Category Archives: NBC

June 21, 2007 · 2:30 pm

How Aaron Sorkin Ruined ‘Studio 60’ – Part Two: Comic and Dramatic Execution

I had said before that I would be discussing Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip in comparison to 30 Rock, and I will be…but not to the extent I was before. I didn’t want this to turn this into a question of whether 30 Rock or Studio 60 is the better series, because I really don’t think that there’s a challenge there. What I want to take a look at is how each show took their initial premise and turned it into a series that combines comedy and drama, because their pilots are more or less entirely the same concept. Revered sketch comedy series faces creative problems and network pressure, and in that state of upheaval they must pull themselves together. I attempted to consider this piece as a competition between them, but I’ll just make this simple statement: Tina Fey got it right, and Aaron Sorkin got it wrong.

The Comedy

I know that Sorkin isn’t a comedy writer…but why the hell does he even try, then? He is great at writing short little quips (And there’s some great ones), but he isn’t capable of writing capable sketch comedy if his life depended on it. And yet, for some reason, it’s basically the way they’ve injected comedy into the show’s format since its pilot. While the pilot showcased some very funny stuff from funny people, I am entirely convinced that none of the characters themselves are capable of telling a joke: in fact, that was even a plot point for Harriet! Sorkin should have left the sketch comedy alone and let these characters define their own comic style. By relegating the comedy into sketch comedy format, even Matt and Danny have been unable to define themselves as something other than comedy writers. I’d say that only Jack, untainted by the show within a show, remains funny out of the show’s regular cast.

While the show may not be a drama, it is inherent that it be at least a little bit funny for its premise (A comedy show’s cast) makes a lick of sense. Sorkin’s rapid fire dialogue is funny, yes, but often takes for granted the fact that the people saying it are funny. I believe that Sorkin’s decision to make these characters simple actors as opposed to people, when it comes to comedy, forces us to believe they’re funny without actually ever showing it to us. And that’s poor writing.

Smartly, 30 Rock made a distinct decision to pretty well ignore the sketch comedy itself outside of spot bits in certain episodes. The comic focus, therefore, switched to Tina’s neurotic behaviour, Tracy’s paranoia, Kenneth’s awesomeness, Jack’s awesomeness, Jenna’s awkwardness, etc. In other words, we found these characters funny not because they wrote or performed comedy, but because they were actually funny.

The Drama

Okay, this is going to take a while here. When Aaron Sorkin ran The West Wing, he was able to tackle enormously large issues thanks to his setting; by placing his characters smack dab in the middle of the world’s most powerful government, he had free reign to do whatever he wanted…and the result was a compelling drama that was varied and interesting and was willing to tackle things other shows didn’t dream of tackling.

And Studio 60 started on the right path: early season drama reflected exactly what it should have. Jordan was a great source of this drama, a young executive struggling to appear presentable (Whatever happened to that assistant of hers, she was intelligent and called Jordan on her bullshit). Jack was another great source, as his dealings with Macao were actually kind of interesting to see and added some level of depth to the proceedings. And, even the show within a show offered some perspective on ratings and cast drama. That setup, then, was combined with Matt/Harriet, with interpersonal conflict, with all of that jazz. It’s just like The West Wing: presidential drama takes center stage, Josh/Donna supports it.

However, after the show was clearly not coming back for a second season around midseason, Sorkin apparently decide to ignore all of this. Suddenly, Jordan became a hormonal mess who was in love with Danny of all people, and stopped being a network executive except when Sorkin wanted to have a reality TV rant. Matt/Harriet suddenly became the entire show, not even leaving room for poor Jack forced to sit back on the sidelines. Suddenly, this wasn’t a show about television, it was a show about two people who just won’t get over one another and a completely contrived relationship that has never, ever made sense.

