- Studios should remake every Danny DeVito film with Peter Dinklage. Maybe throw in Joe Pesci's movies as well. I was thinking tweaking Twins with Michael Fassbender and Dinklage but then I thought about making it an all-HBO Sunday nights affair and making it with the huge warrior woman from Game of Thrones and Lena Dunham.

- USA's show Common Law should have a twist mid-season where it turns out that the cops are gay. The show would be far more interesting if it was about two closeted cops who are partners at work and at home.

For basketball, this is more of a Frithought than a Fridea, but Dwyane Wade is to LeBron James what Antoine Walker was to Paul Pierce. Last night, LeBron James scored 6 points in the second half. Whereas Cleveland LeBron probably would have taken over, gone all Kobe, and said, "Screw these guys!", part of me feels like Miami LeBron seems scared of upstaging his buddy Wade. You KNOW there was no way he was ever going to side with Coach Spo in that little spat that Wade had with him and you almost feel like instead of saying, "Move over, Dwyane, I'm taking over", he's more likely to say, "Yeah, this sucks... right?" If we ever see a spat between LeBron and Wade, it'll almost certainly be Wade yelling at The King.
Walker had the same sort of influence over Pierce. In the epic playoff comeback in New Jersey, it was Antoine who was seen screaming at Pierce to not give up. In the epic playoff debacle in Indiana, it was Antoine who whining and basically giving up, not long after which Pierce joined him.
I can't help but feel that LeBron is a follower and Wade isn't exactly being the mentor that many people thought he'd be. Like Pierce needed Garnett, I think LeBron needs a vocal 1b type star to help keep his head on straight. (Also, a coach that players respect and has control of the team would help. Even if Spoelstra hadn't been making some ridiculous tactical errors, he'd still probably have to go simply because it seems like the inmates are running the asylum over there or, at the very least, have no respect for him.) Granted, this might be much ado about nothing if the Heat can rebound, literally and figuratively, in Game 4 but right now, it's not looking good.

The one show that I did get into was Suits. The first episodes threw me a bit but once I got over the fact that the show was legally idiotic, it grew on me and I found myself connecting with the characters. I'm looking forward to the season 2 premiere in a few weeks.

All that being said, I think USA might have another winner on its hands. Political Animals seems like a bit of a departure from their usual blue skies branding but it has an insane cast and looks to be everything that 1600 Penn isn't. Namely, good.

The CW has new shows but since I'm not a 15 year old girl, I probably won't watch it. I will confess to getting sucked into "Vampire Diaries" this season (the first season is actually pretty good) but there are only so many times that I can watch the main girl screw up plans and put the life of the entire town or all of her friends in jeopardy before it just becomes too much. Also, it suffers from the Murder, She Wrote problem of the fact that the town would be the murder (or animal attack as they classify most of the vampire/creature attacks) capitol of the world and I have ZERO idea why anyone would stay there for more than a couple months before high tailing it out ASAP. Back to their new shows, they only had quick clips and they didn't look that promising so no need to spend time on them.

The Goodwin Games has an interesting enough premise but it seems like it's a Wes Anderson film, turned into a TV series but not written by Wes Anderson. However, it is from the creators of How I Met Your Mother so that could give it some hope (although I've never watched HIMYM so it won't do much for me) and it is airing at midseason after The New Girl so it should find a happy home.
Actresses everywhere, however, should root for this show to get picked up because it stars Becky Newton who seems to be the latest TV It Girl (move over Joanna Garcia!) and someone who I could see getting pilot after pilot until she lands in a successful role. (On a side note, ABC does seem to be the place for It Girls this season with Jordan Spiro and Natalie Zea also finding a home on ABC.)

As for Jordan Spiro, she landed in The Mob Doctor which has an interesting enough trailer although it seems like a bit of an odd pairing with the quirkier "Bones". Honestly, you'd think Fox would finally start venturing into 10pm but it seems like they are content with their current M.O. I think this one would have more luck on CBS or ABC; I fear that it's just not going to catch on with the current Fox viewers.

Finally, there's The Mindy Project which is the kind of show that I don't see myself watching (unless it's available on Hulu and I can catch it when I'm sitting around) but it definitely looks funny voice and looks like it could be what I had hoped The New Girl was going to be. (I know people say that show got better later in the season but I tried to watch later eps and I just couldn't stomach it. It definitely was better but still not for me.) Hopefully, Mindy Kaling will find success with this one.

