TV Snark: Swift Kicks--THAT'S Entertainment!?
What we talk about when we talk about "good"...I know that I am not really a typical fannish TV-watcher, because even when I'm watching something I'm a fan of (and not just something I'm, well, watching) my attitude is the same as when I'm reading fic. What I'm looking for is something interesting, not something that I can identify with or even something where I like the characters--I just have to be interested in seeing what they're going to do, or what's going to happen to them. Indeed, it seems that lately I've been watching a run of shows where there aren't any good guys, and some of the Worse Guys are Worse indeed. (Cut for length, nothing to frighten the horses)
I was never a big fan of The Sopranos--in fact, I haven't seen the end of S6--not because I insist on there being a moral center or someone I can root for, but because I really didn't care who clipped whom Sometimes I even watch things simply because I want to see what's going to happen next, e.g., The 4400, which I thought was badly written and often atrociously acted*. And we never even found out what really happened.
I'm re-watching S7 of "The Shield", which is a truly deluxe glass-bottomed cruise ship through the sewers. Even Walton Goggins can't entirely ruin it. Until I watched two seasons of "Damages" I would have called this the most complex set of televised interactions among people nearly all of whom had earned the Pottsylvanian Order of the Double Cross. With multiple bars. However, there are a few people in "The Shield" who are reasonably decent, whereas I think the only moments of sincere emotion in "Damages" occur when Rose Byrne and Timothy Olyphant's characters conclude that the other is kinda hot.
Last year, I watched the pilot of "Damages" and stopped watching out of a lack of ability to believe that anybody would ever behave or react in any way at all like the show, under any circumstances. But it's almost summer, and the standards are dropping gently to the ground with the pollen...
I quite enjoyed "Dirty Sexy Money," which I think is unusually well-acted for a nighttime soap, although the machinations of the characters are comparatively innocent. And since it's *always* That Guy, let the record reflect that Natalie Zea, one of the leads in "Dirty Sexy Money" is now playing Timothy Olyphant's ex-wife on "Justified." Which I have not been immediately drawn to, but see above WRT "Damages," so who knows? Also, "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Damages" are both pretty shows and convincingly New York-y, whereas "The Shield" is designedly and determinedly physically ugly, because the dirty deeds are done dirt-cheap.
I'm sort of surprised that "Brotherhood" didn't gain a following because of Jason Isaacs, although his character is way downmarket from Lucius. I think it's a very well-done show, although to an extent it's a downer simply because it's The Two-Bit Opera--the hoodlums inside and outside the statehouse are *so* petty.
I'll watch pretty much anything if I think I can cross it over with Firefly, and, as you know, I'm pretty liberal in defining this category, so I'd want to watch "Breaking Bad" anyway, but I think it's a great TV show, because I think it's a very strong character show, with great dialogue, and it's unhinged enough that anything could happen, and it's also an amazing ensemble cast.
I don't know if I'll re-watch it (certainly not when I'm eating dinner off a TV tray) because of the unremitting, grim, and explicit violence, but I still think "Sleeper Cell" is an amazing show. Like "Damages," there's a problem because the nominal lead is not only the least interesting character but the least interesting actor** but if the show actually possessed a fandom, it would be a natural for minionfics to fill in the background of the minor characters.
*Joel Gresch, I'm looking at you! I'm astonished he ever Worked Again in This Town.
**50 points off Gryffindor for Zeljko Ivanek's Southern accent though, and William Hurt is definitely off his A Game
I was never a big fan of The Sopranos--in fact, I haven't seen the end of S6--not because I insist on there being a moral center or someone I can root for, but because I really didn't care who clipped whom Sometimes I even watch things simply because I want to see what's going to happen next, e.g., The 4400, which I thought was badly written and often atrociously acted*. And we never even found out what really happened.
I'm re-watching S7 of "The Shield", which is a truly deluxe glass-bottomed cruise ship through the sewers. Even Walton Goggins can't entirely ruin it. Until I watched two seasons of "Damages" I would have called this the most complex set of televised interactions among people nearly all of whom had earned the Pottsylvanian Order of the Double Cross. With multiple bars. However, there are a few people in "The Shield" who are reasonably decent, whereas I think the only moments of sincere emotion in "Damages" occur when Rose Byrne and Timothy Olyphant's characters conclude that the other is kinda hot.
Last year, I watched the pilot of "Damages" and stopped watching out of a lack of ability to believe that anybody would ever behave or react in any way at all like the show, under any circumstances. But it's almost summer, and the standards are dropping gently to the ground with the pollen...
I quite enjoyed "Dirty Sexy Money," which I think is unusually well-acted for a nighttime soap, although the machinations of the characters are comparatively innocent. And since it's *always* That Guy, let the record reflect that Natalie Zea, one of the leads in "Dirty Sexy Money" is now playing Timothy Olyphant's ex-wife on "Justified." Which I have not been immediately drawn to, but see above WRT "Damages," so who knows? Also, "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Damages" are both pretty shows and convincingly New York-y, whereas "The Shield" is designedly and determinedly physically ugly, because the dirty deeds are done dirt-cheap.
I'm sort of surprised that "Brotherhood" didn't gain a following because of Jason Isaacs, although his character is way downmarket from Lucius. I think it's a very well-done show, although to an extent it's a downer simply because it's The Two-Bit Opera--the hoodlums inside and outside the statehouse are *so* petty.
I'll watch pretty much anything if I think I can cross it over with Firefly, and, as you know, I'm pretty liberal in defining this category, so I'd want to watch "Breaking Bad" anyway, but I think it's a great TV show, because I think it's a very strong character show, with great dialogue, and it's unhinged enough that anything could happen, and it's also an amazing ensemble cast.
I don't know if I'll re-watch it (certainly not when I'm eating dinner off a TV tray) because of the unremitting, grim, and explicit violence, but I still think "Sleeper Cell" is an amazing show. Like "Damages," there's a problem because the nominal lead is not only the least interesting character but the least interesting actor** but if the show actually possessed a fandom, it would be a natural for minionfics to fill in the background of the minor characters.
*Joel Gresch, I'm looking at you! I'm astonished he ever Worked Again in This Town.
**50 points off Gryffindor for Zeljko Ivanek's Southern accent though, and William Hurt is definitely off his A Game