New TV Season Thoughts

unntrlaffinity wrote:

I don't watch it. And when the opportunity presents itself, I say why. So unless you're saying "If you ever have anything bad to say about something I like, then don't say it." which would rule out 85% of the discourse on this entire board, then we've all acted properly.

I guess what bugs is me is that you don't just say it's not for you, you drag it out into a full page rant. I'll just leave it at that.

unntrlaffinity wrote:

Seriously though, can anyone argue that House isn't written in the most rigid "Mad Lib" fill in the blank style to ever grace (or besmirch) television? The acting isn't bad, the show can be funny, but when I can literally time when a character is going to vomit blood to the half-minute, then something has gone horribly wrong. Sure, storytelling devices, structures, and guidelines exist for a reason, but there's a difference between following a five act structure and story arc and comitting crimes against storytelling by following in the footsteps of the most trashy and unoriginal romance novels.

It just seems to me that you are missing the story. Yes, they are doctors that solve a disease every week, and that has the normal progressions. But that is like complaining that every episode has them working at the hospital. There is the story of House's drug addicition which is related to his chronic pain in his leg. There have been great stories about his ex-wife and the near relationship with one of his residents. We've also had a take over of the hospital by a control freak. There are just gobs of stories going on. House has several relationships with other characters that are all along different paths. One of the themes many of the shows is how those characters are trying to save House, only to find House exposing their own issues, which in time makes them stronger people.

In the meantime, someone is dying, and they solve the puzzle (another theme that is being explored heavily this season) in about 60 minutes. That arc is pretty formulaic. Patient is sick, a cure seems to work, but one look at the clock and we know better, patient gets sicker, House gets called inhumane for suggesting a bizarre test, test works, patient lives. Well, except for last week. Puzzle solved, but they off the patient in a decent look at assisted suicide.

So what I'm say is, yes, I'd argue with you that House is not a "Mad Lib" type show. It's just that it is easy to claim that it is. Many reviewers fall into that trap, even the ones that love the show, and don't know why.

But I am not claiming House is the best show on television. I'm just claiming it is a high quality show, and does not deserve the simple minded slams it gets for being "formulaic".

lethial wrote:

I just saw "Heroes" and to my surprise I actually liked it. I can't wait to see next week's eps. i really like the incorporation of "human" aspects/flaws in these super heroes (or maybe villains) soon-to-be.

Just saw it, was very impressed. In fact, I think we might need to start a Heroes only thread, to me it just joined BSG and Lost as a show that needs to be dissected.

To start, anyone have an idea as to stripper mom's power?

Badferret wrote:

To start, anyone have an idea as to stripper mom's power?

Being hot and .... (should probably be spoilered)?

Quintin_Stone wrote:
unntrlaffinity wrote:

I don't watch it. And when the opportunity presents itself, I say why. So unless you're saying "If you ever have anything bad to say about something I like, then don't say it." which would rule out 85% of the discourse on this entire board, then we've all acted properly.

I guess what bugs is me is that you don't just say it's not for you, you drag it out into a full page rant. I'll just leave it at that.

Yeah, kinda with you there.

Just watched the pilot episode for Brotherhood. I'm liking the direction they're taking it. It could've easily been a "response" to The Sopranos on its way out or The Wire, but it kinda rests on its own. Though it may be because I'm just tired of The Sopranos - I felt it got dragged out too much, too many filler episodes to delay what we knew was going to/wanted to happen.

Brotherhood's got some style to it. Another show I'm looking forward to is Dexter from Showtime. If I got the premise right, it follows a forensic examiner by day who seeks out and murders serial killers by night. I have to say, it's a show that's being presented to nail that modern noir nerve I've got, so I'll definitely be on the lookout for it.

Quintin_Stone wrote:
unntrlaffinity wrote:

I don't watch it. And when the opportunity presents itself, I say why. So unless you're saying "If you ever have anything bad to say about something I like, then don't say it." which would rule out 85% of the discourse on this entire board, then we've all acted properly.

I guess what bugs is me is that you don't just say it's not for you, you drag it out into a full page rant. I'll just leave it at that.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

If you can't appreciate that, then simply don't watch it.

Oddly enough, your advice seems like it would apply to just skipping over and not reading a rant...

