IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS: Dying Is Easy...Comedy Is Hard

With the new Fall Season looming, I of course have various thoughts on the new crop of shows the major networks are offering the public.  Some of the Dramas look interesting (Elementary, Last Resort, Nashville), some of them look ho-hum (The Mob Doctor, half of The CW's new shows), others are more in the middle (Revolution, Vegas, Chicago Fire) and others look downright awful (666 Park Avenue, Made In Jersey, the other half of the The CW's new shows).

But the real issue I'm having trouble with this Fall is the new batch of Sitcoms four of the major networks are giving us.  Let's face it: the Sitcom is dying.  While shows like Modern Family, Parks and Recreation and The Big Bang Theory are trying their hardest to save the art form from its life support status, cable shows and network "dramedies" are definitely changing the face of TV Comedy.  Which is why it saddens me that with 9 new Sitcoms premiering on Broadcast TV this Fall, only about a third of them look like they have the potential to be the next 30 Rock (which is sadly saying "Goodbye" to us after this year!).  And believe me when I just say "have the potential."  Based on what I've seen, even the ones that can be called "Good" have a long way to go before they reach the status Tina Fey's gem has.  So today, I want to take you through the 9 new Sitcoms and give you my first impressions of them based on their trailers, network promotions and (in some cases) their first episodes (5 of the new Comedies have their pilots available on Hulu.com and I will let you know which ones!).

Let's start with CBS!
Partners
Premieres: September 24
Regular Time Slot: Mondays at 8:30 PM
Premise: Two friends/business partners, one straight and the other gay, are closer with each other than with their significant others (in other words, a bro-mance!).
Impressions: If this seems like familiar territory for a Sitcom, it certainly is for its creators: Dave Kohan and Max Mutchnick, the minds behind Will & Grace (who have had a close friendship ever since they wrote for Seinfeld and Friends).  The cast seems likable: Numb3rs' David Krumholtz and Ugly Betty's Michael Urie play the best buds; while One Tree Hill's Sophia Bush and Superman Returns star Brandon Routh play their respective significant others.  And it seems like it will fit in with CBS' other hits like The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and last year's break-out 2 Broke Girls.  Yet there is something about this show that just seems like "Been there, done that."  It is basically Will & Grace, where "Grace" has been changed to "Greg."  It could pass for decent, however it could really tank.  It's on a delicate precipice.
Grade: B-/C+

That's it for CBS' new Sitcom (yes they only have one new Sitcom!). Let's move on to ABC!
The Neighbors
Premieres: September 26
Regular Time Slot: Wednesdays at 8:30 PM
Premise: A typical suburban family is thrown for a loop when they realize their seemingly nice new neighbors are space aliens.
Impressions: This just looks horrible.  It looks like a bad version of a bad 1980s Sitcom (like a bad version of ALF, which is odd because I always thought ALF was the bad version of ALF!).  It even stars Square Pegs' Jami Gertz!  Maybe this IS a bad 1980s Sitcom!  Wait a minute...has Disney finally perfected Time Travel?!?!  It certainly seems that way!
Grade: D

Malibu Country
Premieres: November 2
Regular Time Slot: Fridays at 8:30 PM
Premise: Country superstar Reba McEntire plays a country singer who, after a divorce, moves her family from Nashville to Southern California (and the SPOILER is her character's name: Reba!).
Impressions: As much as I like Reba McEntire and her forays into "acting" (her turn on Broadway as Annie Oakley earned her well-deserved raves!), she never seems to be able to play any character that isn't a variation of herself.  And while I found her previous Sitcom quite charming (it's becoming more and more popular in Cable syndication!), this one should just be titled Reba in L.A. or Reba Takes On Hollywood or some variation that involves Reba and the Greater Los Angeles area.  We'll have to wait until November to see if this show can survive.  On a side note: It is always great to see the brilliant Lily Tomlin.  And Sara Rue and Jai Rodriguez are each charming enough to get some laughs and attention.  I will say Reba has an eye for getting good co-stars (more on that later!).
Grade: C

