Mr. TV: A Harsh Reality

I am bored, folks. And if I am, I bet you are too. Yes, I knew this current TV season would not go down in the record books because two of the more anticipated new series, CBS’ Hawaii Five-O and NBC’s Law & Order: Los Angeles, do not smack from creativity. So, I kept my expectations low. But I honestly did not think I would be watching leftover summer rubbish like Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Jersey Shore when there is so much original scripted programming fare on. To wit, I have to hand it to Mike “The Situation” Sorretino, actually, because unlike wooden Michael Bolton he took his verbal thrashing on Dancing with the Stars like a man. I mean he wasn’t really all that bad in the final dance. But judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli seem intent on keeping the God-awful Bristol Palin around. There are six new comedies on the air, plus returning favorites like Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family. Yet, the funniest line of this young season to-date was when Bristol was described as an “activist.” An activist of what exactly? Dancing with the Stars, of course, is a hot commodity. And so is CBS, which is the first network in 23 years to dominate the first four weeks of the season in total viewers and the key demos.And there are other bright spots: Sunday Night Football, one of NBC’s few bright spots; and that weekly musical extravaganza that I personally cannot get into, Fox’s Glee. I am the in the minority here, but I happen to think there is too much music and not enough dramatic story-telling. Every time a worthy moment occurs on Glee, the gang breaks out into song and dance. Sometimes I feel like I am watching an old Our Gang short,I am sure you know by now that crime solvers are not my forte (Hill Street Blues was the show of that nature that I watched with some degree of regularity). So, I have not exactly been glued to the tube for ABC’s Detroit 1-8-7, CBS’ Hawaii Five-O and The Defenders or NBC’s Chase and Law & Order: Los Angeles. Someone needs to tell Michael Imperioli take he should be committing crimes on the small screen, not fighting them. But I do give credit to CBS for incorporating crime and relationship in Blue Bloods, which gives it a very different flavor. Mirroring one decade earlier when CBS was the only network still really programming Saturday, Friday is the new Saturday and chances Tom Selleck and company will eventually move off the evening to save it. Unless the Eye net positions upcoming spin-off Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior out of its parent series, my gut tells me Blue Bloods will eventually swap time periods with current Wednesday 10 p.m. occupant The Defenders. As for Hawaii Five-O, that pulse beating theme song music is still outstanding, arguably the best of any series in the history of television. And incorporating the new stars in the original opening is very graphically appealing. But I still say it is better off to leave well enough alone. Why remake a classic that you just know will not be as good as the original? Like every season, the established and mostly declining series to continue to carry the landscape. And I happen to think grown-up Blossom, Mayim Bialik, is the perfect mate for Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory and Vanessa Williams has great chops as a new villainess on ABC’s Desperate Housewives. I also happen to like Holly’s amnesia storyline on lead-out Brothers & Sisters, which may be ending as expected this season. But Sela Ward is no crime fighter on CBS’ CSI: NY. CBS’ Two and a Half Men seems to recycle the same old jokes. NBC’s The Office is showing its age creatively. And 30 Rock, also on NBC, is still underrated. You must know me by now…I like to moan and groan. Regardless, I still love TV and I always will. But this, unfortunately, is not one of the better seasons.

Convergent TV

Mr. TV: A Harsh Reality

Marc Berman

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Marc Berman