Television

What I watched in June 2015

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I watched quite a few movies this month, but my TV watching was mostly just a bunch of Magnum PI.  Next month I’ll likely make several more trips to the cinema, and maybe see some more things on Netflix.

Movies:

Silver Linings Playbook – I had heard good things about this, and I generally enjoy Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, so when I saw it on Netflix I fired it up. This is one of the best romance movies I have ever seen.  It is truly touching.  *****

The Last Samurai – I don’t know about the historical accuracy of any of this movie, but it is a finely crafted and acted epic.  It is certainly not perfect, and there is something hinky about how quickly Tom Cruise’s character becomes more than competent as a samurai, but for the most part it is just highly entertaining.  ****

Snow White and the Huntsman – This feels like a bit of a throwback, much more like a fantasy movie from the 80’s than a modern LotR descendant.  I mean that as a very good thing. It also seems to steal many scenes from other movies, including one scene that is all but straight out of Princess Mononoke.  It isn’t a full success, but it is much more entertaining that I expected.  ***

The Nut Job – Egad, this is terrible.  There are the hints of something interesting here, but it is lost in the films desperation to cash in on the fleeting popularity of stuff like Gangnam Style. *

Hector and the Search for Happiness – Simon Pegg’s charisma can’t quite carry this limp nothing of a film. There are a lot of really great performers here that do the best they can with nothing really to work with.  Hector’s search for happiness is more like a boring indulgence.  **1/2

Antitrust – Just a really dumb thriller from the 90’s that for some reason I didn’t change the channel on.  There is nothing to recommend here.  *

Transformers 4 –  You know what this is.  They looked at what they had done with previous Transformers movies, aimed lower and hit their mark.  Fuck this movie.  1/2

Jurassic World – review coming soon.  ***1/2

Wayne’s World – This movie has held up well.  It is smarter than one would expect and Mike Myers is almost always a lot of fun.  ****

Inside Out – review here.  *****

TV:

Magnum PI – This show is so great. I am afraid it will leave Netflix before I can finish it.

What I Watched in April 2015

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Definitely a slower month than the previous few, but I feel this is more in line with how much I usually watch. I almost have to force myself to watch stuff in my Netflix queue or I will just keep watching the same few things over and over, like Hot Fuzz or Always Sunny.

Movies

Furious 7 –see here

Fast 5 – God, this movie is so great. It is exactly what I want from an action movie. It is crazy, though more restrained than its sequel, but still very clear and sensibly motivated. It is just about the perfect action movie. *****

Empire State – A crime movie starring Thor’s little brother and The Rock. It doesn’t really go anywhere. It’s not bad, but it is exactly what it seems like. There is nothing here except surface. There just isn’t a lot here. **1/2

Crank – I wanted to like this more than I did. It is manic and Statham is always entertaining, but the movie was just kind of off-putting. It revels in the dirty and gross, which unless you like the joke is dirty and gross. I didn’t like the joke. **

Hot Fuzz – Still amazing. I love every second of it. *****

Atari: Game Over – A neat look at fall of Atari as the leading video game company through the story of them burying thousands of unsold copies of ET in a New Mexico landfill. It tells a pretty interesting history of the Atari console and ET. ***1/2

I Hate Christian Laettner – A 30 for 30 film that looks at the career of one of the most hated, and best, college basketball players of all time. Christian Laettner is the prime example of why a lot of people hate Duke Basketball. It painstakingly goes through the reasons that people hate him and shows how wrong or right those reasons are. It is a really great look at a really great time in college basketball. ****

The Man With the Iron Fists 2 – this is a direct to video sequel to a movie that was a highly entertaining piece of trashy fun. For the first hour of its hour and a half runtime it has almost none of the fun. It ends on a high note, but not enough to make up for the dull first half. **1/2

TV

Always Sunny in Philadelphia S8-9 – This is still my go to background noise TV show, if I need to turn something on but don’t really want to watch it. It actually kind of scares me how little the gang’s depraved antics shock me anymore.

Daredevil – It starts really great, but I got about halfway through and suddenly my interest dropped. I really don’t know why; the show is really good. I just feel like I had to force myself to watch most of the second half. Still, I’m eager to see more Netflix Marvel shows.

Mad Men S7 Part 1 – Mad Men is still amazing. I’m not at all sure how the show is going to end, but it is a joy to watch.

What I Watched in March 15

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After I put up last month’s post, I realized that I had actually watched just about the same number of movies and shows in February as January, despite thinking that I have seen significantly fewer. This month, however, I am sure that the number is down. Most of what I watched was The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt over and over. That show is so great. I also didn’t make it to the theater once in March. There were a few movies I wouldn’t have minded seeing, but I just didn’t make time to do so. Well, let’s get on with it.

