Oscars Flick Picks

REAL PEOPLE, REAL DRAMA, WILL IT WORK?

Between TLC’s various reality shows and the current crop of medical dramas now found on network TV, the market seems to be too saturated to support one more show. But with the limited eight episode broadcast of ABC’s “BOSTON MED” the network is hoping that this slick production will garner enough interest to attract viewers and, consequently, advertisers willing to shell out the cash that keeps the light on and executives working.

The show, which is the product of ABC’s news division, takes the documentary technique, removes the dispassionate “only the facts Ma’am” tone and imbues it with a more personal touch, highlighting the doctors, nurses and cases in a way that makes it look more like a drama than a news product.

Following is a quote taken from the review by Ginia Bellafante of the NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE:

What could have easily become a pandering hybrid is in fact intelligent, emotionally resonant television. “Boston Med“ maintains a balanced tempo that captures both the rushed intensity of hospital life and the contemplative melancholy and inspiring buoyancy that suffuses the experience of patients and their families. Produced by Terence Wrong, “Boston Med“ is a result of four months of unhindered access to the institutions at its center, and of tight, utterly expert editing.

I have to admit after watching the first two episodes that the voyeur in me just couldn’t help but plunk down in my recliner and watch the whole thing, despite the 10PM slot given the program. In most cases it would have been “TiVo”d for viewing at a later date, but the stories and medical staff were attractive and interesting, and the obvious competition between doctors and nurses was plainly visible. But perhaps “competition” is not the right word because it always seems that it is the nurses who are trying to get the doctors, especially the interns, to listen to their experience and knowledge when it comes to patient care.

Also engrossing are the situations and reactions of the patients involved. Whereas the medical staff generally looks at the people under their care as “cases” rather than people, they STILL have to confront the humanity displayed in the all too human displays of emotion of the patients when faced with overwhelming medical situations. How real people face situations from cancer surgery to self inflicted alcohol poisoning is a reminder to us all that we are here only a short time, but some are able to face mortality with grace while others violently disregard the facts and try to deny the inevitable results. THIS is what sets “Boston Med” apart from other shows, so for the rest of the summer my Thursday nights at 10PM will be spent in my recliner in front of my 42″ flat screen tuned into ABC.

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LAUGHING WHILE AVERTING OUR EYES

With all of the talk about the “obesity epidemic” that is supposedly sweeping the country ABC Family network has come up with a relevant and topical new series, called “HUGE”, that chronicles the travails and exploits of teenaged “campers” at an exclusive “fat camp”.

My reactions after the first episode:

Maybe it sounded like a good idea at the time, but the truth lay in the execution of the idea, and the execution turned out to be fairly brutal. In fact, if this were an execution on death row the Supreme Court would put an immediate “stay” on it.

Why doesn’t this episode work? Well, the reasons I have are balanced between a personal bias against trivializing a real problem and my desire to be entertained while watching TV.

Hayley Hasselhoff as Amber, the cute chick

I guess that what the producers are hoping for is that the viewers will latch onto one or two personalities thus encouraging them to tune in regularly. And maybe that is one reason that they have cast the lovely Hayley Hasselhoff (yes, her father’s name IS David) to play the envied and despised “thin” cute fat chick, Amber, who is actually serious about losing weight. Unfortunately, so far the other campers are nothing more than unattractive “fat” props for the rest of the show. I’m just hoping that there will be more character development coming because this was just a depressing affair.

But what is puzzling to me is why the star of the program, Nikki Blonsky’s character, Willamina (Will), is such an unsympathetic camper. From the very beginning “Will” tries to alienate and offend everyone she comes in contact with, snitching on campers who cheat on their diets, getting in the face of the camp director in front of the whole assembly, all the while saying that she is there because she wants to GAIN weight. Her attitude is beyond apparent reason, making her more cartoon-ish than real. Hopefully this behavior will change, allowing her to become more sympathetic.

After the second episode:

Ian mooning over Amber

Ah! What a difference a second episode makes! As distressing as was the initial showing, the second offering was that much better. Will’s behavior was indeed toned down, finally giving her moments of revealing self examination, and the writers have begun to develop some of the other campers characters into three dimensional kids rather than cardboard cutouts. And love, or rather HOPING for love, is beginning to form as Will is becoming attracted to Ian as Ian moons after the camp “hottie”, Amber, while Amber is actively pursuing the activities director, George who, in turn is ambivalent about allowing himself to get “closer” to a camper. Also a bit of intrigue is injected into the mix as it appears that campers Alistair and Chloe just may be brother/sister separated by divorce.The prospect for some delicious situations may be enough to keep people watching.