From the House of Mouse to the House that Rupert built, next up is FOX!
Ben and Kate
Premieres: September 25
Regular Time Slot: Tuesdays at 8:30 PM
Premise: The title characters are brother and sister.  They have a bond that no one (including their quirky behavior) can break.
Impressions: Initially, when I saw the trailers back in May, this was the show I wanted to root for and wanted to like.  It's trailer isn't overwhelmingly impressive, but its premise is the most intriguing.  I have yet to watch the full pilot, but I have seen plenty of clips.  And overall, it seems like the show will ultimately be Kate (the extremely likable Dakota Johnson) meeting wrong guy after wrong guy week after week; while her clownish, irresponsible brother Ben (a somewhat hilarious Nate Faxon) ineptly tries to care for her wise-beyond-her-years young daughter (We Bought a Zoo's adorable Maggie Elizabeth Jones).  I have hopes, but they could easily be dashed.  Airing between FOX hits Raising Hope and New Girl certainly couldn't hurt!
Grade: B-

The Mindy Project
Premieres: September 25
Regular Time Slot: Tuesdays at 9:30 PM
Premise: The Office supporting player Mindy Kaling steps into the spotlight as a top doctor whose love life needs the kind of work she puts into her career.
Impressions: Of all the new Sitcoms, this is the ones the critics say to watch.  I have seen half of the pilot and she certainly is a star.  Yet I am getting this strange "Déjà vu" feeling.  It feels like when they offered her this Sitcom, they told her they wanted to see her as a Meg Ryan-ish Ally McBeal type.  And that genre has never really thrilled me (though I initially adored Ally McBeal back in its first few years and When Harry Met Sally... is still rightfully lauded as a hallmark of the genre!).  If this Sitcom is to be a hit, it will have to be on the shoulders of its Grade A star (who honestly was one of the best parts of The Office over the last few years!).  And it is possible, FOX was able to do it last year with New Girl and its Emmy-nominated star Zooey Deschanel!  Maybe some of that magic can rub off on Mindy (let's hope!).
Grade: B

Both shows' pilots are available for viewing on Hulu.com.
And lastly, the network with the most new Sitcoms this Fall: NBC!
Go On
Premieres: September 11
Regular Time Slot: Tuesdays at 9 PM
Premise: Matthew Perry stars a sports radio show host who, after the loss of his wife, must attend several hours of group therapy.
Impressions: After watching the pilot in August (NBC gave a sneak peek during the Olympics!), I can safely say that this new show has the most impressive cast of the Fall season.  In addition to Perry (who hasn't had a TV hit since a little show called Friends!), the therapy group features Tony-winners Laura Benanti and Julie White, Everybody Hates Chris' Tyler James Williams (who is growing into a really good actor!) and always delightful character actors Suzy Nakamura and Bill Cobbs.  Harold and Kumar's John Cho has a small supporting role as Perry's sarcastic and bottom-line boss.  This show has the most potential of all the Sitcoms this Fall, which means it will probably get cancelled before it can really develop.
Grade: B+

The New Normal
Premieres: September 11
Regular Time Slot: Tuesdays at 9:30 PM
Premise: From Glee creator Ryan Murphy, a gay couple enlists the help of a single mother to expand their family.
Impressions: Ryan Murphy has proven he is good at launching an interesting series (Nip/Tuck, American Horror Story and, of course, Glee).  It's just that once you get passed the usual excellent first episodes, the bloom comes off the rose faster than you can say let's do a Led Zeppelin and Barbra Streisand Mash-Up!  The cast (which includes National Treasure's hilarious Justin Bartha, The Book of Mormon star Andrew Rannells and the amazing Ellen Barkin) is certainly not something to overlook.  And the characters seem like typical Murphy-like characters (Barkin is like a richer, snobbier version of Sue Sylvester, if that exists!).  However, Murphy likes to get message-y.  Glee has become a referendum on teen bullying and expressing who you are (and why it makes you special!).  This show seems to be along the lines of what defines a family and all children need is love to grow into the best they can be.  We've heard all this before, yet in an Election year where both parties are putting "family values" on the table, it seems like we all need to hear it more often.
Grade: B-

