GOOD GIRLS REVOLT Or Revolting?

Article first published as GOOD GIRLS REVOLT Review on Seat42F.

Amazon has a new period drama called GOOD GIRLS REVOLT, which premieres this week. Set in the late 1960s, it’s a drama about the employees of a newsroom for a magazine (similar to Newsweek) called News of the World. Specifically, the characters at the center are women ‘researchers’ who essentially do all the work of writing the articles, but get none of the credit because of the sexism of the time. Now, they’re ready to fight for their rights and recognition.

GOOD GIRVLS REVOLT is confusing because it’s got a lot of real elements, but is not actually a true story. For instance, the events mentioned that are reported on more or less actually happened. Several characters, including Eleanor Holmes Norton (Joy Bryant, Parenthood) and Nora Ephron (Grace Gummer, Mr. Robot, The Newsroom), are real people. Yet, what they are doing isn’t true to life. Ephron did work for Newsweek, but at a different time, and for a longer period than what the show portrays.

Because of the real names and events, viewers are likely to be tricked into thinking this is a true story. I feel like that’s kind of dangerous. It’s absolutely fair to take a little creative license when portraying historical happenings, but GOOD GIRLS REVOLT isn’t doing that. Instead, it’s misleading to lend itself unnecessary and unwarranted authenticity. This is purely personal opinion, but I don’t approve of that sort of element at all.

Taken on its own, I did enjoy the pilot of GOOD GIRLS REVOLT, before I looked into how accurate it was. It’s very easy to get behind two of the three main women, Patti (Genevieve Angelson, Backstrom) and Cindy (Erin Darke, Love & Mercy), and root for them to succeed. It’s also a timely tale as the first female candidate of a major political party runs for office in a race beseeched by sexism, so it seems important to bring these things up.

However, the show is also pretty predictable and one-dimensional. The costumes and music are almost a bit too over the top, and the drug use and penis sculptures just make it seem ridiculous. Could people have acted like this? Perhaps. Did they? Probably not to this extent. This is more a vision of what modern viewers think the 1960s was like, taken in a cartoonish fashion. Even Patti, Cindy, Nora, and Eleanor are more archetypes than complex characters.

The one player that gets a bit of depth, Jane (Anna Camp, The Good Wife, Pitch Perfect), is not likeable. I’m not complaining about the actress; I’ve enjoyed Camp very much in several other projects. But instead of letting us see the internal struggle she is going through, wanting to hold onto the achievements she has made and afraid of rocking the boat, it’s actually surprising when Jane does the right thing in episode one because she’s shown to be such a cold person prior to this. We don’t get any insight into why she makes that decision.

There are men in the show, too, specifically, Chris Diamantopoulos (Silicon Valley), Hunter Parrish (Weeds), and Jim Belushi (According to Jim). They fare no better than the women, coming across as entitled bullies who may like girls that know their place, but certainly aren’t going to join the cause of gender equality. They aren’t outright villains, but are (mostly) quietly prejudiced. They are simply the obstacles in the way that must be toppled.

I do kind of want to see where GOOD GIRLS REVOLT is going. I like enough of the elements to be curious about episode two. Yet, that’s more because of a fascination with an era and the positive feelings I get from watching women kick butt than the show’s own merits enticing me.

GOOD GIRLS REVOLT season one will be released on Amazon this Friday.

BACKSTROM Has a "Dragon" On Its Back

Article first published as BACKSTROM Review on Seat42F.

FOX’s new series BACKSTROM is from the mind of Hart Hanson, creator of Bones and The Finder. Even if you did not know this going into the pilot, “Dragon Slayer,” it would be easy to see the similarities to those other shows because of a near-copy of tone and format. As a fan of Hanson, I’m interested to watch BACKSTROM. But as someone completely burned out with the formulaic police procedural, I’m sad he didn’t expand his premise a bit more from the beaten path.

Rainn Wilson (The Office) stars as Everett Backstrom, a colorful man in the vein of The Finder’s Walter Sherman. Rather than withdraw from society, though, Backstrom lives right in the middle of things, unfeeling towards those he offends. His attitude gets him demoted to traffic duty for five years, but as BACKSTROM begins, he is back in a position he likes, serving in Portland’s newly created Special Crimes Unit.

Backstrom is surrounded by a team of very capable professionals. There’s veteran detective John Almond (Dennis Haysbert, 24, The United), fresh-faced and eager Nicole Gravely (Genevieve Angelson, House of Lies), button-pushing consultant Peter Niedermayer (Kristoffer Polaha, Life Unexpected, Ringer), and muscle Frank Moto (Page Kennedy, Blue Mountain State, Weeds). Along with the attractive French civilian support officer, Nadia Paquet (Beatrice Rosen, Cuts, The Dark Knight), whom Backstrom “befriends” under his doctor’s (Rizwan Manji, Outsourced, The Wolf of Wall Street) orders, they make up his Bones-esque ensemble of colorful supporting players.

The reason I still watch Bones (though I’m quite behind on it) is because, despite how predictable and repetitive it is, there’s a very entertaining group who get excellent lines and entertaining subplots on a regular basis. BACKSTROM has a similar cast, many familiar faces oozing with talent and humor. The question is, how much of each hour will be spent on the boring old plot-of-the-week and how much will be fun? The balance is incredibly important to make the series worth watching, though it would certainly behoove Hanson to ditch the weekly-solve format as soon as possible, unlikely as it may seem that he would do so.

