In my effort to transfer various TV.com blogs over here, here's the first of what has become a sort of mini-tradition, my annual TV reviews. Here's the first, for the 2007-2008 TV season, and remember that there are spoilers for each show's respective season at the time.
Bionic Woman NBC (Sep-Nov '07)The biggest TV mistake this season was NBC's hilariously awful Bionic Woman, which managed to open with an underwhelming pilot before pretty much falling apart piece by piece in every additional episode. Characters were dropped without explanation, storylines made little sense, personality transplants regularly occurred, and there was no attempt by the writers to try and actually cover up the many behind-the-scenes problems that plagued the show. The general tone of the show was always up in the air too. Was it supposed to be dark and intense (Pilot)? Was it a campy throwback to the old show (Sisterhood)? Was it a derivative Alias knock-off (The Education of Jaime Sommers)? Who knows? And who really cares? No matter how sweet Michelle Ryan comes across on talk shows, she never convinced in the part. No matter how hard she tried, Katee Sackhoff's scenery-chewing couldn't save this crapfest. Just a huge, huge misfire. What blows is that it could have been great. And it really, really wasn't.
Favorite Scene I guess Jaime leaping across those metal things was sorta cool...
Favorite Character Nadda
Favorite Episode Are you kidding me?
Rating D
Boston Legal ABC (Sep '07-May '08)Season four of Boston Legal managed to push me into the realms of disliking the show, but also managed to always pull me back from the dark side with episodes that made me fall in love with it all over again. This love is mostly down to the show's cast. James Spader is literally amazing as Alan Shore. Despite critics sniping at his repeated Emmy wins, they forget how genuinely awe-inspiring he is during courtroom scenes, so strong with conviction and passionate in his views and completely winning you over. I seriously have a little man-crush on this guy! Meanwhile, William Shatner is always pretty hilarious, while most of the new cast additions this year were great. Tara Summers made Katie somebody so loveable with all her cute uber-British expressions and mannerisms, while Saffron Burrows took me by surprise as former escort-turned-madam-turned-lawyer Lorraine (her likability even made me forget Deep Blue Sea, and that takes a lot). The only problems this year was in the storylines and cases. Way too much stupidity, and way too much "Denny did something wacky again!"-type hoodoo. But, thankfully, every once in a while the writers drop the insanity and tackle something genuinely important and dramatic, while Denny's frequent realization of his "Mad Cow" and his problems make for endearing, poignant moments. Made even better when Denny actually wins a case or shows he still has in him what made him the legend that is "Denny Crane!" in the first place. Part of me is happy the show is ending next season, but part of me is really gonna miss the Crane, Poole and Schmidt family.
Favorite Scene Alan's entire 15-minute monologue to the Supreme Court. Flawless acting which showcased James Spader's unbelievable ability to memorize a shitload of dialogue.
Favorite Character Alan Shore
Favorite Episode The Court Supreme (4.17)
Rating B
Damages FX (Jul-Oct '07)An engrossing drama set amongst the high-stakes world of lawsuits and litigation, Damages, thanks to insanely convoluted writing and perfect casting, became one of the most intense and thrilling shows I've ever had the opportunity to see. Glenn Close lead a powerhouse cast as the manipulative, untrustworthy but sympathetic Patty Hewes, while Ted Danson blew everybody away by playing a truly awful individual. Surprisingly, the most intriguing character turned out to be Zeljko Ivanek's tortured Ray Fiske. Like an onion, as each episode passed, more and more of his layers were peeled away, frequently reducing us to tears. Sure, it's a lazy metaphor, but it's completely true. As Ray slowly began to realize that he has sold his soul to the devil, he suddenly became the show's sympathetic characters, making his eventual suicide all the more tragic. The supporting cast was also great: the eternally unlucky Tom Shayes, born to live in somebody else's shadow, psycho Lila DiMeo, the now requisite FX crazywoman, poor Larry Popler, consistently making the wrong decision. A cast of compelling characters played by even more compelling actors. A complete work of wonder, and a show that guaranteed to leave your mouth hanging wide open at the end of every episode.
Favorite Scene Ray consults a therapist over his dreams, which feature his teeth falling out. Just as he's about to tell her how he feels, blood suddenly leaks out of his mouth revealing this whole scene to be a dream too.
