BSG and everything else
Sep. 24th, 2005 09:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatAllergies have me congested and missing benadryle. I've closed up the apt and am trying to use the air purfier, I think I finally figured it out.
Long week. Glad it's over. Today or rather tonight, I celebrate Wales birthday, which arrives tomorrow. The second of many fall birthdays. At this rate, I'll be broke when Xmas rolls around.
Watched numerous new tv shows and returning shows this week.
Here's my tv show review ramble:
Nip/Tuck - somewhat disappointing and overly long. It drug in places. Course the season openers of Nip/Tuck are never fantastic, this show usually picks up speed mid-season. I enjoyed the metaphor of the fat woman literally grafted onto her couch due to her fear of the outside world. Weighed down by fear. The only problem with it was the writer either did not trust his audience enough to figure it out or he loved the metaphor so much he felt the need to keep talking about it. We did not need to be told that fear kept the woman in her house or that her fear was similar to Scean's fear of moving on without Julia, or Christian's fears of facing what happened to him. I sort of like to make those connections on my own. Not have them telegraphed to me. That said, I still enjoy the characters of Christian, Julia, Scean - their interaction and uncertainity. Grappling as they do with their own fears and realities. Christian's opening dream of his funeral was interesting but could have been crisper, as was his revealation to Scean of the rape, which should have come later and been harder.
The pacing felt off somehow. And there were moments that felt completely out of wack or were merely inserted for shock value. The Three-Some at the end for instance. It felt more dream than reality. Too clearly the male fantasy. And it lessened the effects of the creepy and intense sexual interrogation that occurred prior to it.
At times, I feel as if Nip/Tuck dances delicately along the precipice of going just a tad over-the-top, as they did here.
On the other hand, as I commented to Wales this week, it was the most interesting thing I saw on TV next to BSG.
Nothing else, outside of the season finale of BSG, came close to the character exploration this show did.
Lost. Well, the good news is I'm not going to be struggling over which show to watch next week, Veronica Mars or Lost. Thank you UPN for waiting a week to show the premiere of Veronica Mars. You provided me with the chance to catch the premiere of Lost first. See what was in the hatch. Which actually intrigued me. No, it was Jack's flashbacks coupled with the ending that made me roll my eyes. Get antsy and miss the other show.
Lost reminds me of the hokey 70's horror tv serials I watched as a child. Specifically Fantastic Journey. Complete with weird kid. Like those serials, the plotting at times seems a tad wacky or way too gimmicky. For instance, if you want to show me why Jack is all science and does not believe in miracles, don't show a past event where he literally witnesses a miracle then neglect to explain why he questions them now. Also the reveal at the end that the guy in the hole was the same guy on the bleachers that Jack met briefly, running up and down them, is just a tad far-fetched. I rolled my eyes. There are just one too many coincidences in this show. It's getting to the point that you can't watch an episode without hitting three of them. After a while the scarey parts or shocking parts start becoming predictable.
The other difficulty I have with Lost is the main character, Jack, doesn't intrigue me. Which from what I've read about the up-coming season is a major problem.
I can more or less predict next week's episode right now - there's three possibilites, all three leave me less than enthused. So...I can let go of Lost for the time being, switch back to it intermittently, no worries.
Thank you UPN and thank you ABC.
Kitchen Confidential Well I laughed. Which is something. Don't laugh at a lot of these situation comedies. Didn't really laugh at Arrested Development although it wanted me to. Been laughing the most at Dead Like Me, which may tell you something about my sense of humor. I also really like Bradly Cooper's turn as the lead. The actor was in my opinion the best thing about Alias and when he left the show, so did I eventually.
