Kibble Dept. (The Twitter-verse?)

—And Now, The Crop of TV Shows...

TV's Improved State

Tellyzine: a type of journal that talks loosely about some TV shows, yet, having no tight format...This section looks like the mouth that opens wide with criticism, yells, laughs, smiles, then closes again. Sleeps. Then wakes up, opens again...

There is one measurement of how good a Telly Vision show is: the length of time before your thumb actuates the remote, making show #1 go bye-bye, and bring in show #2. And if #2 isn't strong enough to pull you in then the process is repeated—how long you stay on any one show is effectively its score. If you stay through the whole show, then wow! That show must've been great! Or else your brain is fried, and you don't care what you're watching. In that case? Pop that control again! A couple of shows that've stalled me for a few moments, among others, are Burn Notice and House.

I've noticed that some of the better shows have a couple things in common—one is good schlap-schtick and the other is tension. Time once again to put my pen and knife in and trim the old bits...

The Old Stalwarts

We all need those old stalwarts--as per History channel, discovery channel, and A&E. Who's going to be the next Late-Nite stalwart?

And Then (Then) There Was Madmen

Yes, I've seen the show on and off for about a year or so, and no, I'm not crazy about it just like most other folks. Except the critics. It's critically aclaimed! It's critically aclaimed!

New Leaf (Pssst!! --> Commercials!)

Yes, it's finally happened. I've turned over a new one. Leaf, that is. And what is the nature of this (ahem...) leaf? Glad you asked! It is none other than—(get this!)—commercials! That's right! I've reached a new, all time low!! TV commercials!

And to knock this off, let's ponder the nature of two gems: the 'Progressive' insurance, and the 'Geico' insurance commercials. They're both based on/in imagery? Yes? And the creators of both of these 'presentations' ought to be dragged outside and horse-whipped. Especially those creators working for Geico. The whores! They've abandoned those poor cavemen in favor of a shiny green lizard! The mashers! Some sharphead lawyer out there should consider a class-action suit against Geico for caveman discrimination. Enough said? Well then. So—until next time—we'll see you back in this, the ongoing commercial of life—same time, same station!

Burn Notice—It's Back! Again.

Yes, that old spy stalwart, Burn Notice, is freshly re-started. I can smell it in the summer breeze—it's just so much fun for all  we penny-tossing spy-crafters at the wishing well of spy-dom. Mr. Weston—we encourage you! Go get 'em!

No Reservations

My name is Joe Schmoe, and I'm a No Reservations-a-holic. That's right—I'm stuck on that ever-so-watchable Travel Channel cook-fest, hosted by Master Anthony Bourdain, boss of the baddies. I can't help myself. It just may be in the genes...but no, it doesn't matter! It's my fault! I take full responsibility for being hooked on this totally un-boring montage of food-fest-goodness...

Re-Runs Of House. (Again)

So I'm stuck with reepeets. But oddly enough, most of the House repeaters are good enough that once I surf into 'House territory', I'm too fascinated (or lazy?) to move on to another channel.

Don't know what it is, exactly—vestments of scenes that stick in the mind like barbs. Such as: when House steps out of the shower after dropping acid, or, when Cameron with the gap in her teeth tries to beguile House by laying a liplock on him, or when Forman is again left standing in astonishment by one of House's oddments, or...

Pure comic release. Or is that relief?

Burn Notice

I can't remember exactly the first time I saw Burn Notice, but it's an enjoyable show. It's a 'half and half' show of bullet-flying chuckles and cigarette-smoking mom's apple pie. Jeffrey Donovan is the spy who got burned and one of his co-stars is Bruce Campbell, formally of 'Brisco County Jr'. fame—remember that one? That was back in the day, huh.

I’ve been waiting for new episodes of Burn Notice to show up, and it’s high time!

Sure, if you’re a genuine spy then all this stuff is old hat. But for wanabees like me, it’s a big deal. There are plenty of nifty things to know—like how to disarm someone or, how many places around the house can you stash your 19 pistols, or how do you set up a surveillance with your cell phone—these are some of the things that matter in spy-craft. The good news? You can eat your chips and have all that good spycraft delivered right to your couch...

Psych--

I wish I had more time to watch this show, but its gravitational field isn't quite strong enough to hold me. Not that I don't like it—I do. It's just that this pleasant little collection of schtick, for me, can't hold its own against a newer episode of History Detectives, or FrontLine, or House, or one of the other heavy-weights. For me, even a new Law and Order (defunct, sadly) episode would win out for that matter.

The aspect that I do enjoy is that Psych seems to poke fun at those very real psychos--excuse me, I mean psychics that live and work in some of our very own backyard police departments.

I remember enjoying an episode of NCIS. I liked it, if for anything else, because of the sci-fi image of Abby the lab technician, played by Pauley Perrete. She's the candy-striper with the dark hair, the fire engine lipstick, and the pigtails that compete with that fetching miniskirt.

The structure of NCIS has the action going on in two different, yet complimentary worlds (reminds me a little of Law and Order). There's the investigative side of examining the body, then the gum-shoe aspect.

While Abby and Duckey (played by David McCallum—remember him?) are peering through microscopes, the other bunch of crime-fighting-keystone kops are solving our crime for us. And jostling in this crime-fighting arena are top dog Gibbs, (Mark Harmon), mascot special agent Dinozzo (Michael Weatherly), and the new Ziba (or is that Ziva?). These are the comic cut-ups that make for a knee-slapping good time.

...that reminds me: I'll have to do an opinion piece on what would happen if you put Abby the technician and Dr. House in the same room together...we just might have another new TV sit-com...just a thought...

