Notes on Pop Culture: TV Season Thus Far = Some Good, Some So-So

The fall TV season is about to go on its typical holiday break which means we’re soon going to be seeing an uptick in repeats through the new year. Grey’s Anatomy, for example, has already aired its last episode of 2011. While I’ve already extolled the virtues of the new shows Homeland and Boss here, how have other favorite TV shows being doing thus far this season?

Grey’s Anatomy: It’s had an up and down start to its eighth season. While the last episode before the holiday hiatus was solid, the softball one was the weakest episode in some time and the weeks upon weeks of Derek being a sanctimonious withholding jerk were hugely grating, never mind a gigantic turn-off. Made me despise his character. Now that we’ve learned that Meredith and Derek have lost Zola, I’m wondering what horrendous thing the writers are going to do to Meredith next as Teddy mourns her husband and Cristina likely goes into shock again, not long after she regained her emotional equilibrium after the mass shooting. (To read reviews of this season’s episodes thus far, I’ve been reviewing them over on CliqueClack TV.)

The Good Wife: This show seems as though it’s been keeping things on the down-low for a lot of the season thus far. It doesn’t seem to be taking as many chances as it has in the past and the Alicia-Will affair has, with the exception of the season premiere, been mostly under wraps, cloaked in nuanced bits of conversation in Will's glass office or aluded to in coded ways. Their relationship has not been a huge focus of Alicia's world as her attention has been split between her kids and a boatload of casework lately.

The incremental increase in the pressure the angry and jealous Peter Florrick is applying to Will in the form of an investigation into Will's actions has made for good television. Plus we don't really know if Will has been thoroughly on the up-and-up in all his business dealings. I hope the slow build will pay off, much like the big reveal about Kalinda did last season. The writers have got to know that they've raised the stakes with its stellar second second.

Seeing Eli Gold on a regular basis, now that his offices are inside Lockhart/Gardner and hearing his witty one-liners has been a wonderful addition. (The “Here. Comes. Santa.” line in the latest episode was great.) And now that Peter is getting closer to finding out for sure that Alicia and Will are sleeping together, the tension that’s been at a low boil will start to heat up.

Up All Night: I’ve also been reviewing Up All Night, the freshman Christina Applegate and Will Arnett comedy about neurotic new parents. After a bit of charming awkwardness and lack of clarity as to what role the Ava (Maya Rudolph) character should play, the show has hit its creative stride.

Its best show of the season was the latest one where Reagan and Chris had a hard time trying to get away for a romantic evening at a hotel together in order to snap their multi-week romantic dry spell. I also loved seeing Reagan’s therapist parents, Toby from The West Wing and Gwyneth Paltrow’s mom Blythe Danner. I hope they’ll return for guest spots.

Parenthood: Here’s another show that has been hot and cold thus far this season, though it’s had more quality moments than cruddy ones. The latest episode is an example of the quality that we know Parenthood writers can deliver when they want to. They provided Sarah Braverman (Lauren Graham) with some meaty material (it’s about damned time) involving her ex-husband Seth (played by the excellent John Corbett), and featured some thoroughly charming, achingly loving scenes between Adam and his wife Kristina who recently gave birth and who is still adjusting to the changes in her body. (I also review this show weekly here.)

What needs work? Figuring out what to do with Jasmine, Amber and Zeek who had the misfortune of having a storyline about starring in erectile dysfunction drug ads. I also hope that my concerns about where they're headed with this whole coffee cart gal adoption thing are misplaced.

Modern Family: As much as it pains me to write this, I’ve been distinctly underwhelmed by this season’s offerings from my favorite comedy, the episode above – where Phil made a string of mistakes when caring for the kids while Claire was trying to launch her bid for City Council (accidentally drugging Alex and giving Luke a shiner) – notwithstanding.

From the episode where Cam tried to pick up a woman just to prove that he could (so uncomfortable and so unfunny) and the one where Jay was acting like a grumpy old man who wouldn’t go out salsa dancing with Gloria (so tired and disappointing), to Claire getting drunk and going out with Cam and Mitchell’s friends, there have been several unfortunate misfires.

I don’t know what to make of the paucity of really strong material as of late -- the expectations are ridiculously high given their Emmy prowess --  but I’ve got my fingers crossed that the Modern Family writers get their mojo back. And soon.

