A Man. And His Blog.

Day 18: “Favorite mini series”

 
Well, this day of my TV meme is another little problem: I rarely watch mini series. And when I watch them, I’m either completely not interested in the events, or they are bad. I can say for myself that I liked BAND OF BROTHERS, but for me it was not as good as for everyone else. I can understand, why the mini series lands on almost every “Best Of” hit list of mini series on the first position, and I can understand why everyone loves it. It is not a bad show for me, I quite liked watching it. But it was just nit awesome for me.

Same goes with GENERATION KILL. A fine mini series, some interesting topics, great actors. I always wanted to rewatch it, but I never managed to do it. Why? Because full-length TV shows seem to be more important for me.

Or what about the “shorter” mini series, which have only two or three parts? Most notably, there would be the series opener of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (of course I mean the 2003 version), but even though it is officially a mini series, which ended up being a pilot for the show, I don’t consider it a mini series, instead a full-blown pilot for the show. Or what about the original V? Sure, the first mini series was pretty entertaining for its old age, and I still haven’t watched parts two and three from the second mini series, but at the end I just don’t get into the shorter version of a series. It is just an extra-long movie for me. LORD OF THE RINGS could have been made as a mini series, it would have been the same.

Going back into the dark past of television, I probably haven’t watched a single mini series (except V). In today’s time I tried to get into two-parters, but the few I’ve watched before starting to review for this blog, were just completely lame. And the few I’ve watched after it were lame as well. I just remember Syfy’s take on ALICE, which hasn’t grabbed me at all.

I don’t hate mini series, I just think they don’t give me enough. They are somewhat between a short TV season without much of character development, and I could be sure that a mini series isn’t relying much on strong development in the story. If you have a mini series, it was made to focus on just the topic, which the mini series is dealing about (World War II, war in Iraq, resistance against aliens, and whatnot) – there is practically no time for telling more stories. And I need a deeper take on anything I’m watching.

Day 17: “Your guilty pleasure show”

Another day, which is basically a no-brainer. But this time I could actually write a dissertation about this one – I just won’t do it, because I’m writing already something about it for a different site, and I’m not in the mood to repeat myself.

So, why JERSEY SHORE? And especially: Why did I even start watching it late last year? First of all: I actually wanted to know what is behind the success of the reality. Second: I wanted to know if the series is actually as bad as everybody wants to tell me. Third: I was looking for another reality show, which I could watch on a regular basis. I don’t watch many reality shows, and the only ones I do (AMERICAN IDOL, SURVIVOR, THE AMAZING RACE) are always cancelled from my TV schedule, because I don’t find time to continue watching these shows (and it happened again with AMERICAN IDOL last month… darn it!).

Then I found some surprises. First of all: JERSEY SHORE is a hell of a likeable show. Second: All the raging reviews about it, saying that the characters on the show are stupid white-trash twens, who deserve nothing and should be drowned in a pool of shit? Basically untrue, at least half of it. Third: I never would have believed that JERSEY SHORE is more a comedy show than a reality series. As if the casting agencies didn’t cast the only stupid Italian Americans, but actually those who have a sense of humor – alternatively a history with some jealousy, which could turn to violence (I haven’t seen most of season three yet, but I know what’s coming). I remember myself saying in an online community that I’d rather be shot by a world-invading alien instead of watching this show, and now look at me: I’m basically an addict of the chaos within the group, how they like and hate each other, how they’re supposed to be a family, but still fighting the crap out of each other, and how sometimes hilariously stupid the folks can be – either totally on purpose, because the camera is running, or unintentionally, because they just want to have fun and make stupid things (I just say “The Situation and the tranny”).

I’m even so far to say that JERSEY SHORE is an underestimated show among the people who hate the show. I believe that 95 percent of the haters bash on JERSEY SHORE, because it’s an über-success and it could be very well the end of scripted television (something I’m not declining at all). But I also believe that these 95 percent of bashing people have never seen a full episode, instead relying on all the internet bloggers, who say that they hate the show (and here I question if they have ever seen an episode), as well as the bashing people, who don’t know anything. As if THE VAMPIRE DIARIES basher trashing the series as a TWILIGHT ripoff, saying that it’s a teenie show for girls, only so that they can slobber over the Robert-Pattinson-types on the show – without actually knowing that THE VAMPIRE DIARIES is one of the best-written mystery shows on television right now.

