(no subject)

[shadowkat]

1. Well, deleted the eight and counting episodes of Lethal Weapon from the DVR tonight...I think if there were less tv shows on that I enjoyed watching, or I hadn't seen the movies, or I had more time, I'd have stuck with it. But alas, none of the above is the case. Plus, for some reason or other I prefer soapy serials, science-fiction, family dramas, musicals, and fantasy shows to cop dramas and procedurals. I've no clue why, but there it is.

2. In other television news...

All the shows I like or watch semi-regularly seem to have survived the cancellation fairy. Or should that be the ax?

* Crazy Ex-Girl Friend survived -- somewhat shocked by this, I was sure it was going to get cancelled. It had horrific ratings this year. But I think it does a very good job of shining a bright light on our societal ills. So, I think we need it right now, like La La Land -- it's relevant.

* The Good Place -- also surprised me by surviving, and like Crazy Ex, I think it shines a light on what is problematic in our society. And is rather clever about it's satire.

Both are existential satires by the way, which satirize romantic relationships, friendships, and success in rather fascinating ways.

* Lucifier - also surprising. Okay maybe not that much.


They don't know about The 100, The Catch, Riverdale, Timeless, Star.

This is Us is safe. Once Upon a Time looking good. And well, if it's in the top of the Neilsens or nominated for an award, it isn't going anywhere (see Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, NCIS)

I think No Tomorrow and Frequency are goners, not surprised at all. I gave up on them. Vampire Diaries is ending, as is Bones, and Reign (I thought Reign had ended some time ago...).

3. I am enjoying bits and pieces of Timeless but won't be shocked if it gets the ax. It has issues. Although, I think, of the three time travel dramss on television in 2016-2017, it's probably the most innovative and least annoying. (Time After Time based on the film of the same name, about HG Wells tracking Jack the Ripper in the future...doesn't enthrall me. I didn't like the original movie all that much, only watched it for Malcolm McDowell. Also, I'm bloody sick and tired of the serial killer trope and the Jack the Ripper trope -- it's been overdone. And it is soo..90s.)

Timeless also felt the need to play with the serial killer trope, but short-lived. Or rather two episodes. And in both scenarios, it wasn't the main story, so much as a commentary on the heroes handling of the problem in relation to the antagonist similar handling of a problem. I like the introduction of the new female character on the antagonist's end of things. I call Flynn the antagonist, because he's a bit ambiguous. That's another thing I like about the series -- the antagonist's are rather ambiguous. They aren't out and out villains.

That said, it...isn't witty enough. There's something...lacking. Not sure what, but I find it...dull at times. And my attention wavers. Also, the plots often feel rather contrived. And the actors/characters don't quite captivate. Flynn is probably the most charismatic, and he's the villain. With Rufus a close second. I should care more about Lucy than I do. The series lacks a certain edge. I can't quite put my finger on what it is exactly. Feel the same way about a lot of television series, to be honest. So it may just be me?

Did like Ernest Hemingway in the last episode, but that's only because I like the actor, a little known soap opera actor. Who I think has more screen presence than Wyatt or Lucy.

4. I think Shaun Cassidy may be involved with Emerald City, which is interesting. [ETA - to clarify, I think this is interesting because Cassidy wrote American Gothic and tends to do dark twisty fantasy well. Not because he is a former pop star that I had a crush on as a teenager.]

5. On the news front? I've discovered NY Times podcasts -- a quick and painless way to get news updates. Because honestly, the newsfeeds are crazy inducing. I thought last year was bad, it was relatively tame in comparison to this year. We can't go a day without the 45th making an ass out of himself. Seriously, I can't quite decide who is more deluded, the 45th or the fools still supporting the 45th. Apparently the 45th had a news conference, where he insisted all factual evidence to the contrary that he had a 54% approval rating, and the biggest electoral college win in the last 50 years (discounting of course Obama, Regan, both Bushes, and Clinton...not to mention Nixon), and oh, that Obama had left him with a colossal mess. (Yes, apparently the economy is in the toilet, and everything sucks...worse than it ever ever did.)

