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Upfronts 2008: So… You Think You Can Stop Dancing?

Michael O'Connell — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:57:10 +0000

My silence may be eerie, but I’m sneakily still very much liking TV. In fact, I just got in from the Fox upfront party. It’s been an exhausting and kind of uneventful week, but what better excuse to touch base than the TV equivalent of prom?

So this year marked my first in-person upfront experience, and I have to say, they’re kind of gross. A bunch of sloppy ad folks boozing to the point of public embarrassment and blatant starfucking does not a good time make. It was an education though. My deep love of So You Think You Can Dance (returning in one week!) was slightly challenged by the throng of contestants from seasons two and three that could literally not stop dancing at any point during the night. Brazilian BBQ buffet? Dance! Line at the porta-potty? Dance! Creepy ‘80s cover band? Um… dance!

They have their charms though. And about a month from now I’ll be so thoroughly into their successors, this transgression will be long forgotten. What won’t be forgotten is the fact those two beautiful creatures pictured above and Eliza Dushku all bolted before I got there. Perhaps it’s best that they stay on their respective pedestals, but I sure would have love to see TV actors not on Gossip Girl every once in a while.

Enough of that. Let’s get down to business. This time last year I was an unhappy camper. Veronica Mars was done, I was mostly unimpressed with the pick-ups, and Eliza Dushku’s pilot was passed over by FOX. Things could not be more different in 2008. Friday Night Lights and How I Met Your Mother, the two bubble shows that I desperately needed to see renewed, will both be back with a vengeance. I’m genuinely excited by some of the new offerings. And this year’s Dushku pilot, a little show called Dollhouse by some writer/auteur/genius named Joss Whedon, is a sure bet for midseason. If you can catch the trailer (they keep pulling them), you will see how very drool inducing it is. Full fall schedules for all the networks, if you haven’t already seen them, can be found right here: ABC, CBS, FOX, the CW. (NBC’s is oooooold news.)

There weren’t any surprises this week. News of renewals and pickups, save a few exceptions, all came weeks ago. The only real shock was that after all the hullabaloo over the upfronts being “soooo different” this year, they were more or less the same. No complaints on my part, as I can think of far worse things than tradition. Attention-starved dance competition veterans for one.

How I Met Your Mother: No Room For Shame

Michael O'Connell — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:36:19 +0000

How I Met Your Mother‘s return to the air wasn’t exactly a return to form. Last week’s episode had it’s moments, but it didn’t pack all the funny that over three months of downtime should have guaranteed. This lowered my already dismal expectations for this week’s Britney episode that would understandably include all of the pandering that generally comes with a stunt of this nature. I’m not upset with the decision. Mother is struggling, and if lowering their standards for one episode to grab a wider audience is what it takes to skirt a premature death, I can reconcile that.

Well, as it turns out, all of my nerves and over thinking were for naught. The Spearsy “Ten Sessions” was one of the best episodes of the season and saw Ted back as the giddy romantic we’ve barely gotten since the first season when he started courting Victoria, the cupcake girl. Mother never ceases to surprise me with their inventive ways to tell a story. Bouncing back and forth from the gang’s table at McLaren’s to Ted’s various visits to the dermatologist’s office was a nice method of keeping the focus on Ted. The supporting cast is the show’s greatest asset (as is often the case on TV), but it’s no reason to ignore the protagonist. Their departure from his journey towards matrimony is one reason why a lot of people became frustrated with the series. The third season is bringing him back into the loop.

So what about Britney? She was not bad, though her greatest success may have been her ability to not be completely awkward. The writers even gave her some pretty cherry lines. She botched one or two, and her hairline only completely distracted during one scene. Like the character she was playing, this girl is desperate in a way that’s almost endearing. She just wants a chance, and regardless of your feelings for her, it’s nice to see that she’s still more than a few bad days away from drowning in her own barf at the Hard Rock Hotel.

That’s not to say she was the highlight. Hell no. That came near the end when Ted treated the ever darling and hilarious Sarah Chalke to a two-minute date. I’m glad the Silverstone appearance fell through. Unless she was to arrive on set via a time machine from 1995, her charm would not have been in tact. The episode would not have been as tight. Chalke is a worthy sparring partner for Ted, and I hope the show took notice. The open-ended manner in which they left her storyline leads me to assume they did, but all this talk of Scrubs moving to ABC will put a speedy and to any potential return. Sad… I really wouldn’t mind if she ended up being your mother.