Anyway, I felt it warranted more than "I just don't like it." because it's more complicated than that. I have reasons for not liking it that just happen to outweigh my reasons for liking it. When someone just says, "I don't like it." and has no understanding of why that always seems just ignorant to me. Imagine if any critic just said, "I just don't like it." He'd get torn apart. And if a person shouldn't bother detailing why they dislike something, why not just say "I plum like it." instead of waxing on about anything's praises?

I rant about shows like that, and Lost, and 24, because if I thought they were completely worthless, they really wouldn't be worth the thought or time it takes to type up my complaints, as it is, each of these are shows I think could have, or still could, be special, but which have mostly thusfar been a waste. It infuriates me when I feel like something I really could have liked goes and drops the ball on something simple, or just gets lazy, more than it bothers me that there are bad shows out there. Of course there are, but they're not the ones that had potential to begin with. Their failure is no tragedy.

I just watched the first episode of Heroes, and I also liked it. It smacks a lot of "Rising Stars", and funny enough, there's more six degrees of separation in Heroes than in the show of the same title.

lethial wrote:

I just saw "Heroes" and to my surprise I actually liked it. I can't wait to see next week's eps. i really like the incorporation of "human" aspects/flaws in these super heroes (or maybe villains) soon-to-be.

Agreed. It's cool how they've made interesting human characters but are definitely keeping the comic book feel to it. I wonder how they're going to incorporate the powers into the show. That one guy's friend asks a good question when he says, "Even if you could do that, what would you do with it?"

unntrlaffinity wrote:

a bunch of stuff that looked like another rant about House, so I skipped it and went to bed

unntrlaffinity wrote:

Oddly enough, your advice seems like it would apply to just skipping over and not reading a rant...

Most of your rants I actually don't read. I've noticed your posts are usually long and vitriolic and a lot of them I skip if I see they've got considerable length.

Geek television snobbery really annoys me. There's a lot of people out there who think that loudly announcing an elitist attitude towards the boob tube gives them "geek cred", so they go on and on about how there's no good shows on and everything on is for mental degenerates. (This is a common attitude at Slashdot, for instance.) Based on your other posts, it sounds like you do not fit into this category, but your post about House came across this way to me and that's why my feathers got ruffled.

No, I don't think House is written in "the most rigid 'Mad Lib' fill in the blank style to ever grace (or besmirch) television". In the future, if you want to avoid people attacking opinion, you may want to avoid the ridiculous hyperbole. See, it's a comment like that that makes me think you never really sat and gave the show a fair shake.

Jayhawker wrote:

Smart stuff

Well said.

Saw heroes, want to see more. Thumbs up.

*Legion* wrote:

Studio 60: cool
Jericho: please be cool
Shark: is wanting to be House really, really badly... cool?
Six Degrees: could be cool, if not exactly inspiring in the pilot
Heroes: it better be cool
Smith: cool right now, how long can such a show be interesting though?
Kidnapped: cool to start, hopeful for the future
The Nine: if the theme song is Revolution 9, that would be cool

Oh my goodness. Like separated from birth. That's pretty much my exact take on the new shows. I've already given up on the Fox serial Vanished (or whatever it is called). And Justice is just plain silly.

Does anyone know when (or if?) 4400 begins its new season?

Quintin_Stone wrote:
unntrlaffinity wrote:

Oddly enough, your advice seems like it would apply to just skipping over and not reading a rant...

Most of your rants I actually don't read. I've noticed your posts are usually long and vitriolic and a lot of them I skip if I see they've got considerable length.

Geek television snobbery really annoys me. There's a lot of people out there who think that loudly announcing an elitist attitude towards the boob tube gives them "geek cred", so they go on and on about how there's no good shows on and everything on is for mental degenerates. (This is a common attitude at Slashdot, for instance.) Based on your other posts, it sounds like you do not fit into this category, but your post about House came across this way to me and that's why my feathers got ruffled.

No, I don't think House is written in "the most rigid 'Mad Lib' fill in the blank style to ever grace (or besmirch) television". In the future, if you want to avoid people attacking opinion, you may want to avoid the ridiculous hyperbole. See, it's a comment like that that makes me think you never really sat and gave the show a fair shake.

Jayhawker wrote:

Smart stuff

Well said.

I don't blame you, there used to be a LSP (Long Scritch Post) warning, but it does get annoying when something I mentioned gets skipped over and then I get berated. So I think it's fair enough if you skip it, because for me rant often indicates not just length but anger, but when I take the time to reply to something, I try to make sure I've thoroughly read what I'm replying to. Even if its long-winded.

