Friday, August 29, 2008
Did NBC Blow Its Diving Finals Coverage? Is Skins Showing A Little Too Much? Is Mad Men's Pace A Problem? And More!
Matthew Mitcham, Australian gold medalist for diving
Question: I concur with your recent Dispatches on the 2008 Olympics and how dazzling the 16 days in Beijing have been. However, NBC's final broadcast of events last Saturday ended my viewing on a disappointed note, due to what seemed like homophobia during their coverage of the men's platform diving final (of all places). As the event played out, Australia's Matthew Mitcham had a stunning come-from-behind effort to steal the gold away from China's Zhou Luxin with the highest-scoring dive in Olympic history. It was breathtaking. And yet, during the entire event, the NBC commentators failed to mention a single substantive thing about Mitcham's personal life (unlike most other athletes who were contenders for gold), and I can't help but think it was due to the fact that Mitcham was the only openly gay male athlete at the games. It's not as though his sexuality is an obscure fact. Since coming out, he's been discussed in papers like the Los Angeles Times. He's been on the cover of magazines. And Perez Hilton blogged about Mitcham on his Web site, which, if nothing else, speaks of Mitcham's relevance in our gossipy zeitgeist. NBC's commentators had a wealth of information about divers, and in their constant banter, they frequently discussed the details of the dating and family lives of divers from other countries. Would it have killed NBC to show Mitcham the same respect by pointing out that his partner, Lachlan, was in the crowd and rooting him on? I find it strange that the same network conglomerate thinks our culture can handle Queer Eye, but somehow shies away from acknowledging something as innocuous and heartwarming as this. It was a simple moment that could have humanized gay relationships to a country that so often fails to grasp at anything but stereotypes. What would be so risky about it? I'd love to hear your thoughts. — Brian
Matt Roush: I felt much the same on Saturday night. Having shielded myself from the results, I was stunned and thrilled at Matthew Mitcham's surprise gold-medal win, a huge newsmaker in that he was the only diver who was able to thwart China's 8-for-8 gold-medal goal. It was an incredible story and seriously underplayed by NBC, which cut away from the event way too quickly. No interview, not a glimpse of the medal ceremony. If all you knew was what NBC let on, you might have pieced together that Mitcham had left the sport for a while for "personal issues" and was a former trampolinist. Nothing about his personal life, the fact he had loved ones (including his mother) in the stands or that he was headline news back home. While some might argue that it was more about NBC's typical USA parochialism than homophobia in not giving Mitcham a bigger spotlight, there's no avoiding the fact that NBC Sports was ridiculously, cowardishly squeamish about addressing Mitcham's personal story with as much honesty as the diver himself has done. In a cover interview with
The Advocate magazine, he said, "I just want to be known as the Australian diver who did really well at the Olympics. It's everybody else who thinks it's special when homosexuality and elite sport go together." The point being that NBC didn't need to sensationalize or sentimentalize Mitcham's story, just report it honestly as the human-interest, feel-good story that it was, not to mention one of the great underdog upsets of the games. Maybe a network with real guts like HBO can do this athlete justice, perhaps in a profile on the
True Sports series or on Bob Costas's own HBO show. NBC really blew this one. For what it's worth, NBC's Olympics president has
offered an apology to to any offended parties via the afterelton.com Web site.
Question: In hopes of finding something new to watch in this summer TV drought, I landed upon Skins on BBC America. I had heard about it over the Internet, but never thought much of it since it wasn't airing in the U.S. at the time. Let me just say this: It is brilliant! I'm usually turned off by those "teen" dramas, but Skins is much more than that and has the added fun of — dare I say — sex. Most of it is edited out, but it is still pretty raunchy. I was just wondering if you've seen the show? I think you might like it compared to those cookie-cutter teen shows such as Gossip Girl and The O.C. (to name a few of many). The characters on Skins are extremely likable, and everything just seems to have more depth to it when compared to the shows I previously mentioned. Plus, if you're not one for understanding fast British accents, BBC had the courtesy to supply subtitles for those confusing parts of the show! So again, seen it? Like it? — Eddie
Matt Roush: Not reading
my review column, Eddie? I'm hooked as well — not so much for the rawness and the outrageousness, but for what you call the depth. I'm impressed at how the show can adopt different tones depending on which character is the focus of the episode. Some of the stories are over the top for sure, but I was struck by the piercing and poignant depiction of Cassie's eating disorder and mental delusions in the second hour, and then the episode devoted to prodigy musician Jal moved me in very different ways, while still continuing to follow threads of ongoing plots involving other characters. It is a cut above the usual teen soap because it feels so real, even at its most extreme, which accounts for the next question.
