“Non, je ne regrette rien,” the song used as the cue for when the kick is happening in Inception, was most famously recorded by French songbird Edith Piaf. Piaf was portrayed in the 2007 biopic La Vie en Rose by Marion Cotillard, who won an Oscar for that performance. Marion is currently starring in Inception as Mal, the deceased wife of Leonardo Dicaprio’s Cobb. Does this mean anything regarding the mysterious elements of Inception that have been left open to interpretation? We can probably only ever know in our subconsciouses.
Best Episode of the Season: Glee
July 8, 2010
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“Throwdown”
Glee is serial in its format, and therefore the episodes tend to bleed into each other. Barring a few exceptions (the Madonna and Lady Gaga editions), they do not conspicuously stand out from the other episodes immediately before or after. Thus, my criterion for picking the best Glee episode of the year was based on which one featured the best Sue Sylvester moment of the year. The scene in Principal Figgins’ office in which Mr. Schuester took Sue to task over the issue of many of her Cheerios failing Spanish (“Oh, Will, we all know about your devotion to that dying language”) was enough to make “Throwdown” an instant classic in the span of two minutes.
Best Episode of the Season: The Big Bang Theory
July 7, 2010
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“The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary”
“WHEATONNNNN!!!”
Family Guy has James Woods, and now The Big Bang Theory has Wil Wheaton; to paraphrase Bobby Wheat, what is the deal with actors playing evil versions of themselves in sitcoms? This is essentially a matter of, “Why not?” Sitcoms are best when they embrace the fact that they are in the business of silly make-em-up’s. The make-em-ups do not have to make sense when they are first proposed; the masterfulness will come as long as they are put into action in an entertaining way. Giving your main character the personal enemy of Ensign Wesley Crusher is going to work if your main character is played by Jim Parsons in the role of a lifetime. Of course, Sheldon is great on every single episode of BBT, so what pushed “The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary” into best episode of the season territory was the Leonard-Penny storyline, in which Penny set up Howard with Bernadette, a co-worker of hers from the Cheesecake Factory. The horror stories that Howard and Bernadette shared about their meddling mothers was beautiful television. Unsurprisingly, though, the one moment most worth mentioning came from Dr. Cooper: flipping through the back issue bin at the comic store, he went through his usual refrain of, “Got it. Got it…”, and then burst forth a prodigious note of disgust, prompted by his discovery of an issue of Betty and Veronica.
An honorable mention goes to “The Pirate Solution,” in which Raj worked with (or for) Sheldon to avoid deportation. Their contemplation of a particularly difficult equation was set to the tune of the most hilarious parodic use of “Eye of the Tiger” ever.
Next (and last) up: Glee
Best Episode of the Season: How I Met Your Mother
July 6, 2010
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“The Playbook”
They are known as static characters. They are not the main characters (or at least, they should not be). They do not change over the course of the story, but they do not have to. Change is only demanded of the protagonist (and maybe of the antagonist). It would be too much to keep up with if all the supporting characters changed as much as the leads. Barney Stinson is a static character. He is a 21st century lothario, and it is expected that he will remain that way for the entire run of How I Met Your Mother. Even if he does settle into a steady relationship for good, he ought to never give up his “Playbook.” Following his breakup with Robin, Barney went full force back into the Playbook. Eventually, he broke down and admitted that relying on the Playbook was his way of coping with the breakup, which he was truly hurt by. It was interesting to see a version of Barney on the verge of reforming his ways, but it simply did not feel right that that version should last. Ultimately, the breakdown turned out to be a part of Barney’s most elaborate con ever, and all was right. Barney was still what we loved him to be. But somehow in maintaining the status quo, we were given a glimpse behind the master’s work and a peek at a what-if scenario. And it was all intriguing enough to suggest that maybe it was not all part of the con.
