Category Archives: Television

August 6, 2007 · 9:13 pm

Canadian Idol – August 6th – The Top 7 with the Music of Queen

We open the show with a ludicrously overdramatic recap that sounds like some sort of ludicrous “Previously On” segment. Honestly, it was one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen. This is quite the way to open what could be a painful evening of Canadian Idol. Because, let’s face it: NO ONE sounds as good as Freddie Mercury. Especially not these singers.

The Top 7 worked with Brian May and Roger Taylor, members of Queen of course, and the judges prattle on for a while (And Zack wants them to rock…OR ELSE).

Brian Melo – “Too Much Love Will Kill You” (…Queen)

Brian May is all excited not about their identical initials, but rather the fact that he picked a song he performed at Freddie’s Memorial concert. I consider this cheating: although a version featuring Mercury was released, Brian isn’t really trying to sing a real Queen song. While cheating, it is also ludicrously smart. As the crowd rocks out with glowsticks, Brian sounds really good until he totally biffs the chorus (in my view). It was really moving at the beginning, but I just felt that the emotion kind of petered off in the chorus. That said my mother did change the sound on the TV at about that point, so I’d say that was maybe part of it. Some great vocals in the beginning, though.

What the judges think: Jake was moved, Farley felt it was good with his brassy tones, Sass liked its smooth/rough juxtaposition, and Zack thought it was pitchy all over the place. Eh, I disagree about the beginning, but that was my issue with the chorus I think.

The Freddie Factor: N/A, since he really didn’t sing a song he made famous.

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Filed under Canadian Idol, CTV, Reality TV, Television

Tagged as Summer TV

August 6, 2007 · 9:00 am

Cultural Learnings’ Summer TV Wrapup – Introduction

As we head into the month of August, the large majority of Summer Television is either heading into the home stretch or debuting its first episodes as it heads into the Fall. However, since Emmy Awards hype will once again take over Cultural Learnings in the months ahead, I figure now’s the best time to look back at the Summer and the television that is has brought us. And thus Cultural Learnings’ Summer TV Wrapup was born.

This includes the good and the bad, the much loved and much hated, and both reality and scripted television. I’ll be bringing attention to the shows you should be watching, the shows I should have watched sooner, as well as those shows that might not be worth watching at all. I’ll also settle the Karaoke wars once and for all, plus look at which returning summer series I deem the most disappointing of the season.

Starting later today, this 14-part series will begin, and over the next week and a half or so you’ll be able to get the rundown on the summer season thus far. Will your favourite guilty pleasure make the list? Well, only time will tell.

In the meantime, while I’m out enjoying the summer myself, send me an email about your favourite summer series, or maybe the series you’re discovering or rediscovering over the summer through repeats or on DVD. You can send me an email at cultural.learnings @ gmail.com (Without the spaces), and I might include your comments in one of my posts.

Also, to get an idea of what I might be covering, check out the Summer TV Category here at Cultural Learnings for all of our seasonal coverage over the past months.

Entourage – “Gary’s Desk” Review

Entourage Review

“Gary’s Desk”

This is an important step for Entourage, because Eric has been a fairly worthless character for quite some time. He’s been Vince’s lackey instead of being Vince’s manager for pretty well the entire season (Ari’s exact words are that he’s spend the last few years hibernating in Vince’s ass), and now he’s finally trying to break through on his own. The result is a refreshing combination of Eric being uncomfortable and the return of my favourite Entourage cameo actor, Gary Busey.

The writing seemed sharper this week, compared to the last few weeks worth of episodes. I’ll admit it right now, I’m a sucker for the eccentricities of Gary Busey; it’s one of those aspects of the series that made me laugh the first time around. In fact, the episode was chock full of celebrity cameos: Mary J. Blige, Peter Jackson, and of course Busey. Combine it with the return of Debi Mazar, if briefly, and you have quite the episode.

