Three Fun Shows for Half-Watching

Things have been hectic this fall, as you can tell from TLRM's protracted silence. But Ann and I aoften try to find some tube time when we collapse in the evening. Right now, when we're in "pay attention" mode, we're watching Mad Men, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Glee, 30 Rock, and The Office. But we're also DVRing some series that make for good "half-watching," while catching up with the newspapers (we still like that form factor) or syncing up our calendars. Three of our current favorites: Man Shops Globe on Sundance Channel, where Keith Johnson, a buyer for Anthropologie stores (and, I found out, a near-neighbor here in Chestnut Hill), flies to France, South Africa, and other interesting locales to find the kind of store furnishings and home items that make those stores such fun; House Hunters International on HGTV, enjoyable global real-estate porn that has me thinking about Malta, the Amalfi Coast, and the south of France; and one that I'm about to add to my list based on good reviews, Gourmet's Adventures with Ruth on PBS, in which the editor of the soon to be late and lamented Gourmet Magazine visits famous kitchens.

On Demand Alert: Passing Strange The Movie

In spring 2008, Ann and I caught the Broadway production of "Passing Strange," an "autobiographical fiction" musical starring Stew (that's all, just "Stew") and co-authored by Heidi Rosenwald. Stew's story -- of a young African-American searching for meaning in Europe during the Seventies, and living off of checks from his middle-class mother from the Compton neighborhood in Los Angeles -- was interesting to someone who was a somewhat less privileged contemporary of his (me)... but the telling -- with Stew fronting a terrific rock band that held center-stage through the entire performance -- was something special. The original Broadway production only lasted for 165 performances, but fortunately filmmaker Spike Lee was so taken with it that he captured the work on film. "Passing Strange The Movie" debuted at the IFC Center theater in New York on August 21st, and on Wednesday August 26 it will be available on-demand on cable systems across America. Someone described "Passing Strange" as "The Rock Musical for Rock Musical Haters" -- if you're one of those, tune in. It's great music, it's organic to the play, and the production is captivating. Based on the clips on the movie's website, Spike Lee has very effectively captured what we so thoroughly enjoyed in the theater.

C-SPAN Turns 30

With all the talk about how the Obama campaign helped to promote "digital democracy" in America, it's important to remember which network was the first to bring the everyday workings of our federal government into our living rooms and offices: C-SPAN.

Ann and I had a chance to catch up with friends at C-SPAN at their studios this morning. We were reminded just how groundbreaking C-SPAN was, and how many conventions of cable news coverage that we now take for granted actually originated with C-SPAN: taking viewer calls during shows, using close-ups of highlighted newspaper stories to help summarize the issues of the day, bringing cameras into radio station studios, real-time coverage not just of floor proceedings but also committee hearings, extending free access to these proceedings to the Internet, etc. And C-SPAN's hallmark is its objectivity - no other media outlet is so committed to let the facts speak for themselves and let the viewer decide.

Because C-SPAN largely refuses to toot its own horn, its contributions to digital democracy are either overlooked or taken for granted. With tomorrow's Inaugural, this is a good time to take a fresh look at all the ways C-SPAN is putting people in touch with government. As we celebrate a peaceful, democratic change of leadership, C-SPAN is another bit of democracy worth celebrating.

DVR Alert: Flight of the Conchords Returns on HBO

What a great day it would be to stay home and watch HBO (but instead we're boarding Amtrak to the Inaugural). At 2:30 ET, the "We Are One" concert will feature Bono, Beyonce, and the Boss - along with Stevie Wonder, Will.I.Am, Herbie Hancock, James Taylor, Shakira and many more. Most every cable operator in the country will be carrying HBO "in the clear" so everyone with cable can enjoy this concert, whether they subscribe to HBO or not.

Now here's one of the (IMHO, many) reasons to subscribe to HBO: Flight of the Conchords, the spectacularly silly musical-comedy sitcom, returns tonight at 10:00 ET.

"Flight of the Conchords" is the name of the "band" consisting of these two New Zealand comedians (Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, who his fellow New Zealanders on the show always call "Britt"). We first saw them do their funny folk-rock schtick at the late, lamented U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen about four years ago, where festival sponsor HBO showcased them. (So I guess we can say we "discovered" them in Aspen, much as we "discovered" Barack Obama along with 40,000 other conventioneers when he addressed the Democratic convention in Boston in 2004).

In the series, the Conchords have moved to New York to pursue stardom. The plots? Well, if Seinfeld was about "nothing," Conchords is about absolute zero. Deadpan and clueless, Jemaine and Bret try to cope with agents, groupies (well, one groupie, which is all they can seem to attract), a mistaken case of anti-Australianism, and other plot contrivances that can usually be summarized in four or five words (as I just did). Every episode includes at least one song that may or may not advance the storyline, but it's almost guaranteed to be charming, melodic and amusing in its wordplay. Great supporting cast, too, including (in season one) several appearances by one of my favorite Broadway musical comediennes, Sutton Foster.

I caught the first episode of season two on Fancast (shameless plug for employer). Sample it now.

DVR Alert: Mad Men Returns on AMC

If ever there was a TV series deserving of the hype, Mad Men on AMC is it. A spot-on evocation of the culture of the early Sixties (at least as I -- who was 10 years old when JFK was assassinated -- remember it), with richly drawn characters, perfect sets and costumes, and constant reminders of why America went through such turmoil later in the decade - the racism, sexism, bigotry, and boorishness that lit a thousand flames of protest. The series returns for its second season on AMC on July 27. If you didn't catch up with the first season, use the next couple of weeks to watch it On Demand from your local cable provider or on DVD.