The 2003-2004 Television Season Recap
by Jon
D. Bohland
1 June 2004
And
so it ends. Another full television season has come and gone, leaving us to
ponder a whole year’s worth of disparate offerings.
Sadly, the trend towards more and more reality television continued
somewhat unabated, meaning that the some of the most demeaning and utterly
disgusting shows in the history of television made their way to our living
room this year (I offer you Exhibits A & B The
Swan and The Simple Life). Look, I admit it, I’m a reality TV snob-I think
most of it is utterly contemptible and hopelessly formulaic. It hurts me deeply
that every year wonderfully creative shows get taken off the air in favor
of cheaper reality programming. Must we continue to create vehicles that give
D-list celebs like Lorenzo Lamas a platform to remain
in the public eye? What about the mean
spirited and racist nature of most of these shows as well? William
Huang, anyone? Apart from the always interesting PBS reality “House”
offerings, I’m just not too impressed by what it out there reality-show wise.
I
am glad to see that there appears to be some serious Trading
Spaces and Queer Eye burnout
within American popular culture. When will the programming execs learn that
more exposure is not always better when it comes to television programming?
Bravo basically turned into the Queer
Eye network for a while and pretty much turned me against a relatively
decent show. Same thing for TLC and its over-reliance on Trading
Spaces and all of its knock-offs. Does anyone
else find Paige Davis, the host of Trading
Spaces, to be the most annoying person on television (apart from Ryan
Secrest)? I’m convinced she’s part demon but that might just
be the Buffy addict in me talking.
Finally,
there was a whole host of nauseating nationalistic programming this year b/c
of the Iraqi War. How about that NBC Jessica Lynch movie? A hearty kudos goes
out to the rare shows that actually went against the grain and critiqued the
foreign policy decisions of the Bush Administration.
In that spirit, let’s celebrate the hidden gems of television from
the last year, those few programs that were actually worth a watch or two. Feel free to agree or disagree as you see fit…..
Angel (The WB)-If you know me at all, you know that this
show was a given as an inclusion on this list. I’m still in mourning (seriously)
following the cancellation of this show after five great years but at least
they went out on a high. If you haven’t caught gotten the Buffy/Angel bug
yet, I’m telling you that you are missing out big time. This season brought
a great episode involving evil sock puppets (might have been one of the more
amusing things I saw on TV all year), lots of great quotes from Spike (the
punk rock vamp), incredible ensemble work from all the underrated actors on
the show (especially Amy Acker-her transformation from Fred to Illyria
highlighted just how talented an actor she is), and the usual Joss Whedon “where the hell is this going?” storytelling. Thank
God for the re-runs of Buffy on
F/X (4 and 5pm every weekday) and Angel
on TNT (
The Office (BBC America)-I recently heard an interview on NPR’s
Fresh Air with Ricky Gervais that captured just how brilliantly funny and twisted
this man really is. This show is both a devastating critique of corporate
middle-management jobs and a portrait of some of the most pathetic characters
you’ll ever see on television. Gervais’
David Brent fashions himself quite the comedian and his tendency to say the
exact wrong thing at the wrong time drives the show. The series of episodes
where he becomes a motivational speaker…..it does not get any better than
that on television. I also know this guy that looks just like Gareth. Thank
God for him (and me) that he does not act like him. Any bets on how bad the
The O.C. (Fox)-There are so many things that I love about
this show. The Bob Seger references, Seth’s witty
and nervous ramblings, Marisa’s drinking and her drama-queenish
behavior, the Seth/Summer/Anna love triangle, the constant fights Ryan gets
into, the Luke/Marisa’s mom affair, Peter Gallagher’s eyebrows…..I could go
on and on. Like 90210 a decade ago,
I suspect this will be the show that launches about ten other “clones” attempting
to cash in on what the youth are watching.
I went to a dinner party over X-Mas and found
myself chatting with a 16 year old girl about how great this show was. I think
she thought Ryan was pretty hot (he is, though he did go to U Va., which is
an obvious strike against him). This is the show can truly unite the world
and bring about global peace.
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)-A good string of episodes for the fourth season
of this great show. Cheryl Hines is so good on this show that you do find
yourself thinking that this woman just has to actually be married to Larry
David. Nice turns by David Schwimmer, Mel Brooks,
and Ben Stiller this season as well. I loved the episode where Larry and Cheryl
try to pass as Republicans in order to get into a new WASP-ish
country club. And nobody (even anyone on The
Sopranos) on television swears as well as Jeff’s wife Susie on the show…”Jeff,
you fat F^CK!!!” is indeed a great catch phrase to be remembered by.
The Sopranos
(HBO)-Nice rebound season for this show (I thought
Season Four was a bit uneven), though the dream sequence episode from
this year was one of the worst episodes this show has ever produced. I’m still not sure if I like how David Chase
tends to leave certain plot developments hanging (such as the oral sex
episode involving Meadow’s new beau) but he certainly knows how to surprise
you and make you both love and loathe Tony and his crew. Steve Buscemi’s character
has added a lot to the cast and Adriana finally met her maker in the second
to last episode. Looking forward
to seeing how the whole turf war b/w Tony and Johnny Sacks plays out in
the season finale.
The Wire (HBO)-Folks, this is the best show on HBO, period.
The grittiest cop show ever devised, this show refuses to take the easy route
and relies on characters that straddle the line between good and bad. The move to the
Chappelle’s Show (Comedy Central)-I must admit I did not catch onto this show until this
season (its second). Man, this show
has to be the raunchiest, most risk-taking show on television these days.
