The Yin Blog

My TV rankings, week of December 2

All rightie, November sweeps are over and many shows on the broadcast networks are going into midseason finales or have already.

1. Once Upon a Time (ABC Sundays) [last week: 1]

Did you catch the reveal of Peter Pan's true identity a couple of weeks ago? Wow, that was pretty awesome -- very well done in terms of the build-up and the actual reveal itself. This past episode, which appeared to resolve the Pan storyline, was quite effective as well, with the backstory providing even more depth to the Evil Queen's character. Lana Parilla really does a great job of imbuing Regina with such malevolence yet vulnerability in terms of her need to be a mother.

2. Scandal (ABC Thursdays) [last week: 2]

"Scandal" is totally insane in terms of its pacing and plotting, but it doesn't pretend to be anything that it isn't. In some ways, it's kind of like a successor to "24" in that it just throws so many ridiculous mini-arcs out there to see what sticks. The most recent episode, which showed how Mellie stuck with Fitzgerald during his initial campaigning for the California governorship, including an awful rape, was incredibly powerful.

3. Survivor: Blood vs. Water (CBS Wednesdays) [last week: 3]

The water is bloody! This has been a pretty good season, much better than I had initially thought it would be from the seemingly lackluster cast. It's not "Heroes vs. Villains," of course, but then, no season of "Survivor" has matched that one.

4. Hawaii 5-O (CBS Fridays) [last week: 4]

The Thanksgiving episode was pretty fun, especially with the guest turn by Carol Burnett. It looks like Kono (Grace Park) is getting back to Hawaii soon. I'm guessing that Grace Park had a baby over the summer, which would explain her sparse screen time coupled with strategically placed above the midsection camera shots of her.

5. Person of Interest (CBS Tuesdays) [last week: 6]

Wow, they killed Detective Joss Carter! When CBS kept teasing viewers with the someone will die promo, I figured it would be Detective Fusco, because he seemed the most expendable (and also wouldn't decrease the gender/racial diversity of the cast as much). Jim Caviezel sure managed to look deranged in the following episode! The only negative is that Amy Acker's uber-hacker Root has become ridiculously powerful in ways that don't even make sense. I mean, sure, the Machine is feeding her useful information, not just social security numbers, but how can it turn her into an elite killing machine? You could tell me where to shoot, but it doesn't mean I'm going to be super-proficient with a handgun.

6. Grimm (NBC Fridays) [last week: 5]

The last episode reminded me of "The X-Files" episode with El Chupcabra. That's not such a good thing, since even "The X-Files" realized how subpar that episode was, when it made fun of it in the episode "Bad Blood."

7. Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (ABC Tuesdays) [last week: 7]

It's still okay but my mind often wanders while watching. Not a good sign.

8. White Collar (USA Tuesdays) [last week: 8]

The formula appears to be wearing old at this point. Con artist Neal Caffrey appears to have rubbed off in a bad way on his FBI handlers, as a number of them are concealing things from one another or otherwise breaking rules/laws. Except for the upright secondary character, the inaptly named Clinton Jones.

9. The Blacklist (NBC Mondays) [last week: 9]

Kind of an interesting/stupid cliffhanger episode from last week, where the FBI demonstrates CTU-like (from "24") ineptness in letting its office be captured by terrorists. James Spader is still playing Red as an older Alan Shore, but is still entertaining. I'm not convinced about how Megan Boone's new agent/profiler has all of a sudden become Xena.

10. Almost Human (Fox Mondays) [last week: NR]

Karl Urban (who plays Dr. McCoy in the new "Star Trek" movies) is a gruff cop in the near future paired with an android named Dorian in something that looks like a cross between "Blade Runner" and the William Shatner Tekwar novels. It's really just another mismatched cop buddy show mashed with semi-dystopian sci-fi, and not must see TV, but it's handled competently.

(missing the cut), Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC Thursdays), Shark Tank (ABC Fridays), The Voice (NBC Mondays/Tuesdays), Covert Affairs (USA).

"Once Upon a Time in Wonderland" drops off the rankings. I'm still watching it, sort of, but that's because I'm stubborn about these things. "Shark Tank" and "The Voice" are fine but I guess I strongly prefer scripted dramas. (Hmm, why is "Survivor" ranked so high, then, you ask? I'm sure there's a lot of scripting going on there....) "Covert Affairs" ended its season so I guess I should drop it altogether.

