Open Thread & Television Posted by Oaktown Girl, 06 Jul 2007 05:14 pm

Open Thread (#16)

Two Really Good TV Shows You Might Have Missed - by Oaktown Girl

Although the example I gave in the post “Kill Your Television” featured a show that aired on PBS , I’m not one of those who goes around saying, “Yeah, I have a TV. But I only watch PBS”. (Well, I guess now with all the critically acclaimed shows on HBO, Showtime, and some of the cable networks there’s fewer of those people around, but you get my drift).

By way of example, I’m going to mention two of my favorite shows of all time, and both were on regular network TV. Sadly, they both suffered the same fate: canceled too soon - as is want to happen with quality shows on regular network TV. But I want to highlight them here because if you blinked and missed them, you’ll definitely be glad to discover them now. Praise Astaroth!

The first one is Profit. It came out in the mid-90’s when I didn’t have a TV, so I hadn’t even heard about it until Amazon.com successfully reeled me in a couple of years ago with one of their, “If you liked__you might like__” . And boy, am I ever glad they did. Profit is so delicious, you may literally be licking your fingers as you watch it. It’s about corporate malfeasance, materialistic greed, and extreme family dysfunction, but done in a way that’s so raw, so naked, it’s a wonder it snuck onto network TV at all. If you haven’t seen it, I believe you’ll enjoy it more the fewer details you know about it in advance, so I won’t give plot points here. I’ll just say the story lines are compelling, sexy, and exciting, and the acting is outstanding across the board. (More on that in the comments). Extra bonus kudos that the cast featured a young, smart, sexy, single African American man. If you’re not a Black woman, you may not have noticed that TV (and the movies) likes their adult Black professional men to be heavy set or married, and ideally both. (I don’t believe anyone here needs me to explain that one).
profit.jpgprofit2_60.jpg

The second show I want to mention is The Job. It debuted on ABC in 2001, and was just a year or two ahead of its time. Had cable networks like FX already been in their groove, The Job would have had a happy home there. But we all know how well smart, laugh track-free comedies do on network TV. My brother’s advice for watching this show is crass but correct: “put a towel under your butt while you’re watching because you might have an accident from laughing so hard and ruin your girlfriend’s best couch.” {Ahem. Thank you, dear brother.}

You didn’t used to be able to get the DVD of The Job unless you knew someone from the cast or crew, or got lucky on eBay. (Party Patriot, Kiera, can tell you more about this - she was kind enough to hunt for it for me on her computer machine back in the day). But now it’s widely available, and not to be missed under any circumstances. For those who don’t like Denis Leary (or think you don’t like Denis Leary), trust me, it won’t matter. This is truly an ensemble cast show, and the rest of the players are so good and so funny, you won’t even care.

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This is an Open Thread. Feel free to share your non-TV related thoughts, musings, rants, updates, or breaking good news - such as Bush and Cheney announcing their resignations for the good of the country (and then both being brought up on charges of war crimes). Huzzah!
Update: The Live Earth event is also happening tomorrow - (which is already “today” in some places) - 7/7/07. This event is about taking action, not about donating money. MoveOn.org is organizing local gatherings all over the country. Find one near you here. Do it! Get out. Mingle.

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Responses to “Open Thread (#16)”

  1. on 06 Jul 2007 at 7:57 pm 1. JP Stormcrow said …

    Well other than Twin Peaks,which I don’t think we are supposed to get started on (and which was covered pretty well here at Michael’s place), my favorite TV show might well have been Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, the soap opera spoof from the mid-’70s. It came on at 11:30 PM every weeknight in my neck of the woods and several us would watch it every night in a suitably prepared state of mind … did anti-wonders for study habits and GPAs. It seemed relatively subversive at the time, curious what it would play like today. From PBS, I particularly enjoyed Brideshead Revisited and the early East Enders … and The Red Green Show, which my kids are watching right now.

    And despite my recent comment on the paucity of work representations in popular culture, I realized that in fact there was a whole big genre of them; the “workplace” sitcom. ( The Dick Van Dyke Show might have been the first to focus a lot on the workplace) But to me they were all just far enough removed to miss the satiric edge (no one really got fired or was poor**) - but they do probably represent a societal need to laugh off the tensions of the workplace.

    **Shows set in “the present” that I am aware of that led in bucking this trend:
    The Honeymooners
    All in The Family
    Sanford and Son
    Roseanne

  2. on 06 Jul 2007 at 8:03 pm 2. Kiera PSI said …

    My all-time guilty pleasures:

    The Job
    Monk
    Prey
    Space: Above and Beyond
    She-Wolf of London (hey, I said they were guilty pleasures!)

