One great, the other…not so much. Spoilers and such below
HEROES: Plot lines and individuals begin to intersect with greater regularity, albeit a bit of eye-blinking coincidence (half the cast in Vegas? No pun intended, but…what are the odds?) What’s intriguing is seeing the divide between the heroes (for lack of a better word) who are gaining a sense of the big picture (in Isaac’s case, literally) as opposed to those who are simply trying to keep their heads above water as the flood rises around them. The two characters at the furthest end of the spectrum remain the most interesting: the aptly named Hiro, who learns the harsh consequences of using one’s powers for personal gain, and Cheerverine, whose resurrection in the middle of her own autopsy remains the cliffhanger highlight thus far (“Be honest…does this sheet make my ribcage look fat?”) Particularly compelling is the way personal morality is becoming bent as the show progresses, ranging from Hiro’s aforementioned profiteering, to the growing ascendance of Simone’s dark side, to Claire’s decision to take justice into her own hands.
I refuse to talk about the final cliffhanger at this point, out of deference to people who might be Tivoing or following the series via the Friday Sci-Fi channel repeat. In fact, I would appreciate if other commenters followed my lead on this, since the cliffhangers are becoming such a signature of the show. After all, there’s always the following week to discuss it, right?
STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP: Writers have a very different existence from others. If you have a bad day or even a bad week on the job, a couple weeks it’s forgotten. When you’re a writer and you have a bad day or bad week, it shows up in print or on TV weeks or months later and the audience is left going, WTF?
That was pretty much my reaction to Studio 60. I couldn’t quite believe that there was a story credit given to another individual, because the script’s major problem was a complete lack of story. We’re less than a month into the series and the episode felt old, tired and strained. Any interesting developments at all were centered around the network president’s refusal to take a run at acquiring a staggeringly tasteless reality series because it offends her moral sensibilities, while at the same time trying to acquire a high-pedigree drama that she feels will help elevate her network’s quality. I know we’re supposed to admire her pluck (Ed Asner guest starred as the network head and, tragically, didn’t tell her she had spunk) but instead we’re just left wondering what the hëll she’s doing at NBS when she’d be a much better fit at HBO, Showtime or even PBS. Meanwhile Sorkin endlessly violates the maxim of “Show, don’t tell” by having Harriet rattle on for long minutes about her background, and perform in a Nancy Grace send-up so paralyzingly unfunny that one wants to borrow Matt’s baseball bat and smash in either the TV set or one’s own head. The only truly diverting moments were courtesy, not of anything written by Sorkin, but instead Sting singing madrigals while strumming a lute.
It takes more than Aaron Sorkin having a bad day/week at the office to make me drop the series. But it bothers me that even when West Wing, under Sorkin’s reign, had a less-than-stellar episode, it was still better than most of what was out there. This time it wasn’t even better than the show preceding it…and the division in quality was noticeable.
PAD
• 
I’m definitely in for Heroes – the end of episode two with Hiro revealed to be witnessing the future destruction in New York was a kicker – I’m very curious to see where this thing is going. Nice end to this current ep as well – although I’m surprised to see a trick like that so soon…
It’s funny how shows sometimes develop. I loved the first episode of Studio 60, and have liked each subsequent episode less and less.
Heroes barely held my interest in it’s first episode, but by the end of last nights episode, I was completely hooked.
Mad props for the Hiro and Ando’s RAIN MAN tip-o’-the-hat. I did a double take and chortled loudly.
I love this show. How can anyone not love a show that references the Merry Marvel Marching Society?
Heroes. Liked the ending (literally said outloud “Oooh COOL!)- loving the show!
Studio 60. Hunh. See coming in from the other side. I was on the fence with this show- till last week’s episode. True, it did feel a bit too much like Sorkin reliving his glory days on WW, what with the rapid walking and witty rejoinders, but I still laughed several times.
This week’s may not have been as engaging as last’s for me, but I liked it. Could be because I’m on the opposite side of you all politcally and ::gasp:: religiously.
I liked what Lahti’s character said about making two sides that hate each other work for 90 minutes every week. Because, that is what Sorkin’s work does for me.
