May could be the meanest month for TV. This is the month that many shows end their seasons (if they haven’t already). Survivor and American Idol have big finales planned, but for Friends, Frasier, and Angel fans, there is no return. (Friends fans can look forward to a two-hour series finale, including a retrospective, next Thursday. And if you just can’t say goodbye, the cast will join Jay Leno on the Tonight Show at the Central Perk set.)
And then there’s doggone dirty mean TV. The hideous The Swan continues on Fox, culminating with a beauty pageant finale, while the WB launches Superstar USA, a talent show patterned after Fox’s wildly successful American Idol. There’s one big catch in this show: Although contestants are told the judges are looking for the next big hit-maker, in reality they’re looking for the biggest no-talent loser. This way, they can play their cringe-worthy audition footage over and over again. William Hung may have won hearts (and a record deal) with his geeky, enthusiastic audition on American Idol, but I’m not sure lying to contestants and encouraging them to be the worst they can be is ethical. It’s sure not nice. Which all means it will draw viewers in droves.
Aside from farewell fare, there are a few things on that you might not otherwise consider. And if you think these suggestions are too “TV that’s good for you,” I say put down your remote, get off your butt, and go for a walk already!
On PBS
May is Asian Pacific America Heritage month, and PBS features several specials and documentaries to mark the event. Unfortunately, local PBS affiliate KLRU isn’t carrying all the titles (according to my last check of the online calendar). Two of the screened titles (Refugee, Cosmopolitan) are refreshing, urban perspectives on life in the cultural divide. But enough about what you won’t see. Here’s what you will:
From the Independent Lens series comes a double feature of shorts, “One Night at the Grand Star” and “Double Exposure” (May 4, 9pm). Titled after the longtime Chinatown club/restaurant in Los Angeles, Natasha Uppal‘s “One Night” is a study of the surprisingly symbiotic relationship between its old-school, cocktails-and-cigarettes jazz club and Chinese restaurant on the first floor and the underground dance club that thumps above. But the real treat of this double feature is Kit-Yin Snyder‘s visually idyllic diary of an “old Chinese lady” who, after beating breast cancer, decides to make her first film at age 68. Visiting her native China, meeting her father for the first time, marrying an older American college professor, and making the decision to become an artist are just a few of the landmarks Snyder tours along the way in this meandering, thoughtful, and often funny journal.
Searching for Asian America (May 5, 9pm): portraits of Chinese-American Washington state Gov. Gary Locke, Filipino physicians Martin Bautista and Jeffrey Lim working in rural Oklahoma, and Korean actress and creator of the Web comic Angry Little Girls Lela Lee.
Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire (May 26, 7pm): Richard Chamberlain narrates this three-hour documentary on the period between the 16th and 19th centuries, when Japan was sealed from the Western world.
The Lance Network
The Lance Chronicles: The Real Life Saga of Armstrong’s Quest for Six premiered on the Outdoor Life Network Thursday and continues for 13 episodes. Produced by Austin-based production company Texas Crew, the series gives behind-the-scenes access to Armstrong. The good news: men in bike shorts. The bad news: You can see OLN only if you have digital cable. The Lance Chronicles airs Thursdays at 8:30pm.From the “You Got Me” Files Many, many “TV Eyes” ago, I wrote, wouldn’t it be a good idea to bring back the variety show? The suggestion was half in jest, half serious, but more out of curiosity about what such a thing would look like today. So when The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour aired on ABC earlier this month, I dutifully checked in. I thought the show was abysmal. But the rest of America didn’t agree with me. According to Entertainment Weekly, the show did so well that the couple will appear in a similar Christmas special. Meanwhile, Fox’s exceptional Arrested Development (whose season finale was last week) faces a future far less bright: The numbers are so low, it’s in danger of being canceled. The word should come down soon, probably as I’m writing this.
As always, stay tuned.
This article appears in April 30 • 2004.