TV thoughts
Mar. 10th, 2012 06:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cahnThis month I've been mostly watching TV instead of reading books. I know, I know. I do feel quite ashamed of myself. (Though I am finally getting back to reading books again!) Usually I'm doing one show at most over any given six-month period, and somehow in the last couple of months I've watched five different shows. Eek. Anyway, because I'm that way, I thought I might write down some of my thoughts at greater length. In rough order of most liked by me to least:
-Downton Abbey. I would rec this to anyone who enjoyed the Pride and Prejudice miniseries. (Or, if you like DA, check out P&P.) I've only watched the first season, which I think is really very good. I hear the second season is quite different (according to my sister, "not as good," but we do differ on that for other things, so I'm hopeful). Lovely acting, characterization, interactions between people, fantastic understated humor -- I really very much like it.
-Once Upon a Time. Disney-Fairyland denizens are transported to a small town (Storybrooke) in Maine. I am, quite frankly, a little ashamed for being as addicted to this show as I am. It's campy (especially the Fairyland parts) and can be wildly inconsistent and is a bit soapy and has this really disturbing attitude towards True Love (to the point where it actually gets made fun of within the show, which is kind of nice, actually) and is definitely a vehicle for promoting Disney interpretations. The thing that keeps me going back week after week is that somehow they've gotten me to believe in Storybrooke as a community, full of relationships that I actually kind of care about, both as relationships and as part of the relationship gestalt of the town as a whole. One of the main storylines is that of Emma, Snow White's daughter, who has come to free Storybrooke from its curse, only having grown up in this world she doesn't even believe in the curse. However, almost despite herself she finds herself a part of the community -- she's drawn in by her biological son (I hate the actor, but I love the relationship), but she also has an extremely awesome friendship with another woman, Mary Margaret (who happens to be her mom in Fairyland), which passes Bechdel nearly every week, you guys (the weeks it doesn't are the weeks where they get approximately two seconds of screen time, and even then it often passes), and Emma now has a position of responsibility in the community which is entrenching her even more deeply into the life of the town, and... and I love this show. I can't help it. I don't even want to love it, and I don't necessarily recommend it (unless you share my complete and utter slavish devotion to relationships and community and don't mind huge campiness) but I look forward to it every week.
(Also, I find Robert Carlyle and Lana Parilla, in their Mr. Gold/Regina Mills incarnations, extremely compelling (though last week Carlyle seemed a bit off, I don't know whether it was him or whether I'm getting bored with his character -- not bored with Parilla though!). I also love Regina in that somewhat despite herself, she is part of the community of Storybrooke, while Evil!Queen is not really a part of the community of Fairyland.)
(Please rec me other (good) shows with a strong female friendship that passes Bechdel on a regular basis. I know there's Kira-Dax from DS9... mostly I'm drawing a blank, though partially because I don't, in fact, this month aside, generally watch much TV. And yes, Friday Night Lights has been recced to me for community and female friendships, and is on my list for when I get through all this other stuff.)
-Smash. As you probably know, I had such high hopes for this show. What it turns out to be is a soap opera with Broadway songs, and that's... pretty much it. They've actually got me to be bored and/or annoyed with Megan Hilty's character, which I did not even think was possible. Though I still like watching her, just not her character. And I still adore Christian Borle, who has not betrayed my confidence in his awesome acting ability; and Tom-Julia is the one relationship/friendship I'm invested in. Unfortunately, the writing ranges from adequate to terrible, and it at no time rises to the effortlessly witty heights of Slings and Arrows. Recommended for the musical numbers (which are great, and I think are also available separately online from nbc) but not necessarily as a show, unless you're willing to wade through a good deal of soapiness.
-Revenge. I watched about ten eps and gave up. It's a very pretty eyecandy show, don't get me wrong, and I like the female-Monte-Cristo retelling bit, but ten eps in there were no compelling relationships and no compelling community and there was nothing holding me in. The plot was sufficiently tense that after watching an episode I'd be jazzed for the next one, but after a week I'd think "Why did I want to watch this, again?" and that... does not make for long-term watching continuity for me. (Contrast Once Upon a Time, where I always want more community and just want to see more Emma-MM moments, or even Smash where I'm always hungry for more Tom-Julia.) Recommended if you like delicious revenge plots, but not for relationships.
-Star Trek: The Next Generation. For nefarious purposes. I've been mostly watching scattered episodes, which I realize is not the best way to do it, but wow, this just does not hold a candle to DS9, does it? Every so often there's a well-designed one (Picard as Locutus is rather thrillingly chilling, and Lxwana Troi -- and Homm! -- are a delight) but I tend to spend all these episodes wishing for Kira Nerys. Also, I feel very sorry for Martina Sirtis, who appears to have no good lines ever. Also I remember loving Guinan as a kid, but as she's written in the show really has no point, does she? (I'd love to know of episodes where she does have a point. Even in the Q/Borg one she seemed sort of shoehorned in.)
