Change Your Image
jobear2484
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Girls (2012)
Season 3 Upswing
After a transcendent first season, I thought I had finally found an intelligent series focusing on women that didn't revolve around shoes or men, even if it seemed to be one generation removed from my own. There was plenty of humor and pathos, original characters, and universal ideas that everyone could relate to. From shallow and materialistic Marnie to free spirited and freewheeling Jessa to nearly nerd Shoshanna and the struggling but ubersmart Hannah, these women seemed more real than most portrayed on so-called reality shows. Their New York City struggles were set to a modern and kick-ass soundtrack, with side characters that practically deserved their own show. The sophomore season of Girls was a bit of a letdown. Not that it was awful, but the focus had shifted from the more captivating ensemble to the less interesting inner workings of Lena Dunham as Hannah. It turned out her inner workings had a lot to do with flashing her outer looks, which was not the total turn off that most critics espoused it to be, but rather a card that got played so many times it lost its meaning. Some thought her constant nudity was self-indulgent; I found Hannah's breakdown throughout the season into depression and OCD far more so.
I've seen other critics denigrate the friendships portrayed between the four main female characters as anything from shallow to downright destructive, and yet I'm young enough to recall my friendships from around the same time in my life as very similar. At that point in one's life (early twenties) there is a singular focus for most people- themselves. The very fact that we are able to maintain friendships at all at that age is somewhat of a miracle. Basically we have to find those who are able to roll with our idiosyncrasies while focusing on themselves and giving of themselves just often enough to keep the relationships going. Also, these characters aren't necessarily supposed to be likable, just interesting and sometimes funny. They achieve this most of the time, with the second season being the sparsest on this ground.
As the third season opens, the medicated Hannah has dug herself out of the stifling hole she put herself in with the help of her reacquired boyfriend Adam. Adam, played by super find Adam Driver, is one of those characters that is interesting enough to have a whole show built around him. In fact, sometimes we wish Girls was this show, as he is often the most intriguing part of the scenes he is in. He is also the only one that seems to say what's actually on his mind, refusing to participate in any pretense. They are now the stabilizing influences not only in their own lives, but their friends as well. Jessa's in rehab, Marnie's still a mess from breaking up with her high-school sweetheart Charlie, and Shoshanna is starting to explore more and more of this crazy process of becoming an adult and getting ready to graduate. There were a few laugh out loud moments and a few heart tugging ones, and I don't feel like giving up on the series like I was close to last year.
There are still a few potholes in the uphill climb from Girls's sophomore slump. Some of the dialogue is stilted, which when it's in this rapid-fire style can cause it to tilt precariously, but it's still some of the most original and intelligent dialogue you'll hear. The scattered feel of the plot that in the first season coagulated into cohesion but failed to congeal in the second is still present, and since it's still early we don't know if we're going to get a payoff. Yet as a slice of life show it still works, and it's still smarter than any other female based television going on now. I want this show to succeed, and I will continue to watch.