He has a way of bringing two opposing things together tactfully. He gives dignity to the opposite view without giving up on what he believes. Again, my politics are decidedly on the opposite side of the fence as him, but I. Love. His. Shows. I love them because of his sensitivity on touchy subject matters (he points out rights and wrongs on BOTH sides), intelligent written dialogue, and Sorkin’s obvious talent- for those reason I keep tuning in.
If he leaves, the show goes down the tubes. Hopefully he can stay out trouble this time and stick with it!
Definitely way more into Heroes than Studio 60 right now. BadassHiro is awesome.
Didn’t like Harriet’s Nancy Grace impression. Amy Pohler’s version was WAAAYY funnier. Say what you will about the real SNL and it’s lack of brilliance these days but it still has some moments that are funnier than what I’ve been seeing on Studio 60.
Sadly, I completely agree with you about “Studio 60,” Peter. I so wanted to love this show, because it’s Aaron Sorkin, and “The West Wing” and “Sports Night” were, nine times out of 10, really, really great. But “Studio 60″…like you said, it’s supposed to be “Show, Don’t Tell,” and we’ve been told for however many episodes that Matt is this super funny, fantastic writer, and yet the sketches on the show…so not funny. I got a mild chuckle out of one of the news headlines Harriet read during the rehearsal scene last night and that was about it. I’m gonna stick with it (at least until NBC replaces it with “Battlestar Galactica” in January) and hope it gets better, but my hope is dwindling rapidly.
“Heroes,” on the other hand, just gets better and better, I think. It’s just so much fun to watch, and maybe I say that because I’ve read comics for over half my life, but I love nearly everything about it, from Tim Sale’s illustrations to the cliffhangers to the characters’ powers.
What’s his name, Peter? He’s got a mimic power. He can’t fly, he just borrows the power from whoever he’s near. How cool is that? And Hiro is such a fun character. The sheer joy he takes in his powers and what he thinks is his superhero destiny, it’s great to watch. Other than BSG, this is the show I’ve found myself looking forward to the most each week.
“This week’s may not have been as engaging as last’s for me, but I liked it. Could be because I’m on the opposite side of you all politcally and ::gasp:: religiously”
You may not believe me, but that’s not remotely it. I loved Ainsley Hayes, for instance, because her views were reflected in spirited discussion and her actions. As for Harriet, if we’d learned about her background via a trip home or even seeing her go to church, or seeing her in conflict with a priest over the question of pre-marital sex, I’d have no problem. My problem is that we’ve had episode after episode of her saying, “I’m devout, I’m devout,” and that’s all she does: Say it. I’m not offput by her religious leanings. I’m offput by the manner in which it’s presented, namely told rather than shown.
PAD
Point taken PAD. I agree, what you desribed would have been a better way of handling it.
Studio 60: The hardcore political junkie in me chuckled at the gall of putting an Alger Hiss joke in the show… not a funny joke, but that someone would 50 years after the fact pass off an Alger Hiss joke as comedy.
No, that’s not good. This isn’t exactly cutting edge political humor here. Despite a good cast and some good dialogue, I’m finding this show to be a trainwreck. No chemistry between characters that should have chemistry, and the show-within-the-show is lame by even bad sketch comedy standards… yet time and time again we’re told just how great this show is.
And watching people watch Sting perform… not exactly riviting television.
Studio 60 is bloated on itself. It’s arrogant since its coming off of The West Wing but whatever made the West Wing work (I never watched it) is either gone or missing from 60. While I’m no expert at the workings of a sketch comedy show, it looks like Sorkin is trying to make such an ideal paradise of television production that it comes off as unreal. When whatever-his-name-is-from-Friends (yes, I don’t care) told the writers to stop dressing like they’re in junior high I immediately felt the show slip out of reality and into some sort of weird non-fantasy fantasy world that isn’t much fun.
Heroes, on the other hand, seems to be doing just fine plot wise but I’m worried about the pacing. Yes, it’s a TV show and not a comic, but things feel like they’re going too slowly on the whole but some of the other plot lines (Psychic Cop) are beginning to lose me although I’m still intrigued.
I think it needs a better focus on fewer characters. I know that some of them are going to be killed off and I’m actually looking forward to this since there are a few story threads and characters that seem to be dragging along.