Cut: Sleepy Hollow (Fox Mondays), Revolution (NBC Wednesdays), Hostages (CBS Mondays), Castle (ABC Mondays).

On the horizon: Intelligence (CBS Tuesdays starting in January), Justified (FX starting back in January).

"Intelligence" sounds a lot like "Chuck" (a show that I never got into), where a guy gets some kind of super cyber-intelligence and has a tough female agent assigned as a protector. With Josh Holloway (Sawyer on "Lost") and Meghan Ory (Ruby on "Once Upon a Time"), it's earned a chance from me. "Justified" is starting its fourth season, but I just discovered it via Amazon Prime, and I really like Timothy Olyphant's portrayal of Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens. (He looks kind of like Holloway, now that I think about it.) It's weird that I read the Elmore Leonard novel "Pronto," in which Givens is introduced, but I remember nothing about it.

My TV rankings, week of Oct. 7

Wow, a lot of movement in my TV rankings this week! 

1. Once Upon a Time (ABC Sundays) [last week: 1]

Last week's episode (3.2) wasn't quite as good as the premiere and mostly just advanced the "looking for Henry" storyline more than incrementally. But it didn't do anything to warrant being dropped from the top spot.

2. Scandal (ABC Thursdays) [last week: 2]

A very good start, full of the craziness that's marked the show since Season 2. First Lady Mellie and President Grant are now in a hot war -- awesome! Count me as part of Team Mellie.

3. Survivor: Blood vs. Water (CBS Wednesdays) [last week: 6]

 This is turning out to be a surprisingly good season. The loathsome Colton Cumbie quit, but not before host Jeff Probst raked him over the coals. The new twists with loved ones/Redemption Island have made things less predictable and more interesting.

4. Hawaii 5-O (CBS Fridays) [last week: 5]

Still hilarious.

5. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC Thursdays) [last week: 3]

Premiered tonight. It was interesting and visually striking, but something was missing. The Queen of Hearts came across as blandly blonde, with very little of the presence exhibited by Lana Parilla as Regina Mills/the Evil Queen on "Once Upon a Time." And while I understand that Alice had many years together with her true love, Cyrus (the Genie), we weren't shown enough of anything to understand the deep connection between them. No doubt that love story will unfold over the course of the semester in the same discursive style that "Lost" and "Once Upon a Time" have trailblazed, but considering how much of the pilot here hinged on believing that love, it didn't work as well as it should have.

6. Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (ABC Tuesdays) [last week: 4]

Dropping a bit . . . it's okay, and got a full season order. But it's also forgettable. The characters are . . . okay. The stories are . . . okay.

7. Grimm (NBC Fridays) [last week: 7]

Hasn't premiered yet.

8. The Blacklist (NBC Mondays) [last week: 8]

Premiered but I haven't gotten around to watching the pilot yet. It's also gotten a full season order.

9. White Collar (USA Tuesdays) [last week: 9]

Hasn't premiered yet.

10. Person of Interest (CBS Tuesdays) [last week: NR]

Haven't gotten around to watching the first two episodes of the season yet, but it moves up by default.

(missing the cut) Shark Tank (ABC Fridays), The Voice (NBC Mondays/Tuesdays), Castle (ABC Mondays).

"Castle" shows up. I forgot about this, but TiVo has been dutifully recording them ever since I dumped "Hostages" (see below), which had been ranked above it in priority. "Castle" stopped being must-see for me a couple of seasons ago, but it's still somewhat entertaining. Having Castle and Beckett get together hasn't sunk the show yet.

Cut: Sleepy Hollow (Fox Mondays), Revolution (NBC Wednesdays), Hostages (CBS Mondays). I started to watch the second episode of "Revolution" this season and realized I disliked most of the characters, was displeased when one of them came back to life, and stopped following what was going on. "Hostages" dropped off my list when (1) I forgot to record the second episode and didn't miss it; and (2) I saw that its ratings are really horrific, making it an open question whether it would even fnish out its 15 episodes.

My TV rankings, week of Sept. 30

Whew, the first full week of the new TV season is in the books, although I'm a bit behind with several episodes. (Hey, I lost some prime TV watching time because I went to bed early on Friday for the half marathon the next morning!) But my TV rankings don't actually require that I have watched everything, as they're just my completely subjective rankings based on how excited I feel about the shows at the moment.

