thePeanutBloggery

I’d like to introduce guest Peanut Elizabeth Quinn. Together we’ve compiled a list of series that helped make the summer of 2007 the best TV summer ever.

When I hung the “closed for the season” sign on the “Primetime Index” last May, I was resigned to a typical summer of disappointing television, one in which the sole worthy drama would be on the tennis courts of France, England, and Queens (the only reality television I like to watch). Sure enough, the major networks were replete with talent shows and allegedly unscripted programming. Yet as I pushed my cable box into the higher numbers, I discovered a wealth of listings that kept me pinned to my couch (not a bad thing, since I live in a city where summer means sizzling pavement and steaming garbage). Apparently I wasn’t alone. In fact, original programming on basic cable networks like TNT, TBS, and Lifetime set records this summer and sent the big 4 into fits over ratings. Hey guys, here’s an idea I got from a Kevin Costner movie: make good television and people will watch it. Here are my three selections. (KS)

Entourage (HBO) – Due to some bizarre scheduling, we got the end of the third season and the beginning of the fourth, thus a bunch of extra “Entourage” in one summer. But it certainly wasn’t just quantity that put the show on our list; it was the comeuppance of Johnny Drama. Having Kevin Dillon, Matt Dillon’s much-less-famous brother, play Vincent Chase’s much-less-famous brother is a not-so-inside joke. Drama’s incessant failure has always been the counterweight to Vince’s easy success, providing tension to a show where nothing ever seems to go wrong. Now again art imitates life. While Vince wasted the season on the doomed Medellin (You, Me and Dupree, anyone?), Drama found success as a television actor and became the bread-winner as well as the guy who does all the cooking.

Greek (ABC Family) – Don’t let the network fool you; this is no mind-numbing “High School Musical”. In fact, mothers have posted online petitions trying to get this show yanked from the squeaky clean channel. It’s Animal House meets Real Genius meets “Dawson Creek”. Rusty Cartwright (vaguely reminiscent of Sam from cult-classic “Freaks and Geeks”), a freshman physics genius, facing four years among the nerds, pledges a fraternity, where he discovers drinking and sex (“a new kind of family,” indeed). It often feels like a guilty pleasure. It is, after all, the answer to the teen soap opening left by “The O.C.” Yet the pleasure outweighs the guilt, and while the format is familiar, the characters are all new. At first glance they seem like old stereotypes – socially- and athletically-challenged geeks, sex- and alcohol-crazed frat boys, and rich-bitch sorority sisters – and a couple of new ones – a born-again roommate and a closeted pledge – but as the season progresses, their complexities and sincerities are revealed. Thank goodness, no thank god, this series has been renewed and will return at the beginning of 2008.

Saving Grace (TNT) – Set in present day Oklahoma City, a female detective, still haunted by the bombings, who drinks too much, drives too fast, and has sex with too many of the wrong people, is the recipient of unwanted counseling by an angel, Earl, trying to rescue her soul from hell. Yes, it sounds very “Touched by an Angel” or “Highway to Heaven”, but this series claims no allegiance to Christianity, and the amount of swearing and bare skin would make Michael Landon blush. It’s a solid cop show, reminiscent of “Cagney and Lacey” and “Hill Street Blues” more than “Law and Order”, but the single most powerful thing “Saving Grace” has going for it is the magnificent Holly Hunter. More than any of all the starlets making names for themselves in cable TV right now – Glenn Close, Kyra Sedgwick, Minnie Driver, etc – Hunter appears to be stepping it up a notch rather than settling into a day job, as she rails against the bad guys, her family, God, and mostly herself. If you missed it, they’re starting from the beginning next Monday on TNT.

Here are my two vastly different and genius reasons why this summer was one of the best on TV. Yes, summertime is now premiere time. Go figure! (EQ)

Mad Men (AMC) – Set in 1960’s NYC, through the lens of ad agency Sterling Cooper, the world of “Mad Men” is chronologically only 47 years old, but socially and culturally, it may as well be 200. As the women struggle with shifting social paradigms and confusing identities while navigating their way through the corporate jungle and the men who inhabit it (my respect for women who lived through this era has grown tenfold!), the men maintain a shield of bravado and one-upmanship that’s downright exhausting in a world where sexual and professional conquests are the only way to prove your manhood. They almost never talk about their feelings, and secrets must be hidden at all cost. No wonder they drink and smoke all day!

The actors do a fine job of walking that line between stereotype and complex human being. Perhaps because their characters are doing just that: wearing their work personas like pressed business suits and changing into their true selves (or as true as they will allow themselves to be) once the clock strikes five. Following the lead of producer and writer Matthew Weiner, the costumes, set design, and cinematography capture perfectly so specific a time and place. “Mad Men” draws you in with it’s seemingly quaint “oh, look at how they lived back then in the dark ages” appearance. But within minutes you realize that in 2007, we’re still struggling with shifting social paradigms, confusing identities, and wondering how much of our true selves we can reveal at the office. Now, if only my boss would let me drink and smoke all day long!

Flight of the Conchords (HBO) – I’m absolutely in love with Flight of the Conchords and am seriously considering quitting my day job and following them all over the world (or at least the tri-state area). The premise of the show is simple: two-man, digi-folk band from New Zealand (Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement) try to make it in NYC. With the help of their manager, Murray, they’ve so far managed to…well, not get very far. Like real struggling musicians, they live in a tiny apartment, share a bedroom, sleep in twin beds, have annoying friends, and work a crappy day job (once). But Bret and Jemaine have better chemistry than most on-screen couples and their deadpan delivery, comedic timing, and musical skills make for one of the most refreshing and entertaining series in a long time. Each episode features 2-3 hilarious, and damn impressive, songs that weave in out of the show like perfectly timed music videos revealing their innermost thoughts and desires; or sometimes, just providing a silly diversion. Songs about once-a-week sex (“Business Time”), surviving in the city (“Inner City Pressure”), and Bret’s appeal as a “humpable” heterosexual guy (“Bret, You’ve Got it Going On”) have been swimming around in my head for weeks. HBO has ordered a second season of “Flight of the Conchords”. I can’t wait to see what delightful songs will be stuck in my head next summer as I deal with my own “Inner City Pressure”.

Thank you summer of 2007. You were good to us. Now on with the fall season!