This past summer I took a philosophy class in college that dealt with the media and how it portrays reality. A requirement for the class was to watch 40 hours of television. Does college get any better than that? I don't think so.
Alas, summer term is over and tomorrow I start fall term, so I will have to keep up with my television viewing on my own. I've been trying to do so with the new fall season of shows. I don't like what I see so far (with one exception).
First off, the very worst new show is Fox's The War At Home. I hate this show. Hate it. HATE IT!
(Click here to read my review of the pilot episode of The War At Home).
I watched last week and only made it through the first couple of minutes, so I changed over to something else — I think it may have been a documentary on how grass grows. And I'll probably sit through another few minutes of it tonight.
Another new show I hate is the WB's Twins. Two weeks in a row this show has made jokes about poop. Yes, poop. Which is an apt description of this "sitcom," although I'd go with the other variation of the word "poop" to describe it. Note to the show's writers: poop jokes are not funny, and they don't get funnier when you write more of them. Unless your target audience is five-year-olds.
Melanie Griffith's portrayal of mother Lee Arnold is horrible. HORRIBLE. She makes Chrissy Snow look like a super-genius. Sometimes what a stupid character says can be funny, but it's painful for the audience when what comes out of the mouth of the stupid character is...well, stupid, and the opposite of hilarious.
One new show with a lot of promise is Everybody Hates Chris, airing on UPN. The show is a sort of Wonder Years look back on comedian Chris Rock's life as a 13-year-old in 1982. In the pilot, Chris and his family move from the projects into the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. Chris is portrayed wonderfully by Tyler Williams. Young Chris has a lot to deal with: being in charge of his brother Drew (Tequan Richmond), who is younger than Chris but larger, and has more luck hitting it off with the girls in the neighborhood than his older brother; and sister Tanya (Imani Hakim). Chris' father, Julius (Terry Crews) obsesses over the cost of things and knows exactly how much a wasted bit of food is worth ("that's 87 cents worth of chicken you threw away!"). But Julius is a loving father, working two jobs to support his family. It's nice to see a show — any show — that portrays the father of a family in a positive way. Mother Rochelle (Tichina Arnold) is also firm but loving.
Article comments
1 - JELIEL
Well you haven't watched much of the new season. It's got potential
2 - parker
I hope you are watching a wide variety of shows. Maybe you could do some analysis of why people watch game shows, soap operas, reality, news, and sports. I've never understood the game show phenomena, or sports. And I'm sure males don't understand females attraction to serials like the soaps and Lost.
3 - Bob A. Booey
"Everybody Hates Chris" is phenomenal. I'm already calling it one of the best 10 shows on TV based on one show.
And it did amazing in the ratings, beating NBC's ill-fated and unimproved Joey (the writing is still horrible and so is Matt LeBlanc's acting, no matter how many new friends they want to give him).
From UPI:
"The premiere of Chris Rock's sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris" set a viewing record for the UPN TV network, it was reported Friday."
From EURWeb.com:
"“Chris” beat the first half-hour of NBC’s hour-long “Joey” premiere, which drew 7.5 million viewers. The show, inspired by Rock’s own upbringing, was second overall in the 8 to 8:30 portion of the 8 p.m. slot, getting about half the 15.5 million viewers who tuned in to time-period winner "Survivor: Guatamala."
But in Brooklyn, the show beat “Joey,” “Survivor” and everything else in its 8 p.m. Thursday timeslot, including Fox’s “The O.C.” "Chris" was also No. 1 in New York with the advertiser-coveted 18- to 49-year-old viewers, and second around the country with that crowd.
Meanwhile, the fourth season of "The Apprentice" had its smallest premiere audience ever with only 9.9 million viewers. To put it all in perspective, Thursday night’s ratings champ, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” pulled 29 million viewers for CBS.
That is all.
4 - Scott
Anyone else catch the premiere episode of "Extras" on HBO?
Hi-lar-i-ous
5 - ss
Rock's one of the best and I'm glad he's doing well, but I have to say it...
His standup was funnier than the HBO show, and the Chris Rock Show was funnier than Everyboby Hates Chris.
6 - Scott C. Smith
I'll definitelly try to catch more shows of the new season. I just don't watch the major networks that often (ABC, CBS, NBC).
As for "Joey": it's not a very good show. I thought for sure it would have been cancelled by now. It's interesting how the people behind really big shows ("Friends," "Will and Grace") are also behind some really bad shows this season ("Joey" and "Twins" come to mind).
7 - Stone
Everybody Hates Chris is hilarious, and I'm not suprised that it beat out Joey (people get paid to write this stuff?)
Also, My Name is Earl is pretty funny as well.
8 - nugget
Chris Rock has never been funny. NEVER. Dave Chapelle is funny. Chris rock is not.
9 - Bob A. Booey
You couldn't be more wrong. Dave Chapelle is also very funny, but I'm sure even Dave would tell you that Chris has been THE top stand-up comic for almost a decade. Most people who really understand comedy would tell you he's at a higher level than almost anyone in his concert specials and tours.
I think he's the funniest since Pryor and is the true heir to Pryor's comedy.
"Joey" isn't cancelled because it still gets mediocre ratings (not quite bad enough to cut NBC's losses) and more importantly because it got a 2-year guarantee from the network before LeBlanc and the "Friends" producers agreed to a spin-off. NBC cannot cancel it until after this year, which is very likely unless the stupid action-hero plot gets viewers, which is unlikely.
That is all.
10 - Scott C. Smith
I love Chris Rock. I saw him last year in Portland and it was a great show, right up there with George Carlin (IMHO). But, to each his (or her) own.
11 - Baronius
The War at Home is bad. It's bad by sitcom standards. It's bad by Fox standards. It's bad by Fox sitcom standards. I would not watch it on a boat, I would not watch it with a goat...