Mental... or M backwards e/backwards ntal

Ummmm.
I read a preview of this show that said it was bad.
It was pretty bad.
I worry though that by posting this bad review of a bad TV show might cause people to fall into the trap of following that trail that says, "No it's bad don't go this way." But then the innocent ends up thinking she can turn back at any moment. No. Not the case.
It raises questions like: Who are the inmates and who are the asylum keepers?
Who could have guessed that the main House-like new sheriff/doctor in town could have a deep seeded secret he's keeping from his colleagues?
Of course, why not drop a cancer plot point in because it's hospital and cancer changes lives? Was that a spoiler? No.
It was indicative of explaining everything away in the first episode so that we can get down to the nitty gritty of writing crazy people in normal situations and normal people in crazy situations and put the sexual tension over that which makes great TV.
Wrong.
As the kids say, "As the kids say, 'fail.'"
I like this post:
Viewing a TV death in 4 acts
And while we're at it...
In defense of distraction
Both come reposted from Arts & Letters Daily. They were far more valuable than the TV skull atrocity I watched. Just made that phrase up. I'll leave it to the pundits to decide what it means.

Monty Python's Spamalot

I must say that I was a bit skeptical of the quality of a touring performance of the acclaimed musical based on the acclaimed movie based on the legend of Arthur (all three bases noted as "loosely"). At one time in my brief existence on the this planet, I was a student of musical theatre. From that I gained appreciation for most of the production— lights and video and explosions of confetti; moving set pieces and bedazzled codpieces. All in all it can be handily described as "Fun."
The best jokes were the ones of topical Blow-goi-oh-vich nature inserted into the various French and Knights Who Say Ni tauntings. And I could appreciate the numbers and dances that referenced Fiddler, Cabaret, Phantom, Les Mis etc. Considering it was m'lady's first musical experience ever, some of those parodies may have been lost on her, though they were still amusing and she had fun.
And as much as I love parody and satire, I don't think I need a musical of the Meaning of Life, Life of Brian, or Flying Circus. In Spamalot, much of the dialog was lifted and the story was patched together to conveniently explain the enrollment of the knights in the round table, but they were leading me astray. I wholly expected certain Holy Grail elements that never materialized. It would have been spectacular to have a Black Beast of Arrgh!, but understandably did not appear. While I don't understand why I didn't get the shrill sound effect when The Ni Knights dictate the procurement of aaaaaa..... SHRUBBERY! (TREENNGG!)
Missing.
But for the lame missing parts, it was fun.
Richard Chamberlain, whose career spans something like 50 yrs, played Arthur. very. very. slowly.
Some of his dance numbers looked like group activities from a retirement home... without the daily servings of prunes.
Constipated bastards.