One day, I will write about Catterick.

Four box sets are on their way to me from across the pond.

1. Human Remains -- I cannot wait to write about this one. I've seen the first three episodes (of six) online, and they are brilliant. Julia Davis, of course, is the queen of dark comedy, and she is beyond fantastic in a myriad of vastly different roles. She has such a clear idea of what humor works and she pushes it in her writing and acting. Superb. Finished Nighty Night the other day, and though I didn't think the second series was as strong as the first (the first episode being the strongest of all, by far) I thought it was still a very strong, very funny series. Very Julia Davis. And then Human Remains has got Rob Brydon, whom I adore after seeing The Trip (someone buy this for me please?!), which is one of my top shows of 2010. Maybe ever. Anyway, these two actors came together to make Human Remains, a dark (in places, extremely dark) comedy in which they portray six different, dysfunctional couples. Brilliant.

2. The League of Gentlemen Are Behind You -- Amazon reviews were sort of negative, but it's the League, so I'm going to love it anyway.

3. Black Books -- BOX SET! SO EXCITED! What a stupendous comedy. More Linehan perfection. Can't wait for Moran on the commentary.

4. Catterick -- The series I keep saying I will one day write about. And after a re-watch or two, I totally will. Totally. One of my favorite series ever. So bizarre. Vic and Bob, Shearsmith, Lucas, Higson. You can't go wrong.

Off the Map - Pilot

Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Off the Map -- same recipe, a few new ingredients. Ultimately the same flavor.

Firstly, what a cast! Zach Gilford (just seeing him on my screen makes me tear up, no lie) whom I already empathize with, even if his character is a bit Karev-ish; Caroline Dhavernas, whom I enjoy, even though I didn't like Wonderfalls (I actually compared Jaye to Meredith Grey when I watched it -- the same brand of broody protagonist), and more. Not bad at all. I hypothesize that the problems, if any, won't lie in the ability of the actors, but rather the scripts and direction... which will probably be very Grey's in tone, which isn't a problem in itself; it'd just better watch itself and not dig the same hole Grey's did post-season three.

I don't have a problem watching a show that is similar to Grey's, so long as it delivers fresh stories in new ways (not simply ferry boats/Denny Duquette in the jungle). Time will tell if this bunch has the chemistry the Grey's original fab five did.

In short, will keep watching for potential new stories and Matt Saracen in South America. Also, Bailey's hot ex-boyfriend. Hot. Has good chemistry with everyone. Major plus.

Oh, and Morris Fletcher ziplining! X-Files or Buffy alums = I will watch. And knowing Shonda, there WILL be Buffy alums. Exciting!

ETA: I find it hard to believe NONE of the three newcomers know any Spanish. Then why did you go to South America??

My Top 10 Shows of 2010

Honorable Mentions

Terriers, Psychoville, and Dollhouse didn’t quite make the cut, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t brilliant this year. Terriers (RIP) was a well-written, wonderfully acted, witty buddy-cop mystery drama that also happened to be very funny. It was compelling, at times extremely affecting, and shot just gorgeously.

I may be biased where Psychoville (which I am counting as 2010 because of the Halloween special, he he) is concerned because I am absolutely enamored of Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. I will adore anything they create. However, their current project is stupendous on its own, from its Rope-inspired fourth episode (guest starring standout newcomer ♥~Sam Kisgart~♥) to the Modus Operandi musical sequence featuring wax serial killers come to life singing about everything from poisoning to strangles.

Dollhouse started off rough, admittedly. But shit got real the second season, the second part of which aired in 2010. Joss and co. stepped it up plot-wise, and the result was a beautiful and nightmarish The Attic, a heart-pounding The Hollow Men, and the reflective post-apocalyptic Epitaph Two: Return — a fitting, if not wholly satisfying, end to a fantastic and daring series.

#10 Modern Family

Modern Family is getting the critical recognition it deserves. It’s not only one of the funniest comedies on network TV, it’s also the one with the biggest heart. Wonderful writing, amazing cast, just a well-executed show in every way.

