Nerds and the gifted are usually the butts of jokes in US sitcoms. Happier with the ordinary, the sporting and those who don’t try too hard, even when there is a smarter character (such as in Modern Family), the majority of US sitcoms see that nerdiness or intellect as a weakness, something to be mocked because it separates out the gifted from the rest of us – when, at High School, the last thing you want is to be different. And they’re never ever going to get a girlfriend or boyfriend, either. Well, not a normal one, anyway.
The 80s did, however, give us a show that dared to be different. Head of the Class starred WKRP in Cincinnati‘s Howard Hesseman as an actor who becomes a substitute teacher at a New York high school. His assignment was a class of children on the Individualized Honors Program (IHP): everyone in the class was a genius at one school subject or another. While to a certain extent the class was composed of stereotypes – the science guy is a skinny, pocket protector-wearing, bespectacled wimp; the computer genius is fat and cynical; the political science guy is preppy; the arts girl is airy fairy; and so on – it still had some variety with Eric (Brian Robbins), the motorcycle-riding, leather-jacket wearing cool kid who was a superb writer, a black rich kid (a young Robin Givens) and an Indian exchange student (Jory Husain).
Each week, Hesseman would give the kids life lessons and help to teach them the ways of the world, but with no ‘normal’ kids around, the IHP students were able to be themselves, to work hard, to be friends and to excel. They could know answers to questions, answer intelligently and debate issues. There were even potential romances, with airy fairy arts girl Simone and cool kid Eric having an on-again, off-again relationship. In a pre-Glee move, thanks to Hesseman’s acting background, the IHP kids would even put on a yearly musical.
The show lasted four five seasons, during which time it changed considerably. As well as being the first US sitcom to film in the Soviet Union (for its third season opener), by the fourth season, some students had graduated, bringing in new students to the programme, including a blonde hippie and an aspiring filmmaker (De’voreaux White from the first Die Hard).
The fifth season saw Hesseman’s character leave, his acting career finally taking off, to be replaced with Billy Connolly in his first US TV role. More stand-up than teacher, Billy also had to deal with America and its customs, and he was popular enough that he got his own spin-off show, Billy.
Sadly, the show ended that season with everyone in the IHP finally graduating and the school itself being demolished. While you’re mourning, here’s the rather catchy theme tune and iconic titles, as well as a full 11 minutes of an episode that featured Brad Pitt that shows why Head of the Class was so different from most sitcoms of the time.
Once upon a time, TV regarded cops as unimpeachable examples of morality. Whether it was Dragnet in the US or Dixon of Dock Green in the UK, cops did their jobs, stuck to the rules and never did anything bad.
Times changed, of course, albeit slowly. When writer GF Newman was pitching ideas to the script editor of Z Cars in the 70s, he suggested that one of the detectives be offered a bribe – and that the detective accept it. Newman was told: “Maybe this isn’t the show for you.” The script editor was right, because Newman went off and created his own show, the ground-breaking Law and Order (no, not that one), which depicted cops as corrupt, willing to bend and even break the law, and sometimes little more than criminals with badges.
This ambiguity continued through the 70s in the UK and into the 90s with the likes of Between The Lines all the way through to the present day with Luther.
In the US, while pretty much every cop show from the 80s onwards showed police who were ‘mavericks who didn’t play by the rules’, the police largely stuck to the rules. But again times changed, giving us first The Wire and then eventually The Shield, in which the corrupt cops committed almost as many crimes as the criminals they were supposed to be investigating.
Cinemax’s new show, Banshee, however, goes one further. All the shows I’ve mentioned are about cops who become criminals. But what if a criminal became a cop?