  3. on 06 Jul 2007 at 9:52 pm 3. Oaktown Girl said …

    JP - I remember Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman very well. Somehow I always associate that show with the summertime because in the summer, I was pretty much allowed to stay up as late as I wanted to (being just the 6th/7th grade future Minister of Justice that I was), and Mary Hartman was a late night show. I’m not sure why I wasn’t so interested in watching that show. It wasn’t because it was too adult, because I liked plenty of very adult-oriented shows (being the young future Minster of Justice that I was.) ;)

    And while I wasn’t much interested in Mary Hartman, my brother and I were all about the Mary Hartman spinoff show Fernwood 2Nite, which morphed into America 2Nite, which made us forever fans of Martin Mull and Fred Willard. [I wish someone would put some show dates on those wiki pages for Fernwood/America 2Nite].

  4. on 07 Jul 2007 at 5:46 am 4. christian h. said …

    I notice I don’t know most of these shows! They must have been “before my time.” [ducks and covers]

    As a child, I was mostly not allowed to watch television, so I was reduced to furtively doing while my parent were out. I’m loath to admit it, but my favorite was The A-Team - dubbed into German. And that show about the stuntmen/bounty hunters, how was that called (you could call it a workplace show)?

    Anyway, I’m off to move my stuff to Chicago today, having chosen the ideal day: White Sox are in town, it’s the final day of Taste of Chicago, and it’s supposed to be hot. At least I don’t have much stuff - my only furniture is a bed, and the TV (to get back on topic).

  5. on 07 Jul 2007 at 8:30 am 5. JP Stormcrow said …

    my brother and I were all about the Mary Hartman spinoff show Fernwood 2Nite, which morphed into America 2Nite,

    I do think Fred Willard doing the “Fred Willard” guy is a great comedy turn. enjoyed his small part in Spinal Tap(and The Return of) and Best in Show. I only saw 2Nite sporadically, as I rarely saw TV during those years.

    A nice clip w/Tom Waits.

  6. on 07 Jul 2007 at 10:19 am 6. black dog barking said …

    Seems I woke the Spam Filter. How’s the wife?

    Two words, Mr Filter: trunking and Tommy Devito (mp3).

  7. on 07 Jul 2007 at 12:02 pm 7. black dog barking said …

    Mr Filter meet Mr Clipboard:

    There was a brief and shining moment in the history of this country when someone with an unconventional idea, say a surrealistic vision of rural America, could get a network TV show, say Green Acres.

    TV has been bad as long as I can remember. (That is actually a good thing. What if TV was highly addictive AND good? Who would gather my eggs for me in the morning?) Somehow, Green Acres got on the air and somehow it found an audience. It takes a fairly conventional plot mechanism—successful city-boy decides to experience the Simple Life—and gives it a twist: instead of reality biting our plucky hero (“squeal like a pig”), surreality bites, the pig is the adopted son of a local couple and wins a trip to Paris.

    Green Acres was on Nick-at-Nite when the kids were of that age. I asked what they thought. “Stupid. Boring, Dad.” “So?”, I riposted.

  8. on 07 Jul 2007 at 12:40 pm 8. JP Stormcrow said …

    Mr Filter meet Mr Clipboard:
    Hmmm… didn’t see anything caught in the filter.

    Somehow, Green Acres got on the air and somehow it found an audience

    Well maybe it was folks who appreciated it because:
    “it was one of the first American TV series which transgressed the traditional diegetic or fourth wall ‘borders’ of TV presentation for deliberately humorous effect” (from Wikipedia)
    .. sounds like one of them there intelleck.. perfessers got in and edited that Wikipedia entry, don’t it Sam.

    (“squeal like a pig”)

    Gives me the opportunity to recycle on of my favorite movie posters. (For TC - read it as “This is the weekend he didn’t blog about golf”)

  9. on 07 Jul 2007 at 1:18 pm 9. Oaktown Girl said …

    !!1!EVILDOER ALERT!1!!1!

    I forgot to mention that when I preparing the above post, I discovered that the lead actor in Profit is…{gulp, *gasp*!…wait for it…} IRANIAN-American! AND he is also married to one of the Dixie Chicks, which I already knew, but didn’t mention because it wasn’t relevant to the post.

    But now that I know Mr. Pasdar is *gasp* Iranian, well, that makes his marriage to a Dixie Chick quite relevant indeed. Because not only is he married to just any Dixie Chick, he’s married the most America-hating of the Dixie Chicks - Natalie Maines. Maybe one of our American bomber planes can make a quick stop over the Pasdar/Maines house on their way to Iran.

