The post where I talk about the new TV season.
I’ve been meaning to write a television post, now that the new season has had a chance to soak in.
- I like Aaron Sorkin. I think the cast is mostly great. But I’m not really in love with Studio 60. Apparently I’m not alone in this. I want to like it, and its one show that L likes, so that will probably keep me hooked for awhile. But it just seems too busy. There’s too much going on, and nothing really sticks.
- I tried to watch The Class. It wasn’t terrible but I just didn’t care enough to enjoy it. And the way they inserted an extended, narrated “Last week on…” summary at the beginning of every episode really annoyed the fuck out of me.
- I sort of liked Kidnapped, I don’t know why it got cancelled, but once it did I stopped watching, even though there are going to be 10-ish more episodes shown before it’s gone forever. I don’t want to get attached to short-timers. I hope Jeremy Sisto shows up somewhere else soon, he kicks ass.
- I was kind of afraid that Lost would collapse in on itself this year, but based on the first two killer episodes, I had nothing to worry about. I hope Walt and his dad reappear soon, but I think I read that they didn’t have contracts for this year. I hope I’m wrong.
- I hope by this time you’re watching Battlestar Galactica. I’m starting to have a difficult time keeping track of the various incarnations of Cylons. “Wait, is this the one that was having an affair with Chief, and then tried to kill herself, and then shot Adama, and then got killed, and then came back to life, or is she the one that had an affair with Helo and had a baby and saved Adama from Richard Hatch?” But still so very awesome.
- I’m not sure I like The Nine, but I’m still watching it. It seems like a show I would have to make a comittment to, and I don’t think I have enough bandwidth for it. There are some things that don’t make any sense, and it’s a bit overly melodramatic, but I’ll give it some more time.
- Jericho had an interesting concept and a decent cast but crappy writing, IMO. It’s off the list.
- But my favorite new show is definately Heroes. I wasn’t totally onboard until the last 90 seconds of yesterday’s episode. Damn that was kickass.
- Save the cheerleader, save the world.
I suck at media criticism.
Update: I forgot about:
- Ugly Betty. I figured there was no way I would want to keep watching a show about a girl who works at a fashion magazine, but it’s great. I’ve only seen the first episode since L deleted the next two before I saw them (”I thought you would hate it!”) but hopefully I’ll get to keep watching.
- 30 Rock. I was wondering why in the hell NBC would green light two different shows based on SNL, but if I had been in charge I wouldn’t have been able to turn this down either. If anything, it’s marginally the more enjoyable of the two.
Hey Rob, I just realized your old feed wasn’t updating anymore, which lead me to discover you had a new site up. It looks good.
TV comments:
I hate The Nine. It did absolutely nothing for me.
I caught the first episode of Studio 60 and liked it somewhat. I’ll have to see more to judge thoroughly. At times, it had a very Sports Night feel to it (makes sense) that I liked. They even said ‘good show’ once or twice.
Didn’t see the Class, Jericho or Kidnapped, so no comment.
I’ve fallen way behind on Battlestar Galactica, so I need to watch some DVDs before jumping back into it.
Loved the first couple Losts. I hope they bring in some of the other characters soon.
Loved the one episode of Heroes that I’ve seen. I really like the one guy who will forever be Jess from Gilmore Girls to me.
Ben - October 17th, 2006 at 4:39 pmHey thanks, and thanks for reminding me to do something about the dead feeds…
Let me know if you want to borrow the BSG DVD’s. Or did you buy them?
rob - October 17th, 2006 at 10:16 pmI’d love to borrow the BSG DVDs.
Ben - October 18th, 2006 at 9:39 amI’m just doing record and retain on everything so far this season, (I didn’t start watching season 2 of Lost until it was over, which was good because I didn’t have to wait for anything, though it probably made it rather more apparent that either the writers know exactly where they are going or they have no freaking clue) but I did watch the first episode of 30 Rock. I recommend it so far based solely on Alec Baldwin’s character.
Smith looks promising, haven’t watched yet though.
Kneo - October 18th, 2006 at 10:24 amI forgot about 30 Rock, I agree. I’m pretty sure the Lost writers have no clue what they’re doing farther than a few weeks in advance, which sucks. I saw some of Smith, but I liked Thief more, which was on earlier in the year on TNT. Very similar.
rob - October 18th, 2006 at 1:44 pmYou know, I feel the same way about Studio 60. Kyle really likes Aaron Sorkin, and he says he really likes it.. but I don’t know. I feel like it should be a lot better than I think it is. Or something.
I do like Heroes too, although I have some problems.. mostly with continuity (like it takes her all night to dig a little tiny shallow grave? and it’s high noon outside and the child still sleeps?) That’s it besides the Amazing Race for me though.. Which! I know you’re not a reality tv show kind of guy, but this season has been so GREAT! It’s been more about making an interesting race around the world and less about casting obnoxious people.
nicki - October 19th, 2006 at 12:22 pmNot new but worth noting… South Park seems to be funny again. I’ve only seen a couple this season, but they were head and shoulder above the last few seasons.
Kneo - October 20th, 2006 at 11:46 amI think my feelings about many of these shows (the ones I WATCH) are similar to yours. Especially Jericho and The Nine. (I pretty much stopped watching the former because it conflicted with my non-overlapping Wednesday show schedule, and the latter seems pretty lacking for such a hyped show.) I’m not sure exactly where I stand on Lost, except to say that NEXT week’s “Do you love him, Kate?” storyline looks intriguing. (Hey, how about TRIXIE from Deadwood showing up on the sailboat and then getting whacked by Sun? I guess it was better her than everyone’s favorite Korean hottie.)
You’re dead on (of course) about the intro-narration on The Class. Really, the only thing keeping that show on my schedule WAS . . . dude, I can’t remember any characters’ names besides Richie Velch. Anyway, the show had limited appeal, but it’s slowly growing on me.
After Entertainment Weekly did their FIRST hype-fest on Battlestar Galactica, I tried to watch an episode. And I wasn’t really getting it. The episode I watched may have been more boring than the average BG episode, but it was BOOOOORRRRRRING! I’m all for replacing a lot of the original characters with hot chicks, but . . . I dunno. Do you think this rates higher than Firefly?
You KNOW I can’t say enough great stuff about Heroes. “Save the cheerleader, save the world,” indeed.
Scott-san - October 20th, 2006 at 12:53 pmI agree about South Park… this week’s episode was the most… wrong thing I’ve ever seen. The WoW one was excellent too, and I’ve never even played it.
I knew I recognized the woman on the boat, but DUH, TRIXIE! Did she die? On Lost I mean… I don’t remember. Hopefully she’ll be back. A podcast I listen to speculated that the big twist this season would be Jack losing his shit over Sawyer and Kate hooking up, and joining The Others to become a Bad Guy. The preview for the next episode kind of backs up that theory; although it doesn’t show Jack involved, it could be that They are trying to push Kate and Sawyer together for that purpose.
I tried to explain tonight’s episode of BSG to my wife, who has never seen it, and finally had to give up, because damn this show has gotten complicated. Yeah some episodes are slower than others; there aren’t as many space battles as you might think.
rob - October 20th, 2006 at 11:51 pmYou didn’t answer the question of whether you think BSG is better than Firefly.
I’m sure you know where I stand on the issue: nothing is better than Firefly.
Ben - October 23rd, 2006 at 10:39 amWell… honestly I can’t say. They’re both great. I wish Firefly was still on. If you asked me if I would trade the Television Gods BSG for Firefly, I would have a hard time deciding.
rob - October 23rd, 2006 at 9:51 pm