Family (1994)

A four-episode miniseries set in Dublin, Ireland, written by author Roddy Doyle and directed by filmmaker Michael Winterbottom. I've read a couple of Roddy's novels and watched the films based on The Barrytown Trilogy. I enjoyed them all. None of the films were big budget ventures, so I had no reason to suspect that a TV production would be any less engaging or personal. Sure enough, it wasn't, the working class Spencer family were just as well-written and presented as Roddy's movie characters. In fact, it was an exceptional TV drama.

Four of the six Spencers have an episode named after them, within which they're the main focus even though, with the exception of the two youngest, all members play an important role each time. Episodes in the order presented:

Charlo: The father. A typical day involves reaching for a cigarette before he's even opened his eyes in the morning, followed by afternoon petty theft, boozing and being condescending to his wife and kids at meal times. It may sound like he's one-note, but there's more to Charlo than I've room to say, almost all of it selfish.

John Paul: A thirteen-year-old son who worships his shit-bag father despite often witnessing the terrible things he does. School is a chore, if he even goes. Loves football, drinking and smoking. In short, a portrait of a troubled youth.

Nicola: A daughter, the eldest of the four kids. She hates her father and has difficulty respecting her mother Paula because of the shit she takes from Charlo.

Paula: The mother. Paula's situation is the most complex. She's guilty of many sins, the majority of which are actions not taken as opposed to ones that are, but she's a mother and she's the best hope the family has of ever finding peace, if only she can pull herself together in time and stay strong thereafter.

It's primarily a hard-hitting drama but makes room for comedy too, oftentimes triggered by brash actions and/or relatable embarrassment.

With regards the principal cast, I don't know enough of their work to judge if they can be as convincing across a wider spectrum, but they were all excellent here.

4 episodes, approx 45 minutes each.

4 vodkas before breakfast out of 5

The Fosters (2013)

The Fosters is an ABC Family drama about a modern, diverse family in San Diego, California. It seems to go out of its way to be so different that it has gone down a checklist of what they could include to be as far from traditional as possible. Lesbians? Check. Interracial lesbians? Check. Interracial lesbians raising foster children? Check. Everyone is mostly cool with it including the ex-husband who fathered the one biological kid in the group. Despite this lean towards the non-traditional, it still gets caught up in typical soap opera tropes at times which is a shame because it actually shines when using the setup it has to explore more exotic story lines.

There is an ensemble cast, but the plot mostly follows protagonist Callie; a teenage girl who has become hardened by years in the foster care system. She is released from juvenile detention into the care of the titular Fosters and struggles to acclimate to an actual safe and loving environment and eventually overcome her compulsive decisions and let her guard down. There is also the 2 mothers who struggle with juggling so many kids as well as discrimination and the dangers involved with one of them being a police officer. There is the biological son who is as straight-laced as they come as well as the adopted fraternal twins, Jesus and Marianna, who both struggle with teenage libidos while Jesus also struggles with ADHD. This setup is rife with drama opportunities and can actually be compelling like dealing with the twins drug addict biological mother or surprisingly well done arcs about sexual assault as opposed to more boring traditional plots like dating and such. The drama gets overblown in the latter half of the season as things just keep piling onto each other and one really weird and seemingly out of place bit that really just encapsulated the overblown drama.

A very non-traditional setup with an often very traditional soap opera execution, but I found myself quite enticed at times.

Buyer's Guide:
Currently available streaming on the ABC Family website with a TBA home release.

3½ schools right on the beach out of 5

Farscape: Season One (1999)

"Alien" does not begin to describe the series of Farscape, and when a show feels so new and different, even to a weathered science-fiction fan as myself, it can only mean good things to come.

Farscape starts out innocently enough with a beautiful dawn.  On this fateful morning an astronaut named John Crichton is shot into space on a test mission, and unwittingly enters a wormhole.  Where he ends up is not only the true setting of the story but yet another beautiful and frightening dawn for Crichton.  Now aboard a Leviathan, the living ship of Moya, he is in a constant struggle to survive but also adapt to his strange surroundings and shipmates.

The species represented on the ship are incredibly diverse and detailed, each one possessing intricate back stories which are slowly illuminated throughout the first season's 22 episodes.  The aggressive yet honorable Luxan warrior D'argo, the exotic spiritual Delvian Zhaan, the incredibly selfish highfalutin royal Hynerian Rygel, the dutiful and passive Pilot, and the deadly Sebacean Peacekeeper commando Aeryn, along with the displaced yet capable human Crichton make up Moya's manifest.  The noticeable amount of detail shown in each expertly constructed environment gives the show an extravagant feel as it all looks very expensive.

