Starz continues its original series, Starz Inside, by taking a look at the gross out comedy and its origins in Hollywood after the Production Code started to break down and John Waters got hold of some cameras.

As with all of the Starz Inside products, In The Gutter‘s format is that of critics and artists in a talking head setting talking about the films and subjects brought up as we progress from Pink Flamingos to Superbad teenagers. Problem is the biggest star that Starz was able to snag is Jason Biggs (American Pie) who just tells us some semi-funny anecdotes about having sex with pastries on the set of the film.

The timeline presented begins with the Waters films and evolves through National Lampoon and MAD Magazine‘s rises in print, and eventual movie makings of the former with Animal House, slowly making its way through Porky’s, American Pie, Van Wilder, and the like. Strangely a big amount of time is spent on both Porky’s and American Pie, yet South Park gets two lines of dialog saying how they raised the bar. This shows one of the biggest shortcomings of the special in that the producers couldn’t (or wouldn’t) get the rights to show anything more than the film’s poster. This seems inconsistent throughout as clips from There’s Something About Mary make it into the film, but we’re left with only a single screen grab from Superbad.

The hour is packed with enough gross out jokes, jabs, and humor to clear a room, even the 20 second clip of the infamous Van Wilder donuts scene caused both my girlfriend and I to cover our faces, but that’s exactly what the filmmaker’s were going for when they shot that scene.

As with previous specials in the series it is disappointing that more named talent couldn’t be brought on board, including some writers or directors famous for launching this subgenre of comedy beyond the bounds of good-taste. There isn’t a lot of information here that is new, but you do get probably the world’s easiest compilations of scenes from gross out films to make a entire Scene It! game

The Cleaner is an interesting take on the we’re-not-quite-a-procedural-but-we-are drama for A&E who have come up from the reality wasteland with another try at a scripted series. Benjamin Bratt stars as William Banks a former addict who hit rock bottom and now helps others when they need to kick their addictions. Banks has a team and will use any means necessary to get you into a program, whether you want it or not, meaning the program comes booted with gritty nature to it, although there are some issues.

From the very beginning it’s hard to notice that this might turn into a procedural over the course of its run with a few family bits thrown in to break up the stories, but the pilot episode lent itself as a mix between CSI and the personal lives of a low-key drama thrown into the mix as well. Blend that up with unique subject matter, the intoxicating presence of Grace Park and you have yourself another cable show where you can say the s-word a lot. In fact, the pilot episodes big twist comes straight out of the CSI pilot episode as well, although there is room to evolve and grow here.

While it’s hard to base an entire series on its pilot, there are parts that work and parts that don’t in The Cleaner. Bratt’s screen presence has been missed since his days on Law & Order ended, and aside from passable made-for movies his lack of steady TV work has been disappointing. He’s a great actor and can carry a show very well. Banks gives off a vibe somewhere between Gregory House and Gil Grissom, while being sarcastic, he always means well, plus he talks to God. God doesn’t manifest herself as Alanis Morissette, random people, or inanimate objects, Banks just responds to events with fleeting questions, proclamations, and commentary directed towards the sky with no acknowledgement. If God were truly all around us, why does everyone talk to the clouds? Why not that happy little tree over there, or this large sheepdog?

Banks’ team is composed of the aforementioned Grace as Akani, joining her Cylon compatriot Tricia Helfer (Burn Notice) on another cable series, Arnie (Esteban Powell) who doesn’t really want to be here today, and newcomer Darnell (Kevin Michael Richardson) who joins the team at the end of the pilot episode. The opening case and the team get second billing to Banks and his family life in the pilot episode, but as the season goes on a good dynamic looks to form.

The Cleaner has the potential to be something fresh and exciting with its subject matter and take-no-prisoners attitude to helping people, almost to the point of the team becoming mercenaries or vigilantes. Yet, the too-safe moments and structure of the show could certainly use some mold breaking to keep it from competing with the big boys on network TV, where CSI, Law & Order, and their spawn still run strong.

It seems Martin Lawrence has finally realized where the money is in Hollywood: producing. Anytime are Lawrence is involved in a project, it’s hit or miss as to whether or not it’ll be a winner. In this case, Martin Lawrence’s First Amendment Stand Up has a lot of the same qualities as a Premium Blend, or Friday Night Standup, but it’s refreshing to see him take such risks on putting so many relatively green comics on such a show.

In the premiere episode of the show’s second season, Doug Williams, host of the show, has the obligatory job of warming the crowd up with a short bit, and unlike the usually underwhelming dusted off material of once greats like Tommy Davidson or Damon Wayans when they have MC duties, Doug hits some great notes with a bit about how relationships are like a football game, with you as starting QB, your girl as head coach, and a guy sittin’ on the bench ready to get into the game. Funny stuff, and he seems to get the ball rolling.

The first comic up is Don “D.C.” Curry; an older comic who’s been a staple in black comedy circles and mainstream clubs for decades. He shows a real understanding of the crowd he’s playing to (which in this case is a 98% black Washington D.C. audience, fitting with his D.C. nickname). He’s able to get some weird mix of topical humor, including pop culture references like when Alec Baldwin cussed out his kid a year or so ago, and put it in the normal “here’s how white people act, and here’s how black folk would handle it” motif.

