While Justin Timberlake’s third stint as host on “Saturday Night Live” last week was not exactly a charm, it did have its moments, including the Mother’s Day-themed sequel to “Dick In a Box,” “Motherlover.” Wanna hear it here it go:
“Motherlover.” Mother’s Day. Mothers are on my mind. And they’re on TV next week, too.
The season finale of “Desperate Housewives” airs Sunday, and I really wonder: Does anyone care about this show anymore? Their attempts to re-boot the series by jumping ahead five years at the end of last season was perhaps not that bold a move, (it was more surprising when “Lost” and “Battlestar Galactica” used the same conceit earlier), but I can understand the desire to give a series that was in an obvious rut a push. Alas, the show itself remains stale. Sure, some of the housewives’ kids are older, and some of them have kids where they didn’t before, (speaking of which, doesn’t Lynette have four kids? How come we only ever see the twins?), but aside from that, the show really hasn’t changed much. Once again, this season’s central plot has centered on a secret, and a guy with a grudge. And every week, all I can think is, “Man. Just get OVER it already, blond-haired, blue-eyed Adonis!”
It’s a little ironic that a show that’s about suburbia and motherhood has a less-compelling vision of family life than the supernaturally-infused “Medium.” I’m gonna just state flat out that I love “Medium.” No, there’s nothing complex about the show, and at its core, it’s really nothing more than another damn crime procedural. But Patricia Arquette’s psychic mom, Allison Dubois, feels more real than most TV moms currently on the air. Maybe it’s her snaggle tooth. Maybe it’s the fact that she isn’t the victim of awful plastic surgery, and has a body that looks, well, like a real mom’s. It also helps that almost every episode of the show includes her interacting with her children, in a very natural way, with screaming matches, incredulity, and affection. Throw in her psychic nightmares that include such things as decapitation and eye-gouging, and you’ve got an intriguing hour of television. (Patricia Arquette directs Monday’s episode, which features guest appearances by Anjelica Houston, Rumer Willis, and Balthazar Getty.)
Moving on to future motherhood, and the season finale of “How I Met Your Mother.” Last week, they finally settled once and for all that Sarah Chalke’s Stella is NOT the show’s titular mother, and I think most people were fine with this. But, assuming the mother is NOT revealed in Monday’s finale, the show is going to have to either introduce the mother next season, or just make it very clear that she will not be revealed until the show’s final episode, (the scenario I am hoping for). They’ve played out the whole “is she or ISN’T she the mother??” angle, and if they were to do that again, it would be…annoying. Yes, the series is called “How I Met Your Mother,” but they proved way back in season one that the show’s strength is in the ensemble cast, and not Ted’s story. Every time they throw a new girlfriend into the mix, it throws off the ensemble’s delicate balance.
Of course, it’s nice to think that the woman Ted eventually does knock up is someone worthy of inclusion in their crowd. Perhaps so much so that she can get her own spin-off, “How I Met Your Father.”
The season finale of “Desperate Housewives” airs Sunday, May 17th at 9 P.M. on ABC. “Medium” airs Mondays at 10 P.M. on NBC. And the season finale of “How I Met Your Mother” airs Monday, May 18th at 8:30 P.M. on CBS.
