Life: "One" plus One = Series finale?

Things are obviously not looking good for the series, so it was with heavy eyes that I watched the season two finale for Life. Did we just see Crews and Reese for the last time? Or will some the series be saved, with I'm calling DirecTV ex Machina, or will USA Network swoop in with a karate chop to the Adam's apple of cancellation?

When I saw that there was only a few minutes left in the episode after Crews got in the SUV with Roman, my biggest fear was a similarly quick and convenient resolution to his sticky situation. And boy was that quick and convenient. Sure, a lot of questions were answered, but it felt a bit rushed and not really laid out very clearly, and while Detective Crews didn't wake up on a rocket to mars, he did seem to wake up to the realization that he's in love with his partner. WTF? Part of what's made their partnership so fascinating is the complete absence of sexual tension, so I have some problems ending the season (series?) like that. I'm hoping that it's a different kind of love we're talking about, the kind that Captain Tidwell can get behind, but we may never find out.

Besides the abridged ending and confusion about Crews and Reese's relationship, the episode had a lot going for it. The great Garret Dillahunt always brings something to the table, and having that final face-off with Roman in Crews' orange grove made for great series symmetry, since we last visited their in the pilot. They even used Roman to tie up some loose ends from season one, literally killing off the documentarian (who was more or less dead anyway, as far as the series structure was dictating by now,) and having him tell Danni that he killed off her missing father. Ok, that again was pretty convenient. The final episodes all suffered from Sarah Shahi's pregnancy, but NBC was already having problems with all their series, so I don't think we can blame it all on the baby bump, but her absence was certainly felt.

One suggestion that the internet is a buzz with is that Life should move on to USA Network, where characters like Crews are always welcome, but that would require some serious budget cutting, and the first thing to go will be one of Life's calling cards: music. This season, there's already been a serious cutback in the number and profile of the songs used, and I can't be the only one that has noticed. If you've ever watched the series online after they've replaced most the music, you know what I'm talking about. As such, there were just two interesting choices (both of which have been replaced in the non-broadcast version,) the first being "Kiss The Sky" from Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra, which played as Roman's inside man began 'cleaning up' some of the FBI men in his pocket. The other was predictably the final song, Hayden's hauntingly beautiful "More Than Alive". If you've seen the broadcast version, just for an experiment, go and watch that final scene online with the replacement music, and try and tell me it doesn't suffer greatly.

So yeah, if the only way the series lives is for it to cut the music budget (and go on without Garret Dillahunt,) than I'm fine with this being the end. Goodbye Detectives Crews and Reese, we'll miss you. Oh, and good luck working out your new dynamic as partners with Captain Tidwell.

Playlist: Life - Episode 2.21
1. "A New Beginning" - 26 - Roman with Reese
2. "Kiss The Sky" - Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra - Roman's inside man cleans up
3. "Afterlight" - Clayhill - the exchange
4. "More Than Alive" - Hayden - released, reunited

Previously: It's Who You Are (Episode 2.20)

FOTC: Crazy for their Sugar Lumps

While what we've seen so far of Flight of the Conchords' second season isn't quite up to the brilliance of the first, last night's musical entry, "Sugar Lumps," surely curled a few mouths. After Bret unwittingly bankrupts the band, Jemaine thinks they might make good prostitutes, given that "all the ladies go crazy for my sugar lumps." What follows is a lampoon, both musically and lyrically, of the regrettable "My Humps" from The Black Eyed Peas (a song long overdue for mocking), as is the case with these lyrics:

We see ya girls checkin' out our trunks. We see you girls checkin' out the front of our trunks. We see you girls lookin' at our junk, then checkin' out our rumps, then back to our sugar lumps.

Later, Dave (Arj Barker) gets into the action with an early Beastie Boys homage. As good as it (and the episode) was, it is one of only a few bright spots so far this season. Enjoy:



Previously: Flight of the Conchords Season Premiere Online

Spectacle: Music lover's delight

Ok, the music geek love fest Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... premiered with Elton John and there was a ton of great music discussion. Leon Russell, Laura Nyro and David Ackles were great artists championed by Elton, and so of course, that's what we'll have cued up the next day to listen as we work. For instance, I did not know that Laura Nyro's Gonna Take a Miracle was backed by LaBelle... now that album moves up my must hear list.

The story of Nyro at the Monterey Pop Festival in '67, along with several nods to Carol King, remind me again that I need to get my act together on a post about a recent good read of mine, Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation, where Nyro gets mention as well. But that's for another post.

