The Weekly Review: February 9 – 15

Bosch1

 

Amazon is asking customers to vote on a slew of new pilots.  I watched five of them:

 

       Bosch2

 

Bosch:  It’s handsome and smooth and atmospheric, but it’s another cop show.  The cop (Titus Welliver, top and above left) is sullen and misunderstood – in other words, hes just like 99 percent of the cops on other cop shows.

 

**

 

Mozart

 

Mozart in the Jungle:  It has a unique setup – backstage with New York City classical musicians.  Score one point.  It seems to be intelligent.  Score another point. For a show billed as a “comedy,” it has very few laughs.  Subtract one point.

 

**

 

Transparent:  Great title.  Intriguing premise (dad is closet transgender; adult kids don’t know).  But the kids are painfully self-centered; do you really want to spend much time with them?  Side note:  For a show featuring attractive young actors who are often naked, it sure has some unflattering butt shots – or maybe it’s just me.  You be the judge:

 

Transparent2

Transparent1

 

**

 

Rebels

 

The Rebels:  Have you seen Wildcats or Major League or any other comedy in which the team is owned or coached by a woman?  Then you’ve already seen this.

 

**

 

After3After2

 

The After:  I don’t care if creator Chris Carter (The X Files) is revered in sci-fi circles; dumb characters doing dumb things make for a dumb show.

 

*****

 

Giamatti                Louis3

 

It hasn’t been a great month for paunchy, balding celebrities.  Louis C.K., who in recent years could do no wrong in the eyes of the media, got torn a new one by Dylan Farrow for, apparently, guilt by association because he appeared in a film directed by Farrow nemesis Woody Allen.   Next, a film Louis made back in 1998 and which he is now hawking on his Web site was branded “amateurish [and] unfunny” by Entertainment Weekly.  According to EW, dropping five bucks to stream Louis’s old movie up to three times is “less a value incentive than a threat.”

Meanwhile, character actor Paul Giamatti is slated to make a much-anticipated guest appearance on Downton Abbey.  “Much anticipated” by you, perhaps, but not by me.   Frankly, I am so sick and tired of listening to Giamatti lecture me about “humans” on his omnipresent Liberty Mutual commercials that the only thing I’m anticipating is his early retirement.

 

*****

 

              Chamoun

              Chamoun2

 

I’ve been unable to muster much enthusiasm for the Winter Olympics, but lately I’ve taken an interest in alpine skiing (above).

 

 *****

 

Ralph Waite died this week, which brought to mind one thought and one image. Waite played a beloved father on The Waltons, as did Robert Young on Father Knows Best.  Both were Hollywood drunks.  Lesson:  Best not play a beloved father on TV.  The image:  If you have a fear of heights, the opening scene of Cliffhanger is terrifying.  Almost as terrifying as this crazed expression on Ralph Waites mug:

 
 
                Waite2

 

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