Emmys 2011: Predictions

The Primetime Emmy Awards are almost upon us, airing on Sunday, September 18th on FOX.  Jane Lynch will be hosting, and since she's usually pretty hilarious I think we can all expect a pretty good show.  And maybe, just maybe, that good show will compensate for some of the grievous snubs that have taken place this Emmy season (though I doubt it).  Here are my thoughts on who will win and who should win* in each of the big categories.

Supporting Actor, Comedy
Chris Colfer, Glee
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Ty Burrell, Modern Family*
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
Ed O'Neill, Modern Family
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men

I think a part of me is a little resentful still at the excess of Modern Family love in this category-- don't get me wrong, all the men involved are hilarious, but they didn't all give the best performances of the year.  However, I was rooting for Ty Burrell prior to the nominations, and I really do think he's the best of the bunch here.  That said, I think the vote is going to tip in Ed O'Neill's favor, as this is his first nomination.  Either that or all the Modern Family guys will split the vote and we'll see a Chris Colfer win, which would be kind of a bummer.

Supporting Actress, Comedy
Julie Bowen, Modern Family*
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Jane Lynch, Glee
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland
Kristen Wiig, SNL*
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock

I don't think the Betty White love-fest is quite over, so I'm pretty certain she'll get this one.  But I would love to see Julie Bowen get in there, or for Kristen Wiig, this category's wild card in every sense, to take home the prize.

Supporting Actor, Drama
*I really have no opinion on this one, as I haven't seen any of the performances nominated


Supporting Actress, Drama
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire*
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Michelle Forbes, The Killing
Margo Martindale, Justified

Lead Actor, Comedy
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Steve Carrell, The Office*
Jim Parsons, Big Bang Theory
Louis C.K., Louie
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Johnny Galecki, Big Bang Theory

Steve Carrell is the sentimental choice, but this time around it's well-earned.  His performance as Michael Scott preparing to leave the Dunder Mifflin crew behind for good was genuinely heartfelt and hilarious, and one that, unlike the other nominees, won't have a chance at being replicated next year.

Lead Actress, Comedy
Laura Linney, The Big C
Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation*
Melissa McCarthy, Mike and Molly
Tina Fey, 30 Rock

Laura Linney is the favorite, and she is a fantastic actress, but I want Amy Poehler to win so badly that my heart hurts a little.  Leslie Knope is one of the best characters on television because of Poehler and the skill she brings, and I just want someone to recognize that, gosh darnit.

Lead Actor, Drama
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire*
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
Timothy Olyphant, Justified

Lead Actress, Drama
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men*
Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order SVU
Mireille Enos, The Killing
Kathy Bates, Harry's Law

Outstanding Comedy
Glee
Modern Family
The Office
Parks and Recreation*
The Big Bang Theory
30 Rock

I need a Parks win here.  I need someone besides me and a bunch of other lowly bloggers to acknowledge that this is the best comedy currently on television, hands down.  Modern Family is great, and I watch it every week and laugh along, but the second season lacked the originality and spark of the first, and it just didn't top Parks in terms of comedy this year.

Outstanding Drama
Mad Men
Boardwalk Empire
The Good Wife
Friday Night Lights
Dexter
Game of Thrones*


Boardwalk Empire seems on track to sweep all the major awards, and that's fine.  However, there is nothing I love more than an upset, which is why I'd love to see Game of Thrones (which from what I've read has quite the nerd following) walk away with the prize instead.

Fall TV 2011: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Season 7

When it comes to making predictions about the gang and their inevitable hijinks, I can't always be sure what's to come.  For instance, I don't think I would have ever predicted this little-show-that-could reaching all the way to its seventh season, which is huge for any show but downright staggering for an original comedy on basic cable.  Yes, season six had its ups and downs (mostly downs, especially as the season drew to a close), but based on what I've read about the forthcoming season (and especially those fantastic over-the-top promos), I think Charlie, Mac and the gang are about to stage a comeback in the best way.

I've been skimming a lot of articles like this one during my Fall TV preparation period, and though there have only been little glimpses as to what we might see Paddy's crew doing this fall, many of those glimpses have definite promise, not to mention considerable potential for hilarity.  We've all probably heard or read some of the buzz about Rob McElhenney's absurd plan to pack on 50 pounds in an attempt to supply fresh material and more laughs for his character Mac, but here are some of the tidbits you may not have heard, and which I'm equally excited to see.

*  Frank will find himself in a re-creation of Pretty Woman.  Knowing how disgusting Frank is capable of being, it will be interesting (to say the least) to see the working girl with low enough standards to be charmed by him.

*  The gang will become involved with a children's beauty pageant.  I don't think I have to explain the possibilities here.

