This week sees the end of the first season of HBO’s Carnivale. And what a season it has been. When it seems that countless UK dramas seem to lay out all the cards in the first few episodes, we’ve had 13 episodes here, and barely scratched the surface of the various underlying themes embedded within this carnival troupe. What is the mission of Ben Hawkins? How much power does Brother Justin Crowe have? Will Hawkins’ father Henry Scudder ever reappear? And what role does the mysterious ‘management’ have to play?
Fortunately, we have been distracted temporarily from focusing on all these questions by the various incidents occurring within the outfit during the season. We had the rape and killing of the cootch-dancer Dora Mae, the sexual rivalry between Jonesy and cootch-dance co-owner Rita Sue and Sofie, and the intimated sexual chemistry between Sofie and cootch-dancer Libby, the blossoming relationship between Hawkins and snake charmer Ruthie, and of course the power struggle or ‘having the ear of management’ set-up between Samson and Blind dream-reader Lodz.
On the other side, we had a bit of the background story surrounding Justin and sister Iris, and his journey to realise his power and destiny, hidden from him by
Craig Aston.
Max and Paddy's Road To Nowhere (9.30pm, Fridays, C4)
Phoenix Nights took a long time to grow on me, at first it felt patronising and with it's dodgy jokes about the Chinese, made for occasionally uncomfortable viewing. But its charm eventually shone through, and the farcical situations at least felt fresh and original. In Brian Potter, Peter Kay had created an unforgettable anti-hero, and much of the rest of the supporting cast were likable and amusing, though rarely hilarious.
But Max and Paddy's Road To Nowhere is never going to grow on me. Two episodes in and it's pitifully embarrassing stuff. Following the adventures of the two Phoenix Club's bouncers, Max and Paddy, it's sexist, laddist shite. To be frank. The charm's all gone, and it seems that Kay's pandering to a mainstream audience, what with the amount of jokes centering around sex and...Well, just sex really. The two twatish central characters are badly written charicatures, and not appealing or worth empathising with for a second. At times Kay tries to add depth to them, but it comes off as fake, it just doesn't feel real for a second.
All of the jokes feel just so old, it's as if one of those awful seventies 'comedians' like Stan Boardman's tried to write a hip sitcom, without realising that the word hip is so out of date. Whilst there's mentions of such modern things as plasma tv screens, it all feels so horribly horribly dated. In the second episode where Max and Paddy discuss The A-Team, and joke about how Mr T's always fooled in to going on to a plane, man, I felt like I'd walked in on a stand up comedian who's doing his act for the first time, and has no idea how desperately unfunny he is.
Kay's turned his back on Phoenix Nights, but I really hope he reads his reviews (99% of which have been awful), and heads back to the land of Brian Potter and co. Because this really is one of the worst comedy series of the past ten years, and doesn't deserve a second series. Knowing Channel Four of late though, that's sadly no indication of whether it will get one or not.
Alex Finch.
Bodies (9pm, Wednesdays, BBC2)
Jed Mercurio proved with Cardiac Arrest that he’s not afraid of exposing bad practices in Medicine, with a little titillation and sex thrown in for good measure. Now he returns with Bodies; a fictional insight into how political manipulation within the NHS can detrimentally affect the welfare of patients, in this case the Obstetrics and Gynaelogical department.
Rob Lake (Max Beesley in a return to form) has to decide whether to remain silent or join the campaign to expose the shortcomings of surgeon Roger Hurley (Patrick Baladi), the Chief of Surgery apparently appointed for his research and subsequent funding brought in to the hospital rather than for commendable surgical skills. His incompetence often results in
complications or worse, death. Lake himself causes a death through insufficient training – tagged as incompetence by his superiors and used as leverage should he feel the need to protect the welfare of Hurley’s patients by preventing further damage. This alienates him from Hurley’s ‘firm’ – a team more concerned with protecting their own failings in a shroud of positive statistics and fabricated figures. The situations we’re faced with as the voyeur are tackled with the same grim realisation as Mercurio’s debut, albeit without the pace, and Beesley has found himself a nice vehicle after years in
the wilderness and tabloid inches as Mel B’s partner.
This is the Anti-Casualty; through graphic gore and blood, we feel empathy for the patient suffering and the relatives left wondering what happened. Bodies provides the harsh realisation that things regularly go wrong, patients are not always treated with the care and attention they deserve and Politics is more important than Professional Medicine. Already shown
on BBC3, it is being repeated on BBC2 (as is the norm) and shows promise of being a really powerful drama tackling some tough morality issues. Not for the faint hearted.
Craig Aston.
