BLOGS
With fall TV in full swing, there are already shows getting cancelled, others getting full-season pickups and still more returning shows that could use a little help. While some programs have problems that could take an entire year to repair (see: House), these other series just need some quick fixes that would make them exponentially more entertaining almost immediately.
10. Saturday Night Live: Write Tighter Sketches
This show has the shortest turnaround time, so it could change course almost immediately. The series relies far too much on Kristin Wiig sketches we've seen before, but even worse, the writers often take a good idea for a sketch and let it run for far too long. Get in, hit the punchline and get out. That's what makes the Digital Shorts so enjoyable.
9. The Office: Add More James Spader
We didn't really care who the new office manager turned out to be (though we would rather have seen a fresh face come in and change up the dynamic instead of watching Andy flounder as he tries to fill Michael's shoes) once we found out that James Spader was going to be the CEO. His scenes are utterly mesmerizing and we can't get enough of him. Too bad that everything else seems pale and sad in comparison.
8. The Amazing Race: Follow Your Own Rules
Last week, the show provided a clue that said one thing, then put up a note with different instructions that didn't have any race indicators on it and had orphans hand the teams their next clue even though the task had not been properly completed. This show is a stickler for details, but yet changed its own rules in the middle of the game. We don't blame Jenna for being bitter.
7. 2 Broke Girls: Get Rid of the Chef/Owner
We like this sitcom, but we cringe at the diner owner and smarmy chef, who fall into all the worst stereotypes you can imagine. Perhaps the business can be taken over by new management and we can get some supporting characters that really work... other than the horse.
6. Boardwalk Empire: Be Less Boring
This show is beautiful to look at, but honestly, it's often a chore to watch. The pacing is way off, which could easily be fixed with a few more gunfights, or stabbings or raucous trips to jail that end in violence. That may sound bloodthirsty, but we expect a show about Prohibition to have a lot more action than this.
5. Terra Nova: Show the Action
The CGI on this show isn't exactly what you'd call stellar, but that's a larger production and budgetary issue that could take 85 million years to fix. But since we don't have a portal to the future, the program could at the very least find a way to convey action without just alluding to it. Sending people into the jungle to play Pied Piper and distract dinobirds sounded awesome, but all we got as a recap of off-screen happenings. We'd rather see attacking dinosaurs, cheesy looking or not, than just hear about an epic battle secondhand. This is TV, not radio.
4.Whitney: Remove the Laugh Track
It wouldn't improve everything, but since this show is going to stick around, it would be a start. Nothing's worse than hearing canned laughter during something that isn't remotely funny.
3. Glee: Find Better Songs
We like West Side Story in doses, but we don't really want to hear the entire soundtrack. Nor do we want to hear people sing/talk their way through the rest of Dreamgirls just so Mercedes can have something to do. This show has always had fun with pop music and classic rock, so we'd like a quick return to form with just the occasional show tune thrown in for good measure.
2. The X Factor: Cut the Episode Length
Want to get more people to watch? Maybe don't have the show take up four hours a week when two would be more than enough. Particularly since the series has been mired in the extremely padded audition and boot camp phases.
1. Grey's Anatomy: Make McDreamy McDreamy Again
Right now, Derek is a self-important righteous jerk who can't see past his own selfish ego to have human emotions. It seems that he gets worse by the season. This is not the man we swooned over. Hell, even his hair isn't lusciously wonderful anymore. Maybe they could just have him get hit on the head so he can wake up his old charmingly entertaining self again. Or, at the very least, let him spend some time at the bar again.
Watch TWoP's editors discuss how to improve this fall's shows in this segment airing on the New York Nonstop news channel:
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Whitney doesn't use a laugh track - it's filmed in front of a live audience. I would still prefer it without the laughter, though.
I couldn't agree more on the Glee front. What happened to the good songs. Check out my recap on On My DVR: http://onmydvr.blogspot.com/2011/10/glee-asian-f.html?showComment=1318000919484#c1625789701507390375
It was filmed in front of an audience, but the laughter is still layered and altered in post-production. If we had just the natural laughs the audience gave it wouldn't be as bad.
I totally disagree on Glee, they need MORE showtunes and LESS shitty pop songs. The classic rock, however, can stay.
I fully support this statement. Except for the classic rock part.
How about instant ways to improve TWOP? Like, more discussion about more shows. It seems like there are about 10 shows covered here, and half of them are shark-jumped long ago.
How about instant ways to improve TWOP? Like, more discussion about more shows. It seems like there are about 10 shows covered here, and half of them are shark-jumped long ago.
