5/6/2009

Producers of “The Wire” focus on New Orleans:

HBO is ironing out the details on a deal for “Treme,” the latest project by “The Wire” producers David Simon and Eric Overmyer.

“Treme” centers on New Orleans residents – including musicians and a restauranteur – living in the city’s Treme district. Show follows the characters as they look to reclaim their lives as the city continues to rebuild.

Simon said he and Overmyer, who lives in New Orleans, had been in love with the city long before the storm — but post-Katrina, knew there was a story to be told.

But, he warned, “Treme” is not “The Wire: New Orleans.”

“We don’t intend to make ‘The Wire’ twice,” Simon said. “This is about people reconstituting their lives after their town was mostly, effectively destroyed… It’s not entirely a political show. We’re trying to be very intimate with people. And New Orleans is completely unique, there’s nothing in the world like it.”

While I’d love to see “The Wire: New Orleans,” I’d be almost as excited about anything this duo produces, especially if it’s on HBO. Production won’t begin until fall, so the network is targeting a spring premiere.

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1/8/2009

Seven shows that just don’t get enough love: Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to put together a list of my favorite television moments before the end of 2008, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t spend an inordinate amount of time in front of the tube. (Come to think of it, maybe my television addiction was the reason I didn’t have the free time to write about the best of 2008. Hmm.)

Anyway, here is a list of seven terrific shows that seem to be flying under the proverbial radar.

1. “True Blood” (HBO)
Alan Ball, the writer of “American Beauty” and the creator of “Six Feet Under,” brings us a series based on vampires in the Deep South. The series is based on Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series of books and stars Anna Paquin — whom I argued, under the moniker of Eli Cash a few years back, would have made a better Penny Lane than Kate Hudson — as a mind-reading waitress in a small town in Louisiana. The first season was excellent, though it got off to a bit of a slow start. Paquin is the key, but her best friend Tara (played by Rutina Wesley) often steals the show.

2. “Dexter” (Showtime)
Everyone’s favorite serial killer is back for a third season. Dexter Morgan works for the Miami Police Department as a blood splatter analyst and he spends his night hunting and killing the worst criminals in South Florida. This series has been excellent from the start, and shows no signs of slowing down. This season brought in Jimmy Smits as an Assistant District Attorney with a serious dark side. After “Six Feet Under,” I thought I’d always see Michael C. Hall as the openly gay David Fisher, but now I can’t imagine him as anyone other than the dark and secretive Dexter.

3. “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (FX)
Maybe this show just too crass to be mainstream, and thinking about it, that’s probably what makes it so great. “Sunny” really hit its stride in the third season, and the fourth season was even better. The show follows a group of friends (and Danny DeVito) that own a bar in Philadelphia. Every episode has its own completely ridiculous premise, but once you accept that every single character is a selfish, narcissistic moron, it becomes that much funnier. As far as sitcoms go, for me, the excellent fourth season put it in the same tier as “The Office,” “30 Rock,” “Weeds” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and that’s some good company.

4. “Summer Heights High” (HBO)
Anyone who dug the U.K. version of “The Office” should check this series out. It’s an Australian mockumentary that follows three characters — the effeminate drama teacher Mr. G, the snotty private school transfer Ja’mie and the disruptive Tongan student Jonah — which are all played by the same actor, writer/creator Chris Lilley. Watching a grown man run around in a school dress is ridiculous, but that’s part of the fun. Lilley is extremely talented; it can’t be easy to morph into three very different characters every week. The humor is outrageous and the situations (especially involving the clueless Mr. G) can be David Brent-type awkward.

5. “Supernatural” (CW)
This sci-fi/fantasy series started off in typical “freak of the week” fashion with a different monster to defeat each week, but as it got into its third season, it really developed some serious, serialized chops. Now in its fourth year, the show continues to follow two brothers who are “hunters,” i.e. they fight all manner of evil — demons, vampires, ghosts, etc. Even in its first year, the show held my attention, but with all the happenings of the last two seasons, new episodes don’t sit on my TiVo for very long. Viewers who like sci-fi/fantasy should definitely check out “Supernatural.”

6. “The Unit” (CBS)
I think a lot of people write off “The Unit” as a typical CBS show like “CSI” or “NCIS” (or some other acronym), but as the show as worn on, it’s simply gotten better and better. The subject matter is ripe with storylines; the show follows members of a Special Forces unit (led by super-badass Jonas Blane, played wonderfully by Dennis Haysbert) and their families. A quick look at the production staff reveals a couple of big names — David Mamet (”The Untouchables,” “Glengarry Glen Ross”) and Shawn Ryan (”The Shield”) — that instantly give the show some serious credibility. Early on, the series could get a little “hooah!” and focus on the wives a bit too much, but the later seasons have struck the perfect balance between the professional and the personal.

