The Fall Season, Part Two November 2006

by Richard Koscher

The Simpsons
The Simpsons TV show turned 18 this year. Reagan was President of the United States when Bart pronounced his first “Eat my shorts!” Before I reviewed the season pilot, I had to ask myself if the show could get any better. It holds 22 Emmy awards and has three places in the Guinness Book of World Records:

• Longest running Primetime Animated Television Series.
• Most Guest Stars featured in a Television Series.
• An unprecedented 400 episodes. (The 400th show will air in May.)

I discovered from the pilot that after all the kudos and records, the show still retains its intelligence and humor. The opening show finds Homer and Bart taking over a mob business in order to help the son of a Mafia lord make it through the family crisis that was generated by the slaying of his evil father. The show involves such hilarious scenes as Bart shaking down Krusty the Clown’s greasy hamburger joint for payoff money to keep the McDonalds and Burger King franchises out of town.

As always, the show is rich with allusions to stars and movies — in this case especially to the Godfather movies. After 18 years the producers and writers continue to come up with fresh new ideas. Amazing!

Family Guy
I also previewed Family Guy, which has never been a favorite show of mine. It strikes me as an acquired taste, but I have to admit that it is a taste that has been acquired by a huge number of people. The language is enough to fit the show for a slot opposite South Park.

The show’s huge following came after it was moved from the Cartoon Network, where it never really belonged, to prime time on FOX.

Even though I don’t like the show myself, I have to acknowledge that the ideas are fresh and in some cases really made me laugh. The material is often offensive at the level of a junior high school boy’s locker room. These are usually much wittier than junior high students could come up with, but not always.

American Dad
In my opinion American Dad doesn’t have anything to recommend itself. Even the cartoons are boringly drawn. I also kept staring at the character Stan’s chin. I know that the chin is supposed to be a “dramatic” feature, but it comes across looking like a bad growth. The show is neither funny nor fresh. The idea of Camp Refoogee seemed like something writers might have come up with at a bar on the day before deadline. I’ve been watching this show on and off for a while; it is not getting any better.
It’s a must miss in my books.

JERICHO
Every once in a while a show comes along that completely catches me off guard. Five years ago the show 24 had that effect on me. This year I was astounded by the new CBS dramatic series called Jericho. The show starts off with a blast in the first ten minutes when a mushroom cloud suddenly appears above the horizon of a small Kansas town plunging the tiny community into chaos.

All communication with the outside world is severed in that instant, leaving the townspeople to wonder if they are on the edge of a localized disaster or if they are the final Americans left alive.

Anarchy breaks out, and the residents of the little town are thrust into dramatic situations such as, a school bus full of children turning up missing and another bus carrying prisoners crashing, allowing desperate inmates to escape.

Jericho has many talented actors. My favorite one is Gerald McRaney, who played the character George Hurst on the critically acclaimed Deadwood. In Jericho he plays the town mayor, Johnston Green, who must leap into action when the town begins to riot. I almost got a heart attack myself when Green experienced one. I couldn’t stand the possibility that they might kill him off. I’m really glad that he’s going to stick around since his talent is unmatched by the other actors on the show.

Pamela Reed comes close to matching Green’s skill as she plays his wife, Gail. She is known to us from such movies as Kindergarten Cop and episodes of Judging Amy. Skeet Ulrich plays a somewhat less convincing role as Jake Green, the mayor’s prodigal son.

Jericho has some wonderful uses of subtle effects. The first introduction to the bomb was a small boy standing on the top of his house looking into the distance when he was supposed to be playing hide-and-seek.

The writers wrung more drama out of a cartridge from a phone message machine than some full-length movies are able to get out of a plane crash.

The characters in the show obviously have a lot of history stretching back before the attacks. I hope the producers don’t make the mistake they made in Lost, where after a good start; they absolutely drowned the narrative line beneath layers of flashbacks.

Jericho should provide great competition for Lost in the ratings wars. Personally, I hope they kick Lost’s behind. 

The Class
CBS’ comedy, The Class, provides another candidate for best new series. It is a comedy about a group of 20-somethings who share in common the fact of having attended the same third grade class. Now it is two decades later and their paths have crossed once again giving them a chance to look deep into each other’s experiences and to understand the changes that the events of the intervening two decades have made in their lives.

The idea of the show seems fresh and some characters really are humorous, but I did catch myself mostly just chuckling instead of laughing out loud. One of my favorite characters was Sam Harris who plays Perry. Another great role is Heather Goldenhersh playing Linda Warbler. Those two are more or less the heartbeat of the show. This one falls into my recommended category, but in my book, Fox’s Happy Hour still maintains the lead in humorous programming.

Studio 60
NBC hit a homerun this season with Studio 60, which is by far the most intelligent show we have watched on television for a long time. The name is a bit confusing, since the show has nothing to do with nightclubs. Executive Producer and Writer, Aaron Sorkin, and Executive Producer and Director, Thomas Schlamme, are both well known for their work on NBC’s The West Wing. They return to television with this crackling account of the humorous drama lying behind the production of a popular, late-night comedy sketch show called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

The new drama series takes us behind the scenes for a look at the backstage politics, romances, and the delicate balance that exists between creative talent, on-air personalities, and network executives in a text-messaging world.

Jordan McDeere, played by Amanda Peet, who played Julie Woodman in Syriana, is a savvy new network entertainment chief who starts her first day of the season facing a massive public relations disaster.

Matt Albie, played by Matthew Perry from Friends and Danny Tripp, who played Bradley Whitford in The West Wing, comprise a brilliant creative team that the director wants to use in order to resurrect the failing program.

Also playing crucial roles are the sketch comedy series stars Harriet Hayes, who played Sarah Paulson in Down with Love, Simon Stiles, who appeared as D.L. Hughley in The Hughleys, and Tom Jeter, who was Nathan Corddry in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Their normally cool-headed director is played by Cal Shanley, who was Timothy Busfield in Thirtysomething, as well as supreme network honcho Jack Rudolph, who played the role of Steven Weber in Wings.

The show is fast, dramatic, and funny. The cast provides superb acting. I bought every single role.

Matthew Perry especially showed off his acting talent by playing a completely opposite character than his Chandler Bing role on Friends. Studio 60 gives him a great opportunity to display his acting skills.

Studio 60 is a winner and I predict it will have many seasons to come. The quality of acting and writing reminds me of ER, which has now gone into its 13th season. °