TV Kitty

Food, That Glorious Metaphor

2011-10-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

In Korean dramas, food is everywhere. Eating is just what Koreans do. Round-the-clock. Home after all-night clubbing, first thing a twentysomething does is make instant ramen and eat it right out of the pot, using the lid as a plate. Straight after school, kids hit the local dukkboki house. A guest makes a surprise visit and a plate of cut-up fruit instantly appears. In such a foodie culture, a heroine not being able to afford a roll of kimbap says everything. So what does it mean when someone eats with a fork and knife at every meal, preferring steak and pasta to kimchee and rice? This is a person who has lost their soul. This is a person who is no longer a real Korean.

I've seen food used symbolically like this over and over again. Food as a metaphor for cultural identity. In Korean dramas, real Korean families eat rice for breakfast, not bread. Real Korean families still eat sitting on the floor at low-lying tables, not at Western dining tables with chairs. If you're rich and a parasite, raping the economy with shady, underhanded deals, you go to fancy Western restaurants, drink French wines at home, have a designated dining room. All signs that you have lost your Korean identity. Which means you have lost your humanity.

In drama after drama, the first step in regaining your humanity is befriending someone poor (usually your future spouse). This poor person will eventually take you to a street market where they will make you eat fish cakes on a stick and dukkboki from a food stand. In Couple or Trouble, the Queen of Bitches loses her memory and regains her humanity by eating an insane amount of chajangmyon, the commoner's ultimate snack food.

Hollywood used to use food like this too. In movies from the 30s and 40s, the rich, depraved capitalists ate solemnly, silently, in exquisite dining rooms with chandeliers, napkins impeccably on their laps, hidden by French linen tablecloths, course after course of Frenchified food being served by a butler or maid. In contrast, true Americans ate noisily, at large tables surrounded by salt-of-the-earth kin, napkins tucked in their shirts, momma hollering, "Come and get it before it's all gone!" The food is stacked high on humongous platters: fried chicken and biscuits or roast beef and buttery rolls. No French wines—no alcohol at all. Just good, healthy American water and plenty of gravy. (Strangely, no vegetables either, except for tubfuls of mashed potatoes.) The message is clear: there's plenty of food—there's plenty of love—this is the life worth living.

Food isn't used like this anymore. Like in Korean dramas, U.S. dramas still share that fantasy of families eating together at a dining table. But the food is rarely the focus except on Thanksgiving shows. Even then you hardly see people eating at all. The dining table is just an excuse to sit and fight and show a family's inner demons. There's no joy in eating, no joy in food. I suppose it's the culture. These days, Americans are told food is evil—it makes you sick—it makes you fat. Not in Korea. Food is joy. Food is healing. At least if it's real Korean food.

Up All Night

2011-09-15T14:27:00.000-07:00

The new fall shows are finally starting to roll out. Can't say that I'm thrilled. If the shows live up to the promises of their promos, they should all royally suck. One ad that really drove me crazy was the one for Up All Night—the promos made the show seem stupid and really old hat. So when it premiered last night, I watched purely out of a sense of duty. Well, well, well. It didn't suck. Not that it was great. But maybe in three or four shows? Because it has a lot of promise.

Up All Night is a lot like 30 Rock, which isn't surprising because it's written by Emily Spivey who wrote for SNL. It also stars Maya Rudolph, also a SNL alum. But while 30 Rock makes fun of corporate TV, Up All Night makes fun of parenthood, and that's harder. I'm sure that within two shows they'll have run out of diaper jokes and the kid will disappear in the same way the kid pretty much disappeared in Raising Hope. And before we know it, the show will be about all the zany people at work, which would turn the show into 30 Rock And A Baby.

Mom is played by Christina Applegate. Dad is played by Will Arnett. Christina was pretty predictable but Will was a surprise. It's nice to see him in a role where he isn't entirely stupid or venal.

The Greatest Love

2011-08-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

Finding a fresh and lovely piece of drama is as hard as finding a piece of fresh and lovely fruit. When I do, I'm startled—almost too startled to enjoy it. I'm really enjoying The Greatest Love. Watching it, I'll burst out laughing (rare for me). Watching it, I'll get all teary-eyed (not so rare). It's just a love story, but told with wit and reflection.

Here's the story:

Ae Jung was once the leader of an all-girl Korean pop group that mysteriously broke up at the height of their popularity. Everyone, including the group's manager, blamed Ae Jung. Ten years goes by. Ae Jung has grown more and more unpopular, even reviled because of a love scandal. She's desperately trying to make a living appearing as a D-list celebrity in game shows that make her do horrible stuff like eat chajangmyun while on a rollercoaster ride. But she's game, smiling and eating. One day, at a gas station, she has a strange encounter with Dok Ko Jin, an A-list celebrity. Ko Jin is much loved by the public—he's a master of seeming angelic in public. But really, Ko Jin is an ass and treats Ae Jung like she's dirt. Of course, he begins slowly falling in love with Ae Jung's spunky goodness, because, after all, this is a love story. But all the while, there's a real nice journey of contrasts: Ae Jung trying to regain her public footing, Ko Jin discovering his awakening heart (part of his heart is artificial—it's a long story). I'm only on episode 7 so I don't know if the show will have a satisfying ending, but I hope so. I'd like to continue laughing and crying and rooting.

Lala's Promotion

2011-06-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

A while back, ICN started promoting a Chinese drama called Lala's Career Adventures. At the time I had no idea what a total phenomenon Lala's Career Adventures is in China.

The series was originally a trilogy of books written by career girl Li Ke (the series of books is called Du Lala's Promotion). No wonder the depiction of corporate life is so real in the series! The heroine of both the series and trilogy is a plucky, stubborn and very intelligent girl (Lala). She gets a job at a US corporation in Shanghai and finds the biz world full of nasty-tempered saboteurs (including a psycho who thinks Lala has stolen her ex-husband). Initially Lala is a disaster at work. She's undiplomatic, clueless, insubordinate. But through sheer will and tremendous balls, she rises to the top, even charming her US bosses.

The series is a lot of fun. And very honest about the kinds of women who you'll meet in the corporate world. Some will do everything they can to screw you over if you threaten them. One or two will become your mentor. A career girl's life is stressful and hard. But if you're Du Lala, you'll do okay, even meeting the man of your dreams (well...he does come with a psycho ex).

Wish I could read the book. It's full of advice for handling yourself in the biz world like “forget relaxing if you want to be a manager”. Ain't that the truth! There's a good article about the Du Lala phenomenon at China Today.

The World of Collecting

2011-05-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

One of the most interesting game shows I've seen recently is a Chinese one called "The World of Collecting" (ICN). From what I can understand, you have these celebrities sitting on a panel, trying to judge whether an item is a real antique or not. These "antiques" are brought in by average joes. The joes talk up their antiques and try to get the celebrities to bid. Now comes the interesting part. After the bidding, the joes have a choice. It turns out that their "antiques" have been evaluated by experts. If their "antiques" have passed the test, they'll get a certificate of authentication. If the "antiques" have failed, the host will smash their "antiques" to pieces. The choice is this: do they want to go through this authentication process or do they want to walk away with no chance at earning money. Education and drama all in one!

Friday Night Lights, Last Season

2011-04-16T20:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, how many of you thought Friday Night Lights had been cancelled for good? Yeah, me too. So I was really surprised to see a commercial two weeks ago announcing the final season! Of course, we fans know what "final season" only too often means: loose ends tied together in crappy ways that betray everything about the show (yes, Lost, I'm talking about you). But then, by the time the "final season" rolls around, most shows have already lost their way and "final season" just means one last round of paychecks.

Friday Night Lights has never lost its way though. So what would the "final season" mean? I was nervous and anxious and hopeful as the opening credits rolled for the premiere. And then I was surprised: I'd never imagined last night's episode would be so poignant, so elegant.

It's late summer in Dillon, with school about to start. One of the first scenes is of Tim Riggins and his bumbling brother Billy. Tim's still in prison, his guilt-ridden brother rambling during a visit. Prison has made Tim depressed, bitter, simmering in anger. A heartbreaking contrast to the last time we saw him, Tim the valiant, willing martyr. He doesn't say much but he does ask his brother not to visit him so often. It's the last time we see him. The rest of the show focuses on Julie Taylor and Landry Clarke; they're preparing to leave for college, saying their farewells to Dillon and childhood. These scenes are so real, I found myself thinking about that time in my own life, personal remembrances riding along the fictional. Again, I marvel at the excellent direction the actors receive, lines delivered naturally, in full context to individual lives.

Upstairs Downstairs 2010

2011-04-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

I had misgivings when I heard they were doing a new Upstairs Downstairs series. In fact, I was fully prepared for disaster. Or at least boredom (I have to confess I was bored with Downton Abbey, which was so lifeless). But I'm watching the first episode now and I'm glad to say that I had nothing to worry about. The script is subtle and witty, the cast marvelous. And, thank god, no endless expositions about the house's history or about European history in general. The cast is quite good too. The most marvelous Keeley Hawes is the lady of the house. Jean Marsh has returned as Rose. And one of the series creators, Eileen Atkins, is now in front of the screen as the formidable Lady Holland. And to my surprise, Art Malik and Anne Reid are part of the series too! So wonderful.

I found the initial opening very poignant. I even got goosebumps hearing the theme music as the credits rolled. And seeing all the misty memories in Rose's eyes—oh, my. Eileen Atkins broke my heart too, her Lady Holland a kind of Auntie Mame antithesis. My only criticism is that some of the incidental music is just too reminiscent of Midsommer Murders. Anyway, it's wonderful to have something to look forward to on Sunday nights.

Breaking In

2011-04-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

I'm right in the middle of watching Breaking In and I am so excited because I finally have a TV show I can write about! I'd been watching promos on Fox for the last few weeks and I wasn't having high hopes, but wow! Great writing, great cast!

So the setup: college student Cameron (played by Bret Harrison) gets coerced into working for a shady security firm. He's surrounded by crazies, naturally. My favorite crazy is Cash. He's played by Alphonso McAuley and he's brilliant. Bonus point: Alphonso has great chemistry with Bret (Bret played Sam in Reaper—I loved that show). The best dialog of the night was between Cash and Cameron and it went something like this:

Cash: I'm going to have sex with this candy bar. Give me some sugar, baby.
Cameron (grimacing): That doesn't look consensual.

Wish I'd written that!

Bret also has great chemistry with Odette Annable, the girl who plays love interest Melanie. Surprising how many shows cast actors with no chemistry. Of course Melanie has a boyfriend, played by an outrageously funny Michael Rosenbaum (Lex in Smallville). I've always adored Michael Rosenbaum so I was surprised and thrilled to see him suddenly pop up.

Hope the show only gets better!

Clichés in Korean Dramas

2011-02-10T12:25:00.000-08:00

Today is my rant day. And today's victim is Korean dramas. So...

Must someone always throw themselves into a river to escape capture in every action/historical drama? And must royal babies always disappear only to reappear 20 years later?

Must the heel of a girl's shoe always break off at an important function in every modern romance?

Must each episode of a court drama act like a murder mystery?

Must a divorce couple always reconcile?

Must every ajumma with an adulterous husband become some kind of celebrity? (In My Rosy Life, the ajumma dies from cancer, which is just the other side of the coin since death by cancer turns an ajumma into a saint.)

Must Ryu Tae-Jun lose the girl every time? (He's totally hot. How can he lose the girl even once? OK. In Hwang Jin Yi he was a little evil, but...he's hot...and in period costume!)

Must Dong Chul get beaten up at the end of every episode of East of Eden? By episode 25, the guy should be suffering from some degenerative brain disease from all that trauma.

Must implausible coincidences always drive the plot?

Why are we always at the airport at the beginning of every last episode of a modern-day series?

And what's with the endings on these dramas? How come they suck so much? The only decent ending I can think of was in Couple or Trouble. Stars Falling From the Skies, too. Now that was a cute drama with a great beginning, middle and end. Of course there was that coincidence thing...

Masterpiece Theatre

2011-01-31T10:47:00.000-08:00

Let me just begin by saying I grew up on Masterpiece Theatre. Some Americans think I speak with a slight British accent, and if I do, it might possibly be because I watched so much Masterpiece Theatre. And I still watch Masterpiece Theatre, but I really don't understand what's going on behind the scenes. I mean, it's not even called Masterpiece Theatre anymore. Instead it's either Masterpiece Classic or Masterpiece Contemporary or Masterpiece Mystery or some such nonsense, depending on what kind of show they're airing. And while they still do intros, they now have actors delivering information in the most snarky voice possible. What's with that? Do the producers think snarky means hip? More intelligent? More in keeping with British television? More modern? Or do they secretly despise the very shows they're airing? Personally, I just don't find contempt a very nice prelude to a show like Downton Abbey.

Look At Flower In Fog

2011-01-22T12:05:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been watching Look At Flower In Fog on ICN. A Chinese drama, it takes place in modern China and it's all about the antique business. That alone is fascinating, the drama going into depth about all the fakery and fraud that goes on, like taking ancient jade and machine cutting it into a "rare" object or using laborious ancient techniques to manufacture exquisite pottery that are as good as the ones from famous eras. The plot itself is just as complex, no one knowing who's really who, who's conspiring with whom. But what really keeps me coming back is the excellence of the script, the directing and the acting. Every scene is filled with tension, even a simple breakfast scene where a father warns a daughter to eat slower. There was this one amazing scene: a man and a woman, co-workers, arguing in a corridor; she's in love with him; he's in trouble (a client has complained that he's conned her); the woman, in a fit of anger, declares that the client is a whore and she's going to slug her; for a moment, absolute silence as each absorbs the outburst; then the man smiles and says, "That's so nice of you." Absolutely wonderful.

Pioneers of Television

2011-01-18T21:03:00.000-08:00

I just spent the nicest hour watching Pioneers of Television. The episode was about the birth of science fiction, interviewing past stars of Star Trek, Lost in Space, etc. and you got to find out what fascinating people Gene Roddenberry and Irwin Allen were. But what was really a surprise was the attitude of the show, relaxed, good-spirited, fun. There wasn't anything snarky or muckraking, no "so and so were doing drugs" and "so and so were sleeping together". Nothing juvenile. I felt a little like I'd gone back in time, watching a tribute show from the 70s.

Unisex Bud Light

2010-11-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

So I'm watching this commercial and I'm thinking "typical sexist ad geared towards stupid guys" when my brain does a spin because the final punch line is for the gals. Now everyone knows how impossible it is to market to both guys and girls so I have to hand it to the Bud Light team for doing it so brilliantly. (Not that I'm switching to Bud Light or anything...)

Sherlock

2010-10-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

This network TV season has been so dismal, I'm flabbergasted. I'm talking about the new shows. There's almost nothing (Raising Hope is cute). Is there some kind of virus going around Hollywood that's exhausted all creativity? Even the new J.J. Abrams show Undercovers is like a lame rip-off of a J.J. Abrams show. What's going on? I was in complete despair until I accidentally tumbled upon Sherlock. Reading the promo, I didn't have high hopes, let me tell you. I mean, another retelling of the Sherlock Holmes tale? Come on! So imagine my shock when I'm finding myself having some serious fun.

Sherlock is not from Hollywood. It's a co-production of BBC Wales and WGBH for PBS's Masterpiece Mystery. The co-creators are two writers from the Russell T. Davies re-imagined Doctor Who series. And it's a little Doctor Who, a little graphic novel, a little Arthur Conan Doyle. At this point, I dread telling you the premise because it might turn you off: Sherlock is now a modern guy with a nicotine addiction instead of heroin and he's a sociopath; Watson is an ex-army doctor who saw action in Afghanistan. Now here's the fun stuff: smart dialog, rapid-fire delivery, great chemistry between Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) and Martin Freeman (Watson), a charming Rupert Graves as a hopeless detective, and a wonderfully batty Mrs. Hudson (Una Stubbs) who keeps singing, "Just this once, dear — I'm not your housekeeper!"

