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jlhI'm annoyed because my computer randomly crashed and therefore I lost an entire post I was working on when I should have been writing my paper. Good goddamnit!
Anyway, my week: Dinner/drinks with, variously,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bhanesidhe, blackholly, bowdlerized, calloocallay, cassandraclare, idlerat, ladyjaida, my friend S; Holly's reading; Emily's pub night; my department's end of semester party even though the semester doesn't end until next week; drinks at the pub with my class, during which I was proclaimed "a remarkably positive person" by my professor; writing papers. Paper tally stands at: one half done, two 3/4 done.
S reminded me last night that I hadn't posted my thoughts on the Idol results. Following, therefore, summing up on the seasons of CSI, Veronica Mars, and How I Met Your Mother, plus thoughts on the penultimate weeks of Top Chef and American Idol.
I was saying to S how pleased I was that Elliott did so well on his last night even though he was totally screwed by the song selection. Imagine if he'd actually gotten a good song out of Paula! I don't have a horse in this race, though it's likely Taylor's to lose, which is a horrid thought as I can't stand him. That said, I am beginning to understand S's complete loathing of Katharine as her "I'm so wonderful" act is finally getting on my nerves.
I'm torn up that the Ryan-and-Simon show will be leaving my screen for the next seven months! I promise that the sequel to "Tipping the Velvet" will be posted before the finale and just after I'll probably do a little PWP to send them off into that great hiatus of knockoffs and E!News Daily, though Ryan just isn't the same without Simon . . .
Maybe it was the awesome fic. Maybe it was the vague crush on Nick, Gil, both of them together, I have no idea. But I think my CSI fever has broken at last. I've been slow to clear the shows off my TIVO, and with the exception of "Gum Drops" and a few moments here and there I haven't been all that excited by what I saw. I wish CSI would fish or cut bait with the character arcs; their picked up and dropped more often than a $10 hooker, I swear. I'm glad they didn't kill off Brass, anyway, though I was pretty sure that they wouldn't. (Loved Sophia's totally non-shippy but still fierce protection of Brass, though, and the way the whole gang gathered 'round him, especially the little shifts at the hospital and how low-key the whole thing was.) It'll probably be on the TIVO again next year, mostly so I don't miss any episodes, but I remain unenthused.
Now, I'm not much of a canon shipper as you all know. Canon does what it does and I just sit around reading fic; the only effect, really, is that canon inspires the fic. And I'm no Gil/Sara shipper; I think it brings out the worst in both of their personalities. (Sara/Sophia, though, is a ship I'd pay to see. Hot liek woah.) But if I were a Gil/Sara shipper I'd probably be pretty annoyed right now. I mean, what the shit was that? Anticipation, much?
Allow me a moment for a non-spoilery minirant.iscaris posted not long ago about her preference for shows that aren't about emotional relationships, but sprinkle them in among the crime solving or whatever. I have to say, having dipped my toe into some of them, that I disagree because they handle the personal relationships so badly. blackholly once said that writers sometimes use sexual or romantic tension as a way to keep the story interesting while not having to advance the adventure/mystery/whatever main plot. That's fine in a book or a film or anything that is finite, but in series television it ends up being kind of a mess. Sexual tension lasting for years and years eventually becomes exhausting. Will-they-or-won't-they can only last so long. Writers often give as their reasoning for not having their characters happily pair up that it isn't "real life;" well, neither is URST with the same person with no action for seven years. It just gets boring, and it's lazy. Resolve it or drop it, and if you're going to resolve it, do it well. Have we learned nothing from X-Files?
Which brings me to Veronica Mars, which happily has no such problem. People make up, they break up, sometimes they get back together, sometimes they pull stupid shit, sometimes they're single for a while. This, friends, is real life. One of the reasons I never could get into Buffy was that it was a little too cold, too emotionally brittle. I love that Veronica Mars, as snarky as it is, isn't afraid to wear its heart on its sleeve when necessary. Veronica's affection for her friends is palpable, not just understood; her disgust for Logan, when she still had it, was obvious; her love for her father, unshakable. Any show where the resident gang leader is willing to scream "No, I LOVED HIM" about his dead friend in the middle of the lunch yard has my vote (as does the gang leader, of course)! As Couch Baron, the TWoP recapper put it, this season wasn't as good as last season, but it was still better than almost anything else on television. Granted, Rob Thomas was mistaken when he thought that the bus crash would provide enough mystery and emotional momentum to carry us through the season, but watch him learn from his mistakes and make three mysteries for next year!