Nashville brings back Hayden Panettiere, who I think probably should be a bigger star by now, and Connie Britton, who probably should have been a star right after Spin City, in what appears to be a kind of remake of Country Strong. With a political race thrown in for some reason. And a bit of A Star is Born C story.

Obviously it's tough to judge from just a trailer but it seems like the show would be better served if it didn't focus so much on Britton and kind of followed the three different women's careers. But honestly, the biggest issue for the show may be its lead-in, Neighbors, a show about a family that moves into a neighborhood that is filled with aliens.

I'll give the show points for being different but it screams of a cable show and I have no idea if the Modern Family crowd is going to want to stick around for it. Which spells trouble for Nashville, which I'm also not sure will really mesh with the Modern Family crowd. What makes this schedule even stranger is that ABC has what appears to be a PERFECT lead in, Malibu County, starring country legend Reba Mcintyre. Now, I'm not sure if ABC didn't want to bet an hour and a half in a row on the Country set but I have no idea how this show doesn't lead-in to "Nashville". I mean, it doesn't look that good but it makes more sense than Neighbors.

I kind of liked the pilot script for Last Resort but thought the trailer for kind of Hunt for Red October meets Lord of the Flies-ish story didn't have a great look. I'm not sure how to describe it but the cinematography was stale and the acting seemed a little stiff. Although my bigger issue, in terms of the show's chances, is that this show is completely unlike anything else ABC has on its roster and it is airing at 8pm before Grey's Anatomy. I REALLY don't see those two shows meshing although I do kind of like having a drama like this on at 8pm as it should be some great counter programming. Oh, and Shawn Ryan (The Shield, Terriers) is on a nice little run of quality shows so I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and check this one when it premieres.

As for ABC's midseason shows, well, there's a reason they are midseason shows (although I didn't get to watch the trailer for Zero Hour.)

Now, I have to confess that I am a big Sherlock Holmes fan and I've been waiting for Jonny Lee Miller to break out ever since Trainspotting (and Lucky Number Slevin kind of made me love Lucy Liu) so this is right up my alley. Not that it wouldn't be difficult. The BBC has done a superb job with their own modern day Sherlock Holmes series (Entitled "Sherlock", you should check out season one on Netflix and season two is currently running on PBS and the PBS website.) Thankfully, it seems like CBS has gotten it right. The one change I would make is to move Elementary before Person of Interest (and after Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men.) I think the Holmes show would do a better job holding the audience than the rather laconic Person of Interest.

I can't say that I am as excited about Vegas, which seems like Magic City meets Justified but it's got a great cast, a good look, and, at the very least, will appeal to the older, more conservative crowd that CBS's shows seem to attract.

Made in Jersey looks OK but what's most interesting to me is that CBS has decided to go for an all New York lineup on Friday night. Between CSI: NY and Blue Bloods is the story of a Jersey Girl who is trying to make it in a big law firm in the Big Apple. It might be cool if there are some crossover episodes but I'm sure that that isn't possible just yet. Maybe next year, if all of the shows survive.

And then there's "Partners". It's kind of depressing that this is the best thing Sophia Bush could find, playing the girlfriend to the lead of the show (David Krumholtz) but pickings are slim out there for actresses. Also distressing is that the latina neighbor is named Ro-Ro and her first line in the show sounded something like "Sowhachoodonow". I honestly don't know if that's her real voice in the show or if she's doing a Jar Jar Binks impersonation. I won't be watching this one but, guess what, I don't watch Big Bang Theory or Two and a Half Men and those shows are doing pretty damn fantastic without me. (And this show is on Mondays in between How I Met Your Mother and 2 Broke Girls so I think it should be fine.

On any other network, I could see all four of these shows surviving but given the higher standards of CBS, which cancelled Unforgettable, which got 10 million viewers, and Rob!, which averaged 12 million (basically 400% more than NBC's beloved comedies 30 Rock, Community, or Parks and Recreation get) or 3 million more than those shows combined), so these shows don't just have to do well, they have to build or at least maintain the high ratings of their lead-ins. Given that, I think Partners might bite the dust and Vegas might be too expensive to continue.

The Terra Nova of the group is revolution. A show about the world if all types of energy disappeared and we had to live without electricity. It's a JJ Abrams production and it seems like Abrams is trying to recapture the glory of Lost but he's failing in the same way that all of the Lost rip-offs failed - Lost was a shot about a group of regular people stuck and trying to learn how to survive on an island. This doesn't seem to be the way of Revolution. It's a bunch of people, many of whom who have become ninjas apparently trying to protect some unknown "it" that not only can turn on power near it but also can somehow turn on the entire internet so people can communicate via computer.

