When Your Town Becomes a TV Set

My local diner. (c)PipPepPop

Sometimes I'm sitting on the couch watching TV and you vaguely think, "Hmm, that  location in a TV show looks familiar..."
Is it deja vu? Is it a rerun? Or more than likely, I've been to this spot IRL. TV shows such as

• Blindspot
• Quantico,
• YOU
• The Sinner
• Billions
•  Forever
•  Law and Order
•  The Blacklist
•  The Good Wife
•  Girls
• Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and even ED (that was back in 2000, but it was the first show) have used my quaint NYC-adjacent suburb for location shoots.

 For the particular location on the left, a 2018  NBC Superbowl preview blew my mind. Not only was the plot of the show familiar (if you've seen Glee), but the locations or Rise were eerily close to home. Literally, they were a five to 10 minute drive from my house. There have been several times over the last few years when I would see the police roping off  my local coffee shop with cameras in the middle of the night or on afternoons after they close. Rise used locations including our local coffee shop, Sparkys.  the power plant, the old village downtown by my mechanic, the old dye factory that now houses a brewery and artist space. Rise is the story of a frustrated English teacher (Josh Radnor) that convinces the popular school quarterback, Robbie, to join the school musical.  This production of Spring Awakening rubs the downtrodden mining community the wrong way.  This town is not as free-wheeling as Beverly Hills in the NEW 90210. It sends shock waves through the athletic community and shakes up the theatre club, run by the touchy Ms. Wolfe (Rosie Perez).
The central romance that begins between Robbie (Damon J Gillespie)  and the waitress wallflower and new leading lady Lillette (Auli'li Cravalho) causes tons of teenage drama, when the group is not dealing with divorce, teen pregnancy, gender and sexual  identity, and alcoholism.



Where does my local diner fit into the story? Lillette and her mom are waitresses at the diner. She and Robbie practice their lines in between serving pancakes coffee. It blows my mind every time I visit the diner because I can''t believe it's been on TV and in movies (see Brad Pitt's 'True Story' movie, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Yes, this is the same place my friends and I would meet for the occasional breakfast in high school! It guess it's out version of  The Max, or The Peach Pit.

The restaurant is small, but there are always about 15 cars parked outside. It's impossible to find a spot at 11 AM on a weekend, so you'll park on the nearby residential street and walk over. There can be a wait, but they turn the tables over quickly. The big banners tied up outside (taken down for filming) congratulate the town on the recent 400th anniversary (back in 2016) and champion the high school's sports teams, promising that all of our all athletes are winners. Across the street, there are two strip malls with a deli, nail salon etc... but the diner looks more isolated.

The narrow, rectangular room has big windows with  puffy curtains next to each of the booths.The walls are adorned with local memorabilia, news clippings, and tributes to victims of 9/11.  Regular patrons help themselves to coffee behind the counter. There are about 20 personal mugs that hang on the wall, mostly for the retiree crowd that holds court in there every morning. Weekends have families coming in from soccer practice or little league, and the juice comes in tine 8 oz. glasses. They only take cash, but there's an ATM in the entrance. Nothing on the menu is over $10.00, even the specials with coffee, eggs and toast. It feels like home, and it is my home.

It's a surreal feeling, seeing my hometown on T.V. It's even worse when your town is shown as a  falling apart town in the heart of former mining country. After talking to other kids that grew up here, we sympathized that our town looked pretty bad. Here are some truths and falsehoods.

• Yes, the power plant in the promo is our power plant. It's by the by the town pool, and it's not really operational anymore. They show alleged that shutting down the wines ruined the town and made everyone poor.  This story is slightly different; shutting down the plant increased the school taxes a ton.
• The abandoned factory where the kids hung out was abandoned, but in  the 1930's when the town stopped being the brick-making capitol of the world. It had been operational since the civil war. It was used to make solider uniforms.  It's been revitalized over the last 15 years and rebuilt after hurricane Sandy damage. The building houses restaurants, artist studios, a brewery, a yoga studio, and some industrial design showrooms.
• The downtown street, called 'the village' and the school front they show do not represent the decor of the whole town. This particular section of town is down by the river and has a few blocks of old, cute (brick) historical buildings. Down the street from the village, from there are high-rise condos and the majority of the houses in the town were built post 1970. The middle school building has been around since the early 1900's and used to  be the only school in town, but we have about 8 schools in the district now.

