Memo to programming execs at the major networks: Check
out "2gether" on MTV tonight at 8 for a hint on how to
make lightweight TV movies more entertaining than folding
the laundry. It will never win an Emmy Award, but the first
film from MTV's original movies division is occasionally funny, frequently
clever and so much more enjoyable than most dreary TV movies of the
week that it ought to be mandatory viewing for network kahunas.
Sure, it's about as intellectually challenging as a conversation with a
recently deployed airbag, and the ending is entirely knowable, but for a
first-time effort from a fledgling production division it's the sort of
gentle satire any network could aspire to if only it would let go of
long-held, blindly followed formulas. If MTV really had guts, "2gether"
could take a real bite out of the music biz's behind, but that would be
like sinking one's teeth into one's own glutes, requiring the flexibility of
a yogi and the courage of a Bogie. MTV, a corporate monolith as bloated
as the next, is neither flexible nor brave, so "2gether" is probably as
good as it gets on the self-deprecation front.
Still, "2gether" is an amusing spoof that expands the MTV oeuvre the
way "Daria" has, giving viewers something more than low-brow
programming that makes parents hate MTV. Alternating between
feature-film and mock-documentary style, "2gether" follows the
formation of a fictional boy band along the lines of Backstreet Boys or
'N Sync. Its tongue-in-cheekiness is apparent from the start when
longtime music manager Bob Buss (Alan Blumenfeld) runs down the
requisite makeup of every successful boy band: "You've got the bad
rebel, the shy, bashful type, the dewy-eyed youngster, the older,
reassuring-brother type, and the teen idol."
Filling these stereotypes quite agreeably are four newcomers -- Alex
Solowitz (the bad boy), Noah Bastian (the shy one), Michael Cuccione
(the young one, with a terminal illness, no less) and Evan Farmer (the
heartthrob) -- plus Kevin Farley (brother of the late Chris Farley) as
the mature influence. With atrocious lyrics -- "I'm losing my hair and my
vision is shady/Last night I dreamt of an overweight lady" -- and a "hit
video" that's been running on MTV for three weeks already, "2gether"
shows that fluff can be fun -- something the networks seem to have
forgotten.
By JOHN LEVESQUE
POST-INTELLIGENCER TV CRITIC