This article was written, by me, and posted to the rec.arts.tv newsgroup on May 22, 2003. That original article has been slightly edited by me before being placed on the web on May 29, 2003.
Note: Your best bet is just to pick out the shows you watch, and read those reviews - few people read my whole dang review!
Beyond that, have at it! (Now, onto "Big Brother 4"!!!)
A summary of the grading scheme can be found at:
http://homepage.mac.com/ijball/grading-guide.html
[List of Graded Shows] ['02-'03 Overview] [List of Ungraded Shows] [The Show Reviews]
Rank TV SERIES GRADE OTHER COMMENTS
---- ----------- ----- --------------
1 Everwood B+ MY #1 SHOW OF THE YEAR
2 24 B+ MY #2 SHOW OF THE YEAR
3 Without a Trace B MY #3 SHOW OF THE YEAR
4 Hack B MY #4 SHOW OF THE YEAR
5 Boomtown B MY #5 SHOW OF THE YEAR
Charmed B HONORABLE MENTION
Smallville B HONORABLE MENTION & BIGGEST IMPROVEMENT
Law & Order: Special
Victims Unit B HONORABLE MENTION
Dawson's Creek B SPECIAL MENTION
The Agency B
NYPD Blue B
Survivor VI: The Amazon B
8 Simple Rules B-
Alias B-
Fastlane B- GUILTY PLEASURE #1
Gilmore Girls B- 2nd BIGGEST IMPROVEMENT
Sabrina The Teenage Witch B-
The Tribe B-
Atlantis High C+ GUILTY PLEASURE #2
Black Sash C+
C.S.I. C+ MOST OVERRATED
Mutant X C+
The (New) Twilight Zone C+
Boston Public C BIGGEST DECLINE
DISCLAIMER: I can only review those shows I've actually *seen*. I don't go out of my way to view shows I'm not interested in, so if a show isn't reviewed, or listed two paragraphs down, then I haven't seen it! That is all.
BOTTOM LINE: This TV season featured no shows I out-and-out 'loved' ("Everwood" and "24" came the closest, but even they fell short), but also few shows I hated. Just a lot of solid, unspectacular, basically entertaining shows bunched in the middle. There is no doubt that TV has retreated from the more innovative shows of the past several years, returning almost entirely to 'crime shows'. The upside of that is that it actually makes TV watching more enjoyable, but the downside is that they're more enjoyable because you have less invested in them and so are less disappointed if you miss an episode (or if the show gets cancelled). And that may be good for my blood-pressure but, all in all, I'd rather have a couple of shows I loved (by worried about) back on the air.
Ungraded
TV SERIES COMMENTS
----------- --------
The Dead Zone Some good episodes, but bad airing
schedule and not as good as season #1
L&O:CI Solid police procedural - 2nd best L&O,
D'Onofrio makes the show
Angel Has completely lost its way - let's hope
that the season finale indicates
a realization of this by the writers
Buffy Better than season #6, and a decent
series finale, but the show still
squandered its promise after S3
What I Like About You Sorry, not funny - send Bynes to the
movies and Garth back to drama
7th Heaven A show that is impossible to take seriously
John Doe A real letdown, after a great pilot
The Practice OK, I guess (but next year will suck)
The District More pompous with every passing year
The Guardian I think this show has lost the thread...
CSI: Miami The single most repugnant show on the
air right now
Enterprise Eh.... <shrugs shoulders>
Adventure, Inc. One word: Booooooorrrrring!
| ATLANTIS HIGH (my "GUILTY PLEASURE #2"): | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | C+ |
OVERVIEW:
Someone around here accurately described this Kiwi import as "a cross between 'Roswell' and 'Saved by the Bell' - on acid". That's exactly right. Throw in a shoe-string budget and some deliberately cheap special effects, and you have a recipe for a "trip" that's both 'good trip' and 'bad trip'.
The primary downside of this show is that while many elements of this imported 1-season wonder (shown along with "The Tribe" on WAM!/MoviePlex) show promise, there are just too many balls in the air for this show to manage them all effectively.
This problem first manifests itself in trying to understand exactly what this show is about. Indeed, it's taken me well over one-half of the show's 26-episode season to even have an inkling of what "Atlantis High" is about, and even now I'm not really sure about a lot of things. The gist - the show's primary character is Giles Gordon ("The Tribe's" Michael Wesley-Smith), a seemingly normal but put-upon teen who is flummoxed by his new home of Sunset Cove.
And, indeed, all is not what it seems in Sunset Cove, which is apparently infested with, variously: aliens, a possessed-by-a-demon (or is it a demigod?!) unbalanced stalker girl by the name of Sophie May (Lucy Gamble, playing probably the show's funniest character), a rich kid/aspiring superhero named Josh Montana (Lee Donaghue, one of the show's weakest links), an excitable gambling-addicted principal (amusingly played by Robyn Malcolm), and Giles' love interest - a genius-level secret agent named Octavia Vermont (Elizabeth McGlinn - more on her below). And this just scratches the surface of the cast of characters.
