Best Show (Comedy): From all the talk around, you'd think
that there wasn't any comedy left on TV anymore. Seinfeld is long
gone. The final outings of Mad About You and Home Improvement came
way too late. And let's not even get into the fact that Suddenly Susan got
renewed. But I think this has been one of the best comedy years in quite a
while. Consider:
Frasier, after a rocky start, regained it's usually stellar form.
Friends had a creative renaissance when they stopped depending on Ross
and Rachel. Just Shoot Me proved itself to be more than a fad by putting up another
good year.Raymond still leaves us laughing every week. The Simpsons and King of the Hill continue to be good
enough to be considered among the top comedies, animated or no. Sports Night invigorated the genre.NewsRadio recovered from the loss of Phil Hartman to put together
another great year.The King of Queens, along with It's Like, You Know...
and The Norm Show proved to be capable rookies.Drew Carey, no longer the water-cooler show it once was, still had a
solid season.And yes, Spin City had arguably it's best year ever.Not bad for a genre declared dead by EW just a few weeks ago. But who's the best of the lot this year? Frasier's early slump disqualifies it. Sports Night, while great, still needs a bit of fine tuning before we start passing out the big hardware. Just Shoot Me and Spin City are good enough to be nominated, but probably not to win. Friends, the only NBC show not hemmoraging viewers has done more than enough to win the crown. But each week, Everybody showed just how much they Loved Raymond. The Barones were, hands down, the funniest non-animated family this year. From the obnoxious parents to Ray's tiffs with his wife, this group did it well, and even relatively cleanly. And this year, that's good enough.
Best Show (Drama): For a while, it looked like NYPD
Blue would run away with this thing. But then Bobby died, Rick(y) Schroeder
came in, and the show came back down to Earth. Not to take away anything from the
Rickster, but the boys in Blue certainly didn't end on a high note. ER
suffered from grandiose expectations and had it's most inconsistent year. The
Practice, towards the end, started to become just a little to unbearable. (Ally
achieved that early on in what can only be called David E. Kelly-itis.) So who's the
best drama? Homicide? Couldn't recover from the loss of Andre
Braugher. The X-Files? The movie, which I personally liked,
seems to have drained some of the vigor out of the series. Buffy the Vampire
Slayer? Good TV, but it's not on a real network. Dateline?
(Just seeing if you were paying attention with that last one.) Worst Show (Comedy): Let's face it. As good as the upper
echelon sitcoms were, the bottom feeders were simply awful. Not only were some of
the new ones DOA, (Everything's Relative, The Secret Lives of Men,
The Brian Benben Show), some of the returning shows proved just how
desparate the networks are for familiar faces. The fact that Caroline in the
City wasn't bombed until this year speaks volumes about the TV industry.
And yet, Lea Thompson's show wasn't the worst of the lot. Veronica's Closet
and Jesse were so bad, they made America stop tuning into ER.
Two of A Kind finally proved once and for all that America hates the
Olsen Twins with a passion. Costello may have single-handedly ended
the practice of giving sitcoms to stand-up comedians. Over at CBS, The
Nanny was finally put out of it's misery while Cosby continues
to cause audiences to go into fits of rage. And let's not forget the WB, which
inexplicably renewed The Wayans Brothers, Sister Sister,
and Unhapilly Ever After year after year. (The last 2 are finally
leaving. But too little to late, I say.) Worst Show (Drama): This category is becoming harder and
harder to call. Mind you, it's not that the quality of dramas is increasing accross
the board. Just take a look at what the networks tried to offer us this year:
Trinity, Wind on Water, Strange World, Vengance
Unlimited, and of course, Turks. Mix this in with
returning atrocities like Beverly Hills 90210 and Chicago Hope
and you've got some serious contenders for the crown. No, this category suffers
simply becuase the networks have stumbled upon a scheme that, unfortunately, everyone is
copying. Whenever a drama becomes so bad even THEY hate it, they merely drum up a
"reality special" with hidden cameras, chase footage, or people catching on
fire. Or even worse, a newsmagazine. Best New Show (Returning): So is Sports Night
a comedy or drama? Is the laugh track merely annoying or ear-splittingly grating?
