The Other Shows
OK, I know a new Lost post will be up tonight. And this isn’t the ideal time to do this. (And yes I’ll be chiming in on BTD Greg’s always excellent summaries that seem to contain more information than I thought possible) That said Lost isn’t the only show in the universe, even if it is among the best. So here’s our irregular commentary on other shows going on. Feel free to chime in with comments on other shows I missed.
First up 24.
What? 24? Didn’t you stop watching that last year? Yes. Last season started with a bang with a purportedly more realistic style but by the time the Africans attacked the White House FROM THE RIVER the show was so stupid I didn’t think anything could save it. So I stopped watching. Then a couple of weeks ago I decided to rent the remaining episodes from Netflix. (Oddly it wasn’t on streaming) What a surprise. The second half of the season was actually quite good. It kind of lost it and got a tad silly the last two episodes, but overall I was pretty happy. Happy enough to start watching this season.
Surprise. Thus far this season is great. It pushed the change of style even more over last year. This now seems like a gritty NY cop drama from the 70′s. Will it keep it up? I don’t know. In the past 24 starts out well and then gets stupid around episode 6 or so. So I’m hoping it doesn’t happen this time. It flows much better and the direction is heads and shoulders above even last year. I really like the change of style too. There are some downsides. I’m dreading the return of agent Rene Walker who is basically the same whiner as last year only psychotic this year. We’ll see. There’s also Starbuck from BSG trying way too hard to be perky as the analyst hiding a secret of a past life with an abusive boyfriend. Yeah. That subplot sucks. Other than that though the show thus far has been a throwback to the great 24′s of yesteryear. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Also up is Burn Notice which I’ve been enjoying except for the nagging question. If Michael (whatever is name is) has decided to act spy like on his own since he figures he’ll never work for the government again, why not just kill the badguys who clearly need killing? And why stay in Miami? I’d like to see more explanations for that. Other than that it’s about what it’s always been. It’s falling into that USA rut of getting a pattern and sticking with it.
White Collar is always on the edge for me. It’s a formula USA show. And sometimes it really has that 80′s structure down a tad too much. I’ve not dropped it yet, but the show needs to up the intelligence quotient a bit or it’s going down.
I started watching American Chopper again. Not for the motorcycles, which frankly have gone down hill since the Dad started building them by himself. But because there is this drama of how the Father and Son will reunite. The lawsuit, which was in the news around Christmas, between the Dad and Son hasn’t happened yet in the show. It’s odd as both clearly want to reconcile yet are trapped in their own lonely way. It’s pretty compelling drama and the motorcycles have become a much smaller part of the show now.
Fringe ended with a cliffhanger until April. Personally I think this show is going to have difficulty being picked up for an other year. But it has promise. We finally had FBI agent Olivia learn that Peter is actually from the other parallel universe with his dad asking Olivia not to tell. All this after Olivia learns what experiments Walter Bishop had been conducting on her as a child. (Hint: there are echoes of Stephen King’s Firestarter here) Overall though beyond a few compelling episodes, this season has been disappointing.
House started off with a bang this year and then had a few really weak episodes. The episode with the sociopath patient was pretty good though. We are finally getting back to a progressing House. It’s still a fun show and has managed to change just enough without losing what makes it successful.
I have to admit that I have a soft spot for Fox’s The Human Target. Yes it is an unabashed throwback to silly 80′s action fare like the A-Team or Knight Rider. But the actors really pull it off. The making of the main character as having some mysterious secret is a bit silly at this stage. But hopefully once they get their stride they’ll build on this to make the show a bit more complex. It is, like Fringe, still a guilty pleasure. But it’s a fun one.
Caprica. I have to admit I’ve not started watching this one yet. Maybe after I catch up with 24.
Chuck has been pretty darn fun. Yes it is as tongue in cheek as ever. And yes it’s throwing up silly over the top spy cliches that not even Roger Moore could fulfill. But the writing has been smart and the production quality has improved every year. I think a lot of us were worried by this season but it’s the strongest season yet IMO. (Although I do think they need to get rid of the Buy More)
Posted on February 16, 2010, in Pop Culture. Bookmark the permalink. 22 Comments.
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I quit watching 24 after Season 2. Never gone back to it.
I hope Fringe sticks around, as it’s got potential. My wife really enjoys Chuck and 30 Rock, and she generally hates all tv shows.
Burn Notice is the modern equivalent of the A-Team. Troubled person, skilled government guy operating off the radar, guns and explosions. THey just need to have an episode with a van, a mohawk, and some cigar chomping. In other words, I like it.
Anybody watching Damages? Because, wow. It’s the best show you’re not watching.
Burn Notice is definitely a step up from the A-Team. More The Equalizer meets Highway to Heaven.
I’d say that thus far, this is the best season of 24 since season 1. Which is amazingly surprising.
Modern Family. I watched the first 5 minutes of the first episode and turned it off. Then my wife saw the Christmas episode on Hulu. It’s probably the funniest family comedy since Arrested Development. Ed O’Neill is especially good; he’s playing to and against character at the same time.
And Community. I watch it sporadically, but how can you not like a show with Senor Chang, the Asian Spanish teacher?
Other than that, definitely Burn Notice. It’s formulaic, sure, but I still love the formula. And Psych. I actually think this is the worst season of Psych so far, but it’s still worth watching.
It seems like there’s something else I watch, but I can’t think of it offhand.
Community has been really great for me. I laugh a lot.
Parks and Recreation has really improved since last season, mainly because the writers have allowed the characters to grow and become sympathetic. Right now, I think Parks and Recreation is outpacing The Office.
I agree with your assessment of Fringe. The “winter finale” episode was really good, but there have been too many disappointing episodes this season. Some of the scripts have been nothing more than X-Files outtakes. I’d really like to see this show get back on track, and I’ll be very disappointed if it gets canceled.