Guys With Kids
Premieres: September 12
Regular Time Slot: Wednesdays at 8:30 PM
Premise: The title pretty much says it all.  It's about fathers and their daily life as dads.
Impressions: This Jimmy Fallon-produced show has a few things going in its favor.  It's a Family Sitcom in a day and age where not many of those exist.  It features the very likable Anthony Anderson alongside blast-from-the-past Tempest Bledsoe (Vanessa from The Cosby Show) as his loving and patient wife.  However, in 2012, playing with the "Guy taking the Mommy role" stereotype just comes off as un-appealing.  If this were back in the 1980s, on the heels of the Feminist movement, it might have had a fighting chance.  But here we are in the 21st Century and: Yes, men can be responsible Fathers without looking like complete and utter morons.  But what can I expect from the same company that idolizes Jimmy Fallon?
Grade: C-

Animal Practice
Premieres: September 26
Regular Time Slot: Wednesdays at 8 PM
Premise: Weeds' Justin Kirk stars as a House-like veterinarian who loves animals but just can't stand people (maybe PETA can sponsor the show!).
Impressions: What can you say about a show where a theatrically trained, Emmy-nominated actor gets to recite one-liners to a character named Dr. Monkey?!?!  Not even the very charming Joanna Garcia-Swisher (who co-starred on Reba as McEntire's cheerleader daughter!) can save this train wreck.  But as I like both Kirk and Garcia-Swisher (and the sneak peek had great ratings the night of the Olympics Closing Ceremonies!), this show might have a chance of making it through a full season before it gets chopped next May.
Grade: D+

Both Go On and Animal Practice aired their pilots during the Summer Olympics, so they are available on Hulu.com.  NBC has also made The New Normal pilot available on Hulu.

There you have it.  The new Sitcoms that the major networks hope will help save the dying genre.  I don't know what that says about Audience taste or Network standards, but it definitely feels like there is some apathy in the air.  I guess that old saying is true: Dying is easy, its Comedy that is hard!

10 FAVORITES (61): Sitcom Siblings

As most of you saw when I listed my Top 60 Sitcoms, some of the best Sitcoms have dealt with family relationships.  And as most of us who have one know that any good family conflict arises between siblings.  When I say conflict, I mean anything from fighting over clothes and toys to suing each other over money (luckily, my own brother and I have only experienced the first two, not the latter...yet!).  TV has given us a plethora of siblings that have displayed good conflict (and even grown from it!).  While Dramas have their range of Waltons, Ewings or Sopranos and Reality TV has given us too many Gosselins, Duggars and Kardashians; it is the Sitcoms that have given some of the best sibling relationships in TV history.  There are even Sitcoms where the whole premise revolved around the relationship between two siblings.  Therefore, this week's 10 FAVORITES is devoted to:

THE 10 BEST SITCOM SIBLINGS

SIBLINGS #10
Mitchell Pritchett and Claire Dunphy
Modern Family, ABC
There are many reasons to love ABC's Emmy-winning hit.  One of the things many fans have pointed out as a major positive is the relationship between controlling Mom Claire Dunphy (the delightful Emmy-winner Julie Bowen) and her uptight gay brother Mitchell Pritchett (the hilarious Jesse Tyler Ferguson).

SIBLINGS #9

Joe and Brian Hackett
Wings, NBC
The charm of this underrated NBC hit was in the relationship between the two siblings at its forefront,  pilots Joe and Brian Hackett (played by Tim Daly and Steven Weber, respectively).  Joe was straight-laced, meticulous and serious.  Brian was fun-loving, irresponsible and all-over-the-place.  The two couldn't be more different.  Just what siblings should be!

SIBLINGS #8
Julia and Suzanne Sugarbaker
Designing Women, CBS
Like Joe and Brian Hackett, these sisters were about as different as different can be.  Played to perfection by Delta Burke and the late Dixie Carter, the Sugarbaker sisters made for some of the show's funniest moments.  Usually it was Carter's Julia reacting to the outrageous-ness of Burke's Suzzanne that made the chemistry so great.  It's probably why the show never quite worked once Burke left the show after its fifth season.

