1/18 Quick Hits: Justified, Shameless and House of Lies

It's been a busy couple of weeks, as you can tell, but that hasn't slowed down the TV viewing (only the time to write about that viewing). There have been a couple big premieres of new series and several of my favorite series returning. I'll start though with of the absolute best shows on television:

• Justified made it's return to the air last night as season three started and didn't skip a beat. There aren't enough positive adjectives to fully describe this show so let's just say I really dig this show and it leaves me on the edge of my seat every time. The season three premiere was no different as U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) recovers from a gun shot wound but still manages to wrestle convict/suedo-friend Boyd Crowder (Walton Coggins) through a plate glass window and also fatally shoot the Ice Pick killer (Desmond Harrington (better known as Quinn on Dexter)). At least we assume he was fatally shot, but either way it was an awesome scene that was simply just so Justified. Despite Given seemingly unarmed and backed into a corner, you just knew the guy was one step ahead. I could go on and on about Justified so you'd start to think that I had a middle-aged crush on it (because I do). Can't wait till next Tuesday......
• Shameless is also two weeks into their second season and shameless is a pretty solid synopsis of the show. It's entertaining, funny at times and is starting to experience some character growth, but you still feel a little dirty after watching. Frank is still Frank, a physical, emotional and certainly financial drain on every single person he comes in contact with. Fiona is still somehow holding the family together while also having time to do just about anything she pleases (for some reason I want to know what the run at the end of the first episode had to do with this season). Lip, the character who's captured my attention this season, is building depth. Not only is tutoring Ian (his gay brother who's trying to get into West Point) despite not agreeing with his dreams of West Point, but he's also fallen for Karen and is realizing that there's more to life than partying and having sex (as she's developing a new relationship with someone else based around the absence of both). Add in the daycare, the crazy room situation and the snack truck that sells weed and alcohol (although not to anyone under 14) in addition to your garden variety ice cream and you've got another entertaining season.
• Last and certainly least, we're two episodes into Showtimes' newest series, House of Lies and I've yet to see, read or hear anything that makes me think this series will become one of Showtime's better series. Part of me can't figure out if this show is supposed to be a comedy or some kind of satirical statement on the smugness of the 1%, but for the most part I just don't care. Everyone of the main characters are borderline despicable, although to their credit they are talented enough actors/actresses that they play the part very well. I will continue to watch because there are some funny moments and because the cast is really good but this almost feels like a one and done type series.

Reviewing Starz's Boss - Season One

Starz's latest venture into the world of drama series takes us to Chicago where Dr Frasier Crane er, Kelsey Grammar is the mayor, or as the series title might suggest, the Boss. I stayed away from the this show while it was actually 'on the air' so to speak because quite frankly, I hadn't heard many good things about it. Corrupt politics? check. An aging leader desperately clinging to power? check. An overzealous beat writer trying to bring down the whole damn system?!? Yea stop me when you've heard an original idea. Still though, thanks to On Demand and a slow weekend I was able to sift through the eight episodes of season one. And considering how low my expectations were going in, I was pleasantly surprised to find a show that was able to hold my attention fairly well. Now I'm certainly not suggesting that this is the next great show or anything like that but I'll stick around for season two.

 Tom Kane (Grammar), the aging but very powerful Mayor of Chicago, takes you on a tour of the political underbelly. There's corruption, brides, coercion, hallucinations, mental instability, backstabbing, drugs, humiliation, racial/ethnic tension, murder and even some mutilation thrown in just to make sure no one gets bored. The basic story line though is that Kane has a rare brain disease that will incapacitate and kill him within three to five years and not only does Kane refuse to tell anyone of his condition (at least not right away), he's also not stepping down. He's determined to 'go out on top' and leave a lasting legacy. Of course his deteriorating condition (which includes the shakes, hallucinations, memory loss and short periods where he basically stares off into space) is causing problems, as is his ambition plans to hand pick the next Governor of Illinois (more on that later). Along the way we find out Kane and his wife basically have nothing to do with each other outside of public functions, although she's just as power hungry as he is, and that the two of them more or less disowned their drug using daughter because it might hamper their political aspirations. Kane's inner circle includes a long time trusted advisor, who seems unconditionally loyal (which should have spelled out spoiler now that I think about it), and a hottie who's pretty easy on the eyes. As you can imagine there are plenty of underlings in the political wheel that are pretty tired of being under Kane's thumb and their looking to move up as well. We could probably all write the story from there. So in my usual fashion, here's the breakdown of season one:

