I gave 1313 Mockingbird Lane a watch the other day after finding out it was written by the guy who'd done Pushing Daisies. I really did not like it, but I liked a lot of individual things about it - good casting all around, the locations were nice, and it was really cute. As a show, though, it's just sort of tedious and scatterbrained and bland. Maybe it was just the pilot?
I also caught the first episode of Mr. Selfridge and ye fucking gods is that show unwatchable. Back in the day, I had roommates who unironically enjoyed Entourage, and the single thing in that show that did not make me weep for the folly of man was Jeremy Piven's insane Ari character. Basically, his sole characteristic was that he was really good at yelling at people and making fun of his gay assistant, so every one of his scenes was just him just screaming at one of the countless listless jackasses that populated that godawful show. It was like they'd intentionally made the most loathsome imaginable cast just so this character could run around yelling at them.
Mr. Selfridge has Jeremy Piven as a 1940's huckster in England, and sort of follows him around as he bullshits his way to having a successful store. Weirdly, he just kind of seems incredibly uncomfortable in the role and like... his character in the show is always acting, to trick people, so he acts as someone who's only kind of good at acting enthusiastic, which from where we're standing, is awful. So he does a shitty, awkward job of pretending to be someone poorly pretending to be someone beaming with confidence. I have no idea why I watched as much of it as I did before jumping ship.