SIBLINGS #7
Roseanne Connor and Jackie Harris
Roseanne, ABC
Though this was another Sitcom that showcased a family and kids, the sibling relationship that made the show was the one between Roseanne and Jackie.  Both Roseanne and Laurie Metcalf won Emmys for their work and the some of the show's best moments came from the scenes between the two.  What made Metcalf's interpretation so lauded was how she was able to seem so pathetic next to Roseanne.  Who new Roseanne was the sane one in her family?!?!

SIBLINGS #6
Alex, Mallory and Jennifer Keaton
Family Ties, NBC
It was no surprise that Elyse and Steven Keaton made it onto the TV Mom and Dad lists.  So it should be no surprise that their children have made it onto this one.  And in this trio, we have a great range of typical kid personalities: conservative know-it-all Alex (the great Michael J. Fox), vain shopaholic Mallory (Justine Bateman) and sarcastic tomboy Jennifer (Tina Yothers).  Yes, young Andy was added later, but only for the standard "we-need-a-cute-kid" factor that TV networks love.


SIBLINGS #5
Ross Geller and Monica Geller-Bing
Friends, NBC
Though the scene below may be one of the ickiest, the relationship between Ross and Monica was (most of the time) just a typical sibling relationship.  He was beloved by their parents to the point of being a nerdy Mama's boy.  She got criticized by her mother and had a weight problem in her teens.  But in their adulthood, they were there for each other when they needed.  Monica cared for her brother through his (many) divorces and Ross supported Monica in her relationship and eventual marriage to his best friend, Chandler.  The whole time both David Schwimmer and Courtney Cox gave the characters a great mix of hilarity and heart.

SIBLINGS #4
Ray and Robert Barone
Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS
According to Robert, Ray had it all.  Ray had the beautiful wife.  Ray had the three cute kids.  Ray especially had the affection and admiration of their parents.  Robert usually got the leftovers.  Both Ray Romano and Brad Garrett infused Ray and Robert's relationship with their own style and the results were hilarious.  Robert got to needle Ray whenever Ray was in trouble.  And Ray had moments of triumph to (lightly) rub in Robert's face.  I think all siblings can relate to that!

SIBLINGS #3
The Huxtable Kids (Sondra, Denise, Theo, Vanessa and Rudy)
The Cosby Show, NBC
Both Cliff and Clair topped their respective TV Parent lists, so their kids need to be near the top of their list. The Huxtable kids bickered with each other, protected each other and helped each other.  You had Sondra, who was practically an adult off at Princeton.  Then you had Denise, who wavered between fashionable and flaky.  Then there was Theo, the only male who seemed determined to make Cliff's hair go gray.  Then there was Vanessa, whose growth from 12 to 19 was charted in the show's 8 seasons.  And lastly, there was sweet little Rudy, the requisite cute kiddie.

SIBLINGS #2

Bart and Lisa Simpson
The Simpsons, FOX
When you think of Sitcom families, you cannot go another second without mentioning The Simpsons.  Bart and Lisa practically personify the typical young sibling relationship.  They hate each other one minute and then the next minute they're best friends.  Lisa is smart and bit of a know-it-all, while Bart is your typical impish slacker.  Yet their relationship defines for many what a good TV sibling relationship is...but there is one more!

AND...
SIBLINGS #1
Frasier and Niles Crane
Frasier, NBC
While Bart and Lisa may be iconic, Frasier and Niles are the ultimate Sitcom siblings.  First of all, who knew a spin-off could be just as successful as its predecessor?  What put Frasier over the top as a show was the undeniable chemistry between Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce as the two esteemed psychiatrist brothers.  Unlike a lot of the siblings on this list who thrive in their differences, these siblings seemed to celebrate their similarities.  Their love of a good glass of sherry or a night at the opera were so alike that they were often mistaken as the same person.  The two were even lampooned on shows like The Simpsons (where Grammer and Hyde Pierce voiced the roles of Sideshow Bob and his brother Cecil, respectively!).

