The United States of Tara is held together by love

     Showtime's United States of Tara ended their second season with "From This Day Forward" this week.  If I can some up the change from season one to two it is this: the second season focused more on Tara (Toni Collette, Little Miss Sunshine)  than her personalities.  This was a good thing.  Season one was lots of fun, watching the crazy woman who could turn into Alice, Buck, T, or even Gimme at any time.  And sure, there was some delving into her past to discover how she got the way she is.  But now the focus is on Tara's growth and acceptance, and why certain personalities are.  Adding Chicken and Shoshanna, two new alters, into the mix, revealed more about the woman than the new characters.  And we got a lot more background on how Tara grew up.

     That wasn't the only thing that was different, though.  Tara's family got much more interesting.  Marshall (Keir Gilchrist) accepted who he was, and figured out just what kind of gay he was going to be.  Max (John Corbett, Sex and the City) cheated on his wife, and had to figure out all over again how he fit in with the alters.  Kate (Brie Larson) had her own awakening, and was once again unlucky in love, despite her sincere efforts and hopes.  And my favorite of the bunch, sister Charmaine (Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married) was left at the altar by her fiance, who just wasn't right for her, allowing her to stop trying to be normal and follow her heart back into the arms of true love and father of her unborn child, Neil (the incredibly talented and sweet Patton Oswalt).  Or so it appeared.

     The season ended with many more questions than it began with.  Who was Tara and Charmaine's half brother?  What exactly did he do to them?  Why is Tara the only one with split personality?  What effect did it have on Charmaine?  It may be too late to get all the answers, with their mother still being defiant, and their father slipping into Alzheimer's.  Will Tara begin getting better as more is revealed, or will she keep splitting into more people?

      One thing was not left up in the air though.  The series is about a devoted family who love each other very much.  Whatever issues they go through, they will support each other, and come through them.  Not in a soap-opera cheesy way, but in an authentic, caring way.  The show is realistic, despite being about an unusual topic, and sheds light on well defined characters, played by an amazing cast.  I look forward to season three next late winter / early spring.

Nurse Jackie falls apart

     Showtime's Nurse Jackie completed it's second season Monday night with "Years of Service", and it certainly shook things up.  Jackie's (the brilliant Edie Falco, The Sopranos) carefully constructed world has come crashing down, and her personal and professional life, kept so stringently separate, are starting to merge.

     The biggest event in the finale was Jackie's husband, Kevin (Dominic Fumusa, As the World Turns), and her best friend, Dr. O'Hara (Eve Best, doing an amazing job), finding out about Jackie's addiction to pain pills.  It started when Kevin discovered that Jackie had taken money from O'Hara, even though she promised him she wouldn't, and through a few simple queries, he found a bill listing many pharmacies.  Kevin then called O'Hara in, though they don't get along.  O'Hara had already discovered Jackie's deception about her back injury, and was suspicious.  Honestly, Kevin is disposable.  Jackie can have Eddie (Paul Schulze) back at any time, and he's a much better fit for her.  The only problem would be their daughters.  However, Jackie cannot loose O'Hara.  Sure, she has other friends, but she and O'Hara just go together so perfectly, it will be devastating if they have a falling out.

      Speaking of Jackie's friends, she has a new one.  She saved Sam's (Arjun Gupta) butt, and he has really grown on me.  Similarly, with Thor's (Stephen Wallem) expanded role this season, he has proved he can hang with the rest of the extremely talented cast.  Zoey (Merritt Wever, Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip) has come into her own, and I very much like her and Lenny (Lenny Jacobson) together, as well as Zoey and O'Hara's budding friendship.  I also have to mention that Dr. Cooper (Peter Facinelli, the Twilight saga), while still and idiot, has grown on me, and I think that Akalitus (Anna Deavere Smith, The West Wing) may be my favorite person on the show.

     Each member of the cast pulls their own, and that's the best part about this show.  It's a medical show that doesn't concern itself with the case of the week.  And there was plenty more left up in the air, such as what will happen to Jackie because she stole drugs from that creepy guy?  Andill she be heading for rehab?  Divorce?  I can't wait for season three, which, according to imdb.com, will be arriving next February.

