Let’s get the kid show out of the way first. There’s much to like about the special Studio DC, Almost Live, on Sunday (10/5) at 8 p.m. on The Disney Channel. Basically, several Disney Channel stars do their thing with The Muppets (which Disney now owns, feh!).
The good news is that wonderful brand of zaniness that were The Muppets, if you remember their variety show from the late ’70s, is all here, including some of the worst puns you will ever hear. I’d repeat one but I’m trying to forget. The bad news is that it all feels kind of sad, as if Kermit, Miss Piggy and everyone are now reduced to shilling for Disney Channel shows. And the half-hour, while filled with some genuinely funny bits, like Miss Piggy trying to do that “Can You Top This?” number from Cheetah Girls: One World with the Cheetahs, still comes off as one long advertisement for the channel. If you’re already a regular viewer, it’s probably not so bad and fun to see your faves goofing off with The Muppets. But I was not impressed.
Also, on Sunday, The CW has taken the unusual move of importing its programming from a group called Media Right Capital. The actual nature of the deal is cloaked in the usual, um, nonsense. It was one of those things that those of us watching the biz soundly blasted, figuring that it was one step closer to The CW’s eventual doom. I, personally, am not so convinced that The CW is doomed - they are very good at creating noise about their programming, even if they aren’t quite as good at getting the huge numbers actually watching it on TV. Keep in mind, a major part of their audience is watching it from their laptops.
More practically, the MRC deal involves programming that is way outside The CW’s young audience’s interest range.
My biggest issue with the two one-hour dramas debuting on Sunday (10/5) is that while they’re fairly decent shows, they’re not terrific, and part of me can’t help wondering if I’m liking them because they are competent, worthwhile shows or because everything else new that I’ve seen is so abysmally awful.
The MRC block starts at 7 with a couple reality shows that were not available for review. Then, at 8 p.m., is Valentine. The conceit is that the ancient Greek gods have gone underground and are busy in the modern world helping out we, poor, mortals. In this case, the Valentine family is headed by Grace (Jaime Murray), better known as Aphrodite, goddess of love. Her son, Danny (aka Eros, played by Kristopher Polaha), has exchanged his bow and arrows for a gun. They’re helped out by Leo, or Hercules (Robert Baker), and Phoebe (Autumn Reeser), who manages the Oracle of Delphi.
The producers are mostly consistent in their use of the Greek mythology, although they give the Fates more control than the weird sisters actually had and the Oracle is far more forthcoming with information than the original was. However, the show isn’t really family safe, with a couple modest bed scenes and some sex talk. Oh, and a scene with Grace coming out of a spa wearing a bikini that is vaguely reminiscent of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. The goal of the Valentine family is to bring together soul mates, so you know there’s going to be more sex. That being said, younger teens might be able to handle it with parental supervision.
The catch, of course, is that the book series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan, does the whole modern day Greek god thing so much better. In the interest of full disclosure, Riordan’s mom is an Internet buddy of mine. Still, Valentine has some lovely things to say about how our modern culture is making real relationships tough. In one scene, Grace calls computers the plastic lonely box. And, believe me, TV is helping things along. Face to face time is absolutely necessary to our well-being as humans, so while TV and the Internet have their place, nothing beats just sitting down and talking.
The second MRC show is also relatively modest, but has some violence, some foul language and some references to porn and casual sex. Oddly enough, it is also about a family business - payday loans and the good news is that it does bring up the blight these businesses are in our lower income neighborhoods. But what do you do when that is the business that you were brought up in? Which is the dilemma faced by Morgan Buffkin (Jeff Hephner), who is the smart one in the family - and it turns out may have more of a reason to feel like the family outcast than he thought.
The violence, so far, is mostly of the fisticuffs variety. Morgan gets tough when he has to, and defends himself decisively when attacked by a disgruntled client. Also, there’s some new competition in town that plays very rough, so we can probably expect more.
The interesting thing about the porn that comes up, it’s not celebrated. In fact, brother Cooper (Jay Ferguson) catches more grief than not for his interest in it. There’s also a nearby strip club where Morgan goes to find some help with a dishonest cop. In fact, gender roles are more reinforced than not, at least in Morgan’s family, though one gets the feeling that this is part of the family’s problem.
It’s dicey. Again, not something you want your kids watching by themselves, although odds are they won’t be that interested. But I found it intriguing.
Anne Louise Bannon
yourfamilyviewer.com
