Back to Jericho

You know, I was definitely disappointed when Jericho was canceled last season, but really, of all the shows to be saved by a fan campaign? I wouldn't have picked this one. I still don't really get where all those fans came from...this show had no buzz, and no cult following as far I could tell. Don't get me wrong, I think the show has a really interesting premise that's very different from everything else on TV right now, and I was really starting to get into the story at the end of the season, but I wasn't at all ranking it at the top of my list due to a few problems. For one, the acting and dialogue is pretty mediocre, even laughably bad at times, and the stories are sometimes just stupid...

So I wasn't really sure what to expect from this surprise second season. I really only had two hopes: 1) More Heather, because she rocks. (Jake choosing her over Emily would be awesome but I realize that's probably not going to happen.) And 2) little, if any, Dale and Skylar, who I HATE. The first episode did deliver on those two...Sprague Grayden, who plays Heather, was only listed as a "special guest star", but she's been set up for a larger role (or a death??), and Dale and Skylar were nowhere to be seen (crossing my fingers that it stays that way).

As for the episode it self...I think I was a little underwhelmed. The New Bern storyline was what really started to hook me last season and I wasn't expecting it to be wrapped up so quickly. I know that the finale set up the military to come into Jericho to deal with the situation, but I didn't think we were only going to get to see the rest of the battle in a flashback. Then they skip ahead 4 weeks and the town is all peachy? I'm also really missing Johnston. Gerald McRaney brought such a nice sane, stability to the show. I guess Jake is supposed to be filling that void, but we'll have to see how that goes. I thought him wanting to actually go and assassinate Constantino was just stupid...I guess they wanted to work his grief into a storyline but it was obvious that he and Eric were going to come to their senses and realize that's not what their father would have wanted.

Other than that, I'm glad they're keeping Stanley and Mimi in the mix to lighten things up. I really hated Mimi at first but I started to kind of come around in that episode where she talks to the chicken (you had to be there) and they're kind of cute. I don't really have much to say about all the new government stuff that's developing...I think Esai Morales as Major Beck is a nice addition to the cast, but the new flag and president are a bit creepy. And of course the stuff with Hawkins and the actual perpetrators of the attacks is still ongoing. There are only 7 episodes this season and I wonder how much is going to get resolved...obviously the writers and producers are hoping to get renewed again but I don't want that to mean that if the show does get canceled again we're left with another cliffhanger...

Random connections

I was browsing Wikipedia (that and IMDB are probably my favorite browsing sites) and found this kind of interesting but random tidbit:

One of Jericho's creators and executive producers, Stephen Chbosky, is also the author of the extremely popular young adult novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It came out back when I was in high school and tons of angsty emo teenagers were claiming it as the BEST BOOK EVER. I remember really liking bits and pieces of the book but kind of disliking it as a whole for the same reason I'm not a fan of Catcher in the Rye...they're both supposed to be these gritty honest portrayals of teenagers that I really couldn't relate to much at all. Not really a fault of the books themselves, I suppose, but not my thing regardless.

Anyway, I've been trying to think of connections between the two things, but nothing's really obvious at all. I always find it really interesting when people find success with very different things...

Jericho lives!

So wow. Those nuts really did work!

http://jerichowiki.cbs.com/page/A+Message+From+CBS+Entertainment?t=anon

CBS has ordered 7 episodes for mid-season next year! Season 1 will also be rerun this summer and released on DVD, among other things, to help generate more viewers. This is so awesome!

I think that what saved the show is that Jericho really didn't have awful ratings. According to this list, it was 48th out of 142 network shows for the season, with an average of 9.5 million viewers. Compare that to Friday Night Lights, which had only 6.1, and Veronica Mars, which had a mere 2.5. I know that since CBS is a ratings giant with all of its CSIs and whatnot that Jericho was doing relatively badly. But that's a lot of disappointed viewers.

