Take the relationship between Cam and Mitchell for example. They are a married, gay couple that has an adorable adopted daughter, Lilly. They often run into comedic situations, as Cam is an amateur clown and stay at home dad, and Mitchell is a high-powered, uptight attorney. However, looking past their outward appearance, there is so much conflict hidden in their relationship, it would fit perfectly into any other television drama program. Cam and Mitchell’s marriage is portrayed as anything but happy. Even others I discuss the show with see that the characters do nothing but fight. They fight about how their daughter should be raised, how to keep the house, even their life goals. When one looks past the comedy, therein lies a very troubled and turbulent relationship.

Mitchell and his sister Claire, a loving and quirky housewife, also have issues with their parents that would send any person in the real world into intensive therapy. Their father, Jay, and their mother are long-divorced after what is portrayed as a mentally abusive and unhappy marriage. On top of this, Jay is remarried to Gloria, a woman who looks like a supermodel and is younger than her stepdaughter. On top of this, it is often explained that when Mitchell was a child, he was severely harassed by his father for being obviously gay, and often wanted to run away because he was treated so terribly. Although many of the story lines poke fun at this issue, there are still moments when the viewer can sense that Mitchell is still devastated inside.

Claire has transferred many of her father’s demeaning ways onto her own three children. The oldest is often ostracized for being pretty, and her parents look down on her intelligence level. The middle child is a certified genius, but again, is constantly put down by her mother for liking books rather than makeup. The youngest child is an energetic kid who is portrayed as clearly having some sort of mental handicap, as it is impossible for him to complete any task without extreme difficulty. Again, this is buried under flawless humor.

I understand that Modern Family is supposed to be a comedy that is true to real life, but sometimes the underlying drama is just too blatant not to notice. My advice, take it at face value and laugh, but do not ignore the important underlying messages. What do you think?

The CW

• From the writer of HBO’s Sex and the City comes the prequel everybody’s been waiting for. The Carrie Diaries has been picked up by the CW and will feature Carrie Bradshaw’s life before she moved to New York.
• The CW has also ordered a remake of the 1987 television show, Beauty and the Beast. It’ll be set in modern times with a procedural angle.

CBS

• CBS has picked up a comedy pilot from Nick Stoller. The untitled pilot features a guy working in an advertising agency with the woman who broke his heart.
• They also picked up a new drama show, Trooper, about a single mom who becomes a New York State Trooper.

Discovery Channel

• Unchained Reaction is a new series premiering on the Discovery Channel. This six-episode show follows two competing teams who need to build a complicated chain reaction contraption. Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman of Myth Busters are on board as judges.

ABC

• A new one-hour drama series is about to premiere on ABC. Based on the bestselling book by Gabriella Pierce, 666 Park Avenue follows the lives of a Midwestern couple who move to New York and to 666 Park Avenue, as resident managers. Little do they know, all residents of the building have made deals with the devil for their own desires.

NBC

• Comedy pilot, Isabel, has been picked up by NBC. The show will star Marcia Gay Harden and Sophie Schloss.
• NBC has also picked up two drama shows, Country and Chicago Fire. Country is set inside an LA County Hospital and Chicago Fire is set in a Chicago fire department.

Best Web Series (Drama)

Aidan 5

Created by Tim Baldwin and John Jackson, Aidan 5 , set in 2064, is about a detective investigating the serial murders of his clones. Bryan Michael Block plays James Aidan, the detective. The sixteen-episode first season is now available on DVD.

http://www.aidan5.com/

Casual

Written and directed by Jay Diaz, Casual: The Series is the story about a casual relationship between a guy and girl. Starring Lauren Marini and Brian Thomas Smith, Casual is now on its third season.

http://www.casualseries.com/

DeVanity

Directed by Kelley Portier and written by Michael Caruso, DeVanity follows the crumbling lives of the DeVanity family as they try to save their dying jewelry empire in LA. Starring Michael Caruso, Chris Parke, Katie Caprio, Alexis Zibolis, Mike Dirksen and Erin Buckley, Season 2 of DeVanity is now online.

