Take It to Heart or Toss It Away
MID-SEASON TELEVISION RUNDOWN
So, most of my fall 2010 watch list melted away until I was left with a reasonable amount of television.
SWEEP ME OFF MY FEET AND CARRY ME INTO THE SUNSET
Merlin was my biggest obsession by far. I have almost completed a full transcript of the entire three season series, and I've worked on multiple videos in its honor. Fantasy/Sci-fi is my favorite genre, and Merlin has been satisfying light fare for the fairytale princess inside my heart. It's the first show that has packed action, humor, romance, and high moral principles into a heroic period setting on television. This is the kind of family show that I've been looking for, as opposed to the morally ambiguous "family" shows that ABC Family keeps pumping out. Even my favorite Kyle XY tread in murky waters with most of the teenagers being sexually active. Needless to say, I will NOT be checking out the latest rendition of Camelot on Starz.
Castle continues to be stellar, tiptoeing around the Castle/Beckett relationship. It retains some of the development issues with the side characters, but it also retains its charm. I made the fatal mistake of spoiling myself during the Christmas break, so I wasn't able to appreciate Nikki Heat for its true value. What my family raved over, I could only mildly appreciate since I knew it was coming. Apparently Castle has a great re-watch value, but the pre-watch value is damaging. I'm really looking forward to the next episode, dealing with Kate's mother's murder - which I honestly completely forgot about. When the preview came on I was like "Oh, yeah! That's right. That did happen, didn't it?" Castle thrives in its humor and its drama, so I can't wait.
The Vampire Diaries continues to intrigue and excite me. Yet, I find that I don't want to analyze it. It's not like Smallville where I'm afraid that it will fall apart if I look at it too closely. On the contrary, I think it has an amazing set of complex layers. But I want to sit back and enjoy watching a new layer get peeled back each week, leaving the mystery to itself. I am continuously impressed by the character development and plot twists the show takes. I'm still not a fan of Bonnie, and I still find Stephan/Katherine and Damon/Elena to be the more interesting couples. I'm not a huge fan of Jenna, and Alaric's been kind of boring lately, but hopefully that will change with the re-introduction of Jonathan Gilbert. Jules has a supermodel diva vibe that's driving me crazy, but I'm really excited for the Tyler/Caroline/Matt drama coming up. Well, I'm really excited to see anything Caroline related, to be completely honest. She has grown A LOT as a character, but she's still very "Caroline," which I love. And I want more Caroline/Stephan scenes! I don't ship them by any means, but they make such cute BFFs! She's the perfect replacement for Stephan's friend Lexi. As much as Stephan is supposed to be the kind and virtuous Friendly Neighborhood Vampire, he doesn't really have any friends. He's got Elena, and Elena has friends. Even Damon's learning how to make his own friends beginning with Rose and, in a strange way, Jeremy and Alaric.
I'm dedicated to finishing out the 10th and final season of Smallville. There have been some really great episodes this season, but the cliffhanger episode just before the break was really terrible. When Smallville tries to be "epic", sometimes it's amazing and sometimes it's cheesy and horrible. This one was the latter. I'm not sure if Lois and Clark's engagement episode was meant to be dorky and romantic, or if it was supposed to come off as sarcastic and corny (like we're not really supposed to have wanted him to propose because they're going to end up deciding to just permanently live together unmarried), because that's the way it felt. Not sure about how they'll handle the finale, but I've invested too much to give up on it now.
TAKE IT TO THE SCAFFOLD
I watched the first few Life Unexpected episodes this season before it got pulled. I wasn't stark raving mad about the season one finale anymore, but the draw was no longer there for me. I'm not sure if that was due to the fact that the individual episodes weren't compelling, or because they sank my Kate/Baze ship. Either way, I'm not sad it got canceled.
I've officially given up on Royal Pains, Glee, and White Collar this year. I was unimpressed by the first episode of Glee, and I've heard that following episodes haven't fared much better. The songs are only mediocre (which was the only reason I liked it in the first place), and the drama is off the charts (which I never really cared for). Royal Pains lost me because of Jill. I couldn't stand her, and the introduction of Hank's father and Dyvia's fiance made me want to shake somebody. And White Collar has simply sat on the shelf for too long, and I haven't seen any ads for it to reel me back in (since I don't have cable and only discovered it on Hulu in the first place).