Anyway, 7 episodes isn't much, but hopefully they can gain some momentum and increase that order. And if not, then maybe the writers can prepare for a real series ending. Regardless, I'm pretty ecstatic that Jake Green and co. will be back!

Finale report, Part 2

The Office: Jim and Pam! This season's moment perhaps doesn't top last year's glorious finale, but in a way, it was much more satisfying because it was so simple and relatively angst-free. I feel a bit bad for Karen, but she knew what she was in the middle of, especially after last week's beach confession. Which, by the way, was really incredible. Pam is awesome! Also, usually I get a little worried about the main couple on a show getting together, but somehow I think this will be fine. I think they'll be sort of Lily/Marshall-esque--back to their old chemistry but with an extra boost of cuteness. After 3 years they don't need any more conflict for awhile.

As for the rest of the hourlong episode, it was chock-full of really great moments. My favorite was probably the very end where Ryan, of all people, gets the job at corporate and immediately breaks up with Kelly. Poor gal, but Ryan definitely needed to get out of there. I was also highly amused at how Michael and Jan have pretty much exchanged roles and Jan is now the one with the crazy antics. Melora Hardin's always put a little bit of the manic in her portrayal of Jan and she's done a really good job at gradually bringing it out full force. I also loved Michael calling all the women in the conference room for advice while Jan was in the office. And I'm glad that Michael didn't make a big deal of not getting the job at corporate and realized that Scranton was really where he belonged.

Jericho: Wow. I really was not expecting this to be cancelled, and I'm pretty upset about it. I mean, I know earlier in the season I described this show as kind of mediocre and silly in many respects, but the story started to really get interesting by the end of the season and a lot of characters were really growing on me. And with the way the season ended...I'm really bummed that we won't get to see what happens. The writers really came up with a lot of really interesting stories to keep the story going, and I thought the Jericho-New Bern conflict was actually kind of awesome. Despite the fact that they were dealing with plenty of heavy stuff before, at some points it seemed to me that life in Jericho was getting a little too normal. The New Bern stuff injected a new sense of urgency into the show and I loved it.

Anyway, this last episode was really excellent. I had heard that a major character was going to die and I was kind of devastated that it was Johnston. At least he and Jake had come to a better place in their relationship. Truthfully I don't know how much I would have liked the show without Gerald McRaney in it, so maybe in that respect maybe cancellation isn't so bad? I also liked that they gave Stanley and Mimi and Bonnie that moment at their parents' graves, and oh, and the Jake/Emily kiss was kind of hot. I'm not into them at all, but the way Jake just went over and kissed her after getting the message from Hawkins that the second round was coming was yeah, hot. And Heather! I KNEW she wasn't dead. I wish she'd have been reunited with the Jericho crew, but it was great seeing her. Oh, and minimal Dale and Skylar = good.

The ending was a cliffhanger but I thought it was actually pretty awesome. It actually kind of reminded me of the final moments of Angel, with everyone just ready to fight their hearts out.

Best moment of the show, when Jake tells Constantino "Nuts!" and tells him to stuff it.

I think a lot of people are upset about this one, and I believe there's already a "Nuts" campaign to try and save the show. I'm honestly not sure what can be done at this point, but these things are always worth a shot.

Heroes: I haven't written all that much about the show this season, not so much because I haven't been enjoying it, but because I sometimes find it to be a bit of a chore to watch, especially when it gets really bogged down in all the angsty emotional stuff. The only character that's really been having any fun at all pretty much EVER is Hiro, but with him being much more serious these past couple of episodes, the show has just been a really big downer. I know, I know, saving the world is stressful and serious business but I feel like a show like this needs a little more balance. It's kind of draining to watch EVERYONE with their pained desperation ALL THE TIME. They really need to bring back a little more fun next season.

Anyway, as for how the season ended...I found the final action sequence to be much too short. There were some unexpected things, but everything happened so quickly and easily. And with D.L. and Mohinder and Parkman and Niki and HRG and the kids just watching and not really doing anything...it was kind of bizarre. And of course all these questions remain: what happened to Peter and Nathan? What happened to Sylar? Where the heck did Hiro end up? Is D.L. going to be ok? Is Ando off the show now? Are Claire and HRG and Parkman really just going to just go back to their families? Is Mohinder going to like, adopt Molly?

