John Byrne's TV week includes the new show from the makers of Glee and American Horror Story, the return of Sharon Horgan, and the latest incarnation of Kermit the Frog.
Reviewed: Scream Queens (Monday, E4); Catastrophe (Tuesday, Channel 4); The Muppets (Monday, Sky 1); Modern Family (Monday, Sky 1)
When the people behind such disparate shows as Glee and American Horror Story decided to make a teen slasher dramedy, the general consensus was that viewers would get a halfway house of horrors set somewhere in between those shows. Judging by Monday's pilot episode, that's exactly what's happening with Scream Queens. And it's a hoot.
Sure, it may fail to get a big audience as Glee fans might not get the jokes, while AHS fans may look down their noses and see Scream Queens as a bratty compromise for a younger audience. But it's worth watching just for some wonderful one-liners and the sheer energy of it all.
Plot-wise, what we have here is a classic slasher set-up: Wallace University's Kappa Kappa Tau is an all-girl sorority run by a sharp-tongued sadist called Chanel, played with relish by Emma Roberts. New dean of students Cathy Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis, a great choice given her horror film history) has it in for her. She insists that the elitist Kappa - high maintenance bitches only allowed - must open its door to any student who wants to join. "What," says Chanel, "fresh hell is this?"
As if that isn't bad enough for the bad girls, a masked killer is on the loose. The pledge from the producers is that a cast member will be killed in every episode, and given that the characters involved are repulsively self-centred and sociopathic, this is excellent news.
Sure, it's highly derivative - Heathers springs immediately to mind - but the dialogue is crisp and cutting while the pace is relentless. It won't be easy keeping up to the standard of this impressive opener, and I can only hope the show doesn't run out of steam as quickly as Glee did, where the first six episodes were exceptional, anarchic and great fun. Sadly, the rest of the show's inexplicably long run was mostly made up of twee karaoke and sentimental mush.
One show that launched quietly and left a huge and immediate impression was Catastrophe. Created by and starring Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney, its first season told the tale of an Irish school teacher and an American businessman whose one-night stand in London resulted in pregnancy and they decided to give it a go together. It struck a chord with many viewers as it managed to be both potty-mouthed and touching, while the chemistry between the two leads is remarkable. They're like a couple who've enjoyed a symbiotic relationship for decades.
Channel 4 were so impressed, a second season was agreed after just two episodes of season one, and duly arrived last Monday, just over eight months after its debut run ended.
It's some time later in the relationship as Sharon's on the verge of giving birth, and playing occasionally happy families with Rob, a son, and a dog. Life with Shar and Rob basically revolve around arguing, shagging and waiting for the baby to arrive. When the latter happens, family and friends gather at their house and that's when things really kick off.
Most of the characters in this show are cynical and sharp-tongued, but the biggest and boldest of them all is Rob's mother Mia, played with withering delight by Carrie Fisher, whose latest main gripe seems to be Sharon's name for the baby, Muireann. Neither Mia nor Rob can pronounce it and it becomes yet another shouty bone of contention.
In less skilful hands, Catastrophe would merely be a shrill bore, but there's a truthfulness about this show, a believability, that makes it stand out. The simple fact is that people don't really get on, we just get on with it. If you haven't seen Catastrophe yet, make amends now. You may recognise yourself and those around you.
And while Catastrophe put a smile on my face it wasn't easy as I'm still recovering from the televisual wreck that is The Muppets (Monday, Sky 1). After a successful run of films, it seemed a no-brainer to bring the much-loved show back on the telly, but they've basically thrown Kermit and co under a bus here.
The opening episode was hugely disappointing, but I thought it best to give the show a couple of episodes to see if it felt better seeing the gang in what's basically a mockumentary based on the set of a talk show hosted by Miss Piggy. After two episodes, I've had enough. It's just wrong. It's like seeing Bosco go through the Magic Door and into rehab.
Someone, somewhere thought it was a good idea to 'grow up' the characters and get them working in the world-weary environment of Up Late with Miss Piggy. It's no fun, and it's not funny. Kermit's a conniving backstabber? Fozzie Bear feels rejection? I don't buy it and won't watch it again. It should be illegal to mess with childhood memories.
Puppet characters don't need to grow up, but real people do and that's the challenge faced full-on in the current and seventh season of Modern Family (Monday, Sky 1). This sitcom has been a massive success, and I assumed that by this time the creative juices would've at least begun to dry out. Not a chance. The roll remains.
In the latest episode it's time for Alex to head off to college. That gets the expected response from father Phil and mother Claire – their one extremely smart child is leaving the nest – while Alex has reality pull the rug out from under her when she arrives at college and discovers that her room-mate is annoying. Her technically dumb but socially aware sister Haley offers her some good and timely advice in order to calm the mood. I love the way this show throws the odd curveball.
Youngest Dunphy child Luke is still at home, but mentally he's elsewhere as he's dressing up like a hipster and has similarly-dressed friends, much to Phil's despair. He brings Luke with him to an open house he's trying to sell, but their long-standing father-son buddy relationship is clearly coming to an end. Phil, the smartest dumb dad on the planet, relents and lets Luke go on his way. Things will never be the same again around the Dunphy household.
The family sitcom has been a staple of American TV for many decades, and Modern Family is still up there with the best of them. It's down to great comic timing, a cast that clearly gets on, and a determination to show what it's like, with a lot of sugar on top of course, to be part of an extended American family in the 21st Century. It's pretty flawless, mainstream TV, so what's not to like?
John Byrne