House

I like house. Or is it House. There is one thing rather disconcerting thing, though, and that is the hospital/death/disease aspect of the show--I know it affects some people more than others-some have a higher tolerance for gut shots, blood and all--as I get older, I seem to have a little less tolerance for the occasional spewing of blood and chunks.

Dr. House knows how to troubleshoot an ailment; perhaps more importantly for the show, House knows how to get his team going off in different directions, all the time working  toward a common goal--smiting ailment into oblivion--most of the time. House knows how to motivate; he simply uses his status as a raving jerk to push his people away from him and towards a correct prognosis.

House has to be the darling of all skeptics down through the ages. There is surely a list of societal anchors that most of us believe in; the good Dr. House simply does not fly with any of these high ideals. Or he says he doesn't. Such things as happiness, or kindness, or God, or all te other similar 'fuzzy' nice things. Ah, Dr. House, you're such a bad boy! My prognosis: One and a half thumbs up.

The Cleaner

I liked The Cleaner. A worthy show cancelled. It didn't have the degree of white-hot action that some shows did but it did have that high-stakes feel to it, because beating an addiction is slow agony and to loose the fight means a soul-stealing miserable death. Wish I could say more about this one.

My Name Is Earl

That was a good one, while it lasted. One of the episodes I thought was a stinker, though.

Raising The Bar 

Frankly, Raising the Bar is not one of the 'Improved' TV shows I had in mind. Let's say the bar did not go high enough to fulfill my expectations when I watched it. I mean, Stephen Bochco is capable of better than this.

I think maybe Mr. Bochco is running short of cash and he's accepted big bucks for a show that he knows is a stinker. I am not impressed with Raising the Bar: neither the hashed out yuppie dialogue, nor the worn out storylines.

According to the show's premise, Our young-hot-shot lawyer, fights-injustice, and is full of angst about the inevitable injustice perpetrated against his client! Of course his client oft-times has to be a minority. Of course. In the episode I watched, his client was Black, and--you guessed it---presumed guilty by the conservatives exactly because he was black. Much of that was undoubtedly true twenty years ago. Today it's a figment in the rhelms of Liberal-hood. It's a stretch to believe a judge could be stupid enough to convict a Black man before the trial even ended--unless of course, the judge is one of those morons so out of touch that it insults your, and my, intelligence.

Did I mention that our young hero lawyer is so full of angst that there are deep wells of un-plumbed truths about his clients? He raises his head high and he screams,

"Stop the madness! You cheaters! You unjust people! You!You! You!"

Of course, our young lawyer can handle it. He has the hippy-long hair, he has the suits that fit and the coat is unbuttoned and he's hip--yeah! Heh, he's got to be cool. Soooo cool! You down with that! I said, are you down with that! There mo-fo. You better be down with that!

Probably smokes some good dope, yeah! That's right--the good stuff! Yeah, Mo-Fo! Party on, dudes!

A renaissance man for all TV seasons! I weep.

This of course is the fantasy aspect of modern TV: the protagonist is someone that you the viewer (a percentage of you), find yourself drawn into. And the TV bosses know how to dish it out. You bet on the number of people pulled in by some particular persona. This is the show's fantasy appeal rating.

In the real world, most everybody who ends up in court is guilty. But the problem is that guilt is not an exact go, no-go science. As far as penalties and punishment go, the penalty phase of a trial should be based on degree of guilt. But how far does that go?. Only God himself really knows the true degree of someones guilt--not some idiot judge or hypocritical, lying lawyer—hell, not even the television producer knows that! (Yuk, yuk).

Even real defendants are usually too dishonest with themselves to know the degree of their own guilt. So, to some degree our judicial system is fouled. There aren't many Solomons around to decide cases.

One to start with is Saving Grace. To my mind this is a higher quality show. I admire elements of Saving Grace, but by and large I don’t like the show. This contradiction is matched one for one: I admire the artistic random mood-twists that fill in the plot; I don’t care for the unrealistic character of Holly Hunter, the bull-riding, hard-chargin’, in-your-face police detective, the cop with the smart smirk, the grin she carries like the spare 32 strapped to her ankle. 

Holly’s got a gallon of testosterone whipsawing around in those ice-cool veins and she’s got the big-city brains to get the job done. You better stay out of her way, pal!

Thing is, she’s so petite! If some really bad dude were to get his hands on those small bones, then strong she as she might be, she would get her arms and legs pulled out by the roots. It’s a damn bad world out there in some places.

So Saving Grace is an unrealistic fantasy. Yet in the knowing of this I still feel drawn in somehow. There are gritty parts to the show, and interestingly this contrasts to the resident angel. But that angel seems to be a little on the gritty side himself. An interesting counterpoint, don't you think...so many things going on at once-I like watching this show even though...

I don’t know-there's something, somewhere off in the periphery of my vision...I'm not sure what it is. Just might be my angel.

The Closer

A note about The Closer. If you watch this at all, you know that the lovely, the talented, the wacky Kyra Sedgwick headlines the roll of a wacky genius deputy inspector in Los Angeles. Not wild and crazy mind you, just-well-I'm not sure, actually...

She seems somewhat absent-minded. Silly—but not too sassy: feminine—but not super feminine. She runs the LA murder task force and she solves those murders by dang!

Well! I'll nevuh leeeve a case unsolved agyaaain. Sigh sigh...

Well shuck my grits! The inconsistency of all this seems to draw me in. As if all the all the depressing things such as crimes and murders and serial killers and maniacs—none of this matters 'cause little ole Miss chief detective is on it!