#9 Fringe

Sci fi shows are few and far between these days, especially on network television. But never fear, Fringe has got your bases covered: it’s the most disturbingly gory, thought-provoking, visually stunning, perplexing, exciting show on TV. And it is so fun.

#8 Party Down

Party Down is the funniest show I have ever seen. It is the funniest show you’ve never heard of. It is a show that I believe, from the bottom of my heart, is compulsory viewing for everyone that likes comedy, even a little bit. It is a master class in what good humor should be.

#7 Parks and Recreation

Fact: This is the funniest show on television right now. (And that isn’t up for debate.) The cast is an all-star dream team — give Amy Poehler or Aziz Ansari room to improvise, tell Nick Offerman to pratfall or throw a hamburger at his face, and you’ll see what I mean. When you’ve got a tremendous cast, sharp writing, and the most likable lead on TV in Leslie Knope, everything just clicks.

#6 Louie

Louie C.K.’s unique brand of sad, dark humor permeates his eponymous show, and the result is a brilliantly melancholy tone unlike anything else on television. Superb direction, cinematography, episode format, and score (not to mention ace acting and writing) are all integral to conveying the show’s feel — one part stand-up, one part narrative sketch show, two parts midlife crisis, and 100% of the very real, relatable, self-deprecating Louie C.K. telling stories and jokes in the unforgiving city of New York.

#5 Doctor Who

Steven Moffat’s sharp wit and penchant for non-linear narrative characterized the fantastic series 5. His themes of identity, storytelling, and, of course, time — being rewritten, moving too slowly, saying “five minutes” but showing up a decade later — complemented by visual motifs like red against blue and the ubiquitous crack, made for compelling, engaging viewing. Series 5 is what good Doctor Who should be: a romp in space, the tragedy of an old man who’s loved and lost, an exploration of (THE UNIVERSE! and) humanity and compassion, and at its heart, a fairytale about a mad man and his blue box.

#4 Sherlock

This was certainly a triumphant year for Steven Moffat. One of his shows is a British institution, and the other features one: Sherlock Holmes (this time, sans deerstalker and pipe), the world’s only consulting detective and London’s resident high-functioning sociopath. Benedict Cumberbatch is a revelation. Martin Freeman plays his Watson wonderfully. The scripts are funny, complex, suspenseful; the direction masterful; the cinematography tilt-shiftingly brilliant. All three episodes were some of the most compelling viewing of the year.

#3 Mad Men

What can I say about Mad Men that hasn’t already been lauded and gushed about through every media outlet? With one of its strongest seasons yet, Mad Men lived up to its universally high expectations. In particular, “The Suitcase” was the most superb forty minutes of television I watched this year. Elisabeth Moss and Jon Hamm blew the rest of the cast out of the water with their flawless performances that showcased their tremendous dramatic chops. I laughed and cried and remembered why I love television: because when it’s well done (and this was light years beyond “well done”) it can be emotional and compelling, and when you identify with these very real characters it can hit close to home.

#2 Community

Community is smart. Its self-awareness, meta references, and in-jokes strengthen the connection between show and viewer. It’s a young show, and its willingness to experiment is its greatest strength; I think its unpredictability of style and tone (the fantastic “Mixology Certification” arguably tonally at odds with the rest of the season), grounded in its strong and familiar cast, makes it all the better. The cast’s chemistry and comedic timing are impeccable. But the most compelling aspect of Community, for me, is the fact that it never forgets where its heart is.

#1 Breaking Bad

Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul earned their Emmys in “Fly.” (Esposito, Norris, Banks, even Odenkirk should ALL have been nom’d for Best Supporting Actor.) I almost had a heart attack during “One Minute,” which featured one of the most heart-pounding (and -stopping) sequences I’ve ever seen. “Half Measures” and “Full Measure” drew the impeccable third season to a stupendous close. Breaking Bad is the best written, best acted, best looking series on the air. When I set out to make this list, there was no debate about who should take the top spot. Breaking Bad was, simply, the best show of 2010.