But see for yourself:

A Tale Of Two TV Shows

2010-10-20T22:51:00.000-07:00

The Defenders vs Hawaii Five-O (2010).

Both shows are mostly about guys doing guy things. Both shows try to be funny. Both shows have convoluted action. Both shows are boring. I keep thinking both shows should be good.

The Defenders have great leads who have real chemistry together. But everything else is so boring.

Hawaii Five-O doesn't even have that. The two male leads have zero chemistry. And it's not like they're not trying. God, they're trying. Make them stop trying. The two supporting characters are great though. Played by Daniel Day Kim and Grace Park, they make me miss Lost and Battlestar Galactica.

Yakult Loves Its Insides

2010-10-12T18:16:00.001-07:00

This Yakult ad with a digestive system puppet is the friggin' weirdest ad ever. Ever.

Friday Night Lights Season 4 End

2010-08-07T10:27:00.000-07:00

Once again, the season end of Friday Night Lights has me all torn up. What a roller coaster ride, from the exhilarating football game to the unbelievable sacrifice that Tim makes. Again, the writing was so sophisticated, from the simple dialogue between Coach Taylor and an anxious, self-doubting Vince to the whole development of Tim's story — I mean, until the last five minutes, I was sure he was going to do a runner!

Boy, that football game was nail-biting! Would the writers let poor Landry make that kick? Would they let poor Coach Taylor have one moment of victory? Yes! It was so nice to see Coach Taylor smile! That's the great thing about FNL — you just never know what's going to happen. How like life!

And what a beautiful scene that was, before the game, when Vince tells Coach Taylor he can't make the Coach's dream come true. Does Coach give a rah-rah speech? No. He just asks Vince what he's doing for Thanksgiving dinner. Instead of rah-rah, Vince got heart. Now that's writing.

You can click here if you want to see the episode.

What Happened To The Queens?

2010-07-22T19:47:00.000-07:00

Anyone know what happened to The Queens on ICN? The grandson of the evil bitch is finally in power and now the shows disappears? Instead, I'm stuck watching Go West and not really liking it.

Gary Numan in DieHard Battery Ad

2010-07-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

So what do Gary Numan and DieHard Batteries have in common? Cars, of course! In this very clever ad, DieHard asks Gary Numan to perform his song "Cars" using about a dozen real cars powered by DieHard battery. The look on Numan's face is priceless (oh, that's another ad...).

This comes via Boing Boing:

Friday Night Lights Emmy Snub

2010-07-08T11:06:00.000-07:00

So the Emmy nominations were announced and Friday Night Lights wasn't included. Again. For the fourth time in a row. Mike Hale of the NYT writes, "In the drama category, meanwhile, a terrible crime was committed, for the fourth season in a row. That’s the span during which “Friday Night Lights” has been, over all, the best drama on television, and has not drawn a single nomination for the best-drama award. Apparently the stigma of being a show about the relatively ordinary lives of Texans obsessed with high school football is still too much to overcome."

FNL is an unbelievably well-written, well-directed, well-acted show. In the way it moves, FNL is more like a literary novel, little moments like marital fights so realistic, so uncompromising, so beautiful. It really is hard to believe FNL is a TV show at all. And apparently, the people behind the Emmy nominations don't see it as one either.

So what is getting nominated? Dexter, True Blood, Mad Men, etc. So I guess for FNL to get nominated they should (1) move to HBO, (2) turn Coach Taylor into a serial killer, (3) have Julie fall in love with a teen vampire, (4) hire Mad Men's costume designer Janie Bryant. Whatever you do, FNL, don't touch the writing!

The Queens

2010-07-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

I've often wondered why Taiwanese dramas don't have the kind of following that Korean and Japanese dramas have. I suppose one problem is that very few of the Taiwanese dramas are translated into English — I usually have to go to sites like mysoju.com which stream in videos that have been translated by fans. These are great because the obsessive fans will even explain cultural contexts and puns. It's really too bad that TV production companies don't utilize their fans more. The production companies go so far as to see these fans as pests that need to be killed, when really, these fans are part of a huge network that make their products accessible worldwide and thus, even more popular. Yes, they're infringing on copyright, but thinking only of that is so stupid. These companies are petrified that they're losing money, but really, they aren't because none of us in the US would ever have known about these shows anyway. In reality, the production companies are losing money because of their closed-mindedness and sheer stupidity. What they really should be doing is advertising their complete boxed DVD sets on these sites, making it as easy as possible for us to buy these shows, either as DVDs or downloads.

Now what was I talking about? Oh, yes. Taiwanese dramas and my new favorite, The Queens, which is on ICN, evenings 7:30PM Pacific time. Hallelujah! It's subtitled! Not very well, but at least understandable (the person or program that did the subtitles has no understanding of the past or present tense). I think The Queens is Taiwanese and that it was a huge deal in Taiwan. "I think" because there's almost no info in English about these shows. But with help from friends, I gather that the show is called 母儀天下, which roughly translates as "be the model mother of the nation". Apparently, this is what you say to a Chinese empress, sort of like "God save the Queen".

The story is basically about a super nice girl who's thrown into a nest of vipers. Will the super nice girl survive? And if so, will she stay super nice? The girl is Wang_Zhengjun and she's based an a real historical person, the Empress Wang_Zhengjun who ruled in the latter part of the Western Han dynasty. But I think the name is about the only historically accurate part of the drama. Like in the show, she's a maid, serving the royal concubines. But she was more accurately a lady-in-waiting and not a maid, which makes her rise to empress a little bit more understandable. But, you know, being a put-upon maid is so much more dramatic — like she can be unfairly tortured and have an implausible story about how her mom was wrongfully beheaded for killing a previous empress, etc.

The Queens isn't just about Zhengjun. It's also about her five best friends and their relentless cat fights as they vie for the attention of the emperor. Basically, this drama is chick flick with lots of vicious cat fights and gorgeous costumes with two hunky guys in the middle. And there is something so sumptuous about this drama, in the lighting, the music, the language, the cinematography, the choreography — even a summer's stroll is exquisitely choreographed. Watching this show is like being transported into a fairyland.

2010-06-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

Is there anyone out there who doesn't like Doctor Who? How about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? Anyone out there who thinks combining the two would be most righteous? Actually there is, and his name is Andrew Orton, and he's done a pretty amazing job. Here's the video, which is via Cory Doctorow and Boing Boing.

Electricity Sings! Who Knew?

2010-06-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

I'm going to have to admit something embarrassing right now: I watched America's Got Talent. I felt like a Roman watching the circus, strangely titillated while waiting for the Thumbs of Death to show up. Let's face it: we are the new Romans. Crazy things come up on stage, like these guys who generate electricity while Darth Vader's theme is playing in the background. What I later found out was that the machine they used is called a Tesla Coil and you can actually play it like an instrument. The result? Electricity sings.

Behind the Scenes of Nature's "Hummingbirds" Episode

2010-06-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

Usually, behind the scenes stuff is pretty boring, something to fatten up a DVD package and nothing more. But this look at how Nature's "Hummingbirds" episode was shot is pretty interesting. You should enjoy it whether you are a wildlife nut or a photography nut or both. Or if you're just a plain nut, like I am.

This clip is also a clever marketing bid by PBS.

I hope this clip whets your appetite for the whole episode. Hummingbirds are amazing creatures. And I'm not being hyperbolic. Hummingbirds are the Albert Einstein of birds. Wish the series went a little bit more into that! But never fear, because I have a whole blog post about their spectacular behavior at Moving to LA.

Amazing John Lewis Ad

2010-05-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

I love great ads. Sometimes they're like a movie, or a poem, like this John Lewis ad. Nothing to say, except, please watch.

ZWTV Cooking Show

2010-05-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

I have a favorite cooking show. But I don't know what it's called, I don't know who the host is, and I can't understand a word (except hao, which means good). That's because my cooking show is on ZWTV, which seems to be a local Chinese station. I can't get any info because the only thing ZWTV translates into English is the ads, and only the addresses. Even the website is in Chinese and, apparently, untranslatable (I tried plugging in the URL at the Google translation site: nada).

Even without understanding the Chinese, I still find it riveting. Mainly because of the host, who is an absolute riot. The first half hour of the show is when she has guests — she really shines here, laughing, buffooning, teasing. On one recent show, she actually cried. At first I thought she was joking, but no, she was crying. The guest chef had made a chicken in a pressure cooker. At the bottom of the pot was an intense liquor of chicken broth. The host drank it, and almost instantly, started tearing up. I'm sure she was reminiscing about her childhood, about her mother or grandmother taking all day to prepare this dish, how the aroma and taste reminded her of all that love. She cried for a good five minutes. I couldn't imagine Martha Stewart or Julia Child doing that.

I think ZWTV is Taiwanese. And I've noticed that Taiwanese shows are really cartoony, very heavy with graphics and physical humor. Even this cooking show will often have cartoon bubbles sprouting out of the guest's head. It's such a fun show. And with food shows, I notice you really don't need to understand the language. So check it out if you get ZWTV. In LA it's 57.9 and the cooking show is on at 9 in the morning on weekends.

UPDATE

My favorite reader found videos! Here's one.

Glee

2010-05-03T11:25:00.001-07:00

I like Glee a lot. It's sort of a scarier version of High School Musical, with half the program devoted to over-the-top MTV inspired music video sequences. I know it's these sequences and the music that's enabled Glee to really break out — I mean, the Glee cast actual tours the country singing — but for me, what makes Glee stand out is the complete world it's created. That's hard to do. Very few creative enterprises succeed in creating a "world". On TV, Mad Men does it. Deadwood too. And The Sopranos. Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage too.

So what's Glee's world like? Nasty. The world of the nightmare teenage high school years where no one ever feels like they fit in, even if they are super popular. In Glee, the haves and have-nots duke it out. Including the teachers. And I love the teachers. The hapless principal (and who hasn't experienced one of those). The scary coach of the cheerleaders who's turned the high school into her empire because that's the only power she'll ever have (schools are full of those). The counselor who's pretty nutty (Jayma Mays seems to be specializing in nutty).

Two of the creators of Glee worked on Nip/Tuck, and there is definitely the same wacky, edgy feel. (Jessalyn Gilsig, who plays Terri, the crazy wife of the coach of the glee club, is also an alum). Thus far, my only complaint is that the music sequences are just too predictably placed and too numerous. I want to look forward to those, not groan, "Music sequence!".

So what's been the highlight? Kristin Chenoweth. I loved that singing duel between young, virginal Rachel and Chenoweth's alcoholic has-been April, both singing "Maybe This Time" ("The Rhodes Not Taken" episode). You think high school is tough, kids? Wait until you're a has-been and you're sucked dry of all hope. You'll be longing for those frozen Slurpees.

Friday Night Lights 4th Season Premiere

2010-05-01T15:36:00.000-07:00

Yeah! Friday Night Lights begins again this Friday, May 7, on NBC. Clear your schedule for 8 pm. Hope it's a good season. It looks like half the cast will be new.

The Gratitude of Bones

2010-04-17T21:10:00.000-07:00

Kartika Review just came out with their fabulous Home issue. OK, I am a little biased as my short story "The Gratitude of Bones" is included. But it is a pretty cool issue with tons of wonderful things to read, including essays by Asian American artists on what home means to them. To download the full issue, just click here! And please read my story and say something nice in the comments because I'm a pretty sad charity case and am not too proud to beg. ;)

American Experience: Dolley Madison

2010-04-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

Ever since I was a kid, I was always fascinated by Dolley Madison, the wife of President James Madison. I didn't know very much about her, just that she was amazingly plucky, a true hero of the War of 1812. In fact, people generally don't speak about the War of 1812 except when talking about Dolley Madison. So I was thrilled when American Experience featured Dolley in this week's program. She is even more amazing than I had ever imagined, creating the role of First Lady single-handedly. With charm, grace, and incredible astuteness, she brought civility and society to Washington D.C and changed American politics forever.

Unfortunately, the documentary is post Ken Burns and very paint-by-numbers with actors pretending to be key people. But one of the commentators is the wonderful political journalist and writer Cokie Roberts (strangely, she's called simply "writer" on the show). Luckily, you can watch the program at the pbs website. For Dolley's sake, please go and watch if you already haven't!

Microsoft's Crystal Seems To Be Brain Dead

2010-03-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

Here's the video and here's what she's really saying:

"I'm Crystal. Not long ago I had a thought, right in the back of my head. And it hurt. Because I'm brain dead and that's why I use Windows 7."

This is why Microsoft needs to fire everyone in their marketing department. Now.

Carrie Fisher News

2010-03-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

I just found out that Carrie Fisher might be coming to TV. According to Entertainment Weekly, she's doing a pilot called Wright vs Wrong, alongside Cheryl Hines and Debra Messing. It sounds like some sort of political satire. Hines is a liberal pundit, Messing a right-wing one, with Fisher as Hines's manager. I think that's right. Anyway, I hope it's good because I love Carrie Fisher (I should have included her in my post about actors who should have their own shows). I also hope she'll write a few of the scripts if the show takes off. I suppose, though, it's too much to hope it'll be as sophisticated as Absolute Power, a deadly take on PR which starred Stephen Fry and John Bird.

The Marriage Ref

2010-03-20T17:41:00.000-07:00

After seeing the promos, I really didn't know what to expect. It was coming from Jerry Seinfeld and friends, so I knew it was going to be kinda quirky. What I wasn't expecting was carnival — like three-headed dog and woman with a beard stuff. One couple is fighting over an iguana that the wife dresses and kisses. Another couple isn't having sex because the man really wants to have sex with his mom. Discussing the issues are comics (generally friends of Seinfeld like Larry David) and useless actors. Not that the discussion matters because the ref, another comic friend of Seinfeld, decides completely on his own, using the couple's problems as a brief comic stand-up routine.

Okay — I laughed. But I'm not sure if I should be laughing, because these couples aren't characters out of Seinfeld played by comic actors — these are real people who seem a little bit out of their depth.

Does Obama Really Want To Be President?

2010-03-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

Of course, I'm not a Washington insider and I have absolutely no idea what's going on in President Obama's head, but here's the thing — Obama is on TV a lot. And not just on Meet the Press or This Week or The Tonight Show. But on sports shows commentating on the Georgetown basketball game. And singing karaoke. I'm beginning to think that the real reason Obama wanted to be President was just so he could be in front of a camera all the time. Which makes me wonder: does Obama really want to the president of the USA or does he really want to be the first lady? Because that's what the first lady traditionally does — fluff media events to sideline the press while the president hunkers down in the White House trying to get things done. Maybe he should trade jobs with Michelle. She looks and acts a helluva lot more presidential than Obama. She's kinda scary. I bet she could get things done.