I don't know, I don't really want to get myself too obsessive over the show, but I'm really unclear about how all the season's events led up to this, and I don't understand what everyone's roles really were. But maybe it's better that I don't think about that stuff?

Upfronts -- Another take

I think what surprised me most about this year's upfronts were how few returning shows I'm going to be sticking with this fall. There's only Brothers & Sisters, How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, Ugly Betty, the Office, Scrubs, Beauty and the Geek, and Friday Night Lights. There are plenty of new shows, though, and it seems that there are two trends: sci-fi twists, and glamorous rich people...

NBC

• So glad Friday Night Lights is renewed, but are they really putting it on Friday? I know, it's kind of fitting because of the title of the show, but Friday at 10PM? Not sure how that's going to work out.


• Chuck sounds like Jake 2.0, so I might like it.

ABC

• SO EXCITED for Pushing Daisies. I recently watched the full Wonderfalls series on DVD and I'm a huge huge fan of Bryan Fuller and I'm so happy to see Lee Pace back on TV. I'm still kind of worried though, because it really seemed like it could be too quirky for network TV.


• I'll probably check out Big Shots because Michael Vartan is in it, haha.


• Still can't really believe that they're actually doing the Cavemen show.


• Dirty Sexy Money might end up being a guilty pleasure?

CBS

• Really really surprised and pretty upset that Jericho was cancelled. More on that later though.


• Um, Moonlight is Angel. Is it not?

FOX

• New Amsterdam seems to be another version of Angel too. What the heck?


• Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon Ramsay. I am so there!


• The Search for the Next Great American Band. This seems to be an extension of American Idol, but is this for rock bands or just like singing groups? I'd much rather see Rock Star come back...


• The Return of Jezebel James, scheduled for mid-season. Amy Sherman-Palladino, Parker Posey, and Lauren Ambrose? Kind of sounds like the dream team, but early reports say that it was a bit disappointing. Will definitely check it out anyway though.

CW

• Pretty relieved that Veronica Mars was cancelled, because all the talk about the show coming back in all sort of different incarnations was just ridiculous and worrisome. I'm pretty eh about the state of the show right now, considering how much I LOVED the show first season. But more about that later with what's now apparently the series finale.


• Yeah, like Mira, I will not be able to resist Gossip Girl. Yes, I read some of the books. Yes, they're trashy. Yes, I'm too old for it. But yes, I will watch it. I also hear that Kristen Bell will be narrating the show as Gossip Girl. She's one of the few actors that I can take hearing voiceovers from, so that's a good sign.


• Life is Wild sounds like it's going to crash and burn like Runaway.


• Reaper could be good. Is this the return to teen genre TV that I've been waiting for?

Shows that I watch but never seem to blog about:

1. Ugly Betty: I'm still really loving this, should definitely write about it more often.

2. How I Met Your Mother: Am super glad that Ted and Robin decided not to move in together. I'm not sure how long they're planning on dragging this relationship out, but the show has been extremely funny and innovative this season and the cast just has great chemistry that gets better every week.

3. The Amazing Race: All Stars. I was pretty thrilled when Rob and Amber got kicked off, not because I hate them with a passion like some people, but because it was just a great twist. Am not so thrilled that somehow Charla and Mirna have somehow taken their place as the frontrunners. I just don't understand their crazy antics and accents coupled with their eerily serene and controlled interview segments in which they seem convinced that they're the only nice and honest people on the show. I'm rooting for Danny and Oswald because they're funny and generally positive and pretty good racers on top of that. Also wouldn't mind seeing Dustin and Kandice do well...I didn't like them all that much last season but they've been floating under the radar this time around despite a few dumb moves.

