Might See TV

' Valentine ' and ' Easy Money '
The CW, Sundays, 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. (Premieres Oct. 5)
It's easy to see why the CW thought these two new dramas should be paired. They are both about family businesses and they are both beyond awful. "Easy Money" follows the Buffkins, a family of loan sharks running Prestige Payday Loans. That oxymoronic business name is about the best thing "Easy Money" has going for it; otherwise, it's just moronic. The biggest issue with the show is its insistence that the Buffkins have connections to everyone in town. It's a credibility issue that "Weeds" also had earlier on. In order to invest in "Weeds," you had to buy into the fact that nearly everybody in town smoked pot. It's a little hard to swallow, but far more manageable than the idea that every last person in the fictional southwest town of South Nile needs borderline-predatory payday loans. What's worse is the first episode's utter lack of forward momentum. Plots are hinted at more than executed, and the characters and premise are so lackadaisically introduced, I have a sneaking suspicion that the episode airing as the pilot wasn't originally intended to be the pilot. It's far too subtle and rudderless, which is unfair to the mostly good cast, particularly Laurie Metcalf, formerly of "Roseanne." Metcalf is a jewel, and it's a darn shame she has to slum it to this degree. Same goes for the astonishingly pretty Marsha Thomason, who has the unfortunate task of schlepping a subplot so ridiculous I don't feel like typing it out. For a show about a family of loan sharks, my rate of interest was pretty darn low.

Then again, after watching "Easy Money" I didn't sit slack-jawed at how awful and dishonest it was. I did feel that way about "Valentine." It's about a family living near Hollywood's Laurel Canyon—or so it seems. The Valentines are actually, yes, Greek gods and goddesses who have assumed false names. Aphrodite (Jaime Murray) has become Grace, Eros (Kristoffer Polaha) is Danny, and Hercules (Robert Baker) is Leo. Though they never mention the Greek name, Phoebe (Autumn Reeser) is supposed to be the Pythia, the priestess who oversaw the Oracle of Delphi, a pool of water that allows its user to see past, present and future events. As they are slowly becoming irrelevant—Greek mythology irrelevant? You don't say!—they must work hard to restore mortals' belief in the power of love. There isn't a single moment in the pilot that feels earned. When the couple that the family is working so hard to bring together finally connects in the end, the scene is unbelievable even by fantasy standards. There's very little joy to be found in Love, Mythology Style.

" Little Britain USA " and "The Life and Times of Tim"
HBO, Sundays, 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.
HBO has always been in a bit of a quandary. We expect it to take risks and put on challenging, outside-the-box television, but when the shows fail (see "John From Cincinnati") the network takes a huge hit for it. The risk is as big as the reward, but lately HBO's risks haven't been paying off. It has added to its comedy roster with two new shows, "Little Britain USA" and an animated series, "The Life and Times of Tim." The former is an American version of a hit British show, starring the original's duo Matt Lucas and David Walliams, who play the bulk of the characters. It's super-duper broad, at times downright disgusting, sketch comedy. It rolls out in vignettes spanning the country and a host of characters in rapid succession, not unlike "Tracy Ullman's State of the Union." But where that show goes for a loose narrative thread, "Britain" is even more disparate, throwing a whole lot of rude and vulgar characters out and seeing which ones stick. For me, it didn't work. There are clearly a lot of folks who think Lucas and Walliams are funny guys. Michael Patrick Jann, former member of sketch troupe the State, directed most of the pilot, and David Schwimmer shot the rest. Rosie O'Donnell makes a guest appearance in a sketch about a weight-loss group. But I just didn't laugh—not because it was gross-out humor, but because it wasn't funny.

I had a very similar reaction to "Tim," a crudely drawn adult cartoon. Tim is a young workaday slacker with a gift for getting himself into sticky situations. He'd be just like Sam from "Worst Week," except that Sam means well but has bad luck. Tim just has bad judgment. It's hard to feel sorry for him when his girlfriend comes home with her parents to find a prostitute in the house with Tim, refusing to leave until she gets paid. The scenes that follow are awkward, but not particularly funny. I can see why both "Britain" and "Tim" are supposed to be funny. Unfortunately, they aren't—at least for me. But anyone fond of shock humor should try out both shows, though, to see if fortune will favor HBO's characteristic boldness.

© 2008