Also, there are some minor quibbles I have with dialogue and acting. In the twist end for last night that character-who-shows-up-all-of-the-sudden-in-a-whole-new-persona came up as a dud compared to how he/she is usually played. And they need to stop having Suresh info dump. I don’t like his character just because he says the same things over again.
I’m pretty much done with Studio 60. It’s a show I wanted to like and did after the first episode. But I find myself simply not caring about the premise or the characters. 30 Rock however, made me laugh out loud several times and I thought Baldwin, Fey and Morgan were great and I can’t wait until the next episode. Same for Veronica Mars.
Heroes I thought was lame first episode and could barely stay awake. It felt like every bad comic book or superhero show I’ve seen before and despite people telling me how great it is, I can’t be bothered to devote an hour a week to it.
Anyone else think that Sylar might be Nikki’s Mr. Hyde?
(Ed Asner guest starred as the network head and, tragically, didn’t tell her she had spunk)
Just for the record, Steven Weber and Amanda Peet did a little riff on the “You got spunk!” thing from the Mary Tyler Moore show in an earlier episode. Not the pilot, where Ed Asner also appeared, ‘cuz that’d surely have been too meta, but some earlier episode.
Anyway, tho’ I appreciate all the ways Studio 60 isn’t perfect–even isn’t all that great–I do find it pleasant to watch. It ain’t must-see TV, but I don’t mind it at all, either. Go figure…
30 Rock isn’t bad, and it’s got some potential. They set an achieveable mission statement (unlike Studio 60), where they can watch Tiny Fey go crazy as the suits shove absolute crap on the air because of demographics… they just have to make the sequence funny at some level. It can always maintain the notion that the show is better than what they’re showing… whereas Studio 60 shoots itself in the foot by attempting to show the *good* skits and the quality just isn’t there.
S60: The biggest problem I have with Studio 60 is that the comedy routines that we see are (as Mr. David wrote) just horribly unfunny. There are funny bits in Studio 60, but they’ve always been character bits that happen outside of the actual skits. Sting on the other hand…well, he’s Sting. I might have thought that he was overused in the final part of the episode, but they had him sing Fields of Gold. Like Matt, that song has meaning to me.
Heroes: I won’t discuss the cliffhanger any more than to say that I liked it. There’s more that I’d like to say but I suspect Mr. David is right about waiting. As to the odds of so many characters meeting in Vegas…well, the dice were loaded. The painter, Isaac and Hiro with his time-bending abilities are shaping events to bring the characters together.
I ‘mreally hoping that that they either kill off Isaac, or give him some character development other than crazy-future-painting-drug-addict. He’s important to the plot but I hate him.
Finally, what was it in Isaac’s future vision that could have made Claire run away in such raw terror? What can frighten her? Did the mysterious shadowy figure tell her that she was going be dropped in the concrete foundation of a building for all eternity? Of did she just meet the creepy-black-guy that seems to muck with people’s powers?
Finally, the only black person with powers that we’ve seen so far, and he’s a villian? If they’re gonna go with that route, then they better make him really cool. There are so few cool black heroes in comics, but there’s an even greater shortage of cool black villians. If the Heroes team can pull that off, it would be great.
PAD,
You have nailed it when you commented on the shifting moral values in Heroes. It is a fascinating thing to see unfold. Whether it is Simone’s son knowing what she has been up to, Hiro gaining profit from a power, or glasses man using bald guy to control others, it is unclear yet where it is headed or who really is “good” or “bad.”
The moment this became the most real was when Simone left the congressman. I cheered. I was somewhat diappointed at the stereotype of the congressman willing to commit adultery — and the stupidity of doing so in a place where a reasonably paranoid person might realize it could be recorded. When Simone’s other side came out, it did make sense what happened next. It really illustrated her dual sides and that, in the context of the show, neither was necessarily all good or bad. Her “dark side” could do what needed to be done.
Bottom line, in terms of morality I have mixed feelings. I don’t agree with things being quite so gray, and the violence/graphic scenes are more than I think are needed. But in terms of story, it only gets better. This clearly is not Brian Bendis decompressed extended story telling. In 3 episodes significant movement is made. After this espisode was done, I was hooked for the rest of the season. I want to see what happens and how they get there.
