I never had an issue with disliking the characters. I just think that it's hard to sell a smart single-camera sitcom in a 30-second TV spot. Same problem with 30 Rock, Arrested Development, and Wonderfalls. The humor is just too dependent upon the surrounding context. I would agree that Season 3 was the apex of Community but I kinda feel like you need to start with Season 1, back when it was a relatively normal sitcom about a community college, then let it gradually escalate into the massive pile of high concept episodes and genre pastiches. To hear Joss Whedon tell it, the show was created specifically as a vehicle for Eliza Dushku. I think that she's a pretty good actress but doesn't have the range to pull off something like Dollhouse. Victor and Sierra constantly act circles around her on that show. I think that even Amy Acker would have been a better fit. I appreciate Dollhouse's ambition but I understand why it wasn't a hit. First of all, it's nowhere near as funny as Buffy, Angel, or Firefly. Secondly, even though I've seen nearly every episode, I still couldn't explain to you what it's about (at least not without making it sound like high concept porn). I think that a key part of the success of Buffy the Vampire Slayer comes from the title. That title immediately tells you what the show is about, who the main character is, and even hints at its irreverent tone by juxtaposing vampires with a girl named "Buffy." The title does half the work of selling the show. On the other hand, why would a casual viewer want to watch something called "Dollhouse" or "Firefly"? What do those titles even mean? Not a TV show but I've been rewatching some classic musicals like The Band Wagon, Bells Are Ringing, Silk Stockings, and Swing Time.
I didn't intend to but I've been catching bits of Friends here and there because I watch pretty much everything off the DVR and it just happens whatever channel is on when the TV turns on has been showing Friends so I see it between playing other shows. It looks remarkably good in HD, apparently they planned ahead and had protected it for widescreen while filming and it paid off.
I'm gonna do a rewatch of Vicious. Only 14 episodes, so way too short for the talent level there, but concentrated can be good sometimes. Then maybe my first ST-DSC rewatch.
Watching The Immortal for the first time - I never saw it in first run back in the day. It's actually not that good. Very formulaic: Chris George, on the run, encounters some new characters each week, gets involved with their story (his becomes secondary), which of course happen to come to a head while he's there, and either solves their problems or moves on. It's very clearly where the formula for The Incredible Hulk came from. Some of the stories are pretty cliche. The one I watched yesterday had Vic Morrow as a corrupt small town sheriff who had the whole town, especially a sympathetic single Mom, under his thumb.
This is the one and only Frank Sinatra song I can't stand. And I consider myself somewhat of a Sinatra aficionado. Kor
We're watching/rewatching MacGyver. I remember watching the first few seasons avidly when I was a young teen and I had a huge crush on Richard Dean Anderson, but I suppose I grew out of both the show and my crush and I've never seen the later seasons. We just started the last season (7) with our son.
I have watched: Madmen: First time watching it, excellent show 30 Rock: Still funny You're the Worst: Funny show about horrible people Picard: On second viewing Star Trek Discovery: Both seasons, season two is much better than one, IMO.
I wasn't quarantined, but I did get CBS AA and managed to catch up on the new Trek series. Also, after putting it off for almost 30 years, I finally got around to watching Twin Peaks. After managing to keep from being spoiled for decades, I FINALLY know who killed Laura Palmer. Actually feels weird. Like there's a little less mystery in the world now.
Just remembered I have Patrick McGoohan's Danger Man series on DVD. Watching that for lunch now. And breakfast for this week is, brace yourselves, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future!
I'm on The Dukes of Hazzard DVD sets. Just started season 2. With everything going on right now I figure a comedy is needed.
I'm still a little surprised people get to rewatch shows. There's too much new stuff I haven't seen...
Yeah, I got CBS AA *before* the lockdown with a pre-paid card (only for a free month to be announced two days later LOL!) and started Twin Peaks about then. When I got to the end I was like "Man, I need to get the movie!" as I knew about Fire Walk With Me, but had totally forgotten about The Return. When I was reminded of that I was all stoked to get it so I could keep going but.....nope. Of course everything but Walmart was closed, and they didn't have it, and Amazon was going to take weeks. So I was kicking myself for bad timing. There's a complete set of all Twin Peaks stuff and I've been trying to decide if I want to get it as I'm mixed on if I would ever re-watch it. I really enjoyed it, although most of the back half of season 2 was just shit. All of the "dangerous" characters had been neutered and they really just didn't know where to go. The last few eps felt like they were maybe figuring out a new path, with the Black / White Lodge stuff and I dug that stuff. So while I would certainly watch season one and up to episode where the killer is revealed, I really don't want to sit through Audrey's dad and the Confederate general shit or the painful to watch yellow face stuff or the sitcom-esque stuff with Andy and Tremayne. The show really just lost it's edge there and became safe tv, and that part of it I have no real desire to visit again. How does The Return stack up to the original?
I watched Twin Peaks for the first time a couple of years ago when it was on Netflix. You're right about the back half of season 2. It was just getting a little too weird for me and I never even bothered finishing it. I haven't seen The Return yet but not sure I'll try it.
Yeah, the show took a nosedive after they forced Lynch to reveal the killer. It’s hard to describe The Return. It turns the Lynch bizarreness up several notches. It’s not the soap opera styled show the original was. If you go in with certain expectations you’ll get mad. The scenes in Twin Peaks are down to earth scenes of how things turned out 25 years later, but the rest of the scenes are stylized weirdness. I will say, if you like Lynch films such as Mulholland Drive, and go in without expectations, you might really like it. There’s a lot of spoilery stuff I want to say, so all I’ll say is, I see the return as a satirical response to the nostalgic fanwank some long time fans of the show were hoping for.