Does Aaron Sorkin sometimes bludgeon us with dramatic convention and make his
points in not-so-subtle ways? Yes, both, and you bet. But these are mere minor
quibbles. Put simply, Sports Night is the best conceived and executed show to come
down the pike in quite a while. So sit back and enjoy someone trying something
different. And more often than not, succeeding. The Police Squad! Award: (Best New Show that Still Got
Cancelled): The patience that ABC extended to Sports Night
was definitely not given to Cupid, ABC's other promising
rookie. Cupid had little chance to shine after being uncerimoniously dumped on
Saturdays and Thursdays, but the show made do with what it had and cranked out some pretty
good shows. Too bad ABC gave up so it could give time for The Big Moment, a
cheap knockoff that only looked good when compared to The World's Funniest.
Here's hoping someone has the good sense to pick up the reruns and show them. Or
even better, put Jeremy Piven and Paula Marshall back to work. Worst New Show (Returning): Being that Providence
has already scaled the mountain of awfulness to claim the prize as Worst Drama, it
wouldn't be a strech to call it the Worst Returning Rooke. However, that does a
disservice to some of the other train-wrecks that are making it back for the '99
campaign. Becker somehow tapped into a segment of the population
that yearned to see Ted Danson as a cranky doctor. The Hughleys
tapped into a segment of the population that yearned to see a blatent rip-off of The
Jeffersons. Felicity tapped into a segment of the population that
wanted a show filled with people that had good hair. Martial Law
tapped into a segment of the population that wanted to see a fat man perform martial arts
while not wearing a wrestling mask. And Charmed tapped into a
segment of the population that yearned to see even a glimpse of a scantily-clad Alyssa
Milano. Yet none of these monuments to mediocrity reached to the level of banality
that is Providence.Worst New Show (Not Returning): Wow, now this was a
competition. A run down, network by network, of the finalists:CBS:
The Brian Benben Show - Seems Benben wasn't the reason millions of
horny teenagers tuned into Dream On. Maybe it had something to do with all
those naked chicks.To Have and To Hold - Like Trinity and Turks, this
one covered nearly every ethnic stereotype in the book. But There's Something
About Moira Kelly, who's held a spell over me ever since The Cutting Edge.Turks - What Dellaventura did for Italians last year, this
mutt did for Irishmen.Payne - John Larroquette asked us not to compare this rip-off to it's
predecesor Faulty Towers. We didn't.L.A. Doctors - Even a guest turn by Dennis Rodman was boring on this
show.NBC:
Wind on Water - Bo Derek just doesn't have it anymore. In her
prime she could have made us ignore the surfboarding Gen-Xers who were trying to save a
horse ranch.Conrad Bloom - NBC is rather happy about the fact that we've already
forgotten just how bad this show really was.Encore! Encore! - The creators of Frasier followed in the
footsteps of the creators of Friends by puking up this offering. The public
just wasn't ready for Nathan Lane as an unemployed heterosexual.Trinity - Further proof that Tate Donovan has no reason to be in show
business.Everything's Relative - What if there were a sitcom that was so
uninspired, even the producers could have cared less.ABC:
Fantasy Island - Not spectacurlaly bad like the others, but forever
dimmed your memories of the original.The Secret Lives of Men - Apparently still a secret, since no one
watched.Brother's Keeper - Proving that NFL placekickers just aren't a very
good plot device.The Big Moment - They could have whittled this show down to about 5
minutes and it still would have been too long.Vengence Unlimited - Violence on TV?!? Nah...Strange World - Like last year's Push, a spectacular
flame-out. NYPD Blue suffered it's worst ratings ever as viewers were
afraid to turn back.FOX:
Costello - Hadn't we learned our lesson already from Mr. Rhodes?Holding the Baby - Hadn't we learned our lesson already from Full
House?Guiness World Records - Hadn't we learned our lesson already from That's
Incredible!?Brimstome - Hadn't we learned our lesson already from everything that
starred Peter Horton?WB:
America's Greatest Pets - Ali Landry can sell chips, but she sure
couldn't sell America on something right out of a cable-access show.Love Boat: The Next Wave - Not as good as Fantasy Island.
