Season One, Disc One

undeclared

2008-10-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

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.

gossip girl

2008-09-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

i have a soft spot in my heart for teenage dramas centering around rumours, sex, drugs, high school, & stabbing each other in the back.

so really, gossip girl is the perfect show for me. i honestly just can't get enough of glossy lipstick, pouty girls, sex-maniac foxy guys, & a cast of characters who cheat on each other, lie to each other, & play each other for their own gain. bonus points if it all takes place in high school.

& while we see very little of these friends actually going to school, they are of the right age & the controversial issues are certainly there. the new 90210 was touted as the west coast gossip girl, but so far from what i've seen (& i'm enjoying the campy 90210, don't get me wrong) 90210 has nothing on gossip girl. maybe it's just east coast fashion (it IS different, i assure you) or just that the acting is so much better, but gossip girl is a show with style.

if the new 90210 is "fuck me pumps"

then gossip girl is "come tie me up & then fuck me boots".

& i honestly do mean that in the best way possible. on both sides. 90210 is what it is. it's not nearly as edgy as it's claiming to be, but it's fun. gossip girl, on the other hand, is dead serious. these kids aren't playing around. they mean business, & man is it a mean business.

i'm not from NY, but i am from the east coast. i guess we have a different definition of drama there. or, maybe it's just that gossip girl is willing to be more controversial. but it's a really glam-ed up & polished end result, whatever the reasons are. the acting is pretty solid, the characters are well-defined, & the plot is, well, wicked. (omfg).

my only complaint so far is how much the narrator sounds like sarah jessica parker. it's almost like gossip girl thought, for five seconds, that it wanted to be the new sex & the city. i've got news for you, gossip girl: you aren't sex & the city. but that's really ok. i much prefer you.

you know you love me. xoxo.

supernatural

2008-09-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

man, i really did not want to like this show.

so much so, i had convinced myself that it looked really lame & that i would never, in a million years, actually identify with it. i respected people who were into it (i have a few friends who really do like it) but i just always assumed that it wasn't for me.

i was also completely unable to separate supernatural from smallville in my mind. i couldn't remember which was which, & would always use the wrong title when talking about one of the shows. when supernatural disc one began, i even said to myself, "fuck, which one is superman!?"

but boy, was i wrong about this show. i mean, seriously, i couldn't have been any more wrong.

this is exactly my type of show. i don't know if i was completely blind before, or just totally unwilling to give supernatural a chance. but i almost hate myself for not having watched it before this weekend.

in fact, as soon as disc one ended, i turned to sham & began brainstorming how we could get our hands on the rest of the season. i texted friends to see if i could borrow it. i even thought about buying it. i was immediately hooked!

the brothers play off each other so well. their bickering is really enjoyable to watch, & funny. because they can interact in this way, their characters seem pretty solid, even though the audience still does not know much about them. the younger brother is definitely more emotional, & the older brother is a bit of a hothead. they are nearly polar opposites & they don't really get along (unless they are putting their heads together to solve a case). but that's what makes their relationship really entertaining to watch. despite all the supernatural events occurring, the brothers are so real that it's easy to get sucked into the show. even if you don't believe in ghosts & goblins, you care about the brothers.

the effects are also top-notch. the first episode began with a doozy & i was pretty convinced the rest of the episodes would not be able to live up to it. again, i could not have been more wrong.

i'm totally hooked on supernatural.

& luckily for me, my dad is going to let me borrow the rest.

supernatural, i promise to never "accidentally" call you smallville again.

rescue me

2008-09-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

now this is a good example of what a pilot episode should be. plot? strong. acting? stellar. characters? SOLID. this pilot puts many other pilots i've watched to shame. i don't know how many times throughout keeping this blog i've had to say to myself, "stick with it. most shows improve after the pilot episode."

luckily for me & sham, this time around was a real treat.

tommy (or, denis leary) begins the show with a whole lot of personality. he's tortured, angsty, nearly divorced, & a relapsing alcoholic. his fellow firefighters are all dealing with 9/11 in their own, fucked up ways. one begins writing poetry to deal with his feelings, only to find out from his wife that his poems are awful & that she thinks he's less of a man for writing them. another goes on an anti-gay crusade. even the two young ones have a few problems of their own.

i love all the characters & i was fully engrossed in the story. does his daughter live!? does his wife divorce him!? does he ever stop seeing the ghosts of his dead cousin, fellow firefighters, & two little children he tried to save? most importantly, is he going to be ok? is he going to survive the fucked up life we're seeing him in?

i certainly hope so. but i really think it's the ride there that's going to be most entertaining to watch.

good for you, denis leary.

& damn, are you foxy.

oz; 2

2008-09-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

sorry HBO, but this one bored me.

& i don't understand the narrated sections. i'm sure i'm just missing something.

admittedly, the second episode was better than the first. & the third was better than the second.

but really, i just wasn't into this scattered show. too many characters, too little plot.

