Mad Men Report: New TV Roundup

This week the fall TV season finally kicked into gear.  Several new series started along with a host of returning favorites.  There are so many good shows on now that I'm starting to think I picked a bad time to finally get into Mad Men.  Hopefully some of the new bunch will fade away soon enough for me to get in some quality Draper time before Arrow and The Flash come back in a couple of weeks.  In the meanwhile, here's a look at some of the shows trying to stand between me and my blissful contempt for any character played by Vincent Kartheiser.

I don't even mind spoilers because I love knowing he'll go bald.

Minority Report

Weeks like this make it hard to be optimistic about reboot culture.  Minority Report isn't bad as far as buddy cop-meets-non-cop procedurals go but it is a show based on a movie based on a short story.  The show has big shoes to fill considering the talent that went into those last two.  The original story, about cops with future knowledge, is written by sci-fi luminary Phillip K. Dick and the 2002 movie is directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Tom Cruise.  With all that in mind, stars Meagan Good and Stark Sands perform admirably and have respectable chemistry.  The special effects of the Phillip K. Dickish tech are clean almost to a fault.  Even the machine that's supposed to be dangerously out of date looks shiny and new.  Although the future isn't exactly "used" and the premise definitely is, Minority Report presents an interesting enough sci-fi universe to warrant a second viewing.  Also, Nick Zano plays a sleazy seer, which could be fun.

Fox

Mad Men threat level: 5/10

Life in Pieces

On the surface the idea of Life in Pieces is "four separate short stories about one big family" which is admittedly kind of interesting, but the idea behind the scenes is probably "people have got to be getting tired of Modern Family by now, right?  Maybe they'll go for this similar thing that's straighter and somehow whiter."  To it's credit Life in Pieces has a very impressive cast including Tom Hanks' son Colin and Josh Brolin's father John, character actors Dan Bakkedahl and Zoe Lister-Jones, The Newsroom's Thomas Sadoski and Breaking Bad's Betsy Brandt, and the incomparable Dianne Wiest.  However, the funniest actor in the pilot is Jordan Peele who only has a recurring role, so the show is worth watching at least as long as he's there.

This is from Modern Family.
It really doesn't matter.

Mad Men threat level: 4/10

Blindspot

I've been intrigued with Jamie Alexander since she was Jessi XX on Kyle XY about five years ago.  It was nice to see her as Sif in the Thor films but it wasn't enough.  Now she might finally get a chance to shine in a lead role in Blindspot.  Alexander plays a woman who wakes up in the middle of Times Square with cryptic tattoos all over her body and no memory of anything that happened before that.  The series, one of a small few entirely original shows this season, had a lot of hype surrounding it and it delivers on all fronts.  It is thoroughly riveting and Alexander is gripping as someone who faces the need to build a life while facing a black hole of a past.

Mad Men threat level: 7/10

The Muppets

"Kermit and Miss Piggy broke up?!" I said in 2011 when Jason Segel's excellent Muppets film came out and Kermit and Miss Piggy were broken up in the beginning.  And then they got back together.  They're fictional characters who have existed for decades.  Anything other than an on-again-off-again relationship would be unfeasible.  (I said in 2015 as someone who was very upset in 2011 when Superman and Lois Lane were unmarried [resingled?].)  Regardless of the relationship status of glorified gloves, The Muppets is already shaping up to be one of the best comedies on TV.  The premise seems a little convoluted at first but it's little more than a modernization of the backstage antics from the classic 70's Muppets Show.  Instead of Kermit hosting a variety show, Miss Piggy hosts a late night talk show because she's been breaking glass ceilings with her karate for 40 years and she isn't going to stop now.

Mad Men threat level: 8/10

Scream Queens

Glee had already started going downhill when creator Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story started so I didn't pay it much mind.  Then the third season got fans excited, so it spent some time in my Netflix queue before I gave in about a year ago.  Now I'm paying attention to Ryan Murphy.  It turns out that his love-to-hate characters are more lovable when there's a high possibility that they could die at any moment.  Even more so when they're funny and Scream Queens is fortunately hilarious.  It's much funnier than it is scary, as one would expect from a network horror-comedy, and that's fine by me as long as Queens keeps up the impeccable pace and the actors keep giving great performances.  If Jamie Lee Curtis were having this much fun selling her poop yogurt I might be as regular as Casey Jones in Mussolini's Italy.