I don't mind people attacking my opinions, that's the basis of any discussion/argument, I just find it irrelevant when they attack my right to have or express one, or attack me directly.

Jay listed a bunch of reasons to like the show, but they weren't enough for me. I did give it a chance, albeit maybe less than the rest of you, but I think a season is enough to gauge most shows worth, usually less even. I was at a friend's house who Tivo'd it, and at first I enjoyed it, but when we literally started predicting not just the outcome of each episode but the timing (Alright, this is a tender moment so the kid is going to vomit blood in 1...2...3...now!) I began to lose interest. It would be a great thing to rent on dvd and turn into a drinking game.

I just saw a preview for The Nine, but I must have missed the premiere. What kind of show does it seem like so far? The promos haven't really been very clear.

Eep. House. I think maybe it's just an acquired taste. I worked in a medical lab for four years, and my live-in girlfriend is a microbiologist so we probably understand alot of the technical jargon that turns away alot of people. Still, I think it's one of the best shows on air at the moment, next only to Lost.
As far as the show goes, though, it's formula is a pretty accurate reflection of how the field of medicine actually works. A patient is sick, and if the ailment isn't insanely obvious the doctor just makes wild guesses based on tests that are often vague and misleading until he hits upon a course of treatment that seems to work.

LiquidMantis wrote:

While the pilot season is now over (but it did get picked up), did anyone else get into Kyle XY?

I watched several episodes during a show marathon but I couldn't really get into it. It was way too 'disney' for my tastes. I felt as though some lazy executive just decided to tack an x-files character onto a generic family drama, where the worst expletive is "darn" and everyone's problems (except the main character's, to maintain the story) gets solved in forty minutes. I'm sure this show will fly for the teen crowd, but I'm too old and cynical.

"The Nine" premieres next week; 10/05

Where to begin! I am a bit of a T.V. freak and while I watch a lot shows I don't watch them all. I have been busy with so much lately that I fell really behind with all the shows and am only now catching up.

New Shows

KyleXY - surprised the crap out of me. You have to remember this is an ABC family show and take it for what it is.

Eureka - The show is good for a few laughs every episode, because it's sort of sci-fi it keeps me coming back but I am pretty dissapointed with it.

Blade - Surprised me actually, I thought it was going to be a lot worse. As it is it's pretty cheesy but it has Vampires and so I continue to watch it.

Studio 60 - I really enjoyed the 1st epsiode and haven't had a chance to watch the second. I will be keeping a close eye on this one before making a final decision but so far it looks pretty promising and I too enjoyed Matthew Perry's performance.

Happy Hour - Strange but charming I love the Female lead freaking great.

Till Death - Pretty dam funny Brad Garett carries the show and does a great job of it.

The Class - There seems to be some pretty funny characters on this show. Not sure how long it will last.

Heroes - Saw the first episode and it looks like it could be awesome. We'll see, I hope it doesn't screw up too bad.

Jericho - Oh Skeete Ulrich, will you ever find a show that will last? This show has some potential I just don't know if it will have time to show it.

Standoff - It's pretty interesting and to tell you the truth the only reason I am watching this is because of Gina Torres and Ron Livingston. It's been pretty good so far but it hasn't really done anything too impresive.

Smith - I really enjoy hiest films and the chance to see a mini version every week has me excited. I enjoyed the first episode enough I hope it doesn't dissapoint.

I've probably missed a few

Returning Shows

Stargate SG1 - I am there until the end!

Stargate Atlantis - Rodney makes me laugh, and a friend of mine recently started writing for it. I will keep watching.

House - As has been mentioned several times here already, I watch it for the characters. Great show.

CSI - I really don't know if I will watch another full season of this it's starting to wear thin

CSI New York - It's in the same boat as CSI

CSI Miami - I am happy to report I have stopped watching the show! I didn't watch the seasoner opener and I plan on never watching another episode. I just can't stand David Caruso and his Haratio Caine character. Bloody aweful!

Prison Break - This show has a nack for annoying me to the point where I am about to quite watching and than giving me just enough to keep me coming back.

Bones - I really love the characters on this show. My favorite crime drama. The new girl this year is a bit annoying.

The Unit - I love watching the action, it makes up for the shows faults, and there are a lot of them.

Boston Legal - DENNY CRANE! Nough said.

Weeds - Great show! Fun to watch. Kevin Nealon is great.