What's even more distressing is that NBC has taken the old Hollywood meme of a black President equalling apocalypse and turned it around into apocalypse leads to minority militia leaders. All in all, I think that this show is going to dive into the sci-fi far too quickly and it looks like it is too expensive to survive with a smaller audience.

Futon Critic has all of the NBC clips. I was considering writing up longer snap judgements about all of the shows but, honestly, I don't feel like wasting the time. If NBC couldn't put the effort together to release trailers for every show, why should I spend the time writing up full blurbs. In short...
- The clips for "The New Normal" showed Ellen Barkin doing her best Jessica Walters and the other two scenes seeming more like a More You Know sketch than an actual comedy.
- Infamous looks like a poor man's remake of Revenge.
- 1600 Penn jumps out as a show that most actors will probably try to get wiped from their IMDB page.
- Save Me is about former lesbian Anne Heche's character becoming born again when she starts getting signs from God, which makes it seem like they're throwing a bone to conservatives to make up for "The New Normal". (It also seems like a dopey redo of Joan of Arcadia.)
- Animal Practice seems like a web show that I wouldn't watch.
- Go On picked two clips that don't really to seem to have any jokes in them. NBC was heralding it as "Matthew Perry is back on TV!" which would be exciting if he hadn't already been back twice before on two shows that only lasted a season each and both seemed better than this one.
- Next Caller continued the lack of jokes motif save for a pratfall. Then again, it stars Dane Cook and I could never tell when he was telling a joke anyway so maybe that's his thing.
- Men with Kids did have jokes in it; they just weren't funny.

- OK, you know what, I have to show another clip. Seriously, if this is the high octane thrill ride that we can expect every week from Chicago Fire...

- Finally, Do No Harm is a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde show. That's the best thing I can say about it so far.

I'd say that all of these shows would get cancelled but then NBC is also the network that cancelled Bent and re-upped Whitney so who knows what the hell they're going to do. Besides coming in last place again.

In terms of web shows, it's one of the better ones out there. The show follows a bunch of stories and does a good job wrapping up season long arcs for everyone. If it was pitched as a TV show, I could see it landing on Starz because, while it was a decent watch that I powered through over a couple of days, the characters are pretty thin, the scope is pretty limited, and even with just 6 half hours, things get a little repetitive.

On a side note, I will give Vin Diesel credit for not forgetting his roots. His first short film "Multi-Facial" was about an actor dealing with his light skin and ability to play various parts and in this production, he's cast a number of light skinned, I'm assuming bi-racial actors. For instance, Les, the "white" guy who can't get enough of referring to his co-worker Vic as "Big Spic" is played by Gonzalo Menendez. It's good to see Vin creating something and helping actors who were stuck in his predicament get a little exposure.

Obviously, the film requires some suspension of disbelief. Whereas Brian Helgeland's direction and writing on Payback added some gloss to the grit, "Get the Gringo" is 100% grimy. There aren't a lot of people to root for and the film barely lets you get to know anyone long enough to really root for them.

I doubt this film would have made a ton of money or really lifted Gibson to a comeback but it's better than a lot of dreck that's out there. Still, I actually fell asleep before the climatic ending and didn't really feel bad about waiting until the morning to finish it, which says a lot. It's a solid enough flick but it's probably a film that's best left until it hits HBO or Showtime.

Be Able to Hold a Job
Near the end of the pilotAbby, a wannabe singer/actor, opens the show trying to make an audition, hoping to land her dream part, but near the end of the episode, after she whines about being broke, she confesses that she is an illegal alien and can't get a job in LA.
Needless to say, this probably isn't a good idea. But beyond the obvious, don't move somewhere you can't afford to live when you can't get a paying job there, the other key to making out here is having other skills besides your dream job. Don't just think, "Oh, I'll just be a bartender" because those jobs are some of the toughest to get, especially if you don't know anybody. (And if you're a guy, it's damn near impossible since so many places go with all-girl staffs behind the bar.)
Me? I worked as a temp and filed receipts for a casting agent and stuffed packages of glitter for House of Blues, amongst other amazing tasks. (Although, temping might not be as easy to get anymore given the rise in unemployment.) The bottom line is that you need to save up some money (ideally enough so you could survive with an unpaid internship or underpaid job or a year or so) and hit the ground hustling. You come to LA to chase the dream but you don't stay in LA unless you face reality.

