the Unit assaults the E Ring
karl
I reserved judgment on the Unit having missed the premiere. After seeing it
last night... I still reserve judgment.
The pacing and look of the action scenes is quite good - better than E
Ring.
Others have raised technical details that were wrong and fair enough. They
didn't really affect my enjoyment as I give the show that much licence,
though the "HAHO" was really silly unless they truly did mean to suggest a
High Altitude High Open jump. But still in look and feel the action scenes
were superior to the E-Ring.
But the personal back-story is not nearly as good.
The commander sleeping with a subordinates wife while continually sending
the husband in harms way? Ugh. The portrayal of the wives as Stepford
clones? Ugh again. The cluelessness of the new wife? Three "ugh"s and your
out. The first two were just bad ideas. The last was poor execution. That
the new wife would have to learn the ways of the unit is fair enough. But
for the husband to join such a unit he would have already been well
experienced in spec ops and so then would his wife. They had her acting like
the wife of a recruit fresh from boot camp.
Compared to that the E-ring's personal backstories were superior. First the
relationship between Bratt's character and the CIA operative and now with
the lawyer were less caricatures and thus more believable. Hopper as a
crusty warhorse who likes 60's hippy music and no-nonsense female NCO were
well done supporting cast choices as well.
I'd have to say based on the one episode the Unit fails on the political
back-story as well. The inter-agency rivalries as depicted were cartoonish.
Compared to that the E-Rings political wrangling is much more realistic.
Ultimately though I suspect neither will last. The inherent problem with
this type of show is coming up with a new crisis each week. Yes "24" has
done it but it isn't easy to keep up that sort of pace. The E-Ring has an
advantage in having a stronger personal and political story arcs. But having
said that, it was only one episode. The Unit could improve in those areas.
Laddy
"karl" <kona...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:dv1hub$4sj$1...@news.datemas.de...
Based on the first episode of The Unit, I prefer E-Ring as well for the
reasons you stated above. However, E-Ring is a dead horse and The Unit
follows NCIS which is a pretty good spot for a military related show to
appear. I don't think The Unit will be a breakout hit unless they clean it
up a bit with the adultery and the wife's behavior. Dramatic livense is one
thing, but it is possible to go overboard with the macho and "Stepford:
components. I'd guess The Unit's success will depend upon acceptance by the
female audience rather than the male audience.
Patrick Joseph McNamara
"Laddy" <laddybo...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:iYKdnWPfMcj...@comcast.com...
>
> "karl" <kona...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:dv1hub$4sj$1...@news.datemas.de...
>>
>> I reserved judgment on the Unit having missed the premiere. After seeing
>> it last night... I still reserve judgment.
>>
>> The pacing and look of the action scenes is quite good - better than E
>> Ring.
>>
>
> reasons you stated above. However, E-Ring is a dead horse and The Unit
> follows NCIS which is a pretty good spot for a military related show to
> appear.
It appears E-Ring may have been slipped off the air. First it was preempted
for the Olympics, then Deal or No Deal took over, and now a third weekly
Deal or no Deal is going into E-Ring's spot. It's possible that NBC may burn
off the last episodes of the season over the summer, but I doubt there'll be
a renewal of it.
Steven L.
> Compared to that the E-ring's personal backstories were superior. First the
> relationship between Bratt's character and the CIA operative and now with
> the lawyer were less caricatures and thus more believable. Hopper as a
> crusty warhorse who likes 60's hippy music and no-nonsense female NCO were
> well done supporting cast choices as well.
But unlike the Pentagon where lots of women have important jobs like
this no-nonsense female NCO, "The Unit" is an all-male squad. So the
female roles on "The Unit" are relegated to supporting roles like
civilian wives, keeping house while their men are on a mission in a
faraway land. And unlike the astronauts' wives in "The Right Stuff,"
the wives of the men in "The Unit" are not permitted to know anything
about the work their husbands are doing. That really limits what the
writers can do with those characters. Sure, they can show the wives
taking jobs as schoolteachers and secretaries, and raising the kids.
But that's going to get real boring very fast.
> Ultimately though I suspect neither will last. The inherent problem with
> this type of show is coming up with a new crisis each week.
No. Inventing a new crisis every week isn't a problem--both "The Man
from U.N.C.L.E." and "Mission: Impossible" did that rather nicely.
But what kept these two shows from becoming boring, was the James Bond
style tongue-in-cheek nature of the former and the cleverly contrived
schemes in the latter. If "The Unit" handles each new crisis with a
simple shoot-em-up, blowing up things and enemies like a computer action
game, it's going to get very boring very fast.
