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.

rescue me

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

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.

eureka; 2

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

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.

In Living Color, 2

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

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!

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.

mad men; 2

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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.

da ali g show

i still just don't get this show.

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

scrubs

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.

the prisoner

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.