Kudos to Mad Men

2010-03-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Does Mad Men have an expert on all things British? I was so impressed by the way they told Lane Pryce's story. Here's this British guy, sent all the way to America by his British bosses just to do dirty work. No matter how well he does his job, he'll never get ahead —he's basically stuck as the corporate henchman — and if you're British, you knew that the second he opened his mouth. It's all in his accent, a nice upper middle class accent, an accent that tells his superiors that Pryce is not one of them. No wonder Pryce loves NYC. No wonder he jumps ship. The Americans appreciate what he can do; his British bosses only appreciate his background — or lack of it. You see, his bosses have aristocratic names like St. John (and if you're from the right background, you know that this very plummy name is pronounced Sin-Jin) and speak with Oxbridge accents. They belong to clubs that Pryce would never be allowed to enter, except as a waiter. Not only do they understand this at a subconscious level, but they expect Pryce to understand this and keep to his station. Remember that little punk who came to take over Pryce's job? The one who got his foot chopped off? No experience, but right accent. That's why he was getting Pryce's job. And remember how explosively angry St. John got when he discovered Pryce's betrayal? It was like his butler had walked into his bedroom at three in the morning and told him to fuck off. It simply isn't done.

What I found so wonderful in all this was that the writers never tell you any of this. If you understand the British class system, great! If you don't, it doesn't really matter because all this is played seamlessly into the plot: Pryce isn't appreciated so there's the subtext for his actions. I also love the fact that the American characters in Mad Men don't understand any of this either — and they don't care (a comment on American insularity and perpetual near-sightedness?). This kind of sophisticated storytelling is unheard of on TV. You don't even see it very much in "literary" novels. So just who do these writers think they are, anyway?

It's Not An Olympic Sport If...

2010-02-16T13:54:00.000-08:00

To the Olympic Committee:

Here are some guidelines that I think you should enforce.

It's not an Olympic sport if ...

... you need to wear sequins to win

... you need a theme and a costume

... you need a broom.

Lupin the Third

2010-02-16T11:32:00.000-08:00

So I'm watching the local free Japanese channel and I see this

and I think, "What the hell?" Everything about it caught my attention — the style of the animation, the clipped storytelling, the strange 70s feel of it all. Well, it turned out to be a cartoon called Lupin the Third and its provenance was truly strange. The cartoon series is based on a Japanese manga series written by Kazuhiko Kato whose pen name is Monkey Punch. The lead character, a thief, is Arsene Lupin III and he just happens to be the grandson of Arsene Lupin, who just happens to be a gentleman thief in a series of novels by the French author Maurice Leblanc. Because of the complicated intellectual property issues, for years, the cartoon couldn't be released outside the US under the Lupin name. OK. Is anyone still with me?

The plots are surreal and ridiculous. But the cartoon itself is an interesting drug trip. Below is a link to a full episode. Called "Farewell My Beloved Witch", it is truly, truly bizarre.

WATCH "FAREWELL MY BELOVED WITCH"

The Good Wife

2010-01-26T21:07:00.001-08:00

The Good Wife is doing really well here and in the UK. I'm not surprised. There's something very intriguing about it. Strangely, for me, the intriguing portion is not the family drama, which is dull, but the courtroom drama — and I've really come to hate courtroom dramas!

Basically, The Good Wife is a very sophisticated Agatha Christie — nothing is as it seems but it all gets figured out. I suppose part of the appeal is that there is just so little adult drama. I think we're all a little sick of whimsy and cutesy, the knowing voice overs, etc. But, sadly, as my post demonstrates, there isn't very much to talk about. Oh, well.

Actors Who Should Have Their Own Show

2010-01-09T12:48:00.001-08:00

I nominate the following.

Ken Marino: in a nice surreal comedy where he can flex his incredible comedic/dramatic skills. Even though he's been on TV for years, I didn't really notice him until Reaper — the show was totally goofball, but not Ken and the way he portrayed his gay fallen angel, going from sweet to goofy to frighteningly evil in a mind's blur. He deserves so much more than an occasional anonymous bit part in shows like Greek. BTW, did I mention he's totally hot?

Christina Hendricks: I really liked her in Firefly, so how about a sci-fi adventure dramedy where her curves can literally kick some male ass.

John Slattery: in a comedy where he can play a total goofball who always gets the girl.

Conchata Ferrell: in a drama because this lady can seriously act. Seeing her sleepwalk through Two and a Half Men breaks my heart.

Harriet Sansom Harris: I really miss seeing her on TV; while she was delicious as Bebe in Frasier, I want to see her in a drama.

Wayne Knight: I don't care what he's in, he's always so great. Whether as the hateable Newman in Seinfeld or the lovable cop in 3rd Rock, he can always make you laugh.

Me. I'm not an actor, but I feel like I really need to be in a nice comedy. One in which you meet nice new people in nice cozy situations and everything always works out every half hour, where there's always a yummy catering truck and someone does my hair and make-up on a daily basis.

Gap Holiday Kids Ad

2009-12-25T14:28:00.000-08:00

Every year there's always one Christmas ad that's really fun. This year, my vote goes to the Gap kids ad. Vibrant, sassy, fun. So much better than the adult version (really dead in comparison). Go, kids!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

The Greek Men

2009-12-24T12:11:00.000-08:00

You can definitely tell that women are doing some of the serious writing on this show because the men of Greek are so lovable! They are so lovely, you just want to squeeze them into a s'more sandwich and each them up. (For my more detailed account of Greek, you can click here.)

Rusty: big-eyed, innocent, sweet, awkward, likes to plunge into love — how adorable is that!
Cappie: witty, fun, big-hearted, oh-so-naughty.
Beaver: beefy, hopelessly simple-minded, earnest and cute.
Max: all his nervous ticks are so endearing — and he can fix your cell phone — and count cards — and he'll probably rake in the bucks working for some evil defense contractor.
Cal: every straight girl's fantasy of a gay buddy.

So what's with the girls? The only lovable girl is Ashleigh. And she gets punished with no love life. :(

*Update: Ashleigh: OK. She gets punished with a boring love life.

Good Morning, Miss Dove

2009-12-19T11:37:00.000-08:00

Thinking about Jennifer Jones made me think about Good Morning, Miss Dove and how a sappy, mediocre movie can become memorable thanks to one actor's performance (in this case, the luminescent Jennifer Jones as school teacher Miss Dove).

Good Morning, Miss Dove is a pure 1950s film, folks. Sappy sentimentality thickly drips off every scene. School teacher Miss Dove is seriously ill. Her life depends on the expert surgical hands of one of her former students. Without Miss Dove's guidance, he probably wouldn't have become a surgeon. Without Miss Dove, half the population of this little town would probably have fallen off a cliff, literally or metaphorically. The only thing unsentimental about this film is Jennifer Jone's portrayal. She doesn't ooze love. She's didactic, stiff, morally uptight, rigid. When one of her former students comes to her with a broken heart, blubbering about how this filthy rich man dumped her — "Oh, what should I do? What should I do, Miss Dove?" — Miss Dove coolly tells her to get down on her knees and thank God she was dumped. And it works out, because the dumped girl runs into the surgeon outside Miss Dove's classroom and they get married, living happily ever after in Small Town Ville. Yeah, Miss Dove!

About the only time you see Miss Dove smile is in a flashback of her youth. She's a lively, romantic young girl who's just gotten engaged to a hunky, sweet geologist. All her dreams are coming true. You see, Miss Dove dreams of exploring the world — she has a passion for adventure and knows everything there is to know about every part of the planet. The geologist is going to sweep her off to exotic lands, he digging for rocks, she exploring and savoring culture. But then her dad dies and her dad has left behind a mountain-sized debt. She has two choices: she can run off with her geologist hunk as advised by the family friends who are also the bankers, or she can stay behind and spend the rest of her life paying off her dad's debt. She chooses the latter. And she's so honorable, she doesn't even tell the geologist why she's calling off the engagement, lest he uses his own money to bail her out.

That's how she becomes a geography teacher, talking about lands she'll never see.

It's heartbreaking, watching her make that decision. Watching her kill off the center of her happiness. Her life has become sacrifice, a sacrifice to honor, debt. Not that she plunges into self-pity or becomes angry. She's just dead. Of course the movie doesn't allow for that. We watch as she becomes an excellent teacher, redirecting her children's negative energies to positive ones, from bullies to appreciators, would-be criminals to productive members of society. Teaching isn't really about geography but the fine-honing of pre-adults. Yes, yes, but what about Miss Dove? You can see it in Jennifer Jone's eyes, the aloofness of her presence, how she never firmly attaches to any one of her pupils. She cut all that off the moment she decided obligation over life. And that's what makes the movie more haunting than it was probably intended to be. All because of Jennifer Jones.

The final scene shows Miss Dove recovering. The surgery was a success. She, as a teacher, was a success. But we see the toll of dedication: when the surgeon and his wife tell her they are expecting a child, she murmurs about how she's going to have to get better just so that she'll be able to teach this child. Out of love? No, out of exasperation. She thinks the surgeon and his wife are pretty silly, and the product of such silliness is going to need all the help she can give it. Well, I guess that's one reason to keep on living. And God knows, we all need a reason.

Jennifer Jones, 1919-2009

2009-12-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

She was one of my favorite actresses. She could take a bad, maybe even racially-offensive role and spin it on its head so that all you saw was a tormented, tempestuous girl (Duel in the Sun). And no one could top her spinster school teacher portrayal (Good Morning, Miss Dove). She was always the best thing in every one of her movies, and that was the really sad thing, how she never got her transcendent movie, the Gone With the Wind moment which would have seared her in every movie-goers consciousness (ironically, she was married to David O Selznick). I wish she hadn't stopped acting in the 70s because she was one of the truly great actresses.

Here's a clip from The Song of Bernadette (she won an Oscar for her performance).

My Private Greek Marathon

2009-12-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

Now that I can no longer afford cable, I'm watching more and more TV shows online, usually at IMDB, which gets feeds from Hulu.com. The problem with that is, more often than not, there's usually some kind of time restriction and suddenly you get this notice that says you have ten days left to watch something like sixty episodes. This is what happened to me as I made my way through Greek, and now I have a long, long marathon ahead of me.

I'd been meaning to watch Greek for quite awhile; it'd been getting the kind of press that Glee gets now. But it's on ABC Family and, with dozens and dozens of cable networks, it's really hard to keep track of what's on when, especially because shows come and go on their own schedules. So I never really knew when Greek was on, just like it took me forever to figure out when and where Glee was on. This is something that shows are really going to have to figure out: how to effectively advertise their shows in the era of antenna/cable/digital/satellite/web/Google. Networks like ABC Family use their brand in that traditional way, hoping to attract viewers through similar programming. If you keep watching ABC Family, you'll always know the line-up and get posted on new shows. But that only works if you've drunk the Kool-Aid. If you're finding the Kool-Aid lukewarm, you find yourself watching less and less.

So back to Greek. Someone made such an enthusiastic recommendation, I made the supreme effort of looking for it online. I was really surprised by how good it is. At least episodes 1-5. After that, the episodes get kinda uneven. Greek is about life at a fictitious university as experienced by brother and sister Rusty and Casey. Episode 1 introduces us to Freshman Rusty, who's thinking of shaking up his life a little by joining a frat. Casey, the older sibling, is already part of an exclusive sorority and isn't too thrilled that her nerdy brother wants to be part of the same world. As you would expect from a show centering on a university, the cast of characters grow and grow, but the show stays true to the central theme: brotherhood/sisterhood. Again and again, the show wants you to understand what it means to create and strengthen bonds, whether through the Greek system or through dorm life or through biology. The show is very true to ABC Family, but it's also true to that fantasy we all have of this cool, amazing collegiate life where fun, witty people like Cappie exist and how your Greek sisters and brothers will stand by you, no matter how obnoxious you are or how gay, and how your roommate, no matter how ideologically different from you, will be there to support and guide you, and that college is the place where you are allowed to make mistakes so that you'll grow up to be stupendous people no matter what road in life you end up taking (unless your mistake is to rat on the Greek way of life).

That wasn't my collegiate experience, nor most of the people I know, but we all end up pretending that it was as we send yet another check to our old alma mater. And watching Greek, I certainly want to pretend that it was because it's such a lovely fantasy. In fact, Greek's version is so great, I want to go back in time and start life all over again — I mean, life just doesn't start until you enroll at Cyprus Rhodes. And I so want one of those cute ZBZ t-shirts.

The Middle

2009-12-02T20:39:00.000-08:00

I think I like The Middle a tad bit more than Modern Family. Even though eccentricities abound, The Middle isn't trying to be perverse or "wink, wink". While Modern Family has The Office as its idol, The Middle seems to be looking up to Malcolm in the Middle. Not only are the titles pretty much the same, but one of the kids, Atticus Shaffer, seems to be an imperfect clone of Erik Per Sullivan. Of course, The Middle is a much gentler version of Malcolm. The mom is sweet and earnest, played to perfection by Patricia Heaton, the children more normal. Although, the writers seem to be determined to have at least two abnormal, Aspergey kids: Sue is a clueless loser (literally a loser as she can't seem to get in on any reindeer games) and Brick is that weird kid in class you must avoid at all cost. Brick is so weird (just in case you don't get it), he whispers words to himself. Sorry, writers. That just ain't working. The whispering thing is so forced, it instantly reminds you that you are watching a TV sitcom instead of just enjoying yourself.

What does work is Eden Sher's Sue. I have to agree with everyone that Eden is a genius. In someone else's hands, Sue would be like Brick, totally unbelievable. But Eden makes Sue's defects so natural, so endearing, so real. And it's nice not to have a smart aleck teenager. I mean, Sue actually asks her mom for advice! She actually likes her mom!

I also like the writing. More often than not, the stories develop in an unexpected, fun way that keeps you on your toes. It's a mature kind of writing, written by people who aren't enamored by their own writing or feel obligated to do back flips off cliffs. They just know how to write and I really love the nimble way they avoid the usual sitcom pratfalls.

Modern Family

2009-11-29T13:15:00.001-08:00

After watching about half the series, I'm still not sure what to think. Okay, it is one of the best shows on TV right now (The Good Wife is good; so is The Middle), but that's only because everything else is pretty much crap. And there are some brilliant moments, like the "I Want To Do You" song and the moment the gay couple describes bonding over Charades. And Ed O'Neill is as great as always, playing pretty much the straight man in the midst of a loony bin. And yet ... why is it so tedious? It's like they said, "Ohh, we like Arrested Development — and The Office — and Bernie Mac — let's do something like that!"

The worst tedium is the Phil character. Why is he so unrelentingly stupid? His stupidity is no longer a character trait but bad schtick.

Some bright spots: Ariel Winter's Alex (and yet they do very little with her), Rico Rodriguez's Cameron (I loved his tête-à-tête with the clueless mom, Claire) and Reid Ewing's Dylan (I hope they don't turn him into a Potzie).

Verizon Droid Ad

2009-11-10T20:38:00.000-08:00

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT?
YOUR AD DOLLARS GOING TO WASTE.

Lee Soon Jae

2009-11-07T15:40:00.000-08:00

Is Lee Soon Jae the best actor ever? I'm beginning to think so. I first noticed him in a Korean drama called Merchant of Choson. In this fascinating period piece about commerce where I learned more than I wanted to about Korean red ginseng, he played a mega evil CEO who'll do everything and anything to make a buck (he learns the error of his ways after being beaten to a pulp by Fate). He was pretty scary. So I couldn't believe it when I saw him in Mom's Dead Upset, playing the noble, gentle patriarch! At the moment I'm catching him on Yi San (playing a hard-ass king) and Beethoven Virus (playing a dapper oboist going through Alzheimer's).

He's pretty amazing in Beethoven Virus. The way he fights his illness, trying to find clarity by putting rough pebbles in his shoes, his denial and then slow descent into dementia, first traveling back in time, and then forgetting the self completely, even in the posture of his body.

