TV "Style Conventions" I Love

Beyond the characters, the writing, the plotting, the direction and the acting, there are many reasons why you might love a television show. Little stylistic choices, or "conventions" if you will, that help establish the mood and tenor of a program. For example, the ticking clock (both visually and aurally) on 24. Episodes titles for Friends that are always "The One With...." The "chung chung" sound on Law & Order.

Here are a few from current shows that I love:

The character-identifying chyron titles on Burn Notice, where the text flies in and freeze frames someone as "Michael's Worst Nightmare" or "Arms Dealer with a Grudge."

The 3D floating location identifiers on Fringe.

When the crew on Leverage pulls a con, toward the end of the episode, we usually get a quick black and white flashback to show how they did it.

The different sounds used to indicate a flashback, flashforward or flashsideways on Lost.

The "to the camera" confessionals on The Office and Parks & Recreation.

The choral "soundtrack" and musical stingers on Glee.

The faux Veridian Dynamics commercials that usually run during an episode of Better Off Ted.

The way the credits to The Closer typically unfold, with a full opening scene playing out, interspersed with stark text on black background credits, all underscored with a bluesy guitar.

The episode naming conventions for The Big Bang Theory and Community, which suggest (respectively) scientific theorems ("The Lizard-Spock Expansion") or college classes ("Comparative Religion").

Belle's in character (but out of story) asides to the camera/audience in Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

The "fake FBI Agent" names (usually classic rock inspired) the Winchester brothers always give in Supernatural ("Agent Plant and Agent Page").

The beautifully done depiction of Zoe Graystone, the "personality" trapped inside the Cylon robot, in Caprica, which cuts back and forth from the CGI'd gleaming metal monstrosity to actress Alessandra Torresani.

What about you? What conventions or stylistic quirks from your favorite shows make you love them that much more?

I'll take potpourri for $6,200, Alex

Let's take a break from our Emmy shortlisting, and roll around in some miscellany. Sound good?

If you haven't yet seen Veronica Mars, get thee to the WB.com, where you can watch the entire first season for free online (only until June 29th). This show is awesome, of course.

Galactica Sitrep has an interview with a leading roboticist, discussing Cylons. It's a fascinating read, but one thing that stuck out to me (sowing the seeds of my dissatisfaction with not only a major show plot thread, but the WTF of the ending):

What don't you like about the show?

This may put me in a bad light with Middle America, but the God angle – the fact that the cylons have a god – I really find that to be grating.

I haven't yet seen The Hangover, but I want to. Just watching the trailers, one question that popped up in my mind is "how do they do Ed Helms' missing tooth?" Make up? Digital effects? The answer is more straightforward than you think.

No matter how much they prayed, God couldn't save Tommy Tuberville's job. Maybe the staff should have been praying to the Almighty Bobby Lowder.

I never caught the Jeff Francouer quote "If OBP is so important, they why don't they put it up on the scoreboard?", which is hilarious. Some enterprising soul put together a t-shirt in Jeff's honor. Remember a couple of years ago, with an SI cover and universal adoration? Seems like a long time ago.

I was watching an old Quantum Leap episode the other day (the one where Sam helps out Marilyn Monroe), and the guy they had play Clark Gable was spot on. I kept thinking, "where have I seen him before?" Turns out, he's played Gable before in other productions, but equally as geeky, he was the legendary Dash Riprock! AND, he showed up at the "Shindig" on Firefly!

The absolute best, and funniest, things you will ever read on gay marriage. From SI's Jeff Pearlman.

Alan Tudyk chats about Dollhouse, V and Wash.

Land of the Lost isn't doing so well at the box office this weekend. Related, are these the 25 funniest Will Ferrell characters?

Whatever happened to TV theme songs?

Burn Notice triumphantly last Thursday. Alan Sepinwall chats with BN creator Matt Nix. Sepinwall also has great chats with In Treatment showrunner Warren Leight and Party Down creators Rob Thomas and John Enborn.

