Things I've Found Entertaining
Dec. 10th, 2004 11:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sdelmonteFirst off, a small update. Closing Day may soon be upon us, but I don't want to jinx it. Details to come when the ink is drying, we hope.
Anyway, here's what I've been watching or reading. (No spoilers.)
Lost Eleven episodes - half a season these , unless you watch "24" - and I think I am ready to say that the pilot was not a fluke. This is one of the best-acted, most gripping network-produced dramas to come along since Buffy was still in high school. How good is it? I had a mild spoiler about this week's episode, and I was still fully tense as the scene in question unfolded. We are no closer to knowing where the castaways are, or what is going on in this mysterious island, but as the mystery grows, so does the quality. And it's a shame they don't give "Best Ensemble" acting awards at the Emmys, because there is not a single bad actor in the bunch. Terry O'Quinn (John Locke) and Josh Holloway (Sawyer) stand out just a bit, though.
If you missed the beginning of the show, ABC is apparently repeating the pilot next week, and then showing episodes 3 and 4 the following Wednesday, and episodes 5 and 6 the Wednesday before New Year's Day. I highly recommend them.
Kuods to JJ Abrams and his able brigade. I have a question, though - does anyone think that his promise to revitalize Alias will come true? That is to say, is now a good time to start watching?
Veronica Mars This show has settled into something of a quieter groove than Lost. The mystery of the week that Veronica has to solve is often not too complex, but it also affords the writers a chance to do some great character play with not just Ms. Mars but all the students she interacts with. I sort of wonder if the show would be a bit better without the mysteries, but I think they prevent it from sliding into teen soap opera cliche too fast. The larger mysteries of the show - who killed Lilly Kane? why did Veronica's mother run away? - are unfolding slowly, but I think we will have some resolution by the end of the season. Is this a great show? Not yet. It's distinctive and well-acted but it needs time to experiment more, and perhaps needs a larger filming budget.
Smallville Or maybe it's getting to be Small-vile? Despite steadily improving acting by almsot everyone in the cast, this show has lost its way. Strange subplots involving ancient artifacts, witches and lots of semi-nudity are carrying the show further away form being a logical exploration of how Clark Kent becomes Superman. And vast amounts of story are given over to Lana Lang's adventures, in which everyon loves her, in which she is the key to some great mystery, and in which nothing interesting ever happens. Even the Luthor Saga has grown stale, though Michael Rosenbaum and John Glover never phone it in. With the arrival of "Lost" in the same time slot, Smallville seems that much less entertaining. Only my fannish dedication to all things Superman holds me in place. But I have learned how to stop reading bad Superman comics, so leaving a bad Superman TV show is not a challenge.
Farscape The disadvantage about not having cable is that sometimes we do miss the good stuff. The advantage is that you can go back and watch it at your pace once it's out on DVD and your friends - thank you, dotsomething! - own it. We are in the middle of the third season, having just watched yet another gut-wrenching turn in the saga of John and Aeryn. (If you knw the show, you can probably guess when we are.) The Trekkie in me prevents me from unequivocally declaring this the best SF show ever, and the Jossian in me still believes that Firefly would have been better if it ran more than 13 weeks. But Farscape is certainly among the all-time best, and I will say that Ben Browder is the finest lead actor of any SF show I've ever seen. (Sorry, Mr. Stewart, but after "The Inner Light," nothing happened to Picard that gave you the kinds of challenges that Mr. Browder faced playing John Crichton.) Not that Claudia Black and Wayne Pygram and the rest of the cast are anything but good.
What is remarkable about this show is that at some level, it's not remarkable. We get lots of plots that are Star Trek cliches, aliens who seem too familiar, and vast amounts of soap opera. In lesser hands, this show would be routine. But every cliche is reinvented. Every alien - except the Scarans, so far - is more than meets the eye. And every moment of angst rings true and transcends the routine. The trick in writing good SF is sometimes not being original, but being creative with how your use what you have. David Kemper's staff is almost always creative. This show should have been more of a hit, and I think I am not alone in hoping that it will fidn a huge new auidence when it goes into syndication next year.
Greg the Bunny From the network that cancelled The Tick and Firefly and Tru Calling and Alien Nation comes Greg the Bunny, all thirteen maligned episodes on two DVDs for under $20. Despite my dislike of present-day sitcoms, this show grabbed my attetnion with its "Roger Rabbit"-like premise that puppets and people coexist, and kept me watching with some unsubtle but hilarious jabs at political correctness mixed with crude but oddly funny situations. Fox let this last two months, and cancelled it despite decent ratings and decent reviews. Happily, everything will be out on DVD eventually.
We've watched two episodes so far, including one that never aired, and it's as funny as I recall. If you like "Avenue Q"'s raunchy and irreverent puppet, you might like this.
