In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.
Sunday – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Monday – Whose Line is it Anyway?
Tuesday – If 4 people were to watch Nathan For You at the same time, would it only take 6 minutes?
Wednesday – Jeopardy!
Thursday – You’re the Worst (Around! Nothing’s ever gonna bring you up!)
Friday – So, the week before, Disney Channel showed episode 3 of Girl Meets World online, even though episode 2 aired on TV. So, this week I watched episode 2 on demand.
Saturday – N/A, essentially
Season Analysis: A mystery that focused on its characters but wisely chose to also allow its mystery to be solved, True Detective succeeded on the strength of its acting, directing, and detours into mysticism.
“The Secret Fate of All Life”
A time jump is a nifty trick employed by television shows that more often than not works to re-energize series that have lost a bit of their edge. This trope has avoided falling into cliché because it still immediately subverts a show’s established expectations. The time jump in “The Secret Fate of All Life” works especially well by taking the subversion even further. A time jump is unexpected with just about any show, but even more so of an anthology series with a narrative contained in one season. Add to that the fact that True Detective was already jumping back and forth between 1995 and 2012; it had not to this point offered any indication that it would be visiting a third period in between those two. Then there was the surprise of Rust Cohle walking out of his interview with Papania and Gilbough. It was almost fourth-wall breaking; the 2012 interviews had seemed to merely be framing devices, but now they were headed in the direction of continuing the narrative. “The Secret Fate of All Life” even subverted the narrative rules TD had set for itself, with the one-two-three punch of Marty and Rust’s covered-up killing of Reggie and DeWall Ledoux in 1995, the introduction of the Yellow King in 2002, and the implication of Rust as a suspect in 2012 leading the show to focus on plot in defiance of the character study established in the season’s first half. It was still a devastating study of tragic personalities, but this was the point when it became clear that it was not satisfied with keeping matters so simple.
Each week, I check out VH1′s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.
Original Version
1. Sam Smith – “Stay With Me”
2. Nico & Vinz – “Am I Wrong”
3. Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX – “Fancy”
4. Magic! – “Rude”
5. Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea – “Problem”
6. Calvin Harris – “Summer”
7. Disclosure ft. Sam Smith – “Latch”
8. Sia – “Chandelier”
9. Lorde – “Tennis Court”
10. Maroon 5 – “Maps”
11. MKTO – “Classic”
12. Ed Sheeran ft. Pharrell – “Sing”
13. OneRepublic – “Love Runs Out”
14. Jason Derulo ft. Snoop Dogg – “Wiggle”
15. Katy Perry – “Birthday”
16. Demi Lovato ft. Cher Lloyd – “Really Don’t Care”
17. Kongos – “Come With Me Now”
18. Rixton – “Me and My Broken Heart”
19. Charli XCX – “Boom Clap”
20. Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne – “Rather Be”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Chandelier
2. Summer
3. Fancy
4. Come With Me Now
5. Latch
6. Stay With Me
7. Tennis Court
8. Rather Be
9. Am I Wrong
10. Birthday
11. Boom Clap
12. Problem
13. Love Runs Out
14. Sing
15. Really Don’t Care
16. Maps
17. Wiggle
18. Rude
19. Classic
20. Me and My Broken Heart
Season Analysis: As Axe Cop’s title shot prominently declares, it was co-created by a 5-year-old. Its first season certainly felt like it was, and – thanks hugely to Nick Offerman as the titular hero – it was an ideal realization of a show co-created a 5-year-old.