"The Unit" reminded me of a real-life recruiting video I saw during the
Cold War, to hire engineers to go live on Kwajalein Island to do
top-secret work of monitoring enemy missile tests. The video showed
what their wives would be doing there for recreation while their men did
the work their wives weren't told about: A bunch of wives standing
around on the beach in bathing suits and sunglasses, drinking beer and
wine, playing volleyball, drinking more beer and more wine, swimming,
drinking more beer and more wine, jogging, drinking more.....
--
Steven D. Litvintchouk
Email: sdli...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net
Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.
karl
"Steven L." <sdli...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net> wrote in message
news:aa_Qf.2833$x94....@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> Sure, they can show the wives taking jobs as schoolteachers and
> secretaries, and raising the kids. But that's going to get real boring
> very fast.
I'm guessing they are aiming for a night time soap appeal. Get the male
audience with guns and explosions and the females with the wives' Peyton
Place tribulations.
Sexist? Maybe, but that doesn't mean that isn't what they are trying to do.
Jack Bauer's Spunky Sidekick, Ian J. Ball
"Patrick Joseph McNamara" <writer...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> It appears E-Ring may have been slipped off the air. First it was preempted
> for the Olympics, then Deal or No Deal took over, and now a third weekly
> Deal or no Deal is going into E-Ring's spot. It's possible that NBC may burn
> off the last episodes of the season over the summer, but I doubt there'll be
> a renewal of it.
Again, as of now, "E-Ring" is (unofficially) scheduled to return in
April.
Ian (Whether it actually will, or not, is an open question...)
--
"Relax. He's really good at this." - Chloe O'Brian, about Jack Bauer
"24", 01/15/06
Steven L.
> In article <NcZQf.144$fy1....@news20.bellglobal.com>,
> "Patrick Joseph McNamara" <writer...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> It appears E-Ring may have been slipped off the air. First it was preempted
>> for the Olympics, then Deal or No Deal took over, and now a third weekly
>> Deal or no Deal is going into E-Ring's spot. It's possible that NBC may burn
>> off the last episodes of the season over the summer, but I doubt there'll be
>> a renewal of it.
>
> Again, as of now, "E-Ring" is (unofficially) scheduled to return in
> April.
Even if that happens, it's probably a burn-off of the half dozen
remaining episodes, not a renewal.
Steven L.
I doubt the writers are trying to be sexist deliberately. It's the
basic premise they set for themselves: husbands who go off on
*all-male* missions much of the time, leaving their wives at home
without a clue of where they go or what they do. That is probably how
it is in real life, and the writers are stuck with that unless they want
to compromise realism even further.
For their part, the men in The Unit are going to be celibate on most of
these missions. Unlike "Top Gun" or "The Green Berets" (Vietnam) or
"All Quiet on the Western Front" or World War II movies, they can't show
the men of The Unit picking up women in Afghan bars or visiting Iraqi
brothels for a steamy tryst--because fundamentalist Muslim countries
don't have those things.
So the show ends up being like two separate shows pasted together: "The
Unit" of men who go on missions without ever getting involved with
women, either professionally or personally; and "The Unit's Wives" who
stay home and only get to interact with their husbands in between the
missions. An all-male show pasted together with an all-female show.
Jack Bauer's Spunky Sidekick, Ian J. Ball
"Steven L." <sdli...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net> wrote:
> Jack Bauer's Spunky Sidekick, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> > In article <NcZQf.144$fy1....@news20.bellglobal.com>,
> > "Patrick Joseph McNamara" <writer...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >> It appears E-Ring may have been slipped off the air. First it was
> >> preempted for the Olympics, then Deal or No Deal took over, and now a
> >> third weekly Deal or no Deal is going into E-Ring's spot. It's possible
> >> that NBC may burn off the last episodes of the season over the summer,
> >> but I doubt there'll be a renewal of it.
> >
> > Again, as of now, "E-Ring" is (unofficially) scheduled to return in
> > April.
>
> Even if that happens, it's probably a burn-off of the half dozen
> remaining episodes, not a renewal.
Absolutely. But that was true before "The Unit" showed up.
But I think "E-Ring" will air all of its episodes.
Ian (It's not like NBC has much else to go with, esp. now that they've
already yanked "Joey" again...)
William December Starr
"karl" <kona...@hotmail.com> said:
> The pacing and look of the action scenes is quite good - better
> than E Ring.
>
> Others have raised technical details that were wrong and fair
> enough. They didn't really affect my enjoyment as I give the show
> that much licence, though the "HAHO" was really silly unless they
> truly did mean to suggest a High Altitude High Open jump. But
> still in look and feel the action scenes were superior to the
> E-Ring.
