(peacock/IMDBTV) I’m sure if you had any interest in MURDER, SHE WROTE, you’ve probably watched it already — I won’t bore anyone with a summary of the series, created by COLUMBO’s creators Richard Levinson (RIP) and William Link — but I wanted to draw your attention to one episode in particular: S03E21, entitled -The Days Dwindle Down-, one of MSW’s most experimental, most intriguing episodes that -no one- ever talks about.
-The Days Dwindle Down- is basically a sequel to the RKO film STRANGE BARGAIN (1949). The episode calls into question the results of the film’s final act, bringing back many of the original actors from the film, and utilizes footage from the film as flashbacks. At first blush, one might consider it to be born from laziness, but it was anything but, as it took considerable time and effort to reunite the cast, including veteran character actor Henry Morgan (MASH, DRAGNET).
It’s a fascinating bit of film -and- TV history, and if you want to read more about it, you can do so at my personal website where I first wrote about it http://peccaui.com/msw/strange-bargain
(N/A) In 1998, OUT OF SIGHT was released, directed by Steven Soderbergh and based on Elmore Leonard’s (RIP) novel of the same name, and featured Jennifer Lopez as detective Karen Sisco hunting down escaped bank robber George Clooney.
While OUT OF SIGHT is a fantastic film, perhaps one of the best film adaptations of an Elmore Leonard novel, ABC decided to pull the trigger on a Karen Sisco TV series five years later which, as you might guess, plays as an early version of JUSTIFIED, which itself was adapted from a collection of Leonard’s short stories, including FIRE IN THE HOLE. (In fact, Michael Dinner, the director of KAREN SISCO’s pilot also directed JUSTIFIED’s pilot, and he executive produced both shows.)
KAREN SISCO is extraordinarily pulpy and Carla Gugino is fantastic as Sisco, Robert Forrester (RIP) is her father, and yes, it’s basically JUSTIFIED but with a woman lead, but don’t we deserve a woman-led JUSTIFIED and all of the smartass quips and cooky cast of criminal characters that entails?
I’ll be repeating this phrase all month, but it’s a crime that this series is practically impossible to find. Only seven of the ten filmed episodes were aired on ABC. (The final ep was directed by Katheryn Bigelow!). It was never released on physical media, and isn’t available to stream anywhere — I imagine because of music rights — so get it whichever way you can.
(YouTube/DVD) A whip-smart, tightly-wound gag machine that was well-ahead of its time.. A precursor to THE BOB NEWHART SHOW (1972) in that it allowed autonomy for the childless couple (Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss), and also encouraged them to pursue their own interests and, at the end of the day, they respected each other for doing so, often in bed.
It’s also a direct inspiration for THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, especially Jack Cassidy’s blowhard performance portraying the superhero that Richard Benjamin’s character created.
If you want to pick up a copy for yourself, you can do so via the excellent preservation site modcinema.com (I’ve ordered more than a few items from them — they’re doing fantastic work.):
(Hulu/VOD)? One of the first adult swim live-action shows, this is a wall-to-wall neo-vaudevillian gag machine riffing on the daily soap opera genre that just about no one watching adult swim have actually consumed.
Despite the fact that it ran for eight years, it never quite received the recognition it deserved, being wedged in-between SQUIDBILLIES and adult swim’s anime block, but it was clearly a labor of love from all involved, and holy crap there were a ton of brilliant people involved: David Wain, Henry Winkler, Megan Mullany (clearly having the time of her life), Ken Marino, Lake Bell, Jordan Peele, Jon Hamm, and several Robs and Corddrys.
It also featured brilliantly cyclical jokes like the following exchange, delivered by the under-appreciated Erinn Hayes to Rob Heubel:
“I’m breaking up with you.”
“What? Why?”
“I uh, have a brain tumor.”
“Oh, bleep How long have you known?”
“…how long have I known? Ugh, I can’t lie! I don’t have a brain tumor. I just couldn’t think of a reason to break up with you.”
“Break up? Not with you sick like this! I’m going to take care of you!”
“No, no, no. I said I -don’t- have a brain tumor.”
“That’s just the brain tumor talking!”
While there isn’t a bad episode in the bunch, Megan Amram (who contributed the best storefront puns in THE GOOD PLACE and is the mastermind behind AN EMMY FOR MEGAN) penned one of my absolute favorite episodes of TV ever by taking CHILDRENS HOSPITAL pitch-perfectly into the past with -The Show You Watch-. (Unfortunately, the episode labeled as -The Show You Watch- on YouTube is actually the episode -Through the Eyes of a Falcon- and definitely not a great episode to start with.)