Some of this works - Giles is an appropriately appealing character, the various subplots around "Psycho Sophie" (and then Sophie's temporary transformation into a "sex bomb") have been the show's best bits, Elizabeth McGlinn's method of delivering every one of Octavia's lines like it's straight out of a 1930's cinema melodrama is a great gimmick, and various other bits and pieces of this show do manage to work up occasional hilarity (e.g. a recent episode sequence with Giles and Jet ("The Tribe's" Laura Wilson) running through a hospital managed to satirize both "ER" and, I think, The Three Stooges).
But, more often than not, the show is just too busy. The Josh Montana parts almost always fail to add anything to the show, and just add up killing time until the show's more intriguing storylines. And I still have no idea what the show is trying to accomplish with Jet and alien-boy Beanie, the mystery surrounding Octavia's parents (and Giles' mother), and the significance of the lost city of Atlantis.
In short, to really succeed, this show needed to do two things: 1) put more of its cards on the table upfront (why wait until 13 episodes in to reveal the exact nature of Octavia's story, when not revealing it simply made things far more confusing?!... and this is just one such example); and 2) cut down on the clutter by reducing the number of storylines and elements making up this show (nothing was added by having Josh Montana around, etc.).
Anyway, this show's an acquired taste. Every so often, it's quite funny. But then there are entire episodes that are singularly unfunny, and you wonder why you bother.
A mixed bag, all in all...
WHAT WORKED:
Lucy Gamble as 'Pyscho' Sophie single-handedly carried entire
episodes, and provided most of the show's really funny moments. Giles is a
likeable bloke in a crazy town, and Elizabeth McGlinn is an appealing presence
as Octavia. There were some good ideas here, and the occasional hilarious bit.
The show's real value is in elucidating what an outsider's (i.e. New Zealand's)
conception of (and misconceptions about) American (teen) culture looks like.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
There may have been some "good" ideas here, but
there were just far too many ideas, period! What didn't work?! Um: Josh Montana
and everything involving him; Beanie & Jet (especially Beanie); Gen. Vermont
and his platoon; alien science teacher Mr. Dorsey; Victoria Spence as Antonia/Anthony/various
others (why?!); Coach Shane; Lou Cipher; the aliens; the spies; and about a
hundred other things too numerous to mention. The concept for this show needed
about another hundred passes through the word-processor before it was ready
for Primetime...
| THE TRIBE: | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B- |
OVERVIEW:
While several new additions to the show (e.g. Ram, Jay, Ved, Java, Dee and recently Patch) have been welcome, this show is really suffering from the defection of several old-timers from the show (e.g. Amber, Trudy, Jack, Ellie, etc.).
Meanwhile, while I like some of the issues they've set up here (e.g. Pride's vision of an anti-technological 'Ecotopia' vs. Jay's vision of a restored technological service society vs. Ram's mad vision of a retreat into a created virtual reality world (where Ram, of course, is "God")), I still am having major problems with the technological prowess of The Technos.
In short, season #4 "Tribe" is in most ways wholly inferior to the 3rd season, even if some of the newcomers are welcome and some of the old-timers (esp. Salene and Cloe) have really stepped up and delivered dramatically.
WHAT WORKED:
Aside from the aforementioned thematic conflicts set up
in season #4, I think the thing I like most about this current season is the
way Salene (Victoria Spence) has really stepped in to fill the Mall-Rat leadership
vacuum left after season #3 (too bad for us that every time Amber shows up,
the writers conveniently forget that Salene has shown the real leadership skills
this year in Amber's absence - why should Salene knuckle-under to what Amber
wants?!). Jay (James Napier) is a nice addition to the cast of 'shaded' "good
guys", while Ram, Ved and Java make for appealing bad guys. Ved (Dan Weeks),
especially, is the little punk you love to hate, while Java (Megan Alatini)
manages to make Ebony look mild! And, speaking of Ebony, Meryl Cassie continues
to deliver the show's strongest performance as the ambivalent anti-hero Ebony.
And, when they're there, Beth Allen and Antonia Prebble as Amber and Trudy,
respectively, are good as well.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
The biggest distraction is the disappearing castmembers!
- Amber & Trudy are back. No, they're gone again. Oh, now they're back.
Oh, wait, they're gone again! Ellie and Charlie are here. No, they're gone
now. Etc. The various cast arrivals/departures are giving me whiplash - I think
the producers would actually have been better off not bringing Amber & Trudy
back mid-season, if they were just going to be gone just a couple of episodes
later. In any case, the general absence of many of the show's originals is
not helping matters.
The Technos are too powerful. And this show is just missing something in season
#4.
| CHARMED (gets a "HONORABLE" MENTION): | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B |
OVERVIEW:
After a dour and humorless fourth season, "Charmed" appropriately found its "whimsy" in season #5, and was once again a fun (and funny) show. Unfortunately, that also came at the cost of some very questionable and tenuous "fairy tale" episode stories, which also served to devalue the franchise a little.
Still, if given the choice between "dour" and fun/whimsy, I'll choose the latter every time, which is just my way of saying that I think "Charmed" is mostly back on track after two seasons in a row that were mostly downers.
WHAT WORKED:
Rose McGowan is now probably the best part about the show,
and I still like everything Holly Marie Combs does. After 2 glum seasons, this
show was in need of a humor injection, and it got one (Thank Ghu!) this year. "Charmed" dodged
the "Buffy"-Dawn/"Angel"-Connor bullet, and introduced
a baby without ruining the show. As much as I loved Cole (Julian McMahon),
they had run out of things to do with him, and they eliminated the Cole character
just before he got to be a distraction from the show. Nice season-finale/cliffhanger!
