This week I’m taking a look back at the 2010-2011 television season. In case you missed it, take a look at how I spent my Sunday nights, Monday nights, Tuesday nights, and Wednesday nights for the last eight months. I’ll give you a few minutes….
All caught up? Here’s my Thursday night experience.
It would be nearly impossible for William Shatner to use up all of his television goodwill, but I can’t say that $#*! My Dad Says didn’t put that theory to the test. I wasn’t as offended by the creative origins of the show as I was by how painfully unfunny it was. But Shatner will ultimately rise above, as always.
Someone who may not is Paul Reiser … okay, obviously that’s not true, but The Paul Reiser Show sure didn’t help. If only he could have played a character who wasn’t “him,” on a show not named after him, the series might not have done as much harm. The best thing about it is that it was so bad it was mercifully pulled quickly.
Perfect Couples was just a shame. Kyle Bornheimer deserves a good script after the overlooked but outstanding Worst Week, and yet for some reason he keeps on getting stuck with these “doomed to fail” flops. Let’s do better for him, Hollywood.
I’ll admit that I continued to check out the odd episode of Outsourced On Demand, but that doesn’t elevate its status — or quality — in any way. I wasn’t offended by the racist stereotypes so much as the poor quality of the attempt. So why did I keep checking in with it? Gupta (Parvesh Cheena) and Manmeet (Sacha Dhawan) were kind of funny.
Fairly Legal attempted a different take on the legal profession, but it failed to do a good job of it. I have nothing against mediators … John Beckwith and Jeremy Grey (Wedding Crashers) are superstars; Kate Reed (Sarah Shahi) is not.
Does anyone else feel like Burn Notice is getting old? The story’s had to spiral out of control in an effort to prolong the central plot for as long as it has. And adding Jesse (Coby Bell) was not a wise way to retool. I’m hoping that the vibe will change now that Michael’s been seemingly unburned, but then if Michael starts going back on missions there’s no more show, right?
30 Rock’s been running on fumes for a while now. Jack’s been dealt an awful hand, what with Avery (Elizabeth Banks) and the baby, the Kabletown merger, and … well, isn’t that enough? Jack and Liz’s relationship is still one of the highlights of the show, but it only really works when Liz is clicking, which she hasn’t been doing for me for a season or two. Kenneth’s been practically an afterthought, while the Jenna focus has been unpleasant. And although I’m a fan of a crazy Tracy, in season five he crossed the line between charmingly nutty and annoying. And who decided to give a full episode to “Queen of Jordan?” Ouch.
The second half of Rules of Engagement touched more on Jeff and Audrey’s surrogate story than the first (which aired on Mondays). But despite the focus on (multiple) continuing stories, it was in the back half of the season that I accepted that there was no way to review the show. It still brings the laughs, but it’s far from cohesive … or consistent.
The Apprentice returned this year with a regular cast of hopefuls vying for the silliest job in real estate. The original wasn’t as good after “celebrities” showed us what could be, but it was a lot better than the extra two sitcoms NBC added after The Apprentice’s season ended.
I never witnessed the dip that people say they’ve seen from Grey’s Anatomy. Like with some other shows maybe I never ranked it as high as other people did, so what appeared to be a stumble to others was holding steady for me. Either way, this season was another enjoyable one. Some good, some bad, characters I like, characters I don’t … whatever. It’s a good show.
The Office had a lot of problems this year, many of which we covered ad nauseam as the season progressed. But what I hold it up to is its own history; when the show fails for me it’s in comparison to seasons past, not on a scale of good and bad. The Office is still some great comedy. I wish they’d handled a slew of things better this season, and some of it actually was bad, but I’m not going anywhere. Are you?
I wouldn’t call it the “star” of any night, but Royal Pains has slowly grown itself into a solid success in large part because it’s so easy. Hank, Evan, Divya, and Boris are great characters, and while I could do without Emily (Anastasia Griffith) and Eddie (Henry Winkler), they’ve always been mere noise buzzing around the focus of the series. Fun, fresh cases every week also make this interesting, although come on — no way can a doctor working out of a van treat all the things that Hank does!
What was once king is now but a mere mortal: Thursday TV is not what it was. But it is what it is, and I’m sure I’ll be hearing from a lot of people about the two NBC sitcoms that I “missed.” Tried them, tried them again, dislike them both, but to each their own.
And that’s the week for me. How about you? How did you experience Thursday night television this season? Share your adventure in the comments below!
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jun 03, 2011 @ 14:30 EST5EDT
So interesting to see what people watch. I watch many Thursday shows and out of network shows, you didn’t watch any of them it seems. I love Big Bang Theory, Bones, Vampire Diaries, Nikita and The Mentalist.
I do watch Burn Notice (I liked Coby Bell’s addition) and Royal Pains on USA Network. Oh, and Fairly Legal, which got picked up for another season but will re revamped. I’m interested to see what changes they make to it (better not involve getting rid of Michael Trucco).
You and I have similar tastes in shows, at least when it comes to Thursday nights, since I also watch TBBT, Bones, The Mentalist, Burn Notice and Fairly Legal. While Fairly Legal was a bit of a letdown, it was still enjoyable enough to sit through since my daughter just loves it and I’ve had a soft spot for Sarah Shahi since the dead-too-soon Life. (My wife and daughter call her my girlfriend and refer to Fairly Legal as “your girlfriend’s show” which is fine by me. I could do a *lot* worse than Ms. Shahi!)
I actually watched every episode of $#*! My Dad Says and Outsourced. Neither started off being very good and the former, in my mind at least, just got worse and worse. I found Outsourced began to click with me about mid-season as the peripheral characters began to be more fleshed out, then when Charlie and Gupta became the Dumb & Dumber duo of the show I really started to love it.
Aryeh, you’ve mentioned offense at the racial stereotypes in the show, but Ruby has stated at least once or twice that the portrayals of the Indian characters was pretty accurate. It’s funny how we see something we know little about (I’m talking you and *me* here, not making any incendiary accusations) and think of it as racially offensive while someone who is a part of the culture sees it as pretty straight up. After Ruby’s statements I guess that really helped me to enjoy the show that much more. In fact, by the time I’d seen the series finale I was actually disappointed that it wasn’t coming back. It went from a show I loathed, but watched in hopes it would improve to a show I actually loved. Hell, I could watch a series called “Charlie & Gupta” and probably laugh my sizable ass off!
*POST AUTHOR*
You know, while I read Ruby’s take on Outsourced, as an “outsider” it’s hard to intellectually rectify what you imagine has to be stereotypes. I wonder how I would have processed it if I’d watched thinking it was an accurate representation … as it is I’m not sure that I watched an episode after reading her piece, but only because by then I’d given up. Oh well!
*POST AUTHOR*
The Big Bang Theory is one of only a handful of shows I’ve promised myself never to review for my column. I disliked it so much when I gave it a try initially, and know it has such a large fan base, that while I might have fun making fun of it the backlash likely wouldn’t be worth it. ;)