Category: Television

Sherlock Holmes In the 21st Century

Sometimes I really don’t know what I would do without my local PBS station. No matter where I’ve lived in the country and have had to wait for the cable guy to show up, I’ve been able to pick up the local public television station on rabbit ears (well…used to, before all this confusion conversion nonsense, but that’ another post).

But it’s the British television shows shown on PBS that make me so happy. They are wonderfully put together. The production value is incredible. They are superbly written, wonderfully acted, and simply a joy to watch. Did I mention they are superbly written? There is the standby Masterpiece Theater and all the Jane Austen adaptations – beautifully written by Andrew Davies.  And let’s not forget Masterpiece Mystery with Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect. Exceptional.  And Kenneth Branagh in Wallander. Fantastic.

Now I have a new reason to brag about PBS – Sherlock – a 21st century updated version of Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective. Sherlock (masterfully played by Benedict Cumberbatch best known in the states from Atonement. Don’t you just love that name? Benedict Cumberbatch – it’s like a character from Dickens. ) is actually called Sherlock, instead of the standard Holmes, in this series and is a high-functioning sociopath fully integrated in modern day technology. He texts and uses a website to attract business. He’s also addicted to Nicotine patches and incredibly hyperactive.

His pal Watson (Martin Freeman, Love Actually and the original The Office)  is a military doctor who served in Afghanistan,  and blogs as a way to address his post-traumatic stress disorder. The two meet in order to become flatmates, but the friendship develops with the realization that Watson is drawn to Holmes because he is a danger junkie just like Holmes.

This is a brilliant series totally worth watching, and I’m totally jealous I didn’t think of it first, instead of the series creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss.

Watch the new Sherlock. It’s true to the spirit of the original, an arrogant, antisocial man fixated on tiny details and deductive reasoning. It’s also superbly written.  Did I mention it’s superbly written?

Britney On Glee – Oops They Did A Sloppy Show

It’s Britney B*tch! But…hum…do we care? Last night Gleeks around the country sat by their TV’s to watch the long-awaited Britney Spears episode on Glee, hoping not to be disappointed. Unfortunately, the episode is not only enormously disappointing but it’s…well…sloppy…really sloppy.

Where are the characters? Where is the delightful reiteration/propulsion of plot through song? Where are the writers? It is almost as if the idea of doing Britney’s songs totally overshadowed any storytelling once so ever. Although it is fun to pick out the contestants of another Fox show So You Think You Can Dance in the dance company, it doesn’t make up for the lack of good story.

The story is so far gone that some scenes end with a big WTF? Kurt is sent to the principal’s office. And? Artie and Finn suddenly are back on the football team? Really? And then there’s the terrible state of Rachel, finding solace in a 10-year-old Britney song? Ick. It doesn’t help matters that the pressure of starring in an innovative show only makes the star Lea Michele lose so much weight that she now actually appears older on screen.  Again. Ick.

Please Glee, don’t lose your way. Stay creative. You had us at the first audition. You had us at the moment Sue sat down with her special sister. You had us at the first note of a Journey song. Don’t fall victim of making the show strictly a vehicle for guest stars. The Britney episode was entertaining, but please get back to the great writing with emotionally invested characters. Enough with the gimmicks.

But the show does have my favorite line to date – “This room looks like that room on that spaceship when I got probed.”

Too Fat For Fifteen – An Unfortunate Lesson

The Style Network has carved a niche in presenting provocative shows about self-esteem and being overweight.  The serial show Ruby is the most popular, dealing with the life of a 500+ pound woman trying to lose weight. Watching Ruby Gettinger struggle to learn to eat healthy and to find the source of her pain that has caused her to be overweight all of her adult life has been heartwrenching to witness.

But it is the show Too Fat For Fifteen that is the most painful to watch. Obese kids ranging from ages 11 to 17 are sent to a special school in North Carolina to learn to lose weight and still keep up their skills academically.  The stories the producers have carved out for these kids and their families tugs the heart strings and incites some really strong anger.

