The Current Shows: Jump the Shark Edition
So it’s been a while since we did a best of the current shows type of post. I have to admit that my heart hasn’t fully been in it because I really don’t care for a lot that is on TV. Even a lot of my former favorite shows have clearly jumped the shark. Part of me really wishes shows could have clearer end times so the writers could adjust instead of just prolonging the agony.
As ever please let us know your own favorites.
First the shows I’ve given up on. I quickly gave up on Walking Dead as nothing ever happens and no one does anything even moderately intelligent. I’ve nearly given up on House which really should have just ended last year with House getting his just deserts. I’ve pretty much given up on Big Bang Theory and Covert Affairs as well. I gave up on American Chopper. The attempts at conflict are so clearly fake and the show’s just not interesting anymore. I’ve not given up on Burn Notice but somehow I can’t work up the excitement about episodes anymore.
I’ve not yet watched Dexter yet, although I’ve been hearing from a lot of people that this season is clumsily written and has worn out its welcome a bit. Several people said it’s jumped the shark. (I really liked last season but I know several people don’t)
The one show I’ve loved this season, Fringe, has been getting the worst ratings of its history. (It fell under 3 million viewers with a 1.1 in the key demographic – down to CW numbers) And let’s be honest — it wasn’t doing great last year. I’d say it’ll be cancelled soon except that I don’t think Fox has anything else to put on Friday night. Apparently many people haven’t liked at all where the series headed. (See this review for an example) Admittedly part of the problem is an already difficult Friday night combined with NBC doing counter-programming with Grimm (which has done well enough to get a full season)
So the one show I am enjoying is probably going to be gone before spring.
On the other hand Justified reportedly starts up again in January. Also interestingly Elmore Leonard has just come out with a new Raylan Givens book taking place in Kentucky. The continuity of the novels is slightly different from the show. (He has kids in the books) But I might drop a note to Santa to put a copy in my stocking. In other interesting news there Carla Gugino who played Karen Sisco in the sort lived ABC series is joining the cast of Justified this season. (Karen Sisco is an other recurring Elmore Leonard character — and arguably the ABC series was the best adaptation of Leonard on TV prior to Justified)
Beyond all that I don’t have a whole lot. There weren’t really a lot of interesting shows this fall. On the bright side this is a great time to catch up with series you may not have had time for in the past. I’m really curious about Breaking Bad (being reviewed here) and Boardwalk Empire. I may try and check out Game of Thrones as well.
Posted on November 22, 2011, in Pop Culture. Bookmark the permalink. 32 Comments.
Steve Evans
RJH
Scott B.
John C.
Susan M
Aaron Brown
ninemoons
John Harrison
kulturblogadmin
Kyle M
Brad
KulturBlogGuest
MCQ
Wm
Rebecca
Ivan
Geoff J
btdgreg
Clark Goble
Aaron R.
Tim J
Ben
Marcus
Brad Williams
gibsonbn
I like Grimm–supernatural without the Twilight vibe (how rare is that these days?). I was also surprised to like Downton Abbey, although I haven’t seen any of the second season yet. Dexter’s good, although not as good as last season. I’m looking forward to Justified and The Killing.
I’ve enjoyed Grimm. So far.
Still liking Fringe. Everything else has lost its luster; Haven’t watched the last half-dozen episodes of Covert, Burn Notice, etc. Still watching House, but… same ole thing.
Downton pretty much jumps in the second season. In Walking Dead, if they don’t find Sophia soon I’m going to eat her myself. Dexter lacks its usual edge, mostly because I don’t believe Tom Hanks Jr. would kill someone. You all should be watching the Danish Killing.
The Walking Dead is completely dreadful. The zombies have become a subplot this season and, as many critics have pointed out, the living aren’t very interesting.
Hell on Wheels is off to a solid start. The pilot was a bit slow but it’s picked up a bit. The Swede has become one of my favorite TV characters.
Bad news via NBC, Community won’t be brought back midseason (though it’s not canceled) and the one new show I was anticipating the most, Awake, is nowhere to be found on it’s schedule, yet.
PS, can someone send me my login?
We just watched Grimm onDemand and liked it enough. Not sure it’s going to do well when they move it to the Thursday 10pm slot, though.
Once Upon a Time is one we enjoy watching with the kids. It’s basically the final season of Lost redone as the characters find themselves in a false construct and have to remember who they really are to return to “reality.” It’s fairly light-hearted and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Tim J,
I just sent it to you.
