Monday, Monday

Monday is another busy day for my DVR.

I’ll start with The Daily Show & The Colbert Report, which I watch every weekday when they are new.

Not really too much to say about these two. The rarely disappoint in giving me at least one big laugh per episode, especially during the past election.

I know a lot of people joke that they watch The Daily Show for their news, but I say without a trace of irony that I watch The Daily Show for my news. Sure, I’ll read Newsday everyday (Newsday everyday!) but in addition to being an unapologetic Mets (sigh) fan, Jon Stewart is also my Chuck Scarborough/Sue Simmons.

As for Stephen Colbert, I think I slightly prefer the Report to The Daily Show most days just because Colbert plays the crazy so well. My favorite shows of his are ones where he interviews people that have not seen his show before or were not properly briefed as to what to expect. I also enjoy the ones that are all too familiar with Colbert’s shtick and play along really well, just not as much.


Chuck

I liked Chuck a lot last year: it was funny, well-acted, charming, featured Adam Baldwin, had a character named Captain Awesome. It was a good hour spent where you could turn off your brain and enjoy.

This year though, Chuck has really been a show that I look forward too and can’t miss. Zachary Levi is a likable lead, a goofy nerd that I find it easy to identify with. He plays the character exactly right, and if I ever had anything to complain about, it wouldn’t be with him.

Something I can always appreciate in a show is one that knows what it is and plays to that. Going into Chuck, you obviously have to suspend disbelief and the people behind Chuck know that, which I appreciate. One instance I can specifically think of is during the Thanksgiving episode last week, Chuck learns that his ex is a spy for the bad guys. Like much of the viewing public was thinking, Chuck expresses his incredulity and says something to the effect of “Who in my life isn’t a spy? My sister? Morgan? When I meet new people should I ask them if they’re a spy?” And then he has some line about ordering an extra value meal and asking the cashier if they have a membership to an evil organization. You’re laughing and agreeing with Chuck that you don’t really think about the ridiculousness of it all because you’re being entertained. There are many shows that could learn from Chuck, one of which just happens to follow Chuck at 9pm on NBC.

Something else that has been a vast improvement this season has been how the show has used Morgan and Ellie. Ellie never really bothered me last season, and without her there would be no Captain Awesome, so for that I was happy with her. But this year, she has been a much larger part of the show and I appreciate her relationship with Chuck that much more. I did not like Morgan at all last year, especially in the first few episodes. He grew on me, but was mostly an irritation. I’m glad that the show found a way to make his story, and the story of Buymoria an entertaining part of the show, rather than just an irritating distraction. Even before Buster Bluth arrived and made the Buy More crew that much more entertaining, I was glad to see Morgan, Lester, Big Mike and Jeff every week. But I miss Anna Wu – I hope she comes back soon.

The height of Chuck’s greatness this year came in the episode with Nicole Ritchie (who, actually, was pretty good). Seeing bits of Sarah’s (real) past, Casey as a DJ, Ben Savage thinking that Charles Carmichael was his savior and not Casey – all of this just made up an awesome, entertaining episode (and homage to Grosse Pointe Blank – a truly underrated movie).


Heroes

Oh Heroes, the very opposite of Chuck: too self-important, too crowded, too full of bad actors. I know it’s easy to jump on the “Heroes Sucks!” train, but if I’m not the conductor of that train, I’m at the very least a ticket-taker.

During the first season of Heroes, I thought it was ok – I didn’t really get the hype and thus I became incensed week-by-week as fans of the show kept proclaiming it “The Greatest Show EVER!!!” or (even worse) “the new Lost.” To me, save for an episode or two, it has never been a good show, so its “descent” into terribleness this season hasn’t really affected me: I really don’t think it’s changed that much. It’s not new and shiny anymore, but the characters have always made stupid decisions, the show only employs maybe 5 good actors, the plot holes are obvious and irritatingly prevalent – it’s just not a good show.

Honestly, I really could go on forever about how much I don’t like Heroes (starting with a certain character of pretentious voiceovers), but there’s not much of a point in me wasting my time; I’m preaching to the choir now, anyway.

…alright one last thing: I do hope that after Heroes eventually dies that that hack Tim Kring never gets a job again.


How I Met Your Mother

Now here is an example of a show that has gotten better with age. I liked it in its first season, and found it entertaining enough (thanks NPH!), but I think it has really come into its own the past two seasons. I think it’s mostly due to the cast seeming very comfortable together and effortlessly behaving like real friends.

Neil Patrick Harris has always been the best part of this show, and he still is. Barney is just awe…wait for it...some. (That reads cheesier that it did in my head.) Alyson Hanigan has always been a favorite of mine and after needing a few episodes at the beginning of the show to find her delivery and timing, she has become my second favorite cast member. Jason Segel can fluctuate between too much and not enough, but that’s more his character than him. Josh Radnor is probably my least favorite of the bunch, but he’s no Ross. It’s not necessarily Radnor’s fault; I just don’t always like Ted. Cobie Smulders, who I really, really did not like in the first season has risen the most in my estimation and I laugh at her more than I ever thought I would.

It’s nice when shows actually get better with age, and that’s how I feel about How I Met Your Mother. It’s not always laugh-out-loud funny (but often enough, it is), but it is a very clever and witty sitcom that does not deserve the (somewhat muted) laugh track that plays behind it. (I could go on about how much I HATE laugh tracks, but I’ll put that on the backburner for another blog post.)


Samantha Who?

Here’s another sitcom, like HIMYM, with a very strong cast that I like the more I see of it. It’s not my favorite, but it has no laugh track (big plus!) and I there’s no episode that I can recall that I really disliked.

Like I said, the whole cast is great, but the one standout is Jennifer Esposito. This might have to do with the fact that before Samantha Who? I had previously seen her in Rescue Me and she was annoying and not good at all. (But she might have been victim of Rescue Me in general being annoying and not good at all in its last season.) Whatever the reason, she is very suited to her role here, and plays off everyone (especially Melissa McCarthy) really well. She’s one of those actors that I had heard was really fantastic, but I was always ‘meh’ on. Now I see it though. She should stick to sitcoms.


Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Sarah Connor is a show I like, but like Heroes, I think it takes itself a little too seriously. It’s a good show, but it’s not as good at it seems to think it is.

Lena Headey is good. Thomas Dekker is good (much better than he was in the first season). Richard T. Jones is a good actor, but almost wasted on this show because it seems like they don’t always know what to do with him. I like Dean Winters, but I’m glad he hasn’t shown up in awhile. (Maybe he’s preparing a return as Beeper King Dennis Duffy?!?) Shirley Manson is odd – I’m not sure if I like her or not. Garret Dillahunt was (is?) pretty good. The blond girl (Levin Rambin?) can be a bit annoying, but I do think that she and Dekker have good chemistry. Summer Glau is fantastic, but the writers have inconsistently played around with Cameron’s character too much. And last but not least, Brian Austin Green is shockingly great. Every week, I find it harder and harder to believe that I’m watching David Silver.

I often feel there’s just something missing from the show – something small, but if it was fixed they could really pop out some great episodes. I don’t know what it is, but for example, that episode where it was told from a bunch of different perspectives and ended with them defeating Cromartie, seemed like it was almost great, but it just wasn’t.

They have to stop sending people back in time though. It’s getting to be too much and it hurts my brain when I watch.