Pictured Below: Eddie, Zoey, Jackie, O'Hara, Akalitus, Cooper

Justified goes to Bulletville to end season

   Thirteen episodes was not nearly enough for FX's Justified this season.  It just went off the air Tuesday night with the finale episode "Bulletville", an apt name, and I miss it already.  Set in Harlan and Lexington, Kentucky, local for most of you readers if you came across me on the Lexington page.  It's based on the short story "Fire in the Hole" by writer Elmore Leonard (Be Cool, Jackie Brown), who also worked on the series.  It has already been picked up for a second thirteen episode season, but sadly, it will be some time before the next new episodes start airing.

     The show stars the smooth, quietly threatening Timothy Olyphant (Damages, Deadwood) as Deputy Marshall Raylan Givens.  A native of Harlan, Raylan was forced to return there after he killed a drug kingpin in Miami who wouldn't leave town.  It isn't clear on the show, but Harlan is about three hours south of Kentucky.  It doesn't seem that way because characters go back and forth so often.  But that aside, the show is almost flawless.

     The best plots of the season involved three men that were unfortunately not main characters: Raylan's father, Arlo (Raymond J. Barry), a deadbeat that Raylan has little to do with, but who is mixed up with Bo Crowder; Raylan's best friend of a sort, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins, The Shield) who found God after almost being killed by Raylan; and Boyd's father Bo (M.C. Gainey, Lost, Happy Town), the local kingpin who killed Boyd's flock and may have been dead at the end of this season.  If the producers are smart, Bo will survive, and all three will be upgraded next year, because the father / son / friend dynamics are superb.  I wasn't sure if Boyd's transformation was legit until the season finale, but it was played beautifully.

     Of course, there are love interests, too.  Natalie Zea (Dirty Sexy Money, Hung) plays Winona, Raylan's ex, who has now left her husband and hopes to get back with Raylan.  That is complicated by the fact that Raylan has been sleeping with Ava Crowder (Joelle Carter), the widow of Boyd's brother, and a witness in the cast against Boyd.  Their involvement is why Body was released from prison midway through the season, and it's impacted Raylan's personal and professional life.  At this point, I like Raylan with both women, and don't have a preference for who he ends up with.  Both bring different things to the table, and both actresses are as exceptional as the rest of the cast.

     If you missed to first season, be sure to catch the inevitable re-runs before season two.

Glee doesn't win, but still finishes first

     Last night was the first season finale of the Fox hit Glee, "Journey".  With a reality competition to add cast members, and an expanded order of twenty-five episodes for next season, it is likely we will not go so many weeks without Glee next year as we did this year.  It's a risk of overexposure, but I feel that the risk is currently outweighed by the benefits.  The little show that could about the little glee club that could finished strong, despite loosing their Regionals competition to arch-nemesis Vocal Adrenaline.

     The breakout star of the show is a long-time character actress that I have long admired, Jane Lynch.  Her portrayal or villain Sue Sylvester is neither static nor two-dimensional.  She has been given depth, and does cartwheels around it.  Her plot involving her sister and recruiting less than perfect Cheerios set her up for a big redemption last night as she single-handedly saved the group from going under, though she couldn't save them from a big defeat by a biased, stuck up panel.

      I have missed Jayma Mays's Emma Pillsbury this spring, as she took time off to film the new Smurfs movie. However, her screaming match last night in the school office was one of her best moments, and with John Stamos (Full House, ER) set to appear as a recurring character next season as her new dentist boyfriend, she should more than make up for it in the fall.

      Delivering another great guest turn was the legendary Idina Menzel (Rent, Wicked) as Coach Corcoran.  Her heartbreak over the way she handled her daughter, Rachel (Lea Michele) has been notable to watch, and the twist of her adoption last night should set up another return in the future, although the show's producers have promised less stunt guest casting next year, now that the series has been established.

      Each member of the club has had their great moments this season, and I worry that the expanded cast next year will push aside some of my favorites.  Brittany (Heather Morris) and Santana (Naya Rivera) have wormed their evil, psuedo-lesbian ways into our hearts and a full-time contract for next year.  Rachel and Finn (Corey Monteith) seem to have gotten back together.  Kurt (Chris Colfer) has one of the best father-son relationships on television, and will soon be getting a love interest.  As will the fantastic belter, Mercedes (Amber Riley).  Last, but not least, the kids who have changed the most over this year have been Quinn (Dianna Agron) and Puck (Mark Salling).  What started as a standard love triangle has left them as two of the most valuable members of this very talented cast.

