TV Sluttage Report
Sep. 9th, 2007 08:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatWell, I don't know about anybody else but I'm going to enjoy television a lot this season. Already am. .
I'm currently getting a kick out of Doctor Who, Supernatural, Smallville, and Torchwood reruns -which are new to me. As well as The Closer, Damages, and The 4400. Plus watching Bones in reruns. Bones is in my opinion the most entertaining of the procedurals, while the Closer continues to remind me of Prime Suspect in a good way. And my favorite new summer show? Burn Notice. Which reminds me a lot of those old detective/action shows that you no longer see much of any more - such as Magnum P.I., Matt Houston, The Equalizer, Nero Wolf, and what I hoped the Dresden Files would be. Burn Notice is better written and acted than Dresden. It of course helps that it has Sharon Gless and Bruce Campbell in supporting roles.
Smallvill Season 6 really is quite good. The best season of the show since maybe one or two, I gave up during three. Caught bits and pieces of three through five, or at least enough to follow season 6 without being confused.
Supernatural Season 2? Also surprisingly entertaining and quite good. Did miss the alternate reality this is what your life could have been episode, but saw most of the others ones now.
Doctor Who - seeing S2 on BBC America and S3 on Sci-Fi. The latter episodes are better than the early ones. Just saw the episode about "The New Earth" when Cassandra (the last human) takes over Rose's body. Billie Piper impressed me. I may find the character annoying, but the actress is much better than the one playing Martha. And I think I may be falling a little in love with Tennant's Doctor. Which is odd since I could barely stand him last year.
I think he grew on me.
Torchwood? Makes me laugh. It reminds me a little of Angel meets X-Files with a sense of humor. And I really like John Barrowman and the actress who plays Gwen.
And coming up? Well this upcoming tv season is a literal smorgesborg for a fan of quirky/cultish sci-fi tv serial drama and comedy. Say hasta la vista to the copies of the CSI/L&O, Survivor, Amazing Race, and 24 tv shoes. The networks apparently learned their collective lesson last year with Kidnapped, Jericho, The Nine, Six Separations, Will Traveler, Runaway, etc. This season we get fresh new blood. We can thank the success of Heroes, Brothers & Sisters, and 30 Rock for some of it.
1. Bionic Woman - a new version created by David Eick of BSG, with Michelle Ryan, Katee Sackoff, Miquel Ferrer, Isiah Washington amongst others.
2. Reaper - a horror dramedy about a twenty something who is forced to play bounty hunter for the devil after his parents sold his soul to the devil when he was a baby. The pilot is directed by Kevin Smith, but written by two women - who started out with a spec script for Buffy and went on to write for a couple L&O's before pitching this one. Smith wanted to polish the first script - having come from the film world where the director is king and the writer is a lowly peon - in TV? It's the opposite. Which may explain why I prefer tv sometimes. And why most writers do. It stars Ray Wise as the Devil.
3. Pushing Daisies - the new Bryan Fuller dramedy - you know the guy who did Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls. About a pie-maker who brings dead things back to life with a touch, but kills them again when he touches them a second time. Stars Chi McBride as the detective he works for, Swoosie Kurtz, and Kristen Chenworth.
4. Moonlight - the new David Greenwalt series starring Jason Dohring who used to play Logan on VM as a snarky vampire named Josef - friend of the lead. It's a family friendly vampire detective show where the vamps can walk around in daylight and don't have problems with stakes.
5. Journeyman - a time-traveling series about a reporter who gets sucked back in time and can't return until he solves the problem.
6. Life - about a cop who was sent to prison for a murder he didn't commit, has gotten released, gotten a million dollars and uses the money to go back to being a cop and solving the crime that put him away.
7. Viva Laughlin - produced by Hugh Jackman - based on the Brit series Viva Blackpool about a vegas casino owner who may or may not have killed an investor who pulled out at the last minute. Part musical/part murder mystery/part drama. It stars Jackman in a cameo, Melanie Griffith, DB Woodside, amongst others. They sing along with top songs such as Sympathy for the Devil in key places.
8. Aliens in America - about a Muslim kid who is plopped into the middle of a midwestern family. Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls) and Amy Pietz play the parents.
