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Death can be a hard topic for a TV show to deal with, so you credit is due for a show that’s found a unique way to deal with death every episode. The main characters, themselves, are dead. They’re Grim Reapers (though, without the cloak and scythe), assigned the task of removing souls from bodies prior to their deaths. The material is handled with a darkly comic touch and, though the opportunity is there, they’ve wisely steered clear of religious postulation about the afterlife. Reasonably strong performances throughout and the interesting take on the subject matter make this worth watching.
For a show that I’m surprised even made it past the first preliminary briefing meeting, I’m impressed that it’s made it to its second (and now slated for a third) season. This second season re-hashes many of the themes from the first (it’s hard not to when the entire premise is built around one characters philandering ways), but the performances remain strong, even if some episodes blur into each other. The writing for Duchovny’s ‘Hank Moody’ character is what really drives the appeal of the show, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a fair bit of his dialogue were improvised.
I must have been expecting too much from the second season of ‘Andy Richter Controls The Universe’. I’d figured that Fox must have had some inside information to renew this show out for a second season despite the lacklustre first season, but I guess not. And the fact that five of the thirteen second season episodes were produced but never originally screened would seem to suggest that they learnt their lesson relatively early into this season. This time around, the plotlines get more and more absurd, and the characters feel even less appealing than they were in the first season.
When a show has to tell you explicitly how it’s trying to be funny, you know there’s a problem. Two episodes into this season about a faux news team, the title sequence was changes to include a caption detailing that the members of the public being interviewed were, in fact, not actors. Maybe this was necessary due to how bad the rest of the acting was, or maybe early audiences simply weren’t sure when to laugh. Personally, I didn’t laugh much at all when watching ‘Dog Bites Man’ – regardless of what I was told at the start of the show.
Demitri Martin is a smart bloke – his stand up comedy speaks for that. It’s also good to see someone trying a new format of TV show. Unfortunately, that’s where the positives end with ‘Important Things’. The format is repetitive, and the content is bland. The theme of each episode of the show is built around one ‘important thing’ (eg, power, coolness, or chairs), and jokes, sketches pranks are shoehorned into that theme. The only highlights come through Martin’s talent for wordplay, which is featured through one segment using an oversized notepad, and another using magnetic poetry style word cutouts.
I got the tip off to watch ‘Andy Richter Controls The Universe’ from a list of TV shows cancelled earlier than they should have been. Unfortunately, I disagree. This show is mediocre at best; lacking subtlety, endearing characters and clear writing. Most of the laughs come from jokes at the expense of the physical appearance of characters, and though the first episode sets up the story behind the five main characters, the remaining five episodes immediately choose to ignore it. I’m surprised this was given a second season. I might have to watch just to see if it gets better.
Sitting somewhere in and around the sc-fi, crime, mystery, and adventure camps, ‘Dollhouse’, whilst not being up with Joss Whedon’s best, is certainly worth watching. With a premise built around the separation of the body and the mind, the versatility of the actors is put to the test, and in most cases, (including in impressive surprise performance from Miracle Laurie) shines. As per other Whedon series, it’s the ensemble cast that makes the show, with both main and supporting characters quite endearing. Also, against the odds, the show’s been booked for a second season, with Summer Glau joining the cast.
As a cultural study, ‘Freaks and Geeks’ is a success on two levels. On the surface, it’s a great view of the tough world of high school in Carter/Regan era Michigan. Under that surface, however, is a snapshot of actors and filmmakers who would become powerhouses on the late 00s. There’s James Franco, Seth Rogan, and Jason Segal (to name a few), under the production of Judd Apatow. The characters are fantastic, and very easy to relate to. And when combined with talented actors and clear writing, you’ve got a quality show that finished earlier than many would have liked.
So much for just keeping getting better. Now that we’ve hit the fourth season of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ you can really feel momentum slow down. The episodes start to drag in a manner than they’ve never done in previous seasons, and a couple of episodes have so little substance that they could have been a subplot in another episode. Sure, it must have been difficult dealing with pregnancies in both your female leads, but that really doesn’t excuse such degradation in writing quality. With less interruptions during creation of season five, let’s hope they get back on track.
It’s very rare to find a TV show that continues to improve season by season. But as you can see from my reviews, that’s exactly what’s happening with ‘How I Met Your Mother’. There are improvements with storylines this season, as well as a solid selection of fresh faces brought in to support (worth mentioning are Enrique Iglesias, Britney Spears, and Sarah Chalke (though, I hope she’s not being pigeonholed as a doctor)). There are more memorable moments and quotes this season, too; resolving an issue I had with the first season. Let’s hope the fourth season will be awesome.