I wouldn't worry too much about the option for 13 episodes; the only reason we know this is because Rob Thomas chose to tell us. It actually happens all the time but the networks don't like to talk about it because they want the advertisers to feel that the networks are really behind the shows they're putting on air. The buzz out of the CW upfront was very positive; CW definitely grabbed the best shows on each network, they have a much larger promotional budget, and they're already at 96% US—much larger than either WB or UPN and a ratings boost in itself. Gilmore Girls is a dream lead-in for Veronica Mars, whose only real competition in the timeslot will be House. If they can build a strong audience during the fall, which I really think they can, then they will be able to withstand the American Idol onslaught in January. Think good thoughts! (Also, I just want to note how spot-on I was in the post I made when CW was announced. Take that, What I Like About You!)
How I Met Your Mother is the best sitcom on-air at present, and certainly the only one on my TIVO. It's funny, charming, and has a big heart. It also has a very well written full-season arc full of surprises; it's a show with a seemingly simple premise that refuses to go anyplace expected. At season's end the entire universe had been upended and I'm excited to see where it goes next. I tell you this not to plead for the show's life, as it was a big hit and should have no problem in its new time slot leading off Monday nights, but because you deserve the pleasure of watching a show as well-done as this one.
Now that we face the finale, I can't decide how I feel about Top Chef. It was sort of boring at the beginning, I think because the first chefs to go I never really cared about much, and then it was interesting in the middle, and then at the end became mostly about what a bitch Tiffani is. The TWoP boards, too, are full of a debate about her, which is why I finally tired of them this week. I'm rooting for Harold to win because I think he'll open a more interesting restaurant, food-wise, and because he exudes a sort of low-key, calm confidence that I respond well to (as Tim Gunn would say). No time for negative energy here!
Anyway, my week: Dinner/drinks with, variously,
bhanesidhe, blackholly, bowdlerized, calloocallay, cassandraclare, idlerat, ladyjaida, my friend S; Holly's reading; Emily's pub night; my department's end of semester party even though the semester doesn't end until next week; drinks at the pub with my class, during which I was proclaimed "a remarkably positive person" by my professor; writing papers. Paper tally stands at: one half done, two 3/4 done. S reminded me last night that I hadn't posted my thoughts on the Idol results. Following, therefore, summing up on the seasons of CSI, Veronica Mars, and How I Met Your Mother, plus thoughts on the penultimate weeks of Top Chef and American Idol.
I was saying to S how pleased I was that Elliott did so well on his last night even though he was totally screwed by the song selection. Imagine if he'd actually gotten a good song out of Paula! I don't have a horse in this race, though it's likely Taylor's to lose, which is a horrid thought as I can't stand him. That said, I am beginning to understand S's complete loathing of Katharine as her "I'm so wonderful" act is finally getting on my nerves.
I'm torn up that the Ryan-and-Simon show will be leaving my screen for the next seven months! I promise that the sequel to "Tipping the Velvet" will be posted before the finale and just after I'll probably do a little PWP to send them off into that great hiatus of knockoffs and E!News Daily, though Ryan just isn't the same without Simon . . .
Maybe it was the awesome fic. Maybe it was the vague crush on Nick, Gil, both of them together, I have no idea. But I think my CSI fever has broken at last. I've been slow to clear the shows off my TIVO, and with the exception of "Gum Drops" and a few moments here and there I haven't been all that excited by what I saw. I wish CSI would fish or cut bait with the character arcs; their picked up and dropped more often than a $10 hooker, I swear. I'm glad they didn't kill off Brass, anyway, though I was pretty sure that they wouldn't. (Loved Sophia's totally non-shippy but still fierce protection of Brass, though, and the way the whole gang gathered 'round him, especially the little shifts at the hospital and how low-key the whole thing was.) It'll probably be on the TIVO again next year, mostly so I don't miss any episodes, but I remain unenthused.
Now, I'm not much of a canon shipper as you all know. Canon does what it does and I just sit around reading fic; the only effect, really, is that canon inspires the fic. And I'm no Gil/Sara shipper; I think it brings out the worst in both of their personalities. (Sara/Sophia, though, is a ship I'd pay to see. Hot liek woah.) But if I were a Gil/Sara shipper I'd probably be pretty annoyed right now. I mean, what the shit was that? Anticipation, much?
