Swingtown (1.10)

Friday, August 8th @ 10 PM CBS Swingtown - Season 1, Episode #10 - "Running on Empty"

Bruce and Susan go to the cabin to reconnect with each other and their children, but their weekend ends with Laurie running away and Susan realizing that she has feelings for Roger. Janet and Roger see a therapist and Tom and Trina resume swinging. (CBS.com)

Marmot: Swingtown is lame.

Manatee: It's so ridiculous. I don't think any of the writers have families because they have no idea what it is like to be a part of family drama. It's so forced and completely absurd.

Marmot: Bruce and Susan are terrible, terrible parents. So are Roger and Janet, actually. I haven't seen them interact with their son since the pilot. Actually, when you think about it, the only people I would trust with a child are Tom and Trina, which is kind of ironic.

Manatee: That is funny. They might see an orgy or 2 but at least they'd have food and something of normal parental love. This show has become boring. Do you think CBS said,” tone it down,” or was it a flawed premise to begin with?

Marmot: I'm pretty sure it's the toning down. I think all the sponsors got scared away. There was an ad for Time Life Books or something similar during the last episode. In prime time television!

Manatee: I don't think there is anyway this show is coming back for a season 2, and frankly, I'm not that disappointed.

Marmot: Me either. The only thing I'm interested in is to see if Roger and Susan get together.

Manatee: Well, the previews for next Friday night show Roger kissing Susan! Whether they screw over their respective partners and get together, I'm not sure... but it looks like Roger is taking the plunge.

Marmot: Holy crap! It's only episode 10! Where is this show going?

Manatee: I think there are only 12 total anyhow, so they probably feel the pressure of wrapping it up. These days so many shows don't come back that you almost feel like every season finale needs to be a series finale.

Marmot: I think writings staffs need to plan on telling as complete a story as possible in their initial order. There's nothing worse than being a fan of a show and the proverbial rug gets pulled out from under you.

Manatee: Where would you like to see the next 2 episodes go?

Marmot: I'd like to see Roger and Susan hook up and live happily ever after, Bruce go back to Pirates of the Caribbean where he belongs, Janet go to live with Tom and Trina for the rest of their lives and the daughter given a nose.

Special Report: Flashpoint vs. Swingtown

Special Report: How would win in a fight, Sgt. Gregory Parker or Trina Decker?
Someone at CBS has been reading Manatee & Marmot Destroy TV: The Blog. Check out Variety's article on the switch involving Swingtown and new comer Flashpoint. (We know a good show when we see it)

What do you think about the switch and what does it mean for the future of Swingtown? Comment below.

'Swingtown' swaps time slots; 'Flashpoint' takes over Thursday spot

Apparently flashing is in – and swinging is out – at CBS.

Eye net has swapped time periods for racy '70s drama “Swingtown” and more traditional cop drama “Flashpoint,” effective this week.

“Flashpoint,” a Canadian co-production, has been handed the more desirable post-“CSI” slot on Thursday nights at 10 p.m. “Swingtown,” meanwhile, will take over “Flashpoint’s” Friday 10 p.m. slot.

The Toronto-based “Flashpoint” has been a Friday ratings winner for both CBS abd CTV the past two weeks. Since its July 11 premiere, the show has averaged 7.6 million viewers on CBS. Its two telecasts have also averaged a 1.7 rating and 6 share.

North of the border, just over 900,000 Canadians tuned into episode 2 last Friday, more than double the next closest 10 p.m. competitor.

“Flashpoint,” from Pink Sky Entertainment and Avamar Entertainment in association with the CTV and CBS Paramount stars Enrico Colantoni and former Canuck rock star Hugh Dillon as members of an elite police squad and is the first Canuck series since “Due South” to air on “reverse” simulcast in the U.S.

“Swingtown,” meanwhile, has earned decent critical reviews but has struggled to find a ratings groove. Show has averaged 6.5 million viewers and a 2.2 rating/7 share among adults 18-49.

They've Cut out the Middleman

Special Report: The Middleman


We brought it up awhile ago when ABC Family changed the time from 8 pm to 7 pm/10 pm showings of The Middleman. Then Brenda Hampton's series, Secret Life of the American Teenager, got an additional order, ie: more episodes. Now, you're hearing it here first: Middleman has been terminated. Instead of the original 12 episodes, they will produce just 11. You only have 6 more episodes in which to say goodbye. Goodbye Middleman. Goodbye Wendy. Farewell and so long.

