Day: October 17, 2008

A.O. Scott on Max Payne:

It is content to be an efficient vehicle for the delivery of a familiar range of sensations, some of which almost rise to the level of feelings.

Here are some thoughts on some of the things I’ve been watching lately. This isn’t everything — which makes it sound like I watch an awful lot more television than I actually do — but it’s most of it. Most of what I’m watching is pieced together from DVD and online, with occasional DVR’ed episodes. Minor, to occasionally major, spoilers may follow.

I think I’m giving up on Heroes. I just don’t see the point in continuing to watch a show that, even in its best moments, can’t aspire to more than mediocrity and repeating the same mistakes. It’s been suggested that Heroes has actually always been a lousy show, full of lazy writing, repetitive stories and inconsistent characters, and that it’s only now, when the writers have run through their limited bag of tricks, that more people are starting to notice this fact. Maybe that’s true. For the record, I thought the first season was a lot of fun and that the second, despite its many significant flaws, managed to hold on to most of that. But I’ve actively disliked most of this season, in which the flaws have outweighed everything else. I’m starting to find even Hiro and Ando tedious, and they’re ostensibly the comic relief. I haven’t actively enjoyed any of the episodes, and what’s the point in watching if I’m not enjoying it?

I gave up on Prison Break after the first season, after the Byzantine plot and fevered pace gave out and they escaped the prison. I have a friend who still watches the show but thinks, now that they’re no longer in prison, maybe they should change the title. But I caught an episode about a month ago, and I think the show’s now-inaccurate title is the least of its problems. When I wasn’t watching, it turned into a bad science fiction/conspiracy mash full of uninteresting characters. I’m not sorry I stopped watching when I did.

I expect that by the time I’m caught up with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, the show will have been canceled. Which is sort of a shame, because it’s not that bad. It does tend to spin its wheels an awful lot, which can be annoying, but on the plus side it’s like looking into a mirror universe in which Terminator 3 never happened¹. I wouldn’t be heartbroken if the show was canceled — which right now seems rather likely — but I’ve enjoyed it so far.

Mad Men is an easy show to admire and appreciate but a difficult show to love. I’m making my way through the first season, and the acting, writing and look of the show are impeccable. But I’m not sure how much fun it is. I’m not sure I want or need to re-watch any of it, really.

I feel the same way I did last year about Chuck — namely that it’s a solid hour of entertainment but nothing exceptional.

Pushing Daisies, on the other hand, is often exceptional. Yet is it exceptionally exceptional? God, that way lies madness. It’s a really good show, genuinely silly and endearing, and of all the “new” shows, it’s the one I really do hope succeeds.

Gerson described The Mentalist as “a lot of Psych with a bit of House and plenty of generic cop show.” But y’know, I like those things. (Well, generic cop show, maybe not as much.) These are early days, maybe — just two episodes in — but so far I’m liking the show. It may be formulaic, but some formulas work for a reason.

While it’s true that its supporting cast increasingly “seem to be characters in some second-rate detective show,” Dexter as a whole continues to entertain and go in unexpected directions. I’m still hooked.

And man, speaking of supporting casts, could House add on any more? There’s not a one among them I don’t like, but too many of them don’t even get to appear anymore.

Speaking of supporting casts that I don’t like, however… is it wrong that I was glad when Doctor Who‘s Adric died? I’m just now very slowly making my way through the Fifth Doctor’s episodes. I feel bad for Matthew Waterhouse, who played the character, and a little silly for piling on, all these decades later, but I found the character really genuinely annoying. I don’t think it’s wrong that he’s been called “the Wesley Crusher of the TARDIS.” In all, though, I am enjoying the episodes — even though the pacing, sometimes stagy dialogue, and obvious cheapness can be a distraction. In their commentary for the more recent “Forest of the Dead,” David Tennant, Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat spend a lot of time intelligently discussing this distraction and how a love for Doctor Who really has to arise in spite of it. There’s an awful lot to like about the show, but it can be an appreciation pretty hard-won sometimes. Even by the standards of the day, old-school Doctor Who looks very cheaply made and staged.

I’m enjoying Stargate Atlantis. They had a couple of really terrific episodes, and even the frankly lame transition between Amanda Tapping and Robert Picardo in the cast² didn’t jar too much.

Saturday Night Live hasn’t always been funny this season — and I worry for them once they’ve lost Amy Poehler and Tina Fey again³ — but I’ve always been willing to cut them more slack than the competition just because they are live. And when the competition amounts, basically, to just Mad TV⁴…

I’m finally caught up on season 3 of How I Met Your Mother. I think this may be the only sitcom I’ve watched in years. I’m a big fan.

I’m finally caught up altogether on The Wire. I think they probably could have used the extra couple of episodes they had in the preceding four seasons, but other than that… This was arguably — and it would be a tough argument to beat — the best television show ever made.

I’m only one episode into the final season of The Shield. It’s not as good as The Wire — what is? — but it’s always been intense.

And then there are the shows I’ve given a pass on altogether, like Eleventh Hour and Life on Mars. I saw the original versions of each and didn’t see any reason to watch their lesser copies. (Hour I didn’t think was so remarkable the first time anyway.) I’m very much looking forward to a few mid-season shows, like Dollhouse, Lost, Harper’s Island, Kings, and maybe Reaper and Battlestar Galactica. (The latter I find pretty intense when I’m watching, but a little flawed and forgettable on retrospect.) I’m looking forward to the returns of both Burn Notice and Top Chef, and there is a handful of other shows (mostly older or overseas) I’ve been meaning to check out.

So how about you? Seen any good (or bad) TV lately?

¹ This is a little unfair. I sort of liked Terminator 3. I thought Nick Stahl and Claire Danes were pretty good, and it had the courage to end on a down note. But it felt more like an Outer Limits episode than a legitimate follow-up to T2.

²Changing cast members has always been one of the show’s biggest weak points. I know this time it was partly Tapping’s idea to leave — for Sanctuary, of which I’ve seen only an unimpressive little — but it comes after they completely underutilized her last year, and after writing off both Torri Higginson and Paul McGillion…

³ Unless, gods help us, Sarah Palin winds up Vice President.

⁴ Well okay, The Daily Show, too, if you’re talking “Weekend Update” — and there, SNL is definitely the weaker of the two.