Pique TV

Lately a wave of anger and prejudice has swept through television fandom.   Like all forms of hatred, this animosity is ugly and rooted in lazy, ignorant thinking. Much of the vitriol which has been spewed demonstrates limited understanding of the allegedly abhorrent subject.   I’m talking of course about people hating on television remakes and revivals.   In recent years, remakes and revivals have been prevalent on network, cable and streaming channels.   A remake is a re-launching of an old series with new cast, potentially a tweaked premise and often new writers. A revival brings the original cast of a series together to tell new stories about the same characters years after the show’s original run.   LETHAL WEAPON and HAWAII 5-0 are reboots which have made the network airwaves while CHARMED, MAGNUM PI, CAGNEY AND LACEY and many others are currently in development. THE X FILES and WILL AND GRACE are revivals which have recently aired...

“The Affair” is the first episode of LA to Vegas not written by the show’s Creator Lon ZImmet.   YOU’RE THE WORST alum Alison Bennett steps up to write this week’s script, the first of three new episodes ordered by Fox since the show’s strong debut.   Like many episodes of YOU”RE THE WORST, “The Affair” has elements of classic sitcoms, including characters seeking dating advice from each other with disastrous consequences and an A story built around a misunderstanding.   However, unlike the best THREE’S COMPANY or YTW episodes, the misunderstanding “The Affair” is built around is unearned and a sharp departure from the tone established in previous episodes.   The result is an episode which is plenty funny, but reveals a larger problem facing the series.   BEGIN SPOILAGE The first thing I noticed watching “The Affair” was the introduction of cut-away flashbacks as a device for humor.   I generally think the use of such cut-a...

Development is the name given to the process of metamorphosis an idea for a TV show undergoes as it moves from a writer’s head to becoming a produced episode of television. During the development process, the show transforms from a rough sketch or pitch to words on a script page to dialogue in an actor’s mouth to a completed episode, replete with slick edits and a killer soundtrack.   This process is one of both change and collaboration, as the network executives work with creators to bring the most artistically sound, most commercially viable ideas to light. Examining the development process provides a fascinating opportunity to see the crossroads of art and commerce where network television is born.   The Fox sitcom LA to Vegas provides an interesting case study.   Pilot season is the time during which network executives look for new shows.   Pilot season usually begins two summers before the autumn in which the shows will debut. So, the shows which ...

On this week’s star-studded episode of LA to Vegas, “Two and a Half Pilots” Captain Dave, Ronnie and Bernard deal with a flashy new pilot while Colin and Artem comb the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas for a place to hold his son’s third birthday party.   BEGIN SPOILAGE The episode opens with Ronnie and Bernard speculating about why Captain Dave is running late.   Captain Dave arrives, reluctantly admitting he injured himself moving an armoire.   He shows off a wrist in a cast, which means he can’t fly the plane.   Bernard goes to alert the airline to bring in a replacement pilot and we’re wheels up for episode three.   Colin and Artem discuss Colin’s elaborate plans for his son’s third birthday and a storyline which will take us off the plane is set in motion before Captain Dave’s replacement, Captain Steve makes a slow-mo entrance to “Rock you Like a Hurricane.”   Captain Steve is played by Dermot Mulroney, who viewers may remember fro...

On this week’s episode of LA to Vegas, “The Yips and the Dead” Ronnie must keep the crew together as Captain Dave gets nervous about appearing in a magazine, Colin wonders why she bailed on their date and a passenger dies in midair.      CONTAINS SPOILERS “The Yips and the Dead” did a much better job of splitting time on plane and off than the pilot episode. We open in the terminal, where an ominous abandoned bag sets a darker tone, easing us into a potentially macabre episode. The crew members speculate on the bag’s owner and whether or not to call airport security, demonstrating good cast chemistry with the whole ensemble on screen at once.   Soon Captain Dave fesses up to owning the pink sequin tote and our episode takes off. (Last airplane pun, I swear).     Colin is hesitant in showing his interest in Ronnie to Artem, but it’s obvious he wants to talk to her.   Meanwhile, mystery surrounds a date Ronnie cancelled.   Ar...

Multiple outlets are reporting Sony is in talks to revive the 1990s NBC sitcom MAD ABOUT YOU.   Created by Paul Reiser and Danny Jacobson, the show starred Reiser and Helen Hunt as married couple Paul and Jamie Buchman. The series, which ran from 1992-1999 and won multiple Emmy’s, is the latest 90s comedy to potentially get a revival and frankly I'm not mad about it, I'm disappointed.   Nobody is asking for more of this tripe.   The show was neither a ratings hit nor a critical darling.   It’s highest rated season was the 1994-1995 season when it was #11 in the Nielsen Ratings, averaging a 15.2 share with an average audience size of 14.5 million people.   The show didn’t crack the top 20 in any other season during its run and finished a dismal 85 th in its final season, with just 9.1 million viewers. If Mad About You could somehow pull in 9.1 million viewers today it would be a hit; in fact, it still runs in syndication, both domestically and inter...

LA to Vegas is a Fox single-camera workplace comedy about the Jackpot Airlines flight crew and passengers who regularly fly from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and back again.   The show is created by HAPPY ENDINGS, UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT, I'M SORRY scribe Lon Zimmet, who conceived the series after ending his long time writing partnership.   Zimmet executive produces along with Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Steve Levitan, who also directed the first two episodes. THIS RECAP CONTAINS SPOILERS.  SCROLL DOWN TO THE REVIEW.  The pilot episode opens with Ronnie, played by Kim Matula, making her way to the airport. A sense of mystery about her purpose and great use of obstacles help us bond with her as she leaves a voicemail inquiring about another job while rushing through airport security, then changes into her flight attendant uniform as she dashes through the terminal, flashing other passengers in the process. Once on the plane, she greets the passengers war...