| 20 January 2012
Highlights
I think there’s something wrong with me, because I absolutely LOVE Showtime’s cynical, raunchy, self-loathing black comedy House of Lies, and the word “love” really shouldn’t be used in association with a show with this much angry sex, naked greed, shameless perversion of ethics and stuff that’s just so downright WRONG.
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Sociopathic exes Dawn Olivieri & Don Cheadle
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At it’s core, House of Lies is a show about manipulation on a grand scale. Corporate wizard Marty Kaan (Don Cheadle, who also produces) travels around the country with his team (Kristen Bell, Josh Lawson, Ben Schwartz) helping businesses in trouble, like this week’s Phoenix Huskies, a mythical basketball team about to be seized by the league due to an ugly divorce (all similarities to the Los Angeles Dodgers are absolutely on purpose). The team is able to save the day when Doug the numbers guy (Lawson) discovers $100 million the owner was trying to hide from his soon to be ex. They sell the public and the league on the viability of the team by staging a “fake-conciliation,” getting the two spouses to set aside their mutual hatred long enough to lie about getting back together. Of course, sometimes a business isn’t in trouble, like in week one’s episode about MetroCapital, the most evil of evil Wall Street banks. Marty convinces them that they need his services nonetheless by assembling a “man on the street video” that consists of a dozen different people telling MetroCapital they should eat shit and die, then selling the bank on a “mortgage forgiveness” scam that doesn’t wind up forgiving any debt but convinces the public that the super-rich bankers are actually concerned about the deteriorating financial problems they’re suffering. Bell’s character, Jeannie Van Der Hooven, purports to be the conscience of the group, until you realize this is a group that has no conscience, and she is just trying to draw happy faces on the filthy work they’re doing.
Interspersed with the corporate greed and double-dealing is a healthy (or unhealthy) look at relationships. As Marty’s drug-addicted ex (and corporate rival) Monica, Dawn Olivieri is a real standout in the cast. We can see the loathing in Marty’s eyes when he looks at her, but we can also see that a small part of him realizes he’s just looking in a fun-house mirror at the same time. Cheadle is terrific here, and his frequent asides to the camera are bitingly funny. Throwing a monkey wrench into the relationship is the fact that these two self-absorbed, self-loathing people actually had a kid, who naturally has problems of his own. Donis Leonard, Jr. has been terrific as a cross-dressing junior high school kid, blissfully unaware of just how screwed up his situation is.
It’s early, but so far these characters are likeable, despite their despicable behavior, and that will be key to the show’s success. Having a laugh at the extremes to which this group will go to service the out-of-sight rich while at the same time soaking them for all they’re worth is a tricky tightrope, but when executed successfully, it’s breathtaking to watch.
There’s a reason the CBS sitcom Rob was more or less doomed to failure, and no, it’s not because it’s a sitcom starring Rob Schneider, although that doesn’t help. Schneider has shown over time that he works best as a secondary character. Ask him to carry the load and you get stuff like Deuce Bigalow and The Animal. But the real reason this show doesn’t work is that it combines a tired premise (guy doesn’t fit in with his new wife’s family) and leaves a largely untouchable minefield (jokes about Hispanics) as its source of humor.
Schneider plays Rob, a neurotic loner who somehow manages to convince an attractive Mexican-American girl named Maggie (Claudia Bassols) to marry him after a very brief courtship. Loner Rob is brought to meet “the family,” which includes Maggie’s parents (veteran comic actors Cheech Marin and Lupe Ontiveros) and scary Uncle Hector (Eugenio Derbez). And it’s funny because. . .it’s not. Seriously, is there any surprise humor in the fact that parents wouldn’t want their daughter to bring home Rob Schneider and announce she married him? Anytime Rob goes for Hispanic-based humor the result is an uncomfortable mix of racial stereotyping or Schneider being so over-the-top inappropriate that you get the sense that in the next scene someone will get dinged in the head with a ball-peen hammer and then hit in the face with a banana cream pie. Maybe Uncle Hector could wear a lapel flower that squirts water while they’re at it. None of it is funny.
This show belongs back in the ‘80s, when the concept would have been decidedly less tired and the portrayal of a large Mexican-American family could have been milked for some more cultural humor without being offensive (or maybe it would have been then also, but at least it would have been new humor). In the meantime, Rob looks like a show on an engagement just as short as the one its lead characters had.
When it comes to Being Human, Syfy’s reboot of the terrific BBC show, I promise I won’t go on and on discussing the original and comparing the two. But a few preliminary notes: When it was first announced that there would be an Americanized production of this unique and fascinating show about a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost who share a house in an attempt to fit in and “live” normal lives, there was much trepidation among its fan base that the intricate relationships fostered between the characters and the masterful plot lines that were gripping and suspenseful without ever crossing over into melodrama or oversensationalizing the supernatural elements of the show would be completely lost in the American production. They needn’t have worried. Syfy’s Being Human has managed to maintain everything about its British predecessor that made it special, while at the same time taking its plot line in a couple of different directions to create a fresh and terrific show that, with one or two small exceptions, is every bit its equal.
