Thursday, February 26th, 2004
Since it debuted five years ago, The West Wing has been pretty much my favorite current television shows – certainly one of my favorites ever. Intelligent, funny and ambitious, I didn’t expect it to last more than half a season, so imagine my surprise when it actually found an audience and not only survived, but thrived. For four seasons, it was an example of how network television can sometimes screw up and put something worthwhile on the air, and it offered a sort of respite from the utter nonsense coming from the real-life White House. So with that kind of admiration for the show, it’s understandable why I’m finding season five to be so awful.
Alarm bells started going off midway through last season when Rob Lowe left the show (how’d that Lyon’s Den work out for you, Rob?) and a full panic set in when creator Aaron Sorkin and director Tommy Schlamme left the show a couple months later, leaving executive producer John Wells (ER) fully in charge. I gave Wells the benefit of the doubt – after all, he had been with the show since the beginning and was hardly a television neophyte, and surely the show had enough momentum of its own to survive the departure of it’s creator and top director?
Not so much. Obviously without Sorkin, the trademark rat-a-tat-tat dialogue was going to suffer. It was his hallmark and not easy to reproduce. What I didn’t expect was the abrupt decline in well-constructed plots and the exponential ratcheting up of treacley schmaltz. It must be painful for the cast to have to deal with the material they’re being given now, they seem like shadows of their former selves. There’s no energy, just this sort of dazed walking dead-ness. Worse is the addition of not one, but TWO smart-mouth sidekicks (Toby’s assistant and Josh’s intern). They are the dramatic equivalent of precocious children in sit-coms… DEATH. It’s also disconcerting how everyone has gotten haircuts. They’re so perfectly coiffed, it’s like they’re getting ready for their funerals. Which probably isn’t inaccurate. It still has its moments and if looked at objectively, is probably still one of the better shows on television, it now just seems like a soap opera whereas before, it felt like more. The sub-par quality of the current season is only made more glaring by the fact that I’ve been downloading and watching the first four seasons for the last few months. Talk about contrasts.
I don’t know how the ratings this year have responded, but part of me wants them to just pull the plug – a mercy killing. The other part of me wants desperately for them to make it through the last couple years of the Bartlet administration – it deserves to go out on its own terms and on a high note. Someone at NBC had better find Aaron Sorkin and make some mea cuplas to get him back. And bring him a fresh supply of ‘shrooms.
Oh yeah, season two is out on DVD on May 18. No idea is Sorkin will be doing commentaries. The press has also been musing on the current season of The West Wing – articles here, here and here. They’re more generous than I am.
And while on the topic of quality filmmaking… Bubba Ho-Tep opens at the Royal tomorrow night!!! Who’s going?
np – Versus / Secret Swingers
Wednesday, February 25th, 2004
I’m a little disappointed that none of the geek news sources I frequent thought fit to mention that the long-running Neil Gaiman vs Todd McFarlane legal battle is over, with Gaiman stomping on Todd in every way possible. The best bit of news to come out of this is “it’s still full steam ahead now for the Miracleman plans”. Hot diggity dog – does that mean that after a decade, the last couple issues of “The Silver Age” will finally be coming out? I will have to do some digging to find out what these Miracleman plans ensue. Hopefully it will entail putting all the trade paperbacks back in print, at the least. While this will surely take the bottom out of the back issue market, it will allow a greater number of people to discover what for my money is one of the best comic book series ever written. And let this be a counter-argument to those who would like to do away with intellectual property law altogether – copyright laws exist for a reason. Yay for the good guys. Update: Gaiman has posted a current state of affairs in the aftermath of the McFarlane fiasco. Confusing doesn’t begin to describe it.
And for those with no idea what I’m talking about, The Continuity Pages has a good summation of both the series and its legal wranglings, as does the Alan Moore Fansite.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club amd The Rapture bring what I am calling the “Mope’n’Disco” (say it like “Mop’N’Glow”) tour to the Kool Haus on April 7. Black clothing and shaggy hair mandatory, and don’t you dare look like you’re having fun.
Tiger Style Records has gone on hiatus. Whether this means that none of the bands on their roster were planning to release anything in the next while so they’re taking advantage of the lull or that they’re leaving their bands in the lurch is unclear. Though to be honest, AmAnSet were the only band on the label that I cared about, and since they put out a record last year, they’re probably not due another one for a while. Still, though. Strange happenings. From Delusions Of Adequacy.