Again, who writes this stuff? TAR didn't exactly change its own rules, it ADDED to them at the orphanage. If the sign had said something like "go back to previous task and double the money you bring," then hey, that would be pretty crappy. But it didn't, and to comply with the rule augmentation required nothing more than actually READING a sign, which a number of teams did.
And Spader grinds The Office to a halt. Not that it's too difficult these days.
Personally I loved the twist in this week's AR - absolutely nothing wrong with testing the contestants' ability to pay attention to details (in this case a prominently displayed sign on the table where racers had to hand over their money) in a race to win a million dollars. Jenna's just a sore loser.
Grey's Anatomy - Derek's always been this self-righteous guy... it's nothing new.
The Dreamgirls scene fit perfectly in the storyline this week with Mercedes and felt like a song that would actually mean something to her, unlike half of the crap songs they sing just because its on the top of the charts at the moment. We're finally back to plot and character driven music, and that's the way (uh-huh, uh-huh) I like it.
The Dreamgirls scene fit perfectly in the storyline this week with Mercedes and felt like a song that would actually mean something to her, unlike half of the crap songs they sing just because its on the top of the charts at the moment. We're finally back to plot and character driven music, and that's the way (uh-huh, uh-huh) I like it.
WHAT? The songs were fantastic on Glee these past couple weeks. I have no idea what you're talking about. What do you want more top 40 songs? I think they're doing a good mix of songs actual musical theater people would like and songs the general population would like.
The Dreamgirls scene was perfect for the storyline AND it was fun. I agree with Misty, the music is more character and story driven.
Actually, I find the laughtrack far more distracting on 2 Broke Girls than on Whitney.
SNL - Easy fix? Get a co-anchor for Seth. He cannot carry a weak Daily Show knockoff alone, and the guests are miserable (Keenan and Fred just do 20 versions of the same guy). WU is at its best with a pairing. Tina and Amy. Amy and Seth. Tina and Jimmy. Dan and Jane. That is its edge over TDS and Colbert.
Glee - Easy fix? Hire the same writers from show to show for staters. One season Sue is a big bully - then as acting principal she's anti-bully - now is bully again? Mr. Shue picks on Emma's OCD mercilessly last year and then chides her parents for doing the same this week? Mercedes is a diva one week, insecure the next, most popular girl in school one week and being mocked by the whole club for being fat the next??? C'mon!
As for the other shows ...
- Amazing Race? Not broke! I like that they're actually making the teams work for their clues this year. You could come up with an idea to fix the bunching, but tough clues are fine.
- Boardwalk Empire? Not broke! If people want quick 60-minute resolutions, go to network TV. Boardwalk has more going on in each episode than most of the other shows combined. It just takes multiple episodes for the payoff.
- Whitney? There is no help for that show except to cancel it. Ugh. Awful and annoying.
I agree with those who say Boardwalk Empire isn't broken. People are so used to having TV stories fed to them with easy and quick resolutions, when they actually encounter a novel for television, they chafe. If you want action, go watch The Untouchables. This was never promoted as an action adventure drama. Indeed, I just saw it promoted on the cover of a soap opera magazine.
2 Broke Girls doesn't really need to be fixed - it's been renewed and is getting good ratings. Someone claimed it has a laugh track too, but there's a photo circulating of the cast taking a bow in front of an audience (and every laugh track in TV history has been sweetened). More Garrett Morris, please, though. Also, props to the show for actually being funny and well-written, which is good because I was worried the show was only going to rely on Kat's cleavage (which never gets old, I grant, but you need more substance to make a lasting TV show). The horse is a bit much, though.
I wholeheartedly agree on the McDreamy issue. He is still my TV crush, but just because I think back to good old times. Seriously Derek, stop being such an ass! Or rather, writers, please fix this ;)
Now see, what I think Grey's Anatomy needs is to tip Derek into full villainy. Wouldn't that be interesting? The only reason I am interested in Meredith and Derek's relationship is that I am flabbergasted at how she can still feel love for him and I'm excited to see how she will continue to rationalize his pig-headed behaviour.
As for your Glee complaint: to each his own, to be sure, but let's be real. The Dreamgirls scene was inspired. I agree with the Pink Dagger: "MORE SHOW TUNES!!"
What are you talking about? They're recapping something like 35 shows this fall alone. (Granted not the ones I want them to cover, but still... 35.)
I would like to see more Spader on The Office too! He seems to be the main reason I am continuing to watch the show.
