Fargo Year Two

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: 'Fargo Year Two' on Blogcritics.

Last year, FX’s Fargo was a standout in a great year of television. With its Minnesota accents, oodles of charm, stellar cast and guest stars, and hilarious mayhem, it provided a unique, high-quality viewing experience. It was so good, I wondered if they could possibly recapture that same magic in the second go-round, since it’s an anthology series that isn’t reusing the same cast members. Thankfully, recapture it, they did, and the second season, which only recently concluded its ten-episode run, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.

For season two, the action moves to 1979. It is still in the same part of the country, and has much of the same tone, but now has a period component added in. The music, the cars, the fashion, even Ronald Reagan (Bruce Campbell, Burn Notice), help sell that image. As such, it takes the specific spirit of season one and ups the weirdness even more, with great results.

In order to reach out to existing fans, Fargo Year Two does have two characters that connect it to the freshman run, and covers a case referenced in the premiere outing. Lou Solverson is the detective on the case. Played by Patrick Wilson (Watchmen) now, he is more than two decades younger than Keith Carradine’s version of the character. (There’s a bonus feature on the disc in which Wilson and Carradine discuss the shared role, and it’s a very welcome way to bring the stories together.) Lou’s daughter, Molly, the hero of last year, is five years old in this season. She doesn’t get involved much, but it’s still gratifying to see her.

Lou is going through a tough time when this season begins. His wife, Betsy (Cristin Milioti, How I Met Your Mother), is sick and, going by what we learned last year, doesn’t have a lot of time left. Thankfully, he has a good father-in-law, Hank (Ted Danson, Bored to Death, Damages), also in law enforcement, to help him out. This trio is by and large my favorite part of this run.

Once more, Fargo also has an average, quirky citizen mixed up in murder. This time, it’s Peggy Blumquist (Kirsten Dunst, Spider-Man), a hoarder, klepto housewife, and unlike last year’s Lester, her spouse, Ed (Jesse Plemons, Breaking Bad), is not the victim. Peggy doesn’t mean to do wrong, but she’s scared when events occur outside of her control. While she doesn’t handle them as well as we’d like to think most people would, it’s hard to hate her.

What’s interesting about what happens with Peggy in the first installment, which I don’t want to give away, is that it ties into a familiar urban legend. Fargo bills itself as a ‘true crime’ story, with words on the screen at the beginning of each episode proclaiming that what you’re viewing actually happened. It didn’t; that’s part of the conceit of the show, that it’s done in the style, but is not actually real, so those words are a lie. However, tying in something that lots of people think happened will only reinforce the believability of the premise.

For villains, there’s an entire mob family led by Otto Gerhardt (Michael Hogan, Battlestar Galactica). Otto has a wife, Floyd (Jean Smart, 24), three sons, Dodd (Jeffrey Donovan, Burn Notice), Bear (Angus Sampson, Insidious), and Rye (Kieran Culkin, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), and a granddaughter, Simone (Rachel Keller, Hollidaysburg), and they have no small share of foes to compete with, including ones played by Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond), Bokeem Woodbine (Saving Grace), and Zahn McClarnon (Longmire).

The Fargo Year Two release has no shortage of interesting extras, going above and beyond what most shows are doing these days, despite its quick turn-around. I mentioned the Lou featurette already. There’s also a bit on “The Films of Ronald Reagan,” a Skip Sprang TV commercial, a two-part making of, and an extra about true crimes in the Midwest. In all, this is a lot more than the normal deleted scenes and audio commentaries, and all complement the set nicely.

Visually, Fargo is stunning. With lingering shots over desolate landscapes and a design and color palette that enhance the experience, it is worth it to shell out for the high-definition edition.

Fargo Year Two is available now

Who Would Want to Know How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life)?

