Blogcritics

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

The Apprentice Finalist Lee Bienstock Hired By Trump Organization

Eric Berlin — Thu, 2 Nov 2006 12:52:06 EST

As my dad would always say, "Fair? You want fair? Life isn't fair!" Lee Bienstock, the young and plucky New Yorker who came within a hair's-breadth of becoming The Apprentice last season, was recently hired to be the associate vice president for corporate development at Trump Mortgage. Now, I like the kid. Through the highly edited lens of reality television we, at the least, saw a Lee who is bright, nervy, and loyal (perhaps to a fault) to his people. Throughout The Apprentice, he showed an uncanny ability to understand retail sales and often out-thought his older and more experienced competition. Donald Trump often referred to Lee as "the politician" in the boardroom because of his ability to slip out of the razor-edged noose of The Don's leading questions (note to all future Apprentice contestants: if Mr. Trump asks you a question that begins, "Don't you think…" while arching his eyebrows, you're already toast). Bienstock also displayed an ethical and moral code not often seen in the shark-eat-rattlesnake world of The Apprentice. He was allowed to skip out of two tasks to observe the Jewish High Holy Days, acts that brought him both praise and scorn from his fellow contestants. More interesting and significant was the friendship he formed with Lenny, a Russian contestant who received generally low scores for both his ability and communication skills. Nonetheless, Lee displayed fierce loyalty toward his friend, even shocking many for bringing him back to help him out during the final competition. Lee eventually lost out to the silver-tongued British charmer Sean Yazbeck. I bring all of this up to ask one simple question: is it fair that Lee lost to Sean but was then subsequently hired by the Trump organization anyway? Isn't the whole point of the show that one person gets a posh job at an exciting company with caviar dreams and supermodel globe-trotting and gaudy soup-slurping splendor with the chief executive haircap? Season Four arguably had a much higher level of talent overall. In a thrilling finale, Randal Pinkett just bested Rebecca Jarvis for the title. Trump then took the unusual move of asking Randal if he should hire Rebecca as well, and the bright and ambitious young man — to his everlasting discredit — declined. So Rebecca nearly had the co-title (if not for Randal's ego) in Season Four, and Lee was defeated cleanly in the final boardroom in Season Five. Then Randal and Sean, and lastly, Lee, were hired by Trump, and Rebecca continues on as a financial reporter. Is that fair? I guess my pops was right.

Eric Berlin is the Executive Producer of Blogcritics.org and publisher of Online Media Cultist. He's also prone to referring to himself in the third person in author bios in an attempt to make it look like someone Less Important wrote it for him. Contact: dumpsterbust@gmail.com

Tim Minear Gets Back in TV Gear with Drive

Eric Berlin — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 09:10:16 EST

Tim Minear just might be the king of the-brilliant show-cruelly-killed-before-its-time. As executive producer for three striking, fresh, and promising shows (Firefly, Wonderfalls, The Inside) all killed before reaching the end of one full season, you'd think King Minear would be more than willing to hang up his TV crown for pastures replete with beat up and beer soaked couches, sad and dusty pre-cable ready TV sets, and milk-stained remote controls.But no, the King is heading back into the fray with Drive, a drama about an illegal road race and the fascinating folk who are determined to win it. If Minear's history is any indication, Drive will combine action and tense drama with wonderful character development and humor. Variety notes that Minear told Joss Whedon (creator and über-master of the mixed genre television epic) the new show will be "Magnolia on wheels." That sounds like something worth checking out. Speaking of Kings, I'm reminded of one of Stephen King's best novellas (penned under the pseudonym Richard Bachman), The Long Walk. It's a road race of sorts, a psychotic game show of the future where contestants are forced to walk for days, and if you slow down too much, you die. I'd love to see it turned into a film or mini-series one of these days. But for now we have some Drive to look forward to.

