Salon.com > Television

Must do’s: What we like this week

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000

BOOKS

Laura Miller was captivated by the story of journalist Emma Brockes' mother, Pauline, who as a young woman worked to get her father arrested for incest:

It took less than a chapter of “She Left Me the Gun: My Mother’s Life Before Me” for me to fall for Emma Brockes’ mother, Pauline. First and foremost, there’s Pauline’s tart, post-colonial sangfroid. An émigré from South Africa, where she spent the first 28 years of her life, she wound up raising her only child in Britain, in what Brockes, a journalist, describes as “a gentle kind of place, leafy and green, with the customary features of a nice English village.” Pauline was unimpressed. “The English,” she was fond of pronouncing, “are a people who cook their fruit.” She regaled her daughter with tales of growing up in what was then Zululand, where even snakes and scorpions were nothing to fuss about. “Whining was not permissible. Undervaluing oneself was not permissible,” Brockes writes of her mother’s attitude toward life. Another tenet: “Look lively, or die.”

“The Office’s” sugar-coated finale

Fri, 17 May 2013 04:13:00 +0000

It is an article of faith that the American version of “The Office” is— or, I should say, was— nicer and kinder than its British progenitor. The original “Office,” with its endless shots of paper-stacked desks and droning copy machines viewed the workplace as fundamentally soul-sucking, the place where one ran out the clock on life, molested by monotony, unchosen colleagues, and bosses like Ricky Gervais’s David Brent, a man so keen to be recognized he would do any embarrassing, inappropriate, cruel, or disrespectful thing to seem cool. American audiences may have been ready to cringe, but not quite so excruciatingly. After its short first season the American “The Office” underwent some sweetening tweaks. Dunder Miflin became more ridiculous, less deadening, and Steve Carell’s Michael Scott was re-envisioned as buffoon motivated not by the desire to be cool, but a desire to be loved.

Mitch Hurwitz: Watch “Arrested Development” Season 4 in order

Wed, 15 May 2013 20:50:00 +0000

Although "Arrested Development" star Jason Bateman told GQ that the fourth installment -- due out on Netflix in two weeks -- can be watched in any order, like a "choose your own adventure" book, show creator Mitch Hurwitz today tweeted that fans should watch the show in its given order. Apparently, the jokes don't hang together well enough to pull off the ambitious format:

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To get an idea of how complex and interwoven the recurring jokes are, check out this helpful infographic, which maps references from seasons 1 through 3.

Watch Bill Hader’s last “SNL” promo, featuring Ben Affleck

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:47:00 +0000

"SNL" has released the promo for the last episode of its 38th season, which bids farewell to comedian Bill Hader after eight seasons. Ben Affleck guest stars, with music from Kanye West:

“The Mindy Project” finally gets it just right

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:35:00 +0000

“The Mindy Project” premiered last September as one of the best and buzziest of the new fall shows. In the nine months that have followed it has made a valiant effort to live up to that promise, making more alterations — a cast tuck here, a character adjustment there — than most shows even know how to attempt. Yet right up until the fantastic season finale, it had never gotten its cut exactly right. “The Mindy Project” has often been very funny, but it has been dogged by some basic head scratchers, first among them, why are these people who really don’t like each other hanging out, outside of work, all the time? But a finale is a great time for a show to pull out its best episode — even if it took all season to get there.

“New Girl” creator Liz Meriwether: “I don’t think the show is adorkable”

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

"New Girl" finished its wonderful second season with badger jokes, an interrupted wedding, a Taylor Swift cameo and Nick (Jake Johnson) and Jess (Zooey Deschanel) riding off into the night. Liz Meriwether is the series' bespectacled 31-year-old creator, currently on a month-long break before beginning work on the show's third season. She got on the phone with me to talk about the finale, Nick and Jess's future, "Dawson's Creek," guys liking "New Girl," and her feelings about "adorkable."

Did you and the writers discuss not having Nick and Jess get together at the end of the season?

I don’t feel like they’re completely together at the end of the season. I think they are driving off into the unknown. We definitely wanted to leave it open. I don’t think the end of the season necessarily means that they are now a couple. They are just hopping in the car together. And, yes, we had endless discussions about every element of their relationship. That was our biggest concern in the writer’s room. It still kind of scares me; much in the way they are jumping in the car not knowing what’s going to happen, I am also jumping in the [laughing] figurative car not knowing what’s going to happen. It’s definitely terrifying, as someone who loves these kind of plots in sitcoms. I feels like it’s a great privilege that I get to do one myself, and I really don’t want to mess it up. They are just so great together.

