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Leaving The Wire out of the Emmys (again) shows exactly how worthless these awards are. This has been the best show in the history of television from Episode 1. Maybe the Arrested Development thing got to them, but they were right to keep giving that show awards in spite of the ratings and they need to recognize this show.
Two and a Half Men is funny. It's not sophisticated, it's not politically correct, and it's not subtle. But it is hysterical. Sheen is a really good comic actor, maybe because he doesn't look like one.
Just checked out Mad Men (thanks for the tip). Good show, even though the appearance of Rosemarie DeWitt probably means that Standoff is really dead, and I liked that show a lot. I grew up during the 60's, albiet in an extremely liberal environment, but I was too young to understand the social dynamics that were in play. If this is really what things were like, the pressure to conform was beyond anything I could have imagined. It's amazing that anyone managed to get anything done, what with everyone pretending to be something they weren't. Simpler times, indeed. :)
The last couple of episodes of JFC have gotten more and more disorienting. Some of the criticisms I'm seeing are kind of unfair, but some of the people who have obviously drunk the Kool Aid are rationalizing.
The random dead guy wasn't random, he's the guy who deflowered Barry at the hotel. Mitch talked about surfing when he thought Shaun was dead because that's the lens he views everything through, and because he isn't quite as in touch with his spiritual side as he likes to think. Tina talked like that because Link offered her $1000 to tell him how good he was, so she talked like a character in a porn movie. Trying to illustrate the duality of the character, a little obviously I thought but apparently not.
Ed O'Neil is brilliant, even when his dialog is nonsensical. Gaviota is showing that he has been being wasted for years, and the scenes with him and Dickstein are some of the best parts of the show. Beaver is doing a great job, although sometimes he's working with some pretty thin material.
But -
Greyson Fletcher... why? He surfed one time, he's skateboarded twice, and he can't act at all. I mean not even a little bit. This is why God gave us stunt doubles. Kennely is actually getting better every episode, and she is one of the most likeable characters on the show. But Fletcher make Keanu Reeves look like he has range.
Rebecca DeMornay is bad and getting worse. Completely one dimensional and flat, something that often happens to actors after they are featured on Law and Order - Dick Wolf seems to have a way of beating all the talent out of everyone he meets. Look at Mariska Hargitay.
That scene in the parking lot made me feel a lot like Spiderman 3 - what the hell is this? I'm going to ride this out, but the situation with John and Cass is becoming tedious and the parking lot thing has me wondering if this is going anywhere. Here's hoping that Milch has some magic under his hat that will pull everything together and make us all go "Ah".