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June 21, 2007 · 11:45 am

For Your Consideration: Lead Actors – Alec Baldwin and Kyle Chandler

[In Week Three of Cultural Learnings’ 59th Annual Emmy Awards Nominations Preview, we’re looking at possible contenders for the Lead Actor awards in both drama and comedy. Today, we present our seventh and last set of candidates. For complete listings for the Supporting candidates from the past two weeks, and soon the Lead Actors, check out our For Your Consideration index]

 

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Alec Baldwin (Jack Donaghy)

30 Rock

Alex Baldwin gave, in my personal opinion, the best comic performance of the season on 30 Rock. He stole every scene he was in, shared great scenes with pretty well the show’s entire cast, and managed to find a balance between forceful boss and a man in need of attention. While his time spent hosting Saturday Night Live was certainly good training ground for Baldwin in terms of comic chops, what he really brings to the table is his ability to craft a character. So often, leads in comedies can fall into the same old clichés, the same old structures, and in the process don’t define a character. While he may also play a boss with insecurities, Baldwin doesn’t really steal from Steve Carell’s performance style; what he crafts is something all his own, a boss whose insecurities are so well hidden that he’s risen to the executive level. Jack is so good at hiding and limiting those insecurities that few would ever question his leadership, and in much the same way Baldwin commands respect. As a comic presence and as a character-driven actor, Alec Baldwin makes 30 Rock worth watching each and every week. While the show came together around him in the end, Alec Baldwin’s show-justifying role is worthy of Emmy consideration.

When you look at what Jack faced this year it’s kind of a laundry list of fantastic comic setups with every single character on the series. He spent a day as an NBC page with Kenneth cleaning Brian Williams’ office after one of his tirades, and played poker against him, he spent time dealing with racism with Tracy, he tried to help Pete’s love life by pushing him to wear a toupee, and perhaps greatest of all he constantly interacted with Liz. His chemistry with Tina Fey is palpable: their dialogues were sharp, their delivery perfect, their pace ideal. But it was always Fey keeping up with Baldwin, and that’s the way it really should be. And yet, in moments of insecurity, Jack does falter: whether it’s his ex-wife (Isabella Rossellini in a fantastic guest role), his troublesome family (Nathan Lane, Molly Shannon), or even his late season relationship with Phoebe the bird girl. Jack does have a heart, of sorts, but yet his life as a cutthroat executive is always first and foremost. He might eventually pull Kenneth out of performing sex acts to guest star Will Arnett, but he definitely sent him in the first place to help out his own cause. That duality is funny, charming, and pulled off wonderfully by Baldwin. And it’s a performance that is likely to garner him an Emmy nomination.

Episode Selection: “Jack-Tor” (Aired November 16th, 2007)

I am ignoring his actual selection here not because I dislike it, but because of my affection for this particular episode. “Hiatus”, the season finale, features some great interaction with Elaine Stritch playing his mother, and his arc within the episode is certainly a decent one. But it has Jack out of his element: he’s in bed with Phoebe, or stuck in a hospital bed. Jack is at his finest in his own habitat.

And thus I have to choose an early season episode that convinced me that this series was officially going somewhere. Jack-Tor covers everything great about Jack: his corporate background, his tough exterior, his attempts to fit in, his insecurities, his relationship with Liz, his…well, this episode has everything for me. More than Hiatus, this episode defines what Alec Baldwin is able to bring to this character on a weekly basis. Plus, it contains perhaps the greatest sequence in all of comedy this past year, which will follow in YouTube form. The rest of the episode has some other stuff…but this is basically an Emmy reel in itself.

YouTube – “Jack-Tor”

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Kyle Chandler (Eric Taylor)

Friday Night Lights

A small town football team is only as good as its coach. While there may be individual stars, while there may be supportive fans, they will be nothing without the guidance of a coach who can step forward and lead his or her team to victory. Much like a small town football team, a television drama is nothing with its lead actor, and in this case this analogy could not be more apt. Kyle Chandler delivers a career performance as Coach Eric Taylor, a man who is still overwhelmed by the spectacle of small town Dillon, Texas, but is always powerful and strong when it comes to leading his team. I don’t think I knew Chandler had it in him: to be so vicious and intimidating in the locker room at halftime when his team needs encouragement or discipline takes a lot of skill, and Chandler always nails it. Coach Taylor is never too mean, too vindictive, and yet is never too soft in the process. Even as we see his softer side at home with his family, we always still believe he could kick our ass if he put his mind to it. That duality is brought to life in Eric Taylor by Kyle Chandler, and it is most certainly an Emmy worthy portrayal.