Fox

Mad Men threat level: 9/10

Limitless

Obviously what the world needed was a TV show based on a mediocre movie that can capitalize on the success of Lucy, all of which are based on a frustratingly inaccurate scientific misconception.  To its credit, the Limitless pilot doesn't directly quote the "humans only use 50% of their brain" falsity, instead suggesting the drug that gives its protagonist his super detective powers allows him to use all of his brain at the same time.  The pilot is also surprisingly fun, especially star Jake McDorman as the scruffy deadbeat trying to impress his family.  It was a good decision to make the show a sequel to the 2011 movie instead of a full reboot.  One of the biggest problems with the movie was the way Bradley Cooper's story ended so neatly without any real sacrifice, so it's at least nice to see him continuing to exist.  The problem with the show is the looming threat of the buddy cop-meets-non-cop formula, but iZombie has proven that these kinds of shows can be unique and interesting so there's still a small chance for Limitless.

Global

Mad Men threat level: 5/10

Heroes Reborn

I don't remember a whole lot from the original Heroes series, but as far as I can tell the two biggest ways Reborn differentiates itself from its parent is that it's more colorful and has more 9/11 allegory.  The first episode starts with a massive explosion that destroys most if not all of Odessa, Texas.  It lets us know that this is a different world than the one in the beginning of the first season or even the end.  Powered people (evos) are no longer a secret, although they are still in hiding individually because they are being blamed for the explosion in Odessa.  They are being hunted and victimized not just by shady organizations but also vigilantes or anyone else with a grudge.  Aside from that, the first couple of episodes are mostly about getting to know all the new characters, including an Underground Railroad luchador superhero, a pair of evo hunters, and a girl who is also a video game character.  Even without any loyalty to the franchise, the characters are interesting enough to keep me coming back for the rest of this "event miniseries."

Global

Mad Men threat level: 8/10

The Best of 'Empire' Season One

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Please for the Love of All Things Good and Holy Renew 'The Carmichael Show'

Speaking of combing the past and the present, TV networks have been trying to revive the traditional single-camera filmed-in-front-of-a-live-studio-audience sitcom for years.  It's been a rough ride, with a lot of misfires.  Finally, NBC has gotten it right and it might already be over.  The only six episodes of the first season of The Carmichael Show aired over three weeks at the end of summer and there is currently no word of a renewal.  That's not nearly enough time for it to realize more than a fraction of its immense potential.

The series' namesake is the excellent stand-up Jerrod Carmichael.  Jerrod had an impressive 2014, with a significant role as frat guy Garf in Neighbors and especially with his HBO special, where he casually mused about politics and social issues.  He brought that same relevance to The Carmichael Show and more.  Out of the entire history of television the most obvious influence on Carmichael is the iconic 70's hit All in the Family.  Both shows confront the issues of their times with as much bluntness as is possible with a 30 minute comedy between and surrounding the lives and times of a family with a variety of different viewpoints.

In the pilot Jerrod, playing himself, avoids telling his parents that his girlfriend has moved in with him by declaring that he might be Republican.  He spends the rest of the episode stirring the pot as the heat rises between his conservative Christian mother, very liberal girlfriend, and unpredictable father.

  

In the tradition of sitcoms starring a stand-up comic, the show's namesake is far from the best actor in the cast.  Jerrod certainly has a lanky charm as he smiles like a Cheshire cat, but like Seinfeld and Raymond before him, he is outmatched by his supporting cast.  Amber Stevens West plays Jerrod's biracial, agnostic, idealistic millennial girlfriend Maxine with delightful nervous energy.  Jerrod's wacky brother Bobby is played by Lil Rel Howery, another up and coming comic who isn't quite at home on screen but no one could attempt to say "sex musk" funnier.  Bobby's equally absurd ex-wife Nekeisha is played by Tiffany Haddish who is much more comfortable in her skin.  Jerrod and Bobby's parents obviously have the most experience of the cast and it shows.  Loretta Devine plays their mother Cynthia with a sing song, high pitched voice like a not-grating Edith Bunker.  David Alan Grier plays Joe Carmichael in what could be the comeback I didn't know I desperately needed from him.

The other five episodes don't pull any more punches than the pilot, except for maybe the one titled "Kale."  All of the characters continue to have their own distinct, relatable viewpoints and you can never be sure who will be on who's side or how long they will stay there.  The second episode, which aired immediately after the first, centers around a Black Lives Matter protest (the series takes place in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Jonathan Ferrell was shot and killed in 2013, not far from Jerrod's hometown of Winston-Salem).  Cynthia and Maxine bond thanks to the former's experience during the civil rights movement and they leave for the protest while skeptics Jerrod and Joe stay behind.  Jerrod believes that protesting is futile and Joe thinks it's too rash, they use their time together to discuss their personal encounters with race and the police, realizing they're more emotionally invested in the issue than they want to admit.  

The next episode leaves the headlines relatively unripped to focus on health, then the fourth deals with LGBTQ.  The show breezes past gay acceptance with everyone on the same page because there's not really a good argument to be had against it, then moves on to transgender.  There's no good argument against that either, but at least it's more divisive and topical.  The fifth episode is about religion, allowing the technically Jewish but mostly just spiritual Maxine to play the outsider even more than usual.   The sixth episode is about guns.  It's a little too predictable to be as shocking as it would like to be, but the story is a little more complex than the others, making a good step in the right direction.