It's not the kind of acting that's appreciated here in the US, where the cult of personality is everything. Famous actors play basically one character their whole careers and acting is just being able to pull out an emotion on cue. Cary Grant famously played Cary Grant, and you have to reach all the way into the early 1930s to see him as an actor. It's not really the actors' fault — after all, they're being paid to play that one act over and over again, with any variation rarely appreciated by a paying audience.* In other countries, actors are allowed to grow, cast sometimes in minor roles, allowed the freedom of acting on stage, film and TV. In Korea, it isn't surprising to see the same actor in two or three dramas a season. This is in part because most dramas end at a specified number of episodes. They don't keep going on and on and on, the duration dependent on ratings.

Below is a clip from the comedy High Kick, where Mr. Lee plays an irascible son-of-a-gun who makes life hell for his poor wife. Go to 6:20 for an example of his subtle comedic skills.

*One of my favorite US actors is Harriet Sansom Harris, most famous as Bebe in Frasier. She's so perfect as Bebe, you think that's just her. But then watch her as the blind president in the old Sci Fi series Space: Above and Beyond. I'll never forget the one speech she makes for why they must continue the war: absolutely chilling.

Mylene et Son Garcon

2009-10-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

Just when I think French TV has nothing to offer, I see Mylene et Son Garcon. Each episode is about a minute and a half of helium. You can take a look at the Canal+ site here.

I'm thinking this might become my favorite series.

Castle

2009-10-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

ABC, please cancel this lame show so Nathan Fillion can go on to do better things.

Mad Men, Season 3 Opener

2009-08-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

The season opener was fairly quiet. We begin with Don's squalid birth, the scenes of his beginnings a phantasm around the present. But everything else is really business as usual, bland domestic life, office intrigue, sex wherever people can find it, London Fog the latest ad campaign. Still, I liked it. It seemed more like the first season, the dialog sharper, the melodrama of Don's past life less syrupy. I felt that in the second season, it wasn't just Don who was lost but the entire season. Here, in the season opener, all the old deftness comes back:

Don catches a glimpse of Salvatore's homosexuality through a hotel window. Salvatore is mortified and scared. On the long plane ride home, he waits in agony for Don to say something. Maybe not to him, but surely, to everyone else. Don understands. Especially about secret lives. He wants to reassure Salvatore, not as a friend, but as a fellow conspirator. So he gives Salvatore a warning in the guise of an ad campaign. London Fog. A man on a train, a girl dressed only in a short trench, the slogan "Limit your exposure." "Tell me honestly what you think," Don says, but of course, honesty is the last thing he wants from anyone. And certainly not a confession.

It's interesting that because of his secrets, Don is the most compassionate person on the show, guiding lost souls who lack his strength, like Peggy before she became Super Bitch, and now Salvatore. Will Salvatore fall in love with Don? Peggy didn't, but let's face it, she's more man than Salvatore.

The Evil of Banality

2009-08-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

This commercial for Baskin-Robbins is so evil. Within seconds, the song bores into your brain and takes complete control. You don't have a chance, your brain frantically dancing to the demonic chant "ice cream and cake, ice cream and cake...". Evil. And brilliant.

Summer Watchin'

2009-07-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

At the moment, I'm not finding anything to love on terrestrial TV or cable. Well, except maybe Wipeout (I can't believe I just admitted that! — but nothing on TV makes me laugh as hard as seeing those poor people bounce from obstacle to obstacle in such an overly optimistic way — I mean, is this THE metaphor for life or what?). Okay, it is the summer season, but even at the height of ratings season, there wasn't much, was there?

So, what's a TV addict to do? Watch Asian dramas on the Internet! So far, here's what I can recommend.

Knock Knock Loving You (Taiwan): explores that perennial dilemma — do you chose the dull but cute guy who takes you for granted or the charismatic business shark who loves you for who you really are (even though you have like zero self-esteem)? Knock Knock is very cleverly written (if you don't count the last episode or two) with a great lead in Maggie Wu as Yao Zi Wang, a sharp-tongued business gal who just wants her daddy to love her!

Satomi Hakkenden (Japan): only for those of us who love stories about brotherhoods of knights and the black magic that tries to stop them. Lots of silly business about women who have to kill themselves for the greater good of mankind. And I do mean mankind. I just love the glamorous animae-inspired hairdos on the samurais though! Worth the whole movie. Spoiler alert! The great thing is that in the end, the villanesse of the story is rehabilitated in the afterworld and all her evil blamed on men! How about that, girls!

Hwang Jin Yi (Korea): fictionalized drama about the legendary courtesan, Hwang Jin Yi. The story itself is pretty silly, but I'm riveted by the performances of the head courtesans: Ha Ji Won (Hwang Jin Yi), Kim Young Ae (Yim Baek Moo), and especially Kim Bo Yun (Mae Hyang). And it's proving to be a good primer about Korean folk art. Also, for a TV series, it's absolutely gorgeously filmed. And the music is fantastic (what is it about Korean dramas? they have the best, most unforgettable theme music).

He Who Can't Marry (Korea): Korean remake of a highly popular Japanese series, it's the story about an obnoxious 40-something male who's finally humbled by love. I wasn't really sure about this one after the first episode, but it's really growing on me. I like the natural way all the relationships are forming, not just between lovers but female friends. The second episode was hilarious in the way it talked about the politics of eating alone at a restaurant (I've eaten alone at many a restaurant, in several different countries, and I have to agree with every one of their points! And I wish I was confident enough to eat alone at a grill!). And the setup is pretty funny too: slowly falling for the woman doctor who performed surgery on your hemorrhoids. I mean, after that, what more does a woman need to know about you, anyway?

BTW, Yang Ja Jeon plays mom — she also played granddad's sweet girlfriend on Mom's Dead Upset. The two performances are so spectacularly different, it took me four episodes to place her!

Joshi Deka (Japan): female detectives! I think that's what Joshi Deka means, and in the series, it's always used as a derogatory phrase. Anyway, it's all good fun, mostly because of Izumi Pinko. I could watch her in anything! (She's also in Satomi).

Antique Bakery (Korea): based on a Japanese manga and involves pastries, serial killers, kidnapping, blah, blah — just watch it! It's fun, with really cute camera and graphic work. Joo Ji Hoon, who played the sad prince in Goong, is the lead character — totally different performance — he's a bit louche with lots of physical comedy. Can't wait to see him in Love Kitchen.

Around 40 (Japan): 40-something women and their mid-life crises. This is a sweetheart of a series with so much heart! As a woman, whatever choice you make always seems to be the wrong one! Amami Yuki is so wonderful.

All of these shows are available on mysoju.com. I can't believe how good the subtitles are, too! Much, much better than what you get on KBS or MBC. And sometimes with really good explanatory footnotes about language or culture. And usually from viewers who took the time to translate. I love the Internet!

If, Dear Reader, you have any other recommendations, please share! I'm still hungry!

Pride of Pyongyang

2009-07-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

Some tales are just too strange to be true. Like how about the one where a mad North Korean dictator sends his minions to a small town in England and has them dismantle a brewery brick by brick so they can rebuild it in Pyongyang. Why? Because he's a mad dictator? And just what do you do after you've rebuilt the brewery and Thunderbirds are go? You make a commercial, of course.

Someone really has to make a movie about this. In the meanwhile, here's the commercial in all its cheesy, post famine glory.

Of course, I've never had the pleasure of watching North Korean TV, but somehow I never figured they'd have commercials. Which begs the question of who these ads are aimed at? Peoria? Because most North Koreans don't even own a TV. I mean, if they had money, they'd buy food. And are all their commercials like this, mind-control in psychedelic mode? Listen to those voices, echoing into the depth of your subconscious: aren't you dying for a beer now?

North Korea. On the one hand, they have nuclear weapons. On the other hand, now they have beer. I'm not sure which is more scary.

Here's a link to the BBC story, which is delivered with an earnestly straight face. I love how the Germans are involved. Well, if you're going to do beer, might as well go to the best.

Reaper

2009-05-05T21:04:00.001-07:00

Just when I'm about to give up on Reaper, a good episode hooks me again. Just when I think I'm out...

Let's face it, Reaper fans: this season has sucked. First there was that dreadful character Kristen and the ridiculous incest story. And then Nina: I so don't believe the Nina/Ben thing. The only time this season is working is when Ken Marino's Tony shows up, like tonight. The Way of Steve is absolutely brilliant, the clown strippers genius, and great throwaway lines all the way through. So, I'll watch next week, but Tony better be a big chunk of it. Ken Marino, you're fantastic!

Better Off Ted

2009-05-05T18:35:00.000-07:00

Since the pilot, I've been faithfully watching Better Off Ted in hopes that something will finally click. Why isn't it clicking? Jay Harrington's Ted is likable, sexy, funny; Portia de Rossi does a perfect Veronica, deadpanned, dry, witty; the Tweedledum, Tweedledee scientists, Lem and Phil, get cuter and cuter; the stories are entertaining. And who doesn't love a show that skewers big business? So what's off?

I think there's something wrong with the way the actors are interacting. I'm not sure if they're not getting the right direction, or maybe they all hate each other, or the studio where they tape has some bad feng shui going on. I've seen better interaction in a cartoon — and there is something like a cartoon about this show, not just in the premise, but in the acting, like each actor taped his part on a different day and some guy in the editing room put all the pieces together.

It is an odd show, with an odd sense of humor (I like that). I was surprised it showed up on ABC — you'd really expect a show like this to be on cable. In a vague way, it's like The Middleman, and, now that I make that connection, has the same problems, although the actors on Ted are much better.

If this show gets a second season, I hope the producers get rid of Linda. Andrea Anders has NO chemistry with Jay Harrington, and her Linda is not likable or funny, even though all her lines scream "This character is likable and funny!"

Learn Japanese! While dancing!

2009-04-30T16:12:00.000-07:00

So you've been watching a lot of Japanese TV or maybe playing all those strange video games and now you want some native lingo — no problem! Watch this funky dance track from Genki Japan!

Boys Before Flowers, Reflections

2009-04-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

I've made my way all the way up to episode 18 and I'm surprised by how each episode is slightly better than the last. Which is odd, because each episode is basically the same episode: Jan Di gets into trouble, Jan Di gets rescued, sometimes by Ji Hoo, sometimes by Jun Pyo (in Macao, she actually gets saved by a girl!). And while all this repetition is slightly irritating, I keep watching and enjoying myself because it's really like listening to a favorite song over and over and over again. Which, nonetheless, doesn't stop me from asking this question: how come a plucky girl who can deliver a death kick is always so helpless?

Ah, love triangles. Or love quadrangles? I think what makes Boys Before Flowers so fun is all the likable characters. Not just the main three or four, but every single daffy character, from Jan Di's know-it-all little brother to Jun Pyo's sister, the Charisma Queen. And each character has a heartbreaking story, sometimes implied like with the Charisma Queen, sometimes slowly developed like with Yi Jung. Even the flunkies are great. Like the Wicked Witch's henchman, who follows her orders but without losing compassion or heart. What a great moment that was, when Jun Pyo is in tears at the Macao airport, watching helplessly as the girl he loves goes off with his best friend, and the henchman holds and comforts him like an older brother. The witch has cast her spell and the prince is unable to speak or act, except alone or with her henchmen. I have to admit my heart broke a little when Ji Hoo gives Jan Di the shoes instead of Jun Pyo. Man, life sucks.

Granted, there isn't much depth or realism here but, at times, the show does get some things so right. Like that when you truly love someone, you find yourself doing unfathomably unselfish acts for your beloved, even at a great cost to you, even if your act will never be recognized or even misinterpreted, even if that act will hurt you. And it translates so well certain feelings, like that horrible, sick feeling you get when you see someone you love with somebody else and there's nothing you can do, not even hate the girl he's with because it's not really her fault and, gosh, she's awfully nice, so all you can do is grin and hope that no one notices that tears are welling up in your eyes, not even you.

I'm really glad they made Jan Di's rival a fun girl who's genuine about her love for Jun Pyo. Rich, nasty girl rivals are so last century.

Update: I've decided Lee Min Ho (Gu Jun Pyo) has the world's best smile. If there were a beauty contest based on smiles alone, he'd be the clear winner. Even when you can't see his eyes, you can see so much happiness in his smile, that deep, internal kind of pure emotion, almost without self. Whether this is just a quirk of his physical build up or a demonstration of his acting, who's to say? And his acting is pretty darn good in the role. With Lee Min Ho as selfish Gu Jun Pyo, you really do believe a sane girl would fall madly in love with him, rich or not. Go, Lee Min Ho! Fighting!

Boys Before Flowers

2009-04-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

I'm watching the Korean TV adaptation of Boys Before Flowers, the grossly popular Japanese shojo manga* about a poor high school girl who gets entangled with four rich bullies, and I'm finding myself really having a fun time. There isn't much to the story—it's the typical Cinderella fairy tale, with one of the bullies being forced by the plot into becoming a prince charming—of course, only after the girl proves her worth by withstanding all his punishments. Sure it's total escape into lollipop land, but hey, after a month of total stress worrying about work and money, why not? More fun than an Ambien cocktail, almost as powerful as an endless prescription to Demerol.

And I really like the way the show's directors have totally embraced the shojo manga genre, cutely translating the facial expressions, the body positions, sound effects of the cartoons. I often wonder why Hollywood hasn't discovered and used shojo mangas the way the rest of Asia has. BBF would translate into any culture. But then, I suppose it begs the bigger question of why shojo mangas themselves haven't made it big in the US. My feeling is that it's simply a question of exposure. In the US, most people think comics are the territory of geeky boys who like fantasy adventures. There are, of course, very sophisticated adult cartoons like the Optic Nerve series by Adrian Tomine, but these comics are almost like secret societies and you usually have to hang around in comic stores to stumble across them. Things are very different in Asia. For instance, the Sweet Valley High series would never have been published there as a book—they'd be shojo mangas. If you've never been inside a Japanese book store, go inside the next time you see one, and head straight for the shojo manga section. Your head will spin at the miles and miles of colorful spines. And don't be afraid to peek inside the covers. Even if you don't speak Japanese, they're very amusing.

*Shojo mangas are Japanese comics aimed at teenage girls.

Friday Night Lights

2009-03-28T16:06:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed last night's episode of Friday Night Lights, "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall". At last, Joe McCoy showed his true inner spirit and it was ugly. We knew it was coming, but somehow I didn't expect the amazing quick intensity of the blowout.

FNL is one of my all-time favorite shows. Because of the writing, because of the acting. Nothing is over written, over played, over wrought, over acted, over explained. Like the build-up to control-freak McCoy's nuclear blast. Yes, the issue of his son's girlfriend was slowly driving him batty, but it's at the football game, with the rain, his son taking the coach's orders over his, the guy next to him calling his son a dumb ass for not running with the ball — which is exactly what McCoy wants the kid to do — McCoy's dual feelings of frustration at being unable to control his own kid against the anger and humiliation he feels at the way the guy is ridiculing his son — that's the background to the simmering anger in the car, why listening to his son talking to THAT girl on the cell phone, sounding like a complete love-sick idiot, has him using his own son as a punching bag.

I loved the camera work at the football game, the quick, flat volley of shots between McCoy, his wife, and the thug next to him. If he'd been a South Park dad, he'd have had a punch-up with the thug. But, no, he's a FNL dad, so he punches his kid instead.

Last night's episode also had a nice aside: finally, we see the chinks in Eric Taylor's shining armor. He isn't perfect after all. Of course, his Achilles' heel is football. Coach Taylor, how can you lie to your wife like that? Pretending you didn't know about the new screwball redistricting plans the Boosters came up with? And Tami, your husband is such a bad liar, how could you not notice he was lying? It's this sort of complex interplay between characters that makes FNL so unusual. You have average folks who sometimes do dumb things and sometimes do smart things. It's so close to life, people wanting to do the right thing but rarely having the vision to do so, getting even more confused by false ideals of glory and that perpetual human need to escape from the daily drudgery of self.

