Fresh Series That Beat The Summer Blues

The summer months have been a good time for me to catch up on some original programming here in the States. Yes, there are alternatives to the same old reruns. And occasionally, you find some gems. I'm avoiding discussion on series or reality programs that are not up to par (are you listening, David Milch, with your confusing and tired drama "John From Cincinnati"?) So here are some snapshots of some hot programs to watch out for on a hot summer.

ARMY WIVES (Lifetime) -- A few years ago, Steven Bochco tried to bring the Iraq war experience home with the powerful but short-lived "Over There." But leave it to Lifetime ("Television for women") to come up with a more accessible and successful look at the war through the eyes of the spouses. "Army Wives" has some soapy moments (a battle over child custody, a gossipy and hateful character), but those moments are overcome by strong performances by the lead actresses--Kim Delaney ("NYPD Blue"); Catherine Bell ("JAG") and especially the wonderful Sally Pressman as no-nonsense new Army bride Roxy LeBlanc. "Army Wives" doesn't take a stand on the war itself, but does have strong opinions on the basics--duty to country, love of family and responsibility--along with the problems of making do when your loved one is far away from home. "Army Wives" has become the most successful original series in Lifetime history, and deservedly so.

ENTOURAGE (HBO) -- A new season of this comedy drama about an aspiring actor and his "posse" has just started in the States. It's co-produced by actor Marc Wahlberg (based on his real-life rise in Hollywood). And for a show about the insides of show business, it's not only interesting but funny as well. All four of the main actors--Adrian Grenier as rising star Vince Chase; Kevin Connolly as best friend and manager Eric Murphy; Kevin Dillon as Vince's older brother and struggling actor Drama; and Jerry Ferrara as friend and driver Turtle--bring great performances. But the best of the best is Jeremy Piven as agent-from-hell Ari Gold; his angry, sometimes desperate portrayal makes "Entourage" crackle with life and gives the show spark. Piven is simply the topping on an already rich sundae. "Entourage" squeezes more realism out of show business in just two minutes than "Entertainment Tonight" can muster in a single week.

HELL'S KITCHEN (FOX) -- Gordon Ramsay is getting a reputation in the States as a nasty chef--thanks to this reality show. (Ramsay is bringing a version of his UK "Kitchen Nightmares" to Fox this fall.) But like it or not, "Hell's Kitchen" is entertaining stuff. You won't learn much about food preparation, but it's never boring--between Ramsay's edited-for-television rants and the dense wannabe chefs who scheme and sometimes fail, the sparks can fly. So far, the new batch of contestants--who are vying for the chance to become the head chef at a Las Vegas area restaurant--are not shaping up to be the best and the brightest. That could change. For now, it's a fun ride.

TOP CHEF (Bravo) -- Here's the other and more credible cooking show for sophisticated pallets. Produced by the same folks who do the even more successful "Project Runway," "Top Chef" pits chefs of varying experience together in a series of eliminations and challenges until one becomes the ultimate winner, complete with a $100 thousand dollar bonus to start their own restaurant. What gives "Top Chef" its credibility is its host Padma Lakshmi and its regular chef judges, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons--all three love food, and accurately judge each dish on a variety of criteria. (This season, Ted Allen of "Queer Eye" fame joins the judging panel, and it should be all the better for his presence.) "Top Chef" is often compared with "Hell's Kitchen," but there's a big difference between the two: After watching "Hell's Kitchen," you come away entertained. But after an episode of "Top Chef," you're a little more savvy about the kitchen.

RESCUE ME (FX): "Army Wives" looks at the military experience after the 9/11 attacks, and "Rescue Me" does the same for New York firefighters in the post-World Trade Center world. Along the way, "Rescue Me" has become one of the sharpest, savviest dramas on television. Yes, it's man land (sexist, racist, homophobic). But it's raw, real and disturbing. And a lot of that is due to the performance of Denis Leary, the comic-turned-actor who portrays firefighter Tommy Gavin. (He's also the show's co-creator with Peter Tolan. Tommy's a darn good firefighter, but he continues to wrestle with demons--the death of his brother during 9/11; his addiction to pills and booze; his relationships with women (including his ex-wife) and his dealings with his fellow firefighters. Just when you think Tommy has gone overboard, he pushes the envelope again. And again. "Rescue Me" never fails to keep me on the edge of the seat for one simple reason: You play with fire, you get burned. And that interest in the flames keeps "Rescue Me" several notches above the competition.