Oz

2008-09-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

yawn.

i did not like this at all. i was bored very quickly. i have heard great things, but wonder if they were about season two on because that's when christopher meloni comes on. i mean, i love him.

anyway. after three episodes i almost cared about the characters. almost. the storyline is really scattered; you're shown a bunch of men and their issues but it's not cohesive.

plus, jk simmons is in it playing a crazy aryan asshole. he was maybe my favorite part because i just pretended i was still watching Burn After Reading and he was kidding the whole time.
no, no, burn the body. get rid of it.

eureka; 2

2008-09-19T14:15:00.000-07:00

ok, so this show is pretty formulaic.

something mysterious & sci-fi related happens in the town & the police get called in to solve the problem. just when it seems like they are never going to be able to crack the case, jack carter gets a brilliant idea & figures everything out. yay! end of episode.

but i still have to admit, for a show like this, the formula works pretty well. the characters aren't totally in-depth, & the plot is certainly repetitive. but, like i said in my entry about the dead zone, people like case-based television shows. it's hard to be glued to your television screen every week. it's nice to be able to tune in or out whenever you want.

that being said, i don't know if the characters or plot are strong enough to keep anyone tuning in all the time. but the show is definitely quirky & fun enough for me to want to tune in at least a little more. that is to say, i wouldn't go out of my way to watch more of this one, but if i turned on the television (& magically had the sci-fi channel) & it was on, i would watch it. at least, until i realized i had something better to be doing.

eureka is cute & entertaining enough. i like sci-fi, though. so who knows.

the dead zone

2008-09-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

stupid dialogue? oh right, it's steven king.

driving directly into an 18-wheeler? oh right, it's steven king.

in a coma for six years? & a full recovery? really?

oh right, it's steven king.

don't get me wrong, i love steven king.

but his writing can be a little corny. oh, who am i kidding? he's not exactly known for his fantastic dialogue & really in-depth characters.

but he is a pretty damn good storyteller (or, more accurately, can be a really good storyteller). so, in theory, the dead zone is pretty cool. it's about a guy who wakes up from a six-year coma & finds that when he touches people, he can see things about them. yes, i know that's vague. but so is the show. apparently it can be in the past, in the future, in a POSSIBLE future, happening to someone else near them. oh, & it works with objects, too. but only SOME objects.

it's all very sci-fi & very mysterious. which, in my opinion, is cool.

anthony michael hall ("you gave me a birth control pill? do you know what that can do to a guy my age? ") does an alright job with the whole, going into trances thing. i have a feeling his acting improves over time, as he gets more used to the character. i mean, the show apparently ran for six seasons, so he had to be doing something right.

i can't totally speak to how the plot ends up working out. i have a feeling each episode is him trying to solve a crime or some other mystery that he receives from touching objects or people. that's what it seems like, based on the first few episodes. which is a good idea. people like case-based television shows.

this show is pretty cool. i don't know if i could ever get like, REALLY into it. or if i would ever want to buy multiple seasons & have the dead zone marathons. but i would totally watch it again if someone loaned me disc two.

Eureka

2008-09-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

titles: "is that fucking papyrus font? it is! fuck this show. fucking over." i swear, some people.

I have a hard time understanding scifi i think. i mean, i have a difficult time suspending my disbelief. all i can think is "this is weird!" and i never really accept it and move on. i don't know. the show seems pretty standard. we're supposed to follow the main character because, like us, he has no idea what's going on. fair enough.
i do like the 15 year old because she's such a mouthy little bitch. she pretty much has the same lines as if she was playing an estranged wife instead of being the frustrated daughter. i'm into verbally violent young women. who knows why?
I also like the juxtaposition of the government as we know it with the strictly intellectual town. throw the military into anything involving free thinking (and science!) and you're bound to get a rise out of me. creationism & evolution! church & state!

In Living Color, 2

2008-09-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

i mostly just want to say "ditto" to jessica. i don't get it, but it's not targeted at me, so that's alright. i completely appreciate the show. i actually did laugh at one of the skits, though apparently it's the skit that replaced the date-rape one. jim carey is the ship captain (or, "boat pilot") who was responsible for a giant oil spill. as his wife does the dishes with her back to him, she rehashes the details of the spill and cleanup. carey, meanwhile, is re-enacting it all (accidently) with a horrific coffee spill that he tries to soak up with flour. it winds up with him lighting the kitchen on fire. stellar stuff, really.

i suppose i could get into the show on some level. i'm sure you could show me great skits and i'd love them. but all in all, it feels like an off-season of SNL. there's the occasional thing that is hilarious, but as a whole, i can't really be bothered to wait around for it. thank god for the internet though.

sub point: i hate madtv.

rome

2008-09-12T17:16:00.000-07:00

i didn't NOT like this show, but i didn't like it either.

it's very well done. the costumes, props, & sets seem to be pretty spot on.

i don't know how accurate it is, historically. but i do know that i think it gets a little bogged down with the history, like the tudors does from time to time. i don't really care about any of the characters, because so far they are only representations of a certain time period in history. they don't particularly stand out for me, & they don't really seem like real people. in the first episode alone, i couldn't tell half of the guys apart.

i feel like this show could be good, if it begins to focus more on the characters than the history/plot. this may happen, i don't know.

i've heard really good things about it, so i won't hate on it completely.

i like the tudors, but maybe only because jonathan rhys meyers is so hot. rome doesn't have a jonathan rhys meyers. at least, not yet.

reno 911!