I assume Melissa & Joey was canceled since it stopped showing up in my Hulu queue. No big deal, since it wasn't particularly funny, just slightly amusing from time to time. I sadly never got past the pilot of Hawaii 5-0, and it's on the same time as Castle, which always comes first in my book.
I've tried valiantly to like Supernatural. I began watching season one a few months back, but I'm 13 episodes in and it still hasn't grabbed me. I'd like to finish out the first season, just to say I gave it a fair chance, but the outlook's not good. I find Dean's detached manner and sarcastic deflection sad rather than amusing, and Sam's juxtaposed open caring concern isn't a very strong draw. I'm not much into demons or witchcraft, so could care less if I find out what the supernatural spirit of the week is; the detective agency angle isn't working for me. Their banter is mildly amusing, but ultimately falls flat when set against such a literally and figuratively dark backdrop, and their extremely-distant-yet-somehow-instinctively-caring brotherly bond doesn't help. The seriousness with which they present the story makes me long for Buffy to run in with a stake, a high kick, and a saucy quip. I have to say, Faith was my favorite episode. Somehow the woman's outlook on faith imbued the episode with the light and hope that the other episodes were lacking, which is ironic because her situation was the most hopeless case Sam and Dean had come across. I knew the show's appeal was seriously lacking when I could care less that Sam was mortally wounded, but I wanted this random guest character to live.
SCRAMBLING OUT OF THE ABYSS
I stopped watching NCIS sometime last year, but my family's excitement for the show is making it look rather tantalizing. I may not be able to hold out much longer. The pilot of Fringe lies in the same boat. Chuck paddles alongside them in the water begging to be let on board, but I'm not sure he's going to make it.
ETA: I totally forgot to mention Nikita! I set it down for a couple of episodes because I was a bit upset about Michael siding with Percy and blaming Nikita. He never struck me as a revenge-driven character, and the way it was handled didn't impress me, it just made me upset, and the reasoning didn't really play out well in my book. But I moved past it, I just got caught up, and the rest of the plot for the show is still going strong.
So, most of my fall 2010 watch list melted away until I was left with a reasonable amount of television.
SWEEP ME OFF MY FEET AND CARRY ME INTO THE SUNSET
Merlin was my biggest obsession by far. I have almost completed a full transcript of the entire three season series, and I've worked on multiple videos in its honor. Fantasy/Sci-fi is my favorite genre, and Merlin has been satisfying light fare for the fairytale princess inside my heart. It's the first show that has packed action, humor, romance, and high moral principles into a heroic period setting on television. This is the kind of family show that I've been looking for, as opposed to the morally ambiguous "family" shows that ABC Family keeps pumping out. Even my favorite Kyle XY tread in murky waters with most of the teenagers being sexually active. Needless to say, I will NOT be checking out the latest rendition of Camelot on Starz.
Castle continues to be stellar, tiptoeing around the Castle/Beckett relationship. It retains some of the development issues with the side characters, but it also retains its charm. I made the fatal mistake of spoiling myself during the Christmas break, so I wasn't able to appreciate Nikki Heat for its true value. What my family raved over, I could only mildly appreciate since I knew it was coming. Apparently Castle has a great re-watch value, but the pre-watch value is damaging. I'm really looking forward to the next episode, dealing with Kate's mother's murder - which I honestly completely forgot about. When the preview came on I was like "Oh, yeah! That's right. That did happen, didn't it?" Castle thrives in its humor and its drama, so I can't wait.
