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Dec
12
2007

Twitch-O-Meter: MAD MEN and Bad TV

Posted by Peter Martin at 1:15pm.

Posted in Twitch-O-Meter .

Is it just me, or did American TV really suck this year?

From the increasing infuriatingly insulting Lost to the huge letdown that was Heroes (both Volume I and Volume 2) to the mind-fuck of John From Cincinnati (brilliant once or twice in spurts, for a total of about 40 satisfying minutes) to the exasperatingly smug Californication to the sheer stupidity of recent plot threads on Friday Night Lights (after a slowly-developing yet thoroughly engrossing 1st Season) to the diminishing laughter produced by Curb Your Enthusiasm to the brain-dead, completely non-erotic soft-core sexual shenanigans of Tell Me You Love Me to the deadened and defanged Veronica Mars to the ... well, fill in the blank for your favorite and/or critically praised show that failed to deliver the goods.

I know, I know, I could have better spent my time watching movies, but sometimes a shotgun blast of entertainment, lasting 45-48 minutes, is just what the doctor ordered. In addition, I’m somewhat addicted to the visual pleasures available on high-def TV, even when the content disappoints. Most of my TV watching has been condensed into four months this year—two spread out in the late winter and early spring, and the two just past—so it’s entirely possible that I missed some good shows.

My top five can be found after the jump, but please let me know what *you* enjoyed this year. And if you’re from outside the US, pretty please share your fave shows from your home country.

5. Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares

Gordon Ramsay is certainly easy to hate. On the American reality ‘chef competition’ show Hell’s Kitchen, he was a belligerent bellowing nightmare, the devil incarnate in a chef’s togs, arrogant and nasty. I watched one episode and was completely turned off. Then I caught one of the episodes from his Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares series, produced in the UK and broadcast in the US on BBC America and found him to be a much calmer, patient, intelligent person. Sure, he was still assertive and brash, but he appeared to be genuinely interested in helping restauranteurs, who were often adrift and beleaguered, making a quick turnaround. (It helped that I’d read Poppy Z. Brite’s engrossing novel Prime, which included passages about a chef hired to improve another restaurant.) And now I find it addictive to see him try to help in the American version of the show, which invariably focuses on larger operations.

4. Twin Peaks - 2nd Season

Yes, I’m cheating, but I’d never seen the entire second season until the Definitive Gold Box Edition arrived. It’s the second season that even the cast and crew put down, but I found I liked it much more than I expected. It’s not as good as the brilliant, seven episode first season, and I could have done without several story lines, but it’s much better than legend has it. As much as anything, it’s a joy to watch the actors struggle to make the most of the material they’ve been given. The final three episodes are on par, quality-wise, with the first season. If Mark Frost and David Lynch had been available, I would have loved to have spent one more season with these characters.

3. Flight of the Conchords - 1st Season

Initially this show seemed odd simply for the sake of being odd, but Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie and Rhs Darby (as their incompetent manager Murray) grew on me as the season progressed, and I came to enjoy and look forward to the songs and to see how the self-contained universe continue to expand and amuse.

2. The Sopranos - Final Nine Episodes

To all the people who didn’t like the ambiguous ending of The Sopranos: screw you. Many people seemed to think that was the message creator David Chase wanted people to carry away, but I thought the climactic scene was note perfect, as were the final nine episodes that led up to it. All the main characters were explored—and, generally, deplored—to the fullest extent possible. There was precious little territory left unexamined, and there’s an amazing range of material that rewarded multiple viewings. An easy, if obvious, choice.

1. Mad Men - 1st Season

It’s amazing to me that a drama that did not focus on lawyers, doctors, cops, or criminals could be so fascinating. Ex-Sopranos mob member Matthew Weiner guided the show about Madison Avenue advertising in 1960. Occasionally it dipped into condescending views of its characters and/or culture; more often, though, it sought to understand and enlighten, and the performances by less familiar faces such as Jon Hamm and January Jones (as the “perfect” couple who are anything but) were sterling. (Other standouts include Vincent Kartheiser as the smarmy would-be social climber Pete, Rich Sommer as the uncertain family man Harry, John Slattery as the ‘not as smooth as he thinks’ boss, and Elisabeth Moss as the self-denying secretary turned creative writer Peggy.) Mad Men tosses out social commentary in nearly every scene, but matches that by packing its narrative with entertainment. It’s another show that, as soon as the episode finished, I wanted to watch again.