I don’t want to sugarcoat JERSEY SHORE – everybody can hate the show as they love -, but the series shows perfectly that even bashing hate on the internet can be totally overhyped. If some people would look behind all those raving critics and see the show as the super-fun comedy about eight (sometimes seven) people, who are actually more intelligent (sic!) than they seem, then JERSEY SHORE is just a normal television show. For me it’s the guilty pleasure, because I looked behind all those critics. And I love the series for that.

I only watched the first episode of the third season so far, but I will catch up to it after MTV finished the season. I think that JERSEY SHORE works much better, when you watch it in a marathon…

Day 16: “Favorite female character”

Another not so clear and bright day in my TV meme. On day 13 I already couldn’t deliver a picture, because I couldn’t give an answer. This time, the day could be filled with pictures and names of female characters, because I almost always love them all. Whether it’s Sydney Bristow and her quest of fighting her private and he spy life, whether it’s Veronica Mars going through high school and solving small crimes on the side; whether it’s Sharon Valerii who doesn’t know if she’s a Cylon and rather wants to kill herself; whether it’s Kerry Weaver who developed from an enemy to all her colleagues to the closest friend everybody got after a couple of years; whether it’s Dani Reese who is always trying to get along her partner Charlie Crews and wants (not) to date her boss; whether it’s Buffy Summers who kinda successfully tries to balance her family and friends life with her destiny of freeing the world of demons and monsters.

Yeah, I can’t give you a specific answer again. I don’t know why, but I always had and still have a soft spot for female characters – and not just in TV. In movies, I loved the female characters more than I did the male characters. In music I love female singer/songwriters and bands with female front singers more than I do with male singers and bands (which is why I’ve never gotten into the hyped British rock bands), and when I read a book I realize that I always read books from female writers. But I just don’t know why – can it be that they are more sophisticated, when it comes to that stuff? Or is it just because I’m a guy and have too much and too fast a crush on the women I’m dealing with in the media? maybe a psychologist can explain it to me another day, because I really want to have an answer for that.

Other than that, of course female characters do rock in television. They mostly get the important character developments, they always get the better storylines, and I can get their feelings of something all the time (maybe I should have been a girl in this life, but God changed plans?). Short: I like female characters, so I can’t give you an answer, which one could be my absolute favorite.

Maybe Tara Maclay from BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. She could be hand in hand with Matt Saracen – both are similar characters, who are in the same state of mind; both have the same interest: getting through life without getting hurt. But I can’t say that she is my favorite character, when I love the awesome quirkiness Veronica Mars shows all the time even more than Tara…

Day 15: “Favorite male character”

There’s not a TV meme without mentioning FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS at least once. And if you have missed this show mentioned by me, the day has finally arrived.

The reasons why Matt Saracen, with perfection portrayed by Zach Gilford, is my favorite male characters are simple. First off, I almost have female characters as favorites only (so get your hats on for tomorrow’s TV meme, it is getting windy), so there aren’t many male characters considered to be my favorite. Second, and most importantly: Matt is the character as closest to my character as any TV character on the top of my head. Yes, Matt is a lonely guy, who just wants to go to high school, and who wants to play football. Yes, Matt is a lonely guy, who barely had a chance of getting a girlfriend, because of his awkwardly nerdness. Yes, Matt is a lonely guy, because he has the bigger family background as a story, with his mother leaving, his father in the war zone, and his grandmother needing care. How can you have time for a normal life, when you have to watch after your grandma, and how can you have a normal life, when your best and only friend (Landry) is mostly talking about his new trash-metal band? This is why I always liked his development during FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS finally he has a crush on a girl, finally he is in a relationship, finally he is getting recognition from the whole town. And all of this because the star quarterback broke his back.

I don’t know if the character would have worked  the same with a different actor, but what Matt Saracen makes so interesting to watch is actually Zach Gilford. Prior to FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS a no-name, he practically grew with the series. He suddenly became the to-be-watched actor from today’s generation, who is in the need of more complex characters to show that he is a great actor and an Emmy contender. I just hope that OFF THE MAP doesn’t hurt his career, and that he will have another chance in the next few years to show the world that. And I hope there will be a similar character like Matt Saracen in the near TV future out there – It never hurts to see the development of a character over the years, which almost resembles your own.

Day 14: “Favorite childhood show”

Umm… need I say more? Okay, so let’s wait for day 15.