Next up: The Big Bang Theory
Best Episode of the Season: Lost
July 5, 2010
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“Happily Ever After”
Desmond-centric episodes have a knack for being game changers for Lost and putting the entire series in a new context. “Flashes Before Your Eyes” introduced the issue of temporal paradoxes and confronted the matter of fate vs. free will head-on. “The Constant” dealt with time-traveling and consciousness-jumping and foreshadowed the island’s own unstuck in time journeys. If the middle of Lost’s sixth season needed anything, it was a Desmond episode. With many fans fretting over the purpose of the Sideways World, it should have been obvious that Desmond would be the vessel to make the connection between the Island and the Sideways realities. Before “Happily Ever After,” it still seemed possible that the producers had made the insane decision to mess around with the fans with a pointless plot device. Afterwards, it still was not yet clear what the Sideways world was, but it was now clear that it was something. The post-car crash moments were essential in this matter. When Charlie put his hand on the window, I knew that Desmond was going to have a “Not Penny’s Boat” flash, and then it happened, and I still threw my hands back in shock (and hit one of them pretty hard on the couch). The scene with Desmond and Penny in the stadium at the end could have come off as serial killer confronts jogger-style creepy, but we accepted it, because Henry Ian Cusick and Sonya Walger have had the most chemistry of any of the Lost couples.
Next up: How I Met Your Mother
My Emmy Thoughts, Part 2
July 4, 2010
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Apparently, I do not watch as many dramas as I do comedies. Or I do not watch as many quality dramas as I do quality comedies. When I consider all the dramas I follow, I do not find enough potential contenders to fill out each dramatic category for the Emmys. Since I can only reasonably limit myself to making my picks among the shows that I watch, I will only make a few choices per category, instead of rounding out the entire list of nominations as I did with the comedies.
Best Drama
Lost won this category its first season, and it ought to bookend that win with another in its essentially satisfying final year. Fringe has transcended its status as sci-fi procedural, laying thick some real emotional heft on its characters. Other dramas that I hear are good include Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and True Blood.
Lead Actor
John Noble is probably entered in the supporting race, but his role as Walter Bishop on Fringe is big enough for him to be considered a lead. Whichever race he ends up in, he ought to earn a nod for a performance that has been funny, poignant, and all-in-all, stunning.
Lead Actress
We all know that the best thing about Gossip Girl is Leighton Meester. But not all of us know that she is so good that she is deserving of an Emmy nomination. Well, for those of you who don’t know, she is. She simultaneously embodies and subverts the quintessential nighttime soap teen queen role, and she always looks great doing it.
Supporting Actor
The cast of Lost was aware that this was their last season, and they stepped up their games accordingly. Terry O’Quinn went balls-to-the-wall and had his best season yet in a dual role as Locke and Fake Locke/Smokey. Josh Holloway brought Sawyer down to a dark side with gumption following the death of Juliet. In the beginning of the season, I feared that Ben Linus’ prominence would be diminished, but Michael Emerson ultimately had as much as usual to chew on and could make it two in a row. On Fringe, Joshua Jackson’s quietly confident work has gone unheralded for too long. Now that Boston Legal is over, that means no more William Shatner in this category. So who will fill the token nomination of a role on a drama that is more comedic than dramatic? How about the loopy Fran Kranz of Dollhouse? (Too bad he can only fill it for only one year since Dollhouse is already off the air.) If we want to fill this category out with a sixth, we can go back to Lost, either with Nestor Carbonell, who dug deep into the psyche of Richard Alpert, or Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, who deserves a spot here if only for being the only person ever who sounds cool when calling people, “brother.”
Supporting Actress
The best part of the somewhat promising remake of V? That would be the profoundly chilling leader of the Visitors, Anna, played to icy perfection by Morena Baccarin. For a more matronly and friendlier version of icy, there is the very English Olivia Williams of Dollhouse.
Guest Actor and Actress
Jacob and the Man in Black ultimately did not appear often enough on Lost to fit into the supporting category, so Mark Pellegrino and Titus Welliver will have to duke it out here. I am not as enthusiastic about them as I would like to be, since they gave their best performances in the season 5 finale. But they were still freakishly solid. Leonard Nimoy was appropriately regal on Fringe. And Alan Tudyk went completely insane as one of the V’s. As for guest actress? Umm … Summer Glau on Dollhouse? Pam Grier on Smallville? Katey Sagal on Lost? Actually, there was at least one female guest appearance whose quality I can attest to without hesitation: Martha Plimpton as the multilayered (surprisingly so for a guest role) Sheriff Mathis on the “Northwest Passage” episode of Fringe.