Article first published as Who Would Want to Know How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life)? on TheTVKing.com

ABC begins a new sitcom late this season as it premieres How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life) this week. Polly (Sarah Chalke, Scrubs) leaves her irresponsible husband, Julian (Jon Dore, The Jon Dore Show), and, with her daughter, Natalie (Rachel Eggleston, Summer Snow), in tow, moves back in with her mother, Elaine (Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds), and step-father, Max (Brad Garrett, Everybody Loves Raymond).

If the premise seems simple enough, it is. There isn't much groundbreaking about the concept, or how the episodes play out. Skipping the first six months of the living arrangement, the series has Polly already adjusted to the situation, and having no intention of leaving her haven. In the first episode, she even uses her reluctant parents as babysitters while she goes on a date, which of course goes wrong, in a skrewball type of way.

This is a little like the beginning of The New Normal, as the main character of that show also flees her joke of a husband, but at least that series has some direction and driven, with the protagonist wanting to better herself. We don't get that much from Polly, who doesn't seem very independent.

Yet, there is a certain level of charm here. Perkins is wonderfully hilarious as the free-spirited mother who never settled down, and she has great chemistry with Garrett, who is sort of the stabilizing factor in the household. Chalke's Polly is also zany, so we can see how her mom has rubbed off on her, but it grounded enough to show Max's influence, too, since he helped raise her. Although it's hard to see how Polly could have turned out as well as she did in the household, it's the dynamic between these three that sell the show. Since they are all very gifted comedic performers, it ends up being pretty funny.

It certainly isn't the situations that provide the draw. Polly works in a grocery store, and her co-workers are interchangeable line-deliverers in the pilot. The date that she goes on in the first half hour is definitely predictable and formulaic. Her ex-husband, who can't stop making up excuses to hang around, is a very rote character, and there doesn't seem to be much reason to include him at this juncture, and certainly not as a main character.

The tone is sort of Better Off Ted-ish, which is kind of a modern style that works when executed well, but the story being as pedestrian as it is stretches one's patience. Because Better Off Ted had a laboratory and goofy experiments, it was brilliant, even if under-watched and short-lived. But the same type of behavior doesn't connect as solidly in a family environment.

Because ABC has launched the series in April, it doesn't bode well for the network's confidence in their offering. And yet, with Chalke, Perkins, and Garrett on board, it definitely deserves to see the light of day, at least for a little bit.

Basically, How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life) is a somewhat entertaining, but not particularly smart show, that could rise above its humble beginnings solely on the shoulders of the terrific trio of actors hired. We'll wait and see if they can salvage things, or if this will quickly be a forgotten footnote.

How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life) airs Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

Glory Daze a Slow Starter

     I just finished watching the pilot of TBS's new series, Glory Daze. It's a period piece about a group of college in freshman in 1986. Think Animal House: The Series and you'll be in the ballpark of what the show is.

     About halfway through the first episode, I was bored, couldn't tell the main characters apart (they all look alike!), and was fighting the urge to turn it off. I was also getting frustrated with TBS for pulling the brilliant My Boys and replacing it with this drivel. Then things turned around, and I actually enjoyed about the last ten minutes. I did not set a season pass on my TiVo, but I did decide to record episode two next week.

     The draw is certainly not the actors. I could list their names, but they're all virtual unknowns, with only a few credits between them, so it wouldn't give the perspective viewer any information. Small parts went to Tim Meadows, Cheri Oteri, and Brad Garrett. They were each funny, but had little time.

     No, the draw is the bond of brotherhood. Having been in a fraternity myself (though I pledged in 2002, not 1986, when I was three), I saw glimpses of bonds that really meant something. Sure, this series's frat in an overblown stereotype. But that might just work for it.

     I guess what I'm most confused about is why this show is trying to be an hour-long drama instead of a sitcom. I can't recommend it, but there was a glimmer of something near the end, so you never know. Glory Daze premieres Tuesday night at 10pm on TBS.

For frequent mini-reviews and occasional tv news, follow Jerome on Twitter.

Article first published as TV Preview: Glory Daze a Slow Starter on Blogcritics.