Thursday Movie Picks - TV Edition: One-Season Wonders
Written as part of the weekly blogathon hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Join in the fun by picking three movies (or TV shows, as the case may be) that fit the week's theme and writing a bit about them.
One of the most frustrating things about TV shows is that you never know how long they're going to last. You can put hours of time into watching them and get attached to the characters only to be rewarded by the show getting cancelled at the end of its first season - if it even makes it that far! And this week on Thursday Movie Picks: TV EDITION, that's what we're talking about - those weird, wonderful shows that not enough people loved as much as we did to stick around longer than one season.
So NoTORIous (2006) Yes, Tori Spelling had a sitcom. Yes, it aired on VH1 for one season. And YES, it is HILARIOUS. It's a funhouse mirror version of Tori's own life, complete with dad Aaron Spelling appearing as a disembodied voice a la Charlie's Angels and, in the most brilliant stroke of casting, Loni Anderson as her mother. The series is "about" how Tori wants to be taken seriously and for people to like her for her (as opposed to her daddy's money), as well as how her upbringing at the hands of her self-absorbed mother has affected her. Co-starring Cleo King as Tori's beloved nanny and Zachary Quinto as her gay best friend Sasan, So NoTORIous is far better than you would ever imagine it being - constantly surprising and occasionally even surreally bizarre.
Ben and Kate (2012) Kate (Dakota Johnson) is a hard-working, practical single mom. Her brother Ben (Nat Faxon) is a free-spirited professional underachiever. When Ben comes back to town after a long stint away, the two realize that they each might be just what the other needs in order to be their best selves. Heart-warming and humorous, I am at a real loss as to why this show wasn't a bigger hit than it was. Faxon and Johnson have great familial chemistry, Kate's kid is ADORABLE and an utterly unprecious actress, and the supporting cast is full of ringers, none better than Lucy Punch as Kate's best friend BJ, who more than deserved some awards recognition for her absurd, hysterical performance.
No Tomorrow (2016) What if you met the perfect guy, and he turned out to be a doomsday prophet? That's the dilemma facing Evie, a fussy middle manager at a supply warehouse, in the hunky, British-accented form of Xavier, the free-spirited and otherwise pretty normal guy she meets at the farmers' market. Xavier has science to back up his apocalypse theory, and he also has an "apoca-list" of all the things he wants to do in the eight months before the world ends. Evie falls for him (and honestly, who WOULDN'T fall for Joshua Sasse?), and gets caught up in his world, making her own list and crossing off items with Xavier. Romantic comedy is tough to get right on TV (you can only believably keep the central couple apart for so long, and most rom-coms end when they get together), but No Tomorrow does a damn good job of it, in part because Tori Anderson and Joshua Sasse have incredible chemistry, and in part because as the series goes on, both are revealed to be far weirder and more interesting as people than they seem at first glance. It also helps that the supporting cast, while in many ways stock characters, get fun storylines and actors that make them feel like genuine individuals. And honestly, the ticking clock of the apocalypse helps too - the focus of the series isn't a "will-they-won't-they-OF-COURSE-THEY-WILL", but rather a "how do these two people affect each other, for better and/or worse," which is much more interesting.
As I've said several times already today I haven't seen any of these though I've heard of the Tori Spelling show which I thought was on for far longer. I guess it gets referenced whenever she's mentioned which gives it a bit more life than it actually had.
Never saw the Joshua Sasse show but I had planned on using one of his other shows Galavant which I liked alot but then realized it had two seasons so didn't qualify.
As you said you discover a show that works for you and the next thing you know it's on the chopping block. That happens to me often the result of which is that I don't bother with much serialized TV anymore. But I was a fan of these three particularly the second.
