New Amsterdam (1.6)

Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 9 PM

FOX

New Amsterdam, Season 1 - Episode 6 - "Legacy"

When police find a bullet-ridden body in an apartment in Chinatown, John and Eva are called to investigate. The deceased young man's striking similarity to Roosevelt, a lost son of John's from the early 1900s, prompts him to take a personal stance on the case. The search for the killer leads John to the Spoors, a violent crime family headed by Roosevelt's kin. The discovery makes John question the actions of his past and the reverberating consequences they have on those around him. (Fox.com)

Because there just wasn't anything funnier. (Fox)

Marmot: It's such a clumsy show.

Manatee: It really is. My first thought was how does his son from 1930 look exactly like this other kid, who he may or may not be related to?

Marmot: Indian magic, of course. It flows through his blood. I was really confused by the family in this one. The kid who died was the grandson of the old man in the wheelchair. John "Dutch" Amsterdam-York was supposedly the old man's grandfather. But I thought the brother of the victim said that his great-grandfather (Amsterdam) was a painter and left his family. So he should have said "great-great grandfather". Or did he and I just missed it because I was busy not paying attention?

Manatee: Hmm, I will have to draw a family tree for this one... which would require that I put in effort for this show. The wheelchair guy may have been their dad? Then the great-grandfather would have been correct.

Marmot: No I think the old man in the wheelchair was their grandfather. Whether it was the grandfather, great grandfather...it's just super-confusing. I think the show is going to exhaust its believability soon. I mean, how far can I guy run away from his family in 1913 without leaving New York?

Manatee: I think you are right. Also they need a better writer's asst or supervisor because too many mistakes are made, and their math sucks! It's great that the production designer made a "family tree" for Amsterdam, but how about one for the writers?

Marmot: I would like to think that they planned his whole life before they started writing, but I somehow doubt it.

Manatee: I'm sure each week they sat around and said what cool job can he have this week? Furniture maker? Artist? Doctor? and so on.

Marmot: Yeah, there's no consistency on this show.

Manatee: I know we have discussed the flashbacks in great detail before, but this week was particularly frustrating as it worked on 2 levels. How can 1 flashback relate to 2 different, totally unrelated issues in his life at once?! 1-The dead kid is his relative, and he must flashback to remember the Family Tree to relate to this week’s murder. 2- He also cheated on that son's mother and his new girlfriend wants to know if he cheated. How convenient that both unrelated issues in 2008 were in the same week in 1913! Also, if you were 400 years old, how good is your memory? My grandma's is not so good at 89. Nor can I always remember what happened a few years ago. How can he have such vivid memories from hundreds of years ago!? So much has happened to him, shouldn’t he have forgotten some stuff... like 1730-1790 or 1801-1815?

Marmot: Well, I have trouble remembering things that happened to me last week. Given that I am approximately 1/12 as old as he is (in marmot years), he should be forgetting on a 4th grade level. Wait, I think my math might be off.

Manatee: You could be a writer on the show then!

Marmot: I should be. Get me Dutchie Amsterdam on the line! Something else I really hate about this show is Blonde Sargeant. Are they sure that she's their boss and not some crazy woman who just showed up one day and started pretending to work there?

Manatee: I know - what was up with that "Partners are like married couples but without the sex" line? Why is she on this show?

Marmot: She's like that girl in an office who doesn't really work, but just walks around all day and makes a bunch of suggestive comments in an attempt to get someone to talk to her. Every office has one.

Manatee: I hate to ask? But which one of us is it in our office Marmot? Haha. What was up with the ending, where the Dr. Girlfriend just shows back up?

Marmot: Dr. Girlfriend is kind of an idiot. I would be frightened if she was my doctor.

Manatee: Never move to NYC, you run the risk of ending up in her ER.

Marmot: No kidding. First, her idea of a background check is Googling her boyfriend's name, then she doesn't consider that he might be 400 years old, even though that's what the show is about, then she straight up asks him if he's ever cheated before and just decides, "eh, what are the odds that he'll do it again?"

Manatee: Well, at least he isn't married!

Marmot: One last note about this show, and I think it's a big one. John Amsterdam is a boring character. A good character is flawed; they have internal problems that they struggle to fix. In most of his flashbacks, we learn things about him that make him inherently more interesting: he was an adulterer, murderer, coward, alcoholic - but all of these occur in the past, so the character we are watching - one who has atoned for his sins and is not literally waiting for death - is not very interesting.

Manatee: That's an outstanding point. I think you hit the nail on the head.

