TV Theme Week: Off-Road
The Simpsons and Law & Order notwithstanding, not all TV series have uninterrupted runs across human history; some get cancelled. Some are simply not renewed for another season, which is disappointing, but not nearly as frustrating as discovering that a fledgling show that you’ve taken an interest in has been rudely ripped from the airwaves and replaced with Fear Factor or House reruns.
But it happens. Some shows aren’t very good to begin with, others face stiff competition, others aren’t given time to find their audience. Not every cancelled show is destined for cult status, and, honestly, quite a few show should be cancelled sooner rather than later.
The most recent show to pique my interest only to meet an untimely end? Drive:
Here are my 50 words on the subject:
This show lasted a mere six episodes, but already I need a roadmap to follow the tangled plotlines, betrayals and character relationships – most of which were introduced in the last two episodes. The car chases were inventive, and the conspiracy promised to be all-encompassing and goofy. Perfect summertime viewing.
Your mileage may vary.
Happy Birthday, Naomi!
You are 23 months old today, but you’re not too old to go swinging with Dad.
Now That’s What I Call a Successful Three-Game Night
I knocked four games off the list!
- James Ernest’s Totally Renamed Spy Game (a.k.a. “Before I Kill You, Mr. Bond”)
- Gloom
- Pieces of Eight (must…capture…Captain’s…Monkey!)
- Abduction
Huzzah!
TV Theme Week: More Intelligence
Thanks to the fine TV, eh?, I present these links for the new season of Intelligence:
The Season 1 promo clip (and my first YouTube embedded video ever):
Vancouver Sun article: “Season 2 of Intelligence gets smart and tense”
24 Hours article: “Haddock: The Man with Intelligence”
Halifax Chronicle Herald article: “Haddock keeping a smart series alive”
TV Theme Week: Missed Opportunities
So many TV shows are tightly structured in a serial format that if you don’t get in at the beginning, you’ll have a terrible time joining the action in the middle of the story. When I feel that I’ve missed the window of opportunity, I let the show go, thinking that I’ll perhaps pick up on the series during reruns or the DVD release.
These are the shows that I’ve missed out on, but would have liked to see more:
- Lost – I stopped watching after the first polar bear attack. I hear it got better.
- Alias – I enjoyed the two-hour pilot movie, but never followed up. (Geez, JJ Abrams shows don’t fare too well with me. I didn’t even look twice at What About Brian).
- Jericho – Guis recommends it, the DVD is cheap and the series has been renewed. What am I waiting for?
- Dexter – ditto.
- Carnivale – One of many HBO shows on my endless “To Watch” list.
- Deadwood – Here’s another. I don’t normally go for Westerns, but this is too highly praised in too many quarters to go unnoticed.
- The 4400 – Humans abducted by aliens and granted super-powers sounds very…well, pick your comic book storyline. I choose “New Universe.” (Beats the heck out of Warriors of Plasm).
- 24 – as silly as the series has gotten, I wish I’d watched the first with Dina.
- How I Met Your Mother – I like flashback stories.
- Big Day – I thought the premise of crossing 24 with a comedy was interesting.
Have I missed out on anything else interesting recently?
(Oh, and two shows that I don’t regret missing: Sopranos and Curb Your Enthusiasm.)
TV Theme Week: Capturing the Airwaves
This will surprise absolutely no one, but I’m in the habit of collecting TV shows. When I was living at home, I’d try, as much as possible, to use the same videotape to record my favourite TV shows – which were usually past my bedtime. I’d watch the episodes and, when the tape was full, I’d simply rewind and start recording from the beginning.
At some point, the light turned on in my head and I simply started using additional videotapes. The first show I ever recorded and saved scrupulously was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, followed by Dawson’s Creek (shut up! The first season was good!), Angel and, I believe, the short-lived Hollywood satire, Action!.
I kept this up for about four years, amassing quite the collection of videotapes with handwritten labels. Every once in a while I toyed with the idea of printing proper labels, but those fits of madness/inspiration never lasted.
When Dina and I moved in together, I could tell she was the woman for me because she had a very nearly complete collection of Northern Exposure on VHS. We still watch them from time to time.
