Hmmm -- not much commenting below.
You lurking Canadians -- yes, I'm pointing at you -- you burn my ass.
Anyway, I thought Sons & Daughters easily outpaced Free Ride in the battle of the partially-scripted shows. I think it has a deeper cast, first of all. It's wonderful to see Max Gail back on TV. Shout out to the Barney Miller fans!
In Sons & Daughters, the improv back and forth did allow for some quirky and shaggy laughs that didn't go where you expected them to. It leant a winning unpredictability to things. I also think the plotting and basic structure of the episode was far more succinct, clear, and tight than Free Ride.
But maybe Sons & Daughters' biggest feat is this: you're talking a huge cast, and by the end of the second half-hour, every one of those characters were suitably defined. I knew who everyone was -- and I'd already picked a few favorites. It also made me much afeared to find myself half-speculating, "now which of these characters am I most like in my family unit?"
Yeah, it was fun to see former Muchmusic VJ Amanda Walsh up there jazz-handsing mightily, but Fred Goss and Eden Sher were the standouts to me.
From the learn-something-about-writing department -- Randy Wayne's Jeff Fenton was being set up as the standard good-looking jock, and then there's that scene where he dismisses the cute blondes because they're mean to his cousin...yup, the whole ugly-on-the-inside thing has been done -- but what a character-revealing moment: it makes you think totally differently about that character. Not a bad thing for your pilot.
I'll be watching this one til they cancel it. Heh heh. Okay, okay -- maybe not. Supposedly it did build on According to Jim's numbers, and did okay with 18-34's. Not the splash that The Unit (which I still haven't caught up on) made, but not bad. Hopefully it'll be enough to keep it going for a while.
I also liked how small the stories were. With a cast that big, you don't need to advance everything too far each episode, because your crosscutting gives you narrative momentum -- having to service all those characters mean that lateral motion can free you from the need for constant forward narrative motion. It's an interesting technique.
6 comments:
Guilty of lurking. Alright....
Sons and Daughters - I think I respected it more than I enjoyed it. I agree that they did a great job establishing the characters and there is defintely plenty to like on the show (the jock son blowing off the hot girls and the daughter with the glasses who is wise beyond her years without feeling cliche or forced). But I didn't find myself laughing out loud, aside from the scenes with the father of Amanda Walsh's baby, who was gold. Respect does not a belly laugh make....
The Unit - As a huge fan of The Shield, I'm biased and willing to overlook more than the average person, since Shawn Ryan created both shows. There are definite bugs that need to be worked out (plotholes, the unsympathetic wife with short dark hair, a few cringe-worthy moments), but there's also a lot of potential. Between Robert Patrick, Regina Taylor and Dennis Haysbert the acting should be more than solid. I even think Scott Foley might pleasantly surprise us. I've heard complaints of the show feeling disjointed, but I'm hoping that's just due to the reshoots after they booted Amy Acker.
With the Shawn Ryan/David Mamet pedigree, I'm more than willing to give them a few episodes to find their footing. Hopefully the surprisingly large audience that watched the pilot will stick around and they'll get a chance.
Okay, I went along with the Unit for awhile, but they totally lost me at several key moments --
1. Threatening the FBI.
2. The retired Unit member calling the Sheriff to have the plane standing by...then arming the guys.
3. The gun shot at the end of the show. Why? No one, AND I MEAN NO ONE, is allowed to have a gun within the confines of base housing. They must check all arms at the armory (It's 24 hrs). That includes personal firearms.
When I was in the service (USAF) it was court martial proceedings to carry a weapon on base (if you weren't security or the Air police).
They say, "The devil is in the details", and there are soooo many details in The Unit that are just so wrong - supposedly in the service of drama - that it sucks. The real story - procedures, limits and excesses - of the Special forces is a far more intriguing tale that has yet to be told.
Let's hope that Ryan and Mamet are able to jump away from the perception and dig deep into the reality.
One of the guilty ass-burners over here...
I liked Sons and Daughters too, more than I thought I would. I'm interested in seeing where it goes from here.
oh Crystal,
come on..we've met...weve talked --- say, five, six times.. email me direct. come on. you can do it.
And come on Callaghan,
if you're not going to update your blog, at least go to town here..
..you're definitely right about Amanda Walsh's baby daddy. I was ashamed by how much I found him funny...but...funny is funny.
I remember Amy acker was attached to this. Was she reshot as the wife of Foley?
I think Amy acker is the Lisa Kudrow of the now. Lisa Kudrow was supposed to be ROZ on FRASIER. fired. didn't work out.
How'd that work out for her?
Guilty again....of not updating my blog in weeks. Maybe longer.
Amy Acker was indeed cast as Foley's wife in the pilot. The president of CBS decided he didn't like her in the role, so they were forced to cut her. Shawn Ryan and Scott Foley both lobbied hard to keep her on the show, but it didn't happen. I read in an interview with Acker that she was angry about it but appreciated Shawn Ryan and Foley going to bat for her.
Hopefully she'll find the Kudrow success.....I always liked her on Angel. I don't watch Alias, so I don't know how much of an impact she's had on that show.
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