By Dean Robbins
My scandalous spouse
‘The Good Wife’ deals with a bad husband
The opening scene of “The Good Wife” (Tuesday, 9 p.m., CBS) is all too familiar: A politician ensnared in scandal faces reporters as his wife stands by his side wearing pearls and an ashen expression. Fast-forward six months, and the wife, Alicia (Julianne Margulies), tries to pick up the pieces by reentering the workforce. She dusts off her law degree and joins a firm at the bottom of the totem pole, surrounded by young sharks who don’t have to worry about kids or a husband in jail.
“The Good Wife” is expertly made. Alicia doesn’t have many reasons to smile in the pilot, but when she does, the screen lights up about a hundred watts. That smile may well be the brightest thing in the whole 2009-10 season.
‘Bored to Death’
Sunday, 8:30 p.m. (HBO)
Given HBO’s track record with “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Entourage,” “Extras” and other quirky masterpieces, it’s an event when the network premieres a comedy. But “Bored to Death” is a disaster — and, in retrospect, HBO probably should have been tipped off by the title.
Viewers will indeed be bored to death by this self-indulgent story of writer Jonathan Ames (Jason Schwartzman), a sad sack whose girlfriend leaves him, causing him to mope for the entire pilot. Jonathan whines to his best friend (Zach Galifianakis), his boss (Ted Danson) and every stranger he meets. In a cutesy turn of events, Jonathan hires himself out as the world’s most incompetent private eye, providing him with opportunities to whine about his girlfriend to a whole new set of people.
“I don’t want to hear about your love life,” a cop barks at him.
That makes two of us.
‘The Beautiful Life’
Wednesday, 8 p.m. (CW)
This new series hopes to achieve instant glamour and excitement with its fashion-world setting. It presents an “All About Eve” scenario in which a young upstart (Sara Paxton) displaces an aging superstar (Mischa Barton) — except in this case, the aging superstar is in her early 20s. She’s a model who returns to the catwalk after a mysterious disappearance.
We meet predatory agents and a hunky Iowa farm boy who practically has a stalk of wheat sticking out of his mouth. Such is the series’ clichéd notion of “innocence.”
Thus far, “The Beautiful Life” has no characters to sympathize with. It’s hard to relate to a series in which the line “I gained two pounds” passes for a tragic turn of events. CV
‘Bored to Death’
Sunday, 8:30 p.m. (HBO)
Given HBO’s track record with “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Entourage,” “Extras” and other quirky masterpieces, it’s an event when the network premieres a comedy. But “Bored to Death” is a disaster — and, in retrospect, HBO probably should have been tipped off by the title.
Viewers will indeed be bored to death by this self-indulgent story of writer Jonathan Ames (Jason Schwartzman), a sad sack whose girlfriend leaves him, causing him to mope for the entire pilot. Jonathan whines to his best friend (Zach Galifianakis), his boss (Ted Danson) and every stranger he meets. In a cutesy turn of events, Jonathan hires himself out as the world’s most incompetent private eye, providing him with opportunities to whine about his girlfriend to a whole new set of people.
“I don’t want to hear about your love life,” a cop barks at him.
That makes two of us. CV
