(no subject)

While people watched football, I binge watched The Arrow - now fully caught up, and have decided to continue watching, although oddly for the female characters not the lead. Felicity, Thea, and Laurel - have interesting arcs and are far more interesting than either Diggle or Oliver, which is odd. Now, if only The Flash had complex and interesting characters - it's a wee bit too comic booky for its own good. Granted it's most likely meant to be comic booky, but the Arrow has a wee bit more complexity.

Also caught up on The 100 which has vastly improved over the previous season, it's expanded it's scope, and now feels far more like an ensemble with various points of view. Plus, the characters are unpredictable and rather complex. ( spoilers )

Also watched a bit of Constantine - which, ahem, was that my imagination or did the show reference rip-off Doctor Who in the third episode? (It's bigger on the inside, how is that possible? Oh nifty trick, with the card. It's not a trick, it's a charmed card and can be whatever the holder requires it to be at any given time. ) Also referenced Supernatural - with the Winchester rifle. I can't decide if this is meant to be a homage via the writers, or they just borrowed someone else's mythology?

Constantine is okay, but it reminds me a great deal of Supernatural, but with not as much humor, a better actor in the male lead role (I like Matt Ryan - but then I was a Spike fan so this should not come as a big surprise to anyone), and a female lead (who so far feels a bit weak). The demon mythos feels a bit done to death. I don't know if I'll stick with it or not.

So far the only new series I feel inclined to stick with is Gotham - which continues to surprise me and in a good way. Everything else...I feel a bit meh about.

There are a few interesting mini-series coming up:

1. The Red Tent based on the best-seller - is a two night miniseries on Lifetime with a decent cast. Dec 7th and 8th.

2. Ascension - Syfy miniseries courtesy of Canada (which most of Syfy's series actually originate from so this is sort of keeping with tradition). It's based on a series of sci-fi novels about a murder investigation on a spaceship. Sort of space opera meets noir. It's Dec 15, 16. and 17th.

3. Galavant - a medieval musical comedy that reminds me of Shrek or Robin Hood Men in Tights. With sardonic humor. It's on ABC and starts Jan 6. Runs for 6 weeks or 4 weeks, can't remember.

4. Agent Carter - basically the adventures of Captain America's lost love (lost in that he got frozen back in the 1940s and she had to move on.) She's a secret agent with Shield fighting Nazis. So it's a period peace. For 6 weeks.

Apparently mini-series are in again. It's a bright move, also cheaper.

American TV tends to go on hiatus until the end of January - mainly because everyone assumes no one watches it during this period, and to make room for all the award shows, holiday specials, and football games. American tv does tend to cater to Sports quite a bit - which can be a bit annoying, if you are like me and really not that much into spectator sports. The reason they cater to Sports - is whomever is gifted with the Neilsen ratings box seems to think Sports are their drug of choice. The ratings for Football is off the charts. Actually the top of Nielsens are predictably:
1. Football
2. Singing or Dancing Competition
3. Police or Criminal Procedural - the more mundane and episodic, the better ( NCIS, Scorpion, CSI)
4. Buddy cop show (Bones, Castle, Mysteries of Laura...)
5. (Tough Female Drama) Greys Anatomy, Madame Secretary, or The Good Wife
6. Situation Comedy (Big Bang Theory)

I'm amazed we get the variety we do looking at the ratings. Probably due to the cable networks who care more about demographics than high ratings.