2008-09-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

i'm not 100% sure what to say about this show. i've got no really in-depth thoughts about it. & my online research proved that there are really no secrets about this show to be revealed.

all in all, it's just hilarious. i mean, i always make a point to watch it whenever i catch it on TV. watching 8 episodes back-to-back may have been a little much. & since you don't need to watch every episode to stay caught up on any kind of "plot" or "character development," watching every season is really not needed. it's maybe more of a watch-it-when-it's-on but-don't-kill-yourself-if-you-miss-an-episode kind of show.

but honestly, it's really just hilarious.

felicity

2008-09-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

so my major memory for this show is that a boyfriend of mine in high school got angry that i watched it one night instead of calling him to talk. what i never admitted to him, & haven't really thought about until right now, is that i was only using this show to avoid calling him for whatever reason. i think it was his birthday, & i was uncomfortable with the expectations that had been placed on me to be the "perfect girlfriend" in such situations. & i bailed, majorly, on calling him. but, i mean, i called him after.

needless to say, i obviously didn't remember much about this show. i think i did watch it. at least a few times. i remembered all the characters, & of the 4 episodes i watched, i remembered the plot of at least two of them.

i think that felicity gets a bit of a bad reputation. every time i mention it, someone inevitably groans & someone else mentions "that time she cut her hair". i mean, yeah, cutting her hair was probably a bad idea. but the show continued for two more years after that ill-fated season. so they must have been doing something right.

right?

one thing i liked about this show before i even began watching it is that there are only 4 seasons. so it's not overwhelming to want to get into, & it exists in it's own little world of college. she begins the show as a freshman & ends it as a senior. i don't know if the last show does any kind of a fast forward so we can see where all the characters end up after their lives at the university of new york, but i almost sort of hope not. i LIKE that the show exists in a little box, like a package tied with a bow. here is college life, complete.

i'm going to be honest here. i liked this show.

more than i thought i was going to, & definitely more than i did in 1998. probably because in 1998, i had absolutely no idea what college was. it was an idea to me only, something i saw in my future but of which i had no real concept. so can i relate to felicity more, having gone through my own 4 (to be fair, 3.5) years?

i don't know. i think so.

in my memory i remember felicity as "that show that tried to recreate dawson's creek for college kids". i mean, she's got a little dawson in her. she's over analytical about boys, life, friends, & classes. but that's about it. she's much more reserved than dawson is. in fact, i liken her more to angela chase than dawson leery. felicity is painfully shy, so much so that, even though she followed ben to new york, she had only ever had two conversations with him before (conversations that she remembers in painstaking detail). it's almost painful to watch her try to interact with ben, noel, her professors, basically anyone she meets. she's awkward & young.

unlike dawson's creek, we don't pick up with felicity already having a strong friend group in place. in fact, when the series begins, she doesn't have ONE friend. & when she does befriend julie, they have a very rocky start (basically due to the fact that julie & ben like each other more than they like felicity).

we also learn that felicity didn't do much in high school. she was very quiet, & seems to have done only what her parents wanted her to do. i don't even know if she had any friends then, either. we certainly never hear about any of them.

so really, we get to see felicity evolve from the very beginning. she's got no friends, no life, & almost no personality. she's got to cut out a place for herself in the world from scratch. imagine, dawson leery at, say, age 3.

i'm going to admit this again. i was into it. i'm not sure where her relationships with ben & the resident advisor noel crane (who has a webpage. seriously, go to that link) will go (although thanks, wikipedia, for spoiling a few details for me). i don't know who she will befriend next. or where her adventures in college will take her. & i'm interested. which has got to be a good sign.

apparently in later seasons, the writers began to run out of ideas for story lines. i mean, i guess there's only SO much drama that can go on during college.... (NOT). also, apparently the original writer was 32 & claimed to be 19 so there was a bit of controversy going on about this show. so i can't really vouch for the entire series. which is why i'm not giving this one more than four records as a rating.

but, i really & genuinely give felicity four records. i'm into it, & i hope that one day i can try out disc two. & who knows, honestly, maybe a lot more than that.

...at least until she cuts her hair.

just kidding.

mad men; 2

2008-09-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

i hate myself for not having watched this show before last night.

i wish i was being melodramatic, but i'm not.

to be fair, sham & i don't have cable. so we don't get AMC. i wanted to watch this one from the very beginning but couldn't. so then i had my dad download it for me & mail it to me, but i really dropped the ball on that one also. i still have the DVDs, but i never once watched them. since i started this blog, i keep meaning to watch mad men online to review, but i never did. i've had the pilot loaded onto my firefox about three times now, but things keep distracting me or work keeps making me busy.

but seriously? SERIOUSLY?

i've been missing out. i mean, LOOK AT THOSE CLOTHES. i would give anything to be able to (afford to) dress like that every day of my life. the set design & costumes are absolutely stunning. i never ONCE didn't buy that these people are living in the early 1960s. every damn thing feels accurate to me, even down to the drinking glasses, cigarette cases, & home decor. i wasn't alive during this time period, but for 45 minutes at a time, mad men allows me to pretend that i was (& thank you for that, mad men. because it's not really a secret that i wish i could live in this era).

the acting is also superb. while watching the show, sham actually turned to me & said, "oh yeah, i forgot that people can act." especially on TV! i mean, i had begun to believe that ANYONE could get on TV, regardless of any actual talent. but thank you, mad men, for finally getting it right & finding people who could act. it really, really, really makes a difference.

