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December 2008 Archives
Here's My Top 10 TV List of 2008 -- What's Yours?
December 26, 2008 10:16 AM
Before giving my list of the Top 10 TV shows of 2008, I'm asking for yours. The readers of this website are so discerning and tasteful (you're here, aren't you?), I thought it would be fun, maybe even enlightening, to ask for YOUR Top 10 lists.
You have until the end of the year to send yours as comments, and I'll begin 2009 by tallying a TV WORTH WATCHING Readers' Poll Top 10.
As for the worst of the year? We'll leave that to the staff of TV NOT WORTH WATCHING. Now for my Top 10... after which, please forward your own...
My TOP 10 for 2008:
1) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Comedy Central
2) Mad Men, AMC
3) 30 Rock, NBC
4) Pushing Daisies, ABC
5) The Shield, FX
6) Boston Legal, ABC
7) Dexter, Showtime
8) Friday Night Lights, NBC and DirecTV 101 Network
9) 60 Minutes, CBS
10) The Wire, HBO
Non-TV VERY Honorable Mention: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, from the Internet
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So what made YOUR list this year? For the next few days, YOU write, and I'LL read!...
Merry Christmas to All...
December 25, 2008 9:16 AM
...And to all a good TV night.
Tomorrow, I'll give you my nominations for Best and Worst TV of 2008 -- and ask for yours. But today, let's all just take a day off. Starting now...
Happy holidays.
Merry Christmas Eve Two-Way: Terry Gross Interviews Me On Today's "Fresh Air"
December 24, 2008 7:18 AM
Sometimes I provide TV reviews for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Sometimes I guest host. And very rarely, I get to do something that's an awful lot of fun: Have an on-air conversation with Terry herself.
On today's Fresh Air, Terry and I talk about the year in TV. There's a lot to talk about, and it takes up most of the hour...
The writers' strike. The presidential election. Sarah Palin and Tina Fey. I bring some clips to play of some of my favorite TV of the year, and list the best and worst of 2008. And my favorite part is when I describe a new reality show I can't stand, NBC's Momma's Boys, to an utterly disbelieving Terry. (Her disbelief was about my description of the show, not my opinion.)
I had a blast doing it, and would love you to listen. After 3 p.m. ET, you can hear by clicking HERE... or just tune in whenever your local public radio station broadcasts Fresh Air.
As 2008 comes to an end, it marks the conclusion of 21 years I've been associated with Fresh Air. That's more than two decades of some fabulous friendships, and it ranks as my proudest professional association. So thanks, everyone at Fresh Air -- and thanks, all of you, for listening, and for reading.
Happy holidays!
TV Holidays Are Festive Again: Letterman Is Back with His Annual Christmas Show
December 22, 2008 10:05 AM
Last year, the writers' strike put a Scrooge-like end to David Letterman's annual late-night Christmas show. Tuesday night at 11:35 ET, on a fresh edition of Late Show with David Letterman, it's back. Darlene Love will sing, Jay Thomas will tell his Lone Ranger story, and Jay and Dave will toss footballs at the giant meatball atop the tree.
And I'll be watching, and grinning...
This is one TV tradition we shouldn't take for granted. I made the case a year ago, a month into the writers' strike, with a column that recounted the entire glorious history of the Letterman Christmas show. I begged for the Powers That Be to grant special dispensation to allow Letterman's streak to continue. You can read the story, and find out all about the Lone Ranger and Jay Thomas, by clicking HERE.
The Powers That Were, of course, ignored me. The strike continued, and despite the adage that the show must go on, it didn't. But for 2008, the gang is back: Darlene Love singing "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," as she did for Letterman 22 years ago, and every year but one since. Thomas back to spin a yarn and toss a football. And, as this year's special guest, another veteran performer: Mickey Rourke, hot on the comeback trail thanks to The Wrestler.
Who knows? He may even stick around to take aim at the giant meatball. This show, every season, has become more obviously, and more delightfully, a celebration not only of Christmas, but of tradition, and friendship, and life itself.
As The Lone Ranger might say: Believe ME, citizen.