No, of course I want to tell some stuff about the show, as well as about my childhood. Firs off: My life as a little brat in elementary school was full of non-highlights. I barely had friends, never developed any interest in doing something big, and was already hanging in front of the TV. I don’t even know why I was hanging at the TV so often that my parents probably worried about me getting lazy or something (and look where I am now: an unpaid TV critic and a wannabe-TV-writer).

I remember that the family was watching KNIGHT RIDER, when it was airing weekdays around 7:00pm. I don’t know if it was a regular thing, or if I can only remember the days, where we actually watched KNIGHT RIDER, or if really the whole family was sitting in front of the TV, and not just me alone. But there are these memories, which eventually brought me to love KNIGHT RIDER. Though I didn’t watch it every day, I loved the car, I liked David Hasselhoff’s music (and I didn’t know about him “looking for Freedom” on the Berlin Wall), but I never was much of a big fan of KNIGHT RIDER – it was just the only show back then I really wanted to watch.

And as the time faded, the interest of the series did too. Somewhat ten years later or so, German TV was repeating the episodes during the night hours, and I wanted to watch the show again. I did watch the first couple of episodes of the first season, but was bored after that, stopped watching and went to school. And again, years later, NBC was bringing the remake/sequel of KNIGHT RIDER, and I watched it, hoping that it would bring be back to the original again. Unfortunately (but expectedly) the new show was crap and illogical, so that was that.

I still want to watch the original KNIGHT RIDER, just to know if the show really is my favorite childhood show, and if it actually is just one of those TV shows, which are cool, when you’re a kid, but completely bullshitty trash, when you’re mature. Because I actually watched EMERGENCY! as a kid too, and it was almost about to land in this TV meme, instead of KNIGHT RIDER. But I don’t have any interest in watching EMERGENCY! today…

Day 13: “An episode you’ve watched more than 5 times”

Today without an introducing picture, because this is the only day of the TV meme, where I can’t deliver a proper answer. I don’t know how many episodes from my first couple of favorite TV shows I’ve watched more than 5 times, but I can say that I watched shows like ER, ALIAS, SEVEN DAYS and LOST pre-military time more than regularly, since these were the shows, which brought me to my TV addiction, and which brought me to find even more TV shows via the internet. Those shows mentioned were watched and rewatched by me on a regular basis, since they were the only shows in my collection. I have seen every episode aired in German TV, I basically didn’t like the other shows aired on television, or they weren’t my favorites back then. So I went back to my little list of favorites during my last years of school, before I went to the army.

So, what can I write instead?

Thinking about it for five minutes, and I come up with nothing. Except the fact that there won’t be any more episodes coming, which I will watch for more than five times. Or maybe I’m even lying here, since I’m always rewatching the whole BUFFY, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER series, as well as the SPARTACUS franchise – sometime there will be a point, when I’ve watched all episodes of them more than five times. But then I would have to list them all in here, and it would be boring.

Well, there you have it: If you’re a TV junkie like me, actually trying to watch every TV show out there, there’s not much time left for a rewatch. And even though I have my absolute favorite episodes, I regularly don’t watch them every five days, because they are über-stellar. Maybe every two years, because I want to have a Top-TV night, or something like it. And I I should have a day like this one night, the following episodes would be included, in no particular order:

The ALIAS pilot; the “Exodus” three-parter from LOST; “Hush” and “Once More With Feeling” from BUFFY, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER; “Love’s Labor Lost”, “The Storm”, “On the Beach”, “Lockdown”, “Chaos Theory” from ER; and the first four episodes of the third season of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA; as well as the virus/lockdown storyline from the fifth season of 24 (two or three episodes). These are 15/16 episodes, and should take a whole day. I should actually do that one time.

Day 12: “A show that disappointed you”

Okay, maybe I should have expected disappointment directly after ABC announced the new series. But I was actually hoping to see a stellar series about superheroes, which makes the mistakes of NBC’s HEROES completely forgotten, and tries more to be than just a series. But at the end of the pilot, I yawned, was disappointed with how fast the writers were done with the origins storyline, and how boring this show would be. NO ORDINARY FAMILY is almost like 7TH HEAVEN, only with less kids and superpowers – and I definitely was expecting far more from it.