Sound-Off: I Can't Stand 'This is Us'

I'm sure this will be as popular as a denouncement of Hamilton on Broadway, but I am not a fan of This is Us. It's at best, emotional kryptonite, and at worst, an hour where you have to prepare to be massively depressed and disappointed.  It took me approximately six months to get through the last 4 episodes of the season. I've been on hiatus since Jack's post-Superbowl death episode. I think my main issue revolves around the Peterson children. I'm not a fan of all 3 of the younger kid or teen versions of the kids. Frankly, I kinda hate their adult selves too. I've had little sympathy for twins Kate and Kevin. They are so self-absorbed and co-dependent, it's sick. I've been over Kate's weight issues since episode 1 and Kevin is a borderline narcissist.  I find Randall and Beth's relationship nice, but sometimes his "I have to do everything" attitude tires me out. I know he's trying to save their adopted foster child, Dejia, but it seems to be at the expense of his other two kids. I like the young Rebecca and Jack courtship story. Maybe I can mash up all of those episodes together and watch that for season 3. Once they had kids, the Petersons got hella emotionally taxing. I find I have to be in a really crappy mood to watch the show, and then I'm find with being on the verge of crying for an hour. I'm not the only one. Social media has grown tired too per this Cosmopolitan article.

Maya and Marty Had a Party... And It Was Weird

     I am quite sure critics have not liked the first two episodes of Maya and Marty. It might have nothing to do with the two stars and just with the idea that nobody cares for variety shows anymore. Much like the bygone era of vaudeville, variety shows are a little odd. To quote The Atlantic,

"But at its best, it feels like a copy of a copy: Tuesday Night Live, if you will."

     That's precisely the problem. It's got the casts (Maya Rudolph and Martin Short both came from SNL a did their co-stars and special guests, Keenan Thompson, Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, and Steve Martin.

In honor of tonight's third episode, I'm reviewing last week's sketches.

- A Day With Anna Wintour 9/10
This PBS-style show followed Maya as Anna Wintour as she put together a new issue of VOGUE. This was actually pretty funny. She Devil Wears Prada's a few employees and showed us her favorite spot in New York, a grubby deli Karl Largerfeld frequents.

- Oprah Loves Bread 8/10
It was funny the first time when Maya played Oprah and yelled about how she are bread all day. After the third or so installment, she had statues of bread, then it got too much.

- Tina and Maya Sing 70's Love Songs 7/10
It was cute, but it went on for about 5 minutes too long.

- Kidnapping Video 6/10
Nathan lane tortured Marty with stage directions while being filmed for a kidnapping ransom. This also went along way too long.

- Birthday With the Parents 5/10
Maya and Marty played self-involved parents celebrating their 30-year old son's birthday. Guests Tina Fey and Shawn Hayes  played another couple.

- Martin and Steve's Duet 3/10
All of Marty's lines insulted himself and praised Steve.

- British Manners Instruction 2/10
This was downright terrible. Martin played a butler that yelled at one kid in particular for not following his manners instruction. This was like 1900's Gordon Ramsay in MasterChef Junior.

- Jimmny Glick Interviews Drake 1/10
I skipped through this. Watching him interview Larry David in the first episode took my last nerve.

The Blindspot

     Time Square is full of lights and people. An empty bag is found.  It's a big, black bag, and if you see something,  you should say something. The area is cleared and the bomb squad goes in to  investigate. When they poke a bag, a woman covered in tattoos emerges, stark naked. No, this is not Tilda Swinton's latest art project, it's NBC's The Blindspot.

     The woman, Jane Doe (played by Jaimie Alexander), has no memories at all. Her full body tattoo art includes intricate patterns of numbers, addresses and symbols. Her back reads: Kurt Weller, FBI. Agent Weller (Aussie Sullivan Stapleton)  is a top cop at the New York FBI bureau. He and his team take Jane in under their watch to see if she can jog her memory. Jane appears to be drugged in away to wipe her personality and memories out, but her basic motor skills are still there, and she can kick ass. Weller and his crew take Jane on missions, using her tattoos to prevent terrorism, end bank holdups, and generally save New York from imminent destruction. Do they ever request backup? That would be a no, and an issue I take to heart. Seriously, who died and make Weller, Zepeta, Reid, Jane and Patterson think they can single-handedly save New York City every time? But I digress...

