Some years ago, one of those Top 100 poll shows was asked to determine the number one sitcom. The top spot, to anyone with an interest in television comedy, would be fought out between, most assumed, Fawlty Towers, the short running but cult classic, and Seinfeld, the single most commercially successful (at least in the US) television sitcom of all time.
Yet, when the poll of critics was examined, both shows were beaten by Frasier. Outrageous, surely? Frasier, a spin off from the hugely successful 1980s hit Cheers, was a good show, but best sitcom of all time? Really?
I was one of the doubters. I had watched and enjoyed Frasier on and off, but greatest sitcom?
Yet when I listened to the critics reasons, they were very clear in their reasons. The show ran for 11 seasons, and during that time maintained a consistent quality over that period of time, but that’s not just it. What made Frasier a great show was the ensemble cast, and the fact that those 11 years allowed each actor to create a rounded and entertaining and endearing character. I was still doubtful, so I bought season one on DVD when I saw it going cheap.
Did I change my opinion of the show? Well, put it this way: I went on to buy the other 10 seasons. In short, if my house was burnt down, it would be the first box set I’d replace. If there’s one sitcom you’re going to order from Amazon, this is the one. Pure comedy gold.
The clip below is from an episode where Frasier is asked to record a short jingle for his radio psychiatrist show. He goes at it with gusto.
“The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer” is a curious one, although worth a look. A black comedy about the political rise of the mysterious Michael Rimmer (Played by Peter Cook), it’s not laugh out loud funny, but pretty far-sighted for its time (1970) about the way politics was going.
Full of the television comedy stars of its day (John Cleese, Arthur Lowe, Ronnie Corbett and the beautiful Valerie Leon, whom you’ll know when you see her) the plot is actually quite interesting as a satirical comment on British politics, with a very interesting conclusion and a final shot in the movie which is quite chilling.
It also boosts a simple but ingratiating theme music that’ll you’ll find yourself humming for hours. Pick it up if you see it going cheap.
We can get a bit snooty about what we watch. Sometimes television isn’t groundbreaking or thought provoking, but just plain entertaining. Burn Notice is one of those shows. Jeffrey Donovan, owner of the biggest s**t eating grin in current television, plays Michael Westen, a top special operative who has been “burned” by his superiors and exiled to Miami. Working alongside a psychotic ex-girlfriend and former IRA terrorist (They fortunately dropped her dodgy accent after the pilot episode) played by the ridiculously skinny Gabrielle Anwar, and backed up by cult favourite Bruce Campbell (You’ll know him when you see him), Westen tries to discover why he was burned, whilst making ends meet working as a security consultant or sorting out problems sent to him by his nagging mother (Cagney and Lacey’s Sharon Gless).
The show is great fun. It’s funny, has plenty of action, and is crammed with guest stars of the That’s-that-guy-from variety. Filmed on location in Miami (For once, Vancouver wouldn’t do) it’s also packed with great shots of the city and gratutitous boob and bum shots from the beaches. Miami Tourism must be delighted. I’m looking forward to season 3 already.
Executive Action is a Burt Lancaster movie from 1973 which tells a fictional account of how and why the assasination of President Kennedy was carried out.
Almost an American Day of The Jackal.
Using real footage from the era, the movie tells, in a cold, almost documentary style, how a group of ultra-rightwing industrialists initiates, debates and plans the murder.
Although lacking the charm of The Day of The Jackal, it does a very believable and workmanlike job of identifying how the assasination was carried out and then covered up with Lee Harvey Oswald as a prepared patsy.
It was actually quite ironic that Lancaster plays one of the chief conspirators given that he had been a life long liberal, even campaigning, at the end of his career, for Michael Dukakis in 1988.
Not yet released in English primarily for region 2, it is available on region 1, and worth a watch, especially for its curiously mournful soundtrack and the chilling “real power in America” opening montage. It has been posted on Youtube at various times.
Oliver Stone’s “W.”, ths story of George W. Bush’s life and time in the White House, is far more workmanlike than his other movies. It’s not as memorable as “JFK” or “Nixon”, but I suspect that is as much a product of the times it was made in as much as the movie itself, especially as it was released in 2008 when Bush was still president.
It was a controversial film at the time, although I personally found it to be nowhere near as anti-Bush as some either said or expected it to be. The central premise is not of Bush as an evil or stupid man, but as a plain man out of his depth who nevertheless, through sheer force of will, pulled himself out from under his father’s enormous shadow and becomes an incredibly successful politician.
