Got lots of downtime as I prepare to leave Ft Benning. It has given me a chance to catch up on some DVD viewing, DVDs I actually procured in Afghanistan, mostly, but didn't have time to watch. Many, excellent, some good, a few...uhh.
Just now, I made an attempt to watch J. Michael Straczinki's "Jeremiah". Based on a comic book, it describes the aftermath of "The Big Death", a plagued that wiped out the adult population and left the children to grow up in the world left over, without adult guidance. Now, I love the post-apocalypse genre, and will give most stories based on such a premise an even chance. But six eps into "Jeremiah" and it wasn't clicking for me. And at the end of the sixth episode, I figured out why. First, not necessarily JMS's fault, as he is a proven world builder (Babylon 5, Rising Stars, et al) and "Jeremiah" is not his original creation. But...this post-apocalypse world isn't engaging. Two things you need for a good P-A world. One, a true sense of a brand new world and new circumstances. Set up some new politics, new world views and some mysteries. There were sort of flailing attempts at it, as factions are mentioned and things like the Burning Men thrown in, but no reason for them to be intriguing or compelling. They were just...there. Adding to the "just there" feeling were unfortunately the lead, Luke Perry as the aforementioned Jeremiah. They played him too heroic and obviously in your face as just an "everyman who cares", and not deep enough for the warrior-philosopher. And I really don't think he was right for the role. And the heavies? Way too obvious and ham-fisted/moustache twirling, no depth at all. Supporting characters? The girl who wanted to sail her sailboat over the horizons, cool story, but they didn't give enough and her performance wasn't compelling enough to make me care.
All my favorite creators have come up short every now and then. Kevin Smith had Clerks Animated (the characters lost their "grounding" which make them normally compelling), Aaron Sorkin had Studio 60 (treating a sketch comedy show like it has some kind of deep, critical national import, just like what goes on in the White House, an actress who was unconvincing as the most talented sketch comic of the cast), and Joss Whedon had Dollhouse (Eliza Dushku, great as Faith, but not nearly the acting chops to carry a role as complicated as what they were trying to do on that show).
It happens. They can't all be hits.
