Thursday, May 20, 2010

What's a girl to do?

Two nights on Fox. And a study in contrasts. Like being torn between two lovers. Mr. Perfect who does everything right, and Mr. Wrong who you can’t quite figure out but keeps you coming back for more.

Mr. Perfect is, of course, Glee. They just keep giving me exactly what I want. First, there’s the show choir aspect. Love it. At my house, Glee isn’t a sing-along. It’s a full-scale-production-number-along. Then there are the characters which are crazy good (and in the case of Sue Slyvester, just plain cuh-ray-zee). What else is high school but a blend of grindingly oridinary and bigger than life? And Glee nails it. The plot twists are pure genius – you can see them coming from a mile away, and they still surprise you (Rachel’s birth mom, who else could it be? But, oh, mygod, it is!). Then an episode guest starring Neil Patrick Harris and directed by Joss Whedon. Get out of my head! If I was dating Glee, at this point I’d be seriously wondering how long Glee had been stalking me before we “met”.

Then last night was The Good Guys. What the Anton Fuqua is that? It is one crazy butt show that is making no effort to take its medication. I tuned in because it’s from the same guy who did Burn Notice, and it’s shot in Dallas. Which I had to wonder, how are they going to handle that one? BN is set in Miami where it’s beautiful beaches and beautiful bodies, and even the ratty parts of town are glazed with that gorgeous Florida sun. Dallas ain’t that. And boy, does The Good Guys just throw it right on out there in glowing, unaesthetic, living beige-on-taupe color. That’s Dallas all right. The fact that the burn-out cop is living in a Gulf Stream on the grounds of Fair Park is freaking on-the-nosey hilarious if you live here. And this show just has no shame in indulging in every 70s and 80s cop/private investigator show cliché. No shame whatsoever. There’s a little Starsky & Hutch, Simon & Simon, Barney Miller, Magnum PI, Miami Vice, Lethal Weapon, The Rockford Files and half a kitchen sink. It’s kind of like that person that you think is being ironic by wearing an A-Team t-shirt, but it turns out they just really, really like the A-Team. Love the A-Team. WORSHIP the A-Team. And I tried to resist. The tone was uneven. The characters aren’t quite there in development. The show could use about another 10-minutes in the oven. But, dang it. By the time they rolled out the muscle car rolled out, with AC/DC wailing in the background – hook, line, sinker. I been thunderstruck. It's so Mr. Wrong, but it feels so right.

Torn between two lovers, indeed. And much like in real life, Mr. Perfect, who has all the right moves, is probably gay. And Mr. Wrong says he’ll call ya, but he’ll be cancelled before the end of the summer. Those guys never stick around. But it never stops us from a little foolin’ around, does it?

4 comments:

glorm said...

Haven't watched either show. Now I will have to check them out.

FirePhrase said...

Glee I can wholeheartedly recommend. Even at it's worst, it's still pretty good.

The Good Guys could mature into something fairly unique, if it gets time. But the jury is still out. But do give it a peep, just for my superfly hometown. Suddenly, so many things about my psyche will become understandable.

WashingtonGardener said...

I really WANT to like The Good Buys - I just fear the pilot was as good as it gets and "uneven" it was - it worked my nerves and then some over what it "should be" *sigh*
Dare I say that I'm over Glee? There. I said it. Crush is long past and now I'm at that "what did I ever see in HIM" phase - he is such a self0undulgent pretentious, arrogant twit. You all can still indulge, but count me out for the time being.

FirePhrase said...

I can definitely see me getting to the "he's not that into you, he's way more into himself" point with Glee. Not there yet. They keep sucking me in.

I think the reason I was a little more tolerant of The Good Guys downside was that it is so reminiscent of Burn Notice which I already love. I can definitely hang out a few eps to see where it goes. Could be intersting.

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