Under heavy pressure for months now over the lack of black women in the cast, SNL has finally hired an African-American female cast member after embarking on a month long search for that purpose, stand-up comic Sasheer Zamata. Deadline has the exclusive here on Zamata, who will probably appear in the show's first night back since the winter break, the Drake-hosted January 18th episode. I just hope she's not only called on to play black female celebrities, like Michelle Obama and Oprah, but knowing SNL that's exactly what'll happen. She's the first black woman to join Saturday Night Live since Maya Rudolph left five years ago.
TRAILER #2: "House of Cards" Season 2
New full length trailer for Season 2 is out. Looks good! The season drops on Netflix February 14th.
Top 10 Shows of 2013
On this New Year's Eve, the last day of the year, I've compiled my top ten shows for 2013. It was another great year for television overall, and for dramas especially, as we are pretty much abound with riches in this department every year now. But here were my favorites, the shows I couldn't wait to finish watching, whether they were on once a week, every night or all at once, Netflix-style.
1. BREAKING BAD
There's really no question at all about what would place at number one. As soon as the season began I pretty much knew there wouldn't be anything else I watched this year that could top the astounding final season of one of TV's all time greatest dramas. Every episode was heartpoundng, tense, suspenseful, anxiety-inducing and amazingly acted by every member of the cast, especially Bryan Cranston and Anna Gunn. The episode "Ozymandias" was one of the single best hours of television ever produced. If you haven't seen Breaking Bad and are planning to catch up with it on Netflix, I do envy you. You're in for a wild ride.
2. ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
Netflix's first completely original series (House of Cards was adapted from a British show and Arrested Development of course was a reprisal) was also its best, as we followed wealthy and privileged Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) into the wild and wacky world of an upstate women's prison in New York. There we were introduced to the best new ensemble cast on TV, an intriguing and often funny mix of racially and sexually diverse women, ranging from a teenage drug addict to a transexual hairdresser, a murderous senior citizen immigrant, and a raving hillbilly psychopath. Every character is funny, interesting, complex and could carry a show in their own right. Showrunner Jenji Kohan is known for reinventing her shows in the past (Weeds) and I only hope she doesn't go too far with the setup of this one, because it's perfect as is, and I only want to see it continue. The inmates clearly have more stories to tell.
3. BROADCHURCH
A fantastic murder mystery that seemed pretty one and done to me, as these eight perfect episodes introduced, developed and wrapped up all angles of the story that was set up, leaving the viewer perfectly satisfied in every respect. But they are producing a second season soon, so I suppose they'll be coming up with something entirely new. A small coastal town in England deals with the mysterious death of an 11 year old boy, and involves all aspects of the case, including his devastated family members, the dueling detectives assigned to the murder and the various townspeople, almost all of whom are hiding secrets of their own. I compared it to an Agatha Christie novel in my original review, and that still stands, as every element is carefully plotted and all the questions once asked are eventually answered, the exact opposite of series that linger on without bothering to know where they're going. The deliberate nature of this was highly refreshing and immensely satisfying, and I can only hope the upcoming American remake can generate the emotional power that this one did. But I'm not counting on it.
4. ORPHAN BLACK
The year's best discovery came from BBC America, which launched this original sci-fi show and with it Canadian newcomer Tatiana Maslany as Sarah Manning and company. She's a girl who discovers she has duplicates all over the world, and finds herself digging deep into this strange governmental conspiracy to find out which one is the real her. The clones are all played by Maslany in an absolutely astonishing show of acting, as each one is so distinct and different in their voice, mannerisms, and personalities that you truly forget this is the same actress playing all these people. She's a joy to watch and the show is exciting, funny, odd, and suspenseful, often all at once. I cannot wait for this to come back next year.