4. Jericho: This falls into the category of not very good dramas that I watch because I want to know what happens. I still think the show has a great premise, it's just that the execution is kind of nothing special. It's in the same timeslot as Friday Night Lights and Bones, and I really feel bad for not watching Bones, but oh, well...

5. Heroes: So I like this show too. But I'm not super invested in it, like I am with Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars and Friday Night Lights and Battlestar Galactica (the shows I seem to be blogging about most this season). It's entertaining enough but a few things are holding me back. The first is all that Niki/Jessica nonsense. And the second is Sylar. I don't know, sure, he's creepy, but I don't find him to be all that great of a bad guy.

6. Brothers & Sisters: I've been meaning to do a "second chance" blog on this because I went back and watched the entire season to date on ABC.com and I've gotten really into it. I think I go through this sort of process with every Greg Berlanti show (Everwood and Jack & Bobby before this). I think the first couple of episodes are pretentious and sentimental but then later on I somehow get lured back to it and discover that it's actually really good.

7. Top Design: I know, I know, I said that I probably wasn't going to watch it anymore, but it's kind of interesting. No way near as good as Project Runway or even Top Chef, but it's still pretty watchable. I don't care who wins but the designs are fun to see.

8. The Hills: Ummm yeah. For some reason I just love this packaged reality stuff that MTV does. This season has focused a lot on Heidi and her beyond-irritating boyfriend Spencer, but I think Lauren's been growing up a lot and has started standing up for herself, which is really nice to see.

9. Wildfire: Yeah, even more ridiculous teen TV shows. I'm not sure why I subject myself to this one, considering I can't stand Kris anymore and Matt and Kris are boring together, but well, I blame the DVR. In fact, I blame the DVR for most of this list. I don't know if and when they're having a 4th season but I should really seriously consider not watching it. Enough is enough, right?

10. Instant Star: ....or not. It's official, I watch too many teen shows. Anyway, this season seems to be THE season for Jude and Tommy, since she's finally turning 18. It's still a bit ick when you think about it because Tommy's got to be in his mid-twenties at least, but they're kind of hot. Jude's always been pretty self-righteous and I feel like it's been getting worse lately, but the show is still fun.

11. Dancing with the Stars: Well, I watched the first two episodes this season. I don't know why, considering I didn't watch any of the previous two seasons. I'll probably drop it eventually now that a lot of other shows are returning after March hiatus.

Some second takes

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Pilots are tricky. A good pilot can really make a good impression but I feel like it's not always a good indicator of what subsequent episodes will be like. And you know, as much as I loved the pilot of this show, it's been kind of declining since. The comedy sketches they've shown so far have not been funny, and it's messing with my perception of Matt being a briliant writer. I'm thinking they should cut those out entirely because it's just not working for me. I still love Matt and Danny and Harriet and yes, even Jordan, but the show is getting up there with its West-Wing-esque pretentiousness, and I've never really watched too much SNL but is it really that politics/religion focused? The second episode was good, but the third I felt was kind of a chore to watch, and honestly I don't have a lot to say about it, which aren't good signs. I'm keeping with it, but I don't know. The ratings aren't so hot either, so we'll have to wait and see.

Jericho - I have to say I'm surprised that this is as big a hit as it is, I was positive it was going to go the way of Threshhold and Invasion. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad it's doing well, but I'm really not sure why it's doing so well. It has the most intriguing premise of the season and ultimately it's about a small American town, which has wide appeal, but I'm not really in love with the acting or writing yet. Skeet Ulrich just doesn't strike me as being this great hero. Is that the point maybe? I liked Sprague Grayden on Joan of Arcadia, but here she's kind of meh. I don't care at all about Jake's brother's affairs, and some of the acting on the show is just plain awful, like that bratty spoiled teenage girl and that IRS lady. I commented on the use of pop music in my first review, and it's still bothering me. They really need to tone it down. But Gerald McRaney is always good and Hawkins is totally channeling Morgan Freeman (even though he might be evil), and in the end, I guess the plot is what's most interesting and in this day and age a nuclear attack hits closer to home than aliens.