“The Rabbit Who Broke All the Rules”
An area in which Axe Cop the TV series largely excels is its well-considered mythology, which serves to establish layer upon layer of Axe Cop’s motivations. When Axe Cop becomes a foster father to a strange orphan boy, it is revealed that the boy is possessed by the ghost of the first creature that Axe Cop ever killed: the unconventional titular rabbit. Axe Cop’s opposition to this hind-leg standing, coconut-eating hare is a little fascistic, almost uncomfortably so. But it works as well as it does because it is such a strong character choice. Axe Cop’s black-and-white ethical code may be too simplistic and too intensely applied, but he is committed to it so firmly, and that makes him interesting as a fictional personality. As all-powerful as he may seem, and despite how unassailable his results tend to be, the appropriateness of his methods or lack thereof are worth considering, even though he obviously exists in a fantasy world. Sometimes, dispensing with subtlety proves to be fruitful.
Original Version
1. Sam Smith – “Stay With Me”
2. Nico & Vinz – “Am I Wrong”
3. Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea – “Problem”
4. Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX – “Fancy”
5. Maroon 5 – “Maps”
6. Jason Derulo ft. Snoop Dogg – “Whistle”
7. Disclosure ft. Sam Smith – “Latch”
8. Charli XCX – “Boom Clap”
9. Calvin Harris – “Summer”
10. Ed Sheeran ft. Pharrell – “Sing”
11. OneRepublic – “Love Runs Out”
12. Sia – “Chandelier”
13. Pharrell – “Happy”
14. DJ Snake & Lil’ Jon – “Turn Down For What”
15. MKTO – “Classic”
16. John Legend – “All of Me”
17. Kongos – “Come With Me Now”
18. Paramore – “Ain’t It Fun”
19. 5 Seconds of Summer – “She Looks So Perfect”
20. Demi Lovato ft. Cher Lloyd – “Really Don’t Care”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Chandelier
2. Summer
3. Fancy
4. Happy
5. Come With Me Now
6. Latch
7. Turn Down For What
8. Stay With Me
9. Ain’t It Fun
10. Am I Wrong
11. Boom Clap
12. Problem
13. Love Runs Out
14. Sing
15. Really Don’t Care
16. Maps
17. All of Me
18. Wiggle
19. She Looks So Perfect
20. Classic
Sometimes a story is just too good to screw up. The music of The Four Seasons is of the variety that you can’t help but sing along and tap your feet to it, and their backstage drama is of the sort that inspired intense loyalty and profound resentment in equal measure. Jersey Boys is a loud, boisterous affair, and it is therefore ideally suited to the stage. I have not seen the original musical version, but I can understand why it has been such a big Broadway hit. The best elements of the film version worked plenty fine on the screen, but I couldn’t help but thinking during each of those moments, “This surely works a lot better on stage.” John Lloyd Young, Vincent Piazza, Erich Bergen, and Michael Lomenda are uncanny in their channeling of Frankie, Tommy, Bob, and Nick during the musical numbers, but there is an immediacy lacking without the live element. The fourth-wall breaking narration is a strong device, and the fact that each band member takes a turn with the dictation plays into one of the film’s stated themes (“everyone remembers it how they need to, right?”), but there is a potential intimacy to this technique that cannot quite be fully conveyed at the multiplex. There is even an all-cast end credits song-and-dance routine that basically screams “Broadway musical closing number!” What prevents Jersey Boys from being a classic instead of merely good is the risk-averse style of director Clint Eastwood. Clint is a competent filmmaker: there is nothing in the frame that doesn’t belong there, nor is there a single bad edit. But he is too content to let the story just speak for itself. I think where he truly excels is with more challenging material (such as the racially charged Gran Torino or the underrated, spiritually complicated Hereafter), and the degree of difficulty for Jersey Boys simply wasn’t as high as it needed to be. Its lasting impression is of a great story, but not quite a great filmic experience. B
In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.
Sunday – Is it possible for a Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Final to not be exciting?
Monday – Jeopardy!
Tuesday – We don’t need an award from the East Los Angeles International Film Festival to know that was a classic episode of Nathan For You.
Wednesday – Jeopardy!
Thursday – Comedy Bang! Bang!
Friday – Girl Meets World showed a bit more promise in its second episode.
