TV, so far
Sep. 25th, 2006 08:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jlhYesterday I had a terrible sick headache and wasn't able to do any reading really, though I did manage a good bit of housework so all was not lost. Still, today will be a reading marathon. At least I was a little bit ahead so it isn't a total disaster. Anyway one of the things I did was to clear out the TIVO of the new-season TV while I was puttering around making meatloaf.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wordplay posted about a frustration with the pilot to which I responded at length, which I'd read before I saw the show, so there's another part of my reaction to it, specifically the reveal about two characters' previous break-up.
I have to say, West Wing never really clicked with me. I came in and out of it and was aware of its general arc but I probably have seen 6-7 episodes all the way through, which makes me think I have Sorkin Issues. What I'm seeing are super intelligent, witty, generally fantastic characters who have One Amazing Flaw. But you know, OAF doesn't keep your character from being superperfect. With a set up as complicated and information-rich as this one, it's very hard to see how the show will be, and given my great love for Matthew Perry I'm going to keep it on the list, but I'm withholding judgment on it for now.
Six Degrees: I really loved this, loved the interconnectedness and the way they pointed out the key characters in the crowd, and the arc of the first episode. I hope that they either lose the small bit of voice over or move it around among the six leads, and I also hope that JJ Abram's name on this doesn't mean its totally doomed. This isn't going to be a show with a deep mythology or plot-with-a-secret, but then neither was Felicity and he mucked that show up, too. My fingers are crossed.
How I Met Your Mother: GREAT opener. There's a surprising amount of plot for a sitcom and they handled the Big Change from the end of last season with skill. I'm very much looking forward to where this show goes this year. It doesn't go to the typical, easy place and that's a GOOD thing.
CSI: I have a really long attention span—not sure how good that is, really, but it won't be changing—and I hate dropping things. But I think I dropped CSI in a lot of ways midway through last season when it was clear that all they were going to do to follow up Grave Danger was make a few references and then drop it. Hell, Nick's best storyline/episode was one he wasn't even supposed to be carrying (Gum Drops). I didn't watch every week, letting it pile up on my TIVO and some spring eps I only watched right before the end of the season. I didn't think the plots were great and the resolution of CWR made me sad for Cath who never seems to be able to find a man who can deal with her other than Gil in a way (not that I'm a Gil/Cath shipper). Now Lindsay's been kidnapped which is just hella tiresome. I wonder if they had originally planned for a two-hour season premiere, as the pacing of the episode was really off, as was where it ended, given that the cases flipped about 15 minutes before the end of the show. Meanwhile they maintained the "let's wrap up that season finale huge emotional plot in just a few mentions in the season opener" style with Brass this year. I mean, seriously, whatever.
So my disenchantment really isn't about the GSR, though I'm sad to see how that seems to be rending the CSI fandom. I didn't think it was particularly well handled; it seems that writers really don't understand that the satisfaction in a romance storyline in a non-relationship show is following all the subtle hints and slow burning until you get rewarded with How They Got Together. Reveals of They've Been Together All This Time just irritates people. The GSR shippers don't get their scene, so they have to settle for Being Right, making them somewhat insufferable, and everyone else is like, well, that was clunky. Because it WAS clunky, even if you're a fan of the ship.
Besides, Billy Petersen shaved his beard which makes him look just like my brother again, which creeps me out, which is why I didn't watch CSI when it was first on. And George Eads shaved his head again. So, like, whatever. Even if Grey's Anatomy beat them on Thursday and they probably will no longer be the #1 show on television, they really don't need me as a viewer.
Flavor of Love, aka, Why Do I Watch This Show?: Well, I didn't watch either season from the beginning, but while that silly Jerry Hall show Kept was fun and the guys were good natured and bonded with each other even though they were competitors—which I think is much less about gendered behavior and much more about how the kind of guy who went on that show being the pickup basketball/bartender type while the girls who go on dating shows are more the diva bitch type because they make better television—these girls are mostly deeply unlikable. The problem, and entertainment, at the center of this is Flav himself, who clearly likes drama and drama queens and being fought over; that's why he likes to go on dates with two women and poke his nose into whatever crazy bitchiness is going on between the girls and why he likes New York of all people, who is unpleasant and immature but brings the drama like WOAH. I'm also not sure why they keep putting a big girl in the cast when he's just going to get rid of her for being big without even having dated her; it's sort of gross. I hope that this season he picks New York (who was the runner up in the first season) because they deserve each other.
slytherincess: They're doing another season of Breaking Bonaduce starting in October. !!! Other things I'm looking forward to in October are Top Chef, Nigella Lawson and of course, Veronica Mars!