Not Enough Shopping Days Left Until Christmas... But Here's One Great Last-Second DVD Gift Idea, And Many Others
December 19, 2008 6:57 AM
This is the last weekend before Christmas -- so it's the last chance, here at TV WORTH WATCHING, for us to trumpet our easy shopping lists of great DVDs, holiday-related and otherwise. Find the dogs with the Santa hats on the home page, click, and shop.
There's still time to have them rush delivered in time for the holiday. (The gifts, not the dogs). And here's my foolproof, last-second, under-$10 recommendation for the perfect DVD gift...
Looking for an inexpensive, guaranteed-to-please treat for all ages? Stock up on this vintage, but still charming, animated delight: The Point, written and featuring music by Harry Nilsson. It's great -- especially but not necessarily for kids -- and Amazon has it on sale for $9.99. Buy it HERE.
Anywhere at all on the shopping lists, when you find something you like, click on BUY NOW. It'll take you to the right place on Amazon, offer a discount, and give us a little stocking-stuffing bump, too.
Also in this holiday home stretch, remember to use Diane Werts' mammoth lists of TV holiday specials, special episodes and movies, all located to the right of her regular FOR BETTER OR WERTS column on the home page. And in her regular blog, you can find a recent entry about online offerings as well.
Remember: If you stay at home and watch TV and shop, you reduce the risk of getting trampled...
The Password is... Unfortunate
December 18, 2008 9:38 AM
Tonight at 8 ET, after a run of summer specials, CBS launches Million Dollar Password as a weekly series. Because of the way the show is revamped, and what it means for TV in the future, the password is... "Unfortunate."
Regis Philbin, once again, is the host -- nothing wrong there. This is, after all, the guy who revived the prime-time game show with ABC's Who Wants to be a Millionaire. (That show would still be on the air at night had ABC not greedily programmed it 172 times a week.)
And the celebrity contestants, teamed up with regular players, are well-chosen, too: William Shatner is one of tonight's synonym-swappers, and future installments feature Craig Ferguson, Norm Macdonald and others.
Still, two things bother me about this latest incarnation of the classic game show.
One is that, for no discernible reason other than to irritate fans of the original series, Million Dollar Password has changed the rules. Instead of teams alternating to give clues -- Team A getting the first shot, Team B the second, and so on -- each team now gets to fire off its clues and guesses all in a row. That removes a lot of the clue-giving strategy, as well as any potential penalty for not guessing right the first time.
The other thing that bothers me is the timing. Right after NBC announces Jay Leno will be taking over the 10 p.m. ET weeknight slot next year with a game show, along comes a game show to claim one night of the 8 p.m. hour for CBS.
With other shows, like NBC's Deal or No Deal and CBS's The Price Is Right specials, already airing at that hour, it doesn't take too much imagination to imagine a broadcast prime-time lineup full of talk shows at 10, game shows at 8, and mostly reality shows at 9.
Is there any reason why such durable syndicated hits as Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! couldn't succeed as an 8 p.m. strip show for some network? And if some network makes that leap, the number of hours available for scripted TV shows will be reduced even more drastically.
Ergo: The Password is... Unfortunate.
Whoops! Some TVWW Shopping Links Were Messed Up...
December 17, 2008 7:50 AM
Sigh. Who knew that clicking on a photo of a DVD would jump to Amazon, as well as the "BUY NOW" link? Not us... which is why we never changed them, until you began complaining.
So we're swapping them out as fast as we can, and certainly don't want to frustrate any friendly TV WORTH WATCHING shoppers. The "BUY NOW" buttons all go to the right place -- but we'll fix the photo links as quickly as we can.
Meanwhile, all the other holiday links -- to TV specials, movies, special episodes and websites -- all work just fine. Bear with us. And last-minute shoppers, pounce now. Shipping from Amazon will still get your DVD choices to you in time...
With NBC Presenting "Momma's Boy" at 10, A Leno Alternative IS Better
December 16, 2008 10:36 AM
Here's what NBC executive Jeff Zucker told Broadcasting & Cable's Ben Grossman recently, defending the decision to program a Jay Leno talk show weeknights at 10 p.m. ET next year. The reduced number of available hours in prime time, he said, would make competition tougher, and, by inference, the programs better:
"Frankly," Zucker said, "now you may have to earn your way onto the schedule. Mediocrity won’t be good enough, and the rest of the schedule should now be filled with the best programs. I actually think this can clear out the mediocrity."
