Thursday, July 16th, 2009
07.00 Riptide
08.00 Barney Miller
12.30 Arrested Development
Riptide. Episode 7. "The Hardcase" Who are the thugs on the new boat in King Harbour?
The bad guys are way over-the-top, and some of the humour falls flat, but this is an episode with a good story and you can always rely on the chemistry of the three stars to make the show entertaining.
William Smith is one of the best bad guys on TV (or in movies). But, in this episode, he gives a relentlessly one-note performance. And he's hampered by two sidekicks who laugh hysterically like goons every time he threatens some cute girl. Cartoon villains.
The script gives Boz a lot of funny dialogue that just isn't funny. And it's painfully hard to watch sometimes. Likewise Marsha Warfield, who joins the cast in this episode, is given some very unfunny stuff to deliver.
However, this is a good story. The boys have no client in this episode, they stumble into the middle of something and it's a lot of fun to watch them figure it all out. Definitely an inventive private eye story. There's also some very amusing business involving a book that Cody has read. It advocated active listening as a means towards calming aggressive people and the guys keep trying it out, at various stages in the story. Very chuckle-worthy.
In general when the script doesn't try to be funny and just lets the actors interact on-screen together the show is a lot of fun to watch. Perry King, Joe Penny and Thom Bray click. It's that simple.
Barney Miller. Episode 8. "Ms. Cop" The guys adjust to lady cop in the squad room.
Fish is hysterical. Abe Vigoda completely steals the show. In this episode, he delivers a succession of one-liners that had me in stitches every single time. He's rapidly becoming my favourite character on the show. I watched Barney Miller as a kid, but I never saw the early seasons so I never saw Fish until now. He's fantastic.
Story-wise, this is the one where Linda Lavin joins the squad for a while and they adjust (badly) to the presence of a female detective. The episode has nothing much to say, really, and it escapes being dated by just being honest about the real reasons why a bunch of male cops would be slow to trust a female partner when they never had one before.
A lesser show might have preached, or taught a lesson, but BM just told the story of what happened and (thanks to Fish) made us laugh.
Barbara Barrie showed up as Barney's wife. She's a wonderful actress, and they give her good material to work with but it's obvious that the character is a a bad fit for this show. It's a cop show, and it needs to stay in the squad room to work and it's more interesting when the stories focus on the cases and people that come through the squad room, not on the guy's personal lives.
Arrested Development. Episode 20. "Whistler's Mother"
Arrested Development has (at least) two unusual ways of telling it's stories and getting laughs. The narrator never shuts up, thus becoming a vital character in the show, and they end every episode with fake scenes from the next episode.
There's a great scene in the middle of this chapter where Tobias and Gob go for a coffee to brainstorm (badly) on ideas for making money. Michael meets them and jumps to the wrong conclusion about what they are doing, and consequently offers to invest in their scheme. Realising that they are (very, very, very, very) likely to screw this up if they speak the two men remain completely mute and slowly back away from him. It's a truly hilarious scene (probably the best in the episode) but it really only works because the narrator explains it. Remove Ron Howard and many viewers might not understand what exactly is happening. Even more significant, and rare, the tone and frequency of the narration is a major source of humour in the show.
Then there are the false endings. Every episode comes to it's natural end. Then, the episode breaks the rules of storytelling/television by adding a few short snippets of scenes from the next episode. In fact, they are not from the next episode, they are just sneaky ways to continue the story and get a few more laughs.
The use here is particularly noteworthy. Michael and his mother have a (rare) tender moment, when she comes to his rescue. There's a twist, too. A powerful one. A decisive one. To end the episode.
However... after this the episode just keeps on going... for a couple of extra short scenes that - if regarded as the actual ending of the episode (which they are) could easily be described as chaotic and unsatisfactory. Yet, despite the fact that they are, in fact, the true ending of the episode, the show makes us believe that the much-better stuff that went before is how it ended.
Arrested Development, in this way, totally breaks the rules of the epilogue. Every show has had the epilogue: the happy bit at the end, where everything calms down and is neatly tied up in a bow. It's the way that 75% of TV ends it's weekly chapters. Everything else is usually a continuing show, with cliff-hangers and such.
Arrested Development is neither. And, rather than give us actual closure every week, they cleverly create the illusion of closure and then proceed to piss all over it before treating us to the End Theme.
Mitchell Hurwitz is a clever bastard.
I love him.
