BrilliantButCancelled.com Blogs: Anonymous Critic

The Sopranos Blackout

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 15:18:30 -0800

Why mince words here? We all know what “The Sopranos” finale came down to, don’t we? You either loved it or hated it, and for a show so entrenched in American pop culture during the span of it’s 6 seasons on air “The Sopranos” had a knack for polarizing its audience.

“What was up with that second to last season?” we’ve heard quite a lot and “Where the hell is the lost Russian?” For each and every one of these confused inquiries from otherwise committed fans, David Chase and the rest of “The Sopranos” filmmakers and writers had just one response: silence.

But now we’re just mincing words. What did we think of the finale? Loved it.

We've watched it now 6 times and each viewing puts a smile on our face. We’ve listened to Steve Perry belting out “Don’t Stop Believing” on our iPods enough to put it on our Most Played...

The Tudors: More Sex, Fewer Treaties

Mon, 14 May 2007 09:39:33 -0800

I admit that I've grown desensitized to sex on television -- I grew up with it. I come from the era of high school boys who discovered the "Red Shoe Diaries" on Cinemax, which also places me squarely in the demographic for the soft-core history lessons that have been cropping up on pay cable. "Rome," "Carnivale," "Deadwood," "The L Word," or the grandpappy of needless nudity and sexual encounters, "Queer as Folk" -- these are the order of the day.

Which is why I'm confused by Showtime's latest offering. More than halfway through "The Tudors" -- the ten-episode original series hailed as fun, sexy, and scandalous, I'm starting to wonder who's doing the hailing and how much they're getting paid to do it. Don't get me wrong: the series isn't exactly bad, it's just so damn squeaky-clean that I often find myself wanting a little more, well, fun, sex, and scandal.

After a half-dozen...

"The Class" Needs a Second Chance

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 09:53:33 -0800

Back in September, when the new fall shows were rolled out, there were a few that everyone had little hope for. After the pilot episode of “The Class,” I was beside myself – a show I can hate freely and loudly! Had we found a “Joey” for the 2006/2007 season?

The cast was a series of unknowns (some of whom I’d gone to college with) and I felt sorry for them. While they may have been doing good work, they were treading territory all-too-familiar in the sit-com genre.

These kids were all in the same third grade class, you see. And now they’re grown and have become re-acquainted. So, just like your life, someone comes into a room, says something funny, there is a witty comeback, and then canned laughter. Then the clutzy guy falls down. More canned laughter.

Poor things, I thought, they’ll be looking for more work by...

One Nanny Too Many

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:47:32 -0800

If only we Americans could handle our children. That seems to be the message on a few prime time realities. In the world of the long running nanny-fixer-upper shows, unhappy couples with unhappy children need only a visit from a gentle, but firm English nanny to ~~make the medicine go down~~ fix a broken home. If only everyone could get a visit from one of these parental geniuses, there could finally be world peace.

I can’t stand these shows, and I’m tired of how they create this unrealistic illusion that all family problems can be solved by a complete stranger over the course of a few days. That a troubled family can become “perfect” and all spoiled or violent or belligerent children can be “cured” of their evil ways in about a half and hour (even less when you consider the commercial breaks).

The show begins with...

Spouse Swapping: Just Say No

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 06:41:58 -0800

As someone who has watched television her whole life, I would like to dole out a small piece of advice for Brilliant But Cancelled readers.

This is a public service announcement. If your loved one asks you to go on Maury Povich, you are not getting a makeover, and if your spouse comes home and asks you to “trade” with another family, It will not end well. Say no.

Every time I happen to come across a spousal swap show (and I don’t keep it on for very long), I always linger for a moment to see if the houses have television sets. Surprisingly, all of them do. I say that because anyone who has a TV, and presumably uses it, must know what these shows are, and therefore have no excuse.

Screaming fights, unhappy children, messy homes, neurotically clean homes, rich people, poor...

Not Playing With A Full Deck: Televised Poker

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 10:21:22 -0800

When I was young, I would follow my big brother to the arcade and watch him play Pong, or Pac Man, or maybe even a little skee ball. I’d crane my neck and watch him work his magic, try to learn his strategy, understand his style, and hopefully retain a thing or two for when I got older, and could play these games myself.

But, ultimately, I just got bored, because—and this is important—watching other people play games while you sit idly by and watch is boring.

Which brings me to the present, as I flip channels, and come across televised poker. I’m instantly four years old again, waiting for a turn that will never come, and my mind wanders, and I just get bored.

What is it about poker on television? What am I missing?

It began simply enough, buried...

Still "Lost"

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:01:30 -0800

It came back last night, like a piece of that plane washing to shore. It’s the “non-stop season,” sixteen episodes of LOST, back-to-back, taking us into May. And how did they kick it off?

With the same old stuff that buried the show in the first place.

"Lost" returned with another annoying flashback to a character’s pre-lost life. This time it was a look at Juliet, showing how she was recruited into the ranks of The Others. I know the purpose of the flashbacks: They’re to give us a greater understanding of the characters and what motivates them.

And while some of the back-stories of these people are fascinating, especially those of the core group (Jack, Kate, Locke, and Hurley, to name a few), some of them are so fuzzy and foggy (with no discernable link to the ongoing story other than the character being present in a different time and place)...

Home Free: My 'Extreme Home Make-Over' Obsession

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 08:31:25 -0800

We’ve all seen it, and I don’t know about you, but “Extreme Home Makeover” gets me a little misty: the loving family that’s fallen on hard times, the sob-inducing backstory full of tragedy and heartbreak, the inspiring preservence against all the odds. And as I sit there, soggy Kleenex in my hand, I say to myself: if only these poor, wonderful people had a beautiful house to call home.

Well, in the words that launched a thousand product placements: Move! That! Bus!

I admit it. I watch “Extreme Home Makeover.” And I also admit that I weep like a child every time it’s on. It’s gotten so bad that I well up when a see a promo for an upcoming episode.

But that doesn’t change the fact that I feel a little uneasy while watching these families outfitted with state-of-the-art kitchens and plasma televisions. I just cannot shake the feeling that these poor,...

Chasing The Clouds Away: Loving Sesame Street

Fri, 19 Jan 2007 10:24:30 -0800

As I sit, watching this season of “American Idol,” my young daughter stares at me, wondering why I’m cringing.

In fact, now that she’s old enough to turn the television on and off by herself (soon she’ll be setting my Tivo for me), I find myself watching television through her eyes. And as reality television gets crueler and nastier, and as network dramas get bloodier, I wonder if there’s ever going to be any meaningful backlash.

Will the American television audience will get tired of dead bodies and talentless singers, and if that even happens, will there be programming for them?

Of course, should America collectively turn off their televisions, our networks would figure out the cause of the problem and remedy it, but my question is this: is there anything on television that I can watch with my daughter that isn’t too adult, isn’t trying to sell her...

24 Returns: Jack is Back.

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 12:49:48 -0800

He’s beaten, he’s worn down, he’s not the man he used to be. But Jack Bauer is back for the sixth worst day of his life. And this one is really, really bad.

Fox once again presented “24” with a special 2-night, 4-hour (get it … 2-4?) premiere. The network has wisely held the series to a beginning-of-the-year debut the past three years preferring to show all 24 episodes on a weekly basis without a break. It has also started each season with a major event: The broadcast of the first four hours over two nights, literally jump-starting the new season. This showcases the show in a format fans have become accustomed to seeing in the DVD boxed sets, viewing multiple episodes in one evening.

(Creators of “Lost”, “Heroes”, et. al. are you paying attention?)

As premieres go, this two-night total emersion into the life of Jack Bauer at first lacked the power of the...