ok, plot. sure, the clothes & hotties are what initially attracted me to this show, but will the plot keep me watching it? yes. absolutely. yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. on the first disc alone, peggy basically gets called a "strumpet" by her gyno because she wants birth control. then, she comes onto her boss & sleeps with a co-worker who is about to be married! yikes! don is already cheating on his wife (who almost killed her kids in a car accident because her hands keep going numb), yet he is frustrated because she seems sad. then, he had the audacity to tell a female client that he will not let a woman "talk to him like that" when she tells him his ideas are stupid. etc etc etc.

fantastic.

i don't feel like i'm watching TV; i feel like i'm watching a movie. a movie that i never want to end. do you hear me, mad men? i never want you to end! never!

mad men

2008-09-10T22:16:00.000-07:00

first off, apologies all around. jessica is single-handedly keeping up this blog. what can i say? i'm a busy lady and i can't really blog when i'm at work. so how about this, i'm going to make really short updates, and then perhaps come back to them later if i feel like i have more to say. we'll leave the pontificating to my other half.

short sum up: everyone is right this show is great. i love when i feel like i'm not even watching tv, but am watching a movie. there is acting. there is costume and set design. i care about the story lines. i give my general applause to this show and feel guilty that i had not seen it until tonight.

plus- have you seen the outfits? fucking killer.

loves it.

The Tick (live action), 2

2008-09-09T22:31:00.000-07:00

it's true, i watched all 6 episodes. it's an absolutely ridiculous show. very over the top, but that's what you want. i promise. it's bizarre and funny- i some how liked it and didn't like it at the same time. i think i got a little bored because i wasn't dedicating my full attention to the show. this is definitely something to watch with friends. comic dork friends if you have them. (i say that lovingly.)

i am going to agree with jessica- batmanuel is the best. maybe it's the sexy accent, maybe it's that he's a womanizer and kind of a dick, but i fell for batmanuel. even if his outfit was ridiculous.

did you see captain liberty's outfit?

yeah. that star is cutout for cleav. amazing. certainly just more of a demonstration of the hilarious satire that is The Tick. there was actually an episode about not donning the costume and wearing normal clothes. turns out superheros should stay in their outfits so they don't freak out their dates. long story.

i'm into it though.

the tick (live action)

2008-09-09T11:38:00.000-07:00

the best part of this show is batmanuel. seriously. if you watch it for any reason, let that reason be batmanuel (& yes, he does have a batmanuelmobile). i promise that you will not be disappointed.

though apparently, america at large WAS disappointed by this one. it lasted only nine episodes, a far cry from the successful three year run of the animated series in the mid-90s. maybe adults simply don't understand the tick as well as children do? in the first episode alone, i remember sham turning to me & saying "oh, sad, is he just stupid?" as the tick began babbling about his duty to protect his bus station (apparently in the original comics, he actually escapes from a nearby mental institution). but we caught on fairly quickly.

he's not stupid, it's actually brilliant parody.

i only watched three of the six episodes on disc one, but i didn't not finish due to boredom or lack of interest. my DVD player sort of tricked me & stopped playing after three episodes. sham did finish the whole disc though, so let's wait for her entry with bated breath.

with only three episodes of the tick under my belt, i liked it enough to write this entry. i know, i know. what did i learn from two guys, a girl, & a pizza place? if anything, not to judge a whole show by less episodes than are actually on disc one. but, for this one, i'll have to make an exception.

i mean, the show certainly makes very little sense. there's almost no backstory & the characters are little more than goofy caricatures of superheroes. but, that's exactly what makes this show work.

it takes place in a world where superheroes do exist, though they are considered by society to be insane & in need of severe therapy to right their mental problems. they have to make their own costumes (except for the tick, who never seems to take it off) & they don't really have super powers aside from their bravery (except for the tick, who apparently is pretty damn strong). batmanuel is even shown with his arm in a cast in one episode. these are superheroes, but they are also real people.

which makes me like this show. a lot. it's pretty zany & out there, but it's certainly a lot of fun. it's what superman, batman, & the like would be if they ACTUALLY existed in the world we live in now. which, in theory, is cool. in practice, perhaps just not mainstream enough for society. but in theory, still very cool.

chappelle's show

2008-09-08T15:21:00.000-07:00

i always thought this show was called "the chappelle show". apparently it's not, & that blew my mind a little bit.

it's sort of a sketch show, like in living color or SNL. but it's also part stand-up show, which explains why it's called "chappelle's show" & not "the chappelle show".

by now, we all know that i'm not the biggest comedy fan. so i probably won't give this show an "i would watch the whole season" or "i would watch disc two" rating. but don't get me wrong, i did like the chapp - look, there i go again - chappelle's show. i laughed a whole bunch of times, & in general was amused while watching this show. & i wasn't even multi-tasking while watching it!

my favourite sketch (& the most popular, naturally) of the first disc was the black blind white supremacist bit. that's good stuff right there. for the most part, i thought chappelle's skits were pretty intelligent & very satirical. but, as sham pointed out, it was a little hard to figure out which sketches were political/cultural satire & which were supposed to be just plain ol' funny. but either way, i laughed.