True Detective (2014)
Truly a Good Show
Check out my blog- http://televisionreligion.blogspot.com/ HBO's latest series, True Detectives, slips comfortably into the network's reputation for quality. This is going to be an anthology series where each season is a self-contained story, with different actors, which frees up movie stars like Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson to show their talents in a different medium other than the big screen while not committing to a time consuming series. Within the first three minutes the chemistry between them becomes infectious, or perhaps I should say addictive, and their charisma allows some of the faults in the show to be smoothed over. As soon as you see them together, you wonder how the hell this pairing hasn't come about before. McConaughey as the ubiquitous genius Rust Cohle who has the ability to empathize with serial killers because of how close his thought process mirrors his prey is supremely effective. Harrelson has the harder role in Martin Hart, as the straight man always does, as the good old boy self-described "regular type dude". The plot is terribly familiar territory, a ritualistic serial killer stalking young women and the flawed men investigating the murders while going about their flawed lives. There's some Fargo, some Seven, some Hannibal, some of The Killing (which the writer/creator penned a few episodes of)- it seems a bit of every sort of procedural cop story, and just because you have all the ingredients of a cheesecake doesn't mean you have a good one once it comes out of the oven. Yet as more is revealed as to why these very human men are angst ridden and dialogue that borders on philosophy comes to the forefront it becomes less formulaic. The main story is told in flashbacks by the characters while being interviewed, or perhaps interrogated, by fellow law enforcement. The non-linear story line is not just a gimmick, what we get to see in the present day interview rooms is the toll the last 18 years have taken on these men, which whets our appetite to find out why. The cinematography is moody, but never suffocating. Like a lot of great series, the sense of place in the stifled economy and heat of Louisiana isn't just a setting, it becomes a character in and of itself, although the desolation is sometimes a little hit you over the head. The editing is scrumptious, there's none of that crappy quick jump shots to build suspense, and the camera lingers on the actors after the dialogue is over so that we can drink in the reactions, not just get to the next plot point. I sense a light touch in the direction, mostly allowing for a scene to unfold with real feeling instead of force feeding our sense of these characters, which lets us draw our own conclusions while working things out for ourselves. And that's what I'm liking most about this series so far. Like Breaking Bad the writers are respecting me, not expecting me to only be able to comprehend at a 6th grade level. This is a series that your mind has to actually participate in. With a bit of drug-fueled surrealism and some Cormac McCarthy like dialogue (mostly from McConaughey) on how the human race is a natural mistake or tapping into universal truths that doesn't actually come out of people's mouths in real life but none the less trips on the ear and tickles your brain pan this isn't going to be up everybody's alley. I've only spent a few hours with these characters and I am feeling a bit emotionally unvested, but I am going to continue to watch.
Graceland (2013)
Smarter than you think
As the most arid couple of weeks in television are drawing to a close and the huge tsunami that is the fall season is set to start, I thought I'd muse a bit about this past summer season. We no longer call it mid-season with the plethora of cable channels that offer up some of their best shows during this time. So what did I enjoy most these last few months? Was it the long anticipated return of AMC's Mad Men that turned out to have one of the most do-nothing seasons in a do-nothing show? Was it FX's The Bridge, which started so strongly and then started meandering, lost in the desert in which it was set with characters popping in and out like mirages? Was it Showtime's heavily advertised Donovan, which had a cast I should have liked but I gave up on because it was so cliché and boring? Perhaps it was NBC's too short of a season for Crossing Lines, which I ended up watching all the way through and enjoyed most of. Of course A&E's Longmire (the best show you may not have heard of) struck great twangy modern western chords during its sophomore season that were music to my heart. But, it turns out my most overall enjoyable television experience during the hot months was the ubercool Graceland on USA that has its season finale this Thursday. This is one of those shows I had no feeling of anticipation for, I only stumbled across the premier date in an ad on IMDb. There are absolutely no other shows I watch on USA, though I've sampled most of them. I wasn't even sure what it was supposed to be about, since the ad was just a typical USA style still with an attractive person staring intently off to one side striking an awesome profile pose. Turns out, the show features a lot of incredibly attractive people who work mostly undercover for various agencies like the FBI, DEA, and Customs, all living together in a huge beach house. The house- nicknamed Graceland- serves as a safe haven where these agents can relax and be their (supposedly) true selves. The newcomer, played by Les Miserables' Aaron Tviet, is a FBI legacy who isn't happy that he got transferred to California right out of the Academy, as his ambitions lay in the nation's capital with hopes of becoming a director rather than a field agent. During the premier episode it is revealed that his true assignment is to investigate the charismatic and enigmatic unofficial leader of the house and training agent played by Daniel Sunjata. This show is full of eye candy. Death Proof's Vanessa Ferlito has permanent duckface, but in a smolderingly delicious way. Though they could just stand there, each character is three-dimensional and well-portrayed. The double and triple lives these people lead become entwined with each other and the criminal underworld of drug smugglers in ways that rarely feel forced or preposterous. The red herrings aren't just used to stretch the story into a season's worth of plot, but rather to add to the layers of who these people are and where their final loyalties lie. There is true tension here. This show should NOT be as smart as it is. It works as a breezy beach read AND as a complex psychological thrill ride. Don't get me wrong, there are some things that you do see coming- I mean, how much of the face does a bandana really cover?- but quite frankly, it was a bigger surprise than Hannibal. I feel badly I didn't clue my readers in on this show earlier. When you can find a way, check it out. It just got renewed for a second season today.