The episode earned high ratings, as did last week’s, so my naive heart feels that HIMYM will return for a fourth season. And for anyone who feels that it doesn’t deserve one, I offer the following clip as a rebuttal… just ignore that soundtrack.

Visiting With Our Friends on Death Row

Michael O'Connell — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:07:18 +0000

No, it isn’t photo fanfic time. I’m just taking a moment to update you less vigilant TV fans who may not be keeping up on all of the latest Friday Night Lights and How I Met Your Mother speculation, leads and updates. Some is good, some plain stinks and most just reminds me of the awful feeling I had last year when I was clinging to every misleading morsel about the clearly doomed Veronica Mars. Regardless, here’s what has gone down in the last couple of weeks…

Friday Night Lights

Best Week Ever’s campaign to save FNL fell apart when Viacom execs noticed that their flagship blog was promoting a show that airs at the same time as its corresponding series… on a different network. Their light bulb icon remains because it does raise awareness. And it is very cute. (Defamer)
Any possibility that FNL would return for more second season episodes is out the window. Taylor Kitsch is going to Australia to make the X-Men prequel. (BuzzSugar)
Just over a week ago, news broke that NBC is considering “wrapping up” FNL with a two-hour series-ending special. Not the worst case scenario, but it’s still pretty chince. (Watch With Kirstin)
The most recent development for Lights is the most exciting. NBC approached The CW, TNT and the owner of E! and G4 about sharing a third season of FNL – should one be produced. Talk of sharing it with NBC-owned nets like Bravo and USA has not come up. At least this means the execs still really are invested in the series – despite any of Ben Silverman’s drunken ramblings about 30 Rock. (Zap2It)

How I Met Your Mother

The Hollywood Reporter isn’t so grim about Mother‘s future. I failed to mention in my last report that while the show was not included in CBS’s fall picks-ups, sources are optimistic that a renewal is imminent. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Super sleuth, and champion of TV fans everywhere, Kristin Dos Santos is nervous for Mother. She points out the disturbing truth that CBS has nothing to gain should the Fox-owned series reach a syndication-cinching 100th episode. (Watch With Kristin)
CBS moved Mother to a new time slot for their April return. It will now air on Mondays at 8:30 in between the more successful The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men. Think of it as an amazing sandwich… but instead of bread, they’re using poop. (TV Squad)

How I Met Your Mother: Back on the Bubble

Michael O'Connell — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:43:10 +0000

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… Few of this week’s post-strike news items were as exciting as CBS’s prompt order of nine more episodes of How I Met Your Mother that are slated to start airing as soon as March 17th. There hasn’t been a new episode of Mother since the early December, and it’s absence is responsible for one of the most painful holes in the Jarlsberg that is my viewing schedule. Too bad my moment in the sun was short-lived. The eye network announced their series guaranteed pickups for the 2008/2009 season this morning, and Mother was notably absent.

I really can’t understand why this show has had such a difficult time finding an audience. It’s far superior to any other comedy on CBS, yet they all do much better. It would be understandable if Mother was more similar to Arrested Development or The Office, but there’s no sophistication here that might alienate potential viewers. It is, quite frankly, a formulaic, multi-camera sitcom – a dying breed of show. And while most in its shrinking pool of contemporaries are still finding a wide audience (see every other show in CBS’s Monday lineup), none of them offer Mother‘s consistent humor minus the cliché. Their draw is something I will never be able to understand, and my frustrations are such that I could never fully communicate.

How I Met Your Mother will not be saved by a letter writing campaign or truckloads of yellow umbrellas. If it’s return next month isn’t marked by a solid improvement in ratings, it will probably not be back next year. I would blame the network, but it’s really not their fault. Three seasons have offered the show more than enough to time to grow an audience. The audience just isn’t biting. So if this really is the last season of How I Met Your Mother, the only ones at blame are the foolish people who wait to turn their dial to CBS until 8:30 and 9:00 every Monday to watch boring stereotypes and stale humor in favor of refreshing, intelligent comedy.

Happy Slapsgiving!