One side issue: I have found the previews, especially for the last episode, way too revealing. The shock value of at least one major decision was completely ruined by what they showed the week before.
Iowa Jim
IJ, I believe you meant Nikki when you said Simone … Simone is the chick with Isaac and Peter.
And I agree with you about Nikki wanting to cheer her on when she left the Peter’s brother. He’s really a šhìŧ, isn’t he?
Sorry about the missing punctuation on the previous reply. I really DO need to hit preview first!
I actually posted my thoughts on “Studio 60” on my own blog this morning, but more and more I come to the conclusion that the ideal solution would be for Tina Fey to work on the “show bits” and let Sorkin run wild on the rest.
JSM
Peter, I agree with you up to a point regarding last night’s STUDIO 60, but I think the reason Jordan is at NBS and not HBO was identified quite clearly when she was trying to get that kid to bring his show to her network. The speech about Pericles (sp?) and how good TV should be free for all.
“IJ, I believe you meant Nikki when you said Simone … Simone is the chick with Isaac and Peter”
That’s my bad. I wrote “Simone” instead of “Nikki” in my original post. Jim was just referencing what I said.
PAD
I keep this simple Heros 2nd best show next to Battle Star..But I still have to see how this goes after sweeps and the cliffhanger of nukeing NYC.. It could lose me after that. Stuido 60 should just go back into the studio hate it on so many levels.
Jericho started out good buy going the way of lost to me hopefully they bring it back down to the basics and cut out the drama cliff hanger stuff… But luving the Heros gonna make Friday Sci-fi Heros at 7, Than into a ok Dr. who capped off with a dose of battle Star…
And one last thing Vote for Jerry Springer on dancing with the stars. I don’t watch the show hate it but a few friends want to see jerry win because he is so bad..
Whoa, I just had a flashback of last week’s Studio 60!
(Who deserves the cred for the “joke” and all)
heheheh! eh hem.
moving right along … nothing to see here …
Look, I know ‘Studio 60′ is supposed to be the *drama* series ri…ah….’inspired’ by SNL, but geez louise, do the sketches we get to see on the show HAVE to be so unfunny??!
I’m feeling a bit more optimistic about “Heroes,” especially after the full-season order. And the pace has gotten better with each episode, especially the pace of revelations. The slow pace of “Twin Peaks” combined with David Lynch’s audience abuse was the death of that show. So far, “Heroes” has respected the audience’s intelligence – including something that nobody has mentioned, the fact that the promo ending the show contained an important clue for the series!
I was almost ready to say that the show approached the pacing of one of my favorite current comics, DC’s “52” – except not even DC would think of the clever use of a self-promoting ad to advance the plot. Making your promos worth watching? WHo’d a thunk it?
By the way, Hooper, the point about the unfunniness of the sketches in “Studio 60” is that the behind-the-scenes drama of the show’s creation is the thing under consideration, not the show they create. It’s just like how, in the various versions of “Phantom of the Opera,” the opera they put on is not important.
Also, for the most part, people who create comedy are not funny people in real life. Comedy is about pain, and the people who do it have suffered (and still suffer) a lot. And for them to take pleasure in the stuff they create, outside of a professional interest in making sure it works, is like laughing at your own jokes; it makes jokes automatically unfunny.
I liked the Nancy Grace sketch. Wasting a police officer’s time on a daily basis so that she can dramatise a girl losing her cel phone? Not a huge laugh, but I liked it.
I don’t know, I liked this Studio 60 better than last week’s. I liked the reporter digging for a story. I liked the main characters ineptly trying to hide things. I liked what they went through when the hidden things came out. It was a slower paced episode, and I wouldn’t want them all to be this way, but I enjoyed it.
Heroes: Good stuff. The drug addict saying that he’s going to save everyone is an interesting juxtaposition. Make way for Captain Heroin, I guess. Some characters are acting less and less heroic, and the ones I didn’t expect to act heroic are getting there. I don’t really trust anyone in this show, and that’s kind of interesting.
