Toob Talk

This Tuesday at 10 p.m., Quarterlife (which I mentioned a while back) makes the leap from the computer screen to the TV screen when it debuts on NBC after the next episode of The Biggest Loser.

If you haven’t checked out this show online already, catch it when it hits the main stream. From the same people who made the age-group touchstone shows Thirtysomething and My So Called Life, it has more substance and heart than most things I’ve seen lately that feature 20-somethings out in the world. It’s not all glitz and glamor. The biggest problem isn’t some outlandishly contrived ratings sex-stepped grabber. These characters have real problems and live in the real world.

As most 20-somethings do, they’re questioning themselves and their place in the world. But because they’re 20-somethings in the 21st century, they’re able to do these private musings in the most public of settings–on a video blogging web site.

Even viewed online the production values looked good and the performances all-around are on par (if not slightly above par) when compared to other similarly targeted shows.

So, give it a look. (Even if that means time-shifting it because it’s on opposite Jericho on CBS). Even if you’re not a 20-something now, you were one not too long ago.

Watched the new Knight Rider 2-hour TV movie.

I was pretty impressed.

That’s not to say it’s not without some problems. But those problems are pretty much in line with criticisms that could be lobbed at the original show. The main one being: there’s some pretty bad science involved.

But we’ll let that slide, for now at least.

The thing this new iteration of an old favorite got right was that it played it straight. Unlike Knight Rider 2000, which was a phenomenal mess right from its basic premise, this sequel to the original series manages to pay homage to the ideas that made the first series a success and a memorable piece of pop culture.

KITT, now a Mustang, is actually the Knight Industries Three Thousand (as opposed to the original series Two Thousand model) and is a sensible progression from the original. Yes, the nanotech skin that only works if the computer is turned on seems a bit inconvenient when compared to the previous model’s “always on” super alloy armor, but it allows for some other neat tricks.

Voiced by Val Kilmer (a casting choice I can’t help but think will change if/when this gets picked up as a regular series), the new KITT is less snarky and more analytical than his predecessor. We can chalk that up to the fact that he’s fresh out of the garage and hasn’t had a lot of interaction with people, though.

Over the course of the ninety-minute back-door pilot movie, KITT comes into contact with quite a few people.

Which leads me to my biggest criticism of the show as a whole: there’s too many cast members.

In the original, we had Michael Knight (a man who didn’t exist and had no family) fighting the good fight for the Knight Foundation. It was pretty much just him and the car. Everyone else–Devon, Bonnie and April especially–were just background 90 percent of the time. With the way the new show has been set up by this movie, we’ve got at least three characters that will be jockeying for screen time: Michael Traceur (the driver), KITT and Sarah Graiman (the now seemingly obligatory partner/love interest). Then, just barely below those three we have Charles Graiman (Sarah and KITT’s father) and FBI agent Carrie Rivai (a friend of the Graiman family).

That’s a few characters too many for a show like this unless you’re writers are good and kept on a tight leash. After sitting and hoping for the best through the run of Bionic Woman earlier this season, forgive my lack of faith in that happening on a network sci-fi/action show.

But, as a two-hour movie, things worked relatively well. The action was good, the effects not quite over-done (they did come close to going overboard reminding us that KITT was bullet proof) and the acting not all that bad. Some of the dialog was poorly written and the characters could use a little bit of work (some of the progressions of reaction from them are contrived, at best).

Justin Bruening and Deanna Russo, the two leads, seem to have cut their teeth mostly on soap operas. Knowing this, their acting is still pretty good. The rough spots I think I can contribute to the script, direction or editing that they were working. It wouldn’t be altogether unpleasant to see them on a weekly basis. It’s their characters’ relationship that would wear on me quicker than anything else.

Things are set up quite well for an interesting series. The Knight Foundation has been started back up, this time in partnership with the FBI (a direction I would most certainly not have taken the show in), there’s a shadowy enemy out there looking to cause chaos and take power, and there’s a high-tech car with a good driver looking to prove that one man can make a difference.

Of course, that one man has a girl and a gaggle of friends in tow… so that statement, so iconic and driving in the original series, has a lot less bite this time around.

If NBC picks this up as a series, I would happily check it out. Fans of the original show should at least give the two-hour movie a watch over on the NBC website. Then, let me know what you think about it.

You may remember a while back I mentioned there was a new Knight Rider show in the works.

Well, it’s on NBC this Sunday.

I plan on catching it.

KITT is a Mustang. That’s going to upset some people. (And voiced by Val Kilmer!)