The Good:

• Kelsey Grammar (aka Tom Kane) delivers a very solid performance and I'm not the only one who thinks so considering he was nominated for a Golden Globe. There is absolutely none of the comedic genius that we're used to seeing from Grammar but you don't miss it at all. He runs the gambit of emotions and doesn't miss a beat. One minute he's crying on the floor of his office bathroom because he's afraid someone will find out his dark secret and he'll lose the most important thing in his life: power. And the next minute he's slapping an Alderman around his office or making a potential future Governor get on his knees and beg for forgiveness.
• If there are two things that make this series unique, it's the darkness and the close up or odd camera shots. First the darkness because it's the overwhelming emotion of the entire series. There's not a single character in the entire series who's happy or satisfied with their place in life. Everyone wants more and there's really no limits that they're willing to go to in order to climb the next rung of the ladder. Even the overzealous and idealistic beat writer, who's probably the easiest to sympathize with, sells out his editor the first chance he gets. Kane's wife tries to behind her own husbands back to overthrow him then sleeps with a creepy old man at the end to prove her loyalty once she's discovered. Kane's daughter, a former drug addict turned priest (although she starts using again and ends up dating a drug dealer) has a multitude of issues to deal with including a fair share of abandonment issues. All in all, it's just dark. I couldn't even watch this show in the middle of the day. It's best served at night with all possible lights off. Oh yea and the camera shots, they're just odd or I guess unique depending on how your view. It's kind of hard to describe without sounding like it's being filmed by a genius 8 year old. I say that because it would zoom in on random body parts (a quivering lip, shaking hand, back or a head or the  small of a back) for no apparent reason but at the same time after the first episode they didn't really bother me for some reason. So maybe it's genius, maybe it's childish. Either way I couldn't tell.

Two and Half Men Continues to Disappoint and Devolve

Not so long ago Two and a Half Men was one of my favorite shows and one of the highest rated shows on television. Today, while it's still a very popular show to the masses, I find myself less and less interested in this once great show. First, I'll freely admit that I loved Charlie Sheen playing the role of ....... well basically playing himself. He was funny, condescending, successful, shallow but ultimately unhappy and lonely guy. And what I liked most about him was that he seemed very real. There are no doubt countless Charlie Harper's out there in the real world. And to a lesser extent, Alan's character seemed somewhat believable too. He was miserable, pathetic and unable to help himself but we as an audience rooted for him to succeed (at least I always did). Sure he was dishonest and deceitful at times but none of that seemed out of character for a guy who was extremely down on his luck.

Thirteen episodes into season 9 though (geez, we're already 13 episodes into the post-Charlie Sheen era...where has the time gone?), and I'm almost ready to put this show on the back burner and find something else to fill my Monday nights. Walden's character has a lot of potential but I just haven't bought in to his whole story. He loves and misses his wife so much that he has a threesome on practically his first night in the house? He's so childish and immature that someone else cuts up his food yet he built a multi-million dollar company? Did he go to high school or not? And why oh why does the guy keep walking around naked?

I understand that it's incredibly hard to replace the lead character in any show, I just get an idea of where this is going. Sometimes, when episodes have plenty of Berta and Jake and the terrible ex-wife and Bert it feels like the show I've grown accustomed to and enjoyed for so long. Then other episodes it feels like a spin-off at best when episodes are almost entirely new characters or just Walden and Alan. I almost wish they'd just pick one or the other and stick with it so some kind of flow/chemistry can develop.

