Picking up on the theme of unsung shows, here are some that come to mind...
Better Off Ted- This show is not necessarily unsung, but rather it is very new and needs more attention. The best way to describe the show would be to think The Office meets Office Space. The show focuses around the title character, Ted, who is in charge of Research and Development for a mammoth, multifaceted corporation, Veridian Dynamics. Their slogan, "We Do That!" as in... Science... We do that! Technology... We do that!
In this show, our title character, who serves as narrator through a series of monologues directly to the audience, explains how he navigates the whims of his boss, played by Portia DeRossi, as well as those of her corporate overlords. In the first episode, Ted is asked to cryogenically freeze one of his employees because, "We just want to see if it can be done." Unlike Ron Livingstone's character in Office Space and Steve Carrell's in the Office, Ted seems to have a golden touch in his office and earnestly tries to to make his employees, boss as well as the audience happy all at the same time.
Standoff- Now this is definitely is an unsung show from a couple of years back. Starring the aforementioned Ron Livingstone and Rosemarie Dewitt, who has been featured on Mad Men, as well as the movie Rachel Getting married. The premise of this show is "If 24 were a love story." If only the Fox network knew how to market this, people may have watched...
Nevertheless, the show is about two hostage negotiators who are partners both on the job and after hours (Livingstone and Dewitt). Each week, they take on another fast pace crisis, which unlike 24, wraps itself up within an hour. The only overarching themes have to do with their relationship. Again, this show only lasted 19 episodes and was not granted a finale, but the action was good and the chemistry was always fun to watch.
Well, that's all I have for now... I should spend some time at some point review my other list favorites, Jericho, Nowhere Man, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (and the list goes on...)
More Unsung Shows
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2 comments:
JUST what I was looking for, Joe. Excellent. Have to check out Better Off Ted. Also curious about Amy Poehler's Parks and Recreation. G'bless hulu!
The only downfall: it is painfully apparent that you are much better at describing a show so that someone might want to see it. Here's me trying to persuade people to watch Battlestar Galactica: "So, it's a remake of this old cheesy 1970s space western ... but it's nothing like the original. What happens is that almost the entire human race gets wiped out by a band of evil robots and then ... heyyyyy, where you going?"
On a Battlestar Galactica note, there is definitely something to be said for a series ending before it can jump the shark (BSG had a mere 4 seasons). Maybe there should be some sort of 5-season limit for series, eh?
AJ- Good points. I sure don't want to watch Battlestar now :) J/K.
I agree about jumping the shark. Few shows really come back from it. I think you might be on to something with this 5 season thing, as most shows who have a 7 year run, which used to be kind of standard, begin losing their stuff around year six with the final year being mostly a throw away, with characters leaving or being replaced (think That 70's show).
Back to your original point, I think for me when I get passionate about something, I really want to sell it. Whether it is Jericho or the Snuggie, I feel like if it is something I like, everyone should at least give it a try.
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