On The Verge

Sadly three shows I am currently enjoying are not on the verge of hitting big, but instead on the verge of cancellation. If you don't watch The Comeback, The MCarthys or Red Band Society, I strongly recommend you give them a shot while they still grace the airwaves.

Technically The Comeback cannot really be cancelled, HBO brought it back for only a limited number of episodes, so if they decide to cancel, they simply won't ask for more. I admit, the first episode of season 2 had me worried. It took the writers, the amazing Lisa Kudrow and her character Valerie a few scenes to get their rhythm back, but it's back baby! To me, The Comeback is the best sit-com on television, maybe ever. Watching Valerie (and Kudrow) maneuver through an improve class, balancing her lack of talent, the camera crew, her ego and Mickey's news was amazing television. Valerie weaves hilarity with heartbreak, pain and confusion better than anyone who has graced the tube. I often wonder why more people aren't flocking to this show.

Unlike The Comeback, The McCarthy's is not great television, not yet anyway. It does have the potential however. I don't love the show yet, but I like it enough to have invested and hope it continues. I love that Tyler Ritter's Ronny struggles in life, not because of his sexuality, but like the rest of his family, because of the family he grew up in. The show has plenty of laughs, but to me has been playing it far too safe, restraining it's talent, especially the brilliant Laurie Metcalf. Her Marjorie is being written as far to quiet, far too restrained. Metcalf blew the roof off of almost every scene they gave her on Roseanne as Jackie had far more energy to build from. If The McCarthys continues, I would suggest switching up and untying the ropes from Metcalf's character and let her show everything she is capable of.

I loved Red Band Society from the get go, and developed a wee crush on actor Charlie Rowe (whom I featured HERE:). After a promising pilot however, the show slowed down it's pace, causing me to lose a bit of interest in it's subsequent episodes. The show got it's mojo back the past few weeks, in large part with a focus on the relationship between Nurse Andrew and Dr. Jack (Octavia Spencer and Dave Annable). There has also been further development of the kids and their families and thankfully more scenes with the wonderful Wilson Cruz! I hope FOX has a change of heart and orders more of this show. Red Band Society has become a nice change of pace from adrenaline driven dramas currently all over the tube. Sometimes it is nice to sit back and spend time with characters you enjoy without worrying their FBI, back from the dead, killer father could blow up the hospital with a bomb after every commercial.