Bill Hader is leaving “SNL”

Tue, 14 May 2013 15:19:00 +0000

Get ready to say goodbye to "SNL's" New York City "Weekend Update" correspondent and perennial club-goer, Stefon. The New York Times reports that Bill Hader is leaving the sketch comedy show after eight seasons. The season's last episode airs on Saturday.

From the Times:

Mr. Hader’s contract at “Saturday Night Live” expired in spring 2012, but he was persuaded to stay on for an additional season. In February, he told Mr. Michaels that he was ready to move on, he said. “I’d heard stories that you get very emotional in those conversations,” he added, “and I’ve had other people tell me, ‘Oh, I cried.’ I didn’t, but I did think I was about to faint.”

Mr. Hader said his decision was motivated partly by seeing friends like Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig leave last season, and partly by a desire to move his family to Los Angeles. His wife, Maggie Carey, is getting busier with her filmmaking career, which includes the forthcoming comedy “The To Do List” (which she wrote and directed, and in which Mr. Hader appears). Meanwhile Mr. Hader said he had worked on three live-action features and four animated films during the current season of “SNL” alone.

The show also prepares to bid farewell to head writer and “Weekend Update” anchor Seth Myers, who will replace Jimmy Fallon as host for NBC's “Late Night," though his departure date has not yet been announced.

Korean trailer for “Hannibal” literally sparkles

Mon, 13 May 2013 21:30:00 +0000

Hannibal Lecter, Thomas Harris' fictional serial killer and inspiration for NBC thriller "Hannibal," is not known for his ability to sparkle.

But that's pretty much what he does in this Korean promo for the show, which "Hannibal" creator Bryan Fuller retweeted yesterday:

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As you watch, look out for Hugh Dancy's head Photoshopped over the body of a woman with long orange hair. It is spectacular:

“Game of Thrones” Recap: “If we die we’ll die, but first we’ll live”

Mon, 13 May 2013 02:00:00 +0000

If you have ever wondered what could possibly upstage a gladiatorial stand-off with a huge, angry bear, the gladiator in question armed only with a wooden sword, the most recent episode of “Game of Thrones” has an answer: sexposition hastily followed by a penectomy.

What has been happening to Theon Greyjoy this season is off book. In the novels, Theon is brutally tortured, but not on the page. The details of his ordeal are coming entirely from David Benioff, D.B. Weiss and their writers— and they are ghastly. In this episode— titled “The Bear and the Maiden Fair,” which you’ll recall is the folk song the Hold Steady sang over the end credits of this season’s third episode — a brutalized Theon is untied, given water, and then groped and mounted by two beautiful young and eventually naked women until, even in his half-living state, he becomes aroused. The whole encounter is so surreal and perverse it seems like a dream, but it’s not. As Theon starts to writhe, his sociopathic torturer re-emerges, remarks on Theon’s known cocksmanship, and then, as the camera cuts away, presumably cuts off his penis.

Christopher Guest: “It becomes apparent in five seconds whether an improviser is going to bomb.”

Sun, 12 May 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Christopher Guest, the director of "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best in Show," brings his very specific, finely crafted form of improvised comedy to television with "Family Tree" an eight-episode HBO series which begins Sunday and stars Chris O'Dowd as a man who becomes interested in investigating his ancestry, encountering any number of oddballs on his search (including Guest regulars like Michael McKean, Ed Begley Jr., and Fred Willard).

Guest, notoriously serious when just being himself, spoke with me about the show, the pervasive influence of "This Is Spinal Tap's" mockumentary format, and how he identifies performers who are up to the "peculiar challenge" of improvising on camera.

Had you been wanting to do TV?

No, no. I hadn’t been thinking about anything really, which is typical. I finish a project and I take some years off. And in this case, I did a bunch of music after my last movie. I did two records and two music tours, and then I began to think about things, and this idea popped in my head. And because this is a never-ending story, it really couldn’t have been a film. There was no finite end to the idea. So HBO made sense and is a place where you can get the support to do things the way you do them, which is kind of vital for me.

Must do’s: What we like this week

Sat, 11 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000

BOOKS

The American Psychiatric Association gears up to deliver the new DSM-5, the manual that serves as the mental health industry's bible, but with "The Book of Woe," psychotherapist Gary Greenberg cautions Americans to question the authority of a guide that is largely "built on fiction." Laura Miller writes:

“Psychiatric diagnosis is built on fiction and sold to the public as fact.” So writes psychotherapist Gary Greenberg in “The Book of Woe: The Making of the DSM and the Unmaking of Psychiatry.” That’s an explosive assertion but also one that doesn’t quite mean what most of you are probably thinking. Scientologists, settle down: Greenberg is not on your side. And talk-therapy pooh-poohers, spare us all those chortles of vindicated scorn; he doesn’t agree with you, either.