Dave Chappelle is a comic genius and I think Charlie Murphy might
actually be the real talent in the Murphy family after all. Sketch comedy does not come any funnier than
this-highlights from the season include the Rick James episode, Wayne Brady
coming on to parody himself, and the “Racial Draft” in which the African-American
community traded Condy Rice and Colin Powell to
the White community in exchange for Tiger Woods. I heard from my mate Mike Allison recently that
this show may not have another season in it-this would truly be a crying shame.
The Daily Show
(Comedy Central)-One of the promos for this show makes
fun of the fact that Americans might actually get their news from this show.
I actually wish more folks would tune in here rather than Fox News….
Jon Stewart…I’ve loved that cat for nearly ten years now. The war in
Monk (
Law and Order: Criminal Intent
(NBC)-This is the only one of the L&O franchise
that continues to produce some interesting episodes. I like this show for nothing else but for the
fact that Vincent D’Onofrio has always been a favorite
of mine. He totally hams it up in this role, playing the Sherlock Holmes-esque
cop that seems to know something about everything in the bloody world.
My friend does a great impression of this character as well-it involves
a lot of head tilting and holding the chin, making ridiculous statements concerning
dead bodies. Okay, so it does not come
through as well in text as it does when he performs it.
The Simpsons (Fox)-Does The
Simpsons still produce quality comedy and satire
week in and week out? No…but it still hits more often than it misses and is
still better than the vast majority of drivel available on television these
days. The recent episode skewering American jingoism and hyper-patriotism
was brilliant television. I always
enjoying the episodes that feature historical figures (Homer as Henry XIII
was excellent indeed) and they also managed to bust on George Lucas in Episode
15-15. Long live this show, truly an American classic.
Colonial House and Manor House (PBS)-The only reality shows worth watching in my
book are the House offerings from PBS. Manor House featured servants becoming
Marxist sympathizers by the end of the show and a “lord of the manor” that
took his job to heart just a bit too much.
Loved the episode when the disgruntled chef serves the family the head
of a pig for dinner after they bitched about how the servants were not being
“authentic” enough. The recently concluded
Colonial House was not as good but
did offer another family to hate instantly-the Governor’s ultra Baptist family
from
P.O.V. (PBS)-This show has surpassed Frontline for me as the most interesting thing in PBS these days.
Lots of amazing documentaries and independent films can be found on
this series. Last summer brought some
amazing episodes such as Flag Wars, a great documentary on gentrification; State of
Scrubs (NBC)-A very funny half-hour that does not take itself
too seriously. Zach Braff has become one of my favorite
young actors (his new film Garden State
is meant to be quite good as well) and I’ve liked Donald Faison since I first
saw him in Clueless. This season included great turns from Brendan
Fraser, Michael J. Fox, and (believe it or not) Tara Reid. Reid played a drunken, party girl that gets
hooked up with J.D. That must not have stretched her acting chops too much.
I also enjoyed the appearance of the actor that played the Soup Nazi
as well…this is just a solid show that never disappoints.
Other
Quick Mentions Worth Noting:
Bands Reunited (VH1)-Loved the
Anything
on Fox Sports World-This is the network for
the oppressed American soccer fan. This channel is chock full of international
sports and English Premiership soccer, making it instantly a favorite in the
Bohland household. It is most certainly the best network to drink a pint to
while watching, preferably strong British ales.
I also learned recently that darts competitions can make compelling
television, especially when all the competitors have nicknames like “The Limestone
Cowboy” and Phil “The Power” Taylor.
Insomniac
(Comedy Central)-This show helped me locate a couple
of cool bars in
Conan (NBC and Comedy Central)-Conan is just plain silly
and I love him for it. Whenever Robert Smigel is
involved, this show becomes even funnier. I loved the fake
College Gameday (ESPN)-If you like college football like I do, you
just have to watch this show on Saturday mornings during the fall. These guys
are like rock stars when they travel to campuses for on-site broadcasts. They
came to
Playmakers (ESPN)-This show was just plain sleazy fun. The NFL
actually bullied ESPN into not filming a second season b/c they felt it gave
pro football a “bad rap”. I guess off
the field incidents of murder, rape, and spousal abuse did not do that already.
Prime Suspect 6 (PBS)-Did I mention my love of murder mysteries?
This series is tops in that category.
Good suspenseful stuff from Tenneyson and the police crew as ever, as the story revolves
around conflicted memories of the Balkan Civil War. Saw it as part of the always interesting Mystery! to be
found Sunday evenings on PBS.
James Bond Marathons (Spike)-Are you a Connery or a
Good Eats (Food Network)-This show should be called “The Anal
Chef”. Alton Brown seriously makes
me nervous about cooking. “If you don’t soak your eggplant for three hours
before frying, it will taste like cardboard…” I do dig the cooking themed
science lessons on this show, though.
Boy Meets Grill (Food Network)-Bobby Flay is my favorite celebrity
chef-he actually makes things with ingredients that one can find at the local
grocery store and usually ends up drinking heavily by the end of his episodes.
I appreciate that.
Oliver Beene (Fox)-Am I the only person on earth that finds this
show worth watching? I know it is a rip off of both Malcolm in the Middle (a once great show that has lost its way) and
The Wonder Years but I find it oddly
compelling nonetheless.
Caveats-I don’t watch Alias
(ABC), the Gilmore Girls (The WB),
or The L Word (Showtime), though
I concede these are all critically acclaimed shows and probably are worth
watching. I just never got into them for one reason or another, usually due
to the fact that I don’t have the channels or they are on the same night and
time as something else I watch. Someone else would certainly be better equipped
to comment on their relative merits for this past season.
That’s
it, though I am likely leaving something out that I shouldn’t have. Anytime you want to talk a bit of television,
just let me know. And, just for the record, Saved
By the Bell reruns are still on TBS at
Ciao,
Jon D. Bohland [jdbohland (at) yahoo.com]
Coach Potato Extraordinaire
Roanoke,VA
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