Today's TV Tirade

I've been thinking about some shows recently, and how they've been annoying me. Here's a blog post about that!

A few years back I wrote about the TV show "Jack and Bobby," and how no abortion on a TV show can go unpunished. In summation: Most of the time, to avoid any kind controversy, if a character doesn't want a baby, and is pregnant, the writers will introduce a very convenient miscarriage. As I mentioned in that post, this happens in movies too--and is one reason I didn't think the movie Citizen Ruth was that great; it didn't have the courage of its convictions--but I tend to notice it more on TV.

A few months ago, on "Grey's Anatomy," the character of Cristina Yang got pregnant. She's married, and in a good position to have a kid, but she has never wanted kids, and didn't want this one. Her husband, Owen, knowing that his wife doesn't want to be a mother--and a kid should not grow up with a mother that never wanted him--agreed that terminating the pregnancy was best, and even went with her to the procedure.

That, as the saying goes, seemed to be that. There were several episodes after in which things were back to normal, they were doing fine, and it seemed to be non-issue.

Of course, this couldn't last forever. Two episodes ago, during a fight, her husband admits that he is not fine with the abortion, and bellows at her that she "killed" their baby.

And in the previews for this coming week's episode, it looks like Yang might get hit by a car, or someone might get hurt while trying to save her from getting hit by a car, or maybe she'll get hit by a car, and magically find out she's pregnant again, and this time keep the baby.



No abortion can go unpunished.

It's sad that I was more surprised by the show's few episodes where it all seemed to be a non-issue than I am by this latest development, because it's just so pathetically typical. I hope this wasn't the way creator Shonda Rhimes wanted it to go, and she was somehow influenced to add this new drama, but she's a TV writer. She probably knows how stories like that "have" to be handled on television...

In a completely different, but still very annoying vein, what the hell is up with "Alcatraz"? Every week we see one of the prisoners who disappeared back in 1963 reappearing in 2012 San Francisco, and we have yet to witness any of these prisoners having any kind of problem navigating modern life, or, indeed, acting very surprised by anything they witness.

I really hope I've just missed an important plot element, (which could very well be the case; my attention tends to drift when watching the show), and they've explained that, perhaps, all these guys have actually been wandering around for years, and thus we just haven't been privy to their moments of acclimation, or some other plausible explanation for their nonchalance.

But if that's not the case, and they haven't explained this at all, and don't intend to, well, I don't think I can keep watching. I don't know why, but this aspect of the show just really, really irks me. I think you have to earn that kind of preposterousness. You can't just throw it at an audience right out the gate!

As a final note, here's a link to blog post I wrote in 2004, about "Lost," that mentions a certain island in the San Francisco Bay.

In case you didn't know, "Alcatraz" comes from some of the creators of "Lost"...

So, yes, basically I am saying I am responsible for the existence of "Alcatraz." OBVS.

Hey, Isn't This Blog Supposed To Be About TV?

Well, kinda.

So here are two TV tips for tonight.

The series premiere of "Swingtown" on CBS at 10pm. It's been getting so-so reviews, but I'm a sucker for anything retro, especially retro 70s. Plus, Liz Phair did the show's soundtrack music.

The series premiere of "Fear Itself" on NBC at 10pm. Not sure about this one. I still haven't gotten through that "Masters of Horror" series that was on Showtime, so I'm not sure how a network-based horror anthology show will do much better to capture my attention. But, then again, it's horror, and some interesting directors are involved. Aside from tonight, that is.

They're Toasted!

If you haven't been watching AMC's "Mad Men" you should be. And this Sunday you'll have a chance to catch up on the season thus far, as AMC will be running a marathon starting at 10am. Set those TiVos! Set those timers! Set your alarm! Just watch the show.

For those who have never heard of it, it takes place at the end of the 1950s, and centers on some advertising execs ("mad"= Madison Ave.) and their families. Since the show is set during the early '60s, they basically had me at the sight of the first circle skirt-wearing housewife, but the show is much more than mere sets and costumes. I don't know how accurate the situations in the show are (I mean, did people REALLY smoke that much back then?) but it feels authentic. I don't want to say much more, mostly because I find the show hard to describe, but also because I think it works best to go into it without knowing too much. It's simply the best new show to premiere this summer...

Under Over Some More

Work is kicking me in the ass today, hence this first post at 5:30pm! Yippee.

