Category Archives: Television

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 18, 2007 · 8:00 am

How Weird is ‘John from Cincinnati’?: Episode Two Review

It’s the second episode of HBO’s John from Cincinnati, and Cultural Learnings has decided to see just how weird it can get. A series of scenes will be analyzed based on their weirdness, and then a final conclusion will be made. How long will this last? Well, until things get either too weird or not weird enough.

How Weird is John from Cincinnati?

Episode Two: “His Visit, Day Two”

Scene:

Young Woman from last week approaches Mitch about filming him for a surf video.

Weirdness Factor:

Mild. Only because this young twenty-something surf filmmaker is driving a vintage one-seated…Porsche, maybe? That’s not normal.

Scene:

John from Cincinnati continues acting strangely, sits down on the toilet and is somewhat unable to use the bathroom. And then we watch Butchie take a dump. And he talks about it. A dump a grown man can be proud of.

Weirdness Factor:

Strong. Did we really need to see them take a shit? Was that the only way they could show us that John doesn’t need to use the bathroom? Or that Butchie isn’t getting dope sick while he’s around him?

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June 17, 2007 · 10:43 pm

Entourage Season Premiere – “Welcome to the Jungle” Review

Season Four Premiere

“Welcome to the Jungle”

Airdate: June 17th, 2007

In a rare cold open for HBO’s Entourage, a documentary filmmaker covers the filming of Medellin, the biographical film about Pablo Escobar that Vince and Eric are producing in Colombia. Asked what attracted them to the film, Vince says that it was everything, Eric says it was the script, and director Billy Walsh says it was the blood. And the rest of the episode follows much in that pattern: everything is struggling, the script is in trouble, and the blood is pouring. Taking the form of a documentary on the making of the film (Turtle is there as Vince’s assistant, Drama stops by while his show is on hiatus, Ari offers his own opinions from his office), this season premiere picked up on last season’s drama regarding getting financing for the film. The episode was something different for the series, and did exactly what it needed to do. After building for so many episodes to this conclusion, to this film process, we need to be able to see it…but it needs to be done in an accelerated fashion. And, that is what “Welcome to the Jungle” is all about.

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June 17, 2007 · 11:00 am

For Your Consideration: Lead Actors – Michael C. Hall and Josh Radnor

[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 third 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

Michael C. Hall (Dexter Morgan)

Dexter

Michael C. Hall spent years on Six Feet Under as perhaps the least nominated star of the HBO series. When it ended, he was probably not expected to make a huge splash compared to his high-profile co-stars like Peter Krause. Well, Michael C. Hall proved them all wrong, landing the starring role on Showtime’s Dexter and knocking it out of the park. Dexter is a character that needs to be likable and yet contain the type of rage and emotional distance required to represent his tortured past. Hall manages to walk this fine line in his various relationships on the show, and I believe that he has one of the toughest roles of any of the drama candidates. While so many of these actors need to act a certain way, Hall needs to present a character who is acting nearly all the time, lying to all those around him. And his deft ability to do so makes him worthy of Emmy consideration.

Dexter Morgan is a character that is a forensic blood analyst by day, but moonlights as a vigilante law enforcer, torturing and murdering people who have wronged others and slipped through the cracks of the justice system. Michael C. Hall brings him to life…well, that’s the wrong term, because part of Dexter (The caring, emotional part) is dead. As the season progressed, it became harder and harder to keep up his lie, and he even found himself regaining some of his emotions with his relationship with Rita. Combine this with the fact that an ice truck killer knows Dexter’s secret and is taunting him, and you have a man in a dire situation.

And Michael C. Hall always represented that. His delivery, his mannerisms, his actions, they all fit the incredibly hard to nail down profile of vigilante murdered lying to his friends and family and incapable of controlling his anger or caring about others. Dexter is not evil: he kills only those who deserve it based on rules set forth by his adopted father. And somehow, even as he murders someone almost every episode, Hall manages to make us empathize and care about this murderer, and yet still fear who he is and what he does. And that is a performance worthy of Emmy consideration.

