Beggars and Choosers

Bad writing, bad acting and bad direction are the three prongs of anti-talent that skewer the viewer and roast him slowly over the fires of television hell while watching this piece of dreck.

Why is it that HBO is the stronghold of quality original programming, while Showtime comes up with shows that wouldn't survive half a season on UPN?

I particularly enjoyed great performances from many talented actors especially Tuc Watkins and am looking forward to seeing the whole series again. Any new release on DVD would be welcome. This series is definitely worth a watch if you have a sense of humor and not necessarily into sitcoms but a more subtle type of humor. The series deepens in perspective in the next season and maintains it's original appeal. What a pity it ended so soon. More of this type of comedy drama is needed on TV. Subsequent seasons have great additions to the cast which keep the story fresh. I also liked very much a quirky opening credit and theme tune.

Mixed up sperm and Russian gangsters aside (and every satire from Jonathan Swift to Arrested Development needs its exaggerations) B&C is pretty accurate about the angst- ridden life of TV execs in LA- believe me, I know, I have been there.

The swearing, if anything, is underdone - there are many places in America where cuss words are reserved for special occasions, but not in the Marines, the police or TV network head offices. The back-stabbing and social competition, too, is more prevalent than on, say, a Kentucky farm or at a Sunday morning bake sale, even on a Sunday morning.

Which, as one commentator wisely said, is maybe why this (and, lets be honest, HBO"s brilliant Larry Sanders) did not travel far beyond its natural constituency - LA and its media buddies in New York and London, and a few college grads, freaks and geeks aware enough to appreciate that all offices share the touch of evil. The same people who can watch either the BBC original of the NBC remake of The Office and recognize it as a kind of everyday life.

But TV-land is a degree nastier than working for a paper products firm because it's driven by the fear of 99% unemployment and the final one percent skilled/lucky.insane enough to have a job, being paid $250,000 a year plus, will do everything short of murder to hold onto that. Few would do that for a job paying minimum wage.

Anyway, hey, we got two fun-filled seasons out of this, which I suspect actually made no economic sense. I would guess B&C getting picked up for a second series was all about Showtime execs enjoying the in-jokes and critical kudos rather than the audience numbers. maybe it has a protector on a higher board which kept it alive longer than it would have survived on basic cable or mainstream TV.

PS The Showtime premium cable channel is almost HBO, but, somehow, routinely manages to lose its grip on some great novel programming- Dead Like Me, like B&C RIP after two series, Kistie Alley's Fat Actress (opened big and brave, shrinking faster than she is), etc.

Showtime, right now, is the almost brilliant channel, that may one day be a lesson taught in business schools.

PPS - Also Beggars and Choosers was and remains funny. And that is tough to get right.

My wife and i watched the entire series and loved it! We thought it was funny, smart and very well cast! Many TV sitcoms don't necessarily work for us,but this one certainly did. Fortunately I was able to tape many of the episodes and subsequently transfer them to DVDs, but we were ultimately disappointed that the show never made it to commercial DVDs!

If a DVD was available, I'd buy the whole set in a heartbeat. I have some of the episodes on VHS, complete with commercials, and too hard to locate on my tapes. Plus they aren't in order! I am not in "the business" but I found the satire clever and funny, the acting terrific, and the whole thing strangely both believable and outrageous. I think the biggest problem with the show, during its original run, was that there was so little marketing for it. I found it by accident and thought it sounded interesting, so I watched the first episode, and was hooked immediately. Most of my friends had never heard of it, until I told them about it. Maybe if there had been more hype, more people would have watched it. Also, in my area (Toronto) it was only on TV once a week, Friday nights at midnight. A lot of the audience who would enjoy this show are out on Friday nights.

Anyway, I was devastated when it was cancelled. Special favourite performances were from Lori, Malcolm, Larry the drag queen, and Brad, plus of course Rob and Cecile. Also Mr. Ludden and the fabulous Lydia Ludden.

Some favourite moments were when Mr. Ludden came out of his coma, when Parker Meridien died, when Kendall was getting people to throw out their TVs. And who could forget Lori and the Russian mobster.

I really hope a DVD comes out before the show becomes a pile of archival garbage in Showtime's back storage room.