And that should just about tell you all you need to know.UPN:
Diresta - UPN does something incredible and rips off The King of
Queens during it's rookie season.Red Handed - I have yet to discover America's fascination with Adam
Carolla. But this went a long way towards ending it.The Army Show - Never, EVER create a show starring an ex-MTVer.
The "best" so far has been Dan Cortese in Veronica's Closet. The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfiffer - You could call this show a lot of
things (and they did), but you have to admit, it was actually an original idea.
Maybe if it wasn't such a stupid idea to begin with, people in Hollywood might start
thinking creatively.Legacy - The producers miscalculated the market for 19th Century Horse
drama.So who's the "winner" in this competition? All of them certainly qualify. UPN's and the WB's entrys are awful, but can't be condemed because each of these networks is still litte more than a collection of UHF stations so most of the public was unaware of the wretchedness. All the CBS entries were shown to old people who have since died off, so there's no telling what they were actually like. And while the rest equally deserved the honor of being the worst show of the year, Encore! Encore! takes the cake for 3 reasons. First, it represents the worst of NBC's Must See marketing plan. Second, it illustrates how sweetheart deals for producers can go horribly wrong. And third, did I mention Nathan Lane played a operatic heterosexual?
Best New Cartoon: Once again, another competitive
race. Dilbert got out of the gate first, but limped home at the end
of the season. The PJs were good but didn't make a Fall birth next
year. (It'll be back soon enough.) And while some liked the antics of Family
Guy, I'm giving the award to Futurama, Matt Groening's
newest creation. The show had almost as many expectations as The Phantom Menace and,
for the most part, delivered. The animation was spectacular, the dialogue crisp, the
jokes sharp, and the character list steadily building. Like Sports Night,
it may not be firing on all cylanders yet, but it's close. Worst New Cartoon: If you have epilepsy, you would
probably vote for Home Movies, a show whose animation style made you long
for still paintings. But I would vote for Family Guy, a show
that was overly trite, reveled in it's crudeness, and otherwise underwhelmed. When
it premiered after the Super Bowl, most praised it's extreme sense of humor. But it
has since degraded into a predictable "joke - pop culture reference" formula
that doesn't tell a story, doesn't embellish the characters, and doesn't keep me
interested. Yes, some of the bits were funny. But if I wanted to see funny
bits, I'd watch SNL from the Carvey-Hartman years. Best Comedic Actor: Kelsey Grammar
usually has this all locked up, but this year we're looking elsewhere. Michael
J. Fox would be an obvious choice, what with his show having it's best year, and
the fact that he's terminally ill. And while that will win you Emmy votes, it won't
get you jack here. So we look elsewhere... Matthew Perry
headlined a Friends renaissance, but he didn't take Chandler to any new
heights. Ray Romano, while leading probably the best ensemble,
doesn't win any points for ostensibly playing himself. Ditto for Tim Allen,
Bill Cosby, and Drew Carey. So who wins? In
a stunning upset, Hank Hill from King of the Hill takes
the prize. I know what you're saying, "Wait, he's not even real!!!" However, Mike Judge gave a voice to a character that was nuanced and continued to grow. While still introverted and lover of all things Texas, Hank has begun to loosen up. He's overseen the growth of his son into adolescence. He's strengthed his friendships with Bill, Dale, and Kahn. And he took doctors' advice in trying to widen his urethra in order to have another child. Most of the characters we see today are emotionally stunted or too broad to be believeable. Hank Hill defies logic by being the most realistic comedic "actor" working today. Pretty good for a cartoon.
Best Dramatic Actor: Another tough category, because all the
usual suspects have begun leaving: Jimmy Smits, George
Clooney, Andre Braugher. And Benjamin Bratt
is leaving after this year too. David Duchovny certainly expanded
his range, but his show didn't have the best of years. And we can forget nominating
anyone involved with LA Doctors, Providence, or any other high-profile
rookies. So, in another unconventional pick, the Best Dramatic Actor comes from a
show that no longer produces episodes: Jeremy Piven from Cupid.
