Tag Archives: FOX

June 16, 2008 · 9:50 am

Pilot Preview – FOX’s “Fringe”

“Fringe”

Fall 2008 Pilot Preview

[As per pilot screener regulations, this is a preview and not a review. The content of the series may change between now and the show’s official airing, so all thoughts are of a preliminary nature pending said changes. For a full review, tune in for the show’s September premiere.]

When Fringe debuts in September, there are going to be a lot of comparisons made: to the past work of producer J.J. Abrams, to television’s last prominent science fiction procedural, and also to the rest of the pilots coming to the networks this fall. In all three cases, the show will play well – in its current form, Fringe is a tight series with a compelling cast, a winning premise and (most of all) the mythological underpinnings that drive any great piece of Abrams drama.

[Warning: The review will not feature any major spoilers, but there could be a few light ones as I make some comparisons to other series, so tread lightly if you’re worried about learning a single piece of the show’s plot.]

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June 11, 2008 · 11:21 pm

Summer’s Guilty Pleasure: So You Think You Can Dance – Week One Performance Show

“Week One Performance Show”

Season Four

In every television viewer’s summer, there are three things to watch: those shows that are actually good, those shows that are awful but are the only thing on at a given time, and those shows that enter into the category of “Guilty Pleasure.” For me, in this final category, that show is FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance.

The reason is really quite simple: the contestants on the show can honestly answer “Yes” to the titular question, and the result is often a compelling assortment of engaging dance routines. Unlike the painful to watch Dancing with the Stars, which derives its value from celebrities embarrassing themselves and occasionally a decent dance or two, this is a show that is about succeeding in one’s profession and not about creating a marketing machine. These people are forced to embrace multiple styles of dance in a way that American Idol singers aren’t forced to diversify, and the result is far more compelling in many ways.

So while in past summers I haven’t quite embraced these urges fully, this year I’ve decided to give in: my floormates for the summer are way into the show, and I can’t help but be sucked in by their enthusiasm. So, let’s do this, but with two ground rules.

  1. I know absolutely nothing about dancing.
  2. Presume that every paragraph begins with “SHUT UP MARY MURPHY.”

And with that in consideration, let’s do this.

Rayven & Jamie [Hip Hop]

Rayven is a ballet dancer, while Jamie is a West Coast Swing dancer with a supportive girlfriend, and are performing a hip hop routine from Napolean and Tabitha. While I have no idea if their moves were any good, they were at least convincing as hip hop dancers. There was some partial nudity, a lot of quirky humour, and ultimately some interesting little set pieces. Nigel enjoyed it but isn’t sure it’s memorable, Mary Murphy shrieks and compares it to cotton candy, and Dan thinks that there wasn’t enough funk (Modular funk).

Likely Fate: Early in the show like this, they’ll struggle to get votes especially when combined with their lack of coverage in the early parts of the competition.

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May 20, 2008 · 9:13 pm

American Idol – Finale – The Duel of the Davids

“Finale”

May 20th, 2008

Well, FOX would like us to believe that the battle between David Cook and David Archuleta is like a boxing match, which is really not the most apt metaphor for a variety of reasons. First off, in this day and age, most boxing matches are rarely as close as this battle, and no one really pays attention to boxing anymore either. Second off, I’m fairly certain that if Archuleta was that overwhelmed by praise by this point in the competition, he’d be in the ring for about twenty seconds before the bright lights had him “Omigosh”-ing Pavlov style.

Rather, I like to think of it as a duel – not only do I think it’s slightly catchier, but it is also a better representation of how these two competitors stack up. I haven’t cared enough about their battle to turn in for the last few rounds, what with their unshaking inevitability, but when it comes down to seeing how these two very different, but fairly equally popular, candidates shake up I am most intrigued.

And there’s plenty of spectacle: Tale of the Tape theming, Clive Davis, excessive amounts of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and the wonderous opportunity to hear MORE THAN ONE of the hideous Idol songwriting contest entries. So instead of our contenders being able to define themselves as artists, they have to follow the guidance of an old man and sing an awful emotional/spiritual song.

So, needless to say, Archuleta benefits most from this arrangement.

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May 12, 2008 · 10:15 pm

House – “House’s Head”

“House’s Head”

May 12th, 2008

When spoilers emerged regarding the setup for this season’s finale of House, I must admit to being somewhat skeptical – it sounded a lot like the House finale from two years previous, wherein we spent an entire episode unknowingly inside House’s head after he was shot. It was a mind-bending episode, to be certain, and was certainly an intriguing glimpse into how his mind works. Here, it seems a bit predictable: faced with a pending finale, we find ourselves delving back into his mind for an extra special House extravaganza.

This time, the subconscious is aware, so it’s a bit trippier, and that House is actively attempting to solve a mystery where the answers are in his own mind proves dramatically interesting. The problem is that the previous finale was a personal crisis for House, and eventually evoked ideas and concepts that would help to focus on his concerns with his leg. Here, we lack that personal connection: the episode tries to draw out feelings between House and Amber, which doesn’t seem as eventful for him as a character.

It’s also now far more detrimental to focus so heavily on only one character: with three new fellows, three old fellows, Wilson and Amber all floating around searching for a point of identity, to spend an episode so clearly wrapped up in House’s own mind. While it has some vague reflections on the other characters (And promises for further complications in the episode’s second part), his physical, emotional and psychological trial is really his own…and I don’t know if a show of this breadth is in a position to be so centered on its titular character at this point.

