Posted Feb 8th 2010 9:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free, Modern Family
How's this for an odd occurrence of non-product placement? On Wednesday night, during the ABC sitcom block -- actually during
'Modern Family' -- there was a commercial for Stouffer's Family Size dinners. The commercial referred to
'The Middle,' making the case for how positive it is for families to sit down and share a meal together.
It was a great idea for a commercial, but did anybody at Stouffer's realize that with the exception of Thanksgiving, the Hecks don't actually cook dinner? They're usually bringing in bags of take out from a burger joint. You see hamburgers and fries and lots of paper products, but it was only for Turkey Day that anybody actually fixed dinner.
Continue reading Stouffer's Should Be Doing Product Placement in 'The Middle'
Posted Feb 4th 2010 2:22AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Modern Family
(S01E14) Sometimes I wonder if I could just write up a review of
'Modern Family' by listing all of the great quotes that come out of this show. Line for line, this has to be one of the cleverest series on television today. Even the episode title, 'Moon Landing,' recalls a great moment.
The action this week was split between Jay and Cameron heading off to the gym to play racquetball, Mitchell helping Gloria with a traffic-related legal problem, and Claire's reunion with an old work colleague from before Claire became a stay-at-home mom.
Minnie Driver was well cast as the friend, Valerie, but her performance was completely overshadowed by the brilliance of the episode itself.
Continue reading Review: 'Modern Family' - 'Moon Landing'
Posted Jan 28th 2010 11:03AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Hardware, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family
Will Apple's new
iPad really change the way we watch TV? That was one of the big questions that we were asking before Steve Jobs' presentation yesterday in San Francisco. I thought that since
he was conferring with network execs to slash iTunes prices for TV episodes, that
the iPad would have a major TV viewing component.
Now that we've seen the device and watched it demonstrated, the answer isn't crystal clear. But yes, it should have some impact on TV viewing.
Oh, don't get me wrong. I agree with those that call the iPad just a bigger version of the iTouch or iPhone. On the surface, it is. However, while it's true that someone might prefer a one-hand device like the smaller iTouch or iPhone to watch a show on a commuter train, you have to imagine a different setting for the iPad.
Continue reading Will the iPad change how we watch TV? Maybe
Posted Jan 25th 2010 1:03PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, The Office, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, 30 Rock, Ratings, Judges, TV Squad Lists, Emmys, Reality-Free, Modern Family
A couple of weeks ago, Kona wrote about the campaign to convince
ABC to save Better Off Ted. Despite these grassroots efforts, the rating for
Ted continue to be dismal and ABC probably has "cancel
Better Off Ted" on the corporate to-do list.
That's a shame, because the more I watch of
Better Off Ted, the better I think it is. Smart, funny, observant and surreal,
Ted is an office comedy that makes deserves to survive. If more people gave it a shot, I think it would be a success. Maybe not a monster hit, but there aren't many of those in the sitcom field right now. Emmy winner
30 Rock is anything but a ratings hit.
Continue reading Five keys to saving Better Off Ted
Posted Jan 21st 2010 6:30AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Modern Family
(S01E13) As usual, there was a ton going on this week, with all three families dealing with different types of crises. Kristen Schaal (
Flight of the Conchords) was in one of the more unusual guest roles I've seen in awhile. You can't really describe how she came to be on the episode without it sounding all kinds of creepy, and yet the show managed to avoid any of the cliche reactions to what happened.
The way they've handled Jay's reaction to and dealing with the ongoing situation of his son's homosexuality has also managed to avoid the trite and formulaic "tough guy" dads we're used to seeing. There's just something more authentic about all these relationships, and I think a lot of it is bucking expectations. Gloria's not a gold-digging foreigner, nor is she just looking for a green card marriage. She's a sweet and understanding woman who genuinely loves her husband and son. Maybe a little too understanding.
Continue reading Review: Modern Family - Fifteen Percent
Posted Jan 14th 2010 2:00PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Modern Family
(S01E12) I want a dog butler now. Sofia Vergara managed to do so much with her simple reactions to this dog, and Jay's interactions with it, throughout this episode, she had me laughing without saying a word. In fact, this may have been one of the funniest episodes of
Modern Family yet.
