Exploring new shows
I checked out two new shows in the past two days, after hearing high amounts of praise.
Skins is a series about British teenagers and their issues, including unsafe sex, drugs, eating disorders, more unsafe sex, class conflicts, and driving on the wrong side of the road into a pond. That was the first episode. The characters are well-drawn - some more likeable than others - and there is a healthy dose of irony in the plot. I can see why it's critically acclaimed.
I don't think I'll be watching it though. The subject matter is a bit stark for my taste. I need a bit of optimism in my narratives, and this series makes it clear right from the start that it's going to show teenagers do a lot of stupid things and then suffer for them.
The other show is Wilfred, a comedy starring Elijah Wood as a beta male who gets bossed around by his hot neighbor's manipulative dog, whom he constantly hallucinates as Jason Gaan in a dog suit. The comedy structure suggests that Wood's character will eventually "man up" and take his proper manly place in society, but apparently not without going through lots of humiliation and emasculation.
Again, it's well-written, well-acted, and critically acclaimed but not my mug of tea.
Still looking for stuff to occupy me until mid-September's network premieres.
Skins is a series about British teenagers and their issues, including unsafe sex, drugs, eating disorders, more unsafe sex, class conflicts, and driving on the wrong side of the road into a pond. That was the first episode. The characters are well-drawn - some more likeable than others - and there is a healthy dose of irony in the plot. I can see why it's critically acclaimed.
I don't think I'll be watching it though. The subject matter is a bit stark for my taste. I need a bit of optimism in my narratives, and this series makes it clear right from the start that it's going to show teenagers do a lot of stupid things and then suffer for them.
The other show is Wilfred, a comedy starring Elijah Wood as a beta male who gets bossed around by his hot neighbor's manipulative dog, whom he constantly hallucinates as Jason Gaan in a dog suit. The comedy structure suggests that Wood's character will eventually "man up" and take his proper manly place in society, but apparently not without going through lots of humiliation and emasculation.
Again, it's well-written, well-acted, and critically acclaimed but not my mug of tea.
Still looking for stuff to occupy me until mid-September's network premieres.