Raising Hope – This series is getting steadily better, but we are absolutely loving Garret Dillahunt as Grandpa Burt. He’s been a favorite of ours for years, largely for his work with David Milch (two different characters on Deadwood and a regular on John from Cincinnati), and he’s been awesome for years. What we didn’t realize is that he’s also really funny. As a guy whose son is raising the baby he fathered with a convicted serial killer, Dillahunt is dim but well-meaning, a real change from his usual characters. He’s the kind of guy who usually ends up shooting Wild Bill or knifing a bunch of prostitutes, you know? This week saw him scanning the skies for a lost baby (in case a hawk got her), trying to lure said baby with a box of sugar cubes, trading pants with Cloris Leachman, and touting the benefits of open casket burials for squirrels. He’s such a good actor, and now he’s playing a character who’s unlike anything he’s done before. The show is this close to really being good, but Garret has us coming back until it gets there.
