Welcome back to New TV Time: 2010 Edition, where we share our opinion on new and returning shows several weeks after legitimate television critics have already and weeks after the specific shows have aired. Of course, we hit some shows critics have chosen to ignore for some reason, which could be racism, but is probably more because I made them up. Let's start with my favorite show to feature 20-somethings playing sexy high school nerds who regularly and randomly break into song, performing Top 40 hits glee club-style...
1. Glee: What show did you think I was talking about? The Mentalist? Does the Mentalist ever break into song? Has the Mentalist ever performed a little soft shoe routine alongside a grisly crime scene? Did the Mentalist ever sing a duet of Aerosmith's "Dream On" with Neil Patrick Harris? If so, which episode was it, because I'd really like to see that.
Anyway, where were we? Yes, Glee. I'm a big supporter of the Glee thing. The show is funny, the characters are of the stock variety, but each actor brings a little something to the role that makes the stockness not-at-all irritating, and, love 'em or hate 'em--and I know plenty of people hate 'em--the musical performances are superb. Really. More than once I've found myself tapping my foot to a song that if heard un-Glee-ified, I would have run from screaming. Dudes, I have Glee songs on my iPod! What the heck? Yep, I've got New Directions rubbing shoulders with the likes of Ted Leo, Superchunk, and Europe on my mp3-playing device. And if there is a funnier woman than Jane Lynch on TV right now, I will eat my hat on the next installment of the Movie Penguin Podcast (which you can listen to right here). Look: if you are a fan of Glee--I believe fans are known affectionately as "Gleeks"--then you've seen the season 2 premiere; and if you aren't a fan, you haven't, you won't, and you hate me for including Glee in this feature, so I'm not going to say much more. I will say, however, that, in my opinion, this week's cold open was, perhaps, the funniest three minutes in Glee history.
2. NBC's Thursday Night Laugh-A-Palooza: Glee wasn't the only think making my cheeks hurt this week. NBC's Thursday night comedies were back, with the exception of Parks and Recreation, which, unfortunately, is my favorite of the four programs. In place of Parks, NBC premiered Outsourced, a "comedy" ten years too late. I did not watch Outsourced. I will never watch Outsourced. So, if you came to this blog looking for a review of Outsourced, you are shit out of luck. I like my racist comedy current, up-to-date. Is the whole "why is it whenever I phone up a call center I get some dude with an Indian accent on the other end?" thing funny anymore? Was it ever funny? What does the Mentalist think?
What was back though, was back in a big way. Community opened strong, taking pot shots at CBS's new abortion, Shit My Dad Says (which also won't be covered on this blog), giving guest star, Betty White, my favorite bit of business, and giving Joel McHale a fancy new haircut. There was also plenty of pouty Alison Brie moments, so, you know, that was good. The episode laid the meta-style jokes Community is famous (infamous?) for on a little too thick and the Lord of the Rings reference was a little dated, but altogether it was a strong season opener.
30 Rock, which comes on at 8:30 now, was also pretty great. Now, this is not surprising to me, for unlike my snarky internet brethren, I have enjoyed 30 Rock from its humble beginnings on. Apparently it was experiencing a downturn or something? Is that right? The wife and I had noticed that, at times, the show would rely to heavily on the Family Guy-style of joke delivery, but other than that, the writing was still smart and the characters were still funny. This season's premiere episode, as I've said, was great--Matt Damon's breakdown was a personal fave--and I've got a sunny outlook for the future.
The Office, on the other hand, is a show of which I've grown tired . I have seen the cracks in its foundation and they are troubling, the biggest crack being Steve Carell's departure at the end of this season. Look, The Office is a good show, but it used to be a great show. I like to see the shows I love bow out before things get bad, before the whole endeavor grows rotten and moldy and falls apart on screen. I've enjoyed these seven years with the Dundler-Mifflin crew--these are the funniest characters on TV, as far as I'm concerned--but I think it's time to wrap things up, leave us with positive memories. All that aside, this season opener was awesome. I still think the show should end after this run, but I think they should keep cranking out potential classics like this one all the way up to the end. I told my wife, "I think this episode was funnier than everything from last season combined." I could be wrong. I didn't memorize last season. Set me straight if I'm being cruelly unfair. The cold opening was cute, though not particularly great--I did like Ryan popping out of the closet to promote his Web site and Dwight's creepy "knife dance," in fact, was it just me or was Dwight creepier than usual (see: Dwight spanking Andy)?--but the episode proper was, well, like I already said, a potential classic. C'mon, how could an episode with the line "Well, we've got to establish a pee corner" be anything short of spectacular?
3. Robot Senator (ABC Blended Family): I know, I wish it were a reality show too. Wouldn't that be cool if, like, a state voted a robot to be one of their representatives in government for realsies? That's basically the concept of this new hourlong, scripted drama from the creators of Congressional Ape and Pooch for President, which were both, surprisingly, hard-hitting, political dramas and not slapsticky, Disney-produced trifles. Robot Senator doesn't shy away from controversy, like a certain mentalist I could name if I knew his name, in the first episode either. This isn't just the story of a robot from Kentucky who becomes a US senator. This robot is gay! And a woman! And not really a robot! And not really gay or a woman or not not a robot! There are levels upon levels to this show, man! Robot Senator asks you to take everything you know about non-gay pretending-to-be female non-fake robots that are senators and throw it out the window. This would be Must-See if it actually existed. Maybe someday?
4. Running Wilde (FOX): This one is Must-See, friends. I'm not a huge fan of some (just some) of the supporting characters, but Running Wilde is my early vote for Funniest New Show of the season. It's also on FOX, so expect it to be canceled real quick-like. Tell you what, looks like all the Save Lone Star bullshit ain't gonna pan out, so why don't we get a preemptive Save Running Wilde campaign going? Everybody shift focus from Lone Star and start making Running Wilde banners. I'll provide the glitter.
5. The Vampire Blogs (CW Jr.): First there was Interview with the Vampire. Then there was Casual Conversations with a Sparkly Mormon Vampire (the original title of Twilight). Then there was The Vampire Diaries. And now, The Vampire Blogs. Don't know what a blog is, old people? Google it! Never heard of Google? Seriously, why don't you just kill yourself? I mean, what purpose do you even serve besides keeping The Mentalist on the air?
The Vampire Blogs is about a high school girl, Nina, who keeps her online journal packed with vampire fan fiction and pictures of unicorns. Needless to say, she is not very popular. She so desperately wants to meet and not make love to a vampire that she joins an online vampire dating service where she meets Iago, a 535-year-old vampire who appears 17 (and chiseled and handsome and tan). They strike up a dull relationship, that Nina documents on her blog. A quiet, bookish boy at Nina's school named Porter, stumbles upon Nina's Web site, and falls in love with her. Upon finding out that her stories are, in fact, true however, he vows to do everything he can to kill her undead boyfriend. And blog about it. Actually, there is more blogging than action on this ridiculous show. Iago keeps a blog too. So does Nina's father, Hank, only his is about how much he misses his dead wife, who we also see. In heaven. Maintaining a blog. What?
Still coming soon: Boardwalk Empire, The Ev-Backwards E-nt, Hawaii 5-0, and probably more that I can't remember.
