[tv] Californication

Ok, so I finished watching season 1 of Californication. After like 5 episodes, I thought the show was truly excellent. I mean not truly, but it was a worthy distraction. By the end of the show, it became mildly ridiculous. There’s the good looking/troubled/charismatic writer, played by Duchovny, who apparently can get laid without trying. Now he’s hung up on his pseudo ex-wife, which in the hood we refer to as, baby mama. At first, it was funny because of the constant push and pull, teasing and jokes made with the married woman. However, it soon became totally lame because he became obsessed with her and it wasn’t really a joke anymore. Also she’s really not hot at all! I still remember her terrible character/accent from a pretty good movie, Ronin, and before I recognized that, I knew there was a reason I didn’t like her.

Then the season devolves into more hijinx, with the blackmailing, plot machinations and whatnot. Basically just forced story lines for no reason. I’m writing this post because this has become a disturbing trend in this emerging drama/comedy genre. Why do these shows feel like they have to be about something bigger? It should be a guilty pleasure and that’s just about it. Same exact thing happened with Weeds and Entourage, but fortunately it took them more than a season. These are fluff shows and I just want to be fluffed.

Whatever happened to the way it used to be? Did you hear any complaints about Three’s Company? I mean it was about 8solid seasons of the plot being based on misunderstandings and it almost coming out that Jack wasn’t gay. It was ridiculous, but it was funny and simple and didn’t try to be more. Same can be said of Saved by the Bell. Zack has a scheme, A.C. Slater is rival, Screech spills the beans. I think that show went for about 20 years.

Well that’s my rant, I guess I’m just a simple guy who pines for a simpler time, when our plots were consistent, lead women were hot and our homosexuals closeted.

[tv] The Daily Show

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, is really the only TV show that I watch on a regular basis because a. it's funny b. it keeps me informed (sort of). Sure a lot of the stuff is repetitive and sometimes they use out of context material to make their point, which by the way when others do, they mock; however, it still is an excellent show as the rest of the news media a truly exposed for the unbelievable level of stupidity and frivolity that is at the core of what the news has become. Of course the Bush administration is a common and deserved target as well.

Anyway, the reason I mention it is that there’s a decent article in the NY Times about the show and I think it’s worth a read. I wish it would pick on him a bit for some of the laziness that has crept in, but I guess that would be asking too much for a piece that was intended to jerk off the subject or maybe that's just the hater inside of me talking and it's actually a flawless program.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/arts/television/17kaku.html?em

[RIP] Skip Caray, 1939-2008

This post comes a little late. Skip Caray, a HOF broadcaster and a voice synonymous with Atlanta Braves baseball passed away last Sunday. I heard about the news and was in genuine shock, which at the time, I thought to be very strange. I mean, this was TBS' first season without any Braves games since I was born, let alone actually a Braves fan. So this season, I had MLB.tv but the broadcasters they have were a far cry from TBS' classic Four Horsemen - batterymates Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren and their counterparts Joe Simpson and Don Sutton. I missed the TBS guys, but hey no using crying over things you can't change, right? I mean, I barely noticed who was calling the games, just that it wasn't quite as good as it used to be. Well, over the last week, my tune has changed.

Losing Skip Caray has been, in many ways symbolic of the end of an era for me and millions of Braves fans. It seems like ages ago when we were head and shoulders above the rest of the NL and things aren't the same anymore. Hearing Skip's calls now just remind me of summers gone by, a cold drink in hand and listening to that old familiar "Braves win! Braves win!" brings back some fond memories.

A few things have come up that have brought me right to the point where I may have to break the #1 rule for America's pasttime. You know, that one about "no crying in baseball." First, we have this blog entry from Bomani Jones, a sportswriter and frequent ESPN.com contributor (who also happens to be a huge fan of "The Wire") and Braves fanatic, sharing his poignant and far-more-eloquent-than-I-could-hope-to-be thoughts.
Choice snippets:

• What’s interesting, though — none of the Braves broadcasters from TBS get any love when people talk about the great voices of baseball. Maybe it’s because they aren’t the best. Skip’s nasal tone doesn’t do it for a lot of people, and the broadcast teams seemed to fade into the background of most games.
• That, to me, is what made those broadcasts so good. There has never been a less obtrusive set of announcers than Skip, Pete Van Wieren, Don Sutton and Joe Simpson. They know what they were talking about, but the game always took center stage. Nothing ever felt forced, and never was there a distraction to stop you from being able to enjoy the game. Somehow, they’ve never gotten proper credit for that.

Amen, Mr. Jones.

Second, we have a visibly shaken Ernie Johnson presenting a Turner Sports tribute to the man. It was both heartwarming and heartbreaking to watch for me.

I wish I could express it better, but Skip Caray was the voice of my childhood and it breaks my heart that he's gone. Anyone who knows me well knows I live and die with Braves baseball and I owe much of that to Skip and the rest of the old TBS crew.

RIP Skip - you were the best of the best and you've helped change my life forever. Thank you.

TV Roundup

OK here's what I'm watching and why I'm watching it:

Generation Kill - smartly written, produced and created by the same people who brought us the best television series ever, "The Wire," Generation Kill takes a similar uber-realistic approach to a touchy subject. This time, it's not the war on drugs in a torn-down city, its the war on terror in a torn-down country, i.e. the latest Iraq war. But yeah, I recommend it, though you should know that each episode in this miniseries is over 1 hour long and it does require a commitment. But like The Wire, the commitment pays off and you get ever further engrossed in it. And I like that the show doesn't use cheesy tactics like ominous music or character caricature to influence our decisions...it shows us the events and lets us use our own judgement to decide what we think. That is what separates good entertainment from popular entertainment. And remember - today's entertainment is tomorrow's art. Let's just hope our future generations judge us on shows like this instead of, say, American Idol.

Peep Show - I actually never saw this on TV because it's British and I've had to watch online. This was recommended to me by my brother/carbon copy and whaddya know, the kid has good taste. The funniest moments in this show are some of the most ridiculous, over-the-top, side-splittingly good scenes to ever grace your telly. Just watch for the crack-smoking, girlfriend-banging greaseball of perfection that is Super Hans.

Reality Bites Back - A show on Comedy Central that takes a bunch of low-name stand-ups and puts them in reality show rip offs, e.g. The Biggest Loser --> The Biggest Chubby, where contestants have to gain weight. Hardly thought-provoking or groundbreaking, but The Biggest Chubby featured this line by the contestants' personal trainer: "Get that hamsicle in your mouth, bitch!" And yes, a hamsicle is exactly what it sounds like.Fantastic. If you're not going to stretch the limits of art, at least stretch the limits of decency and they do in spectacular fashion.

Mad Men - A show that decidedly veers artistic instead of orgiastic. But yes, I like it a lot because it harkens back to a time (1960) when men were men - they smoked, cursed, drank, and slept around. Women? They were exactly what men told them to be. Now I know that sounds misogynistic but I don't really intend it as such. That's because the show takes place at the point in American history where the old school and new school collided in a way that wasn't seen again until the landmark case of AI vs. Jordan's ankles. But don't get me wrong, there's definitely a twinge of longing from me. A wish that, if only for a day, we could go back to the old rules and that attractive secretary I've had my eye on not only could be mine, but would have to be mine because that was part of the job description. Ah, everybody talkin' bout the good ol' days...

Shabadu (Lead Couch Potato)