I think the dismal quality of the sketches we see bits of on “Studio 60” undercuts the notion that Matt is supposed to be a brilliant comedy writer. If he was brought in to revitalize the show, to save the show, even his mediocre stuff should be funny. Admittedly, writing good comedy isn’t the easiest thing in the world–Peter will probably back me up on this–but Jesus, they only showed us a minute of “Nicolas Cage, Relationship Therapist” or whatever it was called and I was squirming almost immediately at the sub-“MadTV” Nicolas Cage impression that just went ON and ON and ON…to reinforce the idea that Matt is this brilliant writer, the material we’re shown should be really good stuff–and if Sorkin can’t come up with it on his own, he should consider bringing someone in who can.
Maybe they ought to have Joe Straczynski make a guest appearance where he tells Matt it’s insane for one person to try to write an entire TV series all by himself–Joe would know, after writing over 100 of the 100 episodes of “Babylon 5.”
And as for the “Stop dressing like you’re in junior high” remark: None of the big names in late-night comedy (Leno, Letterman, Stewart, O’Brien) come to work in a suit, and the guys who aren’t on camera generally don’t even dress for the show.
I was actually kind of bored by both episodes, Heroes less so than Studio 60. I’ll stick with Heroes, but Studio 60 is on probation with me (of course, everyone in my household watches it, so I’ll probably keep watching it just because it’s on).
The Sting scenes annoyed me. Partly because I never could stand his voice, and partly because, when I used to watch SNL, the musical guests were always times for me to switch to another channel. I just never saw the point of having them in a sketch comedy show, and I certainly don’t want musical guests in a drama series ABOUT a sketch comedy show!
I’m loving Heroes myself. I wonder if Nikki will be expecting another kid after the events with the Congressman. I also wonder if her son will exhibit more ability as a boy genius; the logic so far seems to suggest that the propensity for special abilities is definitely congenital. Surely that’s the reason that Claire’s adopted, so that we’re not all eyeing her little brother for potential powers.
I’m also of the opinion that the nuclear event that needs to be stopped will be in a November show, since the time is established to follow our time (Hiro’s watch when he realizes he’s in the future). This also makes sense since Jeph Loeb said on Fanboy Radio that they were trying to keep the show moving along quickly (as opposed to Lost).
I’m willing to look past the startling coincidences for now, since at least some of the meet-ups have made a bit more sense. I’m not a big fan of “fate” as an explanation for things, but I’ll take it if the show is as entertaining as this one.
Studio 60 might work if they avoided the skits almost entirely. Maybe a few seconds in the background as they’re dealing with something else, but considering that so much of the show has been about the creative process, the lame-ášš stuff they’re putting up on the screen is really hurting the central conceit of the show… that these guys are creating quality when everyone is worshipping crap. The show invited the audience to have high expectations and they’ve not only have failed to reach those lofty goals, they’re not even in the sub-basement.
I mentioned earlier, I think 30 Rock is aiming at a low enough goal to succeed. You only have to believe that this show *could* be a hit, that it’s comparible to SNL and MAD-TV… and having numerous SNL veterans running around lends credibility to that notion. If they can field a few reasonably funny skits or have the cast complaining about the unfunny skits in some entertaining manner, then they’ve hit the target.
But Studio 60 just seems so in love with its own crap. Even the “bad” skits, they’re attempted to pass off as quality, because the talent can make it funny… like that crappy bear joke or the baby skit in the last episode. They have a bad joke, they know they have a bad joke, but they *still* can’t admit that it’s as awful as everyone watching the show knows it is. And to watch everyone watching and laughing at awful, awful skits just makes everyone look like idiots. The show within the show is just undercutting them at every turn.
Heroes has become, in 4 short weeks, my most favorite show this season above all. It’s beceome the one show I cannot miss, no matter what.
Studio 60 is still very entertaining, but I think I’ve figured out part of the problem. Aaron’s writing skits for the Studio 60 show that are funny as all hëll… but only to him. Yes, Nancy Grace harping on and on about the absolutely inane is comedy. It’s just not comedy that appeals to a large number of people.
The best thing that Sorkin and Schlamme could do for the show is get someone who CAN write effective, smart comedy to do the skits for the show-within-the-show. Sorkin can write situational comedy well, but what’s supposed to pass as “smart slapstick” (and no, the two are not mutually exclusive) only passes as “heh” at best. Get some real comedians in there to help, and it’ll improve dramatically on that front.