24: Sigh. You just knew that as soon as they said they had an Asian guy ‘on the inside’ that he was dead. Asians: The Star Trek red-shirted security guys of the 21st century. And it’s really not worth asking why Michelle thought it was a good idea to go after the suspect in the maintenance room on her own. It’s not as though she didn’t have a whole platoon of CTU agents loafing around in the lobby. I thought for sure that Gaell was going to get his hand chopped off by the fan – I was wrong, but he’s having a bad day nonetheless. Bet he wishes he was still wherever he’d been hiding for the last four or five hours.
np – Television / Adventure
Tuesday, February 24th, 2004
The first thing that occurred to me when I stepped in the Horseshoe tonight was, “Shit, I forgot my earplugs”. Because I did. And since Scotland’s Franz Ferdinand aren’t really known for their gentle acoustic lullabies, it was off to the washroom to snag some toilet paper to cram in my ears. That stuff actually works pretty well, to be honest. I was also sorry that the Leafs game didn’t make it into overtime, because that would have allowed me to miss more of Anagram’s set. I’d seen them before so I pretty much knew what to expect, but the big Scotsman behind me put it best: “Please stop. For the love of God, stop”. Nuff said.
The hype around Franz Ferdinand is pretty big right now, but to call them this year’s Strokes is unfair and inaccurate. One, they sound nothing like The Strokes – instead of ripping off 70s NYC punk bands, they crib from a lot of 80s NYC post-punk bands. I was hearing Talking Heads and Blondie, as well as some Gang Of Four. Secondly, I don’t think they’ve got the same commercial potential as The Strokes. Note that this is no comment on their music, as I don’t really like The Strokes, but FF are considerably less accessible. Jagged guitars, four-on-the-floor disco drums-and-bass, jerky vocals with the right balance of tunefulness and abrasion don’t go down too easy with the suburban kids. And no bridges stolen from Tom Petty. That certainly doesn’t mean that they can’t kick some ass amongst the indie kids, though. The ‘Shoe was sold out and packed with hipsters and the curious but the crowd was surprisingly restrained. There was some dancing and enthusiastic applause, but I didn’t get the feeling that people were having their worlds spun around. Could be because with these buzz bands, the crowd will be evenly split between the zealous, the curious and the skeptical, and there’s little chance they’ll win them all over. Whatever it was, it wasn’t because of a lack of effort on the band’s part – FF played a highly energetic albeit short set (one hour including encore, but understandable since they have but one album), displaying some impressive stage presence for such a young band. There was just the right amount of in-your-face confrontational attitude mixed in with their eagerness to impress. These guys are pretty good. Not life-changing, but definitely deserving of some attention. And, of course, photos here.
I was checking out the Canadian Music Week schedule for next weekend, and to my surprise there’s actually a few shows that look interesting. Friday night at the 360 is the Boompa Records showcase, featuring The Salteens, Sekiden, Girl Nobody, Kevin Kane, Natasha Thirsk, Billy & The Lost Boys and Reverie Sound Revue. Some of this bill will also be playing on Sunday afternoon at the same venue. On Saturday night at Healeys, you’ve got Endearing Records’ showcase – I went to this last year, and it was a pretty good time. This year’s lineup has The Meligrove Band, The Heavy Blinkers, Aaron Booth, Novillero and The Waking Eyes. I may do that one or the Weewerk show the same night at Sneaky Dees. Acts on tap for that one are Jon-Rae Fletcher and The River, The Barmitzvah Brothers, Great Lake Swimmers, The Two-Minute Miracles, Elliott Brood and Singing Saw Shadow Show. If you think I’m linking to each of these bands individually, you’re nuts. However, each label page has info on the band and some samples.
After side projects with The Blake Babies and Some Girls, Juliana Hatfield is finally putting out another record under her own name. The self-produced In Exile Deo is out May 18.
Rounder has track previews from the whole of Sarah Harmer’s new record.