AMERICA'S GOT TALENT (NBC): There have been so many postings on Television Heaven's forum about the UK counterpart "Britain's Got Talent," that I had to take a second look at the US version (co-produced of Simon Cowell of "Idol" fame). I've said over and over again that TV talent shows are not new (you can go back to the days of radio when "The Original Amateur Hour" was a hit). Any talent show is only as good as the contestants and the concept, and "AGT" does not stray from the "Idol" formula of a host (Jerry Springer for its second season) and three judges (Sharon Osbourne, David Hasselhoff and Brit Piers Morgan) judging various acts. Some are very good, the worst get air time for the entertainment value. As I write this, "AGT" is in the audition mode with tryouts in various US cities. The real test will come when the selected acts bring their game to the final rounds. But I admit, it's never less than entertaining--Springer is a surprisingly good MC; Osbourne is the mother of the judging trio; Morgan is the Simon of this series; and The Hoff is at his best throwing a hissy fit, which he seems to do when he doesn't get his way. Maybe all those years of being told what to do by a car on "Knight Rider" has had an effect. Still, it's not bad viewing at all.

Finally, a word about "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?": When the show premiered in March, I gave it a short review, calling it "likable" and "well produced." Now that fresh episodes of this quizzer are airing for the summer, I gave it a second look. And unlike such tired prime time quizzes as "Deal or No Deal" and "1 vs. 100," this simple format still shines. Leave it to reality show producer Mark Burnett to come up with a format that can be enjoyed by both adults and children. It's simplicity itself: Grown-ups must answer a series of grade school questions for a chance to win a million dollars. They can get help from the show's fifth-grade regulars (who will graduate this fall to make room for a new batch of fifth graders). And frankly, while the questions are not in the "Jeopardy" mode, it's amazing to realize I struggled with relatively simple questions that I once knew in elementary school. That's the beauty of "Smarter"--and its host, the comic Jeff Foxworthy, brings a much-needed dose of humor to the proceedings. "Smarter" will be back in the fall, and I understand a British version called "Are You Smarter Than A Ten-Year-Old?" is now being developed for Sky TV (owned by Rupert Murdoch, the parent of both Sky and Fox, which airs "Fifth Grader" in the States.) It's good summer fun. As are all of the shows I noted above.

Until next time, happy viewing!

Only In Television....!

Yes, only in the television industry can very strange things happen. (Well, maybe in politics, but you get the idea.) Some funny notes from the headlines....

I DON'T LIKE SITCOMS, SAM I AM: The estate of the late children's author Theodore Geisel--better known to you and me as Dr. Seuss--has apparently forced ABC to change the name of its new Christina Applegate comedy. It was originally called "Sam I Am," after the title character. But without saying why (money, maybe?), ABC says the name of the show will now be "Samantha Be Good." Which brings me to another possible problem: Samantha was the first name of Elizabeth Montgomery's witch character on the 1960's comedy "Bewitched." Will the owners of the show now sue ABC and force another name change? Or can we twitch this whole discussion

WASHINGTON'S CROSSING: A few blogs ago, I all but defended "Grey's Anatomy" co-star Isaiah Washington after his contract was not renewed by ABC for the upcoming season--months after a flap surfaced when Washington called co-star T.R. Knight a homosexual slur, then denied he did so--twice. At the time, I sided with Washington, noting that ABC should have fired him after the incident, not months after the fact. Then comes an article in the "San Francisco Chronicle," with this quote from Washington: "This happened to Malcolm X, this happened to Paul Robeson -- this misconception can happen to any man of power that loves himself and wants to spread that love and that humanity throughout the world."
"Love" and "humanity"? For calling a fellow actor names? And comparing himself with early leaders of the civil rights movement? Quite a profile in courage, wouldn't you say? Maybe ABC had the right idea after all....!

