TV catchup again

[castalia]

I've been so behind this summer when it comes to TV, as usual. There's still a bunch of stuff I'd like to try: Glee, Warehouse 13, Defying Gravity, Mad Men, Leverage, and probably more that will come to me later. I saw part of Being Human at Bling and would like to see the rest, just have to get around to it. The previews for Flash Forward intrigued me, and it has John Cho and other pretty people, so I have acquired the pilot and will check it out. I may give Eastwick and The Bridge a chance, if only for Paul Gross and Aaron Douglas, respectively. I have reservations about Stargate: Universe, but I do love my Gateverse so it'll get its chance as well.

I finally sat down the week after Dragon*Con and watched the final season of Atlantis, which I'd been putting off for one reason or another. I was glad to see more female characters show up, even though some of them barely got speaking roles or died or were secretly gay and died (Vega, supposedly, yes?). I liked the all female team in Whispers, and I liked the addition of Amelia and her interaction with Ronon. This must be the "out of nowhere" love interest that was mentioned at the con, but seeing the eps all in a row I could see the slight effort made at gradually building that. I liked that it was left at a sort of "interested, they may date, but it could go anywhere from this point" status with their budding relationship.

Sadly, I never warmed to Keller. She remained as whiny and ineffectual as ever to me, so I didn't care for all her declarations of love to Rodney (which he strangely never reciprocated, so that was weird) and their odd dating. But oh well.

Teyla remained awesome and I was glad she got to be the one to kill Michael in the end. If he had to die, it needed to be by her hand foot.

I was glad most of the secondary and minor characters made it through. Zelenka, Caldwell, Chuck, Ellis, Marks, etc. They kept teasing us with possible Zelenka death, so I was relieved to see him still on his feet at the end. And of course I was happy to have as much of clone!Beckett as we got.

I'm trying to remember other specific moments, but mostly all I can think about is "Bill Nye the Science Guy was on Stargate". Seriously, that blew my mind. Bill Nye. As himself. Bickering with Rodney about physics. Dude!

Oh yes, and there was "Vegas". I still don't know what I think about that one. As AUs go, it's certainly a different method than the SG writers typically take, but none of the women got much of a role and I hate that "lone warrior" crap these days, so...yeah. Weird.

Let's see, what else. New NCIS, of course, which I mostly liked. Glad to have Ziva back, and it really shows how far her relationship with everyone has come. Especially Abby - we got a hug! Impressive. Still, I'm really hoping they don't actually go there with her and Tony. I'd prefer them to keep it as it is, with the tension and the teasing and always the possibility, but never actually going there. NCIS is not that type of show.

The other problems I had were mostly how unprofessional Tony was during those "interviews" with prospective teammates. Seriously, stop it already with the barely disguised at all sexual harassment. Why would Tony and McGee even be doing those interviews in the first place? *sigh* I have such a love/hate relationship with this show.

Watched the spinoff of the spinoff, NCIS: LA as well, and I'm still liking it so far. Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J have good chemistry and a great buddy cop type of relationship, and I fully expect to see some slash there soon enough. The other characters are good, and the addition of Linda Hunt is interesting. I'm a bit disappointed that Macy is gone, though, as she seemed interesting and competent despite being yet another female agent who shares a history with Gibbs, and now I'm not sure who's in charge. Linda Hunt's character seems more of a money and resources type of administrator, not a team leader, and Callen and Sam seem to share leadership somewhat. I wonder if the actress just didn't want to sign on for some reason.

I also watched the pilot for Modern Family, a new ABC half-hour comedy which features a gay couple who adopt a baby together. So far the two guys, Cameron and Mitchell (and boy, did those names make me laugh for a long while), have some slightly stereotypical characteristics, but not too OTT yet. One is the uptight, clean-cut type, while the other is more swishy but mostly in actions (he's casual and a bit overweight, more laid back yet dramatic at times). One of the other families is completely white, one mixed (white male, Latina woman), so not very much minority presence yet. I may stick it out a few more episodes and see where they go with it.