The second of the two comics showcased for this episode is Rickey Smiley, someone who seems like a relative newcomer, but doesn’t cater to the lowest common denominator that a lot of the younger generation of black comics seem to. His delivery is stories, but interesting in that they are tragedy laden and he delivers them with a relatively serious delivery, admonishing the crowd jokingly for some of their reactions to stories that shouldn’t be funny, but are. It’s an interesting, unique and fresh twist on story telling comedy, and works pretty successfully.

The show itself isn’t going to be groundbreaking. As an outlet for black comics, it’s good that Martin Lawrence is taking risks with putting some relatively unseen talent outside of the black community on a big stage, and he has made some pretty intelligent choices for the show. For one, he’s at each of these episodes in the balcony, so he’s able to really show support for what this program is about. He also only has a few comics in each episode, so unlike other mainstream comedy “specials” on Comedy Central and the like, these comics are able to actually show you more than a two minute snippet of their material.

As a white guy who has watched standup my whole life, I’m able to watch niche comics like black or Hispanic comics, older, younger, etc., and be able to appreciate the whole spectrum of material. If they want a largely black audience, I think that’s what they’re going to get and they should be happy that they’ve nailed the demo. However, if they’re wanting to encourage a large demographic for the show, they have to either have some more diverse comics on the program, or at least encourage material that’s going to translate to wide audiences.

USA Network’s Burn Notice took the summer by storm last year combining the elements of a procedural, with the snark of Gil Grissom on CSI, and a comedic bite rolled into serious stories. The show excelled at making a name for itself with its overall mythology on why Michael Westen was burned and how he was going to save himself from being trapped in Miami forever. In the final episodes of season one we are introduced to bigger players in the game, including the unseen Carla (Tricia Helfer) who beings manipulating Michael from the very start of this episode. Her motives aren’t known beyond Michael driving into the back of a trailer and emerging with two dead bodies and a tied up security consultant to work with.

While it looked like the season finale was going to change up the show’s formula, season two eventually finds Michael back in Miami performing a job for Carla in order to meet her and find out what is going on. Carla, as we’ve known for some time, is played by Tricia Helfer, assuming yet another villainous role after her run as Six on the Peabody-winning Battlestar Galactica. Although she is in the episode for less than a minute, her presence (and beauty) alone make her stand out and give a face to the previously ambiguous element behind the show’s burn notice.

Westen finds himself needing to help a security consultant who the syndicate (a cool name we’re giving to the people manipulating Westen) has taken his family hostage. The target is a private security firm (aka mercenaries) with data the syndicate wants. When we finally get to see the data it makes no sense to any of our main characters, but its obvious there’s a lot of wheels turning here. There’s a grand aura behind this season with many of the cogs in the wheel beginning to sync up into something bigger, which should make the next few months fun avoiding the heat on Thursday nights.

The season does start a little low key, especially with the return to form no more than five minutes into the season premiere. Not that this is a bad thing, as previously stated Burn Notice‘s biggest advantage over other procedurals is that you forget it IS a procedural at heart, with each episode focusing on the relationship between Michael and Fiona, Michael and Sam, Michael and his mom, throwing in a client, a bad guy, Michael with a funny accent, and ending with the bad guy getting his due in a clever manner. While some shows have strived to change up the formula each and every season, My Name is Earl comes to mind, to mixed results, Burn Notice stays true to what made it fun in the first place.

Starz continues its monthly documentary series, Starz Inside, this month focusing on the hot property of comic book movies and how the industry started, then sagged, was revitalized and continued in an up and down movement throughout the days of the serials all the way up to Oscar nomination and box office records.

The Starz Inside series has always been more of a topical production, focusing on a current event (like Pixar and horror movies) and analyzing where the genre or company has been before. Unfortunately, the series has always come off a bit superficial, only touching upon certain aspects in an hour long overview rather than delving deep down into one particular area. Serious fans of the genre will know most of this before, but even comic and movie fans will pick up on a few things (such as Road to Perdition being a graphic novel before a movie).

In the now-standard way of doing things we get interviews with various cast and crew from comic book movie adaptations talking about what influenced them and how the genre has survived some horrible adaptations over the years (such as the first Fantastic Four, and the horrendous mess the Superman franchise turned into). Interviews mainly center on the cast and crew of the upcoming sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, including Guillermo del Toro, Ron Perlman, and Selma Blair as well as Superman director Richard Donner, Marvel poster boy Stan Lee, and various comic book writers and artists.

One of the more interesting stories is that of Michael Uslan, producers on Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman reboot, and his attempts to shop the movie around to various studios and their responses. As Batman sets off a flood of properties being sold off we’re also treated to the origins of the adaptations starting in the 1940’s well before movies had established themselves as “talkies”.

While mentioned only briefly, the program could have benefited from further analysis of films like Sin City and 300 which used the comic source material to a new level, firmly establishing the link between storyboard and ink panel.

