Your Life - Celebrities

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009

Grading TV's buzz-worthy shows

If I were the only TV viewer in the world, the Nielsen ratings would look a lot different. For instance, all those crowd-pleasing crime procedurals would disappear from the Top 20. Sorry, David Caruso, I'm just not that into them, so you can stop glaring and put your sunglasses back on.

With sweeps month in full swing, ratings are a hot topic. But I'm more interested in issues of quality. Are some of the most buzz-worthy shows actually having a good season? If you look at nine of them, six are on track and three are facing creative problems. Here are a quick report card and some personal, Nielsen-free ratings:

"Community": I have a major crush on this new NBC comedy about an ethics-challenged lawyer (Joel McHale) who forms a study group with a band of quirky misfits at a community college. Like other great sitcoms about tight-knit social circles (the workplace one of "Mary Tyler Moore," the wartime one of "M(ASTERISK)A(ASTERISK)S(ASTERISK)H"), "Community" balances hipness and warmth and never demeans the oddballs who inhabit it. It gives McHale a chance to demonstrate that he's the next Bill Murray, and it's introduced the best new supporting character in prime time: pop-culture junkie Abed (Danny Pudi). A-plus

"Mad Men": There's been grumbling about the glacial pace and frustratingly loose threads of the third season's storylines (like that eye-catching but ultimately head-scratching lawnmower incident). But AMC's '60s-era drama finally kicked into overdrive with episodes that turned Don Draper's world upside down - as well as that of the entire "Mad Men" universe. A

"Modern Family": Congratulations to ABC for coming up with the series that inspires the most enthusiasm when people ask, "So what are you watching this fall?" A family sitcom for those who find the genre too sentimental, it has multi generational, diverse characters and smart, offbeat writing. The biggest laughs usually go to Ty Burrell as a desperate-to-be-cool dad and Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson as a gay couple with an adopted baby. But another scene-stealer is emerging: Manny (Rico Rodriguez), the precocious stepson of the gruff patriarch played by Ed O'Neill. Nice moment: When Manny, upon discovering that his friends drew a beard on his face at a slumber party, says he thought they were laughing at "my funny take on current events." A

"Top Chef": The Las Vegas setting has been gimmicky. The quick exit of Ann Arbor's Eve Aronoff was a major disappointment. The we-hate-Robin theme is getting old. Still, it's hard to think of a previous cycle of Bravo's highbrow cooking competition with as much talent and simmering tension - thanks, on both counts, to the beyond-competitive Voltaggio brothers - as the current one. By dominating the contest, Bryan V., the calmer presence, and Michael V., the younger, arrogant sibling, could be bickering their way into a spinoff. B-plus