Nathan Fillion Gets Lost

Eric Berlin — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 08:00:20 EST

As an unabashed follower of Joss Whedon, I'm always perked and pleased to see members of his 'verse spreading out through the televised cosmos. Nathan Fillion, better known as Capt. Mal Reynolds of Firefly and Serenity fame, is due to show up for a one-episode stint on Lost ("I Do," November 8). This should prove to be a must-see show for any number of reasons: Kate (Evangeline Lilly) will make some kind of a choice between Jack (Matthew Fox) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway), and there will be a cliffhanger ending that will not be resolved until Lost returns from an extended hiatus next February. In the interim, a new show called Day Break will fill the timeslot, which looks to be a replica of Groundhog Day, except no Bill Murray or comedy, but with lots of shooting and car crashes. The wife and I were just discussing the other day how Kate and Sawyer seem to make more sense as a couple than Kate and Jack. I mused that perhaps Jack will end up with his new female captor, who turns out to be a doctor. Wife grimaced with distaste.The worlds of JJ Abrams, Lost's creator, and Joss Whedon have crossed in the past. Gina Torres has made the rounds on Angel (as a really beautiful, really creepy goddess of sorts), Firefly, and Alias.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip Sailing Toward Cancellation-Land? Let's Hope Not

Eric Berlin — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 03:54:23 EST

The press rumors are now swirling that the highly touted and mega hyped Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is going to be "imminently cancelled."Let's hope not. It's gotten better since its slow-ish start, and the most recent episode was pure and classic Sorkin magic. Studio 60, a drama that goes behind-the-scenes at a Saturday Night Live-esque nationally televised show, is a show held (and which holds itself) to nearly impossible standards: it must reflect the "real world" of live television production, it must be groundbreaking or at least issue relevant commentary on society or pop culture in some way (Sorkin's characters on both The West Wing and Studio 60 strive to appeal to our higher angels), it must be interesting and dramatic, and it must be funny (at least within its show-within-a-show dynamic). I'll argue it's getting pretty close to doing all of that, with the exception of the last bit. I would argue that we, the audience, really don't need to see the sketch comedy of Studio 60 very often at all in order for the show to work. But that's a different story. The show works on the strength of the writing and characters, particularly Matthew Perry as Matt Albie and Bradley Whitford as Danny Tripp. Perry, especially, has been impressive of late, and, if nothing else, has thrown off the shackles of being known forevermore as Chandler, or "one of the dudes from Friends." Last week, Albie's storylines with Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson, who is growing on me after a sluggish start) and Simon Stiles (D.L. Hughley) drove the show. Perry and Hughley were especially fascinating in arguing over the limits of what any one comedy writer -- black or white -- can deliver to an audience. And the show really transcended to greatness as the two agreed to spontaneously take a chance on hiring a black comedian who had just gotten booed off the stage at a local L.A. comedy club. Even though NBC is currently fretting over high production costs of scripted shows, the suits should take heed of Jordan McDeere's (Amanda Peet, who has never been better than as the new president of the NBS network) notion that quality television pays for itself.