Oh, and it also stars Seth Green and Eugene Levy, two of the best comic actors around.
Peanuts Fantagraphics Books, known mainly for publishing altenative comics like "Love and Rockets," pulled out something of a coup by buying the rights to reprint the entire 50-year run of "Peanuts" in 25 volumes, each covering two years. The first volume covers 1951 and 1952, and reveals a different, happier Charlie Brown. It's fascinating to see Charlie as Charles Schulz created him, and to see him slowly evolve into the somewhat dour but determined semi-adult 10 year old we all know. it's also interesting to meet Linus, Lucy and Schroder as infants, all of whom oddly grow up to be Charlie's contemporaries pretty quickly.
Even stranger is Schulz' sense of humor. Back then, he went for more gags, and a lot of them seem very much like what we might see in Calvin and Hobbes. We all know that Schulz influenced Bill Watterson, but when we see snowman gags, it's hard not to wonder if Watterson wasn't paying direct homage to a genius whose early work went forgotten as the strips of the 1960s overshadowed them.
Also of note in this book is an interview that Schulz gave in the late 80s. He was not a happy man, and it's weird to hear his opinions about other comic strips. He was certainly candid, if nothing else. It cetainly wasn't what I expected after seeing many more cheerful features about him.
Comics If I have the time, expect a year-in-review post, and maybe an in-depth feature on "Identity Crisis," DC's hugely popular but controversial minseries, due to end next week.
But for now, let me recommend "Fables" above all else. It's become the most reliable comic around, and it seems to be getting better with each new storyline. I also recommend, as I have in the past, "Gotham Central" and "Fantastic Four" (at least while Waid is writing it).
Books My current read is "Fabric of the Cosmos" by Brian Greene. This is a fascinating and somewhat difficult book epxloring the latest theories in relativity, quantum theory and the nature of the universe. While Greene, a professor at Columbia whose previous book was made into a Nova miniseries, can be a bit silly at times with his analogies, he is a top-notch science writer. I am curious to see if and how he makes sense of it all.
Anyway, here's what I've been watching or reading. (No spoilers.)
Lost Eleven episodes - half a season these , unless you watch "24" - and I think I am ready to say that the pilot was not a fluke. This is one of the best-acted, most gripping network-produced dramas to come along since Buffy was still in high school. How good is it? I had a mild spoiler about this week's episode, and I was still fully tense as the scene in question unfolded. We are no closer to knowing where the castaways are, or what is going on in this mysterious island, but as the mystery grows, so does the quality. And it's a shame they don't give "Best Ensemble" acting awards at the Emmys, because there is not a single bad actor in the bunch. Terry O'Quinn (John Locke) and Josh Holloway (Sawyer) stand out just a bit, though.
If you missed the beginning of the show, ABC is apparently repeating the pilot next week, and then showing episodes 3 and 4 the following Wednesday, and episodes 5 and 6 the Wednesday before New Year's Day. I highly recommend them.
Kuods to JJ Abrams and his able brigade. I have a question, though - does anyone think that his promise to revitalize Alias will come true? That is to say, is now a good time to start watching?
Veronica Mars This show has settled into something of a quieter groove than Lost. The mystery of the week that Veronica has to solve is often not too complex, but it also affords the writers a chance to do some great character play with not just Ms. Mars but all the students she interacts with. I sort of wonder if the show would be a bit better without the mysteries, but I think they prevent it from sliding into teen soap opera cliche too fast. The larger mysteries of the show - who killed Lilly Kane? why did Veronica's mother run away? - are unfolding slowly, but I think we will have some resolution by the end of the season. Is this a great show? Not yet. It's distinctive and well-acted but it needs time to experiment more, and perhaps needs a larger filming budget.
Smallville Or maybe it's getting to be Small-vile? Despite steadily improving acting by almsot everyone in the cast, this show has lost its way. Strange subplots involving ancient artifacts, witches and lots of semi-nudity are carrying the show further away form being a logical exploration of how Clark Kent becomes Superman. And vast amounts of story are given over to Lana Lang's adventures, in which everyon loves her, in which she is the key to some great mystery, and in which nothing interesting ever happens. Even the Luthor Saga has grown stale, though Michael Rosenbaum and John Glover never phone it in. With the arrival of "Lost" in the same time slot, Smallville seems that much less entertaining. Only my fannish dedication to all things Superman holds me in place. But I have learned how to stop reading bad Superman comics, so leaving a bad Superman TV show is not a challenge.
