Toob Talk

If you like TV and haven’t checked out Hulu.com yet, do it now. The site has a wealth of classic and current shows. A lot more clips than full episodes, but the things they have full episodes (and some full seasons of) is pretty impressive.

The video quality is OK. I noticed a bunch of artifacting and some distortion during scenes with a lot of movement in them. It was even more noticeable when watching an older show at full screen size. Still, better than having to get them from a torrent (especially now that writers actually get paid for us viewing them).

Speaking of places to watch shows, while your over there, check out the new Fox series, The Return of Jezebel James. As with mots sitcoms, the basic plot premise is a little contrived and the first couple of episodes are more than a little rough around the edges (particularly jarring in the first two episodes of this series is the massive change in living arrangement for the main character).

The show has a lot of potential. Most of that potential comes from the two leads in it: Parker Posey (from a whole lot of things) and Lauren Ambrose (best known from Six Feet Under). Another dash of potential comes form the show’s creator: Amy Sherman-Palladino (who gave us Gilmore Girls among other things).

Hopefully in the next couple of episodes, after all blatant exposition is done with and the characters established and settled into, this will be one of those half-hour gems that I look forward to every week.

Speaking of half-hour gems, two of my personal favorites are back and all new this Monday. Be sure to pop on over to CBS and check out the new episodes of The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother. Big Bang was kind of a surprise as I hated the first episode, but every one after that has been beautiful. How I Met Your Mother was spot on fantastic from the start. If you haven’t been watching these shows, you’ve been missing prime examples of what modern sitcoms should be like (hint: they’re a lot like classic sitcoms–funny and not insulting).

Well, that was unexpected.

Cavemen didn’t totally suck. In fact, I think it’s the best written new sitcom I’ve seen so far this season. Even better, there’s no laugh track.

This show could work even it weren’t populated with cavemen. Most of the comedy is true situation based comedy, as opposed to the all too common one-liners and insult humor that populates the majority of sitcoms. What having cavemen as the main characters allows the writers to do, though, is deal with issues like racism without immediately setting off the raw nerves that are associated with the topic.

I hate to say it, but I think this show may actually be pretty good.

That worries me because I really don’t want to see a slew of copy-cat, based on commercial character, sitcoms. I doubt most would bother to put the work in that the Cavemen team has.

In theory, the show could be funny.

In practice, it’s not even close.

The story of two total geeks (or, perhaps more accurately, nerds) living together in a vaguely run-down apartment building who get a new neighbor–a totally hot girl.

The Big Bang Theory misses on every possible note it can. Well, that’s not entirely true. Their theme song, performed by Bare Naked Ladies, is pretty good. Not great, but infinitely better than what’s supposed to pass for humor in the show.

It is obvious the writers haven’t watched anything involving smart but socially “different” characters since Revenge of the Nerds. They’re certainly not watching Beauty and the Geek (which has better dialog–and it’s not scripted!). Chances are, they’re working off of the same crib sheet at the scribes for Chuck.

Nothing new here. Nothing funny here. May as well move along.

One of the big-deal sitcoms hitting the small screen this season is Fox’s Back to You, a newsroom comedy starring long-time heavy hitters Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton.

Grammer plays Chuck Darling, an ego-centric news anchor who finds himself back at the station he left ten years ago. That, of course, happens after he made it big and then screwed up and got fired. Heaton is Kelly Carr, his former co-anchor who stayed at the station and has carved out a nice comfortable life.

If you can’t guess where the comedy comes in–or what “amazing” plot twists come up–you haven’t watched sitcoms before.

My first thought on hearing about this show was Good Morning Miami meets Murphy Brown–a blending of the silly comedy of the former with the quality cast of the latter. Well, both of those shows had something that Back to You lacks: heart.

What passes for creativity in this show is little more than re-packaged stereotype and easy jokes. The too-young-to-be-taken-seriously news director (played by Josh Gad who is clearly channeling a Chris Farley character from Saturday Night Live). The sexy Latina weather girl (who is, perhaps the most appalling of all the characters so far–a definite step down for Ayda Field after being on Studio 60). The ever-hopeful next-in-line reporter who lost his chance at the anchor position when Darling came back. There’s even Fred Willard playing, well, the same character he always plays.

Both Grammer’s and Heaton’s talent is wasted on this show unless they get some much better writers. Writer/Producer Steve Levitan continues the downward spiral started by Stacked. He’s come a long way from Fraiser and Wings, that’s for sure.

That all said, I’m pretty sure this show’s going to be a big hit. If generic and downright bland crap like the blissfully now gone Yes, Dear can last for six seasons, something the Grammer and Heaton’s star power can probably go at least that long.

I’m also pretty sure I’ll be able to find something else to watch. Which, really, is kind of a shame because ‘Til Death fills out the second half of he hour and it’s a pretty good show.