http://www.devanity.com/

Out With Dad

Written, directed, photographed and edited by Jason Leaver, Out With Dad explores the relationship between a single father, Nathan, who wants to understand his daughter, and his daughter, Rosie, who’s growing up and struggling to come out to her dad. Watch the first two seasons online.

http://www.outwithdad.com/

Ragged Isle

Created by Barry and Karen Dodd, Ragged Isle is the story of Vicki Burke as she starts a new life as a newspaper photographer on a small island off the coast of Maine. But, right after she arrives, a slew of murders happen, leaving the town in fear and confusion. Season 1 is now available online and the second and third seasons will premiere in spring and fall 2012.

http://www.raggedisle.com/

Thurston

Written by Kathryn O’Sullivan and directed by Paul Awad, Western drama Thurston is about a woman on the run and a rundown mining town struggling to survive in Kansas. Part 1 of the first season is now online. Part 2 premieres this 2012!

http://www.thurston-series.com/

Find out which web series will win Best Drama Web Series on the Indie Soap Awards! Come back next week for the Comedy Web Series nominations.

http://welovesoaps.com/isa/

Whole Day Down

Whole Day Down follows how Willie Garson and Patrick Breen, two unsuccessful and middle-aged actors, pursue their passion for art by opening an art gallery. Or at least occupy a space belonging to Patrick’s domineering father-in-law, for one Monday a month. And on top of that, they’ve got to deal with vengeful art critic, a satanic receptionist and a whole slew of difficult artists.

Whole Day Down stars Patrick Breen as Patrick, Willie Garson as Willie, Elisa Donovan as Nadine, Patrick’s wife,  and Francesca Fauci as Franny, the receptionist.

About the Creators

Patrick Breen (Creator and Director) has appeared in occasional films including Galaxy Quest, Men In Black, and Just A Kiss and the occasional TV shows including Nurse Jackie, Sex and The City, The Good Wife and Will & Grace. He owns and operates an art gallery with co-star, Willie Garson.

Tai Fauci (Creator, Producer and Editor) has been working behind the scenes in the industry since she was 14, when she worked as an Intern on the TV show, Maggie. Since then, she has worked in numerous TV shows, films, film festivals (as programming director and screenplay competition director of FirstGlance Film Festival). She has always been busy producing, writing and editing new media projects, short films and web series. Her latest project includes the film adaptation of The Highest Tide, a novel by Jim Lynch, which Fisher Stevens will be directing.

Catch episodes of Whole Day Down on http://blip.tv/wholedaydown or http://wholedaydown.tv/. Find out more on their Facebook page.

Lately, though, watching Glee has been a bit of a chore for me. I didn’t even watch last week’s episode, the return after a winter hiatus. Maybe it was the Christmas episode that did me in. My favorite part was Kurt’s comment about Blaine being his “winter roommate” (mostly because I agree and also wish he were mine) but other than that I actually spent the whole time rolling my eyes. It’s just too over-the-top now. I appreciate what Glee has done to bring a lot of social issues into the spotlight, especially bullying and homosexuality, but now it seems like every episode has some kind of lesson that needs to be taught. Every once in a while is fine, but more than that and you’re lecturing your audience.

I’ve always been annoyed by Lea Michele’s character, the over-ambitious Rachel Berry, despite Michele’s role of Glee sweetheart. The producers keep saying Rachel isn’t coming back then changing their minds – I know they’re afraid losing Michele would kill the show, but at this point, I want to skip all of her scenes anyway. She has gone from annoying but lovable (hey, I have control issues of my own, so I have to give the girl a break) to just plain annoying. I want her to succeed and go to New York just so she’s out of McKinley – people can watch her on the inevitable spin-off, but I won’t.

Even my favorite, Sue Sylvester, has been a little too much as of late. She goes from typical, lovable-villain-Sue to I-have-a-heart-Sue to downright evil Sue in a three-episode arc. The touch of humanity is nice, but some consistency would be, too.

