Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation debuted on NBC between two episodes of The Office last week, and had its second episode last night. The comedy runs in the vein of The Office, in that it’s about a manager who is so not-self-aware in regards to her job that she doesn’t realize how idiotic and stupid she comes off as. The rest of the cast is similar to the hit TV show in that they range from semi-serious to equally absurd; the show itself is created, produced and written by the same folk.

But is Parks and Recreation essentially splitting the talent and jokes with The Office, resulting in two bland shows? Neither the characters nor comedy are identical so one show isn’t right out stealing from the other, and yet one wonders if the creative talent doesn’t have enough time to focus on both shows to the degree they need. (more…)

Back in December, we reported that Bryan Fuller was returning to Heroes after he had moved on to do the two-season Pushing Daisies. Fuller was one of the original masterminds of the first season, which was so excellent in so many ways. Though no one could necessarily attribute the show’s sudden decline to Fuller’s absence, it became clear early on in Season 3 that Heroes was lacking something.

Two-and-a-half months after that announcement, the show was worse than ever, leading me to make many suggestions on how to improve Heroes. Season 3 was a complete cluster, full of characters who were shells of their former selves. And then, five episodes ago, something happened. Things started happening for the better. The characters began to settle down. Plot lines began to cement. Story arcs were reduced or finished. Episode 19 and 20 marked some major transitions in the show. You may not have realized it at the time, but look at what happened: Sylar finally finds his dad and loses his annoying sidekick; Ali Larter’s character is killed off in stupendous fashion; Micah is brought back to the show in a very satisfying way; Hiro regains at least some of his powers; and Nathan and Danko finally break it off. (more…)

Normally, the announcement of a fourth season of a popular television series would be grounds for celebrations, but one has to wonder how many fans are saying enough is enough already.

Heroes, as everyone who is actually reading this post knows, had an incredible first season that gave NBC a much-needed hit, made “Save the cheerleader” a household phrase and became internationally known. Then came season two. For a little while, it went fine – while not as good as the first season, it still developed its characters further and progressed the story at a reasonable pace.

Then… the writer’s strike. Facing a chapter without an ending, the Heroes writing staff made the massive mistake of accelerating their storyline – about a virus that ravages the world – toward a clumsy conclusion far earlier than was ever meant to happen. The result? Subplots were dropped, stories were accelerated to the point where nuts and bolts were flying off at the seams and fans were left with a bitter taste in their mouth. (more…)

The Shield is gone, leaving the airways devoid of gritty, gray-and-grayer police drama. Michael Chiklis was a complete badass, and over the course of seven amazing seasons, the writers carved an amazingly complex, suspenseful and believable tale of crime, corruption and tragedy. The last season, especially, was a masterstroke.

And only a few months later, A&E’s The Beast has risen from the ashes to take The Shield’s place. Or at least try.

The Beast plays out like a down-and-dirty version of the Chris Cooper movie Breach mixed with a less captivating Training Day; Travis Fimmel stars as Jake, a young, eager cop who has been recruited to partner with Charles Barker (Patrick Swayze). Just as in Training Day, Jake is green around the edges and has a lot to learn when pitted against Charles, who will cross the line to accomplish the mission. SPOILER ALERT: It isn’t long, though, before Jake is confronted with a team of officials who inform him that he has been selected to spy on Charles, given the suspicion that the man is dirty.

Surprisingly, it isn’t Swayze who has the lead but Fimmel; the narrative stays focused on Jake much more than Charles. Nevertheless, Fimmel holds his own and quickly proves that he can carry the show, and one has to wonder, given Swayze’s dire circumstances, that this isn’t completely coincidental. On the flip side, it’s Swayze who will draw audiences in and keep them there, as he delivers his best performance in years – though that isn’t hard, since no one has seen him in years. That fact aside, Swayze growls his way through scene to scene with satisfying brutality, though those expecting Denzel Washington-esque screen chewing should look elsewhere. As good as Trimmel is, this show will live and die with Swayze – and I sincerely hope that doesn’t turn into a literal statement.

Neither the pilot episode or Episode 2, titled Two Choices, blew me away; as intense as Swayze is, that intensity doesn’t always resonate through the show itself. Again, one can’t help but compare The Beast to The Shield, and having grown to love that show over seven seasons, it’s hard to see the same quality here. Nevertheless, only two episodes have passed and both are good enough to give it a few more chances.

In other words, it has potential.

Interestingly, one of the most intriguing aspects of the show is the relationship between Jake and his neighbor Rose, played by the beautiful Lindsay Pulsipher. The relationship serves as a good antithesis to the rest of the show, and I liked the prospect of the issues the couple is going to face in the future. Still, I think the writers jumped the gun by removing much of their conflict by the second episode.

The Beast, which premieres Thursday, January 15th at 10pm ET/PT on A&E hasn’t won me over, but it’s intriguing enough to give it a little time. It’s sad to think that this may be Patrick Swayze’s final hurrah, but if it is, it is a commendable way to go out. The show maybe similar to bigger and better things, but Swayze’s performance is top notch.

We’re two episodes into Fox’s new sci-fi show Fringe, going on #3. The show, from the creator of Lost and with the fans of The X-Files in mind, is an interesting one, about genetic testing, mutations and some kind of conspiracy or invasion that is yet to be revealed. The season starts off with a bang, with a plane full of passengers getting subjected to some biological agent that causes the flesh to melt off their bones. From there, a crazy scientist is introduced, as well as an attractive federal agent and Joshua Jackson. I’m not a fan of Jackson and I don’t think I ever will be.

In the world of Fringe, brains can be hacked into using the electricity of brain waves, death does not mean that people are completely dead (can we really believe that the woman’s boyfriend, who was revealed to be a bad guy in the first episode, won’t return from the dead?) and women can give birth to a full-grown man who dies of old age an hour after being born. Behind it all: a company of great respect, or a government, or something else entirely. We know that Fox wants several seasons of this show, and clearly what we’re seeing here is only the beginning. It’s intriguing stuff.

Still, I’m on the fringe about Fringe. It’s entertaining and works, but it isn’t a great show. It’s no X-Files, that’s for sure, no matter how hard it wants to be. For starters, the characters aren’t particularly interesting or likable, save for John Noble, who plays the senile scientist who holds many of the answers the other protagonists are seeking. Anna Torv, who plays Agent Dunham, is attractive but a bit too mannish for her own good; in this day and age, they want to make her beautiful, sensitive and tough all at the same time, but she can only switch from one mode to the next, rather than embrace all of her character’s attributes and take true advantage of them. I expect this to be fleshed out in time, but Scully she is not. And if she’s not Scully, Joshua Jackson is surely not Mulder, as he seems to be around to add a “name” to the cast, throw in some pretty bad sarcastic one-liners and prove he can have a sustainable career beyond “Dawson’s Creek.” The dynamic between the two is stale and hardly captivating.

The show has a nice, glossy feel to it, but it’s almost too glossy at times. The direction and editing is also a little sloppy, as if the crew got 95% complete and then let their kids do the rest. It’s hard to be specific, but so far the show has failed to build tension or mystery despite the story arc that makes such a thing so easily attainable. Compared to Lost, for example, it fails to keep you curious commercial break to commercial break, and that’s a bit of a disappointment.

All in all, Fringe is decent enough that I’m going to continue watching for a while, but right now I don’t know if I’ll make it a season. I have high hopes that as I write this Fox is conducting focus groups to see what they need to do to improve over future episodes, but let’s just hope their tinkering isn’t too late.

At least it’s already better than this year’s X-Files movie.