Plus, I’m really hoping that he’s doing so much exposition as opposed to action simply because it’s still very early on in the show. I’m hoping we have a LOT less of it later on, should this show survive.
Ok, I thought someone here said on another thread that Sorkin is NOT writing the skits??
And, as a woman, the Sting part (including the remarks) were right on target. Just sayin.
“And as for the “Stop dressing like you’re in junior high” remark: None of the big names in late-night comedy (Leno, Letterman, Stewart, O’Brien) come to work in a suit, and the guys who aren’t on camera generally don’t even dress for the show.”
I was thinking something similar. Then Matt had that bit later where he told someone that he’d yelled at the writers for it, and “apparently” he felt very strongly about it. My impression was that he actually didn’t care, he was just super frustrated and that’s how it came out.
Another reason I love HEROES? Loving nods to that ubiquitous comic book device: the retcon.
Not only are Claire’s first words upon waking up on the slab not the same, Mohinder’s father’s picture was completely different as well!
You gotta appreciate such devoted adherence to the genre.
🙂
Zeek-
I assume you mean the fine instrument line? I have to agree. I met Sting once back when he was part of the Police and you would have been hard pressed to find another rocker who took the time to find out the names of the locals that were working on his show for that (or those) night(s). I can think of a few but Sting came across as a gentleman and a scholar in the time I got to talk to him.
Kath
I wanted to like “Studio 60”, but I really can’t be bothered now. First, I don’t think I care enough about how a late night sketch show is produced to spend an hour on it each week. (I only had to care for 30 minutes at a time for “Sports Night”.) Second, this series takes itself far too seriously. (Something which I don’t believe could ever have been said for either “Sports Night” or the Sorkin guided “West Wing”.) Third, although I get the sense that the show is supposed to be character driven, there are just too many characters to develop. I’m done.
“Heroes”? Don’t watch it.
Kudos to John Hudgens and every other nimwit here who utterly ignored PAD’s request: “I would appreciate if other commenters followed my lead on this, since the cliffhangers are becoming such a signature of the show. After all, there’s always the following week to discuss it, right?”
Peter, agreed about HEROES being the (surprisingly) better show of the night between it and STUDIO 60. The former started at its low point and has been improving while the latter just the opposite.
And I think with THE WEST WING, there was a lot of tension because simply because the CONSEQUENCES were greater. It’s why classic Tragedy were about rich, powerful, famous “important” people instead of the average working stiff simply because the fall would be so much greater.
— Ken from Chicago
P.S. Speaking of White Houses and falls, have you been following your buddy, Olberman, about the fall of Habeas Corpus? It’s almost like a novel, a scifi novel where the President is given vast uberlegal powers over the populace. The only thing missing or psionics, karate kicking Quakers and giant mutant telepathic dogs.
Anyone else think that Sylar might be Nikki’s Mr. Hyde?
Didn’t Sylar have an address, under that name, in New Jersey, as revealed either last week or the one before?
Studio 60: I’m still sticking with it. It was a hëll of a premiere and it’s still holding my interest, though said interest is only maintaining itself instead of building.
I flat-out don’t believe that this one dude is writing the whole show by himself while a big (BIG) writing staff is just sitting in a room ordering lunch every day. In reality, everyone on that staff would be collecting their paycheck and using their office time to develop the projects they’re going to pitch when their contracts are up. They sure aren’t going to be working hard on developing scripts for a writer/producer who ain’t buying.
If the show teases this into an actual developing storyline — mid-season burnout requires the show to be more of a collaborative effort — then…good. Otherwise…not so much.
I would also like to see a couple of scenes that are, you know, _lit._ “Studio 60” is a world in which it’s always 7:44 PM.
I also defy anyone to name a successful sketch comedy show in which all of the female castmembers have such conventional, primetime-drama good looks.
Still and all, I’m liking it and I’m sticking with it.
Heroes: I saw the premiere and it sort of confirmed the biased opinion that I formed over the summer. The producers are going to tease us for an entire season, and then there’ll be a season finale whose sole purpose is to tease us until the second-season premiere. I just didn’t care about any of these people and I didn’t get any sort of beginning-middle-end.
