A "10" For All Time

I've been thinking about how much I am going to miss the summer lineup of shows that I have been enjoying over the last few seasons: Warehouse 13, White Collar, Royal Pains, Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, Cake Boss, Haven, and others.

So much so, that I am indifferent to the return of shows that I was crazy about when the season ended.

I wrote earlier this year about being sad about the demise of Law and Order, and yet I am completely indifferent to the return of L&O:Criminal Intent, and L&O: SVU, both previously real favorites.  House? Who cares? 

Wait, what?  House has been one of my favorite shows of all time. What's going on here?

I think USA is on to something that was picked up by the producers of Fringe, and the folks at SyFy:  people would rather see a mini-season of all-new episodes than a whole season of new shows interspersed with repeats.  I have been enjoying a batch of USA summer shows this year, and am looking forward to their winter seasons more than I am the fall crop of  "regular" shows.

Matthew Bomer, who plays ex-con Neil Caffrey in USA's White Collar, is one of the best reasons to watch television since George Clooney left ER.  He is certainly a "10" by anyone's standard.  Many of the other characters in the other USA shows are also attractive.

It is true that eye candy is not enough to keep you watching a show that stinks on every other level, but these shows are smart and funny, and their casts work well together. The "family" dynamic among Mark Feuerstein, Paulo Costanzo, and the incomparable Henry Winker of Royal Pains is priceless.  The episode of Burn Notice that reunited Cagney (Sharon Gless, a series regular) and Lacey (Tyne Daly) was delightful.

Networks, are you listening?  There is a reason your viewership is dropping off. If you continue in your present format, network television will be deader than the proverbial doornail in just a couple of years.

This all got me to thinking about TV, and so I revisited a place I have not been in quite a while: TV.com. I was a regular there in 2006, and wrote a number of reviews of shows and episodes, and some blog posts about generically TV-related things.

One of those posts focused on the ratings that they ask you to give to your favorite shows. Entitled, "What is a 10, Anyway?" I talked about the difference between shows that may be your super fave right now, versus shows that were so outstanding for whatever reason that they deserve to be a "10" for all time.

Read the article here: "What is a 10, Anyway?"  What makes a show a "10" to you? Or are any of them good enough for that coveted designation?


 

OT and it isn't even Wednesday - What is your favorite TV Comedy?

Well, I just felt like doing something different, even though it isn't Wednesday, so I checked out a "spark" - in this case, a kind of linky-love free link exchange - over at SocialSpark.com, a social network for bloggers where you can get paid for blogging, and my friend over at Dragon Blogger asked this question: what is your favorite TV Comedy?

I didn't even have to think about it. I mostly hated comedies, and I had a reputation of being on the somber side. It isn't that I don't laugh easily, but in general I have an odd sense of humor. But a few years ago, I discovered Everybody Loves Raymond. I originally posted about it at TV.com in 2006, and my opinion hasn't changed.

I have seen most all the episodes now, but when I first discovered the Barone Family in syndication a couple of years ago, my husband couldn't believe there was actually a sitcom that could make me laugh out loud. But the laughter was from twenty years of recognition of my own peculiar challenges of having been a non-Italian, non-Catholic career woman marrying into a closed society. The depiction is spot on.

I'm not sure that anyone outside of New York or New Jersey who isn't Italian, or married to one, can appreciate just how brilliant this comedy is. Ray Romano didn't make this stuff up. He had to have taken these characters out of his own family, or the families of friends.

They are authentic, right down to the last detail. The decorations in their homes, the mother who dominates "for love", the obsession with food, the plastic slipcovers, the combination of affection and hostility that characterizes all communication, the relationship between the sons and the mother, the obnoxious cousin who plays the accordion--I have seen them all. They just aren't as hilarious in real life. This is one of the best comedy ensemble casts ever.

Everybody Loves Raymond contains some mature themes and a fair amount of profanity, of the kind that is routinely thrown around in this setting. Probably less than is actually used in real life, and a whole lot less than other shows, but enough that it is not suitable for young children, in my opinion. That is why I never watched it when it was in prime time - my children were young and I thought it was inappropriate. But if that isn't an issue for you, and you could use a good laugh, Everybody Loves Raymond is a great place to start.

TBS airs 3 episodes daily, back to back from 6:30-8:00 PM EST.