Just Us Nerds

Maybe it’s time to just relax and let Studio 60 be what it is. It is a good show. The problem is that I was hoping for a great show and in that category it falls short. The first time Aaron Sorkin made a show about TV, Sports Night, I absolutely loved it and I really did feel like America just wasn’t smart enough to get the jokes. This time, I can understand the problem. The show has some very funny moments, but not enough to qualify it as a comedy. If anything, it is trying a little too hard to be funny. The bat through the window this week was a nice moment (that would have been far better if they hadn’t used it in the promos), but the overall bat/boot sub-plot was neither funny nor realistic. I want to think of these people as smart, not stupid, and only a couple of idiots could have been stupid enough to do the things they did. As for the drama, it also seems a little forced. A network president’s old drunk driving arrest would not captivate the country for two straight weeks. Heck, that didn’t even happen with Bush’s old drunk driving arrest. A network president is not a celebrity and no one is going to buy a book about her sex life. As for the plagiarism plot, it seemed a little forced as well. That said, the plot wasn’t ridiculous, it just wasn’t as sharp as it should have been. The show is entertaining, but it isn’t revolutionary or brilliant and I’ll just have to live with that.

Week two of Lost was a little better than week one. At least we had interaction among some of the Losties, something that was painfully absent last week. Unfortunately, I still haven’t found a reason to care about the Others. The Kate and Sawyer kiss was fun and the best moment in the sow. I was once again amazed at the stupidity of supposedly smart characters though. Sayid’s plan wasn’t really a plan so much as the quickest possible way for him to lose the boat. It just seemed like a plot device, and a bad one at that. As for Sun and Jin, their back story at least had some interesting moments, but not enough to get me off of my dislike of the flashbacks. Overall, I am starting to lose interest and I am only hanging on long enough to see what the rest of the Losties have been up to. If it still sucks then, I may give up.

As long as I’m handing out complaints, how long has it been since an NCIS case wasn’t about somebody trying to get even with, capture or otherwise endanger one of the agents (or in last week’s case a former agent)? It isn’t even sweeps yet. I remember a time when the people at NCIS investigated crimes that weren’t actually about them. I know they want to break free of any lingering CSI stigma, but I find it hard to believe that this many people have a grudge against Naval investigators. Also, my wife desperately wants Mark Harmon to lose the mustache.

Now I feel like it is time to hand out a few compliments, especially to The Office and How I Met Your Mother. Here are two shows, comedies no less, that actually followed through on the developments from their season cliffhangers. The Office broke apart the Jim/Pam storyline by having Jim follow through with his transfer and for four weeks now there has been no sign of his return. We all know it will come sooner or later, but each week he stays in Stamford make the plot line more realistic. My guess about how they are going to bring them all back together is simple. The Stamford branch is going to close and Jim is going to be merged back into Scranton along with new romantic interest Karen. This is not only a good solution to the current separation, but would follow along the lines of the original UK version of the show. As for HIMYM, they have continued with the pairing of Ted and Robin as well as the break-up of Marshall and Lilly. While I somewhat miss the old chemistry on both shows, I give them high praise for exploring change rather than quickly discarding it the way shows such as NCIS and Two and a Half Men did.

I haven’t caught as many of the new shows as I normally do at the beginning of a season, but those I have caught have not exactly been art so here is a quick run down.

‘Til Death – Mildly Amusing

The Class – Started bad but slowly improving

20 Good Years — I’d settle for 22 good minutes. What a waste.

30 Rock – Way blander than i would have thought

Ugly Betty – Betty good, soap opera bad

Shark – James Woods has to carry the whole show on his shoulders and he is almost succeeding.

Heroes – They managed to make a show about superpowers kind of sad and dull. Now that is an amazing accomplishment, just not a good one. Love the cliffhangers though.