1. Once Upon a Time (ABC Sundays) [last week: 1]

Season 3 premiered last night, and it's a measure of how much I love this show that I watched it on the same night. It picked up right after the season 2 cliffhanger, with most of the primary characters on a mission to find Henry in Neverland, and then Neal/Baelfire finding himself back in Fairy Tale Land with Mulan.

Robert Carlyle as Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin continues to have too much fun with his role. In the past, he's played Gold somewhat sedately, leaving it to Rumplestiltskin in the flashback scenes to have the scene-chewing mannerisms and intonations. But last night, as Gold (i.e., not looking like Rumplestiltskin), he managed to do the Rumplestiltskin hand motions and intonations, but in a milder way. It was perfect acting.

Neverland looked different from Fairy Tale Land, and from Wonderland for that matter. Neverland is dark and foreboding, as it should be, I suppose. Three people/entities died in the episode, which may be a series high for this show. Sheesh!

2. Scandal (ABC Thursdays) [last week: 2]

Hasn't premiered yet, but breathlessly awaiting the Olivia Pope-Daddy conversation. "Why are you trying to kill me?!?"

3. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC Thursdays) [last week: 3]

Hasn't premiered yet, but "Once Upon a Time"'s strong start has me giddy with anticipation.

4. Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (ABC Tuesdays) [last week: 4]

I thought the pilot episode was entertaining, and I compared it to USA's "The 4400." Possible downside risks include degenerating into a mutant/superpowered human threat of the week, but there's enough promise of some long-term arc that it earned a season pass from me.

5. Hawaii 5-O (CBS Fridays) [last week: 6]

Premiered last week with a resolution of the cliffhanger that ended season 3. "H50" belongs on CBS, as it's a police procedural that follows a well-worn formula, but it's also sort of different because Steve McGarrett is so superhuman that it can't really expect to be taken seriously. Besides, lots of scenery of Hawaii. . . .

6. Survivor: Blood vs. Water (CBS Wednesdays) [last week: 8]

Two episodes in the bank now. The new twist that allows a player to exchange positions with his or her paired loved one at Redemption Island is actually kind of interesting, as it's led some of the more astute players to consider the game theory implications of sending different players to RI. And the previews make it look like the loathsome Colton might be on his way out . . . yeah, the previews are usually an exercise in misdirection, but I can always hope.

7. Grimm (NBC Fridays) [last week: 7]

Hasn't premiered yet.

8. The Blacklist (NBC Mondays) [last week: 9]

Premiered but I haven't gotten around to watching the pilot yet. It got strong ratings, and with "The Voice" as a lead-in, it should continue to do well, so it's likely to stick around for the entire season.

9. White Collar (USA Tuesdays) [last week: 10]

Hasn't premiered yet.

10. Hostages (CBS Mondays) [last week: 5]

Although this got pretty bad ratings for its first episode, suggesting it might not be long for this world, I watched it, and it was . . . okay. It could've used more scene-chewing by Dylan McDermott. The problem with hostage-taking storylines is that it's hard to see how they play out realistically in any way other than surrender or mass death. The last show to exploit the hostage scenario, I thought, was the mini-series "The Kill Point," and that worked because it wasn't a TV series.

I'm giving this another episode, but it's on life support.

(missing the cut) Person of Interest (CBS Tuesdays), Shark Tank (ABC Fridays), The Voice (NBC Mondays/Tuesdays), Revolution (NBC Wednesdays).

"Person of Interest" premiered but I haven't watched it yet. "Shark Tank" is fun as always, but Mark Cuban is getting to be kind of annoying; he's usually right about why some product or service won't work, but more and more he comes across as some massively egotistical jerk (which is probably a bad thing given the predictions of the upcoming insider trading case against him). "The Voice" wasn't bad; Christina Aguilera seemed to have toned down her obnoxiousness . . . for now; then again, so did Colton on "Survivor" . . . for an episode. "Revolution" premiered, and the episode was hard to follow with multiple time jumps, and a reminder that none of the characters are all that likeable -- or even fun to root against. It, too, is on death's door.

Cut: Sleepy Hollow (Fox Mondays): too much like warmed-over "The X-Files." Too much other TV to watch to make room for this.

My reviews of the pilot episodes of "Sleepy Hollow," "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," plus "The Voice"

The fall TV season has just started, and I'm already WAY behind! I need to find some way of getting the episodes from my TiVo on to my Kindle Fire, and then I can multi-task by watching while I run on a treadmill. . . .

