April 28, 2008 · 12:27 am

Brothers & Sisters – “Double Negative”

“Double Negative”

April 27th, 2008

I have absolutely nothing against Justin Walker and Rebecca Harper. I have nothing against Dave Annable or Emily VanCamp, two attractive and charistmatic young actors who in real life make a charming couple. I don’t have anything against romance, having myself been a shipper in a past life (Oh, who am I kidding, a present life).

And yet, I have all sorts of issues with the forbidden, quasi-incestual love affair between these two characters, characters I like stuck in a storyline that just feels wrong. I know it’s been inevitable, with rumors and storylines leading us to this point, but the way it has been handled has made its problems even more apparent. These two actors have chemistry, but the writers are forcing their characters to overcome a fairly substantial hurdle (You know, being related) through a series of contrived hoops and over-exaggerated characterizations.

If this reveal had been done a few months into their friendship, I might buy it – as it stands, it’s just a bit too awkward and forced for me to accept being slapped in the face with it over and over again. “Double Negative” has all sorts of other storylines, so let’s talk about those before my rant drivels on any further.

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April 26, 2008 · 11:26 pm

Battlestar Galactica: “Escape Velocity”

“Escape Velocity”

April 25th, 2008

It was inevitable: after a monumentally eventful third episode for the show’s fourth season, we were bound to find ourselves at least mildly disappointed in “Extreme Velocity.” Written by Jane Espenson and directed by Edward James Olmos (Adama, for the unknowing), the episode was very slight: of the four plots that we picked up on last week, we abandoned two of them while the other two never really showed any new potential to the level that fans had imagined it.

In other words, we probably wouldn’t have conceived an episode that portrays a predictable Tyrol-like response to Cally’s death, and we wouldn’t have abandoned the Cylon Civil War in order to focus on not Baltar’s character, per se, but rather the emergence of his total religiousity. For others, it might hearken back to the unfortunate string of episodes at the conclusion of the third season that the show admits were desperate attempts to save an episode in the editing room.

I don’t think it is nearly to that level: while certainly a lighter episode on plot than we are used to, there was nothing overly objectionable about its content. Considering that the themes of the season are very much returning to the opening of the second season and the division within the fleet along religious lines, it is good that we are seeing more of both politics and people relating to this development. While I do think that a few of the storylines felt like they were getting either too much or too little time, and that there were certainly some balance or editing issues to deal with, the end result is a decent setup for the things to come.

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April 26, 2008 · 1:01 am

The Challenge of Streaming Video in Canada

With a flick of a switch, and the power of a battery company, streaming video of shows people actually want to watch (legally) comes to Canada. CTV announced today (Friday) that starting immediately episodes of three of the top-rated shows on television will be available to Canadians on CTV.ca – Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives will see their new episodes available for four weeks after their first airing, allowing those who miss out to catch up.

This is triumphant for CTV, who has oft-struggled to keep their sagging broadband audience at bay after a disappointing lack of continued support beyond certain series, as they can lay claim to the only major Canadian network offering multiple high-tier series in a legal and well-supported platform (All of BellGlobeMedia’s online presences have integrated a new online streaming system far superior to their old one).

This could also be triumphant for people in Canada who have seen “This Video is Not Available in your region” one too many times – with all of the major American streaming sites, whether CBS’ Innertube or ABC.com’s episode viewer, locked out to eyes North of the border due to CRTC regulations, this could be the Great White Hope: a light at the end of the tunnel for an emergence of a broad and all-encompassing broadband presence.

Unfortunately, that just isn’t going to work.

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April 24, 2008 · 10:55 pm

Lost – “The Shape of Things To Come”

“The Shape of Things to Come”

April 24th, 2008

Of all of Lost’s characters, I think I missed Daniel Faraday the most. He’s such a piece of work, but not in a negative context: he’s just a perfect character for this moment, a man too caught up in his own scientific world to hide his knowledge of things of a social nature. He’s also, admittedly, an opportunity to get a little bit meta, as seen in his answer to Jack’s question as to when he last saw a washed up member of the boat’s crew:

“When is kind of a…relative term”

It was said with the most delightful uncertainty, with total certainty in his answer but not in the reactions he thinks he will receive. The show, perhaps, might be on the same page: as we travel into Ben’s future as he wakes up in the middle of the Sahara Desert, we learn that he is in a particular time and place: October 2005, to be exact, right at the time when Sayid is burying his wife in peace. Is it the start of a beautiful friendship? Well, perhaps, but it’s also a total time warp.