The biggest difference between The Carmichael Show and All in the Family is that the latter wasn't afraid to sit in an uncomfortable moment long enough for the entire audience to feel it.  Sometimes it was downright hard to watch but, of course, impossible to look away from.  The Carmichael Show moves a little faster, but that could be a strength.  The comedic momentum is steady so there's barely enough time for the audience to realize how much their beliefs are being challenged.

I'm not saying The Carmichael Show is as good as All in the Family, I'm just saying that six episodes isn't enough to tell.  It's not enough to cover all of the issues in modern society and it's not enough for the young cast to grow into their roles.  It's not enough to perfect the balance of pathos and humor and it's not enough for the David Alan Grier comeback I only just realized I desperately need to take hold.  All the television in the world isn't going to solve the world's problems but someone needs to have the conversation.  Sure, there's no shortage of pundits yelling at each other from across the airways or satirists not even trying to appear unpretentious, but The Carmichael Show is the only place on TV to see real people talking about the world around them.  The 70's saw over 200 episodes of Archie Bunker calling Rob Reiner Meathead. The modern age deserves at least a full second season of Jerrod Carmichael doing whatever it is he will do.

All six episodes of The Carmichael Show are currently available for free on Hulu.  Please watch them.

3 Great Films Made After Their Genre's Peak

On September 2nd, Steven Spielberg claimed that the recent rash of superhero films would come to an end, much like the western before it.  Some people were upset by his statements but I wasn't surprised because I've heard that argument before.  At first I was disappointed because I love the genre but I quickly came to accept it.  In some ways I even look forward to it.  Just because a genre stops being incredibly popular doesn't mean it goes away permanently.  Sometimes it comes back bigger and better than ever before.

Unforgiven

As Spielberg said, the Western went the way of the buffalo around 1970.  Like the buffalo, Westerns have also made something of a resurgence over the past decade or so.  There's a case to be made that Paul Thomas Anderson's 2007 cinematic masterpiece There Will Be Blood is a Western, and their influence is seen in the acclaimed blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road and two of the most successful shows in the Golden Age of Television, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead.  A remake of the classic The Magnificent Seven is scheduled for late 2016 and the similarly titled Tarentino film The Hateful 8 is premiering in January.  However, the most Western of the great neo-Westerns is probably 1992's Unforgiven.  It stars and is directed by Clint Eastwood, who has built his career on the genre.  Along with his work with Sergio Leone, Unforgiven is among Eastwood's best films and certainly one of his best directed.  It tells the story of a former gunslinger getting back in the game one last time.  Along the way it addresses themes like the repercussions of violence and the relationship between myth and reality, challenging classic Westerns including the ones that made Eastwood famous.

Chinatown

Film noir is a kind of gritty crime flick that was popular in the 40's and 50's.  Nowadays they're probably best known as a source of parody.  You can probably think of a few sketches or fantasy sequences where everything is in black and white a detective sits with their feet up on a desk, hat hanging over their face, doing a voice-over about some "dame" then making a self-referential joke about the voice-over.  1974's Chinatown, directed by Roman Polanski, has some of those elements and more, making it instantly recognizable as a noir.  It follows a detective as he gets wrapped up in a web of lies surrounding the Los Angeles water supply and the seriously dysfunctional family at the heart of it, and not dysfunctional in a fun sitcom way.  Jack Nicholson stars as Jake Gittes, a role that couldn't be more perfect for him.  Chinatown is widely considered one of the greatest films of all time, as evidenced by its near flawless 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes.  But like the man said, "Come on Gittes, this is Chinatown so just forget about it, alright."

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Thanks to events like Watergate and the Vietnam War the 1970's were a great time to not trust the U.S. government.  That suspicion and fear led to a period of great success for political conspiracy thrillers like Three Days of the Falcon, Marathon Man and All the President's Men and maybe some others that didn't involve Robert Redford or Dustin Hoffman.  Those are the kinds of films that Joe and Anthony Russo had in mind when they directed 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  By combining 70's paranoia with the modern politics of surveillance the Russo's turned the Captain America sequel into one of the most distinct and interesting movies not just in the Marvel universe but in the entire superhero genre.  Robert Redford was terrifically cast as the villain, the most obvious connection to the past, while a Bourne-esque cinematic style keeps things rooted in the present.  Although diverging from the Marvel style was detrimental to The Incredible Hulk, if more superhero films can stand out while still feeling like part of a larger universe, the genre might last longer than Spielberg thinks.  If not, that's okay too.