Episode Selection: “Shrink Wrap” (Aired November 19th, 2006)

The season finale (“Born Free”) of Dexter is what has actually been selected, and it is still a fantastic piece of acting from Michael C. Hall. With his sister in danger and the ice truck killer’s identity revealed, Dexter must face his torturous past while making a final decision: does his past define him, or can he decide his own fate with his sister and the people who care about him? Both offer the titular freedom, but in very different ways, and Hall makes that decision just as hard as it should be.

But I think that the best episode for Dexter is “Shrink Wrap”, where he heads to a therapist as part of a case and ends up finding need for his services himself. It’s a powerful performance from Hall, as the following scene shows: Dexter finally tells someone the truth, if only right before he kills them.

YouTube – “Shrink Wrap”

Lead Actor in a Comedy

Josh Radnor (Ted)

How I Met Your Mother

Ted Moseby, architect. It must be a tough job, being straight man to the fantastic Neil Patrick Harris, but Josh Radnor always seems up to the task. He is an incredibly engaging lead, simultaneously believable as a young architect and as a guy who hangs around and swordfights with his best friend. While I don’t believe that he is the cast’s strongest component, like Cobie Smulders I believe he plays an integral role in ensuring the ensemble works. Ted is the glue that holds all of these people together, in a sense, and even without comic showcases I believe that makes him worthy of Emmy consideration.

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June 16, 2007 · 12:49 pm

For Your Consideration: Lead Actors – Tony Shalhoub and Enrico Colantoni

[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 second 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

Tony Shalhoub (Adrian Monk)

Monk

For the past two years, Tony Shalhoub has won the Emmy Award for Leading Actor in a Comedy. And every year, arguably, someone else probably deserved it more. I am not sure if the same will happen this year, but I want to make something clear: despite believing that Shalhoub perhaps isn’t better than some of his other candidates, he is an adept comic actor who infuses Monk with 90% of its charm. As a procedural dramedy, ostensibly, Monk is entirely reliant on Shalhoub’s performance of OCD-riddled, paranoid, uncomfortable and brilliant Adrian. While the show can be uneven, Shalhoub’s performance is always incredibly strong; very rarely do you ever become annoyed by his antics, even as the show sometimes loses sight of its proper goals. Considering his long string of nominations, Shalhoub is clearly a man who gives consistently great performances. And, while I might not select him to win, it’s hard not to consider his portrayal of Adrian Monk for Emmy Awards attention.

In the hands of a lesser actor, I believe that Monk would be an insufferable pain in the ass that we couldn’t imagine anyone actually liking. However, Shalhoub gives him an everyman quality: disconnected from society in so many ways, Monk is much like any other social outsider struggling to find his place in the world. And as he solves crimes in his brilliant fashion, it’s hard not to be charmed by his simple ways and genius mind. What Shalhoub does is make the comedy more pointed, the drama more humorous. Even as the show fails to live up to its potential through stupid stunts such as Monk chasing after a fighter jet (And catching it), Shalhoub always gives a performance that makes you keep watching. And that, although maybe not worthy of beating Steve Carell last year, is worthy of Emmy consideration.

Episode Selection: Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink (Aired August 11th, 2006)

This episode features the best of Adrian’s qualities in one episode. Faced with the thought of his long-time therapist Dr. Kroger (Stanley Kamel) ending, Monk has to face his own personal problems in an accelerated fashion. Desperate for guidance, he goes to his house and attempts to solve the murder in Kroger’s office in order to bring him back to work. It features most of Monk’s best qualities: his feud with fellow patient Harold, his insecurity about his mental health, his reaction to a new therapist with only one arm (Not symmetrical), and his broad comedy. It is a tour de force comic performance, highlighted by his speedy trip through the stages of grief that is basically an Emmy reel in itself.