Because every modern cop drama must include the lead’s family, and Backstrom is not the type to have family and friends around (though we do get a forced-in story about his abusive father in “Dragon Slayer” to further shape the character), Backstrom regularly interacts with Valentine (Thomas Dekker, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles). Valentine operates in the illegal underworld, son of a stripper, a transvestite in his own right. It takes a very strong personality to compete with Backstrom, and Valentine fits the bill. Plus, going by looks alone, I suspect he may secretly be Backstrom’s son, though one or both might not know it yet.

I probably don’t need to tell you about the main plot of “Dragon Slayer,” though doing so won’t spoil it for you. A body is discovered in an apparent suicide case, which is quickly ruled a homicide. The person you first suspect isn’t guilty, and through a serious of brilliant leaps by our above-average investigators, Backstrom is able to personally collar the culprit. This will likely be repeated in most episodes.

Overall, I like BACKSTROM; I really do. It has a terrific cast and is written by the man I believe is the current master of the genre. No one makes this type of show better than Hanson. But after a decade of watching his material, and seeing much of the same on the broadcast networks (most of which I don’t watch), I may finally be reaching my fill of it, as I noticed my attention drifting several times in the first episode alone. I’m hopeful the era of this type of show is near the end, ratings to the contrary, and the program can spin itself off into something better. Otherwise, BACKSTROM is yet another entry in an over- crowded field that feels wholly unoriginal.

BACKSTROM premieres Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.

HOUSE OF LIES Begins to Emerge From the "Wreckage"

Article first published as HOUSE OF LIES Begins to Emerge From the "Wreckage" on TheTVKing.

Showtime's House of Lies premiere had a lot to address. When season two closed last year, The Pod had split apart, with the characters all on the outs with one another. Now, as some time has passed, the episode must catch up with each of the four, and give them all arcs to start things out on.

I love that "Wreckage," the first episode back, doesn't restore the status quo. It would be inauthentic for The Pod to easily come back together, either at their old firm or at Marty's (Don Cheadle) new one, though other shows do it all the time. Instead, this week shows where each of the individuals have ended up, and how unhappy they are with the situation, missing their former colleagues. Which means they probably will reunite, just not in episode one.

At least Marty's home life is going well so he's not fighting a battle on both fronts. A sweet scene between Marty, his son, Roscoe (Donis Leonard Jr.), and his father, Jeremiah (Glynn Turman), seems light and fun, especially compared to the rest of the half hour. Surely Marty can find some comfort in that.

Marty may just be the most miserable of the quartet. It's hard to tell because he's so good at hiding his feelings. On a trip to China to woo the head of a mid-size company (Daniel Stern, Home Alone), something that would have been beneath Marty at his height, he seems quite unimpressed with his new team (Ryan Gaul, Rob Gleeson, and Genevieve Angelson). But he's also resigned to them. This Marty is not too proud to claw his way back up to the top, even as he's definitely nowhere near that point at the start. He's broken, but not defeated.

Marty later tries to change his circumstance by forming an alliance with Jeannie (Kristen Bell). This could be good for business, two competitors working the competing companies they represent together, pushing both for more. However, in this instance, it seems more that Marty just wants to be with Jeannie. Otherwise, why not go for the bigger fish himself? At least Jeannie seems amenable, which means Marty didn't completely burn the bridge with her.

The relationship between Marty and Jeannie is key to House of Lies. Sure, the chemistry of the foursome is important, but these two share something more than that. They are the emotion-laden island in the middle of all the craziness. They have feelings for one another that may or may not turn into something real (my guess is they will), and Marty cares about her as so much more than the job she does, which is less obvious in how he treats the guys. Plus, if Marty can win Jeannie back to The Pod, the other two will follow easily enough, whether he wants them to or not.

Jeannie isn't in a bad place, professionally, but she doesn't seem happy. Working at her old job, leading a pod consisting of Doug (Josh Lawson) and some newbies (Brad Schmidt and Lauren Lapkus), she comes across as numb and disinterested. All three of these people are pretty annoying, Doug constantly talking about their glory days, and that could be what is bringing Jeannie down. But Doug was always annoying before, so it's more likely what she doesn't have that's affecting her, rather than what she does have.

I said before that Marty has it worse than anyone else, but it's possible that Clyde (Ben Schwartz) might edge him out. Working for Monica (Dawn Olivieri) turns out to be the hilarious hell viewers might have expected, and her management style sabotages any alliances Clyde might form with his new co-workers (Eugene Cordero and Milana Vayntrub). I think Clyde realizes this is an untenable position that he can't stay in, and will likely be the first of the main players to try to make a switch.

Clyde has always seemed cooler than cool, like nothing can upset him. Even as we realize that's an act, one must respect the way he plays the game, something that should serve him well. Seeing the frustration and disbelief on his face in "Wreckage" proves there are situations that can tip Clyde's balance, and there's new material for the talented Schwartz to chew in this premiere, which is welcome.

Nearly all of these new characters mentioned above have familiar faces, but likely no name recognition. Some of them were in House of Lies Live, and it's good to see them again. Others have been working the comedy scene, occasionally popping up in sitcoms. It's excellent that House of Lies gives this class of people work because they are often under-utlized on TV, and I think "Wreckage" proves there is fresh talent out there.

I don't know that any of them will prove lasting on this series, though. Any one of them could, but by necessity, the three pods as they exist now cannot last. And serving another seven new characters just isn't tenable. So sadly their presence will be short-lived, but at least they are all, across the board, making the best use of the time they have.

House of Lies has set up an interesting third year. Catch it Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime, and if you missed the first episode, it's currently streaming free on Showtime's website.