Awake (2012)-LAPD Detective Michael Britten (Jason Isaacs) is involved in a serious car accident with his family and when he awakes finds himself in two different realities. In the first his wife Hannah has survived the crash, in the second his son Rex but Michael can’t tell which is his true waking life. To try and help him place himself he wears a red wristband in the first and a green in the second and consults a different therapist in each. They are the only ones aware of his problems which leads to issues with his team at work. But Michael has become extraordinarily good at solving crimes since he is able to use details and clues he gleans from both realities. Complex, sometimes disorienting (there are times where Michael is dreaming within a dream and so forth) series had a great performance by Isaacs in the lead but required an attention investment that might have been too much for viewers.
Forever (2014)-In 1814 35 year old Dr. Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd) is killed while trying to free slaves from a slave ship but something happens whilst he’s in the water and he reemerges alive, unharmed, naked and immortal-a pattern that is repeated whenever he dies. Jump forward 200 years and Henry is now a New York City medical examiner who uses his centuries of accrued knowledge to help solve crimes while he searches for the key to his immorality. A widower he lives over an antique shop owned by his 80 year old “son” Abraham (Judd Hirsch) who he and his late wife rescued from a concentration camp as a child. But Henry has an enemy-Adam (Burn Gorman) a 2000 year old immortal who thinks he might have found an answer to releasing them from their plight and tries to force Henry to help him. Not as complicated as it sounds this was a fun show full of quirky characters and a fantastic team in Gruffudd and Hirsch who played off each other so well.
Rake (2014)-Keegan Deane (Greg Kinnear) is a criminal defense lawyer and reprobate whose self-destructive behavior cause him no end of troubles leading to him battling wits and owing money to everyone he knows, including his ex-wife, judges, an assistant district attorney, his bookie, a brothel owner, and the IRS. His saving grace is that when he gets around to it he’s a very good attorney. Ramshackle comedy/drama was driven by the charismatic Kinnear who obviously was having a hell of a good time. Had the misfortune to air on Fox who moved it around too many times.
Oh my God how did I not think of AWAKE for this?!?!? I LOVED that show. Such a great premise, and wonderfully realized. Isaacs was absolutely tremendous in the lead, and I loved Cherry Jones and B.D. Wong as his psychiatrists. It's so irritating to me that people thought it was "too much work" to watch, especially when Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, etc. are also a lot of work in different ways. Anyway, I thought it was brilliant, and the "cliffhanger" they set up at the end of the season was a genius set-up for the next season.
I remember both Forever and Rake, and while I like Gruffud and Kinnear I was never really interested in either (although Forever does have a pretty great premise).
Nice picks! I'm a big fan of Dakota Johnson, and think she's quite underrated. Hopefully since the Fifty Shades movies are done she can break out and show her range more. She was quite funny on Ben & Kate.
Ooh No Tomorrow, another one I completely forgot but it was pretty good! The premise was pretty cool too and I mean, I completely forgot about it so I guess it wasn't THAT good. :(
I haven’t seen any of these but I have to admit the Tori Dpelling one actually seems funny. The second one is also very funny and I like that kid. The third one, I think I recall hearing bout it but I would so love to see this.
I've seen a little of Ben and Kate, and a bit more episodes of No Tomorrow. Wasn't the ticking clock coming to an end in the last episode of No Tomorrow? How would a second season look like? Either the asteroid hits earth or he was wrong? Either way...it looks like the end.
Yeah... they released an epilogue online after the cancellation that showed whether he was right or wrong (SPOILER, KIND OF: he was right, but he was able to work with government scientists to reduce the size of the asteroid so that it only killed a few cows, and everyone lived happily ever after. And together, of course, since it's a romantic comedy).
As I've said several times already today I haven't seen any of these though I've heard of the Tori Spelling show which I thought was on for far longer. I guess it gets referenced whenever she's mentioned which gives it a bit more life than it actually had.
ReplyDeleteNever saw the Joshua Sasse show but I had planned on using one of his other shows Galavant which I liked alot but then realized it had two seasons so didn't qualify.
As you said you discover a show that works for you and the next thing you know it's on the chopping block. That happens to me often the result of which is that I don't bother with much serialized TV anymore. But I was a fan of these three particularly the second.