Good news for V. X-Files and Angel vet Jeff Bell takes over as showrunner.

Speaking of showrunners, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles honcho Josh Friedman takes to his blog to lament the cancelation of his show. Poignant and funny stuff.

12 million year old hominid with human features found in Spain. Wait, I thought the universe was only 6,000 years old? Obviously, another case of the devil manipulating carbon dating and fossils.

The twenty sexiest ugly people.

Mountain range discovered under Antarctic, that's been untouched for over 14 million years. Obviously, another case of Old Scratch duping scientists and geologists!

I'm not a videogame guy, but holy shit, does this new Beatles Rock Band game look awesome. Hell, the trailer is a work of art itself.

Children flying first class? Having long been a traveler who appreciates (and sometimes needs) that upgrade, I would have to offer an emphatic NO. (Unless the flight is Air France 447, Oceanic 815 or Ajira 316).

100 movie cliches that just won't die.

Dark UFO put up the results of their Lost season 5 Awards. Pretty interesting.

Great news! New Better Off Teds will be airing starting June 23rd.

Potential covers for the DVD release of The Middleman. Add this to your amazon wish list posthaste!

Dexter adds a new foil for season 4.

Fun with underage strippers back in Georgia. I think we all know how this story ends.

Profiles in awkwardness: EW's "Idolatry" interviews Danny Gokey (if you're watched, or read, any of the Idolatry pieces in EW this year, you know they're big fans of the Gokester). How can you be on a music show, and not fucking know what band Michael McDonald was in?

Yes, she's annoying. Yes, her live singing leaves a lot to be desired. But these Katy Perry pics? I'll be in my bunk.

Cinematical looks at 7 female TV stars who should be in more movies.

50 dirty text acronyms every parent should know. Suddenly, my BlackBerry feels lonely.

Not only has God been forsaking the Auburn coaching staff, but apparently he's been busy elsewhere during the NBA Finals, since Orlando Magic player, and team dancer impregnator, Dwight Howard assured the media that the Magic would beat the Lakers because of the almighty. Evidently, even divine intervention can't prevent Kobe from scoring 40. No word on whether Howard will start drawing pentagrams and reading Aleister Crowley if the Magic lose.

Emmy Shortlist: Comedy Supporting Actors

It’s that time of the year, now that the regular television season is over, when folks start putting together a short list for Emmy Nominations. I’ll do mine in few installments, starting today with supporting performances in a comedy.

TNRLM Shortlist: Supporting Actress/Comedy

Lizzy Caplan, Party Down: Caplan’s Casey, a wannabe stand up comic coming out of a bad long distance relationship, was a great romantic foil for Adam Scott’s Henry, creating one of the most deadpan comic couplings this year (Caplan was also fantastic in True Blood last year, as Jason’s unhinged blood junkie girlfriend).


Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies: A tiny whirlwind of comic charm and spunky sass, with bonus points for glorious singing.



Portia de Rossi, Better Off Ted: Veronica was as icy and buttoned up as Lindsey Funke was scattershot and dimly self aware, and both were played to perfection by de Rossi.



Jane Lynch, Party Down: Lynch is hit or miss for some folks, and I’ll admit that a little of her goes a long way. Party Down used her to great effect as a bawdy former C-level actress.

Cobie Smulders, How I Met Your Mother: Both ladies (including Alyson Hannigan) from HIMYM are worthy, but since Hannigan was sidelined for month or so on maternity leave, let’s give the show’s nomination here to Smulders, who did great work all season, culminating in a terrific finale with Barney.


Jenny Wade, Reaper: Though the plotting in Reaper was as disappointingly unfocused as last year, the performances really stepped up. Wade was a fantastic addition to the cast, giving her “reformed” demon an adorable quirkiness underscored with some not so human menace.



