...on whatever crosses my mind

I Am Done with BET's "The Game", Finally

I missed last week's episode and have just finished watching the rerun before tonight's new episode.

And I'm done. Between this episode's treatment of Tasha Mack and the news that the show's stars, Tia Mowry Hardrict and Pooch Hall, will not be returning next season, I just can't.

I had hoped that Tasha and Pookie getting together would provide the writers an opportunity to resurrect the Tasha Mack that was so compelling on the CW's version.

But no. Now she is a sex addict.  It wasn't that she had distrust and anger issues with Coach T. It wasn't whatever broke her and Rick Fox up that has never been explained. Nope, now she's a ho. Now we are supposed to believe that she's always been motivated to pick men solely because of sex.  

Except nothing that the show has really done to date suggests this is anywhere near the case.

This is a manipulative, insulting and downright abusive and sexist treatment of the character of Tasha Mack. There is no reason for this to occur other than to create artificial conflict in the new relationship. But it would just be nice if the show would root these conflicts in the characters we know, rather than just try to be over the top and soapy.

I get that The Game is a different show from Girlfriends - which I believe to be the best black television show of the last decade - and I even somewhat kinda understand the desire to soap it up thinking that it would appeal to a broader audience even though it was a flagrant misread of the show's core  audience, but the treatment of Tasha Mack (and, to a lesser extent, Malik and Melanie) in the BET version is appalling and offensive in the extreme.

I didn't even watch tonight's episode. I'm done.

 

I'm sure folks have thoughts.  Share them with me in the comments.

'The Game': Season 5 Episode 18 Review

Thoughts on Episode 18 after the jump. As always, reviews of previous episodes can be found here.

 

'The Game': Season 5 Episode 17 Review

So...life happened and I couldn't keep up with reviews.  But I've had a chance to watch all the episodes I missed OnDemand, as well as tonight's episode.

Before we get into tonight's episode, here are my thoughts on what I missed:

• Overall, this back set of episodes is more consistently funny and traditionally sitcom-like than the first 10 episodes and most of Season 4. I think this has a lot to do with the end of the Tasha/Melanie feud, which lasted too long and sapped all the joy out of the show (what little there was). I am pleased, if cautiously so.

• I am not sure that I understand why Derwin and Melanie would want Tasha to carry their baby. As a human with a Y-chromosome, I want to tread lightly here but: isn't it harder to carry a baby to term after 35? Why would they want a 40-something surrogate?

• I still think Coby Bell is the series MVP and any scene he's in is going to be better than any scene without him, but the "friend" party did sort of raise the glaring issue that the show has gotten so far away from these people being friends and being in each other's lives that it, in some ways, makes no sense for this show to be on the air. It'd be nice if they found a way to reintegrate Bell into the show and find ways to have the five leads share scenes together.

• These episodes have been good for the development of Derwin as this brand new balla who is basically feelin himself a bit too much. Not blocking for Kwan is a major, in some ways unforgivable, mistake and I'm glad the show treated it as such. I am really hoping the writers use this as an opportunity to ground him (and Melanie too, for that matter) because not having them as the heart and moral compass of the show is a big part of the reason the BET version is so off-balance. Pooch Hall - always the show's weakest actor - stepped up nicely in the Kwan episode.

• I love the Tasha/Pookie relationship story. I think there is tremendous potential here. And who doesn't love the gorgeous and supremely talented Rockmond Dunbar. More of him is a good thing. Tasha Mack deserves more and so does Wendy Raquel Robinson.

• Lastly, Loretta Devine as Grandma Mack? Genius! And so emotionally rich. She and Robinson had a great scene at the end of Episode 13.

So that's it for the episodes I missed. Thoughts on Episode 17 after the jump. As always, reviews of previous episodes can be found here.

'The Game': Season 5 Episode 10 Review

Check out a very short review after the jump.

As always, reviews of previous episodes can be found here.

'The Game': Season 5 Episode 9 Review

Check out a very short review after the jump.

As always, reviews of previous episodes can be found here.

'The Game': Season 5 Episode 8 Review

"The Game" returned tonight after taking last week off.  Check out a very short review after the jump.

As always, reviews of previous episodes can be found here.

'Game of Thrones' Season 2 Trailer

I can't wait!!

 

 

My 11 Favorite Television Characters of All Time

The folks over at AfterElton.com are doing a really fun rundown of their favorite television characters of all time (no Kanye).

So I figured, why not make my own list? So I did.

Check it out after the jump.

'The Game': Season 5 Episode 7 Review

My thoughts on episode 7 after the jump.

As always, reviews of previous episodes can be found here.

