[Pasadora]

I don't mind seeing Scott on television when it's a weak show and a weak performance on his part -- so long as he's on the television weekly,

I don't. And I don't think it's helpful for Scott's career either.

I know I won't miss slobby Gary shoveling food in, and eating with his mouth open.

Scenes like that always make me cringe.

[pinkpaisley]

He has a job now -- He's had one before the airing of "Church".

Really? What does he do?

And I think there's a lot of Scott in the way Gary eats.

[razzlephrat]

haha I just saw the preview for the new ep, looks pretty funny. I'm hoping the Raja and Justin parts are less awkward.

[Pasadora]

Really? What does he do?

I haven't seen him doing anything. It felt like he was always home.

[SPA]

the episode was "Junior Prank." It's a white collar job -- not blue, when he was having so much fun at HHH without getting paid (because he wasn't an actual employee!!). So he's a manager for something-or-other. Maybe we'll find out before the show ends.

[Nogodsnomasters]

I agree. I've always felt Scott/Gary was the weakest part of Aliens In America. I didn't understand some of Scott's comments in the article Copperboom posted yesterday. Justin is a social pariah, which Gary's supposedly baffled about, but that's not how it plays on screen. Gary is as big a social misfit as Justin, and seems clueless and disconnected when it comes to his family. It would've made more sense if Gary had been a pillar of the community, involved in social programs, youth sports, and whatnot - a popular ex-high school jock, prom king and so forth. I know I won't miss slobby Gary shoveling food in, and eating with his mouth open. A total waste of SP's talents.

I strongly disagree. First, I think Aliens is a pretty good show. It's no Gilmore Girls of course, but it's a better than average comedy. I don't think it's great because it suffers, I think, from a bit of schizophrenia; it tries to be too many things at once (biting satire, sweet, irreverent, bawdy, conventional, edgy, preachy, etc.) sometimes within the same episode. They pulled it off more often than not, in my opinion, but the lack of focus had an overall weakening effect. The show flirts with edgy Election style satire but ends up pulling its punches.

Scott the weakest link? I don't see it that at all, although I haven't agreed with every aspect of his portrayal of Gary (I thought some of his expression were a bit over the top), I enjoyed most of his scenes immensely.

I think what Scott and the interviewer said about Gary made a lot of sense. It was funnier to have Gary be an ex popular high school jock. His character to me represents a man whose life sadly peaked in high school. The show portrayed him as a record holding highschool rusher and part of the homecoming court. Does that translate into success as an adult? No way. That's intentional. The interviewer nailed it:

IGN TV: Something that interested me about how Aliens has progressed is that Gary is sort of inhabiting that American Beauty decline of the middle class man – but here it's how aware his son is aware of it. Even if it's only in narration, we hear your son chronicling how sad you are. It's great it's so funny, because otherwise it might just be sad.

Gary is supposed to be a parody of the clueless ex-jock. He can't relate to his son simply because he's not athletic. We see Gary as equally lame as his son, but in his world he's not. That's the point. The show is trying to poke fun provincial attitudes of Anytown, USA.

I think it was daring of Scott to play someone so opposite of Luke, and although I miss Luke, I have enjoyed watching him play a loser. I don't think Scott playing sloppy, always-eating Gary was a waste of his talent. His talent is acting, and Gary was 180 degrees from anything Scott had ever done before.

I know I won't miss slobby Gary shoveling food in, and eating with his mouth open. Scenes like that always make me cringe.

I think that was the intent of the constant eating.

Hats off to you, Scott: Luke, Gary, Peter Strahm--all in one year. Bravo.

[pinkpaisley]

But in the end, it matters what the viewer think and how they see the show. Even though you make some valid points, NGNM's, the show hasn't been interpreted that way. And that's sad.

Scott has done something different from Luke, but he's just not good in a comedic role. At least not one as Gary.

[Nogodsnomasters]

But in the end, it matters what the viewer think and how they see the show. Even though you make some valid points, NGNM's, the show hasn't been interpreted that way. And that's sad.

I think the show never found the right audience because of its network and its failed promotion. The kind of people who would appreciate the satire of Aliens probably never watch the CW. I stayed away from Gilmore Girls for years because I assumed all WB shows were for teeny boppers. So I don't think it's a case of outright rejection from viewers.