10 FAVORITES (50) - Hollywood's Golden Age

It is now almost 2 years ago when I began this blog with a list of my 100 Favorite Movies of All-Time.  One of the things I noticed on the list was the number of movies from certain eras and decades.  Naturally, as a member of what was once known as "Generation X," a majority of the films came from the 1970s, the 1980s and the 1990s.  The decades that seemed to be the least prominent on the list were the 1930s and the 1940s, two decades that together have been called "Hollywood's Golden Age."  Together, there were a total of 10 films from both decades on the list.  So, technically, the "Top 10 of the Golden Age" were: 

1. The Wizard of Oz (1939) (at #10)

2. Casablanca (1942) (at #15)

3. Citizen Kane (1941) (at #26)

4. The Philadelphia Story (1940) (at #36)

5. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) (at #38)

6. Gone With the Wind (1939) (at #40)

7. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) (at #48)

8. Duck Soup (1933) (at #61)

9. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) (at #65)

10. Going My Way (1944) (at #82)

But over the last few months (in large part, thanks to my father!), I have been watching several Hollywood classics from those decades (Bless you, Turner Classic Movies!).  And I started thinking about what movies from that era do I love.  Which films from that Golden Age just missed making my Top 100?  So, for the 50th  edition of 10 FAVORITES, I decided that this week would be devoted to: 

THE SECOND 10 

BEST MOVIES OF 

THE 1930s & 1940s

MOVIE #20
Meet Me In St. Louis (1944)
Since the #1 movie of the '30s and '40s is the film that sky-rocketed Judy Garland to Hollywood stardom, then it seems only fitting that one of the other movies from that era to make such a list would be the one that introduced her to the director who used her best in her career (and her husband!): Vincente Minnelli.  In Meet Me In St. Louis, Garland sings two of her (other) most iconic songs: the poignant Christmas ballad "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"  (of which I have already spoken about on this blog!) and the jaunty "Trolley Song" in which she sings the legendary line "Clang Clang Clang! Went the Trolley!"  This film became one of three films that are considered "definitive" Judy Garland (the other two being The Wizard of Oz and 1954's A Star Is Born).

MOVIE #19
Rebecca (1940)
Long before Alfred Hitchcock was making masterpieces like Psycho or North By Northwest or Rear Window, he began his career as a title designer and art director in the Silent Era.  And his flair for the picturesque is never more obvious than in his 1940 Oscar-winning adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's gothic novel Rebecca.  It was his first American project and it starred Joan Fontaine as a young woman who marries a dashing widower, Maxim de Winter (played by the always brilliant Laurence Olivier).  But de Winter has one flaw as a husband, the lingering memory of his first wife (the titular character) dominates everything within his large and gloomy household.  The mystery surrounding Rebecca's death becomes the focal point of Fontaine's character and Hitchcock's mastery of the psychological thriller entices the audience even more.

MOVIE #18
Ball of Fire (1941)
When it comes to the slang and the jargon of the era, no film uses it more perfectly than the 1941 classic Romantic Comedy Ball of Fire.  Gary Cooper is well cast as the smart and stiff ring leader of a band of professors compiling an encyclopedia about the entire world up to that date.  When he realizes that his article on slang is incomplete, he sets out to find out everything he can about the subject.  Enter the amazing Barbara Stanwyck as Sugarpuss O'Shea, a night club singer who Cooper asks to teach him about slang.  As a mobster's girlfriend on the run from the law, she uses this opportunity to take residence in the professors' home and shakes everything up.  It is a hilarious and well-acted twist on the Snow White tale, especially with the delightful character actors who fill the parts of the other professors (just look up S. Z. Sakall or Henry Travers or Richard Haydn to get an idea of the track record of these actors!).

MOVIE #17
Modern Times (1936)
A couple people pointed out to me that my 100 Favorite Movies list neglected to recognize the genius of Charlie Chaplin.  To be honest, I have never been a great fan of his films but I do respect his artistry (especially in his classics like The Gold Rush or City Lights).  But, for me, it is his 1936 semi-silent satire of industrialism and trying to make it in tough economic climates (something we all know too well these days!).  Chaplin's iconic Tramp character is charming, endearing and hilarious with his knack for physical comedy.  The scene in the factory alone makes the movie a pure classic!