Tonight, he may be proving his point. At 10 p.m. ET, NBC presents Momma's Boys, a Ryan Seacrest-produced reality show in which 32 women compete to win the hearts of three bachelors, each of whom is being guided, and hovered over, by his protective, usually disapproving mother.
You don't even have to watch this show to know how it's going to turn out, and that's my recommendation. Don't watch. If Zucker feels that bringing Leno to prime time will eliminate this type of video drivel, then it's tough to root against the move.
But who's kidding whom? Doesn't that just mean, once Leno comes aboard, shows like Momma's Boys will just show up at 9 p.m. ET instead, or lead off prime time at 8?
Look what else NBC has in store for January 2009: Superstars of Dance. Howie Do It, a Candid Camera-type show hosted by Howie Mandel. And The Biggest Loser: Couples
Oh, and season three of Friday Night Lights, the one beacon of fresh quality on the midseason schedule. Except it's not fresh at all to DirecTV subscribers such as myself, who have been watching the show since October on satellite TV.
The best and fastest way to "clear out the mediocrity" at NBC, Mr. Zucker, would be to quit making mediocrity in the first place.
More Christmas TV Treats -- This Time, Where to Find Them Online
December 15, 2008 9:05 AM
TV WORTH WATCHING has presented holiday shopping guides for TV shows and Christmas-themed shows on DVD, as well as constantly updated listings of where to find holiday specials, movies and series episodes on broadcast and cable TV this season. What could possibly be left to make the season even jollier for TV lovers?
Wait till you see THIS...
Diane Werts has just completed another astounding holiday TV inventory. This time it's of the holiday-themed TV offerings available online, and it's another amazing compendium.
Read it today on FOR BETTER OR WERTS, or check it out here -- and prepare to lose yourself, or at least surrender some time, in the process. It's almost bottomless, and definitely addictive.
Happy holidays. And thanks again, Diane, for more great work.
Not Too Many Shopping Days Left Until the Holidays -- So Please Shop Here!
December 11, 2008 9:29 PM
No, I'm not too proud to ask, once again, that you peruse our painstakingly selected lists of DVD shopping lists -- or to remind you of our constantly updated lists of TV holiday specials.
Both offerings are holiday services from TV WORTH WATCHING to you. Use the TV holiday lists, and we get satisfaction. Use the DVD shopping lists, and we get a little money as a bonus...
And if you really, really want to be a Santa for this website, click through to Amazon from any of the selections on the website, and keep shopping for other things. Even if it's not a DVD, we'll get credit for sending you there. As our motto says: "Costs you nothing extra. Helps us stay alive."
The shopping list for quality TV series on DVD, great gifts for every TV fan, can be found HERE.
The shopping list for holiday specials, TV series and movies on DVD -- more great gifts -- can be found HERE.
And Diane Werts' amazing lists of holiday movies, specials and series episodes can be found HERE for movies... HERE for specials.... and HERE for holiday episodes of TV series.
Finally, you can order Diane's delightful book, Christmas on Television, by clicking HERE.
Enjoy the weekend -- and thanks for being here, whether you purchase anything or not. We're trying to find some way to generate revenue for this site, without turning into ho-ho-ho's.
"The Shield," Boston Legal" Ended Beautifully -- But for TV Drama, What's Next?
December 11, 2008 9:43 AM
First the FX drama The Shield ended, perfectly. Then, two weeks later, the ABC comedy-drama Boston Legal ended, perfectly. And that same day, NBC announced, far from perfectly, it would replace all weekday 10 p.m. ET programming with a new Jay Leno talk show.
These three events may seem independent of one another -- but in the larger view, they're so closely related, they're absolutely interlocked.
For half a century, broadcast TV owned the hour-long drama form. Absolutely monopolized it, except for rare and minor exceptions. Then, in 1997, HBO experimented with Oz, then two years later with The Sopranos, and the world changed. Premium cable could beat the networks at their own game -- and in 2002, FX proved, with the introduction of The Shield, that basic cable could, as well.
Boston Legal, ABC's spinoff of The Practice, began in 2004, and ended Monday with a brilliant final episode. It included rants about Chinese policy and pharmaceutical company malfeasance, and one last appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court, and even a double wedding, involving four of the law firm's attorneys -- three of which were men.
