While reading the press release NBC sent out for the renewal of Parks and Recreation, Community, and The Office, I couldn't help but notice the absolutely ridiculous measures NBC was going to to make these shows sound successful. NBC describes The Office as "he #2 most upscale primetime show on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox or CW in terms of its concentration of adults 18-49 living in homes with $100,000-plus incomes, behind only NBC’s 30 Rock." NBC also mentions this with Community, saying "Community is also one of the most upscale primetime series on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox or CW, with a top-15 ranking in its concentration of adults 18-49 living in home with $100,000-plus incomes." Besides the fact that this is a ridiculous demographic to be bragging about (What, you're telling me people living in poverty aren't catching Community?), there's no mention of this for Parks and Recreation, despite being NBC's #2 rated scripted program (behind The Office, of course) and arguably being smarter than The Office.
So, basically, NBC's saying "Rich people watch our comedies! Except for Parks and Recreation. Parks and Recreation is for poor people."
Sunday, March 20, 2011
NBC Renews Community and Parks and Recreation
This post doesn't contain much substance, but is more of just a celebration post as last Thursday, NBC renewed Parks and Recreation and Community for their respective fourth and third seasons. This was great news for me as I wasn't sure about the fate of either and they are both currently two of my favorite shows and was also great news the following morning when I read the ratings report and could think "Phew, good thing NBC renewed them before they saw this". No word yet on if they're full season orders or when they'll air (the press release from NBC seems to suggest they'll remain where they are now, but press releases can be very confusing and deceptive things) but still, just good news.
Oh, and they renewed The Office, but not only was that the least surprising thing they could have announced, I don't really think anyone cares anymore...
Oh, and they renewed The Office, but not only was that the least surprising thing they could have announced, I don't really think anyone cares anymore...
Friday, March 18, 2011
Review Roundup
Chuck: "Chuck vs the A-Team"- There are many things Chuck can accomplish in its first thirteen episodes (before NBC gave it the pickup for more) and many things it cannot. Fortunately, with the extra eleven episodes NBC gave the show this season, it has the time to go back address many of the things the show seemed to forget about in Season 4.0. This episode saw us addressing two of the biggest plots devices that went nowhere: the Gretas and Papa B's magical intersect labtop. I found this to be on of the best episodes of the season. It baalnced humor and overall arcs fairly well and managed to tie up loose ends in satisfying ways. It does feel weird to interrupt the momentum the show was building on the Vivian arc the past two episodes, but I guess Chuck has always been one to punctuate their main arcs with episodes addressing smaller things, like this.
Raising Hope: "Mongoose"- It's interesting how you can feel this show expanding and discovering just how much it can do in 22 minutes. After an episode that ended with Burt going to jail for a month, we get this episode, which at first seemed like a pretty standard sitcom plot with the family writing their wills and trying to decide who gets control of Hope in certain situations. But then, the third act starts with a quick flashforward, showing the cast cowering from a threat in their attic. This was an interesting turn of events, but I found it just gave them even less reason to have someone like Maw-Maw around if the danger of her deciding to shoot them with a shotgun exists.
Community: "Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy"- Chang is not the strongest character on the show. Usually, like the Dean, he only fits with the cast in small doses. While the rest of the show can go into a 'Modern Warfare" realm of being unrealistic, Chang is the odd one out almost every single time. So it feels weird for him to be a main point on a plot as standard as Shirley's pregnancy (well...standard besides the fact that the conception may have taken place during a zombie apocalypse). I feel like the character is right for the plotline, but not how it was written in this episode, where it was crazy Chang running around and yelling the entire time. Elsewhere, the subplot with Britta and Troy and Abed's new friend was very well done. Not only did it showcase Britta's effect on the parts of the group ("No, that's why we still hang out with him. Hey Jeff!") but it also got in a considerable number of callbacks and meta-jokes (my favorite being Abed's "It's all downhill from here" sweatshirt for everybody who was involved in the paintball adventure).
