Weekly Roundup: Mother and Child Reunion

Life on Mars is quite frustrating. The template it works off of is so rich, and much of the cultural references are right on (without being too 'right on,' if you know what I mean,) but they just can't seem to nail the tone that they're shooting for. Last week delved a bit into camp, which is where there's more potential, but last night's episode criminally wasted the comedic talents of Robert Klein and Lenny Venito (who killed on The Knights of Prosperity).

The cultural references were many, including a little BBC nod of naming Sam's mother Rose Tyler, the name of the Billie Piper played character from Doctor Who. Musically, Paul Simon's "Mother and Child Reunion" was an easy call, and The Beach Boys' "Long Promised Road" was an inspiring choice, but the winner of the evening goes to the combo of T Rex and Jim Croce. In the BBC version, Sam runs into T Rex's Marc Bolan and warns him to stay away from Mini Coopers (Bolan died behind the wheel of one). Here Sam runs into Jim Croce an warns him about tiny airplanes (he would die later that year in a small commercial plane crash,) but more importantly, T Rex's "Bang a Gong" is playing in the background, as a callback to the original. Very nice. Other musical references include Deep Purple on The Dating Game (yes, it happened in 1968,) Sam flashing on a Nirvana Nevermind t-shirt, Gene being called "The Jean Genie," and while it was great hearing the final strains of a Lou Reed-led Velvet Underground ("Rock n' Roll," Reed left in 1970,) here they play the full version which didn't get released until much later. Maybe the nightclub owner has a connection to Reed, who knows?

One final reference of note is No Nuts going to see Woody Allen's Sleeper, which is appropos in that it finds our hero woken up from a 200-year coma to a future that he's clearly out of place in. It would be nice if even a smidge of the anachronistic slapstick of that film rubbed off on LoM.

Life on Mars - Episode 1.04 (playlist)
1. "Mother and Child Reunion" - Paul Simon
2. "Rock n' Roll" - The Velvet Underground
3. "Bang a Gong (Get it On)" - T Rex
4. "Lucky Lady" - Jones Brothers
5. "20th Century Man" - The Kinks
6. "Long Cool Woman" - The Hollies
7. "Long Promised Road" - The Beach Boys

Chuck - Episode 2.05 (playlist)
Chuck turns the nerd appeal up to 11 here with Missile Command, Rush, Transformers (the original, nerdier, animated version of course,) the recent video game documentary King of Kong, and Arrested Development's Tony Hale. Nerdgasm!
More thoughts and tracklisting

Skins - Episode 2.03 (playlist)
Might be my favorite moment of anguish captured in television all year, Sid breaking down to the caucophony of Crystal Castles "Alice Practice". They cut out two Sigur Ros tracks and Ryan Adam's "Come Pick Me Up" in the American version, though. Tsk, tsk.
More thoughts and tracklisting

90210 - Episode 1.08
This reboot is getting picked up overseas by E4, home of Skins -- boy are they in for a let down. Hard to believe Nic Harcourt is still slumming as music supervisor here.
Tracklisting

Gossip Girl - Episode 2.07
Jenny quits her stupid internship and ends up with Nate, while three little words trip up Chuck and Blair. Ok, so I skimmed through it. The real news this week is the release of the soundtrack, which wins for cleverest title of the year (OMFGG).
Tracklisting

More: Mad Men's season finale drops hints at the coming British invasion, Michael and Holly hear way too much of Tom Cochrane's "Life is a Highway", and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia go crazy with references: Steve Winwood's "Higher Love", "Oh Yeah" by Yello, in turn referencing The Secret of My Success and finally, Danny Devito revisiting his turn in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Previously: Osama (Been a lot of) [Last Week's Roundup]

Weekly Roundup: Veni Vidi Vici

I came, I saw... I got socked in the eye.

While the Dirty Sexy Money premiere didn't exactly make me rethink the inevitability of me giving up on watching it, the inclusion of The Black Lips' "Veni Vidi Vici" during the episode got my attention. Black Lips? More like black eyes, huh Jeremy? The manipulative Darlings are the draw, obviously, but watching Nick blacken Jeremy's eye was a perverse thrill. They're trying hard to make Jill look more sympathetic this season, but I'm still not buying why we should care that they stay together. Queen's "Under Pressure" (with David Bowie) also makes a welcome appearance.

