Christopher is a bad idea. But we'll get to that later. But seriously, the Chris and Lorelai experiment needs to end.
1. What's with Sherilyn Fenn? She used to always be the attractive, almost oversexed woman in most things she was in, as she got older she was the hot older woman the guys still wanted. On Gilmore Girls, not only is her character just blatantly unlikeable, she doesn't even come close to giving Lauren Graham a run for her money in the looks department. It is great though, that Luke finally stood up to her and made her realize that April is not just "her" daughter, especially since Luke didn't abandon April, he never knew about her.
2. Rory's Friends. They have had years to give Rory friends besides Lane and Paris, and this is what they come up with? Two very annoying girls who we had a vague introduction to and now they're her new best friends who we're supposed to love. One girl calls her boyfriend "Boyfriend", and I am talking 6 times a scene she will say "and Boyfriend" - it is VERY annoying. Then we find out that "Boyfriend" is Marty, and guess what? The always likeable Marty now has a huge chip on his shoulder and is not the friendly guy we (or Rory) remembers at all.
3. Nix the Aerie Girls. So, this isn't really a commentary about Gilmore Girls, but it's related and desperately needs to be said and reiterated. I don't know who the Aerie girls are, but I know they are endlessly annoying, appear to be watching their first season of Gilmore Girls or aren't true fans of the show since they don't have anything good to say, and they need to be cut from the Tuesday night lineup. The word is that the CW knows that the Aerie girls are annoying to the viewers and last week may have been their last segment. Let's hope so. TV is paid for by advertisers, and hate to break it to you CW, but with your advent of this little segment, you have guaranteed that I never forget to change the channel during the commercial break just to make sure I don't have to hear the Aerie girls' annoying diatribe.
4. Christopher Go Home. Rory sees it, Suki sees it, they tell Lorelai over and over, and she still doesn't see it. Lorelai, what will it take for you to realize that your dream of Christopher will never be a reality and the two of you together is just not a good idea? Clearly more than that since Lorelai is now married, yes married to Christopher.
Is it not downright offensive for Lorelai to have moved on with Christopher so seamlessly since she claimed she was so in love with Luke? It was less than 10 episodes ago that she was engaged to Luke. It's insulting to viewers. They've forgotten who these characters are and that's not okay. Lorelai and Rory are people who would sneer and jeer at the girl who was dating seriously less than one month after their engagement ended, let alone remarried, and we love them for it.
I had actually come to like Christopher over the years, which is saying a lot for a basically deadbeat dad. But I only like him as Lorelai's friend and Rory's sometimes father, anything else is just too much. Like his parenting attempts with Gigi are just painful to watch. And this assumption that everyone will forget that he basically abandoned Rory is not okay. Christopher can be forgiven for mistakes he made when he was 16, but he never stepped up to the plate as Rory's father when he was old enough to know better.
He also does not fit into Stars Hollow, something Lorelai wants and needs from him, but something that will never truly happen. And it's not just about Christopher not being Luke. Christopher was throwing his money around last week to solve problems, in this case to help the town reach their goal in the Knit-a-Thon, and that more than most things showed that he just doesn't get what Stars Hollow, and more importantly what Lorelai is about.
So, obviously, there is a lot wrong with Gilmore Girls right now. Things have been off for some time, but not as far off as they have been this season. With the creator of the show now gone, it has clearly lost its way. There are still good things about the show, which is why I am still watching, but I have also watched since the first season, and will likely finish out the series. If you haven't been committed to watching this show for a long time, I can't say I haven't seen reason to bail. If you're still watching or you used to be a fan, now's the time to tune in, because despite what I said, and despite how ridiculous it may sound, this are about to change and it seems we may be on the path to Lorelai realizing what a colossal mistake she made by getting married and her and Luke getting back together to end the series.
I'm looking forward to tonight's episode where there appears to be a showdown of sorts between Luke and Christopher. Let's hope Luke gets in a few hits on the guy who slept with his fiance.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Monday, December 04, 2006
Five Ways to Fix Studio 60
As I am waiting for this much hyped show to realize it's potential, I thought I'd go over some of the things that would help to improve Studio 60.
1. Get Rid of Christine Lahti. Nothing against the actress whatsoever, but her character has no place on Studio 60. She is a Vanity Fair reporter doing a story on the show and Matt and Danny and we have seen her more than we have regular characters on the show, including those mentioned in the opening credits. This doesn't make any sense, and neither does her constant presence. Her character doesn't add anything to the show except for name recognition, and this show already has a lot of that, and we are still swimming in mediocrity.
