TV punditry #1

I've spent more time watching TV in the past 2 weeks than I have the entire year. I like to pretend this binge is motivated by a scientific impulse to sample the new fall season, but I found myself watching a nameless romantic comedy starring Bon Jovi on WE 'till 2am, only to watch it again (I'd missed the beginning!) the next day at noon. So, I'm thinking it’s not for science and sampling, but more about pretty, moving, color pictures. This, thank God, does not preclude opinion making.

Jack and Bobby
I was excited about this show, or rather, I was excited by the premise, but after catching the second episode I realized it sucks. For the following reasons:
1) Some reviewer (EW, Variety?) mentioned he was sick of watching snotty kids yell at their parents, and he didn't want Jack mouthing off at Christine Lahti like that. Dumbness. Lahti's mom isn't towing the line between good and bad mom, she's a "how'd you raise semi-functional kids? you boundary lacking, not fit to call yourself a mom" mom. Also, she wouldn't have kids. She'd have chunky jewelry and exotic objects in the bathroom (totem poles) and a second husband. I hate bad moms.
I especially hate bad moms on TV when it leads to 2) TV youth burdened before its time. Jack is 16, not 30. Bobby has a mom, not just a brother. Only on a TV show could the big bro and mom get together and decide that the brother should be primarily responsible for raising the little one. Ugh. All it leads to is melodrama and mopiness.
3) The stupid, stupid flash forwards. Everyone in them is ugly. And I don't want to know. I don't want to know Jack dies. I don't want to know Courtney gets with Bobby. Creeps. It casts a shadow over the whole enterprise. I like to imagine my TV characters riding of into the sunset, happy forever and ever. In a way this is similar to the Smallville dilemma (which, is btwubs only watchable on mute) where you know Clark ends up with Lois, not Lana, so you can't invest in their, uh, "love" in a whole-hearted way. The difference is, you know Clark ends up happy, with Lois, and you know Jack ends up unhappy, because, that's right, he's DEAD.
4) An Independent? Grow some damn balls people. Tell me, in the world of the WB what is a Republican who is "less than conservative on the issues," as we are told Bobby is before he runs for president as an independent? Does such a Republican oppose gay marriage? Does such a Republican oppose abortion? Does such a Republican oppose welfare and universal healthcare and cutting back military spending and nuclear weapons? Does such a Republican even go to church? No. No, he does not. Because such a Republican is a liberal in every regard except a) he opposes Marijuana (that mom of his) and b) he isn't called a liberal because someone at the network thought that might put off all the 14 year old Republican girls watching the show. Trust me, Jack is hot, they don't care.
It's actually realistic character development that the boys might rebel against their loony mom by championing a different ideology, especially if Benedict, the Republican next door, becomes someone they can count on. Except, wait, how could they possibly champion a different ideology, all those things just mentioned, and still be loveable? There's some disconnect here between the character's arc and what the creators of the show presumably believe (Greg Berlanti, the creator, is a gay man). Who knows though: I'll certainly start watching this show fanatically if it ends up proselytizing a compassionate conservatism of sorts, if only because that'd be so damn unexpected. More likely, the “clips from the future” will inform us that in 2041 Republicans are just like 2004 Democrats, except, you know, actually liberal.