- Is Leo dead?! Who's this Chris guy, and what's his deal?! Who knows! Stay
tuned...
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
Alyssa Milano's mannerisms and coquettishness are starting
to drive me to drink! While I think Brian Krause was marginally better as Leo
this season, I still think he's a weak link in the show (is he still on the
show?! Stay tuned...). Meanwhile, this show should use Darryl (Dorian Gregory)
more. I tend to pontificate on this, but "Charmed" could really use
a semi-recurring villain (Have they now got one in Chris? Stay tuned...).
| BLACK SASH: | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | C+ |
OVERVIEW:
Hot bods, Russell Wong and (some) martial arts does not a complete show make.
After a promising pilot, the other three aired episodes of this show were a let-down. The mistake the show made was focusing on the teen hotties (on The WB?! Whoda thunk!), rather than making Wong the primary focal point, and using the kids as ensemble players.
Still, if nothing else, this show has put me on the trails of Sarah Carter and Missy Peregrym - I'll be on the look out for these two's next projects.
WHAT WORKED:
The pilot showed what this show could have been. Russell
Wong, as always, was solid. This show at least tried to do something a little
different.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
There wasn't much "there" there with this one.
Also, for a "martial arts actioner", this show sure didn't have very
much martial arts action.
| ALIAS: | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B- |
OVERVIEW:
Partially 'dumbed down' post Super Bowl (after being partially 'dumbed down', post-season #1), "Alias" is still usually a pretty good actioner, if you turn off your brain, and are willing to overlook some things.
But the real question of the hour - Is the stunner at the end of the season finale a 'Jump the Shark' moment? Or does J.J. Abrams know what he's doing? I guess we'll just have to wait and see...
WHAT WORKED:
Ron Rifkin was, if anything, even better in season #2 than
in season #1. Victor Garber also took it up a notch this season, as did Carl
Lumbly (though he wasn't seen much through most of the season). Lena Olin is
a nice addition to the cast, though it's a little jarring how she's only in
about half of the episodes. I still really like Bradley Cooper as Will Trippin
(much more than Michael Vartan's Vaughn).
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
I still question several of the 'dumbing down' moves, including
the elimination of basically all of the episode-ending 'cliffhangers' (a staple
of season #1), and the elimination of the SD-6 subplot and the moving Syd (and
Marshall and Dixon) into the CIA proper. This Ramabdi stuff is always pushing
the envelop of becoming schlock Sci-Fi. I don't think the "Francie switch" helped
the show any. The show used too much stunt-casting (e.g. Ethan Hawke, Christian
Slater, Faye Dunaway, Rutger Hauer) in season #2. This show is starting to
look like "Felicity home week", and that's not a good thing - one
holdover was fine, but bringing Amanda Foreman onboard was a bad idea.
| BOOMTOWN (my pick as #5 SHOW OF THE YEAR): | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B |
OVERVIEW:
A genre-mixing show that at least made stabs at being innovative, "Boomtown" was helped by good casting and some solid writing. And even when it was forced to walk away from some of its innovativeness (e.g. the non-linear storytelling), it was still among the top of its peers.
WHAT WORKED:
A show like this lives and dies on its casting, and the
cast for this show, especially Neal McDonough, Donnie Wahlberg and Lana Parrilla
(where did she come from?!), is excellent. The writing for this show is solid
(and sometime more, as in the pilot), and its original format was innovative
(hopefully, they won't completely walk away from it). The most engrossing character
subplots were Joel & Joel's wife, and McNorris' arc. This show had some
really good guest casting (especially Megan Ward as Joel's distraught wife,
and Kelly Rowan as David McNorris' cuckolded wife). "Insured by Smith & Wesson" with
guest star Joe Penny may have been the best episode of anything I saw all season.
This show manages a better mix of "personal" and "procedural" than
any of the other cop/law enforcement shows I've seen.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
A couple of the episode plots were pedestrian (e.g. the
bumfight episode with Neal Patrick Harris). It would appear that NBC told them
to tone down the non-linear storytelling, which is OK only if they don't walk
away from it completely.
| BOSTON PUBLIC (my pick as THE BIGGEST DECLINE): | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | C |
OVERVIEW:
Despite bringing the potentially brilliant Jason Katims onboard as showrunner (and Katims did tighten up the character elements), I lost virtually all interest in this show after Michelle Monaghan's Kimberly Woods (Harry Senate's "replacement") left the show, and it never really picked up again. I think this show has lost a lot of its entertainment value this year.
WHAT WORKED:
Katims did attempt to inject some realism into this show.
As always, Chi McBride and Anthony Heald are by far the best parts about "Boston
Public", while Jeri Ryan does solid work. The show needed to move beyond
Harry Senate, and Kimberly Woods was a great addition to the show (too bad
she didn't stick around). The subplot with Cara DeLizia's pregnant Marcy Kendall
was decent. Great to see Jason Conrad again, and the school budgets issue was
timely.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
Katims' attempts at realism tended to make the show boring.