The magic of his performance was that you weren't sure whether he really was the God of
Love or whether he was simply nuts. Fans (and there were too few of those) could
debate it for hours. Bonus points for coming from the creative black hole that was Ellen's
final year.Best Comedic Actress: It's been a bad couple of years for Female
sitcom leads. Julia-Louis Dreyfuss seemed to always be in the running, but she's
nowhere to be found this year. Patricia Richardson hasn't said
anything besides "Oh Tim" for the past 4 years. Helen Hunt,
who's been winning everything, got a truckload of money this year and didn't actually do
anything. And when the highest profile nominees are Lea Thompson, Brooke
Shields, Kirstie Alley and Christina Applegate,
you've got bigger problems. So it's a good thing Felicity Huffman
appeared on the scene this year and singlehandedly walked away with the race. Her
take-charge producer, Dana Whitaker, proved to be the emotional center of SportsNight
and gave the show it's pacing and energy. Even when she was frazzled, she held her
staff together and got the job done. And in the season finale, she did both,
rebuffing Gordon's advances while freaking out over her inability to take a picture.
Noone was able to separate her professional and personal lives better than Dana, and for
that, Whitaker wins the prize.Best Dramatic Actress: It's a shame Sarah Michelle
Gellar isn't on a real network, else she'd probably win this one. But that
would give credence to the theory that the WB is worth watching. Some would also
nominate Julianna Margolis for her storylines of loosing Doug but gaining
twins. Yet there was absolutely nothing subtle about her performance: it got a
little tiring to see her feign over every baby she came in contact with. Gillian
Anderson? Still too little range. Melina Karakedes?
Couldn't even pronounce her name, let alone sit through her awful show. Christine
Lahti? Even less subtle than Margolis. Bo Derek from
Wind on Water? Just checking to see if you were paying attention.
However, Neve Cambell took time out from her burgeoning movie career to
be the highlight of Party of Five. She took a stand against her producers
in the recent lesbian storyline. And while I normally don't condone that sort of
thing, she had the firmest grasp of her character of anyone in this field.Best Supporting Dramatic Actor: If you saw ER this
year, and I honestly can't balme you if you didn't, you missed a great new character in Paul
McCrane's Rocket Romano. He had a healthy dose of Peter Benton's
arrogence. Only this character had the position, and the guts, to back it up.
He was able to verbally spar with everyone and wreak havoc on all his minions.
Watching him pull puppet strings on his underlings then blame them for it was watching a
master at work. You couldn't watch him without hating his guts, and that's the sign
of a job well done.Best Supporting Comedic Actor: While some would find it
difficult to heap praise on Matt LeBlanc's version of Jeoy
Tribbiani, I thought he was able to take the character to a new level. Playing an
idiot is fairly easy, and so far, LeBlanc has been up to the challenge, as has most of the
Friends cast. But this year, Joey was called on to keep Chandler &
Monica's secret. Now, the villiage idiot had to play dumb when he knew all the
answers and allowed LeBlanc to show off actual range. His most memorable performance
since Drake Ramoray on Days of Our Lives.Best Supporting Comedic Actress: Lucy Lu
was both the best thing and the worst thing about Ally McBeal this year. As
Ling, she brought a fresh attitude to the show, and she certainly exploited it. She
attacked her character and dared us not to keep up with her antics. And therein lies
the problem. Her addition took the focus off the show's original premise and started
the descent that seemingly all Kelly productions fall into during their second year.Best Suporting Dramatic Actress: Does anyone even run against Camryn
Manhiem anymore? Since there's no competition, she gets it.Best Guest Star: Mandy Patinkin's
"guest" appearance in the final episode of Chicago Hope reminded us
just why we watched the show in the first place. In one swift motion, he fired the
entire staff and remade the hospital in his own image. It was a take charge
performance from an enpassioned actor. Chicago Hope may not be worth tuning
in to, but Patinkin sure is. He's slotted to appear in a handful of episodes next
year. I've already got them on my calendar.Worst Guest Star: Mark McGwire may be
able to hit the baseball, but he's no actor. Granted, he did as well as you could
expect any non-wrestling athlete could. But his appearance on Mad About You
only served to show just how much Mad has fallen.Best Network: Believe it or not, Jamie Tarses and
the gang down at Mickey Mouse Inc. have done a pretty good job this year. They
ushered in the two best new shows of the year (even if they canceled one of them), had
both their high-visibility midseason shows do well, and had a number of it's shows put
together some pretty steller runs this year (Spin City, NYPD Blue, Dharma).