    OK, moving on!(as Stephen Colbert says) - I’m all signed up for a Live Earth event tonight, and I’m bringing friends. I hope as many of you who are able will do the same. (Not getting your duff off the couch does NOT constitute not being “able”). Click on this link and enter your zip code to find out locations for events happening in your area.

    (For TC - read it as “This is the weekend he didn’t blog about golf”)

    Ha! Very funny. But, yeah, like that’ll ever happen. I too, have a Deliverance story, but I’ll share it later, as this comment is already pretty long.

  10. on 07 Jul 2007 at 2:04 pm 10. James Killus said …

    Sledge Hammer, Max Headroom, Firefly, The Slap Maxwell Show, Raines, too many brief flashes to count really.

    Then there were the hits, though sometimes for the wrong reasons. The Rockford Files was smart, but the inevitable car chase was the drawing point I fear. Smallvile has had some amazingly complex story lines, but I fear the attraction is Pretty White Kids with Problems.

    Then what to say about Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (”sacred Buffy hour” as my wife called that time slot)? Then Angel, which was all over the map, lost its way frequently, but managed five years with maybe three years worth of gold. There’s a Buffy comic, by the way, written by Joss Whedon.

    House is excellent, Boston Legal has Spader and Shatner having a hell of a time. The Closer is as good as House. But my soul belongs to The Venture Brothers.

    And have you “given any thought to where your souls will reside after the sky is torn to shreds by silver saucers?”

    Alternately, you could just download Patch 22.

  11. on 07 Jul 2007 at 2:59 pm 11. JP Stormcrow said …

    too many brief flashes to count really.

    Yes, I second Max Headroom - it was a bit too ahead of itself to last. Of recent fare, I like My Name is Earl. Shows that I missed, but want to watch some time are The Prisoner and Firefly. (Right now the rest of the family is catching up on Lost .. sometimes over at a neighbor’s with a big screen …, ah solitude!)

    Alternately, you could just download Patch 22.

    I understand that Patch 22 includes a 1:1 simulacrum of the world. It seems like it should spread pretty fast, since the only requirement for downloading seems to be ignorance. I get the message: “Patch 22 is available as a free download providing you are unaware of the existence of Patch 22.”

  12. on 07 Jul 2007 at 5:24 pm 12. black dog barking said …

    I rented The Prisoner some months back, barely got through the first episode. There was a desperate earnestness in every line that grated plus I felt I was giving too much in the suspension of disbelief area. Maybe it gets better, maybe one gets used to the setting. Just looked, IMDB says 9.3/10 stars on nearly 800 votes. (The Godfather is 9.1/10, Green Acres is 7.6/10.)

  13. on 07 Jul 2007 at 6:00 pm 13. Oaktown Girl said …

    Curious what you say about The Prisoner, Black Dog. I know it got rediscovered by a whole new generation in the 80’s both when VHS became widely available and when it was broadcast on PBS, as James has mentioned. And it was all the rave. (I never felt the need to rent it myself as one of my friends enjoyed describing the episodes in detail to me).

    Do you think so much crap has happened since the 80’s that the show just doesn’t hold up as well?

    Well, I’m off to one of the local Live Earth events. I promised to help out so I need to be there a little early, and I’ve got to stop at the store first and pick up some brewski soda pop to bring. I’ll try not to drink too much (or say too much) and embarrass the (WAAGNFNP) team.

  14. on 07 Jul 2007 at 7:10 pm 14. Kiera PSI said …

    I totally forgot Max Headroom. That was too cool, all 14 episodes of it. Matt Frewer is now wasting his (and our) time on “The Suite Life of Zach and Cody”, a Disney kiddie show. Sigh. The D-Man watches Disney stuff, but I love him anyway.

    Most of my favorites lasted a season or less. I was one of the earliest fans of X-Files, before it became cool. I loved it from the first airing. It went downhill after season, oh, five, I think. I loved the first season of Buffy, then it got cool and went downhill. Angel was okay, but after the first season, it too went downhill.

  15. on 07 Jul 2007 at 10:09 pm 15. James Killus said …

    Ah, if you gave up on Buffy you missed such brilliance as “Time’s up. Rules change,” and “When did the building fall down?”

    Angel jumped the shark when his kid returned all growed up, but it managed to recover for a great exit arc.

    Illyria: You’ll be dead in moments.
    Wes: I know.
    Illyria: Would you like me to lie to you now?
    Wes: Yes, thank you. Yes.

  16. on 07 Jul 2007 at 10:11 pm 16. James Killus said …

    Oh, and JP, I believe you have it exactly right about Patch 22.