LOST is a terrific show, but so much of TV drama these days is a meal of nothing but appetizers, episode after episode after episode. Enough with the cheese sticks, enough with the hot wings, enough with the nacho. Give me a dámņëd steak already, then follow it up with a slice of pie and a nice cup of tea.
Lord knows that the worst thing about Trek was that no episode every had any sort of connection to any other episode, but still: each episode absolutely _has_ to be a satisfying experience in and of itself.
And I absolutely acknowledge that this is based solely on the premiere and much has happened since then. I’ll check back in at the end of the season, and if I’m still hearing good things maybe I’ll rent the DVD set. But I just can’t invest an hour of my life every week to maybe, hopefully, dear God please, getting some sort of a complete story by the end of the season.
Also: Hiro annoys the living crap out of me. The third time his girly high-pitched squeal pierced my speakers and then my eardrums, I started flipping channels.
The big winner of this season is THE OFFICE, actually. I liked it last season, but I triple-heart-love it now. They’re doing some _exciting_ things with development of plot and character. It’s probably one of the best dramas on TV, and it’s successfully masquerading as a comedy.
A few years ago I’d never have guessed that I’d like this American version more than the original…but there it is.
I’d have to say, Hiro is my favorite character, but Simone is a close second. I’ve been a fan of the Hulk for years and her darkside really reminds me of that: “Don’t make me angry, you wouldn’t like when I’m angry, (And looking in a mirror!)
IIRC, wasn’t Mark McKinney (from Kids/Hall and SNL) brought in to work on the comedy segments on the show?
Even though I get all the refernces, the obtuseness of the show is wearing thin. Pericles? I doubt Jamie Tarses pitched a writer by quoting him.
Yeah, he’s doing the comedy bits… and, curiously enough, a parody of the Major General Song also turned up during his tenure on SNL. Reading the transcript, that one actually appears to be mildly funny, poking fun about the host being nervous even though he hasn’t watched SNL since the 70s.
What was particularly wrong with last nights in-show skits were that they were all prime examples of one, not nearly that strong idea, being expected to be the only thing holding up the skit.
The Nancy Grace bit; the one joke was that cable had gone berzerk over someone losing their cell phone. And they just kept repeating and repeating that one point. That should’ve been the starting point. Move from there to the specially constructed graphic for “Cell Phone Held Hostage: Day 7”. Bring in someone trying to spin it into a Republicrat plot (I don’t care which party, pick one). Have banal (funny) call-ins from viewers. Have one of the call-ins be a pitch from a cell phone plan. Have a commentator admit they have absolutely nothing new to say. Etc. Play with the cable cliches.
Nicolas Cage: Relationship Councillor. Why? So an actor can do a painfully exaggerated parody of Cage’s mannerisms? Again, not funny. Now, a Michael Jackson relationship councillor skit; that’s got potential. Or a Lindsay Lohan/Jessica Simpson/Paris Hilton one.
The “I’m Incomplete Without A Baby” bit. Again, just slamming the concept and repeating it. Want a funny skit from that premise? She gets a pet, then another one, and another one, to make up for the lack of kid. Run with that and its possibilities.
Thomas E. Reed wrote:
“Also, for the most part, people who create comedy are not funny people in real life. Comedy is about pain, and the people who do it have suffered (and still suffer) a lot.”
No offense meant, but isn’t that a bit of a cliche? Or at least an overstatement? Is Jon Stewart in pain right now? Would Ricky Gervais be dull at a party? I’m not convinced that what you say is always true, or even true the majority of the time.
“And for them to take pleasure in the stuff they create, outside of a professional interest in making sure it works, is like laughing at your own jokes; it makes jokes automatically unfunny.”
I dunno, that sounds like a rather antiseptic and not very tenable approach to comedy (or to any art).
Plus, I’ve heard/read interviews with various people who do comedy, in film or on television, where they a) laugh at some of their own bits, and b) take themselves, or at least the other writers in the room, as the barometer of whether something’s funny or not. They always sound like they took pleasure in it. (Listen to John Cleese talk about the genesis of some of the Python sketches, for example.)
On the other hand, if you’re saying that the characters on Studio 60 shouldn’t be laughing at their own material, because it would kill the joke for us, the actual viewing audience, well, maybe. But there would have to be something funny there to begin with, wouldn’t there? And more to the point, the lack of scenes of characters on the show finding the material funny isn’t what people are complaining about.