Will miss the girl-friend, I enjoy the actress who played her and think she'd have been more interesting than the two models they've found to play the female characters. Neither can act. They both have blond hair. And
both grate on my nerves. But Kitchen is definitely a guy show - the guy version of Sex in The City. Complete with guy humor. What works in Kitchen is the work-place humor and the bits and pieces they've taken from the book upon which it is based. Those were the bits that made me laugh. What does not work are the sex humor, the ditzy women, and the bits that have been added. It's enjoyable but not can't miss tv. I'll have no problem flipping to How I Met Your Mother - next week, to check it out. Did see the end of it this week, so know about the twist ending. From the last ten minutes, Mother may end up being a little more clever than Confidential but not necessarily funnier.
My Name is Earl Didn't really laugh much here. Okay once. When they ran out of the poor guy's house.
"I realized later that running probably wasn't necessary" - was the line that made me cackle. Is it worth missing House for? No. Trying Commander in Chief next week to see if that is worth missing House for.
But Earl is sort of heartwarming fun. The character oddly likable. The problem is - it's yet another one of those comedies that pokes fun at white trash. People who have hardly any money and live in trailer parks. Getting a tad tired of those comedies. Also the women...sigh.
Everybody Hates Chris May be the best sitcom of the season. Only saw the last ten minutes, but laughed during it and it resonated with me. Only one problem - I'm curious about Smallville and it is opposite Smallville.
Smallville saw last season's finale, not bad. Far more watchable than the episodes I'd tried prior to it.
And the previews of what is coming this season, definitely interesting - especially regarding Lex, who tells his father at the end of last season's finale - "I want you to know you've created the son you always wanted." In the previews, he says, "I guess I've become the villain..." or something to that effect. Plus we have Clark finally telling Chloe and Lana who he is. So I'm curious. Welling is also growing on me a little. So maybe I can watch this off and on?
Threshold Tried. Gave up. Hokey X-Files rip-off. Wasn't a huge fan of the X-Files. This doesn't intrigue for same reasons that didn't. Horror doesn't do much for me by itself. Have same problems with Supernatural. Also more horror for horror's sake. The one I'm waiting for is Night Stalker with Stuart Townsend. Which should be next week in BSG's spot on another channel.
BattleStar Galatica Season finale - Fascinating. Especially if you remember the predecessor. Moore really is using the original series as a template for the new one. In the original there was a two-part episode called the "Living Legend", it ended the second season of Galatica on a cliff and starred Lloyd Bridges as Admiral Kane, a legend who'd been lost during the initial fighting. He ran the Pegasus and when he shows up with his daughter, who is the shadow to Apollo, he seems to be a gift from the gods to the Galatica. Until they discover that Kane is bit insane. That he will sacrifice anyone or anything to go after the Cylons. The original version wasn't that dark, and Kane sort of disappeared again in glory. It was a nostaglia episode about how we deal with past heroes and legends. Moore's retooling of it in the episode Pegasus, where Michelle Forbes plays the legendary Kane and is the commanding officer, and the daughter is no longer in evidence, twists the tale into a far more realistic and disturbing one about what war can do to you. Kane has been twisted by the war on the Cylons, by the tragedy. She has imposed the military rulebook and martial law beyond sense and reason. Men are executed if they do not obey. The cylon humans tortured for information, even brutally raped. But it's all okay since we are at war. Pegasus is demonstrative of something I've been studying in class lately - how the most heinous crimes are often committed as an act of obediance, not defiance. Kane's obediante crew along with Kane herself have inadvertently become as monstrous if not more so than the beasts they are trailing. The old adage be careful of looking into the abyss, for it will look back at you. How we deal with rules and orders that turn our stomach. Are we willing to defy them? And at what cost. It's far darker than the original, and far more disturbing, as all the new Galatica episodes have been.
Still loving Dead Like Me. On Season 2 now, just received disks 2 and 3 in the mail.
PS: Very happy Rita has not hit Houston like everyone thought. And that areustha is safe. Whew. Checked that out first thing this morning as well.
Long week. Glad it's over. Today or rather tonight, I celebrate Wales birthday, which arrives tomorrow. The second of many fall birthdays. At this rate, I'll be broke when Xmas rolls around.
Watched numerous new tv shows and returning shows this week.
