What I've been watching
Only minor spoilers, I hope.
Chuck
After the many TV series recs I got from you lovely people, we've been on a Chuck spree (via our equivalent of Netflix) while still keeping up with the current series we watch. I think we're just about through S1. I like Chuck! I wasn't too sure about the relationship stuff that came up recently, not being a shipper but they handled it fairly well. I love the nerdy characters at the Buy More, and in fact I could just about watch a whole series set there. The show needs more Casey (Adam Baldwin) though. There's nowhere near enough, and I could do with more Anna too.
Big Bang Theory
I've seen about three eps of this one, and I really like the geek conversations, esp the ones about physics, having a degree in it myself. Their objections to that scene in Superman 1 where Lois falls and is caught? Exactly what I thought! I found myself yelling YES! and punching the air at times. However I don't like the girl in the apartment opposite whose characterisation implies that women are just not intellectual or interested in SF or geeky stuff. WRONG. Where are the female nerds (one of my major objections to Eureka which admittedly I'm behind on)? OK, they briefly showed us one in her lab, but there should be at least one in the group. And re that scene, which was otherwise gold? A laser would not heat noodles like that.
I will watch more. I also want to get hold of Defying Gravity.
Stargate Universe
I've only seen the first ep; more tonight! I found it rather confusing with a large cast of characters, but it seems promising. I like Eli a lot, esp him asking for a new pair of trousers, and his joy at the camera balls. I am puzzled though about how the series is going to handle being so far away from any civilisations seeded by the Ancients (as the explorer ships aren't crewed) that there won't be humans. Or maybe there are, and people were left with each stargate? At any rate, I can bet they all speak American. :-) So far the only characters who have made an impression are Eli and Rush; the military types are rather blurred. I'm looking forward to seeing how they manage on the planet they've arrived at.
Electric Dreams
This is a British doco series about a family living through the 70s, 80s, and 90s at a year a day. I usually loathe reality shows, but this sounded very cool, and it pretty much was. Their house was converted and decorated to match each decade, and each "year" (day) they were given new devices. I thought the 70s were the most interesting, forcing the family to live in quite a different way, and the 90s less so, probably because the pace of technological advancement was so great, deliveries happened several times a day and it was hard to see how they affected the family's lives.
Resident expert Greg gave an interesting home commentary, and has been playing simulated Commodore Pet games online since to relive his childhood. :-)
Things that struck me:
- The kids actually adapted quite well; it was the parents who were frustrated and often angry.
- The father was a right berk, sexist and arrogant. The gender divide that formed over the technology and computers really annoyed me.
- Surely the 70s weren't that ugly? The decor must have been a parody. or maybe the worst never got here. My childhood homes were very tasteful compared to that. The worst I can think of is Mum having a brick wall covered in wallpaper with vine leaves on it, and the glittery pink wallpaper in our bedroom which she put up without consulting me or my sister, and to which I responded by choosing lime green curtains. The rest was pretty much standard off-white. No brown or orange at all, now I think of it.
- Only 25% or British houses had central heating in the 70s and almost all do now. [hollow laugh] Only 25%? I'd say it's less than 5% here even now, and probably 0.05% for double glazing. :-( One place I lived in as a child had central heating, but that was a new and experimental house so advanced for the time, strangers used to take photos of it.
- I don't remember the 80s having a lot of floral crap and Laura Ashley here either, though I admit the family had lounge suites disturbingly like the ones my mother had.
- I had no idea that Mario and Sonic went that far back. Perhaps things were slow to get here. We did have a massive import tax.