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June 20, 2007 · 3:52 pm

The Office: The Video Game

Okay, so turning a TV series into a video game has never been an easy proposition, at least not on the live action side of things. While we all have fond memories of the licensed titles surrounding shows like Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers, I think that Alias and 24 have shown us that these properties (Even ones that SEEM like good video game ideas) are not likely to ever turn out something overly compelling from a game design point of view.

But, MumboJumbo Games is out to change this perspective with a new perspective: rather than trying to create some sort of high-class experience from a dramatic property, tap into the casual gaming market with a game based on a popular comedy program. And thus, The Office: The Video Game is born.

From Variety:

It plans to turn “The Office” into a humorous game in which players have to handle jobs and play pranks at Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch.

“We were anxious to expand our audience with a property that has broad appeal and works well as a game,” said MumboJumbo VP of product development Mike Suarez. “It will help us to demonstrate that casual games are the true mass videogame market.”

MumboJumbo has likeness rights to the show’s cast, who will be portrayed as bobblehead-type dolls. Game will also feature audio and video clips from the show.

My personal thoughts on this? I wasn’t really clambering for a video game version of Dwight. I mean, I get what they’re trying to do here, appealing to a casual audience, but they will face one rather substantial problem: the audience of The Office is smarter than that. Licensed video games on systems like the Nintendo DS and Sony’s PSP (The two systems the game will appear on) are often crappy, but because they’re appealing to mostly a younger audience parents will buy them because they’re familiar.

In this situation, myself and most Office viewers know better than to pay $30 for a licensed title that likely isn’t very good. These cheap titles are designed to be just that: cheap to make, profitable for their publisher as a result. However, they rely on uninformed buyers purchasing them not knowing their poor quality as a result of that cheap development. And yet, I think that a majority of the possible audience for this title will know better.

But hey, I might be wrong: maybe people want to take on a Bobblehead version of Michael live on their portable system of choice or their PC. They’ll get their chance soon, as the game releases this fall.

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June 20, 2007 · 11:00 am

For Your Consideration: Lead Actors – Steve Carell and Matthew Fox

[In Week Three of Cultural Learnings’ 59th Annual Emmy Awards Nominations Preview, we’re looking at possible contenders for the Lead Actor awards in both drama and comedy. Today, we present our sixth set of candidates. For complete listings for the Supporting candidates from the past two weeks, check out our For Your Consideration index]

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Steve Carell (Michael Scott)

The Office

I don’t really know what to say about Steve Carell that hasn’t already been said. The fact that he didn’t win this award last year was a travesty, as his loss to Tony Shalhoub should have never happened. I wrote about Rainn Wilson two weeks ago that The Office really wouldn’t work without him, and I stand by that statement…but Dwight wouldn’t really work without Michael, and I don’t think that much of the show’s comedy would be as funny if the uncool, trying to be cool boss wasn’t around. What makes Carell so great in this role is his ability to throw everything into his comic performance, but then be able to bring it all back together to appear as a real human being. Without that quality, Carell would be a loose cannon on a show where all firearms must be precision weapons designed to entertain. However, although often giving the appearance of being entirely unstable, Michael Scott is a human being first and foremost, capable of love and loss and friendship and emotions. And with a deft comic hand and a sense of who his character really is, Steve Carell delivers a consistently Emmy worthy performance.