Lilyhammer (2012)
Season 2
This is for Season 2 only. Chech out my blog http://televisionreligion.blogspot.com/ Netflix is demonstrating the future of how I will worship at my altar in the coming years. With several original series that don't only challenge the quality of television on networks but blows the majority of it away, I have a special place in my heart for Lilyhammer, the show that started it all. Not just as the originator for this new venue of watch worthy programming, but also as a great show. It was one of those experiments I was so worried about- original programming on a streaming/rental service with a star and character derived directly from one of the greatest shows ever made? And yet by the first ten minutes I was sold- it wasn't going to be Soprano leftovers gone spoiled in the fridge, it was going to be just the right amount of quirk and drama that touched me in that special place I reserve for my love for the surreal. So when the 2nd season was announced, I was excited. I wasn't even going to let some trepidation inducing foreknowledge concern me. I happen to have a friend who was part of a focus group for the promos for this sophomore season, also a fan of the first. What she revealed was that it was worrisome- a seeming change in tone from surrealism to machismo. I tried to justify it as just a change in the way they were advertising- trying to attract a specific portion of audience that perhaps they weren't able to capture previously. Alas, it was just wishful thinking. There wasn't just a shift in tone as much a terrible earthquake- it lost almost all its charm, cleverness, and it seemed to do the opposite of what it did the previous year- it was if it wanted to be those leftovers, and now they were a year older! By the time I finished the last episode there were two questions in my mind- "Why did they do that?" and "How did that happen?" Going towards the latter, I noticed the one female writer credited last year was gone from the credits this year, while other writers and most of the directors were the same. I think that one voice must have been a pretty important one. Another major problem was some of the actors started having so much fun acting they forgot the acting part, that while you're in the midst of relishing a role, you do still have to play it. Lastly, the scope was widened. One of the reasons the first season worked was because when you look at something under a microscope, it looks strange and intriguing- it's why most fish out of water scenarios works. Their fresh eyes are the microscope. But these 8 new episodes expanded to include new characters more from the fish's world, and also put new fish out onto the beach as well- which generally makes for a smelly beach. So that begs the second question- "Why?" I can only think that those involved were so happy their crazy idea worked the first time around, they decided to go with a lot of other chances- in the writing, the directing, and the performances. That those responsible for reining them back weren't as likely to because of their previous successes. There are moments that feel as refreshing as the first season, enough that if it gets a third season I will watch again- a lot of good shows have a sophomore slump where they go off the reservation a bit while they experiment. (I'm holding out the same hope for Girls.) If I had to go into numbers, it's at about 50% of the quality of its first season. Which unfortunately with that portion of that amount of quality means it was a major disappointment.
Under the Dome (2013)
Under Expectations
I actually waited until the second week of this series to write my review, so please be warned that there may be references to both episodes.
I confess I read other reviews when making my decisions about whether or not to watch, and what to look forward to. I would have watched this series even if it hadn't been favorably reviewed because of the source material. I love anything involving Stephen King- circa 1995 or earlier. He has struggled with his novels recently, and most TV adaptations of even his earlier material have often fell flat. Even so, I was looking forward to this series because of the King connection and the positive reviews. So far, I am disappointed.