For those keeping score at home, here's the songs that we heard in this episode:

Playlist: Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... - Episode 1.01 "Elton John"
1. "Border Song" - Elton John - sung by Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint
2. "Delta Lady" - Leon Russell - live clip
3. "Wedding Bell Blues" - Laura Nyro - live clip from Monterey Pop Festival
4. "Burn Down the Mission" - Elton John - demonstrating Nyro influence
5. "Sitting in the Park" - Billy Stewart
6. "Working in the Coal Mine" - Lee Dorsey - sung by Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint
7. "Amoreena" - Elton John - talking about songwriting with Bernie Taupin
8. "Road to Cairo" - David Ackles - clip
9. "A Song for You" - Leon Russell
10. "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word" - Ray Charles with Elton John
11. "Down River" - David Ackles - sung by Elton John and Elvis Costello
12. "Ballad Of A Well-Known Gun" - Elton John - sung by Elvis Costello (credits)

Chuck: Not Quite Awesome

Normally, I'd get my geek on and go on about all the cultural references, but this episode left me mostly 'meh'. I expected more especially after hearing 80's TV stars Morgan Fairchild and Bruce Boxleitner were going to be playing the Awesomes, parents to Devin ("Captain Awesome" - the awesome apple doesn't fall far from the awesome tree). The choice sounded very much like the fun casting that Nip/Tuck pulled off the past couple seasons.

The music choices were great, however, albeit only in the way that the music was good, not necessarily in how it matched up with content. Hearing the frenetic acronym tossing from Norway's Datarock on "New Song" was nice, but the lyrics of "FBI CIA EMI TDK" backing the battle at the GLA kind of takes you out of the scene. Better was the use of "Shake Some Blood," from the somewhat obscure Dave Grohl project Probot. Hearing Lemmy (Motorhead) on vocals during a fight scene is always a worthy choice.

Chuck - Episode 2.09
1. "The New Song" - Datarock
2. "Shake Your Blood" - Probot (featuring Lemmy on vocals, Dave Grohl on drums)
3. "Don't Worry" - Love as Laughter

Here's the cult fave video for Probot's "Shake Some Blood":


Previously: Revenge Fantasy (2.08)

Chuck: Alas, Poor Yorick!

Oh, love... what a tangled web you weave for our dear Chuck. While I can foresee some 'love triangle' fatigue at some point, the series has put that tested tool to good use with Jill (Jordana Brewster). The Sarah-Chuck-Jill triangle was far more intense than last season's flirtation with Rachel Bilson's sandwich girl Lou, in that Jill was in on several secrets (Chuck is CIA, Sarah is beard). In that way it's similar to the Bryce-Sarah-Chuck triangle that gets employed now and then to pour water on the Chuck-Sarah sexual tension, but since Chuck is our hero, we have more invested in Chuck finding happiness, so when we pull the mask off Jill at the end, the knife twist hurts all the more.

Speaking of triangles, there was a great reference to Brian K. Vaughan's great Y: The Last Man (Chuck mentioning the Culper Ring and the poster above his bed) and that comic book series had a very similar love triangle, and brilliantly parallels Chuck. Agent 355 (Sarah) is responsible for protecting a geek named Yorick (Chuck) who's person contains secrets to help save the earth. Yorick still pines for his girlfriend Beth (Jill), and his best friend is a monkey (Morgan!). It's a great reference that loses some of it's brilliance on closer look, but Chuck is ahead of the curve here. (A film adaptation is in the works with the Disturbia team of D.J. Caruso and Carl Ellsworth, and it's expected to be a trilogy, with an initial release date targeted for some time in 2010).

Other geektastic references included The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Vogon poetry,) Brazil (Tuttle Repair on Van,) and the Looney Tunes classic "What's Opera, Doc?" which played in the background at the Buy More. There was even another more subtle reference involving Millbarge acting out a sort of Ed Rooney scenario from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Millbarge sees Chuck like Rooney does Bueller, someone who's popularity lets him get away with truancy. Millbarge ends the episode the worse for wear, and while it would've been a bit on the nose, having Jeff offer him some gummy candy from his pocket at the end would've sealed the reference for everyone.

Musically, there was the opera La Traviata, which translates as Woman who strays, which we can later understand it to mean Jill. But my favorite has to be Frightened Rabbit's "Keep Yourself Warm," which warns us about jumping into bed with the wrong person when ""you don't know who's in your bed." Even though the repeated refrain of "you can't find love in a hole" is a tiresome euphemism, I can't help playing this song over and over this morning.

