Not much love for "Big Love"

I have to say right off the bat that "Big Love" is one of my very favorite TV shows.

I mentioned very briefly in an earlier post how the season that just ended was kind of going off the rails. Now that I've had a couple weeks to really digest the season finale, I think I'm ready to get into what it was about this season that I didn't like.

The very first thing I noticed was the change to the opening credits. The title sequence had been what drew me to the show in the first place, featuring one of my very favorite pop songs (the gorgeous Beach Boys masterpiece "God Only Knows") over scenes of Bill and his wives gliding to and fro on ice skates. The new beginning is the Henrickson four floating through space to an ethereal "Home" by London based band Engineers. Aside from that, the most glaring difference that you may have noticed about season 4 is the fact that it was unusually short. Most premium cable series tend to have considerably shorter seasons (around 12) than broadcast channel series (around 22), but this season of "Big Love" was a whole 1/4 shorter, checking in with only 9 episodes. I think this was a huge part of why this season was such a mess, they just jammed so much into so few episodes.

Season 3 ended with some great cliff hangers. There was the murder of Bill Henrickson's main rival, his father-in-law and leader of the United Effort Brotherhood, Roman Grant by Bill's brother Joey. There was the issue of the murder being in retaliation for the death of Joey's intended second wife, Kathy Marquart, and the involvement of the Greene family (the McCoys to Roman's Hatfields). There was the issue of Ben Henrickson's growing feelings for his father's second wife, Margene (who is considerably closer in age to her "son" than to her husband). There was the growing relationship with Sarah Henrickson and her desire to marry her boyfriend and move away, much to Bill's chagrin. And there was the upcoming opening of the Blackfoot Magic Casino, a collaboration between the Henricksons and a local Indian tribe.

That's a lot of intriguing material to carry into a new season, right?

Well, season 4 addressed all of those plots as well as introducing Bill's mother's Mexican parrot smuggling ring. The kidnapping of Lois, Ben, and Bill's father by the Greenes. Bill's continued campaign for state senate. We were introduced to a new major character, a shady Washington lobbyist (Sissy Spacek, who went from zero to lunatic so quick that you were left wondering how you missed her being doused in pig's blood) who was out to screw Bill (and not in the good way). Alby muscled his way into his father's seat as prophet, while finally falling in love...with a dude. Ben admitted to kissing Margene (and meaning it). Nicki got to know her daughter while trying to deal with the return of ex-husband JJ (the always creepily evil Željko Ivanek), while trying to deal with her infertility, while seeing her mother promised to JJ, WHILE uncovering a nefarious plot by JJ to impregnate Nicki and her mother, oh yeah and finally finding out that her father was murdered by her husband's brother. We're not done yet, Bill and Barb grew increasingly tense and unsettled. The casino opened amid tension with the tribe and bomb threats from religious extremists. Bill threw best friend Don under the bus to save his political aspirations. We saw the return of former fourth wife, a very pregnant Ana (who was sealed to Bill and his wives for about the length of a Britney Spears marriage). And Margene focused more on her TV shopping business while agreeing to a green card marriage to Ana's boyfriend (without anyone else's knowledge of course). As I'm trying to think of all of this past season's major plots I'm sure I left something out, but add to all of that the distractingly recast Henrickson daughter Teenie.

This was all in only NINE HOURS of television, folks!

Don't get me wrong, I haven't given up on the show. I still think it's a fascinating concept and is well acted (as evidenced by Chloë Sevigny's recent Golden Globe win for her portrayal of Nicki). All the individual plots this past season were interesting and held your attention by themselves, it was just way too much to process simultaneously.

The show has already been renewed for another season, so here's hoping they settle into a more comfortable pace as we anticipate the fallout of Bill's campaign win and simultaneous disclosure of being a polygamist (during his victory speech, seriously?).

- Justin

The Ideal Idol...judge

It's no secret that this will be Simon Cowell's last season as an "American Idol" judge. There has been much speculation on who might replace him, from the odd (and quickly denied) to the downright bizarre head scratchers. With all the speculation going on about who might replace the snarky Brit with the Frankenstein's monster hairdo, I have a few suggestions.