BTW, isn't Kyle Chandler great? I've been a big fan of his ever since Homefront. What a great casting call. He's so different from Billy Bob Thornton, who played the coach in the movie version, but so perfect in his own way. Charismatic and so believable as the perfect high school coach.

To see episodes of FNL, just go to the NBC site here.

Windy City Jumps the Shark

2009-03-17T17:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, Windy City totally jumped the shark today with the whole loan shark business. The manager goes alone to a loan shark on company business? And gets beaten up? And is found by his mistress? Give me a break!

This hasn't been a great season of Korean dramas. So many started off well and went stupid or boring: My Precious You, The Iron Empress, Again My Love, Good Bye Solo. Even The Road Home has quickly become tedious and now I'm just left wondering who's going to get leukemia because someone always get leukemia in the Land of the Brain Dead Dramas (that horrible drama You Are My Destiny had two cases of leukemia!). I really had high hopes, too. But did we really need characters getting beat up by homosexual husbands and keeping pregnancies secret? And yet another rich brat? Again, My Love also seemed interesting, and then it just got hysterical, just like My Precious You. Even the acting is just too much. About five years ago, the height of bad acting in the US was that clenching of the jaw — yes, every time a character got angry, the actor clenched his or her jaws like some kind of pantomime. Now, in Korean dramas, any time a character gets angry, it's that camera shot of him or her clenching the fist into a tight little ball of fury. Don't the producers think the music is enough anymore? Because it used to be that every time someone got angry on screen, the angry music came on. Or the lust music or the sad music. Windy City is the worst offender in the music category. Like the romance between the manager and his young, pathetic subordinate isn't gross enough, they have to go and add that nauseating music on top of it. Ughhhhh!

Now my rant is over, I should mention two dramas that I think are working. Both, interestingly enough, take place in the last century, My Dad Loves Trouble and Splendor of Youth. The backdrop of My Dad Loves Trouble is the Korean War, but it's not about war at all. It's not even a drama but a comedy, about a young girl who has the most obnoxious, irresponsible dad in the world. How can you love a dad who only cares about himself, abandoning you and your family in the middle of a war so he can go off and have a good time? The girl decides you can't, until her father does something pretty splendid to regain her faith. Splendor of Youth is a drama and is much harder to encapsulate. It takes place in the 60s, in a small town, focusing on several families who are bound together by a rivalry between bus companies. Most of the central characters are young, thus the title, but the drama isn't Gossip Girl. Family is really its interest. And while there are rich girls being bratty, the characters are a tad more rounded than the typical dramas, so the stories more interesting. There's even gender exploration, girls beating up thugs, boys sewing clothes for girls. All in the 60s!

What's With the Subtitles on Windy City?

2009-03-14T14:21:00.000-07:00

There's really nothing too remarkable about the Korean drama Windy City. It's a nice soap opera about a bunch of unhappy people becoming even more unhappy. In fact, the only thing that stands out for me is how really, really bad the English subtitles are, even for a Korean drama. I thought the subtitles at Arirang TV were bad, but nothing like what I'm seeing on Windy City.

Now, I can forgive the occasional proposition error like using "for" instead of "to". You have to be a native speaker to get the nuances of propositions. Propositions are so cultural and never make sense. But outright stuff, stuff that looks like it was spat out by some computer program, is just not right. Examples:

"She's going to hit the buyers at their 20s with the outfit."
"It was senseless of me to rain abuse."
"It still has lots of memories." (This is in reference to the memory card on a digital camera. Although, I have to admit, I thought this mistake was kinda cute.)
"We're going to take photos of yours." (For "We're going to take pictures of you.")
"You're such a counterfeit."

When things get really laughable is when Windy City tries to be hip and use slang. Like using "got" inappropriately.

"You still got a cold." (This from an elderly lady. Even senior managers end up sounding like home boys, saying things like "I got my lunch".)

My favorite was when an elderly parent called his son a prick. The insult was unintentional, let me tell you.

And the translators seem to be completely unaware of how to deal with pairs and couples. Like whenever they have to talk about a couple, they end up with something really mangled like "the Jeongmi and Wook-Hyun Seo couple" when they should have simply said, "the Seos". I mean, that has to be coming from a software program. A really bad software program.

I've never really understood why Koreans are so sloppy about subtitles and translations in general. Even products shipped to the US have the worst translations. Before the economic collapse, there was all this talk about the Korean Wave and how Korea was going to push its food and culture around the world. Well, if you can't get the small details right, like language, you're just going to end up looking like a joke. Try substance over hip, the basics over slang. It's stupid how many times I've seen Korean dramas misuse "my bad". Look, "my bad" is complete slang used by a small population of people, usually for comic effect. It is not appropriate coming out of an elderly patriarch during a sobering apology! Unless the elderly patriarch is an alien played by a muppet!

Come on, Korea! Get your act together!

Is Dollhouse This Century's Charlie's Angeles?

2009-03-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

So I keep watching Dollhouse, hoping against hope it's going to get better, and this thought pops up: Am I the only one who's thinking Dollhouse is just Charlie's Angels with a sicko twist? You just know sooner or later, there's going to be a female prison episode with towels, showers and delousing. At least Charlie's Angels was tongue-in-cheek fun.

So is this post-post-post feminism?

BTW, just found out we already know who Alpha is without knowing who Alpha is. My bet? Paul seems to be the obvious choice. Just because he's not obvious. I mean, the show has no wit.

Asian Historical Dramas

2009-03-02T18:48:00.000-08:00

At the moment, I'm enjoying two Asian historical dramas, the Japanese drama Tenchijin and the Korean drama The Iron Empress (these links have trailers). They're such interesting compare-and-contrasts. Both center on real historical figures, samurai Naoe Tenchijin of the Takagawa period and Empress Chun Chu of the Goryeo period. Both are so leaden with historical facts and personages that it's too hard to even remember the central characters names much less what's really going on (it doesn't help that the central characters' names keep changing). Both speed ahead pretty quickly, too, the characters going from youth to mature characters within a couple of episodes (presumably, we'll see them die [I'm still watching the early episodes]). But somehow, I think Tenchijin works better as a drama. Mostly because the story sticks pretty firmly with Tenchijin's development. The Iron Empress seems more lost, following a variety of historic people in an effort to be epic*. And it has that problem so many Korean historical dramas have, that persistent need to show endless discussions among competing factions, a clumsy way of explaining background plot which only drowns the story. If I had my way, I'd put Korean screenwriters in a room and make them watch endless hours of The Sopranos. ;)

I also wonder if Tenchijin doesn't work better because it's drawn from the novel by Masashi Hisaka. There was already a compelling construct for the scriptwriters to work with. Whereas The Iron Empress seems to have been the brain child of a director desperate for new subject matter to sacrifice at the temple of Light Entertainment. Thus a dubious attempt to rehabilitate the reputation of Empress Chun Chu. Apparently (and this is from a preview show) Chosun scholars liked to portray Chun Chu as a greedy, lascivious bitch (she had one long-term lover, for god's sake [and only after her husband had died]). But that's Chosun men for you, with their silly Victorian penchant for liking their women mute and long-suffering (god forbid they should own anything, like a personality). It also didn't help that Chun Chu was pretty anti-Confucian, but what sane woman wouldn't be? In any case, there isn't a great deal of historical data on the poor woman, from what I understand, so the screenwriters were pretty free to create whatever they wanted. And what they came up with is a warrior empress with a heart of gold. Which is okay with me. Only did they have to insert all that ridiculous Hong Kong-inspired martial arts crap?

Tenchijin and The Iron Empress are blessed with some pretty outstanding actors. The child Tenchijin is played by the most adorable, beautiful child, Seishiro Kato. He breaks your heart with his pouts and tears. And Lord Kenshin Uesugi is played by the amazing, charismatic Hiroshi Abe, who really does seem like the living, walking embodiment of a war god (I am so in love with him, and I don't even like Alpha males!). Over at The Iron Empress, Ban Hyo Jung plays Chun Chu's regal and scary grandmother, the Queen Mother Shin Jung Hwang. Ban Hyo Jung was a fantastic choice. She can out regal even Hiroshi Abe. Was she born with all that gravitas? Just hearing her voice, you jump to attention. I imagine the devil must be just like her because no matter what she's plotting, she draws you in with magnetic warmth and you can't help loving her.

*I'd like to point out that Gone With the Wind only had a handful of characters.

Favorite TV Couples

2009-02-27T10:56:00.000-08:00

There have been some great TV couples throughout its relatively short history. Like Buffy and Spike (Buffy, the Vampire Slayer). I loved the way they went from deadly enemies to "it's complicated". I loved the way Spike adored Buffy, even in the face of her absolute revulsion. OK. Sometimes he went a little too far. Like when he bought an android version of her. But he learned his lesson: a vapid version of Buffy isn't much of a turn on. And, hey, in the face of unrequited love, people get desperate. Even vampires, apparently. What I loved most was what happened in the last season, Spike being taken prisoner, tortured and taunted daily, and yet, never losing faith, never doubting that Buffy would come for him. And that moment when Buffy does finally rescue him ... ahhhh.... sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words ... in Spike's eyes, there are emotions that I don't think can ever be captured in words. I guess I'm too much in the school of Schopenhauer here.

While I loved Buffy and Spike, I think I might love 3rd Rock From the Sun's Don and Sally even more. They're so hot together, dancing the film noir, toying with the cop cliches, sexual tensions building and building until they erupt—sometimes in bizarre ways, like playing with the siren on Don's police car. I love the way Sally only sees the best in Don, making him feel like he's won the jackpot. I love the way Don can't believe a hot girl wants him, feeling a little sheepish because he's sure that somehow he's hoodwinked her and eventually, she's going to find him out. I love how tender his love is. I love the way he gets this nervous "okay, this is a little weird" look in his eyes when Sally acts totally alien, but decides, "hey, it's part of the package so I'm going to go with it". What more is there to love?

Privileged

2009-02-16T13:41:00.000-08:00

I'm liking Privileged more and more as the weeks go by. The writing is surprisingly sophisticated and the acting pretty darn good. And I love the formula: the big, heart-felt emotions dipped in colorful fondant. You take a bite, expecting momentary delight — when you find yourself with a sustaining meal, it's a nice surprise. I hope they can keep it up.

CW seems to specialize in breezy concoctions that deliver more than you expect. It's the sort of thing Ugly Betty tries for but fails at, week after week after week. And yet who gets all the press? All the Emmys? I can't wait for Reaper, another CW show. That's starting the first week of March. Something to look forward to!

Dollhouse

2009-02-14T10:41:00.000-08:00

When I first heard the premise for Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, I was really, really scared. After having watched the premiere, I'm still really, really scared. The uber-secret Dollhouse is a place where nubile young girls are taken to have their personalities stripped and their bodies super-toned. Why? So the girls can become Stepford Agents, of course. Let's say you're super rich and you want a hot girl who's really into bondage and likes to race motorcycles and dance in really, really short dresses and who'll fall in love with you just for your birthday — who you gonna call? Let's say your little girl's been kidnapped by really, really bad dudes — who you gonna call? Yeah, yeah.

Whedon has taken the River aspect from Firefly, added prostitution and, well, we're off. A bit too much Joe 90 for me, but then poor Joe didn't have sex forced on him. I have to give that to his dear ol' dad, child abuser that he was. Didn't the government ever give him a pamphlet on child work laws?

Anyway, the first episode was a real mess, too much being included at once in a too J.J. Abrams influenced fashion, strands thrown in here and there. I suspect the first episode was really three episodes all cut up and smashed together to satisfy Fox (Fox apparently demanded mucho changes). The main subject of the series is Echo (Eliza Dushku, Whedon's muse). She's the newest doll, escaping from a dubious past that the writers will or will not reveal to us in the future. And then there's Paul, Helo from Battlestar Galactica (Tahmoh Penikett), who's a government agent; he's off on his own strand trying to find Echo. In the middle of all this, Echo is doing a Mission Impossible stint trying to rescue a girl from her bad kidnappers who are also child molesters who also molested "Echo" only not "Echo" but one of the personalities downloaded to Echo — the personality has asthma as a result and blows the mission because she gets asthma because she recognizes a kidnapper ... which is a step up from Echo's last mission as a real inflatable sex doll. Thrown in is all the "what are we doing to these girls" angst, reinfoced by Helo trying to bring down Russian mobsters who import girls for the sex trade. See what I mean?

Of course the madam of the Dollhouse is an older woman, played by Olivia Williams, a Brit. God forbid that an American woman would ever become a madam. In the olden days it would have been a Caucasian playing a Chinese with chopsticks in her hair and really, really long red varnished nails. (Okay, I'm a sucker for Thoroughly Modern Millie.)

In the end, what I really found disheartening was the writing. It was bad. Anyone could have written the script. Not what you expect from Whedon at all. I'm hoping this is just stretch marks as Whedon expands and deepens his writing skills. After all, witty adolescent banter only gets you so far. Going deeper produces greater works, i.e. Persuasion from Pride and Prejudice. But if it's not ... :(

Some nice touches? Well, Whedon's brought back Amy Acker (Angel). She plays the in-house doctor — what's with all the bad scars on her face, we're supposed to ask. And Katya Kinski (Dichen Lachman) from Neighbours has morphed into a doll! She looks pretty hot with a semi automatic. Go, Katya. Only, don't get too excited and use the semi on Susan.

Nouvelle Vague

2009-01-11T11:36:00.000-08:00

I'm talking about the French band. Their music is everywhere. In movies, ads, TV shows, runways, and yet, not too many people know who they are. Nouvelle Vague music is even featured in Korean dramas ("(This Is Not a) Love Song" is the anthem for Soulmate).

Maybe because Nouvelle Vague remakes old songs like "Dance With Me" and "Too Drunk to Fuck". Maybe because their music is so laid back that they merge seamlessly with whatever they're paired with. Maybe because their covers are more mood than music so it goes directly into the subconscious. I don't know. But I do love their covers: "I Melt With You", "Making Plans For Nigel", "Human Fly"...

nouvelle vague ....dance with me .... from bande a part

Can Korean Dramas Make an Impact in the US?

2009-01-06T11:16:00.000-08:00

I was delighted to find out that the "Mom's Dead Upset" entry was recently mentioned in a book review at The Learned Fangirl blog. One of the books Fangirl reviewed was Mark James Russell's Pop Goes Korea and TV Kitty gets involved when Fangirl questions Russell's statement "Korean television also travels poorly to the West, coming across as histrionic soap operas. … But for people used to C.S.I. and The Sopranos, there are only so many stories of separated twins and dying lost loves that one can take."

Fangirl points out that more and more US audiences are being attracted to these "histrionic" shows. That got me thinking and I'd like to bring out some more points. Korean soaps and dramas do tend to strangle themselves with the same bag of tricks: orphans, incest issues (mainly the cultural ban on in-laws marrying in-laws), obsessive love, poor girls marrying rich boys, rich girls making poor girls miserable, the mother-in-law from hell, etc (did I mention orphans?). But US soaps and dramas have their own bag of tricks, so nothing new there. And, if you've been watching the latest wave of Korean shows, you'll see that even Koreans are getting sick of those cliches. One of the reasons I loved Mom's Dead Upset was precisely because it wasn't the usual Korean drama. And the same can be said of so many of the latest popular Korean dramas and comedies: Princess Diaries, a.k.a Goong (a wonderfully imaginative story that asks "what if the Korean royal family were still around?", adapted from a comic book), Women of the Sun, Couple or Trouble (a remake of the US movie Overboard, but so much better), Windy City, etc. There's even Worlds Within (a dramedy about the Korean TV drama factory) which basically pleads with all its heart for more innovative Korean dramas. The Korean TV industry is in the middle of a huge creative drive, probably inspired by the drive in the Korean film industry.