And it ended, of course, with William Shatner's Denny Crane and James Spader's Alan Shore on the balcony, sharing a wedding-night dance. Totally appropriate, completely satisfying.
Two weeks ago, when The Shield ended, it, too served up a whopper of a finale. The first major jolt came when Shane, the fugitive cop realizing he was cornered, not only took his own lives, but the lives of his beloved wife and child, by poisoning them and posing them on the motel bed with, respectively, a bouquet of flowers and a favorite toy.
Unforgettable.
So were the long, lingering closeups of the tortured eyes of Michael Chiklis' Vic Mackey (above) as his past misdeeds caught up to him -- and to that unexpected, twisted final twist that had Vic chained to a different type of prison hell: assigned to menial tasks in a cubicle, with no freedom, no power and no friends or family.
The success of The Shield, on basic cable, led to everything from The Closer and Mad Men to Damages and Breaking Bad. The one-hour drama, on cable, is alive and well. But on broadcast TV, it's fighting for life, and it's not doing well.
ABC chose not to support Pushing Daisies. Now that Boston Legal is gone, the number of broadcast TV series that deal in prime time with topical issues is, let's see, zero. And with NBC removing, in essence, five time slots per week that could have gone to drama series development, it's slashing the future of network TV drama, at least at NBC.
When ER began in 1994, it immediately dominated its time slot and gave NBC more than a decade of Must-See TV on Thursday nights. When ER ends in May, after a proud 14-year run, replacing it will be difficult... but NBC isn't even going to try. Instead, its time slot will go to Jay Leno.
And with all due respect, if there's one thing Jay Leno isn't, it's must-see TV. If audiences want quality drama -- and they do -- where will they go? The same place they're going in increasing numbers anyway: to cable.
Now That Leno Has Landed, What's Next? Some Thoughts...
December 10, 2008 10:21 AM
Now that Jay Leno has landed -- and landed at a surprising place, in prime time on NBC -- the other players in the late-night wars of 2008-09 can begin planning their moves...
DAVID LETTERMAN: His option is whether to wind down and ride into the sunset when his contract is up next year, or extend his CBS Late Show hosting chores for one year, or two years, or more. Staying put makes sense, especially for a one-year extension, to see whether audiences shift at all when it's Dave vs. Conan rather than Dave vs. Jay at 11:30. But going out on your own terms is what Dave's idol, Johnny Carson did, so that's got to be an attractive option as well.
CONAN O'BRIEN: He said yesterday he's thrilled that Leno is staying in the NBC family, but he can't be happy that Leno will take not only much of his thunder, but some of his guests. Still, Conan is locked in to inherit The Tonight Show next year -- and for any talk-show host, that's a dream come true, regardless of what happens next.
JIMMY KIMMEL: If ABC hires someone else for an 11:30 ET talk show and asks Kimmel to remain at 12:30, that may be enough to get Kimmel to walk -- but to where? Fox and syndication are two options, but they're also options for other players, ones that may have more of a shot at widespread appeal. And if Kimmel moves earlier, does his show have to soften to fit the time slot?
CRAIG FERGUSON: Of all the talents currently in play on broadcast TV, this Late Late Show CBS host is the one with the brightest future, whatever he does. His show Monday night, saluting his recently deceased mother, was another of those raw, honest TV moments that make you love the guy. On a TV Sincerity Index from 1 to 10 -- 1 being the always ironic Conan, 10 being the late Fred Rogers -- Ferguson, like Letterman, can hit 9s and 10s when he chooses to. It's a great, rare gift, exemplified early and often in late night by Jack Paar, and Ferguson should continue to grow wherever he's planted.
He's also got reasons to both stay and leave, with his contract up next year as well. If Letterman calls it quits, or signs for one final year, then staying at CBS and shifting to the earlier time slot might make sense to Craig. If Letterman signs up for a longer haul, then checking the other waters is an obvious Plan B. He'd be a good fit at Fox, and a good bet to lure more viewers than Jimmy Kimmel in an 11:30 slot at ABC.
JIMMY FALLON -- Late night's other Jimmy, whose show in NBC's current Conan slot begins March 2, would seem to be another loser in Leno's prime-time shift -- but I don't necessarily think so. His guest bookings are bound to be markedly different, and Fallon is young and savvy enough to use new technology and communication streams to build audience loyalty in ways no other TV host has, or could.