Michael Rappaport drives me batty, and not in a good way. This show did basically
nothing with its addition of younger faculty. Is this "Boston Public" or
the "Tamyra from 'American Idol' Show"? Not keeping on Michelle Monaghan's
Kimberly Woods may have been a fatal mistake.
| EVERWOOD (my pick as #1 SHOW OF THE YEAR): | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B+ |
In a season otherwise dominated by 'police procedurals' (and closely related shows), "Everwood" stood out as TV's first serious attempt at 'family drama' since the much-missed "Once & Again". (Anyone who thinks "7th Heaven" is 'serious family drama' needs to have their comedy detectors checked.) Yet, the amazing thing about "Everwood" was not only that it was a much needed attempt at 'serious family drama', but that it was such a solid and successful attempt.
As a result, despite the flash of shows like "24", "Everwood" is my pick as the best show of the season.
As someone else on rec.arts.tv correctly pointed out, "Everwood's" greatest strength may not be the caliber of its actors, nor even its (clearly well-thought out) 'storyarc', but it's pacing. While I have some quibbles here and there even on that score (Colin sure recovered from his coma and surgery awfully quickly!), I do agree that "Everwood's" overall pacing of storylines, both intra- and inter-episode, has been very well handled.
Beyond that, said cast, especially Treat Williams and Tom Amandes, and even the guest cast (Dylan Baker, Phillip Baker Hall, Tom Erwin as Colin, etc.), is one of the best in TV right now.
Having said all that, this show still gets only a B+ because I don't think it's quite "there" yet. This show does occasionally lapse into "Gilmore Girl-eque" silliness (esp. with the townsfolk), and this show isn't fully formed on other levels (as someone else pointed out, the idea that Ephram has no friends outside of Amy strikes me as improbable in the extreme).
But, if nothing else, "Everwood" shows great promise, and I eagerly look forward to see where it goes in season #2.
WHAT WORKED:
Treat Williams carries this show, and is its best feature.
Tom Amandes has successfully taken a virtually worthless character, and turned
him into the show's most intriguing element. While a little one-note, I do
think both Gregory Smith and Amy VanCamp have done some very good work this
season. This show has managed to do something interesting (and semi-realistic)
with its 'Colin arc', a storyline most other shows would have mishandled or
squandered. "Everwood" has some great guest-stars, and great ancillary
storylines (e.g. the subplots with Nina, the travails of town's minister, etc.).
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
I still feel this show does not use Delia enough (and they
haven't used Delia well since the Magilla story near the start of the series).
Does Bright have a real purpose on this show?! I really do wish the show would
resist some of the 'silly' that we are subjected to (this show is far better
of when it does 'straight drama'). "Everwood" has had some occasional
lapses into liberal orthodoxy (though, mercifully, this show does a better
job of resisting them than most).
| 8 SIMPLE RULES (for Dating My Teenage Daughter): | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B- |
OVERVIEW:
"8 Simple Rules" started strong, but it definitely lost steam in the second-half of the season as it became less funny and more generically "sitcom-y". I figure season #2 is 'make or break' for this one - either it refinds the more biting humor it had in the first half of season #1, or it will degenerate into standard (and unwatchable) sitcom fare (the "Is Cate pregant?" finale sure doesn't help on this!). We'll find out which, next Fall.
WHAT WORKED:
I've now come to the conclusion that Kaley Cuoco is more
important to the show than even John Ritter - she makes the show. Amy Davidson
is also very good. The show did find more for Katey Segal to do as Pauls' wife
Cate in the second half of the season. The best bits involve the two sisters,
or Paul's exasperation at his two daughters - they need to focus on that. I'm
encouraged by the season-ending subplots with Bridget and her Naval Academy
boyfriend (Y&R's Thad Luckinbill) and Kerry's budding romance with Bridget's
ex, Kyle (Billy Aaron Brown).
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
They may have found more for Segal to do, but a lot of it
wasn't very rewarding. The comedy became a lot less natural, and a lot more
'forced', in the second half of the season. Indeed, this show could do with
a little less physical comedy, and a little more sharp, witty dialogue.
| GILMORE GIRLS (my pick:"2nd BIGGEST IMPROVEMENT"): | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B- |
OVERVIEW:
While there is no question that Jess dragged down parts of this season even more than last season, I really feel that "Gilmore Girls" was much better in season #3 than in season #2. The show seemed to tone down and de-emphasize Lorelai some (a smart move), while focusing on Rory more (also a smart move). There were also some genuinely interesting storylines (Rory & college, Paris' meltdown, Lorelai's & Sookie's attempt to buy an inn, Emily's conflict with her mother-in-law, etc.).
I guess I'm back to watching this one, at least 'half-time' (i.e. as in only the last 30 minutes of every show).
WHAT WORKED:
I think the writers finally figured out that Rory, not Lorelai,
is the heart of this show; I also think than Alexis Bledel is improving as
an actress. My favorite part of the show is still Kelly Bishop's Emily Gilmore,
and Edward Herrmann's Richard Gilmore ain't so bad either! The college stuff
was the most interesting (and real) part of this season. There were some genuinely
funny episodes this year (my favorites: the one-man Stars Hollow protest that
goes terribly wrong, the dance contest, and (best of all) the Paris-melts-down-on-CSPAN
epie!).
