I Watch TV- 2013 Edition
Oct. 16th, 2013 03:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23Last year, I tried out a few new series and wrote them up.
This year, I have been busy as well not finding too many series that piqued my interest. So, this is going to stick to my usual go-tos- network sitcoms. Hey, I know. So unfortunately, no commentary on any of the hot new dramas, which is probably what my readers would want, if I had readers, but nevertheless...
Brooklyn Nine Nine (Fox)- Clearly the best critically received new sitcom of the year. I do generally like Andy Samberg and thought he could probably carry a sitcom. Brooklyn 99 puts that to the test. It is usualy hip to hate on the current cast of Saturday Night Live, and then come around to say how great they are when they are gone- which has happened for the casts of Meyers, Sandler, Ferrell, Fey, and now Samberg.
B99 is generally funny. It's better than a lot of its competition. It has a stellar cast- one would never guessed a police show with Andre Braugher and Terry Crews in starring roles would have been a comedy.
That's some of the problem. Characters like Samberg playing typical Andy and Braugher playing the strong dramatic presence have trouble co-existing. Can it be a great ensemble comedy a la Barney Miller or will it never break out of the feeling that this is a starring role for Samberg and little else. Like New Girl (and most of Fox's comedys), it feels just a bit too generic for me. Funny, sure, but it's hard to imagine anyone ever decides to DVR this series or that they talk about it with friends at work.
It is funny, but is it built for the long run. It doesn't seem to be. I am not completely ready to write it off, as with its creators' other show Parks and Recreation it may slowly build steam.
The Crazy Ones (CBS)- Forgive me, but I am a Robin Williams fan (even at his most lowest-common-denominator roles). That this is a David E Kelley show with Williams in the starring role means CBS was going to push this hard.
For me, it's hard to imagine this show resembling this in any other situation. because it is on CBS, it's mostly about Robin and each show to date appears to be fairly formulatic. This honestly should be more of an ensemble show with robin melding into the background, and it would probably resemble something like Kelley's last success Boston Legal.
It is what it is though, and it is a generally funny show. It doesn't quite fit what is the standard CBS sitcom a la the Chuck Lorre shows or Two Broke Girls, Mike and Molly, Everybody Loves Raymond and the like. The spotlight is on Williams and his hijinx but he is a sympathetic character and his "bits" are sewed in well to the fabric of the show.
Though the critics have generally criticized Sarah Michelle Gellar and praised James Wolk, I don't agree. I like Gellar and her relationship as Williams's daughter seems to ring true.
Unfortunately for CBS, it's more of a Kelley show than a Williams show. It's more clever than funny. I like the show, but I don't see it making too long of a run as it does not really feel like a show they will stick with. Probably on Fox or ABC (and probably with a bit more gravitas), but not on CBS.
Dads (Fox)- While Brooklyn 99 and Crazy Ones top critics 'best new comedy' lists, Dads is universally hated. The show is produced by Seth MacFarlane which asks the question if that kind of humor can translate to live action.
Not surprising to me, but the critics don't seem to keep in mind it is MacFarlane and you should know what you are going to get. I did not see the pilot, but apparently it was as offensive as primetime gets.
Getting past all of that, Dads is a fairly generic comedy. Like my comments about Brooklyn 9-9 up top, it's hard to imagine anyone would ever DVR this show or buy the complete season on DVD. It's hard to imagine fans would take to it like Family Guy.
That said, it's better than the critics give it credit for (again, I didn't see the pilot, which set everyone mad). The cast make it better than what is there- Seth Green, Giovanni Ribisi, Martin Mull, and Peter Reigert.
I won't go to great lengths to try and defend it, but I laughed a few times, i knew that it was going to be 'adult' in nature and always tune into any show Mull appears on. It will be on the list of great Fox failed experiments soon enough.
This year, I have been busy as well not finding too many series that piqued my interest. So, this is going to stick to my usual go-tos- network sitcoms. Hey, I know. So unfortunately, no commentary on any of the hot new dramas, which is probably what my readers would want, if I had readers, but nevertheless...
Brooklyn Nine Nine (Fox)- Clearly the best critically received new sitcom of the year. I do generally like Andy Samberg and thought he could probably carry a sitcom. Brooklyn 99 puts that to the test. It is usualy hip to hate on the current cast of Saturday Night Live, and then come around to say how great they are when they are gone- which has happened for the casts of Meyers, Sandler, Ferrell, Fey, and now Samberg.
B99 is generally funny. It's better than a lot of its competition. It has a stellar cast- one would never guessed a police show with Andre Braugher and Terry Crews in starring roles would have been a comedy.
That's some of the problem. Characters like Samberg playing typical Andy and Braugher playing the strong dramatic presence have trouble co-existing. Can it be a great ensemble comedy a la Barney Miller or will it never break out of the feeling that this is a starring role for Samberg and little else. Like New Girl (and most of Fox's comedys), it feels just a bit too generic for me. Funny, sure, but it's hard to imagine anyone ever decides to DVR this series or that they talk about it with friends at work.
It is funny, but is it built for the long run. It doesn't seem to be. I am not completely ready to write it off, as with its creators' other show Parks and Recreation it may slowly build steam.
The Crazy Ones (CBS)- Forgive me, but I am a Robin Williams fan (even at his most lowest-common-denominator roles). That this is a David E Kelley show with Williams in the starring role means CBS was going to push this hard.
For me, it's hard to imagine this show resembling this in any other situation. because it is on CBS, it's mostly about Robin and each show to date appears to be fairly formulatic. This honestly should be more of an ensemble show with robin melding into the background, and it would probably resemble something like Kelley's last success Boston Legal.
It is what it is though, and it is a generally funny show. It doesn't quite fit what is the standard CBS sitcom a la the Chuck Lorre shows or Two Broke Girls, Mike and Molly, Everybody Loves Raymond and the like. The spotlight is on Williams and his hijinx but he is a sympathetic character and his "bits" are sewed in well to the fabric of the show.
Though the critics have generally criticized Sarah Michelle Gellar and praised James Wolk, I don't agree. I like Gellar and her relationship as Williams's daughter seems to ring true.
Unfortunately for CBS, it's more of a Kelley show than a Williams show. It's more clever than funny. I like the show, but I don't see it making too long of a run as it does not really feel like a show they will stick with. Probably on Fox or ABC (and probably with a bit more gravitas), but not on CBS.
Dads (Fox)- While Brooklyn 99 and Crazy Ones top critics 'best new comedy' lists, Dads is universally hated. The show is produced by Seth MacFarlane which asks the question if that kind of humor can translate to live action.
Not surprising to me, but the critics don't seem to keep in mind it is MacFarlane and you should know what you are going to get. I did not see the pilot, but apparently it was as offensive as primetime gets.
Getting past all of that, Dads is a fairly generic comedy. Like my comments about Brooklyn 9-9 up top, it's hard to imagine anyone would ever DVR this show or buy the complete season on DVD. It's hard to imagine fans would take to it like Family Guy.
That said, it's better than the critics give it credit for (again, I didn't see the pilot, which set everyone mad). The cast make it better than what is there- Seth Green, Giovanni Ribisi, Martin Mull, and Peter Reigert.
I won't go to great lengths to try and defend it, but I laughed a few times, i knew that it was going to be 'adult' in nature and always tune into any show Mull appears on. It will be on the list of great Fox failed experiments soon enough.
