Cinerant

Desperate Boredom

The nature of television is that some weeks just aren't going to be as solid as other weeks. It just has to happen. The pressure of churning out a new episode every 8 days or so is difficult, draining, and overwhelming. That's why every show has writing staffs. That's why the actors don't all work all the time. The poor little PAs might not get as much a break as some of the other people, but they're peons way down on the food chain. It goes with the territory.

So I'll give a show a pass if it has a subpar episode, but last night were subpar episodes from Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy. The only thing that really kept me interested in either episode was seeing Teddy Dunn (Duncan on Veronica Mars--yeah it's coming back with new episodes this week) as the high school hockey player on Grey's. But even his story was missing a couple of beats at the end. It was like he had three quick scenes and that was it. That's not a storyline. That's a runner.

Sure, there was some interesting stuff with George. But seriously, what's with the Felicity-esque attention to his hair? He's a guy? Who pays that much attention to a guy getting his hair cut short? And it didn't even look that bad! I love the character of George. He's amusing and charming in a completely nerdy way. He's the kind of guy that you'd like to hang out with once--until he started talking about buying silver coins. Then you realize he needs a new hobby. But, there was still a little too much attention paid to him and his hair last night. The gag with Christina and the baby was great, but not that interesting. In fact, that's really what was wrong with most of the stuff going on last night. Everybody had little vignettes, but nobody had a complete story. There were quick beats with the whole Catherine Deneuve thing, but still, it just didn't feel like a fully formed episode for me.

Desperate Housewives was even less engaging. To have Kathyrn Harold come back as John's mother just for the purpose of sticking it to Gabrielle and Carlos? I didn't buy it for a second. And by the way, does anybody else find it odd that these people are spending money like it's no big deal? Neither of them have a job and they don't seem to have curbed their lifestyle. I don't know how much Carlos made, but they live in suburbia--not Beverly Hills. So where is their money coming from? Are they trying to make money blogging? Or are they just engaging in some illicit activity on the side?

The Susan storyline just felt like it got really old, really fast and why hasn't Zack figured out who his real dad is? The show is just burning through ideas so quickly, that I'm kind of tired of worried when it's gonna self-combust. Even Lynette and Tom who normally have the most grounded storylines felt off-kilter to me last night. Lynette telling her husband that he needs to take care of his own problems didn't ring true. It's not the couple we've come to love. These are people who want to work things out together. Not point fingers.

The only storyline I bought last night was Bree. I loved the scene with Andrew when she told him that he's not living up to his potential and she intends to make sure he does. I think it's a fascinating idea. I hope the show doesn't lose it. However, I do worry that this whole emancipation thing will be just another teen fantasy run amuck. (Does it seem strange to anybody else that there are multiple emancipated teens on TV? Who does this in real life? I mean, outside Los Angeles.) But if the show holds true to what is core to Bree--she does seem to be a mother than not only cares about how things look, but she also knows how to get them--hopefully Andrew will be able to grow into an interesting adult.

Hopefully. You'd just think that on the first night when the network is going up against The Sopranos, they'd try and get the episodes a little stronger.

posted by cinegod @ 9:56 AM