It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint
In the pilot (and these will all come from the pilot, I couldn't get past the first act of ep. 2), the aforementioned Abby and her best friend Tariq both complain about the fact that they had been in Los Angeles a whole NINE MONTHS! and not been able to get their shot at fame. Realize this - it might take you longer than nine months to get a job in a mailroom, where you'll probably languish for at least a year. If your plan is to come to Hollywood for a year and see if you can't make it big in that time, you're honestly better off not even wasting your time. Yes, some people get discovered overnight but those are the rarest of cases. In fact, many "overnight successes" that you hear about actually were people who worked in obscurity for years. For instance, bands are called overnight successes when their major label debut albums do well but those bands were also probably playing shitty clubs for years to finally get the chance to finally get a big label to sign them.
And the wait isn't just about some Hollywood hazing ritual (although working in an agency certainly sounds like that). Most people when they first come here need to learn about the business, hone their craft, make some mistakes to learn from. It's great to have confidence but if you're going to come to LA, you have to realize that there are a million people as good as you and with confidence just as high as you so it's going to take more than a minute to get noticed.

Use Your Connections Well
In the pilot, Tariq, a wannabe music producer, is hoping to get his beats heard by the producer he interns for but can't seem to get it done. Although, earlier in the show, one of Tariq's friends thanks him for getting him backstage at a concert. Nice move for a buddy but a bad move career-wise. If you're trying to make it, you should save your industry ins. This was the part about Hollywood that I still struggle with. I hate the game. I hate keeping in contact with people just to stay in touch and not because I'm genuinely friends with them. But the bottom line is that that's how the game is played. That doesn't mean go become a two-faced bastard but you should put yourself out there, stay in contact with people, and (if you do get someone on your good side who has some ins) don't waste your favor on getting a friend something that he doesn't really need. While talent is nice and hustle is admirable, Hollywood is all about connections. There's nothing wrong with keeping the lines of communication open with people, even if you're not going to be best friends. Most everyone is here for the same thing - we all get the game. (But, trust me, it can be harder to really commit to this. I still fall out of contact with people all the time and am lousy at playing the game.)

Save Your Money
In yet another ridiculous moment in the pilot, the success story of the group, an actor who named Connor who just landed a pilot, says that he's moving into a big mansion and that his manager said it was a wise investment. First off, buying even a small home in Los Angeles is going to set you back a cool million and there's no guarantee that you'll have that kind of money coming in for a long time, especially if all you got cast in was a pilot. If that show doesn't get picked up, your mortgage probably won't be getting paid. You HAVE to be smart with your money. If that means not having the nicest car or staying in the nicest part of town, so be it. This town is full of people who get their big break, spend their cash, and then find out that their break was shortlived. Again, it's a marathon, not a sprint. If you can afford a house, god bless but odds are that that's going to take a helluva lot than just one pilot.

Face the Facts
The wannabe comedian of the group, Nick, has a disastrous set at a young comic's night. And I don't mean that he had good material and flubbed it, I mean his jokes were horrendous. They didn't even make sense. Nick sees this failure and decides to work even harder! He furiously write down more jokes. Honestly, he probably should just listen to the advice Paul F. Tompkins gives him in the pilot and quit. Or, at least, try to find a real job that can help him try to moonlight as a comic. Its' tough to finally say that your dream might not come true but you have to be honest with yourself. You don't want to end up, 20 years down the line, still slumming it but with no savings, career, etc. to fall back on. It doesn't mean you have to give up completely but if you're THAT bad, you should probably starting setting plan B in motion.

Watch Your Back... and Your Front
There are cons all over LA, trying to take advantage of all of the new dreamers that move here every day. So you have to really keep an eye out and if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But more specifically to LA Complex, there's a scene in which the one time big actress Raquel who has fallen on hard financial times and no employment, tells two guys who live in her building that she'll take their script to people all around town and pitch it but she wants to be the lead. The guys flip that someone in the biz wants to champion their script and say OK. A great story right?
Maybe. Maybe not. Because what you have to realize is that, with so many projects and scripts floating around town, people aren't often going to listen to the same pitch twice, especially from nobodies. So when Raquel is taking this around town, this might be your one shot. If these guys love her for the role and think she's a stand up person, great. But in the show, we also see that Raquel has a bit of an attitude, doesn't seem to get along great with former employees, and basically, might not be the best representative for your script, let alone the person that you want to be tied to as your lead actress.
Again, you just have to look out for yourself. This is a town full of people trying to make it themselves so you always have to make sure that you aren't relying on someone else to look out for your best interests because, more often than not, their focus is going to be on their well being.