BET's 2012-2013 Television Lineup Has Some Promise

If you read this blog, you know that I'm quite hard on BET's shows, The Game and Reed Between The Lines, for not being as good as they should be. But it's worth stating that it's terrific to finally be in a position to even critique original programming on the channel. It took forever for BET to start developing projects, so even if their first few shots out the gate aren't perfect it's still important that the network is even trying.

Which brings me to BET's announcement of next year's television lineup. A new Wayans family production doesn't excite me, but this does:

Also being fast tracked is "Gun Hill," which would be BET's first scripted drama. The series, which stars Larenz Tate and is being developed by Reggie Bythewood ("New York Undercover," "Get on the Bus"), gives what producers call "a twisted spin to the biblical Cain and Abel story": The lives of identical twins on opposite sides of the law — one is a cop and the other is a con — become intertwined one night when the cop is killed and the con assumes his identity.

I think the challenge for Bythewood, Tate and BET is to resist the urge to make the show simple. We are in an era where audiences are really responding to nuance and antihero protagonists. It would be great to have a show like that that is about black people.

And with an actor like Tate, who can go from sociopathic O-Dog to charming Darius to the dynamic Frankie Lymon with impressive ease, there is no reason they can't actually create a multifaceted character to rival Tony Soprano or Don Draper. Because if done right, Gun Hill could have the potential to do for BET what Mad Men did for AMC and The Shield did for FX. To do that, the producers have to eschew the simplistic positive/negative binary and go for broke.

Here's hoping.

'The Game': Season 5 Episode 6 Review

My thoughts on episode 6 after the jump.

As always, reviews of previous episodes can be found here.

'The Game': Season 5 Episode 5 Review

My thoughts on episode 5 after the jump.

As always, reviews of previous episodes can be found here.

'The Game': Season 5 Episode 4 Review

Y'all know how it goes: thoughts on episode 4 after the jump. As always, reviews of previous episodes can be found here.

'The Game': Season 5 Episode 3 Review

Quick note: The premiere episode was an hour so technically it was episode 1 and episode 2. That is why this one is episode 3.

My brief thoughts on episode 3 after the jump. As always, reviews of previous episodes can be found here.

'The Game': Season 5 Premiere Review

I highly doubt that people are as excited for Season 5 of The Game as they were for Season 4. I know I wasn't, given how uneven Season 4 turned out to be, but I was curious to see if some of the problems from last season were ironed out and if Season 5 might return the show to its pre-BET greatness.

Find out what I think after the jump.  Reviews of Season 4 can be found here.

 

Five Things That Will Fix 'Reed Between The Lines'

I wanted to like Reed Between The Lines more than I did. It stars the great Tracee Ellis Ross and Malcolm-Jamal Warner. It was BET's first real attempt at curbing its ain't shitness.  And the first two episodes had real promise.

But, ultimately, the show was too in love with it's desire to be a "Positive Black Family Show" and too indifferent to the fact that, outside of Malcolm-Jamal Warner's Dr. Alex Reed, no one makes an impression. Man, the show is just dry.

After the jump I make five suggestions for things that BET and the producers can do to fix this show.

 

Why Malcolm-Jamal Warner and His Dr. Alex Reed Are the Best Things about 'Reed Between the Lines'

Photo Credit: BET

 

Reed Between The Lines is 18 episodes in and so I now feel pretty comfortable saying that the only thing that totally works on the show is the character of Dr. Alex Reed and Malcolm-Jamal Warner's work bringing him to life.

Get Into 'The Chadwick Journals'

I often feel like because same-sex attraction is so misunderstood and so denigrated, that so much of black gay male interactions end up becoming a big mess of power plays and mixed signals. So much of our sexuality is confused and complicated by how we think it affects our ability to be men in a partriarchal society.

I Spent the Week at Alyssa Rosenberg's Crib on ThinkProgress

My friend, Alyssa Rosenberg, asked me to guest post on her blog on ThinkProgress this week.  I accepted and it was a really effin good time.  Her commenters are awesome and spending time at her crib really forced me to step my game up. I think I did ok.  

• Will ‘The Best Man’ Sequel Treat Its Women Characters Better?
• ‘Reed Between The Lines’ Is No ‘Cosby Show,’ Thankfully
• How Do You Create A Bisexual Film Character?
• How Can We Get Majority Audiences Consuming Culture About Minority Experiences? ctd.

What do y'all think?

'Ringer' Series Premiere Review

The cast of "Ringer." Photo Credit: Art Streiber CW ©2011 The CW Network, LLC

My review of the series premiere of Ringer, the new CW show starring Sarah Michelle Gellar is after the jump.

I am hoping that this show is sufficiently interesting enough to write weekly reviews, but if not I'll likely just pop in with a review when something significant happens. Hope you enjoy this review and come back for more.

Note: This review discusses nearly every aspect of the show, so if you haven't watched yet come back when you have done so.