TV Rant...
So I have decided to rant about something I have noticed a GREAT deal on TV. Something that has become common and, in my opinion, a little irritating. I'm going to talk about various TV shows that have aired recently, I do not think I am adding any spoilers to anything, but I'm going to make what I say behind a cut just in case. I hope I can make my point.
My favorite episode of Mash....is the episode entitled Abyssinia, Henry where Col. Henry Blake is finally given his discharge. My favorite moment is actually at the end, where those that are left behind, are told that his plane is shot down. Apparently, the director chose to NOT tell the cast and leave this scene out of their scripts so he could film their actual expressions so they could be real as possible. And they were, I can still cry just thinking about it.
And that is what I want to rant about. Lately, TV seems to be throwing us a good many season finales and pivotable episodes where main characters are getting hurt/killed. I can live with that, sometimes they feel like a huge ratings stunt and other times the episode is written extremely well. However, unlike Mash....the viewers are given the action heavy sequence and then straight to the rest of the cast trying to solve the case, skipping any scenes where the characters LEARN of the incident. We never get ANY kind of first reactions about the life threatening event anymore. I'm really starting to think writers and directors are missing the big picture.
CSI: Miami practically SCREAMED for us to watch their 3rd season opener about "one of their own" being killed. Viewers didn't know which one would die until the night it aired. We watched as Speed was shot to death and died in front of Horatio's eyes. Commercial break. Then it comes back and Calliegh and Alexx are already on the scene with the knowledge their coworker is dead. Why couldn't the audience of seen their reactions? By the time the two women came on the scene it was expected, though they were upset, their shock had been overcome with certainly finding the killers as fast as possible.
The season finale of CSI kept telling us someone would get buried alive. Eventually, the promos made it obvious it would be Nick, probably the most likeable character on the show. Audiences watched as Nick, innocent to his own fate, began processing the scene and suddenly the scene changes and it's obvious Nick has already been taken. What irks me is.....Grissom and Catherine arrive at the scene already knowing about Nick and jump in their super CSI mode. Warrick shows up a few minutes later, and wouldn't it have been great to get his reaction seeing as how it could have easily been him kidnapped instead? What a waste of displaying these actor's talents. Remember the end of the pilot? New CSI Holly is shot on duty and Det Brass informs the rest of the CSIs and the audience is allowed to witness all of their reactions. Later, when Holly died on the operating table, the camera jumps to each CSI's face so we get their realistic reaction. Now, 5 years later, we get a chance to witness the same actors reacting to a very similar situation on someone they actually know (much better than Holly) and we wind up crusing into "working the evidence."
NCIS almost got it right when they shot Kate in the head at the end of last season's finale. I was just sure, we would get to see Gibbs, Tony and McGee reacting to Kate right awayonce Ari fled the scene. We wait a summer and the show picks up back at NCIS headquarters!! What was McGee's reaction when he heard the news Kate went down? Ducky (who by the way is a hell of an actor) and Abby were just glossed over to show them already heard and have pulled themselves together getting on with doing their jobs.
Are the producers afraid the actors can't act? I know you will think I'm nuts about going on and on about this, but I was just talking about Without a Trace to someone and it got me all riled up. Again, another chance for Jack (head of the unit) and Samantha (former lover of Martin) to hear about the shooting of their two co workers Danny and Martin (which by the way, could never have survived in real life. Thanks to Mythbusters for ruining the whole "use the car as a gun shield"). Instead, Jack and Sam show up on scene just as Martin is taken away in an ambulance. All summer long, I expected to see Jack get a phone call stating 2 of his agents are down but again, the potential for a great scene, skipped.
Does anyone else notice this? Is it just me? Is it too much to ask if the producers deem it necessary to kill of a favorite character of mine to not help sweeten it by actually showing the other characters' immediate reaction to the news? It was only a few years ago when ER had that EXCELLENT episode where Carter and Lucy were stabbed while the rest of the team was just outside. We got to see Dr. Weaver's immediate reaction to seeing two of her co-workers on the floor and calling everyone to act. The West Wing did show us a peek at President Bartlett's face when he was told his daughter, Zoey, had been kidnapped. Call me selfish, but I want more.
