Right. The time has come to write something – anything. I know I entertained all kinds of ideas about posting shorter entries more often, even going so far as to declare that publicly. And look what happened: several moons have passed since my last update. Quelle frickin' surprise.So it is, then, that I begin this entry, with another beginning, another promise. Actually, no – screw that, no promises this time, except for this sole one: I promise to blog as often as I can be arsed to.
Since the autumn has brought in its wake an unprecedented batch of much-hyped and actually rather ace TV series, I thought it might be worthwhile to write about some of them. So, please fasten your seat belts and put out your crack pipes... for the Fall TV Review!
(And no, I don’t have a life.)
I thought we might go over them in the order they are scheduled on Finnish TV. (Side note: we are usually lagging behind the US one season here on the old continent, so it’s mostly first seasons we are talking here.)
First up is My Name Is Earl, with the always eminently watchable Jason Lee. Dude seemed for years to be on the verge of breaking into mainstream movie stardom, but never was quite able to pull it off. Here we get to watch him weekly in a comedy that offers a good-natured antidote to all those clever-verging-on-black-hearted NY sitcoms the Nineties/Noughties have produced. Significantly, the show has left the confines of the studio to paint its broad comedy strokes against a sunny Californian backdrop, to utterly pleasing effect. It's a keeper.
Desperate Housewives’ second season is also under way. As far as I’m concerned, it’s still fine superficial pop TV, and all the people griping about it are a bunch of tight-asses who like nothing better than to trumpet their own alleged sophistication. It might be getting marginally tired, but that was to be expected – this is not a show built to last.
The first season of Weeds premiered a couple of weeks ago as well. To be completely predictable, I’m gonna go ahead and say it’s the indie DH, with less cartoonish characters and storylines. Yeah, and the actress playing the protagonist, Mary-Louise Parker, is surprisingly hot in that slightly uptight way. The show really is like having a half-hour of quality indie cinema on your screen every Monday. (By the by, the pilot featured a line (”That little slut. I should’ve had an abortion”) that had me laughing for, like, five minutes. No mean feat, that.)
Tuesday kicks off with season three episodes of The OC. This show captured the zeitgeist and was certainly my favorite TV show in its debut season. Of course, I laughed in all the wrong places and liked the baddies best, but that was exactly its appeal – it was the Noughties 90210 in the unintentional comedy stakes, with added pop culture references. I read someone summarise the situation pretty well: the show burned a ton of plot in its first season, leaving it nowhere to go in subsequent seasons. And as much as I hate agreeing with fourth-rate US showbiz journos, I have to concur. Now they are bringing in hordes of new characters in a desperate attempt to keep the show afloat and somehow relevant. Looking forward to Marissa’s death, though.
Prison Break is a high-concept suspense/action film, but in the form of a TV series. In other words, it’s great. The central conceit is really nice, and it would almost carry the series without all the high-caliber acting. I have no idea where they are gonna go during the second season, though. I hear the creators of the show originally planned it to only last the one season, but when studio execs came knocking with their fat wallets after the first season's success, they swiftly dropped down on all fours for a right old ramming.
Lost. Yes, I know it’s supposed to be all manner of wonderful, but the truth is, I just cannot bring myself to give a fuck about any of the characters, or the big mystery. Bunch of wankers on an island. Who gives a toss?
Grey's Anatomy - I can take it or leave it. The show's very light-weight, but rather pleasing in a humdrum way all the same. It's funny, though, how they've tried to add a little depth and quirkiness by incorporating long passages with ostensibly cool indie music playing in the background. However, the bleary-eyed protagonist is so not hot. She is, though. Shit-hot.
Rome has historical accuracy, lavish sets, great characters, gore and sex - lots of it. What more could you possibly want?
There's really no way House MD could be a total failure with Hugh Laurie playing a deliciously rude yet brilliant doctor. The plot's always the same, though: mystery ailment is brought to House and his team's attention; they ruminate; House thinks he's cracked the case and they start treating the patient, only to find that his or her symptoms are heightened by said treatment; brows are furrowed and House is accused of not following proper procedure; and lastly, House has an epiphany while doing something else, thus bringing the case to a close. Not much variation, but there you go.
Okay, there would of course be loads more, but I haven't really watched them, and that'd be a bit too much anyway.
Instead, here's a fun movie trivia game. I got 15 out of 20 without help. See if you can do better.
If you don't have the presence of mind to bother with that, you can always go here. It has to be the most disturbing game I've ever seen.
And on a completely different note, here's something for the artist within you. Just click your mouse button and move the mouse around the screen to create a modern masterpiece. (Change colour by clicking again.)
(Gratuitous? What the hell are you talking about, gratuitous? She plays a physician in Grey's Anatomy, making this picture completely relevant to the topic at hand.)
