What if both HBO and Showtime launched offbeat new shows about foreigners with really thick accents struggling and pretty much failing to assume normal lives on the same night? Last night's pilots provide a good answer. "Meadowlands" tells the story of a mysterious family adopting new identities as part of a witness protection program and finding their new surroundings just a bit more eerie than they expected. Showtime's online version of the pilot was clearly edited for language and presumably for violence, but I think I got the gist of the show. It is a devastatingly boring, plodding drama that does not get off the ground by starting off with too many questions and clearly ripping off better-executed scenes from "The Riches" and "American Beauty". "Flight of the Conchords", on the other hand, is a fascinatingly fresh comedy in the style of the recent Ricky Gervais-led HBO comedy "Extras". Following the story of band members hailing from New Zealand, the leads often break out spontaneously into song. The bantering between the characters is great, and like "Extras", it manages spectacularly for a show with such a small cast. The offbeat nature of "Meadowlands" is heavily obnoxious, whereas the quirkiness of "Flight of the Conchords" is endearing.
"Meadowlands": F
"Flight of the Conchords": B+
Sunday, July 22, 2007
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