Southland

It's about to happen again, I can feel it. Yet another of my favorite television shows is going to get canceled and disappear from my continually shrinking "to watch" list. Seriously, I get that one man's trash is another's treasure, but why do the truly great shows never seem to find an audience?

A few years ago it was The Black Donnellys. The year after that it was Journeyman. Next came Life. And now... probably the best of the bunch: Southland. Maybe it's just coincidence that all of these shows originally aired on the much-maligned NBC network, or maybe not. Brilliant shows all. Add to these the disappearance of ABC's Pushing Daisies and my prime time viewing enjoyment has been severely inhibited over the past few seasons.

For those unfamiliar, Southland is yet another cop show. This one, however, more closely resembles popular hospital dramas such as E.R. and Chicago Hope (and, I'll say it... Grey's Anatomy... pardon me while I clean the puke out of my mouth) in that it's an ensemble show. It follows in the footsteps of the great Hill Street Blues (which set the precedent for ensemble cop dramas) and the underrated High Incident.

But it's better than all of those. And it's only been on for 13 episodes.

Some history: the show premiered on NBC in the late Spring of 2009. Its first season ran only seven episodes, probably largely to the fact that NBC can't keep a non-Law & Order show on the air for much longer than that. So then NBC picks it up for 13-episode second season. But, largely due to the Jay Leno fiasco, NBC cancels the show for being "too dark" after six episodes have been filmed, but none aired.

Thanks, Jay.

Anyway, TNT buys the show in toto from NBC and re-airs the first season in a lead-up to the six episodes of the second. The final episode aired last week and now fans of Southland anxiously await TNT's verdict concerning renewal. The show did well, but not well enough to be a shoe-in. And here we are.

Seriously, this gritty look into the LAPD is the best ensemble cop show I've ever seen (and is definitely a candidate for best cop show, period). Extremely well-written, with realistic dialogue (heavy subjects are often casually dismissed, while frivolous topics often take up entire conversations), documentary-style camera work (though I'm tired of hand-held camera, the show's use of digital cameras lends to its tone), and character development that not only provides subplot, but pervades into the main plot.

I've no idea how realistic the portrayal of the show is (I've never been a cop), but it seems far more so than anything else... including that "gritty" (I use this word, but I do hate doing so) NYPD Blue. Maybe The Wire has it beat, but I've yet to watch all of that particular show. And, besides, HBO has a leg-up on everybody.

Still, I do hope TNT does fans of the show a favor and gives us a third season... or the rest of the second season. There are too many character threads left hanging, and I just have to know what happens. The show has done well enough to double TNT's ratings in its timeslot, and it (to the best of my interpretation) is not losing money for the network. So why not?

And besides... it made me fall in love with Regina King. Like... totally.

Why Cops Must Hate the Mentalist

I enjoy The Mentalist, I really do. I understand that it's an extremely contrived show, but it's full of well-written characters and full of some nice touches that many viewers aren't used to seeing (CBI, anyone?). And, it's certainly far and away better than that totally contrived copycat on Fox, Lie to Me. Sure, it's not as slick, but neither does it rely on as much gimmickery and ultimate pointlessness.

Anyway... though I like the series, headlined by an actor I've followed since I first saw him in a bit part in L.A. Confidential (one of my favorite movies), I'm of the opinion that real cops and detectives must hate it. Ever notice how most of the procedural stuff is handled by Jane (the main character)? And he handles it in such a way that he almost scoffs at it like it's "duh" obvious. And even though the show, unlike Lie to Me, does highlight some procedural and forensic work done by real cops, it's usually as afterthought or just a way to build the other characters in the series. For the show, it works, but it still can't make real cops happy.

Other Television Musings

So, the inevitable happened: Life was canceled. Screw all you bastards who didn't tune it to save it. Ah, well... at least the finale was awesome.

The BBC hit, Primeval, is back, and boy does it suck so far. What happened to the days of shows getting better as they go on? Are even writers suffering from the impatience felt by viewers? And everyone wonders why reality TV is so prolific these days.

The upcoming season certainly has the record for lamest new show titles: The Listener, Mental, The Middle, Glee? Come on, now.

Jay Leno might wind up saving NBC in the short run, but he's going to kill network TV in the long run.

Somebody needs to convince the CW to give it up. Seriously... go away. Sell your better shows to the Big Four and just go away.

While I can't wait for The Cleveland Show to start, something tells me 90 minutes of Seth McFarlane every week is not going to work for very long. Then again, I think I'm overestimating the intelligence of TV audiences, so I'm probably wrong.

Do I really want 18 NFL games per season? Um... I love my Chargers, but no.

The next great NBC shows that aren't going to make it: Chuck and Southland. We can just throw them into the Life, Journeyman, and The Black Donnelly's pile right now.

Prison Break is finally gone. Good riddance. Although I give kudos for that ending.

Craig Ferguson is the best late night host on television.

For you Pushing Daisies fans, it's coming back for three weeks, Saturday nights on ABC.

And, in closing, for you whiny fans who seem to think ratings don't matter, who the fuck do you think ultimately pays for the shows you watch? This ain't the UK, and we ain't got the BBC. So watch the fucking commercials.

Have a nice day.

Organized Musings

Introduction

I have decided to organize my random musings. So there.

Television

NBC moving giving Leno their M-F 10 PM slot is going to be A) the end of NBC, or B) the end of network television. Option A will happen if the move is unsuccessful, forcing NBC to revert to "traditional" 10 PM shows, putting the network in a "catch up" position with ABC, CBS, and Fox. Option B will happen if the move is successful, and the rest of the Big Four nets follow suit, forcing audiences to cable channels in order to find quality scripted television.

