Cop Fridays 4: This Partnership is Lethal

   Welcome to another installment of Cop Fridays! Let it be known that (in Oprah voice) I love buddy cop dramas. There's something about a wild card and a straight man that brings comedy and joy to every scene. When a network takse a beloved 80's movie franchise and turn it into a TV show, it can go one of two ways, it can be as good as or better than the original, or it can tank. Luckily, FOX's new Lethal Weapon has been to quote Barney Stinson, "All Rise." The delightful pairing of Damon Wayans as the seasoned  "I'm too old for this S**t" Det. Murtaugh and Clayne Crawford as the "request backup later" Det. Riggs is one for the TV partners hall of fame. In my opinion, they are neck and neck with Hawaii 5-0's McGarrett and Danno, which we'll get to in a future post.

     The most recent (2/22) episode involved a murder of a promising college football recruit. It brought the pair to a new location as Murtaugh considers a cushy job in college security. The pair would have to disband their partnership, but Murtaugh could guarantee free college for his three kids assuaging his newly unemployed wife, Trish (Keesha Sharp). In a previous episode, Mrs. Murtaugh quit her big firm law job. After jumping off (again) a dormitory building, Riggs exclaimed somewhat shockingly, somewhat delighted, "I'm literary covered in beer." Riggs's pursuit of the case, of course, ruins Murtaugh's chance at the security job and tanks the popular college football team's season.

     Though the pair are not Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, they have a palpable chemistry. Det. Riggs (shown above) comes to Los Angeles as a transfer from Texas, escaping after a cartel murders his pregnant wife. His in-laws live in the area and try to bring him back to reality, but he doesn't want their help. Riggs spends nights drinking himself to sleep, dreaming about his wife Miranda (Floriana Lima) and taking risky chances on the job. The two were partnered in the hopes that sensible Murtaugh would help to even out the volatile Riggs. Riggs at times over the season opens up to Murtaugh and his family, even becoming a confidant of Murtaugh's teenage son and daughter. Trish's first invitation to family dinner becomes an open one and Riggs slowly shifts into the" fun uncle" role, although Murtaugh's toddler makes him squirmy after his previous trauma.

     Both Riggs and Murtaugh have been to therapy, and for good reasons. Riggs is forced by the department (see risky antics and borderline alcoholism) to see a shrink, played by Jordana Brewster. Brewster's Dr. Cahill seems to get through to Riggs marginally in each session we witness, as he gives a little and then takes it all back at the end. Dr. Cahill is incredibly patient, letting Riggs eat her salad from the work fridge because it must mean more to him than to her since he went to the trouble of stealing it. I could see this  duo blossoming into a "will they or won't they" type of ship in the future. Riggs also has struck up a friendship with DEA Agent Karen Palmer (Hilarie Burton) that could turn romantic, and I am on board for that. Burton plays a role that reminds me of her White Collar character Sara, only on the law-enforcement side instead of the con/conned side. A recent episode ended with Riggs covering Sara with a blanket after fetching some late night Chinese food. It's a relatively new side to Riggs and it looks like this may develop more in next week's episode. I would like to see him start to move on, or at least make another friend besides Riggs.

Damon Wayans on Happy Endings
 Photo From Youtube

     Murtaugh's journey is a bit more complicated. He is always the dependable one, the by-the-book cop, which becomes one of the main sources of conflict, and comedy. Damon Wayans is a great comedic actor, as are all Wayans brothers, but I tie his best work to his facial expressions and his son, Damon Wayans, Jr.  As Murtaugh, Wayans is expressive in small, quiet ways. He seems grumpy most of the time, but lights up in scenes with his family. Murtaugh is cop before he is a father. He makes sure to punish his kids when they get busted for things a fake I.D. or for joy riding an expensive car.

     Following the pre-pilot heart attack that sidelined him,  Murtaugh slowly falls to pieces  in an episode where he must wear a heart monitor while on the job. Police work is bound to be stressful, but Riggs jumping off buildings and chasing cars sets the monitor off at an alarming rare. I know I shoul be concerned for Murtaugh and his health, but Wayans keeps me laughing. Another great episode paired the detectives with a Chinatown detective that was Murtaugh's procedural equal. They both wanted to call in backup  early, a refreshing change from what usually happens (usually backup is not called or comes after the gunfire with the perps has started). In the end, Murtaugh could not take up the detective's offer to switch departments because he seems to relish in the frustration and danger that comes with each day on the job.

     Reality is not lost on this show. Los Angeles is a crazy place, and crimes have taken the investigators to model parties, casinos, churches, and even burglaries in Murtaugh's suburban neighborhood. At the end of the pilot, the duo get reamed out by their superior Capt. Avery (Kevin Rahm,) for causing over $60,000 dollars of damage to the the city while pursuing suspects. This seems like a scene that would end a movie. Since this is a TV show, we see from week to week how the detectives are treated by the department after messing up. They are given a warning, they are sent to therapy etc.. Some may call the show predictable, but there's something nice about a predictable show. It's almost as if this show was a  drama trapped in the body of a sitcom. As an audience, we see changes in Murtaugh and Riggs's interactions with each other, but they tend to be stock characters and we know that in each new situation, something will go amiss.  By the end of the episode, they find a way to bring in the bad guys, and they try to resolve personal issues that develop during the episode. That's something I'll never be too old for...