The bottom line is, even if the show-within-the-show isn’t the actual focus of Studio 60 (as a lot of the apologists for the show’s sketches have argued), what we do see of it, or what material we hear from it, should be good enough to convince us that the Matthew Perry character actually is brilliant, or to convince us that the studio audiences have some reason to laugh. Otherwise, it’s just a slightly less direct way of Studio 60 simply telling us the show-within-the-show is funny, or Matthew Perry is brilliant, without actually showing us that this is the case.
It’s as if we were told that CJ Craig was at handling the press, but then given scenes in the pressroom were clunkers. Or as if we were told that Pres. Bartlett’s a brilliant man, inspiring leader, and great politician, but then shown regular scenes where he gives stale, poorly written speeches, or comes up with political solutions that are, well, dumb. Followed a shot of, I dunno, Toby saying “That’s brilliant! That’s why I work for that guy!” (I didn’t watch the show regularly, so I’m assuming this kind of thing didn’t happen.)
It undercuts the believability of the drama, which undercuts the drama itself.
Unless Sorkin’s trying for some kind of crazy Brechtian alienation thing, where the show-within-the-show is intenionally unfunny. But I kinda doubt that’s the case.
Anyhoo, you’re right about “Heroes” improving, partly because the pace has picked up. I didn’t like the premiere, and I’m still on the fence about it, but it’s improving, things are moving along, and the ending of the previous episode was really good.
Oops, that should be “It’s as if we were told that CJ Craig was __highly adept__ at handling the press, but then given scenes in the pressroom __that__ were clunkers
I imagine I’m in the minority but, the skits on Studio 60 are a helluva lot better than anything I’ve seen on SNL in a long, long time. I enjoyed the Nick Cage sendup, figured anything using Juliet Lewis is a bit dated and thought the setup for the baby skit showed a lot of promise.
I’m a sucker for Christine Lahti though too and that might have something to do with it. Like a fine wine she just gets better with age.
Studio 60 may not be knocking it out of the box but, I think that has more to do with expectations in regard to Sorkin and following up West Wing. It’s a totally different beast though and in comparison to a lot of other new shows this season, it’s still a keeper.
HEROES: While the progress is a little slow (we *know* they have superpowers, but it’s taking them a while to figure it out; heck, the scientist looking for them doesn’t believe the first person who comes to him about it), this series is developing nicely. I like Hiro’s optimism, the mystery around the split-personality woman (why do we assume she’s a hero?) and the forecast of doom. (Though I wonder what’ll happen after they resolve the catastrophe. “This week: New York and the Heroes are destroyed. Next week: 60 minutes of dust and debris.”) I want to see what happens next. Will they go public? (Yes, if they save NY publically enough.) Will they wear masks and tights? (I doubt it.)
As for Syrus (sic), there was a recent issue of the (wonderful) comic P.S. 238 where a character showed up who said she could fly, was super strong, and resisted damage; another one commented that she was the 83rd superhero with that power combination. Syrus looks like he can fly and resist bullets. Then again, he showed some mind control (forcing the police officer to draw the gun on herself), so maybe he created his escape as an illusion.
And kudos to dave g for suggesting that Peter’s power may not be flight but instead mimicry.
STUDIO 60: I’m enjoying it so far, even if is has slipped a bit in quality. As for the poor quality of the show-within-a-show skits, I wonder if that’s a deliberate swipt at SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. SNL is still considered by many to be the best of late-night programming, and so many sketches are just awful — either one-joke ideas that go on and on, or no-joke ideas. (The “high point” of recent years was the Debbie Downer sketch where the cast cracked up.)
All this talk about the poor quality of the sketches reminds me of the movie Henry Fool. The premise of the film is that a guy writes a book that is acclaimed as a work of genius by some and a piece of obscene pornography by others, but the audience is never allowed to choose a side, because we never hear any excerpts from it. Because, you see, Hal Hartley, the writer/director of the movie, was smart enough to know that nothing he could come up with could live up to the hype, or be as powerful as simply leaving it up to the audience’s imagination.
I can’t help but thinking that Aaron Sorkin should have taken a similar approach.
And Andy is right: The Office is the very best show on TV right now.