West Wing, Doctor Who
Here's my TV blogging for the weekend. There may be more TV blogging after tomorrow night's premiere of Ghost Hunters.
The West Wing: Welcome to Wherever You Are: Sunday night's was a fast-moving episode but pretty superficial, very much a John Wells creation. Even as I watched it, I found myself thinking, "He's trying to be Robert Altman: all the chaos of a campaign, all the overlapping dialogue. The editing, though, is pure Wells: cut-cut-cut." And though there was lots of that overlapping, chaotic dialogue, none of it was the witty, snappy, Hepburn/Tracy-like stuff that the show built its reputation on. It's lost its sense of humor, which is especially sad now when it's so most needed.
And this episode didn't really have a storyline, any kind of real plot. It was mostly connective tissue: what's happening with the campaign, what's happening with Toby. The biggest attraction to the general public was Jon Bon Jovi's appearance. He's certainly pretty and natural in front of a camera, but he wasn't necessary in any way (unless you count, you know, the babysitting). I loved Annabeth's singing, almost certainly post-first-night with Leo. How I would have loved to have seen the scene right before that first night; I loved the chemistry between the two of them. The Toby storyline was good to see, if for no other reason than I've been wondering what's going on there. He's being his own pigheaded, holier-than-thou self. I do wonder if the Attorney General is going to acquiesce to Toby's demand to wait until after the election to make his move. We're on the verge of Leo's impending departure. I've seen stills from the event (thanks to dianora2 for the pointer) and it looks like it's going to be devastating. So I guess my take-away from all this is: I'll be back next week.
Oh, and, um, yeah: that bedroom preview scene. I'll be back for that, too.
Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead: When I first saw this episode, I didn't think much of it. It didn't feel, to me, as emotionally rich as "The End of the World" or as relevant to the Doctor/Rose relationship as either of the two previous episodes. On another couple of viewings (ah, the joy of DVDs), I found its appeal. It's Rose's first journey backward in time, and it's another chance for the Doctor to show off for her. The Gelf-as-spirit-gas is kind of a neat idea and zombies are always fun. The Doctor's apology for bringing Rose into such danger is a wonderful moment. It's also (as I understand it) sort of classic Doctor Who in its Victorian-age setting. I like the character of Gwyneth and I dug Charles Dickens as a character in the story. I'm pissed that in broadcast they cut the Doctor's reaction to seeing Rose all dressed up in Victorian clothes. ("Blimey! You look beautiful . . . considering." "Considering what?!" "That you're human.") But we do get our second "bad wolf" mention. That wolf, she sure do get around, don't she though?
I also like that it's a sort of a ghost story and I enjoyed the fact that Dickens expresses a disdain for spiritualism. At first, geek that I am, I wondered about the historicity of the timing of Dickens' attitude. Then I remembered that spiritualism had two waves of real popularity, one after the Civil War that lingered for several decades(Mary Todd Lincoln was a great believer) which would make the timing of this episode work, and one after World War I when so many bereaved sought ways to connect with their lost soldiers (Harry Houdini launched his crusade against spiritualists in 1922). Logically, Dickens having a disdain for spiritualism makes sense then; he was involved in the theater and probably could see through a lot of spiritualism's theatrics. A little research turns up that he did believe in ghosts, but that he was also a member of London's exclusive Ghost Club, which exposed mediumsinteresting, since Arthur Conan Doyle, a great proponent of spiritualism, was later a member. Anyway, this whole thread added a dimension to Dickens for me of which I was previously unaware and I enjoyed that hugely. And too, ghosts and Doctor Who: what's not to like? ::grin::
On to Tuesday's chores and stuff . . .
The West Wing: Welcome to Wherever You Are: Sunday night's was a fast-moving episode but pretty superficial, very much a John Wells creation. Even as I watched it, I found myself thinking, "He's trying to be Robert Altman: all the chaos of a campaign, all the overlapping dialogue. The editing, though, is pure Wells: cut-cut-cut." And though there was lots of that overlapping, chaotic dialogue, none of it was the witty, snappy, Hepburn/Tracy-like stuff that the show built its reputation on. It's lost its sense of humor, which is especially sad now when it's so most needed.
And this episode didn't really have a storyline, any kind of real plot. It was mostly connective tissue: what's happening with the campaign, what's happening with Toby. The biggest attraction to the general public was Jon Bon Jovi's appearance. He's certainly pretty and natural in front of a camera, but he wasn't necessary in any way (unless you count, you know, the babysitting). I loved Annabeth's singing, almost certainly post-first-night with Leo. How I would have loved to have seen the scene right before that first night; I loved the chemistry between the two of them. The Toby storyline was good to see, if for no other reason than I've been wondering what's going on there. He's being his own pigheaded, holier-than-thou self. I do wonder if the Attorney General is going to acquiesce to Toby's demand to wait until after the election to make his move. We're on the verge of Leo's impending departure. I've seen stills from the event (thanks to dianora2 for the pointer) and it looks like it's going to be devastating. So I guess my take-away from all this is: I'll be back next week.
Oh, and, um, yeah: that bedroom preview scene. I'll be back for that, too.
Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead: When I first saw this episode, I didn't think much of it. It didn't feel, to me, as emotionally rich as "The End of the World" or as relevant to the Doctor/Rose relationship as either of the two previous episodes. On another couple of viewings (ah, the joy of DVDs), I found its appeal. It's Rose's first journey backward in time, and it's another chance for the Doctor to show off for her. The Gelf-as-spirit-gas is kind of a neat idea and zombies are always fun. The Doctor's apology for bringing Rose into such danger is a wonderful moment. It's also (as I understand it) sort of classic Doctor Who in its Victorian-age setting. I like the character of Gwyneth and I dug Charles Dickens as a character in the story. I'm pissed that in broadcast they cut the Doctor's reaction to seeing Rose all dressed up in Victorian clothes. ("Blimey! You look beautiful . . . considering." "Considering what?!" "That you're human.") But we do get our second "bad wolf" mention. That wolf, she sure do get around, don't she though?
I also like that it's a sort of a ghost story and I enjoyed the fact that Dickens expresses a disdain for spiritualism. At first, geek that I am, I wondered about the historicity of the timing of Dickens' attitude. Then I remembered that spiritualism had two waves of real popularity, one after the Civil War that lingered for several decades(Mary Todd Lincoln was a great believer) which would make the timing of this episode work, and one after World War I when so many bereaved sought ways to connect with their lost soldiers (Harry Houdini launched his crusade against spiritualists in 1922). Logically, Dickens having a disdain for spiritualism makes sense then; he was involved in the theater and probably could see through a lot of spiritualism's theatrics. A little research turns up that he did believe in ghosts, but that he was also a member of London's exclusive Ghost Club, which exposed mediumsinteresting, since Arthur Conan Doyle, a great proponent of spiritualism, was later a member. Anyway, this whole thread added a dimension to Dickens for me of which I was previously unaware and I enjoyed that hugely. And too, ghosts and Doctor Who: what's not to like? ::grin::
On to Tuesday's chores and stuff . . .