FlashForward returns in March, and I liked that show quite a bit. Conceptually, it was strong, but it had some overall writing issues. Their second showrunner just left (3 show runners in a single season is *not* a good sign), and the writing team seems to be having trouble getting the details right, but I still think the big-picture story is good. Hopefully, ABC will give it a chance to finish what it started.
In pre-teen programming, let me just say that iCarly is a lot better show when they don’t have story lines involving kissing. Eww.
“In pre-teen programming, let me just say that iCarly is a lot better show when they don’t have story lines involving kissing. Eww.”
Yes! It’s like they’re trying to run that show to the ground! Seriously, this came up last night in a discussion with several adult women. Until recently, it was the only live action tween show that was bearable.
Funny, we were watching Burn Notice the other day and my wife asked those exact same questions. Here’s my take: He has to stay in Miami because he has no identity. Until he gets his identity back he’s not hirable by any legitimate company. Plus, the only way he can track down the people who burned him is to follow the trail in Miami, and he has a base of support in Miami that he doesn’t have elsewhere.
The reason he doesn’t kill people is that he’s working for himself now. He had to kill when it was his job to do so. Now that he’s working for himself, he doesn’t have that excuse. He’s not going to kill unless he is licensed to do so.
I like Burn Notice, but I realized the other day that the stories are not particularly great. It’s the characters and the actors and the tone of the show that make it good.
Yeah, that’s true MCQ. Although my favorites are all the asides about how things work. They were pretty strong the first two seasons but much weaker this one.
I got you beat Ben, I gave up on 24 at 12 into the first season.
I don’t watch most of those shows other than Human Target, which I think is pretty fun. It’s like Alias only not as good. The whole mystery behind the main guy is silly but it kinda reminds me of the mystery of Charlie on Charlie’s Angels. They’re trying to go for something like that I think but not pulling it off very well. The actor is very likeable, though.
I’ve tried watching Modern Family a couple times and think it’s like a really bad version of Arrested Development. It’s not funny at all.
Some shows I do watch:
Celebrity Rehab: Dennis Rodman finally admitted he’s an alcoholic. This show has everything I look for in reality TV: drama/fighting you can roll your eyes at, celebrities acting like idiots, and occasional glimpses of humanness. And let’s not forget the puking.
Project Runway: So far I’m rooting for Seth Aaron and Emilio. I really liked Ping (someone like her around always makes for better TV) but she’s gone.
Community: Love this show. Abed is hilarious. So is Pierce. At first I couldn’t see him without always thinking about how it’s Chevy Chase. But now it takes me awhile to remember that’s his real name.
American Chopper is sad. Putting your life on TV sure seems to ruin it for most people.
Wow, really Darin? I thought the first 12 episodes of 24 were some of the best TV ever. It went downhill from there. But that first season was great, I thought.
Yep, it just wasn’t for me. It’s been a while, but I remember loving the first few episodes and then it completely falling apart for me. Maybe I gave up on it too quickly, but I’m not really all that broken up about it
Actually after episode 12 there was a bit of a lull. They’d obviously written for the initial commitment but weren’t sure they’d be picked up again.
The problem they often have is that they have a character with nothing to do with a few episodes but who will be important later. They want you to notice the character but don’t know what to do. Some of the ways they have dealt with this are a tad unrealistic.
Men of a Certain Age and Modern Family are the best shows on television.
NBC’s thursday night lineup is strong too — Community, Parks & Rec, Office, 30 Rock.
Other than that, I watch Lakers, Sports Center, and HBO original shows.
Guilty pleasure is American Idol, and sometimes other crappy reality shows like, ugh, The Bachelor.
I still like Fringe, despite it’s faults. The actors are very likable (can’t get enough of Anna Torv), and they have toned down Walter’s quirks, which were too distracting in the first season. Some individual episodes were disappointing, but I hope it keeps enough of the audience to stay on the air for another season.
I don’t like Modern Family, and I’m really not sure why. Probably because I’m getting tired of the overused mockumentary format. I’ve gotten a few chuckles from it for the first couple of episodes, but dropped it soon after.
My guilty pleasure is Better Off Ted. The characters and situations are very left-field-ish, and each episode gives me one or two really good belly laughs. This show seems to serve as some kind of “filler” – it comes and goes on the schedule, and never seems to have more than three episodes in a row before disappearing again.
I’m still on the fence about FlashForward and V. I’ve watched every episode of each, but they both seem to be B-Movie versions of Lost. V is the better of the two, IMO, but they both need to tighten up their storylines.
That’s funny. The only thing that has saved Fringe for me is Walter’s quirks. Although apparently not well enough, because I stopped watching some time this season.
Better Off Ted was announced as canceled some time ago.
V seems lame to me. But my wife likes it.
I agree with Susan, Walter and his quirkiness were part of what made Fringe enjoyable.
That’s too bad about Better Off Ted. It’s one of the few shows that made me laugh out loud.
I don’t mind Walter’s quirks that much; at times, though, I found it too over the top. I found interesting the one episode when the Parallel World guy restored the missing piece of Walter’s brian, and he revealed himself to be a not very nice guy…
Better Off Ted isn’t TECHNICALLY canceled yet. But them burning off the order over the holidays isn’t exactly a vote of confidence.
Maybe it’s because I never watched BSG and so don’t have any expectations about what come later, but I am really liking Caprica. I like it even better than V or Flashforward.
I haven’t started watching Caprica yet. I have them all taped but haven’t quite had the moment where I wanted to watch them. But I’ve heard from a few people it’s quite good.
I like Caprica too, though it’s a little slow and the connection to BSG is tenuous at best.