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
Jess, Jess, Jess, and... say, did I mention Jess?! 'Cos
if I didn't, I can't say it enough! There was even too much Dean (though, compared
to Jess, Dean is my new favorite character!) I was underwhelmed by the Lane
(Keiko Agena) stories about the band, and her conflicts between her mother
and her boyfriend. There is no question that Daniel Palladino has written some
of this season's clunkers (though, to his credit, he's also written some good
episodes this season as well).
| 24 (my pick as #2 SHOW OF THE YEAR): | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B+ |
OVERVIEW:
"24" may actually be the hardest show of the 2002-2003 season to grade. The first 2/3 of this second season were mostly awesome (even some of the Kim parts), and this show was cruising for at least an 'A-' through the nuke blast in Hour 15 (10:00-11:00 PM). Unfortunately, the last 1/3 of the season, post-Hour 15 was significantly inferior to that (up until the season finale, anyway), and dragged the whole season down to a B+.
Indeed, while the latter half of season #1 came in for some criticism, for my money the second-half of season #1 was far stronger than the last-third of season #2. (Of course, the first-half of season #2 was even better than the first-half of season #1, so it all balances out...)
There were just way too many implausibilities and plot-holes in the latter half of this season to ignore (even me!). In season #3, the show is going to have to work on not pushing the envelope too hard (and will also have to work out a way to better integrate Kim into the action).
Still, without a doubt, this is TV's best no-holds-barred, unadulterated 'Thrill Ride', so if you can manage to occasionally check your brain at the door, and just sign up for the ride, you generally won't be sorry.
WHAT WORKED:
Keifer Sutherland did some very fine work this season, as
did (come on - give her her due!) Elisha Cuthbert. And (as always) great supporting
work by Dennis Haysbert as Pres. Palmer, Penny Johnson Jerald as Sherry Palmer,
Carlos Bernard as Tony Almeida, and (especially) Xander Berkley as George Mason.
Great guest casting this season, especially Jude Ciccolella as Chief of Staff
Mike Novik, Sarah Clarke as Nina, Michelle Forbes as Lynne Kresge, Reiko Aylesworth
as Michelle Dessler, and Lourdes Benedicto as "Carrie's a bitch!" Carrie,
and even people like Eugene Robert Glazier in some key minor roles. Loved the
unexpected return of Mandy in the season finale - let's hope Mia Kirshner is
back in season #3!
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
Implausibilities galore: The cougar? Kevin Dillon as a crazy
mountain man? (in L.A.?!?) Justin Louis as Michelle's conveniently crazy brother?
The necessity of launching a surprise attack that day? The list goes on and
on...
| SMALLVILLE
(gets a "HONORABLE" MENTION & "BIGGEST IMPROVEMENT"): |
|
| Overall Grade for Season: | B |
OVERVIEW:
I despised this show back in its first season both for being The WB's callow attempt at cloning "Roswell" (and, indeed, I think the show can still legitimately be knocked for that, right down to the 'Freewill vs. Destiny' theme that "Smallville" as much as stole from "Roswell") and for being generally incompetent (the first season 'Monster of the Week' plots were derided even by the show's fans).
But something kind of amazing has happened in this show's second season. No, Tom Welling is not suddenly a good actor. But somewhere between season #1 and season #2, the writers knuckled down, deemphasized MotW silliness, and started focusing more on the character-driven aspects of the show. Suddenly, rather than the characters serving the plot, the plot was serving the characters! Hallelujah!
Which is not to say "Smallville" is suddenly deep. Compared to "Roswell", or even latter-day "Buffy", this show is still basically shallow and facile. But at least now, the show is making heart-felt stabs at taking its characters seriously.
My only concern is, "What happens now?" This show significantly raised the bar in its shocking second season finale, and I now suspect the show has set the bar too high for itself, and will have to hit some pretty big reset buttons next Fall.
Still, for a show I basically regard as brain-candy, "Smallville" has put in a surprisingly solid season #2.
WHAT WORKED:
The Luthors (DUH!) - both Luthors are the best part about
this show, and I suspect "Smallville" would be nearly unwatchable
without the efforts of Michael Rosenbaum and John Glover. And speaking of Lex,
I'm very curious to see what the upshot of his failed romance with the Doc
will be. The arc that Lana took over the course of this season was surprisingly
well handled. And, if I didn't find her so darn annoying, I'd be tempted to
say the same thing about Chloe's arc as well. Meanwhile, both of these girls
are good eye candy. Overall, there have been some very good episodes of "Smallville" this
season, especially the Lionel-and-Martha-are-taken-hostage episode, and the
season finale. This is the ultimate put-your-brain-in-neutral, and-just-sit-back-and-relax
show.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
Tom Welling: actor? Methinks not - in fact, Welling is by
far the show's weakest link. Is Jonathan Kent supposed to come off as a Neanderthal
control-freak, or is it coincidental? Are they ever going to do something substantive
with Pete? "Deep" this show ain't; nor original.
| NYPD BLUE: | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B |
OVERVIEW:
A rock-solid no-frills police procedural, this show has held up better over the years than, say, L&O or "ER" have.
