The jamais vu of good art

The other day, I saw a note that one of my friends is asthmatic and I couldn't believe it. A-S-T-H-M-A-T-I-C. The word looked wrong. So I wrote asthma a few times on a post-it note. A-S-T-H-M-A. Asthma. And it still looked wrong. Even though I knew, logically, that it was spelled correctly.

Naturally, the French have a term—Jamais vu—for these times when the familiar seems unfamiliar. And it's basically the opposite of déjà vu.

But this isn't about what I can learn from wikipedia. The idea of jamais vu got me thinking about good books, movies, video games and TV show.

Much like that restaurant you've driven by a million times but never noticed until today, a good piece or art will take something you've seen a million times but make it feel like you're only just experiencing it for the first time.

So with something like Modern Family or Community, you end up accepting all of the sitcom or teenage movie cliches because you just don't quite know that you've ever experienced them before. Even though, logically, you know you have.

BTW... Modern Family, Community and Parks and Recreation are the three best shows on TV right now. The only bad thing I can say about any of them, is that they really make you see how much The Office and 30 Rock have declined.

Ibsen’s dilemma

Officially, the unofficial word is that Fox Broadcasting is responsible for the terrible, awful lameness of the first four Dollhouse episodes.

But let’s face a few facts here:

• Joss Whedon surprised us all (fans) by making another series with Fox Broadcasting. (That’s not the same as 20th Century Fox Television: a studio he’s worked with on all four of his TV shows.)
• Fox meddled with and then killed Firefly before it’s time.
• Fox ordered Whedon to re-shoot the pilot to mainstream it up.
• Fox’s idea of mainstreaming the show was to make the first four episodes more like Quantum Leap, except without any central conflict of endgame scenario. (Similar to what they did when they killed Sliders.)
• Just like with Firefly, Fox is responsible for Dollhouse’s eventual cancellation. But Whedon did choose to sell his show to a network notorious for destroying edgy and interesting sci-fi.

I’m one of those fans who was willing to keep watching the show even though it was absolutely terrible at first. And I mean terrible. I gave it more of a chance than I’ve given things that were only slightly less terrible: Twilight. Britney Spears. Near beer.

Thing is, my patience has paid off. The show has kicked into gear over the past five episodes. First if went from neutral to first. Then first to second. Then second to probably like seventh or eighth gear. Maybe even ninth.

Point is, there is actually an extremely interesting core to the premise. The central complexity is the idea of identity and memory. How our memories make us what we are, and how they don’t.

But it is too late. The show has been languishing in the ratings. And, by moving in to gear, it actually has gone places that a mainstream audience wouldn’t care to follow. (Dushku hasn’t had a sex scene in weeks. And the co-ed showers are much less frequent.)

It’s an interesting dilemma. Whedon shows are possibly too cute to make it on a “harder” network. (Although, my latest cool fantasy, I’d love to see him turn Palahniuk’s Lullabye into an HBO series. That is, if I don’t get a good few scripts together before him.) But they’re too heady and versed in narrative to work many other places.

Still, Fox?

He rides across the nation, The thoroughbred of sin

In case you haven't seen it... Joss Whedon has created another brilliant musical. Of course, this one uses entirely new characters and is a wholly online "show." And stars Neil Patrick Harris (gotta love that Doogie) and Nathan Fillion.

Although the New York Times, perhaps predictably, argues that this show isn't going to change the world. (We'll see.) There is that Whedon creativity that defies your expectations enough to make you think, "Wow."

The three acts of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog were put up on the web over a week. But now you can watch the whole thing on hulu.com. You should watch it as soon as you can.

To tell a vision...

So my TV finally died. Ish. Which is to say it was well on its way to an untimely death.

It has this power issue that I could try to explain poorly. Suffice it to say, the tube was going to go out, and until that point the picture would shrink and expand horizontally and there was a lot of digital noise all over. But only when there were bright colors on the screen.

Imagine trying to play Zelda with Link constantly getting fatter then skinnier.

Oddly enough, I had a five-year warranty on my four-year-old television. That’s akin to winning, I think.

Which brings up my next point. Warranty departments suck. And the warranty department at RC Willey’s excels at sucking.

It took more than two weeks from the day I called the store to find out if I had a warranty until the day they finally agree to give me an undervalued store credit.

Why?

Well, unfortunately for me, RC Willey is phasing out old-fashioned tube TVs. Also unfortunately for me, they wouldn’t simply give me an upgrade to the comparable model they had in stock because I had a 27” and that was a 30”. Oh and unfortunately for me the only “comparable” TV they did have was a piece of crap, $300 STANDARD DEFINITION TV. Also unfortunate for me, the subtle differences between HDTV and SDTV are lost on the RC Willey warranty department.

So after a few days of back and forth where I tell them that the $300 Toshiba isn’t the same as my TV, the service agent (who was nice, but powerless) tells me that I’ll just need to go and talk to a sales person at a store to find a TV that’s comparable.

Well I do. But RC Willey doesn’t carry that model anymore. And they agree to credit me the amount of that TV, but only at the clearance price: $450. (That TV is selling for $550 at BestBuy.)

What this blog post doesn’t get across is that all of this took hours and hours on the phone, on hold, and just waiting. All while my TV is dying and driving me crazy.

