Susan Hated Literature

May 23 2007

Expect Fox to cancel it after 3 episodes

Published by Fence under TV

I’m not sure what to make of this:

_{Via Damien Mulley}

On one hand the first two Terminator films were great, the third was a bit pants, and too self-referential and mocking. On one hand it has Summer Glau in it, and who doesn’t love Summer?, but on the other, it has Fievel Mousekewitz in it, and can a mouse really take on The Machines?

And then there is the fact that the trailer doesn’t look all that great, that Fox are making it, and, that it is a spin off of a spin off of a spin off. Milking the cash cow dry anyone? And then there is the fact that it is a TV show, and there aren’t really all that many good shows left any more.

Example the first: Lost pants pants pants.
Heroes I do like. But I don’t love. It has some interesting storylines and characters but nothing that really grips me. I haven’t taken advantage of the fact that I can watch ahead on d’internet after all. Which says it all
Veronica Mars cancelled. And while I adored the first season, the second really didn’t grab me. And while I will watch season 3, and I do hope for the best, I’ll admit to feeling a little meh over it.
BSG I really do love. But it annoys me so. It could be so great, and I love most, if not all of the characters, but, as I’ve said before, the writers flinch away from the big issues. Which wouldn’t be a terrible thing if they didn’t set themselves up for them in the first place. If you are going to introduce “big” issues, then you are obliged^[1] to deal with them properly. Brushing them under the carpet and solving them with one liners achieves nothing, well, apart from annoying me.^[2] There is also the sense that they don’t really know where they are going. Part of this isn’t there fault, it is down to the possibility of cancellation and the fact that they don’t know how long they are going to last.
Rome. Okay, this is my exception. Great TV. But^[3] there has only been one season. Where is season two BBC?
Life On Mars - I loved the first season. It was new and funny and interesting. But season 2? I dunno, it just wasn’t as good. Still better than a lot of stuff out there, but I was disappointed. And I disliked the finale. The Gene Genie was excellent, but there was very little character development or any forward movement at all.
House I dunno. I really liked it at first. But then it became a little cliched, and when it clashes with something else I tend to watch the something else.
Medium I like. I like a lot, but it isn’t great tv. It is highly watchable. And likeable. And while it does have some nice touches it is predictable and has never been must see tv.
The Sopranos I love when it is on. But when it isn’t I don’t think about it.

The solution to my telly woes? Give Joss a tv show, I loved Buffy, thought Angel was even better. And Firefly? Best of them all.

Or am I being too hard in my old age? Is there some great tv that I’m missing out on?

Linknotes:

in my world view ↩
I could be Annie Wilkes here ↩
there is always a but ↩

Tags: Angel, BSG, Firefly, Heroes, House, Life On Mars, Lost, Medium, Rome, Summer Glau, telly, The Sopranos, The Terminator, Veronica Mars

11 responses so far

Aug 25 2005

Serenity

Published by Fence under Moving Pictures

This is the non-spoiler review. Spoiler review is down below. The password is the name of The plantet. If you’ve seen the film you should know what planet I’m talking about. If not, then email me fencesitter at gmail dot com

serenity

Nathan Fillion …. Capt. Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds
Gina Torres …. ZoÃ« Warren
Alan Tudyk …. Hoban ‘Wash’ Washburne
Morena Baccarin …. Inara Serra
Adam Baldwin …. Jayne Cobb
Jewel Staite …. Kaylee Frye
Sean Maher …. Dr. Simon Tam
Summer Glau …. River Tam
Ron Glass …. Shepherd Meria Book

Remember that episode of The Simpsons where the teachers (I think) put on a show, and Bart said that although he “didn’t think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows.”
Well Serenity is the exact opposite of that remark

I went along with a friend who had never seen any of Firefly before, was totally unfamilar with this whole ‘verse, but after the film she’s heading out to buy the dvd.

It’s got everything in it. Crime, violence, death, guns^[1] love, comedy, shocks and surprises, spaceships and a whole lot more.

“Been more’n a year since I had anything twixt my nethers didn’t run on batteries!”

The great thing about Whedon’s work in Firefly and Serenity is that he is prepared to go to some dark places, and there are quite a few in this film. Suffering and death are not absent here. But always he somehow manages to get a laugh out in the middle of those dark moments, and yet without losing the emotional impact of that darkness^[2]

There were a few things that I was a bit “hmmm” over, but they were mainly how the film related to the series, and aren’t major problems anyway. I’ve since read that the storyline in the film was originally going to take two years of Firefly, and however much I adored, loved this film I wish Whedon could’ve had those two years, and then some more.

Linknotes: