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Beyond disappointed . . . a review of 'The Return of Jezebel James'
There are times when I think we need to come together to support each other and this, my friends, is one of those times.
Because the return of Amy Sherman-Palladino is not going well. And if you loved the Gilmore Girls like I did, this is a considerable disappointment. Hold my hand. It's going to be okay.
For six seasons, Sherman-Palladino was the creative force behind my beloved Girls and gifted them with smart, pop-culture laden dialogue and delicately explored the relationship between mothers and their daughters. Let’s remember that Sherman-Palladino and try to forget The Return of Jezebel James, which premieres this Friday at 8 p.m. on FOX.
Parker Posey stars as successful book editor Sarah Tompkins who discovers in the pilot that she is unable to have children of her own. She turns to her flighty sister Coco (Lauren Ambrose) to have the child that she can’t. The always charming Scott Cohen (Max Medina on Girls) offers a bit of hope as Sarah’s would-be boyfriend Marcus Sonti.
Simply put, everything is wrong about this show. It is woefully miscast (I honestly can’t even figure out what Posey is trying to do with her performance) with clunky jokes and too many leaps in logic (the show doesn’t do an adequate job of explaining why Sarah would turn to her estranged sister to be the mother of her child).
I’ll definitely admit that I’m judging the show more harshly because I had high expectations for this series. If this show was from an unknown showrunner, I probably would have written a one sentence review. Perhaps something like "You can go ahead and skip The Return of Jezebel James."
I've seen two episodes (the pilot and the sixth episode of the season) and this is the most disappointed I’ve been about a TV series in a long long time. One and a half stars. I wanted to write this review early so you would have time to come to terms with this information before the show premieres on Friday. Going forward, I may simply subscribe to the idea that since I don’t have anything nice to say about the show, I won’t say anything at all. Now let's all go have a drink at the Dragonfly Inn and try to get over this.
Thankfully all is not lost this week. Julianna Margulies stars as Rhode Island attorney Elizabeth Canterbury in Canterbury’s Law, which premieres Monday at 8 p.m. on FOX. The drama is executive produced by the team behind Rescue Me (including Denis Leary) and the pilot was directed Mike Figgis (who also directed Leaving Las Vegas) so if you guessed that this isn’t exactly a happy, light-hearted show, you are correct.
Like Tommy Gavin, Elizabeth Canterbury is haunted by tragedy. Elizabeth’s son has been missing for five years and his case remains unsolved. The overwhelming sadness that accompanies such a tragedy is the undercurrent behind Margulies’ captivating performance. Although she’s surrounded by a strong supporting cast (including Aidan Quinn as her husband), Margulies makes this show. She is a force of nature that double dares viewers to take their eyes off her. Her cases are interesting but it’s Elizabeth who will make you want to tune in every week. Four stars.
Ask TV Gal
I've heard about the campaign to save Journeyman and Friday Night Lights, but what about Life? It was such a great show with a great character. I'm really hoping they bring it back. Brittany
It is hard to keep up with all that has happened since the writer’s strike has ended. But the good news is that NBC picked up Life, Chuck and Heroes for next season back on February 13. The network says it plans to give these three shows a major relaunch in fall. That’s also what’s happening with Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies and Private Practice over at ABC too. Check out this handy link at zap2it.com which is constantly updated to let you know when your favorite shows are returning.
Highlights of the Week Ahead
All times listed are Eastern Time for March 10-16
October Road comes to a close in a two-hour season finale Monday night at 9 p.m. on ABC. Stacy Keibler guest stars as Eddie’s ex-girlfriend and here’s hoping the show finally reveals who Sam’s father is.Now I’ll definitely be watching but I can’t in good conscience advocate for a third season of the show. There’s something comforting about watching a show this simple and repetitive and the ratio of montages to actual dialogue is high enough that you can get a lot done while it’s on. But next season Private Practice will be back and I think I only need one so bad it’s good show every week. Therefore please join me for the final meeting of the October Road support group where we will eat dark chocolate, look longingly at one another, but never ever say what we are thinking. .
Angelica Huston is back on Medium (Monday, NBC, 10 p.m.) but I’m hoping we haven’t seen the last of Gregory Itzin’s Senator Jed Garrity. It was so great to have Itzin back on TV.
