Author Archives: Allison Lips
‘Ground Floor’: Premiere Review
Last night, TBS’s Ground Floor debuted with two back to back episodes. While I wasn’t expecting much from the show, it is the best show I have seen this season. Ground Floor is pretty much a brotastic version of Just Shoot Me!, which sounds terrible, but actually ends up being better than latter.
Ground Floor stars Skylar Astin as Brody Moyer. Brody works for a money managing company owned by Remington Stewart Mansfield, who John C. McGinley plays masterfully. Remington feels that Brody is like the son he never had. He is grooming Brody to take over the company and wants Brody to focus solely on work. However, Brody met a girl, who works on the ground floor.
The pilot episode revolves around the tension between the top floor and the bottom floor. The top floor looks down on the bottom floor because a lot of those employees barely finished high school and will never move up in their careers. The bottom floor believes that the top floor is full of soulless people, who never have any fun.
Remakes Of Old TV Shows Are Unnessessary
For the past few years, it seems that every new television season brings at least four remakes of older television series. While the practice of remaking shows may have made sense in an era where no one could re-watch the old version, nowadays, it doesn’t make sense. Do you really want someone to reinterpret an old favorite when you could easily watch the original in reruns, on DVD, on Netflix, or through less legitimate services on the internet? Probably not.
To be fair, there are a few successful remakes. The most unlikely was Hawaii 5-0. No one, except CBS saw it being successful, yet it averages around 10 million viewers. Dallas is successful because it is just the Ewing clan 20 years later, so it’s more like a continuation than a remake. Out of all the remakes in the last 10 years, Battlestar Gallactica, which took the original concept and made it darker, was probably the most successful. However, the success of all three shows is the exception to the failure of most modern remakes.
‘Trust Me, I’m a Game Show’ Host Review
TBS’s Trust Me, I’m a Game Show Host is everything a modern game show should be. It has the bawdiness and banter of Match Game with a side of Hollywood Squares “is this person telling the truth.”
Unlike most game shows, there are two hosts: D.L. Hughley and Michael Ian Black. It’s an unusual setup that works because it seems like the producers will be casting meek contestants, who aren’t entirely comfortable with the jokes and subject matters. The producers are picking people that blush when you mention boobs, so of course they’re not going to be comfortable when D.L. Hughley gives a fact about the first patent for vibrators. While it would be nice to see a contestant hold their own against two comedians, the contestants aren’t the star of the show.
The facade of a game show only serves to allow D.L. and Michael to banter, which gets a little dirty because the show is aired at 10:30 pm on cable. The fact that the Trust Me, I’m a Game Show Host isn’t on network television allows both hosts to curse, tell questionable jokes, and D.L. to crack all the jokes he wants about being a black man. For some reason, that is something D.L. likes to remind the audience. He constantly calls himself “the dark side.” It’s funny the first time. By the five hundredth time, it’s been run into the ground.
‘Mom’: “Loathing and Tube Socks” Review
Believe it or not, Mom is the best new sitcom. To be honest, I didn’t have high hopes for the show and really thought it would be cancelled at this point. Well, I was wrong. Shows that I had much higher hopes for, such as We Are Men and The Michael J. Fox Show, have either crashed and burned or their cancellation is only a matter of time. Mom has improved. Stepping back from the show and not reviewing it for a week has made me see that.
In “Loathing and Tube Socks,” Christy comes to terms with the fact that she is the problem in her life, which is only slightly the case. Christy’s attitude doesn’t help matters, but how would you feel if your teenage daughter was pregnant and your mother would make you her fall guy? Granted, Bonnie only made her daughter the fall guy in Christy’s dream, which had them smuggling drugs from Mexico. However, it was clearly a little too real for Christy. Christy even called her mother to yell at her. Bonnie didn’t take to well to this, but Bonnie has little more than a superficial love for her daughter and thinks she’s a crazy person.
‘Hello Ladies’: “The Date” Review
Hello Ladies is tiresome. All the characters are pathetic. It’s no longer funny.
Out of all the characters, Stuart Pritchard is the worst. Stuart thinks he’s a player, but he doesn’t even know when a woman is hitting on him. When Jessica does point it out, Stuart awkwardly tries to act cool, which demonstrates exactly how uncool he is, yet sometimes he gets the girl. “The Date” had him ask a girl from his gym’s smoothie bar appear clearly interested in him, but Stuart thinks she’s just making fun of his Britishness because she says things like “top of the morning to you” and “cheerio.” Once Stuart understands the situation, he ends up knocking over all the drinks in the refrigerator. In his head, leaning against the fridge is cool. Everyone else knows attempting to look cool only makes you look clueless.