Misunderstanding was the theme for all three families this week. You had Gloria misunderstanding Jay and Barkley's relationship -- Barkley being the dog butler. Cameron's big heart led to all kinds of Latino insanity in their household, to Mitchell's horror, while it was Phil's fear of his wife that allowed several instances of misunderstanding in the saga of the big bare breasted tractor rider (*Ahem* It's a combine).
Continue reading Review: Modern Family - Not in My House
Posted Jan 12th 2010 1:41PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, OpEd, Lost, Curb Your Enthusiasm, 30 Rock, Awards, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men, Glee, Modern Family
There's been so much action going on with the TCA and the midseason returns and what-not that we sort of missed the announcement for the
DGA Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television nominations for 2009. It's quite an interesting bunch, as much for what and who's included and who and what were left out.
Since the DGA noms come from the directors themselves, these awards are indicative of what the professionals really think of their peers. Very illuminating, if you ask me. Check it out, category by category, and feel free to comment on my comments.
Continue reading DGA Nominations for the best in TV in 2009
Posted Jan 12th 2010 1:16PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, TCA Press Tour, Reality-Free, Cougar Town, Modern Family
Steve McPherson, ABC Entertainment president, just reported that all three of its remaining Wednesday comedies,
Cougar Town, Modern Family, and
The Middle, have all been picked up for a second season.
McPherson was very happy with the shows' performances and he decided to let everyone know about the renewal right at the top of his conference.
More later...
Posted Jan 7th 2010 11:47AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Modern Family
(S01E11) You know, I thought Jay was far too clever to be wooed by Colombian charm -- and I'm not talking about Gloria. I think most of us wouldn't mind being charmed by her.
Benjamin Bratt turned in a solid, and charming, performance as Manny's father Javier. He absolutely nailed the elements of the douchebag father who tries to make up for broken promises and absence with gifts and fun, fun, fun. It works on the kids, while they're young, and apparently it works on adults as well.
But it was the kids that were the linchpin of this episode, in a way. They provided the opening narrative to the episode, including Luke trying to figure out what "talking black" means and Alex being told to grow up and act more like an adult; a statement brilliantly followed up with Phil acting absolutely ridiculous with Luke.
Continue reading Review: Modern Family - Up All Night
Posted Jan 4th 2010 10:05AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free, Modern Family
Last night there was a fresh, new episode of
Brothers & Sisters on ABC. I was so elated that I nearly jumped from my chair to see a non-rerun. Well, this week were sorta/kinda back from vacation as a bunch of shows will be airing new shows. For that, I say, "Hooray!"
One I'm really looking forward to seeing is
Wednesday's Modern Family with Benjamin Bratt guesting as Manny's father. The reason for my anticipation is this: I haven't liked any of the guest turns on
Modern Family thus far this year. I thought
Shelley Long was over-the-top as Jay's ex-wife, the mother of Claire and Mitchell; Fred Willard was basically a cameo as Phil's dad; and in one episode, Elizabeth Banks and Ed Norton embarassed themselves as bizarre characters.
Continue reading How will Benjamin Bratt do on Modern Family?
Posted Dec 21st 2009 5:06PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Late Night, OpEd, Survivor, The Biggest Loser, Doctor Who, Game Show, Chuck, Dollhouse, Sons of Anarchy, Cougar Town, Modern Family, Jay Leno
2009 was a good year for television. It offered the resurgence of the comedy on network television, and the continuing growth of original programming on cable. In all honesty, I don't think I could just do a list of what was great and what was horrible on television because I would need pages and pages.
Instead, I'm going to focus on the things that really stood out this year. Sorry,
Mad Men fans, but even though this was a great third season and an amazing finale, I expect it at this point. It's the only way I could come up with to keep my list manageable.
Also, as a point of protest I did not include Jon, Kate or the balloon boy hoax. These events got more attention than they deserved already this year, and I feel bad I even mentioned them.
Continue reading Best and Worst TV of 2009: Jason's List
Posted Dec 20th 2009 9:24AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Food/Home/DIY, Industry, Programming, OpEd, Lost, Celebrities, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Ratings, NCIS, TV Squad Lists, Emmys, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Burn Notice, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation, Nurse Jackie, Glee, Community, Cougar Town, Modern Family
What a year! Once we got over the WGA strike, the networks kicked it into high gear and got busy making TV. Except for NBC. Even
Jeff Zucker has admitted that NBCU has failed to respond to the need for new programming.