The conclusion: I took the $450 credit. Bought the 30” TV. Paid the $200 difference. And now I have it in my home. And I like it too.

And yes, I did spend the extra $100 to buy the 5 year warranty.

Extras Extras!!!

Since my time is suddenly at a premium, my brother suggested that he write a blog entry for me. Without further ado...

No, not the “news” slash celebrity gossip television show. I’m talking about the sensational HBO comedy series. A series that matches, if not surpasses, every other great comedy in our time. I'm going to focus on the second season or series, but only because I didn't watch the entire first season –– something I’m now looking forward to.

The second season of "Extras" is everything clever media writers say about these kinds of shows. Some blogger has no doubt called it fresh and creative. I'm sure there’s even some TV critic out there who has likened it to Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Nights Dream" because of its use of a show within a show. No doubt in the same breath saying its ahead of its time.

And while I agree with all those things, there’s more to it than that. It's funny. It's really, really funny. I am breaking it down to its core because not many shows can claim that. From Sir Ian McKellen explaining to Andy how to act. To Daniel Radcliff having his Johnny unwrapped, because, as he says, he’s "ready for action, just hope its big enough." And then there was Chris Martin, insisting that he appear on Andy's World War 2 era "shit-com" to promote Coldplay’s Greatest Hits.

It’s not just the great guest stars that make this show exceptional. The three main characters add so much to this show. A show that's truly about nothing, they make you want to watch what's happening in their shallow lives. And like that other show about nothing. The characters aren't nice: they’re selfish and, more often than not, unlikable. The show isn’t about plot set up or finding resolution in a 1/2 hour. It's just about comedy, it's just about being funny.

This show, not unlike both versions of The Office, is a show you can watch over and over again. And with each viewing you find something new to love and laugh at. And when Andy Milman's character, Mr Stokes asks, "are you having a laugh?" –– more than likely, you will be.

“I'm going to show them a world without you”

The news today is that Lost hit an all time ratings low on Wednesday.

As you may or may not know, I gave up on Lost before the November mid-season finale. And I haven’t and I won’t go back. (Which I hinted at before.)

For those of you who feel the need to be a part of the abused 12-13 million Americans that still think that Lost is only hurting you because it loves you. This is an intervention. Get out now.

And to Lost, it’s creative staff, cast and products. I’m on a mission. To quote the words of the immortal Neo (at the end of the only Matrix movie that I’ll admit exists):

“I'm going to show them a world without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.”

Food Fight

I kind of like Anthony Bourdain, and I kind of don’t. He’s cocky, he’s arrogant. But there’s no question he knows food. And he’s a solid writer too.

(Aside: that very special Lebanon episode of his Travel Channel show “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” – the one where he just so happened to be in Beirut when Israel went after Hezbollah – was awesome.

I love this wonderful smackdown of some of the Food Network's personalities. (If you’ve never watched the Food Network, it’s a mixture of primarily 30 minutes segments with some of the most irritating people on Earth and some brilliant chefs and food experts, shot with digital cameras and then reran incessantly.)

The endlessly irritating yet inexplicably popular Rachael Ray is arguably the largest cultural success the Food Network (and Oprah) has had in recent years forcing another celebrity “chef” down our throats. Anthony Bourdain describes her masterfully:

“Rachael [Ray] uses her strange and terrible powers to narcotize her public with her hypnotic mantra of Yummo and Evoo and Sammys. ‘You’re doing just fine. You don’t even have to chop an onion--you can buy it already chopped. Aspire to nothing…Just sit there. Have another Triscuit…Sleep….sleep….’”

“So your period is pretty bad, huh?"

The Office

Like Logan said, BEST SHOW ON TV. Period. I’ve written at length about The Office, so I don’t see a need to say much more right now... okay. Actually, I have a lot to say about that last episode. The whole Jan and Michael thing. But that episode (and the show) deserves it’s own post.

Heroes

“How do you stop an exploding man?”

I was a skeptic of the show before it started, but was instantly converted. Everything that Lost does well, Heroes does better. (And everything that Lost does poorly, Heroes does well.)

The ratios are much better too. I only dislike one character in the large ensemble cast: Niki. And I’m also bullish that the show will stay compelling.

Criminal Minds

I wouldn’t say I like this show. And I even feel mildly embarrassed admitting that I watch it (with some regularity). It’s somewhat cheesy. Cliché. Poorly written. Full of stock characters. And highly addictive.

If you haven’t watched: the show follows a crack team of Profilers as they embark on “Movie of the Week” style adventures to stop serial killers... rapists... rescue kidnapped children... you name it. All in stories that are vaguely similar to popular news, books and movies. And you can’t help but wonder why the Government is funding this clearly ultra-expensive team. But wait, you’re thinking about the show. That’s a problem. You should probably not do that.

Also, this is what’s on opposite Lost. This is what I watch instead of Lost.

Beauty and the Geek

I only recently learned that Ashton Kutcher is actually the Executive Producer on this show. Who’d of thought. It’s as socially relevant as anything can be on MTV. That is to say it somewhat blurs the easy lines of MTV’s demographic groups. I like how the show humanizes all of these people by showing that, ultimately, no matter what you’re good at, being good at one thing can make you less confident in so many other things.