The Female Forces recommendation came from a not always totally reliable source; while our good friends have impeccable taste in many things, they're also the ones that can quote from the two part Real Housewives of New York City season finale. Still, a hilarious clip on The Soup involving chicken wings made the decision to record the realty show an easy one.

Set in Naperville, Illinois, the show follows the women of the shield as they chase down stray dogs, escort drunkies to the tank, stop speeders, and visit the dermatologist. They're a charming bunch, often speaking with Fargo-like accents that make them even more lovable. It's also nice that this show is not like Cops in that you walk away from it feeling like a voyeur with a roman emperor's lust for blood and a sinking feeling that humans are truly animals. In fact, for a reality cop show, this is fairly light hearted and even a bit cheerful.

It's not the easiest show to find, but look for it on the HD Crime and Investigation channel (that also airs Twin Peaks).

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Posted on June 8, 2009

Parks and Recreation is by no means perfected; it's a little too aware of its faux documentary feel and, even though I like Amy Poehler a lot, she's a bit too broad for the kind of subtle pathos that makes a similarly structured show like the Office so successful, it almost feels like it's hard for her not to treat every scene like an over-the-top SNL sketch. But it is pleasant to watch and I laughed way more than I expected to.

The show gets better and better with each episode, and you can now watch them all in a row on the Prime Time on Demand channel (if you have Time Warner here in NYC). The cast is strong; I love Aziz Ansari and he's great here playing a character who is harmlessly sleazy and really lazy. Rashida Jones is as adorable as ever as the straight man to Poehler's wild naif and her lay-about dude of a boyfriend is played to perfection by Chris Pratt.

My favorite character, though, is the anti government government official (a man who, like all true Libertarians, wishes all public parks were owned by private companies – in the pilot episode he explains that he thinks Chuck E Cheese would do a much better job administrating parks… he goes on to eventually admit that he'd much rather work for Chuck E Cheese) played with wonderful subtlety by the furrowy browed, manly mustached, and seething with hate for his ex-wife Nick Offerman (who is hopefully more happily married to Megan Mullalley off-screen).

It's a raw show that needs some time to grow, but already some really great dynamics between characters are developing and, as is true with most ensemble comedies, more laughs and a deeper sense of sympathy are evoked the longer you just spend time with them. I hope the show's given a chance to evolve and grow an audience.

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Posted on May 25, 2009

It's no secret that The Fashion Show is the fashioned by Tresemme clone of Project Runway. Terribly self conscious of that fact, Isaac Mizrahi (who I still adore) and Kelly Rowlands (who I never did, and care even less for now – but more on her later) tip toe around the long shadows of Heidi and Tim. Instead of calling out a trademarked catch-phrase like “gather round”, Mizrahi has to stammer out, “Come here around me” to the contestants.

Even the sewing rooms look exactly the same, though the judging panel puts the judges on the opposite side of the stage and for whatever reason forces them to huddle and conspire in a hallway like gossiping girls cutting class as they debate which contestant will hear the uninspired send-off, “Sorry, we're not buying” in place of “You're out” and “Bye bye darling” instead of “Auverderzien”.

The show really could have benefited from an attempt to establish its own identity, because there are some good things here. Firstly, one of my friends from college is a contestant. Root for Anna! She's the one who looks Amazonian and strikingly sane amid the sea of freaks. Merlin is so over the top and flamboyant that he's nearly nauseating just to look at; when he gleefully announced to a hushed room that, “The woorl is run by beetches!” I wanted to hide someplace far away from my television. There are other caricatures here too who come in varying degrees of bitchy, swishy, and cocky but they pale in the shadows of Merlin's feathered hat.

On the plus side, the challenges are actually pretty good so far, better than some of the weaker late season PR efforts. I think Mizrahi, despite emphasizing his bitchy, non nurturing (read un-Tim Gunn) edge can offer a lot of good criticism and knows what he's talking about. However Kelly Rowlands, a natural born mumbler, seems only able to say, “I wouldn't be caught dead in that” and manages to make all her lines sound as if they come from the tenth plus take on a very long shooting day. I have no idea why they hired such a charmless wonder.

She explains her credentials up front as having worn lots of fashionable clothes and having been seated in the front row of some show; but considering that she really means wearing and viewing the horrendous showboaty glamour of Beyonce's mom's House of Der?on, her ostensible assets are more like hindrances. Oh, what I wouldn't give (since their going the bitchy route anyway), to have Sandra Bernhard as the co-host!

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Posted on May 11, 2009

Of all the lame and desperate reality shows to come round, Jim and I took a shine to one of the most ostensibly boring. Running in Heels revolves around the none to glamorous adventures of three interns at Marie Claire. They get coffee! They fail to hail cabs! They haggle over Chinatown luggage! All the while bemoaning how haaaard they're working.

It's a super addictive show mainly because it most closely resembles the life and people my friends and I would gossip about in our actual lives. There are minor competitions, like helping with a charity event, or writing a blog about Kenneth Cole, not exactly the stuff of television magic, but the intrigue of these catty girls competing to literally be better than the other ones at grabbing coffee for the Vassarettes (the world's first “bra” band!, huh?) is funny and perfect for lazy morning viewing over some baked eggs.

I guess it's a bit late to be recommending this show, but I had to wait until the finale to decide if it was going to make it because if they dared to offer the job to that bitch Ashley, giving young viewers the false impression that being a terrible, horrible person is the way to get ahead in life, there was no way on earth I could recommend it.

I know, it may not be mature or endearing for me to feel so much hatred for some idiot girl, but you didn't see Ashley! As it turns out, Marie Claire did fine by me, condemning her attitude as a major liability in the real world, and so now I can safely admit, somewhat sheepishly, that I watched and enjoyed every episode.

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Posted on April 27, 2009

As anyone in my office can tell you, we've had precious little home time as of late. Long hours, working weekends, it can make you appreciate the little pleasures and comforts of home all the more. To my surprise, I've recently found the oft rerun King of the Hill to be one of those small comforts.

Maybe it's Hank's soothing qualities of suburban domesticity. He's the kind of weird American man that certainly never appears in my world that much – a man's man who knows how to use power tools and could save you if you got a flat tire on the highway.

Or maybe it's the leisure time outdoor beer drinking that neighbors and friends regularly indulge in, a practice that in this blustery and sad season seems like a dream miles away. Or perhaps it's the comfortable familiarity of the sitcom format. Conflict arises, the characters' worlds are all mixed up but within twenty two minutes, all is well and back to normal… sigh.

Really though, it's Bobby that gets me through the nights. I adore that chubby, kind hearted kid who loves troll dolls, fruit pies and wants to become a prop comic when he grows up. When I catch a Bobby-centric episode, I know I'm in luck.

It's well written show by any standards, cartoon or not, but it never seems to get the same respect that the Simpsons or other animated shows on Fox command. In fact, it was cancelled earlier this year to make room for a Family Guy spin off. Boo! I'll take Mike Judge over Seth McFarlane any day and, with King of the Hill repeats airing nightly, I can do just that.

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Posted on April 13, 2009