Here's my tv show review ramble:
Nip/Tuck - somewhat disappointing and overly long. It drug in places. Course the season openers of Nip/Tuck are never fantastic, this show usually picks up speed mid-season. I enjoyed the metaphor of the fat woman literally grafted onto her couch due to her fear of the outside world. Weighed down by fear. The only problem with it was the writer either did not trust his audience enough to figure it out or he loved the metaphor so much he felt the need to keep talking about it. We did not need to be told that fear kept the woman in her house or that her fear was similar to Scean's fear of moving on without Julia, or Christian's fears of facing what happened to him. I sort of like to make those connections on my own. Not have them telegraphed to me. That said, I still enjoy the characters of Christian, Julia, Scean - their interaction and uncertainity. Grappling as they do with their own fears and realities. Christian's opening dream of his funeral was interesting but could have been crisper, as was his revealation to Scean of the rape, which should have come later and been harder.
The pacing felt off somehow. And there were moments that felt completely out of wack or were merely inserted for shock value. The Three-Some at the end for instance. It felt more dream than reality. Too clearly the male fantasy. And it lessened the effects of the creepy and intense sexual interrogation that occurred prior to it.
At times, I feel as if Nip/Tuck dances delicately along the precipice of going just a tad over-the-top, as they did here.
On the other hand, as I commented to Wales this week, it was the most interesting thing I saw on TV next to BSG.
Nothing else, outside of the season finale of BSG, came close to the character exploration this show did.
Lost. Well, the good news is I'm not going to be struggling over which show to watch next week, Veronica Mars or Lost. Thank you UPN for waiting a week to show the premiere of Veronica Mars. You provided me with the chance to catch the premiere of Lost first. See what was in the hatch. Which actually intrigued me. No, it was Jack's flashbacks coupled with the ending that made me roll my eyes. Get antsy and miss the other show.
Lost reminds me of the hokey 70's horror tv serials I watched as a child. Specifically Fantastic Journey. Complete with weird kid. Like those serials, the plotting at times seems a tad wacky or way too gimmicky. For instance, if you want to show me why Jack is all science and does not believe in miracles, don't show a past event where he literally witnesses a miracle then neglect to explain why he questions them now. Also the reveal at the end that the guy in the hole was the same guy on the bleachers that Jack met briefly, running up and down them, is just a tad far-fetched. I rolled my eyes. There are just one too many coincidences in this show. It's getting to the point that you can't watch an episode without hitting three of them. After a while the scarey parts or shocking parts start becoming predictable.
The other difficulty I have with Lost is the main character, Jack, doesn't intrigue me. Which from what I've read about the up-coming season is a major problem.
I can more or less predict next week's episode right now - there's three possibilites, all three leave me less than enthused. So...I can let go of Lost for the time being, switch back to it intermittently, no worries.
Thank you UPN and thank you ABC.
Kitchen Confidential Well I laughed. Which is something. Don't laugh at a lot of these situation comedies. Didn't really laugh at Arrested Development although it wanted me to. Been laughing the most at Dead Like Me, which may tell you something about my sense of humor. I also really like Bradly Cooper's turn as the lead. The actor was in my opinion the best thing about Alias and when he left the show, so did I eventually.
Will miss the girl-friend, I enjoy the actress who played her and think she'd have been more interesting than the two models they've found to play the female characters. Neither can act. They both have blond hair. And
both grate on my nerves. But Kitchen is definitely a guy show - the guy version of Sex in The City. Complete with guy humor. What works in Kitchen is the work-place humor and the bits and pieces they've taken from the book upon which it is based. Those were the bits that made me laugh. What does not work are the sex humor, the ditzy women, and the bits that have been added. It's enjoyable but not can't miss tv. I'll have no problem flipping to How I Met Your Mother - next week, to check it out. Did see the end of it this week, so know about the twist ending. From the last ten minutes, Mother may end up being a little more clever than Confidential but not necessarily funnier.
