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Summer TV followup
I'm inordinately psyched about Big Brother All-Stars. I called it in my previous post: they brought back all the best power players (the only one missing is Roddy). They left out most of the annoying dimwits (Ivette, Cowboy, Dana). And the new twist is excellent: each week there are two Heads of Household, and they must agree on the nominations, or else they get nominated. Right out of the gate, Danielle suggested a brilliant ploy: one of the HOHs could intentionally refuse to agree on the nominations in order to get the other HOH voted out (assuming he has the numbers in the rest of the house). Unfortunately the suggestion backfired and Danielle ended up getting nominated. Fortunately, the other nominee is Allison, and though she's not my first choice to leave, I wouldn't be terribly sorry to see her go first.
Incredibly, all four of the Sovereign Six alliance from last summer that were in the running got voted back in, which made me happy. This means they are already a target, though, but Janelle is one of the first HOHs (with Jase!) and might be able to parlay that into some safety. (Yes, I want her to go far... I still have a bit of a crush on her. She plays up the blonde bimbo thing, which is kind of annoying, but in the diary room she's shrewd and funny. I wonder if she'll drop the act once she realizes everyone in the house knows it's an act because they watched the show too.)
Venture Brothers and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia have both managed to improve on terrific first seasons. They're arguably the two best sitcoms currently on TV (certainly in the top 5). Venture Brothers is more densely packed with jokes and references this season, but also seems to be aiming for a more epic serial format rather than the predominantly episodic format of the first season.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
toddalcott said it best, after the first episode:
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is basically the slacker Seinfeld. Or perhaps more accurately the slacker Curb Your Enthusiasm, since it's non-staged and partially-improvised (or at least looks that way). Except the characters are even more over-the-top jerks, yet somehow lovable all the same. This season adds Danny DeVito to the cast, as the midlife-crisis father of Dennis and Sweet Dee. His impressively accurate Philly accent adds some much-needed local character to the show; they also shot a scene in front of Geno's Steaks. (I wouldn't be surprised to see references to scrapple and Mummers in upcoming episodes.) This season is also turning into more of a serial storyline, or at least it has lots of cross-episode continuity, which is always fun.
(For the record, my other top 5 sitcom candidates are How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, and The Simpsons.)
Incredibly, all four of the Sovereign Six alliance from last summer that were in the running got voted back in, which made me happy. This means they are already a target, though, but Janelle is one of the first HOHs (with Jase!) and might be able to parlay that into some safety. (Yes, I want her to go far... I still have a bit of a crush on her. She plays up the blonde bimbo thing, which is kind of annoying, but in the diary room she's shrewd and funny. I wonder if she'll drop the act once she realizes everyone in the house knows it's an act because they watched the show too.)
Venture Brothers and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia have both managed to improve on terrific first seasons. They're arguably the two best sitcoms currently on TV (certainly in the top 5). Venture Brothers is more densely packed with jokes and references this season, but also seems to be aiming for a more epic serial format rather than the predominantly episodic format of the first season.
toddalcott said it best, after the first episode:It's like the concepts from Season One have been folded up, crushed into a forge and pounded with a pneumatic press to form just the bones of the new season, and then there's actually another show on top of it.And after the second episode:
Last season, a good deal of the humor was the humor of disappointment, where they set up the action cliche and then deflate it by having something mundane happen. Here, they set up the action cliche and then turn it on its head, pump it up, twist it inside out, increase the tempo and turn it into something that manages to be both parody and the real thing at the same time.But I have a feeling it will take a few more left turns before the season is through.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is basically the slacker Seinfeld. Or perhaps more accurately the slacker Curb Your Enthusiasm, since it's non-staged and partially-improvised (or at least looks that way). Except the characters are even more over-the-top jerks, yet somehow lovable all the same. This season adds Danny DeVito to the cast, as the midlife-crisis father of Dennis and Sweet Dee. His impressively accurate Philly accent adds some much-needed local character to the show; they also shot a scene in front of Geno's Steaks. (I wouldn't be surprised to see references to scrapple and Mummers in upcoming episodes.) This season is also turning into more of a serial storyline, or at least it has lots of cross-episode continuity, which is always fun.
(For the record, my other top 5 sitcom candidates are How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, and The Simpsons.)
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