Holiday Thanks... and Lumps of Coal
— To Fox, for cancelling the eminently funny Arrested Development, and for any other network too short-sighted to save it from cancellation. In my opinion, TV comedy hasn’t been this funny, or this brilliantly written, since the glory days of The Simpsons. I realize that ranks of the Bluth family’s loyal viewers are small to microscopic — a recent new episode, with guest star Charlize Theron no less, still ranked fourth on a night when everything else was in reruns. Still, I can’t help feeling that Fox’s schedule-shuffling, relatively poor promotion, and preemption for the World Series didn’t help its chances much.
— To the producers of Lost, for seeming to rest on their laurels after a largely superb first season. This year hasn’t been bad, exactly. But the flashback sequences, so powerful and surprising in the first season, are no longer telling us anything we don’t already know. Jack saved his future wife from paralysis? Jin and Sun were star-crossed lovers? Hurley won the lottery, and regretted it? You don’t say. Worse yet, the producers seem hopelessly in love with re-showing us events we’ve already seen from every possible point of view. Unless those events involve Evangeline Lilly in a bikini, I’m thinking there are better narrative choices to make.
— To J.J. Abrams, for pretty much killing Alias with indifference. Don’t get me wrong, J.J. — it’s great that you’re gallivanting around Europe with a certain Scientologist and your very favoritest girl pal ever, Keri Russell, to make what admittedly looks like a really cool Mission: Impossible sequel. But that spark of giddy weirdness you brought to the show seems gone for good, and in your absence, Jennifer Garner has surprisingly gone from the show’s leading light to the albatross around its neck. Plus, your plot’s full of more holes than, uh, well, poor Michael Vaughn. More headkicking, more freaky-cool Rambaldi devices, and a little less moping, please. I’d like to see Alias go out on a high note.
— To the loathsome Weaver brood on The Amazing Race, for doing their own small part to further widen the gap between religious and secular folks in the United States. I only managed to sit through half of one episode, and I still couldn’t stand them. I can only hope that somewhere, Jesus is just sort of shaking his head and staring in disbelief.
Now that I’ve gotten the Grinchiness out of my system, on to the good stuff:
— Ben Browder and Claudia Black on Stargate. I’m not big on the show itself, but any gig that pays the two ridiculously charismatic stars of Farscape to get back on TV deserves applause in my book.
— The supporting cast of Alias. There are some series whose entire casts combined don’t rock nearly as hard as Victor Garber’s Jack Bristow. Even when the show’s gone bughouse loony, you can always rely on him to do something magnificently badass without so much as quirking an eyebrow. The way Jack brings his steely contempt to all aspects of his life — even putting together a crib — never ceases to entertain. Similarly, Kevin Weisman’s Marshall Flinkman is one of TV’s greatest geeks, and the show’s beating heart. Even the boatload of new faces that came in this season have begun to grow on me — especially Angel’s Amy Acker as a slinky villainess. (Can I be evil too, please?)
— Star Wars: Clone Wars, season two. Wondering where all the fun went in the Star Wars prequels? Genndy Tartakovsky and his team of animators packed it all into these five 12-minute episodes. They’re thrilling, beautifully designed, and well worth catching on DVD. By rights, George Lucas should curl up into a fetal ball on his pile of thousand-dollar bills and sob with shame whenever he watches this series.
— Justice League Unlimited. As the superheroes of the Justice League grow more detached from the ordinary humans they’re supposed to protect, a nervous U.S. government begins hatching covert countermeasures to destroy them, if it has to — and behind the scenes, someone’s pulling strings to turn the simmering tension into all-out war. That’s surprisingly dark territory for a children’s cartoon, but the creators of Justice League Unlimited pulled it off with intelligence, style, and blockbuster-worthy action scenes. It’s gotten a bit goofier and stranger in its current season, but JLU is still tons of fun.
— The Office. I started watching the U.S. version just as the U.K. version began arriving on Netflix, and I’m taken with both incarnations of this deeply uncomfortable sitcom. The American remake may lack the British original’s relentless, horrifying focus on human misery, but that’s almost a blessing. It’s just as funny as its predecessor, staying faithful to the original’s spirit while adding its own inspired touches.
— Deadwood. Yeah, I know, I’m kinda late to this shooting party. Still, just two episodes into the first season on DVD — the poor man’s HBO — I’m already floored by Deadwood’s potent moral dilemmas, intriguingly shaded characters, and remarkable acting. I’m glad it’s headed into a third season, hopefully with more to come.
— Arrested Development . Roping Oscar-winning megababe Charlize Theron to play Michael Bluth’s kooky new girlfriend? Good. Revealing that she’s actually mentally retarded? Jaw-droppingly great. Wrapping up the whole storyline with unexpected sweetness, class, and a surreally lovely punch line? Absolutely brilliant. The Bluths may be headed for TV oblivion, but they’ve never been funnier.
— Battlestar Galactica. The effects dazzle, the characters are terrific, and the acting’s first-rate. But I’m most impressed by the daring depth of this show’s writing — how it tempts us to admire and sympathize with the murderous Cylons, even as we’re disgusted by the petty squabbles and power-jockeying among the fugitive human fleet. Kudos to SciFi, for once, for keeping such a fantastic series on the air.
— The Wire. My love for this show exceeds all human reason. Having caught the first two seasons on DVD, I’m consistently in awe of its ability to combine riveting human drama, cheer-worthy characters, and an almost journalistic amount of depth. I never thought I’d find a cop drama more potent than Homicide: Life on the Street, but The Wire delivers on every level.
— Veronica Mars. Uh… yeah. I’ll just do everyone a favor and leave it at that.