But going back to Mr. Russell's statement, I find there's something very basic that he's not getting. He mentions CSI and Sopranos and how that's changed the viewing tastes of Americans. I'd dispute that. I'm always surprised by how popular shows like Brothers and Sisters and Two and a Half Men are. Nothing innovative about these shows. Brothers and Sisters could have been made in the 70s — just replace the gay relationships with interfaith or something. And what about Privileged? Poor girl, abandoned when young by mom, gets job tutoring rich girls and falls in love with a rich guy. Gee, sounds like a Korean show. Her mom even defrauds the rich guy — a classic Korean plot device (what's a Korean show without someone running away with a chunk of cash). Also, aren't shows like CSI and Sopranos mostly watched by men? And as a man, isn't Russell completely dismissing the female demographic? Just like Hollywood has historically done to its detriment? Korean TV dramas and comedies attract women viewers. Winter Sonata was hugely popular with women all across Asia. And if you go into US message boards about Korean dramas, it'll be mostly women posting. Guns, blood, dead bodies and slick who-done-its are the kitsch of men. Long lost loves, torn families, Cinderella stories are the kitsch of women. Go figure.

And I'll tell you one thing I like about Korean shows versus American shows: there's this unabashed, uncynical love of sentimentality. These shows say there's nothing wrong with wearing your heart on your sleeve. And how wonderful is that?

The Guild

2008-12-02T03:00:00.000-08:00

It's really hard to write about The Guild. There's this wonderful soft, gentle, rolling quality about it that I really like. But then there's also this tedious thing going on — sort of like what you feel when you're waiting in line at Bed Bath & Beyond, trying to return the Aerobed mattress that sprung a leak and realizing this is the second time this year you've had to do this and you're really hoping you'll one day soon be able to afford a real mattress and that it's a good thing the staff at BBB are so nice and don't make a fuss about returns and exchanges, at least at the BBBs in the Valley (the staff at the BBB at The Beverly Center aren't quite as upbeat).

So what is The Guild? It's a for-web-only series created by Felicia Day and it's about a gang of online gamers. I'm not going to describe the plot because that would do the series a disservice. Let's just say that during Series One there was an anti-love story and an embezzlement plot. Series Two just began and it looks pretty much like Series One.

I like Felicia Day, or at least her befuddled, too-nice-for-her-own-good character Codex. Day is a regular on TV and is probably best known as Vi, one of the would-be slayers on the last season of Buffy. She says she began writing The Guild during the writers' strike when there wasn't anything for actors to do except write. And so she did. The Guild has a good fan base and apparently even inspired Joss Whedon to produce his Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, which, of course, stars Felicia Day. Series Two is even sponsored by Microsoft, so now you have to go to MSN to see the new shows instead of YouTube. But Series One is still available on YouTube and here's Episode One. The episodes are never more than six minutes long so you end up spending more time downloading them than actually watching them. Oh, well.

Cooking Japanese Like Morimoto

2008-12-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

On the topic of TV ads, I thought I'd also comment on one of the funniest TV ads I've ever seen. It's for a TV show called Iron Chef and it's zany, clever, and soooo fun. The ad is basically a reduced essence of Iron Chef, a weird Japanese cooking competition, with bits and pieces of the show chopped up into a frenetic music video. The featured song is "Cooking Japanese", an adaptation of the Vapors's song "Turning Japanese". The show and song are satirized in the best way possible, and it also humorously captures the cultural confusion and bewilderment of anyone not Japanese. The song is so catchy, I find myself singing it at odd times of the day: "I'm cooking Japanese, I think I'm cooking Japanese like Morimoto..."

BTW, the original "Turning Japanese" is a love song, which I was astonished to find out. Ironically, it works better as a love song in "Cooking Japanese" because the narrator of the spoof is obviously besotted with the show. I like both songs, the original and the spoof. The lyrics of the original have a total post-modern disregard for coherence, which is great. Oh — the rumor that "turning Japanese" is an euphemism for masturbation is false. In case you wondered... ;)

Samsung/AT&T Thumbs Ad

2008-11-29T12:50:00.000-08:00

This is one of the grossest TV ads I've ever seen. Ranking high on the Uncanny Valley, watching the heads on the moving thumbs makes me want to throw up. The ad is especially bad when seen on HDTV. I think it has something to do with the fact that the heads cannot move independent of the thumbs, yet the eyes are moving around and the mouths are yakking and all of a sudden it's like the unveiling of a terrible Eastern European science experiment and you're confronted with a dog's head on a cat's body and the dog head is talking to you. It just ain't right.

Campaign to De-humanize Doctor Who

2008-10-31T16:56:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or is the Time Lord becoming way too human? What's the point of having more than one heart if you're just going to act like you only have one heart?

I just don't think the writers are seeing things from a superior being's point of view. See, a Time Lord would see us humans the same way we see hamsters. We're cute and fun and entertaining to have around. And if you lose one, you get another. You don't pine season after season over the cute little hamster that you lost somewhere. Why would you? You've got other cute little hamsters. To think we humans make that much of a lasting impression on the universe is total megalomania. Ego check: we're hamsters, not heroes.

Gavin & Stacey

2008-10-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

When I found out Hollywood is thinking of doing a US version of Gavin & Stacey, I got a real sick feeling in my heart. Gavin & Stacey is so perfect as it is. It's sort of like saying, hey, let's remake the Queen for American audiences. Why?

Gavin & Stacey is a fantastic British comedy written by James Corden and Ruth Jones (they also play Gavin and Stacey's respective wacky best friends). There isn't a real story: a Welsh lass and an Essex lad fall in love and decide to get married. So, all you have left is the writing, which is brilliant, and the acting that delivers the brilliant lines, which is perfect. My favorite gag this season involved one of Nessa's many lovers who died trying to fake his own death. The whole bit is delivered and received with total seriousness — perfect comedy.

The scenes with Nessa (Ruth Jones) are always funny, but when they also involve the two mothers, Pam (Alison Steadman) and Gwen (Melanie Walters), it's Christmas dinner in a snow globe: shake and watch with wonder. You've got energy vampire Nessa, world-weary at twenty-something. Add Pam, the nervous little mouse who wants desperately to seem hip, the classic people-pleaser. Stir in Gwen, small-town mom who rather enjoys having a gay son — so handy when you go shopping (think the shopping part in Welsh — for some reason, it's much more funnier delivered in a Welsh accent). There's a running gag involving Pam that's getting more and more ridiculously funny: she, for some weird reason, tells Gwen she's a vegetarian, when she's actually a raging sausage-eater, and she's too embarrassed to tell Gwen otherwise so now whenever they eat together, she has to fake vegetarianism when she doesn't really even know what that involves beyond eating disgusting soy sausages. Man, Alison Steadman is really running with this.

The show's had two seasons. After the first season, I was really nervous that they were going to make a second season — sophomore slump and all*. Could the fun possibly continue after the honeymoon? Yes! Hooray James and Ruth!

Here's a quick glimpse.

*I mean look at what happened to the Sarah Silverman Show. The Silverman writers should have packed their bags after the first season and just added "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" as an epilogue.

Heroes, Why I've Given Up

2008-10-26T12:17:00.000-07:00

So for two seasons they had this bad "company" that controlled everything but now this season the bad "company" turned into a good "company" so they needed a bad "company" to replace the good "company" that used to be a bad "company". Riiight, dudes.

Heroes never really captured me anyway, but I kept watching because it was interesting. And Hiro was so cute. And okay, the "save the cheerleader and save the world" spiel was cute too. What I didn't like was all the repetitive graphic violence — like did they have to keep showing Claire throwing herself off buildings and stuff? I mean, how many times did I have to keep watching gross compound fractures heal? And did I really have to see her stick her hand down the disposal just to see what would happen? Adding to that, there's this real coldness to the show, in the color palettes, the stories, the deadness of the heroes. And now the story's crap.

HDTV Is Scaring Me

2008-10-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

HDTV is not kind to women. At least not to women with heavy plastic surgery. The living dead on HDTV suddenly become the ghoulish dead. If I were the women of Hollywood, I'd get together and form a Middleman conspiracy to kill HDTV. Or lure Max Factor back from the dead and have him reformulate all his make-up because something has to be done. You women are scaring me.

You know what else doesn't work on HDTV? Commercial food. Like Wienerschnitzel's chili dogs, which look like they're covered in shit from a dog that ate all your Ex-Lax -- isn't that taking "truth in advertising" a little too literally? Their chili dog isn't that bad. And why does everything at Olive Garden look like it was nuked from a packet (maybe it is). Campbell's soups look cold and congealed, El Pollo Loco chicken looks like plastic, and everything from Lean Cuisine looks like airline food. And I'm talking cattle class.

Of course, my big fear is that to the rest of America, this stuff does look good enough to eat. And what does that say for the American diet?

Oh — the one food product that does translate well is hamburgers. I guess glistening fat always looks good.

So what's the connection between insecure actresses who get too much plastic surgery and food pumped full of additives? I'll leave that for you guys to answer in the comments!

HDTV is going to be one tough learning curve.

The Mitsuwa Man

2008-10-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

Today, I'd like to talk about the Mitsuwa Man, or Mitsuwa Takashi as he's also known on KSCI. For about five minutes every Sunday, Mitsuwa Takashi pops up during Japanese programming to offer sage advice (and to plug Mitsuwa, a Japanese shopping center). There's something really scary about Mitsuwa Takashi, and yet, at the same time, equally appealing, which is even more scary. He's got this elvish face with a Pokemon smile, his eyes fiery with friendliness as he acts as the anointed clown/court jester of Mitsuwa. You just have to catch the opening segment where he dances with balletic grace while holding a rice cooker on top of his head.

A typical segment runs like this. Mitsuwa Takashi will offer advice on, say, how to clean your jewelry or get more gas mileage out of your car or what to do with gloves. If it's a Japanese holiday, he'll help you make decorations out of cucumbers. Maybe he'll talk to the Mitsuwa fish man. And then he might end the segment by dispensing more advice to some hapless viewer who has sent in a letter. Like "Dear Mitsuwa Takashi, I came to L.A. last year fired up by my dream of becoming a director. It's been a year and nothing's happened and I feel really bad. What should I do?" And he'll say something like, "Oh, yes, there's nothing like that wonderful enthusiasm you first feel trying to make your dreams come true. Why don't you try to resuscitate that feeling? Do you remember what you first ate when you came to L.A.? Maybe Kentucky Fried Chicken? Or a nice taco? Go and get some chicken and all those feelings will rush back into you. But if things get really bad and you've lost all hope, why don't you come and work part-time at Mitsuwa! Where you'll be able to use your Japanese!"

At these moments, how can you not love little Mitsuwa Takashi? (BTW, Mitsuwa Takashi, I can't speak Japanese, but Kentucky Fried Chicken isn't resuscitating me so can I come work part-time at Mitsuwa, too? I have Japanese friends and I've eaten a lot of ramen through the years, if that helps, and I can say "konnichiwa" and "kore wa nan des ka". Oh, "moshi-moshi" too!)

Mom's Dead Upset

2008-09-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

I'm finding it's impossible to write about a show I really love. It's too hard to pin down in a couple of sentences something that affects the heart. Like trying to reason why I love someone, teasing love apart when love only exists as an entirety.

That's the dilemma with Mom's Dead Upset. It's a Korean comedy that's phenomenally popular in Korea. I catch it on KBS World where they do lovely subtitles for almost all their shows. Literally, it translates into "Mom's On Fire". And boy, is she.

At first Mom's just a slowly smoking pile of old embers. And who wouldn't be after serving her family for over forty years as cook, cleaner, miscellaneous-errands do-er? But when her children embark on one disastrous marriage after another, long-suffering Mom explodes into a roaring fireball of fiendish proportions.

See, you're Mom and this realization is seeping into your head: year by year your life has become more and more dreary, more and more cheap and the only dim light to all this misery is your children and your children look at you like you're stupid and forget your birthday and only call you up when they need a babysitter (and what's your son doing knocking up some old maid anyway) -- that's when you explode, high and bright like the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. So what's left? Well, there's you. And that's the Zen moment of truth: Mom can't save her children but she can save herself.

On the face of it, this is a really simple comedy-drama. Unlike Desperate Housewives or Samantha Who? or Pushing Daisies, there are no clever turns of plots, no soft porn, no dramatic murders, no supernatural powers, no aliens. There isn't even any clever dialogue or witty repartees. It's just a simple family drama about simple people of no importance, no wealth, no extraordinary ambition. The only glamour in their lives is this vague hope that one day, a real estate developer will come in and swoop up the whole neighborhood, making them modestly rich. But otherwise, as long as they have a few bucks left at the end of the month, they're modestly content.

But saying this show is a simple comedy-drama is like saying War and Peace is a nice book-of-the-month selection. I'm simply in awe of the writer, Kim Su Hyeon. Her touch is sharp, compassionate, precise, touching: every life is a painful tragedy and a hilarious comedy, whether it's the life of a foolish son who knocks up his girlfriend and can't tell his family even though she's the love of his life, or the life of a dignified but poor patriarch who only finds love in his eighties, too late to marry and have children with his soul mate, but not too late to share a cup of tea every afternoon. Kim Su Hyeon gives children dignity and clarity. She gives women complexity. And she has this way of building and building, so quietly, you don't notice, until all she needs is that one word to convey a lifetime of hurt or longing.

The actors on Mom's Dead Upset are incredible, too. They look, dress and walk in total truth with Kim's words. Every detail is right, from the silly head band the son wears to the grand, quick gestures of the acerbic sister-in-law. I could probably do a thesis paper analyzing each actor, but I think my favorite is Jang Mi Hee. She plays the youngest daughter's brutal mother-in-law. Beautiful and elegant only in appearance, Jang Mi Hee's character has the maturity of a three-year old and terrorizes her family with compulsive mood swings and self-induced insomnia fits. She's even trained a bird to scream out orders so that the bird is a live manifestation of her id. And yet, like her victimized daughter-in-law, you can't help feeling sorry for her, finding compassion in all your outrage. That's how brilliant Jang Mi Hee is. Towards the end of the series, she does become a bit too clownish in her Taming of the Shrew act -- but that's really a small fault.

Did I say Mom's Dead Upset makes you appreciate your own life? Your own family? I suppose in so many words I did.

Fringe

2008-09-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

The Silence of the Lambs and Lost gave birth to Fringe. It isn't pretty. Fringe is a creation with too much DNA with JJ Abrams's thumbprint squarely on its blodgy head. Great if you're a die-hard JJ Abrams fan. Great if you're an adolescent boy. Great if you're an animal rights activist who likes shows that demonize science and universities. I suppose this is why Fringe is on Fox and not ABC.

The best part of the show is Anna Torv who plays an FBI agent. Abrams's real talent is in picking female leads that have the knack of giving his scripts a great deal more complexity than they deserve. The most disappointing part of the show, for me, was Joshua Jackson. Listen, I'm a huge Joshua Jackson fan, so I can't figure out why he seems so at a loss in the role. It's a simple role: smart-ass genius who fucked his life up and blames it on his weirdo father, the crazy scientist. Isn't that sort of basic? Don't tell me the only thing you can do is angsty, rebellious teens, Joshua!

Oh -- and the music sounds like something out of Outer Limits -- actually, the whole show is glorified Outer Limits -- without the promise of a payout. Because there's never a payout with Abrams. He's all talk.