Movies

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels – This came back on Netflix just after I watched Snatch, so I gave it another viewing. It is better than Snatch, but only barely. Just like that movie, it is a whirlwind of poor decisions that just keep colliding with each other. It also has some enjoyable performances from Jason Statham and Vinny Jones. All in all just a great movie. *****

Barton Fink – It is a Coen Brothers film, so it is dark and kind of funny. I’m still not sure exactly what I watched, but I am glad I did it. ****1/2

To Be or Not To Be – Mel Brooks is a genius. This is yet another classic to his name. I don’t know that it is quite as good as Young Frankenstein or Blazing Saddles, but it is still really good. Brooks really likes making fools of Nazis, and he does a good job playing the pompous actor with an absolutely excellent ensemble. *****

Blues Brothers 2000 – This movie might just be a bit too much of Dan Aykroyd. It is more strange than funny most of the time, but the musical numbers are all pretty great. It is just kind of an odd movie. The original Blues Brothers is a classic; this is just a strange shadow. Still, it isn’t unenjoyable, just weird. **

Rich Hill – This is a documentary about poverty in small town American that just so happens to be set in my small town. It is strange to watch something on Netflix and be able to recognize all the people and places in it. I know all three of the kids featured in this; I had them in class as a substitute teacher. That aside, it is a sobering look at how kids in situations can be stuck in a cycle of poverty. ****

Muppet Treasure Island – This is not the best Muppet movie, but even a “bad” Muppet movie is still pretty darn entertaining. The Muppets seem kind of haphazardly fitted into their roles in the story. Still, it has Kermit and Tim Curry, so it is far from bad, but a little weak when compared to some other Muppet outings. ***

Shaolin Soccer – This movie is just so out there I can’t help but love it. It deftly mixes kung fu movie tropes with sports movie tropes and is just all around hilarious. I think I’ve seen it a half dozen times now and it never gets old. *****

TV

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – wrote about it here. I’ve watched the show another time since then. It is just so much fun.

The Spoils of Babylon – I didn’t know I wanted something like this until I watched it. It is so cheesy and bad that I can’t help but find it hilarious. Seeing this over the top melodrama about a rags-to-riches family from the Great Depression through the Sixties just completely tickled my funny bone. It is simultaneously funny and off putting.

Malcolm in the Middle S7 – This show managed to go its full run without any real variation in quality. It was really good all the way through. It also has a pretty terrific ending.

The Office S6-7 – I don’t know why I decided to watch the doldrums of this show. These are a pair of the weakest seasons of this show, but there glimpses in quality all throughout. This is really good killing time viewing.

Mad Men S7 – The first half of season 7 showed up on Netflix and I jumped right on it. It is still really great. I wonder if I’ll be able to wait for the end starting next month or if I’ll have to find a place to stream it much sooner.

Trailer Park Boys S9 – It is not quite as good as Season 8, but it is still largely as fun as the rest of the series.

Unbreakable

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Netflix isn’t exactly new to the television game anymore. They’ve been pumping out original series for the better part of three years now and have a handful of quality titles. Orange is the New Black is a certified hit and House of Cards is entertaining. I’ve also heard good things about Peaky Blinders, but I haven’t made the time to check it out. As far as comedies, they’ve had success with castoffs. The new Trailer Park Boys was solid and Arrested Development Season 4, while not up to the ludicrously high standards that show set in its original run was still hilarious. Most of those are coming back for more, and the new additions of some Marvel shows to fill it out should be great additions. Just the other day, though, they released the best original show to grace their service to date. I am referring, of course, to The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt comes from the creators of the instant classic 30 Rock. For most of its seven year run 30 Rock was the best comedy on TV. Tina Fey and Robert Carlock were able to bring that same energy and wit straight over to Kimmy Schmidt without making the new show seem like just a rehash of their previous work. It does share some DNA with the previous show, Jane Krakowski’s Jaqueline Voorhees is not too far removed from Jenna Maroni and Tituss Burgess Titus Andromedon is quite similar to his guest appearances as D’Fwan, Kimmy Schmidt soon finds its own places to work, being something much closer to the average sitcom. The show is about a girl who was kidnapped into a cult and held underground in a bunker for 15 years. After her and her fellow “Mole Women” are released, she flees to New York City to start her life over, not wanting to be thought of as just a victim by the residents of her hometown. There she meets her new roommate Tituss, an aspiring performer, and their eccentric landlady. She gets a job babysitting for Jaqueline and tries to build a new life.

