Robert Lloyd

November 3, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

'By the People: The Election of Barack Obama' on HBO

How you react to “By the People: The Election of Barack Obama,” a new documentary premiering tonight on HBO, will be largely a matter of how you feel about Obama himself, and his election and presidency. (Birthers, come not here.) That the film itself is partial to its subject -- not just Obama but the army of campaign workers and supporters who put him in the White House and who are the meat of the film -- is clear even before you watch it: Taking a cue from the campaign's own playbook, HBO's website asks viewers to "spread the word" and "promote this film from your blog or Facebook page." A "special kit with all the tools" is offered to that end via download.

October 28, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

'Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space' on NBC

If you owned a successful movie called "Monsters vs. Aliens" and all the characters contained therein, you would be some kind of fool to let Halloween go by unexploited. Your stockholders would be right to rise up and smother you in goo, in a playful yet serious way.

October 28, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

'The Botany of Desire'

Based on Michael Pollan's book of the same name, “The Botany of Desire,” airing tonight on PBS, looks at the ways in which plants have advanced their agenda, metaphorically speaking, by making themselves attractive to humans. There is a lot of speaking in metaphors in the two-hour documentary, much of it by Pollan himself, who regularly takes pains to remind us that he is, in fact, speaking metaphorically, because we have no words to describe the psychology of species beside our own. Besides, a little anthropomorphizing can be a useful thing when you're telling a story, especially when the moral is that we are all in this together, plants and people and every living thing, and so mutually dependent that it's impossible to tell the user from the used.

October 27, 2009

DVD REVIEW

DVDs: 'On the Road With Charles Kuralt: Set 1'

Back in the 20th century, a CBS TV reporter named Charles Kuralt set off in an RV with no particular place to go to see what was happening there. "On the Road With Charles Kuralt" was the name for the short pieces he filed, which ran in several venues over the years, beginning in 1967 with "The Evening News With Walter Cronkite" and ending a couple of decades later as part of "CBS Sunday Morning," which Kuralt himself hosted for 15 years. A three-DVD set collecting some of Kuralt's televised anthologies of favorite pieces is being released today by Acorn Media, with "Set One" attached to the title. More would only be a good thing, and not too much of one.

October 25, 2009

CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK

Mein Camp: YouTube videos vent through Hitler movie clip

In a bunker beneath Berlin, in a room crowded with staff, a tired Adolf Hitler leans over his desk. Tracing a finger across a map, an officer speaks:

October 21, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

Review: 'Lock 'n Load' on Showtime

"In America," says Josh T. Ryan at the start of every episode of “Lock ’n Load,” a new reality series premiering tonight on Showtime, "a new gun is manufactured every 10 seconds. And all sorts of people are buying them." As that works out to 3,153,600 new guns a year -- about three-quarters the number of new people who are manufactured in America over the same period -- one would think that, yes, there will have to be some variety.

October 20, 2009

DVD REVIEW

Dollying through that fourth wall on 'It's Garry Shandling's Show'

Garry Shandling, the comedian, has co-created and starred in two television shows over the course of his career. Each played with the conceptual physics of the medium itself, and skipped back and forth across the dotted line that divides the actual from the fictional. Each featured Shandling as a comedian somewhat less successful than himself, if possibly no less insecure. And each was born in premium cable and helped establish it as a venue for quality work long before Tony Soprano first decided to see a psychiatrist.

October 18, 2009

CLASSIC TV

A new Monty Python documentary looks back

In 1969, five young British comedians and one young American animator came together to make a television show. Without much of an idea of what they were going to do, they were given a series by the BBC to do it in, and after hunting around for a name -- "Owl-Stretching Time" and "A Horse, a Spoon, and a Basin" having been bruited and vetoed -- they settled on "Monty Python's Flying Circus."