Scott has done something different from Luke, but he's just not good in a comedic role. At least not one as Gary.

Guess we will have to agree to disagree. I thought that Scott did a great job as Gary (overall). I think think he would have really made something of the character if he had more time.

[lulu1960]

I agree with you NG. When Scott began with the character of Luke,he wasn't quite the Luke we know now. He fleshed out the character, grew with him. I think that Scott was growing with Gary in just the first 10 episodes we saw Scott tone down the accent. I think if he would have had more time Gary would have evolved a bit more. But remember Gary was supposed to be a bit clueless and not the real hands on dad (Franny was there for the day to day stuff). I think Scott explained it perfectly in that interview.

[WandaRose]

In the interview Scott said:

They wanted somebody who was a little more, I guess you could say – that seemed a bit more capable in a physical sense. And who didn't quite understand how his son turned out to be such a social pariah. That was the reasoning.

That's what I was referring too -- Gary is so disconnected, he doesn't seem to even realize that his son is a social pariah. That's what I've interpreted from it anyway. If he was more engaged in that aspect I'd find him more interesting. Gary the putz has been more prevalent than Gary the ex-jock, and I don't find him likeable.

Scott the weakest link? I don't see it that at all, although I haven't agreed with every aspect of his portrayal of Gary (I thought some of his expression were a bit over the top), I enjoyed most of his scenes immensely.

Those expressions, along with the accent, and eating like a slob are exactly what ruined his scenes for me. Not my kind of humor I guess.

[crazyboutscott]

NGNM I definitely side with you on The Great Gary Debate. I can't say I always loved the show but I thought Scott's portrayal of Gary was the saving grace fro me. I know some of the big jock/prom kings from my graduating class have turned into "Garys". They peaked in high school and then become middle class working men with families. They have to keep working hard because the more stuff they have the more "successful" they think they are meanwhile they have no clue what is going on around them. If they were to do a show in about 15 years I'm sure Justin will be way more successful then his father because he will not peak until college. Can I tell you the man I have met that I went to high school with who I thought we the geeks and now they have it all!

I also agree that the show tried to cram too much into a 30 minute sitcom. I kind of wish it would have gotten another year because I'm sure Scott would have improved and fine tuned the character of Gary. I am really going to miss seeing him every week even if the show was not one of my favorites.

[SPA]

Maybe the disappoint in Aliens, and more specifically, Scott's role as Gary, is because Gary wasn't as strong a character as the character Luke was.

Luke's character had a strong presence -- a man's man. His look, his attitude, his mannerisms; being single and dateable/catchable. People could definately and almost instantly connect with Luke -- male or female.

Gary's character isn't as strong a presence -- he's a family man, responsible for a wife and kids (teenager even); seems uncertain about his life and family. It's more difficult to connect with Gary. I'm not even sure that a man/husband/father, could instantly identify with Gary.

There are a lot of people who would like to think that Scott has a lot of "Luke" in him personally. I happen to think that Scott is neither Luke or Gary. With all that has been written and shown about Scott, personally, his persona isn't either character that we've seen for the past 8 years. Saw IV proved that for sure.

I'm not sure there's anything out there on television right now that Scott could "fit" into. Nothing comes to mind at the top of my head. We may be looking at him to try another pilot, or just be stuck for a while with watching him in one or two movies a year. It will be insteresting to see what pops up for him around May.

When do the studios start filming pilots for new Fall shows this year?? May/June??

I've told myself from the beginning, Gary is no Luke. I'm going to give the show a chance -- just sit back and relax, knowing it's not GG. With that, I can live with the demise a lot better then the way that GG left us.

