keynesrules

Be fun! That's what this show gets right. Do we remember what fun TV was like? Remember the sheer (albeit cheesy) entertainment value of the 80s prime time shows? Airwolf, Knight Rider, A-Team, Magnum etc which sacrificed strict adherence to the laws (judicial and physical!) to entertain TV viewers?

Week after week the officers of NCIS deal with murders, kidnappings and other threats to the lives of Naval officers across the globe (well at least the U.S.) but rather than adhere to the dark, overly serious tone of the law&orders or CSI's this program offsets the (often heinous) crime of the week with the banter between the central characters. Now I'm not suggesting that crime is a laughing matter but a lot of shows on TV have substituted entertainment for large doses of shock value reality. Detailed autopsies and simulations of how an icepick can crack open a skull are okay, but not at the expense of following the whole investigation. While the CSI's follow a Holmes like approach with regards to evidence, NCIS distinguishes the forest from the trees as it were, by switching to and from the autopsy/evidence/forensics back to the larger case. I guess I'm a viewer who doesn't find the notion of meticulous attention to detail on an entertainment show that rewarding.

Truth be told, I was not expecting such a clichéd assortment of characters to click as well as they did. We have the silent but strong type leader (Gibbs), his boss and former lover (Shepard), his older friend and mentor (Ducky), the hotshot womanizer (DiNozzo), the rookie agent/computer genius (McGee), the spunky female agent (Kate/Ziva) and the happiest, Goth forensic examiner (Abby) - okay, well she's an original. What impressed me is how the writers breathe fresh life into what could have been just another ensemble.

While the stories of the week are interesting enough, they've all been covered ad nauseum in many different shows: homicide; hostage-taking; blackmail; assassination-threats etc Credit must be given to the writers for the humor that's been injected into this show - whether it's DiNozzo cracking on McGee or Gibbs admonishing his Junior agents - the wonderful chemistry the cast seem to share comes through every time 2 or more of them are on screen. Pauley Perrette is a delight to watch While the dialogue may not always crackle there is enough zip and some genuinely funny one-liners that somehow develop these characters beyond the 2D cardboard cutouts they could have become.

I continue to look forward to this show every week and Season 4 seems to have lost none of the momentum of the past 2 seasons. One complaint I often hear about this show, is that it seems unrealistic how fast the cases get solved. I'll grant you that McGee and Abby seem to have superhuman abilities to process data and crack codes, but I submit to you that the 3 act structure that a typical episode of this show presents, requires a certain amount of time compression to fit into the 42 minutes and change of every broadcast hour. Seeing how 24 continues to entertain us despite the absence of traffic i.e. realism, I'll continue to give this show leeway as long as it remains interesting.

Hot Fuzz is undoubtedly the funniest R-rated action comedy, film set in a quaint English village so far. The real question is; could it possibly be the greatest buddy cop film of all time? The genre has become so by-the-numbers of late that it seems ripe for satire. Fortunately writers Simon Penn and Edgar Wright appear to love the source material they delightfully skewer, making references-a-plenty to their predecessors – Lethal Weapon, 48 Hours, Point Break and Bad Boys to name a few. However, unlike the painfully dull, teen catering spoof movies (Scary Movie franchise, Epic Movie, Date Movie), the humour is not handled clumsily and neither is the screenplay overloaded with easy jokes and obvious references. Hot Fuzz is that rare movie which manages to satirize while giving the genre a complete overhaul. At times the film reaches Python-like levels of comedic brilliance.

The setup is simple enough: Nick Angel is metropolitan London's top cop. His office is on the streets of the city and business never closes. As a matter of fact he's so good at his job that he singlehandedly outshines his entire department. This does not sit well with his superiors who quickly promote him and pack him off to the sleepy village of Sanford – winner for the last several years of the coveted "Village of the Year" crown. Once here the film begins on an entertaining fish out of water track as we witness Angel's toughest assignments which include a crackdown on underage drinking and capturing an escaped Duck (scene stealer of the year!) Naturally he is reprimanded by his superior officer, Inspector Frank Butterman, played ably by the wonderful Jim Broadbent, who always seems to be too good for the parts he plays. He is formulaic-ally teamed up with the less competent Danny Butterman, whose puppy like enthusiasm and man love for his new partner injects hilarity into the inevitable male bonding moments of the film. Look a little closer though and you'll see how good the satire is. We are never shown Nick Angel's love interest - a metaphor for the fact that the love interest in a buddy cop film is typically unmemorable? Except of course for Téa Leoni in "Bad Boys", but I digress...