9. Samantha Who? - Christina Applegate of Married With Children - returns in a series about a girl who lost her memory and has to deal with the horrible things she did but can't remember. We see her past behavior in flashbacks. Sort of a Doctor Jekyll/Miss Hyde, except Miss Hyde is the former and Jekyll is the new version.
10. Dirty Sexy Money - it's pitched as Dynasty meets Six Feet Under - with emphasis on the latter. Stars Peter Krause, Jill Clayburgh, Donald Sutherland, Billy Baldwin...
11. Cane - a Latino Sopranos - with a killer latino cast - Jimmy Smits, Hector Elizondro, Rita Morena...about a cuban sugar company in Florida.
12. Kid Nation - the bizarre and highly controversial reality series about a bunch of kids running a town without adult supervision. Yes, we now have a social psychology experiment involving children that parents have actually agreed to - hence the controversy.
13. Big Shots - a boys version of Sex in The City starring Chris Titus, Josh Malina, Dylan McDermott, and Paul Blackthorn late of the Dresden Files.
14. K-Ville - a cop buddy show filmed in New Orleans.
15. Gossip Girl - a teen soap that takes place in NYC prep schools and reminds me a lot of that old Sarah Michelle Gellar/Ryan Phillipe/Reese Witherspoon film based on Dangerous Liasions. With a voice over narration by Kristen Bell.
16. Back to You - a new series about a local broadcast news station - focuses on two anchorpeople played by Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton
And... if that's not enough - we get a two hour prequel movie for BattleStar Galatica, starring Michelle Forbes Admiral Kane character and the rest of the BSG crew before the events of the series. It's called RAZOR. Plus another great documentary from Ken Burns featuring a World War.
It's literally a season with something for everyone and not a new procedural in sight. YAY!!
I knew the market would get saturated eventually and they'd try something else eventually, just a matter of time.
That's for the new stuff. The old stuff?
Doctor Who Season 2 on BBC America. Torchwood on BBC America.
Doctor Who Season 3 finishing it's run on Sci-Fi.
Supergirl and the potential beginnings of the Justice League on Smallville.
Two female hunters and potential antagonists on Supernatural
Kristen Bell on Heroes
Killer new seasons of Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy.
Nathan Fillion and Dana Delany and a new gay couple on Desperate Housewives
Rob Lowe full time on Brothers & Sisters
More Ryan O'Neal on Bones - which they need. (I wonder about some of these tv producers - do they watch tv? Because the head-writer/producer of Bones said they were going to stick with the innovative and weird tone of the series and next season do a really innovative thing and wait for it! Have a serial killer in the story all season long. Uhm. Hate to break this to you, but that's hardly innovative. Every procedural and mystery show on tv with the possible exception of the Closer and Saving Grace has done the serial killer bit. It's become so overdone now, that it is a cliche. It's why I stopped watching the things finally and gave up on mystery novels - I got tired of serial killers. The producers of Dexter actually thought they were being controversial with an anti-hero serial killer. Sigh. Have they seen Hannibal? Have they watched Angel? It's enough to make you want to take these people and force them to watch Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer fifteen times. Of course he might have been kidding...but it didn't sound like it.)
Friday Night Lights is back. So is Everyone Hates Chris with the creator playing a counselor.
Without a Trace has James Marsters in a recurring role.
Boston Legal deep-sixed it's entire cast except for Spader, Bergin, Shatner, and the guirky guy and has John Larrogate joining.
Don't know about anyone else? But My DVR is going to be packed. Am going to have to make choices and watch some of these shows in reruns over the summer - assuming the networks let me or on netflix.
I love the fall.
Sigh. I know, I know, it's pathetic to be excited about tv, but what the hey.
I'm currently getting a kick out of Doctor Who, Supernatural, Smallville, and Torchwood reruns -which are new to me. As well as The Closer, Damages, and The 4400. Plus watching Bones in reruns. Bones is in my opinion the most entertaining of the procedurals, while the Closer continues to remind me of Prime Suspect in a good way. And my favorite new summer show? Burn Notice. Which reminds me a lot of those old detective/action shows that you no longer see much of any more - such as Magnum P.I., Matt Houston, The Equalizer, Nero Wolf, and what I hoped the Dresden Files would be. Burn Notice is better written and acted than Dresden. It of course helps that it has Sharon Gless and Bruce Campbell in supporting roles.