Sure, it offered up some pretty wretched dreck like Two of a Kind and continued
to cross-polinate 20/20. But ABC is definitely on
the way up, which is more than can be said of any of the others. Worst Network: Meanwhile, while Rome burned ... You would
have thought the networks would have seen the writing on the wall last summer when total
cable viewership outnumbered total network viewership for the first time ever. But NBC
continued to trot out Must-See Datelines. (Now on 47 times a week.)
And CBS is counting on riding that older demographic until its core
audience withers away and dies. FOX? The World's Scariest
Filler XIV!!!! UPN's audience consisted of Sci-Fi geeks and other
shut-ins who lost the remote, while the WB clearly catered to the Leo
DiCaprio bunch by showing 47 melodramas for teenage girls. So who's the real loser
here? Ultimately, the viewers. But NBC clearly
suffered the most damage, with only Friends coming out relatively unscathed in
A.S.1 (After Seinfeld Year 1.) The Wings Award: "You mean that show is still on?":
Beverly Hills 90210 has been on for so long, it's now
recycling actors who left for greener pastures. Luke Perry's return only highlighted
Hill's irrelevance in the new era of Dawson's Creek.The Roseanne Award: (Great show that stuck around way too long):
Home Improvement, Mad About You, Melrose
Place (3 way tie) -- The Nanny and Unhappily
Ever After were never good enough to qualify.Most Underachieving Show: While this award could literally
apply to any show in the Not-So-Must-See stable, ER became a shell
of itself this year. Gone were the riveting storylines on overworked doctors and
life-and-death situations. Gone were the personal egos that openly clashed.
Instead, the actors seemed too relaxed and reliant on outside stunts.
Paychecks going to their heads, the actors and crew seemed to care less, and it
showed.Most Overhyped Show: Once again, ER
"wins" this award. Every episode was marketed as an "Event" with
a capital E. No suprise considering the cost, but they didn't have to bee so blatant
about it. Bonus points for having the marketing department give away every ending
during the upcoming promos. Inadvertantly, they gave us a reason not to watch, which
more and more people exercised.Most Underhyped Show: I saw 2 promos for NewsRadio
this year: one for the Season Premiere focusing on Phil Hartman's death, and the
Season (Series) Finale. That's approximately 2 more than I saw during the 1997-8
campaign. NBC points out that the show never found it's audience. I point out
that NBC made it a point for the audience not to know. First, they move it 10 times
during it's 5 year run, never once giving it the Thursday night shot it deserved.
Then, the network would fail to tell anyone where they shuffled it off to. If
NBC wants to moan about not having an adequate replacement for Seinfeld, they've
got no one to blame but themselves.Most Underappreciated Show: This was a tough category to
call. Do you give it to some high-profile shows who perform solidly, yet
unspectacurlaly? Or do you honor the shows no one knows about? If it's the
former, Spin City wins. They quietly had their best year and
began to live up to their original expectations. It it's the latter, NewsRadio
and Homicide both deserve the posthoumous honor. They put on
outstanding work even if their network left them for dead. Honorable mention to That
70's Show, which was the first successful FOX comedy not animated, Afro-centric,
or populated by Bundys.Worst Mini-Series: NBC placed all the nominees in this
category. The 60's was merely a 4 hour commercial for a CD. Hunt
for the Unicorn Killer was uninspiring. Noah's Ark managed
to offend even non-Christians. Alice in Wonderland suffered from Phantom
Menace syndrome (too much effects, not enough story). Atomic Train
was edited down in light of the Littleton massacre and suffered because of it. And
the Craig T. Nelson event in Feburary set marks for futility not seen in 30 years.