WHAT WORKED:
Come on! - Dennis Franz *is* this show. But the supporting
cast has helped him out this year, especially Charlotte Ross, but even Mark-Paul
Gosselaar, Bill Brochtrup and Jacqueline Obradors have been key. This show
isn't too much on the overly-complex side, which makes it the perfect show
when you just want to decompress.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
I'd say this show rarely goes "deep" (for that,
stick with something like "Everwood").
| DAWSON'S CREEK (my pick for a "SPECIAL" MENTION): | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B ('pentultimate' finale: A, series finale: A-) |
OVERVIEW:
A mostly lackluster, disjointed and listless sixth season suddenly comes
together with some incredible final episodes.
(1st 2/3 of the season grade: B- (borderline C+); last-1/3: B+/A-; average
grade: B)
Before that point, "Dawson's" 6th season had only two decent storylines to recommend it - Dawson's working as an Asst. Director on his first real film (and great work by semi-regular Hal Ozsan as bad-boy director Todd), and Pacey's foray into his weird little "Boiler Room" investment firm. The other storylines, especially Joey's, were a mess (even Roger Howarth couldn't save the Joey stuff!). Which was unfortunate when you consider that the show's fifth season (arguably the show's most solid and consistent) had some good storylines, especially for Joey (and Pacey).
Indeed, the show pretty much lost it during several episodes this season (e.g. Pacey & Joey getting trapped in Wal-Mart, and the Loveline episode, were "Dawson" at its precious worst), and I think the absence of Greg Berlanti (off to helm "Everwood"), who was obviously the show's stabilizing influence after Kevin Williamson departed the show, was keenly felt.
Yet, with only a few episodes to go (presumably around the time the producers got the official word that this was the end of the road for "Dawson"), the show suddenly gathered itself into coherence, and delivered once again.
Indeed, the penultimate episode was a brilliant wrap-up for the show's current storylines (and would have worked equally well as the show's finale - in fact, in light of the death in the finale, I think I would have preferred that the penultimate episode be the show's finale!), while the finale was one of the most coherent and moving series finales I've seen in quite some time. It successfully encompassed everything "Dawson's Creek" was about, which is all the more amazing to me when I consider that Kevin Williamson, whose original vision for "Dawson" I was not a fan of, penned the finale.
In any case, what a great way to go out!
Some other shows are ending this season, but I'm willing to bet that none of them go out with the style and satisfaction of "Dawson's Creek".
I'm going to miss this show.
WHAT WORKED:
The single best storyline of the season was Dawson's movie
adventure (even including having to endure Bianca Kajlich's annoying Natasha)
- anything with Dawson and Todd was a hoot!
I also liked Pacey's "Boiler Room" detour, though the denouement of
that storyline was disappointing, and felt aborted - I think the original idea
was that the firm was going to be busted by the SEC at the end of the season,
but I'm guessing the series' end put a halt to that plan; still, it was nice
to see Pacey surpass his peers, for a change, even if it was just for a while.
The Audrey arc started interestingly, but as a fellow "Dawson" fan
pointed out to me, it would have worked better if it had ended in a suicide/O.D.,
rather than how it ended up (in rehab). Toward the end of the season, the Grams-has-cancer!
storyline finally gave Michelle Williams something to do, and she rose to the
occasion and shined (as she did it again in the 2-hour finale!). It's also nice
to see Jensen Ackles get a gig after "Dark Angel" folded, and I always
love seeing Deputy Doug (Dylan Neal) and 'Grams' (Mary Beth Peil).
It goes without saying that the "pre-finale"/second-to-last episode
and the 2-hour series finale itself were excellent, and were fitting ends to
the series. And as a "Pacey & Joey Forever" guy, I was thrilled
to pieces by "Joey's choice" in the finale! Sweet!
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
Joey's storylines were a mess! Remember the ill-considered
'Eve arc' at the start of season #3? Well, for my money, the Eddie (Oliver
Hudson) plot from this season was even worse than that! And what a waste
of Roger Howarth (as snippy professor Heston), and even Mika Boorem (as Heston's
daughter, Harley)! And, then, to have Joey dump Pacey a second time!?! (Bitch!)
(At least I can approve of her finally getting to Paris in the penultimate
episode...)
As usual, nothing was really done with Jen (until the end
of the season) or Jack (ever!). The Audrey arc petered out. And what was the
point of Megan Gray's Emma
character? (and what happened to her?!)
As already mentioned, some of the episodes from this season were really ill-conceived.
And I do have some quibbles about the finale - re: whatever happened to Andie
McPhee (Meredith Monroe), Gretchen Witter (Sasha Alexander), Mr. Potter (Gareth
Williams), etc.?...
| THE (new) TWILIGHT ZONE: | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | C+ |
OVERVIEW:
Both overly derivative of, and inferior to, the original incarnation of "The Twilight Zone", this show is still essentially watchable anthology, with some interesting casting boosting it up some.
WHAT WORKED:
The guest casting - sometimes hip, sometimes impressive,
I doubt I would even have watched this version if the guest casting hadn't
been so good in a lot of these segments.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
This show broke zero new ground on The Twilight
Zone "formula",
and so was depressingly predictable 9 times out of 10. Bottom line: lack of
originality is what got this show cancelled.
| SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH: | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B- (series finale: B-) |
OVERVIEW:
What can you really say about this show?! It was simply a silly, pleasant way to spend 30 minutes.