Smallvill Season 6 really is quite good. The best season of the show since maybe one or two, I gave up during three. Caught bits and pieces of three through five, or at least enough to follow season 6 without being confused.
Supernatural Season 2? Also surprisingly entertaining and quite good. Did miss the alternate reality this is what your life could have been episode, but saw most of the others ones now.
Doctor Who - seeing S2 on BBC America and S3 on Sci-Fi. The latter episodes are better than the early ones. Just saw the episode about "The New Earth" when Cassandra (the last human) takes over Rose's body. Billie Piper impressed me. I may find the character annoying, but the actress is much better than the one playing Martha. And I think I may be falling a little in love with Tennant's Doctor. Which is odd since I could barely stand him last year.
I think he grew on me.
Torchwood? Makes me laugh. It reminds me a little of Angel meets X-Files with a sense of humor. And I really like John Barrowman and the actress who plays Gwen.
And coming up? Well this upcoming tv season is a literal smorgesborg for a fan of quirky/cultish sci-fi tv serial drama and comedy. Say hasta la vista to the copies of the CSI/L&O, Survivor, Amazing Race, and 24 tv shoes. The networks apparently learned their collective lesson last year with Kidnapped, Jericho, The Nine, Six Separations, Will Traveler, Runaway, etc. This season we get fresh new blood. We can thank the success of Heroes, Brothers & Sisters, and 30 Rock for some of it.
1. Bionic Woman - a new version created by David Eick of BSG, with Michelle Ryan, Katee Sackoff, Miquel Ferrer, Isiah Washington amongst others.
2. Reaper - a horror dramedy about a twenty something who is forced to play bounty hunter for the devil after his parents sold his soul to the devil when he was a baby. The pilot is directed by Kevin Smith, but written by two women - who started out with a spec script for Buffy and went on to write for a couple L&O's before pitching this one. Smith wanted to polish the first script - having come from the film world where the director is king and the writer is a lowly peon - in TV? It's the opposite. Which may explain why I prefer tv sometimes. And why most writers do. It stars Ray Wise as the Devil.
3. Pushing Daisies - the new Bryan Fuller dramedy - you know the guy who did Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls. About a pie-maker who brings dead things back to life with a touch, but kills them again when he touches them a second time. Stars Chi McBride as the detective he works for, Swoosie Kurtz, and Kristen Chenworth.
4. Moonlight - the new David Greenwalt series starring Jason Dohring who used to play Logan on VM as a snarky vampire named Josef - friend of the lead. It's a family friendly vampire detective show where the vamps can walk around in daylight and don't have problems with stakes.
5. Journeyman - a time-traveling series about a reporter who gets sucked back in time and can't return until he solves the problem.
6. Life - about a cop who was sent to prison for a murder he didn't commit, has gotten released, gotten a million dollars and uses the money to go back to being a cop and solving the crime that put him away.
7. Viva Laughlin - produced by Hugh Jackman - based on the Brit series Viva Blackpool about a vegas casino owner who may or may not have killed an investor who pulled out at the last minute. Part musical/part murder mystery/part drama. It stars Jackman in a cameo, Melanie Griffith, DB Woodside, amongst others. They sing along with top songs such as Sympathy for the Devil in key places.
8. Aliens in America - about a Muslim kid who is plopped into the middle of a midwestern family. Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls) and Amy Pietz play the parents.
9. Samantha Who? - Christina Applegate of Married With Children - returns in a series about a girl who lost her memory and has to deal with the horrible things she did but can't remember. We see her past behavior in flashbacks. Sort of a Doctor Jekyll/Miss Hyde, except Miss Hyde is the former and Jekyll is the new version.
10. Dirty Sexy Money - it's pitched as Dynasty meets Six Feet Under - with emphasis on the latter. Stars Peter Krause, Jill Clayburgh, Donald Sutherland, Billy Baldwin...
11. Cane - a Latino Sopranos - with a killer latino cast - Jimmy Smits, Hector Elizondro, Rita Morena...about a cuban sugar company in Florida.
