My last few years at The Star-Ledger, I was essentially a one-man band on the subject of TV. If I didn’t write about a show, then it didn’t get covered in the paper. Here at HitFix, though, I’m part of a team, and I can be secure in the knowledge that if I don’t get to everything, one of our other very talented writers can.
That happened twice yesterday. First, Fienberg bit the bullet and reviewed TBS’ “Are We There Yet?” and found more things to write about it than I would have. I watched two episodes and my opinion is roughly on par with Dan’s (who, unlike me, has also seen the two Ice Cube movies that inspired the sitcom), but he used the show as a jumping-off point to talk about diversity on television and what a shame it is that the show’s very talented and funny producer, Ali LeRoi, has to be stuck doing a show like this for TBS when the networks are offering up so many awful-looking comedies for next season.
Diversity was also very much the subject of Drew McWeeny’s thoughtful essay on the fan campaign to get Donald Glover (Troy from “Community”) cast as Peter Parker in the “Spider-Man” reboot, and on the at times ugly superhero fanboy reaction to the idea. Like Drew, I don’t think this has a chance in Hell of happening (Facebook will have to content itself with having won the Betty White war), and I have no idea whether Glover can handle the serious side of the role, but I don’t think there’s any reason this character has to be a particular race, and I agree that the one element of Spidey that the Sam Raimi films missed out on was the wisecracking.
So go read both of those stories, and I’ll be back around lunchtime with my “Burn Notice” review, and then Dan and I will be podcasting later in the afternoon.