Farscape The disadvantage about not having cable is that sometimes we do miss the good stuff. The advantage is that you can go back and watch it at your pace once it's out on DVD and your friends - thank you, dotsomething! - own it. We are in the middle of the third season, having just watched yet another gut-wrenching turn in the saga of John and Aeryn. (If you knw the show, you can probably guess when we are.) The Trekkie in me prevents me from unequivocally declaring this the best SF show ever, and the Jossian in me still believes that Firefly would have been better if it ran more than 13 weeks. But Farscape is certainly among the all-time best, and I will say that Ben Browder is the finest lead actor of any SF show I've ever seen. (Sorry, Mr. Stewart, but after "The Inner Light," nothing happened to Picard that gave you the kinds of challenges that Mr. Browder faced playing John Crichton.) Not that Claudia Black and Wayne Pygram and the rest of the cast are anything but good.
What is remarkable about this show is that at some level, it's not remarkable. We get lots of plots that are Star Trek cliches, aliens who seem too familiar, and vast amounts of soap opera. In lesser hands, this show would be routine. But every cliche is reinvented. Every alien - except the Scarans, so far - is more than meets the eye. And every moment of angst rings true and transcends the routine. The trick in writing good SF is sometimes not being original, but being creative with how your use what you have. David Kemper's staff is almost always creative. This show should have been more of a hit, and I think I am not alone in hoping that it will fidn a huge new auidence when it goes into syndication next year.
Greg the Bunny From the network that cancelled The Tick and Firefly and Tru Calling and Alien Nation comes Greg the Bunny, all thirteen maligned episodes on two DVDs for under $20. Despite my dislike of present-day sitcoms, this show grabbed my attetnion with its "Roger Rabbit"-like premise that puppets and people coexist, and kept me watching with some unsubtle but hilarious jabs at political correctness mixed with crude but oddly funny situations. Fox let this last two months, and cancelled it despite decent ratings and decent reviews. Happily, everything will be out on DVD eventually.
We've watched two episodes so far, including one that never aired, and it's as funny as I recall. If you like "Avenue Q"'s raunchy and irreverent puppet, you might like this.
Oh, and it also stars Seth Green and Eugene Levy, two of the best comic actors around.
Peanuts Fantagraphics Books, known mainly for publishing altenative comics like "Love and Rockets," pulled out something of a coup by buying the rights to reprint the entire 50-year run of "Peanuts" in 25 volumes, each covering two years. The first volume covers 1951 and 1952, and reveals a different, happier Charlie Brown. It's fascinating to see Charlie as Charles Schulz created him, and to see him slowly evolve into the somewhat dour but determined semi-adult 10 year old we all know. it's also interesting to meet Linus, Lucy and Schroder as infants, all of whom oddly grow up to be Charlie's contemporaries pretty quickly.
Even stranger is Schulz' sense of humor. Back then, he went for more gags, and a lot of them seem very much like what we might see in Calvin and Hobbes. We all know that Schulz influenced Bill Watterson, but when we see snowman gags, it's hard not to wonder if Watterson wasn't paying direct homage to a genius whose early work went forgotten as the strips of the 1960s overshadowed them.
Also of note in this book is an interview that Schulz gave in the late 80s. He was not a happy man, and it's weird to hear his opinions about other comic strips. He was certainly candid, if nothing else. It cetainly wasn't what I expected after seeing many more cheerful features about him.
Comics If I have the time, expect a year-in-review post, and maybe an in-depth feature on "Identity Crisis," DC's hugely popular but controversial minseries, due to end next week.
But for now, let me recommend "Fables" above all else. It's become the most reliable comic around, and it seems to be getting better with each new storyline. I also recommend, as I have in the past, "Gotham Central" and "Fantastic Four" (at least while Waid is writing it).
Books My current read is "Fabric of the Cosmos" by Brian Greene. This is a fascinating and somewhat difficult book epxloring the latest theories in relativity, quantum theory and the nature of the universe. While Greene, a professor at Columbia whose previous book was made into a Nova miniseries, can be a bit silly at times with his analogies, he is a top-notch science writer. I am curious to see if and how he makes sense of it all.
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Date: Dec. 11th, 2004 03:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: Dec. 12th, 2004 12:05 am (UTC)Lost reminds me of Farscape, oddly. It's big on the emotional content and the vividness of its visuals and its strangeness and complexity. Lotsa chest-beating emotion, and the hint of unpredictability, much more toned down than on Farscape. But you do get the feeling these characters could do and say ANYTHING.
Star Trek: TNG ran more on the loyalty/respect friendship between the crew members but it didn't stride up and down the stage. Stewart did occasionally, but that's more his acting style that the show style. Not Romantic, perhaps the Enlightenment. We know the characters and how they will behave. The story emerges more quietly.
Firefly isn't in either camp. It's not cool (as in cold, neat, clean) like Star Strek and it's not chest-beating operatic grand gestures like Farscape. Firefly's more irreverent with a whif if anarchy in that these characters are loose cannon's. Firefly's more like Farscape than Star Trek.
Buffy combined the two styles very well--the operatic and the irreverent without the anarchy.