Thursday Top Threes: Wasted Potential

Mira didn't have the brainpower to think of a question this week, so she passed the reins to the guestblogger.

Burkie: Top three TV or movie projects that had a great concept but failed to lived up to their potential.

Burkie:
1. Mystery Men. i love stories about lame superheroes and this one had it in spades: a guy who hurls silverware at people! a guy who hits people with a shovel! a guy who gets really mad! moreover, it had a great cast: william h. macy, geoffrey rush, janeane garofalo, peewee herman, ben stiller. alas, it just didn't deliver (actually, in my opinion, this whole category could probably be filled with ben stiller projects).
2. The Man Who Wasn't There. again, stuff & people i like: film noir, black & white, the coen brothers, billy bob thornton, frances mcdormand, and an interesting story about a nowhere man who schemes to get somewhere but it goes horribly wrong. it just didn't work for me. i didn't even finish watching it. i think the main problem was that nobody came across as very likable, which makes it hard to either root for somebody or feel much sympathy with them (again, i think coen brothers' projects could probably fill this list).
3. Life, Unexpected. is this CW show still on? jenn has blogged about it and mira & i were also initial fans, but it went downhill fast as it resorted to cliche after eye-rolling cliche storylines. waste of an engaging cast & premise.
Honorable mention: Photoblogged :)

Mira:
1. Beastly -- Only because this is fresh in my mind. I loved the idea of a Beauty and the Beast rewrite in modern, high school times; especially since it was one of my favorite Disney animations! But yeah, it sucked. So much.
2. I Am Number Four -- An interesting concept as far as this genre goes and I think it could've been so much more. Instead it was overly predictable as if the writers were just trying to take shortcuts in creating the story. Interestingly, both of my posts so far star Pettyfer, who I also really do not like.
3. Avalon High -- I thought this book was great fun! Once again, a rewrite of something old in modern, high school times -- King Arthur. Unfortunately the Disney Channel original movie version of it sucked. So much. They tried to make it slightly different from the book but completely ruined it. COMPLETELY.

 Jennifer: I guess I'm going with only TV answers...
1. The Killing - I never reviewed this AMC series even though I watched the whole first season because it kind of went off the rails really fast and ended with one of the most frustrating and some might say, insulting, season finales ever. But it started off so promisingly. I initially found the lead character, Detective Sarah Linden, to be one of the more unique female characters on TV--quietly thoughtful and observant, strong but not overtly intimidating. Her partner and foil, Stephen Holder, was played by Joel Kinnaman in a truly interesting performance (the actor is Swedish but had these "urban" mannerisms and accent), and Michelle Forbes and Brent Sexton were fantastic as the grieving parents of the teenage murder victim Rosie Larsen. But the story just did not serve these characters. Too many red herrings, dumb plot twists, bad policework...and the ending was awful. Let's just say that the showrunner had to give all these defensive interviews afterward about how they never promised the audience any answers. The show was renewed for a second season but I doubt I'll be back.
2. Running Wilde - Keri Russell + Will Arnett + creator of Arrested Development = success, right? So many people, including me, were so excited about this show, but it just fell flat. Really disappointing.
3. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - I actually loved its debut despite myself. I thought Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry were just fantastic together and the cast and world seemed so tight right from the beginning. But the show-within-the-show segments were just not funny and the ratings and writing started to tank at the same time. I gave up pretty early on, and NBC did too after the first season. Definitely wasted potential.