TV Report: Chris, Earl, Lost
October 3, 2005
After watching the dreadful Bills get off to an 1-3 start last Sunday, losing in a poorly played match against the New Orleans Saints, the so-called “America’s Team”, I got to thinking, isn’t there anything better on TV than this. Okay, I didn’t really think that, I was thinking more along the lines of why J.P. Losman is so horrible, and of course there is better TV on right now, but I just needed an intro into this short TV update, and since making fun of the Mets is old news by now, and with hockey season just starting, the Sabres aren’t meat just yet, so I figured a shot at the under whelming ’05 Bills was a good way to begin. Frankly, had I picked myself off of the couch and gone to see “A History of Violence” in Orchard Park, like I should have, instead of watching the pathetic Bills, or spending my entire Saturday at the poker table in Salamanca, I wouldn’t need to fall back on TV so early in the season, but I’ll get to Cronenberg’s new film later this week (fingers crossed), and seeing how there were no new DVD’s entirely worth mentioning in full (Kore-eda’s “Nobody Knows” definitely makes the cake, but it’ll show up on my Top Ten list in January, so you can wait for now, but rent it anyway), or for that matter, nothing new at the local theater (Jessica Alba in “Into the Blue” doesn’t cut it in my book, a book that tries to avoid schlock as much as possible), the new Fall TV schedule is ripe for easy analysis. Besides, I program most of my life, from September to May, around nightly TV, so any excuse to discuss TV is a good excuse from where I’m coming from, as deputy Mayor of the fictional land I personally named Teleobsessia, located somewhere between the Earth and the satellite airwaves that beam down our beloved television fix at the speed of light.
Of the heavily trumpeted new offerings this season, I choose to stick with the ones most critics agreed would be worth my time, and so far, three weeks into the season, I’d agree with most of what they had to suggest. NBC’s “My Name is Earl” and UPN’s “Everybody Hates Chris” are the best new comedies I’ve seen, taking a page out of “Arrested Development’s” book by employing an ever-present voice over narrator who comments on the comedic proceedings, sometimes for the good, and sometimes for the bad, in an intruding, let-the-comedy-stand-on-it’s-own kind of way. Chris Rock’s wit and understated racial commentary are all over “Everybody Hates Chris”, without his profanity and more ribald sexual humor; it’s a sweet family comedy about growing up poor in Brooklyn in the ‘80’s, with a hard working dad, a controlling yet loving mother, and bratty younger siblings who hamper your every move. It’s by far the best show the little watched UPN network has to offer, and the same can be said for the struggling NBC network with “My Name is Earl”, Jason Lee’s hilarious white trash comedy about a crumb bum who turns saint after a winning lottery ticket awakens his karmic underbelly. Lee’s performance as Early is classic five o’clock shadow, beer-in-the-shower, rabbit-ears-on-the-TV, poverty row trouble making with a newfound sentimentality, and is arguably the best roles he’s had since “Almost Famous” made him a name five years ago. Both of these shows are born from the free-form, laugh-track free, anarchy of “Arrested Development”, and it’s a little strange that both do better in the ratings than their predecessor, which is still the funniest show on TV, even though nobody but critics and dedicated fans, know it, but I never complain when good comedy shows draw attractive numbers; it’s a sign that TV audiences, and executives, may actually have some salvation left, a study in apologetics for “Fear Factor”, “Yes, Dear”, and “According to Jim”.
The new dramas I’m watching this year include Fox’s “Prison Break”, HBO’s “Rome”, and ABC’s “Invasion”, but they can all take a back seat this week to “Lost”, the year’s deserving Best Drama Emmy winner, and two episodes into season two (actually three episodes, but I’m not there yet as of this writing), it’s still the most fascinating mind boggler on TV. By now anybody who is a fan of ABC’s terrific island drama knows the secret to last season’s opening-of-the-hatch finale (there was a dude named Desmond down there), and that the raft that set sail didn’t result in any cast member deaths, yet the boy Walt is still missing, despite a strange backwards speaking cameo in episode one, but for all those obsessed theorists on the web who are suggesting everything from nuclear bunker and black plague shelter, to Cold War experiment and doomsday device, I’d say chill out, and let the producers figure it out for themselves. I’ve read many of the new theories, incorporating Desmond’s jumper suit symbol with the chart of the Feng Shui, or Hurley’s still mysterious numbers with the numbers of sins in some Eastern philosophies, and some of them make sense, almost too much sense for internet obsessive dorks, but outside of mysticism and guessing games, the new season seems much darker in tone, and more concerned with loss and danger than season one’s exploration, mystery, and adaptation. Both Jack and Michael’s back stories dealt with their difficult relationships with past lovers (Jacks’ heroic saving of his future ex-wife, Michael wrestling with his former fiancée over custody of his boy), and a quick scene in episode one suggests a future episode will deal with the sudden car crash death of Shannon’s father, giving season two an immediate grave cloud. Dark or sunny, I could care less, because if this entire season is going to be as baffling and seamlessly compelling as the first two hours suggest, I think we’ll be in for another brilliant, conspiracy theory laden year on Hawaii’s beautifully scenic beaches with an amazing cast, and TV’s very best drama.
Check back periodically for updates on “Lost” and other goodies from this already exciting ’05-’06 TV season.
by Adam Suraf