I also love Jeffrey Tambor. Long before this show, or "The Larry Sanders Show", he was impressing me on "Max Headroom" and (especially) "American Dreamer". In this episode of AD he plays the character of Oscar for the first time and, from the moment he appears on screen, he is mimicing Tony Hale's performance as Buster. It's remarkable.
Highlight? Arrested Development (unusual ways of getting laughs)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
Riptide, Barney Miller, Arrested Development
Fri, Sep 5, 08 - Hunter, Riptide, Stingray
10:00 Hunter
11:00 Riptide
12:00 Stingray
Hunter. Season 3, Episode 6. "From San Francisco With Love" Absolutely superb murder mystery, with great character work on the regulars. A man is gunned down and his friend flees the scene convinced that the shot was intended for him. When Hunter and McCall finally track him down he explains that his step-mother murdered his father and is gunning for him next, but when the detectives find the woman in question she puts forward a convincing case against the man, saying that he's behind the murders.
The story has several great twists and turns, and it's genuinely impossible to figure out who the killer is going to turn out to be. Laura Johnson guests as a San Francisco cop who teams with the guys on the case and winds up in Hunter's bed before too long. But instead of being about Hunter's romance this episode is more about his relationship with McCall than anything else. Their every scene together is playful, funny and laden with character detail. When sparks start flying between Hunter and the lady cop the camera returns time and time again to Stepfanie Kramer to show us McCall's reaction to all of this. And, while a lot of that reacting is funny, most of it is devoted to the real bond between Hunter and McCall. Particularly in the last half of the episode as they talk openly about Hunter's "one night stand". Some of these scenes are on the list of Best Ever Hunter-McCall scenes and they leave you with a big smile on your face when the closing credits roll. A+
Riptide. Episode 6. "Diamonds Are For Never" Fast cars, boats and a helicopter, plus a beautiful girl in distress: it must be Riptide! As well as a very good story this one has some great comedy between the three leads. The "let's-synchronise-our-watches" scene being laugh-out-loud funny. Murray, as usual, gets most of the screen time. He's the one who finds the girl in trouble, gets into the first big car chase and lands himself in jail. The jail scenes are also very funny.
Stingray. Season 2, Episode 8. "The Neniwa" Below-average episode, which doesn't really fit in with the usual style of the series. This is one of those stories about developers building on Indian Burial grounds that popped up all the time in action-adventure series of the 80s. The Stingray take on the story is typically stylish and thoughtful: lots of specially-written music and shots of eagles sweeping majestically over the plains. There is no real bad-guy in the story and 'Ray doesn't really have a client. He is hired, yes, but not by somebody in trouble so it's hard to believe that some guy from a museum would really turn to 'Stingray' over a problem such as this. Not that 'Ray really accomplishes much. There's nothing much to investigate and nobody to fight with, so mostly he just goes around from place to place listening to an old Indian guy telling stories. Meanwhile (between shots of the eagle) we are shown repeated close-ups on unhappy Indian people watching the diggers at work. Yawnworthy.
The climax of the episode is awful. A hostage siege suddenly develops involving characters who have never appeared before and it serves to create false tension, as everyone stands around watching while 'Ray is able to dig up some vital artifact and - of course - save the day.
Stories like this tend to be awful. It takes a show like Midnight Caller to do this thing right. The Stingray version has it's heart in the right place but is basically unwatchable. In fact, this may be the worst episode of this great series.
Highlight? Hunter (and McCall)
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Fri, Jul 4, 08 - Name Of The Game, Greatest American Hero, Riptide
07:30 The Name Of The Game
09:00 The Greatest American Hero
10:00 Riptide
The Name Of The Game. Season 1, Episode 6. "Incident In Berlin" Superb espionage drama finds Glenn Howard taking centre stage when one of his reporters is arrested behind the Iron Curtain, on suspicion of being a spy. The first half of the movie details Howard's attempts to get the US government to do something. This leads to the big twist at the mid-point, wherein Howard discovers why the Americans have been stone-walling him. After that, it's off to Berlin as the mullionaire publisher sets about getting his man back himself, by setting up an elaborate sting operation with the help of the man's mistress.