I stopped the mass recording when the shows themselves became available on DVD, which greatly increased my storage space, and my VCR returned to entertainment rather than entertainment/archival recordings. But that didn’t stop the collection from growing – Scott used to record Six Feet Under and mail the tapes to me. There are some quirks with the volume, and some rather questionable plotting decisions from Season 4 onwards, so I have yet to bring myself to watch the show through until the end (Alan Ball, you forgot that the show was supposed to be funny, not creepy!).
Basically, I stopped recording shows because I would wait for the DVD. The only exception was the first season of Doctor Who broadcast on the CBC, because I knew that the prices of BBC DVD sets are astronomical. I still have the tapes on my shelf, with all the commercials intact.
Well, I stopped recording shows for myself. Dina and I have about 20 tapes of Kids’ CBC programming accumulated over the last four years. If we ever have a hankering to see Patty Sullivan’s old characters, like Patty McTalkalotofguffskichuk or the rappin’ Princess Patty, we just have to pop in the tape.
To say that my recording and collecting habits changed last year would be an understatement. For our anniversary, we bought each other a digital video recorder. Now, we can record our shows (up to 160 hours’ worth) and then burn them to DVD for posterity.
Well, that changes everything! Not only have I been recording anything and everything, but, after a few minutes with the remote control, I can edit out the commercials and enjoy uninterrupted playback (with a few broadcast flags in the corners and the odd banner ad at the bottom). I don’t keep absolutely everything, because my reception isn’t always perfect but, for shows that I want to keep but don’t expect to see release on DVD (such as Intelligence) or at affordable prices (such as Doctor Who), this is a perfect collecting option.
In fact, the only problem with the ease of use is that I’ve found myself keeping shows just because I can. On a couple of occasions, I’ve stopped myself in the middle of deleting commercials out of a show and considered if the show was worth the time spent editing. Probably not. Did I really need to keep the third season of Hustle or the cancelled Traveler? No. Did I really need to keep the Dragon Boys movie? No, but I did anyway… and a DVD takes up less space than a VHS tape.
TV Theme Week: The New Best Kids’ Show Ever*
“Hiya, Bo-Buddies!”
When Ben and Naomi hear that line, they come racing into the living room, because they know it’s time for Bo on the Go!, one of the new shows on the revamped Kids’ CBC lineup.
Bo is produced by the same company that created the fabulous Poko, and features some similar creative features. The theme song, for example, appears to be performed by the same chorus of little kids that worked on Poko’s Playhouse, and, though a CG animation and not a claymation model, Bo looks an awful lot like Bibi.
The premise of the show is simple: Bo is a little girl who lives in a magical castle with her pet dragon, Dez. Every episode, some mysterious and silly monster takes something from the castle, and Bo must go through a series of three magical worlds to find the monster and retrieve the item. At every step of the way, she receives advice from Wizard, who tells her to move like one of three animals to overcome obstacles. Bo asks the audience to move with her and give her energy. Then, just before locating the monster, Dez finds a magic item that will distract the silly monster, and everything is back to normal.
The purpose of the show is to get kids jumping around and moving, and it works. Ben and Naomi love helping Bo choose her “ani-move” and then moving around the living room like the clapping seal, flying bird, galloping horse, etc.
Ben also loves the silly monsters, and asks to see the episodes by name: “Neat Freak,” “Switcheroo,” “Fruity Patootie,” “Silly Stomper,” and “String Snatcher” are his current favourites. He’s even taken to drawing the monsters in his school art projects and during his ABA sessions (I have to interpret what he’s saying, because his mispronunciation is vigorous and adorable). There’s just something about the art design of the show that has captured his imagination.
All this excitement, and the show is only three weeks and 14-15 episodes old! (I may have missed the first episode on September 4th, and the Women’s World Cup of Soccer has been pre-empting some morning shows.)
*Until the Next Best Kids’ Show Ever, of course.