Question: After reading your review regarding the BBC America show Skins, I caught an episode (even though I'd rather start a new show from the beginning). In it, I saw a mostly naked man, heard audio of an incredibly long sex scene, saw naked women in paintings, witnessed girls dealing with anorexia in a disturbing but probably realistic way, and saw two boys walk in on their teacher naked. I watch a lot of American TV, and other than a mild swear word or skimpy clothing, the "shock factor" in our shows doesn't quite compare to this. How are the rules in Britain different than here? Will our TV shows be like that one day? Or will theirs soon be more like ours? — Stephanie
Matt Roush: More likely for ours to creep every so slowly toward the European model, which as you can tell is much less restrained when it comes to standards and practices. (Skins originally aired on a pay channel, but was replayed on Britain's Channel 4, if I have my information right.) I'm often shocked at what they get away with on over-the-air European TV. While shows like Gossip Girl are decadent enough to send some of our more strident watchdog groups into foaming-at-the-mouth tirades, they'd have a stroke if something like Skins turned up on regular network TV. We're a long way from that happening, possibly thankfully, although we're overdue our own sensitive and honest look at teen life, no matter how uncomfortable it might make the grown-ups. My So-Called Life 2.0, anyone?
Question: Is
Amy Madigan returning as a semi-permanent fixture at Seattle Grace? Meredith still has unresolved issues, and I think Derek could use a little therapy, too. The doctors on
Grey's Anatomy have far more problems than the patients.
— Angela S.
Matt Roush: No argument here, although I doubt I'd be keen on watching weekly therapy/whining sessions. I'm told that Amy Madigan is expected back this season, but no word on how frequently, which leads me to believe she'll be something less than a regular. She's a terrific actress, so whenever she returns, she'll be welcome.
Question: Just read your review on
Skins (which I'll have to check out) and
Greek. I'm not going to argue that the latter is an excellent show that's going to go down in history next to
The Wire or
Arrested Development, but there is one element of
Greek that I really do enjoy. These characters are some of the only that I can think of that actually watch TV. I just finished Netflixing the first release on DVD and simply got a little extra enjoyment out of the allusions to
Grey's Anatomy,
24,
CSI and more (they may be a little skewed in favor of ABC, but I accept that). And when a character was reading
Mode magazine in one episode, I smiled. That's all I wanted to say. I can't think of another show where the characters cared anything about pop culture other than
Gilmore Girls, and that was almost all old and obscure stuff. It's nice that the cutesy characters of
Greek can solve their cutesy problems in time to sit down in front of the TV on Thursday night.
— Brad
Matt Roush: I remember getting a kick out of the O.C. characters all being glued to a fictional soap-within-the-soap, so I get where you're coming from. Musical and pop-culture cues within a teen serial makes their world that much more relatable to the target audience. Wish there were something in Greek that made me wish I'd had that sort of experience in college. But there isn't.
Question: There has been a lot of debate on a forum I visit about the twist in the season finale of
In Plain Sight I think that Rafe took the drugs to "save" stupid Brandi, but some posters feel it was Mary's father who did it. I took Rafe's smile at the end of the episode to mean that he knew what was in the chalk. What do you think?
— Jean Ann
Matt Roush: Your conclusion is the only one that makes sense to me. As Rafe was spreading the chalk line on the field at the end, he knew he was getting rid of stupid Brandi's ill-gotten drugs in the cleverest way possible. It was a nice coda to an unbearable subplot, and I can't see how anyone who watched this could have interpreted it any other way.
Question: This recent
comment from Angie about
Mad Men sums up my frustration with today's TV environment: "The plots move at a snail's pace, so it really does try the patience." I totally disagree with this statement, but this attitude is so pervasive because of the shrinking attention spans and the desire for immediate gratification. Whenever a show takes time to develop characters instead of mindlessly advancing the plot, it gets slammed. Another great example of this is
Lost. When there is an episode that focuses on the characters and doesn't reveal some big secret, people immediately complain about how boring and useless it was, yet those are often the best episodes of the series.
Mad Men certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea, but criticizing it for being slow-moving shows a total lack of understanding of what the show is about. It's about the characters.
— Dennis B.
