Tuned In, TV Blog, Television Reviews, James Poniewozik, TIME

February 5, 2008 7:49

The Morning After: Hey Mr. Tambor Man

Posted by James Poniewozik | Comments (12) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This

Robert Voets/CBS

I'm not sure how much demand there is for reviews of new shows at Tuned In; they don't generate many comments compared with other posts, though for all I know maybe there's some vast silent majority of Tuned Inlanders that read them. All of which is excuse for my having watched two episodes of Welcome to the Captain but not actually having reviewed it here. Why? Busy-ness, and its first cousin laziness; the fact that the sitcom--about a screenwriter and a gang of eccentrics in an L.A. apartment building--was neither remarkably bad nor notably good, nor, I expect, is it very long for this world. But maybe part of it was desire to simply leave Jeffrey Tambor alone. We all fell in love with him in The Larry Sanders Show and again in Arrested Development, but those kinds of work only come along so often; so if the man needs to do the occasional Captain or Twenty Good Years, maybe it's better to let him collect his check and work in peace until the show gets cancelled in its own time.

But you're under no such obligation. Anyone watch it?

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Reader Comments (12)

Dave:

*cricket chirp*

Posted by Dave | February 5, 2008 8:53 AM

Wilson:

I like reading about the new shows, particularly when it's a thumbs-up. But I've never felt to compelled to express my eternal gratitude. So thank you. We take you for granted.

Posted by Wilson | February 5, 2008 8:56 AM

That Anonymous Dude:

lurker reads all posts..keep 'em coming

Posted by That Anonymous Dude | February 5, 2008 9:25 AM

James Poniewozik:

@Wilson & Anon: Thank you for indulging my shameless plea for validation! Seriously, it's good to get feedback because it's hard to get a sense of who's reading & not reading what.

Posted by James Poniewozik | February 5, 2008 9:28 AM

Molly:

Let me echo the above mentioned gratitude - I always look forward to hearing about new shows and your opinon of them. Any lack of comment is most likely the fault of my own distractedness and/or laziness.

Posted by Molly | February 5, 2008 9:35 AM

shara says:

Agreed - consider yourself appreciated!

Posted by shara says | February 5, 2008 9:41 AM

geoff:

Let me sound like a parent for a second and say that you should be happy for what you have: a stable of quality commenters whose posts are substantial and well-reasoned (as well-reasoned as anything dedicated to popular culture can be).

The Dark Side is full of inflated comment counts, but do you really want to read 50 (or 500) posts that say "+1"?

Posted by geoff | February 5, 2008 10:17 AM

Chaddogg:

George and Oscar Bluth gets a permanent pass from me for ANYTHING he does.

Posted by Chaddogg | February 5, 2008 10:23 AM

Chaddogg:

And I, obviously, read every post, James.

Posted by Chaddogg | February 5, 2008 10:24 AM

James Poniewozik:

@geoff: Just to be clear--I'm not complaining there aren't more comments. I'm just saying that in the absence of comments, it's hard to know what posts people are and aren't interested in. (If there's no jump page, there's no way of knowing which posts people are actually reading.) So--every once in a while I need to poll people about what they want to read here.

The beauty of Tuned In is the high signal-to-noise ratio--basically without any moderation (can't remember the last time I deleted a comment that wasn't spam), we have insightful, civil, ridiculously well-informed posts.

OK, I'm starting to sound like a singer saying "Cleveland audiences are the best audiences in the world! Am I right, Cleveland?" But you know what I mean.

Posted by James Poniewozik | February 5, 2008 10:30 AM

Tom Shaw:

I too read every scripted review, but given the lack of my actually viewing most of these shows, there is little point in commenting.

Posted by Tom Shaw | February 5, 2008 10:40 AM

shara says:

In other Last Night News, T:TSCC was aiight. LOVED the scene with John and the sleeping terminator - very creepy and stressful. I liked seeing Hero Potential in John, and enjoyed watching him take risks and get himself out of a coupla very tight spots!

So, Cromarty (Love TWP calling him Chrome Artie) has a new face, and the city is down another doctor. More terminators are floating around. Glad they didn't focus on high school again, that was kinda lame last time. I still couldn't care less about the sideplot with the law enforcement officers. It feels really unnecessary and lame at the moment.

One of the best lines of the nite: Have you seen a Dachshund puppy?

Posted by shara says | February 5, 2008 1:19 PM

About Tuned In

James Poniewozik writes TIME magazine's Tuned In column, about pop culture and society. Tuned In, the blog version, is about the stuff we used to call "TV," whether it's in your living room, on your computer or--once the networks figure out the technology and line up the advertisers--in your dreams themselves.