The cat’s been out of the bag for several days now; “GIRLS” has arrived, and it’s probably the most disappointing debut of a show in recent memory. It’s a wasted premise on a group of, as of now, uninteresting characters, that lacks a strong immediate conflict, and appeals to a narrow audience.

Women in their mid-20’s, in this country, in this economy, don’t have the kind of grounded representation in entertainment the way they need to. This is a ripe market that’s desperate for content. And here it is, “GIRLS,” or as a friend of mine brilliantly renamed it “Vacuous, Socially Awkward, Privileged White People Who Find Themselves Interesting But Are Unable To Stop Talking In A Fake New York City, Devoid of Real Conflict.”

I don’t mind unsympathetic characters. I kind of prefer them. They’re meatier. And this show has a fantastic premise that does represent a lot of people, men and women, in their mid-20’s, who are mooching off their family, who do lack work ethic, who are going to be the first generation of Americans in the history of the country to have a lower standard of living than their parents. That’s a story that hasn’t yet been captured. We’re living in a society that’s not yet had the kind of lens on television that illustrates the enormity of the crisis and allows all of us to relate to the severity of it. “GIRLS” could have been that, instead it’s a mediocre in-joke, at best, and at worst it’s an alienation of what it’s trying to represent.

People have hailed this thing as the next great American television show, but let’s look at the facts: Its debut was modest. 1.1 million viewers across 2 airings. It lost more than a third of its lead-in audience from “Eastbound & Down” and “Game of Thrones” pulls in over 4 million viewers every Sunday night.

The entire show has the feel of someone having lunch and thinking, “Hey, let’s make a show about us.” I could even imagine it happening over the course of the “dinner party” scene in this past week’s pilot. And that’s fine if you’re a film student, but not if you’re getting the Judd Apatow stamp of approval and a major HBO premiere.

Let’s go even further. Let’s take away the demographics and ratings and focus on the quality of the show itself:

The girls: First of all, kudos to putting on a female show full of women who look like real women. Gold star.

The inciting incident: After 2 years a mid-20’s girl with no direction in life is cut off from her parents and has to enter the real world without a safety net. FANTASTIC!

The pacing: Off (note the opening dinner scene that dragged on for too many jokes and reaction shots, or the “good angel vs. bad angel” scene in the bedroom with our protagonist high on opium). The shooting style is reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s work, but misses the tone and the fact that Anderson is painting a world that’s not quite like our own, whereas this show is trying too hard to be naturalistic.

The acting: Flat as a board with the exception, maybe, of a couple nice moments from Allison Williams.

The humor (it’s billed as a comedy after all): You can literally notice a beat after every joke as if they’re waiting for a laugh track “I may be the voice of my generation. Or a voice of a generation.” [pause for laughter]

It’s failing on the basic levels of storytelling in a visual medium. It’s not necessarily a bad cast and it’s a phenomenal idea, but the execution is supremely disappointing. The jokes are stilted, one of my favorite exchanges was the oh-so-clever: “I’m not on Facebook.” “You’re so classy.” [pause for laughter] Because no one’s made jokes about Facebook with such biting wit since, oh right, The Social Network! The drama’s muted, as evidenced by the blink-and-miss-it preggers revelation by the foreign cousin while squatting on the toilet, and the look of the show is bland as f*ck, as evidenced by the hipster actor’s apartment (Sooooo much brown…).

And you know what? It’s going to get renewed. HBO doesn’t have a high bar when it comes to viewership and they’d have a major hole in their programming. Too much money’s been invested. Unless a horse dies on set of course. The main reason it will get picked up for a second season is because the masses DON’T have a show like this on television. And in a starving marketplace, the consumer will buy the single option available. “GIRLS” may end up being THE representative of a generation of women, but by default.

One Viewer’s Opinion,

The Dude

Proposition 8 was overturned, and now we have to see that lesbian comedienne Ellen Degeneres as the new face of JCPenney? Where on EARTH will I shop now? Ladies, we’ve got to do something about this. Let’s protest that crazy talk show host so that her homosexuality doesn’t taint all our kids’ back-to-school clothes and our Christmas shopping.

Read More »

Simon Cowell might be a jerk, but he sure is good at making popular TV shows. He’s the man behind American Idol, America’s Got Talent, and The X Factor, along with about a million other shows internationally. And he’s just announced that his newest project will be a DJ competition show.