Josh Brolin gets the Bush swagger down to a tee, although he doesn’t quite manage to pull off Bush’s awkwardness in interviews, playing him slightly dopier than is deserved. Having said that, he does manage to convey the struggle Bush has with communicating his vision, and there is one, whether one likes it or not. Thandie Newton plays Condi Rice as almost odd, and Toby Jones makes Karl Rove almost likable, but the two scene stealers for me were James Cromwell, as Bush senior, and Richard Dreyfuss who becomes Dick Cheney.
Finally, there’s a scene in the movie that fascinated me, because of its honesty. In the scene, Cheney outlines a grand plan where Iraq is just the beginning, to allow a staging post for an invasion of Iran, and US control of the world’s oil supply. He argues the point in a calm and rational way, pointing out that the world oil supply is dwindling, and their job is to secure it for the American people, and that Russia and China will be doing the same. It’s the sort of scene that will send far-left people nuts, but it was a rational analysis of the American interest.
Spencer Tracey plays Grant Matthews, a millionaire running for the Republican nomination in 1948 in Frank Capra’s “State of the union”. This is when he decides, live on air, that he’s sold out. Now that’s acting. Great stuff. Keep an eye out for a young Angela Lansbury, before she started travelling the world murdering people.
As you can imagine from the title, David Duchovny’s show “Californication” deals with some very adult themes, and so is chockablock full of strong language and occasional nudity. But it is also funny, telling the story of Hank Moody, a hip indie writer whose cult, edgy bestseller is turned into a romantic comedy starring Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, and how he’s trying to deal (with a mix of casual sex, drink and drugs) with being a sellout in LA. Natascha McElhone stars as his ex-girlfriend and mother of his daughter, but the real break out is Evan Handler, whom you’ll recognise from Sex and the City and The West Wing, as Hank’s agent Charlie and who provides some of the best laughs in the show.
Seasons One, Two and now Three (which I’m currently watching)are out now on DVD. As I said, it’s a bit bawdy, but fun.
British Sci-fi show “UFO” is all but forgotten today, save by its cult fans. But in 1969, when it was made by Gerry Anderson, creator of puppet smash hits “Thunderbirds” and “Stingray”, it was a big budget cutting edge spectacular. Anderson had been commissioned by TV mogul Lew Grade, on foot of his success with puppets, to create his first show using live actors, and the critics joke was that he preferred working with wooden puppets and so looked for those qualities in his actors. Some of the acting is woeful (in one scene, a lead actor actually punches his fist into his palm to show frustration) and the dialogue can be awfully clunky, yet it is curiously watchable.
Set in the then future of 1980, it’s great fun to watch the predictions and also the constant smoking and sexism, where the female operatives in particular are expected to dress like go-go dancers and the males are pretty much entitled to have a good oogle at passing backsides as a perk of the job. The special effects were very good for their time (compare them to the cardboard carryon of Dr. Who) with the one criticism, probably unfairly made from the age of boxsets, that there is a constant reuse throughout the series of the same no doubt expensive shots.
Having said all that, the plots could be quite good and almost adult. In one episode, the main character lets his own son die so that the organisation, SHADO, can get a chance at capturing a UFO. When it was cancelled after one season, it was then retooled as the technically excellent but curiously joyless “Space:1999″. Finally, “UFO”, it has to be said, boasts one of the funkiest opening credit scenes ever, and a theme song that sticks in your head for days.
Kevin Smith as a director tends to be very much of the marmite variety. His “Jay and Silent Bob” series of movies tend to comprise a certain type of humour that I find funny but can understand why others don’t. What’s interesting about “Red State” is that if no one told you that it was a Kevin Smith film, you’d probably never know, because it’s such a different style from what he’s done before.
Firstly, it’s not a slacker comedy but the story of three teenagers who get caught up with a fundamentalist christian church led by the charismatic Abin Cooper, and a raid on the church by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. Smith tells the story well, keeping it dramatic and fast moving and the action sequences really are excellent. In fact, watching it, I couldn’t help thinking that if anything Smith has been constrained by his reputation as a writer/director of suburban mall comedies.
The cast is excellent, with Michael Parks really chewing up the scenery as the pastor, and the always watchable John Goodman as the lead BATF agent. Goodman is one of those actors whom whenever you see in a decent role you always wonder why he’s not playing a meaty character in an HBO series.
My one criticism of the movie, and this is more to do with my personal taste than any failing of the movie, is the utter cynicism displayed by Goodman’s BATF superiors during the movie. It just did not ring true for me.
We can get a bit snooty about what we watch. Sometimes television isn’t groundbreaking or thought provoking, but just plain entertaining. 
As you can imagine from the title, David Duchovny’s show 
