This Week In TV: Tuesday

Awkward, MTV's best show. You heard me Jersey Shore!

Tuesday:

Glee (FOX at 7)-No really, I’m a straight guy. I’m serious. Whatever, I don’t care what you think! Glee used to be a good show, a show that I enjoyed, & one that I would defend when people made fun of it and/or me for watching. That lasted all of half a season and then it took a nosedive as the writers chose to almost completely ignore any character continuation, made episodes fit around the music rather than the other way around, completely forgot many of their actors’ strengths, & forever ruined the character of Mr. Schuester. Now it’s a show I watch mostly so I can mock how terrible it’s become (though every once in a while there are still glimpses of something decent), & while last week’s season premiere was no exception, this week brought some hope.

Sure Sue’s run for Congress is ridiculous & a continued waste of Jane Lynch’s talent but the rest of the episode ranged from solid to quite good (well, except for Shuester & Mike Chang’s slow-mo dancing, that was obnoxious). Brittany’s ideas for Kurt’s (class president?) campaign posters essentially just being big pink signs screaming out how gay he is coupled with his lack of masculinity causing him to miss out on playing the lead in the school play caused him to show some frustration at sometimes being seen as nothing more than the gay kid (a fate that would have befallen the character if Chris Colfer wasn’t one of the better actors on the show & one of the few, maybe only, whose benefited from consistent writing). Ultimately, thanks to some more sage advice from his dad, he decides to accept that this is part of who he is & he simply has to forge his own way.

Better yet was the return of Shelby Corcoran who is simultaneously Rachel’s birth mother, the adoptive mother of Quinn & Puck’s baby, & the vocal coach of the new rival glee club within McKinley High. Ok, that last plot point was incredibly stupid, but it allowed her to come back so we’ll let it go. Her return shows that Rachel still has some inner angst from being adopted (& then essentially re-abandoned by her birth mother at the end of season 1). Even more importantly it seems to have given Quinn, & to a lesser degree Puck, something interesting to do for the first time in about a year as they both clean up their acts so they can be a part of their child’s life. Or, in Quinn’s case, so she can get her child back from its adoptive mother (which seems kind of evil but at least it finally gives Diana Agron, probably the best dramatic actress on the show, something she can really work with).

Maybe, just maybe, the addition of a full writing staff has gotten Glee back on track. I mean, hell, even Schuester had a decent scene in this episode telling Quinn to grow up. Either way though I’m entirely behind Todd Vanderwoff’s idea, spurred on by Tinker from the last two seasons of the brilliant Friday Night Lights showing up as Mercedes new boyfriend, of bringing in (Emmy winner!) Kyle Chanlder & Connie Britton from FNL to take over as the adult leads & turn Glee into Friday Night Lights with show choir. Now that’s a show I’d defend.
Grade: B

New Girl (FOX at 8)-What followed Glee was one of two new comedies (Up All Night being the other) I’m trying out this fall, the Zooey Deschanel starring sitcom in which, after catching her boyfriend cheating, she answers a craigslist ad & moves in with 3 guys. Now how much you like Deschanel will largely decide how you feel about the show, & as someone who swears by the movie (500) Days of Summer I’m a fan. Now out of the three guys however Damon Wayans Jr.’s “Coach” was my favorite, but because his other show, the enjoyable Happy Endings, got picked up he had to leave so today we got a new, black, roommate in Winston a former professional basketball player, in Latvia. The show largely struggled to fit him in, but as the new guy in an already established household this makes sense within the world of the show. Otherwise the episode resolved on Deschanel’s “Jess” breaking the guys’ TV & thus having to get her own stuff (which included a large flat screen) from, & get over, her ex. It was a pleasant enough adventure but it lacked any truly memorable or laugh out loud moments (Actually when Schmidt, the douche of the group who likes to take his shirt off, slapped her ex I laughed quite a bit). Overall it was a slight step back from the pilot, understandable with it having to already break in a new character, but it remains quite promising.
Grade: C+

