TV Notes (or Bring Back My Happy Endings!)

April 16,2011

So here’s my TV update for the 2011 Season:

“Men of a Certain Age” is still as good as ever, and they didn’t have any sex scenes in Season 2. Good work. And Joe brought tears to my eyes when he was signing the divorce papers. Wow!

“Chuck” has a tendency to overdo wedding angst. Just walk down the aisle for Pete’s sake—not every wedding has to be a major production!

“Hawaii Five-O” was off to a good start, but for some reason is slowing. I still like the action, but Danny and McGarrett don’t really have any new interaction—just the same old lines over and over. Chin and Kono are getting a little more recognition, though, which is good, because I thought they were getting stiffed before.

“Harry’s Law”—a nice, quirky David Kelley production. Good for a laugh and good for making you think about things. (If you know your client’s guilty, why do you have to pretend he isn’t?)

NOW—My big complaint about TV shows:

They never have complete, upbeat endings any more. The reason I loved “Chuck” so much (besides the fact that it was smart, funny, and not a cop or medical show) was that you always felt good when the episode was over. Same with “Men of a Certain Age.” The episode where Owen gets his building permit is priceless—the triumphant ending to end all triumphant endings.

But now, the shows give you a nice resolution to the day’s problem, then introduce you to another one before you go. Like if they don’t, you won’t be hooked. In that respect, I was VERY disappointed in “Men of a Certain Age” this season—I didn’t feel good at the end of the episodes. You too, “Chuck.”

Dang it, folks, I LIKE happy endings! Bring ’em back! Of course we’ll keep watching! Leave us feeling GOOD, not like nothing’s ever going to go right.

(From a purely commercial standpoint, I will point out that I tend to re-watch shows that wrap up the stories; and I don’t watch reruns of shows like “Ugly Betty”, which was a VERY good show for a while, but always had problems hanging over the characters that carried on into further episodes. So, from my perspective, royalties and DVD sales are going down the tubes, for all your efforts to tantalize people in the short run.)

And quit fooling around with extended “Will they or won’t they get together” storylines (“Castle”). Sam and Diane wore it out, Ross and Rachel ran it into the ground, and everybody else is just taking a shortcut to get viewers’ interest. As much as I love “Chuck” I was ready to see the show end, just so Chuck and Sarah would cut to the chase. And that’s saying something!!! So quit being lazy, and find other ways to keep us watching.

Also, you shows that have people searching for criminals who murdered family members (“Castle”, “Mentalist”, “Hawaii Five-O”): Find the bad guys, dispense justice, and move on. If the show’s good enough—we’ll watch. If not—get off the air.