I heard from quite a few of you who didn’t understand why I was so disapproving of the weepy Victory on Lipstick Jungle (Thursday, NBC, 10 p.m.) yet so seemingly forgiving of Nico who in five short episodes has cheated on her husband with a much younger man and gotten said much younger man fired. And it’s true, Nico’s behavior is despicable and Kim Raver is certainly not helped by the fickle writing that seems to have Nico changing her mind about her boy toy every five minutes. But, to me, there is something sympathetic and heartbreaking about Raver’s performance. I don’t mean that I think her actions are justifiable but that when watching the show, I find myself not judging her. I’ve always said that often the best shows have their characters do unlikable things. I don’t think Raver is enough to save Lipstick Jungle but her performance certainly proves that she’s an actress capable of doing quite a bit with not a lot. This week Nico and Wendy travel to Scotland to land a publishing deal and Victory cries.
George Michael is back on Eli Stone (Thursday, ABC, 10 p.m.). I really like that the show is not going to be about Eli hiding the fact that he has a brain aneurism – how about you?
So you all have been suspiciously quiet about Oprah’s Big Give (Sunday, ABC, 9 p.m.) but I’m so curious to hear what you think of the show. I’m still having a problem with the exploitive nature of the series. This week the eight remaining contestants head to Houston, Texas and Andre Agassi and Tony Hawk stop by to help them out.
That’s all for today. I’m back on Wednesday to talk about Pete’s return to Smallville and familiar faces. Have a question? Seen a familiar face? Want to nominate a quote of the week or a topic for discussion? Write me at amytvgal@zap2it.com. Talk to you on Wednesday.
Amy Amatangelo, TV Gal ®
Yeah, I am glad that the aneurysm is out of the bag. One thing I am tiring of, though, is the singing and the large musical numbers in the show. I was totally on board with it for the first few episodes but now they seem too stale. I want them to mix it up a bit. Even if they occasional do a hip-hop or country song, that's fine. Just the poppy musical numbers every week are too formulaic.
Blue Sean | Mar 10, 2008 12:18:06 PM | #Sorry, Amy, I haven't watched Oprah's Big Give, so I can't comment directly on it, but based on Oprah's reputation and seemingly well-placed intentions, I'd be more likely to be (and am) disgusted with many other reality tv shows. Again, haven't seen it, but I haven't really heard a lot of complaints about Extreme Makeover: Home Edition being exploitive and it seems to be helping families in need - is the Big Give the same concept essentially? I am personally much more bothered by a show like The Moment of Truth that is encouraging people to ruin their lives for money that they probably won't handle well and hurt instead of help their financial stability. Granted, they sign up knowing what's to come, but still, it's sick and I refuse to watch it.
AndreaC | Mar 10, 2008 12:29:18 PM | #I also read that, on Jezebel, the younger sister is a recovering junkie. How does that say potential surrogate ?!
dianebb | Mar 10, 2008 12:42:11 PM | #Re: Eli Stone. My guess is, the writers would explain that the music is what Eli likes, not a random sampling of musical genres to throw a bone to everyone. Too many shows are afraid of PC-Police complaints and try to please too many people. I would hate to see this one go that way, too.
Re: Oprah's Big Give. I've never watched more than a few minutes of Oprah, but just from the overhyping of her in other media outlets, I'm sick to death of her. I applaud her efforts to help others, but these sickeningly sweet "Help the Pathetic Losers" reality shows are bad enough, without having to stomach even more Oprah in the mix.
Tego Livi | Mar 10, 2008 1:12:42 PM | #I've heard nothing but bad things about Jezebel James since Fox picked it up. That's unfortunate because I really love Parker Posey's work and I hope this foray into TV won't be a black stain on her resume.
Myke25 | Mar 10, 2008 1:16:00 PM | #Tego, I totally agree with you about Oprah. I cannot bear the woman, and all the hype about which book she recommends and all the other hype that surrounds her every move. I don't watch any reality show except for maybe Mythbusters, but people will do anything to be on tv, including being exploited by Oprah and Deserving Design and Extreme Makeover. Ugh!
excentric | Mar 10, 2008 1:23:39 PM | #I praise Oprah for giving away her money...but why can't she do it quietly. Seems as though she feels she has to make a big production out of giving money and things away. Just my opinion.....
mark3557 | Mar 10, 2008 1:24:28 PM | #I praise Oprah for giving away her money...but why can't she do it quietly. Seems as though she feels she has to make a big production out of giving money and things away. Just my opinion.....
mark3557 | Mar 10, 2008 1:24:43 PM | #Oprah is SO overrated - watched her once and don't get why she is so popular - wish people would wake up and quit watching her and that she would go away.