  17. on 08 Jul 2007 at 3:10 am 17. alphie said …

    I’ve been watch Hex on BBC America.

    http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/120/index.jsp

    The first season DVD just came…the 2nd(and final season is currently showing).

    And a plug for 30 Rock, you can watch quite a few episodes on the NBC site:

    http://tinyurl.com/33cwv9

  18. on 08 Jul 2007 at 8:14 am 18. JP Stormcrow said …

    A few more … then I’m gonna go read a book… (actually my wife says I should come in and watch Federer v Nadal .. which reminds me of the real reason TV was invented … sports!)

    1) I did not see it, but my two boys were absolutely entranced watching Monster, a Japanese anime TV series set in Germany and Prague. They both claimed that it was “the most intense TV show ever”.

    2) I’m going to date myself with this one: (but checking Wikipedia I see that there is a significant cult following that continues to this day.) Dark Shadows, the campy vampire soap opera that aired right after school from 1966 to 1971 - and which is to me the great-grandfather of Buffy. I was only a peripheral fan, but got to know plenty about it from my two sisters. And all but a few of the 1225 episodes are on DVD .. don’t wait to get started. Barnabas Collins Lives!

    3) Speaking of Fred Willard, I saw that Spinal Tap was to be at Live Earth. I missed it, but found this clip. (And Atrios has some concert footage of it up. I thought it sucked .. but that is why satire works, hard to distinguish sucking from “sucking”.)

  19. on 08 Jul 2007 at 9:51 am 19. black dog barking said …

    Do you think so much crap has happened since the 80’s that the show just doesn’t hold up as well?

    My problem with the first Prisoner episode lies in the way the story is told, not the story itself. Number Six’s apparent secret agent-ness is projected to us viewers using James Bond as the agent template and Ernest Borgnine or Phil Silvers as the acting style. These are reasonable choices in 1967 for reasons that aren’t all that clear in 2007 (IMHO).

    The blustering secret agent tells me that the primary (and maybe sole) source of plot advance will come through words, that we needn’t pay much heed to set and scene, to the presence / absence of certain technologies, etc.

    For contrast, consider Sir Alec’s George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley’s People; BBC TV mini-series. The secret agent George Smiley disappeared easily into a crowd, certainly didn’t snap at tradespeople like Number Six. Smiley’s story advanced through a complex decoding of glances, pauses, things said, things not said, drinks accepted or declined. My viewing would have benefited from subtitles for the busy subtext.

  20. on 08 Jul 2007 at 11:56 am 20. Oaktown Girl said …

    Per Kiera way back up in #2 - For me “guilty pleasure” doesn’t apply to shows that are of consistently high quality, and yes, I realize that’s a highly subjective standard.

    Alphie - for a brief moment in time there,(”brief” due to financial reasons), I did have the BBC America channel, and I did watch “Hex”. I enjoyed it…absolutely a “guilty pleasure” on my list. Kudos to that show for not having anorexic-looking female leads. I was sorry that it got canceled. And I enjoy 30 Rock, as well. As soon as I saw Alec Baldwin was going to be on it, I was there. He has amazing comedy chops and comedic timing. I wonder if he got all of that just from doing Saturday Night Live?

    And speaking of comedy chops, James mentioned House, which I started watching because I am a huge Hugh Laurie fan from getting to see him on Blackadder. So many people who know him from House have never seen him on Blackadder. I think they’d be totally blown away.

  21. on 08 Jul 2007 at 3:35 pm 21. James Killus said …

    Hugh Laurie/House/Blackadder: “Killing/saving people is easy; comedy is hard.”

  22. on 08 Jul 2007 at 5:02 pm 22. christian h. said …

    Hugh Laurie on Black Adder - great comedy. So moving (sniff).

  23. on 08 Jul 2007 at 5:29 pm 23. Oaktown Girl said …

    More on the list of quality U.S shows which you might have missed due to being canceled too soon:

    The Tick. During the pilot episode you may be thinking, “OK, this is a little too weird”, but go with it. The payoff is soooo worth it.

    Not quite as brilliant as The Tick or The Job (that’s a really high bar) but still excellent is Greg the Bunny. Another show “too good” to have lasted on American television. Caveat: neither of these shows will be to everyone’s taste in comedy, but I’m betting most readers here will eat it up. For comedy that’s a little more mainstream but still smart, Lateline will not disappoint.

    For comedy-drama in the “too good to have lasted” is Wonderfalls, which was Wonder-ful. This show is smart, witty, and very funny. Amazingly, it does this without ever skewing too far to the oddball side of things or dumbing itself down to play it safe for the masses. Extra bonus kudos for both having a (very good) female lead and addressing the oppressive, stifling work environment we’ve been discussing here recently. I think this show got missed by many people because of snap-judgment comparisons to Dead Like Me.