‘Sean Saves the World’: “Busted” Review
Sean Saves the World’s second episode, “Busted,” is much better than the pilot. The writers still appear to be behind the times because this episode makes a big deal about Sean’s daughter’s first bra. With the exception of Sean being a gay father, the show could have taken place in the 1980s.
The entire episode revolved around Sean’s daughter, Ellie (Samantha Isler), trying to find the perfect first bra. Since her mother isn’t around, Grandma Lorna (Linda Lavin) and older sister figure Liz (Megan Hilty) both want to take Ellie bra shopping. Let the wacky antics begin!
Liz takes Ellie shopping first. Liz doesn’t realize that Ellie is a sensible 14-year-old. All Ellie wants is something to keep her breasts from jiggling. However, Liz has other plans. She even asks Ellie, “Are you sexually active? Do you want to be?” It’s a little disturbing that Liz wants Ellie to sleep around like she did. After browsing the store, Liz buys Ellie a bunch of sexy bras and a piece of lingerie, which Sean doesn’t have a problem with because Ellie makes it clear she is unhappy with Liz’s choices.
Reality TV Has Always Existed
It seems like everyone wants reality television to run its course and get off their television sets. The truth is that’s never going to happen. Reality TV is here to stay. Since the late 1940s, it’s existed in one form or another and many of the first reality shows were adapted from radio. For example, Candid Camera started as Candid Microphone. While it may seem quaint now, Candid Camera basically had the audience spying on people who were put in uncomfortable situations without being in on the joke.
Even though Candid Camera still seems tame, Queen for a Day, which also started on radio and aired on TV from 1956 to 1964, is shocking by modern standards. The host would force housewives to recount all the misery in their lives, many broke down and cried, so that they could potentially win whatever they needed. Whoever the audience determined had the most tragic story would get help, everyone else was sent home without so much as fare for the bus.
‘We Are Men’: “We Are Dognappers Review”
We Are Men is probably going to be cancelled soon. The show is only mildly entertaining, which is never a good sign.
Two of the four main characters, Frank Russo (Tony Shalhoub) and Stuart Strickland (Jerry O’Connell), are total morons, who show few signs of character development. Frank’s aging Casanova ways show no signs of stopping. If anything, Stuart looks up to him and wants to live the same way. Frank still parties like a college student. His idea of a good party is one you can’t remember, which is why he loves Tiki Night. Stuart goes along with it as long as his second ex-wife, Amy, isn’t busy trying to empty his bank account.
It’s clear that Frank leads the group. In the episode “We Are Dognappers,” Stuart has the chance to finalize his divorce as long as he’s willing to give his ex-wife his dog, which he has had longer than his wife. Stuart gives in, but finds out that his wife ignores the dog. Frank’s solution is to have the group steal the dog. For some reason, the entire group agrees to this idea. Even Gil Bartis and Carter Thomas, who are the sane ones, don’t bring up the myriad of problems with this solution. Grown men try to go threw with a plot that a thirteen year old wouldn’t do because it’s stupid.
The Traditional Television Set is Not Going Anywhere
With the proliferation of tablets and the ability to watch television on your phone, there is a fear in the television industry that the traditional television sets are going away. While it is true that Hulu, Nexflix, and Amazon Prime are giving broadcast and cable networks are run for their money, that doesn’t mean people are going to ditch the giant 50 inch television currently occupying their living room wall. People are ditching their cable companies, not their television sets.
Sure, there are going to be a few people who own tablets, computers, and smartphones that won’t replace their television when it breaks, but they are in the minority. Right now, people are opting for Roku boxes or Google Chromcast, so that they can stream television and movies on their TV set. No one really wants to sit on their couch hunched over their tablet. Because of television’s bigger screen, it is more comfortable to watch. A tablet or smartphone is useful for a long plane or bus ride, but not for those who are only watching television in their house.
‘Hello Ladies’: Same Schtick Over and Over Again
Hello Ladies is mildly entertaining and kind of sad. The show relies too much on Stuart Prtichard, who is a fish out of water and a jerk.
Stuart Pritchard doesn’t deserve his friends. For some reason, Wade puts up with Stuart’s wannabe Casanova lifestyle and allows Stuart to control his life, even though all Wade wants is his wife to take him back. In “The Limo,” Wade rents a limo, so that he could take his wife, who he is currently separated from, on a special date. Wade’s wife tells him to get lost. Instead of having Wade cancel the limo, Stuart decides to have a party in it on Wade’s dime.
Wait! What's A Dial? 