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cjlasky7Caught the preview of Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, and I couldn't shake a feeling of familiarity. Shadowkat mentioned Buffy's musical episode ("Once More with Feeling") and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as possible touchstones, but I connected it to a more obscure source: Bryan Fuller's Wonderfalls.
Both series feature an intelligent, but emotionally disconnected young woman granted a mysterious power that forces her to engage with the people around her. Zoey isn't anywhere near the slacker Jaye was (Zoey actively campaigns for--and gets--the promotion), but both women have that patina of snark that effectively isolates them for real engagement.
ZEP's pilot isn't anywhere near as well written as OMWF or the best of Wonderfalls (I saw all the "plot twists" coming from miles off), but Jane Levy has a brittle charm as Zoey, and the musical selections are professionally sung--and danced! I don't remember ever praising a TV comedy for its choreography, but Mandy Moore's choreography really popped here. (It's especially noteworthy because the main character isn't participating in the routine, and the choreographer has to place her so she doesn't gum up the dancers. Zoey fleeing the Beatles-crazed mob was brilliantly done.)
It seems a waste to hire a charismatic actor like Peter Gallagher if he's just going to sit on the couch, blinking. (Nice....catatonia there, Peter.) Let's see if he comes out of it for more than a weekly musical number. I also hope for much more from Lauren Graham, who can dominate (and has dominated) a quirky comedy like this with the sheer force of her personality.
A good start! I'll be back in February.
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Stumptown finally granted my wish and bailed out of its supremely uninteresting love triangle, and god bless 'em, they did it in the best way possible: forcing the two guys involved to team up. Hoffman blackmailing Grey to go undercover was a combination of civic mindedness, career ambition, and just plain spite, and it adds much needed dimension to his character. The team up also opens up the guys for endless amounts of Dex snark, and from the previews, our heroine is ready:
DEX: So what are you guys? Tango and Cash? Turner and Hooch?
GREY: Please stop.
DEX: Cagney and Lacey?
The case of the week ably paralleled the reality show judge and his troubled brother with Dex's own problems with an increasingly independent Ansel. I love it that Dex needs Ansel around much more than he needs her to take care of him, and letting him go leaves her truly alone for the first time. Great comedic touches with the pet shop owner and Dex's moment of TV stardom. Cobie Smulders, as usual, nails all the emotional beats. A step up all around.
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The Good Place had a sluggish first half of the season. It got bogged down in setting up the new iteration of the experiment with new characters. It spent too much time untangling the switch in Janets, and the showrunners made the fundamental mistake of splitting off Chidi from the main group. But with the all Chidi, all the time character retrospective ("The Answer") ending the year, our favorite philosophy professor rejoined the gang--and in the first ep of the home stretch, the show is running at full power again.
For the first time in a long while, the jokes were laugh out loud funny; there were excellent character beats for the newly confident Chidi and a surprisingly sentimental Shawn; Maya Rudolph and D'Arcy Carden were a great comedy team; and Chidi's blackboard got an extended workout. Not quite up to the best of S2, but darn close.
(RIP Disco Janet. Sniff. Last dance tonight....)
Both series feature an intelligent, but emotionally disconnected young woman granted a mysterious power that forces her to engage with the people around her. Zoey isn't anywhere near the slacker Jaye was (Zoey actively campaigns for--and gets--the promotion), but both women have that patina of snark that effectively isolates them for real engagement.
ZEP's pilot isn't anywhere near as well written as OMWF or the best of Wonderfalls (I saw all the "plot twists" coming from miles off), but Jane Levy has a brittle charm as Zoey, and the musical selections are professionally sung--and danced! I don't remember ever praising a TV comedy for its choreography, but Mandy Moore's choreography really popped here. (It's especially noteworthy because the main character isn't participating in the routine, and the choreographer has to place her so she doesn't gum up the dancers. Zoey fleeing the Beatles-crazed mob was brilliantly done.)
It seems a waste to hire a charismatic actor like Peter Gallagher if he's just going to sit on the couch, blinking. (Nice....catatonia there, Peter.) Let's see if he comes out of it for more than a weekly musical number. I also hope for much more from Lauren Graham, who can dominate (and has dominated) a quirky comedy like this with the sheer force of her personality.
A good start! I'll be back in February.
***********************
Stumptown finally granted my wish and bailed out of its supremely uninteresting love triangle, and god bless 'em, they did it in the best way possible: forcing the two guys involved to team up. Hoffman blackmailing Grey to go undercover was a combination of civic mindedness, career ambition, and just plain spite, and it adds much needed dimension to his character. The team up also opens up the guys for endless amounts of Dex snark, and from the previews, our heroine is ready:
DEX: So what are you guys? Tango and Cash? Turner and Hooch?
GREY: Please stop.
DEX: Cagney and Lacey?
The case of the week ably paralleled the reality show judge and his troubled brother with Dex's own problems with an increasingly independent Ansel. I love it that Dex needs Ansel around much more than he needs her to take care of him, and letting him go leaves her truly alone for the first time. Great comedic touches with the pet shop owner and Dex's moment of TV stardom. Cobie Smulders, as usual, nails all the emotional beats. A step up all around.
**************************
The Good Place had a sluggish first half of the season. It got bogged down in setting up the new iteration of the experiment with new characters. It spent too much time untangling the switch in Janets, and the showrunners made the fundamental mistake of splitting off Chidi from the main group. But with the all Chidi, all the time character retrospective ("The Answer") ending the year, our favorite philosophy professor rejoined the gang--and in the first ep of the home stretch, the show is running at full power again.
For the first time in a long while, the jokes were laugh out loud funny; there were excellent character beats for the newly confident Chidi and a surprisingly sentimental Shawn; Maya Rudolph and D'Arcy Carden were a great comedy team; and Chidi's blackboard got an extended workout. Not quite up to the best of S2, but darn close.
(RIP Disco Janet. Sniff. Last dance tonight....)
