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So, it has certainly been an interesting television season so far. Some thoughts on a few shows:
- The Walking Dead: I'm underwhelmed so far. The first season was post-apocalyptic survival. I thought it was one of the better shows last year. So far this season, it feels a lot more like a soap opera. And many of the characters are becoming annoying, delivering non-nonsensical monologues -- this isn't character development!
- Terra Nova: Again, I'm underwhelmed. It has a decent cast, a good premise, and a stellar budget. It has dinosaurs. But between the story-lite writing and the inane plotting, I'd have stopped watching by now if my son wasn't so intrigued (again, by the dinosaurs).
- House: Cast changes abound. I'm pleasantly surprised by how strong and fresh it can still be. I love Charlyne Yi (had to look it up).
- Person of Interest: Easily, the strongest new show I've seen. It takes a few episodes to flesh out, but it really rocks. Unpredictable, artsy, with some of the best performances to grace a mainstream drama. I tuned in for Michael Emerson, but Caviezel is a frakking revelation.
- Once Upon a Time: I hear it's really good, and it had the strongest premiere this fall. Will watch tonight.
- Chuck: Yay! Starts Friday!
- Misfits: Double-yay! Starts Sunday.
- The New Girl: Watchable, but only on the sheer joy of watching Zooey.
- 2 Broke Girls: Meh. My wife is watching it, but all of the old-school sitcom stereotypes have come home to roost.
- Thundercats: Awesome.
- Modern Family: More of the same. In this case, that's a good thing.
- Homeland and Boss: Both supposed to be excellent, but I don't have the time. Anybody seen and want to recommend?
- Game of Thrones: Over for the year, but what the heck -- they just announced it was returning in April. If it wasn't for the excessive sex, it might have walked away with the Emmy for best drama. Hands down the strongest show on television (and no, I don't watch Breaking Bad).
Don't get me wrong, I actually watched a couple episodes because I liked the original as a kid, and some have had a lot of success these days re-inventing old cartoons. But man. Lame.
Very much looking forward to Chuck. I even like Terra Nova, mostly on the strength of the two male lead actors, who are highly compelling, and the wife, who is also a great actor. What they've settled into is a sort of "problem of the week" common sci-fi stuff with nuggets of plot arc dropped every now and then. I'd like to see that tightened up, but I don't want it to become LOST.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Walking Dead: I'm enjoying the new season. Last season's premiere episode is still WAY ahead of anything else the show has ever done, but the rest of the first season was such a disaster that the new season is looking pretty good. The "soap opera" vibe is likely because the comic's creator Robert Kirkman is now in the writer's room.
quote:"That's the main thing I enjoy about the series is writing the soap-opera kind of stuff," he says. "The 'Oh, I really like this boy!' or 'I hope this girl goes out with me!' emotional scenes, that's the most fun for me — to do the character interaction stuff. All the zombie action and the harrowing events and the crazy things that happen, and the battles and the fights — that stuff's fun, too. But when it gets down to it, I'm kind of a sap.
In comparison, the show's characters are remarkably less dramatic than their comic versions. And its going to be an adjustment since they've gone from an urban environment to a rural, traveling lifestyle. Its going to be a slow development character-wise. I think they've got a great handle on Dale so far and they're doing some different things with Andrea so I'm interested to see how that plays out. Aside from the horrible opening speech in the first episode, Lincoln's Rick continues to grow on me. I also really like the addition of Daryl who has very quickly become my favorite. The comic dealt alittle with the leadership drama between Rick and Shane but now they've added another strong, take-charge character into the mix. And I give them credit for toning down Laurie who was absolutely wretched in the comic.
2 Broke Girls: I'm loving this show so much! Started off rough but the last two episodes have been great.
Modern Family: I just added this show. I marathoned the first two seasons recently so now I'm up to date. I may also be one of the few people who adores the new Lily.
Raising Hope: I was so glad when this show came back but it seems its already on hiatus. Boo.
