TV Eye: ‘Cranford 2′

I’m not shall we say fond of  teevee and film sequels, especially ones based on a property adapted from literature.  They are implausible at best and unless they are campy take-offs (Hamlet 2) or wildly divergent, they are wrecks. Do you really need to see something called Jude the Obscure 2:  The Obscuriest?  That said, I was perusing the Masterpiece Classic page to find out what is forthcoming  and noticed what I’m already anticipating to be fantastic: “Cranford 2.”  (Oil lamp boogaloo?)  More Dame Judi Dench.  More of the swoony doctor. More of that infernal railway!   I’m so willing to break my own rule about sequels for this.

Earlier: A Year In Cranford

I Was a Teenage Game Show Contestant

My freshman year of high school, I was a contestant on “Nick Arcade.”  The game show, filmed at Universal Studios Orlando, which was located conveniently and directly across the street from my school, was no “Double Dare,” but it had its own particular attraction, given that kids, they love playing them some video games.  And not only did the competing teams get to square off by answering trivia questions and performing video challenges, the winners, for the final round, did  battle for the grand prize..inside a video game.

This was around the time that Central Florida was angling to become the Hollywood of the South, presenting itself as a cheaper alternative to filming in Los Angeles or New York.  A lofty ambition, and obviously, one which didn’t work out as planned.  Though, a few lackluster cable shows and movies did shoot there:  “SeaQuest DSV“  and “Swamp Thing” to name two. (I was at one point supposed to be an extra in the movie Matinee, but I came down with pink eye and stayed home.)  What no one bothered to realize, or chose to ignore, is that Orlando has no distinct skyline, and could not in any realistic way sub for a major metropolis, unlike Toronto, say.  Miami fared better, but still it’s hard to make Miami look like anything other than the Deco, sandy, flashy city that it is.  Shooting on a sound stage was fine, but on location, there was no disguising the setting.  It was not in Florida’s destiny to become the new film capitol, but it did as we know turn out to be quite the boy band factory.

TV Eye: ‘Kings’ Is Dead

NBC’s “Kings” wrapped up its first season this weekend, and also the entirety of its run.  The oft-lopsided but ultimately quite creative (certainly for a network drama), eminently well-acted show, was at one point put on hiatus, then returned to the line-up to molder away in a Saturday night slot, which is part of the reason it attracted less viewers than the newest Keyboard Cat video.

Creator Michael Green has written an open letter on what went wrong (and sometimes right!) with the series, which is, to reiterate, not going to be saved.  So best to not start a campaign of sending dead butterflies to Jeff Zucker.  It seems that fearing reprisal from religious groups, NBC worked very hard to make sure their marketing of the show gave no hint that it was a modern tale based on the story of King David.  A counterintuitive approach, as such outreach might’ve, you know, cemented a loyal core audience, according to John Rogers: “After years of the cultural Right bitching and moaning about how Hollywood doesn’t provide for them, NBC could have gone to every evangelical church in America and said ‘We’re serializing the story of King David in a modern, very relatable way. Here you go, a multi-million dollar series, in prime time, based on a Bible story. You’re frikkin’ welcome.’”  Funny that.

Still. Green’s even-handed post-mortem is worth a read, should you be interested in how your teevee sausage gets made but sometimes not renewed.

Clips: 30 Rock’s ‘Kidney Now!’

NBC cold taunted the internet with their commercials for the season finale of “30 Rock,” saying the finale Would Be Blogged.  And as much as I’d like to defy the corporate overlords, well, nope.  You win NBC.   This time.   If only to savor the last taste we’ll have of the show for a bit, and for playing spot the musical guest in the “We Are the World” spoof “Kidney Now!”  Seriously:  I spy a Rhett Miller, a Cyndi Lauper, 2/3 of the Beastie Boys, Moby (who would probably appear at a four-year-old’s birthday party in Scranton ) Michael McDonald and on and on.  This is a deal maker.

TV Eye: AbFab On Our Shores

There is nothing new under the sun; all tales have already been told; etc. and so on.  Which is why on the teevee they are always taking old yarns and making them a-fresh, like this picture (left) based on The Trojan Women but — twist! — set in a southern peanut factory.  Oh, whoops, wrong!  Someone put on their bad idea LaCroix and is making an American version of the Brit hit Absolutely Fabulous.  Yet again, we’ve reached across the pond to pluck a beloved property and tackied it up for our consumption. Kathryn Hahn is in the Eddie role, with Kristen Johnston filling Patsy Stone’s gin-soaked stilettos.

The upshot is that Mitch Hurwitz of Arrested Development fame is involved with the project.  But, if he wanted to do a show with boozy harridans, why not just spin off the Lucilles from AD?  I could watch Jessica Walter guzzle martinis and harangue people for DAYS.

Images[ Dlisted via Buzzfeed]

more after the jump.