Pushing Daisies going six feet under?

Is now the time to give up on Pushing Daisies? It got trounced in the ratings last night by Barack Obama's infomercial (yet still received its highest ratings of the year). That can't be good. This season has been creatively stunted anyway, and the charm and quirkiness that made it such fun in its first season has somehow evaporated. The choice on whether or not to jump ship might not be entirely up to viewers -- the show's going to be pre-empted the next two weeks, scheduled to return Nov. 19. Production on the already-ordered batch of shows ends Nov. 12. ABC might just leave it at that and not restart production on new episodes. Anyone for more Dancing With the Stars?

Then there's Heroes. I'm about ready to quit. I love the addition of Robert Foerster, but how many power-suckers can there be? And god knows what the plot is anymore. Too many characters, too much time travel, too many visions, too many characters killed-no-wait-it-was-just-a-fakeout, too many characters acting out of character, too much overacting by Peter and too much lame Nikki/Tracy storyline (geez, why not just give her amnesia too?). I just don't care about any of them any more. Even Kristen Bell couldn't save this week's episode.

On the bright side, I may soon have an extra couple of free hours a week. Just in time for the new season of Top Chef (coming Nov. 12).
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New favorite show: The Life & Times of Tim

It's been a miserable fall, filled with lame new shows and disappointing returning shows. One bright spot, however, has been HBO's animated The Life & Times of Tim. It's reminiscent of Curb Your Enthusiasm, with Tim, the relatively normal guy, finding himself in more and more outrageous, embarrassing situations. Like what happens when your girlfriend comes home with her parents and finds you on the couch with a hooker, who you called by accident when you were trying to call an electrician and asked for "back-door action." Or when Tim fights an old man and accidentally intimidates him to death. Or when your boss orders you to take the blame when his dog poops on the office floor. You know, situations that you or I come across every day.

The animation is rough, but the dialogue is hilarious. Affable and terminally perplexed Tim is joined by his forever frustrated, incredulous (yet eternally forgiving) girlfriend Amy; Debbie, the hooker with the heart of gold who favors assless stretch pants and who Tim comes to for awful advice; co-worker Stu, whose attraction to the heartless office HR woman is just a recipe for disaster; and The Boss, who can beat even Michael Scott on the bad-boss-o-meter.
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FX, my nemesis

Curse you, FX! You don't provide an HD channel, yet you offer Sons of Anarchy and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in HD on On Demand. So I decide to watch those two shows On Demand this week, only to wait, and wait, and wait until you make them available. It's Saturday and still I await Wednesday's new adventures of Sam Crow. Come on FX, be like a normal network and post your shows the day after they air!

And to add to the frustration, why isn't The Shield available On Demand? Way to make your best shows more unavailable!
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Life on Mars: When police brutality was fun

The fall TV season finally has a good new show. Life on Mars might be the first show since The Office that Hollywood has successfully adapted from British TV. Like the original, it has a good sense of humor mixed in with the action and mystery. Life on Mars was almost entirely recast late in the development process, and it's paid off. Jason O'Mara, who plays Sam, the time-traveling cop, has traces of a young Mel Gibson. Minus the right-wing craziness. Michael Imperioli is spot-on as a jaded, fu manchu-ed detective, and Harvey Keitel (and how'd they get Harvey Keitel?!?) is outstanding as the ends-justify-the-means captain. Even Gretchen Mol is good, and I finally might be able to forgive her for being such an unsupportive girlfriend to Mike McD in Rounders.

It's weird watching all the casual police violence though. Yeah, things were done differently in 1973, and yeah, there probably were more suspects getting roughed up. But really, the Miranda ruling came down in 1966, and it's hard to believe New York police officers were that oblivious to basic rights when it came to arrests and interrogations. It's a bit cringe-worthy, like watching Mel Gibson beating down a pedestrian in Lethal Weapon III, not long after the Rodney King riots, or watching Heathers in the post-Columbine world. Just something that makes you go, "Hmmm, that actually isn't so funny these days." Still, Life on Mars isn't meant to be a realistic procedural, it's a fantasy. Some of the punches are for comedy's sake, others are symbolic to show how much times have changed. And I can deal with that as long as they maintain that sense of fantasy.

It's got a great soundtrack too. I can forgive the iPod blasting in the squad car in the premiere when it's balanced later by David Bowie on 8-track. It's refreshing how much of the music is a little more obscure and appropriate, and not the typical '70s pop you'd expect on network TV.

It'll be interesting to see where this show goes. The original lasted only two seasons and 16 episodes on the BBC, which is only about two-thirds of a typical American TV season. The show's creators have already said they won't resolve their version in the same way the British verson did. So is Sam in a coma? Is he dreaming? In an alternate reality? God forbid, has he been abducted by aliens? Here's hoping ABC continues on the high road and maintains a rare quality show.
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Settle down . . .

Why haven't I been posting? I've been a little busy moving. Then there were some DSL problems. But I should be back to posting fairly regularly by the end of the week. So hang in there, all three of you loyal readers!

And just for a slight fix: I'm bummed that Team Geek got bounced from The Amazing Race (how galling that the smart team got burned by such a dumb mistake), I've come around and am fully onboard with Sons of Anarchy, I'm debating whether or not to drop Heroes from my lineup, and I'm wondering what the heck Don Draper is doing. Kath & Kim was awful, but Testees might have been even worse. And I have a whole mess of shows waiting for me on my DVR, including the premiere of Life on Mars.

So once I catch up with shows and finally get settled in, things will get back to normal.
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What happened to this season?

Why are all my shows suddenly sucking?

I've given up on Fringe, even though it's been picked up for a full season. It just annoys me, for reasons I've ranted about before.

What happened to Heroes? It feels like I've seen this plotline before. (Hmmm, visions of a future apocalypse . . . let's figure out how to stop it. Wait, I've seen that one twice before.) The jumps into the future don't work for me. It's just not compelling and future Peter is even more lame than present Peter. And future Peter looks kinda like Mac on Always Sunny in Philadelphia. And the acting is kinda terrible. Jamie Hector a super villain? Meh. He was way scarier as a drug kingpin on The Wire. I'm about ready to drop the show. If it picks up, I can always catch up online or on DVD.

Has Entourage jumped the shark? Sunday's episode may have been the worst one they've ever done. The gang spaced on 'shrooms was just a car wreck of awkward acting. HBO just announced it'll be back for a new season next summer, but if the show doesn't correct its course, you have to wonder why.

Sons of Anarchy? It's good, sorta. But I still haven't watched last week's episode. So that means it's not compelling enough. But FX has green-lit a full season and they run a million reruns, so I'm sure I'll get back to it.

Even The Amazing Race seems lost. Where are the likable teams? OK, there are the Nerds, and maybe Ty and Aja (and is that pronounced "Aya" or "A-ja"?). But I soured on the brother and sister after he ditched the frat guy (don't flat-out promise to help someone and 10 seconds later renege. That's not strategy, that's being a dick). And pretty much everyone else annoys the hell out of me. TAR seems to be good every other year, and I guess that means I have to look forward to next season already.

Biggest disappointment? Pushing Daisies. Was it just me, or did the Season 2 premiere really lack something? I just didn't feel the cleverness oozing from every nook and cranny, like I did last season. It probably didn't help that the show had been off the air for almost a year. But I haven't given up on this one yet.

One bright note: Life on Mars is getting boffo reviews. So that's something to look forward to. The British version was great, and I really think this could become the big hit of the year. If, and that's a big if, it's done right. Here's hoping. . .
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