Hello,
Currently Comcast is having their Xfinity Watchathon week, it runs until Easter Sunday. When I first heard about this I was so excited as I thought this would be the chance to finally see the second season of "Homeland". It just felt too good to be true though. I was more than a little disappointed that Season 2 wasn't available on the Watchathon. (How cool would have "Homeland" Season 1 been if Nick Brody had been able to blow up the bomb that he was wearing. The surprise value of that alone would be off the charts. That would have been such a tremendous finale. It kind of feels like they wimped out when his bomb wouldn't detonate. "Homeland's" first season already was amazing, but that finale would have took the show to an all-time best level.)
I actually have a relatively busy work week, so my TV watching time is limited this week.
On Monday, for the Watchathon, I watched 3 episodes of the middle part of the second season of the most recent "Battlestar Galactica". Yes, although I love Science Fiction, I never got into this show when it originally aired. Slowly but surely over the last 4 years I've been working my way through it. I've actually watched all of Season 2, but I've forgot so much that I had to do some refresh my memory. "BSG" is a top rate show, except for I'm amused by how bad it's special effects are.
Last night for the Watchathon I watched the first 3 episodes of the HBO series "Girls". Being honest I'm not a big fan of Hannah Horvath (Lena Dunham.) Is the character name Hannah Horvath supposed to be that ugly? (The name of the character, not referring to Lena Dunham in anyway.) She graduated from college? Really? A college that apparently didn't give her the tools to be self-sufficient or have self-esteem. Where does she get her sense of entitlement from? Why is she so needy? And what the hell is up with her relationship with Adam? I understand that their relationship deepens as Season one goes along, but still why did she allow herself to put up with such degradation? I know what he gets out of the relationship, but what does she get out of the relationship? And no the gross sex isn't it. And why are people so comfortable walking in on each other using the bathroom? Why don't these people have any boundaries? Could you guess that I'm not a big fan of "Girls", but I do love women.
The only character I truly like in "Girls" is Marnie Michaels (the gorgeous Allison Williams). She's self sufficient, actually has a job and takes care of herself. What does she get out of her relationship with Hannah? Thankfully gross sex isn't a part of their relationship. However Marnie is bored with her boyfriend of 4 years. I understand as I get bored every time he comes on the screen. I hope that she ends that relationship soon. Everyone knows that the relationship is over except for her clueless boyfriend.
I don't think I'll be watching any more episodes of this show. Other than Marnie none of the characters in the show are anyone that I would want to hang out with in person. I certainly don't want to hang out with them as TV characters either.
I've noticed in shows like "The Walking Dead", "Girls" and "The Following" the lowest common denominator mentality is being appealed to more. That's one of the main reasons that I probably won't watch any more episodes of "Girls" or "The Following". I object to the salacious showing of people's intimate's life on moral grounds. Maybe intimate isn't the right word, it doesn't seem like any of the sex has any intimacy attached. That's truly the lowest common denominator mentality.
Not only from moral grounds, but also from a creative sense this lowest common denominator TV isn't very enjoyable. It seems like once you rely on too much sex or constant vulgar talk you are truly out of ideas. I realize that sex is very much a part of people's lives. However in TV can't it just be hinted at and then move on to the next part of the story? I wish creative people would set a higher bar for themselves and try to lift people with their artistic work. Yes I do realize that sex sells. I realize I'm a voice in the wilderness, but that's okay.
Speaking of "The Walking Dead", the sex scene with Glenn and Maggie a couple of weeks ago was certainly a barn burner. But as I mentioned above that scene was completely unnecessary. What did that do to advance the story? This third season of "The Walking Dead" already feels like it's been stretched out longer than needed. (If it gets stretched out any more, it's going to border on the lengths that "The Killing" did. Each season of "The Killing" should have been no more than 10 episodes and it would have been a much better show.) I can't believe how long the arc for "The Governor" has been. That storyline wore out it's welcome 3 or 4 episodes ago. Please kill the Governor in the Season 3 finale. A fourth season with the Governor would be torturous. Why didn't Michonne kill him when she had the chance? If we have any more of the Governor beyond this season that might be when this show jumps the shark. Although this show being on it's 3rd show runner is also concerning.
