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TVCriticism.com
We Still Own the News
As banks and automobile companies lose autonomy to the government, let all members of the investor class celebrate our continuing ownership of news and information distributors in the private sector. Not all news, of course. NPR and PBS are supported by federal funds as well as whatever local non-profits can raise on their behalf.
Still, most major news and informational media entities are owned by shareholders. This includes the "Big Media" entertainment entities, but also others such as a group of well-positioned tech firms which are growing the list beyond the control of a few. What are the most
influential news information entities in the U.S. halfway through 2009? Information is power, investor class. Use it or lose it. June: Churchill at War
Into the Storm, HBO's follow-up to the Emmy-winning The Gathering Storm, premiered Sunday, May 31 and replays throughout June. Brendan Gleeson and Janet McTeer play Winston and Clementine Churchill. "A relentless leader is the greatest weapon of war" states HBO's publicity poster. The film covers Churchill's leadership during World War II, when his rhetoric gave Britons the heart to fight on. His marriage and his future political standing were also at risk. Revered today, Churchill was not without his critics at the time. Steadfast leadership and the ability to communicate effectively are both required for leadership in time of war. Seventy years from now, how will this decade's American leaders be judged by history? May: Obama's Nortre Dame Speech
Leaving aside the politics of the abortion issue, President Obama taught a valuable lesson about civil discourse at his commencement address in South Bend. Click here for my full review at PajamasMedia.com. April: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
For several years now HBO has been trying to recapture the magic of its original programming during the Chris Albrecht years. With Netflix undermining the value of a premium movie channel subscription, it has become more urgent for HBO to find its next hit series. Finally there is hope that HBO will move beyond the hip, edgy, industry insider mentality which has handicapped its search for a broad based hit to lure and retain subscribers.
The program is the The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, based on Alexander McCall Smith's popular novels, and it airs Sunday evenings. The series is the first ever shot in Botswana, and it's a gentle, visually ambitious, and captivating yarn with an immensely likable lead character played by Jill Scott. It's not exactly a globalized Murder She Wrote, but it is a sharp turn away from the cynical, elitist posture we've come to expect recently from HBO.
The stories are remarkably gentle, the visual presentation is stunning, and the African score infuses the series with bounce and optimism. Can't recommend this one strongly enough.
March: CBS' Jesse Stone Movies: A Triumph of Tone
Tom Selleck in CBS' Jesse Stone: Thin Ice
In early March 2009 Tom Selleck returned to CBS for a fifth Jesse Stone movie, Jesse Stone: Thin Ice. The first four Jesse Stone movies are available on DVD and are in the Netflix collection. If you haven't seen them, you're in for a treat. Based on the Robert Parker novels, Selleck's character is a forlorn, lonesome, highly functioning alcoholic solving crimes in a New England beach village. The tone is ruminative, unrushed, absolutely perfect pacing for a series of pictures about a man who has exited life's fast lane for a country road.
Just as Selleck's (and writer Don Bellisario's) Thomas Magnum matured throughout their classic series, the actor here continues to evolve, bearing the scars of middle age with grace and wisdom. Like his character, Selleck doesn't need the pressure of the high octane action hero any more. Magnum PI was a landmark series, and did its part in history, redeeming the public image of the Viet Nam vet. It also reaped the rewards of a #1 hit, registering record breaking syndication sales for a one-hour drama. Give Jesse Stone a place in the record books, too, as one of the last quality effort in the broadcast network made-for-television movie genre. It's also one of the last broadcast programs unapologetically made for the baby boomer audience now shunned by the big advertisers.
These Jesse Stone pictures are everything broadcast network television today tries so hard not to be. It is dignified, quietly intelligent, and respectful of lessons which can only be learned by maturity. There's no pulsating pop music, no frenetic editing, no one in a constant state of sexual overdrive, no preening urban narcissists shouting into cell phones, no automatic weapons, and no references to "texting" and Facebook. There is a dog.
The Los Angeles Times review identifies its essence perfectly -- "This is a slow-moving film, especially in comparison with the often hyperkinetic pacing of today's television, but that's one of its greatest strengths."
DVD Pick: Foyle's War
When television's best programs (e.g. Mad Men) go into seasonal hibernation, Netflix is a wonderful choice for those who won't settle for anything less than excellence. One of the great gems of Netflix is the recently concluded PBS/ITV classic Foyle's War. All nineteen episodes (about 90 minutes each) are now available on DVD.
World War II is the backdrop. In the foreground is Michael Kitchen's marvelous, understated portrayal of police Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle,, a widower and father solving crimes of all kinds in the town of Hastings. The locale has strategic significance and historic resonance -- 1066 and all that -- at a time when the possibility of invasion was on all minds. Not all the crimes relate directly to the war, but all the characters bear its weight. The series is a masterpiece of tone, with no overwrought music, graphical excess, or character histrionics. Each episode stands alone, so you can pick and choose from this excellent online episode guide and website, or do what we've been doing, watch in sequence and follow unfolding developments in the war, and in the lives of the four regular characters. Produced over several years at a slow pace, the series is meticulously attentive to period detail. Writer Anthony Horowitz read hundreds of books to capture the attitudes, events, crimes, and details of everyday life during the era. Horowitz is young, but he writes with maturity and grace. As a war story it is no polemic. Issues such as battle fatique, casualties, treatment of prisoners, suspicion due to ethnicity, the religious perspective, conscientious objectors, political agitators, profiteers, and much more come up in this or that episode. Underneath it all is a sense of common cause, and values like duty, compassion, and valor. Foyle's War is one of the few great television programs of this decade, even in rerun. Watch when live TV is fixated on some trivial contest of celebrity or cultural voyeurism, and you will feel like you've taken the high road.