Bravo's Project Runway A Runaway Hit As Three Cut Out And Split This Week

Eric Berlin — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 04:52:34 EDT

Fashion competition meets reality television extravaganza Project Runway is hitting its stride and an impressive one at that, becoming the Bravo network's most watched show and No. 7 among all basic cable programs, according to Media Life magazine. The key to the best reality shows on television is suspense derived from a goal that is desperately desired by interesting, passionate, and talented people. Who cares if Paris Hilton breaks her cell phone and kicked out of the redneck ranch, or when the Surreal Life crew can't agree on who starred in the bestest '80s sitcom before taking a coke-fueled career nosedive. Sticking rich or famous people together or in a wacky situation may sound great in a (coke-fueled) TV exec pitch meeting, but reality television history it does not make. I think that's a great part of the reason why shows like The Apprentice and The Contender and Project Runway and even MTV's Making the Band are amongst my favorite programs. Looking at the subject matter of those shows (corporate real estate and wheeling-dealing, boxing, fashion, and music recording), they couldn't be any more different. Personally, I couldn't care less about fashion (to my family's chagrin) and only have a passing interest in boxing and high stakes business affairs. But those shows work, and work tremendously well, because the people involved want to win badly, with far more than money on the line in many cases. In the case of The Contender, which is having a great second and more sports-focused season on ESPN right now, the competitors are world class athletes who are putting their real world boxing records and careers on the line every time they step into the ring. And in the case of Project Runway, now in its third season, the aspirants are talented fashion designers with an opportunity to truly make a big name for themselves. That's not "reality television" in my view, that's real drama. And strangely enough, I do get caught up in the fashion-y bits. For example, I thought it was clear this week (attention: spoilers ahead!) that Laura had redeemed herself and clearly put together the best garment in the black-and-white competition. Therefore, it was satisfying to see her earn the victory and, with it, a restored sense of confidence. Vincent and Angela, who returned for a one-week shot to win their way back into the competition (a nice wrinkle based upon their both having won once each before being ousted), were clearly not quite up to the increasingly elite competition. Sadly, the good-natured Kayne was exposed as well, and he left the runway with what looked like a mix of sadness and relief, rounding out the third elimination. There's a really interesting mix of personalities and talents remaining. Michael has impressed me more as the season has worn on, and I think the judges lend weight to my admittedly uninformed opinion! Laura is a class act all the way and did well to change things up this week by "going younger" and proving she can stretch herself, something Jeffrey and particularly Uli have yet to do. Jeffrey, for his part, has gone far on rock n' roll style and attitude. I don't think I'm the only one who is poised to root against him because of his arrogance and his particularly abusive treatment of Angela's mother during the dress-up-someone-else's-family-member competition. But I do think it's going to come down to Michael versus Laura in the end, which is rather perfect: hip hop modernism gone high fashion against classic Upper East Side chic. Or something – what the hell do I know about clothes? All I do know is that Project Runway is great television, and well deserving of its ravenous and growing fan base. It should not go unmentioned, too, that Bravo does an outstanding job with Project Runway's online presence – including bios, features, and blogs aplenty from the likes of Tim Gunn, series regular and den mother of sorts to the competitors.

TV Review: The Wire Returns, Bringing "Boys of Summer"