You lost me at the very first suggestion - that SNL write tighter sketches and not rely so heavily on a few overused unfunny characters. For god's sack TWOP, hasn't this the same suggestion every single viewer of the show has made since season three, at least?
For SNL, more Stefon. Stefon every week during Weekend Update. Bill Hader period, he is so underrated hopefully when Jason Sudekis and Kristin Wiig are rumored to leave next year, Bill Hader will be used a lot more often.
For SNL, more Stefon. Stefon every week during Weekend Update. Bill Hader period, he is so underrated hopefully when Jason Sudekis and Kristin Wiig are rumored to leave next year, Bill Hader will be used a lot more often.
For SNL, more Stefon. Stefon every week during Weekend Update. Bill Hader period, he is so underrated hopefully when Jason Sudekis and Kristin Wiig are rumored to leave next year, Bill Hader will be used a lot more often.
SNL has had the problem of running skits into the ground for years. I don't see that changing any time soon.
I find it laughable to say Glee needs "better" songs. You honestly think the shitty pop music is better than Bernstein's West Side Story?? That's absolutely depressing.
Better writing, not more gun fights would improve Boardwalk Empire. If the characters were in the least bit interesting and if their circumstances weren't so derivative the show would be a lot more entertaining. The Sopranos didn't have a great deal of violence, but the characters and their situations kept it intriguing.
Mired in auditions and bootcamp? 2 weeks in and we're already down to the mentoring stage, instead of having to listen to months of horrible singing just for ratings like that *other* show.
Mired in auditions and bootcamp? 2 weeks in and we're already down to the mentoring stage, instead of having to listen to months of horrible singing just for ratings like that *other* show.
Mired in auditions and bootcamp? 2 weeks in and we're already down to the mentoring stage, instead of having to listen to months of horrible singing just for ratings like that *other* show.
Mired in auditions and bootcamp? 2 weeks in and we're already down to the mentoring stage, instead of having to listen to months of horrible singing just for ratings like that *other* show.
definitely agree about Glee. it needs variety both in styles and also in singers - I so dodnt need to hear ANOTHER Darren solo. and it would be also sweet if the people branched out a bit from the sameold same old they usually do. though it was nice to hear Harry Shum sing
It would be pretty difficult for Glee to hang several subplots around a school production of West Side Story without a song or two from the show popping up every episode. It's a series about a show choir, show choirs do show tunes. Always have, always will. A pretty narrow minded criticism on your part. I don't like journey, but still like the show.
I don't really agree on Terra Nova with a qualification. I think the show can be fine with the level of action scenes it has now (see the birds attacking the colony or the chaos in the house) as long as the show's writers develop the characters with depth and believable reactions to the events taking place on and off screen. In my recap of this week's episode at On My DVR, http://onmydvr.blogspot.com/2011/10/terra-nova-birds-of-feather-flock.html, I point out that the pilot showed a good use of action scenes and I like their use of shadows and sounds to make up for budgetary restraints demanded by a television show's pace (versus a summer blockbuster with unlimited special effects budget)
The owner on 2 Broke Girls isn't a racist character, the only thing that's race-related about him is that he has an asian accent. Gloria has a thick accent on Modern Family and no one thinks its racist of them to use it as a point of humor.
Way to fix Terra Nova? Dump it!
Way to fix TWOP? Cover shows that are known to have a good chance of making it, like 'Pan Am', over trash like 'Whitney' and 'Terra Nova'.
And less writers/bloggers that are prejudiced against certain characters or people. REPORT with snark on everyone. Don't trash some people because YOU don't like them or what they do. There is a reason, and YOU aren't the voice of everyone.
Count me in the group that thinks TAR didn't do anything wrong with the sign. I think it was a nice touch requiring racers to really be alert.
As to Glee, I agree with the people who said the Dreamgirls number was a great fit for the episode, and I also agree with those who are calling for better character continuity. More pop songs? No thanks.
Count me in the group that thinks TAR didn't do anything wrong with the sign. I think it was a nice touch requiring racers to really be alert.
As to Glee, I agree with the people who said the Dreamgirls number was a great fit for the episode, and I also agree with those who are calling for better character continuity. More pop songs? No thanks.
Absolutely! But, you see, that runs into the REAL problem.
Bernstein wrote music as art. Pop music today is written for maximum corporate profit and easy marketability. Guess what most under-35s grew up on? Guess which makes the most money for the studio?
I'm amazed we're getting as much real music on Glee as we are. More Bernstein, Webber, *anybody*… please!
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