Everything starts up front with Ellie Kemper playing Kimmy. She does a great job of making her sunny, optimistic and occasionally ignorant but never stupid. Kimmy might not know some things after being held out of society for a decade and a half, but she isn’t an idiot. She is just unbreakable, not matter what she faces she is able to look on the bright side. Not only does that help her get by, but it also helps those around here. Flashbacks to the bunker make it clear that Kimmy played a big role in keeping the others sane and her influence on the show gets both Titus and Jacqueline moving forward with their lives. The show’s premise may be the darkest of comedy, but the sunniness of Kimmy tends to overwhelm any possible bleakness.

What sets The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt apart is how it refuses to settle down. It appears to be, and is in many ways, just a sitcom, but unlike most sitcoms, the cast never really sticks in any place. Maybe that will change when there are more than 13 episodes, but for this first season, things are continually in flux. Jacqueline’s marriage falls apart as the season goes on, Titus finds a job that he keeps, though he doesn’t stop his acting pursuits. Outside of Kimmy and Titus, the rest of the cast slides in and out. Sometimes their landlady Lilian plays a big role, sometimes she is absent. Jacqueline’s kids come and go, as do Kimmy’s love interests and fellow mole women. While there are patterns, the show is far from static.

The highlight of the season, which is largely a 10 episode highlight, is the trial of Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne, first prophet and CFO of Savior Rick’s Spooky Church of the Scare-pocalypse. Jon Hamm, as good in comedies as he is in Mad Men, plays the kidnapping Preacher and wedding DJ with just the right amount of charisma and ego, especially put against the gullible jury, incompetent prosecutors and disinterested judge. While Kimmy initially refuses to go, wanting to put the whole thing behind her, her fellow mole women aren’t able to overcome him. It takes Kimmy’s indomitable spirit to help bring the Reverend down. It really helps highlight how the 4 mole women each deal with their ordeal. Kimmy puts it behind her and tries to forget all about it. Cyndee, always looking to Kimmy for help in the bunker, revels in the pity the townsfolk feel, feeling after what she’s been through she deserves to be happy. Maybe she does, though it doesn’t seem healthy. Donna uses her notoriety to sell mole sauce, turning a tragedy into an opportunity. And Gretchen never really escaped, being the only one of them who went into the bunker by choice.

How Kimmy Schmidt ended up on Netflix is kind of baffling. NBC ordered the series, but for some reason kicked it over to Netflix rather than air it on their network. I guess they had to make room for The Mysteries of Laura and The Slap. Whatever confused reasoning made NBC take its best new show and dump it on Netflix, I am kind of glad they did. This show might not has caught me so thoroughly if I had watched it one episode at a time. It has already been guaranteed another season and hopefully that is not the end of it. With the end of Parks and Rec, there aren’t a lot of good comedies left on TV. At least I know where to go to get quality TV.

What I Watched in February 15

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I didn’t waste quite as much time watching TV or movies this month, but I still watched quite a few. The two movies I saw in the theater were disappointing, though. Seventh Son was just dull and Jupiter Ascending was a fun mess. Still, I watched some really good new stuff on Netflix.

Movies

Clear and Present Danger – A perfectly entertaining thriller. Harrison Ford isn’t quite at his Indiana Jones best, but even his second best stuff is better than most starts. This film is good, but not really great. ***

The Triplets of Belleville – This is one weird film. Beautiful, but also strange. It tells its story brilliantly with almost no dialogue and is just thoroughly excellent. ****

Snatch – I love Guy Ritchie’s movies, and Snatch may be his best. Ask me that after I watch Rock’n’Rolla and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels again. Still, they can’t be much better that this. It is just the perfect whirlwind of bad decisions smashing into each other. *****

Indie Game the Movie – I like documentaries in general, but this one took a subject I am very interested in and made it dull. Perhaps I am being too harsh, but it seemed too long and somber for the subject matter. It did give a good idea of the kind of work that goes into indie game development, though. **1/2

Seventh Son – see here **

The Ideal Husband – An adaptation of an Oscar Wilde play, which means it is full of witty dialogue and veiled innuendo. It isn’t The Importance of Being Ernest, but it is still very amusing. ***1/2

The Great Muppet Caper – The best Muppet movie? Maybe. It starts with the perfect joke of Fozzy and Kermit being identical twins and is just hilarious and charming throughout. ****1/2

The Pink Panther 2 – Based on its reputation, I expected this to be worse. Based on it cast, it should have been so much better. Pink Panther 2 has a bunch really talented comedic actors going through the motions of some sub-par farcical material. **1/2