7. “Brotherhood” (Showtime)
It doesn’t have as high of a profile as “The Sopranos” and maybe it’s not as addicting, but “Brotherhood” has the same feel and the same quality of writing. It follows two brothers in Providence, Rhode Island. One is a corrupt state congressman trying to do right by his family and the other is deeply involved in organized crime. Those that miss “The Sopranos” or “The Wire” should definitely rent the first season of “Brotherhood.”

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12/9/2008

2008: The Year in TV – Jeff Giles: v class="blog_entry_subhead_black">TOP 3 SHOWS

1. “Lost,” ABC

After two seasons of listening to viewers bitch about everything from too many characters to plots not moving fast enough, the “Lost” writers whomped us all over the head with a run of episodes that was better than anything fans had seen since Season One. Many of the show’s most important riddles were answered – or at least what we thought were its most important riddles, because now there’s a whole new list of them to answer. Not even that damn writers’ strike was enough to put much of a dent in this season of “Lost” — and not even the new Fray single playing in the background is enough to keep us from geeking out over the Season Five promos that ABC recently started airing.

2. “The Office,” NBC
Few network shows – and zero sitcoms – have played as fast and loose with their casts as “The Office”; whether it’s Oscar going on “gaycation,” Andy entering anger management counseling, Jim transferring to Stamford, Toby fleeing to Costa Rica, or Pam wandering off to art school in New York, you never know who’s going to move off-canvas for a spell – kind of like your actual workplace environment. It’s this grounding – along with one of the best casts and some of the strongest comedy writing on television – that helps keep “The Office” from getting stale, and allows it to transcend such stereotypically show-killing plot devices as the star-crossed couple (in this case, Jim and Pam) that finally gets together. Of course, it helps when said couple isn’t even the hottest pairing on the show: this season, Dwight and Angela’s secret warehouse liaisons have proven that even a Second Life-playing, beet-farming paper salesman can get his mojo rising every once in awhile.

3. “Friday Night Lights,” DirecTV
Unless you have DirecTV, you haven’t seen any of “FNL’s” third season – and you won’t until early 2009, under the terms of a unique cost-sharing deal that saved the show from cancellation…for now, anyway. It certainly remains to be seen how non-DTV fans of the show will deal with this arrangement – if, for instance, they’ve managed to keep from spoiling the entire season in advance with recaps posted on the Web – or whether NBC will deign to promote content that’s already aired elsewhere. In the meantime, however, here’s what we can tell you: the third season of “Friday Night Lights” packs all of the addictive small-town drama and pulse-pounding gridiron action of Season One, minus the unwelcome addition of stupidly soapy ingredients that weakened Season Two (in other words, nobody’s throwing any bodies off bridges). We’ll be very surprised if “FNL” returns for a fourth season – on any network – but we’ve still got our fingers crossed.

“The Biggest Loser,” NBC
It’s long been lumped in with crap like “Temptation Island,” but NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” actually puts reality television to good use, devoting each season to giving a handful of America’s ever-growing legion of fatties the chance to shed their extra pounds, change their lives, and win a bundle of cash in the process. Of course, this being a reality game show, “Loser’s” appeal isn’t all (or even mostly) altruistic – a big part of what keeps audiences tuning in is the chance to see said fatties try to scheme, cajole, and double-deal each other out of the prize. Last season’s cast was more harmonious (read: boring) than previous years, but this time out, the show’s producers tapped into a goldmine of backbiting and screaming arguments with a vengeful, endlessly plotting contestant named Vicky (not to mention Brady, her rooster-like jackass of a husband). It’s entertaining for all the wrong reasons, and it serves a purpose – what else could a viewer ask for?

“One Life to Live,” ABC
Since the early ‘90s, daytime serial viewership has been on a steep decline, and the industry has been in a state of chaos, with show runners flailing about for fixes both quick (cancellation) and painful (storylines and plot devices pulled from bigger-budget serials like “Sopranos” and “Lost”). On the flip side, though, there are still a few shows that remember how to take the daily drama format and turn it into addictive television – and “One Life to Live,” under the stewardship of head writer Ron Carlivati, has been the best of the bunch since last spring. Forget all the old stereotypes about bon-bon-gobbling hausfraus and melodramatic organ music, and tell your TiVo to skip one of the 400 daily episodes of “SportsCenter” so you can get a load of how well a group of underpaid professionals can juggle a huge cast, a miniscule budget, and a whole lot of scenery-chewing. And don’t worry – the storylines are no more ridiculous than anything you’ll see on “24” or “Prison Break.”