This season has allowed Carell a lot of movement within Michael’s character. He continued to go through relationship drama, struggled to relate to his co-workers as per usual, and had to deal with a convict and a gay man in his office (He didn’t do so well with either of them). And I have to commend him for managing to go through all of this (especially “Gay Witch Hunt”, which I found more disturbing than funny) while maintaining some level of sanity within Michael’s character. At the end of the season as he finds himself caring for a rapidly falling apart Jan and wondering how he got stuck in this mess, we relate to him and his situation. Carell can go through from hapless to empathetic in about two second flat, and he did so admirably throughout the season. While he doesn’t always get the same types of “gags” as Dwight or Jim, I think that his comedy is all in the setup. And this season saw a wide range of setups, and Carell’s performance within them is worthy of Emmy consideration.

Episode Selection: “Business School” (Aired February 15th, 2007)

I’m skipping forward to this section quicker than I might usually because I want to explain that this is where Carell lost the Emmy last year. His submitted episode, where he burnt his food on his George Foreman grill, was Michael at his most annoying. There was no heart, no caring within his character. This wasn’t Michael as an innocent, it was Michael as an ungracious jerk. So, this season he needed an episode that showcased that.

And he bloody well found it. Business School is a great episode for Carell because he is forced to face reality straight in the face, and his emotional side is showcased in the action’s coda. As he speaks to Ryan’s business class, he realizes that people believe he is irrelevant, that he has no future. He finds himself being attacked, and responds with throwing candy bars and ripping apart textbooks. But he is visibly angry at the end, frustrated with his place in his job. And then, at episode’s end, he visits Pam’s art show and proudly hangs the photo of their office up on the wall. It is poignant, it is funny, and it is great television. This is the episode that could win him an Emmy.

YouTube – “Business School”

And another of the episode’s coda, which wasn’t set to Edward Scissorhands or mashed with it in real life, but it makes it even more dramatic.

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Matthew Fox (Jack)

Lost

Matthew Fox has the rather unfortunate reputation as being someone who fans of Lost don’t really care about. Locke is the badass, Hurley’s the comic relief, Ben is the villain, Sawyer’s the rebel, and Jack is just kind of there. It didn’t help that this season we had to sit through one of the series’ most pointless backstories, a muddled mess of crazy tattoos and other such things from Jack’s past. “Stranger in a Strange Land”, and all of this talk of Jack lacking a hook needs to be put to rest, however. What makes Matthew Fox’s performance so strong as Jack is that, believe it or not, he’s all lies. He was on this island as a man damaged by his past, but he had to become a hero. Becoming a hero basically neutered Jack as a character, which is why there are very few who claim him as their favourite. However, there needs to be recognition for those who step up and who are conflicted heroes struggling to keep it together. Jack Shepherd is one of those characters, and Matthew Fox’s portrayal of him is worthy of Emmy consideration.

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June 19, 2007 · 10:15 am

For Your Consideration: Lead Actors – Hugh Laurie and Jason Lee

[In Week Three of Cultural Learnings’ 59th Annual Emmy Awards Nominations Preview, we’re looking at possible contenders for the Lead Actor awards in both drama and comedy. Today, we present our fifth set of candidates. For complete listings for the Supporting candidates from the past two weeks, check out our For Your Consideration index]

Lead Actor in a Drama

Hugh Laurie (Gregory House)

House

Alone amongst procedural dramas, there is no question that there is a single star of FOX’s House; Hugh Laurie’s portrayal of the prickly doctor has perhaps been one of the most universally loved in recent years. There is something about his demeanor that is so incredibly engaging, and there is little question that it elevates this drama from being a mid-level success to one of the highest rated dramas on television. And yet, there is something more to House than just his jokes; he is a damaged man, struggling to come to terms with his own lot in life. While the character can occasionally be written into a bit of a hole (And parts of the season find him mired in annoying legal drama), Laurie always manages to pull something out of his ass that is sheer genius. What makes his performance Emmy worthy is that in those moments that the show reveals itself as the shallow procedural it is at its core, Hugh Laurie’s House always shines through as a beacon of hope and high class television. It may just be my affinity for British accents, but I must consider Hugh Laurie as a serious Emmy contender.