I haven't read the book this series is based on, but it was recognizably King in tone and scope. There was a multitude of characters to familiarize oneself with, with motives in shades of gray rainbows. There was the mysterious event throwing these slices of life together- mainly, a gigantic impenetrable dome appears over (and under) the small town of Chester's Mill. The introduction of the Dome was pretty cool, especially the scene with the cow who chose the exact wrong patch of grass to graze on that day. But then for the next 100 minutes of television I was waiting for something else to happen. I recognize that they were trying to build tension, but I didn't feel any of it. There was a lack of King atmosphere- for some reason I was thinking Chester's Mill was in Texas or somewhere, but when I IMDBd the show for my review, it said the fictional town was in King's proverbial Maine- a fact that was lost on me due to lack of place. There was also a distinct lack of person, too. The acting, especially the teenagers, is abhorrent. It's hammy and overhanded. This is from a cast that includes Breaking Bad's supporting player Dean Norris, who is just wasted here. I appreciate characters that aren't drawn inside the lines, so far none of these one dimensional stereotypes are worth rooting for here. Also, this is the second series I watched in so many weeks where one of the (presumed) main characters dies in the final act of the pilot. Both times it felt like a stunt. Maybe some of the writers out there have got the idea from gold standard shows like The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones that it's in fashion to whack main characters- but like the meme says, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG. I also think it's an incredibly cheap shot to reference the exact work you want to be compared to. At one point in the second episode, without any reason to think that it will get to this point, one of the characters says "I'd hate to see it go all 'Lord of the Flies' in here." Ugh. Freshman English- show, don't tell.
Siberia (2013)
Art imitating life imitating art imitating a good show.
NBC is fast becoming a wilderness of novel ideas executed in fantastically horrible ways. Gone are the days when one would get all fan-girly over self proclaimed "Must See TV!". Hannibal is the exception that sheds light on this rule- NBC hasn't consistently come up with good 10 o'clock drama in a long time. And they still haven't. Siberia is one of those shows that you can just picture the pitch- "It's Lost meets Survivor!" and the response- "We can't lose!". And then many focus groups and audience analysts later we get an hour of TV that cries "Watch me! Please, for the love of God, Watch me!" while you drag it kicking and screaming back to the pit and tell it to put the lotion on its skin. The premise is pretty simple- a generic reality show with a bunch of "types" struggling to survive in the wilderness. "But there's a twist..." There are no rules, no food, and their luggage is confiscated in the beginning. There's all the shaky camera action and "candid" moments of an actual reality show, but of course, this is all fiction. This is a scripted show that spent the entire first hour building its gimmick before revealing its actual plot- that there's something deadly in them thar hills. PS- THIRD show of I've watched this summer season that kills off a main character at the end of the pilot. Granted, it's basically a slasher flick stretched into a series, but still. This isn't the first show that shoots in "reality" style- it's been ten years since the premier of The Office started it and four since Modern Family perfected it. The problem is, they aren't playing for laughs here, but chills. And I got chills, believe me. I was left colder than ice. The acting and writing is as bad as you'd see on any "real" reality show. With characters pulled out of a casting manual, it really doesn't matter. In fact, nothing on this show matters except how bad it actually is- and the reason I'm going to keep watching, at least for a while- how bad it could actually get. I have a secret evil wish regarding this show. Do you remember the Animal Planet mockumentary about mermaids that actually got the network in trouble because there were so many people that believed it? Are there those among you who actually know the incident with "War of the Worlds" that has nothing to do with Tom Cruise? I hope this happens with this show. I hope there are people watching it right now and in the future that believe this show is real. That is the kind of audience this show deserves. People such as this, and me- who will be hatewatching the next few episodes in hope of using it as an example of what NOT to do with your television time.