I like that the episode provided some sort of structure to move forward with for E’s character. As a manager, a real manager, he can actually have something to do other than simply walking alongside Vince. The article about Nepotism is Variety is entirely true: Eric has worked hard, but he got where he is entirely based on his relationship with Vince. Now, he has to test that out in new horizons.

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Tagged as HBO, Summer TV

August 5, 2007 · 12:32 pm

Pilot Preview: FOX’s “Sarah Connor Chronicles”

I have a confession to make: I’ve never actually sat down and watched the Terminator movies. While I’ve been catching up on television over the past few years in terms of what I missed in the days before my obsession, films have yet to receive the same treatment. And so, James Cameron’s films (I’m ignoring T3) have basically no resonance on my opinion of FOX’s new drama series, Sarah Connor Chronicles, which extends that universe into the world of television.

And so, when I offer my opinion, I can only do so as someone who has no idea if it’s destroying the mythology or ruining the franchise even more than T3 did. What I do know is that the pilot is a fast-paced adrenaline ride that creates the proper breeding ground for an action drama series that hasn’t quite actually grown yet, and that I don’t think it can possibly keep up this pace.

Therefore, let’s just say right now that the pilot is an entertaining 43 minutes of television drama, well-directed by David Nutter and generally well cast. I had a few quibbles with the writing in terms of Summer Glau’s female Terminator, but these are more or less quibbles in the grand scheme of things. The action feels real, the pacing seems right, and the plot that is revealed is neither too daunting nor too miniscule to drive interest in the series.

But, the important question is, where to we go from here? The pilot opens a whole host of doors for the series, and yet it gives absolutely no indication of which one it will enter. Let’s investigate these doors, and then we’ll try to piece together where the series goes from here.

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Filed under 2007 Fall Preview, FOX, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Television

Tagged as Pilots

August 3, 2007 · 7:28 am

Fall Schedule Shakeup at FOX: ‘New Amsterdam’ Shelved, ‘Lyrics’ returns, ‘Bones’ moves

Via Variety, word has broken that FOX is shuffling its fall schedule to, well, I don’t really know why they’re doing it. On the one hand, their new schedule certainly seems like it will be more competitive. However, at the same time, I don’t believe that the switch from new programming to reality programming is going to do much good for the network’s pedigree.

Variety: Fox Shuffles Fall Schedule (Aug. 2nd)

The Details:

New Amsterdam, FOX’s crime procedural about a 400+ year old man who will only be able to age when he finds his true love, has been shelved until midseason. It will likely debut in the Fridays at 9pm timeslot that it would have been moving to in January anyways thanks to American Idol.

Why is it moving? My guess is a combination of retooling (The show isn’t shutting down production, but certainly they’ll be slowing down a bit) and perhaps it just isn’t coming together very well. It should be interesting to see whether more news breaks about this in the coming days.

Bones, meanwhile, is moving to find itself a new timeslot away from a rather tough Wednesday 9pm lineup (Private Practice, Criminal Minds, Bionic Woman). The FOX forensic crime procedural will be moving to New Amsterdam’s timeslot of 8pm on Tuesdays (Starting on September 25th) before itself likely moving to Fridays at 8 in January.

Why is it moving? Well, it’s more because of what else is moving, but more importantly it gives the show its own timeslot in its chosen genre (The only competition being NCIS, which skews older). So, considering they want it to survive on Fridays in the Spring, they need to give it a boost.

The other news deals with two reality shows.

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Filed under 2007 Fall Preview, Bones, Don't Forget the Lyrics, FOX, New Amsterdam, Television

Tagged as Pilots

August 2, 2007 · 5:23 pm

2007-2008 Fall Premiere News – ‘Boston Legal’ sets its date

ABC has finally gotten around to announcing that their Emmy-nominated Drama series, Boston Legal (featuring Emmy nominee William Shatner), will premiere its fourth season on September 25th. The episode will be a special 90-minute episode (Which apparently David E. Kelley wasn’t happy with, which makes this all really weird), and will air at 9:30 after Dancing with the Stars before settling into its 10pm timeslot.