Eric Berlin — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 05:46:59 EDT

Like a new chapter in a grand and sweeping novel, The Wire returned tonight, opening up its fourth season on HBO. Perhaps The Great American Novel is making way for something else. If that's so, I'd argue that The Wire is a Great American Story, made up of some of the richest and most fully realized characters ever to grace the television screen. And like The Sopranos, a Great American Story that just happens to be about mob guys and their families, The Wire just happens to be about cops and drug dealers and politicians.But it's really about people and their stories and lives, the way the best stories always are. The sum is greater than the parts, which are of course meticulously constructed from outstanding writing, superlative acting, and marvelously realistic and gritty and beautiful images of Baltimore, the stage on which The Wire takes shape. The show seamlessly flips between characters with no conscious decision to cast any in "good" or "bad" light. All are just doing their thing, getting by, doing the best they can, just like all of us. Episode One does a wonderful job of (re)-introducing and then transitioning through the myriad of characters, checking in and advancing the story of each as the viewer is caught up on events and circumstances. It's also nothing less than miraculous that there is no true main character or even characters on The Wire. Baltimore is the main character, maybe, or human nature, or crime, or justice (or lack thereof), or some combination of them all. Or maybe it's McNulty and his hopes and demons, after all. The beginning of the fourth season was significant both for the new characters and situations introduced as well as some major players that do not show up at all (Omar and Bubbles and Avon Barksdale most significantly, as well as the police brass that played such a major role in Season Three). New to the scene is a quartet of middle-schoolers from the hood, kids poised in such a way that we're not sure which side of the law they'll eventually end up on. We spend the most time getting to know Randy, a good-looking kid with corn rows who sells candy and seems to be reasonably well looked after by his mother, and DuQuan, a poor, awkward, and outcast boy who is nonetheless obviously bright. After DuQuan is bloodied up, the neighborhood kids decide they must retaliate as they are the only ones with the right to beat him up. Randy devises a plan to lure the larger, older group of offenders into an ambush of piss-filled balloons. This backfires rather quickly, however, and turns violent. Later on, Randy is lured himself into a more serious storyline involving gang-related murders between Marlo's crew and the remnants of Barksdale's guys. Fruit, a Marlo dealer introduced to us in Season Three, gets brutally shot in the face at point-blank range over a beef involving a girl. Randy later agrees to a request that, unbeknownst to him at the time, leads to a payback murder. How this terrible knowledge affects the boy will be something to watch. Marlo, for his part, is now coolly and confidently wearing the drug kingpin crown that he sought (Barksdale-man Bodie tells Lex early on that "Marlo has the city by the ass"). Even the police, for now, can't understand how he can be controlling so much of the city's drug trade without "bodies dropping." It seems, however, that his people are adept at stashing bodies in hard-to-find places (a trip to a hardware store to purchase a high-end nail gun and a scene in which creepily young hit men, Snoop and Chris, board up an abandoned row house bookend the show). Marlo and crew is also up on Lester and Kima's famous bulletin board as the target for their ongoing quest to get "hard targets" "up on a wire," so the chase will be on soon enough. The school system is a new setting in the ever-evolving focus of The Wire's eye this season. Prez, who left the police force after a series of awful decisions (and some brilliant behind-the-scenes investigative work), is now teaching at a Middle School. The principal and vice principal launch from "lambs to the slaughter" talk at the sight of him (white, clean cut) to visibly impressed when they learn he used to be "a police." There's a brilliant back-and-forth that takes place where we see teachers getting trained to say IALAC (I am loveable and capable) as police officers are getting trained on terrorism "soft targets." The implication is that both training environments are wildly out of step with the realities of the street. Politics are taking an ever-increasing role on the show. This was underscored by the emphasis on Tommy Carcetti's long shot campaign to get elected as a white mayor of Baltimore. Carcetti must split the black vote between incumbent Mayor Royce and fellow city councilmen and (former) friend Tony Gray if he has any shot at winning. Royce, a crafty politician but seemingly poor administrator (crime is way up) – perhaps a commentary for how our leaders tend to first win our vote before proceeding to fail us – muses that Carcetti needs to learn what it's like to be "out in the woods." And off into the woods Carcetti is, which makes for some of the lighter moments of the episode, such as a high minded speech he issues to a bunch of bored constituents at a senior center before being asked by an old lady, "Is it the Salisbury steak for lunch today, or is they doing tacos?" Comedy comes from strange and unexpected corners on The Wire, such as when Detective Bunk Moreland offhandedly says to Lester, "You my real partner, Lester – my life partner," to which Lester replies, "Don't tease, bitch!" As Lester walks away, Bunk drawls, "Look at that bow-legged motherfucker… I made him walk like that."At other times the humor is more ironic or pointed, such as when Bodie says of his underachieving drug dealers, "Young 'uns don't have a scrap of work ethic nowadays." And particularly subtle and effective were the drug dealers' cries of "Pandemic! Pandemic!" as a way of announcing what likely is a new street-name for the product. As the multiple storylines play out, I'm hopeful that we'll see more of McNulty, who still seems to be trying to continue his mission of getting to know his community rather than simply "cracking heads." It's great to have a show smart enough to respect the intelligence of its viewers, to allow us to figure out what this might mean. Maybe it's a commentary on US foreign policy in the Middle East, or perhaps it’s a cry to tone down racial profiling and brutal police tactics in inner cities. Or maybe it's just McNulty being McNulty.

