13 Responses for "Boxcutters Episode 54"

1. Rob Boxcutter September 29th, 2006 at 12:04

   I have to disagree with you guys about STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP (Aaron Sorkin’s new baby). I’ve seen the first two episodes and am cursing the unfairness of this cruel universe that makes me wait another week for my next fix. Studio 60 doesn’t condescend to the audience by explaining rather too obviously and loudly to camera who’s who and what’s what (as other new shows do, like SHARK for example); rather we find ourselves suddenly in the cut and thrust of US network TV production machinations. As in Sorkin’s THE WEST WING the focus here is on the dynamics of power, the importance of public perception, and how language (speeches/scripts) is crucial to both.

   Because the setting is the production side of a weekly network TV satirical comedy show there are perhaps more opportunities (or more permission) for laughs than in The West Wing — the writing is fast-paced and very smart, very witty — but the funniest moments and the best lines don’t come from the smidgeon we see of sketches going to air. At least not yet. The premise, after all, is that the show they produce has slowly sunk into blunt mediocrity.

   Studio 60 is a very writerly show — as with The West Wing some of the main characters are writers — and perhaps this will alienate some viewers. Also, some viewers may prefer to watch a satirical network TV show rather than the politics behind one. This wasn’t such an issue for followers of The West Wing, whose taste for politics presumably wasn’t stretched very far by that show’s focus on the politics behind politics.

   I also have to disagree with you guys about SIX DEGREES and HEROES. I think the Six Degrees pilot was quite good and will be interestingly watchable (but unfortunately not as strangely compelling as some other programs, for example those shows based on mad professors dissecting freshly deceased and plastinated human bodies while wearing black fedoras). There are some capable actors here (thinking particularly of Hope Davis and the guy who plays the photographer) and I’m happier to suspend my belief to accept interconnections between these New York storylines than I am to eviscerate my belief system entirely (for HEROES) to allow for siblings who fly, office workers who manipulate the space-time continuum and teenagers whose bodies are fireproof and unbreakable (surely they only think and act as if this were the case). I do agree the show is hurt by the stereotyping of minorities.

   Other new season offerings I’ve had a look at are:

   Season 2 of EXTRAS
   David Bowie’s cameo is brilliant — I didn’t know it was possible to laugh so hard while feeling pity in equal measure.

   SMITH
   Ray Liotta leading a double life as family man while head of a gang of high-end thieves-for-hire. I like it.

   MEN IN TREES
   Sex in the City meets Northern Exposure. They virtually spruik it this way on their web site! Has potential and is refreshingly without guns, violence and skyscrapers. Some quirkiness.

   SHARK
   Wealthy, successful and ruthless LA defence attorney is recruited by the Mayor to turn prosecutor with the DA’s office and teach them all his dirty tricks. Bursting at the seams with cliches (he he he), I don’t know that I’d be watching this if James Woods weren’t playing the lead. Best supporting actors in this show are James Woods’ mansion and James Woods’ hair.

   STANDOFF
   Focuses on a male/female pair of LA-based FBI “Crisis Negotiators” (who are sleeping with each other, of course). This has been mildly entertaining so far but could get boring rather quickly, just like HOUSE did after the first few episodes. The plot? There’s a kidnapping/hostage-taking/siege/crisis. The negotiators want to talk. The SWAT team wants to shoot. Negotiators win in the end. Ok, we get it.

   - - - -
   I’m yet to see RUNAWAY, BROTHERS AND SISTERS and the new season of David Mamet’s THE UNIT. Has anyone out there an opinion on these?

2. Anonymous September 29th, 2006 at 12:40

   Thanks Rob…

   What did we say against Studio 60? I can’t remember. Watching ep 2 tonight, but I very much liked ep 1.

   I’ll keep watching 6 Degrees if only for the pedigree of the creators alone.

   Haven’t seen Heroes yet either.