I'll just use this as a hook to toss in a bit from Alessandra
Stanley's joint review of "The Unit" and "Sons and Daughters" in
the March 7th New York Times:
Of the many consequences of Osama bin Laden's crimes, one is
the "24"-ification of television: the more terrorism turns
scary and intractable in real life, the more producers feel
compelled to create a childlike imaginary world where a
handful of good guys improbably, but cleverly, defeat
terrorist enemies.
It'll be quite interesting, I think, to see in upcoming weeks
whether the Unit racks up a perfect score on its missions or loses
a few, perhaps occasionally catastrophically.
(The full review is available, no registration req'd, at
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/07/arts/television/07stan.html?ex=1299387600&en=a95448663f235a0b&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss>.)
--
William December Starr <wds...@panix.com>
Rich
wrote:
>
> I reserved judgment on the Unit having missed the premiere. After seeing it
>last night... I still reserve judgment.
>
> The pacing and look of the action scenes is quite good - better than E
>Ring.
>
"Over There" was better than either.
-Rich
deering24
"Steven L." wrote:
>
>
> For their part, the men in The Unit are going to be celibate on most of
> these missions. Unlike "Top Gun" or "The Green Berets" (Vietnam) or
> "All Quiet on the Western Front" or World War II movies, they can't show
> the men of The Unit picking up women in Afghan bars or visiting Iraqi
> brothels for a steamy tryst--because fundamentalist Muslim countries
> don't have those things.
*snort* Talk about compromising realism. One of the biggest stresses on
military marriages is infidelity/one-night stands due to husbands and
wives drifting apart because husbands "can't talk about their work."
And if TU's writers have any sense, they will have these guys cheating
once in a while.
> So the show ends up being like two separate shows pasted together: "The
> Unit" of men who go on missions without ever getting involved with
> women, either professionally or personally; and "The Unit's Wives" who
> stay home and only get to interact with their husbands in between the
> missions. An all-male show pasted together with an all-female show.
The problem with that (as it always is with these "men have to do stuff
women can't understand" shows) is that the homefront stuff comes off as
boring and a distraction from the _real_ story. Unless TU finds the
drama in these women's lives, it's going to continue to be an awkward
hybrid. As well, why would a female audience want to watch this when
they can see women characters actually doing something in shows like
NCIS or 24?
C.
**
Steven L.
>
> "Steven L." wrote:
>>
>> For their part, the men in The Unit are going to be celibate on most of
>> these missions. Unlike "Top Gun" or "The Green Berets" (Vietnam) or
>> "All Quiet on the Western Front" or World War II movies, they can't show
>> the men of The Unit picking up women in Afghan bars or visiting Iraqi
>> brothels for a steamy tryst--because fundamentalist Muslim countries
>> don't have those things.
>
> *snort* Talk about compromising realism. One of the biggest stresses on
> military marriages is infidelity/one-night stands due to husbands and
> wives drifting apart because husbands "can't talk about their work."
On the contrary, it is realistic.
As has been reported in the news in real life, a "one night stand"
between an American soldier and a native Muslim woman in a
fundamentalist Muslim country could easily lead to more violence than we
want. At the very least, the woman would likely be put to death.
Of course, The Unit will probably go to other types of countries in the
future too. But as fundamentalist Islam continues to sweep thru the
Third World, the brothels and whores are being chased out of one country
after another. (There was a news report that now that the
fundamentalist Shi'a have gained power in Iraq, whatever few prostitutes
used to work there have fled into Syria.) That makes this war different
from every other war America has ever fought, in which our soldiers
could always get laid if they wanted to. The Muslim countries our
soldiers are now operating in are sexually inhibited (or even perverted)
to a point that the West would find incredible.
> As well, why would a female audience want to watch this when
> they can see women characters actually doing something in shows like
> NCIS or 24?
I'm waiting to see what the ratings are going to be like for episodes 2
and 3.
Steven L.
> In article <dv1hub$4sj$1...@news.datemas.de>,
> "karl" <kona...@hotmail.com> said:
>
>> The pacing and look of the action scenes is quite good - better
>> than E Ring.
>>
>> Others have raised technical details that were wrong and fair
>> enough. They didn't really affect my enjoyment as I give the show
>> that much licence, though the "HAHO" was really silly unless they
>> truly did mean to suggest a High Altitude High Open jump. But
>> still in look and feel the action scenes were superior to the
>> E-Ring.
>
> I'll just use this as a hook to toss in a bit from Alessandra
> Stanley's joint review of "The Unit" and "Sons and Daughters" in
> the March 7th New York Times:
>
> Of the many consequences of Osama bin Laden's crimes, one is
> the "24"-ification of television: the more terrorism turns
> scary and intractable in real life, the more producers feel
> compelled to create a childlike imaginary world where a
> handful of good guys improbably, but cleverly, defeat
> terrorist enemies.
