What I’ve Been Watching: Edition VI

So maybe, just maybe, I’ve been watching a little more TV these days. What have I been watching? The shows listed below, dummy! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that, I’ve been under a lot of pressure, what with my DVR at 97% and all.

I watch other shows too, and probably mentioned them in Edition I , II, III, IV, or V. Bathe me in your comforting glow, oh mighty television!

HEY, MAD MEN, I LOVE YOU

Mad Men (AMC) Way back in Edition I, I offhandedly referred to “my beloved… Mad Men,” but have never really officially said so. I’ve got to praise Mad Men like I should. Sharing my feelings doesn’t come easy but damnit, I love you. The wild surprises, the insane stand-alone episodes, the clumsy shoehorning in of current events, the always twisted humor and dirty dirty sexuality—I love it all. I’m already sad about losing you forever after next season. Don Draper, you’re a giant prick and a hot mess but I’m still pulling for you, buddy.

LIKED A LOT

Kroll Show (Comedy Central) I’d been familiar with comedian Nick Kroll from his work on Comedy Bang! Bang!, The Life & Times of Tim, and various other quality projects. So I would’ve watched this even if Salt in Wound founder John Levenstein wasn’t an executive producer. It’s a sketch show with recurring characters, and it is very, very funny. Kroll is smarter and more inventive than most comics working today, and there seems to be an underlying decency rather than cruelty to his humor.

Out There (IFC) If you liked Freaks and Geeks and you dig quirky animation, this may be the show for you. It’s a couple of suburban high-school outcasts against the world, with all the familiar pains that entails: bullies, unrequited love, etc. They don’t say when the show takes place, but it’s a nostalgic pre-Internet/pre-cellphone era. Voices of Fred Armisen, Megan Mullally, etc. add comedic pre-approval. The show never quite matched the standard of the pilot, but still pretty consistent. And, oh yeah, some of the characters have animal heads.

Nathan for You (Comedy Central) Nathan Fielder was a minor character on the gone-too-soon Jon Benjamin Has a Van. In this comedic reality show, Nathan suggests and implements offbeat plans to assist small businesses. His ultra-deadpan, innocent persona is a refreshingly unique voice in the world of comedy.

The Ben Show (Comedy Central) In another comedic reality show, Ben Hoffman also brings something unique to the table: Yes, he’s crude and edgy, but he’s also a neurotic, mild-mannered mess, and seemingly a smart, kind guy. There’s a loose theme to each show—throwing a party, visiting his hometown, etc.—which gives Ben ample opportunities to interact with real people. I love it each time he hands them a piece of paper and asks them to read the introduction to the next segment.

The Americans (FX) Keri Russell is very, very pretty. I never watched Felicity so I’m making up for lost time. Oh yeah the show is pretty good too. It fills the 24 void in my life, but is actually smarter than 24. A pretty neat trick having us sympathize with the Russian spies. And very nice to see Richard “John Boy” Thomas again, looking quite well. A couple of points off for the show making almost no effort to look like it’s set in the early 1980s.

LIKED

Arrested Development (online series) I’ve only watched about half of the new season so far, and I’ve heard that things will start making sense, it will all come together, etc. But the fact remains: The episodes written by creator Mitch Hurwitz that feature the main characters are funnier and better than the rest. I’ve read 1,000 articles about the return of the show, and how they couldn’t get the whole cast at the same time, so they came up with this ingenious idea to highlight one character per episode, and that’s a strength, yadda yadda. It isn’t a strength, it’s a weakness, and I’m saying that even though Salt in Wound founder John Levenstein is a consulting producer. All gripes aside, I am extremely happy to have the show back, and when it’s at its best, this is still the funniest, sharpest show around.

Family Tree (HBO) How psyched was I for a TV series from Christopher Guest? Chris O’Dowd is extremely likable as Tom, a Brit looking for information about his ancestors. It’s a gentle, slow-paced comedy, but always with a few of the lunatic touches that Guest is known for. As the show moves from the United Kingdom to the United States for the concluding episodes, more Guest regulars are joining the cast (Ed Begley Jr., Fred Willard, Guest himself), and I think it’s getting funnier.

