Although I really want to talk about a great show a little later today (Newsroom), let’s warm up by quickly grading some shitty ones. [Except for Grimm, which is just mediocre, not bad.]
True Blood…Last night was the fifth season finale of HBO’s (current) longest running drama show, and just realizing that makes me depressed. The fact that Deadwood, The Wire, Rome, and too many to list will never get as many seasons as this show is enough to make anyone blue. Anyone remember when this show was remotely serious and respectable? Waaaay back in season 1 and 2? Well, those days are long gone as True Blood has abandoned narrative sense and dramatic structure to become a blood-drenched tele novella with vampires.
True Blood’s main problems (and when a show has more than one main problem it’s not good) are too many characters, too many plot lines, too much buildup with not enough payoff (ironic for a show with so much sex), a “fun” tone that has turned overly campy and really more comedic, lots of random deaths with no meaning for us while the core cast grows ever larger (the only “main character” death to occur on the show is Sookie’s grandma…in the middle of season one), the inability to finish one thing before moving onto another, forcing one-dimensional supporting characters to hang around long past their usefulness (I know people love Pam…but is she a character or an attitude?), no real tension as even the supporting characters have all escaped death one (or 15) too many times, no real narrative momentum since all the plots are arbitrary, meaningless consequences (once again, no one important ever really dies), and becoming completely free of common sense. So, you know, no big deal if you’re an X-rated Telemundo show, but a very big deal if you’re on the best network in TV history. Grade for season: D+…Grade for Season Finale: D
Go On…NBC is tired of programming the best comedies on TV (30 Rock, Community, and Parks and Recreation), so this season they’re going for a “Broader audience,” as their network president has admitted. Which is why they’re going with big-star vehicles like this show, shows with monkeys in them (like Animal Practice, see below), and shows that are blatant ripoffs of Modern Family (The New Normal).
The problem with this show is pretty much built into the core of it, as its central premise is Matthew Perry playing Chandler if Monica died, and going to a group support meeting for those trying to overcome tragedy. Laughing yet? It’s admirable to do something different—–God knows CBS should try it every once and a while—–but the show never gels into a dramedy so much as a weird Frankenstein monster that is sarcastic and glib one second, then pretending to be deep the next. It probably doesn’t help that Perry isn’t really the right actor for material this nuanced, and that he wants to play his part as Chandler from Friends would. That being said, who knows where it could go in the future, and I’ll probably give it at least another two episodes before fully quitting. Grade for Premiere: C+…with the understanding that it’s not really fair to judge a show based on one episode…
Animal Practice…Unless it’s this show, which seems more than fair to judge on one episode because I feel like all episodes will be the same. Unlike “Go On,” I don’t see a shred of potential in this…which means it could be a big hit for NBC. Grade: C-
Grimm…I saw every episode of the show’s first season, but I have to admit that I was never really liking it that much. I thought it was decent and was interested to see them delve into the mythology, but far too often the show was content to just be a police procedural with monsters.
This season has been far superior based off the first two episodes. A deeper, darker mythology, and the heat getting turned up on our hero in a way that doesn’t feel quite as artificial as last year. I just hope the show keeps pushing it in that direction: more complex, tense, and, yes, exciting. Grade so far: B