(DVD) An absurdist comedy from THE STATE members Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and David Wain, this one-season wonder has its roots in Marx Bros-type anarchy. Michael, Michael, and David play petulant man-children who dress in formal suits, and literally run from scene, throwing words at the walls to see what sticks.
Here’s an example from the pilot (linked below):
“Guys, the landlord’s coming. We have to clean up!” [They plump the many pillows found through their otherwise visibly immaculate apartment, then they take up instruments in front of their door and strike individual poses. The landlord knocks.]
“It’s the landlord. Let me in.”
“Uh, we can’t! We’re in a tableau! You’ll have to use the key under the rug to let yourself in!”
[Landlord looks down]
“There’s no rug.”
(Michael, to Michael and David): “Guys, I forgot, I took the rug to be dry cleaned last month because it was filthy.”
[Michael opens the door]: “Here’s the dry cleaning receipt. You’ll have to pick up the rug.” [Michael closes the door. The landlord takes a cab to the dry cleaners. Michael, Michael and David are visibly uncomfortable maintaining their tableau. Landlord gets the rug, heads back, unfurls the rug, plucks the key from under, and opens the door.]
Michael, Michael, and David: “Don! What a surprise! Great to see you!”
How much mileage you’ll get out of this show will depend on how grating you find the characters’ tone, and whether you’re able to overlook their rivalry with their all-woman downstairs neighbors (including Rashida Jones in the pilot). None of them have the charisma of Groucho, nor the hapless naïveté of Harpo. There’s certainly no Zeppo. Despite that, the show represents a neo-vaudeville sensibility far better than any show I can think of in the past twenty years (with the possible exception of CHILDRENS HOSPITAL, but that’s a show for a different day).
(hoopla/VOD) If you’re reading this, you’re probably familiar with Matt Berry and his vocal and musical talents, either via FX’s WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, THE IT CROWD, or THE MIGHTY BOOSH, but SNUFF BOX is still my favorite work of his. (Also, shout-out to Rich Fulcher, who keeps popping up in the oddest places, including Oscar-winning MARRIAGE STORY (2019).)
SNUFF BOX is a severely dark British sketch comedy show that lasted for only six episodes, but it is endlessly re-watchable. It’s centered around two loathsome hangmen, their puerile antics, their ability to break into song, and that’s all you need to know.
Please note: the Rude Song below is very rude and NSFW.
(Hulu/VOD) TERRIERS deserves a mention simply for having one of the catchiest theme songs, and one of the least-helpful titles, in recent memory:
The 30-second version:
The full song:
Setting aside the theme song (which cites a sally forth punk! I love it so much!), it’s a gorgeously sun-soaked California private dick neo-noir. The core of the show is the camaraderie between the two private detectives, in-recovery Hank (Donal Logue) and the overly earnest fuck-up Britt (Michael Raymond-James). TERRIERS was a collective effort from THE SHIELD show runner Shawn Ryan and screenwriter Ted Griffin (OCEAN’S ELEVEN, WOLF OF WALL STREET), and I remember the exact moment that the show grabbed me: thirty seconds before the credits roll in the third episode, there’s a background motion that explains everything set up in the prior episodes, and I laughed for a minute straight at how perfectly executed the script and shot was. To say more would rob you of the delight of your own realization.
While I wish TERRIERS had managed to have a long, long life, the single season we received is a perfect single season of TV. If you’re a fan of THE ROCKFORD FILES, noir in general, or heartfelt platonic relationships, this is a show for you.
(Hulu/hoopla/TNT) The closest thing to misfit neo-noir TV has seen in years. While the show is loosely based on Blake Crouch’s* Letty Raines series of heist novellas, it improves on it in every way: the show sees Letty (played with gusto and a wavering American accent by DOWNTON ABBEY’s Michelle Dockery) as a conflicted, stubborn addict slowly trying to improve herself and her life, but keeps making terrible life decisions, including falling for a hitman (handsomely played Juan Diego Botto).
It’s a surprisingly emotionally grounded show that balances conflicted romance with pulpy plotting. Also, the chemistry between Dockery & Botto is off the goddamn charts.
The second season becomes a tad too convoluted and ends on a a major cliffhanger, and then the show was canceled so, if you’re the type easily frustrated by open endings, this probably isn’t the series for you. There’s been talk of a TV movie to give closure but, given the world nowadays, that’s unlikely to happen.
S1 trailer:
S2 trailer:
“Can I give you a bit of relationship advice? The only thing you can change about a man is his hair.” “…I like his hair.”