Is Gugino joining as Karen Sisco? If so, that’s the best news I’ve heard all day.
Fringe is still good.
Walking Dead, Killing… good.
Steve, are you talking about AMC’s version of The Killing? Because if so, you’ve done right dropping the Supergenius moniker.
It’s not a popular show around here (I don’t think, anyway), and it’s certainly not “Really. Important. Television.” but my wife and I have continued to enjoy Castle on ABC. It’s just breezy and requires no thought. Season 3 ended with a big cliffhanger (injuries, deaths, confessions…), and Season 4 has been pretty good. So far:
1. The single biggest thing heading into S4, given the “I Love You!” at the end of S3 was finding a way to make sure that the show doesn’t torpedo itself by becoming a romance, but also not torturing audiences with every-single-episode sexual tension with no payoff a la Bones. They’ve done this well, I think.
2. Bringing back an escaped murderer from a previous season was a very good move, because the show cannot sustain itself indefinitely on the sexual tension between the leads and the hunt for Beckett’s mom’s killer.
3. The choice of Penny Johnson as the new boss is an interesting one–she will always and forever be “Sherry Palmer” from 24 for a lot of people (including my wife and I), and that makes us hate her. This is good in that we’re supposed to hate her, but also bad in that, eventually, I would assume that she’ll warm up to Castle and become less antagonistic, and I don’t think I’ll be able to buy it. Sherry Palmer was too evil.
4. Castle’s daughter used to be cute and charming, but now she is whiny and obnoxious. I’m sad her character didn’t get into Stanford, because maybe her character would have been written out.
I’m with Scott in really enjoying Castle. Great tv.
I’m also big on Fringe, but have only watched the first few episodes this year. I really appreciate when a tv series actually takes risks–even if it plummets the ratings.
And I still like Big Bang Theory. I love the development of Sheldon’s girlfriend.
My only critique of Castle is the Rick character has no flaws. I like my head characters a bit more rough.
Ooh yeah, forgot Castle. Good stuff. Castle and Fringe are the only things the wife can stand to watch.
I recently read the Walking Dead graphic novel through the most recent issue (#91) and I liked it, but it was much darker than the show. I thought maybe it would make the show more likable, but I don’t think it has. The show is so-so for me. I thought Walking Dead and Dexter would be as highly anticipated each week as Breaking Bad was, but I was wrong there, too.
Dexter is okay, getting better, but clumsy. I liked last season alright. This season isn’t quite as good, but still watchable. I can still stand Once Upon a Time with my wife, but if they drag out the main story beyond 2 seasons, I’m sure I’ll hate it. Covert Affairs used to be fun, but not anymore – my wife still looks forward to it. Burn Notice episodes are piling up.
I really like The Big Bang Theory. Last weeks episode (or maybe the one before that) was one of the best ever, I thought. My wife and I also like The New Girl. It’s predictable and a little too much like friends at times (one episode had an accidental walk-in followed by a tit-for-tat arrangement), but Zooey Deschanel is very funny, and some of the running gags pay off (a little like Arrested Development).
Can’t wait for Justified, and 30 Rock could be good. Here’s hoping.
On the good news front, Arrested Development will be back in just over a year! I’m looking forward to it.
It’s Always Sunny just aired it’s last episode this season. It wasn’t the best episode, but funny. The Chardee MacDennis episode was a real masterpiece, though. I think I’m the only one here that watches that one. There were 3 or 4 this season that were fantastic.
I have two other shows that I just can’t manage to start watching – Homeland and The Hour. Read good reviews for both, but I’m not motivated to start them.
The good TV is less than it should be, so I’m catching up on some reading, which for some reason feels better than watching TV.
“the show cannot sustain itself indefinitely on the sexual tension between the leads and the hunt for Beckett’s mom’s killer.”
I don’t think the writers agree with you. And the murder of Beckett’s mother has to be the most convoluted cover-up in the history of network TV.
I agree with Ben, though, that Castle has no flaws and I don’t know how the police solved any crimes prior to his involvement. I especially liked the episode where he tracked down and disabled the dirty bomb basically by himself.
Sorry for the snark…
Ben, watch out for Rick to change. In the comics (the TV show is at about #13) Rick starts to change pretty soon. They aren’t following the comics that closely, but I don’t think they can avoid this development this season. (At least I hope they don’t avoid it.)
oops. wrong show. Why can’t I delete my own comment?
