Every show, even a satire like Suburgatory, needs reasonable characters, people who have brains and are somewhere in the ballpark of real life people. "Charity Case" goes waaaaaaay overboard in making the supporting characters dumb, and gets lame quick. The school is clueless and ignorant to no end while Tessa, clearly the only sane person, tries to teach them something. The episode is filled with these silly, stupid moments, topped off with Tessa sort of understanding where they are coming from when she doesn't want to stuff people give her.
Plenty of sitcoms feature exaggerated characters and worlds, but the good ones manage to dial it back just a bit to let the human elements shine through, making one dimensional characters more than they are. Suburgatory, however, still has a long ways to go if "Charity Case" is not an aberration.
Score: 7.7/10
Showing posts with label Suburgatory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Suburgatory. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Review - Suburgatory Season 1 Episode 4 Don’t Call Me Shirley
Each episode of Suburgatory can exist in is own bubble if viewed in a certain way. As the show has progressed, the characters have remain largely the same, even though there are recurring characters that filter through various episodes. Tessa is still the same, hating the suburbs and wanting to return to New York, George is still the dad trying to put up with his daughter, and the other characters, Dallas, Dalia, and Lisa, are the same people are they were in the first season.
So the show acts like a spotlight, using the same characters each week to draw attention to an issue in the suburbs. This week, the issue was how there's normally no criminal element and when there is, everyone goes crazy. While I'm not entirely enthused by what seems to be a reset every week, the show is good each week regardless. Jane Levy has been a great surprise as Tessa, playing the multifaceted role very well.
Score: 8.6/10
So the show acts like a spotlight, using the same characters each week to draw attention to an issue in the suburbs. This week, the issue was how there's normally no criminal element and when there is, everyone goes crazy. While I'm not entirely enthused by what seems to be a reset every week, the show is good each week regardless. Jane Levy has been a great surprise as Tessa, playing the multifaceted role very well.
Score: 8.6/10
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Review - Suburgatory Season 1 Episode 3 The Chatterer
Three episodes into Suburgatory and we have a better idea of what the show looks like. There's surprisingly little continuity over the episodes, some recurring characters but overall static behavior. Even Tessa and George seem the same as they were towards the end of the pilot. But this format seems fine as there are still plenty of things for Tessa to do, and each episode gives us more characters, "KKK" in "The Chatterer," for instance.
The plots this week had the humor we seen in previous episodes, but without any plot intricacies. They are both operated like on-off switches, with changes happening rapidly and then reverting back. Tessa joins the lame school newspaper, turns it into a popular gossip rag, then turns it back. George joins the PTA, becomes leader, then quits. It's times like this when you wonder what would happen if the writers spent more time developing the transitions and stretched the arc out a couple episodes. As it is, we only get a small slice of what's going on before going back to the original.
Score: 8.4/10
The plots this week had the humor we seen in previous episodes, but without any plot intricacies. They are both operated like on-off switches, with changes happening rapidly and then reverting back. Tessa joins the lame school newspaper, turns it into a popular gossip rag, then turns it back. George joins the PTA, becomes leader, then quits. It's times like this when you wonder what would happen if the writers spent more time developing the transitions and stretched the arc out a couple episodes. As it is, we only get a small slice of what's going on before going back to the original.
Score: 8.4/10
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Review - Suburgatory Season 1 Episode 2 The Barbecue
"The Barbecue" feels very similar to the pilot, which is a good thing since almost every part of the pilot worked. The episode begins in a completely different world, Suburgatory, which Tessa attempts to navigate. It's a surreal place where every expectation is offset by the wacky. Then, the episode dives deeper into the characters and both Tessa and her father learn more about themselves and the world they're in. It's never perfect in the end, but also not as bad as in the beginning.
With this structure, Suburgatory can pretty much do anything. There can be scenes like the beginning when Tess and George try to escape Sheila or Ryan washing the car in a cartoonish manner, and then there are the scenes when Tess tries to figure things out and come to grasps with this world. It works out quite nicely with all the brightness and swift pacing.
Score: 9.0/10
With this structure, Suburgatory can pretty much do anything. There can be scenes like the beginning when Tess and George try to escape Sheila or Ryan washing the car in a cartoonish manner, and then there are the scenes when Tess tries to figure things out and come to grasps with this world. It works out quite nicely with all the brightness and swift pacing.
Score: 9.0/10
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Review - Suburgatory Season 1 Episode 1 Pilot
Suburgatory is the most promising comedy pilot I've seen this season. With the single-camera format and great cast, there are few distinct weaknesses that arise. The premise naturally lends itself to plenty of plots in the future, with glimpses of the many places Tessa can go to, all couched in the satire of the show.
Exploring high school and showing the kind of people there is nothing new, but it's something that could work on television regardless of originality. Jane Levy, who plays Tessa, is very earnest in the role, and she comes off likable and recognizable among a sea of tanned, plastic women. The rest of the characters are not put off to the side, pegged as the irredeemable crazies. The writers want to find the good in the suburbs, the small acts by Dallas and those like her that go beyond the facile exteriors.
There is one problem that will cross everyone's minds as they watch the pilot, the initial reason why Tessa has to live in a new place. Her father finds a box of unopened condoms and won't believe Tessa when she tells him the truth (assuming her voiceovers are her telling the truth). This overreaction is quite wild and outlandish, more fitting in the land of Suburgatory than anywhere else. But then again, denizens of Surburgatory don't seem to care about boxes of condoms and don't freak out. The setup is an odd blip on the pilot that can't really be explained.
Score: 9.0/10
Exploring high school and showing the kind of people there is nothing new, but it's something that could work on television regardless of originality. Jane Levy, who plays Tessa, is very earnest in the role, and she comes off likable and recognizable among a sea of tanned, plastic women. The rest of the characters are not put off to the side, pegged as the irredeemable crazies. The writers want to find the good in the suburbs, the small acts by Dallas and those like her that go beyond the facile exteriors.
There is one problem that will cross everyone's minds as they watch the pilot, the initial reason why Tessa has to live in a new place. Her father finds a box of unopened condoms and won't believe Tessa when she tells him the truth (assuming her voiceovers are her telling the truth). This overreaction is quite wild and outlandish, more fitting in the land of Suburgatory than anywhere else. But then again, denizens of Surburgatory don't seem to care about boxes of condoms and don't freak out. The setup is an odd blip on the pilot that can't really be explained.
Score: 9.0/10
