Turns out that “Kat McPhee in spandex” may not be sufficient entertainment for an entire dramedy, according to the New Yorker‘s television critic, Emily Nussbaum, on “Hate-Watching Smash“:
… The show’s most intractable problem, however, is the former “American Idol” winner Katherine McPhee, who plays Karen, that shiny-haired Iowan ingénue and human humblebrag. Even when I squint, and grade on a curve, it’s impossible to ignore how bad McPhee’s performance is: the woman was given a one-note character, then took it down a half-note. McPhee has a pretty pop voice, but she plays every scene with a Splenda-flavored neutrality, which might not rankle so much if the show didn’t keep insisting that Karen is a star whom everyone adores. During the last episode, I spent most of my time mentally replacing the awed facial expressions of cast members gazing at Karen as she sings with the horrified expressions of “Game of Thrones” characters staring at King Joffrey as he tortures minions. It helped.
Speaking of intractable problems, seems like staring at print on a monitor screen has reduced my already limited capacity to stare at television shows (even when they’re on the same monitor screen). I’m still watching NYC-22 on Sunday nights, while I can, but I’m way behind on Once Upon A Time on Hulu (even though I like Jennifer Morrison, too). And I haven’t found the time to watch Scandal, which I was mildly interested in as a concept, since IMO Shonda Rimes can usually manage about one-and-a-half seasons of good storytelling before her fangrrl obsessions knot themselves into an unwatchable mess. Leaving aside the usual litany of cable-based shows — I’ll watch them as they reach Netflix — what am I missing right now?
catdevotee
My guilty pleasure is Revenge. I’ve been watching on Hulu so as not to impose it on Mr. catdevotee. But it’s a show you need to watch from the beginning in order to follow the details.
cmorenc
Some of you BJ frontliners watch way more TV than I do, a fact repeatedly brought home when I don’t recognize so many of the programs and actors/actresses you all refer to. That’s not to impugn your virtue to observe that nor exalt mine; it might be said that I simply choose different ways to waste time instead of watching TV, rather than using that time to save the whales or polar bears etc (insert worthwhile cause here). For example, I am going to watch an MLS soccer game live this evening in three hours (Real Salt Lake vs. Toronto) for which I paid $30 in perfectly good money, whereby your teevee show comes free via Hulu or commercial tv. You m
gogol's wife
@cmorenc:
Yes, I don’t watch any of these shows. All my television watching involves either Robert Osborne or Dame Maggie Smith, or both if I can manage it.
cmorenc
Some of you BJ frontliners watch way more TV than I do, a fact repeatedly brought home when I don’t recognize so many of the programs and actors/actresses you all refer to. That’s not to impugn your virtue to observe that nor exalt mine; it might be said that I simply choose different ways to waste time instead of watching TV, rather than using that time to save the whales or polar bears etc (insert worthwhile cause here). For example, I am going to watch an MLS soccer game live this evening in three hours (Real Salt Lake vs. Toronto) for which I paid $30 in perfectly good money, whereby your teevee show comes free via Hulu or commercial tv. I consider soccer the most wonderful sport, “the beautiful game”, whereas many of you consider watching that a waste of time. To each their own taste which some others might find puzzling vapidity.
David Koch
WH Correspondence tonight on MSNBC
becca
We watch Grimm and were pleased to see it renewed.
Justified is an addiction. Timothy Oliphant gives me lowerybursts and matthewstingles.
khead
NBA playoffs.
And sorting through some pics of SweetPea kitteh.
Beauzeaux
Without Tivo I wouldn’t watch television at all. There are always a few TV shows that I like but if I have to keep track of when they’re on and then have to make free time to watch it — well, it wouldn’t happen.
Also, most US shows I like rarely have more than a second season. Shows like “Life” and “Boomtown.”
But even the news and Jon Stewart I’d never see if I couldn’t Tivo it.
becca
Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is on tonight, which will replace our usual Psyche reruns.
There is good reason we refer to ourselves as Mr&Mrs McFuddyduddy.