but apparently this show drove dave chappelle ever so slightly insane. right before production of the third season he reportedly disappeared & turned up in south africa. it's unclear if he had drug problems, needed therapy, or just wanted to get away. but he later reported that stress had driven him to seek space from his show. apparently his fame was getting to him, & he has been known to complain that chappelle's show took his time away from doing stand-up tours, which is what he really enjoyed doing.

the details seem a little fuzzy, but chappelle even seems to have stated that he thought some of his sketches were "socially irresponsible" & that he realized that some people were laughing at him in the wrong way (like, laughing at him, not with him). i don't think i've seen enough of the show to really comment on that. he definitely does play on racial stereotypes often, but in order to show people how idiotic these beliefs are rather than to perpetuate them.

either way, this show seemed to ruin dave chappelle a little bit. which is sad, because honestly, it's pretty good.

in living color

2008-09-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

i have to admit, before last night i had never before seen an episode of in living color. i always knew of the show, & i was aware that it had been pretty ground-breaking on many levels. but i had just never happened upon watching it before (nor have i seen most of SNL, i guess this type of format never really attracted me before).

i know a lot of people, of all races, sexes, & ages, who are big fans of this show. i've even been chastised in the past for not having seen some of in living color's more popular sketches. i always knew that it probably wasn't for me, as i don't really like "sketch" shows. but, to be fair to the rules of the game, i gave it a chance.

i did laugh, sure. & it was interesting to see so many famous faces when they were a bit younger.

i give this show incredible respect.

but in living color really isn't targeted to me. it's always hard to watch this kind of show outside of it's time period. i mean, a lot of the jokes and references went completely over my head. sham was able to explain a few i didn't get, but for the most part i have a feeling i missed out on a lot of the humour because i simply didn't get what was going on. at the same time, i'm not really a fan of sketch comedy. so i don't really want to judge this one on content.

so instead i turned to my trusty friend wikipedia, hoping to find some good nugget of information about in living color that would inspire this blog entry. this didn't really happen either. i was interested to read that the original pilot included a sketch that was only broadcast once (it's even been replaced on the DVD) because it deals with date rape. apparently the master tape for the episode was changed but keenan ivory wayans "accidentally" mixed up the masters so the true episode could be aired. once.

other than that, in living color didn't really stand out for me. i completely & utterly respect it for everything that it did, & for having the guts to fight censorship in the 90s. it certainly helped a lot of comedians get their starts, & i'm sure it inspired many viewers.

it's just not for me.

it's always sunny in philadelphia

2008-09-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

if you aren't already watching this show, you should be.

i've seen a good number of episodes in the past, mostly with danny devito (who joins the cast in season two). i've always enjoyed what i've seen, but sort of brushed the show aside because i don't really have time to be watching another show (that, & i don't get FX). but, i did finally sit down to watch season one (thanks comic-con, for giving us the first two seasons for free) & i had a really fucking good time.

first off, the entire season is on disc one, so i was lucky that i liked this one.

secondly, the music/ditty/theme song is so amazing. no matter how many times it plays in an episode, i never get tired of it.

thirdly, i just all around love this show.

i mean, it's funny. i laugh out loud while watching this show. which is, admittedly, RARE for me. after wading through the many unfunny sitcoms on television these days, this show is a find, a GEM. the characters are fucked up, demented, &, most importantly, very real. it's like what seinfeld would be if it was set in the new millennium & the characters drank more alcohol.

it's always sunny in philadelphia is continually pushing the limits of what society is ready to see on television, & that's what really makes it great. they jump in headfirst & they aren't afraid to piss people off. fantastic stuff.

i'm not going to start analyzing the comedy of the show or start comparing it to other comedies i've seen. because really, it's unlike any other comedy currently on television.

good work, it's always sunny in philadelphia.

do yourself a favour & watch this one.

two guys, a girl, & a pizza place

2008-09-03T17:06:00.000-07:00

i do remember this show from when it first aired in the late 90s. it's about, you guessed it, two guys, a girl, & a pizza place. apparently in later seasons, they get rid of the pizza place & the show is renamed (appropriately) two guys & a girl. i don't really have any memories of the show, apart from thinking its name was cool when i was thirteen. so i didn't really know what i was getting into with this one.

i have to admit, i very nearly stopped watching after two episodes & posted this review:

"this show (later renamed two guys & a girl) is basically a one trick pony. every episode is the same. berg (ryan reynolds) does something stupid to piss off his roommate, pete. their friend sharon says something negative about her job. pete & berg go to work at the pizza place, where an annoying customer tells movie plots as if they were stories that happened to him. pete forgives berg.

the end.

it does take place in boston though, so it gets some cool points."

i even gave it only one record as a rating (wish i'd never watched this one at all).

to be fair to the show, & to the rules of the game, i agreed to watch at least another few episodes. since i couldn't actually find information on the DVDs, i decided that five episodes would be a fair number to allow me to judge this one accurately.

i'm actually quite glad that i muddled through the next three episodes. it's certainly not a great show, but it's not NEARLY as bad as i almost posted saying it was. the first review is pretty true for the first two episodes, but beginning in episode three, the show began to have more involved plot lines that weren't only about berg & pete pissing each other off. & by episode five, there were some complex ideas being introduced into pete's relationship with his girlfriend.

all in all, the show improved. immensely.