*  The gang will visit the Jersey Shore, but as Charlie Day intimated on Conan last week, it won't necessarily be to spoof the MTV show.  He claims they are instead on a mission to illustrate that there are "much better...and much much worse" people living on the Shore than the perpetually bronzed cast.

*  2012 and the impending apocalypse will be addressed.  Am I the only one who thinks/hopes Charlie already has some kind of plan in place for such a scenario, and that we'll get to see it?

*  More of The Waitress, not to mention Jason Sudeikis, who guest-starred in one of season 6's better installments.  I won't say no to either of these things.

For the full intel on what's to come, feel free to peruse the article, linked above.  I think it's safe to say that no matter what, the gang will have a triumphant return when the show comes back this Thursday, September 15th on FX.  I know I've been watching far too many relatively well-adjusted people on television, and I've missed Dee, Dennis, Charlie, Mac, and even Frank, more than I ever thought possible.

Movie Review: Contagion

This movie is both well paced and oddly timely in its release, and manages not to struggle too much beneath the weight of its all-star cast.  Contagion is genuinely intriguing and tragic, and touches on the important issues that emerge in the wake of any kind of disaster without being too preachy or heavy-handed.

The film follows the explosive progression of an unidentified disease in various clusters throughout the world.  Gwyneth Paltrow's character Beth's demise gets the ball rolling, and members of the CDC scramble to determine whether she is the all-important "index patient" responsible for the initial spread of the disease.  Matt Damon plays her grieving husband who is also mysteriously immune to the disease, a convenience which also affords him immunity to the predictable panic, looting, and rioting which ensue as the disease takes more and more lives. 

Director Steven Soderbergh tells the story with his usual talent for scope and depth, though there are a few loose ends not quite tied up by the film's end (though it's very possible that this is intentional).  The acting on the whole is pretty good, though there are definite standouts, including Kate Winslet, Jennifer Ehle, and Marion Cotillard, who all play strong female characters fighting to understand and contain the disease on different fronts.  I think I could have observed individual performances a bit better if I hadn't been so busy cataloging the famous people on the screen (there's an appearance by Demetri Martin, for goodness sake), so I suppose you could call it a bit distracting, though not necessarily detrimental to the film.

What is most affecting about this movie, though, is the moment at which it emerges.  The decision to release it two days prior to the 9/11 anniversary seems very deliberate given the tone and message of the film, which explores not only the possibilities of biological disaster, but the possibilities of our fear and how we might react in such circumstances.  I found it strange to hear some of my fellow audience members laughing at some of the behavior of the panicked citizens in the film, and in a way it was almost affronting.  Part of me wanted nothing more than to turn around and ask if they didn't think they or their loved ones would do the exact same things with their own lives on the line.  I guess this just serves to show that a film like this can either bounce right off the viewer or stick with them in a profound way, and maybe that depends more on the watcher than the material itself.

Fall TV 2011: The New Class

The new season of television is nearly upon us, and I for one am very excited (probably too much so, in fact).  I can't wait for my favorites to return, but more than usual I'm excited to see what new material the networks have up their proverbial sleeves.  Because I will no longer be watching or reviewing the weekly train wreck that is Glee, I have an open slot in my review-roster, and I think that I may just fill it with one of the somewhat promising new shows headed our way.  I've narrowed the field to three candidates I plan on watching, and in a few episodes' time I hope to decide which one, if any, will become a part of my weekly lineup.

Up All Night  (NBC, Wednesday September 14th)
This show has so many ingredients that should make it a smash hit.  Genius producer who also produces a little show called Saturday Night Live?  Check.  All-star, proven hilarious cast?  Check.  Potentially amusing premise?  Check.  Of all the pilots I plan on watching, this is definitely the one that seems most like a sure thing, provided the writing isn't overshadowed/overcompensated for by all of the aforementioned factors, and provided that they haven't already shoved every funny moment into the onslaught of promos I've already seen.  There are few people I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt to more than Will Arnett, though, so for now this remains my frontrunner.

New Girl (FOX, September 20th)
I am definitely intrigued by this one, even if I still don't know that I buy Zooey Deschanel as awkward in a non-hipster, non-ironic way.  I do think I might like her better on the small screen (and in smaller doses) than carrying an entire movie, and the premise definitely has potential.  I'll be interested to see what kind of role the supporting characters play, as right now it just seems like a vehicle for Deschanel's character.  I think I'll like it as long as her roommates stay platonic, because I really do think the idea of her becoming kind of their new bro would be much more fun than her developing a default romance with one of them.  Don't know that I'll be able to glean evidence of all of this from the pilot, so it may take a couple of weeks for me to make a judgment call on this one.