New Amsterdam (1.2)

Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 9 PM

FOX

New Amsterdam, Season 1 - Episode #2 - "Golden Boy"

FOX

manatee: OK, let's move on to New Amsterdam, Fox's new hot show

marmot: What did you think of episode 2?

manatee: I think it was better than the pilot, how about you? It seemed like they had a little more time to think about the plot, put in a few twists, make the murder a little more interesting. Yet it still had that bad episode of "insert any cop/detective show" here feel.

marmot: It was very formulaic. Again, I feel that the detective aspect just bogs this show down. The most interesting thing is how he has managed to maintain a life for 400 years. His relationships, his children, etc. Who cares about ANOTHER detective in New York?

manatee: I do like learning about the other jobs he's had: Lawyer, writer, furniture maker

marmot: I agree. If there was more of that, and less of his present, I think the show would be way more interesting.

manatee: I also like how they slipped in his previous names... YORK! How original. Next he'll be Johnny Manhattan (it's ok writers, you can take that from me, I won't mind). But I did like that it addressed him forging a birth certificate. It explains why he is a handwriting expert, how he joined the army, and how he lives for 400 years. (PS: the math is a little fuzzy on the show).

marmot: That's the exact thing I was thinking last night. Was he Johnny Brooklyn at one point, too? Or Johnny Long Island?

manatee: Haha. What did you think about the twist with his buddy bartender being his son? Interesting dynamic. How would you feel if you grew old while your dad stayed young?! And how would you feel watching your son grow old and die?

marmot: I thought so, too. I wonder how many other kids he's had through the years. Maybe that's why he's named John Amsterdam/York, because everyone in the city is a descendant of him. I can tell you one fatal flaw with this show: just because you're old, doesn't mean you know everything. It's really obnoxious whenever he comments about anything. I feel sorry for his partner.

manatee: She does not really seem to mind. I think overall, shout outs need to go to the editor and the costume designer. I liked the editing on the show, and I thought the costumes were fun, a little more trendy than your normal cop show.

marmot: I think the show is really great, technically and I love the tone - it's quiet and moody. It's just the writing that's killing it. I wonder what sold FOX on another detective show when there's so many on the air. I guess anything to climb out of the ratings basement.

manatee: I agree. I wish we caught him at a time in his life when he is ready to change careers maybe. How long can you stay in one job before someone realizes you still look 30. Ten years maybe, fifteen? Too bad he was not in transition.

manatee: How did you feel about the flashback scenes last night?

marmot: Dumb. I like the idea of flashbacks, but the whole forbidden romance...her father seemed like he was just as bored with what was going on as I was.

manatee: Do you have any hopes or expectations for next week? Will you be watching next week?!

marmot: It's on again Monday? Ughhh. Thrice in one week is too much. I don't want to watch the adventures of Johnny Greenwich Village that much.

New Amsterdam (1.1) and Jericho (2.4)

Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 9 PM

FOX

New Amsterdam, Season 1 - Pilot

FOX

Warning: SPOILERS!

Manatee: 'Morning Marmot. I watched some pretty bad TV last night. How about you? I started with the pilot of New Amsterdam. The hour seemed to take forever... which brings me to my #1 pet peeve with this show - there's a novel called "Forever" by Pete Hammil.

This is Amazon's summary: "...His recovery takes a miraculous turn when... Tomora, appears and grants Cormac eternal life and youth-so long as he never leaves the island of Manhattan, thus the "Forever" of the title. Cormac fights in the American Revolution...and lives into the New York of 2001. In that year he warily falls in love with Delfina, a streetwise Dominican ("That was the curse attached to the gift: You buried everyone you loved"),... [this] is beautifully woven around historical events and characters, but it is Hamill's passionate pursuit of justice and compassion-Celtic in foundation-that distinguishes this tale of New York City and its myriad peoples."

I feel as though last night's TV show pulled a few lines from this blurb, or maybe directly from the book.

Marmot: I know what you mean about the pace. I feel like we watched all 500 years that he's been alive in real time. Why is his name the same as the former name of the city he lives in? If this was set in Istanbul, would his name be John Constantinople? This premise if kinda flimsy, if you ask me. I read this script a year ago and it went into greater detail with exactly how he is immortal, but last night's episode completely lost me.

Manatee: Putting aside the supernatural for a sec, what's up with crime fighting aspect of this show? It feels like a bad, bad episode of Law & Order. The crimes are in the background of Amsterdam's storyline, and only serve to further his torture and pain of eternal life. We learn that he has to find "the one" to become mortal again, and that he lost his 6 year old son (as the victim's mother herself grieves).

