By Dean Robbins
‘High Society’ finds them among New York City’s party set
Reality series have long been engaged in a race to the bottom, each trying to showcase the most repulsive specimens of humanity. Barring the appearance of “The Real Housewives of the Third Reich,” however, the CW’s “High Society” (Wednesday, 8:30 p.m.) will likely be crowned the winner. Or should I say the loser?
The CW has gone to great lengths to find the most vain, arrogant, ignorant and obnoxious among New York City’s party people. We meet the icky Jules, who says, “I only like white guys. I use the ‘N’ word sometimes, and I really think it should be OK to say.” Their friend Tinsley had been married to a zillionaire named Topper, the relationship based solely on the fact that they share the same initials.
When the marriage breaks up, Tinsley cries picturesquely for the CW cameras. “My whole world feels like it’s crashing down on me!”
One can only hope.
‘Breaking Bad’
Sunday, 9 p.m. (AMC)
The new season begins under a sickly yellow sky with a perplexing image: shaved-head tough guys crawling on their hands and knees toward a makeshift skull-god shrine in a rundown Mexican village. The scene makes you feel like you’re trapped in a nightmare, and indeed you are.
“Breaking Bad” effectively uses avant-garde filmmaking touches to tell the story of schoolteacher Walt (Bryan Cranston), who became a drug kingpin after a terminal cancer diagnosis. The idea was to make enough money to provide for his family, but now that plan is falling apart.
“Breaking Bad” immerses you in Walt’s world — a psychological and logistical morass. When his wife confronts him with divorce papers, he desperately tries to explain himself. “There are a lot of angles to this. It’s complicated.”
Man, is it. CV