1. Newhart: The First Season
Given that we live in an era in which the complete run of “The Greatest American Hero” is available on DVD, a person could be forgiven for assuming that “Newhart’s” 1982-90 run would have been compiled for the DVD market long ago. But no: Season One of the classic CBS sitcom wasn’t compiled until early 2008, and as of this writing, there’s no release date – or any visible plans – for subsequent seasons to follow suit. Which is sadly ridiculous, but hey, at least we’ve got these episodes, all of which are filled to the brim with Newhart’s dry wit, not to mention the first appearance of the legendary Larry, Daryl, and Daryl. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed for seasons two through eight, shall we?

2. The Office: Season Four
Most 2007-08 season sets were highly abbreviated, thanks to the writers’ strike – and Season Four of “The Office” was no different. What made up for the lack of episodes, though, was a ton of extra content; like previous sets, it came packed with scores of deleted scenes – enough for a few more episodes’ worth of running time – and other assorted goodies, including featurettes and commentary. It also didn’t hurt that “The Office” was one of a handful of shows that managed to come back for a few episodes after the strike was resolved, allowing for an actual storyline arc, rather than plotlines condensed (a la “Heroes”) or halted midstream (a la “Friday Night Lights”).

3. The Wire: The Complete Series
Only a few months after releasing the fifth and final season to DVD, HBO bundled up the whole kit and caboodle, issuing the handsomely boxed “The Complete Wire” just in time for Christmas (and, indeed, for a shining write-up in our Holiday Gift Guide). As of this writing, the complete set is available at Amazon for $135 – a whopping $115 below the MSRP, and a damn sight cheaper than the price paid by fans who ate up the individual seasons as they were released. So here’s the bottom line: if you’ve been reading about the greatness of “The Wire” for the last six years – and if you love TV, you surely have – but haven’t gotten on board yet, you no longer have any excuses. Just get it. It’s really that good.

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3/10/2008

With news of McNulty and Lester’s shenanigans finally reaching Carcetti at city hall, the governor hopeful is absolutely livid. It’s a lose-lose situation from where he’s standing, and in order to protect himself during the upcoming election, he agrees that burying the dirt is best. Daniels doesn’t necessarily agree, but he doesn’t really have a choice. Pearlman is tied to the wiretap, and if McNulty and Lestor go down, so does she. Of course, that doesn’t mean Pearlman is necessarily accepting of her position, and she makes sure Lester knows about it when they run into one another downtown.

Lester relays the info to McNulty, who’s busy trying to wrap up his Red Ribbon Killer investigation, and together they map out a gameplan for the future. As it stands, the two aren’t exactly in trouble, and aside from being forced out of actual police work for the rest of their careers, they probably won’t even face a grand jury hearing either. Still, that doesn’t exactly help with McNulty’s guilt when he discovers that a copycat killer is on the prowl, murdering homeless men and tying white (not red) ribbons to their wrists. Surprisingly, McNulty is quick to solve the crime, and though Rawls would love to pin all of the homeless killings on the culprit (a delusional homeless man himself), McNulty is adamant that he only be charged for the last two murders.

Though none of the higher-ups are especially pleased with McNulty and Lester, you’ve got to credit the latter for digging up dirt on Marlo’s lawyer, Levy. Without it, it looked like Marlo would not only be dismissed from his charges, but that Carcetti and the entire BPD would be exposed for McNulty’s big white (or is it red?) lie. Instead, Pearlman uses the information against Levy, scoring Chris a life sentence for all of the vacant murders, and Monk and Cheese up to 20 years for possession/intent to sell. Marlo, on the other hand, is given a slap on the wrist and a warning that if he ever traffics drugs again, he’ll be right back in jail.

Quick to make good on the details of his release, Marlo puts his connect with the Greeks up on the market, prompting Slim Charles and the rest of the co-op to pull together their money and purchase the rights. Even Cheese (out on bail) is willing to donate more than twice that of everyone else, but after a long speech about sharing the wealth (where he just so happens to reiterate that it was Omar who killed Prop Joe), Slim Charles shoots him in the head. The others are little peeved that Slim Charles would do such a thing (since it means they still have to come up with the final $900,000 for Marlo), but it had to be done, and it only made sense that Slim was the one to pull the trigger.