I don’t think so. But she is playing an other Marshal. It’d be cool if she was playing the same character.
Edit: Just looked it up. She’s playing Karen Goodall, a Washington, D.C.-based assistant director of the U.S. Marshals Service that apparently Raylan had a thing with back in Miami. However that’s close enough to Karen Sisco that I wonder if they just changed the last name due to a rights issue over the Sisco property.
Tim J,
I think the writers agree with me–hence the introduction of additional recurring issues–like the Triple K killer, or whatever his name is.
Cantinflas, I watch It’s Always Sunny as well. Love it.
Tim J., I have reclaimed the moniker. And Killing is a very good show regardless of which version. Lots of people didn’t like the way the season ended, but I think it makes sense for the future of the show.
The Killing fell apart long before the finale. The finale was just the cherry on top of the crap sundae.
I’m basically down to three shows. How I Met Your Mother (don’t judge me; I’m in for the long haul); Castle; and Community. I am devastated by NBC’s decision re: Community. I am hoping to get caught up on Fringe and Parks and Rec on DVD, but that’s about where I am. If they aren’t streaming it online, I don’t watch it.
Castle is ok. I agree that they should have shipped the daughter off to Stanford. In fact, they should do a Stanford episode. I believe there is a historical poisoning case involving co-founder Jane Stanford. Maybe they could work on that.
I also agree that Sherry Palmer is just too evil. As captain she’s already warmed to Castle, but Sherry Palmer would do that as a ruse.
I like Castle too, I watch it with my daughter. She recently found a novel by Rick Castle (don’t know who really writes them) in the bookstore and had to have it. It has Fillion on the cover as Castle and everything.
I can’t figure out why people don’t talk about Prime Suspect. It’s one of my favorite shows.
MCQ,
I’ve actually been watching Prime Suspect too. It’s good. But it would probably be the first show to go if my life got more busy, if only because it’s not really anything out of the ordinary. It’s a good cop show, but when it comes down to it it’s just another cop show.
Of course, that also makes it my second-favorite new show this season, next to Grimm. Not a great season for new shows.
what is up with Community? that and Modern family have been the only bright spots of my week! Community’s recent “chaos theory” episode was one of the funniest things I had seen in a long time.
Regarding Walking Dead, it was clear after last season that they were eschewing most of the cool plot devices from the graphic novel and going with a more soap opera-ish feel. Too bad. there was some good original source material to play with.
My sense was they wanted a more soap opera like vibe as well. The problem is that it wasn’t well written soap opera. Plus they took the worst aspect of bad horror movies (the unsympathetic stupid characters killed by whatever “evil” is out there) and magnified it. There were so many interesting places they could go. The premier was great and there were some really tense episodes. But things happened so slowly. And I’m a guy who loved the first two seasons of Lost that arguably were slow. There just wasn’t that much creativity.
By the way – how many years ago was it that The Simpsons jumped the shark? I loved that show back in the 80′s and 90′s. I honestly can’t believe it is still on!
Tim, if it was just another cop show, I wouldn’t watch it. I think it’s something special. If it’s allowed to stay on, I think others will eventually figure this out.
Im with mcq re: prime suspect. Some really great and complex characters. At first, I thought it was going to go too far along the male cops hating woman detective, but then they did a great job complicating that during the second or third episode when this attractive lady cop comes in and the guys fawn over her. It kinda reveals the main lady brings some of the hatred on herself.
It doesn’t look like Prime Suspect is going to make it. I agree though, it was a really good procedural.
Dr. Horrible, I agree Community has had some fantastic episodes this season, but the last one with the promotional ad was a real stinker. I just didn’t enjoy it. Modern Family is always strong, sometimes the way it turns out to be touching reminds me of M*A*S*H.
I love “It’s Always Sunny.” The Jersey Shore episode was my favorite this season. I believe there’s still some episodes left, if I’m not mistaken.
I really enjoyed “Dexter” last season. I guess some people didn’t care for it, but I thought it was a great departure from a formula that was getting stale. This season though, well, the jury is still out, I’ve only seen the first two or so. It seems like a return to what they were doing. Plus, I feel the whole spiritual theme is obvious. I think I can easily see where it’s headed.
I endorse “Boardwalk Empire.” Richard, the guy, with half a face, is one of my favorite characters on television right now. And this season (again I’m only a couple episodes in) they’re making better use of Chalky White (the actor formerly known as Omar).