Moreover, NO ORDINARY FAMILY didn’t manage to get me entertained during the first half of its freshman season. The story stayed the same, the characters never changed, the stories were stereotypical, and there was no feeling of the show developing with the episodes. All the time I started to watch a new episode, I was hoping that the show would finally get better, but all the time after 40 minutes, I was just … disappointed, as the day suggests. The last couple of episodes I’ve seen might look like the series is finally getting better, but it doesn’t help that most parts of the show were completely dull and unpromising. And you could have done so much with the plot.

I don’t think that NO ORDINARY FAMILY will exist for a second year, so I don’t really cry after the show, when ABC officially cancels it. I just hope that TV writers will learn something about HEROES’ failure and how NO ORDINARY FAMILY didn’t do anything with its plot. But hey, NO ORDINARY FAMILY was at least better than THE EVENT, but here I knew that this show would be crappy from the start.

Day 11: “A show you liked, but ended up hating”

Another no-brainer day in my TV Meme. And since I have 31 days, contrary to almost all the other blogs, who did only 30 days, I created this extra day, not knowing if other bloggers used it too. But I wanted to give HEROES a special shout-out this month, so here we are…

Together with STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP, I discovered HEROES way late, during March/April 2007. I watched the first two episodes, was instantly in love with most of the characters, the overall arc about superheroes-to-be are trying to save New York, before it blows to hell. During two months, I catched up, and finished the first season almost similar with the US audience. And I was waiting for the second season. Waiting. And waiting.

And then it came, and I was just ‘meh’. The first episode wasn’t really interesting, and I started to get annoyed of the hands full of characters. The season went along and the stories started to annoy me. Then the writer’s strike came, and I was kinda happy that HEROES was done with its second season after eleven episodes. Hallelujah. And I was thinking and believing that the writers would use the chance to work on their show, make the mistakes they did during the second season forgotten, and get HEROES back to its strengths of the first season. Even Tim Kring was telling that the second season was basically shit, having started way too late with the season’s viral Armageddon story, and having failed to build up pace, as well as a better romantic storyline between the characters.

Then the third season premiered, and I said ‘Nada’ – nothing changed. Though the first two episodes were somewhat good, the mistakes returned in a fast fashion, and I started to vomit on the characters’ 180s, the stories’ twists, and the shitty writing. I cancelled HEROES for me after seven episodes into the third season – even though I wanted to finish at least the “Villains” chapter. But I stopped before the eclipse double episode, because I couldn’t stand all this crap anymore.

HEROES showed one mistake in character development after another, one future-themed episode after another, without even acknowledging what has happened before. In addition, the villains didn’t have enough reason to act upon their ‘hate’, and a villain like Sylar makes multiple 180s during half of a season, where I don’t know if he is turning good (like in one of the future-episodes), or if he is the purest evil in the world, like the first season wanted to suggest. When even the writers don’t know how to handle their characters and stories properly, how can I as a viewer take HEROES seriously and watch it with fun and entertainment? During the seven episodes in the third season, I couldn’t, which is why I hated the show during this short time span, criticized it in every way possible. But then even I was tired criticizing the show at the end, cancelled it, never went back to it.

HEROES is a perfect example (besides THE EVENT, of course) of how a show can rapidly fall and fail on so many levels. And I don’t even have interest in rewatching the show for this blog, because I already know I will torture myself through the boring second and the horrifying third season.

Day 10: “A show you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving”

I’m one of those people, who couldn’t stand Alex O’Loughlin for no reason. I watched MOONLIGHT; and the series was pretty solid, thanks to its fast development between the second and third episode (and I remember I was about to cancel the show after the second installment, but then the twist came). I watched THREE RIVERS, and it is one of the worst pilots I have ever seen (even EASTWICK was more interesting). So I didn’t really have much in mind, when CBS announced a remake of HAWAII FIVE-0. Another crime procedural, another TV remake, another show with Alex O’Loughlin in it. I was expecting for it to flop after one year, I was waiting for this show to be the third cancelled show in three years, where O’Loughlin had a starring role in it. And even though the TV season is still running, and there might be a slight chance that CBS is not renewing HAWAII FIVE-0, because of its (for CBS) lackluster ratings on Monday nights, I would say now that I would miss this show, when it’s cancelled.