It might sound like many other similar tales, but this is better. Gene Barry in particular makes this work. His Glenn Howard is one of television's most debonair heroes, and this episode shows him at his stylish best: matching wits with intelligence agencys on both sides of the Iron Curtain and never stuck for a witty response. The fast pace of the plot is another plus. It moves rapidly and packs every scene with some new development. All of the characters are interesting and well crafted: the reporter/spy, his bitter wife, his mistress, the KGB agent holding him and the CIA agent trying to help/hinder Howard in his mission. The cast are, likewise, superb and the ending is very clever. Written by Richard Levinson and William Link this has all the hallmarks of a clever Columbo denoument. As the seconds count down, and with considerable panaché, Glenn Howard is able to outwit every other player in the game and it makes for great TV.
The Greatest American Hero. Episode 6. "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" This wonderful script brought tears to my eyes. Yup, I cried like a little girl watching this one. I'm not embarrassed, either. It's one of Stephen J. Cannell's best scripts. The story starts with a major upset for both Ralph and Bill. Ralph nearly kills a busload of people and starts to have serious doubts about continuing to use the suit. Next: one of Bill's best (only?) friends hints that he wants Bill to help him out with a heist.
Both lead characters have to deal with their hero issues: Bill's hero (the guy saved his life during the war) has gone dirty and Bill falls apart coming to terms with that revelation. Ralph, meanwhile, gets to meet his childhood hero: John Hart (playing himself). It is in these scenes that the episode really shines. Hart, known to millions as The Lone Ranger, gives a few short words of advice on what it means to be a hero. Hart's a great actor. So is William Katt. I think it's impossible not to have tears in your eyes as you watch him with The Lone Ranger.
Despite being such a Ralph-Bill driven episode, the show still manages to feature Pam in every scene and still give her lots to do. Her constant support of Ralph (while expressing her honest dislike for "the suit") makes Pam into a very special character, and a great member of the team. The character could have been frakked up in a major way. If Pam had been kept in the dark and used as a source of tension/comedy it would have been awful. Worse, she could have been in on the secret and acted like a total B the whole time. Instead, the writers found a way to make her hate the suit and still love Ralph and what he does. And, in doing so, created one of TV's best couples: communicative and loving. It's great.
There's also a classic scene late in the episode where she's alone with Bill and we get an insight into how fond of her he has become and how inept (and offensive) he is at expressing it. Connie Sellecca is wonderful in this scene, and in all the others, too. A real classy lady.
Riptide. Episode 5. "The Mean Green Love Machine" Despite starting off like an A-Team idea (which it might have been, seeing as it was written by Stephen J. Cannell, The A-Team creator) the episode really comes into it's own at the mid-way point. A pretty girl (of course!) hires the guys to find her dad, who has disappeared in Mexico with his much younger and very pretty (of course!) new wife. Turns out he's fallen victim to a big scam and it's up the the guys to save the day. As well as the usual helicopter-action and shoot-outs there's a long sequence where Murray is sent undercover as a 'mark' for the bad guys to target. Murray has Nick and Cody speaking instructions into his hidden earpiece as he deals with the advances of the very sexy seductress. The results are genuinely hilarious. It's one of my favourite scenes from the entire series of Riptide.
Highlight? The Name Of The Game
Thur, Jun 26th, 2008 - Riptide
11:00 Riptide
Riptide. Episode 4. "Hatchet Job" Good performances from Thom Bray and guest star Maylo McCaslin are the highlight of this episode. A woman hires the guys to find out who killed her boyfriend three years earlier. It turns out that she might have done it herself. She doesn't remember what exactly happened and she's been locked up in a state mental hospital ever since. McCaslin is very beautiful and she gives a wonderful emotional performance. Bray, meanwhile, gets even more opportunity than usual for a bit of slapstick when Murray decides to pull his weight a bit more and get into the physical side of detective work. It's a lot of fun from start to finish. There are a lot of action sequences, which - in this episode - actually get in the way of a good story. The three leads have great chemistry in this one, and - when you think about it - it's male fantasy TV: car chases and fist fights and a beautiful woman to be saved.
Thur, Jun 19th, 2008 - Riptide, Samantha Who?, In Plain Sight, Back To You, Keen Eddie, Joey
06:00 Riptide
08:00 Samantha Who?