This is genealogy: Christopher Guest’s “Family Tree” comes to HBO

Fri, 10 May 2013 15:58:00 +0000

Christopher Guest, the deadpan master improviser and creator of such classics as “Waiting for Guffman” and “Best in Show,” has described his own sense of humor as “silliness framed in intelligence,” fart jokes delivered by people of a certain erudition, who know how to make higher-brow cracks but choose not to. “Family Tree,” Guest’s very first television show, premieres on Sunday night on HBO. It’s an eight-episode series that hews to the mockumentary format Guest has been developing since he played Nigel Tufnel in “This Is Spinal Tap”: The cast has been given detailed character histories and episode outlines, but the dialogue is entirely improvised. The results contain both fart jokes and erudition, but not so much heart. “Family Tree" is colder and flatter than Guest’s best work, missing its inspired kookery and high-energy strangeness.

The future of television: Zombie gamers gone wild

Fri, 10 May 2013 11:45:00 +0000

"Head shot, bitch, you just got owned! Yo, are you newbies going to help me capture this flag, or are you just going to stand there with each other's dicks in your hands?"

Spoken by a young man in gamer mode -- wearing microphone-equipped headphones, his hands gripping his game controller, staring frownily into his console screen -- those gracious words are the first line spoken in the first episode of "The Clan" -- a comedy series that debuted in April on Machinima Prime, one of YouTube's most high-profile "channels." The opening dialogue is representative of what follows. It's no accident the show kicks off with an aggro verbal fusillade. It's a calculated statement of purpose.

I've watched three episodes of "The Clan" and I am still unsure as to whether the series is best understood as postmodern cynical satire lampooning gamer culture, or is it really a faithful reflection of the emerging worldview of the "lost boy" gamer demographic. Or maybe "The Clan" is just lousy. Does it even matter? Ultimately, such questions are not for me to decide, since I'm not a "lost boy" and therefore I am not of interest to the Machinima "network."

NBC cancels “Whitney” after two seasons, renews “Parks and Recreation”

Thu, 09 May 2013 21:56:00 +0000

NBC has (finally) canceled ailing sitcom "Whitney," the two-season comedy series starring frequent "Chelsea Lately" guest Whitney Cummings.

The show opened to 7 million viewers in its premiere two years ago and dropped to 4 million after its first season. The show now brings in less than 3 million.

Rearragning its comedy lineup, Deadline reports that the network has also canceled "Guys With Kids" and sophomore White House comedy "1600 Penn" after their first seasons. "Up All Night," which suffered from a series of departures and formatting changes, has also been axed.

The verdict is still out on "Community," but Amy Poehler's "Parks and Recreation" will stay on for a sixth season.

New PBS programming includes mini-series on African Americans and JFK

Thu, 09 May 2013 17:21:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- PBS' fall schedule will examine President John F. Kennedy's life and his death 50 years ago through a modern lens, part of the network's increased emphasis on relevance, its programming chief said.

A variety of programs about Kennedy will air in the weeks leading up to the milestone anniversary of his Nov. 22, 1963, slaying in Dallas, including "JFK," a four-hour "American Experience" portrait of Kennedy, what he accomplished and what was left undone, PBS announced Thursday.

The science show "Nova" will look at how the forensics investigation into his death would have been handled today and "lay bare some of the problems with forensics at the time," said Beth Hoppe, PBS' new chief programming executive.

The history-oriented "Secrets of the Dead," with a narrative account of the president's shooting, and a look at Kennedy collectibles also will be part of the coverage, along with other specials being planned, PBS said.

Also set for public TV's lineup are specials on American heritage, including a family roots series, "Genealogy Roadshow," and two documentary programs with sweeping views of Hispanic and black history, "Latino Americans" and "The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross."

Swedish television welcomes Amy Poehler with new comedy series

Thu, 09 May 2013 16:32:00 +0000

American national treasure Amy Poehler is spreading some of her charm and wit to Sweden with a new comedy series called "Welcome to Sweden." Poehler is producing the series with her brother, Greg Poehler, under their new production company, Syskon (which means "sibling" in Swedish).