More new shows

Man do I watch a lot of TV or what? In my defense, most of my regular shows have not premiered yet and well, the DVR is a miracle machine...

Men in Trees - The best way to describe this show is Sex and the city in Alaska. A lot of people have also compared it to Northern Exposure and EVerwood because of it's small mountain town feel, but I've never watched Northern Exposure and it's definitely not a family show like Everwood was. What it is is a show about a relationship coach/writer, Marin Frist, learning about men (and doing voiceovers a la Carrie Bradshaw) in a town in Alaska when men outnumber women ten to one. It's kind of a cute premise but it all hinges heavily on the likeability of the main character, who's played by Anne Heche. I liked her, but I can see how others could find her annoying. I liked the supporting players though: a crazy fan who decides to move to Alaska when Marin does, Marin's super efficient editor, the owner of the local bar, the owner of the only plane in and out of town, and the fish-and-wildlife guy that Marin will obviously be hooking up with. I'm glad that there's another romantic comedy type show on the air again, but honestly I just wish that Miss Match had stuck around.

Jericho - I thought this show had the most intriguing premise of the season (yes even more intriguing that Heroes). A small town in Kansas sees a nuclear mushroom cloud appear on the horizon to the west and is suddenly cut off completely from the rest of the outside world. They soon learn (from an interrupted answering machine message) that there was a similar incident in Atlanta, to the east, and they're left wondering if they could be the only people left in America. Intriguing, right? I found the pilot to be a bit odd though. First of all, they used a lot of pop music on the show, like the Killers and Snow Patrol. I think this is okay in most circumstances, but for some reason I prefer my serious sci-fi dramas to be dramatic underscore only. Second, they introduced a ton of characters and none of them seemed too fleshed out. I mean, I know that character development takes time but I didn't "get" even one of the characters, especially not the supposed lead of the show, played by Skeet Ulrich. I think it'll take a couple of episodes before I can make a real judgment.

Kidnapped - I didn't watched Vanished but it premiered early and hasn't gotten all that much buzz so I assume I'm not really missing anything. I did check out this one though, and I liked it. I thought the pilot did a really excellent job setting everything up and I like mystery shows. From what I've read, I believe that the plan is to solve this case this season and have another kidnapping case next year if the show is renewed. I think this is smart, but that would really only work if Knapp and/or King are enough to carry the show (a la Jack Bauer). The pilot didn't really set them up to be the main characters, but we'll see. Hopefully this won't be cancelled before the mystery is solved though (like Reunion which yes, I am still a little bitter about).

Smith - I hate heist movies. I find the idea of them to just be really irritating because we're supposed to be like rooting for these people to pull off these great heists when they're really just CRIMINALS! So why did I decide to watch this show? Because the cast includes Simon Baker (who's hot), Jonny Lee Miller (who I have an inexplicable crush on), Virginia Madsen, and Amy Smart. Interestingly the only one I'm not all that familiar with is Ray Liotta, who's the lead. But I was bored. So I didn't even finish watching it.

Six Degrees - I know I said that I wasn't going to watch this show because J.J. Abrams has burned me too many times (Felicity, Alias, Lost) but I couldn't help myself. My DVR makes it waaaay too easy to watch anything and everything on TV. Anyway, I watched it and I was pretty unimpressed. Usually J.J. Abrams shows start off great and then spiral into messes of too many loose ends but this one was just kind of...uninteresting. The cast is really great, I liked Hope Davis and Bridget Moynahan, and Jay Hernandez is totally totally hot. Erika Christensen bugs though, and her "secret box" thing is so Meghan from Felicity. But the only storyline I cared at all about was the photographer dude. And once the whole six degrees thing works out, won't it just end up being a show about six people who all know each other? Wasn't ever going to put this on my schedule and watching the pilot just confirmed that. I do love an opportunity to bash JJ Abrams though.