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Lists : 5 Memorable TV Shows
Lots of Best and Worst Lists popping up, along with the beginning of the Awards season...is it just me or are there a lot of awards for things nowadays? Some of them, I'm rather skeptical of - such as The Golden Globes (although I appreciate the range of categories), the VHI's, the People's Choice, The Good Reads, and some of the lower level genre categories. The Hugos, Pulitizer, Noble and Booker Prize do have some credibility, although let's face it - 98% of this is subjective. I love it when book, film, television, music and art reviewers deign to provide us with their "objective" review of the material. Please. Who are you kidding? Although, what they don't seem to realize is all they are telling us is what is and what isn't to their taste - which in of itself is actually a really hard thing to pin-point because people's tastes change over time. I'm living proof of this fact. So what a reviewer may adore one year, they may well hate the next.
I was told today not to read so many negative book reviews - I don't need someone else's negative world view in my head. Interesting perspective. Hmm.
Not sure I can come up with a best of book list, or even memorable one. A lot of the books that I read this year bleed together, although there were a few that stood out -- although I'm not sure I'd rec them to anyone, tastes varying and all that. There was a really cool book list posted on FB of sci-fiction/fantasy novels by minority female writers which I can't find again. It started with Octavia Butler's Parable of Sower and closed with The Summer King...and no not the one in the YA fairy series. I can't find it again - dang it. This is why you need to share lists and not just like them on FB. If you know what I'm talking about? Please provide a link!
TV shows are a wee bit easier...since I've watched more of a variety in that arena this year. Of the one's I watched this year, here's the handful that I found memorable and would recommend. Note, I'm not saying they are necessarily the "BEST" out there, or that other series weren't just as good or better - this is just the list of tv shows that stood out for me.
1. Gotham - the only new series this fall that continued to hold my interest. It's a somewhat different and rather innovative take on the Batman Origin tale or the super-hero origin tale, stepping far outside the proverbial television box. I've never really seen anything like it done before. Instead of focusing on Batman, they are focusing on Gotham itself, and in particular the corrupt systems within it - and a young Jim Gordon, who is fighting to change those systems from within. Through it we get to see the origin tales of various characters in the Batman comics...notably the villains, and how they became villains, the flaws that lead them down that road.
Well cast, written, and directed - it has a nice twisty plot and adheres closely to the noir landscape and trope.
It's on Fox, on Monday nights and currently in reruns, so you can sort of catch up with it.
2. True Detective - it centers on the somewhat contentious partnership of two southern Texas cops over a 15-20 year period and the murder they've been attempting to solve. Portrayed by Mathew McConaghy and Woody Harrleson, who both deliver powerhouse performances - the series feels at times like a two-character play. Taking place in the present and the distant past, we see the flashbacks in each character's pov, often conflicting pov's, and at times, what they state in the present doesn't quite fit with what occurred in the past.In the present - they are being interviewed or rather interrogated by two black cops who are investigating the same case and believe that McConaughy's character was possibly the murderer and Woody Harrleson helped him cover it up. This feels at times like a novel for television and it might as well be, since the writer Nick P, based it on his novel, and wrote all the episodes, engaging a rather innovative film director to direct all of them. The director was nominated for an emmy and may have won it. As a result the series felt more compact and reminiscent of a mini-series or telenovel.
3. Fargo - similar to True Detective, this was set up as a novel for television, with a one time cast, and one or two writers doing most if not all of the episodes.
Standouts - Alison Toman (who portrays Deputy Sheriff investigating a murder case), Colin Hanks (the Sherif in Fargo who teams up with her to catch a hitman), Martin Freeman who portrays the insurance agent who befriends the hitman much to his own chagrin...and Billy Bob Thornton, who portrays the hired gun. While admittedly sluggish in places, and overly quirky in others, it is fascinating character study and notable for at least four stellar episodes - one which includes the funniest and by far most innovative filmed shoot-out action sequence that I've ever seen.
Next season is supposed to focus on some of the same characters but in the 1970s, with Kristen Dunst in one of the starring roles.
4. The Good Wife - the Fifth Season may have been its best. This series continues to deftly satirize the US legal and political system, and explore in various ways the power politics between the genders. It also has various complex characters. At times hilarious and others deeply moving...it remains smartly written, acted and produced.