DaisyRose | Mar 10, 2008 1:27:33 PM | #I've seen the pilot of JJ as well... and you're being nice at 1.5 stars!
Stacy | Mar 10, 2008 2:05:37 PM | #Oprah's Big Give does feel exploitive at times, but at the end of the day, it is still about changing somebody's life for the better so I think we can forgive the show's exploitive nature. I'm a big tennis nut so I'm looking forward to Sunday's episode.
And Amy, aren't you a fan of Steffi Graf too? Because if you are, we can totally be BFF's.
I am also looking forward to Nurse Hathaway's return to TV. Will George Clooney make an appearance when this show becomes a huge success? One can dream.
Ritchie | Mar 10, 2008 2:36:19 PM | #Uh - Oprah's not giving away HER money - are you CRAZY?
That's ABC's money - and they're doing a rotten job of it.
The show stinks - the people who are on it, with a couple of exceptions, must have tried out to see how dramatic they could be, not how much they cared about their fellow human beings. With the exception of the guy who doled out the money to the people in the hospital, they all seemed to have an agenda of squeezing out tears and saying how much THEY were helped personally by what they had done.
I think it's disgusting, but I'm glad the people in the hospital and the ladies at the AIDS Hospice benefited from it.
Jan | Mar 10, 2008 2:37:06 PM | #Tego- That's lazy writing if they justify their lack of creativity with that. I don't think they have to please everyone with their show, but mix it up a bit. I would actually like more episodes like the one about the Army Mom where there wasn't a big musical number to open his visions, he jut got plopped into a war zone. If they had bid musical productions in 2 out of 3 episodes, I'd be a happy viewer. If they mixed in different music genre's from time to time, I'd be an ecstatic viewer.
Blue Sean | Mar 10, 2008 2:39:15 PM | #DaisyRose, I think I love you. We may be the only two people in the world not worshipping in the cult of Oprah. She's an egocentric blowhard and I will never understand her mass appeal.
Beth | Mar 10, 2008 2:47:42 PM | #Amy, I just wanted to say a major THANK YOU for your Eli Stone recommendation!! I was FINALLY able to start watching it the other day (I've been recording it), and it is incredible! Eli's quit wit and not-Chinese Chen absolutely kill me! Of course Victor Garber and Natasha Henstridge are excellent as well, but I do agree about not loving Julie Gonzalo in it. The character just isn't right, because I did love her as Parker on Veronica Mars. Also, I have enjoyed Tom Cavanaugh as Eli's dad in the flashbacks too. That might be because I love him as Dan on Scrubs, but I don't care! About the musical numbers, I still have a couple episodes to watch, but the whole feel of the show seems to support the somewhat cheesy musical numbers staying the same. The show is supposed to be over-the-top with what is going on in Eli's head. Anyway, Eli Stone is just a great show! Probably my favorite new show this season, so it better get picked up!
Sarah | Mar 10, 2008 3:02:57 PM | #Why did you see episodes 1 and 6 of Return? That seems odd. Isn't that like watching the first then the last in the series? It looks like FOX is hoping to kill it anyway, it is on Friday night after all.
chris | Mar 10, 2008 3:16:12 PM | #Not to sound too defensive, but Victory/Lindsay Price has a storyline that keeps her in a confined area. Her only real interactions are between Joe and her two best friends.
Nico and Wendy have dozens of people to interact with compared to Victory. We really don't get to see Victory do anything besides struggle to get back on track.
This perhaps makes her no less weepy, but I think Lindsay Price does the best with what she currently has. She doesn't have a moody husband or an affair--her only real storyline is that she makes dresses and has a "perfect" boyfriend.
I think because of this, viewers are either going to see her as a breath of fresh dramaless air or a woman that complains for no reason.