TNRLM Shortlist: Supporting Actor/Comedy

Adam Baldwin, Chuck: First, we have to address the question of whether or not to classify Chuck as a “comedy,” since it’s a little bit of everything (romance, comedy, spy caper, action adventure). Given how loaded the pure “drama” categories are, and how many smiles and chuckles Chuck brings to the party, I think it’s fine to put it here, and nobody does more with less than Baldwin’s Agent Casey. Whether it’s a grunt, a look or a nod, Baldwin is consistently entertaining, funny and badass.

Rick Gonzalez, Reaper: It took me a while to warm up to Gonzalez. I couldn’t stand his performance or his character on Reaper last year, but he completely won me over in the show’s second (and hopefully not final) season. His romance with Jenny Wade’s demon Nina was the heart of the show this year, and his off-kilter and underplayed line readings were appreciably surprising and delightful.

Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother: Harris should be a shoo-in winner in this category. He takes what could be a broad cartoon in a lesser actor’s hands, and infuses the scheming, womanizing Barney with an innate likeability. A masterful creation, masterfully played.

Chi McBride, Pushing Daisies: Reliably exasperated and caustic, McBride handles the labyrinthine plot twists and tangled, brilliant dialogue with aplomb.




Jason Segel, How I Met Your Mother: Marshall and Lily’s relationship is one to envy, in no small part because of Segel’s ability to play endearingly schmoopy. Plus, this last season gave him a chance to show more of a bromance with Barney, a welcome pairing we haven’t seen that often before.

Ray Wise, Reaper: Wise’s grinning, malevolent Prince of Darkness is a consistently terrific comic creation, completely dominating the screen while taking souls, looking for love or running a suburban botox party. If Reaper doesn’t get picked up by another network (or sold into syndication), I’d certainly watch a half hour sitcom with the Devil as a central character. He’s that “good.”

Bubble Watch

It's that time of the year when TV show renewals are in the air, and that brings the dreaded "bubble watch."

Because the great unwashed masses are generally too dumb or inattentive to appreciate quality work, or because of the limited broad appeal of genre fare, many of the shows I wind up loving often face the damned bubble. Fortunately, some of my most loved shows are already guaranteed (or almost a lock for) a place on the schedule next year, such as Lost, Supernatural, Fringe and Big Bang Theory (among 50+ others with a place of honor among my Season Passes). Others aren't so lucky:

How it would hurt if these shows were cancelled:

Gaping, sucking chest wound; punctured eyeballs; followed by being set on fire:

• Chuck (The most charming show on TV. A little bit of everything: espionage, laughs, romance, intrigue, action. Go buy a Subway sub on Monday!)
• Dollhouse (Like most of Joss's shows, this is really hitting its stride as it gets deeper into the mythology and characterizations. Been nuthin' but AWESOME since "Man on the Street.")
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Is there no room on TV for intelligent, well written sci-fi?)

Compound fracture of the tibia:

• Castle (A cut above the usual procedural with likable characters and charisma to burn).
• Reaper (wandering and amiable, but holding its own against the Idol juggernaut. The addition of Nina and Morgan has helped, Ben is a deadpan master, and Ray Wise's Devil is Emmy worthy).
• Party Down (Really funny, with distinct characters and an offbeat tone).

Vicious punch to the solar plexus:

• Better Off Ted (Why isn't this fantastical workplace sitcom, which never fails to make me laugh, getting more attention?)
• The Unusuals (Another cop show, sure, but at least it's trying something different).
• Law & Order (I've been with it from the beginning, and this current cast is fantastic and the best since the glory days).
• Lie to Me (Unique premise that's held up better than I thought it would thus far. Tim Roth and Kelli Williams are great, and Jennifer Beals showed up last night as Roth's ex-wife. Good stuff).
  

Hangover:

• Samantha Who (Yeah, it's kind of slight, but Christina Applegate is a fantastic comic actress).
• My Name is Earl (Even when it aims and misses, Earl has a great top to bottom cast who can handle anything from farce to heartwarming).