      Not to mention the amount of music covered this year, released on three full albums and two half-albums, has been awesome.  Last night's Journey medley was particularly memorable, as was the juxtaposition of Bohemian Rhapsody with Quinn's delivery.

     Glee is off for the summer, but will return to Fox next fall.

The Good Guys is bad a**

    Fox has a new buddy-cop show this summer, called The Good Guys.  Two episodes have already run; the first ran many times over a two week period.  It's odd for a summer series to get so much attention and air time, but this is no ordinary summer series.  In fact, if they just cleaned up the writing a little bit, it could be a good contender at any time of year.  In fact, with twenty episodes now ordered, it will be running in the fall on Friday nights, which could spell doom.  However, it seems it's being given a fair shake, on Monday nights this summer.

     The show is from creator Matt Nix (Burn Notice) and stars two cops.  The new-ish partners are washed up legend Dan Stark (Bradley Whitford, The West Wing), and abrasive, going-nowhere Jack Bailey (Colin Hanks, Roswell).  Though, Dan seems to be anything but ineffective and Jack can solve cases with the best of them.  So how they became the no-go duo is kind of anyone's guess.  In the first two episodes they turned routine cases into big take downs.  For reality's sake, the cases are either going to have to get more minor, or they are going to need to get promoted.  Hopefully it'll be the latter, because what's happening on screen is great fun, the primary component being the wonderful chemistry between the two leads.

     The series also stars the lovely and talented Jenny Wade (Reaper) as Jack's ex, Liz, and the tough and feisty Diana-Maria Riva (Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip) as their boss, Lt. Ruiz.  It's a shame they weren't given a larger group to work with, because I wish Julius (RonReaco Lee, In the Motherhood), their snitch, was sticking around.  He brought much levity to the first two episodes.  But from the cast, to the colorful setting of Dallas, the show has plenty going for it.

     An annoyingly too-often used device in recent television is showing the ending of the episode first.  The Good Guys often does this, but many of the other scenes also air non-chronologically.  It's always done for good reason, and actually adds another fun element, rather than falling into the cliche trap.  I hope they keep it up.

     If you want to watch The Good Guys, and I certainly hope you do, please tune into Fox Monday nights at 9pm.

Neighbors From Hell is hell to watch

     I hate to bash two new TBS show's within one week, especially because with Neighbors From Hell they really seem to be trying something news.  The problem is, it sucks.  I had a hard time getting through the first episode, which premieres tonight at 10pm.  I don't plan on giving it a second try.  None of the jokes landed, the animation was unpleasant, the voices were annoying, and some of the sight gags were pretty sick.

     This disappoints me because this was a show I was looking forward to.  It's got talent behind it, including producers from South Park, one of the best animated shows on television.  The voice cast includes such greats as Kurtwood Smith (That 70's Show), Molly Shannon (Saturday Night Live), and Patton Oswalt (The United States of Tara), although the last is unrecognizable.  Unfortunately, these ingredients do not gel into something watchable.

     The premise is simple enough:  Balthazar (Will Sasso) is sent to earth with his family to stop a drill from boring into hell.  Balthazar was chosen because he watches a lot of television, so it is assumed he will be able to blend in.  Unfortunately for Satan, Balthazar likes humans too much to really hurt them.  One wonders what the charm is, though, when the humans in the show act at least as rude and hate-filled as the demons, often more so.  Are we supposed to be amused that we're stupid and mean?

     If you want to check it out, tune in tonight at 10pm on TBS.

Burn Notice wimpers through season premiere

     USA's Burn Notice is a great show... sometimes.  Last night was the season four premiere, "Friends and Enemies".  When last we saw Michael Weston (Jeffrey Donovan), he had been hauled into a tastefully decorated room, where he had been brought against his will.  Turns out, that room belongs to Vaughn (Robert Wisdom, The Wire, Prison Break), who wants Michael's help to take down some bad guys.  Michael is torn between helping people he hates and fighting the good fight, or staying out of it.  Michael and Vaughn are soon in a jungle being shot at by a predator drone.  All of that was awesome!