True Blood

2008-09-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

True Blood. Saw the drink ads all over LA and thought, "HBO promo". Then I heard the whispers -- show about vampires! -- and wasn't thrilled. Then saw the promo clips and thought, hmmm, seems kinda funny. It is Alan Ball. Okay, I'll watch.

Man, the pilot show was fatiguing. All that over emoting. All that hyper atmosphere. All those accents. All those weird people. And then there were the vampires.

The series is based on the vampire books of Charlaine Harris, which I hear is pretty good, which is a shame, because now I won't read them -- not with that lingering unpleasant taste of the series in my mouth. True Blood's hook is the relationship between a telepathic waitress and a vampire -- for those of you who don't know, vampires and humans can live together openly now because the Japanese have invented synthetic blood (oh, those Japanese! always looking for a marketing opportunity!), so there's no need for vampires to hunt humans, unless it's for fun. And unless it's in Louisiana. Vampire stories don't seem to interest writers unless there's a Romeo and Juliet component -- vampire longing for human longing for vampire. But if they're going for romance, the show's a little short. At the moment, where it's lodging itself is in the campy Gothic porno genre. Apparently vampires like to screw humans. For money (they pay, and they pay well). And it's violent. Go figure. (In the books, the theory is that human blood makes vampires horny. Okay.) Well, True Blood is on HBO, the porno channel without the money shot. Personally, I think HBO is secretly run by Puritans and they have a mission: to turn the human race permanently off sex, which on HBO is as tedious as it comes. Isn't anyone at HBO having good, emotionally rewarding sex?

Anna Paquin plays the telepathic waitress Sookie. She's really blonde and I hardly recognized her. I suppose she's a good choice because I've always found her a little spooky, even as a kid in The Piano. She's surrounded by the required chorus of good-looking guys. What's weird, though, is most of them look like Brad Pitt. Have you noticed that on TV, everyone looks like everyone else now? The first step to digitizing actors? Hey, listen, studio heads -- digitized actors will still have reps.

Privileged

2008-09-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

When I saw the promos for Privileged, I thought, "Ugh, not another one of those shows." You know, shows where you're supposed to gawk at the rich and famous as they screw in and out of their Dolce & Gabbanas while you're supposed to wish you were one of them. Shows like Gossip Girl, 90210 (new version), Dirty Sexy Money, etc.

So I was a little surprised that I liked the pilot. It's fun, well-written, and well-acted, with a good pace. And so free of cynicism, I'm a little taken aback. And thus far, not one sex scene. And I liked the soundtrack.

Of course it's filled with gorgeous people and has the token gay, who is also the token black. You've got the poor outsider who can teach those stupid rich people what life is really about. You've got the super bitch. You've got the love triangles and the sister rivalries. You've got Debi Mazar in a cameo doing her usual Bitch Shtick. And no one ever wears the same thing twice. Well, you have to fill an hour some how. And this is a pretty harmless hour.

Oh — doesn't Michael Cassidey look strangely like Ben Affleck?

Reaper

2008-08-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

For the last few months, I've been enjoying Reaper on reruns, a show about a boy whose soul was sold to the devil by his parents -- or was it? Wink, wink. I know, it doesn't sound very promising, and the first four or five episodes weren't that great, but show after show, the writers have really beefed it up so that there's a real nice minty enjoyment after-buzz.

Like Buffy, Farscape, Firefly, this show works because of the little details. I wasn't at all surprised that Kevin Smith is a consultant. This show walks on Smith's kind of dialog and trademark characters like Sock and Gladys, the demon who works out of the DMV. Of course, none of this would work without the excellent acting. Ray Wise is fun as the devil. Ken Marino is fantastic as the sweet, gay demon with a heart of evil. And Tyler Labine really knows how to stay on this side of obnoxious.

It's at heart a very old-fashioned show. Actions have consequences -- I mean, that doesn't even happen in real life. When Ben tries to defraud the government by taking money for a Green-card marriage, not only is he caught, but he goes to jail. The writers don't create some cute, impossible situation to rescue him. They just give him a "Go Straight To Jail" card. Excellent. And the writers know how to do it right: no tedious trial scene, no moral lectures, no jail scenes! So refreshing. Anyway, to continue with another obligatory example, when Steve, the reformed demon, tries to take the devil down through Ghandi-like methods, he's rewarded and sent to heaven. All this makes Reaper strangely more modern than anything going. I mean, it's so old-fashioned, like Biblical old-fashioned, it's new. I like that.

Mad Men?

2008-08-24T17:02:00.001-07:00

So I've watched four episodes of season two and I'm exasperated. I'd like to say it's just lost a little momentum, but I can't, because it's like the show's a completely different show. I know the writers are attempting to portray morass but that's no excuse for putting people to sleep. And I mean, literally putting people to sleep. And not just people, but insomniacs. And look -- we get the ad business now. We get that Don is brilliant at his job. That was all in season one, so what's the point of making 80% of each show the JOB? You want to make this Bewitched without the laughs? (BTW, there are some pretty scary similarities between bosses Tate and Sterling. Actually, now that I think of it, there are a lot of similarities between Mad Men and Bewitched: the chiseled, dark features of Draper and Stevens, the cute blonde wives, booze, booze, and more booze, nice period cars.)

The first three shows have been like very dull John Updike short stories, with a good dose of bad Mary McCarthy. Speaking of Mary McCarthy -- where did all the interesting women go? Swinging girl artist, Midge? Department store heiress Rachael, S&M inspired Dr. Guttman? And where the hell is Joan? How and when did she become the latest victim of the Body Snatchers?

There are some good developments but are they developments or just moments? Like making Don a bit more dirtier. His sexual assault on tough broad Bobbie in "The Benefactor" was shocking. And having him send a book to Rachael was interesting (although it isn't clear that it is to Rachael -- could be a red herring -- but that's what I'm betting). I guess being married to a woman you can't relate to is tough. Especially when she's a nutcase like Betty.

Okay. Maybe Betty isn't a nutcase. But what a control freak. Her cold mother act gives blondes a bad name. And what's with the sexual power plays? Are the writers going to reward her and turn her loose in the big city as a Cosmo Girl or are they going to punish her with rape? Well, the creator is male so I have a feeling it's not going to be Sex and the City for Betty. Maybe the best we'll get is Betty Does Boston.

So you get the feeling I don't exactly like Betty? Okay, again, I get the part about Betty being a little girl in a woman's body. Maybe it's just January Jones. I think that if a better actress were in the role, an actress with the power of Juliette Binoche or Judy Davis, I'd be able to enjoy the Betty development more. You just don't get much inner-life moments with Jones. She just does "I'm so unhappy". Well, so am I! At least you have a nice kitchen. You should see my 1970s disaster. And -- you have a maid! This is about as much sympathy as Jones solicits. Sorry.

Anyway, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that Don, Joan, and Mr. Boss Sterling will get their lives back. Soon. Please.

So Universal

2008-08-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

I've watched soap operas and dramas from a lot of countries, and I've noticed that whether you're watching a soap from the US, France, Germany, Korea, Japan, there are certain words and phrases that keep coming up over and over again. Here's my list. The phrases in bold are the most frequent, by my count.

Trust me. (If said in the US, or any other Western country, "trust me" is a code for "run away". In Korean soaps, if someone says "trust me", you probably should.)
I'm in love with you.
It's my life!
Bastard/bitch!
I love you/her/him.
I hate you/her/him!
She's beautiful!
You're fired!
I understand.
You have cancer.
I'll make your life hell!
Shut up!
Why are you doing this?
I can't believe this!
I'll call you later.
I'm leaving the country. (Usually to study. Not applicable to the US.)

Olympics! Opening Ceremony

2008-08-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

It was an opening ceremony only a communist country could pull off. And it was totally awesome. And I mean awesome, which the Oxford American Dictionary says means "extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear." I thought the ceremony was part Cirque du Soleil, part military display, and part historic fantasy. Watching it on TV was so overwhelming -- I can't imagine what it must have been like in the actual Bird's Nest. I loved all the little touches, like having the athletes track color across the huge paper.

I suppose it was also an opening ceremony only China could pull off. Thousands of years of Confucianism making even a small child fully aware of his position and obligation in society. Mentally and physically aware of the person next to you, keeping the appropriate distance, subconsciously aware of the levels of respect due to each body. The power of the Chinese philosophy you could see in the flowing display of bodies, like seeing the Emperor of Qin's terracotta soldiers come to life, breathing and moving with discipline and grace. But the cost? Rigid hierarchy promotes bullying and places too much burden on top of those on the bottom of the pyramid. China is the one country where the suicide of women outpaces the suicide of men. Suppression of individual desire is devastating to the human soul.

The worst part of the ceremony? Listening to Bob Costas and Matt Lauer. You have the almost holy aspect of the Chinese presentation, and then you had the juvenile boys' comments of Costas and Lauer -- they really disgraced themselves during the parade of athletes. They just couldn't help themselves, smirking at the Hungarian team's outfits, making snide comment after comment about the African outfits. If the comments had been at least intelligent, I could have lived with it, but it was just the stupid giggling jokes of pre-teens. Terry Wogan on Eurovision was more intelligent. I can't wait for that generation of cynical male commentators to die out.

Which makes me really miss Jim McKay and the old ABC Sports. He had so much heart and so much joy — a real respect for people and their passions. Come back, Jim McKay! Come back! We need you! You're our only hope!

Doctor Who Regeneration

2008-08-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

Just watched the season finale. I found it entertaining, fun, and ... unsatisfying. I loved seeing the old Captain Harkness back. At the thought of three versions of the Doctor running around, he blurts out, "I can't tell you what I'm thinking about!" Exterminated by the Daleks and he still can't help thinking ...

I also loved Doctor/Donna. I didn't like the way they got rid of her, though. Too cruel. Too easy.

And giving Rose her very own "Grows Old Like A Human!" Doctor to play doctor with? I'm thinking ... yuk.

And it was sad seeing Harriet go.

And what's with all that loud, OTT dramatic, sentimental music?

And why did the end have to be so depressing?

I guess that's the crux of my dissatisfaction. I'm just not liking Russell T. Davies's universe. This whole thing about the Doctor being lonely. Oh, so lonely. This whole thing about the Doctor being the only Time Lord (well, there is the psycho Time Lord running around). Davies has turned Doctor Who into The Wanderer. Someone/something EPIC. The lone cowboy/samurai, the only law left in the wilderness. I liked him as an eccentric. Epic is boring. Epic is narrow. Epic is a male invention. Glorifying maleness. BTW, I'm really getting tired of women drooling over the Doctor. It just turns Doctor Who into a geek fantasy. He's not all that. Wouldn't it be great if it turns out the Doctor is suffering from an ego-maniacal condition and that when he snaps out of it, he'll realize the universe is full of nice Time Lords who are more than willing to be friends with him?

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

2008-07-19T23:20:00.000-07:00

I've always loved Joss Whedon stuff. I still think Buffy, the series, was one of the best things ever done for TV. What a fantastic ending, exploding the ridiculous limitations of a slayer. I laughed because it was just such an unexpected, such a duh solution. Genius. Way to go. And wasn't Spike the best vampire ever? Mommy's boy, slayer lover. Of course the only one out of the Scooby gang to never lose faith in Buffy. And then I heard Joss was doing sci fi with Firefly, and I was like "what?" But I loved that too. Now there's Dr. Horrible. And it's sing-along. You just never know what to expect from Joss.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is really funny, in a corny kinda way. I also found it endearing. Maybe because of its loving, amateur tone. Or maybe because Joss Whedon writes with so much heart about misfits.

Dr. Horrible is a wannabe super villain. He's on his way. He even has an arch enemy, the slimy, cheesy "hero", Captain Hammer. Of course they're both after the same girl. Dr. Horrible's love is the genuine heartsick of an adolescent. Captain Hammer is only interested in sex -- and getting Dr. Horrible all bent out of shape by screwing the girl. He's sort of like the obnoxious alpha male at your high school. Yes, there is singing. It's hard not to compare it to "Once More, With Feeling", the musical Buffy episode.

Here's what I like.

1. The female lead character is average. She's not super beautiful. She's not super smart. She doesn't have super powers. She doesn't say clever things. She is a real average girl. She's played by Felicia Day, who, thank the gods, can sing.

2. It's a classic musical. Almost operatic with three voices singing different lyrics.

3. Neil Patrick Harris. I've never liked him in any roles before, but as Dr. Horrible, he gives the show the heart it needs. The Middleman needs someone like him.

4. Nathan Fillion. It's always nice to see him. He and Eliza Dushku seem to alternate as Whedon's alter ego. He's fun in comedies, only I wish we could see him in as intense and as erotic a role as Caleb, the only real scary Buffy villain.

I can't say that there was anything I disliked. The beginning was real slow but it picks up beautifully and leaves you wanting more. I mean, that's the Holy Grail of writing, isn't it? Things start to slow again in Act III -- well, Act IIIs are hard. At times, I wish he'd break new ground with the dialog. Sometimes when Dr. Horrible was talking, I'd hear Mal from Firefly. And echoes of Xander from Buffy. I imagine he misses Mal. Firefly was canceled so abruptly. But maybe it's time to let go of Xander/Angel/Mal?

You can't watch Dr. Horrible on TV, not even on satellite. It's only available on the website and iTunes. But here's a trailer.

Doctor Who

2008-06-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

Wasn't Alex Kingston wonderful in "Silence in the Library"! And I love her name: Dr. River Song. It's great to see her having fun after all those years of grumpiness in ER.
I have to say that the last few Dr. Whos have been so much fun. And with actual tension and surprise. Part of the fun is the sparkle the girls have added. Like Georgia Moffett as the Doctor's daughter Jenny (episode "The Doctor's Daughter"). How much you want to bet she's another spin off? Initially, I was a little disappointed to find out Jenny was a genetic clone thing -- I was hoping some of the Doctor's relatives were finally going to start appearing. After all, the original Dr. Who had his granddaughter. That means he also had at least one daughter or son. And maybe a wife? And parents?

"Silence in the Library" had several enjoyable elements, like the way the brain waves remain for a short while in the transmitters. The little girl who turns out to be the security system for the library. The Doctor being so clueless to who River is and being so upset about it. For the first time in a long time, I actually wanted to know what was going to happen next. It certainly hit all my buttons. I hope the writer of the episode, Steven Moffat, writes a lot more! Great use of technology exploration -- true sci fi, if you know what I mean. Just one thing -- enough with the corporate villains!

I've also been impressed by the roster of stars that have been appearing this season. Not just Alex Kingston, but Felicity Kendal and Fenella Woolgar. Someone really appreciates girl power. Is Dr. Who becoming the next Midsomer Murders?

I hate to spread rumors, but I can't help myself. Seems David Tennant romances a lot of the women who appear in Dr. Who, including Georgia Moffett. Who would have thought he was such a real-life Casanova (of course he played Casanova in a pretty bad movie version -- I'm so tempted to write my own version because they've all stunk to high hell)! He does have a great sparkle in his eyes. I've been a fan since seeing him in He Knew He Was Right (he was superb in The Chatterley Affair). In fact, when I heard Christopher Eccleston was the new Doctor, I screamed, "You've got to be kidding! They should get David Tennant!" Well, strangely, I ended up liking Eccleston as the Doctor and not really enjoying Tennant because with Rose, the Doctor was just a giggling juvenile fool. I mean, if I'd been Queen Victoria, I'd have established an agency to eradicate David Tennant too. But without Rose, and with Donna, Tennant is much more watchable. Of course, he's leaving ...