Michael O'Connell — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:37:39 +0000

Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down. And How I Met Your Mother may falter, but it’s rarely anything short of legendary. This season is clearly not as consistently irreverent as the second. The pitfalls (and pratfalls) of standard sitcom puns and one-liners are proving to be quite the temptation for the folks over at Mother. They soldier on though, with more than enough moments of brilliance to compensate for the occasional cheesiness. Such was the case with last night’s long-awaited (seriously, the countdown started at 130 days or something) “Slapsgiving” episode.

What makes me love Mother more than all the others? Sure, it may have the best chemistry of any primetime comedic ensemble, the writing tends to tap into cultural moments with the speed of those fellas at South Park and the made-up words are often their biggest water cooler asset… but in the end, this show would be nothing without Neil Patrick Harris. For that matter, I would be nothing without Neil Patrick Harris. With one dated, hip-hop-referencing mispronunciation he can make a stale joke fresh as a daisy.

After all, Barney Stinson is probably the most perfectly crafted sitcom character there’s ever been. He sits on the outside, not a part of the show’s key relationships, the eternal bachelor for everyone’s amusement and a dependable sparring partner for the most fulfilling banter. His mechanically chauvinistic attitude should make him more of a caricature than a person, but instead of leaning too heavily towards a “Joey,” Barney’s neuroses and penchant for unpredictable emotional displays make him the most exciting part of the show. In last night’s episode, his cool collectedness melts away when the countdown to the third of his five impending slaps gets too short. So while everyone else is marveling over Jason Segal’s equally entertaining “You Just Got Slapped” ballad, there is only one moment from Slapsgiving that I’ll be incessantly replaying for the foreseeable future:

Brace Yourself for a Long, Cold Winter to Follow “Slapsgiving”

Michael O'Connell — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:56:28 +0000

No, I’m not on strike (yet?). I’m just sick, and staring at the computer monitor has been too nauseating to handle for the past few days. But time and TV stop for no man, so in lieu of any reviews of a so-far sleepy sweeps, here are some of the latest bits on that gut-wrenchingly craptastic Writer’s Guild of America strike that may soon deny us all the glorious scripted programming that gets us through the day. But first thing’s first…

What do they want? A new contract that reflects the changing mediascape – higher residuals from DVD sales and a piece of the downloadable pie (to name a few). It’s the least they deserve.

When do they want it? Uh, now? Or whenever the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is willing to meet them remotely halfway. Talks have gone nowhere and, as of today, aren’t even taking place. Don’t be surprised if we don’t see a resolution until early 2008.

So with no new scripts in sight, where do we stand? Here are some of the most interesting bits on how some partially produced programs are feeling the heat:

NBC’s eternal whipping boy, Scrubs, might not even run the full 18 episodes of its final season (Hollywood Reporter).
The fourth season of Lost might not show up until 2009 (Televisionista).
Unless you count the canning of Heroes: Origins, there haven’t been any real cancellations yet because of the strike. But with so many new series that have yet to receive full season orders, look for the guillotine to possibly drop on newbies like K-Ville and (gasp!) Dirty Sexy Money (The Watcher).
Midseason debut (and total stinker) Cashmere Mafia will not be premiering in November. No plans for the show have been confirmed (Daily News).
That springtime premiere for Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse isn’t looking so good. At least we have his dispatches from the picket line to tide us over (Whedonesque).
The final season of The Wire is completely done and will air, in-full, as scheduled (LA Times).
Sitcoms filmed in front of a live audience are already out of commission, with a bunch of CBS and FOX shows I pretty much hate leading the pack. How I Met Your Mother, which is apparently isn’t, soldiers on (New York Times).

Speaking of Mother… I’d hadn’t realized how little time was left on the slap countdown until CBS released some stills from this month’s “Slapsgiving” episode of How I Met Your Mother. Yes, in a mere 12 days, the slap bet returns. With so much uncertainty in life, at least we can count on that.

How I Met Your Mother Returns Tonight

Michael O'Connell — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 11:51:31 +0000

There just aren’t many shows on TV capable of making me laugh hysterically while simultaneously warming my cockles. Actually, there’s just one (all of my other comedies are too offensive to make me swoon). I’m speaking, of course, of How I Met Your Mother – the only show currently on CBS to not only capture m’heart but find a place on my extremely short list of shows I’ll go out of my way for to watch live.