The Office - After watching the 1st episode when it aired I thought to myself, wow this won't last long, but they really turned it around. Season opener was pretty funny.

My Name Is Earl - I love this show. It's just hilarious. I am pretty impressed with Jaimie Pressly I thought her character was pretty dam annoying at first but she has been great.

How I Met Your Mother - Pretty standard fair nothing spectacular. I think Alyson Hannigan is sexy (favorite Buffy regular) and Neil Patrick Harris is fun to laugh at.

2 and Half Men - Charlie Sheen is funny. Cleverly written.

Extras - Everyone should be watching this show. It's freaking awesome!

Spooks - (MI5 over here) Another awesome show everyone should be watching.

I have probably missed some shows but it's getting late, and I am still behind!

Spooks lost me after that conspiracy theory I've been framed storyline (season 2 or 3 I think?), and the episode where they use the child hacker (that was really, really dumb). Up until then it had been brilliant. Has it gotten any better? I like spy stuff, but the show comes off as semi-grounded in reality, and then they started working in weird supervillian James Bond stuff.

Gaald. You watch a lot of TV. I've only seen one of the shows on your list.

ruhk wrote:
LiquidMantis wrote:

While the pilot season is now over (but it did get picked up), did anyone else get into Kyle XY?

I watched several episodes during a show marathon but I couldn't really get into it. It was way too 'disney' for my tastes. I felt as though some lazy executive just decided to tack an x-files character onto a generic family drama, where the worst expletive is "darn" and everyone's problems (except the main character's, to maintain the story) gets solved in forty minutes. I'm sure this show will fly for the teen crowd, but I'm too old and cynical.

I'm with you on that vibe. The wife and I watched it since it was smartly aired while the only other shows we were watching were The 4400 and The Dead Zone. It is drama-light but does have a some darker moments. It helps bandage the gaping wound that the cancelation of John Doe caused.

My full Tivo recording schedule, starting Sundays:

The Wire - Best show on TV. Period.

Desperate Housewives - Enjoybable show, with plenty of over the top moments. Call it a guilty pleasure.

Prison Break - Has been flirting with stupid for a looooong time. About to get banished like 24 did.

Heroes - First episode was okay, and I'll give it a month. I hope it is good, but I can already see plotting and character issues that, if not fixed, will make this worse than Smallville.

Two and a Half Men - Funny, funny show.

How I Met Your Mother - Watch this for Neil Patrick Harris. Barney is one of my favorite characters on TV right now.

Studio 60 - It's the West Wing. On a late night sketch show. I just can't decide if Sorkin thinks of himself as the Matthew Perry or the Bradley Whitford character. Perry is the writer, but Whitford has the drug problem...hmmm. Either way, a very watchable show.

House - Second best show on TV.

Smith - Loved the first episode. I hope it can keep it up.

Veronica Mars - I am so embarrassed by how much I love this show. Third best show on TV.

Nip/Tuck - I think they are trying to make me stop watching. I have never seen a show where they try harder to make all of the characters unlikeable.

Boston Legal - Enjoyable characters, but the self-referential "we know we're a TV show" lines are getting old. David Kelley picks a political topic out of a hat and then writes a case around it. Last week's was about how we should be allowed to sell our organs. I disagree with practically everything Kelley thinks, but he writes enjoyable dialogue.

Standoff - About to be banished from the Tivo. I wanted the show to be good, but it's bleh. Decidedly average.

Friday Night Lights - Airs next week.

Lost - Comes back next week. Tied with VM as the third best show on TV. Here's hoping that it doesn't suck.

The Nine - Airs next week

Kidnapped - See Smith.

Jericho - Enjoyable, but not great. Might get cut soon.

My Name is Earl - The guy that plays Randy deserves an Emmy like no one else. This show is so funny I have to pause it at lease once an episode so I don't miss the next few lines.

The Office - Who would have guessed that the would actually be able to make a BBC show funnier and better than the original?

Survivor - Only reality show I watch. Still the best one on TV

CSI - Does anyone in Vegas know how to turn on the lights in a room? Seriously?

Grey's Anatomy - Another show I am embarrassed to admit how much I enjoy.

Shark - House in a courtroom. At least that is what it is trying for. First episode was good enough to give it a month or two to develop.

Grayjedi wrote:

Gaald. You watch a lot of TV. I've only seen one of the shows on your list.