Favorite Character Ray Fiske
Favorite Episode I Hate These People (1.11)
Rating A
Desperate Housewives ABC (Sep '07-May '08)A very unsteady year for the Housewives, with the strike clearly dividing the season in two more than most other shows on the air. Pre-strike, the Gabrielle/Victor/Carlos/Edie story bugged and completely isolated all of them, leaving three of my favorite characters to drown in a sea of boredom and retreads of old storylines. Susan's stories mostly revolved around Mike (his drug problem, meeting his parents, carrying his baby), which surprisingly wasn't that bad, considering James Denton has about as much charisma and presence as a paper bag. Bree's faux pregnancy lead to some poignant and funny moments, but the whole thing was a little too silly for me. Lynette drove me crazy this year, with her undeniable cruelty to various people around her (including her mother, Ida, Ida's cat etc). I can't stand that the writers constantly make those around her look terrible in an effort to make her not look so bad. She never gets the comeuppance she deserves. The same can be said for Bree, who post-strike became a hypocritical shrew. Her treatment of Orson was disgusting considering she stopped her son from turning himself in after killing Mama Solis in his car years ago, as well as watching George die (sure he was evil, but that doesn't give her the moral high ground). I also got pissed that revealing her faux pregnancy lead to absolutely no conflict between the housewives (with Lynette even praising her parenting skills!). It was a disappointing cop-out, leading to a nasty high school confrontation with Edie which was completely unwarranted. I also dislike how much praise Dana Delany has been getting, with some critics saying she's the best thing to happen to the show. Frankly her storyline bored me to tears, and she and her on-screen daughter's acting was mostly terrible. The writers need to learn that a mystery only works when the main cast is involved, and they squandered that this season by not utilizing Susan and Julie enough, since it was heavily implied that they would be involved when the season first began. The final twists to the mystery were also pretty contrived (Romanian orphanage?), filled with plotholes, and a waste of Nathan Fillion (who deserves a lot better). Despite this season's many problems, I loved Gabrielle and Carlos post-strike (her feuds with the wheelchair folk and later the seeing-eye dog were inspired, and the Justine Bateman arc was hilarious), while the general quality of the cast always wins me over. I still find the show really entertaining, and I love the flashforward idea for next season. The show has a lot of issues, but Desperate Housewives is one of those few shows that doesn't drive me away due to said issues. It's just naturally likable.
Favorite Scene Gabrielle's plan to expose Ellie's hooker ways by asking Lee (completely failing to act heterosexual) to offer to pay for sex, which unsurprisingly goes completely awry.
Favorite Character Orson Hodge (bizarrely)
Favorite Episode Welcome to Kanagawa (4.10)
Rating B-
Dirt FX (Mar-Apr '08)A collective "meh..." should be given to Dirt, which had a disappointing sophomore season cut short by the strike just as it started to grow in confidence and achieve some kind of groove (a similar problem affected Heroes). In the seven episodes we got, the most striking distinction was the use of real-life celebrity cases in the storylines. So we got a jailed heiress called Milan Carlton, a publicity-hungry pop icon called Mia and a '80s star caught on camera writhing around drunk on the ground in front of his daughter. My problem with this is that it's just lazy writing. And also tiring. These celebrities are already so overexposed; I personally don't find it entertaining watching their already overdone exploits acted out by people like Tom Arnold. Another problem I had with this year was in Lucy herself. She didn't appear to be at all emotionally stunted by her stabbing last season, and both her mother's death and Leo's betrayal just seemed to pass by without anything substantial. What worked so well about season one was working out what made Lucy this way. We got hints in the episodes about her father's suicide and mother's latest marriage, but this season rarely hinted at any of her pent-up anger. So what could have been a female Christian Troy is now simply a tabloid bitch. And as fun as that could be, I need at least a little depth in my TV characters. Still, this could have been improved on if the season was allowed to play out as it intended, but real-life events put a halt to that. Outside of the negative, I liked Don's friendship with Charlee, which was both moving and treated with care, especially when a Britney-inspired character could easily be used as nothing but a cheap gag. Hoping for a third season...
Favorite Scene Lucy and Don visit the memorial site of his dearly departed cat.
Favorite Character Don Konkey
Favorite Episode In Lieu of Flowers (2.7)
Rating C
Dirty Sexy Money ABC (Sep-Dec '07)I wanted to love this show. The pilot, the title, it just promised so much. But in the end Dirty Sexy Money did the one thing that a nighttime soap should never do: bore the hell out of you. Let's start with the good. Karen is the only character that feels like somebody who walked straight off the set of Dynasty, while Patrick's storyline with his tranny mistress was the only story arc that actually felt juicy and fun. I also love the cast; Donald Sutherland, Jill Claysburgh and Glenn Fitzgerald are all great, while Natalie Zea is seriously one of the best "discoveries" of the season. But outside of that, the show frequently came up empty. The mystery surrounding Nick's father just isn't interesting, since we've barely seen the guy. We all knew Mary-Alice, we knew Lilly Kane, so we cared. Dutch has been referenced a lot but outside of one episode, we don't know enough about him to actually give a damn. Elsewhere, the twins' storylines go on way too long considering they're just not interesting (see Juliet's rivalry with Natalie Klimpton, and Jeremy's relationship with Sofia Vergara) and Nick just isn't a good enough protagonist. But the biggest problem this show has is its lack of tone. Dirty Sexy Money isn't funny enough to be a comedy, and it isn't dramatic enough to be a drama. And the writers just don't seem to have the balls to make the show as campy and scandalous as it should be. Despite all the problems though, I'll still tune in next season to see if the show improves, and judging by spoilers I've read it certainly sounds more fun. This should have been a 21st century Dynasty but, so far, it's totally not. They have all the right ingredients, they just need to learn how to use them.
Favorite Scene No specific scene really stood out for me
Favorite Character Karen Darling
Favorite Episode The Wedding (1.7)
Rating D+
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