Awake (2012)-LAPD Detective Michael Britten (Jason Isaacs) is involved in a serious car accident with his family and when he awakes finds himself in two different realities. In the first his wife Hannah has survived the crash, in the second his son Rex but Michael can’t tell which is his true waking life. To try and help him place himself he wears a red wristband in the first and a green in the second and consults a different therapist in each. They are the only ones aware of his problems which leads to issues with his team at work. But Michael has become extraordinarily good at solving crimes since he is able to use details and clues he gleans from both realities. Complex, sometimes disorienting (there are times where Michael is dreaming within a dream and so forth) series had a great performance by Isaacs in the lead but required an attention investment that might have been too much for viewers.
Forever (2014)-In 1814 35 year old Dr. Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd) is killed while trying to free slaves from a slave ship but something happens whilst he’s in the water and he reemerges alive, unharmed, naked and immortal-a pattern that is repeated whenever he dies. Jump forward 200 years and Henry is now a New York City medical examiner who uses his centuries of accrued knowledge to help solve crimes while he searches for the key to his immorality. A widower he lives over an antique shop owned by his 80 year old “son” Abraham (Judd Hirsch) who he and his late wife rescued from a concentration camp as a child. But Henry has an enemy-Adam (Burn Gorman) a 2000 year old immortal who thinks he might have found an answer to releasing them from their plight and tries to force Henry to help him. Not as complicated as it sounds this was a fun show full of quirky characters and a fantastic team in Gruffudd and Hirsch who played off each other so well.
Rake (2014)-Keegan Deane (Greg Kinnear) is a criminal defense lawyer and reprobate whose self-destructive behavior cause him no end of troubles leading to him battling wits and owing money to everyone he knows, including his ex-wife, judges, an assistant district attorney, his bookie, a brothel owner, and the IRS. His saving grace is that when he gets around to it he’s a very good attorney. Ramshackle comedy/drama was driven by the charismatic Kinnear who obviously was having a hell of a good time. Had the misfortune to air on Fox who moved it around too many times.
Oh my God how did I not think of AWAKE for this?!?!? I LOVED that show. Such a great premise, and wonderfully realized. Isaacs was absolutely tremendous in the lead, and I loved Cherry Jones and B.D. Wong as his psychiatrists. It's so irritating to me that people thought it was "too much work" to watch, especially when Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, etc. are also a lot of work in different ways. Anyway, I thought it was brilliant, and the "cliffhanger" they set up at the end of the season was a genius set-up for the next season.
DeleteI remember both Forever and Rake, and while I like Gruffud and Kinnear I was never really interested in either (although Forever does have a pretty great premise).
Nice picks! I'm a big fan of Dakota Johnson, and think she's quite underrated. Hopefully since the Fifty Shades movies are done she can break out and show her range more. She was quite funny on Ben & Kate.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen any of these shows. To be honest, that Tori Spelling show sounds like a train wreck. I'll take your word that it wasn't.
ReplyDeleteOoh No Tomorrow, another one I completely forgot but it was pretty good! The premise was pretty cool too and I mean, I completely forgot about it so I guess it wasn't THAT good. :(
ReplyDeleteI haven’t seen any of these but I have to admit the Tori Dpelling one actually seems funny. The second one is also very funny and I like that kid. The third one, I think I recall hearing bout it but I would so love to see this.
ReplyDeleteOh my god, I remember watching a few episodes of So NoTORIous. That was...something. lol
ReplyDeleteI've seen a little of Ben and Kate, and a bit more episodes of No Tomorrow. Wasn't the ticking clock coming to an end in the last episode of No Tomorrow? How would a second season look like? Either the asteroid hits earth or he was wrong? Either way...it looks like the end.
ReplyDeleteYeah... they released an epilogue online after the cancellation that showed whether he was right or wrong (SPOILER, KIND OF: he was right, but he was able to work with government scientists to reduce the size of the asteroid so that it only killed a few cows, and everyone lived happily ever after. And together, of course, since it's a romantic comedy).
Delete