Simon is teaming up with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith to create the show. Apparently, BET has already had a similar series running for two years. But Simon is talking to bigger networks like Fox and NBC to try and make this idea his next big thing. He says that “DJs are the new rockstars,” and that he wants to make DJs just as famous and recognizable as pop stars.

What do you think? Will this show be the Next American Idol, or are Simon, Will, and Jada wasting their time?

This week, Pat Sajak admitted that he and Vanna White used to party pretty hard in the classic days of Wheel of Fortune. In fact, he said that they used to tape the show drunk, after drinking “two or three or six” margaritas. Pat and Vanna, we here at CC salute you. I mean, really, how else could you get through hosting a show like that?

Here’s our list of eight more TV shows where the hosts should be drunk.

initiating the gallery...

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Back in November (that seems so long ago now that it’s 2012), NBC put its stellar comedy, Community, on an indefinite hiatus. Fans were outraged and many have been campaigning to “Save Community” since the announcement. The fate of the show has been extremely unclear since NBC execs are ignoring the situation.

Well, you’ve been waiting, and it’s finally happening! Community is officially coming back to your television this spring, according to NBC entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt. Don’t get too excited though because there’s no news yet of a fourth season. While Community’s fanbase is dedicated, it doesn’t pull in the big numbers like NBC’s other shows. Community was pulled to make room for NBC favorite 30 Rock. Read More »

I’ll never forget the first footage I saw of the uprising in Egypt last winter – Tahrir Square full of people shouting, chanting, and waving Egyptian flags. As the Arab Spring movement continues to grow, we are witnessing a revolution. But watching a revolution from afar is strange – it’s exciting, scary, and confusing all at the same time.

Recently, I had the chance to interview Lara Setrakian, a foreign correspondent for Bloomberg Television and ABC News. Lara is a young American journalist based in Dubai, but travels back and forth to the United States frequently. She has come to be regarded as an authority on the political situation in the Middle East, and reported live from Tahrir Square earlier this year as the rule of President Hosni Mubarak came to an end. Who better to provide a little perspective on these events than someone who has seen them firsthand? Read on for my interview with this incredibly inspiring and driven lady!

Read More »

As if we haven’t wasted enough time watching the Kardashians, Kendall Jenner has been greenlit for her own Sweet Sixteen special on E!. This is not a drill. I don’t know about you, but I thought Kendall was older than that given the fact that she has a lot oversexed photo shoots. I imagine this is the work of Kim or momager, Kris. I foresee a lot of drama as Kim tries to take over Kendall’s birthday party and try to relive her years just like she did with Kendall’s modeling.

Poor Bruce will be sitting idly with his diamond studs as his baby girl contemplates “whether or not she should get a belly ring or a tattoo.” Granted, I got a belly ring when I turned thirteen and my first tattoo at sixteen, but neither was aired on national television. Kendall will reportedly also shop for a car, probably something way too expensive for a sixteen-year-old. They’re trying to get Kanye West or Nicki Minaj to perform as well. Well color me jealous, my sweet sixteen consisted of dinner at The Melting Pot, a sleepover with my close girlfriends, and a trip to Six Flags.

I have to wonder at what point the Kardashians will take over E! or leave and create their own network like Oprah. It’ll be the Kardashian Khannel! All Kardashians all the time. That’s basically what E! is now anyway. And you know what this means. Kylie is going to have a special when she turns sixteen, too. Thank heavens there aren’t anymore kids. Oh wait, baby Mason! He’s obviously going to have some perks eventually. It’s never going to stop. Prepare yourselves.

Looking back at old TV shows, I can’t help but wonder how some kids shows were able to air. Obviously as young ones, we didn’t catch on to crude humor. Half the shows we watched growing up would never make it to the screen today on a kids channel. Sure Family Guy and South Park are mature cartoons, but they’re also on mature channels and at hours when kids are generally asleep.

I have really cool parents so there weren’t a lot of banned shows in my household, but there were a few. Now I certainly remember sneaking downstairs after I was put to bed to watch shows that I wasn’t allowed to. And going to my friend’s house with parents who let her watch whatever she wanted. Beavis and Butthead made it back on air this week, which I definitely wasn’t allowed to watch as a kid. It got me thinking about all of those other shows that were on the parental control list. Read More »