Awkward (MTV at 8, though the season just ended)-while RJ Berger was funnier & Teen Wolf was brilliant in a soapy kind of way, Awkward is legitimately the best show MTV has so far produced. Ashley Rickards (Brooke’s foster daughter Sam in season 6 of One Tree Hill) as Jenna, is definitively the best lead they’ve had, being able to keep the show grounded around the more cartoonish supporting characters while still being funny in her own right. Plus the writing is superior to that of MTV’s other shows as it’s been consistently sharp & used many classic high school tropes without having any of them feel tired (bonus points for having the bitch cheerleader be fat, as that’s far more realistic to my high school experience).

This week we got the one hour season finale in which she broke off her relationship with popular guy Matty right before formal, believing he was unwilling to commit to her publicly, in favor of nice-guy, friend who wants to be more, Jake. Alas Matty’s only real hesitation at this point was hurting Jake’s feelings (as Jake is his best friend), & he ultimately attempts to win her back by showing up to her house to take her to the dance (minutes too late of course). Meanwhile Jake continues to show off what a great guy he is first by being there for Jenna when an embarrassing/scornful letter to her “from a friend” is made public, then being secure enough to dance like an idiot to have fun, & ultimately holding her hand in public (the first person to do so besides her parents).  Jenna has one last chance to choose between Matty (who, as she narrates it, her heart wants)  & Jake (who her head prefers) & ultimately it’s her hand that chooses Jake. A dejected Matty leaves the dance as he’s named prince (they’re sophomores) while Jenna & Jake go back to her house & make out, where they trip the house alarm. When Jenna goes in a drawer to look for the code she finds the same stationary used to write the hurtful letter, implicating her shallow, self-centered mother, Lacey, as the culprit (something everyone watching the show had called at least a few weeks back).

Despite all of the love triangle drama the supporting characters still each got their moment to shine. Before it was revealed she’d written the letter Lacey got her most sympathetic moment of the series when she gave Jenna her grandma’s dress & told Jenna how her own mother had loved that dress more & she wanted Jenna to know she would always be loved more than any dress. Ming got to go to escape her parents clutches & go to formal, even if that meant going with an emo looking lesbian. Tamara’s off again, on again relationship with uber-douche Ricky Schwartz (I love that this show realizes not only that there are fat cheerleaders, but that gross, stupid guys can be players as well. Life, & especially high school, are weird & this show gets that) remained amusing & ended with them making out on the dance floor & going to an after party. The most rewarding moments however were Valerie, the wacky counselor, & Lissa (not a type-o), the ditzy sidekick, finally standing up to Sadie, the aforementioned fat, bitch, cheerleader. Lissa was also involved in the biggest laugh of the night when she made out with a random guy in front of Jake (her-ex) to try & make him jealous & get the guys to fight over her only to have  them shake hands. Leading her to ask make out guy, “Why’d you do that?” & his comedically brilliant response was, ”We’re bros.”

Looking back at Awkward’s first season it’s safe to say it’s not brilliant, however it’s good & shows the potential to be much better. This first year is not going down as one of the great seasons of high school television along with The OC’s first season or any of Friday Night Lights’ (except for season 2, obviously), not with many of the supporting characters still mostly two dimensional. It did however accomplish a fairly compelling love triangle that kept all 3 characters likeable & acting like reasonable human beings, no small triumph (Personally, despite having far more in common with Jake, I was on Team Matty, & expect him to be back with Jenna by the end of next season), while also giving glimpses of becoming a more ensemble show with an episode that explored Sadie’s struggles with her weight & her own mother & smaller hints that the writers have a grasp on who the other characters are.  I look forward to seeing what is to come &, unlike most of their programming; MTV has something to be proud of.

Grade: A

Season Grade: B+

For a more intelligent look at Awkward please click here to read Myles McNutt’s review of the season finale for the AV Club.