TV hits and misses
Television is all of a sudden in a weird place. Good shows are no longer as good. Unknowns are making the most of their opportunities. Those thought to be on the decline suddenly are relevant again. And ever since Battlestar Galactica sailed off into the sunset, I’ve had a lot more time to dissect what’s happening around TV land.
In the spirit of the NBA playoffs and a number of individual awards being given out, I’d like to hand out a few of my own to the deserving shows on television.
•The Derrick Rose Award for Most Promising Newcomer:
Dollhouse. Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon has penned another potential hit with his new series. Starring Eliza Dushku as Echo, Dollhouse revolves around an organization that specializes in creating tailor-made human beings (like Barbie) for any purpose their clients may want (to play dress-up, for instance). For example, a client of the Dollhouse may be in need of an assassin. The Dollhouse, having a stock of blanked-out people with wiped memories, get imprinted with a certain personality that fits the profile required. Hence, they can create the perfect assassin from scratch.
It’s yet uncertain whether Dollhouse will take off like Buffy did, especially with rumors of cancellation circulating. But the show does have a lot of promise and room to grow. The sad thing is, the same thing could be said about the last Whedon-produced show, Firefly, and that was cancelled.
•The Detroit Pistons Award for ‘Stick a Fork in ‘em, They’re Done’:
Heroes, Prison Break (tied). These two programs used to be at the top of their game. Both gripping, compelling and addictive, Heroes and Prison Break were the kings of TV. Now, both of them just try too hard and achieve very little. Heroes has resorted to cheap teen drama and recycled comic book storylines without the comic book action. Prison Break has had so many twists and turns that I’m beginning to think even their own writers have given up.
It’s tragic. Heroes had the potential to be the superhero movie we could watch every week. Now it’s just a revolving door of companies and conspiracies and Claire love interests.
Prison Break was the same way. But after horrible seasons 2 and 3, it rebounded pretty well up until midway through season 4, where the gang started doing some actual breaking in again. After that, everything turned into shit. Michael Rappaport became the most awkward villain in history, Mom started to get involved and somehow one-armed T-Bag keeps getting reworked into the storyline.
I give up with these two. They’re done.
•The Dwyane Wade Award for One Man Team:
How I Met Your Mother. After an impressive first season, HIMYM has been declining little by little. I’ll tell you why.
Nobody on this show with the exception of Neil Patrick Harris is funny. In the same vein, nobody else on the show becomes funny until Neil Patrick Harris shows up. Every time Ted complains about an ex or his parents or his job, it’s not very funny. When NPH steps in and makes his trademark sexist joke, then the funny starts to happen. When Marshall and Lilly become all mushy and quirky and sappy, it’s not very funny. When NPH berates them for it, the scene suddenly becomes hilarious.
How I Met Your Mother is a one-man show. Neil Patrick Harris is single-handedly keeping this show alive. Nobody cares about the other characters anymore. Every guy I know raves about how funny Barney is. That is both the show’s blessing and its curse.
•The Chauncey Billups Award for Renewed Relevance:
24, Lost (tied). I must admit, after that strange sixth season with the Chinese and the carousel of irrelevant villains, I was ready to give up on Jack Bauer and 24. But if there’s anything six years of 24 has taught us, it’s that you never bet against Jack Bauer. Now older, wiser, tamer and still every bit as badass, Bauer returns for the seventh time for one of the most compelling 24 seasons in years. The suspense is there, the action is there, the threat seems imminent; Jack is up against the wall and best of all, Jon Voight plays the bad guy.
I never really gave up on Lost, but midway through the third season and at the beginning of the fourth, it seemed like it was losing steam. They kept asking new questions without giving any new answers. The original characters were getting stale and the new characters were iffy. Then, the best thing possible for this show happened. They set a date for ending: 2010. After that, the writers seemed to put everything in place.
Now on its fifth season, Lost is beginning to tie up a lot of loose ends, flesh out storylines and determine the destiny for our favorite castaways. It’s a very rare occurrence for a show that seemed to be on a sharp decline to rebound like Lost has. Lost is now once again one of the best shows out there.
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For questions, comments or corrections, please e-mail me at carlfrancisramirez@gmail.com.