Chuck - Episode 2.07
1. Selections from La Traviata by Verdi
2. "Buildings And Mountains" - The Republic Tigers
3. "Keep Yourself Warm" - Frightened Rabbit

Previously: Songs about Jill (Episode 2.06)

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: iPod to 8-track

It will be interesting to see where it goes, but for now Life on Mars is a series to watch based on both it's impressive cast and it's potential to be great. The Americanized Brit import had a lot going against it going in. A scrapped pilot from David E. Kelly, and a reworked cast helmed by the folks that brought you October Road (groan). But then a casting domino effect started to happen: Michael Imperioli, Gretchen Mol, Clarke Peters (The Wire,) Lisa Bonet, and finally, the great Harvey Keitel. Suddenly, it looked like something you might wan't to see, and last night's premiere mostly delivers on that hope.

It has nearly 75% of the dialogue intact from the import, and of course the pivot of David Bowie's "Life on Mars," providing both the title to the series and the auditory link to the past. The song has always felt like a soundtrack to something (The Life Aquatic,) and if you're going to travel from iPod to 8-track, it's the way to go. The other music choices thankfully didn't scream 1973, which so often happens with period drama on TV. Here's hoping it's exploration of anachronistic themes at least approach the level of Mad Men.

Playlist: Life on Mars - Episode 1.01
1. "Ground Zero" - Chris Cornell
2. "Life on Mars" - David Bowie
3. "Signs" - 5 Man Electric Band
4. "Baba O'Reilly" - The Who
6. "Little Willy" - Sweet
7. "Out of Time" - The Rolling Stones

The Sarah Silverman Program
Started their third season this week with two episodes, with the first one (Wednesday) featuring amusing uses of both The Flaming Lips' "It Overtakes Me" and The White Stripes' "Conquest," along with sister Laura singing the touching "Lost Boy Slash Friend." But it's last night's episode that had me in stitches, thanks to the spot on Bachelor Party homage, complete with the Oingo Boingo tribute band Ouncy Bouncy, performing their take on the theme song.

Chuck - Episode 2.02 (playlist)
Schwartz and co. pay homage to the Peter O'Toole classic My Favorite Year, and continue to breath life into the career of Huey Lewis, airing their third song in only two episodes ("Do You Believe in Love"). Should we expect to hear "I Want a New Drug" or "The Heart of Rock n' Roll" in the coming episodes?
More thoughts and full tracklisting

Life - Episodes 2.02-2.03 (playlist)
We've had two episodes from Life since we last checked in, and it's good and bad. Friday's episode seemed almost like a throwaway, providing little in plot development nor mystery, but Monday's seemed to deliver the goods. Ending with Cat Power's "Metal Heart," providing the kind of moment we began to expect by the end of last season's strike-shortened run.
More thoughts and full tracklisting

Skins - Episodes 1.09/Secret Party (playlist)
The season finale of Skins kind of isn't really a finale at all here in the US, considering that BBCAmerica is broadcasting the seasons back-to-back. Nonetheless, it's got all the elements of a classic finale, complete with a 'will he or won't he die' cliffhanger and a change in tone different from the series. The ending, with the cast stepping out of the moment and singing Cat Stevens' "Wild World," was reminiscent of Magnolia, just surreal enough to pull us out of a difficult scene and provide something more uplifting. Anwar's party, meanwhile, provided some interesting music choices from his tosser of an uncle as DJ.
More thoughts, full tracklisting and video

Moral Orel - Episode 3.01
This might just be the most tragically comic, and disturbing 15 minutes of animation that I've ever seen. The Mountain Goats' "No Children", perhaps the greatest song about a dead-end marriage, starts in place of the normal theme, letting us in on the fact that this episode is going someplace else entirely... and boy does it.
More thoughts and video

90210 - Episode 1.06 (playlist)
I stopped watching this, but looking at the playlist, there obviously was some references to Alfred Hitchcock going on here somewhere. Composer Bernard Hermann's iconic work dominates the latter portion of the soundtrack.
Full tracklisting

True Blood - Episode 1.05 (playlist)
Bill still amazes with his worldly choice in music (the throat singing of Huun-Huur-Tu, in this case) which serves as a metaphor for Sookie in the need for her to expand her world, which her brother is able to do through the use of V. ("Sparks Fly Out" is what he experiences, and I finally caught on that every episode is named for a song - duh!) Even Sookie's grandma is pleading with her to broaden her horizons. Right before she... ouch... grandma didn't deserve that.
Full tracklisting

More:
The Office has an amusing take on Olivia Newton John's "Physical" ("Let's get ethical!",) Mad Men utilizes The Tornados' "Telstar," and Californication visualizes the classic Lennon/Ono 1981 Rolling Stone cover. Now that Hank is writing a music producer's bio, there should be a lot more musical references coming soon (and songs, more than this week's us of Tom Petty's "Wake Up Time," at least). The Simpsons always pull out the classics and this week was no different, with Merle Haggard's "Workin' Man Blues" and Elvis Costello's "Watch Your Step." See ya next week.