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The Big Takeover > reviews

Love Monkey - Episode #1: "Pilot" (CBS - Tuesday, January 17, 2006)

by
18 January 2006

Finally. A show devoted to the world of music.
And… it’s awful. Atrocious. Horrifying. And that’s just the show’s title.

Love Monkey, a new television show on CBS, stars TOM CAVANAUGH as an A&R representative for a major label. And frankly, it’s scarier than that movie Hostel.

Here are just some of my thoughts on the season premiere:

  • For starters, main character Tom Farrell works for a major label and says, “Great music always finds its following.”
    Apparently, this isn’t a reality show.

  • Love Monkey is a series of clichés:
    Three best friends who seemingly have jobs but aren’t ever at them? Check.
    One of them’s a black guy? Check.
    Is one of them gay? Check.
    A scene filmed in CBGB? Check.
    Have I thrown up yet? Check!

  • Seen in the opening credits: “Guest starring ERIC BOGOSIAN.” Not a good sign when the guy who played the villain in Under Siege 2 is your big name draw.

  • Moments later, the opening credits also list NIC HARCOURT as co-producer. Does this mean we should expect a NORAH JONES cameo pretty soon? I mean, I’d like to know. Just to be prepared—with the channel changer.

  • After Farrell laments over the shallow talent pool in the music scene, he attends a random show in Michigan and finally finds someone worth signing. Someone inspiring. Someone with true potential. Someone who sounds… umm, exactly like JOHN MAYER.

  • In a blatant attempt to attract hip-hop devotees while simultaneously trying to gain ‘street’ credibility, someone namedrops P. DIDDY, as in, “do you have tickets for the ‘P. Diddy thing’?” Word has it that after seeing this episode, Diddy, who incidentally dropped the ‘P’ a while ago, cancelled his ‘thing.’ In fact, he cancelled all of his ‘things.’

  • In the middle of a meeting at his major label, Tom stands up and gives this speech: “It used to be about music but what’s it about now? Marketing? Where are the classics? Money shouldn’t be our goal. We should find the music that change people’s lives. Music is the beauty and the power.” Wait a sec. I’ve seen this show before. But it was a movie. And it was about sports. And it was called Jerry McGuire.

  • Whoa. Thirty-two minutes into the show and Tom is already starting his own label. Because, you know, it’s that easy to start a label.

  • While Tom sits in CBGB (new drinking game: every time you see CB’s…), he’s courting the aforementioned John Mayer sound-a-like (played by TEDDY GEIGER; he records for Sony in real life). Geiger’s song starts with the profound lyric, “Love is a marathon.” Geiger, who is also seventeen, should not be allowed to write his own lyrics. And comparing love to a marathon is proof. Because everyone knows it’s not a marathon. It’s a battlefield.

I had high hopes for a show that promised to be a season-long version of High Fidelity (hey, I liked that book/movie), but ultimately, Love Monkey just winds up being high stupidity.

Filed under TV music industry

Comments

Bless you, Arye.

lovemonkeyblows.com


— Kornbluth    2006-01-18 21:11    #

Kornbluth. Awesome site.


— Arye Dworken    2006-01-19 02:35    #

Having watched last night’s pilot episode, I do agree with the basic premise that the show blows. Thanks for giving me even more reasons to dislike it. However, you didn’t even mention its most grievous offense (aside from the fact that we’re supposed to believe that a guy with the main character’s musical taste would like a hack like Geiger, not to mention that ridiculous speech at the meeting). At several points, the show mentions that The Essential Bob Dylan contains “every song Bob Dylan” ever wrote. What a bunch of crap! Is the person writing this stuff a complete moron or what? It’s especially stupid considering that Sony BMG presumably tries to sell dozens of other Dylan titles in their catalog, but I won’t even go into that.

One thing, though. Eric Bogosian is awesome. Yes he’s been in crap movies like Under Siege 2, but he also wrote and starred in Talk Radio and is a playwright, author, screenwriter and spoken-word performer in addition to being an actor.


— Matthew Berlyant    2006-01-19 07:16    #

I wanted to see this but forgot about it. Thanks for taking the bullet for me.


— Keith    2006-01-19 13:49    #

I remember watching an episode of “That 80’s Show”, which was obviously an update (and short-lived, thankfully) on “That 70’s Show”, only with an 80’s theme. In one scene, the straight-laced older brother was having a conversation with his punky (and ridiculously mohawked) sister about music, and in trying to denounce her tastes said something like, “When I was your age I was going to Sex Pistols shows.”

Since the show was set in San Diego, it made me wonder where this character was seeing his Sex Pistols shows. I don’t know what this has to do with “Love Monkey”, but I guess it reminded me that when it comes to shows with a music theme, most TV writers can’t be bothered to do any research and seem to live in a world that just doesn’t exist.


— Mark    2006-01-22 16:40    #

Is it possible to grade this thing on a curve? When network TV’s idea of music is American Idol, I’m grateful to hear ANYONE utter the words “music should change lives” – even if the show’s marginal.

BTW, I think there’s a lot to love in a character who brings a Dylan CD to a baby shower.

I do hope his next discovery sounds a lot less like John Mayer, though. Listening to him whine is a marathon – through a battlefield.


— Michael Witthaus    2006-01-24 18:30    #

i haven’t yet seen the sitcom, but does anyone know if this is supposed to be loosely based around the (Kyle Smith) novel of the same name?


— Dane    2006-01-25 20:10    #

i can’t believe anyone would watch a show with that dough faced loser as the main character. He is a sappy bag of pseudo-intellectual ball less mediocrity. Lame! Hey Tom C….HATED IT!


— NYC hater    2006-01-25 22:16    #

It is based on the novel, but they changed his occupation from a journalist to an A&R rep for a record company.


— Matthew Berlyant    2006-01-27 17:18    #

A bunch of cynical whiners all. Your diatribes leave nothing to the possibilty that T.V. is a suspension of reality. Unlike reality T.V. , this show was simply a like a book on tape…FICTION.

Newsflash. There’s also no such thing as Green Eggs and Ham. All you pessimistic crybabys enjoy another 10 years of “The Bachelor” or “Wife Swapping”

Patience is a virtue. Network Street corners are full of reality whores needing a quick fix and affirmation that other real lives are as credible and more miserable than your own.

Whay an icky site to run across.


— olivia petroni    2006-02-15 07:11    #

I think Love Monkey is a subtle inspiration. Whether it’s realistic or not, it’s a TV show. Olivia seems to be the only one here who understands that it doesn’t have to be real, thats what’s great about it. Every episode makes me feel like there might be people out there who still care more about making good music than just making good money. And if any of you knew what you were talking about you would know that you can’t find that very often in your beloved real world. So, let’s keep TV what it is:, a short escape from our patheticly harsh world. Love Monkey is a good show about a good guy. I like it and all of you should stop bitching about it and just change the channel.


— kate    2006-04-12 22:45    #

i agree with kate. change the damn channel if you have such a problem with the show. Although it does lack certain good tv ideals, some people still like to watch it


— meg    2006-08-21 22:14    #

I liked it. I watched the episode with Milan Akerman in it. I thought the chemistry was great and sure it has it’s cliche’s but it’s no more cliche’d than top shows like Heroes or Grey’s Anatomy (not that I’m dissing those shows either).
I think it’s easy to be cynical and criticize. It’s better than crap like The simple life!


— Someguy    2007-01-15 03:09    #