TV Diary
a) "Dollhouse"
Man, this is the pits. I'm not a big Joss Whedon fan but I know he's at least good enough at writing banter and likeable characters that I was surprised by how terribly dull this is. I don't think I even like Eliza Dushku enough to want to watch more than one episode of it, kind of has the same problem as that cancelled Christian Slater show where the whole multiple identity/erased memory premise requires a lot more versatility of the lead actor than they actually have.
b) "Important Things with Demetri Martin"
This really is one of those guys who's only good in small doses, on a short "Daily Show" segment or channel surfing in and out of a stand-up special. Asking him to come up with a show that holds together at all, even in the kind of sketch/stand-up hybrid "Chappelle's Show" formula, is just kinda too much for him, and even with a 'theme' for each episode he never sticks to it and the segues range from painful to awkwardly nonexistent. And the pace is just off enough that I spend less time laughing than staring at his horrible bowl cut.
c) "Lie To Me"
I like the premise of this show, with all these experts in facial expressions and 'tells' that use their abilities to solve crimes and stuff, and apparently it's all based on real science and they use real photos/footage to illustrate their points sometimes so it's a little less nonsensical than most TV procedural pseudoscience. But the way they implement the ideas, like finding a would-be assassin by basically telling people "keep your eyes out for someone making this face" ends up coming off kind of ridiculous. I also wish Tim Roth was more interesting as a central character, instead of just being the token older movie star they need to head up a TV ensemble cast.
d) "Man v. Food"
Is it bad that I actually find myself envying this guy who gets to go around and try different "eat this giant burger/omelette/etc." challenges at various greasy spoons around the country? Yeah, I guess it is.
e) "Lost Tapes"
It was really weird to find this monster/urban myth-themed mockumentary show on Animal Planet, even though all the beasts are I guess technically animals. I love these kinds of things (especially the 'mothman' stuff, oh my god so creepy), but really doing poorly acted fake footage and fudging all the real life details kind of makes it less interesting instead of more dramatic or watchable or whatever they're going for. Really a disappointment to what degree trash TV can ever be a disappointmet.
f) "The New Adventures Of Old Christine"
I really liked this show in the first season or so, but as it's been moved around the schedule I haven't seen it as much in a while, and lately checking in on recent episodes I'm not enjoying it as much, and I don't know if it's changed or if I've fallen out of the groove. Definitely seems to be less Clark Gregg, which is a shame, but also less of the annoying son, but they've been getting into increasingly cheeseball sitcom situations like Christine getting her foot stuck in the toilet. That "Seinfeld" gag last week was pretty terrible, too.
g) "Lost"
Now that I'm all caught up on the first 4 seasons in my whirlwind month of DVD bingeing, I'm still a little behind on the new episodes, but the first couple that I've watched so far have me really excited for where the show's going. The premiere had one of the most kickass Sayid scenes ever, and I have no idea if they can keep the time jumping thing going without it becoming completely confusing, but righ tnow I like it. 'Neil' was one of the lamest, most obvious redshirts they've ever inserted into the show, but the way they disposed of him was pretty awesome.
h) "American Idol"
As shitty as the last season was, I didn't think I was totally over this show, and was encouraged by some of the new changes they've implemented (especially having a 4th judge who hasn't been saying the same predictable shit for 7 years straight), but I really just have barely felt motivated to watch this show much so far, even now that the freakshow auditions I generally avoid are over. Watching it this week there were a few bright spots, though. That chick Tatiana or whatever needs to go, though, that kind of fake-crazy is so much more annoying than real TV-crazy and the only way to deal with an attention whore like that is to, y'know, not put her on TV.
Man, this is the pits. I'm not a big Joss Whedon fan but I know he's at least good enough at writing banter and likeable characters that I was surprised by how terribly dull this is. I don't think I even like Eliza Dushku enough to want to watch more than one episode of it, kind of has the same problem as that cancelled Christian Slater show where the whole multiple identity/erased memory premise requires a lot more versatility of the lead actor than they actually have.
b) "Important Things with Demetri Martin"
This really is one of those guys who's only good in small doses, on a short "Daily Show" segment or channel surfing in and out of a stand-up special. Asking him to come up with a show that holds together at all, even in the kind of sketch/stand-up hybrid "Chappelle's Show" formula, is just kinda too much for him, and even with a 'theme' for each episode he never sticks to it and the segues range from painful to awkwardly nonexistent. And the pace is just off enough that I spend less time laughing than staring at his horrible bowl cut.
c) "Lie To Me"
I like the premise of this show, with all these experts in facial expressions and 'tells' that use their abilities to solve crimes and stuff, and apparently it's all based on real science and they use real photos/footage to illustrate their points sometimes so it's a little less nonsensical than most TV procedural pseudoscience. But the way they implement the ideas, like finding a would-be assassin by basically telling people "keep your eyes out for someone making this face" ends up coming off kind of ridiculous. I also wish Tim Roth was more interesting as a central character, instead of just being the token older movie star they need to head up a TV ensemble cast.
d) "Man v. Food"
Is it bad that I actually find myself envying this guy who gets to go around and try different "eat this giant burger/omelette/etc." challenges at various greasy spoons around the country? Yeah, I guess it is.
e) "Lost Tapes"
It was really weird to find this monster/urban myth-themed mockumentary show on Animal Planet, even though all the beasts are I guess technically animals. I love these kinds of things (especially the 'mothman' stuff, oh my god so creepy), but really doing poorly acted fake footage and fudging all the real life details kind of makes it less interesting instead of more dramatic or watchable or whatever they're going for. Really a disappointment to what degree trash TV can ever be a disappointmet.
f) "The New Adventures Of Old Christine"
I really liked this show in the first season or so, but as it's been moved around the schedule I haven't seen it as much in a while, and lately checking in on recent episodes I'm not enjoying it as much, and I don't know if it's changed or if I've fallen out of the groove. Definitely seems to be less Clark Gregg, which is a shame, but also less of the annoying son, but they've been getting into increasingly cheeseball sitcom situations like Christine getting her foot stuck in the toilet. That "Seinfeld" gag last week was pretty terrible, too.
g) "Lost"
Now that I'm all caught up on the first 4 seasons in my whirlwind month of DVD bingeing, I'm still a little behind on the new episodes, but the first couple that I've watched so far have me really excited for where the show's going. The premiere had one of the most kickass Sayid scenes ever, and I have no idea if they can keep the time jumping thing going without it becoming completely confusing, but righ tnow I like it. 'Neil' was one of the lamest, most obvious redshirts they've ever inserted into the show, but the way they disposed of him was pretty awesome.
h) "American Idol"
As shitty as the last season was, I didn't think I was totally over this show, and was encouraged by some of the new changes they've implemented (especially having a 4th judge who hasn't been saying the same predictable shit for 7 years straight), but I really just have barely felt motivated to watch this show much so far, even now that the freakshow auditions I generally avoid are over. Watching it this week there were a few bright spots, though. That chick Tatiana or whatever needs to go, though, that kind of fake-crazy is so much more annoying than real TV-crazy and the only way to deal with an attention whore like that is to, y'know, not put her on TV.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 11:30 PM.
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http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/missingpieces/index
what you saw was his first proper appearance in an episode, and he got hit with a flaming arrow.
LOST!!!
i only really watch American Idol at this point because i'm (barely) paid to write about it.