October 14, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

Review: 'American Masters: Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound' on PBS

Her future boyfriend and sometime musical partner Bob Dylan was still in high school in Minnesota when Joan Baez first played Club 47 in Cambridge, Mass., in 1958 at age 17. We see her there, and then, in “Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound,” airing tonight on PBS as part of the series "American Masters" -- a teenager with long, dark hair; a Spanish guitar; and a mature mezzo-soprano voice. The next year, she appeared at the Newport Folk Festival and became famous. She made records that went gold. She was on the cover of Time.

October 9, 2009

CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK

'Curb Your Enthusiasm's' 'Seinfeld' reunion makes sense

Reunions are difficult things. Whatever joy there is to be had in reclaiming the past from the dustbin of history, these monuments to elapsed time inevitably carry the faint, acrid odor of mortality. Which makes Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm,” with its Greek-tragicomic aura of inescapable fate -- that is usually to say, of failure -- the perfect venue in which to stage a “Seinfeld” reunion. It's the only venue, really, and one that does not infect the occasion -- which is actually kind of thrilling -- with an air of confetti-ed celebration the original had no time for.

September 21, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

Review: 'Accidentally on Purpose' on CBS

First impressions count, and “Accidentally on Purpose,” the new Jenna Elfman comedy, begins with a poor one. Ashley Jensen -- an intelligent, subtle actress who has done lovely work on "Ugly Betty" and "Extras" -- speaks: "I can't do another office party; I've already slept with everyone here."

September 9, 2009

Review: 'Glee'

Fox's clever decision to sneak-preview, back in May, the pilot of "Glee” -- the high school musical whose second episode airs tonight -- created a kind of cliffhanger summer for a show that had not yet properly premiered. The pilot was rebroadcast last week in a "director's cut," a phrase that translates as "Take this seriously."

August 27, 2009

CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK

Cable news networks in rare agreement covering Ted Kennedy's death

The death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was the first of a liberal politician of legendary stature since the rise of the cable news networks and as such it brought out their biases in slightly new ways.

August 14, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

A stately progress on 'Mad Men'

Currently nominated for 16 Emmys and the winner of last year's award for outstanding drama series, “Mad Men” -- which begins its third season Sunday night on AMC -- isn't basic cable's first prestige show.

July 18, 2009

AN APPRECIATION

Walter Cronkite: And that's the way it was

For many who grew up in the 1960s and '70s, Walter Cronkite was the voice of unfolding history. On the "CBS Evening News" and on the spot, his eloquent mediation of the great events of an age almost pathologically overflowing with them was essential to the way those events were understood. Even when he was temporarily at a loss for words -- his tears at the death of John F. Kennedy, his inarticulate glee at the moon landing ("Whew, boy!") -- he somehow spoke for the nation he spoke to.

April 17, 2009

'Sit Down, Shut Up'

There was reason enough to expect something special from “Sit Down, Shut Up,” a new Fox animated sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz of "Arrested Development" and featuring a cast -- derived mainly from "Arrested Development" and "Saturday Night Live," with Tom "SpongeBob" Kenny bringing the cartoon cred -- that deserves to be called "all-star." But the show that premieres Sunday night, between "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" in the space formerly occupied by "King of the Hill," is weak -- not hopeless, but given the pedigree, heavily disappointing.

April 15, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

'Pitchmen'

Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan sell things on television, famously. Mays, a burly man with a black beard and a voice that suggests incipient deafness, and could possibly cause it, is the more famous. But the cooler Sullivan -- who also produces and directs DRTV (Direct Response Television, as in "Operators are standing by") advertisements -- is the more versatile. Between the two, they have moved more than a billion dollars' worth of things that light up your house, clean up your yard, shape your body and otherwise improve your life -- products with names like Awesome Auger, Hercules Hook, Glass Wizard, Swivel Sweeper, the Stick-Up Bulb and Slimming Pants.

