Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween Debut for Cable TV Series

It's Halloween. This year I am intrigued by a new television series about zombies. The show is called Walking Dead. It appears on AMC. I want to see if AMC can do a zombie show that makes me care about the characters and their lives on a weekly basis. Yeah. We'll see. That is one tall order.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

War Dec On

Impersonations of U.S. Presidents.

I'm declaring war on comedians doing impersonations of U.S. presidents. They're a cheezy cliche and generally unentertaining. Unless the demands of a Saturday Night Live skit need to be met, I don't want to see anyone try to impersonate a president ever again.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Running Wilde on Fox

I enjoy watching Running Wilde, the Fox sitcom starring Will Arnett and Keri Russell. It feels fresh, and the humor is quite clever. Arnett and Russell have great chemistry, and the neighbor Fa'ad played by Peter Serafinowicz is a goofy ball of genius.

And, like with Mad Men, I like to check the #runningwilde hashtag on Twitter as the show is in progress to see what people are saying and reacting to. Twitter is so good for that. It adds to the experience of watching an event live as opposed to the following day on the Internet. All of the Running Wilde episodes are posted on the Internet the day after their first run, which is nice. This saves DVR space for all involved. Right?

Running Wilde favors Arrested Development, so it is not for everyone. You either appreciate the jokes or you throw your hands in the air and say, "I don't get it". There are other parellels like the casting of David Cross whom played Tobias on Arrested Development and now portrays Andy Weeks, the fiance to Russell's character, Emmy. Cross is pretty good as Andy, although his appearances are limited so far.

Plus there is the daughter to Emmy. Her name is Puddle. Puddle narrates the show, so everything is from her point of view. She seems to be the most grounded character, which is ironic considering that she is surrounded by adults.

Mr. Lunt the butler and Migo the chauffeur add to the zaniness. They serve as enablers to Arnett's character, Steven. They serve as splendid plot devices because without them, Steven couldn't get in as much trouble with Emmy, and the plotline would suffer. So, we have to have healthy doses of Mr. Lunt and Migo to keep the pot stirred every week.

Anyway, I really like Running Wilde. It has a cozy, nichey appeal to it free of pomp and pretense. It's charming.