New TV tried, series goodbyes, and a bzzzzzzy weekend
I just commented in a couple of LJs about last night's unbelievably fabulous game-changing finale of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - and I could kick some fracking producer ass right now. Those guys spent the lion's share of the second season doing nothing but dragging their collective feet and the story line to the point where I was just tuning in on Fridays because 1) we weren't watching anything else at 8 pm, 2) I knew there would be no season three, and 3) so we figured we stick it out til the end just in case something good happened, and we could say we kept up with the entire "series". In other words, it was rote viewing, and I had already gotten to the point where I knew I wouldn't care when the show was officially canned.
Starting with the submarine two-parter, the series became invigorated. The characters were suddenly way more interesting, including Jesse - which was shocking considering I despised this character from day one and was angry that she took up so much of the story line and screen time (though I was glad when it looked like Derek killed her - and I say "looked" because we never actually saw the shot or the body). The best part was how John finally came into his own and became strong and commanding. And with that, Cameron got more play, which was always the biggest problem with the show - the almost utter waste of the most interesting character and actor they had. I suspect there was some kind of backstage actor squabble or disagreement between the producers and Glau - it was just too obvious they were purposely benching her for some ridiculous reason.
Then we get the shocking and almost senseless death of Derek last week, which was very dramatic - but also at the time proof to me that BAG had already cut ties with the series considering he's attached to a new fall Pilot. But wait - there's one more shock in store when he shows up in the last moments of the finale as future Derek, and someone who has never met John Connor before. *ack*! When they said the show would end on a game-changing note, they weren't kidding. OMG, last night's episode was probably their best of the season - and I think if they had done more story-telling like that, they'd have kept more of their audience, particularly their male audience.
What a goddamn waste because there's really no hope now that the show is going to be renewed for a third season, and instead of being all accepting as I was being most of the season, suddenly I'm pissed because there will be no more! But, honestly, I'm not really pissed at FOX - they gave it far more of a chance then they are known to do. Instead, I blame entirely the producers for wasting the opportunity. *grrrrrrrrrrrrr*
I look at the shows on my current "Boob Tube" list (the shows I tune into regularly), and a goodly chunk of them I already know are history. There's Reaper whose own showrunners have already signed onto another project, as well as Tyler Labine being attached to a new Pilot. (Though I was experiencing the same problem with Reaper last season that I did with SCC, until the introduction of Tony and Steve and the ramping up of the mythology surrounding Sam's birth. Suddenly it was a kick-ass series with strong writing, and all the characters - including (finally) Annie - were layered and interesting. Then they come back this year and almost entirely waste the momentum - almost like the producers had moved on before the season even started.). Kings has been banished to Saturday nights to play out their final eight episodes (which is frankly more than I thought they had in the can). Chuck is on life-support, and Medium's fate is always hanging by a thread season to season. It's an even worse outlook for those series that air on NBC since next year the network becomes CW/FOX-lite, loses five prime-time hours, and thus anything and everything is up for potential cancellation, particularly shows airing at 10 pm since there will be no 10 pm anymore.
Which brings me to Southland now airing in ER's vacated 10:00 Thursday night spot (a spot that will be eliminated in the fall). I watched this one early via our Primetime On!Demand channel since I couldn't wait and it was going to compete with Harper's Island at the same time (which wasn't available early on the same On!Demand channel). There's a definite Boomtown feel to the series. I've also seen comparisons to Third Watch, which was one I could never get into. I think of the two competing series at 10 pm Thursday, Southland is by far the better show - though, to be honest, I wonder if I'd even have bothered were Ben McKenzie not a castmember. But I liked it a lot when I watched it, I think it's got great potential. I'll stick with it for the next five weeks (they only have an order for six episodes). But, again, it's chances for anything beyond the initial episode order are precarious being an NBC show.
Since I'd already seen Southland, I tuned into the premiere of Harper's Island real time on Thursday. This was one of the midseason series I was looking forward to the most - and as it's happened before this season, it's the one that has disappointed the most. It's just ... horrible. OMG, so bad - the writing, the acting, the plot, the direction. Everything about it stinks - except the fact that Richard Burgi is still gorgeous. But that's not enough for me to keep tuning in. Oy vey!
Then there was The Unusuals now airing in Life on Mars' old spot after Lost. It was okay, trying very hard to be quirky, not quite succeeding. No where near as good as Life on Mars dammit! I was ready to write this one off after the premiere as well, but then The Spousal Unit read that one of the producers of THE MIDDLEMAN comes on board starting with the second episode. So we'll check it out again next week to see if there's a quality improvement of Middleman proportions. That's about the only thing that would keep me tuning in.
It's weird how the young new members of the respective squads in both Southland and The Unusuals (played by Ben McKenzie and Amber Tamblyn) are from wealth and in a career their families are not particularly happy with.
Speaking of Life on Mars, I read this week that Acorn is releasing the first season of the UK series here in the US. Yay! :D
I meant to mention in my last post how shocked and saddened I was to read of Andy Hallet's sudden and untimely death. Only 33 years old. Must be totally devastating to his family and friends. RIP Andy and Lorne. :(
Mad props to the states of Iowa (all of places!) and Vermont, along with Massachusetts and Connecticut for their state-official acceptance of gay marriage. Is it possible that the basic human right to pursue happiness is becoming meaningful and popular again in proportion to the end of the country's most recent Dark Ages? I hope so.
