Clearly, I'm an idiot.
How did I not watch The West Wing when it was on the air? Effing awesome. It's like crack, but good crack, the kind that isn't the TV equivalent of bingeing on a huge bag of Doritos. I'm greatly appreciative of the DVDs having eight episodes per disc; makes it much easier to dive through quickly. :)
I don't think it's the sort of thing I see myself getting fannish about. But? Solid writing. Solid acting. Solid dialogue. Solid pretty much everything (and some gorgeous set design going on too). Excellent balance of drama and humor. I like nearly all the characters. Even the supposed "bad" episodes (at least, "bad" judging by the TWOP recappers' grades) beat the hell out of a lot of what's out there now.
Perhaps the one downside is coming out of watching an episode of this show, then reading the latest news on CNN, and remembering why I'm so cynical about American presidential administrations. Actually, if I had been watching this show on a regular basis when it aired - assuming the quality keeps steady throughout the remaining seasons - I'd probably be even more grumpy about politics.
Also, Heroes was awesome this week.
-- Green eclipse? Hmmm.
-- Yay end of Feudal Japan storyline... I didn't hate it, but it did feel draggy in places, and seeing Kensei show up in the present as the guy all the Elder Heroes are crapping themselves over, and apparently allied with Peter? Awesome, and almost makes it all worth it. And perhaps David Anders and Milo Ventimiglia being on screen together is just the thing I need to snare my sister into this show. Actually, the ideal would probably be those two with Kristen Bell's character.
-- Yay for Matt growing a huge brass pair, although am I the only one who thought the defeat of Pa Parkman came a little too easily? Eh well.
-- Mohinder... when you're not sure which side is the bad guy, you shut your damn mouth when you're talking to them, ne? You don't flip a coin and gush your supersekrit plan to the one that comes out on top. Bah.
-- I kept waiting and waiting for Hiro to make some offhand Return of the Jedi comment during his subplot. Gabbing on about how he knows there's good in Kensei, and even the swordfight reminded me a lot of the big Luke/Vader one in RotJ.
-- I totally thought Niki stabbed Nathan with the virus at first. I went "Oh NO you didn't!" and kept anxiously waiting for them to get back to that storyline, then started wibbling when the cure no longer worked, and then realized Niki stabbed herself. Which is easier for me. I don't hate her, but between her and Nathan, it's no contest who I'd rather keep alive.
-- Peter accidentally abandoning Caitlin in post-Stephen King-apocalyptic New York (total The Stand-vibage; I'm glad they didn't dwell too much in that time period)... big time whoops, man. Also, yay for him finally learning something about his past.
-- So maybe West isn't a plant? Or, he's putting on a credible acting job. I still want him to be a plant; it's one thing that makes me want a little less to spork my eyes out from watching his schmoopy scenes with Claire.
No love for CBS.com's full episode player, though, which for two out of the last three episodes of How I Met Your Mother has been a constantly stuttering mess, leaving me to have to read the TWOP recap instead.
I don't think it's the sort of thing I see myself getting fannish about. But? Solid writing. Solid acting. Solid dialogue. Solid pretty much everything (and some gorgeous set design going on too). Excellent balance of drama and humor. I like nearly all the characters. Even the supposed "bad" episodes (at least, "bad" judging by the TWOP recappers' grades) beat the hell out of a lot of what's out there now.
Perhaps the one downside is coming out of watching an episode of this show, then reading the latest news on CNN, and remembering why I'm so cynical about American presidential administrations. Actually, if I had been watching this show on a regular basis when it aired - assuming the quality keeps steady throughout the remaining seasons - I'd probably be even more grumpy about politics.
Also, Heroes was awesome this week.
-- Green eclipse? Hmmm.
-- Yay end of Feudal Japan storyline... I didn't hate it, but it did feel draggy in places, and seeing Kensei show up in the present as the guy all the Elder Heroes are crapping themselves over, and apparently allied with Peter? Awesome, and almost makes it all worth it. And perhaps David Anders and Milo Ventimiglia being on screen together is just the thing I need to snare my sister into this show. Actually, the ideal would probably be those two with Kristen Bell's character.
-- Yay for Matt growing a huge brass pair, although am I the only one who thought the defeat of Pa Parkman came a little too easily? Eh well.
-- Mohinder... when you're not sure which side is the bad guy, you shut your damn mouth when you're talking to them, ne? You don't flip a coin and gush your supersekrit plan to the one that comes out on top. Bah.
-- I kept waiting and waiting for Hiro to make some offhand Return of the Jedi comment during his subplot. Gabbing on about how he knows there's good in Kensei, and even the swordfight reminded me a lot of the big Luke/Vader one in RotJ.
-- I totally thought Niki stabbed Nathan with the virus at first. I went "Oh NO you didn't!" and kept anxiously waiting for them to get back to that storyline, then started wibbling when the cure no longer worked, and then realized Niki stabbed herself. Which is easier for me. I don't hate her, but between her and Nathan, it's no contest who I'd rather keep alive.
-- Peter accidentally abandoning Caitlin in post-Stephen King-apocalyptic New York (total The Stand-vibage; I'm glad they didn't dwell too much in that time period)... big time whoops, man. Also, yay for him finally learning something about his past.
-- So maybe West isn't a plant? Or, he's putting on a credible acting job. I still want him to be a plant; it's one thing that makes me want a little less to spork my eyes out from watching his schmoopy scenes with Claire.
No love for CBS.com's full episode player, though, which for two out of the last three episodes of How I Met Your Mother has been a constantly stuttering mess, leaving me to have to read the TWOP recap instead.