Tag Archives: Fargo

The Reel Deal Podcast

Wrapping It Up: The Best TV of 2014

Better late than never! In this episode, Jon Carnegie (@jon_carnegie on Twitter) joins me on the podcast to discuss all the great television in 2014. Man, people really liked this one show called True Detective.

Reminder: All episodes are available on iTunes.

Analog This: The 10 Best TV Shows of 2014

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Image via Reddit

I swear if somebody tells me that it’s the Golden Age of Television one more time…

Look, I’m not saying that this isn’t an amazing time for TV. All I am saying is that labeling one year as a golden age sets you up for future failure and disappointment. For instance, people who label the 1930s and 40s as the golden age of film completely disregard the amazing work done in later years. Plus, Gone with the Wind is sort of racist and Citizen Kane is kind of boring.

Earlier this year, some critics said the golden age of television was over. Really? Then how do you account for the fact that over half my list is freshman shows? As everything migrates towards cable and the web, TV is changing and currently on a curve of exponential growth. This is my first TV top ten list, because this is the first year that I feel like I watched enough shows that I could list ten and have a few honorary mentions.

It is amazing how diverse this year’s TV selections are. My list contains fantasy lands, New York during multiple different time periods, and a lot of talking animals. I don’t want to say that television is currently better than film, but I understand what the whack jobs who say that are talking about. Without further adieu, here is my list of the ten best shows of 2014:

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Emmys 2014: I Liked Some Things, I Didn’t Like Some Things

Actor Cranston engages Julia-Louis Dreyfus in a prolonged kiss as she takes the stage to accept the award for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series for her role in HBO's "Veep"

Pictured: Dr. Tim Whatley and Elaine Benes

Well, the Emmy Awards happened again tonight.

My thoughts are about as predictable as most of the winners. In a year of excellent new shows, the common theme was to tread the same ground. However, that is not saying that some of those winners were not deserved.

Overall, with a great host and some memorable moments, the Emmys reminded me why TV is so great right now, and why film needs to catch up. However, many of the winners last night did not reflect the greatness of television right now. Hold the phone, you’re telling me that an award show is out of touch with what is popular and innovative right now? I don’t believe it.

Without further adieu, here are the highlights and lowlights of last night’s ceremony:

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Analog This: Every Coen Brothers Reference I Could Find in FX’s Fargo

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This article is based on a TV show that I actually watched. The names and events reflect what I actually saw.

The best drama that I have seen on television so far this year is the one that I expected to actively dislike. Instead of trying to simply imitate its source material, Fargo went in a completely new direction. It kept all of the darkest elements of the original Fargo while weaving together a completely original story. It is a triumph.

While Fargo is its own entity, it also does Joel and Ethan Coen proud. The Coen Brothers have such an original voice that it seems nearly impossible to replicate it. Yet, Noah Hawley somehow managed to do this. The Coen Brothers Universe are the kind of people who base stories off true events that never happen and adapt movies from novels that they have never read. Fargo does just the same, and it has a blast messing with our heads.

What Fargo made me realize is that everything the Coen Brothers does definitely exists in the same world. It is a singular universe that I may just enjoy more than, say, the one created by the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. While Fargo goes its own way, it also references films of Coen Brothers past, and connects itself to their universe many times over. Like Deputy Molly Solverson would do, its time to create a crazy web of conspiracies. Here is every Coen Brothers reference that I could find in FX’s Fargo:

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Emmys 2014: The Silver Linings

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Band of misfits. Image via Business Insider

Okay, so being negative about awards is fun. But I got that out of my system yesterday. So today, it is time to be nice.

Luckily, there is a lot to be nice about, because Emmy voters did a pretty good job this year. They didn’t do the best that they could have. On that note, can somebody please photoshop a picture of Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer holding Emmys?

Anyway, if you look close enough at the nominations, you will see that this year’s lineup does as good a job as possible at reflecting the incredibly diverse array of programming that makes up the current golden age of television that we are living in.

For this, I have decided not to include shows like Game of ThronesLouie, or Breaking Bad. While their inclusion makes me happy, their nominations were foregone conclusions. So instead, let’s focus on some of the people and shows that might not have expected to heard their names called yesterday morning:

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Five Movies That Would Make Good TV Shows

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Image via ScreenCrush

Today, the common wisdom is that television is so much better than film. What people fail to mention is that TV wouldn’t be where it is today without film.

That being said, TV is getting inspiration from just about any source it can, and lately they have been turning towards older movies. Bates Motel and Hannibal, which are still running strong today, made headlines when they debuted last year. This past Wednesday, Fargo premiered on FX and accomplished the nearly impossible task of replicating the unique tone and style of The Coen Brothers.

Turning a movie into a TV show used to be viewed as a poisonous idea (anybody remember My Big Fat Greek Life?), but now it has become a popular practice filled with rewards. TV shows adapted from movies work when they take what they have been given and craft it into something new. Don’t try and rewrite history: have the series take place in the same world as the given movie, with an unspoken awareness that this movie and the events that took place in it actually happened at some point in either the past or future.

As much as I would love to rant against this trend as a killer of originality, it just seems pointless. It is easier to accept that some stories will just be told over and over again in different forms because that is how storytelling works. Besides, given the liberties they take, Fargo and Bates Motel might as well be separate stories. The truth is that familiar brands sell.

So instead of fighting against this trend, I will embrace it. Here are a few films, new and old, that could make great TV shows:

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