Thus far, we’ve seen Laranjinha get medicine to his Nan without being seen by the local bandits (gangsters); Acerola take advantage of his sister dating the leader of one of the gangs; Laranjinha and Acerola take on the unenviable positions of community postmen; and as a change of pace, an insight into the similarities/differences between two children of different social standing - between Laranjinha and his buddies, and well-to-do student Jiao Vitor and his rich friends. At times, this has proved to be one of the most heartbreaking programmes on television, and at times, incredibly humorous as Acerola digs himself deeper into problems, dragging Laranjinha along with him.
Despite Fernando Meirelles buying the rights to the book, this definitely feels like Katia De Lund’s baby, using actors she had interacted with before on pop videos, and presenting a realistic portrayal of life that Meirelles did not have the slightest inclination in producing. Worth a look.
TOTP and Jools Holland (7.30pm, Fridays, BBC1 / 11.30pm, Fridays, BBC2)
I’m sure it has been said time and time again by critics afar, but it seemingly needs said again. Whoever made the incomprehensibly evil decision of appointing Andi Peters as producer of TOTP needs their brains blown out. Pretty sharpish too if Friday’s show was any indication. Turning a Friday night primetime music show into CD: UK Mk II was probably the best way to alienate a large proportion of what was the show’s core audience. It is not a smart idea.
The institution that once brought us David Bowie singing Starman gleefully with Mick Ronson and the other Spiders from Mars, the Rolling Stones, Queen, and other luminaries etched in Rock and Pop folklore, now gives us the sort of soulless drivel best left for Cat Deeley on a Saturday morning. Stylistically, it has much in common with the 80’s showmanship of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Adam Ant etc. Difference being, those aforementioned bands had talent. Some scantily clad dancer posing as ‘exercisers’, the next Toploader in Rooster, Jamelia and Geri Halliwell as the main lowlights. Of course it could have been worse - Robbie Williams could have been on.
Enthusiasts of my age and above will console themselves then that Later with Jools Holland is back on our screens. In the absence of Old Grey Whistle Test repeats, BBC 4 showcases, and the White Room ever returning, Jools Holland has had consistently the best music show on the box in years. In stark contrast to TOTP, Later is usually positioned discreetly near the graveyard slot on Friday nights. Yet in two weeks it has sublimely surpassed anything on TOTP in the last six weeks. Even performances from established favourites U2 and the Manics. Last week may have had Robbie Williams in a prominent position (noticing a trend here), but it also had Green Day (blazing much better than some young critics have naively labelled as has-beens) and the superlative Elvis Costello, who certainly could show Mr. Williams a thing or five about songwriting.
There are also the hidden gems. Little known Nellie McKay sings like Suzanne Vega/Billie Halliday, plays piano like Nina Simone, and raps on the record baring some influence to Eminem. Ding Dong is simply delightful, as is she. So too is KT Tunstall. A young nubile blues chick, with the novel technology at her disposal, she can record and loop sounds to create a rhythmic backing track to support her earthy, bluesy vocal. Cleverly building the song much to the intrigue of her fellow contemporaries. She outshines The Cure, Embrace, The Futureheads and Anita Baker, although the latter ran her close with the excellent improvisation on the piano with Jools, leading to a fantastic rendition of her classic Sweet Love.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll get the Manics in a more comfortable environment, Nick Cave, Paul Weller, Roni Size, and Razorlight among others. Over on TOTP, it’ll be saccharine schmaltz in the form of R. Kelly or Ms Dynamite rip off Natasha Bedingfield no doubt.
Anyone over the age of 20 has no identification with this formerly premier Pop show. Will the last one watching please turn out the lights.
Arrested Development - (10pm, Wednesdays, BBC 2 / 10.30pm, Wednesdays, BBC 4)
Jason Bateman continues the trend of forgotten heroes of the eighties getting their own Lazarus moment, starring in this dysfunctional comedy about a family recovering from their father being imprisoned for fraud, and son Michael (Bateman) left to shoulder the responsibility for the company, his mother Lucille and his spoilt, lazy, or at times just plain weird siblings. Repressed nutcase and erstwhile sleep deprivationist Buster, David Blaine wannabe George Oscar or ‘Gob’ (pronounced Jobe) and socialite and sporadic environmentalist Lindsay, married to psychologist and wannabe actor Tobias Funke. Following so far?
