I'm telling you I can't wait for fall TV. This summer's been a dead zone for TV for me between usual summer fare bumped by the strike, a disappointing Mole resurrection and 30 Days ending way too early in July. In fact, this year has been pretty dry with the strike whittling down my usual fare. But next month alone has a lot to offer. Here's the score:
August 29 – Sixth Season premiere of Real Time With Bill Maher (Fall Edition). OK this is cheating a little bit, but this is one of the few political discussion shows I can bear. While I don't agree with everything Maher says (and he can often come off as smug, especially discussing environmentalism and vegetarianism), the discussion is usually interesting, and Maher sometimes says things that need to be said. With this election season rivaling the last presidential election, it's good to have the show back as the season heats up.
September 1 – Fourth Season Premiere of Prison Break. Yes last season failed to live up to expectations. Yes the show has been inconsistent since they broke out of Fox River in season one. Yes Susan/Gretchen is no where near as compelling a villain as Kellerman. Yes behind the scenes drama hindered on screen events. I'm still going to be tuning in, if only to ease the withdrawals from almost 18 months without new 24. Plus, Michael Rappaport joining the cast should make it at least watchable (notwithstanding the awful War at Home).
Promos: With the big reveal viewers probably already know http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhbcmEyiQMY
September 2 – Seventh (and Final) Season Premiere of The Shield. I've missed this show a lot. I thought last season ended abruptly, as if this season was meant to be the second part. This show put FX on the map and showed that you didn't have to be on HBO to put out a quality product on cable. This premiere is the beginning of the end for FX's flagship programs, all of which are due to take their final bows in the next couple years (let's see how they handle it compared to HBO). I can't wait to see how the fall of Vic Mackey comes to fruition (my money is that Dutch takes him down). A few clips are available on Hulu, and it was hard to stop at just two.
Final Season Trailer: Not as good as the Johnny Cash one for season five, but it uses a Beck song. http://www.hulu.com/watch/23297/the-shield-the-shields-final-season#s-p1-st-i0
September 3 – Series Premiere of Sons of Anarchy. The ads during 30 Days didn't do much for me, but hearing the cast, including Ron Perlman, Drea de Mateo, Mitch Pileggi and Jay Karnes (two FX shows at the same time!), is making me look forward to checking it out.
Promo: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=40643112
September 7 – Fifth Season Premiere of Entourage. It'll be interesting to see this summer show try a fall slot (it was preempted because of, wait for it, the writer's strike). This show is probably a lot better enjoyed in the summer, when summer blockbusters are on the minds of people watching shows about people in show business. Whatever the case, hopefully Jeremy Piven will continue to be hilarious and I continue to wish the made up movies on the show were real (make Aquaman happen suits!)
September 7 – Series Premiere of Fringe. It's JJ Abrams, and I was a fan of Alias and I love Lost (although that's more Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse). From what little I've seen, it sounds cool. Not to mention Lance Reddick, who will always be Cedric Daniels before Matthew Abaddon to me, is in it. I don't remember much from the trailer, but that's fine by me. Abrams' shows tend to be best going in fresh.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAu4L5_Fl84
September 7 – Series Premiere of True Blood. From writer/director Alan Ball, creator of Six Feet Under and writer of American Beauty (one of my favorites despite the glut of movies/shows that tried and failed to be it), it's about vampires and I know little else other than that. The marketing is intriguing with vampire advocacy groups, synthetic blood bottled for mass consumption and a religious-based opposition group in the promotional material. It'd be nice to see HBO have a sci-fi show that was a success since Carnivale proved big, expensive and not buzz worthy enough (if you can slog through that slow as molasses first season, the second pays it off). I've heard good reviews so far, and it seems like it's going to avoid the Ball pratfall of taking itself too seriously. So long as they don't do an episode where a vampire gets kidnapped by the most incompetent kidnapper ever and they spend half the episode on it, I'll give it a shot.