MOVIE #16
42nd Street (1933)
It is considered the ultimate backstage movie musical.  It contains the classic line "You're going out a youngster, but you've got to come back a star!"  It features some of the most notable of Busby Berkeley's filmed dance sequences.  It is also the film that introduced us to the likes of Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers, three of the biggest names in Hollywood's finest musicals.  It is a love letter to Broadway from Hollywood (which Broadway has since utilized fully well!).

MOVIE #15
It Happened One Night (1934)
Before Frank Capra moved us with emotional powerhouses like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington or It's a Wonderful Life, he created one of the most enduring Romantic Comedies in film history.  The movie follows the now-standard narrative of "Opposites Attract" as beautiful heiress Claudette Colbert, running away from her domineering father, falls for brash and married-to-the-job journalist Clark Gable.  The film further joined the pantheon of legendary classics when on Oscar night 1935 it became the first film to win the top 5 major awards of the evening: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay (for Robert Riskin's wry and witty adaptation of Samuel Hopkins Adams' magazine story).  Only two other films have since been able to match that record (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1976 and The Silence of the Lambs in 1992).

MOVIE #14
Stagecoach (1939)
Another criticism I received from my 100 list was for my lack of appreciation of Westerns.  It's true, I have never been a fan of the genre (most Westerns I tend to gravitate towards are more non-traditional with unconventional elements).  But if I had to pick which "traditional" Western would be considered my favorite, I would have to say that John Ford's 1939 Stagecoach is definitely a top contender.  The film is filled with great character actors in some of their best performances (like Claire Trevor as a prostitute with a good heart, John Carradine as a Southern gambler and Thomas Mitchell as a kind-hearted but alcoholic doctor - a role which won him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor).  The film also features John Wayne in a breakout role as the Ringo Kid, a fugitive out to avenge the killing of his father and brother.  But the true highlight of the film for me is Ford's camerawork that has influenced countless of other films.

MOVIE #13
His Girl Friday (1941)
If I had to pick a favorite actor from Hollywood's Golden Era, Cary Grant would be the first one to come to my mind (with Jimmy Stewart not too far behind, but I already discussed The Philadelphia Story!).  Grant was the ultimate in some of the two decades most enduring Romantic Comedies.  In His Girl Friday (which was an adaptation of the 1931 film The Front Page), Grant plays Walter Burns, a nose-to-the-grindstone newspaper editor who is stumbling on the story that will make his paper the best in the business.  As the movie begins, he is losing the one person he trusts more than anyone else, his ex-wife and star reporter Hildy Johnson (played to perfection by the dynamic Rosiland Russell).  She is leaving the newspaper business to get married and live in the suburbs, a life Walter knows deep in his heart that Hildy doesn't want.  The chemistry between Grant and Russell is pitch perfect.  Every word they speak to each other (in their mile-a-minute dialogues) is filled with wit and verve.

MOVIE #12
Pinocchio (1940)
As Walt Disney's second full-length Animated feature, Pinocchio set the standard for the emotional pull that most Disney films have mastered over the years.  It perfectly combines music ("When You Wish Upon a Star," "I've Got No Strings" or "Hi Diddle Dee Dee") with poignant storytelling and characters that range from the comical ("catty" conman Gideon!) to the downright scary (Monstro!).  It also featured a lead character who, as a child-like character that certainly had flaws, was learning lessons right along with the target Disney audience members: children.

AND...
MOVIE #11
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
When it comes to showbiz biographical films, Hollywood tends to sanitize the facts so much that the final story doesn't even come close to matching what really happened (look at the biographies of Florenz Ziegfeld, Cole Porter or George Gershwin for examples).  But the 1942 film about Broadway legend George M. Cohan is different from most of the other Hollywood biopics.  While the darker parts of Cohan's life are subject to the usual Hollywood sanitation cycle, the film does stick pretty close to the chronological happenings in Cohan's life and captures the nationwide sensation that the master showman was.  It really helps that the man cast as George M. Cohan really shines in a dazzling performance.  James Cagney, who before was known for his work in 1930s gangster films (Grapefruit anyone?), truly surprised everyone with his musical talents and he struck a chord with audiences with his moving portrayal of the iconic man who "Gave His Regards to Broadway."