What Laurie brings to the table, every time, is a sense of complete and total apathy for his co-workers, his patients, and pretty well everything around him. It’s a difficult role to play while remaining likable, but Laurie always does it. Whether he’s tearing apart Chase, Cameron and Foreman, or sparring with Wilson, or torturing Cuddy, it always seems like House is having a hell of a lot of fun with himself. For an entire episode he exists only in that mode, but then he ends up stepping in by episode’s end, meets the patient, interacts with them, and all of a sudden he cares. It’s like a light switch very suddenly turns on, and Laurie makes that transition every time without seeming too obvious about it. I keep waiting to see whether House will at some point cross a line between cantankerous doctor and insufferable jerk, but Laurie always walks that line extremely carefully. And, in his show-making efforts, Hugh Laurie turns in an Emmy worthy performance.

Episode Selection: “One Day, One Room” (Aired January 30th, 2007)

Smartly, the episode Laurie is submitting is the one where all of that is challenged, and where someone sees him for the tortured soul he really is as opposed to the façade he places in front of people. Unfortunately, it’s not the episode I would have picked. One Day, One Room isn’t his selection, but I like it more than “Half-wit”. When a rape victim enters into the clinic and spends time with House, who of course is his usual clinic self, and decides that she will only speak to him. She realizes that he is kind of like her, in a way…or maybe she’s just crazy. Either way, the entire episode lets Hugh Laurie enter into deep philosophical discussions, and under the guise of “drama” I believe that it is his strongest performance of the season. Of course, he submitted a different episode (One where he treats Dave Matthews’ musical savant) that is also good, but I like this one better. So tough, Hugh Laurie.

YouTube – “One Day, One Room”

EDIT: Okay, so Half-Wit is good too. It has Boomtown Rats’ “I Don’t Like Mondays”, a song I adore.

YouTube – “Half-Wit”

Lead Actor in a Comedy

Jason Lee (Earl)

My Name is Earl

I don’t watch My Name is Earl on a regular basis for a variety of reasons. While the show’s first season started strongly, I lost interest when it felt like nothing was really changing with the series. It was a charming show, and one that I enjoyed watching, but it just stopped surprising me at a certain point. What bits of this past season that I’ve seen haven’t been any more surprising, don’t get me wrong, but what I think has become clear is that consistency is the name of the game. And, central to that consistency, Jason Lee’s performance as Earl Hickey remains the central piece of the show’s puzzle. A show entirely about Joy, or Randy, or Darnell, or Catalina…none of it would work. Without Earl, the show would lack its everyman, a man who despite his past has a heart and has a purpose in life. I always believe Jason Lee in this role, and I empathize with him even as those around him might grate on my nerves. While the show might not have been able to keep my attention, I can’t help but believe that Jason Lee’s strong and consistent performance makes him worthy of Emmy consideration.

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June 18, 2007 · 5:09 pm

Supercest: ‘Heroes’ casts a superpowered boyfriend for Claire

It looks like the trend of heroes finding love with other heroes will be continuing on NBC’s Heroes. Cultural Learnings reported on the casting call for various roles on the drama series some time ago, but now one of those roles has been cast: Nick D’Agosto, who will be seen in the Sundance hit Rocket Science, will play the role of Claire’s beau next season in a recurring role. This follows the casting of Dania Ramirez (The Sopranos) as a series regular, who was recently cast in the role of a sexy latina (Yes, that’s the casting description).

Now, the Hollywood Reporter promises that his superpower will be, and I quote, “a very cool superpower”. It also confirms that his character name with be West, which is kind of unfortunate.

For the record, I don’t really know what that means, but it really makes me wonder how they are going to structure the show’s second season considering that they’re casting a hero as Claire’s boyfriend. We have no idea what Claire will even be doing this season. Will she be on the run? Will she be off attending college? Or back in high school? Or will she be somewhere else doing something else?