Marmot: The victim's mother was great...telling the cops to get out when they come to question her? It's like she already knew all the cop show cliches and has just been waiting for a chance to use them. I agree, the detective aspect feels forced. I think the initial idea was a detective show with a twist (isn't there enough of these already?), but the immortal aspect would be just as interesting if he worked security at Madison Square Garden, or sold hotdogs from a cart in Times Square.

Manatee: The Amsterdam character reminds me of Detective Robert Goren (from Law & Order Criminal Intent) - a know-it-all cop, except he has hundreds of years of experience under his belt, not just academic knowledge; played with much less skill than Vincent D'Onofrio (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays Amsterdam). Yet no one really questions why he knows where a speak easy used to be, let alone question what a speak easy is?! How often does that word come up in 2008. Even his new partner, Eva Marquez (Zuleikha Robinson, who was great on Rome) just gives him a silly look, like "Amsterdam, you so crazy."

Marmot: Who is this guy? Actually, who are the entire cast? I don't know how I feel about it. On one hand, its nice to have fresh faces that don't bring any of their past roles to the show, and on the other hand, they all kind of suck. Actually, the whole show feels a lot like Life on NBC. Especially the dynamic between him and his partner. Except, not nearly as good, of course.

Manatee: I have to say the worst part of the show was the last 5 minutes. I wanted to jump out of my skin when the screen filled with the end montage of visual effects showing Amsterdam with the Indians up to present. What?

Marmot: That circle pan? WTF? That was horrible. Plus, we got it during the scene with the photographs. Way to beat me over the head with the fact that he's hundreds of years old.

Manatee: If you can't do it well, don't do it. If you don't have the VFX money, take it out. I get that Amsterdam has been around the block. I could tell from the first flashback of mangy hair, fake beards, and ripped up rags that he's had the pleasure of seeing a really Native American. There was no need, no need at all to refresh my memory with that terrible green screen action.

Marmot: Do you think future episodes will have flashbacks to previous times in his life, a la LOST? Like what he was up to during the 1800s? This would probably help the show by taking time away from the cop work, which is nothing new. And why do all cases wrap up in the space of 1 episode? I wouldn't mind if I case was carried across multiple episodes or a whole season. And do they only work on one case at a time? Are there really that many detectives?

To Be Continued.... Episode #2 airs this Thursday

Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 10 PM

CBS

Jericho, Season 2, Episode 4 - "Oversight"

CBS

Warning: SPOILERS!

Manatee: The best part of TV last night was from approximately 10:56 to 10:59 PM. The deaf sister dying definitely woke me out of my Jericho slumber. I'm surprised that with only 3 episodes left to the season, last night's Jericho was so slow. I don't think it's a surprise that the show will probably not come back for a season 3, so why hold back? They should be going all out, but the writers seem to be struggling.

Marmot: I was thinking the same thing. Blow some shit up already! You know you only have 7 episodes, lets wrap this up and go out with a bang. We need all of the usual TV show stories: weddings, babies, deaths, war, famine, street racing, flashbacks, flashforwards, amnesia, evil twin and "a very special Jericho".

Manatee: I'm confused by the coming and going of certain characters, such as: Mary (the bartender), Dale's Girlfriend (What's her name?!), and so on.

Marmot: I think Dale's girlfriend is named Grunhilda. Or Jenny. Something like that.

Manatee: I was a die hard fan of Season 1; I loved the premise, the writing, the actors, but now I no longer feel invested in these characters or what they are doing.

Marmot: Really? I hated this show from the first episode. But yet, I watched loyally. Why? Because I'm a sucker. But this season has been much better for me. Still bad, but not quite as bad.

Manatee: It varies from one of my all time favs Prison Break - though you have to suspend belief for an hour, which I am okay with since it is TV - but the writers of Prison Break plant seeds in episode two that come up again in twelve. That takes careful planning and quite a bit of talent. Come on Jericho writers, why can't something blow up? Another war maybe? But this time, maybe the war could break out before the last episode (highly unlikely at this point). I admit that the show makes me think about the "what ifs." The what if the government did blow their own country up? What if the US spilt in half? What if we had a president that was not elected by the people ;)

Marmot: I just hope that the nuke that Jake thinks is so easily mobile goes off and destroys the whole town. By the way, the best part of last night's episode? Stanley's "Red Dawn" reference. WOLVERINES!!!

Manatee: How will there be a revolution in 3 episodes?

Marmot: Just another case for setting off that nuke.

To Be Continued.... Next Wednesday