Hey, kids – let’s put on a show.
Ever since Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney borrowed Grandpa’s barn to mount a variety spectacle, backstage tales have proved their appeal.
The first postmodern version, “The Larry Sanders Show,” went behind the scenes of a late-night variety show. Recent unflattering peeks behind the curtain include Lisa Kudrow’s “The Comeback,” “Entourage” and “Extras” on HBO, plus this year’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” and “30 Rock” on NBC.
Kudrow’s not coming back, and we’ll have to wait until March for “Entourage” to resume. But Ricky Gervais hits a hilariously pathetic note in his ongoing study of the lowly background extras who hang around the set, hoping for a fleeting frame of exposure as the real action unfolds in the foreground.
The humor derives from the terribly needy character who honestly believes he’s a star-in- waiting. In Andy Millman’s (Gervais’) mind, he’s one lucky break short of Olivier.
“Extras” returns for a second season at 8 p.m. Sunday on HBO; Orlando Bloom guests.
Andy’s sitcom pilot has been picked up by the BBC and he’s about to launch the production. The meddling executives, bad actors and Andy’s own inept agent (series co-writer Stephen Merchant) ensure the project will not go well.
Guest stars David Bowie, Diana Rigg and Daniel Radcliffe appear in upcoming episodes. In the season opener, Bloom is depicted as obsessed with his good looks, determined to convince the nonplussed Maggie (Ashley Jensen) of his animal magnetism. He’s also haunted by the idea that his “Pirates” co-star Johnny Depp gets more babes.
The first season of “Extras” is out on DVD with the fetching tagline, “The story of a man with small parts.”
Sitcom watch
ABC’s sitcom “Knights of Prosperity,” starring Donal Logue as the head of a crew of rookie bandits (originally “Let’s Rob Mick Jagger”), has laugh-out-loud moments. Sight gags abound, especially in the Jewish supplies warehouse where the Knights meet.
Fox’s “The War at Home” offers not even a chuckle. It’s a too-loud, too-insipid effort that feels left over from the ’70s with a gloss of gayness to make it seem more relevant.
Ditto for “Rules of Engagement,” the bland CBS midseason comedy premiering at 8:30 p.m. Feb. 5, the night after the Super Bowl (expect plenty of Super Bowl promotion for the series). “Rules,” about relationships according to a newly engaged couple, a long-married pair and a single guy, is an undistinguished old-style comedy of the sort that proves the form needs updating.
While the sitcom struggles elsewhere, NBC continues to boast the comedy lineup of the moment in “My Name Is Earl,” “The Office,” “Scrubs” and “30 Rock.” It’s a welcome return to must-see Thursday nights.
Quick takes: “Psych” is a pale, too-cute imitation of “Monk” (both USA Network series return with new episodes on Jan. 19); FX’s “Dirt” is an ill-formed mess of a star vehicle for Courteney Cox; while Showtime’s “The L Word” is better than it has been in several seasons, with storylines back on track and Cybill Shepherd in a fun guest role.
Coming up, “Scrubs,” in a perfectly ridiculous musical episode on Thursday, warbles “Everything comes down to poo.” The production numbers are wildly silly, the lyrics almost painful. The musical styles are as varied as the song-and-dance abilities of the cast. The script was crafted by the Tony-winning writers of “Avenue Q” and the lavish production shot over five days at an unused hospital in North Hollywood.
They call it “Hip-pop”
Double Dutch is hot again. In “Jump In!” a Disney Channel original movie premiering at 9 tonight, Corbin Bleu (“High School Musical”) and Keke Palmer (“Akelah and the Bee”) show us the ropes.
The style is athletic, tough but sweet, in the same way hip-
hop is polished into “hip-pop” to emerge Disney-appropriate.
This is light years from hardcore rap, of course. In February, PBS Independent Lens offers “Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes,” a documentary about machismo in rap music and hip-hop culture where misogyny, violence and homophobia are as prominent as poetry. Artists Mos Def, Chuck D, Jadakiss and Busta Rhymes are interviewed. And they’re not jumping rope.
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
