Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 16th, 2006
If you ask me, what sitcoms need are fewer contrivances and more realistic humor. That's what made Seinfeld so brilliant. As horrible as those people were, the sad truth is that all of us have a little bit of that twisted humor lurking within us. That's just the kind of thing that happens with The Worst Week of My Life. This amazingly funny BBC series lasts just seven episodes, but I guess that should be expected judging from the show's title. The names of the episodes themselves are “Sunday”, “Monday”, “Tuesday” and so on. By the end of the season, viewers have been treated to what is often-times the worst week of many people's lives. The week that should be the happiest of their lives. The week before their wedding.
The show reminds me a bit of Meet The Parents, and a little of Wedding Crashers, but in my opinion it is much funnier than either one of these. The show is shot with a single camera, so it actually has the feel of a mini-series more than that of a half-hour sitcom. The BBC has really come a long way in the last few years. They have hit a run of great shows with Coupling, The Office, MI-5 and now The Worst Week of My Life.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 15th, 2006
There is a little more Tracey to go around with Tracey Takes On: The Complete Second Season, so fans of the show shouldn't be disappointed. However, I find her humor quaint and dry in an inescapably British way. No one can deny her talent. But it's hard to like a show when none of the laughs are connecting. Of course, humor - like beauty - is certainly in the eye of the beholder. With that said, I am not one of the lucky ones that can look at this raw oyster of a show and see the pearl. This season, Ullman inc...udes many of the same faces from season one. The humor also continues in the same light with its often irreverent pokes at social norms and behavior. There are a variety of guest stars accompanying Ullman, as was also the case last season. This time, we get Timothy Busfield, Jon Favreau, Julie Kavner, Michael McKean, Ron Perlman, George Segal, John Stamos, and Bradley Whitford; and their only purpose seems to be filling out the camera lens. After all, Ullman can't be everywhere at once, in spite of her talents. And to many of these celebrities, doing Ullman's show is the hip thing to do.
But hip doesn't make for funny, and there's only so much Chic, Hope Finch, and Linda Granger, a sane mind can take. Add in the myriad of quick vignettes in each of the 15 episodes, and you have one stone-faced reviewer doing his best to stay awake through a show that seems much longer than its sitcom-length running time would indicate. I wish we could see more serious acting from Ullman. She is incredible, and I respect her abilities so much. But the humor is flat; the format, tired. The simple fact she can still garner fame and acclaim after all these years of performing material such as this only hints at the even bigger accomplishments she could achieve, if only her mind was set to it. Until then, die-hard fans can cherish yet another collection of her antics; as for me, I'd rather she try something else.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 12th, 2006
You would have to either be from another planet, been raised by wolves or be under the age of 15 to not have some sort of a personal history with Full House. The show was a staple of Friday night television for eight seasons, defying all logic and proving that the general public doesn't always know quality when they see it. The story about a non-traditional household was inexplicably popular, despite the fact that it got consistently poor reviews year after year. Even more surprising was how many careers came out of the show. Of course, Bob Saget went on to play a similar role as the host of America's Funniest Home Videos, but John Stamos went on to marry Rebecca Romijn... a match that nobody saw coming or truly understood. And then, of course, there is the multi-million dollar phenomenon that is the Olsen twins.
This particular season falls fight in the middle of the show's run. The big storyline here is the marriage of Uncle Joey and Becky, a plot line that runs from the proposal to the wedding and beyond. Other storylines include Stephanie getting glasses (apparently a major trauma) and one major character getting pregnant. I respect the fact that the show is trying to evolve, but in the end, this is just the same old soft crap that we have already seen for three previous seasons.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 11th, 2006
I think the fact that Invasion only ran for one season is more of a result of circumstance than anything else. The series starts with a very large hurricane hitting Florida, and the rest of the season dramatizes the aftermath of such a tragic event. Unfortunately, the series made its debut right after the real life hurricane Katrina wiped out much of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. With the 24-hour coverage of the real-life disaster plastered all over the airwaves, audiences just didn't feel much like unwinding with a dramatization of the very same experience.