Well, it’s back! And, having already seen the first episode, I can vouch for sustained whimsy and general awesomeness. Though it occasionally falters from the trappings of conventional sitcom-dom (in tonight’s episode, there’s a musical refrain with Enrique Iglesias), it always comes through in the end. And for every Enrique, there’s a Mandy Moore! After over a month of leaked publicity shots, you’ll finally get your chance to see her charm the pants off of Ted and Barney.

This season has a lot in store for us: Robin Sparkles redux, slap bet 2.0 and a considerable amount of development in the long-stagnant search for your mom. Are you sick of being an orphan yet? I’m not – she can take her sweet time. Check out my full review of the season premiere, and, if you haven’t already gotten on board, watch How I Met Your Mother tonight!

How I Met Your Mother airs tonight/Mondays at 8pm on CBS

How I Met Your Mother: …Something Blue

Michael O'Connell — Tue, 15 May 2007 18:07:17 +0000

With all of my other shows renewed, save Veronica who’s one nail shy of an airtight coffin, I now only wait to hear word on How I Met Your Mother. Last night’s finale, its 22nd masterpiece in a row, opened one door and closed many. Lily and Marshall galloped off to marital bliss and Barney continued to be uproariously funny (though void of any real character development), while Robin Scherbatsky and Ted Mosby, Architect, came to the most amicable of endings. Ted might not have met your mother in last night’s episode, but everything else seemed to be eerily wrapped in a series finale colored bow.

Ample references were made to the pilot episode (including obscure cameos), all five leads seemed happy and hopeful… even the final line was the show’s once signature catch phrase that seemed to have fallen by the wayside. I know it’s the pessimist in me, but almost everything about last night’s episode seemed final.

It’d be unfair for me to say that my love of HIMYM came from a place of genuine appreciation. I watched much of the first season solely in support of a most cherished Buffy alum. But I became endeared to the show, and by the end of the first season loved it for who it was. Then the second season defied all expectations when the cast, writers and directors all seemed to become comfortable with the unique pace and absurdist tone of what they’d created. At times it seems more like a live-action Family Guy than a conventional sitcom, but it works so well. And while millions of Americans fail to turn the dial to the eye network until Charlie Sheen and What’shisface come on to engage in clichéd banter with that creepy child, they are missing out. Mother is the best thing CBS has going, and if early reports speculating that they aren’t picking up any comedy pilots are true – they’re well aware.

Check this out for some particularly stellar Mother moments and cross your fingers for many seasons more.

UPDATE: No need for fingers, word came late this afternoon that How I Met Your Mother is indeed returning next season. Glory be!

Almost Upfronts: Waiting’s a Bitch

Michael O'Connell — Wed, 09 May 2007 17:10:40 +0000

With just a few days separating us from the networks’ upfronts, next season’s schedules will soon be decided. So now is as good of a time as any to check in on our most beloved shows, whose fates are still so desperately up in the air…

-After finishing its stellar freshman season with an ever-increasing viewership and a champion in NBC pres Kevin Reilly, Friday Night Lights does seem favored to return. And if its status as TV critics’ biggest wet dream isn’t enough to make you think it’s getting renewed, all the reports of ordered scripts and internal pats on the back seem to guarantee another season of Panther football.

-Saying that How I Met Your Mother hit its stride in the second season might be the understatement of the century. More dependably funny than anything on NBC Thursdays, the lack of any word on a renewal is a disappointment, to say the least. Other fans and bloggers don’t seem to be concerned, but CBS is not a network that is known for making shows sweat it out this long. And though the identity of the Mother still remains a secret, enough subplots are being tied with a bow to make me wonder if the season finale could be excused for a series finale.

-It seems silly to talk about Veronica Mars, because reading and writing endless speculation makes me more anxious by the day, but there’s so much promising news this week that the tiniest iota of hope has formed in my cold, shriveled heart. And though Veronica in any form is better than no Veronica at all, I’m increasingly leery of the FBI scenario. The last two episodes have been so flawless, I honestly think keeping Veronica in college is the way to go.

-Though it might seem these are the only three shows I care about, the last two weeks have shown that what we all thought was guarantee, is now an unlikelihood. Negotiations for another season of Scrubs have stalled for some time now, and it seems NBC isn’t keen on forking up the cash for Zach Braff’s requested salary. The show’s seemingly climactic storyline of JD once again swooning for Elliot and the network’s vague marketing of the “final” episodes all insist that the end is nigh.