Jupiter Ascending – see here **1/2

A Knight’s Tale – It is charmingly anachronistic, but ultimately slight. I have fallen asleep trying to watch this movie no less than three times. Yet still, when I think on it I remember enjoying it quite a bit. ***

Austin Powers – It is odd to watch this movie nowadays. The “modern” scenes from the 90’s are almost as dated as the stuff from 60’s. Still, I find it more entertaining than it has any right to be. It is really just a solid comedy. ****

Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me – It isn’t quite as good as the first one, some of the jokes have worn thin, but it is ultimately still enjoyable. It is clear watching it that Mike Myers is having a blast and that is infectious. ***1/2

Austin Powers 3: Goldmember – Overall a touch more statisfying than the previous entry. You could tell they know this was drawing to a close and they just went for it the whole time. ***1/2

30 for 30: Winning Time – This covered the rivalry between the Indiana Pacer and the New York Knicks in the mid 90’s. It focuses mostly on Reggie Miller’s exploits, including a pair of unforgettable performances. Those Pacers were one of my favorite teams growing up, so I really got into this one. ****

30 for 30: No Crossover – This one is more somber than Winning Time, being about Allen Iverson and the legal troubles that nearly derailed his life and whether or not the trouble he got into was deserved. The filmmakers allow each side on this issue to present their case and does a pretty great job of present a complex issue. ***.5

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen – Terry Gilliam is a genius. No one captures the idea of imagination on film better than him. This is thoroughly satisfying all the way through. *****

TV

Malcolm in the Middle S3-6 – This is the meat of the series, as Malcolm grows from a know-it-all kid to a whiny teenager and Lois and Hal take over the show. This is one of the best sitcoms of the last fifteen years. Just a brilliant seven year run, just shy of the sustained greatness of 30 Rock or Parks and Rec, but it is up there. I’ve always seen a lot of my family in the one on this show; I think a lot of the humor is near universal to anyone with siblings.

Poirot Series 1-2 – I’ve started reading some Agatha Christie, having picked up a couple of collections around Christmas, so I thought I would give this show a try and watch the adaptation of one of the Poirot books I’d read. After that, I just started from the beginning and started watching. They can be a little slow at times, but largely very entertaining on the whole. Just some solid mysteries.

Psych S3-7 – This is the show I turn on for white noise as I try to go to sleep. I love this show, but it makes perfect turn on Netflix and fall asleep material. I expect it to be on my watched list most months.

Danger 5 – I am so glad some people introduced me to this show. It is the perfect kind of madness. A team of superspies fight Nazis, trying to foil plots like the Nazis using dinosaurs to fight the war or stealing famous monuments for Hitler’s birthday present, all shown with delightfully cheesiness. It is perfectly low budget and delightfully over the top.

Top 5 TV Themes

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Another one of my Top 5 Lists that I’ve got sitting on my computer.  I figured I toss this one on here.  My 5 favorite TV theme songs, almost all of which

5: Pokemon – It is simultaneously ridiculous and epic.  There are tons of cartoons with this sort of earnestly goofy theme songs, and though Pokemon is a little later than the ones I really grew up on (originally this spot was for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but I changed it at the last minute after trolling youtube for a little bit) I still think it is the best example of the form.

4: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – I really wanted one of the story themes on this list and choosing it was hard. My initial instinct was the corny Gilligan’s Island theme, but Fresh Prince’s is just so much more enjoyable.

3: Malcolm in the Middle – The theme here works much like one of the old ballad themes, like Fresh Prince’s, but it captures less of a story and more perfectly compresses the tone of the show into the song. Malcolm is all about pointless rebellion, about fighting authority no matter where it comes from. The theme shows that perfectly.

2: Cheers – Yeah, this is pretty much perfect. I’m not even that big a fan of the show, it is just hard to beat this song.

1: Magnum PI – It has no words and it doesn’t need them. It is just the best.  There is nothing here that 5 year old (or 25 year old) didn’t want to be.

All Things Must End

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Recently the last season of Psych hit Netflix. I didn’t remember liking most of those episodes when they aired, but I do remember being largely satisfied with the ending. Watching the season again mostly confirmed those memories. I have also been watching 30 Rock. It has a really truly terrific ending. I wanted to write about how these shows shook the trend of TV shows falling apart at the end and having terrible endings. The problem is, the more I thought about shows that I like, the more I realized that most of my favorite shows have really good endings. In fact, I can think of more good endings than bad. Honestly, as much as I like it, Psych kind of gets stuck in that bad ending rut, if the whole season and not just the last episode are taken into account. Coming up with a satisfying ending for a long running TV show is clearly hard, though not surprisingly, good shows manage to do this more often than not.