The show, exec produced by True Blood‘s Alan Ball, sees Lucas Hood (Antony Starr), one of the most notorious thieves in the US, get out of jail after a 15-year sentence for a diamond robbery. When he goes looking for his share of the diamonds from his former girlfriend and partner Anastasia Hopewell (Ivana Miličević), he ends up in the ultra-corrupt Pennsylvania town of Banshee, which coincidentally is expecting a new sheriff. When the sheriff is killed in a fight, Hood assumes his identity and becomes the new sheriff of Banshee, so that he can win Hopewell back, watch over the daughter he never knew he had and earn some money in the process, all while trying to evade Mr Rabbit (Ben Cross), a New York crime boss and Hopewell’s father, who’s been looking for her for 15 years.
Anyway, as you might expect, Hood uses criminal methods to do his job and the result is… interesting. Here’s a trailer.
Sex and the City? Remember that? It’s a little known HBO show that’s practically vanished into obscurity now, so just in case you need reminding, it featured four female 30/40-something best friends, including one Carrie Bradshaw, a columnist for a New York tabloid who writes about sex, dating and relationships in that city. Hence the title.
Based on the books of Candace Bushnell, it was notable for its giving a women a rare forum of their own to discuss their attitudes towards sex, men, relationships, shopping, jobs, family, friendships, social occasions, vacations… Life basically.
It was also notable for being if not always massively explicit with its sex, at least being explicit with its dialogue about sex.
So what should we make of The Carrie Diaries on The CW? Yes, it’s again based on books by Candace Bushnell, but since her books never resembled Sex and the City too much, that’s not much of a recommendation.
It also features a 16-year old Carrie Bradshaw so is set during the mid-80s – horrifyingly enough, that’s over 20 years ago now and yes, the maths on that do not add up in the slightest – making it less relevant to the typical audience of The CW, who are in their mid-to-late teens and early 20s.
There’s also no Miranda, no Samantha, no Charlotte – yet – just Carrie, so perhaps the most important group of female friends in TV history isn’t going to make an appearance or have much to do with the show.
And just to reiterate some of those facts again for a final point, it’s on The CW, it’s going to be watched by teenagers, it features a 16-year-old girl as its lead – exactly how sexually explicit in thought, word and deed do you think it’s going to be?
In short, just how much of a pale shadow of Sex and the City is this show going to be?
The quick answer is very pale, with little that’s remarkable or interesting to draw you in. Even the Twin Towers have been erased from the 1980s New York skyline just in case they upset anyone.
Having said that, despite all the worst fears you might have had about it, The Carrie Diaries is still perfectly acceptable fare. Here’s a trailer. You may notice Freema Agyeman from Doctor Who in it. You may also notice she’s lost all trace of acting ability since.
It’s “What did you watch this week?”, my chance to tell you what I movies and TV I’ve watched this week that I haven’t already reviewed and your chance to recommend things to everyone else (and me) in case I’ve missed them.
First, the usual recommendations: 30 Rock, Arrow, Being Human (US), The Daily Show, Don’t Trust The B—– in Apartment 23, Cougar Town, Elementary, Go On,Last Resort,Modern Family, Mr Selfridge, Shameless, Suits and The Wedding Band.
With more than a few shows already in the watch queue and the return of the likes of Shameless, Arrow, Suits and Being Human (US) expanding it vastly, I had to take take executive action and (based in part on some of your recommendations or lack thereof) decided I wasn’t going to bother either starting or continuing with Ripper Street, Restless, Borgen, Cracked, Deception, and 1600 Penn. Life’s too short. Despite that, Hard, A Young Doctor’s Notebook and Spies of Warsaw are still sitting on the Sky+ box, waiting to be watched, I haven’t even started on Channel 4’s Utopia (no one else has either, apparently, judging by the ratings) and the penultimate The Wedding Band is waiting my perusal. The Carrie Diaries – the prequel to Sex and the City set during her high school years and featuring Freema Agyeman of Doctor Who – is awaiting my wife and some stiff drinks. Hopefully, I’ll get round to new Yes, Prime Minister, too, although everyone says it’s rubbish.