Parks and Recreation: "Harvest Festival"- I thought this would be the focus of the season finale, but apparently this episode brought an end to the harvest festival arc, bringing it out on a high note. The Lil' Sebeastian storyline had a great number of highlights: Ben's lack of understanding, everybody else's over-enthusiasm, and a nice little play on the typical Jerry storyline. Elsewhere, the curse storyline, despite feeling wrapped up fairly easily, was a nice conflict for the festival. And the"Curse Watch" re-enactment was ferry funny, as was "The atrocities are in blue."
30 Rock: "Queen of Jordan"- Next to do an episode in the Mocumentary format (following Community's "Advanced Documentary Filmmaking" was 30 Rock. This was a parody of the typical Bravo reality show and since I've never seen one in my life, I don't know how accurate it was, but I'd say it was pretty funny. The visuals seemed fully comitted to the gimmick, while the script and plot seemed to change back and forth constantly. This seems to be setting up the arc on which the season will close, which the possibility of TGS being canceled thanks to Tracy's absence.
Fringe: "Os"- The thing that gets brought up all the time about Fringe is that it's much stronger with its overall mythology than it is standalone episodes and I think, up until this season, that has been true. Maybe it's because there's more mythology mixed in with the standalone episodes, but I really think they're just doing a better job writing compelling stories. There's still been episodes like "Concentrate and Ask Again", where the case of the week is pretty bland and uninteresting, but there's also episodes like "Os", which was really very intriguing, moreso than the continuation of the 'Soul Magnets' stuff and quite possibly the most bizarre cliffhanger I've ever seen. But the case of the floating people was very interesting, and I can't believe I didn't see the wheelchair thing coming. Also, props for the random Jorge Garcia cameo at the beginning.
Fringe: "Stowaway"- So, right off the bat, it's pretty necessary to talk about my interpretation and reception of the continuation of last week's bizarre turn of events. This show has always walked a line between silly (case in point, the cow in the lab) and heavy (case in point...this week's entire case) and, while I feel that they are still walking that line with this storyline, I think they are getting dangerously close to just silly. Anna Torv does an admittedly good Leonard Nemoy impersonation, but it all is just kind of odd. Elsewhere, I was once again a big fan of this week's standalone case, especially how it seemed like it was a parallel to the William Bell storyline, but it actually ended up being a parallel to Peter's storyline.
Raising Hope: "Mongoose"- It's interesting how you can feel this show expanding and discovering just how much it can do in 22 minutes. After an episode that ended with Burt going to jail for a month, we get this episode, which at first seemed like a pretty standard sitcom plot with the family writing their wills and trying to decide who gets control of Hope in certain situations. But then, the third act starts with a quick flashforward, showing the cast cowering from a threat in their attic. This was an interesting turn of events, but I found it just gave them even less reason to have someone like Maw-Maw around if the danger of her deciding to shoot them with a shotgun exists.
Community: "Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy"- Chang is not the strongest character on the show. Usually, like the Dean, he only fits with the cast in small doses. While the rest of the show can go into a 'Modern Warfare" realm of being unrealistic, Chang is the odd one out almost every single time. So it feels weird for him to be a main point on a plot as standard as Shirley's pregnancy (well...standard besides the fact that the conception may have taken place during a zombie apocalypse). I feel like the character is right for the plotline, but not how it was written in this episode, where it was crazy Chang running around and yelling the entire time. Elsewhere, the subplot with Britta and Troy and Abed's new friend was very well done. Not only did it showcase Britta's effect on the parts of the group ("No, that's why we still hang out with him. Hey Jeff!") but it also got in a considerable number of callbacks and meta-jokes (my favorite being Abed's "It's all downhill from here" sweatshirt for everybody who was involved in the paintball adventure).
Parks and Recreation: "Harvest Festival"- I thought this would be the focus of the season finale, but apparently this episode brought an end to the harvest festival arc, bringing it out on a high note. The Lil' Sebeastian storyline had a great number of highlights: Ben's lack of understanding, everybody else's over-enthusiasm, and a nice little play on the typical Jerry storyline. Elsewhere, the curse storyline, despite feeling wrapped up fairly easily, was a nice conflict for the festival. And the"Curse Watch" re-enactment was ferry funny, as was "The atrocities are in blue."