The problem is with the nature of American TV. Shows are designed to be eternally in the middle act. There is a pilot, an opening, but after that most shows are not really moving anywhere. They are telling stories, but the action is designed to leave the characters right where they started. Seinfeld is not building to anything and there is no natural end point for Friends. Psych is set up to tell mysteries, the characters may grow and change some, but the central relationships are firm. The longer a show runs, the more likely it is that things start to break down. One change causes another change, then another, rippling out until the changes start to tear the fabric of the show apart. The trick is getting the most out of a show but ending before it changes into something else entirely.

Shows tend to end badly for two reasons. Or possibly for one reason depending on how one looks at it. They either end too soon or end too late. Take My Name is Earl, for example. It is, or at least started as, a pretty darn good show. (That first season is excellent, but the show kind of lost its way but the end.) Still it is a show with a built an out. Earl has a list; the show ends when he completes that list. However, the show actually ends on a cliffhanger, with a shocking revelation about Earl’s black son, Earl Jr., having a different father than everyone suspected. The show has the worst kind of ending: no ending at all. It is hard to say that a show with 4 seasons was cancelled too soon, especially one that was as far off track as Earl by the end, but it still deserved some kind of resolution. That is a show that ended too soon. On the other hand there are shows like Scrubs, which clearly went on too long. For give or take four seasons, Scrubs was some fine television. However, the show stayed on the air longer than was good for it. So long that most of the original cast moved on. It is hard to find a satisfying conclusion for a show that ran for the better part of a decade when the characters that everyone loved are no longer part of the show. That show hung on way too long. Good shows can make the best of those situations. Arrested Development certainly ended too soon, but its first ending, the end of season 3, was as good a wrap up as possible. And The Office went sorely off track in the later seasons, only to rally in its final season and go out with a truly excellent final episode.

The important thing for an ending is tone. While something more poignant is possible and sometimes fitting, with a show that has been running the better part of a decade cheese might be the best option. At least for a comedy, with a drama that is a different proposition. Malcolm in the Middle’s ending is occasionally preposterous, but also touching. Completely fitting for the show, though. The idea that Lois has planned out Malcom’s future entirely, right down to how he becomes President, is equally ridiculous and expected. It is a perfect example of what shows should strive for. It feels momentous, clearly an ending, but still a part of the show.

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Psych is a show that seems to have held on a little too long. There are still some good episodes in the last season, but it feels very flabby. The mystery plots are muddled or nonexistent. The show is more concerned on how it is going to bring the series to a close. Characters are moving around. First, Chief Vick is removed. Then Lassiter is made chief. Then Juliette leaves with Chief Vick. The central character relationships that were the heart of the show break down over these last ten episodes and it feels drawn out. There are highlights, like the first episode of the season which is a Guy Ritchie pastiche filled with Harry Potter jokes and one last Cary Elwes appearance. Honestly, it is one of the great episodes of the series. Then there is the last episode, titled The Break Up. Shawn is trying to break up, not with Juliette but with Gus. He is going to San Francisco to be with Juliette. This decision is made easier with the new head detective, who is good enough that she doesn’t need Shawn and Gus to help. It is amazing how well the episode manages to give a fitting ending to each and every character. Lassiter is chief and has a wife and kid, eternal whipping boy McNabb finally gets a promotion to detective and Henry stumbles into teaching criminology. Shawn relocates to San Francisco to be with Juliette and work with Chief Vick (with a bonus shout out to Monk thrown in there) and finally proposes to Juliette. There is a decent mystery tangled up in there, but it is mostly tying a bow on everything. Season 8 of Psych is not a good season of TV, but it does manage a quality ending to the series.

The other ending I recently watched was that of 30 Rock. I didn’t give that show its due when it was on the air. I don’t like being told what to watch. I take a slightly absurd amount of pride in the fact that I came across Arrested Development early in its run. I started watching it somewhere around episode 10 when it originally aired. I was the one telling all my friends and acquaintances to watch it. The same goes for The Office, which I discovered at the start of its second season. With 30 Rock, I was seeing all the gushing love for it online, but to me it seemed to come at the expense of shows I like more. I was a fool. I’ve now watched the show through on Netflix several times. Every time I watch it I like it more. The ending, specifically the last three episodes, are just about perfect.

