September 29, 2005
Please watch this show! Please, please, please watch this show!
Ahhh. Did you hear that? That is a sigh of relief, and deep satisfaction. Yes, the moment I waited more than three months for came last night -- the new season of "Veronica Mars," perhaps the best show on network television (assuming UPN counts as a network) began. And oh, it was glorious.
For those who've never watched the show, now in its second season, "Mars" is the story of a teenaged girl detective in a snooty, corrupt town in California. But it's much deeper and more complicated than its basic premise implies. Last year, Veronica (played by the amazing and adorable Kristen Bell) toiled to find the killer of her best friend, Lilly Kane.
Though someone had already confessed to Lilly's murder neither Veronica nor her father (the town's former sheriff) believed it. The season ended with the discovery that Lilly was murdered by Aaron Echolls (an appropriately slimy Harry Hamlin), father to Veronica's sometime nemesis and eventual boyfriend, Logan.
The last shot of last season was Veronica, answering the door to the cheap apartment she shares with her dad, and greeting an unseen visitor. All summer, fans of the show speculated whether the visitor was Logan or Duncan, Lilly's brother and Veronica's former flame.
Last night, the suspense ended, as the visitor was revealed to be Logan. This being a mystery show, though, his appearance raised more questions than it solved.
For one thing, he was bruised and covered in blood after a confrontation with some bikers. For another, it seems that Logan may have killed one of said bikers.
And I've just scratched the surface.
The premiere was a little too crowded, with a murder, a drug testing scandal, class warfare, a fatal bus accident, romantic intrigue, and, yes, a guest spot by 80s icon Steve Guttenberg. Also, there were way too many flashbacks (perhaps a nod to its new time slot competitor, "Lost").
But, flaws and all "Mars" remains one of the most compelling hours on television. Bell's Veronica is one of the most consistently appealing female characters on television -- smart, witty, tough, yet vulnerable. Not only does she solve crimes, but she gets good grades and has a nice relationship with her sweetheart of a dad, Keith.
The show also really does well by its secondary characters, particularly the charismatic but troubled Logan, who makes "The O.C"s supposed troubled teens look like boy and girl scouts by comparison.
Yet the show barely made it to a second season, and is now pitted against "Lost." That's a sad irony, as the same people who love the complicated characters and plot twists of "Lost" would probably also dig "Mars," which has many of the same elements.
All I can say is that you must watch this show. Tape it, TiVo it, steal a neighbor's TV -- I don't care.
It's on UPN at 9 p.m. Wednesdays. I've also heard that epsiodes will re-air on the weekends, so check your listings. This show is too good to disappear.
Posted by amanda on 12:35 PM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2005
The Guttenberg Conspiracy
We're only a couple of weeks into the new television season, and I've noticed a disturbing trend among this year's new and returning shows. No, I'm not talking about the alarmingly high number of them that feature violence against women. I'm talking about something even more insidious -- the resurrection of a large number of once ballyhooed (and now forgotten) stars from the 1980s.
Yes, just when you thought (and, in many cases, hoped) they were gone for good, Scott Baio, Steve Guttenberg, Mark Linn Baker, Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson are all popping up on television this season. Is this a conspiracy? Was there really someone at the UPN who charged into a meeting and proclaimed "You know what this season needs? Guttenberg!"?
I don't know the reason, but they're back, for better or for worse. And, oddly, I'm excited about some of them. Ok, I'm not exactly jonesing to see "Perfect Strangers"-straight man Baker star with the Griffith on the painful WB sitcom "Twins," but Johnson's show "Just Legal," is getting good buzz. And Baio is turning up on "Arrested Development," one of the wittiest shows on television. Granted, he pales next to former "AD" guest star Liza Minnelli (and Charlize Theron, who will also guest this year) but it's almost impossible for someone to not be funny on this show.
And Guttenberg? Well, he's guesting on my cherished "Veronica Mars." He better not screw it up.
In the spirit of this nostalgic casting, I've prepared my own list of 80s stars I'd like to see resurface, and the TV shows that I think would make the best fit with them. Casting directors, if you see my suggestions and decide to take them as your own, just be sure to give me credit. And a nice check.