08:30 In Plain Sight
09:30 Back To You
10:30 Keen Eddie
12:00 Joey
Riptide. Episode 3. "Somebody's Killing the Great Geeks of America" Good performances from Joe Penny and guest star Cindy Pickett are the highlight of this episode. A woman hires the guys when a hit-man targets her for some reason. It turns out she went to high school with Nick, they were friends back then but she hates him now and he can't figure out why. Riptide is the perfect show for this sort of story. These private eyes get beaten up, their helicopter won't start, their car breaks down during chases and - while Boz does all the computer work - the other two do very little except buy donuts and hang around (a very funny scene). Giving lots of scope for biting comments from Pickett's character.
Samantha Who? Episode 15. "The Birthday" ends the first season with Sam's birthday party. No crazy plots this time out, just a nice character-driven tale about Todd's inability to be out of a relationship for any length. So, it turns out that Sam is not the only one that needs to change... That's a nice way to end the season: seeing how the 'new' Sam is having an impact on her circle of friends (echoed in the fact that her mum and best friend have a civilised chat for the first time, and the doorman drops by at her party).
In Plain Sight. Episode 3. "Never the Bride" As usual, this week's script is just clever enough to make it something special. Mary's case involves somebody she doesn't like. Somebody that she feels doesn't deserve the fresh start of the Witness Protection Programme. She gives them a wonderful speech at the start of the episode and (much to her surprise, and ours) she finds (by the end of the episode) that they have taken her advice to heart and are able - in fact - to give that same advice back to her. It's a nice episode. In lots of ways. And I'm starting to like the sister now. The scene where she helped Mary get dressed up was good. More sister-bonding, less fighting, would be nice.
Back To You. Episode 12. "Two Steps Forward, One Step Back" It's a bit late in the day, but Back To You manages to deliver a good episode. I still think changing the focus of the show completely over to Chuck's reunion with his daughter was a mistake but this is a funny episode. It takes place on the night that Chuck and Kelly finally tell their daughter the truth. She takes it badly. And while they deal with this, we get to see flashbacks to the night they slept together (possibly as a means to get the rest of the cast into the episode?). There are plenty of gags and the ending is good, where is looks as if Chuck has run off (again) but he's actually managed to find a way to put things right. Good stuff.
Keen Eddie. Episode 2. "Horse Heir" As much as I love the pilot (and I loved it the first time I saw it) it is really only with Episode 2 that you are getting the full effect of the Keen Eddie TV series. There is nothing else on TV that looks or sounds like this show. Fast cuts, rewinds, zooms and everything else they can throw at you keep the visuals interesting. This episode has some Matrix-style fights! The soundtrack is wonderful, too, and perfectly chosen for the scenes. I watch Keen Eddie on my own DVR's because the DVD release removed all the original music. Crazy!
This episode is better than the pilot because there is no set-up and the formula is fully in place. There is a case to be solved (a stolen horse), there are lots of odd suspects (two warring pub landlords, for instance, who have to be seen to be believed) and there is a full-on war in progress between Eddie and his gorgeous flatmate (Sienna Miller). This is also the first episode where Eddie mishears Miss Moneypenny. (A running gag on the show involves Eddie hearing sexual comments from his bosses secretary that nobody else can hear.) Awesome.
Joey. Season 2, Episode 19. "Joey and the Critic" I would love to ask the Joey writers why they let the character of Jimmy dominate the show so much in Season Two. His constant shouting is enough to ruin many episodes for me. Not this one, thankfully. Jimmy is still central to the story (he becomes Joey's manager) but he tones down his more violent instincts and the result is an okay episode.
Highlight? Keen Eddie
Mon, Jun 9th, 2008 - Riptide, Law And Order, In Plain Sight
07:00 Riptide
11:00 Law And Order
12:00 In Plain Sight
Riptide. Episode 2. "Conflict Of Interest" Some of the comedy falls a bit flat, but the script is much stronger than the pilot and the whole thing is still a lot of fun. It's a good story. A wife is being hunted by her mobster-husband, so she speaks to Boz about hiring the guys to protect her, meanwhile her husband hires Nick And Cody to find her!! We learn that she dated Cody in the past. And, for the icing on the cake, her husband has ordered a hit on Quinlan - the cop who hates the guys - and they end up getting the blame when he is kidnapped. "We've handled this really badly," the guys remark at one point, gazing at their mug shots on local TV news. So... shoot-outs, boat chases, and on the run for a crime they didn't committ. Typical "Riptide". Plus, of course, a very beautiful girl. In this case (the absolutely stunning) Kristen Meadows who basically appeared on one episode of every cool '80s show. So much so that when I saw her here for the first time in years I assumed she'd been a regular on some Stephen J. Cannell show. Not so. A pity.
