TV Mad Man

Taking a small break for the holidays, hope to be back near the end of the week!

V has only aired three episodes but tonight it airs its final installment of 2009. ABC has promised it will end the year with a bang but is that true….

What ABC Says:

“It’s Only the Beginning” — Erica works with newly-formed allies to uncover a biological threat they suspect the Visitors have been plotting.  Aboard the Mothership, Anna meets with a special guest while managing the investigation into the murder of a V. And Chad does a segment on the V Healing Centers, demonstrating their amazing medical abilities, but then finds himself conflicted by some of his findings, on the riveting cliffhanger of “V,” TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24 (8:00-9:01 p.m., ET), on ABC.

I have really enjoyed the last three episodes. After the stellar pilot, the episode contine with its mini-series like reveals especially with the last episode which (SPOILER ALERT) ended with Anna being revealed to be Lisa’s mother. The episode in a whole is the best hour yet but it over delievers and under delievers in some areas. I was not over impressed in the way the series wraps but I really like the direction is going. Where the show excels is in the relationships between Erica and Jack, and as we saw in hour 3 now Ryan is put into the mix along with Georgie.

The other “half” persay of the show is the relationship of Chad and the V’s which take a interesting turn with a surpiring personal reveal about Chad who is now spending a lot of time with second in command Marcus.

Also in the hour, some real stories from Ryan’s fiance Valerie, as well as more hints about the mysterious 5th Column. V is show I am fully behind and hope you are too. If you aren’t one of the 16.7 million viewers who caught the premiere, you can caught the last three hours, they are available on Hulu and ABC. There is plenty of time to catch up.

V airs on ABC at 8/7c tonight! It returns in March 2009 with 9 more episodes to complete season 1.

Easily the biggest drama going in to the new season was ABC’s FlashForward. Now the show is dipping in ratings, still with respectable numbers, but viewers are leaving. Why? The show is suffering from convulted plots and nothing really to latch onto.

However, I am still enjoying the show to an extent but to me it is a okay show, but it has the immense potential to be a great show. One that is the chatter each week and can create interesting, compelling stoires to watch.

Here are 5 ways that the producers and the cast can make FlashForward to must see TV.

1. Better writing. The show was created by David Goyer and Brandon Braga of a book by Robert Sawyer. I read the pilot script last year and it was easily the best script I read, and the reason was the writing was crisp and fun. Now, the show has ordinary, stupid writing that makes the viewer just smile at the cliched and ridiculous things the character is saying. One reason I can see from this is that all the episodes that are great are ones NOT written by Marc Guggenheim but by Goyer and the talented writing staff. Guggenheim was brought on to show-run with Goyer but was recently let go, I can see why (This takes effect around episode 13). Guggenheim is a fine writer and producer, evident in the fun but cancelled ABC show Eli Stone which I loved, but this was not his show and I can just hope 24 ends this year and Brandon Braga (who had committed to it) can return to his pal Goyer to write great stories.
2. Less Finnes and the Benfords. I know Joseph Fiennes is a respect actor but I have to say, he is TERRIBLE in FlashForward. Cringeworthy in each hour. It is not the character. The character has flaws, has levels, has goals but Joe always has a “What is happening to me, why am I doing this face” that is so repulsive. Even at home with his wife or trick-or-treating with his daughter, he looks so angry. So off putting, they either need to replace him, kill the character, or change it fast, or they can just give him less screen time. There are so much more interesting characters such as Janis, Demitri, Bryce, or even Olivia, who when is not with Mark is perfectly fine. The show is not about Mark, it is about the world, and all the 7.8 billion people that are on it.
3. More character focus. I love Janis. She is such a fun and interesting character. The episode with her and her girlfriend was great and gave Christine Woods some fun stuff. All my favorite episodes like “The Gift,” “Give Me Some Truth,” and now this week’s “Believe,” centered around one character in general and one story, not multiple subplots with little bits of everybody. In this week’s episode the story is about Bryce. His flash, his story, for 85% of the hour. Why not do this with everybody. What made Lost so great in its first year was the way it developed each character, each one got an episode that surrounded his or her backstory with an on-island story with that character too. FlashForward can learn from Lost in that way. I feel that I can’t like any of the characters yet because I don’t know anything about them or anything that I like (Mark). More focus, less stories is key.
4. Stop repeating the flashes. I am not stupid. Lets just make that clear and the America and the world aren’t all stupid but FlashForward sure is making I feel like I am with every episode. Every time a character mentions their flashforward or thinks about it we get presented with the same flash, over and over. Why? I know what happened to Mark. I know he was drinking, they just said that. I don’t want to see it. Please, please stop.
5. Continued stories. The show struggles from not continuing things it sets up in previous episodes. Take Suspect #1. Huge part of episode 1 and 2 but that story just ended and popped up again in the last episode; or D. Gibbons, I thought he or she was a big villain, what happened? I dislike when we get invested in a story and then it just comes to a screeching halt even when we don’t like it. I feel the producer feel they need to establish everything on Mark’s board that they don’t take adequate time on each item such as the Somalian crows, or the Blue Hand group. The fix for this is just to create a story and ride it out and transition to a new one even if not all the questions are answered.