[Looney6]

Originally Posted by Nogodsnomasters (View Post) I strongly disagree. First, I think Aliens is a pretty good show. It's no Gilmore Girls of course, but it's a better than average comedy. I don't think it's great because it suffers, I think, from a bit of schizophrenia; it tries to be too many things at once (biting satire, sweet, irreverent, bawdy, conventional, edgy, preachy, etc.) sometimes within the same episode. They pulled it off more often than not, in my opinion, but the lack of focus had an overall weakening effect. The show flirts with edgy Election style satire but ends up pulling its punches. Scott the weakest link? I don't see it that at all, although I haven't agreed with every aspect of his portrayal of Gary (I thought some of his expression were a bit over the top), I enjoyed most of his scenes immensely. I think what Scott and the interviewer said about Gary made a lot of sense. It was funnier to have Gary be an ex popular high school jock. His character to me represents a man whose life sadly peaked in high school. The show portrayed him as a record holding highschool rusher and part of the homecoming court. Does that translate into success as an adult? No way. That's intentional. The interviewer nailed it: IGN TV: Something that interested me about how Aliens has progressed is that Gary is sort of inhabiting that American Beauty decline of the middle class man – but here it's how aware his son is aware of it. Even if it's only in narration, we hear your son chronicling how sad you are. It's great it's so funny, because otherwise it might just be sad. Gary is supposed to be a parody of the clueless ex-jock. He can't relate to his son simply because he's not athletic. We see Gary as equally lame as his son, but in his world he's not. That's the point. The show is trying to poke fun provincial attitudes of Anytown, USA. I think it was daring of Scott to play someone so opposite of Luke, and although I miss Luke, I have enjoyed watching him play a loser. I don't think Scott playing sloppy, always-eating Gary was a waste of his talent. His talent is acting, and Gary was 180 degrees from anything Scott had ever done before. I think that was the intent of the constant eating. Hats off to you, Scott: Luke, Gary, Peter Strahm--all in one year. Bravo.

I can't really agree with your sentiments NGNM. I realize this is the CW we are talking about here but this show missed the mark so many times. And I thinks it's exactly because of the schizophrenia issue. It ran the gamut from crude toilet humor to elements of a family dramedy. They never decided what they wanted this show to be. They never really stuck to anything they were selling at the Upfronts or press tour. It's as if after the Pilot aired the network told the producers to rework the show. I actually think the strongest characters were Franny and the daughter. And the only time the SL's seemed cohesive was when they stuck to something more family oriented and had the dramedy element. They unfortunately set out to be both a sitcom-y comedy and edgy and they failed on both fronts IMO. And I think the ratings show that since they were never able to pull in more than .7 share any given week. Once Online Nation and Life is Wild were cut it effectively became the lowest rated show on TV and the CW. And that wouldn't be so bad except I think the spread between it and the next highest rated show is significant enough to warrant a cancellation. Reaper is at least generating enough online interest that they have opted to wait and see and they actually brought them back after the strike which means they are gambling on Reaper improving once their new eps start airing.

I'm fine with SP stepping out of Luke's flannels. He really has a lot of work to do in proving his GG success was not a one time thing. But this was not the best vehicle for him to do that. He should be taking some smaller roles on bigger shows where he'll be seen by more people. A guest stint on ER could be great. YMMV

ETA

I think the Luke vs Gary debate wrt to the strength of their characters is an apples to oranges comparison. Gary is supposed to be furniture. Luke was not. He was an integral component to Lorelai's SL. The central focus of AiA was about the boys. And since a large part of a teens life happens at school it strongly implied that that Gary & Franny would be used to just support whatever SL's Justin and Raja would have. And that is really how Gary was used most weeks. I think the term "disconnected" is probably the best description of him.

[crazyboutscott]

I totally disagree that Scott has to prove he is not a one hit wonder after GG. He had guest staring roles on popular sitcoms and the episodes he was on became some of the most popular episodes. He showed his dramatic acting skills in Saw and he showed how funny he could be in Little Big League. I think Scott has more than proven he is a versatile actor. We are all thinking that the right people are not seeing him but maybe he is happy with who is seeing him!

[lancer1993]

I agree that most were trying to find Luke in Gary but that was never gonna happen unless he moved the family to a small town and opened a diner called "Gary's"

I'm still to see Luke in much more than Gilmore and Aliens but hope to get SAW4 soon and maybe the soccer movie I managed to actually find at Blockbusters to other day.

This will probably help me appreciated Scott better.

I kinda fell the same with other TV actors that play a part for so long, seeing them do other work is weird.

As for AiA I'm just gonna enjoy the few eps we have left as I doubt they will even come to local TV now the show is ending. I'm glade I *coughed* this show.