If you can't figure out who I'm talking about.or what..count yourself lucky. I would like to join you under your rock.

Read in the news that Sweden had found a way to do away with rubbish, it recycles all of it. I thought, okay, that's it, I'm moving to Sweden. It may be just far enough away...only problem is I doubt they'd accept me, I'd need to find some nice Swedish man or woman (not overly picky) to either adopt me or marry me. Prefer a man, being heterosexual.

Comments

[cactuswatcher]

Also, I'm bloody sick and tired of the serial killer trope and the Jack the Ripper trope -- it's been overdone. And it is soo..90s.)

I think the same thing is my problem with Timeless. It was okay when I thought it was about fixing the past, but it has developed into chasing a crazy man through time. Flynn may have a cause, but basically he's a serial killer, and I don't want to watch that either.

[shadowkat]

I have to agree - I'm struggling with that as well. Granted the whole Rittenhouse conspiracy bit does provide a twist and his need to wipe them out, because that will save his family...also an interesting twist, he's essentially just a serial killer. Except with a cause.

The writer's have gone out of their way to demonstrate that with the last three or four episodes...

I don't know why all the time travel series fell prey to the serial killer trope. I can understand why the crime dramas do...it's just too tempting to avoid, serial killers are harder to catch and there's a greater danger of our heroes dying at their hands. (Which is why I gave up on the crime dramas.)

[yourlibrarian]

I agree about the serial killer trope -- enough, especially Jack the Ripper.

Yes, Cassidy has been a producer for decades now. I had reason to watch some episodes of his American Gothic again recently and found it remarkable how well it continued to hold up. Now there was a show tampered with unconscionably and cut far too short. Stellar cast, too.

[shadowkat]

I should clarify something -- I was a fan of American Gothic and know Shaun Cassidy is a television writer and producer. I've been following him around a bit. ;-)

The comment above "Shaun Cassidy is involved with Emerald City" was meant to convey, oh, maybe I should give this another chance - because he did American Gothic along with another show... (Not because he was a former pop singer and in the Hardy Boys mysteries, and I had a crush on him as a teenager. LOL!)

[yourlibrarian]

Ha, well I did and then lost track of him for a long time given that back then there was no social media and few media mentions. I had missed any word of Roar until American Gothic and internet searches came along. I only recently started following his Twitter as I don't follow many people and it hadn't occurred to me until recently that he might have one.

I saw this week that Emerald City is unlikely to be renewed.

[shadowkat]

I sort of lost track of him as well...it's hard to follow television writers. I used to follow actors around, but got frustrated, mainly because I have a tendency to fall for lower profile television character actors who are seldom in anything. And when they are in other things, they suck, and I wonder what the heck was I thinking? This has happened with James Marsters, Richard Hatch, and Anthony Stewart Head (who may be the exception to the rule). There are a few that were worth following and jumped to the big screen, but they also have a tendency to appear in horrible movies - such as Kevin Spacey, Hugh Jackman...

Writers are less likely to disappoint me or so I've discovered. Except for Whedon who did, with the whole Marvel Universe bit and the Buffy comics, but I've decided to give him a pass on that.

Emerald City is failing in the ratings -- they'd have been better off as a Netflix series, I think. Also, they don't have compelling enough characters to rope in an audience. Or rather charismatic enough actor portraying the characters. One or the other.

[yourlibrarian]

Yeah, people are just inconsistent or, when it comes to actors, also don't always get their preference of projects or the end results are different from what they expected. Music artists can be the same. I can appreciate that they want to try different things but sometimes the things you quite liked are the things they leave behind -- or, the opposite, it's simply too much of the same thing over and over. Bryan Ferry was like that for me. His first solo album post-Roxy music was good. The ones that followed increasingly less so.

[shadowkat]

I agree. It is true of music as well..quite a few popular artists...don't always work after one or two albums for me. Alainis Morrisette comes to mind, along with Bjork, and Garbage. The difficulty I've had with a lot of them, is they sound the same...Madonna started to sound repetitive after a bit.

Less the case with the more folk oriented artists than the popular or rock oriented ones. Or so I've found.