The imaginative creature and makeup effects from Jim Henson studios are the true highlight of the season though the CG visuals do date the show considerably.
While the crew's plan to return to each of their home worlds leads the audience on an unforgettable journey through many dangerous and evocative locales, the series is still in its infancy so blunders along the way are to be expected.
Farscape is not immune to the early season pitfalls that can arise on such a sci-fi endeavour, though accompanied by well-imagined characters, ambitious storywriting and sfx it truly is the dawn of good things to come.

Buyers Guide:
Available as a 6 disc box set containing all 22 episodes of S1.  The same box can be found in a Full Series box, which contains all 4 Seasons.

3 appetizing food cubes out of 5

Nutted by Borderline

FILTHY, RICH & CATFLAP [1986]

“There's something horrible on your trousers area.”

Coming off the massive success of The Young Ones, the BBC wasted no time recruiting the same team for another series of alternative comedy, resulting in Filthy, Rich & Catflap.

Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmonson and Nigel Planer return, with The Young Ones headwriter Ben Elton and director Paul Jackson.  Mayall plays a disgusting out of work “actor” who believes he's bigger than he really is, so he hires an alcoholic bodyguard (Edmonson) who could care less about protecting anybody much less himself, while Planer executes an impressive sleazy performance as a Polari speaking showbiz agent.

FRC might have the same actors, comedic elements and writers as The Young Ones but it sadly falls short in comparison.  The performances seemed strained and sloppy, the writing is aimless and at times feels like nothing more than a paycheque for all parties involved.  There are a few good chuckles throughout the series but they're spread so thin I can hardly recommend it to anybody other than a Mayall & Edmonson enthusiast like myself…

…and even then prepare for disappointment.

6 Episodes.  35 minutes each.

Must See Episodes:

1x01:  The pilot episode offers a healhy dose of comedic violence & mayhem and hilarious performances all around but things just completely fall apart afterwards.

Episodes To Avoid:

Everything else, unless you have the patience to wait for a few good chuckles here and there.

Buyer’s Guide: 

The complete series is widely available on DVD…save your money and youtube ‘em instead.

2 Blankety Blanks? out of 5

FIREFLY [2002]

“When you can't run you crawl, and when you can't crawl…

...You find someone to carry you.”

Writer/director Joss Whedon was on fire in the entertainment industry.  With an Academy award nomination for the Toy Story screenplay and two cult-hit television series still on the air, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and it’s spin-off Angel, it seemed like he couldn’t be stopped.  So the FOX network gave him the go ahead to produce another television series hopefully with the same appeal as his two previous efforts.  What Whedon handed in was without a doubt the last thing they wanted to see…a space western called Firefly.

They hated it.  FOX gave it the notorious Friday night deathslot and even decided to push the pilot episode aside, because it was too slow and aired the second episode first.  It was very apparent that Firefly was doomed from the beginning.  Without any phasers, spaceship battles or a single alien in sight, it baffled the FOX executives, especially when they found out the characters cursed in Chinese.  What the hell was this show? 

I’ll tell you what it was.  One of the damn finest sci-fi series to grace your televisions sets. 

Firefly sits neatly beside Arrested Development and Freaks & Geeks as the best TV shows no one watched and should all be damned to that very special level of Hell for just that.

Set 500 years in the future, after Earth has been overpopulated, it follows the misadventures of a group a space traveling thieves constantly on the brink of starvation and constantly questioning their own morals and choices. 

The cast is led by the oddly charismatic Castle star, Nathan Fillion as Captain Malcolm Reynolds who pretty much just kicks ass all around with his cranky charms and constant struggle with his own self-appointed morales.  I Robot’s Alan Tudyk , Stargate: Atlantis’ Jewel Staite, Full Metal Jacket’s Adam Baldwin and Barney Miller’s Ron Glass are also notable cast members chewing up their scenes as well.

Littered with freshly executed witty dialogue, original storytelling structures and more than enough moments to make you laugh out loud, Firefly is a must see for any sci-fi fan.  Sadly it was canceled after only airing 11 of the 14 episodes produced.  Thankfully with only 14 episodes made, Firefly never got the chance to ever really suck.  It’s pretty much solid from start to finish. 

14 episodes.  42 minutes each.

Episodes To Watch:

1x06 : Our Mrs. Reynolds: Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks guest stars and makes for some interesting and funny character moments.

1x08: Out Of Gas: Angel/Terriers writer, Tim Minear does what he does best.  Perfect flashback episodes.

1x12: The Message: The emotional impact of this episdoe always takes me off guard.  Wonderful stuff.

Episodes To Avoid:

Nothing really weak here.

However 1x04: Shindig is the weakest of the bunch.

Buyer’s Guide: 

The complete series is widely available in DVD & Blu-Ray box sets for very reasonable prices. 

