sadbap delysia christen
Prometeo Archuleta
I am really loving LIFE this year. I agree that this episode wasn't great but had a lot of great moments, besides the moments you mentioned I really like when they notified girlfriend. Its a moment not often seen on the show and it was simple in a way those scenes usually aren't.
I was also suprised by how much I liked Crusoe. I love the swiss Family Robinson house and loved the Friday and Crusoe relationship. I have no idea how this is going to be more than a 2 hour miniseries. But I watch at least one more to see what they do.
I'm a sucker for Entourage, and have actually enjoyed much of it this season. Seeing Alan Dale (again!) was a hoot, and I was touched by the scene between Ari and Vince at the airport. Though I would hate to see Ari not take the studio job just to "finish what they started" with Vince. Doesn't look like that's going to happen. Here's hoping that "I Want to be Sedated" comes back around!
In Life I loved the picture hanging over the record mogul's desk, and how it took their second visit to the office for Charlie to really get a look at it. They didn't go for the obvious joke though, which I appreciated as well.
Crusoe was pretty decent, and any show that has Sean Bean, even for brief flashbacks, gets a pass from me. I'm not sure how long this can last, but them again it's on a Friday night, and there are cool gadgets and a hot guy, with the added advantage of British accents. The quality of the guest stars also seems pretty high, with Bean, Sam Neill and Joaquin de Almeida so if the episodes are on par with what aired, it will be worth watching.
I more or less enjoyed Crusoe. I really REALLY liked the Friday character in this version, although I thought the "he speaks 12 languages" bit was a bit much. Friday's fun, but he's got a lot of depth. I liked him teasing Crusoe about his cannibalism ("As long as there are goats on the island, I won't eat human flesh," "And what if we run out of goats?" "Then don't go to sleep.") I liked his lecture about the fact that Crusoe created all these elaborate traps on the island to protect against savages, not considering that Europeans can be evil too. I liked his statement that he had given his life to Crusoe, but was not his slave.
Hated the maudlin flashbacks, though. They didn't really add anything to the plot, didn't much explain the character or situation we see now. I find myself wondering how a man who clearly was so very in love with his wife and family could have gone off on an ocean voyage in that time, when pirates and shipwrecks were not uncommon. The original Robinson Crusoe was a bachelor, if I recall correctly, which makes more sense.
No "Skins"?
What is the first rule of Fight Club? Um, I mean, of What's Alan Watching? I don't write about shows until after I've watched them, and I watch them when I get a chance to watch them.
Too bad Easy Money isn't worth saving. There could be a pretty effective campaign of people sending in cash to the network... Lord knows they could use it, but they would probably use it to buy more billboards for 90210...
Crusoe was a lot of fun, but I am curious to see what they can do with it as a series. They can't have people coming to the island every week, because this isn't Gilligan's island, after all, but can you really do a series with only two people in a remote location? There are only so many "stuck in a cave/under a tree/in a rising body of water" stories that can fill an hour at a time... Gotta love the gadgets, though.
Alan: Can we blame the awfulness of the new shows this season on the strike? I know that changed how they did the pilot season this year, but the fact that "mediocre" has become one of the highest accolades these shows recieve, and "could have been worse" is the equivalent of a rave review, comparatively, but this new crop has been astoundingly weak. You'd think SOME quality could have sneaked through... Seems like with the possible exceptions of Easy MOney (about to be cancelled), Life on Mars (we'll see if it can sustain) and Crusoe (too early to tell, really) there is nothing but drivel this year. In the words of the Kids in the Hall, "Who's to Blame???"
Here's my belief about what's happened this year- the writer's strike, as many prophesied that it might, was the tipping point for a lot of people who just no longer make TV the priority of their evening. There's too many other options, including "I'll rent it from Netflix next year."
I know between Wii and World of Warcraft, I've decided to drop Heroes this year, and never picked up Fringe or Terminator, both of which I might have previously watched.
So CBS is the network in the best shape, and The Mentalist is the season's only new hit. It's TV for People With Nothing Better to Do. The one possible bright spot for networks, is that although those people have never been a coveted demographic, I think research will show that these day's they're the most susceptible to traditional advertising.