Notes on Pop Culture: Assessing the New TV Season

The fall TV season starts in one big, mad rush as the networks simultaneously release their new and returning shows in a short period of time. It’s hard to figure out what’s worth your time and what’s not. Already, The Playboy Club (which I hated), Charlie’s Angels, Free Agents, How to Be a Gentleman (none of which I never watched) have been cancelled. Other new shows are still on the bubble.

As for returning shows, there’s been a mixed bag, ratings-wise, with some disappointing and others waging a strong showing.

Here are some of the shows that I have seen, liked and plan to stick with:

Modern Family: My beloved Modern Family had a precarious beginning to its third season. I wasn’t all that big on the dude ranch episode and the Manny-sells-wrapping-paper episode was only so-so, with Phil and Luke’s weirdly violent YouTube basketball moment being the highlight. I was starting to worry that my favorite comedy, which has been showered with love and golden statues, was losing its touch.

Then came this week’s episode and it hit on all cylinders. Claire’s going to run for town council because she’s ticked that the town won’t put a stop sign up at an intersection in her neighborhood. This has tremendous, clenched Claire potential. Cam’s sanctimonious take-down of the dad who he thought had brought two young children to see a violent movie, only to learn he and Mitchell were in the wrong theater, was priceless social commentary and Phil’s accidental bruising of Luke and his drugging of Alex were pitch perfect. Throw in Luke’s sudden savvy and I’m hoping the writers are in the groove once again. More of what we saw this week and less of Cam yelling, "Stella!" in suburban streets.

Up All Night: It was this past week’s episode of the Will Arnett/Christina Applegate freshman comedy Up All Night – I reviewed it here on CliqueClack TV -- that solidified for me the conclusion that this show is a keeper. Although it focuses on new parent experiences that have been covered many times before by many different shows, Up All Night always seems to put its new, fresh spin on the subjects. (Its major weakness is figuring out what to do with Maya Rudolph, but they improved upon her character this week.)

For example, we’ve seen new TV parents struggle with neighbors partying and being really loud while the parents are trying to sleep and they know their baby’s going to be up soon, or the baby can’t get to sleep because of the noise before, but the way Arnett’s Chris and Applegate’s Reagan coped was much different. In a piece for Modern Mom I compared Up All Night to thirtysomething, which aired a bazillion years ago. In thirtysomething, when the Steadmans’ neighbors were having a loud party, Michael ran outside to the front stoop and fruitlessly shrieked at them to turn the music down while standing there, lamely, in his boxers. In Up All Night, Chris called police about the noise his neighbors were making, but after he provided his name, he and Reagan feared the neighbors consider them uncool so they quickly got dressed and ran across the street to the loud party and pretended they’d been there all along.

Chris and Reagan are two cute, wannabe hipster parents who are simply exhausted and to whom you want to give a giant hug.

The Good Wife: Untethered from the responsibility of actually having to be a martyred, betrayed wife any longer, I’m really digging the new Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) who's enjoying her illicit love affair with her boss Will Gardner. She seems to have developed a confident bounce in her step, loving her role as the public “good wife” who’s really having fun being bad. Adding Lisa Edelstein (formerly of House) to the cast and moving Eli Gold's political consulting work inside Lockhart Gardner were strokes of genius.

Homeland: The pilot episode of this Showtime terrorism/spy drama, Homeland blew me away. Who knew that Claire Danes, Angela Davis from My So-Called Life, could convincingly play a CIA agent with a drug problem who suspects a former U.S. POW, now regarded of an American hero, is a double agent for the enemy? Episode two is still sitting on my DVR awaiting a Saturday night viewing with my husband. If you miss 24, Homeland is for you.

Shows In Between:

Grey’s Anatomy: After a very strong seventh season, Grey’s Anatomy’s eighth season has been a disappointment thus far. We’ve seen the main character, Meredith Grey, become estranged from and practically shunned by her husband because she messed with a clinical trial of his, got fired (then quickly rehired) and then, as a result, the strained duo lost custody of their adopted daughter. Derek Shepherd has been transformed into an utterly unlikable, pompous character.

Owen and Cristina have been struggling with Cristina’s decision to abort their baby when he wanted to keep it. Though he’s trying to be supportive of her, it’s obvious that something’s shifted between them, and not just the fact that Owen has become chief of surgery after Richard took the fall for Meredith. These two have been among the few bright spots this season.

