Posts
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Must Sigh TV
I have to say I have been pretty disappointed with the new shows this year. There weren't very many I was even interested in to begin with, but now that I've seen all of those at least once, I have to say I probably won't be sticking with many (if any)of them. Eleventh Hour looked like a neat show, right up my alley, what with a socially awkward genius solving crimes, but I have to say I think it stinks. The main character is not quirky enough to merit the special treatment he gets, nor does he even appear to be all that miraculously smart. I have only seen one episode, but it was so predictable, dull, and lacking in cool new scientific revelations, that I doubt I'll make a point of tuning in again. Plus, the bad guy got away, which I don't object to in general, but for that to really fly the enemy has to be really interesting and introduced as a true nemesis - when that doesn't happen (like it didn't on Eleventh Hour) the good guys just look stupid. Not a great basis for fan following. The other new show I just gave a shot to is The Mentalist. Despite (or maybe because of) its resemblance to Psych I thought I might enjoy it, so I gave ti a whirl last week. So far I'm on the fence. I like the sort of easy going joie de vivre of the main character, but it isn't played up enough. Is he just a trickster like Shawn on Psych, or is he supposed to be more off kilter and unusual like the Charlie on Life? Also, I can't decide if I like that he just knows things by looking at people but the show never explains what clues he's seeing, or if I would prefer to be given the clues myself so I can bette runderstand how he catches the criminals. Because of this I feel it plays kind of uneven, but I think it bears watching at least one more time. In general, I guess I'm glad that there aren't more shows I feel the need to really get into, but it is still annoying when something that looked cool turns out to be lame. My only hope for redemption is Dollhouse, the midseason offering from another of my favorites - Joss Whedon. Neither he nor JJ Abrams has let me down yet.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Malcolm Gladwell author of "Tipping Point" wrote another book whose title I cannot think of containing a chapter on recognizing tiny changes in facial expression that can be read by someone who has been properly trained.(A very interesting book by the way) I believe the Mentalist is someone who has developed those kinds of skills. I have seen a couple of the shows now and give it a B. B is a very high scoe these days, A is mythical.
I agree that is what he is doing - as well as analyzing the answers and reactions from people when he asks those random questions - I just wish it were explained a little more. Like when he was getting the one woman to tell him where she hid the keys - obviously he was holding on to her pulse and studying her pupils for very small physiological reactions (ala human lie detector test), but I still wished it would have been explained a little. Or what he was trying to accomplish by asking all the kids in that episode what animal they would be. What did that help him find out? It was convenient that the killers all picked predators and described the victim as a rabbit, but in general, what was the goal of that question? A little more explanation makes it more fun for the audience (at least for me), because then I feel like I could learn to o it to. Like on Burn Notice - I doubt I'm ever going to even want to make any of teh cool spy things they cobble together on that show out of cell phones and stuff, but its kind of cool to think I could learn.
Post a Comment