2. Eliminate the Harriet is a Christian Storyline. It really isn't funny or even entertaining or moving to watch what ends up being very preachy rhetoric about Christians and their beliefs. Not only is this storyline unnecessary, it is very off-putting and I would think alienates many viewers.
3. Scrap the Sketches. Studio 60 can learn a lot from an excellent show that came before it, also created by Aaron Sorkin. Sports Night. On Sports Night, when they shot their version of "SportsCenter" as part of their show as they did almost every episode, except for a few times, the episodes were centered around the making of that show, the writing, story ideas, real news stories (all sports news, of course), and then Sports Night would end with Danny and Casey beginning the show and it would fade out to the credits. This change needs to be implemented pronto on Studio 60. They desperately need to cut their ubiquitous un-funny sketches. It has gotten rather painful to watch what they consider funny.
4. Re-Write D.L. Hughley's Character. D.L. Hughley has never been a great actor but he's never been this bad, and it's not him, it's his character. D.L. is really a stand up comedian and despite that, he hasn't made me laugh once on this show. His character brings nothing to the show besides possibly being the token black character. This needs to change. His character needs to be re-written so he is not carrying some sort of chip on his shoulder and becomes the star of the show within a show we are told he is. D.L.'s talents as a comedian have not been used in developing this character, even though they may think to the contrary. As one of the leads to the show within a show that is supposed to be a sketch comedy, they need to draw on the comedian's strengths to develop this character into a show asset.
5. More Amanda Peet. For whatever reason, Amanda Peet isn't always the most popular or well liked actress by some, but even people who usually were not big fans have liked her in her role as Jordan McDeere on Studio 60. She's funny, witty, brash, and underused on this show. She has great chemistry with Steven Weber and especially with Bradley Whitford, and both of those relationships should be spotlighted more than they are.
Hopefully NBC and Aaron Sorkin will take note of some of these things to help revamp this show. Last week's show was an improvement over the last several weeks, but still nothing spectacular. I'm waiting for those new scripts that were ordered to premiere, presumably that will be episode 14. If there isn't significant improvement by then, I doubt I will stick around to watch this show go down in flames.
1. Get Rid of Christine Lahti. Nothing against the actress whatsoever, but her character has no place on Studio 60. She is a Vanity Fair reporter doing a story on the show and Matt and Danny and we have seen her more than we have regular characters on the show, including those mentioned in the opening credits. This doesn't make any sense, and neither does her constant presence. Her character doesn't add anything to the show except for name recognition, and this show already has a lot of that, and we are still swimming in mediocrity.
2. Eliminate the Harriet is a Christian Storyline. It really isn't funny or even entertaining or moving to watch what ends up being very preachy rhetoric about Christians and their beliefs. Not only is this storyline unnecessary, it is very off-putting and I would think alienates many viewers.
3. Scrap the Sketches. Studio 60 can learn a lot from an excellent show that came before it, also created by Aaron Sorkin. Sports Night. On Sports Night, when they shot their version of "SportsCenter" as part of their show as they did almost every episode, except for a few times, the episodes were centered around the making of that show, the writing, story ideas, real news stories (all sports news, of course), and then Sports Night would end with Danny and Casey beginning the show and it would fade out to the credits. This change needs to be implemented pronto on Studio 60. They desperately need to cut their ubiquitous un-funny sketches. It has gotten rather painful to watch what they consider funny.
4. Re-Write D.L. Hughley's Character. D.L. Hughley has never been a great actor but he's never been this bad, and it's not him, it's his character. D.L. is really a stand up comedian and despite that, he hasn't made me laugh once on this show. His character brings nothing to the show besides possibly being the token black character. This needs to change. His character needs to be re-written so he is not carrying some sort of chip on his shoulder and becomes the star of the show within a show we are told he is. D.L.'s talents as a comedian have not been used in developing this character, even though they may think to the contrary. As one of the leads to the show within a show that is supposed to be a sketch comedy, they need to draw on the comedian's strengths to develop this character into a show asset.
5. More Amanda Peet. For whatever reason, Amanda Peet isn't always the most popular or well liked actress by some, but even people who usually were not big fans have liked her in her role as Jordan McDeere on Studio 60. She's funny, witty, brash, and underused on this show. She has great chemistry with Steven Weber and especially with Bradley Whitford, and both of those relationships should be spotlighted more than they are.
Hopefully NBC and Aaron Sorkin will take note of some of these things to help revamp this show. Last week's show was an improvement over the last several weeks, but still nothing spectacular. I'm waiting for those new scripts that were ordered to premiere, presumably that will be episode 14. If there isn't significant improvement by then, I doubt I will stick around to watch this show go down in flames.
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