tv: why can't I quit you?

[xparrot]

So gnine has been here for a month, a stopover before she heads out of the country again, this time to the wilds of Middle Earth Ancient Greece New Zealand. Naturally, in between hosting friends & family come to see her off, we have partaken in much television.

Supernatural's premiere was epic! One of my favorite eps of the show, honestly...Which isn't to say it was good by any means, but it was awfully entertaining, between Death, Crowley, and Misha Collins clearly having the time of his life being Castiel playing God and redecorating churches and then being possessed by Old Ones. It was completely over the top and bottom and sideways and it didn't care, just how SPN is supposed to be. (And there were no female or non-white characters to speak of, which for Supernatural is a good thing, considering how it inevitably goes for anyone who's not a white male.) Plus the one-way love triangle cracked me up - Castiel still mad in love with Dean, Sam yearning for Castiel, and Dean as ever only has eyes for Sam.

Unfortunately this week's ep took itself a lot more seriously and as such was boring. "Killing" Castiel was an irritating breaking of last week's promise; I was hoping for a season of Misha doing his best Joker. Though I doubt he'll stay dead forever (if he does that was a pathetic send-off for the char) - just hope Dean hangs on to his trenchcoat. The Old Ones - excuse me, "Leviathans" - so far are just demons, plus a tad more bloodshed and some shapeshifting; I was hoping for something different. Or at least tentacles! Who ever heard of a leviathan without tentacles? So very disappointing...



Also have been keeping up with Doctor Who - enjoyed the second half of the season overall, didn't especially love it but I think that's more me than the show. It's a different show than it was before; while it's funny and cute and clever, it doesn't touch me in the way it used to, and I can't even say exactly why. I feel like if this had been the show it was from the start, that I very well might have loved it for what it is; as it is, I still haven't quite gotten over expecting something that it's not. Which isn't to say I wanted either RTD or David Tennant to stick around; RTD had overstayed by at least a season, and I quite like Eleven and Matt Smith's take on the Doctor. But I need to put myself into a different mindset when I watch it now - like when I'm watching other kids' shows, don't think about it and just enjoy the nifty adventures. (And Rory. Much <3 for Rory and his amazing go-with-the-flow-even-if-it's-off-the-edge-of-a-cliff-and-plunging-into-a-bottomless-abyss practicality. And he and Amy are adorable. Though I'm hoping for new Companions next year - maybe someone not from Earth? - and give the Pond-Williams their happily-ever-after...)

(Speaking of kids' shows and adorable couples, Ben 10 has started again, and aww I love my mindbogglingly silly superhero cartoon, and Kevin/Gwen is still one of my favorite het couples ever. <333)

Then after we watched the Who finale gnine wanted to see the Merlin premiere, which I watched with her despite having quit the show early last series - said watching proved a mistake, because the ep ended in a spectacularly teasing place and now I badly want to see next week's - even though it's Merlin and with SPN in the regular watching roster, my stupid TV meter is already hitting critical...but maybe it'll be worth it? The premiere had some cute character moments, Arthur seems to have grown up, and he and Merlin are inching closer to actual friendship (in that it's a satisfyingly reversed Smallville, the chars destined to become great friends and allies, rather than nemeses). And with Morgana gone all supervillain, I can accept the Morgana/Gwen as entirely ended, mourn it and stop hoping for more tantalizing moments that the show cruelly refused to deliver on (not that I'm bitter or nothin' :P) And of course I am and always will be incredibly weak to h/c, so...

Also gnine has showed me all 4 seasons of In Plain Sight (Mary is an awesome char, Marshall is nearly as awesome, I still love Paul Ben-Victor and miss I-man, and the show desperately needs more h/c), and last night we saw the first couple eps of Suits (cute, now where's the crossover fic with Harvey Specter going up against Barney Stinson in a business deal?)

Now I'm just mopey about the lack of space opera. As far as I'm aware there aren't any shows currently on the air that are set in outer space/other planets - Who is the closest, but that's still on Earth more often than not. Recently happened to rewatch a few eps of Firefly and Farscape, and yeah - along with Star Trek and B5 those are still some of my favorite TV ever, and I want more. Gimme my spaceships, dang it!

Comments

[joonscribble.livejournal.com]

Other than Doctor Who (I quit that show after the first season with Smith), you once again list shows that are now back on my docket. I gave Who a couple of more chances this season but I just realized I need them to cycle out their current companions before I can try and watch again.

I really thought Supernatural and I were going to get a divorce but it keeps pulling me back in. It might be that it keeps dangling characters like Crowley and Death in front of me who I keep wanting to see so I keep tuning in hopes that they'll make an appearance. But I'm with you on Castiel. He better be returning in some evil form because that was a wasteful use of Misha Collins' facial talents.

The Old Ones - excuse me, "Leviathans" - so far are just demons, plus a tad more bloodshed and some shapeshifting; I was hoping for something different. Or at least tentacles! Who ever heard of a leviathan without tentacles? So very disappointing...