Leno got all the attention with his announcement, but Fallon's nightly videos began being offered this week on his website. In the first, he introduced his house band, The Roots. In the second, he showed off the miniature model of his new set -- showing it excitedly to website viewers as he was seeing it for the first time.
No one's ever done that before in late night. And doing something new, and being enthusiastic about it, is what created and propelled late-night TV in the first place. So Jimmy Fallon, even as the third NBC talk show every weeknight, shouldn't be counted out prematurely.
The victory in the next round of late night wars, after all, might not be claimed on the battlefield of broadcast TV ratings -- but on who gets the most website hits and views. By building his audience online in advance, Jimmy Fallon may be planting his flag in just the right place.
Leno in Prime Time? Good for Business, Bad for TV
December 9, 2008 9:54 AM
I had intended to devote today's column to ABC's Boston Legal finale (thoroughly delightful), then to Craig Ferguson's remembrance of his mother on CBS's Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (touchingly emotional). Both deserve fuller attention -- and will get in, in this space, in the coming days.
But today's breaking-news topic, trumping the others, is NBC's reported decision to turn over its 10 p.m. hour each weeknight next fall to a new talk show hosted by Jay Leno.
In a business sense, looking at it from the perspectives of NBC executives Jeff Zucker and Ben Silverman, this must seem like sheer brilliance. Here are some reasons it seems like a smart move:
1) It keeps Leno from defecting to another network, thereby eliminating one possible high-profile competitor when Conan O'Brien takes over The Tonight Show next year as scheduled. That transition was Zucker's call, so this helps him save face.
2) A talk show is even even cheaper to produce than a reality show. Today, for example, is the most profitable show on television -- so NBC will save tons of money, over a calendar year. Megatons.
3) If Leno's popularity brings more people to the party at the 10 p.m. ET hour, ratings go up, and local affiliates benefit by having a stronger lead-in to their late local newscast.
But making sense financially, and making sense creatively, are two different things -- and I'm not sure either Zucker or Silverman cares about the creative thing. At TV WORTH WATCHING, we do, and here are some reasons I think the move is not only questionable, but unfortunate.
1) It means five fewer hours each week, in prime time, that will be devoted to scripted drama on NBC. With its Biggest Loser reality show and Deal or No Deal game show and others, it's already gobbling up too many hours with cheaply produced unscripted programs -- and if you add the Law & Order franchises to the mix, there aren't many hours left.
2) In programming terms, NBC now becomes more like Fox or the CW, essentially programming two hours nightly instead of three. And with TV's most mature dramas reserved for the 10 p.m. hour, this means NBC and its programming will be more immature. Which, after Knight Rider, hardly seemed possible.
3) Talk-show audiences are divided into three groups. Some love the host and tune in faithfully. Some hate the host, and won't watch no matter what. And some will tune in if the guests are interesting to them, or if they happen to be in the mood to watch TV and can't find anything else more interesting.
Some people love Conan, for example, and will follow him eagerly to The Tonight Show. Some Tonight regulars, on the other hand, can't stand Conan, and may defect. Take that equation to prime time, and to a new Jay Leno talk show. Some people will watch because of Jay -- but those who don't like Jay are now predisposed to reject NBC in the final hour of prime time, five nights a week, all year long.
4) Adding one more nightly network talk show to the TV mix is like expanding major league baseball -- teams get diluted, because there's only so much decent talent to go around. If Jay books a timely A-list guest at 10, it alters the booking options for Conan at 11:30. Poaching guests from competing shows on oter networks is one thing -- but Jay's show, by its very existence, could end up hurting The Tonight Show, especially with its early jump. Maybe NBC hasn't thought of that, but I'm betting Jay Leno has... and is smiling privately.
5) No talk show, no matter how good, is Must-See TV. Yes, it's cheaper and easier to mount a talk show that to produce a scripted show people actually care about. But a generation ago, when tasteful executives like Grant Tinker and Brandon Tartikoff ran NBC, the 10 p.m. hour was home to such shows as Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere and L.A. Law -- all in the same TV season, every week.
By shifting from Must-See TV to Must-Profit TV in a generation, NBC is in danger of bleeding its peacock mascot of all colors but green. Good for business. Bad for television.