1. Kirk Cameron: Ok, so the artist formerly known as Mike Seaver has become born-again post "Growing Pains." So wouldn't it be funny if Mr. "Left Behind" guest starred on "Desperate Housewives" as a naughty preacher? Perhaps one who starts a scandalous affair with the newly widowed Bree?
2. Joan Collins: Come on -- ever since "The O.C." began its run, you've hoped that Alexis Carrington herself would show up and teach these teeny-boppers what real a prime-time soap star looks like. And what better role for her than as a long-lost relative to Julie Cooper, the show's answer to Collins in her "Dynasty" heyday? By my count, it would be only moments before the two were wrestling together in one of Orange County's many swimming pools. Heaven.
3. Jennifer Grey: The "Dirty Dancing" star had her career famously derailed after a nosejob that rendered her virtually unrecognizable. So why not have her on "Nip/Tuck" as ... a movie star whose plastic surgery ruined her career by rendering her virtually unrecognizable? It's art imitating life -- and fixing its mistakes.
4. Justine Bateman: There actually had been talk that the former Mallory Keaton would guest star on "Arrested Development" as love interest to real life bro Jason Bateman. The idea was sick and deranged. I'm still upset that it never happened.
5. Molly Ringwald: Hmm. I don't know. Maybe she could be a guest voice on "The Simpsons." Or do a reunion with her "Pretty in Pink" co-star Jon Cryer on "Two and a Half Men." Whatever. I just miss Molly. Would someone please give her a job?
Posted by amanda on 10:13 AM | Comments (0)
September 9, 2005
Tuned in and bummed out
I'm all for television that's intricately plotted, complex and challenging. God knows I long ago outgrew the need for chipper, resolve-all-your-problems-in-a-half-hour sitcoms, such as "Full House" or anything else that was part of the T.G.I.F. lineup.
I liked the comic crankiness of "Everybody Loves Raymond." I like the complicated, occassionally unsympathetic characters on shows like "Rescue Me," "Veronica Mars," and "The Shield." And, like everyone else, I love it when someone gets whacked on "The Sopranos."
But lately, I've noticed something a little disconcerting about a lot shows on TV. They're, well, frankly, they're kind of a bummer.
This became especially clear to me this past week, as I watched an episode of my beloved "Rescue Me," a witty, smart, occassionally raw drama on the cable network FX.
Now, it's a show about firefighters, so, of course, it's often sad, violent -- even disturbing. But the show's main character, Tommy, has faced so many major life crises that the show is getting hard to watch. In the first season, his best friend died, his wife left him, his drinking problem worsened and he got thrown out of his firehouse.
This season was a little better for a while, as he returned to the firehouse and his wife returned (although his former girlfriend did lose their unborn child). However, this past week, he faced his worst trauma yet -- the death of young son in a senseless drunk driving accident.
Now, I wouldn't want to see the show go all cuddly and sugar-coated, but hasn't this poor man been through enough? Plus, it's only the second season. What will they do for a series finale -- ritualistic suicide?
It's not that I want my TV mindless, but there's enough trouble in the world. Let's have a little mercy on our fictional characters, please. Here's hoping that, in the "Rescue Me" season finale next week Tommy joins some sort of support group for traumatized television characters, along with "NYPD Blue"'s Andy Sipowicz, "24"'s Jack Bauer and Veronica Mars.
Then maybe we can all be happy.
Posted by amanda on 2:41 PM | Comments (0)
September 1, 2005
Not tonight — I'm watching television
Some people might call me a couch potato. After all, I arrange my social schedule around my favorite television shows. I know the names of actors no one's ever heard of. I can spend a half hour deconstucting an episode of "Veronica Mars," a show most people don't even watch. I still lament the cancellation of "Freaks and Geeks," a show nobody watched.
But I don't call myself a couch potato — I call myself a connoisseur. I don't just care about television. I savor it with a passion that most people reserve for religion or politics. It is my religion. I have a belief system regarding television that I almost never violate. I'll watch almost anything once. I watch almost no reality shows. I strongly feel that basic cable is a Godsend.
In this blog, you'll read all my thoughts, opinions and ideas about television.
Call me pathetic. Tell me to get off my couch and get a life. I don't care. I don't have time to care. I'm too busy watching television.
Posted by amanda on 5:03 PM | Comments (0)