I just hope Alex Kingston comes back again and again. Too bad Time Lords don't change gender. She'd be a fantastic Doctor.

The Middleman

2008-06-18T22:47:00.000-07:00

Entertainment Weekly recommended that I watch it, so I did. Boy, was it a painful start. Stilted dialogue, blind acting. It sort of had the air of "Gee, I wonder if anyone will really buy this pilot." But slowly, things did pick up and get better. The setup or the plot doesn't really matter. The show is based on the comics of Javier Grillo-Marxuach and it's a kind of Men in Black must-stop-the-weird-stuff-and-protect-humanity action show. According to the Wiki article, the comic book series was intended to be a television series but got hijacked into a comic book series and is now a television series. On ABC Family. Makes sense to me. From the Wiki article I get the idea that Grillo-Marxuach wanted to cram in as much stuff as he could from every TV show and movie he ever liked. Okay, that's fun, until you trip on the zillionth cultural reference and you wonder, hey, where's the show? Is there a show?

What they did right was in the casting. Natalie Morales as Wendy Watson and Matt Keeslar as The Middleman are fun to watch and even have a bit of chemistry together. And boy, can Natalie deliver rapid-fire dialogue. But what's with the dialogue? You've got the rapid-fire delivery of a 30s screwball comedy with the inane content of a 60s adventure series like Batman. But what you don't have is the sophistication and wit of the 30s screwball comedy nor the languid, sultry rhythms of the 60s shows like The Avengers so it's like taking a bite out of a blueberry-arugula muffin.

The Middleman can get a lot worse or a lot better. I hope it gets a lot better. But it needs something more, something unique that has the potential to become a cultural reference of its own. Otherwise it's just a visual card catalog.

I think you can still watch the pilot at the ABC Family website.

Battlestar Galactic Yawn

2008-06-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

Last episode, there was this great scene -- great because of the potential. Baltar is yakking away at a pretty beleaguered looking Cylon centurion -- trying to get the poor thing all riled up with his crap about hierarchy and god -- and I thought, wouldn't it be great if the writers actually did something interesting and fun, like having the centurion tilt his head, raise his metal claw, and slowly choke the words out of Baltar until he was dead. No more droning Baltar! Yeah! I was actually excited.

That didn't happen. But the ship did blow a wall and Baltar was down for the count. And I thought, okay, that's good enough for me. A senseless death. Not so fun as the Cylon choking Baltar, but I could live with it.

That didn't happen. But for one moment, Laura decides to let him bleed to death. And I thought, okay. Not as interesting or as fun or as senseless, but I can live with it.

That didn't happen. Baltar lives. The episodes continue. I'm really regretting that the Cylons didn't obliterate the humans in season two.

This season, every character is tedious. Even the explosions are tedious. The dead cat is tedious. I don't care anymore who the secret Cylons are. Every time someone dies, I think, hooray! One less grimacing oh-Zeus-life-really-sucks face I have to look at. And what's with turning Battlestar into John Adams? And look, writers, teasing people with Baltar's death and Laura's potential Cylon-ness will only get you kicked in the ass. Just because this is the last season doesn't mean you guys can get away with it. Have some class, people. Or at least some pride.

Lost: A Sloppy Map Isn't Storytelling

2008-05-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Whenever I watch Lost, I get this sick feeling that we, the viewers, are just rubber dolls for the self-indulgent masturbatory acts of the Lost writers. I don't like being fucked around. I don't like treasure hunts that promise big but only come up with a lot of bad clues and stinky prizes. What's so great about imposed confusion? Every episode reeks of a glorified Agatha Christie mystery with red herrings thrown to people who like doing dumbed down crossword puzzles. It's Monty Burns rubbing his hands, eyes narrowed, saying gleefully, "They want clues? I'll give them clues."

The best part of Lost is the cast of characters. It began with them and made all the silliness bearable, even at times meaningful. But now the characters are just cogs to an end that probably isn't justified. Or interesting. Because the show is now about the writers and how the writers are more clever than the viewers. Cleverness for the sake of cleverness. Surprise for the sake of surprise.

Lost is shitting on the head of light entertainment.

(Yes, I am angry. But as a writer, I just don't approve of writers abusing their superpowers.)

Doctor Who and the Spin-offs

2008-04-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

So why do I like The Sarah Jane Adventures but loathe Torchwood? And I was really excited about Torchwood when I first heard about it. Captain Jack Harkness in his own show? Bring it on! I loved the fun, naughty, sexually omnivorious alien. When Captain Jack finds out his naked body is going on air to zillions of viewers, what does he say? "Ladies, your ratings just went up." I loved it.

So what happened to Captain Jack? Torchwood happened. Ugly, human-hating Torchwood. That incessant, constant, nauseating drumbeat of "It's us! We humans are our worst enemy!" The aliens aren't even any fun. Torchwood was supposed to be grown-up Dr. Who. Who wants a grown-up Dr. Who? Look, if you want to go the way of Buffy, Farscape, Firefly, you're going to have to up the ante -- like get some imagination. And throwing in sex scenes isn't grown-up. And, listen, outside of Captain Jack, I really don't want to see the cast having sex.

Now what I like about Sarah Jane is that since it's aimed at kiddies, they haven't tried too hard. You don't see the writers angsting and thinking above themselves. Instead, it's a show the gods of Light Entertainment would approve of. And, of course, you have Elizabeth Sladen. And the writers have let Elizabeth Sladen do her Sarah Jane thing. They haven't tried to transform her into some modern Freudian creature of the dark like they did to Captain Jack. They just let her be what she's supposed to be, the hero. It was nice that they let her be so clueless to human relationships that when her adopted alien son rants about how out of place he feels at school, she does an "Oh, well, better luck next time" instead of explaining that feeling alien and out of place is a teenage rite. And she's right, aliens are much more interesting so forget human psychology. In many ways, Sarah Jane is now more the Doctor than the Doctor. They've inadvertently put his real soul into Sarah Jane -- god only knows what's in the current Doctor. After all, the Doctor was originally an alien who liked being around humans. Not a human who thinks he's an alien.

It's amazing what a good cast does for a show. The cast is good in Sarah Jane. Not really good at all on Torchwood. By that I mean there isn't any charisma, any spark of life. Partly, that's the writing, but partly, that's just miscasting. Like if they were going to change Captain Jack that much, they might as well have cast a completely different actor. It's just not John Barrowman anymore.

As for the core, Dr. Who, I basically like it. But here's where I think Russell T. Davis goes wrong: in the human relationship department. I know he's trying to get to the heart and soul of the Doctor, how his vagabond life affects the humans and aliens around him. But it's just too persistent and heavy handed. Like every show. Over and over again. And not Mike Leigh subtle but Steven Spielberg orchestra pouncing spectacle.

And why are they always in England? On or above the earth? I get it that the Doctor is a terraophile but come on! Let's use the tardis for a little bit more fun than lame time travel around the earth. Well, they did do a dimensional thing but it was STILL on the earth.

And if they're sooooo keen on doing a romance on the Doctor, BRING BACK ROMANA. (I adored Lalla Ward's Romana.) A nice, feisty, acid-tongued Romana. (I'm sick of the goofy, cutesy girl companions of late.) I'd love to hear how she's been getting along since going off into the other universe.

Prime Time or Snore Time

2008-04-25T11:55:00.000-07:00

Ugly Betty: snore
Gene Simmons as Amanda's daddy? Come on. How stupid is that? Not as stupid as Amanda channeling Gene Simmons. The writers have pretty much sucked the life out of every character. Only Hilda is still first season Ugly Betty. Ana Ortiz will not let Hilda die. Well, in the common vernacular -- you go, girl. Love her new hair.

Whoops. Almost forgot Judith Light. She's pretty fantastic too. But then, she always is. Totally underrated actor. Made even Tony Danza look good. Now that's an actor.

Would love to see the original Colombian version. How soon did they lose the plot?

Lost: snore
I played an online video game, trying to win bucks on iwon.com, the entire episode. Is this turning into a Linus vs. Widmore schtick? Is this turning into another Alias disappointment?

30 Rock: maybe it hasn't jumped the shark?

That graph charting the gross factor from human actors to CGI characters was so right. When I watched the show, I thought the writers had come up with the whole idea. But no. I've been put right. This is a well known hypothesis. It even has a name: The Uncanny Valley. Did they use this Wiki graph? I have to concede points to the writers for introducing the graph in such a laugh-outloud way. The Amadeus reference was a little tedious. But the cracks at corporate America were nice and sparky. I'd probably slap someone who offered me that much money, too.

Some Housewives

2008-04-12T22:42:00.000-07:00

I'm ashamed to admit that I've been unable to turn away from The Real Housewives of New York City. It's like watching a nest of vipers -- unhealthily mesmerizing. I keep expecting David Attenborough to pop up with a commentary. The rivalry between Jill and Ramona is like a real-life enactment of E.F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia rivalry. Only it's Mapp and Mapp, and since it's real people acting so absurd, not that funny. I mean, come on -- grow up.

BTW, I'm worried about little Francois. The poor tyke looks like all life has been slowly leeched out of him. Maybe a bout of public school and a good game of dodgeball will fix him up. Or a real male role model. I sometimes think there should be a Big Brother/Little Brother (or Sister) program for rich kids. There are very disturbing similarities between the very rich and the very poor. Extremes in the human race are very disturbing. So is inbreeding.

Please feel free to take the "Most Disturbing" poll.

They Use Soup: Throwing Up in Hollywood

2008-04-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

Way back when, it sometimes happened in the movies, a girl turning green and then quickly, discreetly running to the bathroom, with an urgent closing of the door. And maybe some muted noise. This was the subtle way of telling the audience that the girl is pregnant. Turn the clock and it became the ick factor that got teenage boys (and Boy Men) laughing. Now it's become a shorthand for the Serious Emotional Moment. You don't think Angel's Connor has emotional depth? Have him upchuck after seeing "Daddy's Birthday" marked on a calendar, the words lovingly encased in a red heart. See how much he wants a daddy? A normal home? Want to show how horrible cancer is? Have a bald-headed person throw up in someone's arms. Want a bonding moment in Sex and the City? Have Charlotte and hubby upchuck in tandem an outrageously expensive dinner -- and don't forget to throw in the diarrhea, the cherry on the cake.

(Apparently the preferred fake vomit is canned vegetable soup. I always thought the thing looked foul, even heated up.)

Now what's the correlation between sex and vomit? Both involve projectile bodily fluids, yes. But hasn't the rise in the Vomit Moment gone hand in hand with the rise in the fuck scene? Both involve the pre-coital moment, the post-coital moment, and lots and lots of sound. Easy, brain-dead story telling for the cloning generation. The beauty of the Vomit Moment, unlike the fuck scene, is that you don't need plot development. In fact, development spoils the Vomit Moment. The more unexpected, the more sudden, the better. No warning. You must not give the viewer time to zap to another channel. If you do, you're an amateur, a poseur. You do not understand the essence of the Vomit Moment.

I really, really don't like to see vomit. For me, projectile vomiting is what strobe lighting is for epileptics. It really makes me sick and then I have to run to the bathroom. And there is no reason to be so graphic. What are we going to see next? People literally crapping? I'm begging Hollywood to give out warnings. Like you know how they have codes for violence and strong language? Let's add VM.

Of course what infects the movies infects the theater. God of Carnage, a play by Yasmina Reza which is currently playing in London, has a surprise Vomit Moment. Well, it was a surprise until everyone started talking about it. Now, the plays a critical success. So be scared. Be very scared. There's no place to hide. Vomit is everywhere.

Jon Stewart vs Bill Maher poll

2008-04-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

I like both guys and it's great there's room for them both in the small world of television. Jon Stewart is like the likable, goofy frat guy, eager to please. Very cute puppy dog. Bill Maher is more like your bitter, acerbic cousin, the one who comes to the family reunion even though he hates the idea of family and reunion. Stewart delivers his act with a look on his face that says, "You're going to really like this one -- it's so cute!" Maher is just a simple ranter. His guests are on his show just so he can have a wall to hit his head on. I have to admit, I'm drawn to the ranter.

The poll is to your right. You can vote for both.

Star Trek Psychodelica

2008-04-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

Watching the scrubbed up version of the original Star Trek on HDTV is distracting. Things pop out. Like the red stars in space. And the bold color choices on the Enterprise -- green walls adjacent to blue. Pink table tops. And everything's so clean. You can't even enjoy seeing Kirk getting beat up in the engine room because suddenly the stunt guy is all too clear. William Shatner against the wall -- much taller stunt guy being thrown around -- back to Shatner in the close up -- back to stunt guy cracking punches.

Changing the subject -- I wonder what they were feeding the extras. Sexual tension should have been given a permanent credit line. So why was the second generation Star Trek so dead? And creepy. The only time anyone was getting excited was in the virtual reality room. (Shudder, shudder). You can just imagine what the sex lives of the writers were like.

Miss Guided Navigates

2008-03-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

Thank the gods of light entertainment! Someone is actually developing charisma on Miss Guided! Kristoffer Polaha, more specifically. Okay. Judy Greer is growing on me. Slowly. I loved the way Polaha delivered the line: "Maybe they were just gay" on the second show.

John Adams

2008-03-23T12:40:00.001-07:00

Finally got around to watching the second episode. Actually had to force myself to see it. Wow. It was like watching an hour of C-SPAN. Maybe that was their intention. I should have gotten a clue when John Adams spent the first fifteen minutes griping about how boring sitting in Congress was. Who knew they were going to prove their thesis. If the main character is griping about the show ...

(BTW, I hope the real Thomas Jefferson wasn't as chronically depressed as the one on the show. He made John Adams look like a ray of sunshine.)

The actors, however, are great. I LOVE Tom Wilkinson's Benjamin Franklin. He really makes you believe all the legends: Franklin the ladies' man, Franklin the wit. Laura Linney's performance is really the only major one that seems a bit weak. Maybe she's feeling trapped by her accent (or her corset)? It reminds me of certain Meryl Streep performances where the accent is the performance. Or maybe it's just a typical Laura Linney performance. All her characters seem stifled and in need of a corset loosening.

I wish the writers could have remembered they were doing drama. John Adams is the TV equivalent of reading something with intrusive footnotes. That's the problem when you're too enamored by a book. And you want to deliver truth, justice and the American way. Even Hollywood Bible movies have more fun. Maybe that's what's missing. Charlton Heston. Anne Baxter. Yul Brynner. They should have channeled Cecil B. DeMille. Or at least taken a class with Andrew Davies. I can't believe I was actually rooting for some battle scenes -- and I hate the stuff -- but anything with a little momentum! When you can actually see quotation marks coming out of people's mouths, that's when you have to just throw in the towel. Certainly tempted here.

Christina Hendricks

2008-03-21T19:54:00.000-07:00

What happened to adult female sexuality? Watching Christina Hendricks on Mad Men, I wonder that. On a show filled with outstanding performances, hers pops out with so much fun and so much sophistication. Just watching her walk away is watching a master performance.

In contrast is Elisabeth Moss's performance. Peggy Olson should be a young, smart, naive girl full of ambition. At first she thinks her ambition is to be like Hendricks's Joan -- a woman who knows how to use sex to wrap bosses around her pinkie. Slowly she realizes her talents are much more nuts and bolts -- much more like a man's. She becomes a copy writer, on her way not to her boss's bed but her boss's corner office. But the way Moss plays it, Peggy turns out to have Aspergers. Confusion and awkwardness is played by staring blankly. While the cast around her grows into their roles, Moss has disappeared out of hers.

The only other crinkle is a minor one by Jon Hamm. Playing a younger, hick version of himself wasn't too successful...