Love Monkey

Love Monkey is a new show(CBS, Tuesday 10pm ET) about Tom Farrell (Tom Cavanaugh) as an idealistic A&R man for True Vinyl, a struggling record label in New York City. Based on the best-selling novel by Kyle Smith (add it to my reading list), this show is going to play out as a romantic comedy much like Cavanuagh's last venture, Ed. I enjoyed Ed but probably wouldn't have even sampled Love Monkey if it weren't for the musical theme of the show. I caught the pilot last week and the second episode tonight while stuck in a hotel room in Phoenix.

In the first two weeks, the show has revolved around Tom discovering a very talented 16 year old singer-songwriter, Wayne. Wayne is played by Teddy Geiger, a real-life musician and the show features Geiger's own musical compositions. But more than the great music from Geiger, the soundtrack of the show is superbly filled with all manner of cool music (Ep.1 | Ep. 2) There's also been a few guest appearances such as Ben Folds, etc. My favorite bit yet was the Tom Farrell Rock n' Roll tour of NYC where Tom takes Wayne around to all the historically famous music sites in New York such as the Chelsea Hotel, the tenement block featured on the cover of Physical Graffiti, and the famed CBGB nightclub.

I doubt the show will be a big hit since nothing I enjoy on TV these days seems to be a major success (see: Arrested Development, Sports Night, etc.) but as long as the music stays good and Tom continues to take pot-shots at the machine that is the record business, I'll continue to enjoy the show. Of course, not everyone agrees with me that the show is worth watching.