An 11 year old girl weighing over 200 lbs. must experience her first time away from her family. A 14 year old boy coming in at close to 400 lbs. learns that the masterful manipulation he has used on his mother, doesn’t work at the camp. And at last, a 17 year girl turns out to be the largest and heaviest student the camp has ever had – weighing in at over 500 lbs. It is a sad, sad situation. The stories are so honest, you want to crawl into the TV and slap some sense into these kids AND their parents.

It is on purpose that the parents of these kids are depicted as clueless oafs, whining that they want the best for their kids, yet don’t learn the “program” that the kids follow and are at least 50 lbs. overweight themselves. It’s on purpose the producers follow the kids on home visits and have the audience witness all the learning and hard work of the students be sucked down the drain at the first meal they are fed at home.

The storytelling of this show is definitely moving. However, I can’t help but wonder if it can sustain. What I mean is, the show does a great job of sucking you in. You want these kids to succeed – in their weight loss and academically. But with all the obstacles that lie in their way – unsupportive home environments, no self-motivation, no ability to face the pain as to why they over eat – the viewer can’t help but feel their stories won’t have a happy ending. And we all want a happy ending, right?

Or maybe that’s the ultimate lesson of their stories – the unfortunate realization that these kids will not overcome what life and their parents have given them. Heartbreaking.

Andy Cohen – The Voice of Reason on Bravo TV

Bravo TV is known for its famous franchises of reality shows, but who knew Andy Cohen, Vice-President of Original Programming and Development would be such a breakout star?  His Watch What Happens Live shows are just plain hysterical and as the lone voice of reason among the housewives reunions shows, he’s really made himself a steady fixture in the Bravo TV lineup. It’s impossible to forget his standard cheeky wink when one of the wives says something so incredibly wrong that we either groan or just laugh – loudly.

His terrific sense of humor has come in handy this season. When Theresa Giudice (Housewives of New Jersey) tosses him like a rag doll in the middle of a fight, the audience is a little amused ….and shocked. But Andy’s quick and witty acknowledgment of the situation, made everything right with his panel and with the viewing audience.

Andy is a friend in my head. Someone I’d like to sit and have a cocktail with and discuss pop culture in a way that doesn’t seem too shallow. I know – that hardly seems feasible. But with Andy it’s totally possible. That’s what makes him an integral part in Bravo TV’s storytelling. With someone like Andy – a funny, smart, yet somewhat eccentric moderator – the craziness of the network’s reality shows stars are called to the carpet by his many skeptical looks – also hysterical. He’s just brings a sense of relevancy to the table, making the story – as insane as they story may be – easier to swallow – especially with a Maker’s Mark and Ginger Ale.

Matzel!

Temple Grandin – Big Emmy Wins for Claire Danes and others

Well, the year’s award season kicked off this past weekend with the 62nd Annual Emmy Awards with a big winner being Temple Grandin. An HBO film, the made-for-TV-movie is very well deserving of all the accolades. Temple Grandin (played beautifully by Claire Danes, a winner for best actress) is a high functioning autistic woman who falls in love with animal husbandry and goes on to earn a Ph.D and become a world-famous animal scientist and autism self-advocate.

Skillfully directed by Mick Jackson (The Bodyguard), the story attempts and succeeds in explaining in a “non-explainy” way how Temple’s brain works. It is extraordinarily effective. You learn how after one viewing or hearing of something Temple remembers it – perfectly. How she is unable to understand idioms – her brain is incredibly literal. And how unfortunate it is that she is unable to express affection or receive affection from others. Temple finds it difficult to be touched (which made the real life moment of the actual Temple Grandin hugging Executive Producer Emily Gerson after the movie won for best television movie even more poignant). A touching moment in the film is when her mother (Julia Ormond – winner of best supporting actress for her portrayal) talks to Temple about how expression is given through the eyes – an action Temple exclaims she will never be able to do. Heartbreaking.

With the help of an understanding teacher (the enormously underrated David Strathairn – again an Emmy winner for this film) Temple discovers her special ability to think like animals – mainly cows – and goes on to develop a very successful career. And how many of us yearn for a successful career doing something we love? Damn, that’s lucky!

This film is a lesson in never believing in labels. Temple Grandin’s story is an attest to that. She will always be different and for that she will always be a wonder.