Flashpoint (1.2)

Friday, July 18th @ 10 PM CBS "Flashpoint" - Season 1, Episode #2 - "First in Line"

A desperate father turns a policeman's gun on a surgical team, demanding a heart transplant for his dying daughter.

Manatee: The Strategic Response Unit did not disappoint again this week (for the most part). I love how the episode opens into the action and then backs up. Though I'm sure there is a more creative way of telling the story, I enjoy the lack of a slow or boring teaser / set up. Show me the good stuff in the first 30 seconds. Again this week, the story was very emotional, and the performances were great. You really get a sense of what each character is going through. If you didn't feel for the father (Jack Swanson played by Henry Czerny) then you don't have a heart. The show deals with very intense situations in a very delicate and thoughtful way. The story makes you look inside - what would you do if you were in this position? Would you just say ok and go home with your dying kid? How hard would you fight? How unfair can life be? These are questions that, hopefully, you don't have to deal with now and never will. But it's a real test of character to think about yourself in these shoes and to answer honestly.

The fact that the drama revolves around this ensemble cast is also working for it. On a show like In Plain Sight, for example, each week's procedural story reflects Mary's personal issues, ie: her father's gambling issues, her love life, and so on. Here, with so many team members to choose from each week, we can relate personally to a different character. This week it was Elliot, ie: Sgt. Gregory Parker (Enrico Colantoni). His performance was excellent proving that just because you are a master hostage negotiator doesn't mean you lack feeling (though he did break the rule of not getting personal). The show is more believable with various characters to engage with each week.

My only concern with the episode was the ending where the patient (spoiler alert!) agreed to give the little girl (Phoebe Swanson played by Jordan Todosey) the heart at literally the last second. By giving up the heart in the last moments of the show it negates all the action preceding it. Why didn't he just give up the organ to the little girl in the first place? Wouldn't he want to keep the peace and the jeopardy that someone innocent in the hospital could die? Or was he just too selfish until he had an hour to think about it? Why not speak up sooner? There are two ways this would have worked better:

1- The little girl died while the team was still negotiating with the father. Tragic ending, I know, but at least the last 40 minutes of action aren't eliminated by one single sentence (which we don't even hear).

or 2- Keep the same ending but show the patient struggling with this negotiation as you do the other characters. If you were an older man, and people were arguing with guns over a heart for you or a young girl, what would you say? Maybe he should have struggled with the decision first, been a cocky bastard and wanted the heart. But then as he sees the little girl and the father's struggle maybe he starts to melt, maybe he tried to intervene but was not able to. It would have been more dramatic to see some struggle instead of an 11th hour decision to let the girl have her heart.

Aside from that small flaw, I still think the episode overall is some decently entertaining summer programming. How do you think this show compares to the short lived series Stand Off on Fox? That was also about hostage negotiators but seemed less dramatic and emotional, and more about stuff blowing up. I'll admit I was not much of an avid viewer of the show, so leave us your comments if you want to chime in.

Fear Itself (1.6)

Thursday, July 17th @ 10 PM NBC Fear Itself - Season 1 (aka: the only season), Episode 6 - "New Year's Day"

"Predicable and Cliche: Two Words that best describe what show?"

A young woman wakes up in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by horrifying zombies. She must fight the murderous creatures at every turn, right up until the shocking, horrifying end. (NBC.com)

Manatee: I never thought it was possible to f-up a zombie movie till last night.

Marmot: That was terrible. Terrible. The zombie equation is simple: zombies + people trying to survive = entertainment. That's all you have to do. But when you complicate it so that it looks like this: (Z+P)/F X T = garbage.

Manatee: There was nothing good about this episode. In fact it was so bad, I think a brainless zombie wrote it.

Marmot: That equation was (Zombie+People trying to survive) divided by Flashbacks times Twist, by the way. And a zombie probably did write it. Maybe that 12 year old zombie that popped up at the end.

Manatee: I feel like they could have come up with a better twist than they did. But that aside, did the writers know anything about zombies, or have their assistants research zombies?

Marmot: I don't think so. With monsters and such, there are certain liberties you can take - vampires don't always have to be afraid of the cross, werewolves don't always have to be killed by a silver bullet - but zombies can't have emotions. That's the whole point to being a zombie.

Manatee: Exactly. Do zombies target people they hated as humans and enact revenge? And what was up with the "happy Zombie couple" at the end? Do zombies have relationships in zombie world?

Marmot: No! Zombies just want to eat brains. That's all they do. In some movies, like Land of the Dead, they've gotten a little smarter, but they definitely don't understand concepts like affection and revenge.

