Every step you take...

[selenak]

Another new season I look forward to, with some trepidation because the first one was so good and I can't know yet whether this will be the type of show who does one perfect season and then flounders or the type of show which builds on its initial success and becomes even better, is s2 of Homeland, and there is a trailer now. I'm morbidly amused

Comments

[likeadeuce]

Wait, did Downton Abbey really use that song on a trailer???

That's amazing.

Not as amazing as "Rinkydink Curdlesnoot" though.

[selenak]

I know.:):)

[frenchani]

I liked season 1 but I'm a bit worried about season 2. I was among those who were disappointed that Brodie wasn't killed off - not because I hated the character but because it would have been way more refreshing than the cliched and unrealistic phone call from his daughter and the false final suspense! - , but the show didn't have the guts to do so...My reaction is probably connected to the fact that Boardwalk Empire was much more bolder.

I've been "supporting" Carrie for the beginning, as I see her as the main character, and it's the character I'm most interested in.

I don't understand the craze about Downtown Abbey, or rather how could anyone call it "a masterpiece". It's a costume soap, but still a soap, with the addition of all the stuff it borrowed from Gone With The Wind (except that this British Scarlett actually did love Ashley Wilkes and didn't care about Rhett Butler!). I rather enjoyed it because the actors are good (although seeing Matthew and Mary in a recent version of The Turn of the Screw was weird), Violet is fun

[selenak]

Re: Bodie not dying, the reason why I had no problem with the phonecall from his daughter was twofold: a) the horrible irony that Carrie had been right, down to finding the correct way to stop him, but neither the daughter nor Carrie herself knew that (only Brodie did); instead, the very action Carrie's appearance had triggered meant she looked more like madwoman than ever, and Brodie more like a hero than ever to both his daughter and the public. And b) the daughter had been built up as a character through the show. It was a fair Chekovian gun, so to speak. This being said, if the second season fails to deliver, I will complain about Brodie's survival as much as I did about Sylar's, though I hope not!

Downton Abbey: as I said, enjoyable schlock. It's the attitude of the reviewer and the condescension smacking of sexism I have a problem with (that and that he felt the need to bash DA watchers at all when he was supposed to be reviewing another series altogether!)

[abigail_n]

Maybe I'm too sensitive, but it's pretty much impossible for me to read that quote from the Parade's End review and not feel that "bodiced bitchery" is code for "girly" and that PA is being held up as the serious, masculine alternative. Personally, I think I've missed the window on Downton Abbey - I never got around to watching it while everyone was raving about it, and now the backlash has gotten so bad that I probably won't bother.

Linked to from the Homeland trailer (which is a bit bland plus I keep trying to spot the bits of Israel masquerading as Beirut) is the trailer for Dexter season 7, which God help me I actually found a bit intriguing. Must stay strong!

[selenak]

Maybe I'm too sensitive, but it's pretty much impossible for me to read that quote from the Parade's End review and not feel that "bodiced bitchery" is code for "girly"

No, I read this way too. Not least because the Guardian's male tv reviewers have a record of ridiculing "frilly" Jane Austen adaptions and praising shows like "Hornblower" for minimal female participation.

Stay strong with Dexter, think of the producer interview which you quoted to me after the finale, about how people objecting to sexual Dexter/Deb were "anti love".

[zahrawithaz]

Maybe I'm too sensitive, but it's pretty much impossible for me to read that quote from the Parade's End review and not feel that "bodiced bitchery" is code for "girly"

It's not just you. Downtown Abbey, for all its many many flaws, is a very girly show, and its feeble attempts to do war plots also drove the point home. And its lamentable S2 arguable gave the most character development and depth to its 4 bitchiest characters, three women and a gay man (Mary, Edith, O'Brien, and Thomas).

[kathyh]

And if anyone said it's entertaining schlock with class snobbery a mile wide, I'd agree immediately.

So would I but it's entertaining to watch on a Sunday night and has a fantastic cast. I wish The Guardian's TV reviewers weren't so often afflicted with intellectual snobbery themselves.

I haven't seen "Parade's End" yet though I do intend to watch it. We thought about watching it tonight but decided it sounded far too heavy for Sunday night.

I don't think Benedict Cumberbatch is going to live this one down for a while!

[zahrawithaz]

You know, Euan Ferguson, it's entirely possible to enjoy both "fun, easy schmaltz" and layered tv both. You're not thrown out of the club of the literati because of that.

Thank you, thank you.

And as others have said, your one-line summary of DA is dead-on accurate.

That "I'll be watching you" trailer bothered me, as it always does when people ignore the essential creepiness of being stalked. Though I can't imagine another show making as good use of the song "Maggie."

[selenak]

Every now and then I remember people tend to use "I'll be watching you" at their wedding, and I conclude we may have been overly harsh to Ronald Reagan for utterly ignoring the lyrics from Born in the USA when he wanted the song for his campaign and was baffled Bruce Springsteen said no.

[zahrawithaz]

As a USian I can never agree with a statement containing "we may have been overly harsh to Ronald Reagan"--but point taken!