     Jane assists Weller's unit in their daily activities, and it gets real. . Weller's computer genius, Agent Patterson (Ashley Johnson from Growing Pains) analyzes Jane's tattoos for fun, looking for more clues. The art represents hidden puzzles and clues to upcoming crimes and exposure of governmental wrongdoings. At first the team doesn't  have a clue what's going on. They know a group called Sandstorm is behind things, but they're not sure why.  Patterson's boyfriend gets murdered trying to help her out with the puzzles, and she gets in major trouble with Director Mayfair (Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who reminds me of  Viola Davis in HTGAM) because her boyfriend really shouldn't be looking at classified FBI files in the first place. Then Director Mayfair gets framed for murder, and she gets murdered. The body count gets a bit ridiculous, although most of the bad guys are brought in for justice. This becomes  part of the overall theme in the show: where are we drawing the line? Should the FBI go out looking for trouble? Should the CIA kidnap and torture Jane to get their own answers? Should Weller make allowances for Jane and let her run with the team?

     Weller discovers Jane was brought to him because her DNA test shows she is Taylor Shaw. Shaw was a little girl who lived on his street that was supposedly murdered when he was 10 years old. Weller is so relived to see Taylor because his father was put in jail for allegedly murdering  the 5-year old neighbor girl. It was pretty weird to think that Weller cared so much about this little kid, but I'm willing to buy into it because it seems like she was really his younger sister Sarah's (Jordana Spiro) friend. As the season progresses, Jane's memories begin coming back, and she is clearly not Taylor Shaw. Her tooth shows isotopes native to Africa and her memories about about assassin-like training. She is an ex-Marine and she came to Weller for a different reason. Is she part of Sandstorm? Of course she is! One thing is clear, Jane is bad news.

Who's That Guy: Michael Esper

     I have been catching up on two of my recent new favorite shows and I discovered they share someone in common. Michael Esper is on ABC's new drama The Family as Adam's alleged kidnapper (the hole-faced man), and he also plays IA cop Donnie in the Jennifer Lopez-led NBC drama Shades of Blue. In both shows, he plays a total creeper.

The Family
     We're almost a month into ABC's story of the Warren family. Their 8-year-old son Adam was kidnapped and recently appears after ten years. Adam was captured by Esper's Doug, described by Adam as the hole-faced man. Adam's mother Claire (Joan Allen) was running for city council at the time of the kidnapping and may have used her lost child as a way to get her political career started. Claire announces her campaign for governor upon Adam's resurfacing. The Warrens' neighbor Hank (Andrew McCarthy, also a director on the project) was convicted of kidnapping and killing Adam with little evidence and prior crime involving children. Now Hank is free and looking to take out revenge on Claire and her clan. Estranged husband John (Rupert Graves) has been seeing the lead detective on the case for almost ten years while Adam's  grown siblings Willa and Danny both dealt with losing their brother in destructive ways, becoming an ultra conservative campaign aide to mom and becoming an alcoholic, as they were last responsible for Adam.

     The FBI and local police are trying to track down Doug, but were derailed in the last episode. Meanwhile, Esper's Doug has a wife and a baby on the way! Clearly his wife had no idea he was keeping a little boy in a bunker for all those years. The real question comes from Danny's friend, blogger Bridey, who is investigating if Adam is really who he says he is. For the record, this boy is not Adam. It's been alluded that Adam's genetic test might have been faked and Claire has received donations from a genetics lab. Also Willa planted Adam's toy in Hank's house to ensure an arrest.  Is this all a political scam? Will the show conclude with all questions resolved? Only time will tell.

Photo from TVGeekTalk.com

Shades of Blue
     This photo shocked SOB fans when it was discovered that Internal Affairs investigator Donnie Pomp (Esper) was having a secret, years-long affair with the closeted and married Lt. Wozniak. Donnie Pomp was first introduced as investigating Wozniak's (Ray Liotta's) crew and making sure their illegal activities were overlooked by the department. Wozniak's group collects payments from businesses in order to keep the peace in their Brooklyn precinct. Jennifer Lopez's Harlee is caught by the FBI and (the short story) forced to inform on the crew who have become a family to her, with 'Woz' as the power-hungry papa. Harlee wears a wire to protect her daughter Christina and get immunity in all of her crimes. FBI special agent Stahl (Warren Kole) tortures Harlee on her quest to get dirt on Woz.

      Donnie is the first person to reveal to Woz there is a mole in the crew. Woz goes crazy on Harlee, almost killing her, and almost killing other members of the crew. Finally, Woz kills Detective Saperstein for being picked up by the FBI for questioning. Harlee vows to get enough information to send Woz to jail for life. After leaving a bug in Woz's office, Harlee and Shatl discover Woz and Pomp's relationship and Pomp's introduction into a job that will be the group's final big score. This score will also bring down Woz's crew. I am playing catch-up with the show, but all will be resolved in tonight's season finale.