30 Rock: "Queen of Jordan"- Next to do an episode in the Mocumentary format (following Community's "Advanced Documentary Filmmaking" was 30 Rock. This was a parody of the typical Bravo reality show and since I've never seen one in my life, I don't know how accurate it was, but I'd say it was pretty funny. The visuals seemed fully comitted to the gimmick, while the script and plot seemed to change back and forth constantly. This seems to be setting up the arc on which the season will close, which the possibility of TGS being canceled thanks to Tracy's absence.
Fringe: "Os"- The thing that gets brought up all the time about Fringe is that it's much stronger with its overall mythology than it is standalone episodes and I think, up until this season, that has been true. Maybe it's because there's more mythology mixed in with the standalone episodes, but I really think they're just doing a better job writing compelling stories. There's still been episodes like "Concentrate and Ask Again", where the case of the week is pretty bland and uninteresting, but there's also episodes like "Os", which was really very intriguing, moreso than the continuation of the 'Soul Magnets' stuff and quite possibly the most bizarre cliffhanger I've ever seen. But the case of the floating people was very interesting, and I can't believe I didn't see the wheelchair thing coming. Also, props for the random Jorge Garcia cameo at the beginning.
Fringe: "Stowaway"- So, right off the bat, it's pretty necessary to talk about my interpretation and reception of the continuation of last week's bizarre turn of events. This show has always walked a line between silly (case in point, the cow in the lab) and heavy (case in point...this week's entire case) and, while I feel that they are still walking that line with this storyline, I think they are getting dangerously close to just silly. Anna Torv does an admittedly good Leonard Nemoy impersonation, but it all is just kind of odd. Elsewhere, I was once again a big fan of this week's standalone case, especially how it seemed like it was a parallel to the William Bell storyline, but it actually ended up being a parallel to Peter's storyline.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Making a Case for "Fringe"
Pros:
-It's doing reasonably well on Fridays, which are usually death slots for scripted shows. Much better than people expected it to actually. It's currently holding steady at a 1.5 in the coveted 18-49 demographic, which is right at the line Fox head Kevin Reiley said Fringe would be OK at.
-There's room on Fox's fall schedule for at least one bubble show to return.
-It receives the highest percentage increase of viewers when DVR numbers are factored in.
-It has a large deal of critical acclaim.
-Several cast members appear to be under the impression that the show is pulling acceptable numbers.
Cons:
-Who knows is Reiley was telling the truth? He's certainly not going to come out and say "This show is screwed on Friday nights.
-Kitchen Nightmares is going slightly better than Fringe on fridays and it's much less expensive to produce.
-Several cast members appear to be under the impression that the show is not pulling acceptable numbers and are trying to rally fan support.
-That slot on the fall schedule? Fringe is competing with Lie to Me, Human Target, and The Chicago Code.
-It's doing reasonably well on Fridays, which are usually death slots for scripted shows. Much better than people expected it to actually. It's currently holding steady at a 1.5 in the coveted 18-49 demographic, which is right at the line Fox head Kevin Reiley said Fringe would be OK at.
-There's room on Fox's fall schedule for at least one bubble show to return.
-It receives the highest percentage increase of viewers when DVR numbers are factored in.
-It has a large deal of critical acclaim.
-Several cast members appear to be under the impression that the show is pulling acceptable numbers.
Cons:
-Who knows is Reiley was telling the truth? He's certainly not going to come out and say "This show is screwed on Friday nights.
-Kitchen Nightmares is going slightly better than Fringe on fridays and it's much less expensive to produce.
-Several cast members appear to be under the impression that the show is not pulling acceptable numbers and are trying to rally fan support.
-That slot on the fall schedule? Fringe is competing with Lie to Me, Human Target, and The Chicago Code.