Bah, that's nothing. Our DVR can record two shows at once. But this is not enough! So my wife records a third show to her computer through a TV input device and sometimes we even have to download an episode from the net.

My wife is a full-blown tv addict.

Well, that didn't last long. House and Stand Off are done and not coming back until October 31st. I hate when they do that to shows. Especially a new show. They may as well just cancel Stand Off now because by the time it comes back everyone will have forgotten about it.

I don't mind House taking a break right now, I have to give all these shows a couple of more shots and figure out what to drop.

Happy Hour is on "hiatus".

Badferret wrote:
lethial wrote:

I just saw "Heroes" and to my surprise I actually liked it. I can't wait to see next week's eps. i really like the incorporation of "human" aspects/flaws in these super heroes (or maybe villains) soon-to-be.

Just saw it, was very impressed. In fact, I think we might need to start a Heroes only thread, to me it just joined BSG and Lost as a show that needs to be dissected.

Thirded, or fourthed or whatever. I liked it. My only problem with shows like this, Lost, Alias, etc. is that often times you can see shows like this barrelling headlong down a path to stagnation because they're trying to reach that magical number of episodes or seasons for syndication. I really wish (as someone who wasn't particularly fond of some of the twists and turns in Season 2 of Lost) that someone would have the guts to make a series that lasted 2 or 3 seasons tops. Like really puts some big league production value into it. Make every episode count and then end it. Bam. No drawing it out to the point where it becomes a joke like Alias has become. Just end it. Make it like a 2 year long mini-series.

That first episode of Heroes fills me with a lot of hope for the series, but at the same time it fills me with dread. I fear them dragging the mystery out and creating new mysteries and trying to milk that puppy until it gets cancelled or people get sick of it. It's got a great premise. It's got a looming potential threat. It would be nice to seem them pop out 2 or 3 seasons of quality episodes where the show just pops from one episode to the next, end it and move on to the next project or maybe a spin-off.

One can dream....

DSGamer wrote:

My only problem with shows like this, Lost, Alias, etc. is that often times you can see shows like this barrelling headlong down a path to stagnation because they're trying to reach that magical number of episodes or seasons for syndication. I really wish (as someone who wasn't particularly fond of some of the twists and turns in Season 2 of Lost) that someone would have the guts to make a series that lasted 2 or 3 seasons tops.

I was watching some of the extras on the Lost season 2 dvd's a few weeks ago and JJ Abrams was talking about his creative process towards Lost, which seems to be just making sh*t up as he goes along with no plan whatsoever and watching to see what works when each episode is produced. I fancy myself a writer, not necessarily a good writer, but that just seems to be an incredibly stupid way of writing a continuing storyline. That's probably why there where so many odd choices and dropped threads in season 2 (and why Alias took a nosedive).

JohnnyMoJo wrote:

My Name is Earl - The guy that plays Randy deserves an Emmy like no one else.

Absolutely agree 100%! The way he delivers lines sometimes just make my headspin, in a "I can't believe Randy just said that" way.

Just finished watching Smith. Could make for a good series, but GOD, the music at the end was just atrocious. An entire song of electronically altered singing, which is something I absolutely detest.

Dude, I'm so mad at you, Quintin.

That is one of my favorite songs ever.

And if you listen again, it's a vocoder, which is not TECHINCALLY 'electronically altered.' Just electronically processed.

So basically, she's accompanying herself on the piano when she sings, but the keyboard is processing her voice through a mic and reproducing (her voice + accompaniment notes) together. What I mean is, it's different than, say, Cher or Kid Rock, where a producer takes the vocal track and digitally bends it to give it that weird computer sound.

Singer's name is Imogen Heap, one half of Frou Frou, if anyone cares.

Warlock wrote:

Dude, I'm so mad at you, Quintin.

That is one of my favorite songs ever.

And if you listen again, it's a vocoder, which is not TECHINCALLY 'electronically altered.' Just electronically processed.

So basically, she's accompanying herself on the piano when she sings, but the keyboard is processing her voice through a mic and reproducing (her voice + accompaniment notes) together. What I mean is, it's different than, say, Cher or Kid Rock, where a producer takes the vocal track and digitally bends it to give it that weird computer sound.

Singer's name is Imogen Heap, one half of Frou Frou, if anyone cares.

Good music, only problem is that The O.C. already used it in their second season finale, which was also the last episode of it I watched.

Sorry, my wife and I both hated it.