5. GAME OF THRONES
(Warning: this blurb is kind of spoilery). The third season of GoT was undoubtedly its best, as they figured out a way for every character's often individual journey to at last feel like it's going somewhere and leading up to something. Always TV's most expensive and beautifully produced show (you can probably just watch it for the costumes and locations alone), it can be maddening at times to keep up with everything that's going on with the enormous sprawling cast in all corners of the seven kingdoms. But this time, certain storylines actually started and ended, several people finally made it to the place they were traveling (hurray!) and nearly every episode had one major, story changing moment (Jamie gets his hand cut off! Brienne faces the bear! Danaerys wipes out the slaveowners!), infusing a sense of momentum and raising of the stakes as the story continues. It was exciting, fun to watch, and how can I bring this show up without mentioning The Red Wedding, TV's most talked about event next to Breaking Bad's finale this season? It was shocking, horrifying, and although I hate this expression, game-changing, as the show will transform without the Starks going forward. Even though these episodes are based on books, any show that has the guts to go through with such dramatically altering changes to its cast at any moment, must be given credit for the integrity behind the scenes. Now if only George R.R. Martin can finish those books on time.
6. THE RETURNED
The French import on the Sundance Channel (which had quite a year of its own, with three shows in my top ten) was a beguiling, mysterious mystery, which introduced an array of fascinating characters, some alive and some dead, who are dealing with the consequences of long dead friends and relatives coming back to life and reappearing in their small, rural mountain town. The disruption and questions they bring with them are haunting and eery, and the atmosphere of dread invoked in every frame of every episode is real and effective. Quite the opposite of a show like Broadchurch, and yet just as powerful in its provocative, intriguing, and wondrous moments that occur between characters. You have way more questions than you do answers here, at least so far, but the mystery is so powerful that it dares you not to tune in, and the characters so interesting that they infuse all it with a sense of humanity, whether they're alive or dead.
7. THE COLBERT REPORT
Continually one of the best shows on TV, and by far the most creative, sharp, satirical and pointed take on today's society and politics, The Colbert Report continues to surprise every year, and has for me been outshining its predecessor, The Daily Show, for several years now (which was finally recognized when it at last won the Variety Series Emmy this fall). Stephen Colbert has weathered the transition from the Bush years to the Obama years far more gracefully than Jon Stewart has, as his character has evolved the same way his right-wing counterparts have in the last four years. Meaning of course, that they've gotten even more insane, deluded and deliberately fact free in their thinking, which in turn means Colbert has only gotten more hilarious in his mockery of their nuttiness. The real Colbert's views are pointedly clear for anyone who can understand satire (sadly, that seems to be less and less people these days) and his appreciation for artists of every stripe is indulged in constantly creative ways with his interviews, which are the some of the best on TV. His silliness and sincerity blend to outlandish results, and some of his best moments of the year included his spontaneous marriage of two actual people who were denied their official ceremony during the government shutdown, and his celebrity-filled music video dance to "Get Lucky" in response to Daft Punk's failure to show up on his program. The show only gets better all the time.
8. RECTIFY
Sundance's first original series this year was from creator Ray McKinnon, who invented a mystifying and incredibly powerful character in the person of Daniel Holden, released from death row after 19 years in prison, and suddenly thrust back into his Georgia hometown. Aiden Young plays Daniel, and his performance is reason enough to tune in, as he inhabits this out of place, alienated and desperately confused man so powerfully that you have to see it to believe it. The show is more interested in ordinary things and the outside world as they relate to a man who was put away at 17 and never got a chance to grow up, than it is in solving the original case that put him there, and the question of whether he was really guilty (although that original case as they've stated it is interesting enough for me to want to know what happened). Young is surrounded by a cast of good actors, especially Adelaide Clemons as his shy and deeply religious sister-in-law. The show only aired 6 episodes this season, but will be back for ten in the spring. Here's hoping they can continue the pace as it will likely have to branch out a bit from what was essentially a character study in the first go-round.