Making a Case for "Chuck"
We're approaching the time of the TV season where it'll get down to the wire for bubble shows, shows that are in the gray area between "certain to be canceled" and "certain to be renewed", as the networks prepare to write their schedules for next season. Many of these bubble shows have more things going for/against them than just their ratings, so I'll do some posts analyzing their chances, starting with "Chuck".
Pros:
-It's on NBC, which is in a horrible, horrible state with no successful new shows from this season. Or last season. With Steve Carell leaving The Office and a possible football lockout, they could need more programming hours than they expected rather than relying on new shows, hoping for a hit.
-When it finishes its current season, it will have 78 episodes. A renewal would put it around the number of episodes a show typically needs for syndication, which would bring a huge profit to those involved with the show.
-It's remaining consistent against competition, albeit at low levels. The same cannot be said for many NBC shows and this means NBC could keep it as filler for if a new show fails.
Cons:
-It's current ratings are below the NBC average, even if not by much. It looks like it could be a squeeze on the schedule next year and if it comes down to Chuck vs Harry's Law, Harry's Law would probably win. It's getting slightly better ratings and has a lot more total viewers (which actually are only good for PR purposes, but still a plus for Harry's Law).
-Chuck is owned by WB, so NBC would not actually see money from syndication. However, the prospect of syndication could entice WB to lower the licensing fee to something that would get the show renewed.
Pros:
-It's on NBC, which is in a horrible, horrible state with no successful new shows from this season. Or last season. With Steve Carell leaving The Office and a possible football lockout, they could need more programming hours than they expected rather than relying on new shows, hoping for a hit.
-When it finishes its current season, it will have 78 episodes. A renewal would put it around the number of episodes a show typically needs for syndication, which would bring a huge profit to those involved with the show.
-It's remaining consistent against competition, albeit at low levels. The same cannot be said for many NBC shows and this means NBC could keep it as filler for if a new show fails.
Cons:
-It's current ratings are below the NBC average, even if not by much. It looks like it could be a squeeze on the schedule next year and if it comes down to Chuck vs Harry's Law, Harry's Law would probably win. It's getting slightly better ratings and has a lot more total viewers (which actually are only good for PR purposes, but still a plus for Harry's Law).
-Chuck is owned by WB, so NBC would not actually see money from syndication. However, the prospect of syndication could entice WB to lower the licensing fee to something that would get the show renewed.
Weekly Roundup
Chuck: "Chuck vs the First Bank of Evil"- I thought this episode improved vastly on the episode before it and made me significantly more interested in this new ark. The introduction of Ray Wise as Volkoff's lawyer certainly didn't hurt, and it looks like he'll be sticking around for at least a few episodes (also, the presence of him and Volkoff's daughter leads one to believe that Volkoff will be returning this season, which is very welcome). The episode was structured differently than the norm for this show, with the bank being the central plot device for many, many things. And, similarly, many, many things were happening in this episode. You had Morgan's search for a roommate (which led to a very entertaining Jeffster! subplot and a good connection to Casey's storyline), Casey's secret government project in Castle, Ellie's wedding craziness and Sarah's lack of (the scene where Sarah found her dress was very cheesy, but at least it wasn't nearly as contrived as this show certainly could have been with it), Vivian, Volkoff's lawyer, Chuck's influence, ect. But it didn't feel rushed and it didn't feel packed, even with sequences like the Bonnie and Clyde/Matrix bank robbery, which was very fun.
How I Met Your Mother: "A Change of Heart"- This show, while having an 'up' season, is running into many problems many show over 100 episodes long would have: past events are starting to contradict current events. Now, this isn't quite Henry Wrinkler jumping over a shark contradictory, but just a little bothersome. For example, a big focus of this episode was Barney's relationship with Nora. The big draw of this being that Barney, the biggest womanizer in the world, is in love. Now, that would be great and all if they hadn't done this already. And that time it was with Robin, a main character. Not only is this storyline flawed because it's supposed to feel new but it just feels recycled, but we don't believe it. We've known Nora for two episodes and, frankly, she's not that big of a deal. The whole storytelling device of Barney getting his heart checked was cool and the subplot with Scooby was very funny (it was funny, then not funny, then REALLY funny, "sandwich" brownies) but I just don't know how we're supposed to care when the entire basis of the storyline is recycled and doesn't even feel as good as the first time.