Let's see, there was the season premiere of House, too. I tuned in despite not having seen most of the past two seasons or so, just eps here and there. I'm a little tired of House being such a dick, in particular to the mentally ill in this episode, b/c with as far as he went with the meanness and bad judgment, I don't think he should be a doctor at all. But then there was Andre Braugher, and I'll put up with a lot for him. And considering certain spoilers for this season, I may stick it out a little more anyway.

*sigh* Too much TV, not enough time. Well, okay, this week I've had plenty of time, just didn't feel like watching much for whatever reason. I'll get to it all eventually.

Comments

[windrose.livejournal.com]

mostly all I can think about is "Bill Nye the Science Guy was on Stargate".

I was more impressed by the fact they got Neil deGrasse Tyson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson) to be in that episode. *g* Otherwise? What You Said about 5th season, with the exception of actually really loving "Vegas". Oh, and I hated "Whispers" with a hatey hate, mainly because of the way they handled the all-female team.

I've missed most of the series premiers this week because of having a house guest, but plan to catch up over the weekend. And that spoiler for House may well keep me watching for another season.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, that guy! Planetarium guy! I couldn't remember his name, but I was pleased to see him in there, too.

Whispers was...I dunno, good and bad. I liked the female soldiers, but disliked how much John took over and didn't really get their input as much. But I liked the female marine and the leader. It also seemed odd for them to get Nicole deBoer and not have her in the same episode as Rodney. Major opportunity for some Cube in-jokes completely lost, there.

[gritkitty.livejournal.com]

*snicker* I love your icon.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Heh, thanks. I had such fun making it.

[keleos.livejournal.com]

My thoughts, in one big wall o' text cuz I'm on NyQuil and lazy:

I did not like the utterly cliche way that House addressed mental issues and mental hospitals. I love NCIS, because, dude... Abby. I watched the "spin-off" eps last year, and was not interested, so I skipped that one. I'm actually looking forward to Stargate: Universe. Hopefully this one won't be ruined for me. I watched Eastwick tonight, and while the central actresses were interesting, it was jarring to see Paul Gross being the "bad" guy and I really thought they were trying too hard. I'll probably watch it again, but... I wasn't too impressed by the pilot. I love Glee, Defying Gravity has been cancelled, and I think the combination of Eureka and Warehouse 13 are the only things that haven't completely killed my faith in SyFy. Leverage is a great show, if a little formulaic at this point. It's still fun to watch. And Being Human... oh, man, I LOVED Being Human. I can't wait for more. The symbolism in that show is fantastic.

And this is why I love my DVR.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

I agree, what I saw on House said nothing new about the mentally ill and had some way lazy writing in there. At least they did acknowledge that the music box thing wasn't a quick cure and she'd need more treatment, but still.

I do love my gates, so I'm hoping SGU will be good. They've certainly done an excellent job casting.

Aw, I'm sad to hear Defying Gravity has already been canceled. I really liked the premise.

I didn't think I'd like Being Human, considering the premise, but oh, was I surprised.

[mir280.livejournal.com]

Technically Defying Gravity hasn't been canceled. They just aren't sure where to put it in their line up yet....Still, the likelyhood of it being canceled is very great, even though it had some real promise. Maybe they'll at least show the rest of the eps on Hulu??

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

You point out the racial stats more than anyone I know. SERIOUSLY. I end up doing the same thing because of it. Thanks. :P

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

I'm more aware of it after so much discussion in fannish LJ comms.

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

Oh good point. I remember I left SGA partially b/c of that whole blow-up. XD Fans r srs.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Well, there's wank, but then there's also positive discussion that makes one more thoughtful about things, and that's good.

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

It wasn't positive for me. :)

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. It's not always a happy thing to try and be more aware of how media succeeds and fails at gender and race portrayals, but it's a way I can grow personally.

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

It's not that so much (I am aware, I do have eyes people!) as how the discussions always seem to degrade into biting comments over differing opinions. I like TV for escape, not seeing people calling each other names because they feel male caucasians are over-represented in TV while women and other races are left behind in the dust. I realize it. I don't want to be reminded of it then called "apathetic" or a "traitor to my own gender" (oh lord, I was called that and worse) simply because I didn't care. It got to the point where I couldn't watch certain TV shows because all I could think of while watching it was all that crap. Then I'd end up wincing at certain bits because it'd be like "oh great, I know what they're gonna say about this" and it just took all enjoyment out of it. I figure media isn't perfect. I know it's not perfect. I can't speed up the process and as long as the actors on TV do have talent to pull it off I don't care what race/gender they are.