Well, I can say one more thing - after a rocky start (the music magazine job was a bad idea), this show seemed to recover from the loss of Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick in the latter half of the season. I even liked the Sabrina-is-engaged-to-Aaron (Dylan Neal) arc.
WHAT WORKED:
Melissa Joan Hart has carried this show on her likeability
as much as anything, and that was still true in the final season of "Sabrina".
I didn't even mind Elisa Donovan and Soleil Moon Frye as much this season.
This show is the TV equivalent of 'comfort food'.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
The music magazine stuff at the beginning of this season
never worked, and was a mistake that was mercifully jettisoned later on. No
Beth Broderick in the finale (and recasting Sabrina's parents yet again)
were black marks on an otherwise mostly mediocre finale.
| SURVIVOR VI - THE AMAZON: | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B |
OVERVIEW:
The sixth installment of the show looked primed to revive the franchise... until a "shocking" finale leads to major credibility issues for the entire "Survivor" series on either A) its editing (i.e. much too selective), and/or B) its "unscriptedness" (i.e. maybe the outcomes on this show are guided afterall).
I mean, what else can you say by an outcome that is so completely untelegraphed by what came before, and so completely defies logic, that it virtually screams "DEUS EX MACHINA!"
Not even improved casting can save you from that. Hey, I'm willing to accept a lot of behind-the-scenes/production shenanigans from a show like "Big Brother", but I thought "Survivor" was supposed to be above that. I guess not...
WHAT WORKED:
Better casting - from Roger to "Bipolar" Shawna
to "Rocket Boy" Dave to tough-as-nails Deena to "crazy" Matt
to slimy Rob, this show had an interesting cast (unlike the dull-as-porridge "Thailand" crew).
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
The outcome - people can slice this anyway they want to,
but for me personally, the outcome of this came so out of left-field that it
shattered the enjoyability and the suspension-of-disbelief of this show. I'm
no longer sold...
| C.S.I. (my pick as "MOST OVERRATED"): | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | C+ |
OVERVIEW:
This show is more mundane than anything, and I personally feel it has only declined over the years. I mean, it's OK I guess, if you just want a simple mystery (and as long as the show doesn't overindulge its tendency to up the 'gross out' factor). But there's not much 'there' there in this show...
WHAT WORKED:
Same things as I said at mid-season: Nick, Warrack, Brass
and M.E. Robbins. I've also enjoyed Marg Helenberger more this season for some
inexplicable reason.
When not reaching for the 'gross out', not subjecting us to a 'Red Ball', and
doing two cases per episode instead of one, "CSI" can be a decent mystery
show.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
This show has really brought the recurring "CSI" lab
tech's to the fore this season, and I'm not sure it's a good idea. The Grissom/hearing-loss
thing is played out now (looks like we may finally be rid of it next season).
The Grissom-as-a-totally-isolated-individual and Sara-makes-sexual-advances-toward-Grissom
stories are equally as played out. This show is also coming dangerously close
to wearing out the welcome of Lady Heather. As mentioned before: too many 'Red
Balls', too much gross-out for gross-out's sake, too many single case episodes.
I think this show has drifted from its original vision.
| WITHOUT A TRACE (my pick as #3 SHOW OF THE YEAR): | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B |
OVERVIEW:
Maybe the most solid of all the 'police procedurals', this show is held together by great casting, some tight writing, and the occasional outstanding episode.
WHAT WORKED:
Start with the cast: just as he was in murder one, Anthony
LaPaglia is excellent here, and he's got some good supporting players in Marianne
Jean-Baptiste (a truly impressive American accent coming from a Brit!) and
Eric Close. This show is also very well plotted. Some of the episodes this
season have been quite good, especially "Maple Street" (about the
two missing teenaged girls), "There Goes the Bride" (missing bride
with a secret) and Clare de Lune (Amber Tamblyn goes missing, and we learn
more about Enrique Murciano's Agent Danny Taylor) which were outstanding.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
I've liked Poppy Montgomery in other things, but I'm not
sure I like her, or her character, here. And the added subplot about her affair
with LaPaglia's Jack Malone I could have lived without. The aforementioned
Taylor is an annoying jerk, and he tries my patience to often, especially when
clashing with Close's Martin Fitzgerald. As I said at mid-season, too many
of the 'missing' are unlikeable people, and too many of the cases on this show
end up with live victims to be believable.
| FASTLANE (my "GUILTY PLEASURE #1"): | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B- |
OVERVIEW:
While never really 'breaking out' into full-on 'mindless fun' territory, "Fastlane" was schlocky enough fun that I ended up mostly enjoying it. Yeah, sure, this show was mostly flashy style (and very little substance). And, yeah, personally, I hate the whole Urban/hip-hop/tattooed freak thing. But this show was a put-your-brain-in-neutral-and-enjoy-the-silliness kind of series. And, you know, I can get behind that...
WHAT WORKED:
The style! The flair! (It was there!) And that's how it
became a guilty pleasure... Always good to see Tiffani Theissen doing something
on the tube. Goofy idiots though they were, I even liked Van & Deaq, most
of the time. This show did have some interesting guest casting (Robert Forrester,
Jennifer Sky, Mischa Barton, Jay Mohr, Bill Duke, etc.).