(It was so dull, I forgot the name of it. Convieniently, so did everyone
involved.) A case could be made for all of them. Yet The 60's
gets the nod over the others for one simple reason: it gets a sequel next year.
Lord help us all!Best Mini-Series: Yes it should have been shortened down.
And yes, parts of it were mercilessly repetitive. And some of the
foreshadowing was less than subtle. But in the end, Storm of the Century
was one heck of a story. Stephen King miniseries tend to be long and drawn out.
But they are always worth watching. And this year's model was no exception.
Plus, Tim Daly proved that ex-Wings actors really do have talent.Best Gimmick: This year lacked truly stand-out gimmicks.
Just last year, we had a live episode (ER), a commercial free outing (Mad
About You), Drew Carey's first April Fool's show, a Pop-Up-Video episode and
a Titanic send-up (both NewsRadio). But this year, there was only one
high-profile gimmick: ABC's Storm of the Century cross-promotion.
All of the network's shows during the week had a large storm as the backdrop.
Yes, the weather crawl part was truly tasteless, but it got ABC some free
publicity. And as they say...Worst Gimmick: Weddings have been a staple of many a
sweeps period. And there's nothing like that commitment to bring up some dramatic
tension. But NBC's endless wedding cliffhangers were just
too much. At last count, I had Caroline & the City, Just Shoot Me, Friends,
Veronica's Closet, Jesse, Mad About You, Will & Grace, Providence, and 3rd
Rock all used a wedding in one form or another in their final episodes. At
least NewsRadio had the good sense to time theirs away from everyone else's.Best Night For TV: For me, it had to be Tuesday
nights. Buffy, King of the Hill, Futurama, NewsRadio, Just Shoot Me, Spin City
and SportsNight all made their home on Tuesday. (And yes, Felicity.
Stupid girls.) Plus, only one newsmagazine. Very good indeed.
(Hint: next year, Thursday is gearing up to be a real battlefield. And
that's without the wrestling.)Most Missed: The networks would tell you Seinfeld.
Without it, NBC's Thursday machine finally showed signs of crumbling. But
even any casual observer would tell you Phil Hartman can never be
replaced. His abscence could be felt by at least 3 series. On The Simpsons,
Hartman's Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz were noticeably absent from some episodes that
seemed especially written for him. Ditto Futurama, where Matt Groening
clearly had Phil in mind when he created Zapp Branigan. But NewsRadio
missed him the most. The funeral epsiode was the only death show in recent memory
that even tried to be funny. It succeded, and remained a touching and fitting
tribute. And while his picture was seen in every episode in the background, Bill
McNeal's sour-puss antics were sorely in need for the rest of the year. Part of his
genious was being such a necessary cog without appearing to be. It would only be
fitting for the Emmies to give him a Best Guest Actor award for his last Simpsons
appearance, appearing this season. But they won't, so he'll have to make do by
knowing we all miss him and his legacy.Best Network Website: I know what you're saying,
"That doesn't have anything to do with TV." Oh, but it does. In this
growing world of corporate synergy, having a kick-ass website is almost important as
having a kick-ass show. (And I should know, having a not-so-kick-ass site.)
And I have to say, ABC has the best, most informative site.
It clearly doesn't have all the bells and whistles that others have. (That
honor would go to NBC.) But what sets abc.go.com
apart is the clean design and the organization. Each show has it's own information
page with episode guides and actor bios. Plus, it includes updated articles, easy
navigation and it begs repeat viewings. Job well done. Worst Network Website: I still haven't exactly figured out
how CBS's site works, and that's bad news. What started out
as a promising idea (having all the affiliates correspond to a network design) turns into
an unbelieveable mess. You don't know whether you're coming or going. The
level of features vary from show to show and you never feel you're looking in the right
place. Just as well, since CBS's average viewer doesn't know how to use a computer.
But that's no excuse for being hideously pad. For goodness sakes, it's worse
than PAX, and they're not even a real network!!!!