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip:
wordplay posted about a frustration with the pilot to which I responded at length, which I'd read before I saw the show, so there's another part of my reaction to it, specifically the reveal about two characters' previous break-up.I have to say, West Wing never really clicked with me. I came in and out of it and was aware of its general arc but I probably have seen 6-7 episodes all the way through, which makes me think I have Sorkin Issues. What I'm seeing are super intelligent, witty, generally fantastic characters who have One Amazing Flaw. But you know, OAF doesn't keep your character from being superperfect. With a set up as complicated and information-rich as this one, it's very hard to see how the show will be, and given my great love for Matthew Perry I'm going to keep it on the list, but I'm withholding judgment on it for now.
Six Degrees: I really loved this, loved the interconnectedness and the way they pointed out the key characters in the crowd, and the arc of the first episode. I hope that they either lose the small bit of voice over or move it around among the six leads, and I also hope that JJ Abram's name on this doesn't mean its totally doomed. This isn't going to be a show with a deep mythology or plot-with-a-secret, but then neither was Felicity and he mucked that show up, too. My fingers are crossed.
How I Met Your Mother: GREAT opener. There's a surprising amount of plot for a sitcom and they handled the Big Change from the end of last season with skill. I'm very much looking forward to where this show goes this year. It doesn't go to the typical, easy place and that's a GOOD thing.
CSI: I have a really long attention span—not sure how good that is, really, but it won't be changing—and I hate dropping things. But I think I dropped CSI in a lot of ways midway through last season when it was clear that all they were going to do to follow up Grave Danger was make a few references and then drop it. Hell, Nick's best storyline/episode was one he wasn't even supposed to be carrying (Gum Drops). I didn't watch every week, letting it pile up on my TIVO and some spring eps I only watched right before the end of the season. I didn't think the plots were great and the resolution of CWR made me sad for Cath who never seems to be able to find a man who can deal with her other than Gil in a way (not that I'm a Gil/Cath shipper). Now Lindsay's been kidnapped which is just hella tiresome. I wonder if they had originally planned for a two-hour season premiere, as the pacing of the episode was really off, as was where it ended, given that the cases flipped about 15 minutes before the end of the show. Meanwhile they maintained the "let's wrap up that season finale huge emotional plot in just a few mentions in the season opener" style with Brass this year. I mean, seriously, whatever.
So my disenchantment really isn't about the GSR, though I'm sad to see how that seems to be rending the CSI fandom. I didn't think it was particularly well handled; it seems that writers really don't understand that the satisfaction in a romance storyline in a non-relationship show is following all the subtle hints and slow burning until you get rewarded with How They Got Together. Reveals of They've Been Together All This Time just irritates people. The GSR shippers don't get their scene, so they have to settle for Being Right, making them somewhat insufferable, and everyone else is like, well, that was clunky. Because it WAS clunky, even if you're a fan of the ship.
Besides, Billy Petersen shaved his beard which makes him look just like my brother again, which creeps me out, which is why I didn't watch CSI when it was first on. And George Eads shaved his head again. So, like, whatever. Even if Grey's Anatomy beat them on Thursday and they probably will no longer be the #1 show on television, they really don't need me as a viewer.
Flavor of Love, aka, Why Do I Watch This Show?: Well, I didn't watch either season from the beginning, but while that silly Jerry Hall show Kept was fun and the guys were good natured and bonded with each other even though they were competitors—which I think is much less about gendered behavior and much more about how the kind of guy who went on that show being the pickup basketball/bartender type while the girls who go on dating shows are more the diva bitch type because they make better television—these girls are mostly deeply unlikable. The problem, and entertainment, at the center of this is Flav himself, who clearly likes drama and drama queens and being fought over; that's why he likes to go on dates with two women and poke his nose into whatever crazy bitchiness is going on between the girls and why he likes New York of all people, who is unpleasant and immature but brings the drama like WOAH. I'm also not sure why they keep putting a big girl in the cast when he's just going to get rid of her for being big without even having dated her; it's sort of gross. I hope that this season he picks New York (who was the runner up in the first season) because they deserve each other.
slytherincess: They're doing another season of Breaking Bonaduce starting in October. !!! Other things I'm looking forward to in October are Top Chef, Nigella Lawson and of course, Veronica Mars!
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Date: 2006-09-25 01:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-25 02:13 pm (UTC)And I wonder why those girls are there other than being on TV. I mean that house is NOT his house. He can't have all that much money since he's been out of the public eye for so long in terms of music and I don't think PE really sold THAT much and they had to split it up 37 ways anyway. I mean, I think he'd have middle class money but not rich guy money. He's so unattractive and loud and annoying, god. I just don't think I've ever seen a man who was so all about the drama.
Who are you picking to win? I was sorry but not unsurprised that Bootz left mostly because her commentary was so funny and she was so sensible but I'm sure it was for the reason she said, that she wouldn't fuck him, which makes you wonder what she thought she was doing. Krazy gets on my last damn nerve because she's so stupid and so fake and thinks that no one can tell. I also loved that Deelishus was all "I know the difference between slicked and sliced because I was an English major in college." Nice. Meanwhile could New York bring more drama? I don't think so.