Allow me a moment for a non-spoilery minirant.
iscaris posted not long ago about her preference for shows that aren't about emotional relationships, but sprinkle them in among the crime solving or whatever. I have to say, having dipped my toe into some of them, that I disagree because they handle the personal relationships so badly. blackholly once said that writers sometimes use sexual or romantic tension as a way to keep the story interesting while not having to advance the adventure/mystery/whatever main plot. That's fine in a book or a film or anything that is finite, but in series television it ends up being kind of a mess. Sexual tension lasting for years and years eventually becomes exhausting. Will-they-or-won't-they can only last so long. Writers often give as their reasoning for not having their characters happily pair up that it isn't "real life;" well, neither is URST with the same person with no action for seven years. It just gets boring, and it's lazy. Resolve it or drop it, and if you're going to resolve it, do it well. Have we learned nothing from X-Files?Which brings me to Veronica Mars, which happily has no such problem. People make up, they break up, sometimes they get back together, sometimes they pull stupid shit, sometimes they're single for a while. This, friends, is real life. One of the reasons I never could get into Buffy was that it was a little too cold, too emotionally brittle. I love that Veronica Mars, as snarky as it is, isn't afraid to wear its heart on its sleeve when necessary. Veronica's affection for her friends is palpable, not just understood; her disgust for Logan, when she still had it, was obvious; her love for her father, unshakable. Any show where the resident gang leader is willing to scream "No, I LOVED HIM" about his dead friend in the middle of the lunch yard has my vote (as does the gang leader, of course)! As Couch Baron, the TWoP recapper put it, this season wasn't as good as last season, but it was still better than almost anything else on television. Granted, Rob Thomas was mistaken when he thought that the bus crash would provide enough mystery and emotional momentum to carry us through the season, but watch him learn from his mistakes and make three mysteries for next year!
I wouldn't worry too much about the option for 13 episodes; the only reason we know this is because Rob Thomas chose to tell us. It actually happens all the time but the networks don't like to talk about it because they want the advertisers to feel that the networks are really behind the shows they're putting on air. The buzz out of the CW upfront was very positive; CW definitely grabbed the best shows on each network, they have a much larger promotional budget, and they're already at 96% US—much larger than either WB or UPN and a ratings boost in itself. Gilmore Girls is a dream lead-in for Veronica Mars, whose only real competition in the timeslot will be House. If they can build a strong audience during the fall, which I really think they can, then they will be able to withstand the American Idol onslaught in January. Think good thoughts! (Also, I just want to note how spot-on I was in the post I made when CW was announced. Take that, What I Like About You!)
How I Met Your Mother is the best sitcom on-air at present, and certainly the only one on my TIVO. It's funny, charming, and has a big heart. It also has a very well written full-season arc full of surprises; it's a show with a seemingly simple premise that refuses to go anyplace expected. At season's end the entire universe had been upended and I'm excited to see where it goes next. I tell you this not to plead for the show's life, as it was a big hit and should have no problem in its new time slot leading off Monday nights, but because you deserve the pleasure of watching a show as well-done as this one.
Now that we face the finale, I can't decide how I feel about Top Chef. It was sort of boring at the beginning, I think because the first chefs to go I never really cared about much, and then it was interesting in the middle, and then at the end became mostly about what a bitch Tiffani is. The TWoP boards, too, are full of a debate about her, which is why I finally tired of them this week. I'm rooting for Harold to win because I think he'll open a more interesting restaurant, food-wise, and because he exudes a sort of low-key, calm confidence that I respond well to (as Tim Gunn would say). No time for negative energy here!
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-20 10:25 pm (UTC)I'm with you. I enjoy shows that are all about the plot and not at all about the characters to a point. CSI, when I first discovered it, fascinated me, because the cases fascinated me, and the actors are pretty good with their line delivery. But the lack of character growth, never mind just emotional relationships, left me cold after a while.
The Law & Order franchise has suffered from abandonment of character in the last few years, too, but earlier, in the first five or so years of Law & Order (the original) they *did* manage to make the shows all about the cases and still develop the characters. At one point an assistant DA was killed off and it was devastating, because of what she meant to the other characters, what a great character she was, and the immediate guilt and trauma her death caused one of the other fabulous characters. It's not impossible to incorporate character growth and emotional relationships into a procedural drama, and that, to me, is what makes the show stand out from others of the same genre.
But it does seem like recently procedural type shows focus on the procedure, and drop the characterization except for some really shallow romantic shorthand. Meh.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-21 01:52 am (UTC)That's exactly what it is, and it's lazy. And you're right, the procedural itself can keep you going for a while, but without an investment in the characters it doesn't have staying power. I wonder if CBS isn't going to get their ass kicked by investing so heavily in them.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-21 02:06 am (UTC)I stuck with Miami longer than with the original series because of the attempts at character arcs (well, and because the guy who plays Ryan is kinda cute), but after a while got so painful. Plus, they had to go and screw up all of their more admirable efforts by pulling the WORST shorthand-romance EVER. She's dying of cancer! Yet still youthful and gorgeous! He barely knows her! But apparently he likes her! They decide to have a baby! They decide to get married! They're so in love! WTF WTF WTF!! *defenestrates television*
no subject
Date: 2006-05-22 08:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-25 02:51 pm (UTC)