Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - Posts
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On Monday night, NBC aired what it billed as the "finale" of Medium, the drama starring Patricia Arquette as a psychic crime solver and mother of three in Phoenix. When my partner and I saw that word "finale" in the teaser for Monday's episode, we nearly fainted. In the five years since its debut, Medium has become the only network show we watch without fail every week, and it's right in the middle of several long-term story arcs too juicy to be wrapped up in a single hour. But, mercifully, NBC's teaser was misleading. What the peacock was too proud to add is that after a heated negotiation at last month's TV upfronts, the show was acquired by CBS, where it'll be airing on Friday nights starting in the fall, in between Ghost Whisperer and Numb3ers. This "psychic sandwich" programming makes a certain amount of sense for attracting viewers (even if Medium fans may be irked at the implied equation between Patricia Arquette's smart, complex, grownup character and Jennifer Love Hewitt's busty nitwit). But Friday night prime time is known as the "death slot" for a reason; it's the place networks traditionally move shows on their way to being canceled.
Even sadder than the idea of a world with no Medium is the possibility that the show will lose its character in an attempt to save its skin. The show runner, Glenn Gordon Caron (who also created Moonlighting and the short-lived but much-mourned Now and Again) has sworn that the content and quality of the show won't change at its new venue. I just hope Caron—and everyone involved in producing the show—knows what it is that sets Medium apart from your average "she-sees-dead-people" procedural: The show is the richest and truest portrait of marriage and family life currently on television. As Allison and Joe DuBois, Arquette and Jake Weber make living with the person you love look as annoying, as demanding, and as rewarding as it is in real life. They fight (not cute, made-for-TV squabbles but substantial debates about work, money, and children), they have sex, they kibitz about Allison's latest murder case while going to bed ... and then they grab a precious few hours of sleep before she's awakened by another clue-filled nightmare. The show weaves together the supernatural and the quotidian so skillfully that Allison's job—essentially, she's a professional dreamer for the D.A.'s office—starts to seem like a metaphor for the plight of every working mother, psychic or not. Allison is so overcommitted to both work and family that she multitasks in her sleep.
There are so many other things to love about Medium: Patricia Arquette's unapologetically normal body size, the skillfully drawn secondary characters, and the refreshingly uncute performance of Maria Lark as Bridgette, the DuBois' eccentric middle daughter. (For a glimpse of Bridgette's awesomeness, watch this behind-the-scenes clip.) Please, CBS, don't try to "add value" to your new "franchise" by messing with Medium. Just give Caron, Arquette, and the rest of them the keys to their new offices—and leave them alone to do what they do so well.
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My brother once lived down the hall from two guys who were music guys. They had a wall of compact discs, neatly arranged. One February, for no apparent reason, they put all of the CDs in the closet—except for 13 or so Tom Waits albums, lined up on the mantle. After a few weeks of listening exclusively to Waits, they resumed their omnivorous listening habits. Waits acted as a palate cleanser, allowing them to care about new sounds once more. When I'm tired of movies, or music, or television, or books, I follow their strategy and rely on certain touchstones to get me interested again: Blue, Solo Faces, Dazed and Confused. Am I alone in this? Send me your cultural palate cleansers at michaelagger1 at gmail dot com.
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If we are what we Google, then Google Hot Trends—an hourly rundown of search terms “that experience sudden surges in popularity”—is the Web’s best cultural barometer. Here’s a sampling of today’s top searches. (Rankings on Hot Trends list current as of 10 a.m.)
No. 7 “project natal for xbox”: Bing, the search engine that will (maybe) destroy Google, isn’t Microsoft’s only big gambit of the week. At the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, the company showed off a wannabe Nintendo killer, Project Natal. The gist: It’s a Wii without a controller. If you want to kick a ball, just kick your leg—Natal’s 3-D motion-sensing camera captures how your body moves. Google’s top related search for Natal: “project natal release date.” Hold on to your Wii for now—there isn’t one.
No. 11 “grand view coffee shop”: The opening of a topless coffee shop in Maine made national news back in February, both for what the baristas weren’t wearing and on account of the fact that 150 people applied for the 10 shirt-free positions. The employees of the Grand View Coffee Shop appear to have lost their shirts all over again this morning: The store has reportedly burned down.
No. 14 “carlos araya”: Searchers are digging into a Wall Street Journal article about a laid-off crude oil trader who’s now working as a maître d' at the Palm. The headline: “From Ordering Steak and Lobster, to Serving It.” The story’s lede, which notes Araya’s former penchant for ordering $200 bottles of wine, might suggest that the searching masses are reveling in the riches-to-rags story of a financial-industry bozo. Details from later in the piece—“Recently, their oldest daughter asked Mr. Araya if the family would have to move. … He went into the bathroom and cried”—hint that this might actually be sympathy Googling.
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Back in March, Saturn launched its unintentionally poignant "We're still here" campaign. While most ads attempt to spur consumer craving, these spots seemed designed to elicit cringing sympathy. Which is not a winning brand image in the long run.
Now, on the heels of filing for bankruptcy protection, Saturn's parent company (for now), General Motors, is taking its own stab at tail-between-legs marketing. In a 60-second spot that hits the airwaves today, GM admits some mistakes, announces some strategic goals, and generally tries to look forward. The imagery is all rebirth and renewal—a sunrise, a butterfly, a prosthetic limb, and literal green shoots.
"Let's be completely honest," intones the announcer as the spot opens. "No company wants to go through this." True enough. I would also argue that no television viewer wants to go through it, either.
Instead of clamoring to get on the air and gab about its failures, perhaps GM should just have shut up for a while. Geez, you went bankrupt on Monday, guys. Maybe give yourselves more than two days to reflect on your sins. The truly contrite put their heads down and make things right. They don't grab the microphone and brag about what's next.
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