I *loved* Dr. Green's exit from the show. It's one of those things that always, always turns up in a list of TV moments that make you cry, no matter what. (Along with the ending of "Jurassic Bark" from Futurama). That was right around the time when my affection for the show was at my highest, so watching Carter kinda stumble over reading the second fax was and always will be heartbreaking for me.
That was right around the time when my affection for the show was at my highest, so watching Carter kinda stumble over reading the second fax was and always will be heartbreaking for me.
Yes, but that scene is from "The Letter," which I liked. What I objected to was, the following week, spending an hour watching Mark die in Hawaii. I would have much rather seen Mark exit the hospital at the end of "Orion in the Sky," then have Carter read the letter, and that be that. As far as I was concerned, Mark's story ended when he left the job, and everything after was just excess.
They didn't just kill Mark; they overkilled him.
That's a good point. The thing that always kicks off the crying is Mark telling the little girl that she's his last patient, followed by the appreciative dad, followed by him seeing Carter in the parking lot.
Here's a YouTube clip that kind of gets it right.
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I read that ratings for Life were up 20% this week. I liked the episode more than you did but still not sure about the scenes with Charlie and his ex. Strange to hear Clem Snide's "Ed" theme on NBC again.
"Life" is really having a sophomore slump. This episode reminded me of "Farthingale," with the questions of identity. Unfortunately, it was much worse.
I put a lot of the blame on Donal Logue's character. He's ruined the dynamic between Crews and Reese. Last year, Crews would have to explain himself to Reese. Now they both explain him to Tidwell, who has no problems following. It weakens whatever uniqueness Crews brings.
What I objected to was, the following week, spending an hour watching Mark die in Hawaii.
I found that hour very moving. It was needed for the "fix Rachel" story line, and we were invested in Mark outside of the hospital.
Plus, the image of that white, white room with the blowing curtains has stayed with me.
I hated (new) Rachel and I still do. I wasn't fond of the final, flashback, Mark actually dies episode and would have been happier with Alan's scenario
They didn't just kill Mark; they overkilled him.
Love it.
The only thing about the death ep that I didn't hate, that ever so slightly redeemed, was the song, at the end.
(and the fact that the ep made my brother cry. my crying was granted. his was...well, I remember my best friend once saying she wanted a man who cried (like Charles Ingalls). She would have been happy. He didn't sit thru howevermany seasons of Mark like me. Just random eps while doing email on my computer. But man, that ep just brought it all out. I was impressed.)
so, aside from that and the song, I agree. The thing is - I never did like eps that took place away from County anyway. The only one I can think of that was bearable was the one where Carter, Abby, Susan and Luka had that "seminar."
I didn't like Doug and Mark's road trip. They seemed to hate their fathers as much as I did mine. And Abby's trip to get Maggie, Sam's trip to get Alex... Anything in Africa... (and now I am sad again that Pratt finally got it together - for nothing)
As for Abby - a lot of the time (though it didn't coincide) I'd have taken Meredith Grey's angst over hers, easily.
I'm not totally sure why. There was just something about Abby that rubbed me wrong.
Abusive nutty mother - check
Absent father - check
Alcoholic - pretty darn close
Good nurse/doctor, smart and good with patients - check
Maybe it was the smoking. But Abby didn't resonate with me from the beginning, and Meredith did.
Abby did have one thing Mer did not - she had to take care of her little brother. Mer only had to be perfect. (and likely never went hungry)
Looking at the wall of nameplates on "ER", I note that Carole Hathaway is the only nurse so honored. What about nurses Connie, Lydia, and Yosh? Or Jerry at the front desk? How about Jeannie Boulet? Drs. Morganstern, Legaspi, and even Clemente and early docs Taglieri and Cvetic?
Amazingly, Chuny and Malik are the current cast members with the most episodes, with Haleh passing Luka and Abby in 4-5 episodes.
And Neela has now been in more episodes than Doug Ross.
(Full disclosure: I looked up the full cast list on IMDB.)
I like Crusoe but it feels more like a Sunday night family viewing show than the Friday graveyard.
Pamela Jaye: The "Breakfast Club" episode of ER (does that make Gallant the nerd?)- I always thought that was forced in making Kovacs such a hero and Carter a stock spoiled rich boy.