This date has been added to Cultural Learnings’ Fall Premiere List, which has all the details on when your favourite show debuts this fall.

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Filed under 2007 Fall Preview, ABC, Boston Legal, Television

August 2, 2007 · 9:00 am

Pilot Preview: NBC’s ‘Chuck’

When Josh Schwartz created The O.C., he became a household name due to the show’s success and the pop culture phenomenon that developed. He was the young writer-producer who was setting television on fire, and the world was at his doorstep waiting for him to emerge victorious again. However, The O.C. ran into some trouble, and all of a sudden Josh Schwartz was behind a losing property that limped to its fourth season finale.

What this has given Josh Schwartz is one less steady pay cheque, perhaps, but also a new lease on life. The O.C. remained a credible formula for Schwartz because he balanced the oversexed teenage promiscuousness with witty and sarcastic banter, and those two parts stayed relatively intact following its demise. And so, like the sensible and smart man he is, Josh Schwartz took the oversexed teenage promiscuousness and channeled it into “Gossip Girl” for The CW, and took the witty and sarcastic banner and found a home for it on NBC.

The resulting show is Chuck (Premiering on Monday, September 24th at 8pm on NBC), an action-thriller comedy series that places Schwartz’s sharp dialogue into a setting more acceptable for the Seth-like viewers the show is trying to reel in. The result is a series that is sharp, funny, and certainly one of the most potential-filled pilots of the 2007 Fall Season.

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Tagged as Pilots

August 1, 2007 · 8:00 am

10 Potential Storylines for Mary-Kate Olsen on Showtime’s ‘Weeds’

On August 13th, Mary-Kate Olsen will emerge from her twin sister’s shadow and take arguably the largest starring role of her career as a cast members of Showtime’s Weeds. I’ll be honest with you: this is stunt casting at its finest. The role of a conservative Christian teenager who falls into a relationship with Silas (Hunter Parrish) could have been filled with scores of other young actresses, but Showtime likely insisted on someone that could get people talking.

So, I figure that Jenji Kohan and her writing staff should take advantage of this and be sure to milk their new co-star’s pedigree of sorts when writing the new season of Weeds (For more info on the new season, you can read Cultural Learnings’ Weeds: Season Three Preview.) Here’s ten possible storylines for the former child star that might get people talking; for some fascinating examples of said discussion, head over to my pal Erin’s juicy Olsen Twins gossip page, MKAshley.

1. Pregnancy

Silas already got his girlfriend Megan pregnant by putting holes in condoms, so it’s not as if there isn’t already a precedent here. Plus, if she gets pregnant on the show, it will start a whole slew of real life pregnancy tabloid rumours that will send the internet into a frenzy. It has all sorts of potential going against her fundamentalist background on the show as well.

2. Marijuana Dependency

The show’s called Weeds, people, so dabbling in the Mary Jane seems like a logical step for Mary-Kate. Silas takes on a new role in Nancy’s business in the fourth episode of the season that could make him into the facilitator of this dependency as well.

3. Alcoholism

It’s big with the teen queens these days (Oh Lindsay Lohan), and the series has not frowned from depicting the effects of alcohol in the past (Celia has a wonderful affair with the bottle early in the show’s third season). Plus, since Silas is a petty criminal, it would help them bond if she had a record as well.

4. Secret Twin Sister

It is somewhat sad I only got to #4 before trotting out this one, but it’s just too perfect. One sister can be the conservative christian, the other one can want to get into Silas’ pants. Comic hijinx ensue.