There’s a mixture of cracking lines reminiscent of early Friends and Frasier, irony, and slapstick coming in its best form from Gob, who inadvertently kills a Dove walking out of a pet store, or announcing naively on a Spanish Entertainment show he’s planning to pull off a Blaine-esque stunt in Prison, then requires wife Marta to repeat in Spanish. Whilst all this is going on, Dad (Jeffrey Tambor) is having a whale of a time, eating ice cream sandwiches and playing ball games in the prison yard. This is all narrated by Ron Howard (serving as Executive Producer for the show), who also continues a trend by giving his brother (of Gentle Ben fame) a guest spot as a tree-hugger.
Deserving of its Emmy Awards, and boasting guest spots from Liza Minelli as a Vertigo suffering rival of Lucille’s, and Henry Winkler, it should continue to be a hit.
Outlaws - (10.30pm, Fridays, BBC 3)
Legal Comedy dramas don’t tend to last that long (anyone remember North Square?), but here’s one that has a touch more about it than your standard BBC formulaic comedy.
Outlaws pits brash, experienced, cynical Bruce Dunbar (Phil Daniels) with well educated and articulate rookie Theodore Gulliver (Ray Emmett Brown). Gulliver wants to make a difference, which infuriates Dunbar who has now succumbed to the reality, and wants to exploit the lowest of the low criminals for all their worth, and happy to defend a guilty man as long as it’s a big pay day.
The first episode was very funny, but since then it’s moved into touching areas (notably the arsonist who can’t get taken care of), and the confrontational interplay between Dunbar, Gulliver and the ruthless prosecutor Sarah Beckenham (Georgia McKenzie), who flirts her sexuality out of the courtroom, but is menacing inside of it. Still, the characters are engaging, and the style sets it apart from most series out there. Definitely worth persisting with.
Paul O’Grady Show - (5pm, Weeknights, ITV1)
You may be asking, what am I doing reviewing this pap? Well for most 9-5 workaholics, the first thing you want to do when you arrive home is not to stick on some erudite, thought-provoking, profound television. Your brain has just been drained for 8 hours leaving it consigned to boredom. The effects have not yet worn off for you to enjoy such irreverent television. What you are searching for is fun nonsense while you have your tea. Here, Paul O’Grady provides it in spades.
What you have for an hour is incredibly enjoyable Car-crash TV, but O’Grady is so experienced he could ad-lib his way out of a padlocked paper bag. His human interest features stray just the right side of Barrymore, and the guess the theme tune proves to a fun distraction, as O’Grady threatens those in the audience who give the game away. He deals with the odd unplanned catastrophe extremely well. Alongside the more contrived and formulaic Richard and Judy, it is very welcome indeed.
The Shield: End of Season Review (11pm, Saturdays, Five)
Despite the reshuffling to accommodate the average and inferior The Lyon’s Den, Five continued the masterstroke of retaining the rights to this hard-hitting LA series, endorsing it as part of its “America’s Finest” stable.
When Season Three began, we had Aceveda leaving, Claudette becoming Mackey’s boss in six months, and the Strike Team scooping a big haul of cash from the Money train, and Julian suffering a beating from his homophobic former colleagues. In the past 13 episodes we’ve seen the introduction of the Decoy Squad, the aftermath from the Armenian Mob, Taevon and Shane scuffle with serious repercussions, Aceveda get raped, a new case for Dutch to envelope himself in, Shane get married, and in the final episode, all that was set to happen look to be in doubt. Dutch and Claudette’s standing in the station looks diminished, The Strike Team are in danger of self-destructing, and Vic has to deal with a new structure in his personal life.
In the U.S, the season got criticism for being too shocking with some storylines. If I had a criticism, I’d say they aborted too many ideas too quickly. Julian working with someone other than Danny wasn’t given enough time to develop; consequently they seemed too stagnant when they partnered up again. The Decoy Squad have been interesting if given more exposure and if they’d have moved Taevon over to the Decoy Squad (which was what I thought they were going to do).
Good things: The changes in Dutch, the confidence and vocal support for Claudette, but not lease the darker side exposed when he came face to face with the ‘cuddler’ rapist, and the infamous situation with the annoying cat.
Bad things: Shane/Mara stuff was annoying, even if it was to generate some division between Vic and Shane, returning to make Dutch and Claudette look like jokes at the expense of the Strike Team.
The final episode had a nice appearance from Andre Benjamin aka Andre “Ice Cold” 3000 of Outkast, as a resident taking matters into his own hands. He actually proved to be quite good, and this experience will no doubt be the springboard towards preparing for his role of playing Jimi Hendrix in a new biopic.
The Outlook: New captain coming in to replace Aceveda (expected to be Glenn Close). Danny back to the status she had, Vic and Shane’s relationship strained, and Lem out of the Strike Team? By its standards season three has seemed at times subdued and stale. Will the introduction of a new captain remedy that? We certainly hope so.
Craig Aston.
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