TV: From the Ridiculous to the Sublime

Quote of the day:
“We’ve only got these times we’re livin’ in.”
--Kate Wolf

I take back everything I said about “Big Brother 8.” It’s a done deal. One of the Donatos will get head of household, and game over. They want it real bad. How annoying. Forget about it. Jeez.

But let’s talk about some excellent television. Some would call that an oxymoron. But I knew oxymoron. i worked with oxymoron. Oxymoron was my friend. And excellent television is no oxymoron.

“Damages” is an FX series that’s been on since August. I gotta hand it to Fox--this is one of the best dramas on TV this year. Glenn Close plays a morally questionable defense attorney. In her unbridled aggression and charm-coated manipulation, she is wonderful.

And there’s much more. The plot of the series involves a single criminal case and all the various people involved in it. In addition, there have been either one or two murders related to the case and trying to piece together what happened and why is quite tantalizing.

Ted Danson plays a rich bigwig who is the target of the lawsuit at the center of the show. This may be his best role. He is totally believable in his graciousness, sinisterness and explosiveness.

There are a few TV character actors, but I did not recognize most of the cast. The acting is uniformly very fine.

The series is nearing its end, but it’s still worth a look--Tuesday nights at 10 on FX. Or watch for it on DVD.