How would you help the show? Change? Keep? Tell me in comments!

Although I can’t say much about this week’s episode entitled “Believe,” I will say if you gave up on the show just DVR or watch this one. It presents the show in a new light that I really enjoy. It airs at 8/7c on ABC Thursday.

9.8c

ABC

The funniest show this year, and one hilarious half hour.

MODERN FAMILY!

Tonight’s episode of the family comedy feature two very special stars. First, Ed Norton who gives a great performance as a old 80′s band has been, and even funnier Elizabeth Banks as Cam and Mitchell’s old clubbing pal that could be back to kill Lily! What!? Just watch at 9/8c followed by a all-new Cougar Town with guests Alan Ruck, and one of funniest women around Rachael Harris!

Here is my thoughts on everything I watched this week, some short, some long, and some spoilers so be aware. What do you think on them all?

How I Met Your Mother: Barney and Robin have been a highlight of all the episodes so far this season which has overall being pretty good. This week was episodes was one of the best of the year even though it marked the end of Barney and Robin. Alan Thicke was great in a fun cameo too.

Lie to Me: Can I just want to say I want Alicia Coppola on a show now. I loved her in Jericho and she was great as Agent Reynolds pal in this week Reynolds-centric outing. I have seen next week’s very much relevant episode on Black Friday and it is one of the best of the show.

So You Think You Can Dance: When the season started and they had that fantastic showcase show I thought this year would be outstanding, so far this year, so not. Nobody is wowing me except for maybe Jakob who is just so fun and brilliant. I still love Mollee and Nathan even though the performance was cringe-worthy.

V: V is my favorite new show this year. It is so epic in its feel and just fun to watch. Elizabeth Mitchell and Joel Gretsch are a perfect pair, and it was great to see Rekha Sharma (Battlestar Galactica) as a FBI friend of Erica or is she. Plus any show with Alan Tudyk is a win in my book. The one area the show lacks though is in the teenagers, better dialogue and story is needed or the ratings could just go down even further.

Melrose Place: Heather Locklear we need you know. Just a million viewers is pathetic for what is a pretty fun soapy drama, next week is the week. Amanda is back and will it help, I hope so.

The Good Wife: I would watch The Good Wife just for the judges alone who have all been great in the series and next week Peter Riegert comes to the panel, love him. This week presented a nice dilemma with a lawyer/non lawyer for Alicia and the story with the son keeps me interested in her personal life.

New Adventures of Old Christine: Julia Louis-Dreyfus is funny. Really funny. This cast is really fun which it turn makes me laugh so much.

Top Chef: She is gone and I am a little sad. Robin who should have been voted off in Week 1 finally had to pack her knives and somehow I don’t think the show will be as great just because of not as much drama. However, Nigella Lawson was the perfect judge. Opinionated, funny, and adorable, I wouldn’t mind her being on each week.

FlashForward: Like I have said before the show is not bad, the story is interesting and gets better when Rocky Jay shows up but the writing is not good, and that combined with the TERRIBLE acting of Joe Finnes overshadows any good performances by Christine Woods or John Cho. The show needs to get better soon with more episodes like last week’s fantastic “The Gift.”

Survivor: Best season EVER? With episodes like the last two with brilliant blindsides, I think so. Russell is one of the best contestants ever. Love this show.

Parks and Recreation: I love this show too. By far the funniest show on NBC and the second best comedy on air behind a certain ABC comedy. The supporting cast is unstoppable.

Private Practice: Last night’s episode was off the hook. I cried and was engrossed by the emotion and story in this medical drama. Everything was perfect except for the unnecessary last scene, brought me out of it just a little.

Fringe: This week, pretty good. Next week, fantastically freaky.

The Vampire Diaries: So this show is surprising me. As I watched it this summer, I hated it. Found it so cliched and stupid, now I look forward to it each week. This week was strong once again but the episode left me hanging and confused. First, Alaric is obviously a vampire of something but when the episode ended with Jenna’s old boyfriend and supposedly dead Logan, my first thought was that somehow Alaric changed his body to his. The reason I came to this conclusion was that he said something along the lines of “Will you let me in,” and when Alaric left the house he said something like “You will let me in some other time.” Just the way the dialogues intertwined made me think they were one in the same. Crazy or no?