See the 1st  Cop Fridays post here.
See the 2nd Cop Fridays post here.
See the 3rd  Cop Fridays post here.

My Murtaugh List: Too Old for the VMA's

Image Courtesy of  Pintrest. 

     First off, let me explain a few things about this post. I was home sick earlier this week and looking for something entertaining on the DVR. So naturally, I chose the MTV Video Music Awards, which has been on my DVR since August 28th. It was not just the cough medicine, but something in my head tipped me off to a very clear fact: I am too old to appreciate these awards any more.

      As you approach our 30's, you begin to list the things you can and can no longer do with pride. An episode of How I Met Your Mother outlines this theory and presented it as "The Murtaugh List." This list refers to the times when Danny Glover mutters "I'm too old for this s**t!" in the Lethal Weapon movies. Ted and the gang make a serious list of things they cannot do in their 30's. Why am I too old for the VMA Awards? Here are a few cliff notes to my list. Firstly, I don't know who about 30% of the people presenting awards. I can identify nearly all of the performers, but I can't say I like most of their music. Secondly, I keep flashing back to previous award shows and comparing things. Basically, I've seen too much.  But I am still transfixed every time Beyonce steps on the stage because I am a child of destiny.

My Murtaugh List for the VMAS: I am too old for...

1. Key and Peele hosting

VMA Hosts via Giphy Image. 

     In their defense, I like Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele. They won an Emmy award this year for their comedy!  But to my dismay, they were playing obnoxious characters as they hosted the show. When I see an award show, I don't want the presenters to be part of the spectacle. They were mildly funny in the beginning, suggesting Twitter hashtags for Rhianna's performance (below) such as getting Tom Brady to deflate the large cloud like structures on the stage. There were a bunch of forgettable correspondents backstage and in the cheap seats that added nothing to the coverage.

2. Rhianna's performance
     When you see the opening performance, you want to be wowed. I was disappointed and vaguely insulted by Rhianna, who received the night's highest honor, the Video Vanguard Award (like a video lifetime achievement). First of all, she and the dancers were dressed in bubblegum pink. Rhianna herself  had a waist cincher with arms unattached and dangling from the legs. They dancers had the aforementioned cloud beanbag chairs behind them, which was weird. The two songs in this first performance were Rhianna's more upbeat songs (We Found Love, Don't Stop the Music). She danced well to her music but there was not much singing. There was little singing. It was more like she was on Lip Sync Battle or emulating Britney Spears.

3. Live voting for best new artist via Twitter.
     When I was a young'n, you had to go to a website to vote.

Gif from Single Ladies' Dance Blog

4. Arianna Grande's Workout
     Unlike many other celebrity "singers", Ariana can sing. But she also is the girl that licked a doughnut and then said she hayy-ted (sic) America. She may be bold, but she is not regional. Her performance presented like a 2016  glammed-up, Olivia Newton-John's Let's Get Physical. It began with a spin bike class and ended with guys in skimpy wrestling unitards lifting barbells.

 5. Kanye West
      I know this guy believes he is the second coming, but I do not understand the appeal. Specifically I took issue with his nominated video, which the same I cannot remember and choose not to Google. Secondly,  He had a long and pointless intro to his music video, still referencing the time her cut off Taylor swift in the middle of her speech. He then proceeded to premier a video that was a rip-off of Flashdance (newsflash, the 80's workout movement is "in" right now). The part that concerns me is whether or not Kanye thinks this is a brand new concert.

Image from Giphy

6. People not showing up to accept Awards
     In the words of Stephanie Judith Tanner, "How rude." Are people like Drake and Calvin Harris so busy that they can't make it to New York for one night to accept an award that may or may not have been voted on via Twitter?

 7. Rhianna's 2nd performance (Rude Boy)
     This time she tried singing! She also had had pants, so this performance was a drastic improvement from the show opener.

8. Leave Britney Alone
It's Britney, and she's boring! I've seen her look better, first of all. She sad yellow bodysuit and very tanned back were not part of her best look. To make matters worse, this mother of two was groping her collaborator like a high school prom date. I daresay that Britney is too old for this, like a sad Vegas showgirl.

9. Using the local NYC scene as part of your performance

Image from Rockoranything.com

     Nick Jonas began his performance in a diner on 34th street (Tick Tock) and ran into the closed street across from Madison Square Garden. The street has a giant tractor trailer stage blocking the crosswalks and cars on hydraulics (not sure why that was important). When the awards used to be presented art Radio City, Eminem bravely implement this outdoor performance method 16 years ago when he led an army of Slim Shadys into Radio City. More recently,  Taylor Swift's 2009 "You Belong with Me" performance had her coming to to Radio City from the subway stop next door (see Kayne incident above).

 10. Rhianna's third performance
      I'm not familiar with this song but it was pretty awful. She began wearing a North Face-style puffy coat with sleeves that looked like an additional puffy coat. I thought for a while there might be a plastic bag on her thighs, but it turned out her thigh-high boot had flopped over her leg and it was not the same color inside and outside.