Dexter: Still too early to tell how I feel about this season. The whole religion theme has me worried but I have no plans to give up this show anytime soon.
Big Bang Theory: Always awesome.
Community: After a rough start, the most recent episode was GOLD. Absolutely going to go down as one of their classic episodes. I'm really looking forward to the Halloween episode this year.
Once Upon a Time: I have the lowest hopes ever for this show and the reviews aren't doing it any favors, but I've got the first episode sitting on my laptop and I promised some coworkers that I'd give it a chance.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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On Metacritic, Once Upon a Time actually is getting rather great reviews . . . it's near the top of the heap of scripted new shows, with only Boss, Homeland, and Pan Am better reviewed.
Walking Dead Spoilers *********** So, a ninety minute opener consisted mostly of bizarre monologues (Andrea, Dale, Rick) and a search through the woods for a girl. There were two outstanding scenes . . . when the walkers flooded the road and the shooting, but that didn't cover more than ten minutes. What a waste of more than an hour of premiere!
The last episode the characterization suffered even more with T-Dog's bizarro "they are going to lynch me" comments, coupled with Rick's "my son's dying, I'm the only blood source, but I just want to leave for no good reason".
Heck, you know it's going off the rails when the redneck seems to be the most intelligent one.
End Spoilers***********
Posts: 1204 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: Thundercats? Really?
Don't get me wrong, I actually watched a couple episodes because I liked the original as a kid, and some have had a lot of success these days re-inventing old cartoons. But man. Lame.
Okay, let me frame my comment. I don't watch cartoons -- I generally detest them. Avatar, any of the newish superhero garbage, etc. But the Thundercats re-boot is something that I can watch with my eight year old, that I don't totally detest.
From me, that's pretty high praise for a cartoon.
Posts: 1204 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: Thundercats? Really? I even like Terra Nova, mostly on the strength of the two male lead actors, who are highly compelling, and the wife, who is also a great actor. What they've settled into is a sort of "problem of the week" common sci-fi stuff with nuggets of plot arc dropped every now and then. I'd like to see that tightened up, but I don't want it to become LOST.
Eureka and Fringe are both much better examples of how you can have a tight plot for a sci-fi "problem of the week" type series. Without a real ongoing plot, a show either needs to be entertaining (Eureka) or compelling (Fringe). Terra Nova is neither.
It's just sad that those shows are made on a shoestring budget and Terra Nova is a money pit of bad writing. Maybe it'll get better. I thought Fringe was pretty weak through most of the first season.
Posts: 1204 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Woah, you think avatar was a garbage cartoon but you like thundercats? I don't know anyone on earth who would say that. Avatar was amazing television regardless of format.
I saw eureka through season three and loved loved loved it. Frankly I wouldn't call it a great plot show, but the show is so much fun and the characters so funny that it works. Same thing with Chuck. No real long term plot. But they work together so so well. Insanely good chemistry.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Maybe the show resonates with people that don't generally like cartoons? I don't know. I really don't have time to give most of them a serious shot. You can just forget my criticisms when it comes to cartoons anyway -- I absolutely loved the Spongebob movie.
Posts: 1204 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Homeland - If you don't have time for this one, my recommendation...make time. Easily the best new show of the fall. Its from one of the creators of 24 and its like they figured out how to do everything that was right with that show, while avoiding everything that was bad about it. You won't regret the decision.
Terra Nova - Want to like it so badly, but agreed, very underwhelmed right now. Too many cliches and weak plot holes, without enough intrique or interesting characters for me to ignore the former. Though I do hear they are going to drop the story of the week style and go full serial for the later episodes in the season.
Once Upon a Time - Pleasantly surprised. Not sure if the premise can hold up over a full season, but I'm rooting for it.
Up All Night - My surprise favorite new comedy of the fall. My one complaint is Mya Rudolph's character. She's great, but I feel like she exists on a different show than Will Arnet and Christina Applegate. Luckily I think the producers realized the same and have toned her down as of late.
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