Television Wrap-Up
May 30, 2004
Like the Dodo stumbling awkwardly into extinction, the television season has finally expired in a veritable tidal wave of season finales, ratings extravaganza’s, and series farewells. The ’03-’04 season wasn’t the best television year of all time, actually it was one of the worst, beginning with the reprehensible cancellation of “Boomtown”, down the line to the numbingly stupid reality dating/makeover craze of “The Swan”, and “The Littlest Groom” (what were they thinking?); if anything, we should be happy it is over. But, for that, and what will undoubtedly be more of its ilk this summer, I am never happy to see the television season slip into reruns, not because it leaves my nightly schedule with a sudden gap (made even worse when the NHL and NBA playoffs end, leaving only the long, very long baseball and golf season, reprieved a bit this year by the Summer Olympics), but because new television gives me something to look forward to besides daily ‘Simpsons’ reruns, “Jeopardy”, dreadful New York Mets baseball, and the best foreign cinema Netflix has to offer.
Nightly television is comfort from a long day, I mean, who in their right mind doesn’t like taking down the tie and throwing on a pair of sweats to settle in and watch Jack Bauer chase after a virus, Andy Sipowitz berate a drug dealer who just shot a pimp, or, best of all, Tony Soprano agonizingly deal with therapy, divorce, family, and an ever growing rift with the New York mafia on “The Sopranos”? Seriously, what ever will we do for the next three months? So, in order to grieve a little before I banish from my memory (with any luck) all remembrances of “The Bachelor” and “American Idol”, to focus on the movie-heavy summer days ahead, I offer up this eulogy on a select few transpirations that took place over the hectic May Sweeps period, both good (“Deadwood”) and bad (“10.5”), and truly out of this world (“24”).
It seems almost beyond the point to bring up the series finales of either “Friends” or “Frasier”, considering NBC has finally let us forget about them, which wasn’t easy given their sickening saturation advertising, but I’d be remiss not to say how sorely they will be missed. Even if either show wasn’t in peak form the past few years (“Frasier” especially), they could always be counted on when you needed to see familiar, warming characters in witty banter over java, in the midst of screwball misunderstandings and romantic quandaries. Of the two, “Frasier” had the funnier swan song, with the good doc leaving Seattle behind to chase after Laura Linney in Chicago. The sense of loss felt as Frasier said his goodbyes, to his family, his radio station, and to us, was profoundly touching, leaving behind a character that spanned two of the best sitcoms of TV history.
As for “Friends”, the best that can be said for the predictable, albeit charming, finale is that, finally, the Ross and Rachael plotline ended, seemingly happy and perfectly satisfying. With Joey off to “Joey” next year, Monica and Chandler off to the suburbs with twins, and Phoebe off her rocker, as usual, the gang can rest assured that their legacy will live on, in syndication, and on DVD, for years to come. With the death of “Friends” and “Frasier”, “Everybody Loves Raymond” next year, and with “Will and Grace”, “King of the Hill” and “The Simpsons” aging, the future of television comedy now seems to lie in the hands of Kevin James, Charlie Sheen, Larry David, and the wonderfully ribald Dave Chapelle, whose Comedy Central skit show just wrapped its hilarious second season.
On the dramatic front, “The Sopranos” ends its fifth, and penultimate season this Sunday with a carefully guarded episode that should set up the big NY/NJ conflict that will play out over the concluding eight episodes next year. Last week saw the resolution to the 2-years-in-the-making, Adriana-as-FBI-snitch storyline with Silvio driving the beauty out to the woods, a one-way trip, while her fiancé Christopher ditched her gorgeous new Thunderbird in the Newark Airport long-term parking lot. The whacking will probably have repercussions throughout the finale, as Tony weighs up the usefulness of his increasingly off-the-wagon cousin, Christopher, and the FBI sifts through Aid’s ghostly testimony. Frankly, it doesn’t much matter how David Chase chooses to end this season, because in my mind, anything short of the death of Tony Soprano couldn’t spoil the superb season the show has had, and coupled with the surprisingly addictive, and utterly foul mouthed “Deadwood”, only makes Sunday nights on HBO that much better.
The most highly anticipated non-reality finale this season was the final hour of “24”, where Jack Bauer and his partner, Chase, were stuck in a locked down subway terminal frantically searching for the last vile of deadly virus, while President Palmer was yet to hear about the murder of his scheming ex-wife, Sherry. Like season one, “24” ended with a strong episode that featured wild action, shocking violence (Jack chopping off Chase’s arm, in the heat of the moment, was particularly exciting, and gruesome), and satisfying resolution. In the end, it all turned out well, or as well as it possibly could have, despite the President’s decision to forgo a second term, a death list of hundreds, including some cast regulars, and Bauer’s wrenching last minute breakdown, which, if anything, should win Kiefer Sutherland a much deserved Emmy, something that has eluded him the past two years playing TV’s most indestructible character.
On the reality TV radar, I really didn’t much care to see who would prevail on “American Idol” (though I guess Fantasia was a better singer than the pudgy, teenager Diana), so the only show I still watch with any interest is “Survivor”, but even that has become a taxing experience. It was one thing to see Amber coast through and win the “All-Stars” competition she didn’t even deserve to be in, but to then turn the outcome into an engagement party was beyond tacky. Mark Burnett better watch out or his meal ticket (outside of Donald Trump) could very fast turn into a sorry retread of its once great self. But on the plus side, he, and CBS, had the smarts to give the audience what it wanted, and cooked up a scheme to give Rupert a million dollars; if anyone deserved it, it was the burly, cuddly fan favorite, the best thing to happen to the franchise since season one.
With the season of reruns in full swing, there is precious little to look forward to this summer, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be new television to check out. HBO will bring back “Six Feet Under” in June, and the masterful “The Wire” is scheduled back later this summer, while on Fox, Andy Richter gets another shot with “Quintuplet’s”, though something tells me it’ll be a sad letdown after his great, lamented “Andy Richter Controls the Universe”. I’m interested to see Burnett’s reality-show “The Casino”, if only to judge television blackjack against my own profitable strategies, and, if that doesn’t peak interest, there is always the prospect of TV-on-DVD, most notably, season four of “The Simpsons”, one of the best 23-episode seasons in modern television history; it hits shelves on June 16th. So, don’t fret, three months really isn’t too long, we’ll just have to hope that, when the fall season starts in September, it’ll be more exciting (Presidential election included), and a lot less “Real”, if you know what I mean.
by Adam Suraf