It's a shame, too, because the hurricane aspect of the story was really just a catalyst to bring on the true story of the series. This was not a show about hurricanes, this was a show about extra-terrestrials. I am always a fan of sci-fi shows that masquerade as traditional dramas, and this one really pulls it off. One of the best things about shows like Alias and Lost is that they spawned other well thought out shows such as this one. It was not long ago that a show would start with a basic idea of characters and place, and the series would evolve over time. Now we are starting to see shows that have an entire couple of seasons planned out before the first episode is even shot (such as 24 and HBO's fantastic Carnivale). The result is a television program that plays more like a detailed mini-series. This is a winning proposition for both networks and fans, as the story builds slowly over time, a personal investment is made in the program.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 8th, 2006
Synopsis
Here we go again. Punky Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye) is pretty comfortably ensconced in the home of Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes) now. The season follows Punky through the usual round of problems at school, with friends, with boys, and so on. Will she do her homework and get to a rock concert? We await the answer on the edge of our seats. Frye is a few years older now, and so is moving from precocious youngster to tiresome tween. Lessons are learned in the most painfully didactic and mundan... fashion. The laugh track kicks in mechanically everytime Punky moves. This is sitcomus moronicus at its most depressing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 3rd, 2006
Synopsis
Well, Mark Dancer’s review of Season Two of Bridezillas pretty much echoes my general thoughts on the show. Now, for those of you who haven’t read his review, go there. Come back, and see what I do with it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 30th, 2006
Synopsis
I’m probably one of the few remaining “critics” that wasn’t familiar with the Showtime original series Weeds, and when Mary-Louise Parker (Fried Green Tomatoes) won a Golden Globe for Best Actress, like some other people who haven’t seen it, my response was “what the hell for?”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 30th, 2006
This is a really odd idea for a DVD release. In Bill Maher's HBO television show, Real Time with Bill Maher, he does a short segment called New Rules. This segment is mostly made up of one-liner jokes that take shots at celebrities and the Bush administration. Each segment runs less than a minute, and this disc contains every one of them from the show's three seasons.
The jokes themselves are funny enough, but my big complaint is that this entire disc just plays like one big overblown special feature. The short segments are played one after another over a repetitive music bed for 45-minutes, and then the credits roll. There is nowhere near enough content here to justify a full DVD release of just this. This disc would make a wonderful companion piece to a Bill Maher stand-up special, but it by no means justifies a separate release all to itself.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 30th, 2006
Blue Collar TV is essentially a perfect balance between Hee Haw and The Man Show. As with all sketch comedy shows, some of the skits are very funny, and some of them never really go anywhere. The Blue Collar team of Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy and Bill Engvall have hedged their bets, however, by adding in some stand-up bits, and the occasional musical guest. This means that the average half-hour show might only have two or three skits in it, so the odds of those skits being funny are pretty good.
The show is actually quite entertaining. Much more than I was expecting. Of course, it will probably appeal to those living in the Southern Unites States much more than those in other regions, with recurring segments like “the Redneck Yard of the Week” and “White Trash Days of Our Lives”. Some of the segments are just too redneck, such as the NASCAR sponsored baby delivery segment, but for the most part, you are guaranteed one or two big laugh in every show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 29th, 2006
Before there was Desperate Housewives, there was Dallas. Back stabbing, cheating, lying, romantic jerks with a ton of money. This show is what happens when a Soap Opera is taken seriously. Instead of cheesy organ music and dramatic zooms, this is a true hour-long evening drama. It is also one of the most famous shows of all time.
Season five opens with a dramatic kick off; the conclusion of Season Four's finale that features a murder at the Southfork Ranch! Shock gives way to mystery as the investigation unfolds, and even the Sheriff's department get caught in the middle of the family's squabbles. From here, the drama continues, as J.R.'s marriage falters and a tragedy befalls the head of the Ewing family. For those of you that have not seen these episodes, I may have said to much already. I will just say that if you are a fan of this show, the twists and turns in Season Five certainly do not disappoint.
