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                        TVCriticism.com

Series Manager Scorecard, 2012

As 2012 begins, it's time to check the DVR's "Series Manager" or "Season Pass" list for a glimpe of television's best, in order of priority.

1. Mad Men

Television most outstanding series will be return with a two-hour premiere on March 25. AMC is already getting us ready with overnight reruns, so it's time to set up "all new episodes" as a top priority for 2012. DirecTV has added AMC to its roster of HD channels, so this season's Mad Men will look better than ever.

2. Blue Bloods

TV's strongest leading man Tom Selleck is probably the reason viewers most love CBS' Blue Bloods but the writing and directing is tops, too. If you've never seen the show, check out Hall of Mirrors on the Season One DVD, or this season's Whistle Blower, both written by Tom Kelly.

If you enjoy television which gracefully incorporates political questions in a fair and balanced way, this season's episode Black and Blue wasn't just great entertainment, it was also right thinking politically!

3. Masterpiece Mystery

The great news is that Foyle's War will return. Also record Masterpiece Classic and Masterpiece Contemporary, strong anthologies which alternate seasonally.

4. Modern Family

Not just television's funniest show, Modern Family is the sole survivor of TV's great ensemble comedy tradition of the 20th century.

5. The Good Wife

Just ignore its leftish politics, and the program's tendency to deny the audience big scenes to pay off its clever legal plots. The show is beautifully rendered, and has a way of luring you back despite its mistakes.

6. NCIS

Patriotic in the Bellisario tradition, NCIS reliably executes a tricky blend of humor and drama. The most cleverly crafted scripts are by George Schenck and Frank Cardea, veteran scribes who've done more twists than Chubby Checker.

7. Castle

After spending a few episodes burnishing its Comic-Con credentials, Castle has returned to form as an intelligent, twisty light mystery in the Thin Man tradition.

8. The Closer

TNT will run the concluding episodes of The Closer this summer. Fine scripts and an outstanding ensemble made The Closer one of TV's most reliable hours throughout its run. Schedule a new weekly reservation with your DVR this summer, when The Closer morphs into its spin-off, Major Crimes.

9. Law & Order: UK

So many stories on television are borrowed and recycled. On this show, at least you don't have to figure out where you saw it before. Most of the L&O:UK episodes are based on good, old Law & Order originals from the show's first decade, before its decline into polemical argument.

10. Fox News Sunday

All the weekly Sunday talk show you'll ever need.

11. Special Report with Bret Baier

The most intelligent daily news show on television. Charles Krauthammer's commentary alone justifies setting this up for daily recording.

12. Jeopardy

The old favorite has actually improved this year, with fewer silly pop culture questioned aimed at luring in young people who wouldn't watch it anyway.

13. Selling New York

Clever brokers seduce high earners with high end Manhattan apartments. Once, they even ventured into Brooklyn!

14. Income Property

The perfect bookend to Selling New York. A saavy, heroic master contractor helps struggling Toronto homeowners get right-side-up on their mortages by turning drafty, moldy basement dungeons into attractive rental properties.

15. Boss

A little glum for the living room, but the Starz series won a slot on the DVR in the exercise room thanks to a fine cast led by Kelsey Grammer.

DVD Recommendation: New Tricks

 

If you like a smart mystery series with humor, consider New Tricks. The series has been around for years on the BBC, racking up big ratings and earning renewals year after year.

The premise is clever. A talented female detective shoots a dog during a bust, ruining her career prospects. She is exiled to the cold case desk, and the only option she is given to staff her department is a team of retired officers. One of these older chaps has more extreme mental deficiencies (and talents) than Monk; another is a sexy rogue with an extended family of ex-wives and bad habits; the third goes to his dead wife's grave to talk about his cases. They are all highly sympathetic and wonderfully played by a superb cast.

These old dogs are still technically civilians, free, in their own minds at least, to skirt traditional police procedures. They say what they want, do what they want, and are supremely effective. Amanda Redman plays the boss, a tough sexy woman who must pretend she can control these guys in order to protect the unit from extinction.

So why haven't you seen this program on U.S. television? Two words: demographic discrimination.

The best place for a show like this is on basic cable. Problem is, while subscriber revenue for basic cable/satellite networks is fixed years in advance by large scale Big Media negotiations, advertising prices rise and fall in an active market. So the quick way to increase margins is by putting on programs which appeal to advertisers. Advertising media buyers, generally young themselves, aren't exactly drawn to shows about old dogs, and the networks program accordingly.

This is a mistake. Baby boomers are numerous, watch plenty of television, and are ideal targets for ads about good cars, good and bad politicians, Florida condos, and everything medical. Older viewers are a large, mostly uncontested audience (except for TV Land and news channels). Besides, this show is smart enough to win viewers of all ages.

The first six series of New Tricks are now available on DVD from Acorn Media (not connected with the discredited A.C.O.R.N. political group). Sometimes these DVD'S also pop up on Amazon, but make sure you are buying it in the U.S. format.

Some secondary regional public television stations in major markets have been airing New Tricks, but unless you are in the New York (WLIW-21) or Los Angeles (KCET-28) markets, you may have to buy the DVDs.

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©2011 Jim Kearney

TVCriticism.com was founded in September 2005. Managing Editor: Jim Kearney
 For some past reviews, click on: www.TVCriticism.com/entertainment.htm