Ugh, what a hectic mess of a week. Turns out, I've been busy! So here, in no particular order are some of the things that I've been meaning to post all week…
Joan of Arcadia
In this CBS series, God appears to Joan and ''He asks her to take a chemistry class, He asks her to join the chess club, He asks her to have a garage sale, He asks her to build a boat.''
Now, I know this is getting some really great buzz from the TV critics, but really… if you're going to saddle the main character with a Joan of Arc reference and have her talking to God, don't you expect something, I don't know… more? (Maybe that's why the preview I read said they wished they'd give Joe Mantegna and Mary Steenburgen, Joan's parents, more to do. Nope, sorry guys, God's handling that!)
8 Simple Rules… will go on
Winning the crass award for the week is ABC TV:
"Everybody recognizes that John loved that show. …He'd have wanted the show to continue," Lloyd Braun, chairman of ABC Entertainment Television Group, told a telephone news conference.
What… “the show must go on”?!? Maybe that should be “the profits must continue”, though I’m wondering just how likely those are going to be. I only saw a couple of episodes of this show the first season but, as I remember it, this WAS John Ritter’s show. The kids were stereotypical teenage girls (TV teenage girls, of course—smart, sophisticated, witty, but tender and emotional inside and always in need of daddy). And, while Katey Sagal may be a great sitcom actress, her character was something of a cipher… maybe it got better as the season continued.
But we do get a rare opportunity to see the beginning of a new TV genre… the situation dramedy (or, of course, sit-dram for short). God, what an ugly mess of an idea. ABC's going to show the 3 episodes they've got taped, then rework the show and bring it back to show the family grieving over Dad’s death. Break out the tissues and laughing gas, I won’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Bringing Down the House
Ok, this is it. Steve Martin’s career has jumped the shark. I am DONE!
First was Bowfinger which, while mildly amusing, had none of the wit and intelligence of his earlier films like LA Story or Roxanne. Then there’s Novocaine, a decidedly unfunny comedy about a dentist’s descent into hell (or something along those lines).
But THIS was by far the worst thing I’ve seen him do in ages. Unfunny is charitable. Even Eugene Levy’s laboring under the illusion that his shtick was amusing couldn’t save this mess.
All we got were broad racial stereotypes (but it’s okay, you see, because they’re WHITE stereotypes, so we aren’t offending any minorities), embarrassingly bad “comedy” fight scenes (the brawl between Queen Latifah’s character and the girl playing Martin’s rich-bitch ex-sister-in-law has to be seen to be believed) and some of the worst work of Martin’s career. An altogether ugly film.
(I actually was going to post a reveiw on Netflix about this one, just to warn people away, but Big Rob the Movie Slob beat me to it with this gem; "Well Massuh, I sho' nuff din't like dis here movie. …Oh Massuh, pleeze don' beat me for not liking this piece of trash." Rob continues on here in the Member Reviews section, but you get the gist.)
Joan of Arcadia
In this CBS series, God appears to Joan and ''He asks her to take a chemistry class, He asks her to join the chess club, He asks her to have a garage sale, He asks her to build a boat.''
Now, I know this is getting some really great buzz from the TV critics, but really… if you're going to saddle the main character with a Joan of Arc reference and have her talking to God, don't you expect something, I don't know… more? (Maybe that's why the preview I read said they wished they'd give Joe Mantegna and Mary Steenburgen, Joan's parents, more to do. Nope, sorry guys, God's handling that!)
8 Simple Rules… will go on
Winning the crass award for the week is ABC TV:
"Everybody recognizes that John loved that show. …He'd have wanted the show to continue," Lloyd Braun, chairman of ABC Entertainment Television Group, told a telephone news conference.
What… “the show must go on”?!? Maybe that should be “the profits must continue”, though I’m wondering just how likely those are going to be. I only saw a couple of episodes of this show the first season but, as I remember it, this WAS John Ritter’s show. The kids were stereotypical teenage girls (TV teenage girls, of course—smart, sophisticated, witty, but tender and emotional inside and always in need of daddy). And, while Katey Sagal may be a great sitcom actress, her character was something of a cipher… maybe it got better as the season continued.
But we do get a rare opportunity to see the beginning of a new TV genre… the situation dramedy (or, of course, sit-dram for short). God, what an ugly mess of an idea. ABC's going to show the 3 episodes they've got taped, then rework the show and bring it back to show the family grieving over Dad’s death. Break out the tissues and laughing gas, I won’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Bringing Down the House
Ok, this is it. Steve Martin’s career has jumped the shark. I am DONE!
First was Bowfinger which, while mildly amusing, had none of the wit and intelligence of his earlier films like LA Story or Roxanne. Then there’s Novocaine, a decidedly unfunny comedy about a dentist’s descent into hell (or something along those lines).
But THIS was by far the worst thing I’ve seen him do in ages. Unfunny is charitable. Even Eugene Levy’s laboring under the illusion that his shtick was amusing couldn’t save this mess.
All we got were broad racial stereotypes (but it’s okay, you see, because they’re WHITE stereotypes, so we aren’t offending any minorities), embarrassingly bad “comedy” fight scenes (the brawl between Queen Latifah’s character and the girl playing Martin’s rich-bitch ex-sister-in-law has to be seen to be believed) and some of the worst work of Martin’s career. An altogether ugly film.
(I actually was going to post a reveiw on Netflix about this one, just to warn people away, but Big Rob the Movie Slob beat me to it with this gem; "Well Massuh, I sho' nuff din't like dis here movie. …Oh Massuh, pleeze don' beat me for not liking this piece of trash." Rob continues on here in the Member Reviews section, but you get the gist.)
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