Fall Premiere Season

Ah, fall: when a young woman’s thoughts turn to warm fires and books, a young man’s thoughts turn to college football, and Phoenicians dream of going outside once more.

I used to be a summer man, but now I’m all about autumn.  This week’s forecast dips down to a balmy 99 degrees!  There’s football to watch!

And, of course, the new fall television lineup.  Football, after all, only comes on the weekends.  New TV seasons last all week.

So let’s talk about some of them, shall we?

Glee – FOX, Wednesdays at 9/8c

Riding a wave of buzz from it’s pilot airing last spring, Glee has been heralded the big new show of the year.  It’s stylish and whimsical, and post-pilot episodes have fleshed out characters beyond Juno-esque quirkfests. (Look! That cute guidance counselor has OCD! That wheelchair kid can sing and play guitar!)

Every episode, Glee manages one or two moments rivaling the best comedies on television, usually slipped in via quick-cut flashbacks.  Emma’s singing of “All By Myself” qualifies as the first, as Jayma Mays took what could’ve been a painfully cliché song choice and mined fresh comedy out of it.  Finn’s recall method for avoiding premature ejaculation was the other.

My only problem with Glee is also what makes it unique: the music.  Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but even when the musical numbers are good, I still find myself cringing in embarrassment, though I’m not sure why. Am I embarrassed for me?  The cast?  Maybe it’s watching a severely white male teacher dance and preen to a rendition of “Gold Digger,” but I’m just not there yet (though, admittedly, the cheerleader version of “I Say a Little Prayer” was not nearly so mortifying).

For the time being, I’m sticking around.

(Note: This was written before I watched episode three, by far the weakest of the bunch.  There weren’t any great jokes, and I witnessed some of the most blatantly homoerotic scenes set to screen since this.  I’m hoping episode 3 was just a hiccup.)

House – FOX, Mondays at 8/7c

There were points last season where it seemed House had completely run off its rails, like when Kal Penn (the best character besides House) shot himself and no one cared, or the fact Thirteen and Forman’s love story was blander than low-sodium Triscuits.

But then David Shore swung the lens back onto the best character on network television, and things got trippy and good again.

As for this season, it’s hard to fault a show for kicking off the season to the tune of Radiohead’s “No Surprises”, and then getting better from there.  Through the first episode, I couldn’t care less about House‘s supporting cast.  In fact, when Wilson showed up in a brief phone call, I felt more violated than if the 4th wall had come down.  Maybe the boring docs at Princeton-Plainsboro have a purpose, but I’m glad House has gone back to its bread and butter.  And I’m especially glad they dropped the whole “Huddy” thing (please, please let it be for good).

Unfortunately, that feeling is shortly lived, as by the end of the first two episodes, after a series of treacly events, House is free of the asylum, presumably mentally sound.  I was disappointed.  I’m not opposed to House finding a redemptive arc, and I appreciated that arc launching outside the hospital, but are we really to believe House’s God-complex and major issues are cured after opening up to a kindly, wise black man?

NBC Comedies (The Office, Parks and Recreation, Community, and 30 Rock), Thursdays

Unfortunately, we have to wait until October for the return of 30 Rock.  In the meantime, here’s a wonderful collection of Dr. Spaceman clips:

We all know The Office will be good, and Parks and Recreation is a solid, if slightly inferior, follow-up.

The biggest question mark is Community, which hinges on Joel McHale’s ability to sell himself as sincere.  After a tepid, expository pilot, Community‘s second episode was a pleasant surprise.  Dan Harmon, the mind behind the Acceptable.TV and The Sarah Silverman Show‘s more abstract leanings, allows things to get weird.  It’s an angle that should play particularly well off Community‘s earnestness and family dynamic (exposed outright in one of Abed’s best lines).

For the most part, the supporting cast needs work, as a number of jokes fell flat.  I’m not particularly fond of Abed, the functional autistic Indian guy, because I’m worried they’ll rely on his “I think differently!” shtick too often, and the female lead, Gillian Jacobs, hasn’t proven anything in two episodes.  Alison Brie (who plays Trudy on Mad Men) is solidly funny, and Ken Jeong (The Hangover) was spectacular as a Chinese Spanish teacher.  The second installment also saw McHale getting into character a bit more, particularly in an ending homage to Magnolia that was, in a word, sweet.  I have a fondness for Chevy Chase, but I don’t really care for him in this show.

(ADDENDUM: Forget what I said earlier about Abed and Britta…episode 3 was absolutely brilliant, and heavily featured both of them.)

Mercy – NBC, Wednesdays at 8/7c

I’m just kidding.  Mercy looks stupid.

Oh, look at me!  I’m a nurse!  I’m the same as a doctor, only sassier!

