Friday, March 2, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Who Says TV Has to Be Good?
CBS
Any given season, there are at least a couple series that I watch, loyally and attentively, even though they are not, in any aesthetically defensible sense of the word, good. This year, that award has to go to Jericho, CBS's postapocalyptic drama set in Kansas after a multiple nuke attack cripples the U.S. The dialogue makes your average daytime soap look like Pinter. ("I'm gonna take a page out of your book, I'm gonna throw caution to the wind": never use one cliche where you can use two!) Skeet Ulrich's principal means of emoting--anger, sadness, love--is staring at something or someone really hard, like he's trying to make it explode with his mind. The whole production has a weirdly off-key, CBS-homespun, soft-focus feel, as if someone just exploded a nuclear bomb in the middle of a Folger's coffee commercial.
And yet I watch. Because, you know, there are six presidents! China's air-dropping relief supplies into the middle of the prairie! Samantha's old boyfriend from Sex and the City is a black-marketeer! I can't help myself!
The term I'm looking for here is not "guilty pleasure" exactly. I don't feel guilty for watching Jericho, I just know that I would normally totally look down on it if it didn't happen to appeal to my personal obsession with dystopian scenarios. Anybody out there have a Kryptonite Show--a show you know objectively is lousy, yet have an inexplicable weak spot for? I promise not to tell a soul.
About Tuned In
James Poniewozik writes TIME magazine's Tuned In column, about pop culture and society. Tuned In, the blog version, is about the stuff we used to call "TV," whether it's in your living room, on your computer or -- once the networks figure out the technology and line up the advertisers -- in your dreams themselves. Read more
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Friday, March 2, 2007 at 1:33 pm
James,
LOL! My wife and I were watching Jericho this week and she looked over at me and asked, "do you really like this show?" I told her I didn't really know, I just wanted to find out who dropped the bombs. What I didn't tell her is that it has some fine looking chicks in it too.
The one show that I actually thought stunk to high heaven, had unbelieveable plot lines and horribly ad-libbed lines was Surface. What a stinker, but I watched it every week in the hopes it might actually be worth watching. I never could invest myself in any of the characters. They were all grating. I couldn't believe that it actually made it thru an entire season without getting canceled and that they actually considered renewing it.
Threshold came on the same season and didn't make the cut. In my opinion, it was a far superior show to Surface.
Friday, March 2, 2007 at 3:22 pm
I can't really explain it rationally, but I'm holding out hope that Standoff returns on Fox. This is probably residual respect for Ron Livingston's work in Swingers, Office Space, Band of Brothers, and Sex in the City talking, but for whatever reason, I tuned in every episode even though the whole premise was formulaic and the characters were pretty one-dimensional.
Of course, the ultimate example of this show is Saved by the Bell. For people in their early to late 20s, watching Saved by the Bell was a routine ritual for up to 6 hours a day in the early 1990s thanks to syndication, and we watched even though we all KNEW it was absurd, cartoonish, and juvenile, and even though we had already seen each episode probably 8 times. Seriously, has any show had the hypnotic effect of Saved by the Bell? I still watch it when I get up early enough to catch it on TBS....
Friday, March 2, 2007 at 3:36 pm
I'm with Keith. I watch the show, although I can't really tell you why. I suppose the DVR is a factor because it allows you to watch additional shows that might come in second or third place otherwise.
I also watch, like Keith, because of a certain babe factor. Have liked the lovely Ashley Scott since "Birds of Prey" and "Dark Angel" days.
Have found Sprague Grayden immensely watchable since her stints on "Joan of Arcadia" and "Six Feet Under".
On the guy side, have always laughed at Skeet's Johnny Depp-lite persona. And while I never liked Gerald McRaney, that all changed overnight after his mesmerizing turn as George Hearst on "Deadwood".
Never knew Lennie James was actually a Brit till I saw him on the recent, excellent BBC America mini-series, "The State Within". But otherwise, his character, be he undercover FBI or actual terrorist, is a thread that is venturing dangerously close to "Lost" territory, and that's not meant as a compliment.
Geez, you have a nuclear holocaust, vigilantes, anarchy, and six Presidents. Do you really need some secret labyrinth plotline that you dole out minute parcel by parcel? I don't think so.
Friday, March 2, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Chaddog,
Being 49 years old, I never watched Saved by the Bell. However, I would have found watching Elizabeth Berkley worth enduring Screech.
I turn 50 in May and will have to give up TV since no one programs for my demographic. I think the local PBS runs old Lawrence Welk reruns on Saturday evenings and there are always reruns of Murder She Wrote. I do so enjoy the programming for the 18 to 49 crouwd though. Sigh!
Friday, March 2, 2007 at 8:05 pm
James,
I confess to being addicted to anything on lifetime. I know, I hang my head in shame. Golden Girls, The Nanny (maybe that explains that off hearing loss in one ear), Will&Grace it's all mindless crack that I just can't turn away from! I am shamed!
Friday, March 2, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Don't be ashamed! It's not child porn. Why do we feel so compelled to apologize for liking mass entertainment? I love soap operas and refuse to feel bad for it. I'm not hurting anyone, not even myself! And Saved By the Bell rocks.
Completely unrelated matter that I'm hoping JP will respond to: how do you pronounce "Poniewozik"? I'm actually quoting you in a conference paper I'm giving next week, but don't know how to properly say your name. Is there a phonetic equivalent or rhyme you can give me?
Friday, March 2, 2007 at 8:54 pm
Chris, It's Pah-nuh-WAH-zick. Rhymes with, um, Lana Phonic? I didn't know they gave conferences about longwinded TV criticism. Exciting!
Friday, March 2, 2007 at 10:33 pm
They do in academic media studies (see http://www.cmstudies.org), where everyone is long-winded and they even give out tenure for it. I get to give a paper on The Office -- nice work if you can get it!
Saturday, March 3, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Lost is the ultimate Kryptonite Show. I'm just waiting for the magic turtle...