I did give a few new shows a try though:
Blandings
Based in part on the rather funny PG Wodehouse novels and starring Jennifer Saunders, Mark Williams and Timothy Spall. Now, the books themselves aren’t exactly hard-hitting bits of realism, but there’s nothing worse than a comedy in which everyone involved (with the exception of the above-mentioned) is grinning and acting like idiots because they know the whole thing is silly. So I gave up after 10 minutes. Absolutely horrendous and twee.
Father Brown
Mark Williams again, this time starring in another series of adaptations of classic novels: in this case, GK Chesterton’s Father Brown stories about a vicar who investigate crimes in his parish. This is being stripped five episodes a week by BBC Daytime and has all the qualities of a Radio 4 afternoon play (I guess the same sort of people will be watching as listen to those): it’s dull, badly acted, poorly characterised and has as ‘issue’ that needs to be dealt with, in this case homophobia. Didn’t make a lick of sense either and there was surprisingly little Father Brown in it, who showed very little of the “steel trap” mind for which he was so notable. One for if you’re stuck at home during the day and have nothing else to watch, I think. Here’s the first episode to try, just in case it might float your boat.
My Mad Fat Diary
Growing up in the 90s must have been hard if you were a mentally ill, overweight teenage girls. Apparently. Ian Hart’s good as the girl in question’s therapist, but I didn’t get further than 10 minutes through this to find out if it had any other redeeming qualities.
Way To Go
Three down-at-heel, down-on-their-luck blokes decide to set up an assisted suicide business. In common with a lot of shows on BBC3, it’s not very good at all, despite having been written by US-writer Bob Kushell (The Simpsons, Third Rock…) and featuring Blake Harrison of The InBetweeners, but that’s largely down to both the filming and the cast, which both work against any actual comedy occurring. It also falls victim to the other “US writer discovers British creative freedoms” syndrome – a substitution of things that would be banned on US TV for things that might be funny.
Now, some thoughts on the regulars.
Arrow: A bit of a return to form, although a somewhat predictable A-plot, dealing with our hero’s case of the yips. Quite why a (spoiler)fire-damaged fireman in a protective suit should be more handy in a fight than Arrow, I don’t know. I do have to wonder when Dinah Lance is going to Black Canary up (or do anything exciting), too, since she’s not got much to do at the moment.
Being Human (US): the original British show is now just a dot in the distance as its Canadian/US cousin strikes off in completely differently directions. There were three cliffhangers at the end of last season and thankfully they’ve all been resolved in completely unpredicted ways. While’s Aidan’s resolution is both a gamechanger and convenient, Sally’s is going to be interesting and Josh’s could go anywhere. Certainly a step above season three of the British series by several miles.
Cougar Town: What can I say? It’s on, it’s comfortable, it’s basically the US version of Last of the Summer Wine, just 20 years earlier and with more wine.
The Daily Show: Any particular reason why, when The Daily Show decided to visit The Newsroom, that they didn’t speak to former correspondent Olivia Munn? Conspiracy theorists: on your marks, get set, go…!
Don’t Trust The B—-: Thankfully, ABC is ending its policy of showing two episodes of the show a week. While not a bad idea in theory, the problem is that the Sunday episodes were all unaired episodes from season one, which meant that almost two different shows were airing: one in which our heroines are barely friends, nice girl is still working at the coffee shop and Chloe the bitch is actually still quite evil, the other in which we catch up to a less edgy but somewhat nicer show that seems more comfortable in itself.
Go On: Welcome back Chandler Bing. I wondered how long it would be before they gave our supposedly alpha male sports fun a few more ‘feminine’ traits and here we’ve hit pay-dirt. A few twists on relationships that I wasn’t expecting, and I have to ask: where does US TV keep finding these attractive yet incredibly wooden British actresses with cut-glass accents?
Last Resort: All very exciting and such, but a bit less daring than I expected and they seem to have left a lot to be crammed into the finale. I do hope this isn’t going to be a rush job.
