The number of television shows that I follow on a weekly basis has dwindled over the years to just a couple—and I don't mind it one bit. I'm not anti-television. I just prefer reading. So, the last thing I'm doing right now is looking for a new show to follow.
But the previews for "Love Monkey" intrigued me—partially because this is the first serial drama that interests me in a long time that revolves around characters who are past their college years, partially because I love music, and partially because the main character is a middle-aged A&R executive who cares more about music than money.
Here's a brief description of the show, taken from the CBS.com:
"LOVE MONKEY, based on the best-selling book by Kyle Smith, revolves around Tom Farrell (Tom Cavanagh), a 30-something up and coming single record executive who is navigating the tumultuous and highly amusing waters of work and dating in New York City. Tom's got it all until he gets fired from his job and is dumped by his girlfriend, all in the same day. Fortunately, Tom's friends help him keep his life in full swing...With their help and support, Tom finds a new record company to call home and a new woman, Julia Hixon (Ivana Milicevic), to fixate on. It's a brand new Tom—which is to say, it's the same old Tom."
I watched the first episode on Tuesday night and I liked it. The show already has generated a little controversy though. You can read more about it here. But, here's the gist of it—the show is produced by Sony Television, which is affiliated with the Sony Record Company. During the pilot episode, a 17-year old singer named Teddy Geiger is sought after by Tom Cavanagh. Geiger is a Sony artist in real life. So, at first glance, this show appears to be a clever form of marketing. The executive producer says that they are going to shine the spotlight on singers from many other labels in the future and even on those without a label.
I really don't have a problem either way. Every serial television show seems to thrust products upon us in some fashion, whether it be expertly placed product, or soundtracks, or websites that get mentioned during the show. In a way, I see it as similar to what Amazon.com does. They know what we've bought from them before, so they pitch products that they know we'll like.
In the case of this particular show though, I think that the clever marketing is a tad bit ironic since the main character on this show is supposed to "all about the music." He lost his job with a big label because he spoke out in a meeting against their policy of only being concerned about the money and he took a position with a much smaller label that shared his philosophy.
But with that said, I'm planning to watch the program. I'm interested to see if Tom finds his place in the music world and I want to see if he ever finds the right woman. I'm already rooting for him to get together with his long time platonic friend named Bran (Judy Greer). She's not afraid to tell him when he's drifting and they obviously care about each other. Of course, that doesn't mean the romantic sparks are ever going to fly, but I'm hoping they do.
