finding a stronger "Voice"

Will the record-breaking promotion of Smash turn 2012 into NBC's rebound year?

Courtesy of NBC
Courtesy of NBC

NBC was once home to “Must-See TV” — a tagline designed to showcase the network’s unbeatable combination of comedies and dramas that included shows like The Cosby Show, Cheers, Fraiser, Seinfield, Friends and ER.

But all of that began to change in 2004 as the aforementioned staple comedies and dramas began to end. NBC slowly but surely began its descent from first place to fourth place in the ratings race and has never been able to recover.

Though there have been a few breakout hits in the past 10 years that have allowed the peacock network to shine — the last scripted hit came in 2006 with the premiere of Heroes — nothing else has really been able to pull the network back to prominence.

It’s becoming increasingly clear, as AVClub has pointed out, that these aren’t shows people don't want to watch – it just looks like nobody seems to want to watch NBC.

The one silver lining that the network has, however, is its critically acclaimed comedy block, but even the Thursday night “Comedy Done Right” line-up is showing signs of weakness. Relatively speaking, The Office is still a ratings hit for the network but has struggled creatively ever since the departure of Steve Carell. (And some would argue the show was struggling even before then.)

Meanwhile, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation and Community — all critical darlings — have suffered from less-than-stellar ratings. And with 30 Rock pulling in the same ratings as Community, it’s becoming increasingly clear, as AVClub has pointed out, that these aren’t shows people don't want to watch — it just looks like nobody wants to watch them on NBC.

To make matters worse, NBC's ratings have gotten so bad that Univision, a relatively young Spanish-language network, has beat NBC with higher ratings on multiple occasions. AVClub recently revealed that NBC fell into a “statistical tie with Univision for fourth place” during the first week of February sweeps.

Things could turn around for the network this year, though. Entertainment chief Robert Greenblatt realizes that it may take more than one hit to resurrect the peacock, but the stars seem to be aligning in favor of NBC this year.

Last year brought the surprise hit, The Voice, and this year, NBC was fortunate enough to air the Super Bowl, which broke records as the most-watched television program in the history of the U.S. (In case you're curious, 111 million viewers watched the Super Bowl Sunday night.)

And you can bet the peacock made sure to capitalize on the amount of eyeballs glued to their network during the big game. NBC released a three-minute long promotional commercial featuring cast members from 30 Rock, Community and Law and Order: SVU:

Meanwhile, NBC also hoped to capture more Voice viewers by airing the reality show in the coveted post-Super Bowl time slot. It worked. The Voice was watched by more than 37 million people, which is reportedly up 47 percent from last year's airing of Glee and the best post-Super Bowl telecast ratings in the 18-49 demographic since Grey's Anatomy in 2006.

The real test of the media blitz, however, will come Monday night. NBC’s latest series, Smash, could be a good indication of whether or not 2012 will be NBC’s rebound year.

The network has reportedly spent millions promoting the new musical drama, airing Monday night at 9 p.m.; if you watched the Super Bowl, chances are you saw plenty of commercials for the show. According to The New York Times, “Executives at competing networks said the total promotional cost of Smash could most likely be a record.”

Smash has debuted to generally positive reviews, with The Hollywood Reporter calling it an “excellent bar-raiser for broadcast networks.” The series has all it needs to be a credible television show about the inner workings of creating a Broadway musical: Playwright Theresa Rebeck is listed as the creator and executive producer of the series alongside executive producer Steven Spielberg.

If Smash is a ratings success, it will prove that there is room for more musicals in the world of television, and that such musicals can be much more genuine and realistic than the kiddy counterpart that Glee has managed to capture.

Here’s hoping NBC’s bold risk with Smash pays off, or else viewers may be subjected to more comedies like Whitney next year... and nobody wants that.

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Movie Review

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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