Raising Hope: "Snip Snip" and "A Cultish Personality"- Both very good episodes, particularly the latter. I think this show has found its footing as a normal- type show with ridiculous episode premises. The Maw Maw character is still the most obnoxious supporting character on television, but "A Cultish Personality" found a good use of her playing Hide and Seek and being in the background the entire episode.
Modern Family: "Two Monkeys and a Panda"- I really feel out of the loop on this show. I go into every episode with a clear mind and high hopes and am almost always disappointed. Even this episode, which was widely considered to be good. Many complimented the heartfelt ending. I understood the heartfeltness and its appeal, but I find it hard to accept that tone with how obnoxious those characters were being the rest of the episode. I don't find anything particularity smart or different about the humor and the characters all seem to only have two sides: an obnoxious one and a heartfelt one. I might stop reviewing this show because it feels like I have nothing new to add to my opinions each week.
Fringe: "Subject Zero"- Ah, the sequel to last year's "Peter". Both episodes set entirely in the past to focus on intricate backstory and both doing a wonderful, wonderful job of showcasing the outstanding acting talent of John Noble. Not much to say about this episode except it was fantastic, only slightly less so than "Peter". Alan Sepinwall pointed out (and took issue with) the giant coincidence of Walter being the scientist Olivia tracks down in the pilot. I feel like the suspension of disbelief already required to believe half the events in this show (alternate universes, giant machine, shapeshifters, ect.) that I have no problem making up excuses in my mind to why that it.
How I Met Your Mother: "A Change of Heart"- This show, while having an 'up' season, is running into many problems many show over 100 episodes long would have: past events are starting to contradict current events. Now, this isn't quite Henry Wrinkler jumping over a shark contradictory, but just a little bothersome. For example, a big focus of this episode was Barney's relationship with Nora. The big draw of this being that Barney, the biggest womanizer in the world, is in love. Now, that would be great and all if they hadn't done this already. And that time it was with Robin, a main character. Not only is this storyline flawed because it's supposed to feel new but it just feels recycled, but we don't believe it. We've known Nora for two episodes and, frankly, she's not that big of a deal. The whole storytelling device of Barney getting his heart checked was cool and the subplot with Scooby was very funny (it was funny, then not funny, then REALLY funny, "sandwich" brownies) but I just don't know how we're supposed to care when the entire basis of the storyline is recycled and doesn't even feel as good as the first time.
Raising Hope: "Snip Snip" and "A Cultish Personality"- Both very good episodes, particularly the latter. I think this show has found its footing as a normal- type show with ridiculous episode premises. The Maw Maw character is still the most obnoxious supporting character on television, but "A Cultish Personality" found a good use of her playing Hide and Seek and being in the background the entire episode.
Modern Family: "Two Monkeys and a Panda"- I really feel out of the loop on this show. I go into every episode with a clear mind and high hopes and am almost always disappointed. Even this episode, which was widely considered to be good. Many complimented the heartfelt ending. I understood the heartfeltness and its appeal, but I find it hard to accept that tone with how obnoxious those characters were being the rest of the episode. I don't find anything particularity smart or different about the humor and the characters all seem to only have two sides: an obnoxious one and a heartfelt one. I might stop reviewing this show because it feels like I have nothing new to add to my opinions each week.
Fringe: "Subject Zero"- Ah, the sequel to last year's "Peter". Both episodes set entirely in the past to focus on intricate backstory and both doing a wonderful, wonderful job of showcasing the outstanding acting talent of John Noble. Not much to say about this episode except it was fantastic, only slightly less so than "Peter". Alan Sepinwall pointed out (and took issue with) the giant coincidence of Walter being the scientist Olivia tracks down in the pilot. I feel like the suspension of disbelief already required to believe half the events in this show (alternate universes, giant machine, shapeshifters, ect.) that I have no problem making up excuses in my mind to why that it.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)