     And then Burn Notice went back to it's case of the week format.  I know that there are still plenty of people out there who like formula shows, where they can tune in any episode at random and find a complete story to enjoy.  I dare say most television viewers fall into that category.  Unfortunately, that's today's version of pulp fiction, and it holds back a great show, limiting it to just a good show.

     Sure, the case of the week was interesting enough.  Michael and friends had to call off a biker gang's hit order on a lawyer.  Plenty of fist fights, shoot outs, and explosions made it exciting.  But aside from Michael's brief reunion with Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar), the story failed to highlight the wonderful storytelling that sometimes goes into the show.

     That's not to say that episode was without great moments.  Michael's teary conversation with his mother (Sharon Gless, who has finally become an indispensable part of the cast) at the end has proved that Donovan has grown as an actor, and Michael has grown as a character.  Three years ago, when he was just a burned spy dumped in Miami, he had few personal connections, and cared about no one all that deeply.  Now he balances deep affection for his mother, romance towards Fiona, and a best friend, Sam (Bruce Campbell).

     This season will feature a new character who was only briefly glimpsed last night, but whose name has joined the opening credits as one of the stars.  Jesse (Coby Bell, Third Watch, The Game) is a spy that Michael accidentally burned by stealing information.  Next week, he will attempt to clear Jesse's name.  Something tells me that won't work, since Jesse is slated to join their little crew and shake things up.  It has potential for an exciting, new arc.  However, it will likely only get a few minutes an episode, in between whatever victim Michael helps that week.

     Please Burn Notice stop catering to the mindless viewers just watching for entertainment at the end of a long day and give us some intricate, fascinating story telling.  Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that technique, but there are plenty of other shows that do it, and so few that really stretch their boundaries and show great story telling.  I know you're capable of being one of the latter.  Burn Notice airs Thursday nights at 9pm on USA.

FlashForward fizzles out

     ABC tried a bold experiment this year with FlashForward, a show we were told would be wrapped up in one season, should it be canceled, though I am having trouble locating the interview where that was promised now, and I've wasted too much time already on the show to keep looking.  The season, and series, finale, "Future Shock", did anything but tie it all together.  Part of that could be because it was not known at the time to filming if the show would be coming to an end, or getting another season.  However, since the ratings weren't strong, it should have been assumed.  It would have been easy enough, with a few different scenes at the end, to finish it nicely, but the producers chose not to.  And so anyone that invested twenty-two hours into the show has had their time wasted.

     The entire season was uneven, walking a fine line between cheesy and brilliant, but frequently teetering onto the former side.  The cast was packed with wonderful actors - John Cho, Sonya Walger, Jack Davenport, Dominic Monaghan, Courtney B. Vance, Christine Woods.  It was almost worth watching the whole series to see Battlestar Galactica's James Callis deliver his newest crazy-man, and prove that he has even more range than has been known.  But the writing was frequently weak, and did not do justice to the talent involved.

     The the last episode, for instance.  Much of this season has been about choices, and if fate is more powerful than free will.  So far, every time, free will has won out.  And then, each character, one by one, made it to the place they saw in their vision way back at the beginning of the season.  Sure, there were differences.  Lloyd (Davenport) and Olivia (Walger) didn't sleep together.  Janis (Woods) was pregnant with a boy instead of a girl.  But the basics were all there.  The only one who seemed to have twarted fate, for now anyway, was Demetri (Cho), because he was alive at all.  But in the episodes leading up to the finale, it seems fairly likely that he will soon be shot to death anyway, as fate has a way of catching up.  It's like Final Destination the series.

     The ending of it all was the most disappointing.  First, it was established that December 2016 would be the end of the world.  Did a show that had such a hard time catching on really think it would get more seasons than the far more intelligent Lost that it was trying to replace?  The bad guys who caused the flash forwards were never caught, and so remain at large to stir up more trouble.  In this case, they caused another flash forward to end the series on.  This time, though, it appeared that different people flashed to different times, all between 2010 and 2016.  I say this because I freeze framed through the various images and caught at least three different dates.  What does it all mean?  We'll never know.