Saturday – I caught some of the World Cup 3rd place game.
Comedy Series: 5/6. The surprise inclusion of Silicon Valley teaches us to never underestimate the power of HBO (except for the fact that it replaced Girls.)
Drama Series: 5/6. Despite speculation to the contrary, the Academy still loves Downton Abbey.
Lead Actor, Comedy Series: 5/6. The Academy loves Ricky Gervais like nobody else.
Lead Actress, Comedy Series: 5/6. No surprises here. I didn’t predict Melissa McCarthy, but I considered it.
Lead Actor, Drama Series: 6/6.
Lead Actress, Drama Series: 4/6. Lizzy Caplan was a pleasant surprise, but not pleasant enough to make up for the fact that Tatiana Maslany will probably never receive any Emmy love for Orphan Black.
Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: 4/6. I wasn’t pulling for Fred Armisen (mostly because it’s the wrong category), but I won’t complain.
Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: 4/6 (plus partial credit for Kate Mulgrew, who was my 7th choice). Cool to see an SNL cast member get a nomination as early into her run on the show as Kate McKinnon is.
Supporting Actor, Drama Series: 4/6. Jon Voight, huh?
Supporting Actress, Drama Series: 3/6. Looks like I picked the wrong former nominee who didn’t really didn’t do much this season (Emilia Clarke instead of Christina Hendricks).
Each week, I check out VH1′s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.
Original Version
1. Nico & Vinz – “Am I Wrong”
2. Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX – “Fancy”
3. Sam Smith – “Stay With Me”
4. Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea – “Problem”
5. Magic! – “Rude”
6. Calvin Harris – “Summer”
7. Sia – “Chandelier”
8. Disclosure ft. Sam Smith – “Latch”
9. Katy Perry – “Birthday”
10. Ed Sheeran ft. Pharrell – “Sing”
11. Lorde – “Tennis Court”
12. Rixton – “Me and My Broken Heart”
13. MKTO – “Classic”
14. Maroon 5 – “Maps”
15. Paramore – “Ain’t It Fun”
16. OneRepublic – “Love Runs Out”
17. Jason Derulo ft. Snoop Dogg – “Wiggle”
18. Kongos – “Come With Me Now”
19. Demi Lovato ft. Cher Lloyd – “Really Don’t Care”
20. Charli XCX – “Boom Clap”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Chandelier
2. Summer
3. Fancy
4. Come With Me Now
5. Latch
6. Stay With Me
7. Tennis Court
8. Ain’t It Fun
9. Am I Wrong
10. Birthday
11. Boom Clap
12. Problem
13. Love Runs Out
14. Sing
15. Really Don’t Care
16. Maps
17. Wiggle
18. Rude
19. Classic
20. Me and My Broken Heart
Season Analysis: Season 3 of Billy on the Street leaned a little too heavily on the excessively staged stunts for my taste, but the vast majority of it is still pop culture maestro Billy Eichner interacting with New Yorkers, and thus it is still excellent.
Season 3 Superlatives:
Best Contestant: Elena
The first non-celebrity to return, Season 2 Quizzed in the Face contender Elena is the epitome of the type of New Yorker that Billy on the Street celebrates. She played a round of “Cash Cow” against Lena Dunham (during which she misunderstood Billy’s pronunciation of “Weird Al” Yankovic) and stopped by later for a special round of “For a Dollar,” which featured this classic exchange between her and Billy:
“Annie? They’re making a new movie of it?”
“Yeah, Quvenzhané Wallis, the little girl from Beasts of the Southern Wild, is playing her.”
“Oh, I love her.”
“Yes.”
“She’s not playing Annie!”
“Yes, she is.”
“Oh, Annie! I was thinking of that, what was that Woody Allen movie…”
“Annie Hall?!”
“Yes!”
(runs away) “Elena, never, ever speak to me again!”