Fortunately, the other channels have been busy and there's been a lot of great television... and some that's just plain awful. But I'm a half-glass full kind of person and I have good feelings about 2009. However,
since I don't want to repeat my list from last year, I'll just mention that I could put these 2008 best choices --
Breaking Bad, Friday Night Lights, NCIS, The Big Bang Theory and
Mad Men -- on my list again. But I'm going to go for an all new list and, thankfully, I had plenty of 'bests' to choose from.
Best
1. Glee. If there was ever a show that was made just for my personal taste, this is probably it. I love the singing and dancing. I get the characters. It even tickles me that I had just as much angst with bullies in high school as these kids. Every episode hasn't been perfect, but it's perfectly fine that they keep striving.
Continue reading Best and Worst TV of 2009: Allison's list
Posted Dec 18th 2009 2:09PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, 30 Rock, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation, Community, Cougar Town, Modern Family
I'm always amazed at how people haven't learned from TV history. Back in the early eighties, everyone and his mother was saying that comedy was dead, mainly because of then-cutting-edge dramas like
Hill Street Blues were dominating the air, while the best in comedy that the networks could come up was crap like
Pink Lady and Jeff. Then
The Cosby Show, Cheers, Family Ties, and
Night Court came around, and all of a sudden comedy was back.
So it's not a big surprise that comedy is making a big comeback a quarter-century later. Times are tough, and people want to laugh. It also helps that on a few networks (NBC, of course), low ratings and little inventory have given shows like
The Office and
30 Rock a chance to find and grow an audience. The seeds sewn by those shows have grown in a major way, as three of the four networks now have successful comedy lineups.
Continue reading Top TV Stories of 2009: The return of the sitcom
Posted Dec 18th 2009 10:02AM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: Festivus, Friday Night Lights, Reality-Free, Parks and Recreation, True Blood, Sons of Anarchy, Modern Family, Lie to Me
On the sixth day of Festivus, TV gave to me ... six shows you should be watching.
Every fall TV season brings out a new crop of fresh shows and despite the fact that some of them are ridiculously good, they slip through the cracks and not many people watch them. Not all of these are new and not all of them are suffering in the ratings, but some could still use your eyeballs. So take this list as a gentle nudge to start tuning in if you haven't already, because all six of these shows really are appointment television right now.
Modern Family (ABC; Wednesdays 8:30) -- Easily the best new comedy of the Fall '09 season,
Modern Family has very quickly risen up most critics' lists and even nabbed a
Golden Globe nomination earlier this week. The show features a spectacular ensemble cast that tackles just about any family related issue from dating to divorce by putting one of the most unique spins on the genre in recent memory. With the show on hiatus until January, now would be a great time to catch up on the first half of the season and if you don't,
Fizbo the ass kicking clown, will, you know, kick your ass.
Continue reading The Twelve Days of Festivus: Six shows you should be watchin'
Posted Dec 17th 2009 11:33AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, House, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office, Celebrities, The Closer, 30 Rock, Dexter, Awards, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men, Glee, Modern Family
Every day it seems that we have nominations to announce. Yes, we are in award season and today it's the Screen Actors Guild's turn. On Saturday, January 23, 2010, at 8 p.m. on TNT and TBS, the winners of the
16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will air live from Los Angeles. Here's the nominees in the main categories and some thoughts on each:
Drama Ensemble: The Closer; Dexter; The Good Wife; Mad Men; True Blood
Interesting that CBS's
The Good Wife made the cut, especially over
Lost or
House or
Breaking Bad or
Sons of Anarchy or
Damages or
Friday Night Lights. And I love
The Closer, but the inclusion here is a surprise. I guess
NCIS would be too big a surprise to get recognized.
Comedy Ensemble: 30 Rock; Curb Your Enthusiasm; Glee; Modern Family; The Office
Glee and
Modern Family are freshmen, but clearly excellent ensemble comedies. And for
Curb Your Enthusiasm, are they honoring the
Seinfeld team all over again? Also, where's
The Big Bang Theory?
Continue reading Screen Actors Guild award nominations for TV
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