Camp (2013)
Camp- Inoffensive but Uninteresting
Camp is mid season filler set in the summer season at a "family camp" where parents and kids spend months away from work and school communing with nature- which I'm not sure actually exists outside of TV land. It takes place in a John Hughes-like world where even the nerds are hot. There are a lot of teens that look like seniors in college pushing a lot of angst around and starting to discover themselves through sex, while the adults are discovering themselves too- with a lot of anger sex. The plot is extremely thin and incredibly cliché- the owner of "Little Otter" needs money, the guy who owns the camp across the lake where all the rich kids go wants to buy her out, the main nerd is going to win the heart of the outcast girl, the talent show has to be "saved", etc. Rachel Griffiths from Six Feet Under anchors a cast of young unknowns that all seem likable enough. She and the young man who plays her son were easily the most watchable and real part of the show.
There's nothing offensive here, nothing that made me cringe- but there's nothing interesting here either, except maybe the soundtrack of popular music that comes blasting in at the beginning and end of each act, and sometimes in between. The title tells you how much imagination is present. I thought maybe it would be awesomely kitschy and make the title have more than one meaning, but my hopes were set too high. There's a few WTF moments too- like when a raid on the rival camp that supposedly serves the same type of family clientèle reveals they serve beer on ice at an awesome buffet attended to by uniformed waiters. For the most part the pilot seemed to be suffering an identity crisis, even for something advertised as a "dramedy". Within the first five minutes someone got a fishhook to the nose and another person took a kiddie punch to the crotch, and then the story evolved to include a failed Olympic swimmer, a failed marriage, and even touched on modern homophobia. It was scattered and was definitely trying too hard. The gay couple was black and Latino, with an Asian and Indian(?) child, just so no one can accuse NBC of not being diverse. This feels like a show that belongs on ABC Family. I'm not sure what the future or time structure of this show is going to be either, as it has an automatic limit in that even summers that seem to last forever eventually end.
Speaking of nationalities, this brings me to a bit of an off topic rant. This show was shot in Australia. Rachel Griffiths is Australian, though here she puts on an American accent. What's so confusing about this is the owner of the rival camp (whom she winds up sleeping with as well as competing with, by the way) is played by Rodger Corser, who is also Australian, and gets to speak in his actual accent. Why can't Rachel Griffiths speak in her natural accent too? Are we not smart enough to figure out it's all supposed to take place in the USA if there's different accents? Or are Australian accents the new politically acceptable "evil" accent now that the Cold War is over? Granted, Brits and Aussies usually can do American accents flawlessly- like the three Brits currently in the main cast of the incomparable Walking Dead- but when they don't have to, why make them? There wasn't enough here for me to continue to watch this show. If they had just been a little braver, a little darker, a little funnier it would have tipped the scales. It needed originality thrown in there somewhere, and considering the preview for next week showed a scene ripped directly out of The Parent Trap, I'm confident in my decision not to watch.
Crossing Lines (2013)
Pilot Was Promising
People throw about the word "formulaic" as such an insult nowadays. I am guilty of it myself. Yet one has to ask oneself- why is there a formula? Because it generally works. Cop procedurals have been around since the dawn of television, even further back to radio (Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men?). I don't know if our prehistoric ancestors enjoyed a good mystery, but I'm guessing yes. There are a billion cookie cutter shows out there currently involving investigators of some sort, most of them struggling to make their own identity. Some do it well by going to old source material and sprucing it up (Elementary, Hannibal) while others spoon feed answers to a dumbed down populace to make everyone watching feel smart by the end (anything with an anagram).
