I was a big My Name Is Earl fan. Earl was the perfect role for Jason Lee … just the right kind of humor, and a superstar supporting cast all around him. Plus his natural mannerisms seemed to be just right for Earl Hickey; all the squinting, eyebrow stuff, and awkward head motions that the actor employs in every role were the right kind of quirky for the unlucky petty thief who found karma, won the lottery, and turned his life around.
So of course I was sad when the show didn’t make it past four seasons, and of course I followed Lee as he made his way to a new show: Memphis Beat. But that’s kind of where things took a turn for the worst. Well, not the worst so much as I was just really bored. The Memphis hook to the show was too top-heavy; Lee was dull and his affectations out-of-place; and supporting cast like DJ Qualls as Officer Davey Sutton didn’t add much to the ensemble. I didn’t find it worth my time, even in the summer.
But Lee brought me back last week for the show’s second season premiere. Not anything he did so much as the fact that I always used to look forward to seeing him on TV every week. That, coupled with my recently catching a little of Alvin and the Chipmunks as I channel surfed, made up my mind to see how Memphis Beat was doing.
In the season opener Lee’s Detective Dwight Hendricks found himself in a race with internal affairs to solve the murder of a fellow officer in an attempt to ensure he receive the honorable burial he was due. Certainly nothing wrong with that mission, and Lee was great with Jack Ekler (Connor Gibbs), the son of the slain officer, whether or not he was empathizing with him.
But it was boring. There’s an interesting dynamic between Dwight and his commanding officer, Lieutenant Rice (Alfre Woodard), but I felt like that came up more in mention between Rice and others than it did in practice. Dwight and his partner Charlie (Sam Hennings) are probably good together, but Dwight spent the entire episode with Claire Ryan (Beau Garrett), while Charlie was trying to prove to Rice that he belonged in the precinct. As a side note, is Charlie out and Claire in?
Now, you’d probably be right to tell me that some of the things I mentioned above were unique to the episode, and that Charlie and Dwight, and Dwight and Rice spend all sorts of time together. That’s fine, but it wouldn’t cure the slow, meandering, boring nature of the episode. I thought Dwight’s Southern exposure was too overdone in the pilot, but in the season two premiere Lee’s character was so devoid of anything that I wondered if his entire back story had been ditched.
And while I would have believed that Lee did his own Elvis impersonation in the pilot, he definitely wasn’t doing his own vocals last week; what happened? I think he has a decent voice, so why go with one that’s obviously not his own?
Anyway, Memphis Beat’s not bad … just not demanding of attention. I think I fell asleep three times while trying to watch the episode. All the best to Jason Lee, but let me know when he’s moved on to his next project.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jun 20, 2011 @ 18:34 EST5EDT
Oh man, the apocalypse is upon us…I totally agree with you! I haven’t watched the show since last season when I tried to make it through four episodes, but your word “boring” is exactly what I thought every time I watched it.
Like you, I absolutely loved “My Name Is Earl” and Lee was perfect for the role. I still pine for it every time I watch an episode of “Raising Hope,” not just because some of the characters from “Earl” pop up occasionally, but because it shares the same heart. That’s what makes “Hope” a show we all love in my house, but it’s also what makes me still hurt over the loss of “Earl.”
I, too, found Lee to be a poor fit for his role in “Memphis Beat” and I really wanted to like it since I’ve liked Jason Lee in almost everything I’ve seen him in. I’m not one to ever fall asleep in front of the television, that’s an extremely rare occurrence, but I fell asleep twice while watching those four episodes I desperately wanted to love. It was nature’s way of telling me the show just wasn’t for me.
On an unrelated note, after your review of “The Glades” I mentioned how I found this season to be dull after really enjoying it last year. I have to tell you that I thought the third episode brought the show back to where I felt it was last season. Was it still a very light drama? Absolutely. But the dynamic between Jim and Callie was very much front and center in this episode and the crime of the week was both compelling and believable.
All the main characters got a fair amount of face time and Callie’s ex-con of a husband was nowhere in sight, which any fan of the show probably knows will be the end result eventually. Let’s just hope that’s sooner rather than later.
My reason for mentioning this? You said the dynamic between Jim and Callie was interesting enough to possibly bring you back, so I’m giving you a little “heads up” in case you feel like trying the show just one more time. I don’t know if other fans of the show who spend time here at Clique Clack will agree with me, but I felt last night’s episode was a perfect example of the kind of show “The Glades” really is. So if you watch it and still don’t like it then I’d say the show was definitely not for you. I’m just glad it was back on its game so quickly and hope it stays there.
*POST AUTHOR*
I think I might have even felt better if something about Memphis Beat had been offensive or identifiably bad. The fact that it’s just dull is a big disappointment.
Thanks for the update on The Glades. If I can find the time I’ll try and catch up on the first few episodes of the season; Jim and Callie did seem like they could make things fun, so if they get back in their swing by week three it might be worth another look. :)