At some point I will have something to say about the "Six Feet Under" finale, but for those not afraid of spoilers HBO has posted some character obituaries

Under Over

Here's a good interview with Peter Krause, the actor who played Nate on "Six Feet Under." It sounds like he agrees with a lot of criticism I've had with the show, to wit:

"I was frustrated, you know, at a certain point," Krause confides. "There were certain things that happened in the series that I didn't buy...I don't know how many times somebody has to get whacked upside the back of the head to become at least a little bit enlightened."

Exactly.

I Guess They Can All Go Home and Take Showers Now

Looks like Carnivale is officially cancelled. Which means I'll probably never really understand what the hell happened during its last season. We can just assume the eternal battle between good and evil carries on, and we're back to where the show was when it began. Meh.

Jennifer Garner, Auteur

OK...Last night's Alias totally blew my mind. Monks raising stingless bees? A magical orchid? Sloane Clone and Sloane have the same brain? The return of Angus Scrimm! And all directed by Jennifer Garner? I STILL don't really have any idea what the hell is going on, but I'm sure more interested than I was at the beginning of the season.

Now, how are they going to work Garner's pregnancy into the plot?

She Made the Right Choice. Of Course She Must Die!

First, let me admit that yes, I watch Jack and Bobby. I actually don't think it's that great, but the WB is kind enough to offer a nice "Easy View" repeat on Sundays at 6, and what the hell else is on Sundays at 6?

Exactly.

So I watch it. Recently Missy, a teenage character on the show, got pregnant. Being that she was the daughter of a minister, and no longer with the boyfriend that got her pregnant, she tried to trick her ex, Jack, into marrying her. The ruse was exposed and she was kicked out of the house by her parents. The prospect of being a teenage, unwed, homeless mother didn't have much of a draw, so she chose to have an abortion. There was surprisingly little drama about the decision, and the next week she was back in school, depressed, of course--who wouldn't be?--but seemingly OK with the decision.

By the end of the episode, she was dead.

Abortions rarely happen on primetime shows. Usually, the mother-to-be has a change-of-heart about her unwanted pregnancy or, as is more often the case, we get a nice, convenient miscarriage. (Movies aren't immune to this either. Even the "controversial" abortion comedy Citizen Ruth ends with a convenient miscarriage!) I had such high hopes for this "Jack & Bobby" storyline, especially since the show is home to one of the most liberal characters to grace (sorry....her name is indeed "Grace") primetime TV. But no. They couldn't allow the character of Missy to live her life without punishment for her horrible sin, so of course she had to die in a car accident.

The deed is done. The character is dead. And there is no amount of pro-choice bias the show might attempt to pile on now that will change that. And I want to know why more people aren't talking about this! Paging Heather Havrilesky! Yoo-hoo surfergirl! Hey TV Gal, how about giving it more than a "I'm sure it'll turn out fine" comment? I know the show is low-rated, but doesn't this deserve some comment?

I'm waiting...

Me Sad Now

Sounds like it's the end for American Dreams. It's sad for two reasons. One, because I really enjoyed the show. And two, because that means we'll never get to see Meg leave her loser boyfriend and come back to Philadelphia to become the TV star she was born to be. She'll be on the back of that motorcycle for eternity.

Pleased To Meet You...

In this article TV critic Robert Bianco gets on Joan of Arcadia's case for introducing a character last week that just might be Satan. He writes that if God's visits to Joan "were all a trick to prepare Joan for some ultimate battle between good and evil, then she's no longer one of us." I guess he fears the show turning into some kind of "Joan the Devil Slayer" or something.

But I think that's all wrong. If Joan is going to live in a world where God can appear to her as a human entity and guide her through life, then doesn't it stand to reason that Satan should be just as real? I don't want to get all Satanic here, but one can't exist without the other, right? No good without evil and all that. I don't think it should (or will) be Joan's mission to destroy Satan. Instead, perhaps she'll be able to acknowledge that real evil does exists in this world, and fight against that.

The finale airs tonight at 8pm. And despite the show's being a bit of a downer this season (man, Joan was put through the ringer!) I really hope it gets renewed...

Sorry...I Missed That...I Was Concentrating on Picking My Toes

I fully admit to not really understanding what's going on on Alias right now, but I still find the show more interesting currently than it was a month or so ago when everything would be resolved into a pretty package by the end of each show.

And the end of last night's episode, with Sloane once again going off the deep end and smiling at Nadia, telling her everything will be OK, while his face is covered in the blood of the man he just bludgened to death, was all KINDS of creepy-funny.