Hey, I’ve got a few ideas for television shows cut in the Mercy fabric!  Paralegals, which focuses on the people who do behind-the-scenes research for big court cases; and Law & Order: Evidence Locker, in which the protagonist wittily quips with detectives visiting the cellar storage area where he sits all day.  How about Stripers, centering around a young cancer patient surrounded by sexy hospital volunteers?

If the whole “nurses are better than doctors…really!” paradigm wasn’t bad enough, they made the protagonist a veteran of the Iraq War.  Listen: I was in the Army.  No one in the Army looks like anyone in this picture.  Maybe the the Air Force.  Maybe.

Friday Night Lights – NBC, date not set

I’m not sure what’s going on with FNL, but I know it’s coming back.  NBC’s site says it’s “Returning this Fall on DirectTV,” but I’m not entirely sure what that means.  And it’s fall now.

If you’re not watching this show yet, listen: I know you can’t see yourself watching a show about high school football in rural Texas.  I get it.  I said the same thing.  But here’s the thing: Friday Night Lights is up there with Mad Men and Big Love.  It’s my wife’s favorite show.  IT IS THAT GOOD.  IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO WATCH THIS SHOW.  EVEN PATTON FREAKING OSWALT AGREES.  RENT IT, WATCH IT ON HULU…WHATEVER.  WATCH FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY.

Curb Your Enthusiasm – HBO, Sundays at 9

Larry David’s most noticeable comedic trait, from Seinfeld to Sour Grapes to Curb Your Enthusiasm, is his ability to craft a Rube Goldberg-ian storyline where everything collides like atoms at the end.  Episode one of Curb‘s new season might’ve been his pièce de résistance.  The way the arc spiraled out of control and Larry’s minor conflicts (a doctor taking a lemonade out of his fridge without asking) fused with his larger ones (the fact his new girlfriend might have cancer, and he wants to get back with Cheryl) felt like Curb taken to a higher level.

Oh, and the cast of Seinfeld will reunite this season.  No big deal.

As this New York Magazine piece pointed out, Larry David is the one of the last of his kind.  The old Jewish paradigm is nearly dead, but it’s good to see it go out on top with David.

In a recent Sports Guy podcast, Bill Simmons and Bill Hader talked about how this decade will be remembered, comedy-wise.  They both agreed the Adam McKay/Judd Apatow/Will Ferrell menagerie will be the first on most minds.  The McKay/Apatow films are decent enough, but I’ve never felt they were as funny as they’re made out to be.  When I watch comedy, I want to laugh all the way through.  If they’re remembered over Curb, The Office (both versions), and Arrested Development, it’ll be a shame, but it’s just one more example of how television has surpassed the big screen as an art medium.

Bored to Death – HBO, Sundays at 9:30

I love what I’ve seen so far.  Bored to Death stars Jason Schwartzman as a New York writer who moonlights as a private eye.  There were about a million ways this show could’ve gone wrong in its first episode.  Jason Schwartzman initially looked like a horrifying hybrid of Tom Cruise and Jason Biggs.  The storyline could’ve been overly whimsical, in a Wes Anderson knock-off sort of way.  The Brooklyn hipster vibe could’ve blown the whole thing to pieces.  And with the whole film noir concept…didn’t Brick do this a few years ago?

Somehow, Bored to Death skirted all these pitfalls.  Schwartzman was outstanding, the writing was crisp and realistic, and it all ended with TV On the Radio’s “Halfway Home“.  I’m in.

HBO has been in a bit of a slump lately.  True Blood falls far short of usual HBO dramas, and revisionist vampires are hardly groundbreaking.  Hung has been vaguely interesting, but suffers from the same problems as creator Dmitry Lipkin’s last show, The Riches: it’s a great concept that is too scattered and poorly written to pull off.  Eastbound and Down had some bright points, but it wasn’t consistently funny.  With Flight of the Conchords and In Treatment doubtful for return, and AMC offering up the types of shows HBO used to, I’m curious what Home Box Office can pull out in the rest of the year.  Bored to Death seems a good start, at least.

Mad Men – AMC, 10/9c

Dan Gibson texted me two Sundays ago, telling me episode six of Mad Men was its best ever, which was particularly fortunate considering Oprah now loves the show, and the Emmy wins and whatnot.  I watched it the next night.  I recommend, if you ever see episode six of Mad Men’s third season, to watch it with those high expectations in mind.  It builds the tension.  I’d put it toe-to-toe with anything on HBO.

As Dan pointed out after I called him following a particularly toe-curling scene, Mad Men almost has the feel of a horror film.  Since season 3 is set in 1963, we know there’s plenty bad around the corner.  We know things will get crazy, but we’re powerless to stop it.

It’s that aspect of the show that makes me surprised about its growing viewership (sure to rise even more post-Oprah).  Sure, the period piece and cultural differences are good for a laugh, and Don Draper is super cool, but there’s a lot of darkness there.

Whether mainstream audiences catch on or not, Mad Men is the best show on television right now, filling the void left by The Sopranos and The Wire.