Reasons to Stay Indoors: The Summer TV Preview

The days of summer reruns are long dead, and thankfully so. What we have now is a delightful if not overwhelmingly awesome plethora of shows to watch, and I'm excited about many of them, both new and returning. So, let's talk about what I'm excited to watch, and what I think you should be excited about, too.


Returning:

 Louie (FX)

Louis CK's dark comedy returns on FX on Tuesday, June 23 for its second season. Often emotional, this show's format resembles a modernized version of an early Seinfeld in structure - the fictional storylines of the show are inspired by -- or accompanied by -- the comic's stand up material. Having followed Louis CK since his days at Late Night with Conan O'Brien, I was a little biased about this show from the beginning, but it certainly holds up even for people who aren't entirely swayed by Conan writers.

The season premiere begins with a cold open - Louie brushing his daughter's teeth while she tells him that she loves her mother more. It sounds depressing, and it is, but so much so that it eventually gains hilarity.

Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)

I once had the privilege of meeting Larry David when I was 12 years old. I'm fairly sure I made him extremely uncomfortable, and thus is the premise of Curb. Everything makes this man uncomfortable, and it's hilarious. He's a terrible person, and what's funnier than that? A show about terrible people for, well, terrible people. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Curb will be back, no doubt with absurd storylines and endless profane situations on July 10.

Futurama (Comedy Central)

There is nothing about Futurama that I do not absolutely love. From my uncomfortable crush on Phillip J. Fry to my love of gluttonous robots, it's almost perfect. The only thing disappointing about Futurama is that the eventually run out of new episodes. Not only is this show hilarious, but extremely moving: Jurassic Bark is the most devastating episode I've ever seen of any television show ever. Don't know it? Go watch it. Then prepare to be wrecked for the rest of the day. Unless you're some kind of heartless monster.  Futurama returns with back to back new episodes on June 23.

True Blood (HBO)

I debated about whether or not to put this in here because of my feelings on True Blood. I run hot and cold with the show, and just yesterday had a long facebook discussion on how stupid I think it is. I've never read any of the books, and have never cared for Anna Paquin (this was a blatant understatement), so I don't have the attachment to it that some people do. There are some good characters - Jason Stackhouse, for example. His character has had so many arcs, it's amazing that he's even recognizable anymore. It takes an actor with some depth to be able to pull that off. Hoyt and Jessica are probably my favorite thing about the show - they're just an awesome couple, and adorable at that. Although I didn't much care for his storyline last season. my favorite character on the show is Sam, the lovable shape shifter, who keeps me coming back for more. I think my feelings for True Blood can be summed up as this - For a summer show, it's all well and good, the way you crave a trashy novel to read on the beach. It grabs your attention, it's just smutty enough, and if the book falls in the ocean or gets beer dumped on it and it's ruined, well, no loss. True Blood starts Sunday, June 26.

New Shows:

Franklin and Bash (TNT)

I actually already have to shoot this down. I've seen two episodes of it now, and it is so disappointing. F&B tries - unsuccessfully - to be everything that Terriers was, but doesn't get there (or come close). I like both of the leading men, and they do a good job of engaging their audience, as does film legend Malcom McDowell. However, the show isn't written very well - the story lines are fairly terrible, and the court cases are completely contrived, as though the writers had only attempted to gain research for their courtroom comedy by watching Castle. I'll probably give it another go, but unless extreme improvement happens, I'm going to be out of there.

Wilfred (FX)

Having just watched this pilot, I can't tell you how delightful it was. It was wonderfully weird and entertaining and unlike anything else on television. Adapted from the Australian show of the same name, Jason Gann plays Wilfred (on both continents), a dog to everyone but Ryan (Back to the Future 2's Elijah Wood), his next door neighbor, who sees Wilfred as a large, horny, brutally honest man in a dog suit. The show calls to mind many strange entertainment outlets before it - Lars and the Real Girl comes to mind, as does Flight of the Conchords, but still this show remains unique in so many ways, and I definitely look forward to more. Wilfred airs on FX Thursdays at 10.

That's about it for now. But, as always,

There's more where that came from.

-Meljo

Best New Series? I think so.

I rarely watch the first season of a show when it airs.

This is because of two things. One, I normally don't have time to watch them, since I have my schedule pretty much full. Two, they have a tendency to get cancelled before they can get to a stopping point in the series, and that breaks my little TV loving heart. I have broken this promise to myself several times, and this year is no different.This brings me to today's topic - what is the best new fall series?

My vote goes to Terriers, on FX.

A brief synopsis for you - an ex-cop and an ex-con  make a meager living by being private investigators in the San Diego area.

My first thought was, "oh great, another crime drama." That's not surprising. It seems that every other show on TV today is a crime drama. When one goes off the air (Law and Order), they just make another one with the same name and put it in the same time slot (Law and Order: Los Angeles). This is different, though. It's well written, well acted, and, dare I say it, refreshing.

The show's two main characters, Hank (Donal Logue) and Britt (Michael Raymond-James) are extremely complex, which is rare to see these days. Hank is a former cop who earned a dishonorable discharge from the force because of his alcoholism. Additionally, he also lost his wife and his dignity, which all drove him to get clean and sober. Despite all this, you root for him - he's a lovable character with the very human quality of regret, and almost every choice he makes as a character is the result of this. He's trying to make things right. Midway through Hank's season one arc, we meet his autistic sister (played by Logue's real-life sister Karina), whom he lovingly cares for. Not all drunks are bad guys, it just takes sobriety to show it. He is a completely selfless character at the beginning of his character arc, which is almost unheard of. Almost everything he does is for someone else. It seems that his want is to help people, but his need is to help himself. That's backwards! But like I said - refreshing.

Britt is completely different. He's a former thief who met his live-in girlfriend in the strangest manner possible - he broke into her house to steal her stereo and saw her picture on the refrigerator and decided to visit her place of business in order to pick her up. He met Hank when Hank caught Britt trying to commit yet another robbery, and, instead of dragging him into the police, offered to make him a business partner. Unconventional! See? Refreshing.

As if these characters weren't complex and interesting enough on their own, these two actors have tremendous chemistry. I've only heard of Michael Raymond-James because of True Blood, but I've followed Donal Logue through the depths of his career (from Little Women to The Tao of Steve to Grounded for Life to The Patriot) and back again, and all because I saw Conan interview him in 1999 and decided I liked him. He hasn't had the most notable career, but he deserves to. He's a nice Irishman. Anyway, these two have never worked together, but you'd never know it - their banter (which is hilarious and often worth rewinding and listening to again) is flawless.

But that's not all that's good about this show.

My other favorite crime drama in recent history is Castle, but even I will acknowledge that the best thing about that show is Nathan Fillion, and to some extent, the relationship his character has with his daughter Alexis (played by the lovely Molly C. Quinn). The biggest weakness of crime drama shows, Castle included, are the crimes themselves, and the storylines that follow. Terriers beats these odds with unpredictable, original storylines that leave the audience not only guessing, but wanting more.

And there's more where that came from.
Meljo