Manatee: From the limited research I did on Wikipedia, I learned that they rarely have speech or free will, and have limited to no memory of their previous life. I'm all about reinventing the wheel or taking a little creative license but Zombies are a cult classic and it's just wrong to mess it up this much.

Marmot: I couldn't figure out when exactly she became a zombie.

Manatee: My guess, after Kevin (the kid) bit Eddie, he went into her room and bit her and the spider. Because if you notice the night before her pet spider was dead at 4:30 AM, he was alive. Zombie Spider! But if she OD-ed and was dead (Eddie was performing CPR), then Kevin bit her, would she become a Zombie? I'm not sure on that rule. Like with Vampires, you bite a human who is alive and turn them. If she was already dead, and a zombie ate her, would she turn? Or maybe she was barely alive. That's my thought. Why it took her 2 hours to wake up from her zombie slumber, I don't know. Denial maybe?

Marmot: I don't think zombies feed on dead people. Maybe if it thought she wasn’t dead, it would, but usually zombies like the hunt. They're like tigers in that sense.

Manatee: Well someone bit her while she was down.

Marmot: Coming back to the twist in this episode - the reason twists in Shyamalan movies work is that you plant clues for it throughout the movie/episode. GIANT SPOILER ALERT - You believe that Bruce Willis is dead, because when you look back, it was plainly obvious. He was shot, no one could see him but Haley Joel Osment, etc. But in this, there was no evidence for her being a zombie anywhere until we were just told that she was one. That would be like watching all of Men in Black and then at the end Will Smith pulls off a mask and he's an alien.

Manatee: Enough with the Fear Itself twists! You don't need a twist to be good. But what's also of interest to me is that in these shows (specifically this one but also other horror projects) the characters have NEVER seen a horror movie before. Hello, pick up a weapon, or two! Looking back, she was already a Zombie but still, it's like the horror and thriller genre do not exist in their world. I know we're prepared for Z-Day.

Marmot: Wait a second. If she was a zombie, how was she able to carry around a flashlight?

Manatee: Or use a cell phone, or drive a car, or barricade a door?

Marmot: And you're right. We've been preparing for Z-Day for years, and most of that knowledge is applicable to other apocalyptic events.

Manatee: Very useful information indeed. Why do we punish ourselves with such horrendous writing? That dialogue was atrocious. Especially the bar scenes with Helen and James.

Marmot: What the hell were they even talking about? In fact, what the hell was anyone talking about? People kept telling her she was different than anyone else - was she already a zombie? Has she been a zombie her whole life?

Manatee: Maybe that's the case. That's why everyone around her is always dying. And why the old man blamed her for the whole mess.

Marmot: What a stupid episode. I don't think we should watch this show anymore, it's making us stupider.

Manatee: There is nothing talented about this show. I hate to say the DP and Editor are talentless hacks, because I assume that those crappy creative look choices are made by the bad producers on the show and are not a reflection of the crews’ talent. But then again, the look stinks so bad maybe the production value is just so low (and Canadian) you have little choice over the look.

If you like this series, comment below! We always welcome opposite opinions.

The Middleman (1.5)

Monday, July 14th @ 10 PM

ABC Family

The Middleman - Season 1, Episode 5 - "The Flying Fish Zombification"

Marmot: I am officially a fan of The Middleman.

Manatee: Why?

Marmot: I just really like this show for some reason. It's light and fluffy and really silly.

Manatee: Who do you think watches this show? And/or who do you think is supposed to watch this show?

Marmot: I think it's supposed to appeal to teenagers, maybe tweeners? Nerds like me?

Manatee: You're not a nerd, Marmot. I was thinking tweens too. It is a silly show, and I like that about it, but it's sort of fading for me. The uniqueness isn't as interesting anymore. I would like to know where these stories come from? The graphic novel? Or new ideas? They are quite weird.

Marmot: Trout eating zombies? It's so bizarre, it’s comical. I really like the Middleman character. There hasn't been an actor this stiff on primetime television since Data.

Manatee: Does that make you wonder why he likes Wendy so much? She's the complete opposite.

Marmot: Opposites do attract. That cat that Paula Abdul used to dance with taught us that.

Manatee: Maybe he'll be loosening up soon. He seemed to be jealous of Wendy's freedom last episode.

Marmot: I think he's also jealous of her friends and life away from being a Middleman/person. Does he live at Middleman HQ?

Manatee: I get that sense. He's got everything he needs. The big question is when will he hook up with Lacey?

Marmot: I hope soon. That is going to be a great story arc, when Wendy wakes up to find her boss making eggs in her kitchen.

Manatee: You just wrote it! That's the scene!