   Thanks for the heads up with the other shows. We’ll hopefully get to some or all of them over the coming weeks.

   RB

3. Rob Boxcutter September 29th, 2006 at 12:55

   Well, I wasn’t sure if describing Studio 60 as the “bust” of this week’s new shows was editorialising or just quoting how folks in the US found it (based on the man-with-chicken). In any case, I think it was the other Ross who said it

   What’s the deal Ross? You gotta log-in as anonymous now, on your own blog?

4. fourthof5 September 29th, 2006 at 13:05

   Just so you know. That crap ep of Doctor Who which didn’t havet the Doctor or Rose in it was part of a childrens contest in England which was for 5 to 7 year olds to design a monster and show idea. You need to remember that Doctor Who is more a cultral thing in England than it is else were in the world.

   The final two eps of Doctor Who are something special.

   Great ep guys as well.

5. fourthof5 September 29th, 2006 at 13:09

   As a heist fan, SMITH Loooks really good.

6. Ross September 29th, 2006 at 15:03

   I thought I was logged in, but clearly I wasn’t.

   Don’t know what happened to the random character thingo.

   Didn’t know about the design a monster comp. The monster once revealled did remind me a lot of Fat Bastard from Austin Powers but that probably had more to do with the performance and directing.

7. Brett September 30th, 2006 at 13:29

   Hey Rob,

   The Other Ross here…

   Yes, I was descibing the US viewer figures from the first week of the new season. I’m expecting it to be something awesome given it’s from the pen of Aaron Sorkin - the man’s a genius.

   I’ll have to have a look at that pilot at some point.

   Speaking of pilots, I came across a board where a number of people had watched the pre-screener pilot of Jerico who were saying there were some things that were quite different from the version that went out in the first episode.

   BB

8. Ross October 2nd, 2006 at 15:56

   TV UPDATE

   Second ep of Studio 60 was great. Definitely keep watching. Very much in the style of The Wing.

   Unfortunately Six Degrees isn’t cutting it and I’m not going to bother watching any more. Too many clunky cliches, too much of that overdone painful New York vibe.

   RB

9. Rob Boxcutter October 2nd, 2006 at 22:00

   Yep, Studio 60 is definitely the new crack.

   I hadn’t heard the stuff about Jericho. I’ve had a look at the show but I’m not that compelled by it.

   Showtime (US) has just premiered DEXTER.

   Here’s the Wikipedia entry:

   “DEXTER is a Showtime original television series starring Michael C. Hall as serial killer Dexter Morgan, who works as a forensics analyst (specializing in blood spatter) for the Miami-Dade Police Department.

   “. . . Orphaned at the age of four and harboring a traumatic secret, Dexter is adopted by a Miami police officer who recognizes Dexter’s homicidal tendencies and teaches his son to channel his gruesome passion for human vivisection in a constructive way — by killing only those heinous criminals who are above the law or who have slipped through the cracks of justice. A respected member of the police force, a perfect gentleman and a man with a soft spot for children, Dexter is hard not to like. Although his drive to kill is unflinching, he struggles to emulate normal emotions he doesn’t feel and to keep up appearances as a caring, socially-responsible human being.

   “. . . The series is based on the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay.”

   I can almost taste the apple sauce.

10. fourthof5 October 3rd, 2006 at 14:20

    Heros looks great. far darker than I was expecting. Eg its not every TV show where a suicidal chick sticks her hand in a grinder.

11. Anonymous October 3rd, 2006 at 14:34

    Link to a scene from Heroes.

12. Anonymous October 3rd, 2006 at 14:40

    Bugger would have been good had I remember to post the URL.
    http://www.tv.com/media_player/5978/105/viewer.php&context_type=101&context_id=17552#media-5978

13. Ross October 3rd, 2006 at 23:26

    Agreed Fourth

    Watched the first ep of Heroes tonight and was seriously impressed whne expecting to be more ‘meh’ - early days but promising.

    RB