Blake Crouch is also responsible for the WAYWARD PINES trilogy. Similarly, the show improved on the source material.
(fubo/Hulu/tubi/VOD) Yes, everyone’s celebrating Amy Sherman-Palladino and THE MARVELOUS MRS MAISEL now, but everyone outside of my wife and maybe a few friends, had largely forgotten her once GILMORE GIRLS went off the air in 2006.
Enter 2012: I vividly remember walking with some folks through a mall to catch a Bollywood film in the Chicago suburbs, and there was a BUNHEADS poster front-and-center between us and the theater, and one dude I was attending the screening with lambasted the poster; ridiculed it. I was a coward, half-heartedly chuckling at his jokes, but inwardly very angry.
It hadn’t aired yet and yes, GILMORE GIRLS has -a lot- of issues, I won’t deny that (especially the Netflix mini — yikes) but Amy Sherman-Palladino has done far more good than harm. And this dude was mocking a poster because it dared to promote a TV show about girls & dance, -while- we were heading to see a frickin’ Bollywood film.
Setting that aside: BUNHEADS is the story of failed ballerina/current Vegas showgirl Michelle Simms (Broadway star Sutton Foster who you may know her better as the lead in YOUNGER, and I really had hoped I’d be watching her on-stage with Hugh Jackman in THE MUSIC MAN right now, but so it goes) who drunkenly latches onto Alan Ruck one night, marries him, moves to a sleepy California town, and then Ruck dies. Simms then falls into teaching at Ruck’s mother-in-law’s (played by GILMORE GIRLS’ Kelly Bishop) dance studio.
While Michelle has a fair amount of drama, the show is far more concerned with the stakes regarding the girls she’s mentoring, and really, it’s about their stories and experiences, and how Michelle helps to guide them through life, despite being a bit of a fuck-up.
It’s quintessential Sherman-Palladino work: sweet, smart, overly verbose, and extremely well-produced (albeit, yes, extremely white). The following numbers below should sell you on the show alone. Why yes, I’ll take a musical dance number inspired by Tom Waits’ Mule Variations!
If you’re a sound nerd, I love how they mic the floors (see Dance Routines Part 2, ~1:30), so you hear every landing, every hit, every slap. I’m hard-pressed to think of a show that was as aurally tactile as this.
If you’re a cinematography nerd, goddamn, the cheats they employed to ensure that the mirrors were always seen, but never the cameras? Blows my mind. And the China Balls!
BUNHEADS had a little something for everyone, and it’s a crime how ABC Family buried it. I’m hoping Amy Sherman-Palladino will revisit it in the future although, granted they did film a farewell dance as a way to give closure, I’d still love to see a reunion special.
(DVD/YOD) You may be familiar with the Hollywood film PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (1981), starring and ushered into existence by Steve Martin, but it’s based on a six-ep British series penned by Dennis Potter. To be fair to Martin, the film sticks very closely to the original series, but the Hollywood gloss gets in the way, to the point where the film can’t see the premise for the trees. For example:
Potter’s ‘Yes, Yes’:
Martin’s ‘Yes, Yes’:
But I’m getting ahead of myself. PENNIES FROM HEAVEN is an incredibly unsavory lip-synced jukebox musical that takes place in the 1930s about a man’s midlife crisis — Bob Hoskins as Arthur Parker, portrayed Willy Loman style — and the women he leaves in his wake. On paper, it’s not terribly appealing, partially because Potter frames Arther as a noir hero, eschewed by his wife (and therefore, society) because of his sex drive (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duIlaVlLwX4&list=PL10169BEFFBF3C1B6&index=14 ). However, Potter’s women are far more fascinating than Arthur, and the musical numbers still resonate, well over 40 years later. Take for example, Arthur’s paramour, teacher Eileen:
Potter’s ‘Love is Good for Anything that Ails You’:
Martin’s ‘Love is Good for Anything that Ails You’:
What’s dictated via Hollywood’s PENNIES FROM HEAVEN — no offense to Bernadette Peters’ performance — is the longing, the frustration, the thrill in letting loose. It’s all spelled-out. Contrast it with Potter’s number, where it’s all simply acted out through Cheryl Campbell’s amazing performance.
And here’s a number featuring Arthur’s long-suffering wife. (The number doesn’t appear in Martin’s film.)
Potter’s ‘You Rascal, You’:
If you aren’t into 20s/30s era American Jazz or post WWI British miserabilia, this probably isn’t a series for you, but if you’re into either one, hunt down a copy.
