Shows That Are In Trouble

We are dancing on the clouds about Fringe, Community, Parks and Rec, and Southland getting renewed. (Wow, that sounded less gay in our heads, but still. It’s accurate.)

Here are the shows that we want to see stick around that still haven’t been renewed…and the shows we hate and want to see go away. Their slots can go to good, new shows. Possibly. As for the ones we don’t mention: we either don’t care or we don't think the show is in enough danger to be on this list.

Our struggling favorites:

Chuck - Leeard is a beyond-faithful fan of Chuck, and Ern watches it when it’s on and she has nothing better to do. Still, both of us would like to see this cult fave survive yet again.

Outsourced - It’s offensive. Blah blah blah. What matters is that it’s really funny.

Off the Map - How are the Grey’s and Private Practice fans not watching this? Yeah, the pilot was awful and some episodes are cheesy. But the last episode was devoid of cheese and it’s getting better. It deserves a season two.

Lie to Me - The concept alone is worth keeping this show for. It’s been much better since they got rid of the stifling FBI stuff. Also, if they just aggressively serialized a few more elements of the show (like Bones does with its characters), it could start getting intense and making people care about the characters.

Two and a Half Men - We know, we know. You’re thinking, “What blog is this?!! It’s been taken over by imposters!” But we think it would be extremely entertaining to watch the show replace Charlie Sheen and even more entertaining to watch Charlie Sheen react to getting replaced. It will be a train-wreck ending to a horrible show. After we happily watch its demise with a glass of wine and an evil laugh, the networks can totally cancel it.

Perfect Couples - It's a way funnier version of Better with You. It could grow into something hilarious.

Shows we want gone:

The Event - We hate this show for promising to bring us a LOST-meets-24 dynamic and giving us a show we couldn’t give two craps about.

Better with You - Unfunny, sexist dribble. No one cares. Leeard is actually still watching this show, but doesn't care if it's cancelled or not. That's not a good sign.

Detroit 1-8-7 - If this goes away, then maybe its fans will console themselves with Southland, which is so much better than this cop show.

V - Die V, die! This show got a miracle second season and then proceeded to squander it by being silly, boring, and the opposite of addictive. It gives serialized drama, which we usually love, a bad name.

Perfect Couples premiere review

This show is a comedy about three different couples. First, we have Vance and Amy. They fight a lot, are immature, and then they have tons of makeup sex. Second there are Rex and Leigh, who are the controlling, drinking relationship experts who think they have it all figured out. Last, Dave and Julia, who are (relatively) normal. From the opening, we were shouting, “Cliché!” at the screen.

The premise and problems are similar to those of Better with You. What we have here is another batch of weak, one-sided characters. The writers needed to think through the individual people more, rather than just conceiving of the couples and giving them each a certain type of couples behavior. Good, interesting couples start out as interesting individuals.

But this show has a zany side and a good tone to it, so it is superior to Better with You. While the start is weak, it may show improvement as the show progresses. It’s on a channel and a night that’s good for comedies. The actors are good. It’s ho-hum now, but don’t so many great comedies start out iffy before they find their voice? There is hope. As for Better with You, there was never hope (even though one of us is still watching).

Episode Grade: C+, but a hopeful C+

Cancelled shows, Strong shows

The Whole Truth is cancelled. Leeard is sad (but unsurprised); Ern is happy.

Sadly, the sexist, shrill, backwards, (mostly) unfunny, and unoriginal comedy Better with You was picked up for a full season. We are happy to see that No Ordinary Family will have a full season too, though.

Grey's Anatomy- Can't Fight Biology review/recap

This episode of Grey's Anatomy was slow after the high-intensity episodes that started off the season. So far, this season is going well, and we haven’t had a ridiculous Dead Denny-type storyline, so we are not going to complain that this episode seemed like a filler. We appreciated the humor, the actual adult problems, the direction in which the relationships are going, and the warm tone, but that doesn’t mean we are going to think about this episode in weeks to come.

The Cases
Our main gripe with this episode is that there were too many patients, and none of them were particularly memorable. Well, we liked the revelation that one patient had rammed her car into a Laundromat to hit her husband, who was inside doing his new girlfriend’s laundry. She was sufficiently creepy as she confessed, thinking that her crime would fall under doctor/patient confidentiality. Another woman had Huntington’s disease from her mother, and this inspired Meredith to get tested for the Alzheimer’s gene. Then we had a biologist who had consumed a bunch of worms in an experiment intended to cure asthma. Sadly, the gross worms were killing him, so Bailey had to operate and take them out. We liked this case the best, because it struck a blow to the depressing plotline that is Pathetic PTSD Cristina. As the biologist moaned about his purpose in life and finally finding some work he was born to do, you could see the gears moving in Cristina’s brain. Maybe now she will go back to her love, surgery. Cristina also saved the man’s worms so that he could have them when he recovered. Finally, there was the 15-year-old ballet dancing boy with bone cancer in his leg. The doctors wanted to amputate, but the boy freaked out and asked Alex to come see him dance so Alex would be more committed to finding a solution without taking the leg. Alex, Callie, and Arizona went down to the ballet studio and watched, which we didn’t find entirely believable. Aren’t we always seeing how busy these doctors are? We weren’t blown away by the ballet either. There was one cool move, and the rest of the time, the camera focused too much on peoples’ faces. We didn’t get much resolution on the case either. We guess the alternative surgery worked.