YouTube – “Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink”

Lead Actor in a Drama

Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars)

Veronica Mars

I was somewhat surprised to see that Veronica Mars’ Enrico Colantoni had submitted in the Lead Actor category, as I really never saw his performance as being on that level. Sure, I love Keith just as much as the next fan of the show, but he’s being classified a lead actor purely due to his acting pedigree. In reality, I’d call Jason Dohring more of a lead actor this season than Keith was, but I have to go with what was submitted. It’s really not that hard, however, to make a case for Colantoni’s Emmy worthiness. Keith is a memorable television father whose love for his daughter faced many challenges over three seasons but never waned. As the show comes to an end, it is unlikely that it will be garnering Emmy attention as it doesn’t seem to write Emmy bait episodes like other series. However, there is something about Colantoni’s performance that simultaneously portrayed Keith as kind, concerned, protective and pretty darn cool: and that’s worthy of Emmy consideration for the Veronica Mars actor.

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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 · 8:42 pm

The Return of ‘Jericho’ Gets CBS Ad Attention during ‘The Price is Right’

Bob Barker’s final episode of The Price is Right was a classy affair that, despite being just another episode on the surface, felt representative of everything the show stood for. However, as we say goodbye to Bob Barker, it was hard to ignore the push that CBS is giving one of the shows it said goodbye to in May before reconsidering. That show is ‘Jericho’.

The advertisement is everything that CBS should be doing to promote the show (It is also being placed at the end of some CBS Innertube viewings). Starting with various scenes from the end of the show’s first season, it reminds viewers that only once in a long while is there a show that fans will fight to keep on the air. And that show is…Jericho.

The commercial goes on to inform viewers that the show will begin reruns on July 6th, and on the whole really makes the show out to be something that people should pay attention to. And let me tell you, the commercial is effective: it features the emotion of the show’s characters and doesn’t try to bog viewers down in the conspiracies seen throughout the show’s first season.

Now, while the show wasn’t peppered with the ads or anything, I think it shows that CBS is willing to spread the word about this series in what might well be one of the highest rated specials of the summer season (We’ll get final ratings tomorrow). For now, fans of the series can finally believe that the network will be in their corner, and can hope for more coverage this evening during the Daytime Emmy Awards.

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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 · 11:01 am

Cultural Learnings’ ‘For Your Consideration’: Week Three Update

Considering that we are now through two of five weeks of Emmy Nominations previews here at Cultural Learnings, I figured I’d give everyone a little update on how things are going heading into Week Three.

FYC: Index

Now that two weeks are gone, the For Your Consideration Index now has enough information for you to spend hours watching YouTube clips and reading up on who’s who in this year’s Emmy race. If you’ve missed any of the daily updates, all of them can be found nicely sorted into categories in the Index: Supporting Actor in a Comedy, Supporting Actor in a Drama, Supporting Actress in a Comedy, Supporting Actress in a Drama.

By the time this process finishes, this section will be chock full of some of the season’s best scenes and performances according to our own selections. After the nominations are announced on July 19th, some of these individuals might make the cut…and others might not.

FYC: Jericho

Fans of the CBS drama have made their voices heard, and a collection of their passion for Jericho and its cast have been collected at the FYC: Jericho page. These are not just fan ramblings: these people are well-spoken and articulate about what makes their show great, and this type of passion should be what every series searches for. To add your own thoughts to the page, send off an email to cultural.learnings @ gmail.com.

Week Three: Lead Actors

It’s time for the leading actors, and these are a much tougher bunch. While supporting roles are varied and provide plenty of room for selectivity, the same cannot be said for leading actors. As a result, there will be times where I question my own decisions…but there just wasn’t any other decision to make, I’m afraid. Either way, there’s plenty of contenders out there, so stay tuned for some thorough analysis as the week progresses. Today, we start with a winner from last year and a perennial nominee from NBC’s Comedy Night Done Right, so stay tuned for that.

As we start counting down the days until the Nominations are announced (35 days remaining!), feel free to send off an email with your own candidate, or your own thoughts on the pending awards. Also stay tuned for details on the rest of Cultural Learnings’ Emmy coverage to continue over the summer.

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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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