Viva Laughlin

Oh my. Did we learn nothing from Cop Rock? Mixing casino drama with a murder mystery, cheesy soap opera/family drama, and karaoke production numbers must have seemed like a good idea to someone at CBS….as hard as that is to believe…but the finished product was…not so good.

Viva Laughlin is bad on so many levels…bad writing, bad acting, poor character development, uninteresting mystery, improbable coincidences…and, oh yes, the production numbers.

Melanie Griffith (am I delusional or couldn’t she really act at some point?), bless her, was a sport to vamp along to Blondie’s “One Way or Another” while trying to seduce an old flame but she really should have re-thought that.

Hugh Jackman (an executive producer and apparently a recurring guest star) strutting with casino waitresses turned backup dancers while singing along with the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” (see above) was not quite as embarrassing…but it was a close call.

Similar fates awaited Elvis’ “Viva Las Vegas” and Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s “Let it Ride” (both warbled by Lloyd Owen, the series lead) before the hour was over.

I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt and saying they were deliberately going for “campy”…they missed “campy” by a mile (we’re apparently supposed to take this silly stuff seriously) but I’m going to give them that benefit of the doubt just the same.

Maybe there’s an audience for Viva Laughlin but I’m not going to be part of it.

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October 22 addendum:

After two broadcasts CBS has mercifully put Viva Laughlin out its (and our) misery by canceling it. It's Sunday night time slot will be filled with a CSI rerun next week and then with a new edition of The Amazing Race. Presumably no careers have been marred beyond redemption (not likely since not many people watched Viva Laughlin.)

The Stones at the Super Bowl

As games go, Super Bowl XL was only so-so (occasional flashes of football brilliance but with lots and lots of ragged moments along the way.) As Super Bowl halftime shows, the Rolling Stones’ three-song set was also so-so (occasional flashes of rock and roll brilliance but with lots of ragged moments along the way.)

But, that said, it was fine…theatrics at a minimum, the Stones played their tunes…”Start Me Up”, “Rough Justice”, and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”…took a bow and quit the stage. Mick Jagger strutted his skinny butt around the circular stage while the designated dancers shimmied and mugged for the cameras; Keith Richards looked like he couldn’t wait for the set to be over.

“Start Me Up” was…oh, let’s be charitable and just say, again, that it was “ragged”. “Rough Justice”, arguably the best song from last year’s A Bigger Bang, was tighter and “Satisfaction”, which Mick impishly said could have been played at the first Super Bowl 40 years ago, was also fine. ABC’s nervous censors (still lingering in the shadow of Janet Jackson’s nipple from that now-infamous halftime show a couple of years ago) saw fit to blank out some lyrics in both of the first two songs (seemed silly to me but I guess they would rather to be safe than sorry.)

Whatever the NFL paid the band (these guys don’t do stuff for free for the most part), they probably got their money’s worth.

The Rolling Stones

Anyone who is now...or has ever been...a fan of the Rolling Stones can point to an album when they decided that the band had "jumped the shark". Where they say, with both sadness and resignation, that every Stones album since (fill in the blank) has been...oh let's be charitable and say "uneven". For me that album was Some Girls way back in '78. Since then, their albums have been mixed bags...flashes of brilliance surrounded by lots of lazy dross. They turned from a great album band to a good singles band. And so when the Stones decide it's time to churn out a new record and hit the road to fatten up their coffers, it's not something that brings the anticipation it once might have.

The announcement of their upcoming disc...A Bigger Bang...barely registered with me so when three "singles" were released online (Real.com, iTunes.com) I listened to them not expecting that much. I was pleasantly surprised...though, that said, I remain cautious (they've suckered me in before :-)

The three songs are all different styles but they all show the old dogs in fine form...playing like the music really matters. "Rough Justice" is a balls-to-the-walls rocker that harkens back to the Sticky Fingers/Exile on Main Street era. "Streets of Love", an earnest power ballad, has a great vocal by Mick Jagger and a nimble solo by Keith Richards. "Back of my Hand" is a swampy blues number that works despite some awkward lyrical passages.

Three songs do not a great album make...one presumes they're putting their best foot forward with the release of these tunes...but it makes me more interested in hearing A Bigger Bang than I would have been otherwise. We shall see.