The New Dark and Twisty Couple
Cristina and Owen looked for a place to live. Owen found an old firehouse. What is this, Better With You? No, because what makes this show a better show than that laugh track-infested sitcom is the female counterpart’s reaction. On Better with You, all the women are shrews from 90s rom-coms, and they hated the idea of living in a firehouse. Cristina acted like Owen was offering her a choice between a turkey or beef sandwich. Owen had to say, “If we are going to choose where we life, I need you to care.” In the end Cristina chose the firehouse, because it made Owen happy, and she still didn’t care.

Everybody Else
Why are April and Jackson at Meredith’s now? We totally missed this. That takes the number of residents up to six. MerDer are trying to procreate, but Meredith’s uterus is “hostile.” What is this, Friends? Arizona was having trouble bonding with her girlfriend’s best friend, McSteamy, but she made an effort, and it looks like they are on the road to being cool with each other. There was some weird plotline where Jackson used his good looks on Teddy to get into surgery, because Teddy was objectifying him in conversation behind his back (and he heard it). Lexie was jealous of April and Meredith bonding, and we don’t blame her, because April was just annoying enough to ask for a house “chore wheel.” Lexie confronted Meredith about how out of the loop she felt. Meredith told her that she wasn’t alone in the psych ward, because Meredith actually sat by Lexie’s bed for 36 hours while she slept. Awww. Meredith opened up about her pregnancy troubles too.

Favorite line- Arizona: “Mark has abs where his soul should be.”

Episode Grade: B-

Watch it Here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/184775/greys-anatomy-cant-fight-biology#s-p1-so-i0

New shows- Not original enough?

The Event features mysterious visitors and is trying to be the next LOST.
Nikita is a remake.
Better with You is from a Friends writer and has a laugh track.
The premise of Raising Hope (a single young man having to raise a child) isn't groundbreaking.
The same goes for Running Wilde. (Liberal vs. conservative love premise)

Call us pessimists, but when watching this fall's crop of new shows, we kept thinking, "Have we seen this show before?" It feels like many of the new shows exist to replace old ones. Are we missing something unique or weird about a show? We've been pretty underwhelmed with the ideas for new shows lately.

We suppose Lone Star and Boardwalk Empire are pretty original. But we expect nothing less from HBO, and Lone Star will get canceled if its numbers don't improve.

We know original ideas only carry a show so far, and the real test is whether it's carried out well. But having a premise that is interesting and good to work with can help writers. Is it just us? Are we wrong? How do you feel about the new shows this season?

Better with You pilot review

Better with You is a comedy that fans of the type of humor in Friends will enjoy. It started off rough and a little cliché. It made the joke that after a long time being married, couples don’t even talk to each other…or fool around. We think that’s sad, and we’d like that stereotype to stop.

The show is about three couples. Casey and Mia have been together for a little over seven weeks. Mia’s sister, Maddie, has been with her boyfriend Ben for nine years, and they are not married. Maddie shrieks “It’s a valid life choice!” every time the subject of their arrangement is broached. The third couple are Maddie and Mia’s parents, who have been married for 35 years. After about eight minutes, the show got pretty cute. We especially like the young men, Ben and Casey. A few of the jokes made us chuckle. We will keep watching.

Episode grade: B-

Watch the pilot here:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/178649/better-with-you-pilot?c=Comedy#s-p1-so-i0

Requests for more new shows granted, Jersey Shore out.

Some shy, uncommenting readers have emailed requesting coverage of more new shows. Shy or not, they shall be placated. More new show coverage:

*Lone Star- Sept. 20. Mondays at 9:00. Drama about a Texas con man.
*Chase- Sept. 20. Mondays at 10:00 A cop show
*Raising Hope- Sept 21. Tuesdays at 9:00. A comedy about a 23-year-old new single father.
Running Wilde- Sept. 21 Tuesdays at 9:30. A comedy with Will Arnet (from the excellent "Arrested Development) and Keri Russell (from the not-as-excellent, but still nice, Felicity).
*Better with You- Sept. 22 Wednesdays at 8:30 A romantic comedy show
*The Defenders- Sept. 22 Wednesdays at 10:00 A show about lawyers
*Body of Proof- Sept 24. Fridays at 9:00. A medical mystery procedural

Man, we've got a lot of TV to watch now.

So something has to go. Jersey Shore will no longer be covered. The move to Miami takes away the subject, it's just Sammie and Ronnie screaming at each other, and the novely has worn off. We predict this show's popularity will wane in the next year, and we want to be among the first to tune out.