An Embarrassment of Riches

Friday night is kind of the mother lode for the next few weeks, with Monk, Friday Night Lights, and Battlestar Galactica all residing there. The goodness is made more poignant when you remember that this is BSG's swan song and could easily be FNL's last hurrah.

Monk is not in the same league as those two, but it features a winning performance by Tony Shalhoub. He is ably assisted by Ted Levine and Jason Gray-Stanford, and I've even grown tolerant of Traylor Howard as Monk's assistant, Natalie. It's a lightweight comedy that's fine for watching with my daughter, who loves Tony Shalhoub, and my wife, who does not care about movies and TV with nearly the fervor of my daughter and myself.

FNL struggled during it's second season, but it was still head-and-shoulders above almost everything else on broadcast television. The third season has started with a strong episode and the show's trademark camera work--FNL is one of the few shows that actually feels cinematic; the producers seem to actually care about how the pictures look and how they tell the story--is as engrossing as ever. This show may construct the music montage as well as any show ever. It's good to see it back.

BSG ended with it's survivors finding Earth, and finding that Earth was a bombed-out shell. I've read reactions to "Sometimes a Great Notion" that say things like "depressing," but I disagree. It's sad, yes. It's dark, yes. But I wasn't depressed; I was exhilarated by the show's willingness to follow its chosen path to its logical place. I hope the rest of the season stays strong and wraps up this saga in a worthy manner.