June | Mar 10, 2008 6:03:13 PM | #now im not a big fan of oprah and i havnt really seen the show but im of the opinion that if some thing good is coming out of it i mean if ppl r actually being helped then i dont really care how they do it. also i wasnty ready to believe any of the negitivity surrounding The Return of Jezebel James until u wrote it on ur blog........i am disapointed i mean this might b the show i was most looking forward............yyyyyyyyyyy do u do this to me yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!! anywho ill still be watching its premiere i owe it to Sherman-Palladino for giviong me 6 great seasons of GG.
zac | Mar 10, 2008 11:17:12 PM | #Amy, I'm sorry you were so disappointed. I KNOW how that feels.
I don't watch Oprah so I can't comment.
Do you have any news on
JERICHO?
I am dying to find out if it gets renewed.
I LOVE THE SHOW SO BAD!!!
On the Oprah thing, while I think she does alot of good for people and give her props for that. I can't stand the thought of watching it.
On another note, I totally agree with Grace. I have to admit that life has gotton in the way of my TV watching so I just got caught up with Jericho over the weekend and I can't tell you how happy I am with that show. I hope that they renew it, I think it is one of those shows that will do well with a shortened season, although I would like to see at least 12 episodes in the future.
Hettie | Mar 11, 2008 6:43:21 AM | #Parker Posey needs to return to Boston Legal next season, this time as a regular. She was a riot during her guest run a couple of seasons ago.
Jeff | Mar 11, 2008 8:12:50 AM | #There's a been a few comments indicting Oprah herself and I don't really want to add to that, but I have always been torn with her personally. While I'm somewhat fascinated by her and really respect all she's achieved and does with her money, fame and influence, there are definitely aspects of her that completely REPEL me too - often the exact same things: what she does with her money, fame and influence!
I watched the entire first episode and most of the second and the show is strange. As a concept it's extremely exploitive: it's a competition to show how large and showy you can give away money. And to start, they each have to hunt down some poor pitiable soul to help.
It's really about how good a networker the competitors are and how crazy and showy they can get with their ideas.
I was so turned off by how one team was criticized for "only" getting about $50,000 in gifts to one person in the first episode; when, as they tried to defend themselves, they had actually gotten some gifts that would continue (the free rent for 6 years...) and completely affected the people they sought to help - it just wasn't extravagent enough...
To start, none of the contestants knew what they were supposed to do or how they'd be compaired to each other, now they know they need to outdo one another and that's not enjoyable to watch.
I just really wish it weren't a contest; I feel it would have worked well as a kind of documentary-like show, maybe with 6 different kinds of people being TRAINED with a mentor (famous or not) to become philanthropists in the "Oprah" method. Since the show isn't really about who they help anyway, my idea would make it squarely about creating new philanthropists. I guess you wouldn't have the "Amazing Race" style dash/stress factor though and maybe less drama.
Meh, the cheesy musical numbers aren't the problem with Eli Stone. The problem is the same old thing every week. Eli takes a weird case and blah, blah, blah. I just can't get into formulaic legal or cop shows anymore. They've been done to death. Unless it has some truly interesting twist on the formula like Day Break or The Shield I just don't care enough to watch for long.
Hope they don't bring back Pete on Smallville just to kill him off. Its cool that they are bringing him back after all this time. I'd like to see Mama Kent again too.
The big O is completely overrated and so smitten with herself...I would not give credence to any smarmy pop psychologist (or whatever Phil calls himself), any book-of-the-month or, most importantly, any politician that she gives her "O" of approval to.
I love the dance segments and out-of-body experiences (kind of) that Eli sees! I am another who hopes that this show gets picked up for another season by ABC...also love his secretary Patty - hope she can continue to do double duty on Eli and over on Grey's Anatomy!
Ginni | Mar 11, 2008 10:55:54 AM | #i haven't watched the big give but i have watched the occasional episode of oprah and OBG sounds like a great concept with a totally fried execution.
but i'm really here about lipstick jungle... i really like the show. i think the characters are kind of interesting and i can see motivation for their actions even if i don't necessarily agree with them.
as for victory? one of them can't be successful at first right? so it's to her to regain her name and get all famous and successful again. i think she really is doing the best she can with that storyline and frankly, wouldn't YOU cry if your whole career blew up in your face?
sassinak | Mar 11, 2008 11:18:35 AM | #
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