>
> It'll be quite interesting, I think, to see in upcoming weeks
> whether the Unit racks up a perfect score on its missions or loses
> a few, perhaps occasionally catastrophically.
I think that's a very unfair comment and one that ignores history,
including television history. The shows the article cites as
portraying the military as fallible, such as "Gomer Pyle: USMC," were
*sitcoms*, not *dramas*.
In "Mission: Impossible," a serious Cold War covert operations drama,
the Impossible Missions Force always succeeded by the end of the episode
(except when it was a two-part or multi-part episode), despite their
extraordinarily complex schemes carrying a high risk of something going
wrong. (Whenever something did go wrong, they always found a quick fix
and succeeded anyway.) Tongue-in-cheek spy thrillers like "The Man from
U.N.C.L.E." and "The Avengers" took after James Bond in that they always
won in the end too.
And IMHO, "The Unit" is for the War on Terrorism what "Mission:
Impossible" was for the Cold War.
BTW, back then we heard this same sneering from sophisticates about
"Mission: Impossible." My braless feminist English professor in college
actually gave us a homework assignment to write an essay on the show's
"mythic aspects." Oh, well, the class was fun anyway, if for no other
reason than to watch her ample but logically natural boobs swaying
freely without bra constraints.
Rhino
"Steven L." <sdli...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net> wrote in message
women in countries like Iraq?
Episode 1 took place mostly in the US where the men surely could have met
attractive _American_ women and then had affairs with them. Or, the show
could use some variation of the approach taken in Tour Of Duty in Season 2:
the writers decided to give the two male leads girlfriends so the Sergeant
got involved with a (female) Army psychologist and the Lieutenant got
involved with a (female) journalist, both of them American, although the
series took part in Vietnam.
And whose to say that some overachieving woman couldn't qualify for The Unit
and get involved with the male characters after she joins?
--
Rhino
Rhino
"Rich" <no...@none.com> wrote in message
news:l5r912tdv2tjpjsll...@4ax.com...
--
Rhino
karl
"Steven L." <sdli...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net> wrote in message
> But unlike the Pentagon where lots of women have important jobs like this
> no-nonsense female NCO, "The Unit" is an all-male squad.
So is the combat unit on E-Ring.
> So the female roles on "The Unit" are relegated to supporting roles like
> civilian wives, keeping house while their men are on a mission in a
> faraway land.
Errr... Abu Graib, Lindy England, Jessica Lynch? There are plenty of
opportunities for female military characters, if not in the assault unit
then in combat support roles.
But that wasn't my point. My point was that they are going with a more
serious form of Desperate Housewives for the wives. I am speculating this is
in an attempt to woo female viewers while the guns and bombs attracts the
males.
karl
That show left me conflicted. I didn't see the very first eps. Part of it I
liked, part I found unappealing. Can't really put my finger on why but for
parts of the eps I did see I was bored to tears.
But it does bring up another point: opening themes. The Unit's opening is
terrible. Not even good enough to be mediocre music and scenes.
OTOH Over There had maybe one of the best music themes. I rank it with:
Sopranos, Cheers, and MASH.
Rich
wrote:
>
>"Rich" <no...@none.com> wrote in message
>news:l5r912tdv2tjpjsll...@4ax.com...
>> On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 11:23:57 -0500, "karl" <kona...@hotmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> I reserved judgment on the Unit having missed the premiere. After seeing
>>> it
>>>last night... I still reserve judgment.
>>>
>>> The pacing and look of the action scenes is quite good - better than E
>>>Ring.
>>>
>>
>> "Over There" was better than either.
>
> That show left me conflicted. I didn't see the very first eps. Part of it I
>liked, part I found unappealing. Can't really put my finger on why but for
>parts of the eps I did see I was bored to tears.
Which in part is why is was good. Most army life IS boring, as its
not combat 24 hours a day.
-Rich
karl
> On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 11:05:06 -0500, "karl" <kona...@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>>"Rich" <no...@none.com> wrote in message
>>news:l5r912tdv2tjpjsll...@4ax.com...
>>> "Over There" was better than either.
>>
>> That show left me conflicted. I didn't see the very first eps. Part of it
>> I
>>liked, part I found unappealing. Can't really put my finger on why but for
>>parts of the eps I did see I was bored to tears.
>
> Which in part is why is was good. Most army life IS boring, as its
> not combat 24 hours a day.
That may be and a good show need not be solid action. But if the show does
cause the viewer to hit the remote then it won't be a success. I admit part
of it was being unfamiliar with some of the plot lines.