All is not what it appears to be in Sanford, naturally. Someone is killing residents of the village and the murders appear to be connected. The rest of the local police service is content to call each case an "accident" and shut the books, but Nick Angel is not convinced. "Sanford hasn't had a murder in over twenty years" he is told, but what of the malicious remarks made by supermarket owner Simon Skinner? (Played by Timothy Dalton obviously having a great time.) Don't worry; I haven't spoiled anything for you. The movie makes the identity of the killer fairly clear from the outset, though you may be surprised by the motive. As with Shaun of the Dead and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, it's the menace used to underscore the humorous screenplay which works effectively by keeping the audience amused and unsettled in turns. A serial killer is at the very least disquieting and each time the viewers settled into the comedy groove of the movie, the writers orchestrated another gruesome "accident". The fate that befalls one plucky reporter is a particularly cringe worthy moment.

The film's biggest laughs come at the climax when the action ventures into the preposterous not simply because of the level of violence (which brings to mind the term 'disproportionate response') but also because of the setting. I loved the "man with no name" reference just prior to the final confrontation which had the audience screaming hysterically at my screening.

Having said all that, a few things did not work for me. The reveal scene in particular lasts a tad too long and while suspension of disbelief is a given with a story like this, the logistics behind the "accidents" are mind-boggling considering Angel keeps such a sharp eye on the town. The odd joke falters and Angel escapes a Mexican standoff too easily. These isolated moments do not detract from one of the most entertaining movie experiences of my life, and the film works really well as a date movie.

The best sitcoms aren't the ones which announce their arrival by flaunting self congratulatory phrases on TV or in the print media. The funnier shows aren't that high concept, often start slow, with a few shaky jokes/episodes while the writers flesh out the characters and story lines. I've never seen any of these shows from their pilot episode, in fact I've usually been looking the wrong way.

You hear about shows like 'Two and a Half Men', 'Seinfeld' and 'Arrested Development' from your friends or on message boards online, check out an episode or two on TV and get drawn into it. Last weekend I rented the first two seasons on DVD to give this show a fair go, and I was quite pleased with the results. While not packing in as many jokes/gags per minute as 'Arrested Development' and not as iconic as 'Seinfeld's - no hugging no learning no-thing philosophy', this is still quite an entertaining show. Some of the jokes miss, and the laugh track seems irritating at times.

Raunchy jokes are funny. Raunchy jokes in front of impressionable kids are funnier. I'd find it harder to believe that a kid wouldn't be hearing some particularly non-PC comments in a house with 2 guys. Yet the funniest episodes by far seem to focus predominantly on Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer (sorry Angus, but you get some great one-liners). Two standout episodes include Charlie and Alan pretending to be a gay couple at a party (it sounds clichéd, but Jon's flame-out is hilarious) and Chris O'Donnell's appearance as Charlie's ex-girlfriend with a sex change operation (You are now forgiven for Batman & Robin). Supporting cast is wonderful as well, with genuinely funny performances by Melanie Lynskey as Rose, the lovable psychopath, and Holland Taylor as the boys insufferable mother.

I'd like to close, by reiterating what was said by another reviewer on this site. One of the reason why this show works for me at least, is that writers never go out of their way to lobotomize Charlie on the show simply because he's living with his nephew. Unlike other shows, which are 'family-themed', here the inclusion of a child actor doesn't 'rock someone's world' thereby resulting in dramatic changes about which the character complains throughout the show before learning to live with them. It's enjoyable seeing Charlie treat Jake as an adult and not compromise on his own philandering lifestyle at the same time. Add Jon Cryer's neurotic Allen now trying to restart his love life, throw in sex jokes a pinch of physical comedy, and you get a laid back show that entertains - which is all I ever wanted from a sitcom to begin with.