TV Theme Week: The Good Doctor and the Not-So-Good Torchwood
First, the official 50-word review:
Doctor Who Season 3
David Tennant’s second outing as the Doctor is more successful than the first: His doctor is less giddy and more matter-of-factly ruthless, Martha Jones is an interesting Companion, the episodes were more puzzling and entertaining (save for two-and-half duds) and an honest-to-goodness villain enlivened a much-improved finale. Well done, indeed.
Then, a couple of non-spoiler random thoughts on the Doctor Who finale and Torchwood:
- I’m impressed with how the writers used most of this season to set up the finale. Elements tied together nicely.
- It now appears that the first season of Torchwood ends shortly before the end of this season of Doctor Who, except that the Torchwood to Who link doesn’t match the Who to Torchwood link. Trust me, this makes sense. I guess the writers hadn’t figured out the details of the crossover yet.
- It’s amusing that John Barrowman does a better Captain Jack on Doctor Who than he did on his own show. So much angry exposition!
- I have got to get back to watching Life on Mars.
Trade Ya
100 Bullets Vol. 11 Once Upon a Crime
I needed the first three issues in this collection just to remember the names of the different Minutemen. The intrigues between the rogue and evil Minutemen in the overarching story wasn’t as interesting as the simple art heist/swindle tale set in Rome, or the origin of the deceased Agent Shepherd
Monte Cook’s Ptolus City by the Spire
I’m awfully glad that I read the 670-page Ptolus RPG before this spin-off comic series, and that I paid half-price. Without the RPG, I wouldn’t recognize, follow or care about the heroes, villains, landmarks, conspiracies and plights. But I did, and I was diverted…but I can’t really recommend the series.
Sandman Mystery Theatre Vol. 5 Dr. Death & The Night of the Butcher
The villains in these mysteries are usually obvious: it’s the new/returning character. In Dr. Death, the only surprise is that the villain’s bad behaviour (and he’s a real jerk) has nothing to do with his crimes. These tales are more about Wesley and Dian than the crimes, but that’s fine.
Tangent Comics Vol. 1 TPB #1
The original issues in this series were released simultaneously as an event rather than a single story, but with references to other characters and plots scattered through each issue. This trade provides some structure – though it wasn’t the order I used – and I noticed more cross-references than before.
TV Theme Week: Anticipation
These are the shows that I must see this season, in descending order of importance:
- Intelligence – How does Jimmy get out of that sting? Does Mary take over the Pacific arm of CSIS? Does that banker guy have all Jimmy’s money?
- Heroes – How will they top their first season? How soon until Kristen Bell’s appearance?
- Bionic Woman – I loved the pilot. Give me more robo-Starbuck!
- Sarah Connor Chronicles – The pilot was terrific. I had forgotten how often the Terminators use walls as weapons.
- The Tudors – Looks steamy and scheme-y, like Elizabeth.
- Pushing Daisies – I’m a fan of Bryan Fuller’s work, but this show – though endearing – may be too precious and candy-coloured to survive. I hope I’m wrong. It features yet another female lead with a male name and an unresolvable romantic situation. At least it’s funny.
- Chuck – The pilot was pretty funny. I’m not sure where the show can go, but I’ll follow along.
- Grey’s Anatomy – The writers did a surprisingly thorough job of blowing up the status quo in the last finale, so I’m curious to see where they go next.
- Moonlight – Yes, it looks just like Angel and yes, it’s on during the Friday night cheesy TV hour, sandwiched between the unwatchable Ghost Whisperer and Numb3rs. Still it features Logan from Veronica Mars and the Madame de Pompadour from The Girl in the Fireplace. On a Friday night, I could be into that.
- Dirty Sexy Money – Hmmm…trashy. Looks like fun. I like Peter Krause.
- Big Shots – More trash, this time in a Manchild/Sex and the City vibe. Not all the actors are who I’d expect in a show like this, which makes it more interesting.
- Private Practice – I enjoyed Kate Walsh on Grey’s Anatomy, but I wasn’t thrilled with the de-facto pilot episode of her new series. She needs to be tough and occasionally goofy, but not giddy.
Now, that’s far too much TV to follow in the course of a season, so I’ll be dropping shows and other shows will be cancelled on me. The only question is: which will be the first to go?