As for the rest of the episode, well, a lot of stuff happened. As in, way too much to go in to detail here. Still, I’d really like to talk about it in some capacity, so in the spirit of the show’s montage-esque “where are they now” conclusion, I’ve created a quick rundown for discussion’s sake:

1. McNulty – I never even thought of the possibility of McNulty quietly retiring, and as it turns out, it was the perfect decision. Not only that, but his “wake” was one of the series’ finest moments, and only further proved why Landsman is the show’s funniest character.

2. Templeton – Despite his best efforts, Gus simply couldn’t convince his bosses that Templeton was a lying bastard. In fact, they probably knew that Gus was right, but the prospect of a Pulitzer was just too much for them. In the end, it cost Alma her job, and it earned Templeton the top prize. Unbelievable.

3. Daniels/Pearlman – Daniels’ decision to retire was a bit strange (he’d already lied about McNulty and Lester, so why wouldn’t he be willing to pad the stats?), but now he’s practicing law again, and Pearlman is the judge overseeing the case? Call in the cheese patrol!

4. Michael – In a strange twist of fate, Michael has become the city’s new Omar, and his first target is Marlo’s rim shop. This has got to be one of my favorite subplots of the episode, and it only lasted a few minutes. In fact, if they had never included this, I would have been okay with the series ending. Now, I only want more.

5. Carcetti – No surprise here. Carcetti was always going to become governor, and though he had to stray outside the lines a few times throughout his short tenure, I’m confident that in the fictional world of “The Wire,” it was all for the best.

6. Valcheck – Here’s one man who couldn’t care less about padding the stats. I’m so glad the writers didn’t forget about him when choosing the new police commissioner.

7. Duquan/Bubbles – I considered doing separate write-ups about each, but now that Duquan has fallen into the world of drugs, and Bubbles has finally escaped it, it only seemed right. I don’t always write a whole lot about Bubbles, but seeing as how this is my last chance, I couldn’t pass it up. The character is an important part of the show, and though he hasn’t been included in the main story arc for quite some time, his journey most closely parallels that of the city. It’s the best micro vs. macro example you’re going to find on television, and you couldn’t hope for a better actor than Andre Royo to pull it off.

In the end, however, it would be tragic if neither David Simon nor Dominic West were rewarded for a job well done. West has delivered some of his best work this season, and should at least be acknowledged with an Emmy nomination, while “The Wire” deserves a Best Drama win like it’s nobody’s business. Here’s hoping someone is listening.

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3/3/2008

Sending Sydnor and every other available detective to stake it out, Lester then goes to Daniels to fess up (sort of), claiming that they used hours from the Clay Davis case to work a tip about Marlo. Daniels greenlights the operation, and within minutes, Marlo is sitting in lockdown along with Chris (who’s also been served his murder warrant), Monk and Cheese – all of whom can’t seem to figure out who could have snitched. Marlo suggests Michael, but while on the way to a purported hit with Snoop, Michael realizes that he’s being set up, and quickly improvises – killing Snoop and getting the hell out of Dodge. On a related note, didn’t you love watching Lester dangle the phone and clock in Marlo’s face, almost as if to say “I’m smarter than you”? Classic.

Meanwhile, as Lester’s $16 million drug bust gives new hope to Carcetti’s run for governor, McNulty is on the opposite side of all the congratulations. Not feeling like celebrating after being mocked by Landsman for his inability to catch the Red Ribbon Killer, McNulty continues to work on slowly letting the case go. Unfortunately, Greggs isn’t so forgiving, and after consulting with Carver, she heads to Daniels to narc on McNulty and Lester. Even Daniels is mildly surprised that McNulty would go so far to catch Marlo in the act, but it looks like he isn’t quite ready to let him back on the street either. And so he heads to the Evidence Room with Asst. D.A. Pearlman to conduct “evidence control” – which may or may not mean getting rid of the one thing that links McNulty’s serial killer to Lester’s wiretap.

Of course, it may not matter now that Herc knows what really happened. After taking the risk to steal Marlo’s cell number from his boss’ rolodex, and then giving Carver that bullshit monologue about catching the bad guy, he’s now decided to go directly to his boss about how Lester really found out about Marlo’s operation. Doesn’t he realize the trouble he got into the last time he tried to take the fast track up the career ladder?

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