Here we go, in no particular order.
And you may say it's unfair to include shows not "new" from June 2008-May-2009, but they need a shout-out. I saw some fantastic TV these past 12 months. New or not, they deserve recognition.
And I do apologize if I get off-track on these little write-ups. I had a lot to say and not much time. Just know that each of these ten shows are worth searching for.
1 & 2. These two shows kind of slipped into my DVR scheduler on a lark—and I ended up loving them. First is The Middleman, the show ABC Family aired and then decided to go in a different direction (mainly continuing to base shows around teenage girls). The Middleman (that’s his name—no other was given) is a secret agent-type that deals with unexplainable phenomena such as aliens and ghosts and other Men in Black/X-Files stuff. His mission is to stop whatever evil is going down and cover it up, so no one figures out what’s really happening.
But he’s not always successful on hiding his mission. Enter Wendy Watson, who The Middleman saved from a giant monster that threatened her life at her temp job. T.M. liked her abilities enough to make her a member of the Middlemen, and the two formed a partnership and, together, they solved the cases and saved the world he used to do alone.
What was fun about The Middleman was that the budget was pretty low, so they had to be extra-creative with the effects—and what they ultimately showed on camera. Some of the things looked a bit cheap, but they managed to have charm. Also, the humor was great on the show. And it was fun to see Wendy’s roommate Lacey fall for The Middleman—even though he is all about the job. There were a number of very sweet moments as he tried to let her down easy.
Boo to ABC Family for letting this show go.
The second show in this part is Lawrence of America. I don’t even know how I ended up watching it (it aired on the Travel Channel; not one I usually watch), but I’m glad I did. The premise is very simple: Englishman Lawrence Beldon-Smythe travels to various parts of America to discover the culture of the people. He learned about State Fairs, car racing, Civil War re-enactments, country music, winter Olympic athletes, and many other things in his travels—and each episode was funnier than the last.
You might wonder why a travel show would be interesting to someone with very limited time to watch all sorts of other television, and the answer is: because Beldon-Smythe tried a different approach to his storytelling. Instead of doing the much more standard (and overdone) approach of aiming a camera at something and shooting—or getting involved in the situations-- he acted as if everything he was seeing was incredibly foreign to him. Sure, America has its quirks that other countries don’t understand, but Beldon-Smythe pretended he was discovering a lost jungle tribe. It was all complemented by his choice of attire: beige khaki pants, a neutral-colored shirt—and the pocketed tan vest that every television war correspondent has to wear.
Lawrence always had his tongue in his cheek, but he never put down his subjects. Usually, he was the one getting into the silly situations when he attempted something he had been watching. My favorite episode was when he visited Nashville, and he met a country singer he developed a huge crush on. He couldn’t make his move, so he “lost her”. And then he decided to do what many country singers do when they lose a love: write a country song. It was good stuff—and very funny.
In fact, here’s a little part from a blog post about the episode he wrote:
So, this is the blog I’ve been dreading to write because this episode, filmed in Nashville, Tennessee, shows me at my most vulnerable, and possibly unprofessional. The global correspondent’s code of ethics makes it quite clear a reporter of my stature should never get romantically involved with a subject being investigated. No, I’m sorry, I just re-read the sacred cocktail napkin, and it says one should never let the audience know you’re romantically involved with a subject. Even though Rebecca Lynn Howard and I were never actually romantically involved, I still feel I let my truth guard down. I’ll admit, I was caught under her spell of loveliness. Her beautiful hair, her adorably southern accent, her tempting bosom all distracted me. Mostly the tempting bosom … but her hair was nice.
It doesn’t look like the show is coming back, and that’s a real shame. I may have to find some clips and post them. It’s been close to a year since I last watched it, but writing this bit about it has me missing the show all over again.
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