Ok, now that I got that off my chest I feel better. Yes, I focus too much on TV. It's sad really, but I just wanted to ask if anyone else has noticed this lately.
My favorite episode of Mash....is the episode entitled Abyssinia, Henry where Col. Henry Blake is finally given his discharge. My favorite moment is actually at the end, where those that are left behind, are told that his plane is shot down. Apparently, the director chose to NOT tell the cast and leave this scene out of their scripts so he could film their actual expressions so they could be real as possible. And they were, I can still cry just thinking about it.
And that is what I want to rant about. Lately, TV seems to be throwing us a good many season finales and pivotable episodes where main characters are getting hurt/killed. I can live with that, sometimes they feel like a huge ratings stunt and other times the episode is written extremely well. However, unlike Mash....the viewers are given the action heavy sequence and then straight to the rest of the cast trying to solve the case, skipping any scenes where the characters LEARN of the incident. We never get ANY kind of first reactions about the life threatening event anymore. I'm really starting to think writers and directors are missing the big picture.
CSI: Miami practically SCREAMED for us to watch their 3rd season opener about "one of their own" being killed. Viewers didn't know which one would die until the night it aired. We watched as Speed was shot to death and died in front of Horatio's eyes. Commercial break. Then it comes back and Calliegh and Alexx are already on the scene with the knowledge their coworker is dead. Why couldn't the audience of seen their reactions? By the time the two women came on the scene it was expected, though they were upset, their shock had been overcome with certainly finding the killers as fast as possible.
The season finale of CSI kept telling us someone would get buried alive. Eventually, the promos made it obvious it would be Nick, probably the most likeable character on the show. Audiences watched as Nick, innocent to his own fate, began processing the scene and suddenly the scene changes and it's obvious Nick has already been taken. What irks me is.....Grissom and Catherine arrive at the scene already knowing about Nick and jump in their super CSI mode. Warrick shows up a few minutes later, and wouldn't it have been great to get his reaction seeing as how it could have easily been him kidnapped instead? What a waste of displaying these actor's talents. Remember the end of the pilot? New CSI Holly is shot on duty and Det Brass informs the rest of the CSIs and the audience is allowed to witness all of their reactions. Later, when Holly died on the operating table, the camera jumps to each CSI's face so we get their realistic reaction. Now, 5 years later, we get a chance to witness the same actors reacting to a very similar situation on someone they actually know (much better than Holly) and we wind up crusing into "working the evidence."
NCIS almost got it right when they shot Kate in the head at the end of last season's finale. I was just sure, we would get to see Gibbs, Tony and McGee reacting to Kate right awayonce Ari fled the scene. We wait a summer and the show picks up back at NCIS headquarters!! What was McGee's reaction when he heard the news Kate went down? Ducky (who by the way is a hell of an actor) and Abby were just glossed over to show them already heard and have pulled themselves together getting on with doing their jobs.
Are the producers afraid the actors can't act? I know you will think I'm nuts about going on and on about this, but I was just talking about Without a Trace to someone and it got me all riled up. Again, another chance for Jack (head of the unit) and Samantha (former lover of Martin) to hear about the shooting of their two co workers Danny and Martin (which by the way, could never have survived in real life. Thanks to Mythbusters for ruining the whole "use the car as a gun shield"). Instead, Jack and Sam show up on scene just as Martin is taken away in an ambulance. All summer long, I expected to see Jack get a phone call stating 2 of his agents are down but again, the potential for a great scene, skipped.
Does anyone else notice this? Is it just me? Is it too much to ask if the producers deem it necessary to kill of a favorite character of mine to not help sweeten it by actually showing the other characters' immediate reaction to the news? It was only a few years ago when ER had that EXCELLENT episode where Carter and Lucy were stabbed while the rest of the team was just outside. We got to see Dr. Weaver's immediate reaction to seeing two of her co-workers on the floor and calling everyone to act. The West Wing did show us a peek at President Bartlett's face when he was told his daughter, Zoey, had been kidnapped. Call me selfish, but I want more.
Ok, now that I got that off my chest I feel better. Yes, I focus too much on TV. It's sad really, but I just wanted to ask if anyone else has noticed this lately.