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30 Rock is a show with high peaks, but no significant troughs. It nearly captures the manic pace and interconnectedness of Arrested Development and keeps it up for more than twice the run time. It should be no surprise that it has a great ending. Still, it ends as well as possible. With a show about a show, the ending is obvious. The show must get cancelled. This happens in A Goon’s Deed in a Weary World, the third from last episode. It has Liz desperately trying to save TGS while Criss prepares for the arrival of their adopted kids. Also, Jack looks for his replacement. It ends in what could have been the last episode of the show, with TGS cancelled and Liz meeting her kids, who act just like Tracy and Jenna. But that is not the ending; there is a two episode coda. It shouldn’t work, but it does. Liz tries to deal with being a stay at home mom, but it isn’t for her. She ends up doing one more episode of TGS to avoid paying Tracy thanks to an odd clause in his contract. How it ends is known, but it lets the show give the characters an extended farewell, one last chance for everyone to shine. It is a perfect encapsulation of the show. Perfect character beats between silly pratfalls and constant in jokes. The show goes out on a song from ‘The Rural Juror,’ Jenna’s movie from way back near the start of the series. It is funny and touching and perfect.

30 Rock is the perfect example of how to end a TV show, though few shows have been consistently well written enough to pull it off. Psych does things less well, but it still manages to salvage things, leaving a largely pleasant taste in the viewer’s mouth. Both of these are good shows, and they have good endings. Which the more I think about it the less it seems exceptional. I hope the few show currently running shows I’m into can have as good of endings as these two shows did. Let’s hope Parks and Recreation goes out on top, and Always Sunny in Philadelphia can go out on the bottom. And if we are all lucky, maybe someone will perform a mercy killing on The Simpsons and Family Guy. But that is another subject entirely.

Better Off Ted

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On the subject of TV shows tragically cancelled before their time, (of course we were on that subject, don’t be ridiculous) near the top of that list should be the duo of Better Off Ted and Andy Richter Controls the Universe, two shows created by Victor Fresco. Better Off Ted is amazing, feeling something like a cross between The Office and Arrested Development but with the wackiness turned up to eleven or a high class version of My Name is Earl. I am less sure about the quality of Andy Richter Controls the Universe, but only because I haven’t seen it since it aired. (if only it were on Netflix)My recollection and the word about the internet is that it is largely of the same quality as Better Off Ted. Maybe one day I’ll splurge on the DVD and find out. Better Off Ted, though, is unquestionably brilliant. It deftly combines heart and wit, with real characters in an unreal, or all too real, world.

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Better Off Ted is about Ted, who leads a research and development team at a giant corporation called Veridian Dynamics. His team consists of scientists, notably Phil and Lem, and product testers, Linda, and his boss, Veronica. The frighteningly truthful part of the show is the utter disdain Veridian shows for its employees and people in general. They are the epitome of the faceless monster corporation. They are constantly trying to find ways to get more from their employees while giving them less. The unreal side is development team, who are always at work on horrifying and impossible science experiments. The two elements combine for some hilarious and unusual scenarios.

I really can’t go on long enough about how great this show is. The central cast is perfect. All five are great. Ted is a great main character. He is much like Arrested Development’s Michael, a single father trying to wrangle a group of misfits and raise his child to do the right thing. He is different in that he is actually the good person Michael claims to be. Michael, while putting up a front as “the good guy,” is almost always willing to engage his family on their level. Ted general keeps to the straight and narrow, and when he does stray tends to come back of his own accord, not just from his failure. It wouldn’t be a comedy if he always lived up to his ideals, but Ted is at least shown to attempt to stick to them. Veronica, played by AD’s Portia de Rossi, is Ted’s cold, calculating boss. She doesn’t appear to care about anyone or anything, other than the company and her standing in it. While her character does soften in the second season, she never loses that edge. Linda is the weakest link, having not a lot to her character behind her like of Ted and her dislike of the company. Then there are Phil and Lem, a pair of essentially mad scientist who don’t realize that is what they are. Their experiments, hopeful products and general social ineptness drive a lot of the shows humor.