Remember When Buying a New TV Was Simple? Calibration consisted of a twist of the tuning dial, or fitting the rabbit ears with a little Reynolds Wrap.
Today -- not so simple. Use the links under "tv tech" to get up to speed on TV as a "new" medium. 2008 Broadcast Rookie of the Year
Watch out when Patrick Jane of The Mentalist shakes you hand. He's probably also taking your pulse. That's one reason why the light CBS drama is the most sucessful new program the broadcast networks' Fall 2008 schedules. Jane is an intriguing character, a former professional psychic who admits he was a fraud, and now uses his powers of observation, memory, and sensitivity to help the police. As played by Simon Baker, Jane charms the audience. With The Mentalist, CBS re-discovers the tonal balance of hits past. Magnum PI, and Simon & Simon hit the top of the early 1980's ratings charts with light, bright mysteries. A big slice of the TV audience (especially international viewers, so important for profitability) prefers the bright skies and blue Pacific as backdrop for its mysteries. It never hurts ratings when the crime scene tape surrounds an upscale location.
This decade's new television's crime dramas often exceeded reasonable limits on the depiction of violence. Shock value replaced character revelation, gory close-ups racing inside wounds stood-in for the hyperkinetic chase scenes of B-dramas past, multiple murders facilitated unimaginative act breaks, and uplifting the audience was too often forgotten. The Mentalist has its serious moments, but the light tone predominates. The program isn't perfect, but the audience is showing patience with its flaws, eager to embrace the program's tone and its hero. DirecTV, TiVo Planning HD DVR for 2009
TiVo is developing a new high definition digital video recorder for DirecTV, following a schism which had given customers the unpleasant choice between inferior house brand DVR software, or outdated image quality. The new high-def DirecTV TiVo is expected to hit the market in the second half of 2009. Viewers who demand the best will finally be able to enter the high definition era with their most familiar and satisfying brands. 2008: Another Summer of Quality Forget about Fall Premiere Week. Summer has become television's finest season, thanks to the superb offerings on basic cable. While the broadcast networks slavishly pander to what they believe (perhaps incorrectly) are the tawdry, immature tastes of the 18-49 demographic, basic cable is programming with respect for the intelligence of viewers young and old. Such is the advantage of a subscriber revenue stream. AMC's Mad Men leads the pack, but it's not alone. Two established dramas have reclaimed the initial promise of their early episodes with strong runs during the Summer of 2008. The Closer has matured nicely, with its prickly lead character growing less angry and a better manager of her team. And episode called "Dial M for Provenza" gave G.W. Bailey the chance to shine as he once did on St. Elsewhere. Jennifer Coolidge was hilarious in a guest role. It's great to find a drama that doesn't always take itself too seriously.
Speaking of lightening up, Law & Order: Criminal Intent has also come out of a long depressing funk and gone back to police procedural basics. Detective Goren presumably has been unburdened of his dark side for future episodes. Chris Noth turned in a fine season of episodes, winding up his third tour of duty in the franchise. A top writer on the show has moved on, but let's hope his successors follow the pattern of this strong season. Along with USA's Monk, now an established summer treat, and PBS' Masterpiece mysteries, including a final, splendid Foyle's War, the summer of 2008 provided a feast of quality drama for mature tastes. In Praise of Mad Men, Outstanding Drama Series of 2007
What I appreciate most about Mad Men is its maturity. It is
civilized, intelligent, and more interested in the human condition than in
exploiting facile high stakes plot points. Ladies and Gentlemen ...
Over the last few years GSN has done something wonderful for everyone with a DVR system like TiVo. During the middle of the night the network aired, in sequence, black and white episodes of the classic CBS panel show What's My Line? Star blogger James Lileks praised the series in an article, as did the Wall Street Journal in Robert J. Hughes' piece entitled "Oh, the civility!" This is no insignificant cult. Those of us who followed loyally saw
history move forward one week per night, from the early
1950's through 1967. It was a time of cultural transformation in
America. World War II references, exaggerated formalism, and gender
stereotyping gave way to Camelot fashions, references to twisting the
night away, and more subtle redefinitions of urban sophistication. This
was a time when a publisher, a columnist, a stage actress and a news
broadcaster, all well into middle age, were the epitome of the urban "in
crowd." editor's note: In March 2009 GSN abruptly stopped rerunning What's My Line?, ending during the shows of March 1960. We hope for its return, and yearn to see all those JFK era fashion shifts at least one more time. Executive perspective -- WSJ: Would you want to run a movie company today? Mr. Diller: No. Words like "tent pole" and "merchandising" have nothing to do with telling good stories. The current process of major film companies is so different than it was 10 or 20 years ago, and I find the output that comes from it far less interesting. It's a very hard business to get into, and I don't know why you'd make that choice rather than shoe manufacturing. Creative perspective -- They say that television and comedy in television is changing," said Frasier Emmy winner David Hyde Pierce in 2004. "And I just want to say when it changes back, call me." . |
July 2009 tv tech
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