Thrown into this ball pit is a particularly shiny entry called "Crossing Lines", airing on Sundays on NBC. It has a huge plus right off the bat- William Fichtner. This underrated character actor pops up from time to time and always welcomely so. This is the first vehicle where he is driving instead of riding shot gun after first catching my attention in "Invasion", a show I always use as an example of how sometimes if you stick with a promising concept it can develop into a finely crafted story worth watching. Of course it will usually get canceled shortly thereafter. Another obvious plus is Donald Sutherland- you know, Jack Bauer's dad!- but though he is heavily featured in the promotional material for the show, I think his airtime in the 2 hour pilot I watched was less than ten minutes total. But believe me, he made those minutes count. The rest of the cast, and there is an extensive one, is made up largely of unknowns, at least to American audiences. There was one familiar face, although I had to IMDb him to figure out where I had seen him before- but now a woman knows. This grouping of accented actors is the knife this mystery is using to carve its niche- a group of international lawmakers pulling together to solve crimes that cross international borders. See how clever that makes the title? Some of the actors are certainly better than some of the others- and I suspect some of the accents too, though I confess I have zero ear for them- but there is plenty to just look at if that's your thing.
The story certainly does follow a recipe- the damaged cop struggling to redeem himself; the gang of genius misfits coming together first antagonistically but eventually gaining respect, even affection for one another. The generic quality continued in the contained mystery of the pilot focusing on a short loser with mommy issues killing women. Yet there were hints at upcoming serial story lines that seem possibly more intriguing. There was also the death of one of the "major" characters at the end, but once it happened their freshly fleshed out three dimensionality felt flat again to me, as if they were only built up in that way so that we would feel something when they died. I like being spoon fed my emotions about as much as I like being spoon fed my plot lines.
The production level of this show is high, with great looking cinematography, if a bit on the gray side for atmosphere. According to IMDb there were actual international shoots for this show, beyond just the usual Canadian stand in for everyplace from London to Minnesota. The problem I'm having lately with these types of shows, even ones I enjoy, like the aforementioned Elementary, is the mystery/investigation part of it is always the low point. Just like newspapers used to be written at an 8th grade level, the mysteries presented are pretty dumbed down. Even when all the clues are in, the writers often rely on a turn of luck because they've usually written themselves into a corner where the killer can't be caught unless something happens like- the killer gets a flat tire? Seriously? While plots like this do build suspense, they kill my willing suspension of disbelief.
I will DVR this show again. It deserves a few more episodes to try it out. Pilots are often more formulaic than subsequent episodes, and there were hints that the production team was self conscious of some of the above mentioned flaws. At one point one of the "team" makes a joke about them being the Justice League, and at another point Fichtner's Carl Hickman says they are going to have to rely on a cop's worst nightmare- luck. There were also genuine moments such as when Hickman confesses that one of his "reads" was due to preexisting knowledge rather than deduction. I'm hoping there's more humanity and intelligence and less pandering in the subsequent episodes.
The Bridge (2013)
Dense and Rich
While AMC gets most of the glory for redirecting viewers in search of quality programming from major network to basic cable with shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men, FX is definitely holding their own with Justified, Sons of Anarchy, and their newest venture The Bridge. As Shakespeare said "There is nothing new under the sun", and The Bridge isn't exactly new either. It's a remake of Denmark's "Bron", which also means "the bridge". Yet while the original focused on a crime that took place on the borders of Denmark and Sweden, FX's version focuses on the much grittier border of Mexico and the U.S., specifically the darkly criminal Juarez and comparatively backwoods El Paso. When a woman is found murdered and laid out directly on the border bridge, it forces law agents from both locations to work together.
This show is dense and rich, the TV equivalent of brownie cheesecake. It starts with the two leads, Diane Kruger playing Det. Sonya Cross and the real find- Demian Bichir as her Mexican counterpart Marco Ruiz. Kruger is playing down the physical beauty that landed her the roll of Helen in the movie Troy, and her Det. Cross is so socially awkward because of her struggle with Asperger's her scenes are painful to watch- in the good way. While there were times when I thought Kruger was overdoing it slightly, there was nothing jarring, and there were moments of fragility she played beautifully. Ruiz is her polar opposite, smooth and charismatic, charming ladies out of information as quickly and easily as Cross causes people to shut down. Bichir, whose IMDb credits are mostly Spanish language rolls, displays acting as effortless as his character's charm- there wasn't a single false note. Their assumptions of one another and the way their behavior is expected to be, should be, and will be compared to the actions they actually take is wonderfully constructed conflict that transcends the cliché butting of heads usually found in plots like this.
