fall 2010

My life has been especially nutso this semester with school and work and, well, trying to keep my DVR percentage low enough to record all the shows in the coming week (it's a hard life!), so blogging has been difficult... But here's a quick little run down of my opinions on Fall TV thus far:

Shows I've already dropped:
- $#*! My Dad Says -- The comedic pauses are just awkward and annoying. Shatner is not the most annoying actor on the show, which already speaks volumes in my mind. One last thing, the show had one funny line and it was not shit said by the dad. Shatner is at the DMV taking the eye exam and is asked to read the large E at the top of the chart. Shatner: "I've never been rear-ended by a large letter E." DMV employee: "You've never driven on Sesame Street."
- Running Wilde -- I love Keri Russell but even she can't keep this show on my priority watch list.
- 90210 (though I dropped it halfway through last season) -- I know I already dropped this, but seeing the stuff going on and reading the spoilers on what is to come... Good riddance!
- Life Unexpected -- Jenn's entry sums it up perfectly. Forced dramatic story lines are just too much! Though it cracks me up that a Melrose Place (new, not old) reject has landed over here.

Shows I'm already committed to:
- Nikita -- Somehow this show became an immediate watch show for me, but I really like the complexity of each character and the fact that they all contribute layers of depth to the show.
- Hellcats -- I like peppy tv shows.
- Grey's Anatomy -- I forgot about the season ending with the shooting spree and the new season dealing with aftermath of that has been built up brilliant so far.
- Private Practice -- I still like the characters on the show enough to keep watching it, though the storylines aren't captivating.
- Parenthood -- This show just keeps getting better for me. The best family drama.

Shows I meant to watch but forgot about:
- Better With You -- Like Jenn, I really like Joanna Garcia.

Shows still sitting on my DVR:
- Lone Star
- The Event
- Hawaii Five-O
- Undercovers
- The Whole Truth
- My Generation
- Chuck

Shows I'm still looking forward to:
- No Ordinary Family -- But the stupid show is on at the same time as Glee and NCIS! Sigh, so this may end up going the route of Modern Family, where I mean to catch up online but forget to. Hopefully not!
- Glee, Episode 2 (cuz Episode 1 was a bit disappointing) -- Cannot wait for Brittany (my favorite character!) and BRITNEY (Spears)!
- The Good Wife
- Friday Night Lights, the final season! :(

On the cusp:
- Outlaw
- How I Met Your Mother -- We better meet the stupid mother this season. And that wedding in the season premier better be Barney and Robin's wedding.
- Gossip Girl

BTW, an awful lot of weddings in the season premier this year -- Grey's Anatomy had one, Private Practice had one, HIMYM had one!

Life Unexpected: Viewer Disappointed?

Before it even premiered, I really wanted to love Life Unexpected. The premise sounded like a lot of the WB shows I loved back in the day, and it even had Shiri Appleby and Kerr Smith, both of whom I really liked from Roswell and Dawson's Creek, respectively. And it started off pretty great, maybe a little emotionally overwrought, but I could tell its intentions were good. Things did get rather repetitive towards the middle of the season, but I liked the finale a lot and you could really see how far the characters had come.

So I was definitely happy that the CW renewed the show for a second season. But after watching the premiere...I'm worried. I think there might have been a little network meddling, a push for more "juicy" storylines, because what else can explain why Lux was subject to two of the most cliched teen plot points? 1) Getting proposed to at 16, and 2) meeting a new guy she likes only to have him turn out to be a teacher at her high school (this is a storyline shared with Pretty Little Liars for crying out loud! I know that show has its fans but I didn't think this was supposed to be the same type of show).

Cate and Ryan and Baze don't fare much better...Cate gets fired (rather harshly) in favor of a ridiculous self-help book author, Ryan seems to have a secret something named Julia that he doesn't want Cate to find out about, and Baze's bar burns down, thanks to a new, careless bartender who turns out to be Ryan's sister?

Show! I thought you were better than this! I still like all the characters and there are still some of the heartstring-tugging moments, but I'm disappointed in where this season seems to be heading. I'm not giving up on it yet, but I am concerned...

M: life unexpected, finale & renewed!

So I have a whole series of posts in our draft box on season finales but I haven't had time to sit down and finish any of these posts. Now, season finales are hitting me right and left and I definitely know I may never catch up... but here's to trying anyway! I'm going to start with the earliest of these spring season finales -- Life Unexpected!

