The Killing: Boom or Bust?

The Killing's developer, Veena Sud, knows that her new AMC show exists within the conversation about Twin Peaks. She can't ignore Twin Peaks's legacy or the guideposts Lynch and Frost set up twenty years ago. I wonder why writers would even try a murder-mystery television drama given that it was done nearly perfectly then. Nevertheless, Sud tries, and she invites the comparisons with taglines like "Who killed Rosie Larsen?" and by setting the show in Seattle. Fortunately, The Killing is its own show, not just bait for Twin Peaks's fanboys and girls, and I'm caught up/ addicted. 

Relative newcomer Mireille Enos is the main character. As detective Linden, she follows leads which take her all over Seattle in pursuit of Rosie's killer. These assignments are ruining her social life, and though her engagement to Rick (Callum Keith Rennie) provides the show with a clock or countdown, meaning, she better get back to him before he leaves her, that aspect of the show is not well-developed or necessary. I groan each time he calls or they fight. 

Holder (Joel Kinnaman) is Linden's sidekick. He challenges the rules of police behavior every couple of minutes and is wonderfully rough around the edges. Might have a drug problem too. Hope so. Politician and Seattle mayoral candidate Darren Richmond (Billy Campbell) can't decide on the type of campaign he wants to run, whether he's a good guy or scumbag politician as winning politicians tend to be, or if he's capable of distancing himself from the Rosie Larsen murder case in which he is tangled. 

Twin Peaks gave us all the suspects in the pilot. I can't remember who Rosie Larsen's suspects were in episode two, but they are memory now, and I feel like the current suspects will be memory soon, too. In other words, the plot thickens, the world spins, and The Killing becomes more engaging. 

Seattle's gloom naturally influences the way the show looks, and the gloomy grays, greens, and blues, coupled with the slow pace of the show, makes The Killing a heavy but visually sound hour of television. The soundtrack is twinkly and a little too CBS for my tastes, but that's fine. Neko Case's song "Hold On, Hold On" finds its way onto episode 5, and I had never heard her before. Opened my laptop, typed furiously, and was like whoa, another New Pornographers member who does it better on their own.  

Eventually, and Twin Peaks had this problem too, Rosie's killer needs to be caught. And then what happens to The Killing? The Twin Peaks people had some options because of the surrealism they'd established, but still, look what happened: chess games, inter-dimensional buildings, grown women thinking they're cheerleaders, and this. Am I signing up for another soap opera by way of murder? Hopefully not, and when the time comes to reveal Rosie's killer, here's hoping AMC gives the show a couple of episodes denouement and pulls the plug. 

30 for 30: Boom or Bust?

Sports aren't as interesting to me as they once were. In the mid-90s, I played them, watched them, and obsessed over them. Boys my age growing up in Chicago were blessed. We had the Bulls, Frank Thomas, and later, Sammy Sosa, Kerry Wood, Brian Urlacher. Something changed in me, though. Now, it's all about books, music, movies, and original programming on television. I don't make time for sports. Actually, Chicago summers are still exciting when you follow one of the most rewarding professional baseball franchises and get to root against one of the least rewarding franchises in all of sports. But I digress. 

An underrated genre, then, is sports nonfiction. In a sports documentary, or in a book like Black Planet by David Shields, I can rekindle my love for sports without having to actually watch sports. It's totally awesome. For their thirtieth anniversary as a television network, ESPN commissioned 30 documentaries from 30 notable filmmakers. The films are about athletes and events from the past 30 years in sports, and mostly, they are excellent.

I've seen approx. ten of the films (from snippets to full-lengthers). I'll briefly talk about three. No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson was my first taste. Steve James, director of Hoop Dreams, is on some next-level shit when it comes to sports documentaries. In both No Crossover and Hoop Dreams, he examines race and community by unpacking events in the lives of talented young black athletes in white athletic institutions. Baller. 

Dan Klores's Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks makes use of hilarious talking heads to get at the frustration of New Yorkers over the NBAtitlelessness of their beloved Knicks.

The best of the bunch, Brett Morgen's June 17, 1994, weaves what Comcast's crackerjack TVguidetaggers call a 'tone-poem' about the titular day, a day in which OJ Simpson led the LAPD and the American public on an infamous car chase. Forget voice-over narration and talking heads; Morgen makes broad claims about American celebrity fixation and the palate-whetting of Americans for reality television by using only archival footage and text. He is masterful.

Thanks to ESPN for gambling on documentaries when they could have re-aired the ESPYs or Texas Hold 'Em. We're surrounded by sports, but we don't often try to make sense of what they mean to us. Hopefully, the Steve Bartman film leaves the cutting room floor. I'll be watching with the biggest bowl of popcorn and a grin that extends onto Waveland.

Coupling: Boom or Bust?

Many hit American television shows are based on British shows. Coupling was not one of them. The American version failed to make it through one season. I didn't watch it. (Who did?) BBC's Coupling ran strong for 4 series- that's 28 episodes. Fresh off reruns of The Office (BBC) and Extras, I started watching Coupling to capitalize on my growing appreciation of British humor. To my surprise, Coupling has more in common with our Seinfeld than with anything I've seen from Britain (though, admittedly, I haven't seen a lot).