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It also has one of the most natural and entertaining love triangles seen in a sitcom, between Ted, Linda and Veronica. Linda and Veronica, as they relate to Ted, show his two loves: doing the right, moral thing and his work for the company. Ted loves his job, and wants to do well and be seen doing well at it. But he is also a good guy that cares about the moral ramifications of his work, if maybe not enough. Linda is all morality; she hates her job and actively, if in a tiny way, sabotages the company. Veronica cares for nothing but the job, any sort of moral concerns are all but nonexistent. It is not really a fair comparison; Linda is obviously the right choice for Ted. She brings out the best in him. But Ted brings out the best in Veronica, only he can get her to see the downside of the company’s amorality. The first few episodes set up a fine, if a bit too precious attraction between Ted and Linda. They both admittedly like each other, but are not comfortable with pursuing a relationship at work. This is further complicated by a relationship Ted had with Veronica. Ted and Linda flirt off and on, almost too much, and it feels natural. There is a palpable attraction there and in the first season things proceed smoothly, setting them up for a series long romance, though the series doesn’t last long enough for that to come to anything. However, in the second season Veronica makes her case. At the start of the show, she is completely cold and emotionless, more an antagonist than a part of the team. Her character is softened in the second season, and Ted’s attraction to her becomes more apparent and understandable. She is still cold and unfeeling, but she feels more a legitimate alternative to Linda for Ted’s affection. Most refreshingly, none of the characters ever really address it as any sort of love triangle, mostly because none of them are actually in a relationship. Ted gets along with both, and Linda and Veronica develop something of a friendship over the second season. Much of that is allowed by the softening of Veronica, who is show as less the instrument of the faceless company and more as another cog in its machinery. She is in a similar position to Ted, only few steps higher on the endless ladder.

I could go on longer about this show, especially about the complete sadness that is Phil and Lem, but the last part of the show that requires mentioning are the Veridian Dynamics interstitials, little scenes that are either Veridian commercials or employee training videos. They are uniformly hilarious, often ending with a great little sign-off statement, like “Diversity, good for us” and “Right and wrong, they mean something.” They are both funny and perfectly illustrate the complete evilness of the company, who cares only about money and how perception can cost or earn them money.

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Better Off Ted lasted two half seasons, for a total of 26 episodes. It was watched by no one apparently. I know I didn’t see it; I didn’t even know it existed until I looked up Andy Richter Controls the Universe, to see if it was available on DVD, and discovered that its creator had a second show that had been recently cancelled. Luckily, I found Better Off Ted on Netflix. It is there for anyone who wants to watch it. You should, if you like good television.

 

 

 

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Watching Home Movies

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Around the start of the aughts there was a rash of animated sitcoms that hit TV. While a couple showed lasting appeal, most fell by the wayside. Futurama is one of the all-time great television shows and somehow the soulless husk of Family Guy is still being broadcast, but who remembers Mission Hill, The Oblongs or The PJs? Despite being an undeniably great show, Home Movies seems to have fallen into that latter category. That is a real disappointment; Home Movies is every bit as good as Futurama.

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For those not fortunate enough to have seen it, and yesterday I learned that the whole series is up on Youtube so there is nothing stopping you, Home Movies is about Brendan Small, an eight year old kid who makes movies in his basement. He is helped by his friends Jason and Melissa, and gets advice from his Mom, Paula, and significantly more dubious advice from his soccer coach McGuirk. The show was never destined for big success. The style of the animation is not all that appealing. The first season is in “Squigglevision,” the same scratchy looking animation technique used on Dr. Katz, but the entirety of the show uses the borderline abstract character designs and flat, sparse backgrounds. While one grows to appreciate the look of the show, it is not initially appealing. It is a somewhat ugly show, but its look perfectly fits the combination of normality and weirdness.

I love the way that this series evolves. I am ignoring the first season for the simple reason that I don’t own it on DVD and am therefore not as familiar with it. The second season is all about the movies that Brendan is making in his basement. There are plenty of other goings on, but they are filtered through his movies. As the third season goes on, the movies start to fade in importance. In the fourth season, they are often dropped completely. This isn’t a case of the show losing sight of its focus; it is Brendan growing up. Everyone was eight at one point; everyone had something that meant everything to them as child. Very few people are still in love with the same activities that they were at eight. At that age I was in love with dinosaurs (Jurassic Park), everything I did revolved around them. That fascination was short lived, though. It is the same with Brendan and his movies. They were what brought him and his friends together, but as they grow up the movies start to become less important. It is brought home in the last episode when he drops his camera outside of the car and barely seems to care. He has moved beyond his movies.

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While there is change, it is amazing that Home Movies has such well-defined characters when improvisation played such a big part in the scripting. Most of the show is at least partly improvised. Still, the core of the cast comes out as very real characters. Brendan, Paula, Jason, Melissa and Coach McGuirk are all great characters. Having a handful of them in a scene to play off of each other is just amazing. It has a lot of pithy one-liners. Characters will face a completely ridiculous problem that every character not directly involved recognize as ridiculous. They react with very adult sarcasm. The show really takes off, though, when the secondary characters become more prominent and start getting thrown in with different configurations. Characters like Walter and Perry, Mr. Lynch, Fenton and Duane. They all add something fun and new to the mix.