If this is the shape of things to come, then I would say it is a shape of indeterminate size, of indeterminate shape, and yet most certainly growing to dangerous proportions. Both in the present and the future, said shape grows in Benjamin Linus – this was a showcase of acting from Michael Emerson, and a fantastic and intriguing display of the way this show works, and the way this show will work in the future. We don’t know exactly what will come, but we know that it looks pretty damn intense.

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April 24, 2008 · 10:25 pm

30 Rock – “Succession”

“Succession”

April 24th, 2008

I’ll be getting to Office and Grey’s Anatomy in the morning (Depending on how the last one strikes my fancy, same goes with Ugly Betty for that matter), but on this ridiculously busy night of television I certainly think that 30 Rock wasn’t on its game all the way through. I admittedly was a bit distracted by the thrilling conclusion to the Montreal Canadiens game, but something about “Succession” didn’t, quite, succeed.

The return of Will Arnett is certainly a strong development, and he was delightful as usual, but the storylines never quite clicked in this one: Tracy had nothing to do, Liz was totally out of character (And slightly too far for it to remain funny throughout), and the succession storyline was too predictable by half. And yet, then someone saved the day in a billowing cape.

It was Dr. Spaceman in a brilliant scene (And apparently a sendoff of Amadeus, I hear?)

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April 23, 2008 · 1:03 pm

Emmys Add Reality TV Host Category; Seacrest Ecstatic

When it comes to Reality Competition programs and the Emmy Awards, it has been a clean sweep: The Amazing Race just refuses to lose the award. Whether it is its sweeping vistas, its willingness to let people fall apart without contrivances or twists, or the killer fatigue that the race’s events and pace take on the racers, the show just seems to click with Emmy voters on a variety of levels. However, now we get to answer a bigger question: does it also have the best host?

Zap2it: Reality Hosts Get Emmy Category

Much loved by fans of the series, TAR’s host Phil Keoghan is certainly not a household name and outside of providing voiceover narration and end of leg banter he really doesn’t do so much in terms of traditional hosting. While I am a fan of his work (No host’s eyebrows work as well as his in conveying surprise or emotion), he in no way drives the show forward. This is a category built for the people who are in command of a series, whose work makes or breaks the structure of an episode. On this parameter, it is a host like Ryan Seacrest that has the most to gain.

Regardless of one’s opinion of Idol, you have to admit that Seacrest is good at his job: while he was an absolute bomb of an Emmy host largely thanks to downright awful material (He’s not a comedian), the much more spontaneous format of American Idol suits him. Whether it’s arguing with Simon or speaking to the contestants, there is an ease about him that helps Idol flow – I’m not sure if he deserves all of the hype, per se, but below that hype I know there’s a good host there.

Seacrest’s competition for the award is limited, although fairly diverse considering. I don’t know if Keoghan’s understated performances will be capable of getting him into the fold, but the show’s success could carry him there amongst more showy MCs of sorts such as Ty Pennington for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition or Tom Bergeron, who is really quite good when it comes to the improvisational nature of his job on Dancing with the Stars. Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum each have a particularly limited yet vital role to their shows, but I don’t know if they can lay claim to it the same way that someone like Jeff Probst does, who has done great work leading tribal councils and torturing people during challenges for 16 seasons now. I’d say he’s Seacrest’s biggest competition, no question.

However, this all begs a rather important question that Seacrest needs to think about: will his own potential success not absolutely without question guarantee that his show will never win the Emmy?

I think it does.

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April 22, 2008 · 9:09 pm

American Idol – Top 6 – “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber”

“The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber”

Top 6 – April 22nd, 2008

So Cultural Learnings has been Idol-free for pretty much the entirety of this season, which isn’t to say I haven’t been watching – I’ve just been, admittedly, distracted by real life commitments and kinda bored with the contestants. However, two things aligned this week: the arrival of a lot of free time and the potential tranwreck that is American Idol going Broadway.

I will admit to being a fan of the broadway bombast, even its overly sappy ballads – so to see these Idols destroy or finally embrace their inner broadway star is a fantastic idea…for the viewer. For the Idols, it’s a huge gamble, but for us it’s an endless source of entertainment.

And wow, did they deliver on that promise…maybe not in the ways they wanted.

Syesha Mercado – “One Rock ‘n’ Roll Too Many”

It’s unfortunate that we are starting with what is ultimately perhaps the evening’s most explosive performance, a sudden burst of personality from Syesha Mercado. This relatively obscure song from 1984’s Starlight Express was an ideal choice for Syesha as it allowed her to show her sassy and seductive side. That sex appeal is the best we’ve seen from her, and it felt like Kelly Clarkson’s breakout Big Band performance in the first season.