9. TOP OF THE LAKE
Jane Campion's dark, fiercely feminist, and deliberately mysterious miniseries was a frustrating experience for many, but I found it to be exquisitely bold in its mystical approach to storytelling. Yet another show set in a small mountain town (this time in New Zealand, where it was filmed on location, resulting in some breathtaking scenery) and involving the disappearance of a child, in this case, a pregnant 12-year-old. Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss gave a terrific turn as Detective Robin Griffin, who returns to her hometown to deal with the situation, and faces her own demons involving the horrific history and secrets that are hiding in and around the lake. I'll admit that if you really want clear answers to your mysteries, this show probably isn't for you, but with such strong acting and creeping atmosphere from a place hidden in an area we rarely see, I was riveted throughout the whole thing.
10. ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
Another polarizing choice here, as many found this fourth season of a resurrected show to be disappointing, but I really enjoyed the elaborate puzzle of construction and appreciated the risks Mitch Hurwitz and his writers took in bringing this beloved show back to life. A series of episodes that was built to incorporate the Netflix model of binge-watching, you really do get more out of it if you took it on that way, as I did. And in fact if you watched it twice, as I also did, the layers and the jokes and replays reveal themselves in so many ways that it approaches nothing else that has ever even been attempted on television before. It's only fitting that Arrested Development would be the show to break new ground again, and with all the actors back and just as great as they ever were, I loved getting lost in the crazy world that is this universe and can't wait for it to come back again, in whatever form it takes. Sure it may have been overstuffed and under-edited, but when it was funny, it was funnier than anything else on TV, and I couldn't get enough of it.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
There were so many good shows this year that I do have to give some honorable mentions, and that's to Justified, Boardwalk Empire, Parks and Recreation, The Middle, and Mad Men, which are all shows that continue to be great well into their later seasons and ones that I never miss. Other new shows I really liked were Hannibal, The Americans, Masters of Sex and The Bridge, which all have more potential than they've yet realized, but for which I'm fully on board with when they return for their sophomore seasons.
TEASER: "Orphan Black" Season 2
The first teaser for Orphan Black is here! The second season premieres on Saturday, April 19th.
Sherlock "Minisode"- John Holmes
A very cool Sherlock mini-episode starring Martin Freeman's John Holmes! The show comes back January 1st, and I'll be posting reviews/recaps for each of the three 90-minute episodes (Sherlock's episodes are more like movies anyway).
TRAILER: "Justified" Season 5
Yay! I can't wait for the return of one of my favorite shows Justified, which kicks off its fifth season on Tuesday, January 7th. I'll also be recapping the show this winter, so be sure to check back for those recaps.
RECAP: SNL 12/21 "Jimmy Fallon"
Now that's more like it! A genuinely good episode tonight, Jimmy Fallon was a terrific host as usual, and the skits all clicked in one way or another. Hands down the best show of the season and a perfect way for SNL to close out 2013. See what having a former cast member back can do for the show?
COLD OPEN: As I predicted last week, the opening tonight confirmed that Jimmy and Justin would essentially be co-hosting, because it's Wrappinville! Right off the bat, what's basically a JT sketch opens the show and the crowd goes WILD. Seriously, they started freaking out the minute Justin stepped on stage, and Jimmy joins in in a Christmas bag. Good way to start off (even though there seemed to be some technical difficulties towards the end).
MONOLOGUE: Jimmy comes barreling out, excited to be hosting "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," starting in February, but now he's going to sing and simultaneously do his impressions of David Bowie, Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney joining in, because of course they couldn't be there themselves. But oh wait, one of them does pop in, and it's Paul McCartney! Paul thrills the audience and sings "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with Jimmy to kick off SNL's "official" Christmas show in a great musical moment.
CELEBRITY FEUD: Kenan's Steve Harvey comes out to host Celebrity Family Feud, a showcase for a bunch of cast member impersonations. The best are Taran's Ashton Kutcher, Jay's Ice-T, and one of the newbie's Jon Cryer, but the big joke is that JT comes on as Jimmy Fallon and even though Jimmy's doing Jim Parsons, he of course breaks character and cracks up at Justin's Jimmy-isms. It's funny stuff.
