(no subject)
For some reason, I'm very awkward about being away from LJ. If I'm busy enough at work that I can't do more than skim, I feel horribly guilty about not commenting on entries, especially if people are talking about their lives. So then I just stay away altogether, only checking out fic-rec journals or journals that are mostly article links, and it becomes a whole anti-social feedback loop because even when I do then have time to properly read & respond I feel stupid commenting on stuff that's days old.
But that's enough of my self-conscious issues.
lithium_doll made a heartbreaking Papa Winchester vid: I Ain't Scared of Lightning.
Spoilers for 2x01. Wonderfully subtle, she avoids the obvious shots for the little killer moments. Don't mind me, I'll just be over here crying in the corner.
And as far as Studio 60 is concerned, I've been waiting to see how it pulled together, and my conclusion, after five episodes, is that Aaron Sorkin needs to take his damn self out of his writing. I don't even mean the obvious stuff, like the TV writer who did coke -- it's just that he'd clearly still rather be writing for The West Wing. And it's damaging his character's ability to develop into their own "voice," as opposed to being his mouthpiece.
I mean, the talented young writer with a series about the workings of the U.N.? Honestly.
But it's really more the tendency toward soapboxing, which can blend with characterization when your characters are politicos, but doesn't work so well with a working TV crew. Tom and Simon and to a lesser extent Harriet tend to play off each other well while Danny and Matt have the best chemistry (there's a Sorkin pattern that he continues smoothly, this time); Danny and Jordan sometimes work and sometimes play clunky and often I feel it's just Bradley Whitford's charisma keeping it off the edge. Harriet and Jordan suffer with the clunkiest, most author-fingerprinted characters, I think. Harriet doesn't feel as well balanced as Bartlett did, as a character of faith. Her annoying passive-aggressiveness aside, her faith feels too much like An Issue every. single. time.
Also, I find it kind of hard to be invested in her relationship with Matt, since we mostly get told about it -- constantly. (Hello, Cordy/Angel season 3.) I started liking the idea of them better with the idea that they inspire each other's best work, that she drives him to be better, and his material showcases her talents. I'd like to see more of Danny and Matt as a team, get more on their history -- maybe more of Jordan and Danny as a team, too, though there's something about her character that doesn't quite click yet for me either, though I don't know what.
Mostly, Studio 60 suffers because On the Sunset Strip isn't all that funny -- it doesn't work as the gimmick the way that SportsNight did. If Sorkin is smart, he'll start cutting out more of it, and put in more character time.
So far I'm only finding it modestly enjoyable, instead of the fantastic, engaging entertainment that SN and WW were. But maybe Sorkin will get all his self-justifying and lingering WW issues out of the way with the next few eps, and settle into the rhythm of something new.
And now it's time for SPN, so must dash.
But that's enough of my self-conscious issues.
lithium_doll made a heartbreaking Papa Winchester vid: I Ain't Scared of Lightning.
Spoilers for 2x01. Wonderfully subtle, she avoids the obvious shots for the little killer moments. Don't mind me, I'll just be over here crying in the corner.
And as far as Studio 60 is concerned, I've been waiting to see how it pulled together, and my conclusion, after five episodes, is that Aaron Sorkin needs to take his damn self out of his writing. I don't even mean the obvious stuff, like the TV writer who did coke -- it's just that he'd clearly still rather be writing for The West Wing. And it's damaging his character's ability to develop into their own "voice," as opposed to being his mouthpiece.
I mean, the talented young writer with a series about the workings of the U.N.? Honestly.
But it's really more the tendency toward soapboxing, which can blend with characterization when your characters are politicos, but doesn't work so well with a working TV crew. Tom and Simon and to a lesser extent Harriet tend to play off each other well while Danny and Matt have the best chemistry (there's a Sorkin pattern that he continues smoothly, this time); Danny and Jordan sometimes work and sometimes play clunky and often I feel it's just Bradley Whitford's charisma keeping it off the edge. Harriet and Jordan suffer with the clunkiest, most author-fingerprinted characters, I think. Harriet doesn't feel as well balanced as Bartlett did, as a character of faith. Her annoying passive-aggressiveness aside, her faith feels too much like An Issue every. single. time.
Also, I find it kind of hard to be invested in her relationship with Matt, since we mostly get told about it -- constantly. (Hello, Cordy/Angel season 3.) I started liking the idea of them better with the idea that they inspire each other's best work, that she drives him to be better, and his material showcases her talents. I'd like to see more of Danny and Matt as a team, get more on their history -- maybe more of Jordan and Danny as a team, too, though there's something about her character that doesn't quite click yet for me either, though I don't know what.
Mostly, Studio 60 suffers because On the Sunset Strip isn't all that funny -- it doesn't work as the gimmick the way that SportsNight did. If Sorkin is smart, he'll start cutting out more of it, and put in more character time.
So far I'm only finding it modestly enjoyable, instead of the fantastic, engaging entertainment that SN and WW were. But maybe Sorkin will get all his self-justifying and lingering WW issues out of the way with the next few eps, and settle into the rhythm of something new.
And now it's time for SPN, so must dash.