12. Kid Nation - the bizarre and highly controversial reality series about a bunch of kids running a town without adult supervision. Yes, we now have a social psychology experiment involving children that parents have actually agreed to - hence the controversy.
13. Big Shots - a boys version of Sex in The City starring Chris Titus, Josh Malina, Dylan McDermott, and Paul Blackthorn late of the Dresden Files.
14. K-Ville - a cop buddy show filmed in New Orleans.
15. Gossip Girl - a teen soap that takes place in NYC prep schools and reminds me a lot of that old Sarah Michelle Gellar/Ryan Phillipe/Reese Witherspoon film based on Dangerous Liasions. With a voice over narration by Kristen Bell.
16. Back to You - a new series about a local broadcast news station - focuses on two anchorpeople played by Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton
And... if that's not enough - we get a two hour prequel movie for BattleStar Galatica, starring Michelle Forbes Admiral Kane character and the rest of the BSG crew before the events of the series. It's called RAZOR. Plus another great documentary from Ken Burns featuring a World War.
It's literally a season with something for everyone and not a new procedural in sight. YAY!!
I knew the market would get saturated eventually and they'd try something else eventually, just a matter of time.
That's for the new stuff. The old stuff?
Doctor Who Season 2 on BBC America. Torchwood on BBC America.
Doctor Who Season 3 finishing it's run on Sci-Fi.
Supergirl and the potential beginnings of the Justice League on Smallville.
Two female hunters and potential antagonists on Supernatural
Kristen Bell on Heroes
Killer new seasons of Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy.
Nathan Fillion and Dana Delany and a new gay couple on Desperate Housewives
Rob Lowe full time on Brothers & Sisters
More Ryan O'Neal on Bones - which they need. (I wonder about some of these tv producers - do they watch tv? Because the head-writer/producer of Bones said they were going to stick with the innovative and weird tone of the series and next season do a really innovative thing and wait for it! Have a serial killer in the story all season long. Uhm. Hate to break this to you, but that's hardly innovative. Every procedural and mystery show on tv with the possible exception of the Closer and Saving Grace has done the serial killer bit. It's become so overdone now, that it is a cliche. It's why I stopped watching the things finally and gave up on mystery novels - I got tired of serial killers. The producers of Dexter actually thought they were being controversial with an anti-hero serial killer. Sigh. Have they seen Hannibal? Have they watched Angel? It's enough to make you want to take these people and force them to watch Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer fifteen times. Of course he might have been kidding...but it didn't sound like it.)
Friday Night Lights is back. So is Everyone Hates Chris with the creator playing a counselor.
Without a Trace has James Marsters in a recurring role.
Boston Legal deep-sixed it's entire cast except for Spader, Bergin, Shatner, and the guirky guy and has John Larrogate joining.
Don't know about anyone else? But My DVR is going to be packed. Am going to have to make choices and watch some of these shows in reruns over the summer - assuming the networks let me or on netflix.
I love the fall.
Sigh. I know, I know, it's pathetic to be excited about tv, but what the hey.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-09-10 10:30 am (UTC)Any idea where I can catch the BBC re-runs (internet?)
no subject
Date: 2007-09-10 12:44 pm (UTC)I do know that Doctor Who S2 is out on DVD and Season 3 is coming out this fall. Torchwood should be coming to DVD soon as well. So you may be able to get them via netflix in the near future.
But when it comes to internet downloading? I'm not the one to ask. Clueless when it comes to that stuff.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-10 02:56 pm (UTC)Hey, there's nothing wrong with being excited about tv. I haven't really seen anything lately that's caught my imagination, and I miss that a lot. It was fun looking forward to a new show each week.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-10 04:19 pm (UTC)They are having a "Burn Notice" marathon during the day on Thurs on USA if you are so inclined or have the time. I don't. But already saw all of them, so doesn't matter.
Wish I had HBO so I could catch True Blood, but may have to wait until it comes out on DVD, since not sure can justify the expense just for one show. ;-)
Have you noticed much difference between HDTV and DTV? I haven't. Got both.
But they look more or less the same to me. Felt much the same way about CD's and Vinyl too. Maybe it's just me. (shrug)