First of all, keep in mind that when Idol started the only household name was Paula Abdul. Most of the general public had never heard of Simon or Randy Jackson. Same story with Kara DioGuardi when she started. I think industry chops are more important than widespread name recognition.

Ok, enough delay, here are who I think would make good replacements:




Tommy Mottola - The former talent manager and head of Sony Music definitely knows the music business, having worked with acts like Hall & Oates, John Mellencamp, and Jennifer Lopez. And the guy was married to Mariah Carey, so I'm sure he knows how to give and take criticism.





"Mutt" Lange - For starters, he's British, so we get to keep the accent on the show. As a record producer and songwriter he's worked with a huge variety of artists, from Def Leppard to Shania Twain (his ex).






Richard Branson - The eccentric British (there's another) billionaire has reality show experience and music industry experience. Plus I think he's got the charisma to be good on camera and bantering with the other judges.







Kurt Loder - The grandfather of MTV News has been in the music biz as a reporter, critic, and author for over 30 years. He's got more name recognition than some of the others I've mentioned since a good part of his career has been in front of the camera.







Rick Dees - Admittedly, this radio legend is a long shot based on Seacrest's presence alone. But from a judging standpoint it would be good to have input from someone who can judge based on who might or might not be able to make it on the radio. Although his personality might be too big for the judges table.


There are just a couple of my thoughts of people who would be good candidates to take Simon's seat. Not that the producers are looking for input from the public, but please, make it someone who knows the business, knows what it takes to make it, and can mentor young talent.

Update Just this week, former Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe said that he thought Elton John is "absolutely it" when it comes to choices to replace Simon. If we're looking solely at industry experience and an ear for talent, you can't argue. However I would suggest that he might be too big of a name (and brand). I think, possibly starting with Ellen's casting, the focus is being drawn away from the singers. It reminds me of when shows like Will & Grace start stunt casting (Cher, Barry Manilow, etc) which, some would argue, ended up just distracting from the main characters. While you can't argue that Elton John is music industry royalty, I'd rather see him as a mentor for a week on Idol. Let's not forget, the singers are supposed to be the stars of the show, not the judges.

- Justin

No way to win this one

I'm going to come off as a bad guy no matter how delicately I try to address this.

Basically you can't talk smack about an 11 year old and still come off as a decent person.

But I have to bring this up because it's been bothering me so much.

Let me start by saying this, "Modern Family" is the funniest show on TV. Period. It's become a can't miss in our house. Every episode has at least a couple laugh out loud moments and the show, in general, is cast brilliantly. Ed O'Neill leads the way, thrusting off the chains of trashy-trashington Al Bundy to become the well to do patriarch with a taste for younger (MUCH younger) women. Ty Burrell, who you might remember as doofy reporter Gary Crezyzewski from Kelsey Grammer's short lived "Back To You" is the even doofier but lovable dad, Phil. The standout is Eric Stonestreet's flamboyant, Donna Summer loving gay dad Cameron (how do you know he's a good actor? He's not even gay). Among the kids, Rico Rodriguez is hilarious as "old soul" Manny.

Of course no show is perfect. Julie Bowen could tone down the harpy bit a little as Phil's wife. We get it, he's a completely clueless goofball. But her reactions to and treatment of him regularly make you wonder how the head cheerleader ended up with the weird kid who sat in the back of the class eating his boogers.

Now comes the part where I punch my ticket to hell.

Ok so we obviously don't expect child actors to give award worthy performances (although don't tell Tatum O'Neal that), and Nolan Gould's character Luke, Phil and Claire's son, is supposed to be a chip off the doofy block. But the kid can be distractingly bad sometimes, this past week noticeably mouthing his co-star's lines while waiting for his cue. Half the fun of a really engaging show is the willing suspension of disbelief and really buying into these characters as "real" people. It's kind of hard to do that when one of them seems to know what the other person is going to say as they're saying it.

I know, I know, he's just a kid. It's mean to criticize an 11 year old. But hey, I noticed it, which means other people likely did too. I'm not saying the kid should get fired or recast (a la Teenie in "Big Love"), just maybe someone should mention it...that's all I'm sayin'

-Justin