My Fall 2010 TV Rundown: More Good Than Bad! A few shows have done their entire season while the rest are at the mid-term break.
Weeds-I really liked the direction this season started out in, but then it veered away from weed again. This show is really kind of all over the place, they really need to pull all the loose ends together and end the show this coming season (which it looks like they’re going to do). There is no where else for the show to go but to a conclusion. A lot of the best characters are gone, the same shit keeps happening. a resolution has to happen. The season wasn’t a total loss though, there was some good character developments with the kids and Nancy is really just a rotten person. Seriously, she should be dead with the stuff they’ve had her do. It does feel like I watch the show purely out of habit now though.
Hawaii Five-O-This turned out to be a fun show. I think I just like seeing Hawaii on TV the most because it looks so beautiful. But there are some good characters and stories going on here. My biggest problem is that it’s a CBS show. They all follow the same patterns and it sounds like the soundtrack is made by the exact same guy with a Yamaha keyboard. Things can get pretty corny.
The Event- Really promising. I liked the pace of the show at the start, but the last few episodes seemed to have slowed the pace up a bit too much for my liking. There is a clear understanding of how entrenched the aliens are in our society and we are at least hot on the trail of Leila’s sister (with some age related experiments on her). It’s still entertaining, there is a ton of unanswered questions, I have hopes they can keep it up for the remainder of the season.
Sons of Anarchy- Season 3 is complete and it was another solid season. Jax was on the hunt for his son all season, the club had some serious issues to handle at home on their own and it all came to a point in a fantastic season finale. There were some “really?” moments here and there (like Jimmy O’Phelan getting away in the apartment ambush) but I’m totally happy with the season. Still one of my favorite shows, great concept and fantastic characters with a cast to match.
Modern Family- Consistently funny, just a great sitcom in a sea of garbage (I’m looking at you Three and A Half Men).
Terriers- Great first season! The show starts with the suspicious death of one of Hank’s old friends and that story arc comes back for the last few episodes. I love the chemistry between Hank and Britt, the stories were really well made and it has that usual FX production standard behind it. Total treat for me to see Laura Allen as Britt’s GF Katie. She’s hot as hell and she was great on FX’s canceled series Dirt. Terriers took over Nip/Tucks time slot and I’m happy they made another winner. Totally looking forward to Season 2.
Always Sunny in Philly- Still one of the funniest TV shows around even if they are having an off season. It’s hit or miss from scene to scene but I still love The Gang to death.
30 Rock- This show keeps on trucking. So many great characters (Judah Friedlander’s character is getting the shaft this season though) and great subtle moments. The jokes come out flying in this show, it can be easy to miss one. Could you guys give Kenneth a break once in awhile? The poor bastard.
The Office- Now here’s a show I am definitely watching out of habit. It’s lost a lot of the charm it once had but at least they’ve pulled back the cast from being complete cartoon characters. I kind of just want to know how this season ends, I’m pretty sure I’m going to bail when Steve Carell leaves. Michael Scott is the whole point of the show.
Outsourced- I’ve really come to love this show. Interesting concept and holy shit is Pippa Black sexy. Are there any unattractive Australians? What the hell do they eat over there? Pippa is just a small part of the show of course so the laughs keep me coming back.
Fringe- Best sci-fi show on TV by far. Kicks Lost in the teeth on a consistent basis. I think I’ve liked every episode they’ve made. Even the bad episodes are still good. The plot is so interesting, they don’t hold back for too long and the characters have some of the best and most believable relationships on TV. The main cast is so good together! The SFX on this show are top notch too. The CG work is really well done and whoever is doing the practical make up FX are geniuses. Too bad it looks like FOX is trying to kill another one of it’s best shows. Half way through the season and it’s had 4 multi-week breaks. They’re moving the show to Fridays which is all but a death march and after 6 episodes are going to take another break! Complete garbage handling of this show, fix your shit practices FOX.
Boardwalk Empire- I watched this show at the start sole because of Steve Bescemi is the leading man. He rules. It was a slow burn, but the show really made something of itself. The prohibition era in the US is some fascinating stuff, so the background is ripe for great story telling. Really cool seeing early Atlantic City and who isn’t a fan of old school gangsters? I’ve never seen Michael Pitt before (he plays Jimmy), he’s one of the more stand out actors on the show for me. Michael Shannon brings the insane Agent Val Alden to life too. Curious to see where they go with this next year.
Dexter- Season 4 was going to be a touch season to follow. I think the plot of idea of the team of killers lead by Jordan Chase was a good one. Julia Stiles as Lumen was great casting and fit the right void in Dexter’s life. He loses his wife and here is a woman he can save, even after saving her life (by accident, but that’s how these things happen). It brought up a lot of moral questions for Dexter who seems to want to bend the Code any way he can. He feels he’s more human than his father ever thought, even if it means his true calling in life really forbids it. The attraction of a soul mate can be understood by anyone and Lumen could really be with Dexter and know everything and be okay with it. So I liked the fundementals of it and none of the side character plots of the season got in the way too much. It was a REALLY sloppy season though. They wrote holes the size of buildings all over the place. Mountains of evidence left all over the place at every crime scene. Too many coincidental places for Dexter to be found in and the cell phone use by all the guilty parties bordered on the absurd. Any kind of real investigation would have busted Chase and Dexter. The finale was such a cop out it really shocked me. At the very least Deb should know what Dexter does now. She was right there, there was absolutely no reason for her to let Dexter and Lumen go without at least seeing them when she did track them down. They wanted a clean bill at the end to keep the next season open for them to write anything, but it’s bullshit. Having Deb find out in the last episode would set up some amazing shit and they way they handled it was beyond stupid. Some real missteps that I hope they never repeat.
Board to Death- Season 2 turned out to be a solid one. Another cast I really dig and I never thought I’d see the day where I thought Ted Danson was awesome. With such a short season, it’s easy to keep it all killer and no filler. A noir-rotic comedy really is the best way to describe the show.
Eastbound & Down- Kenny Powers is a scream! Love him to death. Another quick hit show on HBO. It’s vulgar and hilarious, some of my favorite adjectives. If you’ve seen the first season, head full steam into this one, it won’t disappoint. The relocation to Mexico really worked and the story arc was great. Hopefully the can turn around another season faster than it took to get season 2.
The Walking Dead- Love it! Best zombie show ever! Sure it’s the only one but lets not be picky. The production on this show is simply awesome. Cast is great and the writing is mostly good. The dynamics between the survivors is the best part, it just gets corny when a person is just a straight up stereotype though (the racist, the wife beater). The balance of gore/action is pretty spot on and there is some crazy potential here. The comic gets almost unanimous praise so I hope they stick to the books as much as they can, why mess with a good thing? The last episode was a bit rocky but not enough to make me condemn the show like I’ve seen some do. I hope they don’t rush into production as it seems like there is a lot of unsettled waters on the crew side (the entire writing staff was let go). Get everything nice and solid and go balls out into this universe. Could be a fantastic long running show.