So those are a few pieces of advice for people living out here in LA. Oh, and one last piece of advice, don't waste your time watching L.A. Complex.

1. Player Maturity - Kerr makes the argument that players will be more mature if they go to college but I think anyone whose gone to college knows that's not necessarily the case. Everyone is different. Javale McGee could have gone to grad school and he'd still be a knucklehead. Some of the biggest headcases in the league are guys who went to college for two or more years. Kerr has an issue with kids coming into the league as child prodigies but it's not like being the Big Man on Campus often does much for those egos. Also, Kerr tells a couple of stories of incidents he had with young teammates but, at quick glance, I don't think Kerr ever played alongside a high schooler or even a one-and-done kid. (The only guy I noticed was Tony Parker, who'd already been playing professionally overseas in his teens.) So those young teammates wouldn't be any older if there was an age limit and they'd be just as aloof. EDIT: Forgot about Zach Randolph - but let's be honest, another year of college probably wouldn't have done much for Z-Bo.
The bottom line is that not every kid needs college before they head to the pros. I'd also guarantee that Brandon Jennings learned more in his year abroad than most kids learn in college. If a kid is ready, an arbitrary age limit shouldn't keep him from earning a living.

3. Player Development/Mentoring: I'm going to put these two issues together because it's the biggest assumption made by most fans of the age limit and it ignores the most crucial problem - The NCAA doesn't really care about these kids. If the recent controversies over transfers hasn't made that clear, just look at every tweener that hits a college campus. How many of those kids are played in their pro position over what's best for the team? Tom Izzo is a great coach and mentor but he didn't do Draymond Green any favors by having him play power forward all these years. And Izzo's one of the good ones. College coaches worry about college results. Many of them don't give a rat's ass about preparing their players for the pros. Hell, too many of them don't really care if they prepare these kids for much of anything after their eligibility runs out.
Kerr also makes a comparison of the college kids vs. Jordan/Bird/Magic which is equally odd. He points out how those three legends had instant success and acts like if LeBron and others had gone to college, they would have had better success in their first years. While there is some logic to the point, the comparison is kind of silly. Why not compare the high schoolers to other top players in their same era rather than looking back 25 years. Why not compare them to the top recruits of the 90's like Iverson, Webber, Duncan, Pierce, etc. The idea that the high school kids aren't as well adjusted is an odd argument to make since, again, most of the biggest knuckleheads are guys who went to college.

In the end, it's all about money. Kerr glosses over the issue of these guys losing salary but it's the key point. If LeBron James and Dwight Howard are ready to play, they shouldn't be prevented from reaching their goal of making the NBA. These guys shouldn't be forced to choose between playing for free or having to move overseas to help support their families. ]]> http://soulhonky.com/2012/05/can_danny_age_limit_nonsense.html http://soulhonky.com/2012/05/can_danny_age_limit_nonsense.html Tue, 08 May 2012 09:55:51 -0800 I'll go into more spoiler filled detail in the Continue Reading section of the blog but for a basic review for the few people who haven't seen "Avengers" yet, I will say that it is the best comic book movie to come out in the new era of comic book films and it's right up there with the first two Superman films as potentially the best comic book movies of all-time. I will add this one caveat - I'm not including The Dark Knight in the discussion. Going off of the laymen's stereotypes, The Dark Knight is a graphic novel movie while Avengers is a comic book movie. (Again, I'm basing this off of what most people think of when they think "comic books", since I'm sure fans will get mad at me dismissing the depth of comics.) To me, comparing The Dark Knight series with really any of The Avengers is like trying to compare The Wire and The Shield - both great shows but their greatness is on different levels.

While there is always room for interpretation with these sorts of films, the Marvel films that led to The Avengers and The Avengers itself doesn't really try to be anything more than what it is. The film is closer to a Lethal Weapon action comedy on steroids than a drama, which is what The Dark Knight seems to aim for. So when you walk into Avengers, you have to just be expecting a fairly simple movie. I can understand why A.O. Scott disliked it because he wants films that transcend the genre and this was a film that, instead, reveled in in what it was.

I definitely recommend this movie to everyone but I will warn those who might not be into the characters - it's an action movie. If you don't really know who everyone is, it might only be an above average action movie. But it'll still be a lot of fun.

And now onto the more SPOILERY points...