That Mitchell and Webb Interlude

Just briefly (because it's late and I'm tired and still basking in that hazy post-episode glory that clouds my ability to be rational) -- David Mitchell and Robert Webb can do anything. The last Peep Show of series 7 was unadulterated brilliance. The writing, of course, had a lot to do with it; the way recurring characters were utilized was effective and gave everyone a chance to shine -- Dobby at the beginning and end, Super Hans!, Big Suze, even Sophie, even Gerard.

But M&W, wow. Not just anybody could've pulled those last scenes off, let me tell you...

At first it was hard for me to separate Mitchell from Corrigan, Rob from Jez, because Peep Show was the first thing I'd seen with them in it. Then I worked my way through Bruiser, The Mitchell and Webb Situation, and finally That Mitchell and Webb Look. I learned that the act can write as well as it performs, which is to say, positively wonderfully.

And then tonight I finished the final episode of That M&W Look. And I was blown away again. Because they had be completely convinced for those last minutes -- their dramatic chops are superb. There have been moments in other sketches in which one has to play completely straight for the other, and I noticed then, too, how good they are; but it was that last M&W Look sketch that won my admiration and respect.

Mitchell and Webb are my favorite comedy double act. They're two of my favorite actors. I'm so glad I stuck with "that weird POV show with the British guys," because they are so fantastic.

ETA: Oh, and I didn't even mention the Peep Show episode "The Christening," which would go on my Top 10 Episodes of 2010 list, if I'd made one. Undoubtedly.

ETA2: Yo check this shit out:

Come Fly With Me - Episode One

Come Fly With Me, starring Little Britain's David Walliams and Matt Lucas, aired on Christmas to an audience of around 10M (roughly the same as Doctor Who's overnights).

I like Lucas when he works with Reeves and Mortimer. I liked Walliams's contributions to Doctor Who Day 1999. However, I don't like them together* -- I've yet to finish an episode of Little Britain. I thought I'd try out Come Fly With Me to give the duo another chance.

Mockumentary style is nice, albeit trendy (I haven't tired of it... yet). No laugh track; we're off to a good start. Walliams and Lucas play all of the primary characters. That's the gimmick, that's part of the appeal, because people know and like Walliams and Lucas and half the fun (hence my use of the word gimmick) is seeing them skillfully inhabit vastly different characters.

(That doesn't happen on American television. One actor per role, 99 times out of 100. It occurred to me that, if the humor worked, a sketch show like CFWM that boasts a huge cast of characters might be quite successful here. A one-to-one actor to character ratio in the US would mean spotlight opportunities for many actors, because in a sketch show ideally no storyline is neglected (FlashForward, Glee, proving the point). Then again, where are any sketch shows in the US? Not on the air.)

The League of Gentlemen has infinite rewatch value, for me, because I love Gatiss, Pemberton, and Shearsmith. The actors I fell in love with keep me coming back. Walliams and Lucas hit the jackpot with Little Britain; the whole UK knows who they are. Their names don't even appear on screen until the end credits, because they don't need to be. Fans and curious viewers tuned in to CFWM because of name recognition and (probably) an extensive ad campaign by the BBC. Walliams and Lucas are big.

Unfortunately, CFWM's humor just doesn't work. CFWM's non-white characters are stereotypes, hardly characters at all. You can have a comedy that isn't nonstop laughs and is still a great show. This isn't the case here because CFWM doesn't have any depth (rounded characters) or sub-genre (TLOG's horror) to fall back on. It's just a comedy that isn't funny. A gimmick does not a successful comedy make, in the long term. Or even the short term.

* ETA: Actually, I thought Mash & Peas was decent. So I take that back.

Community - Mixology Certification, 2.10 (& The Office)

Community is fantastic. Mixology Certification is tonally at odds with the rest of the series, I'll admit, but that doesn't mean it's weaker; it's just different. Remember, this is the show with episodes like the action-packed Modern Warfare as well as bottle episode Cooperative Calligraphy. It's a young show, and its willingness to experiment shouldn't be held against it. In fact, I think its unpredictability in style and plot, grounded in its strong and familiar cast, makes it all the more compelling.