The Show with the Most Famous Balcony Scenes Since "Romeo & Juliet" Ends Tonight
December 8, 2008 9:21 AM
ABC's Boston Legal, one of the braver and more delightful TV series of the past five years, ends tonight, with a two-hour episode that concludes with one last scene on the balcony.
And that's only fitting, since this David E. Kelley series has done more for the balcony scene than any drama since Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet...
Last week's episode had Carl, the attorney played by John Larroquette, complaining that there was nothing on TV worth watching, especially for viewers over 50. And complaining not to friends, or the networks, but to a judge, where he's taken the case of mass-medium age discrimination to court.
"I'm over 50 myself," Carl yells at the judge, "and I want something to watch!" He argues that there's only one prime-time network show on TV with lots of characters his age, and starts to say it -- but stops, saying he doesn't want to "break the fourth wall."
Breaking the fourth wall, of course, is one of those things this series has done brilliantly, and increasingly, throughout its run. Last week, the case in which James Spader's Alan Shore was suing on behalf of his best friend and fellow attorney, William Shatner's Denny Crane, was scheduled to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
When would the case be heard?, one asked the other. The response: "Special 9 o'clock start time," which savvy viewers knew was a cue for real-life TV appointment viewing. Ditto the obvious real-life applications when Alan complained, "There seems to be a law against promoting us." Take that, ABC.
But tonight at 9 ET on ABC -- special 9 o'clock start time -- Boston Legal says farewell, arguing one last case before the biggest court in the land. In the biggest entertainment venue in the land, though, this series proved its case years ago, with barrels of Emmys and an endless lis of unforgettable summations, flirtations, outrages and, at the end of each show, contemplative balcony scenes between Alan and Denny.
I interviewed Kelley for Broadcasting & Cable magazine about his final show. The column was published today, and can be read in full here. It tells of Kelley's future plans, and leaks one hint -- a non-spoiler -- about the final scene in that final episode.
Wherefore art thou, Shatner and Spader? For one last night, it's an easy question to answer.
Once Again, It's Smothers Day!
December 5, 2008 10:22 AM
Hey, folks -- I have a crunch day on the book today, and miles to go before I sleep. So click through for a new photo, but otherwise it's the same old song:
Today I'm working on my Smothers Brothers book.
Thanks for the day off from the blog...
CNN's Christiane Amanpour Probes History of Genocide; ABC's Barbara Walters Interviews "Fascinating" Miley Cyrus
December 4, 2008 10:12 AM
On CNN tonight, Christiane Amanpour looks at 70 years of genocide, in a two-hour CNN Presents special impressive not only in its depth and breadth, but also in its seriousness and relevance. On ABC, meanwhile, in a one-hour special, Barbara Walters interviews Miley Cyrus, Michael Phelps and eight other people she considers "fascinating."
Is it unfair to compare the two? I say no.
Barbara Walters, after all, is one of the true pioneers of women in broadcasting. She fought her way, against steep odds and harsh opposition, from window-dressing Today show "girl" to the first female co-anchor of a network newscast. And like legendary broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, who alternated between the serious issues of See It Now and the personality puffery of Person to Person, Walters scored coups, and drew audiences, for both her news scoops and her celebrity interview specials.
But Walters, outside of The View, is doing a lot less than she used to -- and tonight's Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2008 (at 10 ET), one of the few annual specials still on her schedule, is overloaded with the likes of Will Smith, Tom Cruise and Frank Langella. As Saturday Night Live joked recently, the lineup proves, if nothing else, that Barbara Walters is easily fascinated.
Over on CNN, though, Christiane Amanpour's Scream Bloody Murder is a breath of fresh, mature, intelligent air. This two-hour special takes a very difficult subject, the history of genocide, and looks at it unflinchingly. It's not a subject that makes the United States come off as particularly noble -- but the history is crucial to understanding so much about the world today, including our place in it.
"We know how it begins," Amanpour says at the start. "We know what happens when evil goes unchecked." Yet despite the history of Nazi atrocities, and the assigning of guilt at the postwar Nuremberg Trials, the intentional slaughter of entire ethnic populations has resurfaced time and again, from Cambodia and Rwanda to Iraq and Darfur.
