Big Ideas

While the politicos continue to flounder about, with Bush et al sticking to their guns (figuratively and literally), and the Dems flailing for a catchy slogan or issue, the eyes and ears of a fatigued Republic turn away from Washington and toward the banner of Popular Entertainment. One wishes the populace would be as enthused about electing a representative and responsible government as it is in selecting a semi-annual American Idol. (FYI, my current choice there is the beautiful Katharine McPhee).

The TV season, though straddling the period between the February and May sweeps, is getting relatively exciting, with the introduction of a few blockbuster series and the endgame of some old stalwarts (NBC's "West Wing" and "Will & Grace"--maybe they should do a crossover). Whether Alan Alda or Jimmy Smits wins the hotly contested fictional presidency--the one that will continue into oblivion--there's more interest in how the writers will handle the death of John Spencer's character (though we know he will die on "Election Day," for fullest dramatic effect). And whether Grace Adler decides to marry former hubby and father-of-her-child Harry Connick is hardly earthshaking, but my guess is yes. It doesn't matter--those sterotypical characters will never change, and are destined for a decade of mugging in syndication.

"24" is heading into its final nine hours, perhaps to a permanent conclusion. Now that Michelle, Palmer, Tony and Edgar have been erased, and a plot twist now implicates goody-goody Audrey Raines in the terrorist web, there are no more Old Friends to care for. Jack may as well pack it in. Okay, maybe Chloe can spin off her show, and take along her suddenly absent boy friend, if he survived the nerve gas attack. I'm kind of reminded of Dorothy's quip in Munchkinland, "People come and go so strangely here."

But as these programs fade, up come some doozies to replace them. One of them is a spin-off of sorts from "American Idol," called "American Inventor," and it's produced by Simon Cowell. The format is nearly a clone of the original, with the exception that there are four judges instead of three. In these early stages of the elimination competition, would-be Edisons converge to pitch their indiosyncratic ideas. The "American Inventors" editors then include the most outrageously idiotic hopefuls, just as they did the self-deluding warblers of "Idol." See one guy try to sell a roach racetrack and then excoriate the judges for being negative! Show a suffocating bubble in which to place children when they require a "time out." And there are several (literally) excretory ideas, including what can best be called a Shit Suit for emergencies. Amidst all this eye-popping schadenfreude there are some creative hopefuls worth cheering for, though the best idea yet (a modular portable workout set) is hardly a Segway. Oddly, though, the show works. I'm not sure how the later episodes will succeed. After the candidates have been whittled to a dozen, they will not be singing C&W or Stevie Wonder the final ten weeks. How that elimination period will be executed will tell us whether there is any inventiveness among the producers to match what they are seeking in their contestants.

HBO has its new "groundbreaking" series for this season, "Big Love," to follow-up "The Sopranos" on the schedule and replace "Six Feet Under" for its Odd Family showcase. "The Sopranos," with the Tony-in-a-coma cliffhanger, will be a valuable lead-in, but so far "Big Love," about well-meaning polygamists in Utah, hasn't generated a lot of character interest for me. Two episodes is hardly enough to go on, but I'm looking for more trenchant conflicts than which wife gets to cheat on which other wife on that wife's scheduled Day to Fuck Bill. It does help that I'm watching the show in HD, because it showcases the spectacularly blue and beautiful panorama of Utah (even if it's probably shot in the Canadian Rockies). HD does have its disadvantages, though, becasuse it also enables you to count the pimples on Bill Paxton's naked ass, an ass that gets quite a lot of play as he skips from wife to wife, downing Viagra as he goes. Paxton is a problem himself. His character is central but not (yet at least) a powerful focus. Paxton has always been a competent but bland film presence. Do you recall how moving was his change of heart as the modern mouthpiece in "Titanic"? Neither do I. The "supporting" cast is apt to dwarf him in charisma, with Harry Dean Stanton as his corrupt father-in-law, great character actress Grace Zabriskie as his weird mother, Bruce Dern out of mothballs as his father, and Chloe Sevigny as his most scheming wife.

Upcoming episodes may intensify the conflicts and diverge into interesting story lines, but I don't find this subculture very fascinating, nor many of the characters compelling enough to engage my sympathies. If it were not for my DVR I would probably not follow up on future episodes; this is not the appointment TV exemplified by "Sopranos" or "Six Feet" or "Rome."