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May 12, 2008 · 2:53 pm

Cultural Learnings’ 2008-2009 Network Upfronts Analysis

Last year, Cultural Learnings produced a lot of hits (And perhaps a few new readers) during its coverage of the Network Upfronts, a process wherein each network reveals the shows that will make it onto their Fall or Winter schedules the following year. There were a lot of surprises last year: Jericho’s cancellation and subsequent campaign couldn’t have been predicted, and as a whole there were a lot of shows on the bubble that squeaked through.

This year, we can’t say the same thing: a network like ABC announced most of its pickups a while ago, and is leaving little room for new shows, while NBC announced a version of its schedule a month ago so we already know its lineup (Or what it looked like in April). For anyone following the trades, there’s few surprises to be found in these announcements, so now the real drama will be how your Fall viewing schedule will emerge. And whether Moonlight, the show that has been dominating at sites like Hey! Nielsen, will be able to avoid becoming another Jericho (And if it does, in all seriousness, has CBS not learned their lesson?).

So, at Cultural Learnings I plan to focus on analysis of how the schedules align, and how each network has adapted or not adapted post-strike to accommodate last year’s freshman offerings and this year’s foreign imports (A certain trend). Below, you’ll find a nice combination of helpful links and, eventually, links to our Upfronts coverage.

Cultural Learnings’ 2008-2009 Upfronts Analysis

NBC – Analysis from April (Open Letter, Office Spinoff, Timed-Friday Night Lights)

  • We can expect Jimmy Fallon to be confirmed to be taking over for Conan (Already confirmed, in fact), along with potentially more information on the elusive Office spinoff and on some of the neetwork’s new series.

ABC – Full Fall Schedule Analysis

  • New Shows: Life on Mars, various reality shows, Scrubs, The Goode Family
  • Returning Shows: Eli Stone, Boston Legal, Private Practice, Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies, etc.
  • Canceled Shows: October Road, Men in Trees, Miss/Guided, Cavemen, Carpoolers

The CW – Full Fall Schedule Analysis

  • New Shows: 90210, Surviving the Filthy Rich, Stylista
  • Returning Shows: Reaper, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Supernatural, etc.
  • Canceled Shows: Girlfriends, Aliens in America, Life is Wild, WWE Smackdown, Beauty & the Geek

CBS – Coming Wednesday May 14th

  • Moonlight has officially been canceled (Read Full Story)
  • Moonlight is a huge cult favourite, but could be gone in favour of Les Moonves’ personal choices. This would result in another campaign, this time with more than peanuts to deal with.

FOX – Coming Thursday May 15th

  • FOX’s pickups are pretty clear, with most returning shows confirmed and big budget shows from Abrams and Whedon already announced. Scheduling is the only real drama.

Links to Other Coverage

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April 28, 2008 · 10:57 pm

House – “No More Mr. Nice Guy”

“No More Mr. Nice Guy”

April 28th, 2008

Of all of the shows who had set up extravagant storylines before the strike, House had perhaps the most to lose without returning: it had gutted its existing team, hired on new cast members, and had left at a point with nothing resolved. David Shore and company wanted to be able to see this to its end, whatever that end may be, so here we are with “No More Mr. Nice Guy.”

The episode is a fitting return: a central question of House’s lack of niceness, a chance to further indulge House’s relationship with Wilson and his new girlfriend Cutthroat Bitch, and a sly way to both reference the writers’ strike and find a way to add more of Cameron and Chase to the show all at the same time.

If I were to, like House, give the series a performance review, I’d say that it’s back on track: it’s hard to really analyze the various medical cases, largely interchangeable, but this one was smartly unmemorable in favour of allowing these characters to regain some space in the viewer’s mind. As my mother says, the new lineup wasn’t as favourable once it settled in beyond the entertaining reality show metaphor, so it is important that we get to know them more than we get to know a lovable oaf.

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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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January 22, 2008 · 3:49 pm

Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles – “The Turk”

“The Turk”

January 21st, 2008

Last week, I had relatively positive things to say about Sarah Connor Chronicles, which was a surprise to Dave at The Watchers. Over the weekend, he checked out the series for himself, and their third episode has all sorts of not so nice things to say about the series. And while I’m not quite to the point where I am about to agree with the pessimism he brings to the table, I will say that “The Turk” was really, really boring.

Now, it wasn’t “I’m never watching this series again” boring or anything of this nature, but it got mired down in technology and domesticity too greatly. There were some elements that represent intriguing developments for the series, but they were either glossed over or presented almost too literally for the sake of moving the story along. This would be fine if the story actually moved along, or if we saw anything worthwhile within these settings. Perhaps it was my multi-tasking while watching the episode this morning, but did any of this really make any sense?

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January 15, 2008 · 1:20 pm

Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles – “Gnothi Seauton”

“Gnothi Seauton”

January 14th, 2007

Last night, I was (attempting) to take part in a podcast which I will have more on sometime today or tomorrow. Due to some microphone issues, chances are that my contributions will be limited – plus, to play the excuse game before it even releases, I’m sure my current cold did nothing to help me in this account. But, regardless, one of the topics I was meant to discuss was Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles.

With eighteen million viewers, the highest demo premiere in three years, and a viewer consensus of “Well, that was less wretched than I predicted!”, last night’s second episode had a lot to live up to. In terms of ratings, the series held onto better numbers than expected, dropping considerably but not dramatically from its inflated premiere numbers (PIFeedback). But the real question is on a creative front: could the breakneck pace of the pilot develop into a sustainable drama series?

After last night’s episode, and despite my reservations, I think it will. At the very least, it’s preferable to the glut of reality (Or the proposed season of 24), and is a breath of air that seems more fresh than it may actually be.

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