i still say that it's not really for me. it's a little too simple, & it still does heavily rely on repetitive humour (that pizza customer continues to tell movie plots as if they are stories that happened to him), & the characters are still a little two-dimensional.

but i'm honestly glad that i stuck to the rules & gave this show a fair review. i guess that is part of the point of watching all these season one, disc ones, anyway. to give a fair review to the birth of a television show. pilots do not represent the whole series. characters come, go, grow, & mature. writing improves.

two guys, a girl, & a pizza place - you served some purpose in the late 90s & i was wrong to judge you so quickly. & hey, i STILL think your original name is cool.

buffy the vampire slayer

2008-09-03T13:57:00.000-07:00

i was in middle school when this show first aired. i was a HUGE fan of the original movie & i remember begging my mother to let me stay up & watch the show when it premiered on the WB. we struck a deal in the kroeber household. my brother & i could each choose one night to stay up later than usual to watch a television show. kurt chose the wayans bros & i chose buffy the vampire slayer (which was ultimately a better deal because his show was only 30 minutes long!)

i was a pretty die-hard buffy fan during the early years. i was already pretty into vampires when the show aired (i even had my own stake & other vampire supplies stashed away in a drawer in my room just in case) so the show only fed into my obsession. however, despite my love for buffy early on, i admit that i wasn't a very loyal fan. by the third season, i was no longer into it. once they left high school, i stopped watching altogether.

when i graduated high school in 2003, the show went off the air (after surviving for two final years on UPN). when i was in college, i saw buffy become a cultural phenomenon. there were midnight showings of the musical episode (i ended up seeing this episode at comic-con this year & walked out after no lie, five awful seconds). there are self-proclaimed "whedonites". & there are even college courses dedicated solely to this show.

throughout the years, i became increasingly fed up with buffy & rather disgusted that people thought it was "good" enough to dedicate a fandom, nevermind college courses. i liked the show when i was TWELVE, sure, but boy did i grow to hate it as i got older.

so when i went back to watch it now, eleven years after the fact, i did so with mixed emotions. i wanted to recapture the love i had for it when i was a kid, but i knew i was coming back to it with the baggage i've acquired over the years. i was expecting to cringe at the stupid dialogue ("what is your childhood trauma!?"), buffy's annoying talky nature, & xander's unrequited puppy dog love. i was looking forward to spike & oz, but sadly neither appears on disc one.

but to be honest, i didn't flinch even one bit. it sort of worked, in that 90s, overly-talky kind of way (think: dawson's creek). the characters are a little annoying, but only because i really don't find myself able to relate to any of them. & the plot, well, the plot is what made this show good to begin with. disc one alone deals with vampires, a potential apocalypse, a witch, & a giant (substitute teacher-shaped) praying mantis.

i mean, that's a pretty solid first four episodes.

even though i was expecting to re-watch buffy the vampire slayer & see the error of my twelve-year-old ways, my reunion with this show wasn't so negative. nor was it completely positive. i do have to admit that i can see why this show was so popular. it's pretty dark & edgy, but just fun enough to attract teenage girls (& goth boys) of all shapes & sizes. but there's just not enough there to keep me properly engaged for an extended amount of time. it's a semi-fun show, but there's really not much to it past that.

i guess my interests have changed.

i mean, i no longer keep a stake hidden in my bedroom.

it's not that i've stopped believing, i guess maybe now i just feel better prepared to take on the world without supplies.

saved by the bell

2008-09-02T12:40:00.000-07:00

sadly, i don't really have any interesting points to mention about saved by the bell. thanks to sham & wikipedia, i did learn that it's actually a spin-off/re-packaging of an earlier show called good morning, miss bliss. but that's about it.

i mean, this show's not great. there's almost NO back story (probably due to the whole spin-off thing) & i can't really figure out if any of the characters actually LIKE each other.

but it's all fun & quite enjoyable, as long as you can sort of space out or multi-task while watching it. i like to catch this one on saturday/sunday mornings when i'm hungover & there's nothing else on TV. i even own the high school seasons on DVD, & i admit this isn't the first time i've watched them.

but really, there's not much to this show. perhaps i only like it cos it reminds me of my childhood. i'm not really sure.

it's a good time, definitely, & i do like watching it. but it's honestly no gem.

edit: actually, i did think of one other thing to mention. normally, i can't stand tiffani-amber thiessen, & i would never consider her a "good" actor. but here's something to consider: from saved by the bell to beverly hills: 90210, she seems like a completely different person. in fact, i have trouble believing that kelly & val ARE the same actress. so, my hat is off to you, tiffani. perhaps i underestimated your television abilities.

da ali g show

2008-08-31T23:10:00.000-07:00

i still just don't get this show.

but that's ok, i'm REALLY not the target audience.

scrubs

2008-08-30T18:19:00.000-07:00

i never watched scrubs when it first aired. from what i've seen of the show when i manage to catch it randomly on television, i've been less than impressed. it seems immature, goofy, & sort of direction-less. so, while i tried to keep an open mind for season one, i didn't have the highest of hopes.

but i have to admit, i was pretty into disc one. on the pilot, we were introduced to every single main character (& most, if not all, of these characters remained throughout every season, which is a good sign). all of the characters were really solid & strong, which is typically not the case with most of the pilots i've watched so far. the humour was pretty well-defined (& i actually LAUGHED!). & the show, in general, was a lot of fun.