Anyway, I have watched the opening episodes for Fox's "Sleepy Hollow" and ABC's "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD," plus the first episode of new season of NBC's "The Voice."

 

Sleepy Hollow

This is the new supernatural thriller based loosely on Washington Irving's story, where Ichabod Crane "dies" in the late 1700s having bested(?) a mysterious and scary foe on the battlefield -- by decapitating his adversary. He wakes up in his grave, punches his way out, and finds himself still in the town of Sleepy Hollow (population 144,000), but in modern times. Meanwhile, his headless foe also reappears in Sleepy Hollow and predictable carnage ensues. A local female police officer who once had a strange vision consistent with Crane's apparent lunacy starts to believe him, while her superior predictably writes Crane off as delusional.

I like the fact that this show is trying to be unsettling and scary in a way that I haven't really seen since the early days of "The X-Files," but I'm not totally sold on it. It's an overtly religious supernatural programs with little sense of humor other than occasional moments of Crane's surprise at modern technology, which is a combination that reminds me of Fox's "Brimstone" . . . and that didn't last very long. (Admittedly, "Sleepy Hollow"'s premeire earned a very good 3.4 rating -- anything above 2.0 is decent, and above 3.0 is strong. The second episode dipped to 3.1, which is quite normal, and still good.)

 

Agents of SHIELD

I'll confess upfront that while I acknowledge Joss Whedon's skills as a TV/movie producer, I've been mostly underwhelmed by his work. I watched three episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and what I remember today about my impression seems pretty much what I would expect if I were to watch Twilight. Ugh!! (I did kind of like the original Buffy movie, though, which was hilariously campy.) Next, I watched most of the first season of "Dollhouse" and got bored. . . . That one might be the fault of Eliza Dushku, who didn't seem up to the challenge of portraying a character who could take on any variety of personas "downloaded" into her. Wooden acting wasn't a problem on "Firefly," and I can see why it has a cult following, but I dunno, I can also see why it tanked with the public. I did like the "Firefly" sequel movie, Serenity, but Whedon's other big screen flick was The Avengers, which was just okay.

Even with my wariness about Whedon's work, though, I knew that "Agents of SHIELD" had very strong buzz and was probably the consensus choice among critics to be the likely #1 new show. We watched it the same night it premeired, jumping ahead of "Hostages," "The Blacklist," and "The Voice."

And it was entertaining. It's set in the same universe as the recent Marvel movies (the three Tobey Maguire Spider-Mans, Fantastic Four, Thor, Captain America, the three Iron Man movies, and The Avengers). I don't think you need to have watched any of those, but there are a number of references to events and characters inThe Avengers. The basic idea is that in a world with superheroes, supervillains, mutants, and incredibly powerful alien beings, we need an organization devoted to containing the threats posed by such entities. SHIELD is kind of like a Mission: Impossible team (with no superhero/mutant powers) that locates these threats and deals with them, although "deals with" does not necessarily mean eliminate/kill.

As with many pilot episodes, this one was more about establishing the main characters, the world, and the structure of the show than with a tight plot. The leader of the group is Agent Phil Coulson, who appeared to have been killed in The Avengers when Loki ran him through the back with a spear. Coulson explains what happened, but the show teases that there is more to the story than what Coulson knows. (A clone perhaps? Or another possibility?)

Production values were very good in this episode. It definitely carries over the sophisticated tech/knowledge that SHIELD displayed in The Avengers. There appears to be a long-term antagonistic group, which is a good thing, as I think the show would probably get stale if it is nothing more than "containing the threat of the week." If you're looking for a prior show to compare this to, I'd suggest USA's "The 4400." 

PS. A critic offers more predictions of the show here.

 

The Voice

This is now in its fifth season, so the format is well-established. Considering that I can't remember the name of the singer who won last season, but I do recall that she was on Blake Shelton's team, I'd have to agree with those who say that "The Voice" is much more about making (even bigger) stars of the coaches than in actually launching a successful new singer.

The main question for me was whether I would dread the return of Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green over the spring season's Shakira and Usher, who I really liked. For one episode, at least, I didn't find Aguilera unbearably self-centered and obnoxious. We'll see if this holds.

***

All right, well, my TiVo is still brimming with shows, new and returning. I'll post reviews of "Hostages," "The Blacklist," and more as I get to them.