My Emmy Thoughts, Part 1
July 3, 2010
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The Emmy nominations will be announced this upcoming Thursday, July 8, and as those of you who follow my blog and/or know me personally can attest, I follow a lot of TV shows. Therefore, unsurprisingly enough, I have some thoughts on how the Emmy nominations should turn out. This is not what I would call a “dream ballot,” because the Emmys are rather strange and not worth predicting or dreaming about. Among the choices for nominees are usually some legitimate contenders, some not-so-deserving contenders, and some out-of-left-field, I’m-not-really-sure-if-they-are-deserving contenders. Thus, I have no dreams that my choices could match those of the nominators. But I still feel strongly enough to share my thoughts. Today, I will start off with the comedy categories. Tomorrow, drama.
Best Comedy
30 Rock has deservedly won the statue for best comedy the past three years, so I was shocked – shocked! – when I discovered that Parks and Recreation (a show I started watching mainly because I watched whatever was on NBC’s Thursday night comedy block) turned out to be the most consistently funny show of the year. Last year, Family Guy entered itself in the Comedy category instead of the Animation wing and was awarded with a nomination. I agreed with the move on principle but did not believe that the season was strong enough for a nomination; this season, however, was. Modern Family always makes its viewer feel good, mainly due to laughter, never due to schmaltz. And Community is just too idiosyncratic for any of the remaining contenders to beat it out for that final spot.
1. Parks and Recreation
2. 30 Rock
3. Family Guy
4. Modern Family
5. Community
Lead Actor
Last year, I actually thought that Jim Parsons should win over Alec Baldwin. This year, I think they were equal. I am sort of leaning towards Jim, since Alec already has 3 wins and Jim has 0 … how about a tie? Though The Office turned off some of its fans this year, Steve Carrell’s performance was as strong as ever. Because Joel McHale was surrounded by such a wild supporting cast, it took me a while to appreciate his work on Community, but he does deserve a spot. I would have picked Ty Burrell here, but the entire Modern Family cast entered in the supporting categories, so that leaves a spot for Matthew Morrison, who was funny enough to not be hampered by Glee’s status as a dramedy.
1. Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock/Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
3. Steve Carrell, The Office
4. Joel McHale, Community
5. Matthew Morrison, Glee
Lead Actress
I wish I had more to say in this category, but there are only two sitcoms I watch with lead actresses. I would have put Julie Bowen here, but see the explanation about Ty Burrell above. Anyway, I do not need to be familiar with any other female-led comedies to know that this is Amy Poehler’s category all the way. Tina Fey was as iconic as ever as Liz Lemon, but she was upstaged by her former SNL cast mate.
1. Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
2. Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Supporting Actor
This has easily been the most crowded Emmy category for the past several years, and it remains so, even though Arrested Development has been off the air for four years! There better be at least six nominees this year, and I would even recommend ten (and I am having trouble even sticking to that). Tracy Morgan must win this category at some point in his 30 Rock tenure, but this year belongs to Danny Pudi, who has crafted the role of a lifetime in Abed Nadir. Ty Burrell makes things even more crowded by entering as supporting instead of lead. Nick Offerman has a beautiful mustache as Ron Swanson. I hear that Chevy Chase is a jerk in real life; on TV, he is hilarious, jerk or no. Eric Stonestreet is the funniest gay family member ever. And Aziz Ansari can be somewhat annoying as a stand-up, but he has put together an enjoyably balanced performance as Tom Haverford.
1. Danny Pudi, Community
2. Tracy Morgan, 30 Rock
3. Ty Burrell, Modern Family
4. Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation
5. Chevy Chase, Community
6. Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
7. Aziz Ansari, Parks and Recreation
8. Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
9. Ed O’Neill, Modern Family
10. Jack McBrayer, 30 Rock
11. Rainn Wilson, The Office
Supporting Actress
I would be completely behind the absurdly idiosyncratically deadpan Aubrey Plaza winning here, if not for Jane Lynch, whose Sue Sylvester has already reached icon status and is obviously the best part of Glee. Aubrey is the strongest number 2 in any of the comedy categories. Alison Brie pulls off cute, prudish, earnest, annoying, endearing, guilt-inducing, and consoling – often in the same sentence – as Annie on Community. And in the category of “why not,” let’s go with Retta Sirleaf as Donna on Parks and Recreation, who transcends the stereotype of the “mm-hmm”-ing sassy black woman.