These casting initiatives are interesting, but it only makes me more concerned about the direction the show is heading. They need to be very careful in organizing the show’s second season, and adding new superheroes needs to be done in a careful fashion to avoid upsetting the show’s balance. At the very least, this “Supercest” seems to be a general theme, so they’re not moving too far away…but I guess I can’t help but question where this series goes from here.

We’ll find out in September, or perhaps later depending on now NBC organizes the series, when Heroes’ 2nd season premieres.

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June 18, 2007 · 11:00 am

For Your Consideration: Lead Actors – Edward James Olmos and Andy Richter

[In Week Three of Cultural Learnings’ 59th Annual Emmy Awards Nominations Preview, we’re looking at possible contenders for the Lead Actor awards in both drama and comedy. Today, we present our fourth set of candidates. For complete listings for the Supporting candidates from the past two weeks, check out our For Your Consideration index]

Lead Actor in a Drama

Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama)

Battlestar Galactica

Emmy voters like to pretend that Battlestar Galactica doesn’t exist, but I don’t really understand this perspective. The show is incredibly powerful television, and while its writing can be uneven I believe that its cast is always its strongest asset. And, as the pivotal figure at the center of it all, Edward James Olmos’ Bill Adama is the show’s rock if you will. This past season has seen Adama face a wide variety of different emotions, struggling to come to terms with his abandonment of his own crew on New Caprica and once again the betrayal of his son in a time of need. What Olmos brings to Adama, and to the show, is a sense of maturity; while the rest of the characters around him fall into various turmoil he is left to reassure and comfort all of them while also struggling with his own inner demons. That portrayal, voter ignorance or no voter ignorance, is worthy of Emmy consideration.

What makes Olmos so powerful in this role is that he has to wear so many hats (Note: none of these hats are literal, but I’d picture him in a nice fedora). He has to be admiral to the crew of the Battlestar Galactica. He has to be shrewd negotiator (And romantic tension partner) with President Roslin. He has to be father to Lee, and to more or less his adopted daughter Starbuck, but at the same time they are crew members and need to be treated accordingly. He needs to be friend and AA sponsor for Col. Tigh, and he also has to, you know, protect the entire flight from the pursuing Cylons. And, at season’s end, he sits on a tribunal which judges the guilt of Gaius Baltar in the mass murder of numerous humans on New Caprica.

And through it all Olmos is equal parts fatherly, orderly, strong, vulnerable, empowering, inspiring and just plain fantastic. There are parts of the show that we may criticize, but there can be no one who speaks ill of the performance from Edward James Olmos. Plus, he had a kickass moustache for a while this season. And all of those qualities, especially the moustache, make him worthy of Emmy consideration.

Episode Selection: “A Day in the Life” (Aired February 18th, 2007)

I don’t like this selection for one main reason: I didn’t particularly enjoy the episode. What frustrated me about this episode was that its gimmick, Adama’s wife comes back to haunt him in the present, just isn’t that engaging and seemed to be airing at a time when I really wanted the series to return to its more entertaining elements. However, I can’t deny that it perhaps contains the most dramatic and central performance that Olmos was able to give all season. It shows his tough life, having to balance all of those various roles while also struggling to come to terms with his past. It might not be my favourite episode (definitely isn’t), but I think that it has a decent chance with Emmy voters.

However, my selection would be “Unfinished Business”, where a series of boxing matches and flashbacks tell multiple stories, including Adama’s. Since so many BSG YouTube videos are fan shipper videos, I have to settle for a YouTube clip of this episode. Which is awesome.

YouTube – “Unfinished Business”

Lead Actor in a Comedy

Andy Richter (Andy Barker)

Andy Barker P.I.

It may have only lasted for six episodes, but Andy Barker P.I. was yet another perfect vehicle for Andy Richter that just didn’t catch on with audiences. While some may take this as final proof of his irrelevance, I like to view it as yet another example of society not quite “getting” Andy Richter. I don’t understand it: here, he plays an everyman, a simple accountant who finds himself wrapped up in criminal investigations that could not be more over his head. Watching him find delight in how he can connect accounting to the case (Being a P.I. isn’t so hard after all) is incredibly engaging, and Richter plays the perfect straight man. Straight men are often not appreciated enough within television comedy, and I think that this needs to change: as the innocent and yet incredibly intelligent Andy Barker, Andy Richter shines in a fashion worthy of Emmy consideration.