Valdivia
@becca:
Me too. I catch it on Hulu and really enjoy it.
My fave these days is Whitechapel on BBC America. I love the whole idea of the show. Season 1 was great, 2 not excellent, but 3 is fantastic.
A bleg for the BJ readers: I am dying to get my hands on or find a place to watch the original The Killing showed by the bbc with subtitles. Any suggestions?
schrodinger's cat
@cmorenc: I am in the same boat don’t watch much TV. In the boonies where I live we have no cable and I have been too lazy to get satellite.
UncommonSense
If you’re not watching Person of Interest on CBS, you should be. Fun stuff.
JPL
@khead: So cute and comfy. Right now after working outside today, I want to curl up with my blanket also.
BigSouthern
Not to play into my name too much, but depending on the night ‘rasslin in the WWE is about as good as it has ever been. If you can watch Alberto Del Rio and not love everything about him (He’s a Mexican aristocrat! His personal ring announcer speaks only Spanish! He drives a different fancy car every night!) then I don’t know if there’s hope for you.
redshirt
If you’re not watching “Spartacus”, start immediately. Amazing, incredible show. Also, incredibly violent and with porn levels of sex and debauchery.
RossInDetroit
Bah. Moving pictures in a box. That fad will never catch on.
David Koch
@khead: nice pussie
suzanne
I’m always surprised that there aren’t more Big Bang Theory fans here. It isn’t the most groundbreaking show ever, but the writing is snappy and the nerd references are spot-on.
cathyx
@becca: That show is filmed in Portland and a friend of mine is an extra for it. I haven’t seen it yet to see if I can see her.
Linda Featheringill
I recently started watching Silent Witness, broadcast in the UK, bootleg available here:
youtube.com/user/starman2110/videos?query=s.w.&view=1
The woman who is the main character, Sam, is a pathologist. Rather nice collection of whodunits.
cathyx
@suzanne: I’m a huge fan of that show.
khead
@David Koch:
She may look comfy – see here and in those pics she really is sacked – but she will rip your eyeballs out in a Tunch-like manner if given the chance.
Jus’ sayin’.
cathyx
@Linda Featheringill: They aired that series several years ago on our PBS station. Maybe more than 15 years ago.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Valdivia:
I have now watched three first episodes of Whitechapel on demand, and either TWC or BBCA have decided not to put the second episode on demand. WTF. Is there anywhere I can watch the second episode of these shows without having to pay a boat load of money?
Linda Featheringill
@cathyx:
Okay, I’m a little slow. :-)
[still a good show]
zmullls
I watch SMASH regularly, and like the author of the article I am hate-watching it. And like her, I liken it to STUDIO 60, it’s a show I desperately wanted to like and would have made any number of allowances for; but SMASH, like STUDIO 60, is so totally inept, so woefully misbegotten in so many ways, it “exerts a strange fascination.” **
I disagree with her about the pilot. I tuned into the pilot on Hulu, drink in hand, ready to indulge in a TV soap about a Broadway musical. I’m a total musical theatre geek. And it was so jaw-droppingly bad, so unbelievably poorly written, I was in shock at the end. I could not believe they creative team had themselves so hypnotized that they though it was good.
Very much “The Emperor’s New TV Show”
(** I remember that phrase from a review of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, it was “so very bad it exerts a strange fascination. It seems to have been made in someone’s garage”)
yet another Jason
I usually watch the NBC Thursday night stuff, and I’ve loved every episode of Awake. They pace it well so that the conceit doesn’t get overpowered by the formula, which is just what made Alcatraz unwatchable. Though that show was ridiculous from the get go.
cathyx
@Linda Featheringill: It’s an excellent show. I wish they had made more of them. I tried to buy them, but the format wasn’t for American tvs, so I gave up.
chrome agnomen
bow down before my mighty virtue, puny mortals. i have lived in a house for 2 years that has cable paid for, and still refuse to acquire a tv. i would watch the NHL playoffs, however.
