CW Sunday Night

Sunday Night 8-10 PM
CW
Valentine & Easy Money














Manatee here! The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Media Rights Capital's Sunday night CW programming has come to a halt. That means Valentine and Easy Money have been 'shut down' so that writers can 'catch up' on scripts.

Valentine looked cheesy and came across as a mediocre version of the show Charmed. Don't use visual effects if you don't have the proper budget. If MRC was trying to make smaller budgeted shows for the CW, then stick with simple stories and good drama. If hip effects and explosions are what the audience wants, then come up with the cash. But based on the success of CW's Gossip Girl, a great costume designer and some hot 20 somethings a show does make.

I can't comment on Easy Money too much since I deleted the recording after 6 minutes. There was nothing compelling about this series at all. It looked cheap and the actors are terrible. Don't even bother wasting your time on these shows. Production is stopping and though MRC claims they will finish the 13 episodes of each show, you can bet there will not be Season #2's in either's future.

MRC would have done better to produce another teen soap opera or better yet - have picked up MOONLIGHT! Yeah, that's right, you should have picked up CBS's vampire series and you would have hit it big on Sunday nights.

Kath & Kim (1.1)

Thursday, October 9th @ 8:30 PM

NBC
Kath & Kim - Season 1, Episode #1 - Pilot

Recap: http://www.nbc.com/Kath_and_Kim/



















Manatee: So Kath and Kim, lamest comedy of the season!

Marmot: You think so? What about Gary Unmarried and Worst Week? And, um...uh...what happened to comedy?

Marmot: There used to be tons of them on.

Manatee: Let's put it this way, I got through2 episodes of Gary Unmarried before I canceled the DVR and 1 episode of Worst Week. I deleted Kath & Kim after 10 minutes. I didn't laugh once.

Marmot: You should have kept watching. The guy from the David Blaine Street Magic You Tube Edition is her husband.

Manatee: I saw him. He was probably the hightlight. But that's exactly the problem with this show. What actor gets a network comedy off a YouTube project? Granted the Blaine series is hilarious, it's much funnier than Kath & Kim. Molly Shannon and Selma Blair had NO chemistry as mother and daughter. Putting aside that they are actually 8 years apart, I felt they were pretty boring and lame on screen.

Marmot: That was a big problem I had as well, the age difference. I don't buy them as mother and daughter, it just looked like them trying to play younger and older. Honestly, I think I wanted to like this show more than I actually did. I'm going to give it another episode, but not much after that.

Manatee: I also did not like the comedic style. Was it going for an arrested development feel, an office feel, a sitcom feel? I'm not sure what it wanted to be.

Marmot: It was kind of a mess. There was a running joke - serious and combative dialogue between the two that is suddenly interrupted by observation of something completely unrelated - ie, "oh look at this shirt". It was funny once. By the third time, not charming anymore. I can only hope this was a pilot-only thing.

Marmot: But what I'm really wondering is where is this show going to go? Kath gets married, Kim gets back with her husband, then what? That's maybe a season's worth of storyline. How long did the original run?

Manatee: I often wonder about the story line of most comedies. One could ask where are you going when you spend all 1/2 hour in an office? But at least you're laughing! I can't see myself watching this show ever again, I hope it gets canceled tomorrow.

Life on Mars (1.1)

Thursday, October 9th, 2008 @ 10 PM

ABC

"Life on Mars" - Season 1, Episode #1 - Pilot

Recap: http://abc.go.com/primetime/lifeonmars/index?pn=recaps#t=120560&d=126808

"Can you find Michael Imperioli in this photo? We can't."

Marmot: As David Bowie once sang, "Is there life on Maaaaaaaaaaars?" That being said, I kind of like Life on Mars. And kind of don't.

Manatee: I enjoyed it as well to a certain extent. At the end of the day I have a few issues, one being that is is just 'another cop' show... and two if the series ends with him waking up out of a coma, then come on ABC. You need a better development team, because there has got to be something more creative than a coma!

Marmot: I'm resisting temptation to see how the original ended. All in all, this show is just The Singing Detective, but there were some really enjoyable parts, namely the conflict with Harvey Keitel and Michael Imperioli's mustache. Even if Harvey is phoning it in.

Manatee: I loved the mustache! I totally forgot it was / is a BBC series. If we watch that version, that would open up our Thursday night viewing...

Marmot: To watch the final season of ER? No thanks. I've never seen an episode and I'm not about to start now. How will I ever catch up to find out how Dr. Clooney's hair became Dr. Stamos' hair?"

Manatee: Good point. No need to start watching that show now. Did you have any thoughts on Life on Mars compared to CBS's Swingtown? Seeing that they were both set in the 70s.

Marmot: I would have liked Swingtown a lot better if Bruce had been hit by a car and magically transported to 2008. But both series use too much music.

Manatee: I do like the way that Life on Mars was shot. I think it almost has that 70s grainy look as opposed to the bright and cheery Swingtown look.

Marmot: Swingtown, in terms of photography, was terrible. This pilot looked fantastic.

Manatee: I liked the design more too. Though I was not alive in the 70s, I thought LoM looked more natural. Help Manatee out here Marmot.

Marmot: I was only alive for 7 months in the 70s, Manatee. I wasn't paying much attention to the decor.

Manatee: Anyhow, what do you think of the cast? Sort of unusual for a series huh?

Marmot: Yeah, it's pretty high end. I dig it, even though I think Gretchen Mol is a terrible actress.

Manatee: She sort of does suck.

Marmot: Never been a fan of hers. My biggest problem with the pilot is that it sort of glossed over the more interesting aspects, like trying to reconcile life in this era and focused more on the cop stuff, which was pretty standard.

Manatee: Well, what else are you going to do as a cop stuck in the 70s? Work stuff. I think Mol has the potential to be more that a coworker. Maybe they will go on a date to the disco, and then become swingers

Marmot: I just want to see him trying to order Chicken BBQ pizza and trying to watch Sportscenter.