I don’t know if Syesha can take this momentum any further as Clarkson did, as I don’t think her pop star chops are up to her Broadway antics, but she was definitely up to the challenge of this difficult task. She came out with a punchy number that was engaging for the audience, that really seemed to click with everyone, and Ricky Minor dancing was worth the price of admission. A lot of Idols have had great careers heading to broadway, as they are a better draw than a non-name actor or actress, and based on this Syesha (Who can’t win the competition outright) might have won that particular side competition.

Jason Castro – “Memory”

All aloneee in the mooooonlighttt. See, I know those two lines of this song from the longest running show of all time, Cats, better than a majority of the real classics of musical history, which should tell you two things: the song has been overplayed, and that a majestic female-sang ballad is not an easy sell when you’re Jason Castro. With Jason we had our first trainwreck of the evening, a false attempt at melody that was awful in all of the sections where it couldn’t be.

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April 22, 2008 · 8:13 am

Gossip Girl – “The Blair Bitch Project”

“The Blair Bitch Project”

April 21st, 2008

I was planning on getting to this earlier, but unfortunately CTV made a decision to (oddly) not even air the ‘triumphant return’ of one of their biggest non-reality American imports. I am fairly frustrated by this decision, considering that the show’s return has been much publicized considering the racy advertising campaign.

But that’s about scheduling – what about the show itself? When we last left the show (You can read my thoughts here), it was with a melodramatic pregnancy scare and a shift in power after everyone discovered Blair’s love triangle. Now, three weeks later, there’s hope that everything will just blow over.

It’s Serena who is seriously naive enough to make such a ridiculous decision, and she clearly has never watched television before. It may be three weeks later, but there are a lot of consequences to new lives and new environments. The people are still talking, Jenny has fallen further and further into the inner circle, and the men are certainly taking a back seat.

But can Blair, with Serena’s help, overcome his bitchiness? And can Serena survive living in the same apartment as Chuck? And, more importantly, is the show on the right track in the home stretch of its strike-affected first season?

Spotted – maybe.

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April 21, 2008 · 11:54 pm

Greek – “Freshman Daze”

“Freshman Daze”

April 21st, 2008

Ah, good ol’ flashbacks – where people have awful facial hair and magically have conversations with an alarming amount of prescience on the present. It’s also a world where Grey’s Anatomy was more successful than it actually was (The series debuted to decent but not amazing results in early 2005, while in September (Where the flashbacks are found) it was merely a decent success – here it was treated as the phenomenon it now is), but that’s really not the point of the episode – just a little quibble.

It was an episode of humorous hairstyles (Beaver’s blonde locks), awkward foreshadowing, and ultimately an opportunity for the series to rewrite one of its characters in a light that seems too precocious for its own good at times. Was Casey ever actually so on-the-nose with her commentary that I want to throw things at her? And was Cappie really ever this sensitive and observational of Evan’s struggles before quickly developing into a sarcastic slacker?

Well, I buy one of these, and guess what: it’s not Casey.

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April 21, 2008 · 9:14 pm

How I Met Your Mother – “Sandcastles in the Sand”

“Sandcastles in the Sand”

April 21st, 2008

Robin Cherbotsky is the perfect example of a character adrift in their own series – ever since breaking up with Ted at the end of Season Two, she has been an unnecessary footnote to How I Met Your Mother. This isn’t to say that she was unwelcome or grating, but you keep asking the question of “Why doesn’t she get her own life?” She’s not dating any of them, we never see her work or go out on her own, and outside of being Lily’s only friend there isn’t much holding her in the group dynamics.

But she does have one thing: Robin Sparkles. Used to great effect in the show’s second season, Robin’s teenaged pop star in Canada self is something they haven’t gone back to for quite some time, but the buzz is building: “Sandcastles in the Sand” is her grand return, and the first time in a while that Robin has featured prominently in the series in any capacity. We flashback to her teenage years in Canada (“Did he take your maple leaf?” and so many Canadian jokes that they needed a fast-forward mid-rant) where we see James Van Der Beek (Dawson’s Creek, seemingly playing an Irish guy as far as I can tell) and really, really, really bad Canadian accents.

For the series, it all boils down to winners and losers as Robin and her old squeeze reunite…but which side of the spectrum are the viewers on considering that recapturing the magic of “Let’s Go to the Mall” is nearly impossible?

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