"The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman tells Rolling Stone that 27 people die in the Season 3 finale. I love that Kirkman has the exact number. As long as the Governor dies that's all I ask for. I hope they learned from stretching out the very boring storyline of searching for Carol's daughter in the first half of Season 2. I've already had more than enough of the Governor. Again I watch "The Walking Dead" for people to fight zombies and not other people!
Tonight I won't have much time to relax, but I plan on watching at least one episode of "Newsroom". Looking at it's Wikipedia page, I'm quite excited about watching it now. The cast looks great and this series is mostly written by Aaron Sorkin, the genius behind the amazing "West Wing". That's one of the best television shows ever. Another show I missed out on while it was on the air. While hoping for "Newsroom" to be as good as "Homeland" is too much to hope for, I do hope it is a lot better than "Girls".
March 28th, 2013 update: I watched the pilot episode of "Newsroom", it was decent. Unlike "Girls" it has a lot of room to grow though. Although I can recognize the writing talents of Aaron Sorkin, his writing this isn't as crisp as the writing was in "The West Wing". I did appreciate that there was no sex in this first episode. I also liked how the Jack McAvoy thought he was hallucinating when he saw his former executive producer in the crowd at the Northwestern forum. But again the flagrant use of the f bomb was unnecessary and detracted from the episode. Again that's just the lowest common denominator of entertainment. I'm sure between Sorkin and Jeff Daniels they can figure out another way to show McAvoy's churlish behavior.
March 29th, 2013 update: I've now watched the first four episodes of "The Newsroom". Other than a couple of mild bedroom scenes I appreciate this show so much not having graphic sex scenes. The f bomb usage also seemed to drop a bit. Anyway things I love about "The Newsroom" after 4 episodes:
1) I love the whip smart writing. After a rough first episode the writing is coming closer to matching the great writing of "The West Wing". I love being entertained while I'm learning and thinking. It's such a pleasant contrast to the reality TV that is so joyfully mocks.
2) I love that "The Newsroom" improved from the first to the second episode. I went from not sure if I wanted to watch the second episode to hoping I can hopefully watch all 10 episodes before Xfinity's Watchathon ends. "Girls" started out mediocre and pretty much stayed there.
3) Aaron Sorkin and I have very similar views on politics. I love how the election of Mike Lee over Bob Bennett in 2010 in Utah was used. I remember that happening. Like Sorkin I also think that the Tea Party is a waste. I've always thought it was basically the Republican Party, just using a different name. Some people are so gullible.
4) I love how the show incorporates real news into the storylines of the show. So far they've used the BP oil disaster and the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords in their storylines. That's been done very tactfully.
Then Thursday and Friday night I'll be mainly watching March Madness. Go Shockers and Eagles! I had planned on watching the Wichita State-La Salle game Thursday night. But I watched an episode of "The Newsroom" first. When I checked the Wichita State score, the Shockers were up 14-2. Instead of sticking with the game I watched another episode of "The Newsroom" and then checked the score again. That was when Ron Baker hit a fadeaway 3 to lift the Shockers to a 20 point lead. Instead of sticking with the game I watched another episode of "The Newsroom".
WSU went on to an ugly win and will now play OSU for the right to go to the Final Four. I'll be watching the FGCU-Florida game a little more closely though.
I watched the first few episodes of "Arrow" and "The Following", but have stopped watching both. I stopped watching "Arrow" because the stories just got too similar. The whole storyline about the secret organization the Arrow's Mom is a part of is boring. Who cares? As for "The Following" all the sex scenes finally got too much for me. I also hate how evil Joe Carroll is. Also the fact that he and his cohorts can stay so many steps ahead of the FBI is beyond implausible.
Last and definitely least, the ratings for "American Idol" continue to thankfully drop. Can this be the last season for this show. Once a show has jumped the shark, which this show did 5 years ago, there should be an expiration date attached. If this season hadn't happened we would have never had to put up with all the Mariah Carey- Nicki Minaj nonsense. Also haven't Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest had more than enough TV time already?
themusicaddict
No comments:
Post a Comment