100 Things: TV Episodes I Love (Day 12)
Argh. Seriously, this crappy thing that blew up on Monday is EATING MY BRAIN. In fact, I think my brain will implode and dribble out my ears shortly. So, I bring you another TV episode that I love.
So, Leverage. So much love for this show. In fact, it would be really easy for me to spend the next 50 episodes just talking about Leverage, and why I love it, and how amazing it is. (Please do not take this opportunity to tell me how it got terrible after first season, or why you don't like it. Haters to the left, and I am not completely rational today. Plus, this is about my love, and there isn't enough love in this world to go around.)
Anyway, I'm selecting "The Nigerian Job," otherwise known as the pilot. In my opinion, good pilots are really hard to pull off. You have a limited amount of time to introduce your audience to these new characters and their situation, and then--and this is important--make the audience care. If they don't care, they won't tune in next week, and your show dies. That being said, there are plenty of shows that I love in spite of the pilot episode. Leverage is not one of those shows.
Right off the bat, Jon Rogers introduces us to Nate Ford, a functioning alcoholic, who is tasked with bringing together a disparate group of kind of terrible people--a hacker, a hitter, a thief, and a grifter--and these people end up playing Robin Hood, and then liking it so much, they keep on doing good things.
There are all kinds of things I love about this show--the writing is clever, the dialog is sharp and witty, the acting is absolutely top-notch. But mostly, I love the idea that there's a team out there who is righting wrongs, and forming a kind of family while they're at it. That's part of why I love The Avengers, or Stargate, or even Bones.
In short, Leverage is my favorite kind of show.
So, Leverage. So much love for this show. In fact, it would be really easy for me to spend the next 50 episodes just talking about Leverage, and why I love it, and how amazing it is. (Please do not take this opportunity to tell me how it got terrible after first season, or why you don't like it. Haters to the left, and I am not completely rational today. Plus, this is about my love, and there isn't enough love in this world to go around.)
Anyway, I'm selecting "The Nigerian Job," otherwise known as the pilot. In my opinion, good pilots are really hard to pull off. You have a limited amount of time to introduce your audience to these new characters and their situation, and then--and this is important--make the audience care. If they don't care, they won't tune in next week, and your show dies. That being said, there are plenty of shows that I love in spite of the pilot episode. Leverage is not one of those shows.
Right off the bat, Jon Rogers introduces us to Nate Ford, a functioning alcoholic, who is tasked with bringing together a disparate group of kind of terrible people--a hacker, a hitter, a thief, and a grifter--and these people end up playing Robin Hood, and then liking it so much, they keep on doing good things.
There are all kinds of things I love about this show--the writing is clever, the dialog is sharp and witty, the acting is absolutely top-notch. But mostly, I love the idea that there's a team out there who is righting wrongs, and forming a kind of family while they're at it. That's part of why I love The Avengers, or Stargate, or even Bones.
In short, Leverage is my favorite kind of show.