Video: Nightline-esque spoof of the context of this world. http://www.hbo.com/trueblood/otherworlds/
September 13 – Thirty-Fourth (Thirty-Fourth!) season premiere of Saturday Night Live. Yes the show is mostly miss, but often if they get a decent host it'll make it watchable (and I want bragging rights for when the next "Lazy Sunday", "D*** in a Box" or "Iran (So Far Away)" happens).
September 18 – Fourth Season Premiere of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Thank Hulu for getting me into this since I missed out when it first came on (I instead chose the unpleasant Starved). This show is definitely Seinfeld if they went as far as a cable network would allow. There is nothing redeeming about any of them, but they are hilarious.
"Goin' Back to Philly" music video: Basically this is the complete trailer that's been seen in 30 second shots all summer on FX. http://www.hulu.com/watch/27147/its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia-goin-back-to-philly-music-video#s-p3-st-i1
September 21 – 60th Emmys. OK, I'll probably more likely read the results than watch, but it's important to keep track, no matter how conflicted I am over some of the choices (I'm rooting for Michael Emerson and glad they recognized Lost in its comeback season, but still upset that they never nominated Michael K. Williams for his brilliant portrayal of Omar on The Wire, which itself was barely noticed by the academy). It's a sad cycle.
September 22 – Second Season Premiere of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. This was one of only two new show I picked up last season. I'm a huge fan of the movies (even the last one, which was fun popcorn, and I'm looking forward to Salvation) and this series was entertaining. Too bad the strike (sorry if I go overboard with strike talk) cut the season in half. Hopefully the second season pulls a Buffy, where it finds its groove and lives up to its potential. Brian Austin Green, originally a puzzling casting choice with his best known work on 90210, turned out to work really well. Now that he's a regular this season, they'll be able to expand upon his role, as the first human perspective into the dark future since Kyle Reese, the brother of Green's character, from the first movie.
Promo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i9865Mj_vM
September 22 – Third Season Premiere of Heroes. It seems like forever since the second season ended. Truncated because of the strike, it's had to stew for almost ten months in residual criticism as it went from freshman phenom to sophomore slump, and that awful Going Postal web series didn't do them any favors either. I'm sure some people who only read my reviews of the second season (when I picked it up) thought I started reviewing it to bash it because I'm too cool for the room, but that's not true. The show was enormously entertaining in its first year, and it has the potential to return to that with the "Villains" volume, not to mention some of the guest stars would make great additions to the cast.
Trailer: Is that Malcolm McDowell (Linderman) I hear (at :45)? http://www.hulu.com/watch/27059/heroes-choose-a-side#s-p1-st-i1
Bonus: Full Trailer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJxBw3uc5cU
September 25 – Fifth Season Premiere of The Office. Unfortunately the fourth season was largely weak, with those bloated hour long episodes at the beginning and (again) the strike. However, I still love the ensemble and even at its worst can make me smile or cringe in a good way. I can't wait to see what they do with Amy Ryan (aka Beadie Russell from The Wire.) What I really hope for in the coming season is fewer "sitcomy" moments where Michael and Dwight come off as cartoons (they walk a fine line) or end up in situations where the only logical resolution is Michael getting fired (or arrested like in the infamous pizza delivery guy subplot) and it doesn't happen. Again, I don't want to be too harsh on this show. Everyone involved is highly talented and funny, and I think they can return to great stuff like seasons two and three.
Teaser (Jim & Pam): http://www.hulu.com/watch/30824/the-office-pam-and-jim-denied
September 28 – Second Season Premiere of Californication. This show came out when chatter started over whether Showtime was inheriting the HBO torch of quality programming. It's easy to see why with HBO's vanguard shows ending and little else to fill the schedule or fire the public's imagination like Sopranos and Showtime coming out with critical and commercial hits. Showtime isn't there yet, but Weeds and Dexter are almost the Sex and the City and Sopranos (to make a comparison) of Showtime. Californication Also on a superficial level, Natasha McElhone is one of the most beautiful women on TV. It should make a good chaser to the dark stuff on Dexter.