The Vampire Diaries continues to intrigue and excite me. Yet, I find that I don't want to analyze it. It's not like Smallville where I'm afraid that it will fall apart if I look at it too closely. On the contrary, I think it has an amazing set of complex layers. But I want to sit back and enjoy watching a new layer get peeled back each week, leaving the mystery to itself. I am continuously impressed by the character development and plot twists the show takes. I'm still not a fan of Bonnie, and I still find Stephan/Katherine and Damon/Elena to be the more interesting couples. I'm not a huge fan of Jenna, and Alaric's been kind of boring lately, but hopefully that will change with the re-introduction of Jonathan Gilbert. Jules has a supermodel diva vibe that's driving me crazy, but I'm really excited for the Tyler/Caroline/Matt drama coming up. Well, I'm really excited to see anything Caroline related, to be completely honest. She has grown A LOT as a character, but she's still very "Caroline," which I love. And I want more Caroline/Stephan scenes! I don't ship them by any means, but they make such cute BFFs! She's the perfect replacement for Stephan's friend Lexi. As much as Stephan is supposed to be the kind and virtuous Friendly Neighborhood Vampire, he doesn't really have any friends. He's got Elena, and Elena has friends. Even Damon's learning how to make his own friends beginning with Rose and, in a strange way, Jeremy and Alaric.
I'm dedicated to finishing out the 10th and final season of Smallville. There have been some really great episodes this season, but the cliffhanger episode just before the break was really terrible. When Smallville tries to be "epic", sometimes it's amazing and sometimes it's cheesy and horrible. This one was the latter. I'm not sure if Lois and Clark's engagement episode was meant to be dorky and romantic, or if it was supposed to come off as sarcastic and corny (like we're not really supposed to have wanted him to propose because they're going to end up deciding to just permanently live together unmarried), because that's the way it felt. Not sure about how they'll handle the finale, but I've invested too much to give up on it now.
TAKE IT TO THE SCAFFOLD
I watched the first few Life Unexpected episodes this season before it got pulled. I wasn't stark raving mad about the season one finale anymore, but the draw was no longer there for me. I'm not sure if that was due to the fact that the individual episodes weren't compelling, or because they sank my Kate/Baze ship. Either way, I'm not sad it got canceled.
I've officially given up on Royal Pains, Glee, and White Collar this year. I was unimpressed by the first episode of Glee, and I've heard that following episodes haven't fared much better. The songs are only mediocre (which was the only reason I liked it in the first place), and the drama is off the charts (which I never really cared for). Royal Pains lost me because of Jill. I couldn't stand her, and the introduction of Hank's father and Dyvia's fiance made me want to shake somebody. And White Collar has simply sat on the shelf for too long, and I haven't seen any ads for it to reel me back in (since I don't have cable and only discovered it on Hulu in the first place).
I assume Melissa & Joey was canceled since it stopped showing up in my Hulu queue. No big deal, since it wasn't particularly funny, just slightly amusing from time to time. I sadly never got past the pilot of Hawaii 5-0, and it's on the same time as Castle, which always comes first in my book.
I've tried valiantly to like Supernatural. I began watching season one a few months back, but I'm 13 episodes in and it still hasn't grabbed me. I'd like to finish out the first season, just to say I gave it a fair chance, but the outlook's not good. I find Dean's detached manner and sarcastic deflection sad rather than amusing, and Sam's juxtaposed open caring concern isn't a very strong draw. I'm not much into demons or witchcraft, so could care less if I find out what the supernatural spirit of the week is; the detective agency angle isn't working for me. Their banter is mildly amusing, but ultimately falls flat when set against such a literally and figuratively dark backdrop, and their extremely-distant-yet-somehow-instinctively-caring brotherly bond doesn't help. The seriousness with which they present the story makes me long for Buffy to run in with a stake, a high kick, and a saucy quip. I have to say, Faith was my favorite episode. Somehow the woman's outlook on faith imbued the episode with the light and hope that the other episodes were lacking, which is ironic because her situation was the most hopeless case Sam and Dean had come across. I knew the show's appeal was seriously lacking when I could care less that Sam was mortally wounded, but I wanted this random guest character to live.
SCRAMBLING OUT OF THE ABYSS
I stopped watching NCIS sometime last year, but my family's excitement for the show is making it look rather tantalizing. I may not be able to hold out much longer. The pilot of Fringe lies in the same boat. Chuck paddles alongside them in the water begging to be let on board, but I'm not sure he's going to make it.
ETA: I totally forgot to mention Nikita! I set it down for a couple of episodes because I was a bit upset about Michael siding with Percy and blaming Nikita. He never struck me as a revenge-driven character, and the way it was handled didn't impress me, it just made me upset, and the reasoning didn't really play out well in my book. But I moved past it, I just got caught up, and the rest of the plot for the show is still going strong.