TV Diary
a) "Sit Down, Shut Up"
I shouldn't have even tried to watch this since I'm not much of an "Arrested Development" fan, but man, what a crappy show and a waste of a pretty good voice cast. The whole animated characters in front of photographed background aesthetic is still kinda novel, I think, but they just did it in the ugliest possible way. I guess it's nice that FOX has been the only broadcast network continually investing in prime time animation, but I wish they'd come up with something better than this and McFarlane's sloppy thirds.
b) "Parks and Recreation"
Kinda the same deal here in that I'm not into "The Office" enough that I'm not necessarily primed for something from the same people, but gave it a shot anyway. Amy Poehler can be really funny with the right material, but man, making her the main character in a show so dry that it chafes is really not a good look.
c) "The Phone"
It's funny to me that MTV will seemingly put any ridiculous game show/reality show on the air at this point, as long as they can find some young pretty people to take part. The latest one that's actually kind of entertaining is letting people play some kind of action movie intrigue fantasy game, where they're given clues to solve what they get to pretend is some kind of real life corporate conspiracy, and they even shoot it like some kind of low budget Enemy Of The State shit. Ultimately they can't really make it actually suspenseful, though, so it's usually kinda boring.
d) "Party Down"
I feel like I'm the only person in the world actually watching this show, since it's on the frigging Starz channel, but it's been really consistently good and I hope it at least picks up a following once it hits DVD. I wasn't that crazy at first about two of the characters becoming romantically involved and the show threatening to have some kind of story arc, but it's paid off in ways that allow for great comedic scenes, and has helped make it feel less like a series of ridiculous events. The sweet sixteen and porn awards after-party episodes were especially good.
e) "Reaper"
I guess it's not clear if this show's going to survive to see another season yet, but it's been really good this year. It's still kind of essentially clumsily plotted and often requires suspension of disbelief or for characters to suddenly act really dumb, but there have been enough decent twists and entertaining episodes that I don't mind as much. I used to dismiss Tyler Labine as a Jack Black wannabe with a fauxhawk, and he still is, but he's also pretty talented and keeps the show moving along. And I hope Jenny Wade basically never stops showing up in every episode.
f) "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson"
I keep meaning to watch this more, especially now that his competition on NBC is someone I actively root against. As much as I like Ferguson and he's better at this than most people even know, it really is kind of a wacky over the top show for late night, it feels very much like it should be on the BBC or something. But it took seeing a recent show where Eddie Izzard was the guest to see that Ferguson has the same basic appeal as him, just a rambling guy with an accent who can make these really well planned riffs seem completely improvised and off the cuff so that when they come together and make sense it's a pleasant surprise.
g) "Lost"
I am finally finally finally all caught up with the latest episodes of this online, just in time to watch the last 2 episodes of the season on my actual TV in my living room, which I am kind of excited about in and of itself. This season has been such a weird whirlwind, some of the dramatic choices have been a little cheesy, but mostly I like where the plot and the revelations have been going. The Locke/Ben episode was especially interesting.
h) "Scrubs"
It's so weird what's happened to this show the last couple years, with them gearing up for a finale, then not getting to shoot it because of the writer's strike, then switching networks and maybe even continuing after this season without some cast members. Even some of the recent episodes haven't had some of the main actors, which results in weird storylines focusing on Elliott and Turk, although really if this show comes back Braff-less that could be an improvement, even if the show is still well past its peak.
I shouldn't have even tried to watch this since I'm not much of an "Arrested Development" fan, but man, what a crappy show and a waste of a pretty good voice cast. The whole animated characters in front of photographed background aesthetic is still kinda novel, I think, but they just did it in the ugliest possible way. I guess it's nice that FOX has been the only broadcast network continually investing in prime time animation, but I wish they'd come up with something better than this and McFarlane's sloppy thirds.
b) "Parks and Recreation"
Kinda the same deal here in that I'm not into "The Office" enough that I'm not necessarily primed for something from the same people, but gave it a shot anyway. Amy Poehler can be really funny with the right material, but man, making her the main character in a show so dry that it chafes is really not a good look.
c) "The Phone"
It's funny to me that MTV will seemingly put any ridiculous game show/reality show on the air at this point, as long as they can find some young pretty people to take part. The latest one that's actually kind of entertaining is letting people play some kind of action movie intrigue fantasy game, where they're given clues to solve what they get to pretend is some kind of real life corporate conspiracy, and they even shoot it like some kind of low budget Enemy Of The State shit. Ultimately they can't really make it actually suspenseful, though, so it's usually kinda boring.
d) "Party Down"
I feel like I'm the only person in the world actually watching this show, since it's on the frigging Starz channel, but it's been really consistently good and I hope it at least picks up a following once it hits DVD. I wasn't that crazy at first about two of the characters becoming romantically involved and the show threatening to have some kind of story arc, but it's paid off in ways that allow for great comedic scenes, and has helped make it feel less like a series of ridiculous events. The sweet sixteen and porn awards after-party episodes were especially good.
e) "Reaper"
I guess it's not clear if this show's going to survive to see another season yet, but it's been really good this year. It's still kind of essentially clumsily plotted and often requires suspension of disbelief or for characters to suddenly act really dumb, but there have been enough decent twists and entertaining episodes that I don't mind as much. I used to dismiss Tyler Labine as a Jack Black wannabe with a fauxhawk, and he still is, but he's also pretty talented and keeps the show moving along. And I hope Jenny Wade basically never stops showing up in every episode.
f) "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson"
I keep meaning to watch this more, especially now that his competition on NBC is someone I actively root against. As much as I like Ferguson and he's better at this than most people even know, it really is kind of a wacky over the top show for late night, it feels very much like it should be on the BBC or something. But it took seeing a recent show where Eddie Izzard was the guest to see that Ferguson has the same basic appeal as him, just a rambling guy with an accent who can make these really well planned riffs seem completely improvised and off the cuff so that when they come together and make sense it's a pleasant surprise.
g) "Lost"
I am finally finally finally all caught up with the latest episodes of this online, just in time to watch the last 2 episodes of the season on my actual TV in my living room, which I am kind of excited about in and of itself. This season has been such a weird whirlwind, some of the dramatic choices have been a little cheesy, but mostly I like where the plot and the revelations have been going. The Locke/Ben episode was especially interesting.
h) "Scrubs"
It's so weird what's happened to this show the last couple years, with them gearing up for a finale, then not getting to shoot it because of the writer's strike, then switching networks and maybe even continuing after this season without some cast members. Even some of the recent episodes haven't had some of the main actors, which results in weird storylines focusing on Elliott and Turk, although really if this show comes back Braff-less that could be an improvement, even if the show is still well past its peak.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, May 06, 2009 at 9:44 AM.
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If you can find episodes online (I don't know if you can, as I haven't tried to watch TV that way just yet) watch the episode w/ Tom Sizemore, which is the best one thus far.
Cartoons - animated or live action - lose their appeal quickly for me, I guess.