1. Jane Lynch, Glee
2. Aubrey Plaza, Parks and Recreation
3. Alison Brie, Community
4. Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
5. Retta Sirleaf, Parks and Recreation
Guest Actor and Actress
This category has lately been dominated by SNL guests, so let’s go with the two best hosts of the season – Jon Hamm and Betty White. We can also go with current SNL cast members making appearances on other shows, such as Will Forte on 30 Rock. Then there is Judy Greer, who guest starred on at least three sitcoms this year (The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and Modern Family) and two of them (BBT and HIMYM) within two weeks of each other. Then we can mix it up and go with a non-big name guest star: Melissa Rauch as Bernadette, Wolowitz’s main squeeze on BBT. And though she only appeared in the last two minutes of the season, Mayim Bialik provided one of the most indelible moments on BBT as a maybe potential love interest for Sheldon.
1. Jon Hamm, Saturday Night Live
2. Zach Galifianakis, Saturday Night Live
3. Michael Sheen, 30 Rock
4. Will Forte, 30 Rock
5. John Oliver, Community
1. Betty White, Saturday Night Live
2. Judy Greer, Modern Family
3. Melissa Rauch, The Big Bang Theory
4. Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
5. Christine Baranski, The Big Bang Theory
Best Episode of the Season: Family Guy
July 2, 2010
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“Brian Griffin’s House of Payne”
Stewie discovers an old TV pilot screenplay in the basement written by Brian. Brian tells Lois that she should read it, eventually she does, and – shock of all shocks – she likes it! It turns out that Brian is capable of writing something other than pretentious drivel. Then CBS is all set to pick up “What I Learned on Jefferson Street,” and Brian could not be happier, until everything is ruined, ruined in a way that could only happen on Family Guy: James Woods is cast in the lead role. The show is revamped as a comedy and renamed “Class Holes,” and James Woods is granted a chimpanzee costar. The take on TV executives’ and the pilot process’s knack for twisting shows into something that they are not was spot-on (signature quote: “Well, we thought it would be a lot funnier if it was a sitcom”), or if it was not spot-on, it was at least perfectly hilarious.
But the real treat of this episode was that other storyline. Meg and Chris knock Stewie down the stairs, resulting in a gnarly head wound, rendering him unconscious. A piece of skull is broken, and some brain is visible. They hide the injury from Peter and Lois by dressing him in various goofy hats and dragging him around like a ventriloquist dummy. This is exactly what I want from Family Guy: as much outrageousness as possible. And just when you think they have gone as far as they can, they go even further: When Peter finds out, he hides the truth from Lois … by tricking her into believing that she caused the injury. He throws (the still unconscious) Stewie into the driveway as Lois is pulling out, causing her to drive over Stewie’s head. And Lois, like everyone else, wants to hide the truth. To which Peter responds, “I love you so much right now.” And this is why we love the Griffin family.
Next up: Lost
Best Episode of the Season: The Cleveland Show
July 1, 2010
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“Brotherly Love”
“A-B-C-D-E-F-G
Someone should’ve told you not to f*** wid me”
And thus Cleveland, Jr. threw down the gauntlet in his rap battle with Kenny West.
Kanye West’s ego plays a big part in why he is so entertaining. Ironically enough, when he is able to put that ego aside, he is refreshingly entertaining … even though he is already entertaining in the first place. I guess the difference is just that he is refreshing, and that is good enough. I am still not entirely sure that Kanye did in fact put his ego aside for his guest appearance on The Cleveland Show as Kenny West, but he was convincing enough. It is generally a bad idea to rely on guest stars, but Cleveland has been at its best when employing them. The spitting melee between Kenny and Cleveland, Jr. was the moment I was convinced that The Cleveland Show, which had been flailing about in search of an identity in the beginning of its run, did indeed have some promise. The breakout character has been Cleveland, Jr. (he is appropriately described by his father, who is still not sure whether his son is an idiot or a genius) and Cleveland will rise or fall according to the strength of his storylines in the near future.
Next up: Family Guy
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