Amanpour asks why -- but also asks, of former officials and officers as well as survivors, how things were allowed to escalate and then turn horribly deadly. And about halfway through her chronological overview, she herself shows up, as a young CNN international reporter, asking the same questions then she's asking now, decades later.
"In the era of 24-hour cable news, nobody could say we didn't know," she says, and shows how deftly, and how coldly, several U.S. administrations danced around defining an ethnic cleansing or sectarian slaughter as genocide. As one former official tells her, "You can't call it genocide and then do nothing about it." So the word went unspoken, while the U.S., in one shameful instance, supported Saddam Hussein and his deadly dictatorial regime before we denounced it.
Television, broadcast even more than cable, is doing less of this serious documentary work all the time. Amanpour is to be applauded, and Scream Bloody Murder (9 p.m. ET) is to be seen, appreciated and, one hopes, remembered. And here's hoping executives at the broadcast networks will watch -- and perhaps, ask themselves, "Why aren't we doing this?"
That's a great question. And the answer, to those networks, is: You could be, and you should be. On MY list of the most fascinating people of 2008, I'd put Christiane Amanpour way up there.
Look Who's Talking -- On TV, That Is -- And Who's Shockingly Good At It
December 3, 2008 7:20 AM
Don't look now -- or, rather, DO look now -- but there are some new TV talk show hosts in town, and they're unexpectedly fabulous. Almost shockingly so: William Shatner? Elvis Costello?
Yes, and yes. Big time.
Elvis Costello's new weekly hour-long series, Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..., is a Sundance Channel offering that mixes music and talk, but stresses the latter. And stresses, more than anything else, a detailed and passionate discussion of early influences and sometimes overlooked artists. It's an hour of discovery, and it's simply wonderful.
Tonight's opener (9 p.m. ET) features, as Costello's guest, Elton John, one of the show's producers. Each week, Costello and his band open by playing a song associated with that week's guest, and Costello and his guest close with a duet performance. Tonight, the closing number isn't an Elton John song, but their rendition of "Down River," by David Ackles.
If you don't know who Ackles is, this hour will tell you, as Elton John reveals, with infectious enthusiasm, the early influences on his songwriting and performance styles. Who knew that one of Elton's first piano-playing heroes was Leon Russell? Or that Elton, sidling up to the piano, could mimic Russell's heavy-handed piano playing perfectly? (And his Southern drawl, much less perfectly.)
If you're old enough to have them in your collection, this hour will have you digging out old albums by not only Ackles and Russell, but Laura Nyro, Van Morrison and The Band. More important, if you're younger and haven't heard of them, this hour may steer you in their directions.
"We're music crazy, both of us," Elton says proudly, and they're passing on their insanity like a religion. Their joint craziness -- Costello's pointed questions, Elton's unguarded answers -- makes Spectacle a very satisfying hour. Taped in front of an audience, but not pandering to it, this Sundance series is like eavesdropping on a late-night, post-show conversation among fellow musicians. What a joy.
Another new, stunningly good talk show is William Shatner's new weekly series on the Biography Channel network. Shatner's Raw Nerve premiered last night, with a double-bill of half-hour conversations -- one with Valerie Bertinelli, the next with Tim Allen. They're repeated tonight at 11 p.m. ET on Biography, and Saturday at 7 a.m. on A&E, and both are really, really worth watching.
It's astounding, really, how watchable a series Shatner's Raw Nerve is, and how simple. No audience. A rinky-dink studio set, with two plush chairs facing each other, pushed together at such an intimate angle that Allen jokingly calls them "a love seat." And Shatner has no tablet, no cards, no notes. He just leans in, and listens, and keeps pressing with follow-up questions.
What kinds of questions? That's what makes it so fascinating. With Bertinelli, his backyard neighbor, he wants to hone in on her concept of guilt and sin, and why she's more forgiving of others than of herself. With Allen, Shatner is most curious not about how Allen fell into addiction, but how quickly he crawled out of it.
Both conversations happen to touch on faith, and both get to childhood dreams and traumas, and securities and insecurities, whether as performers or in everyday life. Neither Bertinelli nor Allen seems to be remotely "on." No playing for the camera, no playing for time. No plugging of new projects.
