undeclared

i first watched this entire series one afternoon/night. i was living in boston, & it was the night before i was meant to move out of my packard's corner apartment (72 gardner street, for those of you keeping tabs on me). all of my belongings were packed & most of them were already brought home. & i hated my roommates. so the options were leave the apartment or stay inside my room. because i was feeling particularly lazy & unhappy at my living situation, i decided to stay inside.

i had almost nothing to entertain me. but thankfully, before i packed my boxes of DVDs into my mum's SUV, i had decided to keep undeclared with me in case i needed something to watch. & watch it i did. the ENTIRE SERIES.

but really, that's not much of a feat. because, like its predecessor, freaks & geeks, this one only aired for one season (an incomplete season at that. one or two episodes never aired at all). which is sad. because both shows deserved at least a second season.

(freaks & geeks deserved a lot more than that, but that's for another blog entry someday down the line).

undeclared is certainly no freaks & geeks. but it's still quite enjoyable. it's pretty light-hearted & fun. i think it pretty accurately portrays college, without getting too bogged down with the emotions involved. but the dialogue & plots are realistic. i believe what's going on.

according to wikipedia, judd apatow has stated, "one reason for the death of college shows is that it's difficult to be honest about campus life on network or basic cable. it's hard to portray truthfully. the truth is, kids are high, drunk and having sex. no matter what you do, you're fudging it."

ok, so maybe judd apatow is right. but they did a pretty good job. after all, lloyd does have plenty of sex. (not that it's any wonder why! look at him! he's a cutie!)



& the gang do their fair share of drinking (they even empty a keg into every single cup in their dorm room & try to drink it all before it goes flat). certainly things were left out of the overall college experience, but undeclared gives it a good try.

i think what really makes it great is the casting. i really love the male casting choices. seth rogan! charlie hunnam! in fact, all four of the main boys do a really good job with this material.

the girls, however, i was less than pleased with. carla gallo, i apparently do not like you in anything you are in. & monica keena! fuck you, i didn't like you on dawson's creek & i don't like you on undeclared. get off my blog!

the true casting gem, however, is in lizzie's (carla gallo, ick) creepy stalker boyfriend, eric.

this is seriously good stuff here.



jason segel, you are always great. you are welcome on my blog anytime.

carnivale

so this show makes very little sense. but in the good way, like twin peaks.

i really WANT to like this show. i think i do, but honestly i can't quite tell yet. & to be fair, since disc one only had two episodes on it, i hardly think i've gotten enough of a taste of it to really make a judgment either way.

my main problem with this one is casting. i believe almost everything that happens, but two of the girls in particular, clea duvall (as sham puts it, "who authorized her having the same hair for 10 years?") & carla gallo (i'll have more to say about her soon, i'm watching undeclared right now) totally take me out of it.

i mean, check it out.



he totally looks right. she does not.



she looks like she's from 2005 & they stuck an old-timey dress on her. i agree with sham; it's totally the hair.

other than that, i'm pretty ok with this show. i'm interested & curious, which i guess is the point. i'm not supposed to know what's going on, so i'm just taking it all in & enjoying the ride.

the sopranos

i just never got into this show when it aired.

i had no real desire to watch it, & the only information i knew about it was what my parents, fans of the show, told me throughout the years. & nothing they ever said seemed interesting enough to make me want to delve into this series.

but i borrowed it for season one disc one & decided to give it a fair chance.

it's good, just like everyone says. the acting is good, the characters are really solid from the very first episode, & the plot is definitely interesting.

but i guess it's just not my type of show. i found myself sort of bored & really not caring about the characters or the plot. but i really don't think that's anything against the show. i think it's more on my end - this show just isn't for me.

oh, & no offense to the actors but every time the kids were on screen



i wanted to fucking kill myself. could they have PICKED more annoying kids!?

i think i'm more interested in sitting down with someone who has seen the whole series so i can find out what happens than i am in seeing the rest of the series.

it wasn't bad, by any means.

just really not for me.