My fall 2013 TV pre-season rankings

Fall is my favorite season for so many reasons: it's perfect running weather, it's the beginning of the academic year, it's got great holidays (Halloween and Thanksgiving), and of course, it's when the new TV season starts up.

I've periodically blogged about my favorite TV shows, and this time I've decided to do a college football-style ranking of my shows. I'll update throughout the TV year (but probably not weekly). Okay, to the line, with new shows in bold:

 

1. Once Upon a Time (ABC Sundays)

This has been my favorite show the past two years. I love the "Lost"-like storytelling structure with relevant flashbacks woven into a current storyline. It's serialized, but not like "24"; each episode has its own payoff. It's also rare to have a show that's driven primarily by female characters -- Snow White/Mary-Margaret, Emma Swan, and The Evil Queen/Regina Mills are each compelling and dynamic. It's hard to believe that I almost missed out on this show when I was drawing up my list of what to watch two years ago. Fortunately, my wife saw a promo for it and suggested giving it a try. I was hooked about 15 minutes into the pilot episode -- and unlike some other notable ABC disasters (i.e., "FlashForward") that had incredible pilots, "Once Upon a Time" has stayed really good.

2. Scandal (ABC Thursdays)

Ah, "Scandal." It has the same kind of hold on me that "24" did in its heyday; despite, or maybe because of its unabashed ridiculousness, "Scandal" is soooo watchable. It's not logical but it moves so fast and so smoothly that you're just caught up in the moment.

But . . . and this is a big caveat . . . my lofty ranking of it here assumes, based on where the storyline has gone, that we're going to be seeing mostly the "I'm in charge of dealing with political scandals/conspiracies" version of Olivia Pope, and not the "forbidden love affair with the President" version of Olivia Pope. It really is two shows in one, and I really like one of those shows, but I could do without the other one.

3. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC Thursdays)

We've already seen Wonderland in "Once Upon a Time." This spin-off is supposedly going to be a one-season affair (but then again, that's what CBS said about "Under the Dome" before pulling the rug out from under us). I'm somewhat hopeful that this will in fact be the case, because if the spin-off does well, rather than stretch out the Alice in Wonderland storyline to multiple seasons, the "Once Upon a Time" producers can spin-off a different storyline for another one-season affair.

4. Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (ABC Tuesdays)

I wasn't wowed by The Avengers, but a team of specially trained people in a world of superheroes could capture an "X-Files" type of vibe. On the plus side, this has been getting a LOT of positive buzz. On the cautionary side, the buzz comes from critics who adore creator Joss Whedon's filmography, whereas I've been mostly underwhelmed. (Yes, I see why people love "Firefly," but it was just okay for me.)

5. Hostages (CBS Mondays)

Here's another show that "promises" to be just one season -- and a short, 15-episode one at that. The premise is pretty good: the doctor who's set to operate on the President finds her family kidnapped by a team led by a rogue FBI agent, and to save her family, she has to let the President die on the operating table. I'm excited largely because the FBI agent is played by Dylan McDermott, who is one of those great scene-chewers from his days on "The Practice."

6. Hawaii 5-O (CBS Fridays)

Keep in mind that I don't pretend to have high-brow tastes in my TV watching. There's a reason you don't see "Downton Abbey" or anything like that on my list.

Here's why I like "H5O": beautiful HD images of Hawaii; lots of Asian actors/characters with generous screen time; funny banter between Steve McGarrett and Danno.

7. Grimm (NBC Fridays)

I'll watch this to the end because it's set and filmed in Portland, but to its credit, its second season was stronger than the first. Shows where the main character sees supernatural things but keeps them from loved ones, friends, etc. can get away with that for only so long before suspension of disbelief becomes impossible. It's much better now that most of Nick Burkhardt's friends know about the wessen.

8. Survivor: Blood vs. Water (CBS Wednesdays)

"Survivor" usually starts off slowly for me, because there are so many players to get to know. This is another one of those veterans vs. newbies seasons, except that each newbie is related to a veteran. Unfortunately, the veterans are mostly not the most interesting returning players, and the one who sparks the most feeling is the incredibly loathsome Colbie -- he's not even fun to root against.

9. The Blacklist (NBC Mondays)

This has the potential to move up. The central plot is that James Spader's master criminal turns himself in to the FBI but will only speak to a female agent, to whom he'll divulge the "blacklist" -- the identity and location of America's most wanted. Neat idea, but I moved it down from where it would've been after seeing some previews where Spader seemed like he was just replaying Alan Shore.