O____O OKAY, that was not directed at you in any way! It was something on my chest for like ages. You and I always have great conversations about it, and we usually agree. Or you make really great points and I end up agreeing and cursing you for being smooth/right. ;D

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

S'okay, I'm not gonna lecture you or anything. I like that we can have conversations and disagree sometimes and it's all okay :)

I think I'm just to the point where I can't ignore problems in TV as much and still enjoy shows. I'm less willing to ignore it, anyway, and quicker to drop shows than I used to be. But I tend to stay out of the online arguments, preferring to listen and learn usually.

Your icon, btw, is adorable. I ♥ it lots.

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

I can understand that. It is a problem. And I find my dander getting up over things like that in movies more than TV. Which is stupid. I'm not sure why I consider the two mediums to be so different. XD Ugh, Iron Man still annoys me so hard.

I <3 that icon SO HARD. It never fails to make me smile and remember why I love that show so much.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

I do miss my show. They're playing a marathon today and I've watched a bunch of eps. Prometheus Unbound is on right now. *g*

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

Oh my goooosh, I love the episode so hard. *smishes Vala*

[antjgiab3.livejournal.com]

I'm not picking up any new shows to watch this year, so as tempting as it is I didn't watch NCIS:LA. I do have a silly question though. I thought Chris O'Donnell "died" on an episode of regular NCIS. How'd they bring him back? Just wondering.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

They shot him to hell and back but evidently none of those many bullet wounds were fatal. They showed off the scars in the pilot, so I guess they skipped forward a good bit of time between the preview eps and this premiere.

[deborak]

Warehouse 13 is a lot of fun character-wise, although several of the "subplot-of-the-weeks" are so simple a caveman can figure them out in the first 5 minutes of the show. But all the backstories are a lot of fun. I've given Glee a try, and I really do like the cheerleading coach (I enjoy her role on Two and a Half Men as Charlie's psychiatrist) and the principal. I fast forward through everything else because singing and dancing just isn't my thing -- unless they start covering and choreographing thrash metal or something. Don't forget there will be new Venture Brothers in a couple of weeks!

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, I have some catching up to do on VB as well. I need to get busy here.

[mirrorskippy.livejournal.com]

Re House: WHAT. I-WHAT.

I just looked like a crazy person on the subway because I went WHAT? out-loud at my phone, but really I don't even know what to do with this information. I'm boggled. BOGGLED.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

I know! Didn't expect that, but damn, they know how to get me to watch again.

[mir280.livejournal.com]

Really, you don't want them to go there on NCIS? I would LOVE for them to go there....sort of. That's one of the things about this season opener that I really liked (all the unspoken connective sparks) and then of course there were the previews for NEXT ep which has me making sure I'm off work to watch. Do you know how long it's been for me to make sure I'm off work to watch a show?!

In other fannish news - Castle is back on YAY!!! and I watched Grey's premire even though I don't really watch that show and I totally knew what was going to happen and I still cried -weirdness. And everything else has been kinda "Oh, yeah" *shrug* Feeling a bit disconnected I guess.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

No, not really. I love Tony and Ziva and the tension between them sometimes, but I don't really want to see it consummated, as it were. I like how everyone on the show flirts with pretty much everyone, so I'd rather it all stay unspoken.

[lauraspeak.livejournal.com]

I sort of apprehensive on the new Stargate, as well. For some reason, I kind stopped watching Stargate toward the end. Actually, that happens to me a lot, I think I must have TV-ADHD. But, yes, it still holds a place in my heart.

I liked the premiere of NCIS: The Original a lot. I didn't really warm up to NCIS: LA. NCIS: LA did get more interesting in the end, so I guess I can attribute it to necessary show intro stuff needing to be done. But some of the backstory with Callen seemed almost a bit forced, like, 'Look, he's mysterious and sad!' I'm sure it'll prove interesting in the long run, but it was a bit awkward to me. I was also wondering what happened to Macy, and had the same thoughts about Linda Hunt's character. From what I briefly read, Macy not being there had something to do with the actress.