(DO IT ON MY) TWIN BED: All the SNL girls perform their own digital short, rapping about coming home for Christmas and doing it on their childhood bed. Jimmy raps too, and even though these aren't really my thing, I can see a lot of people loving this pre-recorded bit.
BARRY GIBB TALK SHOW: Jimmy's classic sketch is back (which of course, with Justin there, everyone knew would happen), and it's a great one. A random cameo from Madonna is actually the weirdest part (she seems to have trouble reading off the teleprompter), but Jimmy's at his absolute manic best and owns it, especially chewing out Taran's Paul Ryan, which was hilarious. Justin's great too, and to top it all off, the real Barry Gibb pops in at the end to sing along for the first time! LOVED it.
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE: Justin performs in a really distracting light show spectacular, which kinda took away from the song if you ask me.
WEEKEND UPDATE: Some Duck Dynasty jokes straight off, and then Kate comes out as Billie Jean King, who's being sent to the Russian Olympics on purpose to spite Putin ("one of the only groups in this world who couldn't give less of a flip are 70-year-old lesbians"), and Jimmy and Michael Bloomberg make an appearance talking about their upcoming life changes. Jimmy faux cries as he ponders Seth taking over Late Night, but Bloomberg's deadpan delivery makes the moment.
WAKING UP WITH KIMYE: This sure came back fast. No Justin or Jimmy in this one, but it's still a good sketch, as Jay and Nasim continue to accurately crap all over Kanye West and Kim Kardashian's idiocy (and spoof their own near parody music video). Keep it coming, guys.
NOW! CHRISTMAS SONGS: Ok, so this one's a little lazy, just Christmas carols by famous people, or another excuse for celebrity impersonations, which they kind of already did. Short and sweet though.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL: Spoof of the Dickens tale, with Taran as Scrooge and Kenan as the Ghost of Christmas Past, showing him his young, closeted gay self, with Jimmy camping it up in style. Another funny one- I can't believe so many have hit tonight.
BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE: The final sketch of the night is maybe my favorite one, as Jimmy and Cecily perform an old-school duet of the classic tune, changing the words after Jimmy freaks out at her clinginess when their one night stand is over. Very old school variety show special, and I loved it.
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE: JT's final ballad is ok, but not my favorite song. Hardly matters though, because it's the last segment of the night.
So that's it! Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake bring the funny and SNL finishes the year with it's best episode of the season. It's a solid A- (Justin's songs could have been better). Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everybody! SNL will be back on January 18th with host and musical guest Drake, so until then!
REVIEW: "The Returned" Season 1
The Returned is a haunting, eery, and intriguingly supernatural show that recalls the best of Twin Peaks and Lost, and I'm thoroughly engrossed and cannot wait for it to return next year. An imported French drama that was aired in the U.S. on the Sundance channel, don't let the subtitles scare you away. This show is a mystery with a sprawling ensemble cast that I defy anyone to resist, and it will only leave you wanting more when it ends off on a cliffhanger ending.
The first season is just 8 episodes, and set in a small town in the rural French mountainside, which lends itself to some gorgeous cinematography for a television show, similar to Sundance's other series Top of the Lake, which took place in New Zealand. The community of the town is threatened when they are beset with the mysterious reappearances of loved ones who have passed away, some recently, others decades earlier. The returning dead obviously bring with them an array of beguiling questions- are they real or some kind of zombies? Are they ghosts? Do they function again as normal human beings or are they in some kind of immortal state? They don't appear to be zombies but some of them do seem to have vaguely otherworldly powers. There's always an air of foreboding and dread surrounding the people who have returned, and the lives of their former friends and family members that they've disrupted.
