12/9/04

The OC (Fox)
The North Shore (Fox)
Roseanne (Nickelodeon)

The OC (Fox)

This is something I’d watch anyway. People compare it to Beverly Hills 90210, but there’s little comparison. The stories are less drama, more soap, the world is fabulously wealthier, and the acting and writing is much better. Somehow, just about every episode contrives a way to fit in a party and a fight. It’s also more fun. The characters are faster-talking, faster-walking, often make the comic dramatic and dramatic comic. There’s more introspection and self-doubt. The adults play a bigger role in OC, and are excellent actors. They’re neither the “kids today” types nor the “lousy kids” types. They’re active players in the kids’ lives and are allowed to have fun at their kids sakes as well as be razzed by the kiddies. In many respects, this show has tried to take Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s mantle for smart chatter—and it often succeeds. “Chrismukkah” is their most famous neologism, but they’re working hard at giving us more.

This episode swirled around the currents of the SnOC, their private school’s winter dance. Lots of self-doubt and light rejection and wondering about place in the world, while the parents hid secrets from one another. Small stories, but fun in how they were resolved. Once again, demonstrating that teen shows are amongst the best on TV.


The North Shore (Fox)

When I praise, The OC, I worry that I’m getting soft. That I’m a sucker for television’s charms as much as anyone else. That I am blinded by window dressing.

Then, I watched The North Shore. This is an evening soap, and like many evening soaps, the acting and writing is just as bad as its daytime cousins, with better photography, locations, and more sex. The setting is an exclusive hotel in Hawaii that caters to the rich and self-important where our cast of hunks, babes, bad girls, gold-diggers, schemers, and a few with hearts of gold are both peons and in the executive suite. They’ll look for good bodies, good loving, a way to move up in the world and all while having good bodies and great tans.

Shannen Doherty was added to the mix somewhere during the first season. One is forgiven for thinking they did it to boost ratings. There is little other reason for her character. She is the baddie of the episode; greedy, crass, scheming, and gives us the dagger looks on cue. The funny thing about her character is that it seems to barely interact with the rest of the cast. The scenes in which she appears seemed to have been shot apart from the others, as if they did the episode, and then added in her character as an afterthought.

The hunkiest of the bunch is the bartender. Earthy good looks with great dreads; I’m surprised he hasn’t made the cover of People yet.


Roseanne (Nickelodeon)

The Connor has already weathered several seasons on TV by this point. Sandra Bernhardt is on the cast as Nancy. I guessed lucky and watched the episode where her character comes out of the closet. I guess that was a big deal, but it’s a pretty weak episode. It functions as two mini-episodes; the first involving her lightly mentioning that she’s dating a woman, and the second where Roseanne’s mom decides to live in a senior community. The bridge is when Nancy’s girlfriend played by Moran Fairchild appears on the scene, so not a lesbian in looks. The second half is funnier because Roseanne treats the outing so gently, pointing out that she just makes fun of Nancy because it’s fun and stops when she gets bored, and later points out to Jackie (single sister type) that she kind of dresses like a lesbian.