TV Review: Prison Break Breaks Off Second Season Premiere

Eric Berlin — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 07:10:26 EDT

Throughout the first season of the campy and ironically fun Prison Break (it's theoretically a taut prison drama, for Higher Power's sake), the big question was: what happens if and when Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) manages to bust himself and his brother, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) out of prison, evading handmade shivs on the inside, prison guards, and some kind of sinister 24-like government-run conspiracy in the process? Wouldn't that just kill the drama, we thought, leaving nothing but years of lasering off tattoos for young Scofield? Well, as Season Two debuts, we find out that just because the fellas -– and their ragtag crew of prison escapees (most of whom are along for the ride because they learned of Scofield's elaborate escape plan and elbowed in on the action) –- are outside the prison walls, the breakin' doesn't necessarily have to end. The guards and the feds -– led by a new character played by William Fichtner of Invasion fame –- are close on the tails of the boys. And I mean close. Like, Tommy Lee Jones would have had the thing rapped up in twenty seconds close. Close as in a half dozen or so fugitives manage to run their way around a moving train, causing a horde of the fuzz to lose them. But, you know, it's fun. Most of the episode was eaten up by Scofield revealing an evermore complicated plan to get $5 million out of the Utah desert (recently deceased prisoner Charles Westmoreland buried it there, or so he admitted, right before he died during the first season finale's mad scramble to the prison perimeter) and lead his brother –- who, while not an angel, was wrongly convicted of killing the president's brother –- to a safe haven in Panama. Of course, there's a jungle of obstacles in the way. Fichtner, for one, has quickly latched onto Scofield's insanely tattooed body and somehow has gotten access to photos that reveal many of the odd codes and symbols that Scofield uses to remember, Memento-like, how to proceed with The Plan. It's pretty clear that the season will likely feature a cat-and-mouse game in which Fichtner will attempt to outthink Scofield's inked blueprints and catch up to the prison breakery. There's no word yet as to whether or not Fichtner is involved with The Company, the sinister-ish organization that seems to really like killing people while accumulating political power at the highest levels, presumably for the whole money and power head-trip thing. Meanwhile, Burrows' attorney and all around do gooder Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney) made it to the home of Terrence Steadman, the murdered guy around which the entire premise of the show spins. However, Steadman ain't dead, though he's kept captive in a rather nice home in western Montana (you get a nice variety of prisons with Prison Break, it seems). Unfortunately, the prison-home was Donovan's last stop as The Company folk unceremoniously shot her, erasing a major figure from the show. From a story perspective, it would have likely had a bigger dramatic impact to have kept her character around for a while longer, but it's become more fashionable in recent years to off familiar characters from television dramas when we "least expect it." Other tidbits: Abruzzi's become a "bad guy" for holding a little girl hostage briefly, T-Bag is still trying to get his hand reattached and has gotten reduced to threatening kindly Asian American vets, and poor LJ Burrows –- perhaps the most tortured child character on television –- has lost yet another figure close to him to assassination-style murder. You can't beat this kind of fun!

