony.
Someone please let me know if the pilot gets better after the point at which I bailed, but I just couldn't stand it. It was an overwritten collection of clichés and unlikable characters. None of it felt real to me. Leaving aside the issue of whether a woman could actually pitch in MLB at this time, I am willing to buy into that concept, but I don't want to see her and everyone her talking faux-cutesy dialogue attempting to...I don't know what the goal was.
It's like someone was trying to imitate Aaron Sorkin writing a show about baseball. The beginning tries to establish the lead and her agent as oh, so cool and oh, so determined. The laughable thing is the agent and one of her minions, trying to own the room and show how great she is, name-drop two male celebrities--one clearly in a romantic sense, one implied--widely thought to be gay, making someone's idea of hip chatter even lamer.
Then the pitcher, who I don't blame for having a chip on her shoulder given all the crap the character has no doubt had to endure in her career, faces off with the team's big dog superstar (an unrecognizable Mark-Paul Gathalazzzabhagugyar--uh, the guy from Saved by the Bell), and he gives her a pat on the butt. Really? I'm surprised he didn't grab his jock and spit chewing tobacco in the scene, too.
So of course there is a "showdown" between the two which they resolve with an inane Leonardo DiCaprio reference that brings to mind that forced scene in Crimson Tide when Denzel Washington has to respond to crewmen arguing over which artist's version of Silver Surfer was better. At least Crimson Tide had an excuse--someone paid Quentin Tarantino a lot of money to "punch up" the screenplay with that stuff--but what is Pitch doing with execrable exchanges like this one? It's supposed to be witty banter that shows the characters feeling each other out, then quickly bonding, and I think it's also supposed to establish the pitcher does not deny her femininity, but it plays like an embarrassment.
Don't think I am letting the male characters off the hook; what I saw of them was just as bad, but the first quarter of the episode was dominated by the ladies. I just have no desire to watch any more of this phony entertainment when real baseball is here and in playoff mode. There may have been a time years ago when the novelty of a strong female lead was enough to make a TV drama distinctive, but now so many quality programs revolve around such characters that you need better writing in order to make it worthwhile. If Pitch lasts through real spring training and I hear it's decent, I may revisit it, but for now, I've seen enough.
Monday, October 3, 2016
Fall TV 2016: Kevin Can Wait
A buddy and I were watching football when he saw an ad for this new Kevin James sitcom and referred to it as King of Queens 2. I chuckled, then watched the ad. After about 15 seconds, I said, "Yep, it's King of Queens 2." I was never a big fan of King of Queens 1 and didn't relish the thought of a reboot.
I gave it a shot, though, because...because...uh, that part's hazy now. I think because I wanted to try one of the debuting shows, and this one had the virtue of being only a half-hour. Sure enough, Kevin Can Wait is 22 minutes of exactly what you'd think it be, only more so: Kevin James plays a character named Kevin--a Kevin who eats all the time, is selfish, probably loves his family (we assume that, despite lack of compelling evidence, because neither his 3 kids nor his wife has murdered him in his sleep), but has retired from the police force and is now annoying everyone around him. Even more so, presumably, because he's actually around the house instead of at work.
It's done like a professional sitcom--looks like one, sounds like one, has predictable jokes like one--and if you're into this kind of thing, more power to you. I can understand why people find James charming. He does have a certain "big lug" kind of appeal. If you liked King of Queens, you may find this acceptable comfort food. It even has one of the same supporting cast members in Gary Valentine.
Speaking of "big lug," I was all prepared to sit down and slant this post in the direction of bemoaning yet another comedy about a fat oaf and a pretty wife half his age. I reconsidered when I realized that, hey, I'm not really offended by that concept, and besides, co-star Erinn Hayes is not half her screen hubby Kevin James' age.
(Get ready, 'cause I'm about to talk about her looks now, and I hope it doesn't make me sound like a "creep" or anything like that. If so, let's forget about it and go back to ripping Kevin James.)
In fact, Kevin James is 51, and Erinn Hayes is 40. Not only she is 40, she is gorgeous for any age, and there is no way I would have believed she was anywhere near 40 until I went to IMDB to find her age and learned of all the failed sitcoms she's had. I don't remember all of those shows, but I am going to assume their short stints weren't her fault.
She's the best thing about Kevin Can Wait. I don't only say that because she's beautiful, nor because I have Kevin James fatigue despite not seeing him in anything since Paul Blart, but because she is clearly a fine actress. Anyone who can convince us she loves the kind of character James plays in this show must be quite skilled, indeed.
I gave it a shot, though, because...because...uh, that part's hazy now. I think because I wanted to try one of the debuting shows, and this one had the virtue of being only a half-hour. Sure enough, Kevin Can Wait is 22 minutes of exactly what you'd think it be, only more so: Kevin James plays a character named Kevin--a Kevin who eats all the time, is selfish, probably loves his family (we assume that, despite lack of compelling evidence, because neither his 3 kids nor his wife has murdered him in his sleep), but has retired from the police force and is now annoying everyone around him. Even more so, presumably, because he's actually around the house instead of at work.
It's done like a professional sitcom--looks like one, sounds like one, has predictable jokes like one--and if you're into this kind of thing, more power to you. I can understand why people find James charming. He does have a certain "big lug" kind of appeal. If you liked King of Queens, you may find this acceptable comfort food. It even has one of the same supporting cast members in Gary Valentine.
Speaking of "big lug," I was all prepared to sit down and slant this post in the direction of bemoaning yet another comedy about a fat oaf and a pretty wife half his age. I reconsidered when I realized that, hey, I'm not really offended by that concept, and besides, co-star Erinn Hayes is not half her screen hubby Kevin James' age.
(Get ready, 'cause I'm about to talk about her looks now, and I hope it doesn't make me sound like a "creep" or anything like that. If so, let's forget about it and go back to ripping Kevin James.)
In fact, Kevin James is 51, and Erinn Hayes is 40. Not only she is 40, she is gorgeous for any age, and there is no way I would have believed she was anywhere near 40 until I went to IMDB to find her age and learned of all the failed sitcoms she's had. I don't remember all of those shows, but I am going to assume their short stints weren't her fault.
She's the best thing about Kevin Can Wait. I don't only say that because she's beautiful, nor because I have Kevin James fatigue despite not seeing him in anything since Paul Blart, but because she is clearly a fine actress. Anyone who can convince us she loves the kind of character James plays in this show must be quite skilled, indeed.
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