April 11, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

'Thrilla in Manila' on HBO

If you are not a boxing fan (I am not a boxing fan), the HBO documentary "Thrilla in Manila” -- the story of the Joe Frazier-Muhammad Ali rivalry, as it played across three fights from 1971 to 1975 -- is not the film to make you one. And if you are a boxing fan, well, even those here seem appalled at the brutality of the famous final bout, called one of the greatest fights in history, even as they celebrate the participants' gladiatorial resolve. But either way, the movie works.

April 10, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

'Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire'

April 6, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

'Surviving Suburbia'

The second situation comedy to star Bob Saget, ABC's “Surviving Suburbia,” comes 14 years after the end of "Full House," the cuddly series in which he played loving father to the Olsen twins (conjoined in a single part). It is also 12 years since he hosted that influential bastion of adorable domestic hilarity, "America's Funniest Home Videos." And most every appearance since -- talk show spots, "Entourage" cameo, the dirty-joke movie "The Aristocrats," the hip-hop parody "Rollin' With Saget" and, above all, his dark, blue stand-up comedy -- has been, in effect if not by intent, to prove to the world that he is really Not That Guy.

April 1, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

'Pedro' on MTV and Logo

“Pedro,” which premieres tonight on MTV (and simultaneously on sister station Logo), dramatizes the short, productive life of Pedro Zamora, a third-season cast member of "The Real World" -- the 1994 San Francisco season, known also for the abrasive, abusive and generally uncooperative bike messenger Puck, who was kicked out of the house, in part because of his treatment of Zamora.

March 20, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

Movable feast of laughs

Rob Thomas, the man behind "Veronica Mars" and "Cupid" (the old "Cupid," with Jeremy Piven, and the coming new "Cupid" with Bobby Cannavale) and briefly associated with the rebranding of "90210," has found a new outlet on the relatively remote reaches of Starz, the cable network that shares a name with a bushy-haired 1970s power-pop band. “Party Down,” which premieres tonight, is the show in question, and it is a smart, affable, mostly unpredictable ensemble comedy that reminds us that in the 500-channel universe, fine things can happen in unlikely places, as long as you are clever about budget, commit to a sensible number of episodes -- in this case 10 -- write well and cast right, and that what matters ultimately to heaven is not the eminence of the venue but the quality of the work.

March 11, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

'The Chopping Block'

I don't know whether it's still the American dream to own a restaurant -- it may now be just to hang on to that horrible job you had hoped to quit soon -- but there are at least 16 people who still dream it, and they are contestants on “The Chopping Block.” Premiering tonight on NBC, this latest in a lengthening line of food-themed reality shows shares a title (and creators) with an Australian food-themed reality show, has much in common with another Australian food-themed reality show ("My Restaurant Rules") and the BBC food-themed reality show "The Restaurant," and boasts the same host as the UK version of the food-themed reality show "Hell's Kitchen," Marco Pierre White.

March 9, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

'RuPaul's Drag Race' on Logo

RuPaul, the 6-foot-4 to 6-foot-7 (by his own varying accounts) African American drag queen who sashayed his way into mass consciousness in the 1990s with the club hit "Supermodel" and a VH1 talk show, is back on TV with “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” A reality competition show now about three-quarters through its first cycle on Logo, the LGBT-themed cable net, it aims to discover "America's next drag superstar" -- that is, the next RuPaul. It's a little bit "America's Next Top Model" and a little bit "Project Runway," and like drag itself, parodical without being a joke.

March 7, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

'Ashes to Ashes' on BBC America

“Ashes to Ashes,” which premieres tonight on BBC America, is a sequel to “Life on Mars,” the 2006 series whose American remake ABC has just canceled. It's an unlikely thing, given that the first series' main character killed himself in the final episode (though perhaps survived in another reality) and that all the other characters were (possibly) figments of his imagination. But it's in that "perhaps" and "possibly" that "Ashes to Ashes" finds a way forward, and although it's not as good as the original, it pushes many of the same buttons and sews on a few new ones. It's quite enjoyable.