TV Review: The Entourage Boys Hit Vegas, Literally

Eric Berlin — Mon, 7 Aug 2006 04:51:38 EDT

The fellas of HBO's Entourage – Vince, E, Turtle, Johnny Drama, and their Type A talent agent-meets-Dungeon Master Ari – and Vegas are clearly made for one another. Now that Vince (Adrian Grenier) is a legitimate superstar on the heels of Aquaman's box office-busting success, the writers must find ways to throw a wrench into the good times to keep things interesting. In recent weeks, the wrenches have been manifesting themselves fast and furious, as Vince has managed to get himself fired from the cash cow Aquaman franchise (over a squabble involving Vince's desire to have his Scarface moment and play a coke lord) and most recently publicly bashed the Hollywood establishment for colorizing and re-cutting his hometown indie flick, Queens Boulevard. So what's left to do besides heading to Vegas to let the good times roll? The excuse was the call of cash, as Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) – who seems to be coming into his own as a wheeler dealer music manager of sorts – hooked up a $100,000 payday in Sin City. Of course, it involved an obligation to judge a stripping contest, which has the prospect of further damaging Vince's reputation. Turtle, who is the "most Queens" of the foursome and usually the one who gets to drop the best one-liner of the episode, spent his time wooing and manipulating the contestants in the stripping competition. Surprisingly, Ari (Jeremey Piven) – who was dragged along for the trip to "chaperone" the boys (and who mock-sadly had to tell his wife he was forced to miss seeing Menopause: The Musical with her and her parents) – was less concerned about Vince's public perception than by getting his vacation (or vay-kay) on and hitting the tables. Piven, who is always a joy to watch, is great fun as he throttles Gold's Type A personality from work to play with nary a change in intensity level. Once Vince and Ari had arranged a "betting partnership," we were treated to grimaces of horror aplenty as Vince nonchalantly sinks the pair deeper and deeper into a pile of debt. Fun moments included Vince casually mentioning they probably shouldn't go down more than $500,000, and Ari on the verge of a breakdown after a tourist sitting next to Vince at the blackjack table splits a pair of kings. It was also interesting to watch Ari and E hanging out, friends now, two veterans of the Hollywood scene slinking off to Vegas away from their significant others' prying eyes. E (Kevin Connolly), for his part, was confronted once again over his relationship with hottie girlfriend Sloane. Actor Seth Green (I'll always remember Green for his couple of seasons of work as Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer), playing himself, was in town with his own motley crew of taggers-along. Green and his pals took pleasure in taunting "Chase and the Chasers," continually exhorting E to call Sloane to say, "What up?" We're left wondering if Green had been obsessed with her, as Sloane says, or if something else is going on. As Vince tells E in a moment of Swingers-esque philosophizing, men and women always hide something about their romantic pasts. The bizarre storyline was assigned to Drama (Kevin Dillon), which of course produced the biggest laughs of the episode. We know Drama as something of a diva, so it's no surprise when he wants to log in as much spa time as possible to prepare for his upcoming television pilot (working with Ed Burns, who, it was revealed, launched his career after landing the role Drama turned down in The Brothers McMullan). We also know Drama is big on getting massages from strong-handed men, something the fellas are compelled to give him grief about. So when Drama "locks in" his long-time Vegas masseuse for the day and praises his strength and masculinity to no end, it's telegraphed that we are in for a serious session of sexual identity humor. The funniest moments come when the masseuse, obviously confused by his client's seeming advances, tries to decide whether or not he should take off his shirt when Drama leaves the room to change for a nightcap massage. Dillon, for his part, is reason enough to tune into Entourage. If comedy is all about timing and delivery, Matt's (and Vince's) brother has both in spades. While not very many plot points were pushed forward this week, it was great fun to see the boys take on Vegas. A big melee broke out between the Chase and Green contingents in the closing moments, so it will be interesting to see if any fallout ensues, particularly when news reaches Sloane that her man's been brawling over her honor.