Last week’s episode was told from the men’s point of view and was, frankly pretty demeaning toward the male characters as it showed them stereotypically fighting over women and work, making erectile dysfunction jokes and wielding hammers and drinking beer as a way to cope with all that was bugging them. This week’s episode – which I reviewed here -- focused on a penile transplant and used the groundbreaking surgery as a clunky, clumsy metaphor for all sorts of things, from April Kepner’s virginity and Miranda Bailey dumping one guy for another, to Avery standing up for himself in the face of public ridicule from his mother.

After last season, I was expecting more than stunts like the transplant and men using power tools. I look for some emotional resonance when I tune into this show and I know it's something Grey’s can deliver.

Parenthood: There have been several heart-in-your-throat scenes in the third season of Parenthood, notably the scene where Alex said goodbye to Kristina and where the pregnant single gal who pushes the coffee cart around Julia's office turned down Julia's request to adopt her child, then, a few episodes later, changed her mind. (I reviewed that episode here.)

Adam looking for work and deciding to take a chance with his family's future by working on his brother's passion project is an intriguing idea, as is moving forward with having Julia and Joel adopt. But many of the other storylines have left me flat: Jasmine and Crosby dating other people and running into one another is thoroughly boring. Sarah dating the English teacher again hasn't gone anywhere. Amber trying to be bohemian and living in a rat-infested hole seems cliched. Zeek starring in erectile dysfunction commercials is just, what's the word . . . awkward.

It’s been a very uneven season thus far for Parenthood, which has been a letdown because the show has, in the past, seemed willing to delve deeply into issues, like Max’s Asperger’s or Alex's poverty for example. I think my problem with this season is that the episodes have been overstuffed with tons of storylines so they seem a mile wide and an inch thick. I like it better when they keep things simpler. However I’m not giving up on the Bravermans yet.

Still on my DVR awaiting my attention, the latest episodes of: Suburgatory, Homeland, The Middle, Parks and Recreation and The Middle.
What new/returning shows have you liked thus far this season?

Image credits: CBS and ABC.

Glimpses of New: 'The Hunger Games,' 'Parenthood' S3, 'House' S8 & 'The Mentalist' S4

I was among the millions on the east coast who were without power for days – thanks Tropical Storm Irene – so on the night that the ever-so-brief first trailer for the upcoming film The Hunger Games was released I was playing Scrabble at the kitchen table by candlelight. And since I just got internet service back (believe me, it was frustrating to be an observer of pop culture when I couldn’t observe it), this morning was my first glimpse of what folks saw during the MTV VMAs.

It’s not much. It’s not very substantive. But it’s not horrible and doesn’t make me cringe, which is good. It was just too brief for me to make an assessment. My 13-year-old daughter and Hunger Games fan still has grave reservations about how Jennifer Lawrence will play Katniss Everdeen.



That being said, the promo for the third season of NBC’s Parenthood doesn’t offer us much new either, except the knowledge that the show will flash-forward in time, several months in fact, taking viewers from the moment when Kristina told Adam she was pregnant in the season finale, to her being in full bloom/almost-ready-to-pop pregnant and Adam is apparently terrified.

Wonder if Adam will have found a job yet when the new season begins? Imagine them having to move in with Zeek and Camille and Sarah and Drew?



House’s brief promo for the eighth season of the drama shows Dr. House incarcerated, not, as he was a couple of seasons ago, in a mental facility, but this time, in prison. Guess it wasn’t such a smooth move to drive his car smack into the front of Cuddy’s house, now was it?

How will House do now that Lisa Edelstein has jumped ship and will now be appearing in The Good Wife remains an open question. Her absence will leave a startlingly gaping hole, kind of like the one House left in Cuddy’s home

I’m beginning to think that House, the show, has a serious woman problem.



Another lead character who’ll be starting the fall season behind bars is Patrick Jane from The Mentalist who, in the season finale, fatally shot the serial killer in the middle of a shopping mall as said killer, Red John, was taunting him about how Jane’s wife and daughter smelled when he murdered them. Doubt that Jane will be getting many hot cups of tea in the clink.

What new show/film are you most looking forward to seeing?