We’ve been asked to take part in a Smiths tribute night at the ElMo March 13, but the ridiculously short lead time and the fact that our drummer is in England till the end of the month will probably force us to decline. Which is both a shame and a relief. A shame because those tribute nights are fun, but a relief because I won’t have to learn how to play “Bigmouth Strikes Again”. I have the tab and could conceivably learn the parts, but my right hand simply doesn’t move that fast. But at least its gotten me to dust off my Smiths CDs, which I haven’t played in ages.
Gotta say though, I don’t understand why everyone’s getting so hot and bothered about a new Morrissey record. Sure, he hasn’t done one in seven years, but he hasn’t made a decent one in ten (Vauxhall And I). I suppose hope springs eternal for the daffodil-wielding, but I’m one of those who thinks he really needed Marr to make interesting music and its been a slow decline since Strangeways.
np – The Smiths / The Queen Is Dead
Monday, February 23rd, 2004
It’s been brought to my attention this weekend that I may be packing a few extra pounds lately. First, my friend Will whom I haven’t seen since last summer commented on my waistline, and then yesterday the first thing my mom says to me when I walk in the door is, “You’re fat!” (the second is, “Your hair looks awful!” Thanks, mom). For the record, I am not fat and my hair doesn’t look awful. BUT, as mothers know best, I could stand to shed some of the winter hibernation reserves and get a bit of a maintenance trim on the ‘do. So, it’s time for some tweaks to the diet. There’ll be no dramatic tossing out of foodstuffs or anything like that, but it’s time to pay some attention to what I eat. I’ve always had a really fast metabolism that kept me thin (excessively so in high school), but I don’t think I can count on that as much as I’m closer to 30 than 20, and my diet has been loading up on the carbs and whatnot that everyone else is now shunning (jokes about the Fatkins diet are done, now). Combine this with a sedentary winter lifestyle and… I had though that once Spring rolled around and I was back on my bike, that’d be that but I suspect I’m going to have to be a little more conscious of my eating habits.
So with this grand revelation, the question is where to start? It’s times like this I need to stop and ask myself, W.W.B.M.D? What would Bob Mould do? Bob has been on a self-improvement kick (read Transformer pt 1 and Transformer pt 2) and has posted his own diet and routine. As good a place as any to start educating myself, I think. I find it ironic that he says “Avoid most white foods… Sugar… not so good”. Bob is being too hard on himself. Copper Blue was an amazing record.
Universal Music has a couple of tracks from the new Sarah Harmer album available to preview. All Of Our Names is out March 9. And not to be shallow or anything, but my compliments to whoever took the publicity photos for the new record. She looks fantastic.
It’s a slow Monday, but at least it’s sunny and warm (for February), so there’s no complaining here.
np – American Music Club / Everclear
Sunday, February 22nd, 2004
Just for kicks, Sun Media has ranked their 25 best TV shows ever as well as their 25 worst TV shows ever. I think it’s a little early to call Curb Your Enthusiasm one of the best ever, let alone rank it ahead of Cheers, and I wonder is someone really objectively tried to compare Twin Peaks with Sesame Street… “Yeah, okay we’ve got Oscar the Grouch on one hand, but he’s got nothing on the dancing backwards-talking midget”.
And what a task it must have been to come up with the worst list, considering that such a high percentage of new shows every season are suck dreck. They’d almost need two lists – worst shows ever that lasted more than a half-dozen episodes and those that didn’t. Manimal! Har har. Anyone else remember Automan? Man, TV Tome has more info on crap television than shoud ever be compiled in one place. And finally, while I’m disappointed that the genius of Sledge Hammer! wasn’t recognized for being genius, I suppose I should be thankful that it didn’t make the naughty list, either. I loved that show, I really did. Though I can’t explain why. “Trust me, I know what I’m doing”. Gold, pure gold. Whither David Rasche?
I assume everyone’s heard about the story of 80s band The Alarm charting with a new single while pretending to be a new, young band called the Poppyfields. Alarm-ist Mike Peters says the stunt was intended to prove that “there’s so much music that gets played based on image”. Well, uh, yeah. Did anyone ever say differently? While clever, isn’t that kind of like jumping into a lake to prove that it’s wet? We already knew that.
Grab a couple of excellent-sounding Cardigans live shows from last year. Link from Largehearted Boy.
np – The Band / Music From Big Pink
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