Monday, October 01, 2007

Premiere.

After a conversation with the BFF about the new shows, I wrote up this whole entry about what I was interested in, but now that most of them have premiered, and I have seen a few, I went back and added some editorial comments


Hmmm, not sure why I am doing this but I am doing it anyway. Yes, I probably watch too much TV. But I watch a lot less than most people. And I read. I swear I do! But last year I wrote a bit about what new shows I was looking forward to and it seem like a good time to follow up.

I guess the new season has actually started and I have already fallen behind but…I don’t care. I did record and watch the premiere of K-ville and…well…it was ok. I probably won’t watch it again. It was kind of melodramatic for my tastes but the very nature of the story makes it necessary to be that overblown. Overblown is a bad word for it, I guess, but do you know what I mean? The setting alone is dramatic, the back-stories of the characters are dramatic…it’s very…dramatic. And Cole Hauser is cute but not cute enough to make me need that much drama.

Watched the first episode of Back to You because I am a fan of the half-hour sitcom format. And if you are gonna have a sit-com, these are the people who should be making it. It’s really the cream of the crop as far as that goes, the writers, the actors, the producers and creators, they are the big leagues. But the show…eh. Not that interested. So, so far, this season, I am not really clicking.

What else is there? Kitchen Nightmares? Nope. I have seen some of the British version of this show and that tends towards the “kinder, gentler” Gordon Ramsey. If you have very loose definitions of “kind” and “gentle” but I really feel like he’s less shouty on the British Kitchen Nightmares and the commercials for the American version seem to feature a lot of shouting. So…no.

Gossip Girl? Nice try but if you are going to use the voice of Veronica Mars but not the actress, I’m not going to watch. Not much into the teen drama thing anyway.

Oooh, Kid Nation! I admit, I think this is the best idea for a reality show EVER. Unfortunately, I don’t really enjoy reality shows, so…nope.

Viva Laughlin. Got me. I am so there. If only to see a spectacular disaster. I loved Viva Blackpool (which was originally just called Blackpool, I think). David Morrissey AND David Tennant with a spicy dash of Sarah Parrish. Yep. Loved it. I can’t imagine it will play as well here but I am terribly curious to see. Plus there is the added possibility of a singing, dancing WOLVERINE…well, ok, so Hugh Jackman was a singer and a dancer before he was a wolverine but who cares? As long as he sings…and dances.

Life is Wild. Probably not but maybe. It’s another Americanization of a British show. Could be good (like The Office (after three episodes)), could be bad (like Coupling).

Chuck. I will watch it at least once, just to see, but…look. I am a nerd. I work with nerds. I live with nerds. What’s with all the nerd shows? And are they really going to give nerds their due? Or are we just another punch line?

(OK, so I have since watched Chuck and much to my surprise…I kind of enjoyed it. It was fun. It was pleasant and how did I not know that Adam Baldwin was on it? My husband says I just have a thing for Jane but in reality, I just have a thing for My Bodyguard.)

Journeyman. Early Edition meets Quantum Leap? Ah, Kevin McKidd, you haven’t done me wrong yet…yet. Rome was televisions saving grace last year. Dog Soldiers made me love horror movies again. (Werewolves! People doing things that people would actually do when attacked by werewolves! If you have not yet seen this movie, I heartily encourage you to do so! Plus…KEVIN MCKIDD and SEAN PERTWEE and Oh! Someone else I like…who was it? Oh, I think the Irish dude from Prime Suspect was in it too, Liam Cunningham!!!)

Cane. Hrm. Jimmy Smits. Good. But…but…I don’t know. I have no real reason for having no interest in this show. I kind of want to watch this show. But…I kind of don’t. But for no real reason at all. How’s that for wishy-washy?
(Decided not to watch it. Not that interested and eh, I watch too much as it is.)

Reaper
. Oh, this could be great. Or terrible. And I will watch it because I am hoping for the great and expecting the terrible. (Watched it, liked it. Husband pointed out that it has a very Shaun of the Dead vibe and I thought it really carried the mark of Kevin Smith, and I hope it continues to do so. Also Bret Harrison has been a fave around our house for a while and there is no one better to play the devil than Leland Palmer (Ray Wise).

Private Practice. Nope. Gave up on Gray’s Anatomy when Izzie cut Denny’s heartline thingy. Not gonna bother with a spin off of a character I don’t like.

Dirty Sexy Money. I set a record. I was kind of into it just for Donald Sutherland. Oh you can keep your Keifer, I like the big daddy. But the commercial made me snicker and it looked like a good “Love to hate them” kind of show. (Watched it, really, really enjoyed it. It’s just over the top enough to be fun but not wacky. Also, it’s nice to see Donald Sutherland just enjoying himself. And those teeth…are they his real teeth?)

Bionic Woman. BFF says she will watch it just to see the lead get kicked around by Starbuck. I’m not sure I will even bother. The woman who is playing Jamie Sommers (is she still called that, I don’t even know and can’t be bothered to look) used to be on the Brit soap opera East Enders. She played the whiniest, most…annoying character ever. However, she was also in Jekyll and I didn’t hate her in that. But still…Bionic Woman? I still have my Bionic Woman doll from when I was a kid. The only things I liked about it were the handbag and the weird rubbery skin on her arm that you could roll up to see her bionics.