I was expecting something of Cthulhu-proportions, but you're right. The Oldest Monsters of All Time seem like your average demons. My hope is that the main "boss" they keep talking about will turn out to be something a bit more unique.

last night we saw the first couple eps of Suits (cute, now where's the crossover fic with Harvey Specter going up against Barney Stinson in a business deal?)

I really didn't need a new show but Suits did sort of pull me in. This is what happens when one gets sick and finds the entire first season online.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I keep meaning to quit SPN, but I can't quite ever cut the cord. Though I admit the majority of the draw these days is a train-wreck fascination with just how bad it's going to get, and how often it exceeds my expectations of terribleness. I spend most of my time watching either yelling at the screen or laughing at inappropriate moments. And begging for more Crowley and Death...love those actors, and their chars are so entertaining...often in spite of the show. (I don't know if I've seen a badly done anthropomorphic Death, actually. Admittedly I'm weak to such things, but Death is one of those chars you just don't want to make a bad showing of...what would happen if the real deal disapproved? XD)

I was expecting something of Cthulhu-proportions, but you're right. The Oldest Monsters of All Time seem like your average demons. My hope is that the main "boss" they keep talking about will turn out to be something a bit more unique.

Yes! I wanted tentacles! And cults and prophecies and slow (or fast) descents into madness upon witnessing them! How can you screw up Lovecraftian horrors? Really now. Things that look like people killing people, been there, done that, in about HALF THE DANG SHOW. (and the other half is about things that don't look like people killing people...) I'm hoping they don't waste all the potential and do something with the Leviathans...

The sibs and I were theorizing that the "boss" might be Castiel (or Cas's body hosting him, anyway) - would love to see Misha Collins chewing up the scenery horrors-from-beyond style!

[lukita.livejournal.com]

See whenever I watch TV now, I have this scale of "it's better than xyz" and "I don't feel like I want that hour back." That way, I don't get disappointed when the writing goes down the hole and I felt like I just watched an hour of stupid.

I loooove Rory and Amy, I hope they'll stick around for next season, though I'll take the awesome Madame Vastra and Jenny as well. Ha! I see your Morgana/Gwen, I'm still bitter about Donna.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my rule with TV is generally to drop it if it bores me more than half the time. If it annoys me but still interests me, or if only half the eps are entertaining, I'll usually stick with it. I don't demand quality, just fun (though my definition of "fun" can be a bit off...SPN's trainwreckness amuses me way more than it ought!)

Madame Vastra & Jenny were the Victorian lizard&maid lesbians, yes? Gnine and I were just talking today about wanting to see them in the Xmas special! Would love to see the Doctor taking them on as Companions, swashbuckling across history...

When it comes to Donna I invoke fannish denial. In my head Donna somehow gets her memories back, joins up with the Doctor's daughter from that one ep, and they're traveling the universe now in a makeshift TARDIS, saving worlds and being awesome!

[snarkydame.livejournal.com]

I've been longing for a good space opera. There's only so many times I can rewatch Farscape before I start ranting about the lack of imagination and sprawling ridiculous space drama in current programming. Le sigh.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Farscape was amazing; every time I rewatch eps I marvel at how incredible and unique it was, in so many ways. (The eps I caught included "Wait for the Wheel", and among other things there's a scene with five chars discussing how they're going to save the ships - and all five chars happen to be female. I don't think I've ever seen that in any other scifi or action show.)(Also Farscape had awesome ep titles. And s3-4 might well have the best opening sequence of any scifi show ever.) And B5 might still be my favorite live-action TV show of all time. So yeah...definitely overdue for a new space opera to fall in love with!

[topaz-kat.livejournal.com]

I too found the "end of Cas" kind of wanting. There were so many components in that mini-arc that didn't make a lot of sense to me. I thought Godstiel! was really over the top, but to end it as leviathans sticking around? Meh. This new thing with Sam's brain going sideways, is more interesting than I thought it would be, and it's always fun watching the boys get tormented. I'm going to be seriously pissed if they don't find Bobby soon though, someone needs to keep the "idjits" in line and their heads on semi-straight.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Heh, I keep forgetting that the ep ended with Bobby's fate unknown - I can't believe they'd actually kill him so I just am assuming he's fine and will show up to rescue them just in the nick of time. But then I feel similarly about Castiel - if that really was his end it was just stupid. ...Oh well, I maintain it's all the Winchesters' fault anyway; if they'd just given Cas a hug last season, none of this would've happened! XD

[feikoi.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, I miss Invisible Man /so much/. Sigh. (Am now tempted to watch...uh, whatever that show is, just to see Ben-Victor. I don't keep up with TV at all.)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

In Plain Sight is a USA network show about US Marshals in the Witness Protection Service. It's about one-third cop-show to two-thirds family/interpersonal drama (both the main chars and the personal problems of the people they're protecting) - tends toward the soppy side, but cute. PVB plays the marshals' boss, and is basically like Hobbes with the neuroses replaced by confident competence. To judge by his performance sometimes he's still adlibbing half his lines! :P (Also Vincent Ventresca actually guest-stars in the 2nd ep - he doesn't get any scenes with PVB that I recall, but the timing made me wonder if PVB called him in as soon as he got a job! ^^)