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Reader Comments

  1. dilated_in_disbelief 12/12/2007 @ 2:05pm

    I must admit I don’t watch TV. I haven’t even heard of most of these shows, whether it be the ones you like or dislike. My room mate’s boyfriend couldn’t handle the fact that we didn’t have a TV set for him to watch when he was over so he brought one of his own (haha!) and hooked up the local channels. One day Kitchen Nightmares was on and I found it to be very entertaining. The episode with the Pizza restaurant in Burbank (I think) was great. Other then that I am completely ignorant of TV. I’ve seen a little bit of Lost, The Sopranos and DVDs for Curb Your Enthusiasm, and being a Lynch fan I know of Twin Peaks, but that’s it. No Heroes, Friday Night Lights, Mad Men...nothing! I just don’t get into them. I’m one of those film guys though. I watch tons of film. Is it really worth taking the time to watch TV shows these days? I’m open minded so I’ll check something out. Maybe I’ll look into those recommendations. Someone told me I might like Deadwood.

  2. crazybee 12/12/2007 @ 2:06pm

    There was nothing wrong with this season of Curb.

    Conchords is amazing.

    Dexter?  One of the best shows on.

    Lost found its stride in season 3.

    Veronica Mars went out in fine form.

  3. Timo 12/12/2007 @ 2:06pm

    FX had some brilliant shows this year. The Riches, Damages, The Shield (of course), It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. All hugely underrated.

  4. The Visualist 12/12/2007 @ 3:44pm

    Lost “infuriatingly insulting”? You must not be watching the same show I was. There isn’t a more engrossing show on television anywhere, for my money. The final third of season three was easily some of the best the show has ever produced - especially the incredible finale. How many shows have ever delivered such consistently great cliffhangers than this show?

    I do agree though, the year in television has been lackluster. Heroes is a complete sham and always has been. Friday Night Lights should have absolutely been canceled after the first season, not because season 1 was poor (on the contrary) but because the story was told and done...there was no need to continue on with these characters. Dexter has been quite good, but it’s a shade less engaging than the stellar first season. Flight of the Conchords was great fun and I’m looking forward to the next season. Another comedy worth mentioning is 30 Rock, the show started off a bit shakey but has since been the molst consistently funny show on network tv over the last year. I love the Uk version or Kitchen Nightmares while the US incarnation is weak sauce. Speaking of cooking shows, I must mention Top Chef on Bravo which is quality reality TV.

    Weeds has become too liberal minded for it’s own good. The show lost a lot of it’s humor and became too much of a leftist pants party. And yet again, another series that delivered a weak finale. Curb was of no better or less quality than it’s own lofty standards so it didn’t disappoint me. The fact that they took a non-traditional route in the finale few episodes is a testament to the uniqueness of the series as a whole. The ending, which very well may be the shows finale, may ot have been great but it was anything but poor.

    And I sadly agree about Veronica Mars, the show lost it’s spark when it moved to a university setting. While I’ll miss the show, I wasn’t necessarily heart-broken to see it go. The finale (which turned into the series ender) was terrible. Here’s hoping the talented Kristen Bell gets out of the Heroes slum and into something of more quality. I won’t touch upon The Soprano’s as I haven’t seen the final season and likely won’t anytime soon.

  5. Krazy Eyes 12/12/2007 @ 3:53pm

    Was any of Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica on in 2007? Although a slight step down from the fantastic 1st and 2nd seasons this is still one of the best shows on TV.

    I also want to give a shout out for Flight of the Conchords, 30 Rock, The Office, & Top Chef.

    Lastly, I thought Curb Your Enthusiasm had a great season this year—certainly better than the previous one.

  6. eDWeiRD 12/12/2007 @ 3:55pm

    Damages right up until the end. Dexter all the way through. The Shield as short as it was. And Good Luck! were my favorites this year. I’ve been avoiding most of the rest of it, honestly. I watched Lost only because I couldn’t take my eyes off the train wreck and Heroes just sort of seemed like it was in a holding pattern.

  7. DJensen 12/12/2007 @ 7:43pm

    Dexter didn’t make your list, but that asshole Ramsay’s show did?

    CBC’s Intelligence is in my top 5 for sure.

  8. Tuan Jim 12/13/2007 @ 7:17am

    Nothing from Adult Swim?  For shame.

  9. cinevolt 12/13/2007 @ 12:40pm

    I know it’s not broadcast in the US, but if you aren’t watching/downloading the new season of The Mighty Boosh on BBC3 you are seriously missing out.

  10. n0wak 12/13/2007 @ 3:36pm

    All’s not lost: “The Wire” season five is less than a month away!

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