5. The 100 - see previous post for full review. This show was a bit of a surprise, it starts out as sort of teen dystopia Lord of the Flies, yet twists and turns into something more. Amongst the few sci-fi series that have strong female leads across racial and age and size ranges, as well as strong male leads. A must-see for fans of Lost and Battlestar Galatica.
I was told today not to read so many negative book reviews - I don't need someone else's negative world view in my head. Interesting perspective. Hmm.
Not sure I can come up with a best of book list, or even memorable one. A lot of the books that I read this year bleed together, although there were a few that stood out -- although I'm not sure I'd rec them to anyone, tastes varying and all that. There was a really cool book list posted on FB of sci-fiction/fantasy novels by minority female writers which I can't find again. It started with Octavia Butler's Parable of Sower and closed with The Summer King...and no not the one in the YA fairy series. I can't find it again - dang it. This is why you need to share lists and not just like them on FB. If you know what I'm talking about? Please provide a link!
TV shows are a wee bit easier...since I've watched more of a variety in that arena this year. Of the one's I watched this year, here's the handful that I found memorable and would recommend. Note, I'm not saying they are necessarily the "BEST" out there, or that other series weren't just as good or better - this is just the list of tv shows that stood out for me.
1. Gotham - the only new series this fall that continued to hold my interest. It's a somewhat different and rather innovative take on the Batman Origin tale or the super-hero origin tale, stepping far outside the proverbial television box. I've never really seen anything like it done before. Instead of focusing on Batman, they are focusing on Gotham itself, and in particular the corrupt systems within it - and a young Jim Gordon, who is fighting to change those systems from within. Through it we get to see the origin tales of various characters in the Batman comics...notably the villains, and how they became villains, the flaws that lead them down that road.
Well cast, written, and directed - it has a nice twisty plot and adheres closely to the noir landscape and trope.
It's on Fox, on Monday nights and currently in reruns, so you can sort of catch up with it.
2. True Detective - it centers on the somewhat contentious partnership of two southern Texas cops over a 15-20 year period and the murder they've been attempting to solve. Portrayed by Mathew McConaghy and Woody Harrleson, who both deliver powerhouse performances - the series feels at times like a two-character play. Taking place in the present and the distant past, we see the flashbacks in each character's pov, often conflicting pov's, and at times, what they state in the present doesn't quite fit with what occurred in the past.In the present - they are being interviewed or rather interrogated by two black cops who are investigating the same case and believe that McConaughy's character was possibly the murderer and Woody Harrleson helped him cover it up. This feels at times like a novel for television and it might as well be, since the writer Nick P, based it on his novel, and wrote all the episodes, engaging a rather innovative film director to direct all of them. The director was nominated for an emmy and may have won it. As a result the series felt more compact and reminiscent of a mini-series or telenovel.
3. Fargo - similar to True Detective, this was set up as a novel for television, with a one time cast, and one or two writers doing most if not all of the episodes.
Standouts - Alison Toman (who portrays Deputy Sheriff investigating a murder case), Colin Hanks (the Sherif in Fargo who teams up with her to catch a hitman), Martin Freeman who portrays the insurance agent who befriends the hitman much to his own chagrin...and Billy Bob Thornton, who portrays the hired gun. While admittedly sluggish in places, and overly quirky in others, it is fascinating character study and notable for at least four stellar episodes - one which includes the funniest and by far most innovative filmed shoot-out action sequence that I've ever seen.
Next season is supposed to focus on some of the same characters but in the 1970s, with Kristen Dunst in one of the starring roles.
4. The Good Wife - the Fifth Season may have been its best. This series continues to deftly satirize the US legal and political system, and explore in various ways the power politics between the genders. It also has various complex characters. At times hilarious and others deeply moving...it remains smartly written, acted and produced.
5. The 100 - see previous post for full review. This show was a bit of a surprise, it starts out as sort of teen dystopia Lord of the Flies, yet twists and turns into something more. Amongst the few sci-fi series that have strong female leads across racial and age and size ranges, as well as strong male leads. A must-see for fans of Lost and Battlestar Galatica.