it seems as if, through the years, scrubs has lost a lot of what made it great in the beginning. the humour perhaps lost something, or the characters have maybe become caricatures of themselves. i'm not completely sure, but i do know that something happened over the years. something bad.

i did enjoy the first seven episodes of scrubs, but knowing what it becomes within a very few years, i'm not totally sure i'm willing to dedicate any more time of my life to this one. but i did enjoy what i saw & i won't be so quick to bad-mouth the show from now on.

alf; 2

2008-08-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

i don't have much to say about this one. i mainly agree with sham.

i have fond memories of this show from when i was a kid. i don't know if it just didn't hold up, or if i'm just a completely different person now. but, i was bored to tears by this show.

there was, admittedly, one gem on this one (though, as sham explains below, it's from disc two).

i'll save you the trouble of watching ALF at all.

watch this instead.

alf

2008-08-30T00:50:00.000-07:00

so first let me say that we fucked up a little. well.. i did. or, if i feel like passing the buck, the designer of the dvd case messed up. we decided to watch alf because jessica already owns it and i hadn't ever seriously tried to watch it. when i opened the dvd case, there was one disc visible and another disc behind it. normal. totally normal. so we sit through a whole disc and are confused and complaining about the fact that the show just jumps right in, the family is totally comfortable with alf, and clearly we are missing out on something. so, of course, the next day jessica brings it to my attention that we were watching the second disc! that whole time! chuckles all around, and then it is realized that the second disc i had seen before in the case is disc number three. the little paper insert that always comes in dvds? the first disc is BEHIND that. really now? i mean, i know i should have just looked at the disc numbers and figured it all out to begin with. but seriously. poor design.

disc two involved a lot of not-so-funny jokes and a lot of me groaning. now that everything has been straightened out, here we are watching disc one. but you know what? we're cheating. we're watching the pilot and the original un-aired pilot (which are apparently VERY similar)... and that's it. honestly, i don't think i could handle much more alf.

i don't really understand how this show got picked up. nevermind how it made 120 episodes. i love the muppets (or other comedic puppets), and would probably think this would have been a great show premise. i absolutely have to be missing something. i think i laughed twice through all the footage i watched. the laugh-track was painful to hear because i had no idea what they were laughing at. i really can't think of much else to say here. maybe i'm tired. maybe i don't full grasp alien-related humor. and maybe... just maybe... this show isn't funny and america was wrong.

my so-called life

2008-08-29T10:16:00.001-07:00

i'm going to go ahead & steal a gem from a review i once read for this one.

if you don't like my so-called life, then i don't like you. seriously.

premiering four years after beverly hills: 90210 blew away the world by openly discussing topics such as sex, racism, drugs, & rape, & four years before dawson's creek shocked everyone with affairs with teachers & teenage sluts (think about that for a moment...when angela chase was 15, dawson was 11. ELEVEN!), my so-called life certainly lacks the controversial nature of other shows geared toward teenagers in the 90s. i mean, imagine this: angela DOESN'T sleep with jordan when he propositions her. whoa.

but what it lacked in the Controversial Department, it certainly made up for in the Realism Department.

my so-called life is the only (not first, or best, but only) show that accurately depicts teenage emotions & the torment that is high school. naturally, not everyone can relate to angela chase. she's miserable, depressed, EPICALLY unhappy, & it's utterly painful to watch her do anything or say a single word. this was certainly not everyone's high school experience.

BUT IT WAS MINE.

angela chase, you are me. you would have understood how i felt in high school. we could have listened to the cranberries in our rooms TOGETHER. we could have dyed our hair red TOGETHER (& oh, how i ached for her hair when i was 15). we could have giggled & obsessed about jordan catalano TOGETHER (i love how he, like, LEANS). we could have just, you know, like, hung out TOGETHER. we would have found solace in each other's misery.

but alas, the world at large couldn't fully grasp what angela chase was all about (much like how i felt it couldn't understand me when i was 15) & the show was cancelled after only one season. but oh boy, what a doozy of a season.

was my so-called life just too REAL for society? too ahead of it's time? like i said, despite the major gay character & a little adultery, my so-called life isn't terribly controversial. it's not the sex & drugs that got this one cancelled; it's the misery. the world at large simply just did not want to know what it feels like to be an unhappy teenager. it's easy to pretend that your teens are happy & enjoying life. it's much harder to know that they hate everything & would really rather not exist (as angela puts it, "you know what i'd really like? to be put out of my misery."). could society really just not deal with knowing what life was REALLY like for teenagers in the 90s?

let's consider the options. on season one, disc one of my-so called life, rickie is tormented for being bisexual. angela deals with the after effects of a nasty (& untrue) rumour that she slept with jordan. then, she has to deal with him telling her that, because of the rumour, she may as well sleep with him. THEN, she has to deal with him telling her that he doesn't have any actual interest in her at all. (epic). rayanne gets wasted & is escorted home by a police officer. brian (oh brian krakow...jordan may be a fox, but you always won my heart in the end) is continually made fun of, put down, & teased for being a brain. sharon is so angry at angela for dropping their friendship that she won't even set foot in the chase household. NONE OF THESE PEOPLE ARE HAPPY. they are all very, very, very unhappy.

at least in beverly hills: 90210, the characters would eventually learn to turn their smiles upside down by the end of an episode or two (even when faced with drug addictions & rape attempts). on dawson's creek, dawson would over-analyze everything until it didn't seem like such a bad thing anymore & he would figure out a solution to any problem. on my so-called life, however, even lasting ONE day at school was nearly too much for angela chase to bear.