While the documentary is entertaining, a wider selection of interviewees, including big names like life-time comic devotee Sam Raimi, or even any of the writers/producers/directors on some of the bigger adaptations couldn’t have hurt. As it stands, it’s only an hour long, all the broadcast shows are in reruns and there’s much worse things you could be doing with your time than tuning in.

Comic Books: Unbound premiers June 10 at 8PM on Starz.

Over the last few years USA Network has launched some of the best shows on cable, if not TV in general, culminating with last year’s successful introduction of Burn Notice and the continued success of the Emmy-winning Monk and ever watchable Psych, and now they introduce us to a new character, Mary Shannon in In Plain Sight, a show with a touch of flair, but still needing to find a unique voice.

The series stars Mary McCormack (1408) as your standard tough, strong female lead who does things her own way, like following a guy into a men’s restroom for questioning, then making fun of his penis size and driving away in a Ford POS. The problem with the whole character is you’ve seen this before, you’ve seen this show before, and while CBS is channeling Psych in the upcoming The Mentalist, USA seems to be channeling years of procedurals for Sight.

That isn’t to say there isn’t a lot to like here, the show is presented as a dramedy with Shannon participating in a healthy dose of self-depreciating humor, and some well timed wit to keep things fresh, and while it’s a good idea to balance time between Mary’s life as a US Marshal working in the Witness Protection Program and her home life with a spaced-out mom and vengeful sister, the pilot episode doesn’t set this up as well as it could, focusing too much on the family and not enough on the case at hand.

Granted this is a pilot, and pilot’s usually rush through everything to show you what the show will be like for the next 13 or 22 episodes, but each aspect of the show comes up a bit shallow when both tried to cram into 65 minutes.

Notable aspects of the pilot include some great interrogation scenes with a suspect pointing out what ever guy was thinking, “wow cleavage,” and, as mentioned earlier, some great writing in parts, but overall the script is a bit lazy, resting on the laurels of the genre rather than trying something new (if there’s anything left new out there).

Seeds of the season have been planted with Mary’s sister, Brandi (Nichole Hiltz), stowing what looks to be a couple million dollars worth of nose candy in her suitcase, and an on-again, off-again, its-complicated love affair with Rafael (Cristián de la Fuente), but we’ll have to see how those play out over the next couple of episodes and see if the show can click into something we haven’t seen before.

While the pilot may not be a solid indication of where the show will eventually lead this season, it does set up the two contrasting worlds of Mary Shannon’s life we’ll be exploring, and while we’ve been here before, the parts of the show that come together well make a returned visit an almost certainty.

Note: At the request of the SciFi Channel and Universal Media Studios this review is being kept as spoiler free as possible.

The third season finale of Battlestar Galactica was one of revelation, deep revelations as the series prepares for its final season and begins to bring all the threads of the Cylon/Terran war to a head. As we closed out last season in 2007 we were treated to the identity of four of the final five Cylon models, Colonel Tigh (Michael Hogan), Chief Tyrol (Aaron Douglas), Sam Anders (Michael Trucco), and presidential assistant Tory Foster (Rekha Sharma) and the return of the seemingly dead Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff). The fourth season premiere picks up exactly at the point when Starbucks returns to great Lee Adama (Jamie Barber) in the midst battle against a Cylon fleet who has found the humans.

The battle scene in the beginning of the episode is spectacular, really showcasing the programs special effects and cementing itself as a true sci-fi series. Up until this point the show has been about the characters, with the fact that they were in space, in a rag-tag fleet and a behemoth Battlestar just one piece in the overarching puzzle. Here though, the audience is treated to a great battle. As Starbuck claims at the end of last season, she’s been to Earth and can lead the fleet there, but here return is met with skepticism amongst most of the crew believe her to be a Cylon.

The events of last season also continue with the newly acquitted Gaius Baltar (James Callis) who, after being tried for crimes against humanity and the slaughter of hundreds of colonists on New Caprica, is seemingly doomed to exile with a group of devout followers who believe in his Cylon-inspired ideas of only one true god. This storyline is sure to get more and more interesting as the season progresses, the last 15 minutes, of which I’m legally forbidden to talk about, certainly change the game for Gaius.

Most of the episode deals with the return of Starbuck and her desire, nee, absolute need to direct the fleet to Earth while the newly revealed Cylons attempt to cope with their place in the fleet, and determine if they are a danger to themselves and the rest of humanity. The writers play around with some “alternate realities” that bring back eerie, chilling echoes of Boomer shooting Adama.

However, with all that said, the episode ultimately turns out to be a rather flat disappointment because it is mostly a launching board for the stories we’ll see in the final season, but there isn’t much happening here besides what’s been described above. The seeds of stories to play out in these final 20 episodes are easily sown but fans may still be questioning how people like Tigh could be a Cylon when he fought against them in the first Cylon War. I question if the writers really have a plausible reason for doing this, especially with how many plot holes it opens up. Still, the writing/producing team has kept me entertaining for three seasons of excellent, excellent storytelling and action and I trust them to finish out strong, I just wish the first new episode in nearly a year was more of a bang.