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June 16, 2007 · 10:33 am

How Aaron Sorkin Ruined ‘Studio 60’: Part One – Pilot Potential

[In this three part series, Cultural Learnings will investigate the fall of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the much-buzzed about NBC drama that failed to find ratings traction and lost creative drive throughout the series.]

Part One: Pilot Potential

I LOVED the Studio 60 pilot, just downright loved it. I watched that thing four or five times in August of last year, fascinated by the dialogue and the camera movements. Sure, it was all stuff that Sorkin had done on the West Wing, but back then I was young and didn’t understand most of it. Now, with an understanding of it, the decisions Sorkin made all seemed to contribute to the development of a show that I would want to watch on a weekly basis. Looking back now, however, this pilot was an entirely misleading, unrepresentative portrayal of the universe Sorkin intended to create. And, in the weeks that followed, Aaron Sorkin ruined Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

The pilot established various elements that could have made for an incredibly interesting show; unfortunately, Aaron Sorkin found a way to drive every single one of them into the ground.

– Matt and Harriet’s history could provide dramatic and comic tension for the series.

Well, it could have, but instead Sorkin turned it into the only dramatic tension in the entire show. And their “Jesus vs. Not Jesus” arguments were always the same, always not that interesting, and always something we’d heard before. In the pilot, Matt and Harriet working together was something that was to be awkward and difficult; in the rest of the series it just seemed like two people bickering all the time. When the rest of the cast calls Harriet on the bullshit in something like episode 17, it was about 15 episodes too late.

– Danny’s drug problem could be a recurring focus of his character, and a source of conflict between him and Matt.

Except that they completely disappeared after week one, only to reappear at strange times like this week’s episode where he referenced being an alcoholic. A cocaine addiction isn’t something that should go away that easily, and Sorkin is basically admitting that it was only a contrivance to get him away from the movie pictures. Which, really, should have been his desire the entire time while producing the show, but apparently everyone has forgotten about that. And yet it’s MATT who ends up addicted to painkillers late in the season. Go Sorkin.

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June 15, 2007 · 12:45 pm

For Your Consideration: Lead Actors – Kiefer Sutherland and Zach Braff

[In Week Three of Cultural Learnings’ 59th Annual Emmy Awards Nominations Preview, we’re looking at possible contenders for the Lead Actor awards in both drama and comedy. Today, we present our first set of candidates. For complete listings for the Supporting candidates from the past two weeks, check out our For Your Consideration index]

Lead Actor in a Drama

Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer)

24

Jack Bauer ended season five of 24 abducted by Chinese authorities for his fourth season antics at the Chinese consulate. It was the kind of cliffhanger the show had never really attempted, not to this degree anyways, and the result was what seemed like an opportunity for Kiefer Sutherland to really play around this season. Released by Chinese authorities after some form of convoluted plea agreement we never got a chance to understand (and that didn’t matter two hours later), Jack returned a damaged man struggling to come to terms with the torture he endured. Over the first four hours, Jack Bauer was a damaged man; while instinct and adrenaline kicked in as they usually would, Jack was slow on the draw in pretty well every instance. Kiefer Sutherland portrayed this character with just the right amount of breakdown: Jack was still Jack, but it was now more of a costume than it was his true feelings. That performance was won that could have won Sutherland his second straight emmy, and it is still worthy of a nomination. However, unfortunately for Sutherland, the rest of the season let Jack down.

I’ve read some points about Jack recently, and one of them is that Jack didn’t have enough action this season, that he never really got to be Jack Bauer. I would actually argue that the problem with Jack this season was that he was exactly like Jack Bauer, and his torture-riddled body was magically perfect from hour five onwards. What could have been a dramatic arc for the character basically became an excuse to gain a strong opening set of episodes, and the result was that Jack didn’t have a purpose during the middle of the season. Combine this with the lack of action, and you had a character without character, never really allowed to have any emotional depth.