Thursday's episode wasn't very funny. And I say that in the best possible way. Because at the expense of humor, we got to look at these characters in a very different light. We saw them in a bar, where Jeff and Britta are exposed as children and Shirley as imperfect with a shameful past, and we see Troy absorb all of this. Troy's the stupid, funny jock but as he turns 21 he grows up. He becomes a man, according to Jeff. It's strange to see Troy as the moral center, the most down to earth member of the crew; but tonight he is. This might have been the obligatory character development installment of the season, but I think it turned out to be a lot more than that. It exposed all the characters, some in more obvious ways than others, but all still poignant: Pierce is helpless, Shirley regrets her alcoholic past, Annie is unsure of the path she's choosing (played BRILLIANTLY by Alison Brie, as usual), Jeff and Britta are argumentative and immature. And Troy sees all of this, and for once we see an episode through him, and it's surprisingly sincere.

Mixology Certification is bleak, and I love it for risking that. If I've learned anything from writing this blog, it's that I love shows that are a hybrid of comedy, drama, and heart. (Sprinkle a few aliens or alternate dimensions or superhero ASBO shitheads in there, and you have my undying love.) There are sketch comedies like Bruiser that are hilarious but don't have an emotional draw. And that's not a fault, that's just the way the show is. It's still ace. But if I'm not emotionally invested in some way, it's not an all-time favorite... or at least, that's the hypothesis right now. We'll see! This blog is an experiment!

- - - - -

"Imagine a country... where forks are irrelevant." All right, Office, you can make me laugh occasionally (and I am always surprised when you do), but you can't make me love you again. The spark is gone. I used to be emotionally invested in Pam and Jim and amused by Michael (wow, those were the days) but now I simply don't care about anyone. Are the characters less real now that we know so much about Oscar's holier-than-thou attitude (remember when he was just the gay Mexican one? With the bitchy art critic boyfriend Gil?), and we have been fully exposed to the deviousness of Angela. Shouldn't fleshed-out characters deepen an audience's relationship with a show? In a sitcom like The Office, plot propels but characters compel. And that's the most important thing. That's what keeps viewers watching and wanting more. Pam and Jim were TV's most popular "will they or won't they" because they were endearing and realistic.

Thursday's episode China is funny, but I found that while watching, I was bored and simply uninterested in what was going to happen next. Maybe I've just lost interest.

Unfortunately I was only half paying attention by the end and can't write an informed piece about Dwight being "not motivated by compassion" which seems like something I'd normally like to explore. Oh well.

This emotion in comedy thing... I'd like to write about the Extras special sometime. I'd say the same about the British Office, but I'd just be reiterating all the positives I've written about the US Office. (I.E. investment in Jim and Pam = good. Relatable humor in the mundane = good. Though it would differ in the Gareth/Dwight and Brent/Scott aspects because both versions of the characters are excellent for different reasons.)

And one of these days I will write about Catterick. One day.

The League of Gentlemen - Destination Royston Vasey, 2.01

The second series of The League of Gentlemen should NOT have had a laugh track. This series more than the first used fewer direct jokes in favor of bizarre situations and characters. The first episode of the second series, for instance, features two sketches that are hindered by laughter: the charity shop scene, in which the escalating situation is funny on its own, and when punctuated by laughter, is excessive. The viewer gets the joke. It doesn't need to be defined. The second sketch is the infamous Papa Lazarou one. The League of Gentlemen is a horror-comedy that is often grotesque and strange. The second series in particular draws inspiration from classic horror tropes and utilizes dark imagery. The humor is excellent as ever, but it's the darker tone that is truly compelling. The entire scene is bizarre and funny. Everything Reece does is spot-on, from the gibberish babble to the peculiar body language to the incongruous strut. "Want to buy some pegs, Dave?" incites laughs as it's meant to. But "You're my wife, now!" at the end, as Steve takes off his wedding ring in resignation, doesn't. And it's obvious why. The sketch took a brilliantly sinister turn, and though it's still funny, it's not laugh track-suitable. And when the laughter is taken away at the end of the sketch, it is more evident than ever how much the series just doesn't need it.