Wednesday, October 04, 2006

"Are You Hugging The Tee Vee ?"

Damn Skippy, I'm hugging the tee vee. I Love the Tee vee. I absolutely adore it. I don't even have all that great a tee vee, and I love it. Clearly, I also like writing out tee vee, instead of using the standard T.V.- What can I say ? I'm a jack-ass !!! And at least one person still loves me, so there.
I thought I would share my thoughts on this young televi...Sorry, tee vee season.
Shall we start with returning favorites ? Oh, let's.

1. Simpsons: Already taking a break because of the baseball playoffs(Go Mets !!!), but it was a pretty strong couple of episodes so far, I think, anyway. How can you go wrong with Milhouse having an extreme allergic reaction ? It's comedy GOLD !!! Anyway, I fully admit an unbending bias, I love this show, always have, and always will.(Ask me about Simpsonia sometime)

2. Gilmore Girls: The thin ice they were skating on at the end of last year is getting thinner...I am enjoying it less with each episode. I know, it's still early, and I only watched about half of last night's episode so far, but it just feels very forced to me. We shall see.

3. CSI: I still like it. It is wearing a little thin, but i still enjoy watching it, and what's the alternative ? Grey's Anatomy ? Ugh. They lost me with the bomb episode(besides the fact that Meredith is as whiney and unlikeable a character as I think I have ever seen on television)-Why would the bomb squad guy walk ALL THE WAY DOWN THE HALL WITH AN UNSTABLE BOMB ? Could it be so that he would blow up far away enough from Meredith for her to be knocked back by the blast but not hurt ? Hmm...Maybe. Also, they actually used a variation of the line "I hate you for making me love you." What the Fuck ? Sorry, tangent there, I have just always dug Grissom on CSI, and I'm a pretty big Marg Helgenberger fan as well.

4. My Name Is Earl: It's still getting funnier. Just smart, funny stuff. And how can you go wrong with Burt Reynolds as guest star ?

5. Law & Order: I'm not totally sold on the new cop, but the new D.A. seems like a major step up. It's still the same old show, but it's still a good watch.

6. Law & Order:Criminal Intent: I happen to really like this one. It's a shame that I won't see it very often, as it is now on against the best show on television(more on that later), but the two episodes I did see were pretty good. I can never decide whether or not I like Eric Bogosian(the new captain) but I really like Eames and Goren, and I like Logan and his new partner. I will definitely catch it when time allows.

7.Without A Trace: Starting to get a bit thin, but I'll keep Tivoing it and watching it when I have a chance.

8. How I Met Your Mother: MAJOR FALLOFF from last year. It feels like such a SITCOM now. I'll still watch it, as I need my Alyson Hannigan fix(though I don't dig the dark hair), but it's nowhere near as enjoyable.

9. VERONICA MARS: The best show on television(and the reason why Law & Order:CI will fall by the wayside now). Season premiere was last night, and it hit the ground running. If you do not watch this show, you are really missing out. I pity you. It's smart, it's sassy, it's dark, it's sad, it's a great, great show. And last night they established the groundwork for another great season. I could go on and on, but I will spare you...But WATCH THIS SHOW !!!! An aside to those who DO watch, doesn't the TA in the criminology class look like he's wearing a disguise ? Or is that just me ?

The New Blood:

1. Smith: Ray Liotta as a master thief who is trying to save up enough money to get out of the robbery game. Virginia Madsen(purr) plays his wife, who is on parole, and suspects what he is up to. It borrows heavily from the movie Heat(but hey, you could find worse things to borrow from), but so far, it plays really well. I like it, and I really like the fact that they don't try to make these guys likeable. They are crooks, and some of his crew are worse than others, but they don't try to rationalize it. They are who they are. I feel like it gives me some credit, and I like that. It could all fall apart at some point, but for now, the ride is worth it.
EDIT:10/12/2006- Apparently, the pigfuckers at CBS cancelled it.

2. Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip: This is another one that could fly off the rails at some point, but for now, it is a pretty good watch. I grew tired of the West Wing, because it really started to take itself very seriously, but this show has the best of the West Wing(great acting, fanfuckingtastic writing) without the weight of it's own self-importance(there is a smidgen of it, but you get the sense that it is probably how people making a tee vee show might see themselves). I missed the very first episode, but I have seen the next two, and I really liked them. I had no use for Friends after the first season or so(when it decided that it was more than a comedy), but I always liked Matthew Perry, and he is great in this, as is most of the cast(Amanda Peet, Bradley Whitford, Stephen Weber, D.L. Hyghley, etc.) I like it a lot so far.

3.Heroes: Again, a tenuous premise(people discover that they have super powers, they need to save the world), but so far, I like how it's going. It feels very superhero-ey, and I like that. There is a bit of mystery involved, and there is this weird but effective sense of dread to it. I really worry about some of these characters and what will happen to them. Plus, I think some of them are maybe gonna be evil, which will be cool. It's a bit hokey, but I like it a lot.


I think that might be it. LOST premieres tonight, and I am on the edge of my seat already !!! I am in the minority that thinks the second season was better than the first, so we'll see what happens this year, but I'm pretty jazzed for it.
So, there is my opinion on things tee vee this season so far. Aren't you glad I shared ?

7 comments:

Avitable said...

Last night's Gilmore got better in the last two acts. I agree with you - it felt like it was missing something.

The TA from the premiere of VM (his character's name is Tim Foyle - haha) is the same actor who played Lucky the janitor from season 2. That's why he has all the facial hair and wig - so people don't recognize him. This episode was amazing - I've seen it three times now.

Anonymous said...

There was a lot of weird stuff in last night's GG, odd angles and lighting, and plot contrivances I could do without.

Paticus said...

Avitable:Yeah, i thought VM was amazing as well. They even pulled off the "everyone goes to the same college" somehow. The writing is just amazing.
I do plan on watching the rest of GG, my wife got a phone call, and itw as late by the time she was finished, so we watched VM instead.
C2: I think i stopped right after Luke hit Christopher(which i kind dug, though it was unnecessary, cuz I think Christopher's a dick), so i don't think we even watched half of it yet, now that I think about it. And where are Richard and Emily ?

Anonymous said...

Ah, then you only saw the pre-opening credits bit. Let me know when you've seen the rest.

Yes, where are the parents?? Not even a mention of them. Although it seems like it's only been a couple of days--I think Rory is still at the very beginning of her summer vacation.

Lauren Matson said...

I'm really digging Studio 60 so far. Also curious about the similar Tina Fey version of the same show.

Other than that I'm missing out on mucho American TV. Still keep tabs on the Office, and finally caught the season premiere of Lost (even more confusing than ever before!), and of course the Girls Called Gilmore, but other than that. . .not much.

Still waiting to get back on Netflix to start with Veronica Mars. Everyone raves about it, but when I catch an episode, I get mucho confused. Need to start from the beginning.

Paticus said...

My old ex-pat pal, lauren- Cheerio !!
I'm looking forward to the Tina fey show as well. I think Alec baldwin is very funny, though I'm not happy that they replaced rachel Dratch with jane Krakaowski, but we'll see. I'm taping it tonight, as the Mets open the NLCS against the Crds tonight, and that takes TIVO precedence.
I cannot get into the Office. i just don't find it funny.
I'm also losing more and more patience with Gilmore Girls. The plot just seems forced to me, and Rory and Lorelei seem to have gotten much stupider all of a sudden.
The first five minutes of LOST was INSANE !!
I do think you would like Veronica, but starting from the start might be a good idea.

Lauren Matson said...

You're WRONG! The Office is HYSTERICAL! ;)

Yeah, I was WTFing all over the place on Lost. They're civilized human beings in houses?! Ehhhhhh???? Let's see how long it takes to get to the point of that.

I didn't much like the Tina Fey show. It looks like that show went through the Focus Group ringer, which is kind of funny as that seems to be what the first show was about. So Rachel Dratch was supposed to be Jane Krakaowski's character? Now she's a crazy cat lady. Poor Rachel Dratch. She's so funny. That would also explain a lot of the lines where Tina Fey was like "she's my best friend" and stuff like that, but then in the actual scenes she had with Jane's character, she almost looked like she wanted to ring her neck.