September 28 – Third Season Premiere of Dexter. I picked up season one on DVD a year ago on a whim based on positive word of mouth and I'm glad I did. This show has quickly become one of my favorites. The second season, which I watched on OnDemand, was even better, delving into Dexter's character and some great cat and mouse moments. Since I get Showtime now, I can watch the episodes live rather than wait until DVD. I'm really looking forward to what Jimmy Smitts is going to bring to the show. It'll also be fun to have two great anti-hero shows (The Shield being the other one) on at the same time. Michael C. Hall has always been great since Six Feet Under, and it's great he found another venue for his talent so quickly.
Wow. I don't even know where to begin. First I've never written a teaser for a review before, but this episode clearly deserves one, and it'll probably be a while before my review for the final two parts goes live.
Although the season may have ended officially May 22nd, it didn't really end until the two part finale of the best season of "Lost" yet aired. "There's No Place Like Home Parts 2 & 3" had just about everything you could ask for. Some great action sequences (Sayid and Keamy's epic fight), long awaited answers (Locke is the man in the coffin after all), added bodies (RIP Keamy, Michael, Jin (?) and Locke (who may be pulling a Christian)), romance (Desmond & Penny at last!) and the mystery that "Lost" expertly pulls off. There were so many cheers, gasps and one major tearjerker. By the end I was exhausted in the best way possible. This is the early leader of my favorite episode for 2008 (Ball's in your court "Battlestar Galactica").
It'll probably be a while before the review goes online, since this episode demands several rewatchings and will likely be longer than any review previously, dethroning my review of last season's finale, the current title holder. But this has priority over my retro reviews I promise at least that.
For a TV season that was filled with several lows, mainly the writer's strike cutting down many shows' orders and benching several favorites ("24") or several favorites underperforming ("The Wire", "The Office" & "Heroes"), this season stood out even more. The shortened season, added to the knowledge of the show's end date, made the writing tighter with fewer "filler" moments. This episode is a perfect example of that: luckily there were commercials to catch my breath and scoot back from the edge of my seat.
If my initial judgment stands, this season will end with an average of 8.57, a tremendous achievement that few shows will likely touch. Put that in perspective, the other show I reviewed this season, "Heroes", ended its mediocre second season just above dead average at 7.09. Not to mention 3 episodes got the coveted "Perfect 10" score. This episode cemented this season as the best yet and one of the best seasons of television in recent memory.
Preliminary score: 10/10
Obviously with a show known to be a launching pad for a lot of talent, the old episodes are a time capsule of great talents just as they were starting. In this first season we have the main cast, most of whom had some success after they left the show. Comedic guest talent included Billy Crystal (who went by Bill Crystal in the episode) & Al Franken, who mainly wrote in the first five years, later appearing on camera after Lorne Michaels resumed producer duties in 1985. In addition, there is the in house band lead by Howard Shore, who would go on to work with Peter Jackson, Cronenberg and Scorsese among others. Paul Shaffer, a few years away from Letterman's debut, also worked on the show's first season.
One of the more absurd newcomers of the first season was Andy Kaufman, a few years before he starred in Taxi. Even casual viewers of his work (or if you just saw Man in the Moon) know his trademark absurdist humor. The concept of his sketches was simple: lip synching to old children songs. However, the presentation is hilarious, from having several volunteers from the audience lip synch to "Old McDonald" to him awkwardly awaiting the phrase "Here I come to save the day" in the clas sic "Mighty Mouse" bit. I'm not sure SNL today would be as daring to allow someone like this on now, but back when they had nothing to lose, you see a lot more experimentation.
