I didn’t really skip the
summer. But—you’re right—I didn’t post,
either. Other responsibilities got in
the way. But the Fall season has started
up, and now’s a good time for some quick reviews to get the ball rolling again! If all goes as planned, I’ll pick up shows
from the summer (etc.) as I go.
It’s been a heavy few months. (For many, even more than for me.) Natural
disasters, social struggle, geopolitical….trouble. And of course there’s plenty of heavy stuff
on TV, too. But let's set that aside for the moment, and look at some of the lighter fare. I don’t always review comedies, and my
comedy-watching is more sporadic than my drama-watching, but it goes without
saying that comedy can be instructive as well as diverting. What does our comedy tell us right now? …Well, that a lot of it is either imported,
or satirical.
I guess I shouldn’t be
surprised. It is a little tough at the
moment to laugh without context or reservation.
Hooten
& The Lady (CW, UK, new to U.S. Summer 2017. Action/Adventure.)
Watched: season, on and off
Premise: A high-society museum curator and a scruffy
treasure hunter flirt their way through globe-hopping artifact-related scrapes.
Promise: Indiana Jones meet Saturday afternoon
first-run syndication, with a retro vibe that feels (a) pretty sexist and
xenophobic; and (b) oddly comfortable.
I’m not sure what it says about me that I kind of enjoyed it despite its
heavy reliance on stereotypes. I mean
for goodness sake, the female lead doesn’t even get her name in the title. She’s just “the lady.” But I suppose it felt sort of nostalgic, and
(much like the female lead), every time I found myself getting too frustrated
with its presumptions, it would go and do something charming and redemptive.
Verdict: shrug?
Loaded
(AMC, U.K. show (& remake of an Israeli show), new to U.S. Summer 2017. Dramedy.)
Watched: Pilot
Premise: Four tech
entrepreneurs become instant millionaires (and copyright-law defendants) with
new pressures to succeed when their app makes it big.
Promise: This show has much
of the same appeal, and non-appeal, as Silicon Valley. It has introspective and triumphant moments,
but it walks a thin line between wanting us to like the main characters on one
hand, and to experience schadenfreude at their travails, on the other. And that ends up not working for me, because
I, personally, find all of the characters deeply unlikeable. Their immaturity, presumptuousness, and lack
of emotional awareness make for good little story hooks and opportunities for
redemption, but I find it too grating to enjoy even those. I think it comes down to not wanting to watch
a bunch of fortunate rich guys act like the world owes them something.
Verdict: Not for me.
Rosehaven (Sundance, Australian,
new to U.S. Fall 2017. Dramedy.)
Watched: Two episodes
Premise: A self-doubting, well-meaning man moves back
to his small hometown to work at his family business, joined by his best
friend, a newlywed whose husband just left her.
Promise: This is an amiable, quirky small-town dramedy
with some of the same sort of charm as Northern Exposure or Doc Martin. Our two main characters are mostly competent,
but deeply fallible, and the small-town environment is a good backdrop for their
foibles and successes. It foregrounds a
world of human-sized, mostly-fixable problems and has compassion for its characters’
deeper conundrums and uncertain futures.
Verdict: This isn’t
must-watch TV, but it’s a comfortable, redemptive diversion.
The
Jim Jefferies Show (Comedy Central, Summer 2017. News-focused comedy.)
The
Opposition with Jordan Klepper (Comedy Central, new Fall 2017. News satire.)
Weekend
Update: Summer Edition (NBC, Summer 2017. News-focused and sketch comedy.)
The
Baroness von Sketch Show (IFC, Canadian, new to U.S. Fall 2017. Sketch comedy.)
…This isn’t a comprehensive list, by
any means, but it’s an interesting array of half-hours that arrived over the
summer and fall, demonstrating the import-and-satire trend. Jim Jefferies, Jordan Klepper, and the SNL
team have each produced half-hours of news-focused observational and
investigative comedy/satire, adding to the already rich field of Samantha Bee,
John Oliver, Trevor Noah, and others. The
Baroness Von Sketch Show is a Canadian import featuring short, witty, feminist,
often outrageous sketch comedy by a four-woman team. Each challenges the sociopolitical structures
of our day by highlighting their ridiculousness. Each feels needed right now.
In
the Hopper: Seasons’ worth…
