(Season 2, Episodes 2-3)

Season two continues to march on, and Carnivale continues to be interesting and compelling. The relationship drama that had me a little bored toward the end of season one seems to have cooled off, but the character development remains, which is nice.

I’m really enjoying the play between Brother Justin and Tommy Dolan. Dolan is an interesting character. It’s clear that he knows that Justin is somewhat dangerous and that he probably shouldn’t be getting involved with him. At the same time, however, the overly ambitious reporter just can’t help himself. As I watch this show and Heroes, I’m amazed at how different Robert Knepper looks and sounds in the two roles.

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(Season 1, Episode 12)

I’ve finished the first season of Carnivale. It was a great set of twelve episodes, but mostly, I’m excited to get into season two to find out what is going to happen, and learn a little bit more about the nature of Management, Ben, Brother Justin, and Henry Scudder. Hopefully the relationship merry-go-round will slow down a bit, too. As I mentioned in my previous entry, I felt it was getting a little tiresome.

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(Season 1, episodes 4-5)

These two episodes of Carnivale had a nice mix of character development and mythology. The show certainly started to explore the characters of the carnival in much greater depth, which I really appreciated. It looks like the show will take some time to develop rich and full characters, which can only make a show great.

If I had any complaint about this block of episodes, it’s that there was barely any brother Justin in them. I hope that he won’t take a backseat for much longer. Even though I haven’t watched that much of the show, I’m already enamored with his character.

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Lot’s of people have told me that I would love Carnivale. I think a lot of folks know about my Twin Peaks obsession and felt that Carnivale had the same type of bizarre supernatural feeling that the classic cult soap had. Also, Michael J. Anderson was in both shows, though in very different capacities. He was a major character in Carnivale, and just a backwards talking vision in Twin Peaks.

After hearing lots of things about Carnivale, I’m pretty sure that it is the type of show I’m going to love. I’ve watched the first three episodes and so far I’m really digging it. There’s a lot of bizarre stuff going on, great characters, and some amazing set design. Not everything is perfect though, as I get the sense that the overall quality of the show isn’t quite up to the standards of the HBO shows that I have previously loved (The Wire, Deadwood, and Six Feet Under). To be fair, though, those three show are some of the best to ever grace the television screen.

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I survived The Emmys.

Somewhere in the midst of the show, someone paid Neil Patrick Harris a compliment in stating he was doing an outstanding job overseeing everything. And all I could think was: “Really?”

Oh … there were moments. There were the briefest moments of intrigue and comedy here and there. But, when the best part of the show is Sarah McLachlan (“Harbinger Of Death”) singing her signature “I Will Remember You” during the In Memorium segment showcasing those that have been lost, one would think there’s something not quite right with the telecast.

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The seventh season of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm premieres next Sunday, and I got to take an early look at the first three episodes. The first two play out as typical Larry David driven Curb episodes, picking up sometime after we last left David (remember, he left his wife Cheryl for Loretta Black). A pretty out-of-left-field ending to the season, if you ask me, but it definitely had me wondering what this season would look like. These first two episodes address that storyline with some finality, but where the season really picks up the pace is in the third episode.

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Welcome to CliqueClack’s guide for the 2009-10 fall season! Or, in the case of NBC, The Great Experiment. Now, if you didn’t realize it already, this fall season is going to be different from past years. First, there’s no ER, which will feel a little weird. Second, Lost will be ending its run in the spring of 2010. Third, American Idol will be without Paula Abdul. And finally, Jay Leno is going to come into your homes at 10 PM each night and try to convince you that scripted programming is dead.

Once this season pans out, that may or may not be the case on the big Four and a Quarter networks. With so many viewers moving to other venues of original, scripted programming like cable and the Internet, the networks are fighting for life … again. Well, NBC and ABC probably are: CBS and FOX are doing okay for the time being. So, the big question is whether or not they can come back with ambitious programs like Flash Forward, comedies like Hank and The Middle, which feature known stars, remakes like Parenthood and Melrose Place, and Chevy Chase? Read the rest of this entry »