As if those supernatural questions weren't enough, every character is fascinating in and of themselves- there's a teenager who died in a bus crash and whose twin sister is now four years older than her, a twentysomething man who committed suicide and left behind a pregnant fiance who's now a married woman, a former serial killer who doesn't remember how he died and must come back to face his terrified family members, and a creepy little kid who doesn't speak, yet may be the only one with answers to all the questions. And these are only the dead characters- the living ones are just as interesting, complex and frightened by the implications of these events, and they may be the ones who are most easy to identify with. What would you do if someone you once knew rose from the dead and suddenly re-entered your life? The series tackles the meanings and consequences of this from angles both spiritual and emotional- all while giving equal weight to the literal mystery of what's actually going on in this town.
The cast is filled with little known (at least to American audiences) French actors, who all do a fantastic job at creating memorable and interesting characters, my favorite being Celine Sallette as Julie, a traumatized near victim of the returned killer Serge, played by Guillaume Gouix. With a show this dependent on lingering mysteries and atmosphere, it does bring up the problem of whether you should actually answer the questions you've raised, and how to do it in a satisfying manner that doesn't essentially destroy the goodwill you ever had for the show (bitter fans of Lost know what I'm talking about). It's always a risk with shows like this, from Twin Peaks to The X-Files and others, but for now the series is so good that I'm choosing to trust creator Fabrice Gobert and hoping that the European television schedule (only 8 episodes and more than a year between seasons) fosters a better environment for shows like this, where it doesn't have to drag on for a hundred episodes and can end whenever it wants, hopefully providing some solid answers by the time it gets to the finish line. But for now, I say just kick back and enjoy the ride.
Grade: A
5 Great TV Shows for Christmas
With Christmas just one week away, here are five television classics you can't live without this holiday season:
1) A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) The all time great Christmas television special, no Christmas is complete without first watching Charlie Brown discover the meaning of the holiday with the rest of the Peanut gang in attendance. Everyone's at their best in this one- Linus, Sally, Lucy and Snoopy all embody everything of their character's essence in just a few lines or actions for each, exactly how Charles Schulz presented them in the immortal comic strip. It's repeated for a reason- you can never get tired of it.
2) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) The best of the Rankin/Bass stop-motion specials, this 1960's classic worked as a metaphor for the civil rights era and probably connected at that level for audiences during the time. But it still stands up as a celebration of non-conformity, and also because it's just so entertaining. The original songs became holiday staples, including "Holly Jolly Christmas," "Silver and Gold," and "There's Always Tomorrow."
3) Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)- I know it's got its fans, but for me, watching the live-action Jim Carrey abomination in theaters was one of the worst moviegoing experiences of my life. Give me the original anytime. In just 25 minutes, the meaning of Christmas is conveyed with a bright, beating heart ultimately the size of the Grinch's. This one never gets old either.
4) Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970)- The other good Rankin/Bass special that has Fred Astaire narrating the origin story of Kriss Kringle, as voiced by Mickey Rooney. Not as good as Rudolph (what's with the weird psychedelic number in the middle?), but still has an infectious joy in most of the songs that warm your heart and make you feel more than ready for Christmas Day.
5) Buffy the Vampire Slayer- Season 3, Episode 10 "Amends" (1998)- Ok, so it's kind of a joke at this point, with me recommending this show for every holiday, but it works! This third season Joss Whedon-scripted and directed Buffy hour is the only Christmas episode the show ever did, as Angel is haunted by the ghosts of his many murder victims, before a rare snow falls on Sunnydale. A classic.
REVIEW: "Masters of Sex" Season 1
Showtime's Masters of Sex just wrapped up its first season on Sunday night, and I can safely declare that this thoughtful, provocative and intelligent show is one of the best of the year, if only slightly overpraised by some critics who proclaimed it the second coming of Mad Men.
That it is not (that's coming from an intensely devoted Mad Men fan), but it does have quite a bit to recommend itself so far. Starting with the two lead performances, sure to be nominated for Emmys next year (if they're not, it'd be criminal). Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan play William Masters and Virginia "Ginny" Johnson, the famed sex pioneers in the 1950's, who partnered together and published the book Human Sexual Response in 1966, which forever changed understanding about what happens to the human body during sex. The first season of this series took place over about a year (1956-57) and documented the beginning of their unusual relationship and collaboration. Masters and Johnson were unorthodox from the start, and quickly embarked on their own sexual relationship as participants in the study they were conducting, although Masters was married and the two would not marry themselves until 1971, when he finally left his wife.