Maron (IFC) The phoenix-like rise of Marc Maron from ’90s stand-up obscurity continues with this Curb Your Enthusiasm/Louie ripoff. Still, the fictionalized Marc Maron comes across as very charming and self-deprecating, more so than in the rambling intros to his often terrific WTF podcast.

Bates Motel (A&E) Of course I would sample a show based on the Hitchcock classic. Strong performances from Freddie Highmore as teenage Norman and Vera Farmiga as his wacked-out MOTHER kept me around for the full season. Also kind of cool that there’s a nerdy sexy girl with cystic fibrosis who lugs around an oxygen tank. There was one episode in which I thought the show had really turned a corner into Twin Peaks-ish weirdness. Alas, it didn’t maintain that quality.

Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central) I don’t listen to too many female comics so this is a nice change of pace and I enjoy hearing her different take on the world. Amy is a nice mix of crude and self-deprecating; the skits are hit-and-miss but generally pretty funny.

Newsreaders (Adult Swim) I was excited about Newsreaders, as this news-magazine spoof had previously appeared as a couple of episodes of the hilarious Childrens Hospital. Initially, it didn’t seem like the same creative team was involved, and the show suffered. But they soon rotated writing assignments to some familiar names and the funniness increased. Note to comedy news shows: Quit it with the end-of-episode Andy Rooney old-guy spoofs; it’s just never very funny.

Burger Land (Travel Channel) I like burgers and I like going to different places. George Motz is the well-established king of burger seekers. Each week this friendly fellow visits a different city or state and tries their best burgers. Lots of great old-timey spots (I think I’ve only been to three of them thus far), even if the episodes quickly feel a bit same-y. (“We use fresh beef every day; we’ve never cleaned this grill, etc.”)

KIND OF LIKED/KIND OF DIDN’T

1600 Penn (NBC) It wasn’t very good, it was pretty cookie-cutter, but, I don’t know, I found it very watchable. Kind of relaxing to sit there and take a look at it. If I had to pinpoint one problem with the show, it was Book of Mormon‘s Josh Gad who co-created and co-starred in 1600 Penn as the President’s embarrassing son Skip. Josh Gad wants very, very much to be Jack Black but he is not Jack Black. And there was just too much of him in this show, in what should’ve been more of an ensemble comedy.

Rectify (Sundance Channel) The NPR review said it was the best show ever; the Times said it was a piece of shit. I think the truth was somewhere in-between. Rectify is about a creepy Sling Blade kind of dude who is released after 19 years in prison for a murder he either did or did not commit. There’s a real lazy, oddball rhythm to this show, which felt much more like an independent film than a TV series. Except independent movies aren’t six goddamn hours long. The lovely Abigail Spencer plays the creepy dude’s sister, except they saddle her with an annoying southern accent. I was hoping Rectify wouldn’t be renewed but alas, it was.

WATCHED FOR EIGHT MINUTES AND THEN DELETED

Legit (FX) I guess they showed the commercial a lot, and it looked OK. Some Australian comedy jerk in another Curb ripoff. Oh, how shocking he was trying to be! Oh, how quickly I deleted and cancelled all future recordings.

RECORDED ALL SEVEN EPISODES AND THEN DELETED THEM ALL WITHOUT WATCHING ANY BECAUSE THE DVR WAS REALLY FULL

Top of the Lake (Sundance Channel) Sorry, Peggy.

YES, I’M STILL WATCHING THE SIMPSONS AND MODERN FAMILY

I will say, the season finale of Modern Family, with the gang at a Florida retirement community, was genuinely enjoyable. With the other 23 episodes I generally sat there and waited for it to end.

THANK YOU AND GOODBYE

30 Rock, for being the funniest, smartest show around for the bulk of its run, and ending extremely well; Delocated for typifying the sort of bizarro humor that has become the hallmark of Adult Swim (even if the finale was pretty weak); The Office which had been terrible for a year and a half, vindicating my annoying eternal insistence that I preferred the British version and yet still, thanks for lots of laughs over the years; and Enlightened, which two seasons in was probably the best overall show on TV at the time of its boneheaded cancellation by HBO.

LOOKING FORWARD TO

The return of The Newsroom, maybe Broadchurch on BBC America, and, in a twist worthy of M. Night Shyamalan, the May 2014 return of Jack Bauer and 24.