2 Broke Girls  (CBS, September 19th)
Two girls, different sides of the tracks, unlikely friendship... I'm a little bored already, I'll admit.  However, I will give this one a chance if only because I do enjoy Kat Dennings and if the Upfront for the pilot is any indication, the show will at least be full of her trademark sass until it either settles into a groove or gets canceled.  I honestly think this show could go either way, but I'll watch it primarily because I like the idea of having a pilot out there that seems very much a throwback to the classic sitcom and could be part of a revival I'd very much like to see.

*  Additionally, there are two other shows that will probably come across my radar and which I may or may not be inclined to comment upon here.  The first is the ABC series Once Upon a Time, which doesn't premiere until October and the premise of which I'm not entirely sold on, but turning down something from the writers of LOST is something I'm just not able to do.  The other is, unfortunately, NBC's new comedy Whitney, which I will inevitably wind up watching by accident when I don't change channels fast enough following The Office.  This show looks by far the worst of the over-hyped pilots, which is a shame because I actually do like most of Whitney Cummings' stand-up.  I'll probably see one of the few episodes before NBC comes to its senses and boots it, and I hope that it won't be the torture-fest promised by each and every ad I've encountered.

Book Review: Little Children by Tom Perrotta

There is a lot of suburban dysfunction literature floating out there right now (and I love so much of it), but few people do with quite the same snap as Tom Perrotta.  I've been meaning to read Little Children for a while now, and after reading his novel The Abstinence Teacher earlier this summer, I fast-tracked it to the top of my list.  I can say now that I do not regret this decision in the slightest.

Little Children is a strange book when one attempts to describe it in minimal terms.  It's about two parents who engage in an affair with one another in an attempt to revive their dismal, unhappy existences.  But it's also about a pedophile who moves into the very same neighborhood to live with his ailing mother, and the social ostracism which results.  Sounds like a strange pitch, but the two narratives meld together in such a way that by novel's end it seems impossible to have told the story in its fullness while neglecting one of them.

Sarah and Todd are the two adulterers, young parents who never thought they'd find themselves bogged down with a child and all those other pesky grownup responsibilities.  Their angst as individuals is typical, but their coming together is strange, emerging out of the blue and accelerating in a way that can only spell disaster in the end.  I appreciated Perrotta's depiction for its realism, however semi-tragic it may appear:  both Sarah and Todd believe that this affair is something they not only need but deserve, and both harbor resentment toward just about everyone in their lives outside the affair's bubble, including their children.  Sarah in particular is downright annoyed with her daughter for much of the time we see them together, and while some might read that as too harsh, it's an unfortunate truth:  some mothers just don't like their daughters, and sometimes it's for so small a crime as failing to fill a void for which they were never responsible.  What is a bit wearing about Sarah and Todd's affair, however, is the depiction of their respective spouses.  Sarah's husband Richard is a bit of a pervert but slowly evolves into a complete creep, almost forcing the reader to declare Sarah's adultery justifiable.  Similarly, Todd's wife Karen is the family breadwinner and thus is cast as the obligatory workaholic spouse, who upon learning of the affair promptly becomes even more unlikeable.  I for one didn't need all this extra convincing that Sarah and Todd had considerable motivation for their actions, but Perrotta seems to supply it more for the purpose of enriching the satire than anything else.

Ronnie McGorvey is the town's new pedophile-in-residence, and it's difficult to decide what is more disturbing:  how creepy his every action, word, and mannerism is, or the fact that despite all this the relationship he has with his elderly mother makes them both sympathetic in a strange way.  His mother is to be pitied, that much is clear, but what really enhances this part of the story is the way that, despite all of his horrible behavior, Ronnie does love her very much, and doesn't want to hurt her.  Unfortunately, even this doesn't quite make his alleged kidnapping and murder of a little girl reconcilable.

One of the best things this novel has to offer is its insight into the spectrum of perception and judgment.  Each of the characters plays his or her part in illustrating this, and showing that we misunderstand and misjudge others just about all the time.  Sometimes we think people are much better than they are, sometimes we feel sure we know them and find out we don't at all, and sometimes they're even worse than we could have ever imagined.  Little Children provides a sampling of each, and does it in a way that somehow still manages to leave the shadow of a smirk on your face.

Book Review: Plan B by Jonathan Tropper

Yes, more Tropper.  I can't help this obsession any more than anyone else can, and I'll be very sorry when I've finished the last of his already published works, most likely sometime next week or thereabouts.  Plan B is Tropper's debut novel, written more than a decade ago, and is pretty damn impressive for a rookie effort.  I always enjoy reading an author's older work, particularly if I've already seen some of the later stuff, because there are so many interesting little things to find in the text.  This book is no exception:  most of Tropper's trademark wit and sarcasm is already well-established in the characters of Plan B, though they are perhaps slightly less sharp and cynical than some of his later subjects.  It also shows us the first instance of what later becomes a trend and arguably the centerpiece of Tropper's works, the man on the verge of something, vaguely devastated by his life but not quite understanding why until a critical moment in the tale-- the progression is hammered home with a much heavier hand in this early story, and we even get the milestone of the protagonist's 30th birthday to help us along as we take his journey with him.  Overall, glimmers of what will become a much more refined talent shine through in spades throughout this book, but it's the genuinely heartfelt story that keeps the reader engaged and, I imagine, willing to read more from this writer.

