I've been taking advantage of a slowdown in my freelance writing work (yeah, the recession finally arrived for me, though it's not panic time yet), to catch up on some of my ever-growing queue of DVD sets, and I've been enjoying my introduction to several shows, while also becoming reacquainted with an old friend I haven't watched in years.
Deadwood: I saw a couple episodes of this in the middle of its run and I knew I'd like it, but I decided to wait till the DVDs came out (since it really isn't the type of show you dip into midway through). I finally got around to getting the complete series set and blazed may way through season 1 and am now into Season 2. I generally hate westerns, and I'm usually not too keen on cable shows that seem to be edgy for the sake of edgy but I make an exception with Deadwood. I've always been an admirer of Ian McShane from his Lovejoy days, but he's remarkable in this one. This show would never survive on mainstream TV - not just because of the language, but because of the show's leisurely pace. Viewers on NBC or CBS would demand a gunfight every 20 minutes.
iCarly: Ok, get off the floor. I confess: I'm a 40 year old guy enjoying a sitcom aimed at tweens, but that's nowhere near as creepy as it sounds. I wasn't interested in the show at all until a friend of mine showed me an episode. And I realized this is a rare animal: a tween/teen sitcom that is actually funny, has some actual bite to it (if you're paying attention), and has more than a few "only adults will get it" moments including more than a few Two-and-a-Half Men-style situations that make you wonder how they get away wit it. And the fictional iCarly webcast the show is built around is actually the type of thing I'd watch in real life. The show's main stars are appealing rather than annoying as is so often the case with these kinds of shows, and Jerry Tranter, who plays Carly's older brother, has the potential to be the next Jim Carrey. The show also provides some unexpected bonuses, such as appearances by Voyager's Tim Russ, and also several appearances by Mindy Sterling of the Austin Powers films. The show is also appealing because unlike some of the other teencoms out there the main characters are actually (usually) allowed to act their age, which is actually quite refreshing. This ain't The Prisoner or Deadwood, but you have to realize that I all but become physically ill watching sitcoms, and iCarly is one of the very few of this genre that I not only can sit through, but don't mind having on DVD.
The Avengers: I scored a great deal on a previously viewed copy of the 17-disc Emma Peel megaset a couple weeks ago and am working through it now. My opinion of Diana Rigg hasn't changed -- she's still one of the sexiest people to ever appear on TV in any generation, and the episodes are fun to watch and faster-paced than I remember. The box set also included a bonus disc of the 3 surviving episodes from the otherwise lost first season in which John Steed's partner was a man named David Keel. Trek trivia: Katherine Woodville (Natira in the TOS episode "For the World is Hollow...") guest starred in the first episode, and in fact her character's murder is what spawned the title of the series! Now if only A&E put out megasets for the Honor Blackman and Linda Thorson seasons.
Xavier: Renegade Angel - OK, this one is just weird. It's a CGI series from Adult Swim about a guy who goes around doing weird stuff. Honestly, that's the only way I can describe it. All the kids in the show look like Devo's Boogie Boy, the scenery looks like Second Life on an acid trip, and Xavier himself is probably the most indescribable character ever to appear on TV.
Alex
Deadwood: I saw a couple episodes of this in the middle of its run and I knew I'd like it, but I decided to wait till the DVDs came out (since it really isn't the type of show you dip into midway through). I finally got around to getting the complete series set and blazed may way through season 1 and am now into Season 2. I generally hate westerns, and I'm usually not too keen on cable shows that seem to be edgy for the sake of edgy but I make an exception with Deadwood. I've always been an admirer of Ian McShane from his Lovejoy days, but he's remarkable in this one. This show would never survive on mainstream TV - not just because of the language, but because of the show's leisurely pace. Viewers on NBC or CBS would demand a gunfight every 20 minutes.
iCarly: Ok, get off the floor. I confess: I'm a 40 year old guy enjoying a sitcom aimed at tweens, but that's nowhere near as creepy as it sounds. I wasn't interested in the show at all until a friend of mine showed me an episode. And I realized this is a rare animal: a tween/teen sitcom that is actually funny, has some actual bite to it (if you're paying attention), and has more than a few "only adults will get it" moments including more than a few Two-and-a-Half Men-style situations that make you wonder how they get away wit it. And the fictional iCarly webcast the show is built around is actually the type of thing I'd watch in real life. The show's main stars are appealing rather than annoying as is so often the case with these kinds of shows, and Jerry Tranter, who plays Carly's older brother, has the potential to be the next Jim Carrey. The show also provides some unexpected bonuses, such as appearances by Voyager's Tim Russ, and also several appearances by Mindy Sterling of the Austin Powers films. The show is also appealing because unlike some of the other teencoms out there the main characters are actually (usually) allowed to act their age, which is actually quite refreshing. This ain't The Prisoner or Deadwood, but you have to realize that I all but become physically ill watching sitcoms, and iCarly is one of the very few of this genre that I not only can sit through, but don't mind having on DVD.
The Avengers: I scored a great deal on a previously viewed copy of the 17-disc Emma Peel megaset a couple weeks ago and am working through it now. My opinion of Diana Rigg hasn't changed -- she's still one of the sexiest people to ever appear on TV in any generation, and the episodes are fun to watch and faster-paced than I remember. The box set also included a bonus disc of the 3 surviving episodes from the otherwise lost first season in which John Steed's partner was a man named David Keel. Trek trivia: Katherine Woodville (Natira in the TOS episode "For the World is Hollow...") guest starred in the first episode, and in fact her character's murder is what spawned the title of the series! Now if only A&E put out megasets for the Honor Blackman and Linda Thorson seasons.
Xavier: Renegade Angel - OK, this one is just weird. It's a CGI series from Adult Swim about a guy who goes around doing weird stuff. Honestly, that's the only way I can describe it. All the kids in the show look like Devo's Boogie Boy, the scenery looks like Second Life on an acid trip, and Xavier himself is probably the most indescribable character ever to appear on TV.
Alex
