Warm Glowing Warming Glow

Season in Review, Part 2

More thoughts on the fall chunk of the television season:

Wednesdays.  I think I've watched every episode of Jericho, and I'm done with it.  Looking back, I can't figure out why it took me so long to quit it.  It's like the writers of Judging Amy took Lost apart, put it back together to their own taste, then handed it to a bunch of junior high kids.   Lost, meanwhile -- how many episodes did we get this fall?  It feels like about three.  And seriously, nothing happened.  The stuff with the Others is pretty good and Elizabeth Mitchell and her breasts are good additions to the show.  Aside from them, Jack, Kate and Sawyer, no one has had much to do so far.  I'm not sure what to expect when it returns from hiatus (in February?), except that it's going to be bumped back to 10:00.

Thursdays.  The big story this fall was the 9:00 timeslot battle between CSI and Grey's Anatomy.  I forget who won -- I'm watching The O.C., about which I've already written a lot.  At 8:00, I missed most of what was apparently one of the best seasons of Survivor, choosing instead to watch Ugly Betty and record The Office.  Ugly Betty gets better, week by week.  America Ferrera is one of the best things on television -- that was apparent in the premiere -- and as we move along, the rest of the cast has proven itself nearly up to her level.  The current unsung hero is Becki Newton, who plays the bitchy, drunken, binge-eating receptionist, Amanda.  Newton came almost out of nowhere.  I hope she gets a lot more work from this.  She deserves to be a big, big star.  The Office seems to be doing really well -- merging the Stamford branch in was a good move and has introduced a lot of funny bits.  It still feels a lot broader than last season, but it's hard to complain when it's as funny as the Christmas episode. 

Friday was a really good night this fall.  The first half of the third season of Battlestar Galactica was really strong.   The New Caprica stuff was so great it's overshadowed the stuff that's gone on since they all got back on their ships, that stuff has mostly worked as well.  The creepy rock opera bits on the Cylon basestar are a real highlight.  When it returns next month, the show will be on Sundays -- not sure how I feel about that.  Friday's only other show worth watching was Doctor Who, which ended last week.  I only half-watched this season, but I liked what I saw and I really liked the finale, like a lot.  Probably worth renting on DVD when it becomes available next month, if you missed the Sci Fi broadcasts.   -- Peter

Season in Review, Part 1

No posts since before November Sweeps -- partly, I've been busy, and partly there wasn't much to post about.  Now that the fall season is over, though, I thought it would be a good time to recap the season:

Sundays.  Desperate Housewives is still on and I'm still not watching.  Everyone says it's just as good as the first season, which . . . not quite good enough.  I did see the sweeps stunt in which Laurie Metcalf shoots up a supermarket.  Although Metcalf was great, the whole thing was disorienting, because one of the hostages was the younger guy (Matt Roth, Metcalf's real-life husband, which . . . even weirder) Jackie dated that time who beat her up and then Dan went to jail for beating him up.  Anyway, apparently enough people are watching that show again to float Brothers & Sisters, which I am watching, although I still don't know why.  Oh, right.  Almost everyone in the cast is really, really attractive.  The show still hasn't quite gelled -- one week it's a screwball farce, the next it's an emo-fueled cry-fest.   My Mom likes it a lot . . .

Mondays. Prison Break got really good this season.  I don't think I've posted about it before, but it's really good.  As soon as they got out of prison, it got really, really fun.  Basically, from week to week, it's about three or four geniuses (Wentworth Miller, Paul Adelstein, Robert Knepper, William Fichter) alternately teaming up and betraying one another.  The central love story (between Miller and Sarah Wayne Callies's dope addict/prison doctor) works for me.  Add in a multi-episode arc for Diana Scarwid* as a sexed-up housewife and Knepper walking around with an inexpertly-reattached hand -- as if he's wandered in out of a Coen brothers movie -- and you've got classic, classic television.  Heroes ended on a high note.  I think I'll keep watching when it returns next year.  But.  There are serious problems, chief of which is that the episodes seem to be structured around a big cliffhanger about 48 minutes into the episode, followed by a handful of filler scenes.  I don't get it.  When I remember to watch How I Met Your Mother, I enjoy it. 

Tuesdays.  I've written a lot about Gilmore Girls -- I still think that it's a lot better than most people seem to think it is -- at least as good as last season, a solid B+ overall.  I think Veronica Mars is handling the transition to college relatively gracefully, but I'd like to see a lot more of Mac and Wallace, and I didn't love the rape mystery, overall.  Laura San Giacomo is going to go full Double Indemnity on Keith, right?  Am I the only one seeing that?  -- Peter

*Let's develop a pilot for USA Network, starring Scarwid and Donna Murphy as Upper East Side matrons who solve mysteries between museum board meetings.  What do you say?   

Can You Handle My Truth?

Dear Jenny,

Just a short post to remind you that I'm still alive and still paying attention to popular culture.  I've been busy with work, school and the annual holiday sweat shop.  (At some point, we should compare notes on our current craft projects.)

Meanwhile, is it just me or has reality television gone Britney Spears: Chaotic all of a sudden?  Did you watch last week's crazy, crazy Real World: Somewhere in the Midwest?   Completely bananas.  I've watched it about 15 times and I'm still not sure I know what happened.  What about the last three weeks of Top Chef?  These people, man . . . absolutely nuts.  Of course, my standards are not very high for insane behavior, because I do not watch Flavor of Love.  Am I overreacting?   

Love,

-- Pete