#21: One of My Favourite TV Shows
I'd normally blog about something current here, but I've blogged about shows that are on right now a lot in other TV memes, so how about something I just started rewatching: Due South.
I got into this somewhat late; I watched a few season 2 episodes at home, but then something happened - either the channel dropped it or no one reminded me it was on, and I really got into it when season 3 arrived, and then I rewatched most of it when BBC2 started showing it on Tuesday nights while I was at University.
The show's only real flaw is that its cast is about five-sixths male, and both the leads are guys, so possibly not something that would get commissioned in its original form today, but watching the interactions between its main characters is brilliant.
Benton Fraser is a Canadian Mountie, who gets involved with the Chicago Police after his father gets murdered (he has to move to Chicago for reasons spelled out in the pilot). He is an expert tracker, can tell the smell of dog/wolf urine and determine what species it comes from (really) and in the latest episode, he is shown to have Superman-like hearing, and be fluent in Mandarin. He is also the world's politest person (kind of a stereotype of Canadians as I understand it; oddly, many Canadians I have met are not like this at all) and tends to obey the law to the letter.
His partner, Ray, is usually bewildered by some of the things he does, and usually refuses to play by the book so much as Fraser. Ray isn't in the final season much, because of presumably some conflict the actor had, so they bring in a replacement, who isn't quite as good, but is still a good foil to the central character.
The writers also add in a supernatural element half way through Season One, with the ghost of Fraser's father appearing (later episodes confirm it's not in his head, as other characters see the ghost too, and a couple of episodes have Ray's father appearing as a ghost).
I've probably gone on about this show too much - I'd recommend giving this a go; three seasons, and something like 68 episodes. Did I mention that while it's generally a straight drama, it is very funny at times; the tone is kind of similar to most of Bones plus I've noticed that Fraser has a few personality similarities with Dr. Temperance Brennan, mostly his social awkwardness.
I got into this somewhat late; I watched a few season 2 episodes at home, but then something happened - either the channel dropped it or no one reminded me it was on, and I really got into it when season 3 arrived, and then I rewatched most of it when BBC2 started showing it on Tuesday nights while I was at University.
The show's only real flaw is that its cast is about five-sixths male, and both the leads are guys, so possibly not something that would get commissioned in its original form today, but watching the interactions between its main characters is brilliant.
Benton Fraser is a Canadian Mountie, who gets involved with the Chicago Police after his father gets murdered (he has to move to Chicago for reasons spelled out in the pilot). He is an expert tracker, can tell the smell of dog/wolf urine and determine what species it comes from (really) and in the latest episode, he is shown to have Superman-like hearing, and be fluent in Mandarin. He is also the world's politest person (kind of a stereotype of Canadians as I understand it; oddly, many Canadians I have met are not like this at all) and tends to obey the law to the letter.
His partner, Ray, is usually bewildered by some of the things he does, and usually refuses to play by the book so much as Fraser. Ray isn't in the final season much, because of presumably some conflict the actor had, so they bring in a replacement, who isn't quite as good, but is still a good foil to the central character.
The writers also add in a supernatural element half way through Season One, with the ghost of Fraser's father appearing (later episodes confirm it's not in his head, as other characters see the ghost too, and a couple of episodes have Ray's father appearing as a ghost).
I've probably gone on about this show too much - I'd recommend giving this a go; three seasons, and something like 68 episodes. Did I mention that while it's generally a straight drama, it is very funny at times; the tone is kind of similar to most of Bones plus I've noticed that Fraser has a few personality similarities with Dr. Temperance Brennan, mostly his social awkwardness.