I am waiting on a call back (hopefully today!) from All Florida Bee Removal. Last night The Spousal Unit was mowing the backyard and was suddenly surrounded by hundreds of bees. Lo and behold a swarm had arrived to take up hive residence in one of our oak trees in the backyard. Yikes! I wonder how much this is going to cost me? But it has to be removed/relocated (we have pets!). This kind of stuff only happens to us around here, it seems.
Starting with the submarine two-parter, the series became invigorated. The characters were suddenly way more interesting, including Jesse - which was shocking considering I despised this character from day one and was angry that she took up so much of the story line and screen time (though I was glad when it looked like Derek killed her - and I say "looked" because we never actually saw the shot or the body). The best part was how John finally came into his own and became strong and commanding. And with that, Cameron got more play, which was always the biggest problem with the show - the almost utter waste of the most interesting character and actor they had. I suspect there was some kind of backstage actor squabble or disagreement between the producers and Glau - it was just too obvious they were purposely benching her for some ridiculous reason.
Then we get the shocking and almost senseless death of Derek last week, which was very dramatic - but also at the time proof to me that BAG had already cut ties with the series considering he's attached to a new fall Pilot. But wait - there's one more shock in store when he shows up in the last moments of the finale as future Derek, and someone who has never met John Connor before. *ack*! When they said the show would end on a game-changing note, they weren't kidding. OMG, last night's episode was probably their best of the season - and I think if they had done more story-telling like that, they'd have kept more of their audience, particularly their male audience.
What a goddamn waste because there's really no hope now that the show is going to be renewed for a third season, and instead of being all accepting as I was being most of the season, suddenly I'm pissed because there will be no more! But, honestly, I'm not really pissed at FOX - they gave it far more of a chance then they are known to do. Instead, I blame entirely the producers for wasting the opportunity. *grrrrrrrrrrrrr*
I look at the shows on my current "Boob Tube" list (the shows I tune into regularly), and a goodly chunk of them I already know are history. There's Reaper whose own showrunners have already signed onto another project, as well as Tyler Labine being attached to a new Pilot. (Though I was experiencing the same problem with Reaper last season that I did with SCC, until the introduction of Tony and Steve and the ramping up of the mythology surrounding Sam's birth. Suddenly it was a kick-ass series with strong writing, and all the characters - including (finally) Annie - were layered and interesting. Then they come back this year and almost entirely waste the momentum - almost like the producers had moved on before the season even started.). Kings has been banished to Saturday nights to play out their final eight episodes (which is frankly more than I thought they had in the can). Chuck is on life-support, and Medium's fate is always hanging by a thread season to season. It's an even worse outlook for those series that air on NBC since next year the network becomes CW/FOX-lite, loses five prime-time hours, and thus anything and everything is up for potential cancellation, particularly shows airing at 10 pm since there will be no 10 pm anymore.
Which brings me to Southland now airing in ER's vacated 10:00 Thursday night spot (a spot that will be eliminated in the fall). I watched this one early via our Primetime On!Demand channel since I couldn't wait and it was going to compete with Harper's Island at the same time (which wasn't available early on the same On!Demand channel). There's a definite Boomtown feel to the series. I've also seen comparisons to Third Watch, which was one I could never get into. I think of the two competing series at 10 pm Thursday, Southland is by far the better show - though, to be honest, I wonder if I'd even have bothered were Ben McKenzie not a castmember. But I liked it a lot when I watched it, I think it's got great potential. I'll stick with it for the next five weeks (they only have an order for six episodes). But, again, it's chances for anything beyond the initial episode order are precarious being an NBC show.
Since I'd already seen Southland, I tuned into the premiere of Harper's Island real time on Thursday. This was one of the midseason series I was looking forward to the most - and as it's happened before this season, it's the one that has disappointed the most. It's just ... horrible. OMG, so bad - the writing, the acting, the plot, the direction. Everything about it stinks - except the fact that Richard Burgi is still gorgeous. But that's not enough for me to keep tuning in. Oy vey!
Then there was The Unusuals now airing in Life on Mars' old spot after Lost. It was okay, trying very hard to be quirky, not quite succeeding. No where near as good as Life on Mars dammit! I was ready to write this one off after the premiere as well, but then The Spousal Unit read that one of the producers of THE MIDDLEMAN comes on board starting with the second episode. So we'll check it out again next week to see if there's a quality improvement of Middleman proportions. That's about the only thing that would keep me tuning in.
It's weird how the young new members of the respective squads in both Southland and The Unusuals (played by Ben McKenzie and Amber Tamblyn) are from wealth and in a career their families are not particularly happy with.
Speaking of Life on Mars, I read this week that Acorn is releasing the first season of the UK series here in the US. Yay! :D
I meant to mention in my last post how shocked and saddened I was to read of Andy Hallet's sudden and untimely death. Only 33 years old. Must be totally devastating to his family and friends. RIP Andy and Lorne. :(
Mad props to the states of Iowa (all of places!) and Vermont, along with Massachusetts and Connecticut for their state-official acceptance of gay marriage. Is it possible that the basic human right to pursue happiness is becoming meaningful and popular again in proportion to the end of the country's most recent Dark Ages? I hope so.
I am waiting on a call back (hopefully today!) from All Florida Bee Removal. Last night The Spousal Unit was mowing the backyard and was suddenly surrounded by hundreds of bees. Lo and behold a swarm had arrived to take up hive residence in one of our oak trees in the backyard. Yikes! I wonder how much this is going to cost me? But it has to be removed/relocated (we have pets!). This kind of stuff only happens to us around here, it seems.