Big Shots. Seeing as I have seen very little about this one, I am going to take that as a warning sign and stay away.

Moonlight. Dude, wasn’t there a show called Forever Knight just like this? Mostly I won’t watch it because, despite my love for vampire stuff…I can’t stand the way the guy looks on the billboards, kind of startled. (OK, I couldn’t help myself. I have a deep love for vampire stories so I recorded it. I haven’t watched it yet and I am not hoping for big things but…it does feature Sophia Myles, who geeks may remember as Madame De Pompadour on Doctor Who and Jason Doehring, late of Veronica Mars. I am a geek. I will watch it at least once. Lord knows we could all use a good vampire story round here.)

Good lord, there are more new shows and I am already bored doing this and I can’t even imagine who might still be reading…

Aliens in America. I’ll try. That’s all I am saying.

Cavemen. Um…no. While I am actually not bothered that it is basically a spin off from a commercial (Hey, if they can pull it off, they might as well!, I am just not into it. And now I am hearing people talking racism? People...TV show about cavemen...from a car insurance commercial...let's not get too serious here.)

Carpoolers. Oh god help me, something about this looks funny to me!

Pushing Daisies. OK, this was the show I was most interested in and yet…it’s either gonna be good or so darn precious that it’s awful. But it sure looks purty.

Women’s Murder Club- I know next to nothing about this. Let’s not take this as a good sign.

Samantha Who?-ah, another show that’s not been getting a lot of press. But hey, I like that Christina Applegate, and hey, I love Overboard, seen it a million times. And since this pretty much appears to be the same thing, I’ll give it a go.

That’s a lot of TV. And it doesn’t even cover the stuff I really do watch and love like Weeds, Dirty Jobs and Bizarre Foods. The thing is, I really don’t watch them all. I kind of wander around and see stuff as I go along. I still haven’t seen the last three episodes of last year’s Heroes and I have like an entire season of Medium stored on the dvr. But that’s the nice thing about it, now I can watch something I want to watch when I want to watch it. Half of these shows will be cancelled, some for good reasons, some for bad. Some I will lose interest in when they pull a stupid stunt or let a good actor go. It doesn’t really matter. It’s only television.

8 comments:

Jodi said...

Wow. Just wow. I haven't even heard of some of those! I got to see Life, Chuck, Journeyman, and Bionic Woman a couple of weeks before they premiered. I really like the first three. Could not stand BW, Starbuck or no Starbuck. Ugh. Utter shite.

I recorded a few things I haven't watched yet. I personally want to see Dirty Sexy Money for Peter Krause and no other reason. I'm recording Kitchen Nightmares on the other Tivo. I kind of like the shouty, foul-mouthed Mr. Ramsay. And I'm not that into reality shows either. (Except Meerkat Manor and Beauty and the Geek.

Jodi said...

There was a New Porn song on Chuck tonight! : )

Janet said...

Kitchen Nightmares: Watched the first one and was THOROUGHLY grossed out by what Mr. Ramsey found in the kitchen. Still...I put it on my Tivo.

Journeyman, Reaper, Bionic Woman, Moonlight, Pushing Daisies are all on my Tivo too, but I have yet to watch (been away!)

Cane I saw on the plane to St. Thomas, although without sound...it looks good and I'll watch it tonight.

Anonymous said...

wow, you really do watch a lot of tv!!

Anonymous said...

I watched Moonlight--I don't like Vampire shows. I wish I were Sophie Myles (she gets to go home to David Tennant) and I thought the lead was an American. But it was Friday night-Doctor Who was over, Numbers was an hour away, so I watched it for lack of anything else to see. Wow--I liked it. Sophie Myles is good, the lead is Australian (damn Brits and Aussies are great actors) and I'll watch it again.

Joanne said...

Reaper I like. Journeyman I'm on the fence about but the 2 episodes I've seen so far I've mostly liked, but nothing else new has really attracted my attention. I don't have Tivo (and I refuse to get it) so if a new show is on against a current fave then it is an automatic no go which is why although I love the idea of carpoolers, I'll probably not watch it.

Brenda Griffith said...

I didn't even know there WAS so much television! Dave is on a New Porn trip and wants me to go see them with him at the Variety Playhouse this month (next month). Live music, feh. You didn't even mention Torchwood! I know you've (so to some extent "we've") got it on dvd, but we are still watching it.

What I've mostly taken away from your post and the comments is that there's a lot more tv that I would like out there than just House, Bones, Dr. Who, Eureka and Torchwood. *sigh* Just what I need, more t.v.

madretz said...

i'm a little late in commenting but the good thing is i've seen most of the pilots of the ones i was interested in. Cane-also i wanted to like it, but as you said there's something unpinpointable that's just...not...? I'm enjoying BW (didn't expect to) along with Journeyman and Life is Wild. My favorite by a long shot is Pushing Daisies - funny, quirky, original.

Thanks for the offer on the Mac tips. I'm stumbling along but doing better than I was a month ago. I just started playing around with In Design, which is comparable to MS Publisher just waaay more sophisticated. On the PC, I struggled with Illustrator so I'm completely intimidated with it on the Mac. Although I'm using PS3 on the Mac rather than Elements, which is what I used more on the PC. If I get brave enough to stumble around in Illustrator, you just might hear from me. I might need your rescuing.