5 BIG DAMN Heroes out of 5

Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (2003)

Most of the principal players return for this continuation of the Dune saga, although not all characters are played by the same actor/actress. We get book 2 (Dune Messiah) and book 3 (Children of Dune) merged because it makes sense to do so. Unfortunately, that means it has a lot of story to cover in a short time.

It begins 12 years after the events of the previous miniseries. The political situation is ongoing, and although changed is no less problematic. The religious beliefs that surround Muad'Dib are beginning to take its toll on the reluctant Messianic figure. The "abomination" has grown up and behaves like a Bene Gesserit bitch should, with problems of her own that have little to do with affairs of state. History is written on the sands of Arrakis, but one thing is ever present, "…that every revolution carries within it the seeds of its own destruction."

Things that work: the pacing is good most of the time; Leto II is likeable, and his decision making seems organic and considered; the score, this time by Brian Tyler, is even better than the last one; the relationship between the twins is believable; and the worm design is one of the best I've seen.

Things that don't work: again, the lack of a voice-over narration is a huge handicap for the story; the painted canvas backdrops of the previous series have been replaced with bad CGI; the love triangle is underplayed; Alice Krige and Susan Sarandon add star power but they're useless, saying all the right words but with little of the gravitas or understanding needed behind them; the Tleilaxu aren't as mysterious as they should've been; and that damned dwarf!

Don't expect to make sense of everything unless you've seen the first series. Fans of the book will get the most from it, plus they will know the magnificence that follows after the credits roll.

3 episodes, approx 82 minutes each.

2½ sins of the mother out of 5

Frank Herbert's Dune (2000)

There is a substance, a spice, found in only one place in the known universe, on Dune. Arrakis. Desert planet. The spice is the most important substance known to man. It prolongs life and enables interstellar travel. Without it, interplanetary trade would cease and empires would fall. This makes people nervous. Nervous people do desperate things. The Padishah Emperor controls Dune. He's more nervous than most. Those he favours are permitted to mine the spice. Those that oppose him are quickly silenced and left to die. There are a number of political houses that the Emperor can use to keep the spice flowing. Each house has its own agenda. Each house has its own problems. Each house hates the other. There's a prophecy that tells of a time when a man will come - a saviour. That time is now.

Dune is so full of plot that I had to skip ninety percent of it just to type that. I should've used bullet points. It's about politics, religion, love, death, legacies, oppression, socialism, revolution, truth hidden and truth revealed, and so much more. I hate politics, but I love Dune. It makes a dull subject exciting.

In reality, the complexity in the Dune book makes it unsuitable for a film medium, but they try. It lacks the voice-over that the previous filmed version had. Despite what you may think of that other version, Lynch knew that a voice-over was essential; if you've read the novel, you'll understand why.

The cinematography is by the renowned Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now; The Last Emperor) but what he's chosen to do with the limited budget will irk some folks. You may laugh at the painted backdrops of the set-bound production, but if you do then you're not seeing the bigger picture.

Visually, each planet has its own unique style, so we can tell instantly where we are without the need for repetitive establishing shots. The costumes follow the same pattern, and the people chosen to wear them are (mostly) well-suited to their book counterpart. A longer running time means it can be more faithful to the original text. It invents a subplot for Princess Irulan that wasn't in the book, but it's woven around the main themes well so it never feels like an intrusion.

3 episodes, approx 98 minutes each.

3½ signs of worm out of 5

Fawlty Towers (1975 / 1979)

Fawlty Towers is a crappy hotel in Torquay, England. It's named after the owner, Basil Fawlty (Monty Python's John Cleese), and attracts the kind of people that Basil hates: old people, snot nosed pricks, pretentious snobs, and the occasional swinger. Basil spends the majority of the show frantically trying to hang onto his last shred of dignity while simultaneously avoiding his demanding wife, Sybil (superbly portrayed by Prunella Scales), punishing his idiot aide Manuel (Andrew Sachs), and avoiding/dealing with angry cretinous guests.

The cast is rounded out by the hotel maid, Polly, played by Cleese's then wife, Connie Booth. Polly is basil's only solace, and gets run ragged helping him pull off his asshat schemes so that she doesn't get fired.

Depending on your age, the comedy will be either timeless or very 1970s. That's largely irrelevant, though, as the real highlight of each episode is seeing Basil have a meltdown. Cleese is such a wonderful character actor that he can make you feel sympathy for his plight while simultaneously smugly revelling in his perfect misery. Basil is a tragedy, a walking disaster area with an ability to put his foot in his mouth with minimum effort. His special blend of cynicism and ceaseless sarcasm is comedy gold.

It shocked me to find that Fawlty Towers had only twelve episodes in total, six in 1975 and six more in 1979. They were screened so regularly by the BBC that I had thought there were many more.

4 Watery Fowls out of 5