-Downton Abbey. I would rec this to anyone who enjoyed the Pride and Prejudice miniseries. (Or, if you like DA, check out P&P.) I've only watched the first season, which I think is really very good. I hear the second season is quite different (according to my sister, "not as good," but we do differ on that for other things, so I'm hopeful). Lovely acting, characterization, interactions between people, fantastic understated humor -- I really very much like it.
-Once Upon a Time. Disney-Fairyland denizens are transported to a small town (Storybrooke) in Maine. I am, quite frankly, a little ashamed for being as addicted to this show as I am. It's campy (especially the Fairyland parts) and can be wildly inconsistent and is a bit soapy and has this really disturbing attitude towards True Love (to the point where it actually gets made fun of within the show, which is kind of nice, actually) and is definitely a vehicle for promoting Disney interpretations. The thing that keeps me going back week after week is that somehow they've gotten me to believe in Storybrooke as a community, full of relationships that I actually kind of care about, both as relationships and as part of the relationship gestalt of the town as a whole. One of the main storylines is that of Emma, Snow White's daughter, who has come to free Storybrooke from its curse, only having grown up in this world she doesn't even believe in the curse. However, almost despite herself she finds herself a part of the community -- she's drawn in by her biological son (I hate the actor, but I love the relationship), but she also has an extremely awesome friendship with another woman, Mary Margaret (who happens to be her mom in Fairyland), which passes Bechdel nearly every week, you guys (the weeks it doesn't are the weeks where they get approximately two seconds of screen time, and even then it often passes), and Emma now has a position of responsibility in the community which is entrenching her even more deeply into the life of the town, and... and I love this show. I can't help it. I don't even want to love it, and I don't necessarily recommend it (unless you share my complete and utter slavish devotion to relationships and community and don't mind huge campiness) but I look forward to it every week.
(Also, I find Robert Carlyle and Lana Parilla, in their Mr. Gold/Regina Mills incarnations, extremely compelling (though last week Carlyle seemed a bit off, I don't know whether it was him or whether I'm getting bored with his character -- not bored with Parilla though!). I also love Regina in that somewhat despite herself, she is part of the community of Storybrooke, while Evil!Queen is not really a part of the community of Fairyland.)
(Please rec me other (good) shows with a strong female friendship that passes Bechdel on a regular basis. I know there's Kira-Dax from DS9... mostly I'm drawing a blank, though partially because I don't, in fact, this month aside, generally watch much TV. And yes, Friday Night Lights has been recced to me for community and female friendships, and is on my list for when I get through all this other stuff.)
-Smash. As you probably know, I had such high hopes for this show. What it turns out to be is a soap opera with Broadway songs, and that's... pretty much it. They've actually got me to be bored and/or annoyed with Megan Hilty's character, which I did not even think was possible. Though I still like watching her, just not her character. And I still adore Christian Borle, who has not betrayed my confidence in his awesome acting ability; and Tom-Julia is the one relationship/friendship I'm invested in. Unfortunately, the writing ranges from adequate to terrible, and it at no time rises to the effortlessly witty heights of Slings and Arrows. Recommended for the musical numbers (which are great, and I think are also available separately online from nbc) but not necessarily as a show, unless you're willing to wade through a good deal of soapiness.
-Revenge. I watched about ten eps and gave up. It's a very pretty eyecandy show, don't get me wrong, and I like the female-Monte-Cristo retelling bit, but ten eps in there were no compelling relationships and no compelling community and there was nothing holding me in. The plot was sufficiently tense that after watching an episode I'd be jazzed for the next one, but after a week I'd think "Why did I want to watch this, again?" and that... does not make for long-term watching continuity for me. (Contrast Once Upon a Time, where I always want more community and just want to see more Emma-MM moments, or even Smash where I'm always hungry for more Tom-Julia.) Recommended if you like delicious revenge plots, but not for relationships.
-Star Trek: The Next Generation. For nefarious purposes. I've been mostly watching scattered episodes, which I realize is not the best way to do it, but wow, this just does not hold a candle to DS9, does it? Every so often there's a well-designed one (Picard as Locutus is rather thrillingly chilling, and Lxwana Troi -- and Homm! -- are a delight) but I tend to spend all these episodes wishing for Kira Nerys. Also, I feel very sorry for Martina Sirtis, who appears to have no good lines ever. Also I remember loving Guinan as a kid, but as she's written in the show really has no point, does she? (I'd love to know of episodes where she does have a point. Even in the Q/Borg one she seemed sort of shoehorned in.)
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Date: 2012-03-10 03:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-10 05:49 pm (UTC)