Thursday/Friday tv viewing

[tenaya]

Ugly Betty: Very, very good! It had a few wicked funny and wicked sad moments. I was really happy Santos was alive but it was too good to be true. It took me a couple of scenes before I thought those scenes were a little too perfect and began to dread the inevitable. The nephew has grown! I really liked that they let him intern at Mode. And I get such a kick out of Mark and his shenanigans. I really am looking forward to what they are going to do with Alexis and what, his amnesia?

CSI: Hmm....kinda draggy.I hadn't heard any spoilers so I was interested in whether Sarah would be dead or not, but it just went on and on so we started fast forwarding towards the end. Now I don't care.

Without A Trace:Eric Close has rather short hair this season, and dare I say it, is looking a little older? I think I'm resigned to never getting enough Martin or Danny. I used to like LaPaglia but now I suffer from over exposure. And this is the episode that introduces James Marsters. Seems an ordinary role at the moment but I like that he's paired with Viv. I like her and she doesn't get much screen time either.

Smallville: Glad Chole isn't dead. I'm glad that Lex was rescued by the mermaid, er, whatever. I can't be bothered by their plots anymore. I just ff to look at any scene with Lex, Lionel or Chloe. And, of course we get a scene where someone threatens Clark and Lex is STILL loyal and defensive of that bastard. Yet again, we are told how bad Lex is, how it's okay for Clark to hate him and I JUST DON'T GET IT. I'm really beginning to despise Clark. And Lana? Oh joy, she's still alive. :::yawn::: So, Lex is evil but it's okay for her to set him up for the death penalty. Yeah, I really admire her, too. Not.

Moonlight: Wow. Setting up the Vampire rules immediately, they didn't waste time. A couple of Forever Knight bits, the glowy eyes, the sunrise over the skyline, the blood in the fridge; very odd that he shoots up a small vial of blood. Oh look! He has a friend in the morgue! And a big, older model car. The guy is kinda good looking though. I can't believe that a really old vampire would be so hyper and tense.

Have to say it was really easy to concentrate on the computer while this was on. Maybe too much exposition and set up? I'll keep watching; I'm going to guess the show should get better as it goes along.

:::sigh::: I do miss LaCroix.

Stargate Atlantis: Had some good, some bad. The good: Lots of Zelenka. Lots of multitasking Rodney. Rodney standing his ground to Sheppard, Rodney apologizing to Sheppard. Sheppard throwing Zelenka.

The bad: What the hell happened to Sheppard? Suddenly, he wants the chain of command and is more obviously military. I'm not explaining myself very well, but he was more laid back for the past three years. Effective, but relaxed. Not so relaxed here. I didn't like colder interaction between him and Rodney. Could it be that Carter isn't even in the city yet and the Sheppard/McKay relationship is already changed? I don't doubt it, unfortunately. I suppose you could argue that this is how Sheppard should have been since day one, but it's jarring now.

The introduction of Carter made my hackles rise. I was TRYING to put away my annoyance of the character and be neutral here, but I think it was handled all wrong. We had just seen three men die, and we knew that they had lost gravity as they died. We segue to another body floating, but as the camera pans, we see it is happily working Carter. I don't know why I thought that was tasteless but it really annoyed me. We get Bill Lee, but he is so incompetent next to the mighty Carter. I mean, I really appreciate the Rodney and Radek speak in half sentences; there is room for them both to be brilliant and effective. But not with Carter and Bill. Why do I feel that all the other scientists will be dumber whenever they are near Carter? Makes me wonder how Daniel escaped that effect? Strangely enough, it was usually him that came up with the answers and made Carter look pedantic. But I digress. Carter and Lee happily decide to go adverturing in the Pegasus galaxy. Again, the their "let's go the mall and get ice cream!" attitude contrasted poorly with the tension and bad news on Atlantis.

Speaking of bad news, I don't like the new doctor. Apparently you can be a decent actor but still not be able to convincingly deliver medical dialogue...or maybe it was the script? Janet's intense professionalism was great; Becket's efficient caring also worked. The new doctor just sort of stood there and ordered stuff without being too engaged in the scene.

So, I liked many parts of this, but I was also stunned by some choices dealing with Sheppard. And I have a bad feeling about Carter's impact on the balance of this show. Right now it feels like she's going to ride into town and fix things up proper--with one hand tied behind her back. How did the Atlantis ever struggle by before this?

So, we have some reoccurring themes here. The dead character fake out and the reworking of older shows while not giving any tribute to them. And where are all the plagiarism cases?

Comments

[obelix]

Haven't watched Ugly Betty yet but I'm looking forward to it :-)

Moonlight I tuned into for about 15 minutes and then just couldn't be bothered to pay attention. If I remember I'll give it another go but I'm not hopeful.

As for SGA you are probably right on all your points and the Carter influence has already begun :-(

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

Same here. I am not going to stare at a boring tv show; I'll multi-task and then tell all my friends how boring the show is. *g*

Hopefully, it'll get better.

Ugly Betty had some pretty fun moments. :)

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

LOL, here's an interview with the lead guy of Moonlight where he explains why his show is different from other vampire shows: http://www.tvguide.com/news/070928-02 *snort* Has he watched any other vampire shows? Has he watched his own show?

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

*snort* is right! Hello, have you ever seen Forever Knight? It's film noir makes your show look like the Telly Tubbies. Well, he's an Aussie so maybe he has an excuse. I would have preferred the older man cast in the best friend vamp role but maybe that would have been borrowing too much from FK. I guess they turned LaCroix female for this one.