     I must congratulate Esper for playing two equally creepy baddies. What will become of his two tortured villains? I'll keep checking with the FBI...

Should the "Truth Be Told?"

     I really wanted to like Truth Be Told. I am programmed to like any show that Zack Morris (a.k.a. Mark-Paul Gosselar) stars in, including but not limited to Franklin and Bash, later seasons of NYPD Blue, Hyperion Bay, and Saved By the Bell: The College Years. Yes, there were other TV roles, but these are really the most notable after the original SBTB.

     Unfortunately, I had a bad feeling about this show from the start. First thing, the show was on at 8:30 on a Friday night in its first season. The program was led in by the live showing of Undateable (this is a separate but equally important  tangent to cover because this show is nowhere near the class of a live Will and Grace or 30 Rock). Gosselar plays Mitch, an ethics professor married to a Tracy, a Filipino lawyer (Vanessa Lachey). They live next door (and are only friends with)  an African-American newlywed couple, comedian Russell and pediatrician Angie.  Mitch and Tracy have a 4-6 year old daughter, Sadie that always need to be watched or baby-sat whenever something comes up, like backstage passes to a Jay-Z concert, or admission to the adult film awards. It is also important to note, I am almost certain Sadie was re-cast after the first episode or two for a less likable kid).

     The situation is laid out, so where is the comedy? Stereotypes, race differences and adult content are a big part of the jokes on this show. Taboos such as getting a medical marijuana card or using the same gym pass as another woman of the same race are the bread and butter laughs of this show. Mitch and Russel are mistaken as a gay couple when they are looking at cars and are offered a great deal by the dealer, who is also gay.  The perfect babysitter may be a former porn star, and the new babysitter is free on Friday night because she also works for a Jewish family across the street...
   
     Do you see where I'm going with this? A lot of issues in this show could be funny or story-worthy in real life, but hearing them out loud on TV makes everyone who can relate seem pretty shallow. It's not the same dark comedy of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, where not a single character has redeemable moral value. These people want to do the right thing, and it often gets them in trouble. In the Winter finale (which is likely the series finale a sets have been torn down), Mitch is asked to marry friends an Russell holds a grudge over it because he is the comedian of the gang. Angie holds a grudge over Russell making tons of jokes during his wedding vows, and Tracey spends the whole weekend trying to get Mitch to enjoy a childless night in the hotel room. This is unfortunately not the next Seinfeld. I guess the truth is still out there... (It really is, the X-Files is coming back to TV in a few weeks)!

Don't Hate "The Player", Hate the Game

     As I predicted in September, NBC's The Player has been cancelled, which once again means Must-See TV has fallen by the wayside at the peacock network. I didn't follow the show after episode 1, but I think a big part of their downfall was showing on Thursday nights opposite ABC's "Shonda Thursdays," specifically the gut-wrenching, heart pounding triumph, How to Get Away With Murder.  I did see Alex Kane as a sympathetic character, after all, he did just rekindle his relationship with his sobering ex-wife Ginny, only to have her murdered hours later. On top of all that, he was considered as a suspect in the murder, and playing "the game" was his only hope to get himself cleared and kind out what really happened to Ginny.  But the show had a lot of action packed into each scene and some very layered conceits set up, so it was not helped by things like Thursday night football or an earlier lead in of Heroes:Reborn and James Spader's retirement fund, The Blacklist. In a eperate post, I have to explore how this show is still on air because I'm pretty baffled. The show's 9 episodes ended with several twists and many questions, which can be found here.

Players Gonna Play

     In my humble opinion, don't bother spending your time watching NBC's The Player, a.k.a. Endgame. It seems that it work better as a movie plot. If you like the action adventure of " 24 " and the glamour of "Las Vegas" with the crime fighting of everything else on NBC/CBS, maybe this show is for you. In my advanced screening, people cheered when Wesley Snipes appeared in the first scene as Mr. Johnson, "the pit boss". He employs a pretty blonde (Cassandra) to be "the dealer" and offers Alex a chance to be "the player" in a life or death game of chance. Phillip Winchester's Alex Kane is offered 24 hours to stop a crime, allowed to only receive help from Cassandra and her online network of phone taps and cameras. Rich people around the world be on whether Kane can stop the crime, or if it will go down. Kane begins the journey because his estranged wife Ginny was a murdered as part of a crime that was part of the game. I give it two months...