Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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Kiss-Kiss, Bang-Bang The MTV Movie Awards has its priorities straight TV by DEAN ROBBINS As always, February's stiff Oscar ceremony tried to dress the movie industry in an ill-fitting tuxedo. The MTV Movie Awards, by contrast, reminds us that the medium is supposed to be fun (Sunday, 9 p.m.). The ceremony recognizes wondrous performances that didn't meet Oscar's pho- ny-baloney standards, like Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids, Elle Fanning in Super 8 and Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover Part II. It also skips editing and cinematography awards for categories that actually matter to moviegoers: Best Kiss, Best Fight, Best Onscreen Dirtbag. Jon Hamm (Bridesmaids) is a favorite in the Dirtbag category, though tonight he may get a run for his money from host Russell Brand, who's no slouch in that department himself. Melissa & Joey Wednesday, 8 pm (ABC Family) "Melissa & Joey was recorded in front of a live studio audience." Longmire Sunday, 10 pm (A&E) Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor) lives in the modern age, but he comports himself like Wyatt Earp as sheriff of a Wyoming county. Walt shuns cell phones and comput- ers in favor of stalking crime scenes in a cowboy hat and tersely demanding answers. We're supposed to admire this old-school machismo, but I couldn't help thinking, "No cell phones or computers?" I mean, there's manliness, and then there's stupidity. It doesn't help that Taylor has only one mode: flinty. He communicates no warmth, no humor, no humanity, despite the script's attempt to give him a tragic widower's backstory. (It's very possible that his wife died of boredom.) Walt's Native American pal (Lou Diamond Phillips). He could well wait all season. That old-school voiceover at the beginning of each episode is disarming. It lets you know that the laughter you hear throughout is real — i.e., earned. It also lets you know that Melissa & Joey will affirm the sitcom genre's veri- ties: a brisk pace, a pleasant tone, a setup/punchline rhythm. This is just what the doctor ordered after all those broadcast-network sitcoms that strain to be hip and edgy and just end up making you squirm. I'm all for hip and edgy sitcoms that actually work (see Girls), but in the meantime I'm happy to while away 30 minutes the old-fashioned way with Melissa & Joey. Melissa Hart and Joey Lawrence are sitcom veterans who know how to deliver a joke with the proper snap. She's a high-powered professional, he's her live-in nanny and season two finds them still in the insult-banter phase of their relationship. The season's first episode didn't exactly make me laugh out loud, but my smiles were real. Monday, 9 pm (Bravo) Bravo takes the traditional approach for the fifth season of The Real Housewives of New York City: put catty, wealthy, surgically enhanced women together and watch the sparks fly. Women like Ramona, who prides herself on telling people off: "I'm not afraid to say what everyone else is thinking!" she brags. All we viewers have to do is sit back and wait for one of these provocative statements to kick off a battle royale. In the season premiere, however, the battle never arrives. Nobody The Real Housewives of New York City screams, or overturns a table or even issues a threat. Nice times on The Real Housewives of New York City? I'm going to say what everyone else is thinking: One of these women had better call another one a slut, and fast. "I'm only gonna wait so long for you to crack a smile," says WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM MAY 30 - JUNE 5, 2012 UCW 21