It's just talk, and I'm flabbergasted at how good Shatner is at this right out of the box. It's amazing enough how many times this man has reinvented himself, from TV Golden Age young turk to Star Trek captain to over-the-top song stylist, all the way to self-ironic commercial pitchman and newly iconic Denny Crane.
But the week before Denny Crane says goodbye on ABC's superb Boston Legal, who would have thought William Shatner would have found yet another triumphant new line of work? Yet he has.
Shatner's Raw Nerve is no vanity project. It's a wonderful one.
ABC's "According to Jim" -- It's Alive! Alive!
December 2, 2008 9:08 AM
Here's a TV mystery for you: Beginning tonight, ABC's According to Jim is back. In prime time. With new episodes. Starting its eighth season.
It's an inexplicable rebound, more improbable than the return from the ashes of Fox's Family Guy or, to go all the way out on the TV limb, the updating of The Bionic Woman and Knight Rider. Already, Jim Belushi has starred on this ABC sitcom two years longer than his brother, John, appeared on Saturday Night Live.
But here's what really, really astounds me about According to Jim. Say what you will about it -- and I'll start by saying it's not funny -- it is a situation comedy about what used to be known as a nuclear family. Husband, wife, kids. First marriage.
This particular comedy situation, in the history of situation comedies, was all over the place in the 1950s and 1960s. But where is it as we inch towards 2009?
On Fox, you can find such nuclear families on The Simpsons and King of the Hill -- but those shows are animated. What other half-hour comedies in prime time right now feature a mom-and-pop-and-kids operation?
Well, there's Everybody Hates Chris on the CW. And...
And...
And, except for According to Jim, that's it.
According to me, anyway.
And that, no less so than the return of Jim, is astounding.
Welcome to Cyber Monday! Shop for TV DVDs, and Plan Your Holiday Viewing, Here at TV WORTH WATCHING...
December 1, 2008 7:50 AM
Because it's Cyber Monday, TV WORTH WATCHING is making it easy for you. And, since every gift you order helps us, too, it's a holiday win-win.
Click on one of the Santa-hatted home-page puppies, and start shopping for the best, or most holiday-appropriate, TV shows on DVD...
I posted this description of our constantly updated DVD holiday shopping guides over the weekend, but on Cyber Monday, it bears repeating:
You can find these just below BIANCULLI'S BLOG on the home page -- click on either of the Santa-hatted puppies, and they'll take you there. "Christmas Shows on DVD" takes you to collections of holiday specials on DVD, and "Holiday Shopping Guide," immediately below it, is a giant guided tour of big boxed sets, individual DVDs and everything in between -- anything having to do with TV, which we consider cool.
Diane Werts did most of the work on this year's version, but some of my reviews and recommendations are there, too, and we're both very proud to present these online offerings to you. And Diane did ALL the work on her borderline-insane exhaustive list of TV holiday offerings -- the ones not for sale, but just to watch and/or record, if you know where and when to find them. Diane does.
Newly added to the site, and updated regularly for the rest of the year, is her triple-threat guide to all the Christmas specials, holiday movies and Christmas-themed series episodes on TV between now and 2009 and beyond. Three different lists, all exhaustive, and all searchable.
Want to find out when A Charlie Brown Christmas is showing this year? When White Christmas will be on? Where to find the Seinfeld episode of "Festivus"? Check out the lists: Linus and company will show up Dec. 8 on ABC, White Christmas will be shown on Lifetime Dec. 19, and "Festivus"... you'll just have to keep checking back.
All this work -- all these lists -- are the absurdly time-consuming handiwork of our own Diane Werts, who used to provide them for New York's Newsday. TV WORTH WATCHING is extremely proud to be their new home base. You can find all three lists on the home page, just to the right of Diane's regular FOR BETTER OR WERTS column. Just look beneath BIANCULLI'S BEST BETS.
For today, you can jump to them by linking here for EPISODES, here for SPECIALS, and here for MOVIES. But keep coming, and keep reading. Diane's going to keep updating the lists all year long.
I couldn't find Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, one of my favorite all-time holiday specials, on her viewing list -- but it IS on our shopping list, as one of the many offerings available to order for the holidays. I'm not trying to bug you, or humbug you -- just let you know what's there, after all our hard work assembling it and throwing it out into the cyberspace ether...