In the pilot, Susan (Sarah Alexander) and Steve (Jack Davenport) start dating. Steve's Jane's (Gina Bellman) ex, and Susan's Patrick's (Ben Miles) ex. Susan (Kate Isitt) and Jeff (Richard Coyle) kind of drift about causing chaos and trying to shag whoever. If you can't tell, Coupling is all about sex, relationships, and modern love (good Bowie song).

Everyone says it reminds them of Friends, but I disagree. For one, Coupling is funny. For two, the tangling plots and characters have more to do with Seinfeld. In one episode, Jeff explains how an invisible man can take your erections when you need them the most. Soon, everyone starts goin' limp. Never profane, Coupling owes a lot to "The Contest" episode in Seinfeld. Have you mastered your domain tonight?

Verdict: Boom! I hope the library has Series 3. Just wondering: who's the hottest?

Verminators: Boom or Bust?

Reality television is a two-headed beast that can be very ugly or very awesome. The running joke is that The Real World, the show that spawned it all, is not “real” anymore. With shows like A Shot at Love, America’s Top Model, and Nashville Star, I don’t care about reality, I just want them off the air.

Reality television took an unexpected turn when the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, A&E, etc. began to air their own programs. They cater to people that want more content and less teenage drama. I am talking about Ice Road Truckers, Deadliest Catch, and Intervention. All great shows, I found one that might top them all. It’s called Verminators, it’s on the Discovery Channel, and it’s good.

The name says it all. Cameras follow a team of exterminators as they encounter pests in Los Angeles. In the episode that I watched, the team removed bee hives, killed rats, and fumigated a kitchen with a serious roach problem. It sounds gross, right? The catch is, you’re watching from your comfortable, presumably pest-free house. Each call is like a detective mission to find the source of the pests and take them out. At the end, you root for the exterminators and their clients.

Verdict: Boom. I recommend Verminators if you have even a mild tolerance of vermin. It’s fascinating work that makes for good television.

Welcome back!

Free Radio: Boom or Bust?

The American public has always been fascinated with celebrities. The endless racks of tabloids at the supermarket are testament to this. Specifically, we like to watch celebrities hit rock bottom. I think South Park did a fine job with this phenomenon two weeks ago in the Britney Spears episode.

It is refreshing to see celebrities turn the tables on the American public once in awhile for a bit of self-parody. I recently finished watching the HBO series, Extras. In that show, a prominent celebrity guest stars each episode and is made to look like a buffoon. I will return to Extras in the future, but for now, I am going to talk about a great new VH1 show, Free Radio.

Free Radio is reminiscent of The Howard Stern Show in that it is a mash-up of radio and television. The main character is Lance Krall, an intern (and improv comedy actor) that lands the dream job of hosting his own show at a prominent radio station. The show is called “Moron in the Morning.” In the course of the half-hour, Lance belittles and discredits celebrity guests, often unintentionally. On this past week’s episode, he complimented Ray Romano for his show, which was great “for the first few seasons.” Lance speaks his mind about celebrities we often go out our way to protect. We prefer to pick apart a person’s personal life but not professional work. For Lance, nothing is off limits. The truth is, Everybody Loves Raymond did suffer with time. It just took a dimwitted intern to tell the star of the show that. The supporting cast is wonderful too.

Free Radio takes all the problems with American celebrity worship and makes them funny. The stars go on the show voluntarily and are in on the joke. Celebrities are most compelling when they are vulnerable.

Verdict: Boom. If you can spare a half-hour on a Friday night to watch this show, do it. Otherwise, invest in DVR, TiVO, or perhaps a VHS tape. You will not be disappointed. This is one my favorite new shows.

That's Amore: Boom or Bust?

As I continue to write in this blog, you will all come to learn that I am guilty of watching really bad television. If it wasn’t enough that my first real entry was a review of The Steve Wilkos Show, I am now bringing you a review of the Tila Tequila SPINOFF. That’s right. Prepare yourselves, because I officially reviewing That’s Amore.

I hated Tila Tequila. It was boring, in bad taste, annoying, and soulless. The show had no real purpose except to provide kids with jerkin’ material in the absence of porn. The show had one star, and surprisingly, it wasn’t Tila, but a loveable Italian guy named Domenico. In the true spirit of reality television, he has received his own show. It is called That’s Amore, it's on MTV, and it’s great!

The show has no intellectual value. It is funny, absurd, and a showcase for hotties. In the first two episodes, girls have gone to the hospital and criticized each other non-stop. A gang of blondes teamed up on a slightly eccentric girl for wearing socks and not getting the standard Brazilian wax. One girl breaks down and cries every ten minutes. Domenico makes out whenever he gets a chance and awards Italian flags to girls he decides to keep around for the next episode. Two challenges have involved Italian food, with no end in sight. Mangia!

Domenico is hilarious, though, and he is the reason to watch. He kicked a girl off the show for having smelly armpits. How did he know? He put his nose up to them and took a whiff. That’s Amore is a good way to kill forty minutes (if you have TiVo or DVR).

Verdict: Boom. Compliments The Steve Wilkos Show nicely. If you can watch them back-to-back, by all means, do it. Arrivederce!

PS. Don't miss Domenico's sidekick...a hick cowboy...named Ashley. Not kidding.