Camp Director Dorothy

The staff, too, is starting to be revealed as imperfect counselors, having their own issues dealing with self confidence and ambivalence over their own former “weight problems”, such as Director Dorothy Rand, whose maniacal adherence to her own weight control regime, plus her fear of offending her mother while, at the same time, hiring her father who had abandoned them to be the cap cook, makes for a tasty sub plot. This just may turn into a decent ensemble of characters whose stories are worthy of following from week to week.

So I guess I’ll give “HUGE” another try and, just maybe this promising series will make it past summer re-runs on the ABC Family channel.

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A Season Of Ups And Downs, But Mostly UP!

As Cory Monteith (pictured above) has said, Glee is like someone beat up “High School Musical” and stole its lunch money. And how right he is! Whereas HSM was directed at the Disney-esque pre and early teen demographic who swoon over those dreamy, athletic young men,”Glee”‘s target audience was, well…who WAS the target audience anyway? Who among the readers here fit into some monolithic Nielson viewer statistical group, or into some bracketed age category that advertisers would LOVE to manipulate with their calculated ad campaigns? What about Oscar? Is he a typical viewer, or is he just an aberration, a crabby old guy who is opinionated and loud mouthed?

The Cast From "GLEE"

Whoever the targeted audience was originally conceived to be it has become plain that “GLEE”s success depended on no one group. I have spoken to people as young as early teens and as old as, well,… I just happen to love it too! What is it about this program that generates talk around the water cooler at work and causes total strangers to enthuse together whenever they discover that no, they are not the ONLY oddballs who follow that group of nerdy wanna be’s.

As with any comedic venture not every story line or idea works the way the writers thought it would. Some flop miserably , but in “GLEE”s case there were more genuinely funny moments than there were clunkers, and even when the gags fell flat the music generally bailed them out. Even those episodes that I thought had bombed were the same episodes that others raved about. One such example of this was this season’s “Madonna” episode, one that I thought was flat and slightly disturbing, but many others thought was adventurous, daring and witty. So how do you judge such a show’s success? SIMPLE…RATINGS! And the ratings say that “GLEE” is a smash!

The strength of the series has always been the evolving relationships betwixt and between the characters in the cast. The love/hate relationships played a major role in just about every episode, most notably the rancorous confrontations between Cheerios coach Sue Sylvester and the Glee moderator Will Schuester which dragged just about everyone into its spinning vortex of acrimony.

But also notable were the ‘love interests” which were just as confusing and dramatic as, well, as a REAL teen’s experience. How about THIS for a list:

Had enough?

Kristin Chenowith

Indina Menzel

Also making the show more exciting was some of the guest stars, including Olivia Newton John, Josh Groban and Neil Patrick Harris. But MY personal favorites were Kristin Chenowith, who played an alcoholic, and VERY talented former high school singer, and Indina Menzel, who played the show choir director for Vocal Adrenaline. Aside from being attractive ladies they both happen to be fantastic singers whose solos can be viewed on You Tube. Of the two, Chenowith’s April Rhodes was much more entertaining while Indina’s Shelby Corcoran added drama as Rachel Berry’s birth mother, revealed near the end of season two.

Chris Colfer

Naya Rivera

But I just can’t neglect heaping praise on the singing talents of the regulars, such as Lea Michele‘s Rachel (of course),Chris Colfer‘s Kurt and surprisingly Naya Rivera‘s Santana Lopez, someone who, I expect, will get a lot more face time next season. Another singer who I would like to see get more solo time is Amber Riley‘s Mercedes Jones, with that powerful voice, and a personality to match.

Surprising was the only word I could use to describe the hidden singing voice of Mark Salling whose Noah ‘Puck’ Puckerman was mostly played as the bad boy foil to Cory Monteith‘s Finn Hudson, but was called on to sing in some dramatic scenes that left no room for hiding a weak voice. Not a singer of note, Mark has developed into a passable crooner in the right situation.

Was this season satisfying enough to make viewers look forward to another year? Certainly! And maybe we can see more development of characters such as Mike Chang (“Asian Guy” who can really dance) and Matt Rutherford (also a dancer), both of whom just seemed to be filling space in the ensemble. Can they sing? Who knows. The question being: will we ever find out? Lets just hope that Fox doesn’t chop up next season like they did this one. It is a testament to the faithfulness of the fans that “GLEE”s success was not derailed.

C’MON FOX! DON’T SCREW IT UP!

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