Oh, and I was going to comment at the time that he was doing a Dexter in focusing on the predators but a lot of shows did that even if they didn't make it an bullet point goal.

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

No excuse. I remember seeing Forever Knight here in New Zealand. And if we got it, they certainly did!

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

Then he's a naughty boy. A bad, naughty boy. *g*

[deej1957.livejournal.com]

I watched all of Moonlight because I was waiting for Numbers. Will I watch if I don't continue on to The Bearded Non-Wonder and his Mary Sue Girlfriend? Don't know. Myabe. We'll see what I'm doing next friday night. I didn't want to immediately turn it off, but some of it was boring--too much to explain all at once. I like the guy and his best friend, and I like the background given for the reporter and the vamp.

Ship? It belongs in this one, for me anyway.

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

It is set up with it in the pilot. I don't mind ship if it's part of the structure of the show. I just hate it with a passion when it breaks apart a buddy show.

So, how was Numb3rs?

[leviathanmuse.livejournal.com]

CSI - Didn't know if she was going to live or die, but I have to say I was hoping for the latter. I don't like her and Grissom together and the actress has been boring me since day one. I'd really prefer she'd find herself a new show to get dreary on.

Without a Trace - Amen! I like LaPaglia, but really, I think we should let everyone else get a little airtime! I think Viv and the James Marsters character were gangbusters, but we saw too little of them to really get a good dose of how good they might be as sorta partners.

Moonlight - Bad fx, bad story, too much beating on the goth drums (finishing with an Evanescence song just made me grit my teeth and I love that song!). The only thing I liked was the reporter and the fact that he'd been her guardian angel for years.

Smallville - Clark's definitely become Jonathan at this point. He's very much the double-standard guy (forgive everyone else, damn the Luthors), though I still find it interesting that neither he nor Lex has completely given up on each other. The fact that they seem to have a scene at least once every couple of shows where they have to repudiate each other again is rather telling. As to Lana, like Sarah I was really hoping that she was dead. *sigh!*

Stargate Atlantis - Yeah, I think the Sam effect is already firmly in place on this show. I think her stupidifying effect on scientists just couldn't compete with Daniel's brilliance. However, I think she's already having an effect on McKay, even at a distance. Usually he's much better at working under pressure, but last night he was just this side of incompetent. Of course, this is all setting up for the great Sam Carter to arrive and "SAVE THE DAY"TM. Although I do have to say the plan at the end was definitely something Rodney/John would cook up. But, as I've seen pointed out, it is Atlantis' 4th season, so M&M have to come in with the Super Sam show and fuck everything up, especially male character dynamics. Expect John to start being nastier to Rodney under cover of "boy antics".

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

CSI: I was disgusted by the Grissom/Sarah relationship. I feel more distant towards the show now.

Smallville: I had a flare of hope until Clark admitted he hated Lex and was going there to kill him. This is especially pointed since Lana ISN'T dead and FRAMED Lex. He's not guilty of this. Clark would just be a stupid hormone driven thug. Wow. My hero.

SGA: Yeah, Rodney was having trouble but it seemed likely since everything had gone to hell in an handbag. But, yeah, I see the contrast. Competent, calm Carter versus pushed to the limit McKay. I'm gonna hate this, aren't I?

I've always like the Sheppard/McKay fanfic more than what I saw on the show. I've always thought John is harsh to Rodney. Mean at times. Rodney is unpleasant and deserves some slapping down, but the stuff that gives me pause are at times when he doesn't deserve it. I guess I viewed it as a fairly decent John with a streak of not niceness, but if that becomes more prominent, I'll be very disappointed.

[leviathanmuse.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Clark really isn't being much in the way of heroic. He's been an asswipe since about S3, though every once in a great while, you get a glimpse of who he's supposed to be rather than the idiot that he is.

I thought one of the meanest things John did was when SG-1 came to Atlantis and John gave the lemon to Mitchell. I don't really know how badly allergic to citrus Rodney is (I'm allergic to eggs, but it won't put me in the hospital to have any. I avoid them like the plague, though), despite what he says. Either way, it's tantamount to giving someone a hypo filled with a designer poison cocktail and telling them to use it on that person whenever they get "annoyed" by them. I think the fanfic makes John a lot nicer to Rodney than he sometimes is on the show. But then, that's pretty much the same story with Jack and Daniel from S4 on.

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

Makes me wonder how Daniel escaped that effect?

I don't think he did. It's been too long since I've watched the earlier seasons of Stargate, but I remember it used to bug me that they seemed to dumb Daniel down after a while and let Sam do Everything. *g* Well, maybe "dumb down" is the wrong phrase. It's more that he did less and Sam seemed to do more and know more. Even when I still liked Sam, this irritated me. *g*

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

P.S. I haven't watched SGA yet, and I may not. I can't seem to bring myself to watch, but maybe if I get bored enough later. *g*

Smallville: I mostly liked the episode, though there were some things I didn't like. I still like Clark even though I agree with you. I, too, was rather hoping that Lana was dead, but I don't really hate her--not the way I used to hate Sam Carter. *g*

[catalenamara.livejournal.com]

>>>And I have a bad feeling about Carter's impact on the balance of this show. Right now it feels like she's going to ride into town and fix things up proper--with one hand tied behind her back. How did the Atlantis ever struggle by before this?

Sounds like Mary Sue to me.....