On The Shield, Final Confrontation Between Mackey and Vendrell Looms

Eric Berlin — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 09:55:03 EDT

The more I watch FX's The Shield, the more I'm impressed. The more the mood of the show, the characters, the writing, the wisecracks, get under my skin. The last scene that we were left with is a haunting one. Curtis Lemansky (Kenny Johnson) is sitting in that blown out car, skin broiling on his features, his sad earnest eyes searching for some final way to put the pieces back together of his shattered life, his world. Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) taking a wild-eyed Bald Bull's run at Internal Affairs Lt. Jon Kavanaugh (Forest Whitaker), the culmination of an investigation that ended with bad blood – much of it real – on everyone's hands. It's fascinating that Kavanaugh's investigation spins all the way back to the pilot episode of the series and the shooting of Terry Crowley (Reed Diamond). The Shield is great at not allowing the past to quite slip away, just as in real life. It keeps lurking and looming and slipping and dodging, popping up to unpleasantly visit at unexpected junctures. Vic Mackey is one of the great characters of crime drama, and it's easy to compare him to one of the greatest characters, crime or otherwise, Tony Soprano. Both Tony and Vic see themselves as warriors and heroes, imperfect beings in a corrupt and violent world who do what they need to do in order to survive. Loyalty is paramount – Vic always circles back to "protecting the team" and Tony preaches respect and honor to both of his "families." Interestingly, both men tend to neglect their loved ones in favor of both professional duties and extracurricular activities. And both characters also seek a return to the way things used to be. For Tony, it is the hyper-idealized mafia-run neighborhoods of his father's generation, a time before drugs rotted the old order to the core, when crews looked out for one another, and not being a rat (read = keeping your mouth shut) really meant something. Vic, on the other hand, would likely love to turn the clock back to the time just prior to the events of the pilot episode, when his marriage was more or less intact, two of his kids had not yet been diagnosed with autism, and the Strike Team had not yet made the fateful decision to murder a fellow police officer who was under orders to investigate them. The Shield is uniquely effective in raising the tension level and continuously jacking it up peg upon peg. Michael Chiklis, it should be noted, is wonderful at wearing that tension in his eyes and muscle-bound frame. There are great moments throughout the series where we see Vic silently splashing water on his face and glaring into The Barn's substandard mirror. He's told everyone, everyone who matters, that he's got it covered. But inside, he's not so sure how many more miracles he can pull off. Now one of the crew is dead, one of the Strike Team. Lemansky was always the conscience of the group, a generally good guy who got swept up in events he could never quite pull away from. More than the pyrrhic victory of the Money Train (the successful but eventually harmful rip of the Armenian mob), it was Shane Vendrell's (Walton Goggins) foray into corruption with drug dealer/"community leader" Antwon Mitchell (Anthony Anderson) that ironically led Shane himself to pull the pin on the grenade that detonated Lem's face. The next series of shows brilliantly puts many of the events of the past on a collision course: Terry's death, the Money Train, Vendrell's dealings with Mitchell, Aceveda's ever present desire to do in Mackey, and of course most of all Vendrell's possible murder of Lem. I state "possible" because we don't know for sure whether or not Lem is dead. We must assume at the least he's hurt real bad, but in TV-land medical miracles are more common than in real life. Most of all, I think we're going to see Mackey's desire to become a clean, or perhaps cleaner, cop put to the extreme test. The ghosts of the past likely won't lie still for long. It could well be his longtime and valiant defense of his old buddy Shane Vendrell – not just with Mitchell but in covering up the near manslaughter of former Strike Team member Tavon Harris (everyone remember the series of events that led to Vic and Shane convincing the hospital bed-ridden Tavon, played by Brian J. White, that he had hit Shane's pregnant fiancée, leaving him a curled up mass of wailing shame?) – will be the greatest test. The heaviest burden to sit atop that famous scowl..