It is sad that Home Movies is gone, but its spirit lives on in the shows its creators, Loren Bouchard and Brendan Small, are doing now. Brendan Small went on to do Metalocalypse, a show about a crazy Death Metal band. Music was a big part of Home Movies, Brendan (the character) spent a lot of time working on the sound for his films with Duane, his slightly older friend with a band. Metalocalypse is a different show from Home Movies, but there are times when the patter of dialogue is similar. Loren Bouchard went on to make Bob’s Burgers, which in tone is much like Home Movies. It is about a weird family and weird neighborhood. Bob’s Burgers is the show that really keeps the spirit of Home Movies alive. Home Movies is on Youtube for anyone to watch, you should do that. It is one the best animated shows from an era full of great animated shows. Then watch Bob’s Burger’s on Netflix.

Outlander

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I’ve been trying to write a post about Starz new show Outlander for the month or so; pretty much ever since the first episode went up online at the start of August. The show is great, but I have been having trouble organizing my thoughts into a coherent post. While I am a fan of the book that this series is based on, it is not something I tend to bring up a lot. The thing about the Outlander series is that it is seems targeted at, or at least enjoyed by, women and I am an insecure little baby. It is not something I should care about, but I find it hard not to. The idea that certain kinds of media are inherently masculine or feminine is artificial and limiting. The advertising for the TV adaptation is definitely targeting women, but that shouldn’t stop anybody from watching it.

The press I saw for the show before it aired seemed to be setting up Outlander to be Game of Thrones for women. It is only really similar to that show in that it is based on an extensive book series that can roughly be called “fantasy.” Of course, Outlander’s fantasy is actually just 18th century Scotland, but that is essentially the same thing as far as anyone living in this century knows. Otherwise, the two shows don’t share all that much. (I’ll be honest, I’ve only watched about half of the first season of GoT, but I have read the first four books and I don’t care to watch the things I read played out on TV. It just isn’t my cup of tea.) It does have moments of graphic violence, but they are few and rely in their rarity for their impact. Much of the story is largely pleasant historical fiction. What makes it supposedly for women is that it can largely be called a romance and that the protagonist is a woman. That, though, ignores all the other elements that make Outlander enjoyable.

Anyone who doesn’t tend to enjoy romance shouldn’t let that dissuade them from giving the show a try. Outlander is a story that doesn’t fit neatly into any genre. It has elements of historical fiction, adventure, fantasy and romance. And the romance angle largely fades after the first book. It doesn’t go away; it is an integral part of the series, but the focus shifts more to the historical fiction and adventure parts. The way all those elements come together is a big part of what makes the series so enjoyable.

Outlander also has an excellent protagonist in Claire. She adapts to large parts of her predicament quickly and is generally intelligent and capable. It is also genuinely and truly from her perspective. The book was first person and the show keeps much of her narration, which gives people a clear perspective on her charms and flaws. Like all great character’s, Claire’s flaws really help make her real and entertaining. For example, she is often too free with her comments for the men, and women for that matter, of that age. She also tends to act, at least on seemingly small issues, without putting much thought into the consequences. Claire, coming from the relatively empowered society of WWII Europe, understandably struggles to adjust to the rigid gender roles of the 18th century. While Claire struggles with that, she never stops being the driving force in the story.

The show itself is really good. It is slow, but it is a confident sort of slow. Outlander has a story to tell and it is not going to rush the telling. The crux of the series, Claire being whisked back in time away from her husband Frank, doesn’t occur until nearly three quarters the way through the first episode. They take plenty of time to set up the relationship of Claire and Frank; that relationship is an important factor that is necessary to the bulk of the following episodes. Once the show gets to the past, it lets the viewer get to know the world that Claire has found herself in. It is a largely faithful adaptation of the book, but not one afraid to move some pieces around to make the show on an episode to episode basis. The cast all give excellent performances, the set and costume design is astounding and the sound is terrific. The biggest flaw of the show is the heavy handed narration. Getting Claire’s perspective on the goings on is vital to the show, but in the early episodes the narration simply feels insecure. Claire unnecessarily narrates things the viewer’s just watched, not trusting them to understand the nuances.

Outlander, at least through the first half season, is not the best thing ever. It is a solid, thoughtful adaptation of the novel, but most of the best parts are in the back half of the book. These episodes do a lot of heavy lifting setting the world of this show up, but the break occurs before the payoff. Hopefully the show can nail that payoff.