Best New Show of 2011

Out with the old and in the new!! That's what we say this time of year right? Well not sure how that applies here but it's time to reflect on 2011 and what better way to do that than pick the best new show of the year. As always there are a ton of shows to choose from but here's a sampling of my favorites:

 

• Homeland - Clearly one of my favorite new shows so I won't rehash my opinions but you read here.
• Game of Thrones - HBO absolutely nails their first venture into medieval fantasy
• 2 Broke Girls - Two very funny leads and the rest of the cast is blah, but still pretty funny.
• Boss - Entertaining show, sortof Sopranos meets West Wing
• Person of Interest - Not quite a cop drama but not exactly totally original either
• American Horror Story - a horror story on network TV, how exciting, but I'm not sure the execution lived up the premise.
• Terra Nova - same description as above but replace horror story with dinosaurs
• Up All Night - I'm basically at this point in my life so I was totally locked in. A bit over the top at times but still funny.
• The Killing - What would one Law and Order episode look like stretched out over at least 26 hour long episodes? This show will let you know.

What's your favorite new show of 2011?

Homeland Season One in Review

First and foremost let me just say, I thought this first season of Homeland, Showtime's newest and hottest series,  was amazing. It captured your attention from the very beginning and rarely let you off the edge of your seat. The storyline was believable, the characters were developed, the drama was intense and most of all, I thought the season finale did an almost near perfect job of wrapping up the season while still leaving enough grey area that future seasons can go a number of different directions.

• Will Carrie's controversial treatment work and if so, will she be able to get back with the agency?
• Will Saul continue to loop her in if she's unable to get her job back?
• What exactly is Brody? Still a terrorist threat or working to get out from under the control of Nazir?
• Which love of Brody's will win out, his love for his family or his love for Nazir (and in turn hate for the Vice President)?
• Who has the flash drive of his confession and how long until it's used to blackmail him (because you know it will eventually)?
• Does Dana trust her dad more or less after what happened?
• Who is the mole inside the agency?

Oh there's so much more, but I digress back to what's actually happened instead of thinking about the future. The season opened with side by side revelations that an American POW (Nicholas Brody played by Damian Lewis) who'd been captured in 2003 had been rescued, while at the same time CIA operative (Carrie Mathison played by Claire Danes) receives word from a CI who's about to be executed that an American POW has "been turned" by Al-Qaeda. I don't know about you but if that one sentence is all I know about an upcoming show, it's enough. Add in the fact that Brody's wife, after holding out hope for his rescue/return for years, is sleeping with his best friend and their on the verge of moving in together and that Mathison has hidden the fact that she's bipolar from the CIA and you've clearly got the recipe for an explosive and riveting series. Credit the writers, directors, cast and production crew for taking a solid set of ingredients and working up a masterpiece. There's no need to provide an episode by episode synopsis, you can get much better written versions elsewhere I'm sure, so instead I'll try to sum up this first season in my own special way:

Welcome to What's on Your DVR?

This is the place to come for reviews, analysis and discussions for some of your favorite shows on network and cable TV. I obviously don't have time to watch every show out there but I'm a pretty big TV junkie so hopefully we'll enjoy some of the same shows.

For a quick synopsis of what to expect, I'm not a professional film, acting or production critic. I watch TV primarily to be entertained and most would probably describe me as "easily entertained" so the bar for "critical analysis" might be low, if that's your thing. I tend to be draw more to whatever really captures my attention for the entirety of the show, regardless of whether it's action, drama or comedy that's doing the capturing. I very rarely watch shows live anymore, hence the name of the blog, and I absolutely love to let shows stack up on the DVR then knock out several weeks in one sitting or even try to squeeze an entire season in over the course of several days (thank you On Demand), as I just recently did with Boss on Starz.

I would like to think I have a fairly balanced mix of 30 minute sitcoms and hour long dramas, although I will admit I'm finding myself gradually more drawn to hour long dramas than I was even just a couple years ago. My current list of favorite shows would include (in no particular order) Raising Hope, Homeland, Parks and Rec, Justified, Game of Thrones, Sons of Anarchy, Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Person of Interest, Shameless and Dexter just to name a few (ok maybe more than a few).

And finally a quick disclaimer, I will not be writing about and/or reviewing any reality shows now or at any time in the future. I know they're popular but I refuse to jump on board that train to insanity.

Thanks for your time, hope you enjoy......