TV Ratings Hit Rock Bottom While Great Shows Flourish In Cable Uplands

Eric Berlin — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 12:06:20 EDT

The numbers are in… and they aren't looking so hot for the broadcast networks. While it is of course the summer, and most people of non-geekish and non-orkish ancestry are more busy with beaches and suntan lotion than the faint blue glow of the Idiot Box, it is nonetheless significant that the four broadcast networks – ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox – posted the lowest combined weekly audience (20.8 million viewers) in recorded history. The previous low had been set in July of 2005. Is it a sign that a New Age of on demand digital content is here to stay? Are the MySpace hordes too busy on their BlackBerrys and two-way pagers, hitting up daddies skiing in Gstaad via web 2.0 online collaborative interface? Or maybe the eco-revolution, spearheaded by Al Gore (with help from Manbearpig), has inspired a new generation of kids to embrace and save our environment, brandishing copies of An Inconvenient Truth and The Dharma Bums, recycled pages fluttering on the new and exuberant open mists? Maybe a little bit. More than likely, however, it's because there are more television choices than ever, and the summer is proving to be an increasingly fertile time for basic and paid cable stations to steer eyes toward genuinely high quality offerings. For those who can afford it, HBO continues to outpace, dwarf, and overshadow broadcast television with nearly every original program it puts to air. Entourage is the current bell of the ball, a can't miss Sunday night pleasure that crowns an HBO-only night in my household. Season Three may have lost a touch of the edge of the early episodes, but Jeremy Piven as super agent Ari Gold is reason enough to tune in, and Kevin Dillon as Johnny Drama could read a phone book (longingly, yearningly for a part in some A List project) and still entertain. "One Day in the Valley," which self-consciously parodies Almost Famous, is the quintessential teenage fantasy: becoming the biggest movie star on the planet, hooking up your boys with a Maserati, and shot-gunning some brews. Deadwood, also in the midst of Season Three, continues to trail blaze its strangely compelling mark upon the Western genre. As the writing grows ever more rich and Byzantine – imbued with as many subtle charms and wry observations as "fucks" and "cocksuckers" – it's becoming clear that this is a show and a world to become immersed in, as opposed to becoming fixated on getting from Point A to Point Wherever. Nonetheless, the culmination of Hearst's plans to reign supreme over the camp will be a joy to behold no matter how it plays out. And there is no more of a despicable and watchable character on television than Al Swearengen (Ian McShane). Best television moment of the summer, thus far: Bullock fully and entirely and ruthlessly kicking the snot out of E. B. Farnum. Even Tourgasm, a half-hour reality show that follows comic Dane Cook and several buddies on a month-long cross-country stand-up tour, is worth watching for an episode or two. I'm a sucker for road stories, and while this one is somewhat artificial and filled with frat boy antics, it's fun to watch Cook take a boyish dream (take your friends out on the road to make people laugh, get paid, pull pranks, and hang) and make it real. Or real reality in this case. FX is right behind HBO in producing quality shows over the last several years. Right now, two of the best and most unheralded shows on television -- Rescue Me and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia -- make me largely forget that we're in the midst of the summer TV doldrums. Rescue Me, yet another three-season veteran, continues its stunning feat of matching shakingly funny comedy with tense and raw drama built around the lives of troubled and deeply human firefighters in New York. Each actor on the show brings something tremendous to the table, making it even more remarkable how well lead actor Denis Leary carries his role as cocky, know-it-all Tommy Gavin. Nearly every episode manages to include moments of hilarity and tragedy. It's no understatement to say that it raises the bar for the television drama in much the way The Sopranos has. On a much lighter note, It's Always Funny In Philadelphia, now in its second season, brings a welcome wallop of bizarre and outlandish comedy (an outstanding promo campaign for the show asks, "How can it feel so wrong… when it's so wrong?") to a dive bar in Philadelphia. This season brings in a new regular character in the form of Danny DeVito (a TV comedy legend, let's remember, on the strength of his Taxi roots) as Dennis and Dee's dad. DeVito is clearly having the time of his life as a happily manipulative and bizarrely lucky (he always gets the girl while Charlie, played by the hilarious Charlie Day, is stuck holding the bag) blowhard. Don't forget that Comedy Central is always hanging about for some super sweet comedy relief. The Daily Show can often easily be the day's funniest half-hour of original programming on the planet. Stephen Colbert's The Colbert Report, while not as consistent, always manages to pull out some funny as well. David Spade's The Showbiz Show is a surprising dollop of fun on the celebrity gossipy snark tip (I dig on the "There I Said It" segment), and Dog Bites Man is worth a check-it-out as a sort of Curb Your Enthusiasm of the behind-the-scenes of a television news crew sort. And there are more interesting things to look forward to as the summer grinds on: 30 Days on FX, Project Runway on Bravo, and The Contender, revamped for ESPN. So fear not and watch not, all thou who have the remote stuck on the So You Think You Cans and Law & Something-or-others and America's Got An Aversion to High Quality Summer TV. Get inside and watch something good on cable, says I.