     I don't have a problem taking a chance on something complicated and involved.  I loved Lost.  But when the show promises not to leave you hanging if they're canceled, it looks likely they are going to be canceled, and yet, they film a cliffhanger anyway, I am not please.  Sadly, it will make me much less likely to trust ABC on the future.

'The' Special Relationship?

    HBO's newest movie is called The Special Relationship, and revolves around Bill Clinton's second term as president of the United States, and Tony Blair's first term as prime minister or Britain.  I'm not sure why they seemingly had a special relationship, even after viewing the movie.  Their relationship didn't seem particularly more interesting or complicated than plenty of other world leaders'.  But it wasn't a bad movie.

     The beginning flipped quickly past Blair taking advice from the Clinton team on how to win, then concentrated on three meaty segments of their time: the Lewinsky scandal, Kosovo, and the 2000 U.S. presidential election.  Each lasted a certain number of minutes, but the after effects of the main event being focused on were never discussed.  As such, it seemed more a series of vignettes than a cohesive film.  It also was far from balanced, painting Blair as the humble, heroic figure and Clinton as a lying, scheming, manipulator.  Both characterizations are rooted in some truth that happened, but again, this movie did not seem to want to explore complexities.

     The best part of the film was the acting.  Michael Sheen took a third go round as Tony Blair, having previously portrayed him in The Deal and The Queen.  At this point, he's practically become more recognizable to Americans as Blair than Blair himself, and so it's hard to judge his performance as anything but thoroughly realistic.  Helen McCrory was a delight as his wife, Cherie, whom she also played in The Queen, and so the chemistry was already set.  Dennis Quaid came as close to Clinton as any non-comedian I've ever seen.  The only weak link was Hope Davis, usually a wonderful actress, playing Hillary a little softer and weaker than expected.  However, as the Hillary scenes were mostly private moments, it's hard to say it she was being accurate or not.

     I wouldn't discourage anyone from watching the film, but I wouldn't necessarily encourage it either, unless you have an interest in the event covered, as I do.  Sheen made Blair really grow and come into his own over the course of the hour and a half, but other than that, there's not much that stands out.  Not exactly what I've come to expect from HBO, but feel free to make your own judgments.

Is it over yet?

       TBS presents a new sitcom tomorrow night called Are We There Yet?  From producer Ice Cube, who starred in the 2005 movie of the same name, and the 2007 sequel, Are We Done Yet?, it follows the same characters, as I understand it, as a continuation of the movies.  It begins six months after Nick (Terry Crews, Everybody Hates Chris, in the television adaptation) and Suzanne (Essence Atkins, Half and Half) married.  Although the actors are different, Ice Cube does return in a recurring role as Suzanne's creepy, SWAT brother.  The kids in the television show are Coy Stewart and Teala Dunn.  The cast also includes Telma Hopkins (Family Matters) as Nick's mother, Keesha Sharp (Girlfriends) as Suzanne's best friend, and comedian Christian Finnegan as Nick's best friend.

     I can't compare it the movies because I have never seen them, so this review is just based on the two episodes I watched: "The Hyphenated Name", which airs tomorrow night, and "The Michelle Obama Sweater Episode", which is slated for June 23rd.  Those were not the only episodes I received, but the show is just not very good, so I stopped there.  I only watched the second one because of it's interesting title, and because I try not to judge shows based on pilots.  However, I was disappointed that the First Lady was nowhere in sight, nor was the other celebrity that the episode revolved around, ARod.

     The problem here is there is nothing original.  The cast isn't particularly bad, especially not the hilarious Terry Crews, but they struggle with bland writing, and uninteresting plots.  It's not because I'm white; I frequently laughed hard at Everybody Hates Chris, and as this series retained one of the stars and show-runner Ali LeRoi, serving as a producer, I had high hopes.  Besides, this show doesn't come across as belonging to any race.  It's not defined enough for that.  Unfortunately, it just falls short on all levels.  The relationships feel forced and inauthentic.  The jokes fall flat.  It's not the worst show on television, but it makes the low list.

     TBS has ordered ten episodes, with two each presented tomorrow night and next Wednesday, with an option to pick up ninety more.  I sincerely hope they don't exercise that option, because the talent involved can do much better than this, and I'd hate to see them trapped for years on such a lackluster project.