My Name is Earl Didn't really laugh much here. Okay once. When they ran out of the poor guy's house.
"I realized later that running probably wasn't necessary" - was the line that made me cackle. Is it worth missing House for? No. Trying Commander in Chief next week to see if that is worth missing House for.
But Earl is sort of heartwarming fun. The character oddly likable. The problem is - it's yet another one of those comedies that pokes fun at white trash. People who have hardly any money and live in trailer parks. Getting a tad tired of those comedies. Also the women...sigh.
Everybody Hates Chris May be the best sitcom of the season. Only saw the last ten minutes, but laughed during it and it resonated with me. Only one problem - I'm curious about Smallville and it is opposite Smallville.
Smallville saw last season's finale, not bad. Far more watchable than the episodes I'd tried prior to it.
And the previews of what is coming this season, definitely interesting - especially regarding Lex, who tells his father at the end of last season's finale - "I want you to know you've created the son you always wanted." In the previews, he says, "I guess I've become the villain..." or something to that effect. Plus we have Clark finally telling Chloe and Lana who he is. So I'm curious. Welling is also growing on me a little. So maybe I can watch this off and on?
Threshold Tried. Gave up. Hokey X-Files rip-off. Wasn't a huge fan of the X-Files. This doesn't intrigue for same reasons that didn't. Horror doesn't do much for me by itself. Have same problems with Supernatural. Also more horror for horror's sake. The one I'm waiting for is Night Stalker with Stuart Townsend. Which should be next week in BSG's spot on another channel.
BattleStar Galatica Season finale - Fascinating. Especially if you remember the predecessor. Moore really is using the original series as a template for the new one. In the original there was a two-part episode called the "Living Legend", it ended the second season of Galatica on a cliff and starred Lloyd Bridges as Admiral Kane, a legend who'd been lost during the initial fighting. He ran the Pegasus and when he shows up with his daughter, who is the shadow to Apollo, he seems to be a gift from the gods to the Galatica. Until they discover that Kane is bit insane. That he will sacrifice anyone or anything to go after the Cylons. The original version wasn't that dark, and Kane sort of disappeared again in glory. It was a nostaglia episode about how we deal with past heroes and legends. Moore's retooling of it in the episode Pegasus, where Michelle Forbes plays the legendary Kane and is the commanding officer, and the daughter is no longer in evidence, twists the tale into a far more realistic and disturbing one about what war can do to you. Kane has been twisted by the war on the Cylons, by the tragedy. She has imposed the military rulebook and martial law beyond sense and reason. Men are executed if they do not obey. The cylon humans tortured for information, even brutally raped. But it's all okay since we are at war. Pegasus is demonstrative of something I've been studying in class lately - how the most heinous crimes are often committed as an act of obediance, not defiance. Kane's obediante crew along with Kane herself have inadvertently become as monstrous if not more so than the beasts they are trailing. The old adage be careful of looking into the abyss, for it will look back at you. How we deal with rules and orders that turn our stomach. Are we willing to defy them? And at what cost. It's far darker than the original, and far more disturbing, as all the new Galatica episodes have been.
Still loving Dead Like Me. On Season 2 now, just received disks 2 and 3 in the mail.
PS: Very happy Rita has not hit Houston like everyone thought. And that areustha is safe. Whew. Checked that out first thing this morning as well.
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no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 02:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 06:51 pm (UTC)Must have been weird.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 09:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-28 12:28 pm (UTC)My parents live on Hilton Head Island - they do evacuate every time there's a hurricane warning - but they only have a population of maybe 100,000 or so. Not 1 million. Or anything close to the size of Houston and New Orleans. And even then - they have to make reservations ahead of time.
The one time they didn't, they drove over 10 hours to find a place.
It's funny how people make assumptions based on what we think we'd do in a situation, not understanding what the situation would really be like or the problems. We think we know them, but until you're in it? You can't know. Plus there are factors and variables that are different for everyone.
So happy that the hurricane didn't hit Houston and Austin, for your sake and the others out there.