Monday, April 20, 2009

Early review of The Wonderful Maladys (HBO)

After Mischa Barton, it's SMG's time to make her comeback and I am going to start right away with the punchline, this is the best thing I read in a long time.

The Maladys are a fucked-up family that lost everything before the game had even started when both their parents died as they were young, leaving them with nothing. Alice, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar found refuge into alcohol and aggressiveness. Mary, played by Molly Parker from Swingtown, found refuge into her work as a therapist even though not being able to follow advices she gives to her clients. The last one, Neil found refuge into, well, weirdness.



I've always been a fan of dramedy, even the not so good ones (I won't tattle) and it's why I was delighted by The Wondeful Maladys script. Some scenes (see at the end), literally made me laugh out loud, and it wasn't the dumb funny that I sometimes laugh at, it was the smart and edgy funny that you can't find these days on TV (you can look, you won't find). The thing that had me worried was how they were going to deal with the death thing and I was once again really surprised at how good they were. Some scenes simply were heart-breaking, and the way it made move the storyline was amazing. I just wish everyone could read how brilliant this is and shed at a tear at the Maladys.

It was also amazing to discover the characters, especially Alice (SMG), her obvious issues and her self-hate that you really only discover a few pages before the end in a sex scene (SMG fans sure aren't going to miss it) that was terribly hard to read and yet so fantastic. Mary, the oldest sister and the only one that looks a bit sane (she only looks that way) is married to a not so nice person and confronted to dilemmas such as : "if my husband asked me to buy me lesbian porn but without any black girls, does that make him racist ? ". Next comes Neil, that tells during a family therapy session one of the dirtiest story ever told also sounds fascinating, but the pilot doesn't center much on his story. When all your characters are screw-ups, it becomes too easy to be shallow but TWM focuses on what made them who they are, their personalities, their deepest fears and much more and when you think about it, that's what's interesting about them.

I still don't really know what The Wonderful Maladys is about, maybe about making their lives better, but honestly, I couldn't care less about what that show is about because it's still one of the best writing I've read in years and I'm going to watch it anyway.

Cast includes Nate Corddry as Neil Malady, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Alice Malady, Zak Orth as Charles (Mary's husband), Molly Parker as Mary Malady, Adam Scott as Doug (Alice's ex).

I'm not really allowed to do that, but here is a dialogue from the pilot.

GEEKY AUTHOR
I’m so nervous. I’m miserable at small talk.

ALICE
It’s a book party. Try to find something
negative to say about television. Or the
internet. Or just look forlorn and keep
asking, ”What happened to Woody Allen?”

ALICE (CONT’D)
The answer is always “the Republicans”. No
matter anyone says on any subject, blame the
Republicans. I’m serious. Totally works. Bad
weather? Global warming. The Republicans.
Movies suck? The studios went corporate.
Republicans. Toe blister? It’s the crappy
Chinese shoe factories. Thanks to the...?

GEEKY AUTHOR
Republicans.

17 comments:

  1. lmao as i read that i could hear and see how exactly how SMG would do it.

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  2. It would be more funny to me if the dialogue blamed the Democrats for everything.

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  3. Buffy going off the air? Republican (Sarah Michelle Gellar)

    Can't wait for this to be canceled.

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  4. This is HBO. They don't cancel shows. They allow full seasons, even if they are Republicans

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  5. HBO doesn't cancel shows? Fans of Deadwood would like to disagree with you.

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  6. Sad sad sad anonymous, you are missing the point! SMG is back! Whoo hooh! You are a sad republican, clearly without any sense of humor or context.

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  7. Haha I like how Republican readers have already immediately dismissed this show because it pokes a bit of fun at them. Grow a sense of humor, people, geez. You'd have no problem with it if they were making fun of Democrats.

    I think it does sound like an excellent new project for Sarah Michelle to be involved with though. I just hope that her pregnancy doesn't interfere with her ability to do this show. Not because pregnant women can't act or anything (duh, lots of them have successfully!), but because a pregnancy might not fit with the character or whatever. I don't know how the timing will work out.

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  8. Actually, I don't read that dialogue as making fun of Republicans. Looks more like it is making fun of people who will like you, and believe almost anything you say, if you blame Republicans for the stuff they don't like. Seems more like a commentary on non-thinking, or group think.

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  9. Could go either way just reading the portion of the script. I don't really care if it pokes fun at the Republicans. I am just glad SMG is back on TV. HBO just picked up a new subscriber if the show makes it to air.

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  10. Thank God Molly Parker is coming back to HBO

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  11. HELLO YOU IDIOTS OUT THERE!!!!!

    WHAT THE HELL DOES POLITICS HAVE TO DO WITH THIS SHOW?

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  12. okay, everyone pretty much missed the point of the entire dialogue. what this dialogue is really doing is portraying how people have been thinking lately, whether you are a democrat or a republican- maybe its cuz of bush, but as i writer myself i interpreted this as art imitating life, because i dont know if any of you have been watching cnn or fox or whatever news channels, everyone has made republicans their new scapegoat, and not everything is the republicans fault. its also not matter of what makes the scene funny, its what makes this dialogue this particular scene so true to life, its what makes this character's contemplated thoughts so relatable. humor in many ways over the years has made tv the perfect place to address an issue and that is exactly what this particular writer did for this scene. he took a real issue added humor and made it completely relatable. so, there you go.

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  13. i dont think any other actress can pull off such as well written right to the point funny as hell scene like sarah michelle can, i cant wait to see her do it, i can already see it in my head.

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  14. WOW that writing is PERFECT for SMG! That is the witty ranting that was amazing on Buffy and im sure she can pull it off just as well here! Cant wait to watch this!!

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  15. I'm a republican and I can't wait for this show! It will be great to see SMG in a new show and see how she has a grown as an actress (since she has always been a great one) and what new techniques she has picked up to add to the character.

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  16. More importantly, where can we get the rest of this script?? if we have to wait unitl 2010 for this to come out, i would like to at least be able to read the script for the pilot! Can't wait!

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  17. I took the Republican jab as an actual jab at Democrats who claim every hungry child is a Republican's fault. It was a jab at the entertainment industry more than anything, and funny too.

    So, what, it didn't get picked up? That's sad.

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