Hasselhoff is in it, but hot as a main player.

It may be good–but I’m not holding my breath.

Good news for everyone: The Writer’s Strike is Over!

Everyone gets to go back to work tomorrow and, if all goes well with the ratification of the contract (which I’d imagine it will), those of us sitting in front of out TVs can expect to see new episodes of old shows by April.

This has been a trying time, I’m sure, for all those writers. But I think they did the right thing and fought a good fight to ensure a comfortable spot for their profession in the world of New Media.

Maybe they’ve opened the eyes of the conglomerates, too. Maybe this outcry will inspire some innovation in the usage of new technologies and techniques. We’ve already got a show making the jump from online to the main screen. That’s something new.

So, now that things will be back to what passes for normal in the entertainment world, it will be interesting to see what really comes of all this. And, of course, how our favorite shows come back from their little break.

It looks like the writer’s strike may be heading toward a positive resolution, at least according to a recent post over at United Hollywood.

This is good news both for the writer’s who’ve been out of work for three months and those of us who’ve been waiting to see what, if anything, the rest of this television season would bring.

According to TV Guide’s Ausiello Report, we’re going to be getting 4-8 new episodes of a lot of shows.

Some shows (like Chuck) are gone until fall and others (like Bionic Woman) are just gone for good.

Also, for those like me that were loving Jericho before it ended last season, it’ll be back for a seven episode run starting tomorrow (Tuesday) night. Unfortunately, it’s up against Boston Legal. But that’s what DVRs are for. Barely saved from cancellation by fans sending lots of peanuts to executives, Jericho is one of the few shows I think heartily deserves that kind of support.

So watch it and hope that it’ll live up to the praise and hard work. And maybe, just maybe, it’ll earn a third season.

Believe it or not, I was huge fan of Sex and the City.

I loved the show not just because the main character was a writer or because of all the actual sex that went on in it, but because the characters were strong and realistic women.

Well, at least as realistic as NYC socialites on cable can be.

The ad campaign for the new NBC show Lipstick Jungle works hard to evoke the edginess and sexual energy of that other Candace Bushnell-inspired show. Having just finished watching the pilot episode, I have to say that taking that marketing path may very well kill this show.

The only things Lipstick Jungle has in common with Sex and the City is that the base material from both sprung from the same pen and both seem pretty solid in their own right.

Victory, Nico and Wendy are most certainly not Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and/or Charlotte. They are three women in very different places in their lives from those well known characters. Nico and Wendy are both married and successful in their jobs–their very real and believable jobs that would support their lifestyles. Victory, a fashion designer, is the only single one in the bunch and floundering a bit as she tries to take her designs in new directions. Overall, these three women are more stable than the girls of Sex and the City–more mature and, ultimately, more down to earth.

Sure, they’re high-profile power-brokers in their own right, but they’re also dealing with how being high profile impacts those day to day things–like trying to do what’s best for your kids or keeping that spark alive with your husband.

It’s one of the husbands, actually, who steals the show. Paul Blackthorn as Wendy’s husband brings a depth of character and an “everyman” point of view that differentiates Lipstick Jungle more from Sex and the City than anything else in the show. Even if no other actor involved in the show could perform, Blackthorn would make at least some scenes worth watching.

Lucky for us, all the other performers in the show do turn in above average performances. Brooke Shields as movie producer Wendy has a depth that one forgets the actress can offer–and that is almost unexpected in the character. Kim Raver is back in fine dramatic form as magazine editor Nico walks that fine line between bland and sexy better than most I’ve seen try that lately. Even Lindsay Price, the youngest and least famous of the stars (perhaps best known for the disaster that was the American version of Coupling and her two year run on the later years of Beverly Hills, 90210), makes fashion designer Victory into an interesting person, not just a semi-bubbly fashion hound.

For a pilot episode, this one was pretty solid. I can see the chemistry among the three leads working very well as they grow familiar through working together. The supporting cast–especially Blackthorne and Andrew McCarthy–have just as much to offer. I have faith that the writing can stay good (it did surprisingly well in the entire run of Sex and the City and Bushnell is still cranking out new stuff).

The only two things that will hurt this show are a continued writer’s strike and a viewing public upset that they’re not getting Carrie and Samantha.

Lipstick Jungle premieres on Thursday at 10 p.m. on NBC, opposite the new quirky lawyer show Eli Stone. Give it a try there or watch it online like I did through Amazon.com’s video service. (I’m sure NBC will be running it on their website, too.)