February 1, 2009

A 'Project Runway' fan defends it to reality TV critics

"Project Runway" is the show I name whenever I am asked to defend reality TV or my unwillingness to condemn it all out of hand. The popular fashion-designing competition finished its fifth season on Bravo last October and now circles in a holding pattern over its intended new network, Lifetime, while lawyers from its old home try to keep it from landing. (The disputed sixth season, minus its finale, has already been filmed -- and, for the first time, in Los Angeles.) I might also mention "Top Chef" as part of my reality defense, but "Top Chef" is just "Project Runway" with food.

January 17, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

Review: 'Wuthering Heights'

"Wuthering Heights": A Victorian novel with a name (and plot points) fit for a 1980s prime-time soap. It's one of those titles that rattles around in your head even before you've ever read the book or the Cliffs Notes, or seen it adapted for TV or the movies, which it has been at least once a decade since 1920, not even counting foreign-language films or the 2003 MTV musical update.

January 16, 2009

TELEVISION REVIEW

Review: 'United States of Tara'

The family comedy has undergone some transformations of late, thanks mostly to cable television and its restless search for buttons and/or envelopes to push. “ United States of Tara,” a new Showtime series about a woman with four personalities (including her "own"), is solidly within this new tradition of the strange, alongside shows like " Weeds," "The Riches" and "Big Love" -- stories of families whose unusual lives or lifestyles set them apart from the supposedly normal world, which we are typically invited to see as grotesque.

December 12, 2008

CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK

At the Golden Globes, this year looks a whole lot like last year

Now that we've got electing a president out of the way, it's time to get back to the more important business of giving awards to television shows and motion pictures. More than a month out from the inauguration of Barack Obama, the nominees for the 2008 Golden Globes have been announced; the statuettes will be handed out nine days before power shifts in Washington. And then we can all go back to sleep until Oscar time.

Review: 'Kids Pick the President'

September 4, 2008

CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK

Sarah Palin's convention speech: She did just fine

The night formerly known as Night Three of the Republican National Convention was dedicated to "Reform and Prosperity." But more important, it was the party's, and the country's, first substantial look at Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who in no time at all has become not only a national politician but a subject of controversy and a figure of symbolic import.

August 11, 2008

TELEVISION REVIEW

'The American Mall' -- teens, dreams and dancing in the food court

In simplest terms, “The American Mall,” which premieres tonight on MTV, is MTV looking at the Disney Channel's burgeoning teen-musical empire and thinking, "I got to get me one of those." It's “High School Musical” -- but in a mall! Instead of a dance set in a cafeteria, there's a dance set in . . . a food court!

July 21, 2008

TELEVISION REVIEW

Heidi Fleiss: The Would-Be Madam of Crystal

“Heidi Fleiss: The Would-Be Madam of Crystal,” premiering tonight on HBO, reacquaints us with a woman never too long out of the public eye. It has been almost a decade since Fleiss left prison, where she'd spent 21 months of a three-year sentence for tax evasion, money laundering and pandering. In that time she has run a West Hollywood boutique, published a kind of scrapbook memoir, put out a "sex tips" DVD, written a magazine column, had a radio show, sold the rights to her life story to Paramount and accused boyfriend Tom Sizemore of domestic violence. (He was convicted.) Not necessarily in that order.

July 11, 2008

TELEVISION REVIEW

'Ashley Paige: Bikini or Bust'

"Ashley Paige: Bikini or Bust" is a Bravo-style entrepreneurial reality series centered on Hollywood bikini designer Paige, who, despite her big-name clientele, lives on the edge of penury, scrambling to pay bills or avoid paying them. "I'm an artist," she says. "I'm obviously not a businessman."

May 27, 2008

DVD REVIEW

'Square Pegs' fits right in

A comedy about kids that was not made for kids but was not not made for kids, "Square Pegs" premiered on CBS in the fall of 1982; a quarter of a century later, it has come to DVD in its surprisingly modest, 19-episode entirety. But 9 1/2 hours is time enough to make a point, when you have one.