Once I get invested in a show, I wait it out until its bitter end – I have this weird phobia of not knowing how things end. Even with shows I don’t watch on a week-to-week basis anymore (House, MD for one), I still catch up on weekends when I get the chance. I’ll watch last week’s episode soon, because c’mon – Michael Jackson week is next. I have high hopes, and hopefully they’ll be met, because otherwise it’s to the back burner we go.

(White House photo)

JJ Abrams

The basic premise of Alcatraz is that the prison closed in the 1960’s because all the inmates — and everyone else on the island –  mysteriously disappeared. Almost 50 years later they begin reappearing and performing all manner of no-goodness, looking not a day older for their absence of half a century. Now it is up to Detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) and Dr. Diego Soto (Garcia) to unravel the deepening mystery at the behest of shadowy, government-issue cloak and dagger type Emerson Hauser (Neill). In what I can only hope is a misprint Neill is billed on IMDB as appearing in just three of the nine episodes this season and Garcia in only five. Their interaction was some of the best stuff in the show and Jones will be hard-pressed to carry things on her own if left without these two veteran actors.

The two-part, two-hour premiere episode started the show off with a very respectable 10 million viewers. Better news still for Fox is that the second hour held virtually the entire audience. That’s a really good sign that viewers were hooked, or at least intrigued, unlike other Fox sci-fi drama offering this year Terra Nova, for example, which lost a huge chunk of its audience during the premiere. Incidentally, Terra Nova’s future is now linked with Alcatraz’s success or failure to prop up Monday night.

The show’s heavy drama, slow pacing, and even the music are all highly reminiscent of another Abrams fan-favorite, Lost. Whether or not Alcatraz can develop into the kind of cultural phenomenon that Lost was remains to be seen. That, like most of the mysteries surrounding the inmates of Alcatraz, will only be discovered after a season or more. Maybe longer.

Ragged Isle

The latest drama web series from Entertainment Experiment Production, Ragged Isle is the story of Vicki Burke, who moves to Ragged Isle, a small island 21 miles off the coast of Maine to become the photographer of the local newspaper. She thought she was only there to document events and news in the island through photos. What she didn’t expect was to get tangled up in a web of murder and mystery. And now, she can’t trust anyone because everyone is a suspect. And no one is safe.

About the Production Team

Barry and Karen Dodd are brains and brawn behind Entertainment Experiment Production. Barry is the director, editor and co-writer while Karen is the assistant director and co-writer of Ragged Isle. Barry heads the video production department at FOX23 in Portland, Maine while Karen is an alumnus of Ithaca College, where she studied Film Production and Photography. They live in Gorham, Maine with their five lovely cats.

About the Cast

Meghan Benton plays Vicki Burke, the newest — and only — newspaper photographer in Ragged Isle. She moved to Ragged Isle when her estranged twin brother, Eric, hired her to be the photographer of the island’s newspaper.

Michael Dix Thomas plays Vicki’s twin brother, Eric, who runs and manages the island’s only newspaper, the Ragged Isle Star. He is friends with Paul, Mac and Bill, lobstermen, whom he meets late every night by the waters.

April Joy Purinton plays Rachel Moody, the first person Vicki meets en route to Ragged Isle. She is delighted to hear that Vicki is trying to reconnect with her estranged twin brother.

Rick Dalton plays Sheriff Rick Dalton, who leads the investigation of recent deaths in Ragged Isle.

Ragged Isle has been nominated at the 3rd Annual Indie Soap Awards for Best Web Series (Drama), Best Actor (Drama) for Rick Dalton and Best Directing (Drama) for Barry Dodd. Catch Season 1 episodes online at http://www.raggedisle.com/ or http://blip.tv/raggedisle. Learn more about Ragged Isle on their Facebook page.