Plan B is about a group of friends who have reached 30 more or less in one piece (some more and some less than others).  Ben is the protagonist, Tropper's vehicle for most of the book's introspection.  He comes off a bit whiny and self-pitying at times, but it is more forgivable as the scene of his life unfolds further, revealing a group of adults who despite the passage of time have somehow failed to grow up.  The group comes together in an effort to help their friend Jack, a highly successful film star, get off cocaine for good following a few well-publicized disasters.  It is clear that approaching Jack in a rational way isn't going to make a difference, so naturally the friends decide to kidnap him.  Ben fumbles to assist with the plan, but it is clear that his friend Chuck, a surgeon, is both the brains and the brawn of the operation, while Allison, who is in love with Jack, seems to have the purest motivation.  This leaves Ben and his ex-girlfriend Lindsey largely alone with the question of where it all went wrong. 

If there is anything to complain about in this book, it might just be the romance between Ben and Lindsey.  It feels forced, and almost too easy at several moments, and in comparison to some of the relationships Tropper depicts in his later novels (and I just can't resist comparing), it truly pales.  Lindsey's rationale for their initial breakup is an earnest, fairly reasonable one, and so their reunion is just a little too convenient, feeling like it could use a bit more substance or complication.  Fortunately, I think the fact that this is an ensemble-heavy story is what saves it:  the dynamic of the larger group and most particularly each person's relationship with the wayward Jack is what keeps Lindsey and Ben from becoming tedious to read about, and what proves that they could not have carried the story on their own.

Despite the specific agenda of the plot, this book is about "what it means to be an adult against your will" (I read that on the back cover and I really just love the phrasing).  Ben and his friends discover the hard way that fancy jobs, money, and romance notwithstanding, you simply can't and won't be happy if you're stuck in the past or else simply standing still, waiting for life to happen to you.  The novel concludes in a manner that is satisfyingly consistent with this theme, with no loose end tied up too neatly and no doors entirely closed on the possibilities of the future.  They are, after all, only 30.

Read this book.  Read it for your friends, as a re-affirmation that you really would do anything for them, and that their company is, 90% of the time, all you really need to feel better.  Read it for a lost love, for the one who got away or for the one who stuck around for way too long.  Read it for yourself, to remind yourself that life is never perfect, never, and that you have to find a way forward in spite of that.

Book Review: How to Talk to a Widower by Jonathan Tropper

Jonathan Tropper has carefully carved himself a niche, and that niche is a depiction of grief that is somehow both poignant and peppered with hilarity.  I didn't think such a combination stood a chance at succeeding until I read Tropper's 2011 novel, This is Where I Leave You, and even then I thought it must be a piece of stand-alone genius, that Tropper must be a brand new voice, perhaps even a one-hit wonder.  So imagine my surprise when I picked up How to Talk to a Widower by pure chance at the library and discovered that this particular brand of brilliantly witty tragedy is something Tropper has been perfecting for years.

In How to Talk to a Widower we meet Doug, the titular widower (try saying that three times fast), a man who, at age 29, was hardly expecting to find himself lost in the aftermath of his wife's tragic demise and struggling to simply function in a world that has kept on turning without him.  Doug's family appears on the scene, an integral part of his mourning process and a wonderfully dysfunctional group who are themselves walking a tightrope between support for and frustration with their wayward relative.  Doug's twin sister Claire is especially charming in a sardonic fashion, convinced she can kick her brother's ass right out of his funk while simultaneously dealing with her own crumbling marriage.  But by far the best supporting player is Doug's rebellious teenage stepson Russ, who falls seamlessly into dual roles as both the child in need of guidance and a uniquely understanding friend with whom Doug can commiserate.

What is most impressive about this book, though, is the journey we take within Doug's mind, guided by a tortured narration that is devastatingly real.  Doug spends huge amounts of time obsessing over the details of his wife's death, over memories that are more significant than ever in the wake of his loss.  He even writes a regular column for the magazine he works at, examining his experience and almost inadvertently sharing the feelings he tries to suppress; and while this might sound over-the-top, it adds yet another layer to the intricate portrait of a man in transition, a man who must navigate a new world without the person he had come to rely on to guide him.

For anyone who's lost someone, and even for those who haven't, this book is a must-read.  Tropper's insights may emerge from unexpected places but they ring all the more true for it.