Most Prepared Celebrity Contestant: Lena Dunham, who cruised through a round of “Steve Harvey or Harvey Milk”
Most Challenging Celebrity Game: “John Mayer or Pepé Le Pew,” in which Olivia Wilde struggled to identify whether such quotes as “Everyone should have a hobby, don’t you think? Mine is making love” and “I really don’t want to be a hunk” were uttered by the bad boy of pop-rock or a cartoon skunk.
Best New Contestant: David, an aspiring novelist and screenwriter decked out in L.A. Kings gear who won Quizzed in the Face by correctly identifying that Charles Manson would be a fan of Family Guy. When Billy expressed bewilderment about Kristen Chenoweth having sex with Aaron Sorkin, David noted, “She’s a trouper for that.”
Best Prize: The Good Wife coloring book (I gave one to my mom for Mother’s Day!)
And some more quotables:
From a round of “Humpty Dumpty or Mary J. Blige”
“Sold more than 50 million albums worldwide.” “Humpty Dumpty.”
“Fell off a wall, unfortunately.” “Mary J. Blige.”
“Could not be reassembled, unfortunately.” “Mary J. Blige.”
“Sir, for a dollar, name a movie.” “Uh, RadioShack.”
“Do you think Miley Cyrus is on point?”
“Ummm, I don’t really like her.”
“Why?!”
“I don’t really know, there’s just something about her. I miss Hannah Montana.”
“Oh, come on!”
“I do! I do!”
“She can’t be that forever.”
“I know.”
“She’s a grown-up.”
“She could’ve done what she did so much better, though-”
“Really?!”
“-like she could have done it so much better.”
“What are you talking about? Everybody’s talking about her. How much better can you do that?”
“I don’t know. I just, I don’t know.”
“Okay. What do these bozos think? Do you like her?”
“I do like her. I feel bad for her, though, because-”
“Why?!”
“I feel like she’s going through such a hard time.”
“What do you mean?! She’s so popular! She’s completely in control, the whole thing.”
“She doesn’t have Liam anymore, and like-”
“She doesn’t need him, please. It’s the best thing that ever happened to her.”
“Okay, well, if she’s happy, then that’s all that matters.”
“She’s obviously very happy.”
“Okay.”
“It’s like, this is the most successful she’s ever been. She’s smart, she seems edgy, the music is good. What do you think, idiot?”
“I- I love her.”
“I agree.”
“I think she’s doing a great job at introducing a new style to music.”
“I absolutely agree.”
“Yeah.”
“You look a little like a duck, but I love it.”
“Thanks.”
“Okay, bye.”
“Sir, for a dollar, any thoughts on Kaley Cuoco’s yearly Emmy snub?”
“On whose what?”
“Kaley Cuoco’s yearly Emmy snub.”
“How can I have an opinion? I never heard of it.”
“Kaley Cuoco, she’s on, what, The Big Bang Theory?”
“I don’t have a TV set.”
“You’ve never seen The Big Bang Theory?”
(clears throat)
“BLEGHHH!”
“I wonder what you’ve missed.”
“What?”
“I wonder what you’ve missed.”
“What do you mean, ‘what I’ve missed’? I’ve missed nothing.”
“Muh muh muh muh.”
“Mi mi mi mi.”
“What do you mean, nothing?”
“I’ve missed nothing!”
“Who wrote A World Lit Only By Fire?”
“Huh?”
“Who wrote A World Lit Only By Fire?”
“2 Chainz! Boom!”
“This is- someone’s gonna watch that?”
“Who let the dogs out! Who, who!”
“Goodbye, game over. Thanks very much. Go back to Florida. I mean, I can’t.”
“Miss, I know you’re getting out of a car, but it’s the 10th anniversary of The Passion of the Christ.”
“Miss… Vince Vaughn… What happened?”
“Sir, for a dollar, are you a Key or a Peele?”
“Sir, Meg Ryan said she would consider a return to television.” “I don’t care.”
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