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Curmudgeon
Sep. 22nd, 2009 05:29 pmI don't really watch that much TV. Really. Well I don't think so anyway. I pick a small set of shows to watch each season and stick with them. But at the start of each season I audition a whole bunch of the new shows that might be added to the set. I usually drop a few off as well - the networks help with that.
The set of shows this time is going to be a small one to judge by the shows seen so far...
The first lot I couldn't even sit through the pilots:
Community - sad comedy set in community college
Bored to Death - why would you call a show this, it just sets up the lines. "Sad Loser wants to be Philip Marlowe" would have been more descriptive but no more entertaining.
Lunch Monkeys - silly Brit comedy set in an office full of sad losers - The IT Crowd or The Smoking Room this ain't.
Happy Holidays - silly Brit comedy set in a caravan park full of sad losers - see above.
The Vampire Diaries - and this ain't True Blood. Not even remotely close.
There were others that were OK but not enough to make me want to watch more. Three of them are animated: Archer, The Cleveland Show & The Dating Guy. All a bit silly but not silly-funny. Archer is the best of them - also the silliest. It is almost a modern Get Smart but lacking personality.
Home Time - back to sad losers again but it makes sense contextually. Sometimes you can go home again - this time the problem is that it is just the way you remember it. Brit grit comedy.
Trinity - think Skins with a mystery story thrown in. Very pretty. Very sexy. Sometimes a little funny. Only the characters are so cliched that I can't ever see them developing the depth that Skins managed. Oh and an extra side order of cliche for the plot and setting.
Then there is Flash Forward. Based on a Robert Sawyer novel that I enjoyed, I thought it started pretty well and I can forgive the variations from the novel. The whole "everybody sees a glimpse of their future" was well done. I have a lingering doubt though. I don't think this idea has the legs to sustain a series unless they thin out the story a whole heap. I'm willing to wait and see.
There are more shows to go yet - the reboot of V is to be looked forward to. Not being a fan of the original probably helps in this situation.
The set of shows this time is going to be a small one to judge by the shows seen so far...
The first lot I couldn't even sit through the pilots:
Community - sad comedy set in community college
Bored to Death - why would you call a show this, it just sets up the lines. "Sad Loser wants to be Philip Marlowe" would have been more descriptive but no more entertaining.
Lunch Monkeys - silly Brit comedy set in an office full of sad losers - The IT Crowd or The Smoking Room this ain't.
Happy Holidays - silly Brit comedy set in a caravan park full of sad losers - see above.
The Vampire Diaries - and this ain't True Blood. Not even remotely close.
There were others that were OK but not enough to make me want to watch more. Three of them are animated: Archer, The Cleveland Show & The Dating Guy. All a bit silly but not silly-funny. Archer is the best of them - also the silliest. It is almost a modern Get Smart but lacking personality.
Home Time - back to sad losers again but it makes sense contextually. Sometimes you can go home again - this time the problem is that it is just the way you remember it. Brit grit comedy.
Trinity - think Skins with a mystery story thrown in. Very pretty. Very sexy. Sometimes a little funny. Only the characters are so cliched that I can't ever see them developing the depth that Skins managed. Oh and an extra side order of cliche for the plot and setting.
Then there is Flash Forward. Based on a Robert Sawyer novel that I enjoyed, I thought it started pretty well and I can forgive the variations from the novel. The whole "everybody sees a glimpse of their future" was well done. I have a lingering doubt though. I don't think this idea has the legs to sustain a series unless they thin out the story a whole heap. I'm willing to wait and see.
There are more shows to go yet - the reboot of V is to be looked forward to. Not being a fan of the original probably helps in this situation.