Modern Family: Starting to find its mojo again and featuring some lovely moments, particularly between Hayley and Phil.
Mr Selfridge: Mercifully shorter than episode one and with more for Grégory Fitoussi to do as well, beyond the usual problem of dodgy acting, another pretty much perfect episode.
Suits: Hooray! One of the best shows on TV is back. The starts of some decent plots here, but I do worry that Louis is getting a little too silly to be plausible.
Shameless: A little too comfortable a start for the show, which was a bit edgier in previous seasons, but some standout moments, especially those relating to Jimmy/Steve and (spoiler)his father in law.
Vegas: After dragging its feet into a proper serial story, things are starting to speed up now. Virtually all the cast, including Carrie Anne Moss, now have something to do, too. One more good ‘un and it’ll be on the recommended list.
And, in movies:
Quartet
Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut, set in a retirement for musicians. Into the home comes the ex-wife of one of the residents and all hell breaks loose. An impressive cast that includes Tom Courtenay, Maggie Smith, Pauline Collins and Billy Connolly, as well as Sheridan Smith as the manager of the home and Andrew Sachs as another of the residents, the film is beautifully shot and despite a few good lines, also quite astonishingly dull. My mother-in-law turned to me halfway through, almost in tears at how dull it was. Still, it does have a few things to say about old age and it not being the end of everything.
However, I will confess that when the credits rolled and youthful pictures of everyone in the movie – it’s populated by actual musicians and singers who were in very important productions and orchestras in their heyday – rolled past, emphasising that for most of them, this would be the last thing of renown they would ever be involved in (slightly neutralising the message of the movie), I did blub rather a lot.
“What did you watch this week?” is your chance to recommend to friends and fellow blog readers the TV and films that they might be missing or should avoid – and for me to do mini-reviews of everything I’ve watched. Since we live in the fabulous world of Internet catch-up services like the iPlayer and Hulu, why not tell your fellow readers what you’ve seen so they can see the good stuff they might have missed?
In Canada: Fridays, 9pm ET/MT, HBO Canada/Super Ecran 1 In the US: Acquired to air on HBO Cinemax, possibly in June In Germany: Already aired on RTL In France: Already aired on M6
Time for a third-episode verdict on Transporter: The Series, an international co-production that tries to replace the movie’s growling, car-driving Hong-Kong style martial artist who dare not get attached (Jason Statham) with a purring, karate-loving car-driver who loves a shag (Chris Vance).
Of course, what constitutes the first three episodes of the series is a good question, since the episode that aired last week – The General’s Daughter – was actually the first episode broadcast in France and Germany, and so is also a pilot of sorts.
Most of the same criticisms still hold for episode three/one that were true of episodes one and two. It’s a stupid show that doesn’t shoot action well and thinks that women are only useful if topless, naked or sat in front of a computer doing menial tasks. However, compared to the first two episodes, the action seems a lot more together. The fight’s are a tad more Hong Kong in terms of the use of props but, with a German stunt team, of course you’re going to get a lot more karate than kung fu. Pleasingly, Vance also seems to have got the hang of this fighting thing and is looking quite effective in the fights. And the car chases are now only sped up minimally, rather than virtually all the way through.
With less of the comedic German engineer from the first episode and more of the French police inspector from the movies, you’d have thought that would have meant the show was getting better, but the combination of the elevated misogyny and reduced characterisation, plus the fact that even when sped up, the third episode’s car chases weren’t in any way exciting – spoiler: one actually ended with Vance’s car trundling to a halt on a grassy verge after racing along driverless at 100mph – meant that it was actually quite dreadful TV viewing.
Nevertheless, despite being largely horrific, the halfway decent fight scenes are a least a reasonable enough excuse to watch. If you can sit through the rest of it, you’ll at least get that much each week. But if that’s enough, still well clear of this.
Barrometer rating: 4 Rob’s prediction: Will last a season but no more