Matt Roush: Agreed, and I was happy to see the pendulum swinging back to Mad Men's favor in my mailbag this week. I was very amused by this anecdote from Jon, who wrote: "I am reminded of what my mother said to her friend after my folks saw Death of a Salesman. 'Did you enjoy it?' asked the friend. "Nobody enjoys Death of a Salesman,' said my mother." Excellent point. Mad Men harks back to an earlier time not just because of its setting, but because it reflects an era (actually, one that had its peak in the mid to late '50s) in which quality and challenging drama was on display in showcases like Studio One and Playhouse 90, emblems of the early "golden age" of TV. Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is a terrific example of how a deeply unhappy story can work as "entertainment." I'm seen it innumerable times — I think I went to see Brian Dennehy's magnificent performance three times (and once on Showtime) — and still discover new things in it. Mad Men works on that level for me, as something of an instant classic, with so much depth and subtle nuance to savor as we wait for those big plot moments—and as we saw last Sunday, they do tend to arrive when you least expect them.
Question: The recent negative comments about
Mad Men reminded me of how I felt when I tried to watch
Damages last season. It's well made and the characters are well-written, but it's not for me.
Mad Men, however, had me hooked from the time I stumbled onto the second or third episode during a day off from work. I agree, however, that it's difficult to like many of the characters, and it can be disturbing. There have been times when I had to skip an episode and catch up later because I didn't have a good day, and I thought it would depress me too much. I honestly don't remember another show that affected me like that. (Maybe when I watched
All My Children with my grandmother as a child.) You were spot on with your comparison to literature. Good books have affected me profoundly before, even though the characters and situations weren't necessarily "entertaining," and
Mad Men is the same way. Can you think of another show you've reviewed in your career that had similar effects on its audience?
— Sarah
Matt Roush: The shows that immediately come to mind are those that ask us to go places that are far from pleasant and spend time with characters who act less than heroically. Shows like
The Sopranos (which shares many traits with
Mad Men, including the habit of not tying up loose ends week to week),
The Shield and
Dexter. But the polarizing reaction
Mad Men seems to generate also takes me back to the days of
thirtysomething, which aggravated as many viewers as it entranced with its characters' self-absorbed attitudes, which many criticized as whininess while many of us sat and wept on a weekly basis at what we saw as searing insights into relationships, family and friendships. The odd thing about
Mad Men is that it's so gorgeous to look at you often can't believe how miserably so many of the characters behave. I can't quite remember a show that worked on me this way. Final word for now goes to Lou K, who wrote in "to make one comment about 'The New Girl' episode of
Mad Men. Don's advice to Peggy in the hospital was chilling, but the kicker for me was his last sentence: 'It will shock you how much it never happened.' That short speech — not quite grammatical but devastatingly precise — is just great writing. Having watched it twice now, I think 'The New Girl' may be the best-written TV episode I've seen in several years." Yes, I singled out that line of dialogue in my
recent Dispatch as well.
Matt Roush: According to Law & Order kingpin Dick Wolf in a recent USA Today article, Noth had expressed "frustration as an actor" on the show, as he had during his time on the original series. As Wolf explained: "A lot of actors get frustrated, and I can understand why. One of Jerry Orbach's phrases was, 'Dick, can't somebody die in my arms so I can get an Emmy nomination?'" Sometimes on these shows, the producers oust characters and actors for creative reasons, to shake the show up. Sometimes the actor wants to move on. In this case, it appears to have been something of a mutual decision, and maybe Noth saw an opportunity to explore new pastures given how much higher his profile was likely to become with the release of the Sex and the City movie.
Question: I saw the promo for
Crusoe for the first time, and I would like to know who is starring in it, what is your opinion of it and if you think a historical drama on basic cable has a chance of survival? I had not heard one word about the show even existing until the Olympics ads, so I didn't know if that was a good or a bad sign.
— Laura
Matt Roush: I love that you're confusing NBC with basic cable, but honestly, if you saw the Olympics promos, you know about as much as we do. This is one of many new NBC shows that hasn't yet been screened by critics, because of late production starts or retooling or whatever excuse they have today. Crusoe won't premiere until October 17, so they still have plenty to time to work on the two-hour opener. What we know at this point is that this international co-production is being billed as a "13-part series" adapting the classic novel for TV. New-to-me Philip Winchester is playing Crusoe, Tongayi Chirisa is Friday, and in flashbacks you'll see Sam Neill as Crusoe's patron and Anna Walter as his wife. Alias's Mia Maestro is also listed in the cast, as "Olivia." Not having seen the show, it's hard for me to handicap, although the conventional wisdom is that it's undeniably a risky venture, especially given the Friday time period. The clips make Crusoe look like an extended miniseries of the sort Robert Halmi's company used to churn out, some better than others. My gut tells me this is one of those "others," but it would be nice to be swept away on a new island adventure, so we'll see.