Video: Andy Kaufman's "Mighty Mouse" routine http://youtube.com/watch?v=AHG9jp6s1OI
Much like today, short films are a big part of the show. The early episodes featured shorts directed by then unknown Albert Brooks, who left the series to pursue Hollywood filmmaking (Taxi Driver, which he co-starred in, premiered a month after his last short aired). The rest of the season Gary Weis took over, and the films turned to documentaries of unusual people. While I only found Brooks' films moderately amusing and Weis' dull, the concepts were unusual, which I can respect. Today the digital shorts are the big reason why people are saying SNL is funny again. If they replaced "Lazy Sunday", "D*** In a Box" and "Iran (So Far Away)" with these shorts, I doubt people would take notice or watch it millions of times on YouTube.
Early in the season they announced a "contest", where viewers could send in their own short films with the possibility of them being aired. Such a concept couldn't be done today with SNL's institutional status on TV, but since they were just getting media attention, that was OK. The biggest contribution of these shorts was one, made for around $20, featuring a clay man named Mr. Bill. I never knew he was brought on the show as a part of a "contest", but that is another joy of seeing these old episodes: you see the origins of the sketches that have become pop culture staples.
Video: Mr. Bill http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/index.shtml#mea=32837
One recurring segment involved a more adult version of Jim Henson's Muppets. These stand out as possibly the worst recurring segment of the first season. Every time Don Pardo mentioned them I rolled my eyes a little bit. It just doesn't fit the rest of the show. Who exactly were these sketches made for? While drug humor was a big part of the early episodes, I'd expect someone to be ridiculously high to chuckle during one of these. The Land of Gorch set was destroyed mid-season, as if that wasn't a strong enough indicator of where they were going. Luckily, the following TV season they got their act together for The Muppet Show, one of my favorites growing up.
Topical humor is ubiquitous today, from The Daily Show & The Colbert Report to The Onion, that it's easy to forget that it wasn't always this way. The 60s started that as The Smothers Brothers referenced Vietnam and Laugh In featured then candidate Richard Nixon (SNL would have Gerald Ford deliver the "Live from New York" line, ironically on pretape, when Ron Nessen hosted). SNL, whose cast grew up during that turbulent time, features political humor a lot, especially in the long running "Weekend Update" sketch, and the first season is no exception. It's interesting to watch historically (especially when they talk about future presidents Carter, Reagan and Bush 41, then the head of the CIA), but as someone who wasn't around for week-by-week coverage of the news then, only the big names resonate, making some of the material dated, or at least hard to understand out of context.
One of Chase's first big recurring character was of then President Ford, using a lot of physical comedy to mock Ford's clumsiness. This impersonation is noteworthy for one big reason: it wasn't an impersonation at all. Chevy Chase didn't wear any special make up or speak as Ford did. They made no attempt to make the audience believe he was Ford. If anyone tried that today they'd be accused of being lazy. Aykroyd's impersonation of Nixon in the memorable "Last Days of Nixon" sketch as well as Jimmy Carter showed an increased effort in impersonation.
Video: Chevy's first Ford sketch http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/index.shtml#mea=29150
In addition to politics, drug culture influenced SNL. Considering everyone back stage was smoking pot, it had to have been the subject for sketches. Two highlights involved Chevy Chase. The first had him trying to inject a joint into his arm like a syringe and the other was him as President Ford trying to roll a joint and failing miserably. The first one is more goofy humor, but both bear a subtext of the older generation's lack of understanding for how drugs worked.
As mentioned regarding Garrett Morris, race issues weren't covered as much as other topics. However, when Richard Pryor hosted things were different. Race plays a vital part in one of the first season's most memorable sketches. In it, an interviewer (Chase) plays word association with Pryor, eventually degenerating in Chase and Pryor exchanging increasingly offensive ethnic slurs at each other. Pryor's punch line is absolutely hilarious.