& yes, i think that's a reality that society did not want to face.

which is sad, because really, in angela chase, i've always found a kindred spirit. & that last episode...(is it cheating if i discuss things not on the first disc? ok, probably. so i'll leave it vague)...that last episode man, is heartbreaking. & sadly, i'll never know what happens after that last moment between angela & brian. & that breaks my heart.

i miss angela. i wish that we had been able to have more time together.

instead, i've got to cherish what little time i DO have with her. season one, disc 2? disc 3? disc 4? yes. i salute you, angela chase, for showing the world what being a teenager is REALLY like.

& really, i agree with you, "can't people just cheer on their own? like, to themselves?" the world would be a better place if society had opened their ears to what angela chase had to offer.

the prisoner

2008-08-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

i didn't stumble upon this one by myself. i've had two friends recommend this one to me on separate occasions. so today i thought, why not.

i have to admit, i am a little taken aback by the fact that season one, disc one consists of only one episode, the pilot (aka "arrival"). i don't feel that i can sufficiently judge the show based on only one episode, but to be fair to the rules of the game, i've got to.

first off, for anyone who doesn't already know about this one, it's about number 6, who resigns from his government position only to awaken to find out that he's being held captive on an island until an absent number 1, the man in charge, finds out WHY number 6 resigned from his position. the village number 6 now lives in is called simply "your village," & it's self-sustaining. number 2, the second in command, changes mid-episode (& i'm told this is a common occurrence). number 6 spends his days trying to escape from the island, but the ever-changing number 2 thwarts his every move. no one on the island knows why they are there, & they don't seem to care. oh yeah, & there are giant white orbs that suck number 6's face & knock him unconscious every time he strays outside of the village. at least, that's as much as i can piece together so far.

oh, i think i get it. basically, LOST already existed. it premiered in 1967 & it was originally entitled "the prisoner."

i admit, i'm still pretty confused about this one. but, that's probably the point. more questions were raised in the pilot than answers were given. i also don't particularly care much about number 6 yet, but to be fair, we've only spent an hour together so far.

i am pretty intrigued by this show. i want to know why number 2 keeps changing. & who are numbers 3-5? & why did cobb go by "cobb" & not a number? &, more importantly, where did cobb GO at the end of the first episode? & why is number 6 assigned such a low number, when there are clearly at least a hundred other people already on the island? where did all these people come from? what the hell are the white orbs? &, most obviously, who is number 1? at this point, i sort of imagine him like dr. claw from inspector gadget. (i'm sure i'm not very far off).

semi-futuristic & very bizarre, the prisoner proved to be quite interesting. i'm willing to give season one, disc two a chance (& by season one, disc two, i really mean episode two) to see what the show is all about. i have a feeling i really can't judge this one by its cover (& by cover, i really mean pilot episode).

so, the prisoner season one, disc two, i'll "be seeing you" very soon.

dawson's creek

2008-08-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

to be perfectly honest, & despite what i sometimes pretend in nostalgic conversations about my childhood with friends, i watched very little of dawson's creek when it first aired. in fact, i've maybe only ever seen the first season before. & mostly, it was viewed at my friend courtney's house because my parents thought it was a little too "adult" for thirteen-year-old me.

that being said, i'm surprised by how much of disc one i actually remembered, nearly word for word. i'm not sure why i netflixed it to begin with, but once i put it in my DVD player (DVD player...did i even HAVE one of those in 1998?) i was overwhelmed with memories.

oh yeah, james van der beek CAN'T actually act. & that's riiiiight, joey WAS a major bitch. & michelle williams' clothes really are still THAT bad. oh &, you know what, pacey still is that fucking ADORABLE. (i always was a pacey girl, dawson is too pretentious for me.)

other than that, i admit there's very little to say. i COULD go into a long discussion about how it revolutionized teen television. on the first disc alone, pacey sleeps with his english teacher, mrs. leery cheats on her husband of 20 years, & jen admits that she is not only not a virgin, but a major slut! surprise surprise! or, alternatively, i could mention how, without beverly hills 90210 (my personal favourite), dawson's creek would never have been able to exist.

but really, what's the point?

the truth of the matter is, all of the characters are pretty annoying. i don't like dawson at all, & i perhaps like joey even less. jen is tolerable. pacey is, as always, the shining star of the show. the acting is subpar. the plot is a little melodramatic for my tastes. the dialogue is cringe worthy (not because it's so bad, but because it sounds more like an emerson student than a 15-year-old cape cod high schooler). &, as a 23 year old, i find myself able to relate to very little of the show.

but honestly, none of these things will stop me from acquiring season one, disc two. after all, isn't that how all season one, disc ones should be judged? do these three or four episodes keep my attention enough to make me want to invest more time & energy? do i find myself caring enough about if joey & dawson will ever kiss? or what ends up happening between pacey & the english teacher? or if jen & grams ever find common ground?

yes. yes i do care. very very much.

season one, disc two? absolutely.