Warren Terra
@Valdivia:
Unfortunately, the Region 2 DVD set is hella pricey – $80 or more (delivered) for two series. Otherwise I’d consider buying it to see it.
becca
@cathyx: I read one of the producers is Sean Hayes- Just Jack! and they are committed to filming there, so that’s good for the locals, I imagine.
Also, there is Portlandia, another show I occasionally catch.
Is Portland the new Vancover or something?
Warren Terra
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Are you sure it’s not going to get a region 1 (streaming, if not DVD) release? The BBC seems to have inexplicably long lag times in American releases: Season Two of the massively popular Sherlock was released in January in Region Two, but isn’t even available for pre-order at Amazon.com. Having decided to release season 1 of Whitechapel in Region 1, they’ll probably do the others.
rikyrah
I am a tv-addict.
was talking with a friend just last night about all the good DRAMAS that we’re watching:
Once Upon a Time
Revenge
Eureka
Fringe
I love Mad Men, while he loves Game of Thrones
Redshift
While we’re on the subject of TV, can anyone explain to me the success of Law&Order:SVU? I’m stuck at my mother-in-law’s house, and she watches the reruns. Every episode, by definition, involves subjecting yourself to endless descriptions of horrifying acts. (I don’t know how much they show; I just can’t avoid hearing the audio.)
I have a hard time imagining anyone could have enough empathy to identify with the “good guy” lead characters and not feel sick to their stomach watching this stuff week after week.
rikyrah
@UncommonSense:
I love Person of Interest
totally got hooked during the x-mas tv break time when they were doing repeats twice a week.
rikyrah
what is Whitechapel about?
RossInDetroit
@efgoldman:
RossInDetroit
@efgoldman:
RossInDetroit
@efgoldman:
RossInDetroit
@efgoldman:
RossInDetroit
What the hell just happened there? Okay, I’m stepping away from this machine until it settles down and behaves.
Warren Terra
@rikyrah:
along with Sherlock and Psychoville, Whitechapel is one of a number of current shows infused with the Gothic Horror and Comedy sensibilities of the former comedy troupe The League Of Gentlemen (whose TV series but not movie I recommend) – in this case a police procedural in which in each season a psychopath attempts to reproduce the crimes of a famous serial killer, starting with Jack The Ripper (who preyed upon the Whitechapel slums).
Obviously, you can find out more with the Gazoogle.
workworkwork
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Seasons 1 and 2 of Whitechapel are available on iTunes.
gogol's wife
@Warren Terra:
The second season of Sherlock is going to be on in May (at least in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts, so I assume everywhere else).
Teddy's Person
I’m a self-identifying TV junkie.
I’ve been main-lining Parks and Recreation (Knope2012). The recent debate episode was awesome sauce. I’m also a Big Bang fan. My dog has his spot on the couch (just like Sheldon) and stares at me until I move. I can just hear him saying, “That’s my spot.”
My favorite drama these days is Justified (so missing it now that season 3 is over). I watch Mad Men and Game of Thrones, and to get my genre fix, I catch Grimm and Supernatural.
I watch most of it online since I currently don’t have a DVR and re-watch a number of past seasons of various shows on DVD. I really don’t know how I watched TV before these conveniences, but I did.
As I said, junkie.
gogol's wife
@Redshift:
I used to love SVU but at a certain point they got too violent and voyeuristic. The first couple of seasons were pretty good. I love Mariska Hargitay, but I gave it up when they started having graphic scenes.
RossInDetroit
@efgoldman:
I’m not a TV watcher. Haven’t been since Belushi left SNL. And I’m a big snob about it. I’ll watch a show on DVD these days and I’ve seen some great entertainment that way. But I never got back into the weekly broadcast habit.