Chuck - Episode 2.01 (Playlist)
The second season premiere brought the funny, making up for the sometimes tiring reintroduction of the series to new fans. Musically, humor took the form of Huey Lewis & the News songs ("Hip to be Square," "Power of Love,") giving us contrasting views of how the cheese of Huey Lewis can either lift spirits or annoy the hell out of you depending on your mood. Then Flight of the Conchord's french pop parody "Foux du Fafa" helped amusingly introduce Sarah's new cover at a yogurt shop (Weinerlicious will surely be missed).
[More thoughts and tracklisting]

Life - Episode 2.01 (Playlist)
Life, on the other hand, doesn't have as much humor to make up for all the reintroductions that it put us through, and thus is suffered as a result. I assume (hope) that the next episode (tonight) will work much better. Musically, there's at least still some of the same commitment to quality that later episodes showed last season, this time highlighted by The Heavy's "Colleen."
[More thoughts and tracklisting]

True Blood - Episode 1.04 (Playlist)
Most of the series music thus far has been from the roadhouse, so it's refreshing to hear what the Vamps are listening to (You want dark? How about "Demon" by Darkest Hour). Bill seems to be a world music guy, listening first to some Hawaiian (Kalani Kinimaka) and then some Khmer (Cambodian) pop from Dengue Fever, whose song title ("Escape from Dragon House") also doubles as the episode title. Anyone got a translation of the song readily available?
[More thoughts and tracklisting]

Skins - Episode 2.08 (Playlist)
This week's "Effy" episode might just be the best and worst example of the show. It was riveting and full of all the drama that Gossip Girl and all the other teen soaps could only dream of. Tony descends even further down the likable meter, but then Josh's twisted revenge shifts the scales a bit back in his favor. He really does love Effy, and perhaps this is his turning point. Meanwhile, once again, they've stripped every single song out from how it originally aired, and this time it's even more egregious in that there were three songs by the amazing Grizzly Bear left on the cutting room floor. Someone on their staff must have had Yellow House in heavy rotation.
[More thoughts and tracklisting]

My Name Is Earl - Episodes 4.03-4.04 (playlist)
Back-to-back episodes are highlighted by Joy's turn from Heart's "Barracuda" bitch on the loose (reclaim it from Palin, Joy!) to slightly broken "Just Like a Woman" from Bob Dylan ("but she breaks, just like a little girl.")

Gossip Girl - Episode 2.05 (Playlist)
Highlighted by a Conor Oberst ("NYC - Gone, Gone") beginning, and a mid-show Duke Spirit rocker.

90210 - Episode 1.05 (Playlist)
Found myself fast-forwarding a lot, until I heard CSS' "Let's Reggae All Night"

More: The Simpsons premiered with Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue," on the (usually) funny It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Mac and Charlie create a hilarious slideshow in tribute to their own death, to Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive." Complete with cowboy outfits and slick poses. Meanwhile, Mad Men gives tribute to Marilyn.

Not bad, not good

So the new 90210 wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It used just enough of the cheese from the original series, throwing enough bones (cameos) to the older set; while also incorporating some of the smarts of The O.C. Ultimately, though, it still wasn't good enough for a return visit to this zip code. I have a feeling, though, enough will return for it to do well for the CW.

The music choices occasionally raised an eyebrow, mostly relied on the tired Gossip Girl set list, with several songs that even appeared in GG last season (MGMT's "Time To Pretend" and The Ting Tings "Shut Up and Let Me Go," to name a few).

As mentioned yesterday, Tilly and the Wall appeared lip syncing to the great "Pot Kettle Black," and also tossed in the more obscure "Beat Control" (from the Beat Control EP) for good measure. Here's all but a couple of the rest of the tracks in a playlist:

Playlist: 90210 - Episodes 101-102
1. Viva La Vida - Coldplay
2. Time To Pretend - MGMT
3. Wannamama - Pop Levi
4. You're Gonna Go Far, Kid - The Offspring
5. Shut Up And Let Me Go - The Ting Tings
6. California Bound - Carolina Liar
7. Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise) - Lea Michele
8. Pot Kettle Black - Tilly and the Wall
9. Beat Control - Tilly and the Wall
10. Chasing Pavements - Adele
11. Don't Let Me Fall - Lenka
12. Shake It - Metro Station
13. Try It Again - The Hives
14. Touch Me - Brian Johnson
15. What You Got - Colby O'Donis
16. Great DJ - The Ting Tings
17. Lucid Dreams - Franz Ferdinand
18. Come Out of the Shade - The Perishers
19. Let It Rock - Kevin Rudolf
20. I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
21. Daydreamer - Adele

90210, Talk that smack

The CW may have skipped sending out the pilot for screening the series 90210, but we do know at least something about tonight's episode. The band Tilly and the Wall will be making an appearance on tonight's premiere, playing at a not-so-sweet sixteen party for character Naomi (AnnaLynne McCord). They play the song "Pot Kettle Black," which is perfect for the bitch set, with lyrics like:

Oh my god, Did you hear (yeah)
About that bitch, and what she did?
I don't believe it... Aw, aw
What a ho, what a tramp, what a slut
Pot kettle, pot kettle black
Talk that, talk that smack!
Pot kettle, pot kettle black
Watch your, watch your back

We also know that the Peach Pit is back, only this time around it's known simply as The Pitt. The Peach Pit is, of course the hangout that ultimately inspired The O.C.'s Bait Shop, and it's the scene of one of alternative music's most surreal moments:



"Hey is that the Flaming Lips?"
"It's not Michael Bolton."