In the Season 2 opener, vampire Aidan (Sam Witwer) is dealing with the aftermath of his having killed the corrupt leader of Boston’s vampire community, and finds himself more mired in vampire politics than ever. Ghost Sally (Meghan Rath) is over the fact that her bastard of a fiance caused her death, and is now trying to discover if there’s some aspects of the after-life that make it worth after-living. Werewolf Josh (Sam Huntington) is having the most success living a normal life, or so he thinks, as he doesn’t yet realize that girlfriend Nora (Kristen Hager) got scratched at his last turning and is now a werewolf herself. Hager has been a standout, as her character was introduced earlier than in the British version and she has really made it her own. Huntington is a fine Josh, although no one really believed that anyone could embody the fidgety werewolf better than the tremendous Russell Tovey.
Being Human’s Nora (Hager) and Josh (Huntington)
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Being Human (either version) deals with complex questions of addiction, grief, loss, dishonesty and prejudice. It’s supernatural characters are all too real, and Syfy has got itself a bona fide hit by being smart enough to take a good thing and make enough subtle improvements and changes to keep the essence of what makes it great intact.
Quick Takes
If you watched Glee this week, I’m sure your reaction was the same as mine. . .”Is that Helen Mirren?! Is she saying ‘boo-yah?!’ What the. . .”
Reality Check: There’s a reason I like Shark Tank, and it’s because it’s so unlike other reality TV shows. There is no one attempting to eat live bugs. No one has a nervous breakdown over their chance to date or marry a complete stranger. No one’s college roomate is about to emerge as a “surprise” guest to talk about that crazy weekend in Tijuana. Shark Tank is completely straightforward and unsensational. Would-be entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in an effort to secure financing. Sounds boring? It works. This is a real life situation business hopefuls face all the time and it is the business equivalent of opening night on Broadway or Game 7 of the World Series. Everything depends on getting the money you need to move forward. From your infant businesses’ point of view, it’s the difference between life and death. Therein lies all of the drama and suspense of Shark Tank, and it’s plenty to fuel the show, one which puts the reality back in reality TV. My one complaint: this week’s guest list included Bill Walton. PLEASE Shark Tank, no “Celebrity Shank Tank,” I beg you.
I’m normally a fan of BBC America’s sci/fi and fantasy offerings, but at this point I can’t recommend investing much time in the dark miniseries The Fades, about a teen who's part Donnie Darko part the kid from The Sixth Sense. In lieu of telling a half-way decent linear story, The Fades is all atmosphere and dark imagery and unexplained weirdness that starts to get annoying as the series seems determined to elicit the question “WTF was that?!” about 100 times but never once seems concerned with giving you the answer.
Educational TV: Things we learned from TV this week: 1) Never trust a lawyer, even your own (Revenge); 2) An intervention is a surprise party for someone that’s gonna hate you (Happy Endings); 3) If you violate SuperPac campaign laws, you could be subject to a six-figure fine, which would suck if you couldn’t use your SuperPac money to pay it, which you can (The Daily Show/The Colbert Report); 4) The Phillie Phanatic has a menstrual cycle (30 Rock).
A few nice moments from the Golden Globes: Idris Elba being recognized for his great work in Luther; Felicity Huffman & William H. Macy’s cool little song they sang before announcing their award; some of my favorite shows like Homeland, American Horror Story, Game of Thrones and Enlightened scoring wins; Madonna getting her funny on with Ricky Gervais; a win for Octavia Spencer, whose credits go back 15 years but who was a virtual unknown until she appeared in The Help; the inclusion of a scene from the ‘70s kids’ show The Electric Company in the Morgan Freeman tribute and MOST OF ALL, the wonderful tribute to Freeman himself, one of the finest actors of this or any generation.
Observations From Nerd Heaven: Alyson Hannigan has a unique talent (well, lots of them actually, but this one’s really unique). No one plays the “evil” version of their character better than Alyson. Not since Spock with a beard have more indelible alternates been seen. Remember “Vampire Willow” from Buffy - despite just two appearance, she was a huge fan favorite in the Buffyverse. On this week’s How I Met Your Mother, Alyson was at it again. They brought back “Stripper Lily” for a command performance. We can never get enough Alyson, and we especially can never get enough “Evil Alyson.” What’s next? Mrs. Spock with a beard?
Stripper Lily Vampire Willow
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And the one that started it all. . .”Mirror Spock”
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Ugh, they’re still doing it. The Firm apparently will open every episode with another minute or two from “six weeks from now” followed by the story that’s occurring in the present (or the past, however you want to look it). Because nothing creates suspense like taking six minutes of action and dragging it out for two months. Yeah. Right.
The Laugh a Minute Minute: This week’s sitcom that’s firing on all cylinders? Happy Endings. From rapid fire one liners, to the hilarious “mousetrap” scene, to Elisha Cuthbert smothering Zachary Knighton with a pillow, to Eliza Coupe and Damon Wayans, Jr. hilariously recreating their “past selves,” this episode was so packed with laughs it’s a good thing they included commercials or you might have forgotten to breathe.
Looking Ahead:
House returns to first run on January 23 on Fox. It will pair up with Alcatraz to form Fox’s Monday night lineup.
Dichen Lachman (Dollhouse) joins the Being Human cast as the new vampire boss of Boston in the January 23 episode.
Touch, the Fox series about a man (Kiefer Sutherland) whose autistic son can predict the future, debuts on January 25.
Leonard and Penny get back together on The Big Bang Theory on January 26, although it remains to be seen if this will last beyond the end of the episode.
NBC’s reluctant spy Chuck bids farewell, as the final two episodes of the series air on January 27.
TV’s a big place and I haven’t been to all of it yet. Got a favorite show you’d like me to comment on? Post a comment below, contact me on twitter @RobLazlo. or shoot me an email:
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. I welcome your input!