10. White Collar (USA Tuesdays)

This buddy show with FBI agent and former con artist is basically a small screen version of Catch Me If You Can. It does the things that USA does well, which is light, character-driven dramas, but it's also reaching an age when USA shows start to fall apart (e.g., "Burn Notice," "The 4400").

(missing the cut) Person of Interest (CBS Tuesdays), Sleepy Hollow (Fox Mondays), Shark Tank (ABC Fridays), Revolution (NBC Wednesdays), The Voice (NBC Mondays/Tuesdays).

"Person of Interest," which is about a seemingly self-aware computer network that sends numbers to a computer nerd and former CIA oeprative pair to stop predicted crimes, got fairly repetitive in the first year, and I almost gave up on it. But the second season developed some longer arcs with good recurring characters, so I'm more psyched about its third season. "Sleepy Hollow" premeired already and I watched the first 10 minutes before pausing for something else. Looks interesting but also predictable with people doing stupid things. "Shark Tank" is still fun but it conflicts with two higher ranked shows right now, so it's relegated to reruns. Watching "Revolution" probably kills brain cells by the millions every hour, and I might well not last. "The Voice" will rank higher in the spring, when Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera are replaced by Usher and Shakira.

Wow, I think I may need to turn in my "TV addict" card or something. Here's a list someone compiled of the "25 worst reality TV stars," and I don't recognize more than half of them. Hard to argue with the ones they have, although I kind of enjoyed seeing Russell Hantz's and Coach's antics on "Survivor."

Can you imagine seeing me on "American Ninja Warrior"? (Answer: No)

My 9-year-old son thinks I should run less and spend that time training for "American Ninja Warrior." But apart from the fact that I'm built like a distance runner, not a gymnast, after seeing one dude press so hard against the apparatus that HE POPPED HIS FREAKING SHOULDER OUT OF ITS SOCKET, I have very little interest in trying that kind of stuff. (Fortunately for that competitor, one of the other competitors happened to be an emergency room doctor, who came over and popped the shoulder back into place.)

Well, there's also the fact that I'm a fortysomething now. But that excuse won't hold any water, considering that there's a guy nicknamed "Grandpa Ninja" who's 54!!! Of course, that guy is amazingly ripped for being 54. Or even if he were 35. He doesn't look like a distance runner.

I'll stick to running and chasing a sub-20 minute 5K. And then resetting that goal to sub-19 minutes, etc.

Say, is "Survivor" winner a JD advantaged job?

As far as I know, Harvard Law School's employment numbers are strong enough that there's no need for it to play games. That said, you have to wonder how tempted HLS is to take advantage of the most famous member of its graduating class -- that being John Cochran, aka the winner of "Survivor: Caramoan."

Of course, Cochran isn't even the only winner with a JD (technically, I don't think he's been awarded his JD yet); Yul Kwon, who won "Survivor: Cook Islands," has a JD from Yale.

Anyway, Cochran also has a job already . . . as Entertainment Weekly's "Big Brother" recapper. Hmm, as far as I know, "Big Brother" only airs in the summer, so will Cochran still count as employed 9 months after graduation? Then again, winning "Survivor" and the $1 million has got to count somehow, right?

Return of NBC's "The Voice": Addition by subtraction

Season 4 of the reality TV singing show "The Voice" has started up, and not too soon for NBC considering how laughably bad the network's ratings have been during the show's absence. This is the show where the four judges compete against one another for bragging rights in picking their teams. The gimmick is that in the audition rounds, they sit with their backs to the contestants, so that they only hear the singing; they can't see the singer. If a judge likes what he/she hears, there's a button to hit, which turns the chair around. If multiple judges like a contestant, the contestant gets to choose which judge to work with.

In the first three seasons, the judges were Maroon 5's Adam Levine, Cee-Lo Green, Blake Shelton, and Christina Aguilera. Adam picked the winning contestant in the first season, and Blake picked the winners the past two seasons.

I wasn't really familiar with Blake's or Cee Lo's singing before the show, and I wouldn't say that I'm rushing out to buy anything of theirs now, but I've liked Blake's persona a lot; he comes across as very down to earth, self-effacing, and genuine. Cee Lo has been funny at times but also strange.