SCALIA'S MURPHY BROWN MOMENT: Back in 1992, then-Vice President Dan Quayle took on news magazine journalist Murphy Brown for having a child out of wedlock "and calling it just another lifestyle choice." Of course, Quayle was the real-life second-in-command to George H.W. Bush and Murphy Brown was a fictional character on a popular sitcom. No matter. Another conservative has actually stood up for a TV hero. According to Canada's "Globe and Mail":
"The job of the veteran U.S. Supreme Court (Justice Antonin Scalia) is to ensure that the superpower lives up to its Constitution. But in his free time, he is a fan of 24, the popular TV drama where the maverick federal agent Jack Bauer routinely tortures terrorists to save American lives. This much was made clear at a legal conference in Ottawa....Senior judges from North America and Europe were in the midst of a panel discussion about torture and terrorism law, when a Canadian judge's passing remark - "Thankfully, security agencies in all our countries do not subscribe to the mantra 'What would Jack Bauer do?' " - got the legal bulldog in Judge Scalia barking.
The conservative jurist stuck up for Agent Bauer, arguing that fictional or not, federal agents require latitude in times of great crisis. "Jack Bauer saved Los Angeles. ... He saved hundreds of thousands of lives," Judge Scalia said. Then, recalling Season 2, where the agent's rough interrogation tactics saved California from a terrorist nuke, the Supreme Court judge etched a line in the sand."Are you going to convict Jack Bauer?" Judge Scalia challenged his fellow judges. "Say that criminal law is against him? 'You have the right to a jury trial?' Is any jury going to convict Jack Bauer? I don't think so.'"
Now I have nothing against Jack Bauer--as readers know, I'm a big fan of "24"--but conservatives (and liberals) should learn that television is first and foremost entertainment. (And to prove there is bipartisanship in Hollywood, "24" is produced by both Republicans and Democrats, as any careful viewer should discern.) But the discussion about torture and the role of federal agents is too important to view through the prism of a television series, no matter how good it may be. Maybe it's time Justice Scalia came back to the real world and left the back lots of Southern California's film studios.

You can't make these things up. Until next time, happy viewing!

Going Out In Style: TV's Best Finales

As the water cooler talk continues over "The Sopranos" controversial finale, it's too early to say if it will join the pantheon of great television endings. But there are a handful of "final episodes" that deserve to be included in that list--at least in the USA.
Back in 1960, the long-running "Howdy Doody" aired its final episode with a shocker: Clarabell the Clown, who never spoke a word during the 13-year run of the children's series, turned to the camera and softly told his audience, "Goodbye, kids." It was a fitting end to one of the best-remembered kids programs.
Seven years later, "The Fugitive" ended its run with a true resolution that kept viewers tuned in for four seasons. Dr. Richard Kimble finally caught up with the "one armed man"--the person who really killed Kimble's wife. The suspect was killed by Kimble's pursuer, Lieutenant Girard, in an act of faith. But a witness to the murder finally came forward and confirmed Kimble did not kill his wife. As narrator William Conrad summed it up: "August 29th, 1967. The day the running stopped." And that finale drew the largest audience for an American program up to its time.
In 1977, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"--one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time--called it quits with a now-classic finale, where the entire staff of WJM's news department is fired--except for the one man who probably contributed to WJM's low ratings, news anchor Ted Baxter. The last few minutes proved to be tender, sentimental--and a satisfying closure to a story we came to know and love for seven wonderful seasons.
Arguably the best ending came in 1990, when Bob Newhart's second sitcom ended its run. In the final episode of "Newhart," Dick Lowden found himself beaned by a golf ball outside his Vermont inn. Soon after, the scene came up to a vaguely familiar bedroom--and it soon became clear: Bob Hartley (Newhart's character on the 1972-78 "Bob Newhart Show") dreamed that from 1982 until 1990, he ran a little bed and breakfast in Vermont and had a blonde wife named Joanna with a fondness for sweaters. We knew it was Bob Hartley because his on-screen wife Emily (Suzanne Pleshette) was right next to him in bed, miffed because Bob/Dick told her she should start wearing more sweaters. Newhart later admitted in his autobiography that it was his real-life wife Ginny who came up with the idea. She should have been a writer.
And finally, my award for the most unexpected series finale came from a short-lived 1987 comedy on ABC called "I Married Dora"--about a man with three kids who marries their maid to keep her in the states. Few people bought the premise, but the producers brought the short-lived sitcom to a satisfying conclusion in the last episode. The father leaves on a jet plane despite the pleas of "Dora" and his kids. But moments later, he returns to the airport:
DAD: It's been canceled.
Dora: The flight?
DAD: No, the series!
The camera then pulls out to reveal the entire cast and crew of "I Married Dora" waving good-bye and entering the television trivia books. Some shows with overblown and unsatisfying finales could have learned a lesson there.
Until next time, happy viewing!