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
For ostensibly an action show, this show was mostly talk,
and very little action. Several of the episodes were downright boring. More
often than not, Van & Deaq's (and Billie's) banter was forced and annoying.
The cliffhanger (poor Billie!): when will showrunners ever learn?! - ending
a borderline first-season show with a cliffhanger virtually guarantees cancellation!
And so it was with "Fastlane"... (sigh...)
| HACK (my pick as #4 SHOW OF THE YEAR): | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B |
OVERVIEW:
While I originally assumed this show was going to be a variation on "The Equalizer", this show generally abandoned that for very personal, and very dark, storylines in the back-half of the season. Despite that, this show was still darn good.
I'm curious to see where this show goes in season #2...
WHAT WORKED:
The cast! (duh!) David Morse is excellent as Mike Olshansky,
Andre Braugher is (as usual) brilliant as Mike's ex-partner Marcellas, and
how can you not love George Dzundza as Father Grizz?! Even the supporting players
from Donna Murphy (as Olshansky's ex) to Matthew Borish (as his son) to Bebe
Neuwirth (as Olshansky's present girlfriend) to Lindsay Crouse (as Grizz's
former flame) were excellent. This show is dark a lot of the time, but it’s
plumb good, nonetheless.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
Frankly, the more 'stand-alone' a series is, the better
it tends to do in terms of the ratings, so now that the 'crooked Olshansky'
arc has been dealt with, the show would be strongly advised to return to the
more 'stand-alone' "Equalizer"-type stories.
| LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT (gets a "HONORABLE" MENTION): |
|
| Overall Grade for Season: | B |
OVERVIEW:
Mixing some powerful subject matter, some good guest casting, and some solid police-procedural writing, this one is the pick of the L&O's. Of special note this season was some (variously) great work by Mariska Hargitay, Chris Meloni, Ice-T and D.B. Wong.
WHAT WORKED:
Christopher Meloni (as Stabler) is still the best of the
cast here. Of the episodes, I very much liked the Dr. Huang-takes-on-the-Death-Row-serial-killer
episode and the Stabler-goes-to-Eastern-Europe-to-break-up-the-kiddie-porn-ring
episodes. Stephanie March also does good work as ADA Cabot, and she'll be missed.
As with all of the L&O's, the guest casting is often impressive.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
Richard Belzer still gets almost no screentime, and Dann
Florek is seen only a little more. While some episodes 'hit', others 'miss'.
| THE AGENCY: | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | B |
OVERVIEW:
A second season that started wobbly, it improved as it went along, and by the end of the season, season #2 was putting out episodes every bit as good as season #1. Unfortunately, as with season #1, they ended season #2 with a cliffhanger, and the show was subsequently cancelled - I hate it when that happens!
WHAT WORKED:
Daniel Benzali as snaky Robert Quinn remained this show's
best asset. Will Patton also came on very strong this season, and did some
good work. Others may disagree, but Jason O'Mara's A.B. Styles was, I think,
a good addition to show, and was a better character than Gil Bellow's Matt
Callan ever was. Paige Turco also did solid work this season. And it was great
to see Richard Speight Jr. (as Lex) bumped up to full cast in season #2.
For my money, the best episodes this season were "War, Inc." and "Mi
Cena con Andrei".
As with last season, this show gets extra points from me for accurately mixing
(and sometime predicting!) real-world events into its proceedings.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
David Clennon was underutilized for most of this season.
What was the purpose of bringing on Lolita Davidovich, and then having her
totally disappear from the show mere episodes later?! The (non)resolution to
the 'mole' arc was rather disappointing. Ending the series on a cliffhanger
- Boooooooo!
| MUTANT X: | |
| Overall Grade for Season: | C+ |
OVERVIEW:
All the progress the show made in the second-half of its first season is wiped away in its second season, as the show mostly abandoned 'storyarcing' for stand-alone Monster-of-the-Week episodes, and dumbed down its writing (and also apparently slashed its wardrobe budget)...
WHAT WORKED:
Emma is still the show's most interesting character, as
even the writers started to realize toward this season's end, though they seemed
to abruptly abandon the arc they were building for her (is Emma going 'bad'?...)
in the season finale. The one episode I really liked this season was "Understudy" with
guest-star Jenya Lano - this storyline may be a hoary old chestnut in the Skiffy/comics
realm, but it's an 'oldie-but-goodie'. Bringing back Gabriel Ashlocke (Michael
Easton) at the start of the season, and Mason Eckhart (Tom McManus) at the
end of the season were smart moves (too bad both were entirely missing from
the vast stretch of the middle of season #2!).
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
Making Brennan and Shalimar the show's "stars",
and primarily basing the show around them, was a mistake - "Mutant
X" works
best as an ensemble. A vast majority of this season's episodes were mediocre
and/or lackluster, and this show acutely suffered from the lack of the more
cohesive storyarcs it had in season #1 (but does the return of Mason Eckhart
promise a reversal of that?...). Ending this season with a cheap, and relatively
callow, cliffhanger was an unnecessary and counterproductive move.
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