Adam's songs are the ones that appeal to me the most, naturally, but in season 3, he and Christina developed an unpleasant antagonism toward each other that played out with fairly catty comments by Christina about Adam's final contestant. I got quite sick of Christina's me-me-me-me attitude, her rude interrupting of the other judges, and her general obnoxiousness.

When NBC announced that Cee Lo and Christina were taking a break in season 4, to be replaced by Shakira and Usher, I rejoiced!

And thus far, it's been so much better having Shakira instead of Christina!! Shakira is really funny, like the time when she was trying to woo a country singer to her team -- a formidable task, given that Blake is the country singer among the judges -- and she whipped out a "Country to English" dictionary and started drawling, "Well, ah reckon you oughta join Team Shakira."

I'm going to be sad if/when season 5 brings back Christina. . . .

"Is Survivor broken beyond repair?"

That's the title of an interesting blog post following last week's entirely predictable trainwreck episode where the seemingly unstable Brandon Hantz had such an utter meltdown during camp that his tribe, the "Favorites," arrived at the Immunity Challenge and openly forfeited!

Now, there have been past challenges where a tribe has purposefully lost so that it could vote out a member, but was different. The Favorites announced that they were forfeiting, and when host Jeff Probst inquired, it quickly came out that everyone wanted to get rid of Brandon.

Brandon melted down again, and Jeff wisely beckoned Brandon over to separate him from the rest of his tribe. Jeff then had an impromptu Tribal Council sans fire, paper, and vote-collecting pot. Instead, everyone voted vocally (and openly), and in front of the "Fans" tribe.

Whew! Never seen that before in "Survivor."

Chuck Duncan, author of the blog post linked above, concludes:

As it stands now, Survivor is limping to its death, collapsing under the weight of producer mandated stories that have corrupted not only the game play, but the real social experiment that the early seasons were. That’s partly because everyone knows how to play Survivor now, but keeping the focus on the challenges could ultimately keep the players focused on strategy that doesn’t involve seeing who can be the most mentally unstable person in the game. Start going through those submissions from real people who want to play and pick the best people for the game, not the most dramatic. I’d rather see two tribes of strategic, strong players battling it out instead of a bunch of pretty faces who would rather sit around and pick off the one or two strong players who want to be there, leaving us with a bunch of people who can only be interesting after the final edit (and most of the time, not even that helps). And stop bringing back former players every season! This should be an exception, not a rule. And, seriously, if they ever bring back Russell and Brandon together — as they would both like to do and are actively campaigning for the chance — they will have finally lost this faithful viewer.

I have to admit, this season has been a snoozefest thus far. Most "Survivor" seasons take a bit of time to get going, because in the beginning, there are so many players (16-20) that many get little screen time and thus don't stand out. There are exceptions, of course -- Russell Hantz (despised by Mr. Duncan, but beloved by me), Coach, and others made strong impressions from day 1 of their original seasons.

This only reinforces the fact that "Survivor" is heavily dependent on casting. It's not that there has to be conflict, backstabbing, and the potential for meltdowns, though that does seem to drive a lot of the interesting seasons. "Survivor: Palua" is an example of a relatively conflict-free season that was still fascinating. (If you aren't a "Survivor" junkie, this was the season won by fireman Tom Westman, where the other tribe lost pretty much every single immunity challenge and got whittled down to a single player before the merge!)

"Survivor: Caramoan" (the current season) is boring so far because none of the "fans" has done anything yet to stand out, and the "favorites" are mostly anything but favorites. When the most interesting player is kooky federal agent(?)* Philip Sheppard, something is wrong. . . . I'm not sure how they came up with the "favorites" tribe, but half of them are people I can't even remember. Francesca? Well, I do remember her, but only because Philip couldn't pronounce her name at Tribal Council during their initial season. Malcolm, who went far in the previous season, is a deserving returnee, I'll grant. And I suppose Cochran's nerdy goofiness is worth a return visit. But that's about it.

But whereas Mr. Duncan sees the problem as too much "casting," and not enough bringing aboard regular people, not to mention, too many "all-star" seasons, I actually like the all-star seasons when they're done right. "Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains" remains my all-time favorite season ever by far, and it's because virtually every single player that season was interesting to watch. "Survivor: Micronesia" (the first fans vs. favorites) was also pretty good because the favorites were well-picked, and they got lucky with some of the fans as well.

So, I don't think "Survivor" is broken beyond repair. I think this season is a dud so far; it might recover to the level of mediocrity, but next season could get back on track with the right people.