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from: Troy Patterson

ABC's Fall Plans: Sending Ashton Kutcher to Your Home

Posted Tuesday, May 13, 2008, at 4:55 PM ET

Nope, I didn't make it to NBC's Monday event, an affair I later heard likened to a maze, Ikea, and mild insanity. The word is that it also was absolutely free of news—which, by the standards of an entertainment industry event, is really saying something. And yet, those reporters who were able to put themselves in an ad buyer's shoes—Docksiders, let's say—thought it did a fine job of "moving the conversation away" from NBC (They're No. 4!) and toward NBC Universal (still a conglomerate to be reckoned with). As if the execs were stealing their spin moves from that other great arena of American showbiz, presidential politics.

I heard many such remarks at a cocktail party thrown Monday night by Hulu, the fledgling video site that represents a joint venture of NBC Universal and Fox. The party, held in the kind of awful bar where the margaritas are all sugar and the waitresses wear bustiers, made a number of impressions—primarily that, by being there, you were missing a much better party. Indeed, the most important ad buyers seemed to find their way out in time to make it to the William Morris Agency's dinner by the soup course. And yet we all agreed that Hulu CEO Jason Kilar is a charmer—"so non-douchey," as one entertainment reporter put it—remarking at the contrast between old-school Silicon Valley humility and big TV braggadocio.

Meanwhile, ABC roused reporters from bed for an early-morning press conference that said almost nothing, though with great pith and an attempt to "move the conversation" with talk of new ratings devices allowing advertisers to know precisely which portions of their commercials you watch, how much you earn, and maybe what you had for breakfast. Taking a conservative approach to the fall and trusting that last season's respectable efforts (Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money) will catch fire, they showed clips from only two new shows. First was Life on Mars, David E. Kelley's adaptation of a BBC time-trip detective program. If I followed the product placements correctly, the cop hero steps out of his Jeep Cherokee, goes to check his iPhone, gets hit by a car, and wakes up in one piece in 1972, where he commits anachronisms to a glam-rock soundtrack. Second was Opportunity Knocks, a reality show involving Ashton Kutcher driving onto your front lawn to run a game show. But there was a glitch on the voice-over track, and ABC exec Stephen McPherson cut the clip with a one-liner about Dancing With the Stars' Marlee Matlin. The joke was witty and impressively risky: What is the sound of hands clapping at a joke about the hearing-impaired?

television
entries
12345
from: Troy Patterson

ABC's Fall Plans: Sending Ashton Kutcher to Your Home

Posted Tuesday, May 13, 2008, at 4:55 PM ET
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Troy Patterson is Slate's television critic.
Photograph of television set © 1999-2008 Getty Images.
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Remarks from the Fray:

I can't defend its artistic merits. I can't even begin to pretend that it adds to the social discourse. But, Lord help me, I find the show hilarious.

Sure, it's low humor. Very low. Pee jokes. Fart jokes. Booby jokes. Low, low jokes. But...low jokes done well.

And the cast? Well, say what you want to about Charlie Sheen in real life, he's fun as the douchebag straight man. Jon Cryer is an adept physical comedian. Never have humiliating injuries been funnier. Holland Taylor has always been able to play a strong woman and still be funny. Now, she gets to play the funny, strong mother from hell.

I've been a fan of Melanie Lynskey since she starred in Heavenly Creatures (check it out if you're a Peter Jackson fan). Her line reading are always unexpected, yet on the mark. Conchata Ferrell is a brilliant actress who manages to make a throw-way roll into something three-dimensional. And Angus T. Jones play one of the most realistic boys I've ever seen on TV.

So, is this great TV? It's not edgy in the modern sense. It's not one of the comedies of squirm (Arrested Development, The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm). And, as much as I like comedies of squirm, I don't want to see one on a Monday night. Mondays are hard. Most of us work because we have to. Going back to work after the weekend is hard. On Monday night, lots of us want to decompress. Squirmy comedies don't let that happen. They add pressure, and they seldom have any kind of satisfying resolution that would let the pressure off.

But Two and Half Men? There's something about laughing at really dumb shit - it's just relaxing. Kids get this. I think a lot of people do. Maybe that's why it's still a top 20 show after five seasons.

--DeaH

(To reply, click here.)

(5/16)

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