We have a big CRT Trinitron that’s 10 years old and will last forever. It gets used about 2 hours/week. Tonight it’ll be on because we just got Rust Never Sleeps in the mail so it’s Popcorn Time with Neil & the boys.
gogol's wife
@RossInDetroit:
I liked your comment, though, all the times I read it. It reminded me of my parents’ big old stereo. I loved that thing. You could keep all the LPs in it on the bottom shelf. But the TV was separate, also as big as an elephant.
RossInDetroit
@gogol’s wife:
People keep trying to give me those because I work on vintage electronics. But not TVs. Vintage TVs are dinosaurs.
But I do like LPs. Spent the whole morning putting a new cartridge in an old turntable and it rewarded my efforts with Schumann. That’s a technology I can get behind.
MikeJ
I know it’s already over in first run, but has Dirk Gently come to the US? It’s pretty fun.
Percysowner
I’ll chime in on Revenge. Great drama, moves along really fast and fascinating characters. I’d also give Fringe a try. It just got renewed for a final 13 episodes, so next year it will be a serialized show that had plenty of time to wrap up its stories. Since you have Netflix, Supernatural is available streaming. It really is a good little show. Sadly, they didn’t get music rights for the streaming so some of the classic rock that was used in the first 2 seasons is missing. They had to ditch most of the music from season 3 on due to cost. But really an underated show although its fans are totally devoted.
rikyrah
@Teddy’s Person:
Sorry Teddy, but I doubt anyone beats me as a tv junkie.
I actually sat down and listed the shows I watched when I saw the tv guide ‘ shows on the bubble’ article this week.
rikyrah
I’m gonna stick up for Grimm. A show that started slow, especially when compared to the superiorly written Once Upon a Time, but I believe has totally improved and come into its own as the season progressed.
Culture of Truth
I love Fringe, but Joshua Jackson is a terrible actor.
rikyrah
does anyone here watch Community?
I still love it.
Warren Terra
@MikeJ:
Is the Dirk Gently TV show good? I adore The Hitchhiker’s Guide, especially the original Radio version but also the book and TV adaptations, and even the film version (I think I’ll watch anything with Bill Nighy in it), but Dirk Gently has always left me a bit cold – I never finished the first book, and the recent radio adaptations were only so-so.
Culture of Truth
SMASH was never the same after Col. Blake died.
Jose Padilla
@Culture of Truth:
He’s not terrible. He’s just not as good as Anna Torv or John Noble (especially).
Culture of Truth
@Jose Padilla: He’s completely one-note and his line delivery is terrible. But I also agree with you about Torv and Noble.
Valdivia
@Litlebritdifrnt: I know they put up the episodes on cable (at least in Comcast) way way past the air date. So they are airing episode 11 or so and on demand only has #5.
Valdivia
@Litlebritdifrnt:
@Warren Terra:
Netflix has Season 1. I think Amazon might have the other seasons on demand? ComCast has them on demand online and in the tv.
Warren Terra
@Valdivia:
No, Netflix has the American remake, which I’ve seen a lot of people claim is inferior to the subtitled Danish original shown on the BBC. I’ve not looked to see what’s at Amazon or on Comcast, but I’d guess it’s also the American remake.
Valdivia
@Warren Terra:
sorry I thought you were talking about WhiteChapel.
Someone mentioned they had seen it so I wondered if the Killing original was out there in some accessible not loads of money form. Thanks though and sorry for the confusion.
Juju
@suzanne:
I love “The Big Bang Theory”. I dvr it every week.
Steeplejack
@Beauzeaux:
This is so true. When I got the big-ass TV a couple of years ago and upgraded to an HD cable box (including DVR), I splurged and bought a 1-terabyte SATA drive on Amazon for about $95 that was compatible with my (Scientific Atlanta) cable box. You go through a not too complicated hookup process, the cable box sees the SATA drive, engulfs it Borg-style, formats it and then sees it and the internal DVR as one big DVR. And it is huge: I went from about 30-40 hours’ storage capacity to about 300 hours’ capacity.