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Tagged as Mary-Kate Olsen, Showtime

July 31, 2007 · 9:59 pm

Canadian Idol – July 31st – Top 8 Results with Enrique Iglesias

Welcome to the Top 8 Results show…and we jump right into the Group Sing of “These are Days” by 10,000 Maniacs in all of its acoustic glory. We start with Brian (Good), Martha (Overly Theatric), Jaydee (Awful), Matt (I didn’t even see his solo), Tara (As you’d expect), Greg (Huge crowd reaction), Carly Rae (Nice), Dwight (As you’d expect). Ben returns to inform us that seven will remain, and that Enrique will be performing soon.

My prediction, to say it right now: Martha, Carly Rae and Brian in the Bottom Three. Martha or Carly Rae go home. Also possible: Matt or Jaydee taking Brian’s spot, depending on the level of post-Green Day backlash. Want to know how last night’s show went? Check out Cultural Learnings’ full recap.

So, now it’s time for Enrique Iglesias to go unplugged. Sarah mentioned last night that he does this on a regular basis, and I don’t doubt that is the case: his voice is powerful enough that he can bring intensity to a song like this. However, I still don’t think he’s the best representative of the genre in any way, shape or form. I’m also really, really distracted by the echo on his vocals, whether it’s a background vocalist or not. On the whole, a good arrangement of the song, which itself is a bit lyrically simple. Andd then Enrique started twirling, almost, it was strange. And now he wants us to follow doors. And then he kept saying “crazy,” and it was a bit weird. Still, his honesty was kind of nice.

And, as an encore of sorts, he pulls out “Be With You.” Damn, I was really holding out for “Bailamos”. However, he is now decidedly plugged in. And now, after all of the singing and Enrique pimpage, we’re left with the results.

Results (2.8 Million Votes):

We’re doing only a Bottom Two, ouch. Jaydee must have been Bottom Three, he’s being protected

Tara, Greg, Matt, Carly Rae – Matt Rapley is in the Bottom Two. YES! Oh, I mean, too bad.

Brian, Jaydee, Dwight, Martha –Martha Joy is in the Bottom Two.

Wow, this is like the greatest bottom two ever. I think that they both failed miserably to embrace the theme, and one of them going home is for the best at this stage of the competition. I think they’re both incredibly talented singers, but performance wise they never stepped up.

And we’re back. Will it be the chanteuse or the smooth-voiced teen? The answer is…

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Tagged as Summer TV

July 31, 2007 · 9:00 am

Pilot Previews: How ‘Cavemen’, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and ‘Aliens in America’ Confront Stereotypes

[Regardless of what I think about some of the fall pilots, there are three comedies that each deal with prominent cultural stereotypes to very different degrees. Rather than review them individually (I’d be overly mean to some of them if I did), I figure I’d run them down in relation to their ability to deal with these sensitive cultural issues.]

Cavemen (ABC)

Culture in Question: Prehistoric Man (Cavemen)

Yes, Cavemen deals with the stereotyping of a non-existent culture, and there is a distinct problem with this: the writers are not capable of forgetting real cultural stereotypes in the process. The entire series basically boils down to stealing every single African-American sitcom joke and just transferring it to these hairy neanderthals. The Cavemen feel out of place at a country club, they feel that their crime is more reporter than white crime, and they worry about interracial marriage.

Cultural Impact: Setting the clock back decades. By presenting a culture of exclusion to a level not seen since the 70s, it’s basically making North America out to be this cultural dead zone incapable of accepting other cultures. And while racism is still a serious issue, ignoring any of the past three decades of advancement is just insulting to the efforts of the civil rights movement.

The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

Culture in Question: Geek Culture

While certainly not attempting to prescribe a moral to the state of geek culture, The Big Bang Theory does attempt to represent it. In the process, however, the geek turns into a complete sitcom stereotype: they play World of Warcraft, they watch Battlestar Galactica (w/ Commentary) and they don’t know how to talk to girls. This, in the mind of sitcom writers, is a geek in a nutshell.

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Filed under 2007 Fall Preview, ABC, Aliens in America, Battlestar Galactica, Cavemen, Television, The Big Bang Theory, The CW

Tagged as CBS, Pilots