“I’m so happy to work with my talented brother Greg and the terrific Swedish actors who have joined us,” Amy Poehler said in a press release. “Hopefully this helps us decide once and for all who is our parents’ favorite child.”

The show, based on Greg Poehler's real-life romance, will be TV4's first English-language comedy. Details from the Hollywood Reporter:

How to tell if a TV actor is bad: The dude edition

Mon, 06 May 2013 22:20:00 +0000

Over the weekend I wrote a piece about IDing a certain kind of bad actor, not the over-actor, who chews up all the scenery, but the under-actor, who quietly, steadfastly projects no inner life. It’s just two steps: Is it possible to imagine the inner life of this character? If no, is it possible to imagine the inner life of the characters surrounding him or her? And its named after “Friday Night Lights'” Julie Taylor, who was secretly, innocuously so much worse than her great costars.

In the comments and on Twitter, it was rightfully pointed out that my list did not have any men on it, except Jeremy Piven, a classic example of an over-actor (at least in his post-“Entourage” years). Are men not bad actors too? Obviously, yes, they are. (Though I do think that because the world is unjust, male actors are often given more to do and so just by dint of screen time can come across more strongly than their female counterparts: See Rick Grimes on “The Walking Dead,” for example.) So, to toss out a few names in the interest of gender-balanced snark, here are some dudes who fail the Julie Taylor test as well.

Steve Carell reportedly returning for “The Office” finale

Mon, 06 May 2013 17:23:00 +0000

Despite consistent reports that sorely missed "Office" star Steve Carrel will not return for the series finale, Michael Ausiello's breaking entertainment industry news site TVLine "has learned exclusively" that the former Dunder Mifflin manager "will, in fact, turn up in the swan song."

From TVLine:

According to sources, Carell’s return engagement qualifies as more of a cameo than a full-fledged guest appearance. (It’s unclear if Carell will be joined by his Office soul mate Amy Ryan.)

An NBC spokesperson declined to comment, while Carell’s rep insists that the Office finale will be Scott-free.

On Saturday, Carell surprised thousands of Office fans when he joined his former co-stars at a huge “wrap party” held in the real Scranton, Pennsylvania

The series finale airs May 16 and brings back former "Office" stars Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak.

“Game of Thrones” Recap: The climb is all there is

Mon, 06 May 2013 02:00:00 +0000

Is a big idea really a big idea if it can’t be said in Batman voice? Littlefinger certainly thinks not. To deliver his thesis statement, the one that closed out the episode — and sounded like it was co-written by “The Maxtrix’s” Morpheus — he broke out his very best Batman growl. It was a fairly convincing impersonation: “Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder…Only the ladder is real. THE CLIMB IS ALL THERE IS!”

How well are the show's characters capitalizing on chaos? How is the climb going? And is it really all there is? For Jon Snow and Ygritte, co-starring in their very own version of “Cliffhanger,” the climb really is all there is, for the moment anyway. (Still a pet peeve: why doesn’t Jon Snow every wear a hat? It looks windy up there!) After last week’s hot tub sex session, Ygritte was uncharacteristically gushy with Jon, but this week, she reverts to spikier form, simultaneously complimenting John and making sure he knows the score: he is a good, loyal and brave man who she really likes, but she on to him— he hasn’t betrayed the Watch— and if he betrays her she is going to “cut your pretty cock right off and wear it round me neck.”

The Julie Taylor Test: How to tell if a TV actor is bad

Sun, 05 May 2013 21:00:00 +0000

Julie Taylor appeared on all five seasons of the late, great “Friday Night Lights.” The teenage daughter of the show’s main characters, the indelibly decent and charismatic Mr. and Mrs. Coach (or, fine, Eric and Tami Taylor), Julie (Aimee Teegarden) had more screen than almost any of “FNL’s” players except her parents. She wasn’t, at first glance, obviously, abjectly terrible, but she was tremendously opaque and flat: the lackluster nature of her performance was quietly mediocre. Whereas everyone else on that show seemed, almost effortlessly, to embody a real, identifiable, understandable and believable person, Julie never even fully registered, except in rare, fleeting moments.

TV is very kind to bad actors. In a movie, when someone is bland or dull or hammy that’s all they have time to be. On TV, as a bad actor appears again and again, you begin to rationalize the badness, their under-, over-, or just plain wretched acting. Maybe this performance is inexpressive and uncharismatic because the character is inexpressive and uncharismatic. Some people are! Maybe it’s not January Jones who can’t put over emotion of any kind, it’s Betty Draper who is so flat!