This is a show that I didn't expect to love and care about, but I really do. For the finale, I was super scared that they would screw with the season finale and let Baz stop Cate and Ryan's wedding. I mean Cate and Baz have this really interesting chemistry and they have Lux between them, but so very obviously Ryan is her perfect guy. And I'm a major shipper, I loooooove ships, but I do not root for Cate + Baz, I'm definitely Team Ryan. My hope is the show producers and writers and powers-that-be recognize this and don't mess with it. Please, please, please don't let the nice guy finish last here. While Baz may be Cate's high school crush, and possible "first love" (I say possible because I don't really believe she could've been "in love" with him back then, just completely "in crush") and for Baz, Cate may become the "girl that got away," they work better separate. Their individual dynamics with Lux as her parents are much more interesting, and Ryan is such a great guy! (Even though I snicker a bit that he's Kerr Smith, also known as Jack from Dawson's Creek.)

In any case, the finale was extremely satisfying for me: Cate and Ryan got married; Lux was fully on board with it and let go of her childish dreams of her real mommy and daddy being together in a nuclear family; Baz realizes what he missed out on with Cate. I think that those were all important events/revelations for each character and I really hope that the next season (yay for renewal! even if it's only 12-13 episodes...) doesn't mess with that, but rather builds on it.

This show is really interesting to me because it does really remind me of Gilmore Girls in feel, even though it's set in a completely different place (Portland, not Connecticut), is grayer in feel, and doesn't have a cast of quirky supporting characters. *shrug* But it definitely satisfies that void in my life left behind by Gilmore Girls (the good, Lorelai-Luke years). :) I hope that the half-season renewal of Life Unexpected eventually becomes a full season renewal. How the heck does The CW justify 20 years of stupid One Tree Hill but only half a season of this show that has actual heart?! *sigh*

Life Unexpected: a new kind of family

First off, Shiri Appleby, who plays Cate, the mom of a 16-year-old girl on this show, Life Unexpected, was Liz on Roswell back in 1999-2002, a character that was actually a year younger than me. This makes me feel really...old.

Anyway, I was really excited for this show because the promos made it seem like a throwback to the WB-era teen and family shows (yes, like Roswell) that I loved back in high school. The CW seemed like it was shifting more towards things like Gossip Girl and 90210 so I was happily surprised that they picked up something like this that was more heartfelt and less, well, OMG.

And the show has definitely been delivering in that respect, but I have to say that I have not been as in love with it as much as I thought I might be. I do like the characters quite a bit, who are all layered and complex and figuring things out about themselves, and there's usually at least one moment per episode that really tugs at my heartstrings, but the problem is that it's felt so repetitive.

It's not necessarily unrealistic, but for a stretch there, it seemed like every single week had Lux getting mad at either Cate or Baze for something and running away. It was sort of like, we get it! Lux is damaged and has abandonment issues! Baze was a jerk in high school but he's trying to change! Cate is really good at messing things up! Ryan is a saint!

Things have been better over the past two weeks, but there are only two more episodes left in the season. I really do hope that it gets renewed though. I think there's still plenty of interesting story to explore (though I really don't want them to go there with Cate and Baze...I like Ryan and he's already been put through enough) and despite the repetitiveness, I still find myself watching it live every week, which is impressive considering how many shows air on Monday!

Monday Madness

Shows I watch that air on Mondays:
How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Chuck (NBC)
Gossip Girl (CW, currently on hiatus)
Life Unexpected (CW)
Make it or Break it (ABC Family)
Greek (ABC Family)
Castle (ABC)
Damages (FX)

Shows I watch that air on Tuesdays:
None

What the heck??

extremely early new show love

Life Unexpected has taken me by surprise. I guess I saw all the positive reviews for it and I recognized it was being compared to shows/movies I like such as Gilmore Girls, Juno, etc. Oh, and Everwood, which I didn't watch. But I still wasn't expecting much, and I was definitely proven wrong!

First episodes are tough with shows because there's so much to set up, but this was done beautifully and made me enjoy each and every scene in it. I was afraid that Shiri Appleby's character could be really annoying, but it turned out to be a perfect blend of screwed up and perfect. And the actress playing Lux (whose name I'm sure I will one day soon learn and remember) was way more likable than Rory Gilmore. :)

In any case, the show made me teary-eyed a few times and it made me laugh, too. So all in all, I'm looking forward to what should be a promising new show! :D Fortunately for Life Unexpected, it doesn't have to undergo too much scrutiny and comparison to Parenthood just yet since it's another 5 weeks before Parenthood starts. Though, premise of Parenthood may be more similar to Modern Family than Life Unexpected. For whatever reason, I've been lumping Parenthood and Life Unexpected together in my head. Okay, this is rambly. I'm going to bed. :)