Things from TV Land

[sdelmonte]

1. Lost fans, reset your VCRs and TiVos. The show will be moving to 10 pm when it returns. Apparently, ABC doesn't want it to face American Idol anymore. This means I will probably never watch it when it airs again, since I like my sleep. But at least I now have an extra hour in the evening to catch up on Heroes or Veronica Mars before i have to change the tape.

2. Veronica Mars will no longer have arc-length mysteries. Rob Thomas has admitted that it's not really working, and that the arcs make it harder to keep up with the show. Given that the Hearst College Rapist arc was not that engaging, I concur with this. That said, I wish he'd decided this before the cliffhanger we got last week.

I'm still not happy with VMars this season, so maybe a little more time to focus on the characters will help. Even if the small mysteries have never been that good. (Yes, I know that the show is not really a detective show first and foremost. But Encyclopedia Brown-level puzzles don't make for good drama.)

3. Speaking of Ms. Mars, the big fall finale got the show's highest ratings to date. Maybe there is hope for a fourth season after all? There's no way to predict, since the CW is still inventing itself. And a fourth season might be short and on the cheap. But that would still be better than no VMars.

4. I haven't seen this week's Heroes yet. But this is one of those cases where it's hard to avoid spoilers. (If you don't want to know who dies, don't read Michael Ausiello's column at TVGuide.com!!) Comments to follow after we view it.

5. We are now but two episodes short of finishing Ten's first season on Doctor Who. "Fear Her" wasn't brilliant, but the execution was flawless, and there was one line that as a long time Whovian really got me: "I was a dad once.". I wonder if there's any chance they willc ome back to that at any point. I doubt it, but I would love to see that addressed at last.

Comments

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Actually, those of us who are Lost fans with TiVos don't have to reset the TiVo. That's the beauty of having a season pass...

[bcgphoenix]

Veronica Mars will no longer have arc-length mysteries. Rob Thomas has admitted that it's not really working, and that the arcs make it harder to keep up with the show.

Well, damn. I agree; I wish he'd decided this before the big cliffhanger, but...I did like the arc format. More the long arcs of S1 and S2 than the short one of S3, though, just because they got more space to breathe and helped the season cohere.

That, and yeah, the one-shot mysteries tend to suck royally.

*eyes the upcoming episodes with trepidation*

[immortalthief.livejournal.com]

Dr. Who, yes I agree that was interesting and I do hope that they get back to that. Hope springs eternal and all that.

And after you see the next two episodes of Dr. Who we can chat more. Sprry I don't watch Lost and pretty much I agree with you on Veronica Mars this season, of course the only episode I missed thus far was the last episode in the story arc.

[agonistes]

Hopping back up on my favorite dead horse: VMars owes a certain amount to Twin Peaks, and Mr. Lynch has said repeatedly that he never wanted the murderer of Laura Palmer to be discovered, because the murder was never the point.

I don't think Rob Thomas has nailed down the proper use of a MacGuffin yet, and I don't think heading to one-shot mysteries will help the writers improve in that arena. I can't help but wonder what would be happening now if they had never found Lilly's murderer.

[sdelmonte]

While I appreciate that there is a kind of crime story where the solution is not important, I think that getting to the truth is at the heart of Veronica's life. Granted, if she had found out only the story behind the GHB nightmare (minus the Cassidy retcon), I think that might have been enough to satisfy her. She might have been able to move on without solving the Lilly Kane murder. Then again, the entire set up of the show was built on that.

[mtgat]

Re "Doctor Who": According to amilyn, that line was mainly there to solidify Susan as the Doctor's actual granddaughter rather than just a young lady traveling with him and calling him such. (You're the long-time fan --- has this come up a lot in discussion?) But wouldn't it be awesome if there was in fact some followup?

[batyatoon]

... your icon wins. :D

[sdelmonte]

I'm a longtime fan who has only become part of any online discussion of late. I am sure that there must be tons of fanfic trying to fill in the gaps.

Certainly, though, there is every reason to think that Susan is really the Doctor's kin. Or at least nothing that contradicts that either during her brief run on the show at the very beginning, or in anything we hear later.

I do wonder what happened to her, though. (Another sad story waiting to be told, no doubt.)

[silveraspen]

I'm actually glad to hear that, with respect to VMars, because I was on the verge of ditching the show entirely after this last arc-- for several reasons. Hearing that RT isn't afraid to say "okay, this didn't work, we're going to fix it," gives me some hope.

Re: DW: I know. And from the very very faint rumors I've heard, which I can't confirm with any actual degree of accuracy... it's not a throwaway line. We'll be seeing the reason for it. *beam*