Michael Sheen plays Dr. Bill Masters as an uptight stick in the mud, who's obsessed and in love with his work more than any one person. His attachment to Virginia develops instantly and at the same time ambiguously, as the series appropriately portrays their connection as being fused in part by the work, but a certain kind of love is surely growing as well between them. Despite an occasionally shaky America accent, Sheen conveys Masters' inner torment over his emotions and interactions with others in beautifully subtle shades, as well as his intense attraction to Virginia and egomaniacal drive to be recognized as having accomplished something as a scientist that will change the world. Some have found his character to be unbearably unlikable, in contrast to other TV antiheroes like Don Draper, Walter White and Tony Soprano, who were all in some ways, still charismatic and likable despite their detestable actions- but I think the uncompromising way that Masters is portrayed actually makes him more interesting, and a welcome difference in a TV world where everyone now wants their own charismatic antihero.
Lizzy Caplan's Virginia, by contrast, is the heart and soul of the show- a very modern woman in a 1950's universe. She's twice divorced, raising two little kids, and sexually free and uninhibited in a way very few women were at the time. In real life she also functioned as the opposite of Masters' antisocial personality, and her warm and friendly nature was what helped recruit volunteers into the study and helped the two of them later on to become celebrities and regular fixtures on talk shows. Caplan is terrific, and her inner and outer passions are expressed so fully that we feel very early on that we know her, and the development of Virginia and Bill's relationship is fascinating to watch and what for me, drives every moment of this show.
Of course, no series survives on just two characters, and that's where my nitpicking comes in. The supporting characters on the show, while played by some very good actors, have all proven to be far less interesting to me than anything directly involving Masters and Johnson. And that can be a problem when episodes have to vary between subplots involving people you're essentially uninterested in. The best of the supporting cast and storylines were undoubtedly those related to Lloyd Bridges and Allison Janney as the closeted provost of Masters' university and his sexually repressed wife. The two of them turned in fantastic performances as an unhappily married couple, and the show took the time to delve deep into Bridges' character's inner torment as well as Janney's. Janney especially should be another lock for an Emmy nod (and win) next year.
But the two most problematic characters on the show took up even more screen time to far less dramatic effect, and that's a problem that I hope will be ironed out by next season, because it's no slam at all on the actors. Caitlin Fitzgerald is Bill's wife Libby, and her main plotline throughout the season was her ongoing quest to get pregnant in spite of BIll's low sperm count. Fitzgerald is sweet and likable in the role, but her desperation to have a baby was never that interesting for me, not in the least because in real life, Bill and his wife did have two children and so this was not a great source of suspense overall. The other problematic character is Ethan, a young doctor at the hospital in love with Virginia, played by Nicholas D'Agosto. It may be that the writers put this character in a tough spot right off the bat by having him hit Virginia in the pilot (it's tough in current times for any one to come back from domestic violence), but Ethan's doomed relationship with his young fiance and ongoing attempts to win Virginia back just never won me over. His late season interactions with Ginny's ex-husband finally started to prove interesting, but it was too little too late, as the season finale had him heading off to California with me hoping he never comes back... but I suppose we'll hear what the writers have to say about that next season.
Masters of Sex wants to explore all kinds of sexual issues, including homosexuality and women's health (which in the 1950's was scarily primitive), and to challenge and face the gender divide between men and women when it comes to sexual science. But the explicit nature of the content is really no more graphic than most cable shows these days (if you're looking for that you'll see a lot more of it on something like Game of Thrones, for example). This is thought-provoking, intelligent, genuinely adult programming aimed at that audience, and I can't wait to see Masters and Johnson reaching new conclusions about sex and about themselves, for hopefully many seasons to come.
Grade: A-