  24. on 08 Jul 2007 at 5:35 pm 24. Oaktown Girl said …

    I don’t really want to skew off into quality foreign TV shows because that’s shooting fish in a barrel. But since we’re talking about Hugh Laurie (because of his U.S show House), I will say this: for those who haven’t seen it, the acting in Blackadder II, III, & IV is jaw-dropping across the board, not just Hugh Laurie (Blackadder didn’t really find its groove until the second season, so newcomers should go right to season II). And I say this as someone who’s not one of those hardcore Anglophiles who loves all TV that’s British.

    James just pointed out Hugh Laurie’s quote about comedy being more difficult than drama. I have yet to hear any professional actor say that comedy is easier than drama. That’s why I give props to Alec Baldwin, a very good dramatic actor who’s nailing comedy as well. That particular brand of artistic switch hitting is fairly rare. Many try, most fail. Plus, while he’ll never be father of the year, he gets props in my book for putting his money and actions where his mouth is on the subject of political/social action and trying to save what’s left of our flailing Democracy.

  25. on 08 Jul 2007 at 5:47 pm 25. christian h. said …

    And don’t miss the Black Adder Y2K special, either. Speaking of British shows that can be seen on PBS (no need to pay for digital something-or-other to get BBC America), I like many of the Mystery! ones. Oh, and Coupling is sooo much better than Friends (I’m not a big fan of what I call the “neurotic New Yorker” sitcom.)

  26. on 08 Jul 2007 at 6:16 pm 26. JP Stormcrow said …

    Not quite as brilliant as The Tick or The Job (that’s a really high bar) but still excellent is Greg the Bunny.

    Hmmm, not quite as brilliant? This is from after the move to IFC, when they began to parody movies, and according to my kids were much better than the sitcom - which I never saw.

    Ladies and germs,
    Greg the Bunny in Bunnie Hall: (and I think I may have posted this before)

  27. on 08 Jul 2007 at 6:27 pm 27. Oaktown Girl said …

    I had the IFC (Independent Film Channel) during the same brief time I had the BBC America. I did see a couple of IFC episodes of Greg the Bunny, and I have to say I disagree with your kids, JP. Maybe there were other IFC GTB episodes that were better than the ones I saw.

    I think you and your family would really enjoy Wonderfalls, if you haven’t already seen it yet. (Not that one needs to watch with young people to enjoy that show, not at all!) And just to call out names and make it personal (not in a bad way), I think James would really dig it, too.

  28. on 09 Jul 2007 at 10:27 am 28. Kiera PSI said …

    Wonderfalls was cool. On the BBC kick, other than Blackadder and Dr. Who (another guilty pleasure), I enjoyed Chef. Only in Great Britain would a non-white be cast in the starring role without the fact that he wasn’t white being all that people talked about. It would have worked with an actor of that caliber regardless of his ethnic background, but here in the ever so “advanced” U.S. of A., we would never have done it.

  29. on 09 Jul 2007 at 6:10 pm 29. JP Stormcrow said …

    A little more Spinal Tap trivia. I was channel-surfing this weekend when I heard the dulcet tones of Tap from an unexpected source. Sure enough the Spinal Tap song Gimme Some Money had been used in the very poor film Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead. I am sure that the its was not “unironic”, but it was just background when Christina Applegate is stealing some money from a women’s purse - so it was not “signalled” in any way.

    And speaking of Christina, came across this list of the 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time (apparently compiled by TV Guide). Married With Children did not make it, a fact decried by many according to the commentary.

  30. on 09 Jul 2007 at 8:51 pm 30. Oaktown Girl said …

    Just wanted all the Buffy and Firefly fans in the Bay Area to know you can see your shows on the Big Screen once a month in Oakland at the independently-owned Parkway Theatre and it’s sister theatre in El Cerrito. All the links and info you need can be found in that first link.

    Well, I guess the thread’s been up long enough to officially open it up to foreign TV shows now. Kiera’s absolutely right on both counts: Chef is outstanding (Seasons 1 and 2 only, something went terribly awry in Season 3 - all of which is detailed in the Amazon reviews); and we never would have gotten a Black “Chef” in this country. Black folks still rarely get roles unless the casting calls specifically for a Black person.

  31. on 10 Jul 2007 at 4:55 pm 31. Oaktown Girl said …

    Racism alive and well in Central and South America,too. Check this out.

    Just as the NAACP buries the word “Nigger”, further down south in Peru, a restaurant is fined for refusing entry to “people with darker skin”

    via Black Looks