Thursday, September 27, 2007

Let’s talk more TV

The new shows:

Thanks to the wonders of PVR’s, I’ve managed to watch Chuck, Reaper and the Bionic Woman so far this week. Still haven’t gotten to Life, which is waiting for me.

I have not a huge amount of spare time, and I have to fit anything new into an already packed schedule. Some shows that are on my must see list.
Friday Night Lights, Heroes, Dexter and The Office and I’m really debating on House. My love for Hugh Laurie is enduring, but unless they take the show somewhere new, I might be out.

Chuck and Reaper are similar in tone, nerdy cute guy in incredible situation, chuckles and thrills ensue. But they both do this well. They’re likeable if not really memorable, although both have their high points.
Chuck has Adam Baldwin(Firefly) and The Reaper has the devil and various demons.

I’m strangely meh on both, I think it’s because they haven’t posed enough questions. The setup is all there, but there aren’t enough mysteries presented. I feel like I know how each show is going to go.
They should take lessons from Heroes on how to pose questions that will keep a viewer hooked. I love how Heroes answers one question and then throws two more out.

Bionic woman.. eesh.. what a mess. It was like they shot a four hour show, picked scenes at random and threw it together. The dialogue was laughable, and some of the acting was borderline awful.
Except one of the main guys from Battlestar is involved, as is Katee Sackhoff, (who was the best thing about the first episode) and they just brought in one of the producers from Friday Night Lights.
Can the show be saved? Some optimist in me hopes so. Plus it performed pretty well in the ratings..
Not quite the juggernaut that Dancing with the stars is, but that’s a whole nother blog..

I didn’t watch Journeyman, although I love Kevin McKidd from Rome. Not sure about the other new shows..

9 comments:

Alli Sinclair said...

I am a major fan of HEROES - every time I watch it, I am in awe of the fabulous writing and keep thinking "I wanna come up with ideas and write like that"! Very inspirational... I did catch JOURNEYMAN (by accident, DH decided he wanted to watch it and I saw the first few minutes and got hooked). What I liked about JOURNEYMAN is that you have to really concentrate and THINK - which is nice for a change (as opposed to some other shows on the Idiot Box). Ah... ratings season... HOORAY!

Maureen McGowan said...

After claiming I wasn't going to watch any new shows until they proved they had legs... I did watch a few.

I didn't see Chuck (looked kinda dumb) I did see Reaper which was, well, dumb. And Kevin Smith basically cast a clone of himself as the best friend character. I think you've hit the nail on the head, Sinead. They didn't leave you with ANY questions at the end of that pilot. We know exactly what the show will be about. Each week the guy will have to find some bad guy and suck him into his dirt devil while trying to win the heart of the girl at the store. They even removed the parental guilt factor which could have been interesting. And the demon last week was much less than interesting.

I'm still holding out hope for The Bionic Woman, too. Katie Sackhoff was great, but she's getting typecast as that actress who does all the remakes of cheesy 1970's TV. First BSG and now this. :-)

The Journeyman was interesting... the review I read in the Globe said it was complicated and you had to pay close attention, to which I say the Globe reviewer must have ADD. It was just complicated enough to be interesting. But could disintegrate into something pretty pat if they don't open up more questions than "will he tell his dead fiance what she needs to know not to die" or will he stay with his wife who he married after the fiance died and who happens to be his brothers ex. I guess the other questions in the first show are will he learn to control this... But I'm guessing no. and how many other people do what he does and why...

Molly O'Keefe said...

Hey Did you see my Name Is Earl last night?? Our guy Ben Foster was in it -- AMAZING!!! He's my new favorite lunatic -- seriously that guy steals the show.

The Office was good but I gotta say they made a big mistake glossing over Pam and whatshisname getting together -- the thing that made the BBC Office so utterly edge of the seat exciting was the moment when those two got together and here they just yada yada yada;d it. I hope they go back and show us a little more.

Anonymous said...

Saw the office and I completely agree.. they'll show us.. I have faith.

I missed Journeyman and am a little sad.. But I have watched Life and you know, I like it. There are a lot of undercurrents to that show.
The lead actor manages to express this undercurrent of rage while outwardly appearing zen.. very nice and there are a lot of unanswered questions..

Alli, I love Heroes as well. It is really inspirational.. great story ideas.

Maureen McGowan said...

I watched Life after Sinead got me excited about it. It does have potential. I'll watch again. That character is just packed with conflict and layers.

The other premiere I watched was Dirty, Sexy, Money which I thought was well done. Peter Krause, Donald Sutherland, Jill Clayburgh... That cast was enough to catch my attention, plus the shows creator was a writer for Six Feet Under and some other interesting show which escapes me right now.

They've set up a big overall question, and lots of interesting characters with some fun juicy conflicts. Will be interesting to see where they take this show. Can't help think this show might have been better had it been done for Showtime or HBO rather than ABC, but maybe the big US networks are finally realizing they need a little edge to compete? What am I saying. ABC is Disney, isn't it.

K J Gillenwater said...

I hear the next episode or two of BW is better.

I'm willing to give it a chance because I am a die-hard fan of the old, and I adore Katee Sackhoff. I will follow wherever she performs. :-)

I agree they tossed a lot into the pilot, but sometimes pilots try to do too much. And then in later episodes they improve greatly. I am there for the first several eps, at least, to see how it shapes up.

Chuck was HORRIBLE. I couldn't make it through 10 minutes. I deleted it immediately. Ick.

Journeyman was intriguing. I will watch again. Liked Reaper, so that gets a season pass on the TiVO.

Maureen McGowan said...

Season pass on the TiVo. LOVE THAT, Kristen. :-)

MJFredrick said...

I watched Bionic Woman and am on the fence. Three actors from BSG are on there! Reaper was pretty funny.

I thought Earl was BRILLIANT this week, and I agree about Jim and Pam!!

Anonymous said...

Gotta love the die hard BSG fans on this blog. Yep, that's the only reason I'd give Bionic woman another go.

I do love Peter Krause, but I just can't fit another show in, even one as intriguing as Dirty Sexy Money..

Maybe when the kids are older..

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