Law And Order. Season 18, Episode 5. "Driven" is another example of Law And Order at it's very best. Unlike the previous episode (which had a complex story of international crime) this one is very much about the shooting of one little girl. And, without ever making a bit deal about her death, the episode manages to make it all the more sad and haunting. The events surrounding her shooting involve two irresonsible parents urging their children into a racially-motivated confrontation. And both end up on trial at the same time. Superb.
In Plain Sight. Episode 2. "Hoosier Daddy" Any doubts I may have had about staying with this Summer Drama have been eradicated by this superb second episode. Sure, it was a bit slow to start and I wondered briefly if this was going to be an episode about helping a kid adjust to his new life in the Witness Protection Program. I need not have had fears. Once the real story got started, I was gripped. I was blown away by the ending. And how awesome was it to see Paul Ben-Victor and Vincent Ventresca in the same show again? (God, I miss I-Man!).
I was also impressed by the b-plot involving Mary's mother and sister. All the scenes were (a) amusing and (b) short. Perfect comic relief: a quick chuckle before returning to the action. Now if Burn Notice would only give Sharon Gless something like this to do.
Highlight? Law And Order
Thurs, Jun 5th, 2008 - Rules Of Engagement, Scrubs, Riptide, NCIS, Joey, Keen Eddie, Karen Sisco, Greg The Bunny
06:00 Rules Of Engagement
06:30 Scrubs
07:00 Riptide
09:00 NCIS
10:00 Joey
10:30 Keen Eddie
11:30 Karen Sisco
12:30 Greg The Bunny
Rules Of Engagement. Season 2, Episode 14. "Buyer's Remorse" Fairly average episode. A fair number of laughs from typical sitcom plots. Highlight? Guest shot from Stephanie Lemelin!
Scrubs. Season 7, Episode 2. "My Hard Labor" is about parenthood. We get to see how each of the characters does their parenting thing in their own way. And JD becomes a parent. The stuff with him and Kim is sad. I want him to like her, but I see why he doesn't.
Riptide. Episode 1. Some shows have "FUN" written all over them in capital letters. Take "Riptide". It's about private eyes, who live on a boat, hang out with bikini-clad girls and solve crimes using fast cars and helicopters. Talk about every boy's fantasy life. Also, for a show about two cool guys befriending a geek, the series manages to avoid all the mistakes you'd expect. The friendship between all three guys comes across as incredibly strong and all of the comedy is really funny. The plot for this pilot is nonsense but the point of it all is watching the characters interact and, on that score, this is a flawless episode.
NCIS. Season 4, Episode 19. "Grace Period" I love Jessica Steen and I love her guest shots on NCIS. This is a particularly good one. Her team is killed and she's feeling responsible. The ending is truly shocking.
Joey. Season 2, Episode 17. "Joey and the Big Move" Yes, it has far too much Adam Goldberg (doing his annoying shouting thing) but this isn't a half-bad episode. In fact, there are laughs to be had as Joey moves out and bunch of nerds move into his place. Of course, his place burns down and he moves back. Crazy. What were the writers thinking? It would have been good for the show if he had moved out and his life appeared to be going somewhere. But, no they kept him in that dumb appartment.
Keen Eddie. Episode 1. " Eddie" is not the best episode, but it is still a kick-ass pilot. What it lacks in story, it makes up for in energy and humour. The visuals are amazing, the soundtrack is addictive and the characters are delightful. Eddie's run of bad luck in the opening twenty minutes is hilarious, my favourite bit is the food he eats on the plane and the flashbacks that allow us to see what happened to that food before Eddie ate it.
Karen Sisco. Episode 1. "Blown Away" is a disappointing and unengaging pilot. The star is fantastic, yes, but the story doesn't really cast the lead character in the best light and is a really odd choice for an opening episode. We learn that Karen makes bad choices when it comes to men and gets herself shot on the job. She kinda comes good at the end of the story but I'm not that impressed so far.
Greg The Bunny. Episode 2. "Sock Like Me" definitely falls into the "why isn't this funnier?" category. The central idea (puppet sensitivity training) is inspired but there are no gags most of the time. Any laughs that occur tend to be generated by Warren's one-liners. Everything else is just characters talking. Maybe the producers were hoping we'd be amused by the fact that we're looking at puppets and that that would be enough. Guess what? It's not!
Highlight? Riptide