HBO

Hoffman will be headlining a cast that also includes not-for-nothings Nick Nolte and Dennis Farina. LUCK promises to deliver an inside look at the relatively unknown world behind the scenes of horse racing. The show’s vast scope covers virtually every facet of the sport — owners, trainers, jockeys, and of course, the gamblers whose money makes it all possible.

In addition to the top notch cast, the creative team behind LUCK is not made up of slouches. Michael Mann, who directed a number of hit films, including Ali, The Last of the Mohicans, Public Enemies, and Heat will executive produce and direct. His fellow executive producer will be Michael Mann, who has a little show called Deadwood under his creative belt. Mann is also the head writer and series creator. The third leg of their executive producer stool will be lesser-known Carolyn Strauss, who is by no means a neophyte. She was previously the executive producer of HBO’s Treme and co-executive producer of Game of Thrones.

LUCK premiers January 29th and will air Sundays at 9pm.

About the Characters

Carolyn (Heather Leonard) is hosting a dinner party with her partner, Max. They are about to announce their engagement but she is worried about her sister, Beth’s, reaction. She tries to pretend everything’s great, but the two sisters run around in circles during the party.

Max (Steven Alexander) is Carolyn’s partner. He’s been secretly plotting with Beth’s girlfriend, Anna, to get the two sisters to relax before and during the dinner party.

Beth (Renee Olbert) is Carolyn’s sister. The two have a “funny” relationship, according to Beth, and get along just okay. She knows Carolyn and Max will be announcing their engagement at this dinner party and she’s psyching herself up to receive it.

Anna (Megan Melnyk) is Beth’s girlfriend. She and Beth have been together for seven years and she’s been holding Beth’s hand through the whole ordeal with Carolyn. She has been working with Max to calm the sisters down and prevent either one of them from suffering from a panic attack during the party.

Sara (Rachel Hip-Flores) is Max and Carolyn’s friend. She’s been single for seven years, initially because of choice and later on because of laziness. She still believes in true love.

Scott (Jesse Wakeman) is also Max and Carolyn’s friend. He is still recovering from a divorce from his ex-wife, who cheated on him. He doesn’t believe in true love and declares Max and Carolyn’s love is a lie.

Check out more info about Good People In Love on their Facebook page.  And check out Season 1 on http://blip.tv/goodpeopleinlove.

Clutch

Written and directed by Jonathan Robbins, Clutch is an eight-part web series about Kylie, who has a hard choice to make. Kylie’s just arrived home, on a pickpocketing high, ready for a romantic night with her boyfriend, Matt, when she walks in to discover two mobsters holding Matt hostage. Apparently, Matt owes them money big time, $50,000 to be exact, and they’re prepared to accept Matt’s life as payment. But Kylie pleads and offers anything to save his life, including her body. And now, she must do anything and everything just to survive.

About the Cast

Elitsa Bako plays Kylie, the pickpocketing girl who will do anything to survive. She grew up in Bulgaria with her father where she had the freedom to do anything. She got bit by the acting bug shortly after getting her Multimedia Design degree. She made several short films and commercials before landing her first break, a role on Sweet Karma, which also premiered at the 2009 Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. She moved to Canada after that and landed her big break, the lead role on APTN’s original series, The Time Traveler.

Matthew Carvery  plays Matt, Kylie’s boyfriend, who owes the mob $50,000. Matthew was born in Montreal but grew up in Victoria. He auditioned for Matt, who was supposed to be a tough, charming, smooth character. But the director was impressed with his audition when Matthew revealed the character’s awkward side. Robbins, the director, rewrote the character Matt for Matthew. He is now based in Toronto.

About the Creator

Jonathan Robbins is an actor/writer/director and founder of mojopro films in Toronto. He’s appeared in several commercials and films, including a small role in Good Will Hunting, before creating Clutch. You can learn more about Robbins on his website, http://www.jonathanrobbins.ca/, and his production company, mojopro films, at http://mojoprofilms.com/.

Check out Clutch at http://clutchtheseries.com/ and on their Facebook page.