Marmot: Better yet: if he's only wearing a towel.

Manatee: And he bends over.

Marmot: Then they get a call from that old lady robot in the office and have to talk in code in front of Lacey and she thinks they're having an affair.

Manatee: OMG! What could be better?

In Plain Sight (1.7)

Sunday, July 13, 2008

In Plain Sight 1.7 – "Iris Doesn’t Live Here Anymore"

One of these kids is doing is doin' their own thing, one of these kids is not the same...

Iris McBride, 17, and her boyfriend Lawrence Parker, are walking down a block in an East L.A. neighborhood minding their own business when a car pulls up alongside them and the Hispanic teens inside begin harassing them. The young couple tries to ignore their taunting, but when the guy in the car pulls out a Mac-10 and starts spraying bullets everywhere, Lawrence springs into action and jumps in front of Iris, taking several bullets for her. It's bad enough for Iris that her boyfriend has just been shot almost to death, but the fact that the shooters were members of one of the most dangerous gangs in the country makes matters much worse-not only for Iris but also for her entire family. Five hours later, Mary and Marshall have arrived in Los Angeles to transport the McBride family to Albuquerque, who haven't yet been told that they'll have about ten minutes to gather up their belongings and leave their lives behind-immediately. Her father, Warren McBride, a successful doctor, is livid when he learns that just because his daughter disobeyed him and went to the wrong part of town, he has to give up his successful medical practice that he worked so hard and long to build. Mary assures them that things will get better, but that's hard for them to believe when they'll have to move to Albuquerque to live on a government stipend in "Casa WITSEC" until their finances can be sorted out and the only job that the haughty Doctor McBride can get is at a free clinic-and that's only possible because Marshall pulled a few strings. Mary certainly knows what to do to keep Iris safe when she has to return to Los Angeles to ID the suspect, but what Mary's not so confident about is how she's going to keep the now "Morris" from falling apart, or worse, getting themselves killed. Meanwhile-back in her own hot mess of a personal life-Mary's trying to get back into some kind of rhythm with Raphael, which isn't easy when your younger (and sluttier-dressing) sister is trying to move in on your territory. And especially when said younger sister catches another woman answering her own boyfriend Chuck's phone...

Manatee: This was one of my favorite episodes of IPS yet.

Marmot: Definitely. It was finally about something interesting, not trying to protect someone from being killed. Immediately killed, that is.

Manatee: It was just the pure emotional side of leaving your entire life behind to start again. Sometimes, I think people dream about the opportunity to start over fresh, but this was a great look into the drama behind what's really involved. Quitting the medical profession, leaving your family, seasons Dodgers tickets, or what have you. Not to mention the idea of being a father first and an individual second.

Marmot: Exactly. This was a really well written episode, especially the struggle the father was having with being a proud, but ultimately selfish person and sacrificing personally for his family. It was ultimately resolved, but it was a definite struggle for him to get there. Kudos to writer Linda Burstyn on this episode.

Manatee: This was an episode I was looking forward to - clips had been on the previews prior to the premiere. My personal struggle with this show is that I want it to be more procedural than it is. I'll tell you why. Her personal life, family drama is not handled well. If it was, then I'd be fine with flying with it. But the drama with the boyfriend, who cares. So they obviously lack chemistry. The sister is a bad actress. And her personal issues are (I think) supposed to be mysterious, but come across as lazy... maybe the writers didn't know where they wanted to go with it yet. We've never really learned enough about her "previous" life or the suitcase of drugs to really feel invested in her "baggage" issues.

Marmot: Was that an intended pun?

Manatee: Yes

Marmot: Good. I agree with you on the sister. She's really just eye candy. I get the scene with her in her underwear, but her ethical struggle of whether or not to go after her sister's boyfriend doesn't really come across when looking at her chest and legs.

Manatee: The scenes involving her family make we want to turn off the tv and tune back in when the work stuff comes on.

Marmot: Where was the mom in this episode? The scenes with her family are always strange, because they rarely have Mary in them. When she does show up, it feels like you're watching a spinoff and she's guest starring. So it gives it more of an ensemble feel, but it's not an ensemble show. Just weird.

Manatee: The mom is even more pointless than the daughter. Do you ever get the feeling USA is airing the shows in a different order than they filmed them and those family scenes are just cut and paste into the show as needed?

Marmot: I think you may be on to something. Like they're just splicing their scenes in when the show is running short.

Manatee: Because the fam stuff doesn't always correspond like it did with that gambling episode. I don't think this show is going anywhere - it ranked #3 this week for cable series. I'm sure there is bound to be a second season!