There are other threads and characters presented that aren't immediately clear how they relate to each other, mainly a recently widowed politician's wife, played by the always-good-to-see Annabeth Gish, whose husband was into something behind literal closed doors. There's an egotistical reporter that is introduced as a stereotype who quickly develops pathos when put in a unique danger. We also glimpse a sinister coyote- not the animal, but someone who escorts illegal immigrants across the border for high prices- but his may be the highest of all. There were complexities of family and mentors added to the leads, and the writers balanced all of this without being convoluted or feeling like anything was just filler.
A lot happened though very little was revealed in the hour and half pilot, at no point did I find this languid. The Bridge is drawing comparisons to another Denmark import, AMC's The Killing- but after just the first episode I already have higher hopes for it- even though The Killing was another show I thoroughly enjoyed. There was more delicious tension here. There is also a healthy dose of trepidation while watching. We the viewers are preparing for (and looking forward to) dark times ahead. There is such a sense of place; I love when a location becomes something of a character in and of itself. There are hints of politics, national and race, which entered into the scope of the show without any screechy preaching. Even the cinematography is high quality and real- the night feels like night, not just day with a lens filter. This show is definitely worth watching, and unless it takes a series of serious missteps in the future I will be.
So You Think You Can Dance (2005)
Reality TV Show that Works
Reality television as a whole is a cesspool that collects the very worst of human behavior and emotions in a cistern and lets it fester until it creates the fertilizer for the destructive roots growing into the foundations of civilized society. There are a few exceptions. One of the major ones is the Fox series So You Think You Can Dance. All the ingredients for the cheesy talent competitions that have embedded themselves into a huge section of most stations' schedules are present- 3 judges, an impossibly photogenic host, and a bunch of attractive young people yearning to realize their dream. But that's pretty much where the similarities end. The major difference is these kids are actually talented. They dance their little hearts out every week and are an absolute delight to watch. SYTYCD is such an anticipated pleasure each and every season. There just isn't anywhere else except Broadway and your local dance troupes that you can experience the joy of watching this level of dance. The choreographers have won many an Emmy for the show, and deservedly so. The complexity, story, and variety they put into each number elevates this reality show to heights far beyond the hoi polloi. The show exposes the viewer to many different types of music as well as different forms of dance, most of which one would never have exposure to. This isn't "Dancing With The Stars" where B-list celebrities try desperately to adhere to simple foxtrots and tangos- we get treated to everything from African Jazz to incredibly challenging contemporary pieces choreographed and danced by some of the best in the country. It's culture, folks. Don't think that it gets bogged down in pretentiousness, though. This show is, above all, fun. Everyone involved seems to be having a ball. The kids enjoy strutting their stuff, the choreographers love the exposure, and the judges genuinely seem to care for the kids. They also give advice that actually has to do with dancing! Not only do they seem to enjoy each other's company, there's a guest judge each week to keep the chemistry fresh. Nigel Lythgoe is such an advocate of dance and Mary Murphy, the lost Osmond, is so infectiously perky that it's impossible not to have fun along with them. Host Cat Deely is also such a fashionista half the reason to tune in each week is just to see what she's wearing. The audience enjoys it all as well- I guarantee that at least once per week you will get goosebumps from one of the numbers- and who doesn't love that? The final element that I like about SYTYCD- each season I've watched, the audience watching at home that calls in and votes have got the winner right. This isn't a show that encourages a backlash like what inspired the American Idol's "Vote For the Worst" campaign. Those of us who watch it vote for the best dancer, not just the prettiest face or the largest personality. Yes, in earlier rounds, even up to some of the final shows, a personality will get a contestant far. But unless they back that up with actual talent and effort they won't win. And that's what makes this reality show more real than most, and a real treat to watch.