Video: Word Association Sketch (NSFW) http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/index.shtml#mea=29157
An unusual recurring segment involved on set plugs for Polaroid cameras. This is something that was common on TV in the fifties, but I'm not sure how often they did this in the mid-70s. It comes in contrast to the iconoclastic attitude of the cast, but somehow they made it work, even when their input was minimal (like when John Belushi and Jane Curtain switched names).
Pop culture played a big part in the early episodes as it does now. Of those sketches, "Land shark" stands out. Spoofing the success of Jaws, which had just come out the previous summer, the sketches have a shark devouring women by knocking on their apartment door, pretending to be delivering a candygram. If it needs to be repeated, they were smoking a lot of pot around that time.
Admittedly, I skipped over about half of the musical guests performances, consisting of forgettable one hit wonders. However, there are some great musical performances. In addition to Paul Simon and Belushi's Joe Cocker impression, we also had the second episode, which was in a way a mini Simon & Garfunkel reunion, with them playing favorites "The Boxer" and "Scarborough Fair". Loudon Wainright III appeared early in the season, offering some oddly amusing songs satirizing the country's bicentennial. In a later episode, reggae legend Jimmy Cliff performed the clas sic "The Harder They Come", one of the songs credited for ushering in reggae music to the main stream.
Two of my favorites come from opposite sides of the spectrum. Desi Arnaz, who seems like the unlikeliest of hosts during this first season, performed (with son Desi Jr.) with the passion he had back when I Love Lucy was still on the air. He played two songs, "Cuban Pete" and his trademark "Babalu". The cast and crew did a conga line through the studio to close the episode. His enthusiasm made that episode really fun to watch, and I can imagine the party must've continued well after that curtain call.
My favorite musical guest came when President Ford's press secretary Ron Nessen hosted. The musical guest: Patti Smith. While she is deservedly a legend and trendsetter, this performance came shortly after her debut "Horses" was released. This was one of the first tastes mainstream America had of punk (a week after this episode, The Ramones debut album would be released). In the episode she performs her interpretation of "Gloria" and her cover of "My Generation". While not as revelatory as The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, it's another great historical moment in music.
Music also became the foundation for several sketches. One of Belushi's memorable first season sketches was a recurring bit involving Beethoven, in a fit of writer's block, churning out Motown and R&B singles. In addition, song lyrics would be dropped into the dialogue, or it would turn into a musical segment, such as the one where a PI (John Belushi) and his client (Madeline Kahn) begin incorporating "I Will Follow Him" into the conversation. Another sketch, involving Kahn, was a cover of "I Feel Pretty" (from West Side Story), sung by the Bride of Frankenstein (Kahn, in her Young Frankenstein wig). When Kahn passed away in 1999, SNL used this segment as an obituary for her.
The biggest music moment was the one that never happened. One week after Patti Smith, Lorne Michaels appeared on air asking The Beatles to reunite on the show. Due to budgetary constraints, as Michaels explains, NBC can only offer the Fab Four $3000, which I believe is still the standard fee for musical guests thirty-two years later. "If you want to give Ringo less, that's up to you." Lennon and McCartney were close enough to the studio on the night it aired to get there and perform before the show ended. Sadly, it's one of the great musical "What ifs". There's something about the impossible task of reuniting the biggest musical act of all time with the rag tag budget of a late night comedy show, with a child like belief that it's possible, that serves as a microcosm for the era.
While the first season of SNL wasn't the knock out I expected, it's still a worth it to see it as a piece of pop culture history. It's great to see a time when SNL wasn't the institution it is today, as it offers some perspective as to where the series would go in over three decades and 600 episodes. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing the other episodes from this first era, as many clas sic moments are to come: The Coneheads & Blues Brothers hadn't been introduced; Jane Curtin wasn't an ignorant s*** yet; Elvis Costello hasn't appeared and ignored the producers' song choice; and Bill Murray and SNL Host MVP Steve Martin have come on board either. I've always heard about how the cast developed over the first four years, eventually I want to see where they go from this first season foundation.
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