Time will tell, and there ain’t much of it, so check back next week for coverage and links on all things 07-08 season. Also keep an eye out for continued coverage of American Idol and evaluations of the How I Met Your Mother season (gasp, series?) finale and the likely disappointing sendoff to our beloved Gilmore Girls.

How I Met Your Myspace

Michael O'Connell — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:11:06 +0000

Robin Sparkles, it wasn’t, but How I Met Your Mother‘s most recent online tie-in garnered considerable attention before it even went live and may have been the last push needed to secure a much deserved third season. The most recent clip shows the part of Marshall’s bachelor party we couldn’t see: a stripper pulling a large variety of unusual objects out of a Mary Poppins-esque carpet bag, presumably to put in her, well, you know. But in an episode that alluded to big, black dildos and Barney’s taste for sadistic strippers, this one minute clip that was questionably deemed “too hot for CBS,” hardly warranted seeing the light of day. Though it was a great excuse to try and double their previous viral success.

HIMYM isn’t the only show jumping on the social media bandwagon. In an attempt to woo new viewers, Bones made eight MySpace pages for characters that’ll show up in a May 8th episode. Fox promises that there are enough clues in the profiles for viewers to figure out the identity of the victims and the killer before the episode even airs. In what seems like an open, marathon game of Clue, each character has a slew of photos, friend comments (from the other characters!) and their own blog. Each page is being updated several times weekly. Now, as much as I like Clue, I really don’t want to read Colonel Mustard’s blog. I just want someone to tell me he didn’t do anything shady in the Library and be done with it. The whole attempt is admirably ambitious but a little foolish. The online attention span of Americans is far too short for an endeavor of this scale.

I love me some Bones, but isn’t the allure of these procedural shows being able to turn your brain off for a non-serialized mystery? Bones has always been different because it manages to be charming and sporadically hilarious despite operating under the guise of a CSI knockoff. It’s enough to keep me watching, but it’s not an experience I care to take much further.

Save One Show… or Three

Michael O'Connell — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 17:03:17 +0000

Each year Kristin Veitch, who effusively writes about TV over at E! Online, tallies up the 15-or-so shows that are flirting with (or begging for) cancellation. Her readership of rabid super-fans is given the opportunity to vote for the ONE they are most interested in seeing return next season, and then Kristin spends the next month exhausting all of her industry connections to ensure that the chosen program is spared the guillotine. She is almost always successful, with only one show not being renewed in the last six years. So while I’d like to save all of my shows, here are the three I feel to be most deserving of her fervent campaigning:

Friday Night Lights has wavered in the ratings over the course of the season, but the quality has remained on a clearly upward trajectory. Charming and honest in its portrayals of big personalities desperate to rise above mundane small town life, the show’s refusal to go the melodramatic route of so many “teen soaps” makes me fall harder every week. With some of my favorite shows making some annoying missteps this season, I honestly think FNL was the best thing out there this year.

How I Met Your Mother turned out to be so much more than a post-Buffy vehicle for my weekly dose of Alyson Hannigan, it’s the funniest show on network TV. Defying expectations that it would exist solely in the shadow of Friends, HIMYM is more innovative and intelligent in its humor than its similarly themed predecessor ever was. The cast’s organic chemistry is palpable, and it’s nice to watch an ensemble where you know that none of the personalities will ever become bigger than the group.

Oh, Veronica Mars, how is it that we end up in the same place every year? With three seasons worth of chances to make a go of it, no real increase in viewership and some recent creative falters, I’d be lying if I said I was surprised by Veronica’s status as “likely doomed.” But I’m still not ready to say goodbye – especially if the show adopts the suggested flash-forward to Veronica’s career as an FBI agent. Both scary and exciting, a dramatic retool of Veronica Mars might be exactly what the show needs to finally find its footing.

In the end, I have to cast my vote for Veronica. We’ve been together the longest, and I honestly think she’s the only one with a real chance of cancellation. And though I have a great deal of faith in Kristin, I’m skeptical about some of her readers. Last year’s decision to save One Tree Hill was a vomit-inducing punch in the gut. So if any of the aforementioned three don’t find their way to the 2007-08 season because everyone votes for effing What About Brian, you can count on me launching a similarly themed, and severely less effective, Save One Deserving Show campaign next year.