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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "Holmes Online" <bholmes_fm@msn.com> |
| Subject | Re: Love/Hate Monkey? |
| Date | Wed, 18 Jan 2006 12:32:35 -0500 |
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> And it looks like they're pushing to make a big star of Teddy Geiger,
> featured as budding music star "Wayne," who certainly is cute in that
> pretty-boy kinda way, but I didn't get enough of a sense of him as a
> musician to know if there's much "there" there.
Geiger is from the town next to mine and is somewhere between the Robby Benson-ish look and the John Mayer-ish sound. Meaning he's a pleasant kid who caught a HUGE break and is at this stage of his career credible, but not phenomenal. He's had some music released in town but they've been sitting on the major release to cash in with the show, no doubt, although I'll bet he sold a ton on the summer teenybopper tour. Of course the local media treats LOVE MONKEY like it's _his_ show, but after last night I'm wondering whether this program doesn't become a vehicle to test-market other artists and songs down the line. If it survives, of course. I just hope he doesn't get eaten by the machine; he seems like a nice kid.
Here's what I submitted to the local daily:
I was skeptical going in, but any show smart enough to hire Eric Bogosian _and_ use The Odds' "Someone Who's Cool" as its theme song has grabbed my attention. Tom Cavanaugh, Lorenz Tate, Judy Greer and Bogosian (who stole the show in one scene) lead a solid ensemble cast. But eventually - the snakebitten Arrested Development aside - a show lives or dies by the quality of its writing. There's a ton of potential here if they focus on the music industry side of the story; it's ripe for satire and pathos (and the star cameos won't hurt either). But if Love Monkey becomes nothing more than a male Sex In The City, with tired stereotypical sitcom characters, why bother? The montage of scenes near the end of the show were intriguing and I'm curious to see which way it goes.
Teddy Geiger made a strong first impression, especially connecting with Cavanaugh in their scenes together. He's likeable and projects the humility, charm and talent that would credibly attract a label's attention. But his character needs a last name - "Wayne" isn't exactly Prince or Cher - and hopefully more songs to wash away the feeling that he's modeled after John Mayer. Not that another John Mayer clone wouldn't be just what the labels are looking for.
cheers
b
ps - good week for my town too - homeboy Philip Seymour Hoffman is on a roll.
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