Prison Break is going bye-bye, which is no surprise. Fox could've turned that show into something great, but instead decided to make it a reverse 24 of sorts, rather than the Kung Fu, The Fugitive, and The A-Team homage that it should've been.

Related to the NBC-Leno thing: Life and (likely) Chuck are screwed.

Battlestar Galactica is beginning its final run. Here's hoping that the nerd-critics finally realize what crap the show's been since part-way through its second season.

Sports

LaDanian Tomlinson is crying about taking a smaller role in the offense. Dude, I thought you were about "being classy." Support your team, take the role, extend your career, and shut the fuck up. All that stated, the mere fact that the Chargers are considering dumping him is ludicrous. That's the face of your team, you idiots.

The Padres allowed Trevor Hoffman to go to the Brewers. That was the face of your team, you idiots.

Speaking of the Brewers, will somebody PLEASE put them back in the American League? And get rid of interleague play while you're at it.

Politics

Obama's taking over soon. Meet the new boss, not much different than the old boss. Hah! Seriously, though, he's no fool... change will come slowly, yet steadily, but this overnight shit just ain't going to happen.

Supposedly the government has identified Mexico (along with Pakistan) as the state most likely to collapse within the next decade or so. I say we annex.

Music

Listen to Fascinoma (she's awesome).

U2's new album comes out shortly... here's hoping it's a great one.

Hollywood

Despite numbers showing otherwise, Hollywood is running around pretending it's in some sort of financial crisis, which is putting it in a financial crisis. How fucking stupid is that?

SAG is not going to strike. If it does, we will definitely see the ascension of AFTRA as the power actor's union in Hollywood. I'm going to assume that even SAG isn't dumb enough to let that happen, but nothing will surprise me.

Heath Ledger does not deserve an Academy Award. Yeah, it sucks he's dead, and I was certainly a fan, but his Joker (while excellent... outstandingly excellent) does not deserve an Academy Award.

Animals

One of my dogs has figured out how to circumvent an electric fence. I am very, very afraid.

So, the Bush Administration lifted some protections from certain groups of Grey Wolves. Almost immediately, Idaho and Montana started organizing wolf hunts. Does that seem ridiculous to anyone else?

MySpace

I'm glad to see that MySpace has finally fixed the blog clock. Seriously, why was that a problem in the first place?

Conclusion

'Til next time...

The Spring 2008 Television Season: a Quick Review

Okay, so this is more of a "first three months of 2008" review, rather than a Spring 2008 one, but who the Hell cares?

At any rate, the WGA strike is over and television will soon return to some semblance of normalcy (provided SAG doesn’t strike next). Until then, however, we were left with a rather chaotic early 2008 season. Here are my humble opinions:

The only show I watched on ABC this year (so far) was Lost, and it is pretty damned good, if you ask me. Still, one can notice a certain "rush to finish" (next season is reported to be the last) and the new "flash forward" gimmick has already proven itself too weak to support the season in its entirety, but it still rocks.

On CBS, I was convinced by a friend to watch Jericho, which, thankfully, has just been axed. Great concept, but a definite "rush to finish" mentality (not entirely the writers’ faults, mind you), but extremely sub-par execution. This is not suprising, however, as CBS is rife with sub-par execution (anything without CSI in the title).

The best thing on CBS so far this year was Comanche Moon, the final chapter of the Lonesome Dove saga. Great series, second only to the original. Steve Zahn was near-perfect as Gus McCrae.

Moving on the NBC, I forced myself to suffer through that hack Knight Rider update. Ugh... it’ll get picked up for series, I’m sure, where it won’t last a full season. Think Bionic Woman and you’ve got the right idea.

Let’s see... off the top of my head, I can only recall watching one series on ABC, one on CBS, and not a one on NBC (still waiting for Life and Chuck to come back). Which brings me to Fox... ah, thank the television gods for Fox.

There was Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, New Amsterdam, and American Idol. T:TSCC was rather interesting, and I did rather like it.

Unfortunately, the entire premise is based on a continuity error (explicitly identified in the pilot episode), and it’s really hard for me to keep watching. Still, with the surprising addition of former Beverly Hills 90210 loser Brian Austin Green as a fairly convincing soldier from the future, the show still has my interest. Now we just have to see if it gets picked up.

New Amsterdam has a concept that I really, really like. But, as with many new shows, the series hasn’t found its groove yet (which isn’t an excuse), and it may not make it. Sucks, too, since I have a connection to the lead actress. Ah, well... here’s hoping it gets much better... and fast.

American Idol is, well, American Idol. I can honestly say that I’m tired of the purposefully-goofy auditions, and would much rather watch a serious show. I can also honestly say that the current contestants see themselves far greater than they are (with one or two possible exceptions). And, to wrap it up, I can also honestly say those concert-going posers in the audience really annoy the fuck out of me when they stand up and sway during ballads. I get that they’re all 14-year-old girls, but for fuck’s sake... It’s gotten to the point that I fast-forward through the singing because I can’t stand to watch.

This blog is getting long, and there is no clear train of thought, so let me just add a few things:

HBO’s John Adams is undeniably the miniseries of the year (sorry Comance Moon). It’s a must-see. And, if you don’t like it, or at least find yourself not having a little more respect for our flag, then you need to get the fuck out of my country.

BBC America is addictive. I pretty much watch everything Gordon Ramsay, and am now stuck on yet another kitchen show: Last Restaurant Standing. Fantastic. I can’t wait for an American network to import it and fuck it all up.

I’m sure there are more shows I’ve been watching that I’ve missed, but oh, well... I’m sick of typing.

Have a nice day.