That, and Cox Cable’s surprisingly clean user interface, makes it dead easy to record anything I want–obscure movies, entire series, etc.–and watch it whenever I want. I very rarely watch anything in “real time.” Plus until recently I had a weird work schedule that meant I wasn’t home anyway when a lot of programs were on. Having a DVR really revolutionizes your viewing–even if you’re one of those people who “don’t watch a lot of TV.”
I live for the day when everything will be available to be streamed from some cosmic on-line digital Library of Alexandria.
Juju
@RossInDetroit:
Perhaps you were caught in a causality loop.
Steeplejack
@Valdivia:
If you have an “international” DVD player–one that will play the PAL format as well as the (U.S.) NTSC format, you can get the Danish series via Amazon here. Not from Amazon but through one of its affiliated sellers.
I am guessing you might have a PAL-compatible DVD player because you are such an international sophisticate. (I bought a nice all-region, PAL/NTSC DVD player for about $50 a couple of years ago.)
Steeplejack
@suzanne:
It is funny, but the intrusive laugh track kills it for me. Really grating.
Steeplejack
@rikyrah:
I’m with you on Grimm, as we have discussed previously. I have not been able to get into Once upon a Time. The one episode I saw–“What Happened to Frederick,” the one where “David finally agrees to tell Kathryn about his relationship with Mary Margaret and put an end to his loveless marriage”–was awful, like a deranged soap opera with magic. Maybe I needed all the back-story, in which case I’ll have to catch up on it when it’s on DVD or streaming.
Steeplejack
@Culture of Truth:
Fix’d.
Origuy
If you can get region 2 DVDs, it’s easy enough to watch them, either on the TV or on your computer. There are a lot of off-brand DVD players that either come region-free or can be made so. If you want to watch them on your computer, just get a USB DVD drive for about $20 or so and set the region to 2.
I watch a lot of the BBC and Channel 4 documentaries that way. Amazon UK is happy to ship them to me.
Anne Laurie
@Culture of Truth: Culture of Truth Says:
I need to catch up with Fring. But I thought Jackson’s guarded, frozen affect worked very well in the first two seasons, since his character is the adult survivor of (let’s be honest) severe physical & emotional child abuse. And, to my eyes, he had just the right fencing/hectoring/untrusting relationship with Noble’s Walter Bishop, which was very important to the ‘believability’ of the whole show.
Anne Laurie
@suzanne: Big Bang Theory is ‘old school’ tv comedy. The characters don’t really ever change or progress much, so every week is a reshuffling of the same Incidents deck. They get the nerdlife (mostly) correct, but the sameness gets old fast. I enjoy watching it one episode at a time, but it’s like marzipan — after the first piece or two, the sweetness just overwhelms.
Warren Terra
@Origuy:
Yup, Region 2 DVD players are cheap. And Region 2 DVDs are often cheap – the BBC and maybe other publishers discount older titles more rapidly and more aggressively than do American publishers.
Just a note of warning: your suggestion of using a dedicated external DVD-ROM drive should work fine, but don’t use your only or your internal DVD-ROM drive – they’re made to permit switching between regions only a small number of times, after which they’re stuck unless you really want to try your hand at reprogramming the drive.
Steeplejack
@Origuy, @Warren Terra:
Note: “Region” is different from physical DVD format, which can be NTSC or PAL. You can reprogram most U.S. (NTSC) DVD players to be “region-free,” but you can’t get a U.S. DVD player, which uses the NTSC format, to play a PAL DVD, which is the common format in Europe (and Australia, I think), unless it is specifically designed to handle both formats. You can find those for cheap (around $50), but not every U.S. DVD player can automatically handle PAL.
And (almost) all the DVDs on offer at Amazon U.K. are PAL.
Valdivia
@Steeplejack:
I am going to splurge on that all nations dvd player. Since hhis I don’t have! thanks. :)
BruceFromOhio
This is hilarious. The house stops to watch Smash off the dvr. I never saw the draw: pretty faces, obvious plot lines, and let’s stop in the middle of every scene and sing, everybody! I hide in the server room and pretend it doesn’t exist.