HAWAII FIVE-0 is surprisingly good. Sure, it’s a crime procedural, but it focuses on the action of the crime. It is not a CSI: Hawaii like everybody wants to tell you, instead it is a fine series about four friends, who are working together, and basically are no friends (at least the series isn’t really showing that part of character development). I like the chemistry between the cast, and I could have never believed that I will like O’Loughlin again. And fortunately, HAWAII FIVE-0 is not relying on his persona for the whole time, instead Scott Caan is outacting his comrades in every episode (no wonder why he was nominated for a Golden Globe, which is already an honor by itself, figuring that he only stars in a crime procedural). And it doesn’t hurt, when Sharon Valeeri herself is starring in this show as well. But people only seem to know her as Grace Park (she should legally change her name).

So, why is the series so surprisingly popular with me? First: The producers know how to play out the fact that Hawaii is one of the characters of the show. I love the establishing shots, I love the beach, I love how some episodes play out in the beautiful jungle, I love that it’s mostly exterior. Second: The stories are simple enough, yet have a lot of pace going on for themselves. I only remind of the tsunami episode, where a lot of shit happened – though predictable, but still entertaining. Almost all the HAWAII FIVE-0 episodes are that way: mostly fast, not complicated, predictable, but still fun. And this is something I haven’t expected from this show. Today, I really like watching an episode during the evening hours, I really like seeing Danno and Steve having a discussion in their car, I really like seeing Kono in an undercover job, kicking ass in her own way, though she is still a rookie by definition of her three comrades.

And I wanted to have the show cancelled fast, because I didn’t like Alex O’Loughlin for no reason. Now it would hurt, when the show is missing in the next TV season. Well, not really. Maybe I have the opportunity to watch the original, when the remake is gone…

Day 9: Best scene ever

Well then, today is the first day of me talking about SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND. I remember that I actually wanted to include a scene of HARPER’S ISLAND today, but I decided not to go with it, since the very best and moving scene of a crappy show isn’t worthy being talked about here, when there is a much beter scene of a much better show, telling the audience that everything has changed.

In the eighth episode “Mark of the Brotherhood”, Crixus was about to be sold to another lanista, since he couldn’t get back to his old strength after the fight against the Shadow of Death three episodes ago. And since Spartacus has ruled the House of Batiatus and celebrates his days as the Champion of Capua, Crixus isn’t much needed anyway. He is still injured, he is not able to rise to his former glories, and Spartacus has learned much to be a proper gladiator, to please the crowd, to not think about freedom anymore. This scene was in the middle of a time, where Spartacus lost all memories of his former life, his wife Sura, who died two episodes ago, and where he has decided that it is not worth to waste time thinking about a life outside these walls, when it is actually better to live as a gladiator and as the Champion of Capua – where you have the opportunities to fuck Roman women, and be the hero for everybody in Capua, and especially Batiatus.

This scene is not only an action scene. It connects all the stories from previous episodes, shadows to upcoming episodes, and is pretty much a highlight of all the situations involving the two characters Spartacus and Crixus. And it mirrored a scene in the second episode, where their roles were reversed. In “Sacramentum Gladiatorum”, it was Crixus, who was the hero of Capua and Batiatus, and Spartacus was the little man, about to be crushed by a stronger opponent during the Gladiator 101 on the sands of the ludus.

This scene showed so much, beginning from Spartacus living up to his hype he created during “Shadow Games”, ending with Batiatus still worrying that he might lose control over Spartacus – control, which he just won over him. And on a small side note, it had the new recruits to see, what Spartacus is all about. No wonder that some of them were discussing his person among each other, seeing hope that Spartacus will show the way, eventually foreshadowing the events in “Kill Them All”. Furthermore, the scene mirrored the relationships between the characters. Crixus’ women Lucretia and Naevia, who are in fear that Spartacus might kill Crixus right here, right now. Spartacus and Doctore, who are on a different level, after Doctore learned about Spartacus’ attempt of escape in the last episode, and where he doesn’t know here, if Spartacus is about to kill Crixus right here, right now. Varro and Spartacus, where former realizes that his best friend finally won the upper hand in the rivalry between Spartacus and Crixus. And finally Spartacus and Crixus, where both realize what their position in the ludus is now. But at the end, it was just a lesson from Spartacus, showing it to the new recruits. Nothing more, nothing less. And you could have thought during the two minutes, that Spartacus is killing Crixus right here, right now.

This scene is just awesome, which is probably why Starz has decided to put it on YouTube for everyone to see over and over. And they fittingly titled this scene “A Lesson from the Champion of Capua”. It was a scene Champion vs. former Champion.