Despite this, Kiefer is here is because he is both likely to be nominated and probably deserves it. I hold the writers responsible for all of the problems Kiefer faced, and he always lived up to whatever they asked of him. Also, while it was too little too late, the end of season arc featuring Audrey gave Sutherland a chance to return to the more emotional arc that was stronger at the beginning of the season. The thing about Sutherland is that his performance is always strong: even when the series dipped in season 4, for example, Sutherland was never responsible. From an acting perspective, Kiefer delivered an even performance pretty well all the way through Season Six, which is worthy of Emmy consideration.

Episode Selection: “6:00am – 7:00am” (Aired January 14th, 2007)

However, his chances of winning will all come down to which episode of the show he submits, and he has chosen to submit the first hour of the show’s two-hour season opener. This submission will pretty well ensure that he gains a nomination for the series: it shows the pain he suffered while in China, it shows him resolving to give up his own life for his country, and at the end of the episode he goes all Vampire on one of Fayed’s men and escapes their clutches. That combines the type of emotional storyline I discussed above with the bad-ass Jack that Dave and others were looking for. I think that the episode’s potential for Jack’s character wasn’t lived up to, but Emmy voters don’t know that. And, as a result, this episode will be more than enough to put Kiefer Sutherland up for Emmy consideration.

YouTube – “6:00am – 7:00am”

Lead Actor in a Comedy

Zach Braff (J.D.)

Scrubs

After the cinematic success found with Garden State, Zach Braff has become an award show mainstay for his role as John Dorian on NBC’s Scrubs…and I don’t really know why. Well, that’s not true: I can see how the combination of his popularity and his consistent performance have given him a higher profile than other superior comic actors. However, I figured out another reason while preparing for this series: there just aren’t that many male comedy leads out there right now. Braff, in comparison to what others there are, is actually a seasoned veteran with some strong comic turns and a sense of character able to switch between silly and serious quite easily. While J.D. no longer has the freshness he had during the first seasons, and the silly stuff can often go too far, Braff was as competent as ever this season…and in a shallow pool, that competence is more than enough to be considered for an Emmy award.

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June 15, 2007 · 10:00 am

Back from the Dead: Nurse Roberts Returns to Scrubs…sort of.

Last season on Scrubs, Laverne (Nurse Roberts, portrayed by Aloma Wright) passed away after a car accident that saw her character, with great faith in God, be cruelly taken from her colleagues at Sacred Heart. The death felt rushed, but it did finally provide the show some real emotional drama that actually resonated, so it was a creatively strong development…however, it appears that Bill Lawrence made a sacrifice in order to make it happen.

Variety reports that Lawrence, thinking it would be the show’s final season, killed the character to gain such emotional resonance and finality as discussed above…but there was an insurance plan. He promised Wright, not wanting to put her out of work, that he would bring her back as Laverne’s twin sister Shirley (Get it?) should the show be renewed. And, it appears that he has lived up to his word.

Now, Lawrence is keeping his promise, and Wright has been given the opportunity to play a character who’s the polar opposite of the spiritually minded Laverne: a single, alcoholic woman who shuns religion.

“It’s going to be fun developing another character after doing the same one for six years,” Wright said. “I’m glad to know he’s a man of his word and I’ve still got a job.”

This is a real feel good story: Wright was fantastic as the surly nurse, and it’s great that to see that she’ll be continuing on in the show. Plus, in a universe where I find characters are too often stuck in a rut, introducing a new character with a different outlook could be the shot in the arm the show needs.

Either way, heading into what is perhaps its final season, Scrubs appears to have advanced medicine to the point of bringing back the dead. Are there any other TV characters that you’d like to see resuscitated? I’m personally putting my vote in for Tom, the huggable oaf who Sawyer shot in cold blood in the lost finale. The Others need a good oaf around, and he was always my favourite.

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