End-of-Season TV Post Mortem
Jeff Meyer
shows which are (at least when I posted this) still around and kicking, and
worth watching.
ST. ELSEWHERE In my opinion, the finest continuing series on TV
today; I don't think there's another show on that
usually surprises me once a week. If you've grown
up in a TV household, you probably discovered
(around 15) that most shows were boring because you
could predict what was going to happen next -- you'd
seen the same situation worked over and over and
over again. Sure, St. E. has it's share of stinkers
-- but I always feel that they're willing to go out
on a limb to try something different out; and it
often works.
THE TWILIGHT ZONE What can I say? I think there have only been two
shows this year where I didn't think it worth
watching for at least one of the anthology stories.
Another good example of non-predictable TV -- but on
anything bearing the TZ name, you EXPECT the
unexpected. The quirky humor was also appreciated
("The Uncle Devil Show", "Eye of Newton"); but the
best were the shows that got you involved with the
characters, could get you to care. I really enjoyed
last week's episode with the time-travelling
historian who stops Kennedy's assasination; the few
holes in the mechanics of the plot were to be
overlooked for the excellent and innovative idea
(OK, I haven't read a lot of science fiction --
innovative for TV). Or the Arthur C. Clarke
Christmas story of the spaceship finding the star of
Bethlehem -- and it's long-dead inhabitants. Or the
boy who befriends a Pilgrim girl. Or, or, or...
great stuff. The bright light of this year.
Three things in particular to point out about TZ:
the talent who get involved! Matheson, Ellison,
King, Silverburg, Bradbury (I actually didn't think
too much of this) for writers, or episodes based on
their stories. Tobe Hooper, William Friedken, and
others among the directors. Sometimes uneven, but
usually innovative special effects (I thought the
holographic replay of the cars in Dallas extremely
well done last week). I can only hope that they
continue to do so well (I notice that Ellison is
finally not listed as creative consultant).
HILL STREET BLUES Certainly not as good as when it first began, it
does oftentimes seem to be suffering from iron-poor
blood. But the majority of the time it rises to the
occasion; when you get to know characters as well as
their audience has, you can skimp a little more on
always having dramatic situations.
MOONLIGHTING Hey, hey, hey! What can I say? I didn't like the
first few episodes, got caught up on the meta-humor
discussion goin' around, caught the show, loved the
MH, thought the dialogue was great (reminds me of
Cary Grant and Rosiland Russell in HIS GIRL FRIDAY).
Is it great comedy? I dunno. Is it weird? A lot
of the times. Is it stylishly quirky and humorous?
Hey! Do bees be? Do bears bear?
SPENSER FOR HIRE I've read all the books by Robert Parker, so I was
pretty skeptical when it came on. I'm *still*
skeptical, due to uneven writing, but I have learned
a trick to figure out if it's worth watching. If,
during the episodes opening credits, the writer of
the episode is listed as "Robert Hamilton", it's
worth seeing; otherwise, you're taking your chances.
All I can say is this: I'm half wondering if Robert
Parker is writing under a Hamilton alias. The
dialogue is right on the nose, particularly in
Hawk's case, who is played by Avery Brooks in a way
that I am sure, somewhere in my mind, that he IS
Hawk. I've gotten used to Urich as Spenser -- he's
obviously trying. I haven't decided which I dislike
the most: the actress who has completely
misinterperted the Susan Silverman role, or Richard
Jaekal as Martin Quirk, who is way too chummy and
far to non-hard-nose (soft nose?) with Spenser.
THE EQUALIZER I've said it before and I'll say it again; this show
is good. Sometimes it's kinda good, with too much
violence (but realistic violence -- it is not
pretty) instead of plot. But most of the time, it
weaves several plots together, including a contious
story that has wafted through the last year's
episodes about what is going on in the CIA offices
where Robert McCall used to work. Good character
actors, good characters, and a feeling of gritty
realism (if you had to get someone out of a loan
shark's hands, how would you do it? Hire the
A-Team. Hell, no, you'd blackmail the sucker!).
And McCall's on-again, off-again agents are great,
particularly the sleazebag who runs between The
Agency and the red-light zone, and Micky Costameyer,
McCall's most unusual and frequent agent.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE HOWEVER!! Only for Dennis Miller's Weekend Update.
Everything else is too unpredictable. I just set my
tape machine from midnight to quarter after.
On other fronts, Miami Vice fell into mediocraty almost as soon as it hit
popularity (maybe there's a moral there), and Amazing Stories faded into
sugar-coatedness. Better luck next year...
"You know, sir, that there
*is* a precedent for
wheelchair detectives..."
"Shut up, Alfred."
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
ARPA: fluke!mori...@uw-beaver.ARPA
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<*> DISCLAIMER: Do what you want with me, but leave my employers alone! <*>
Jonathan D.
>
> SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE HOWEVER!! Only for Dennis Miller's Weekend Update.
> Everything else is too unpredictable. I just set my
> tape machine from midnight to quarter after.
Hmf! I would agree, but I would also like to add my favorite - the
pathalogical liar. In all honesty, he doesn't really lie, he calls 'em
as he sees 'em, yeah, that's it. As I was saying to my wife the other
day, er..um Morgan Fairchild, that's my wife, yeah, I said that that guy
should be in charge of the network. Uh, he IS in charge of the network,
yeah, that's it, he also OWNS the network. As a matter of fact, he originated
NBC back in the early 20's, that's it. Did you hear that the ratings are
right up there at 9.....Um doing just fine. As a matter of fact, it's
doing better than Cosby...Yeah, that's it...
--
Jonathan D. Trudel arpa: tru...@blue.rutgers.edu
uucp:{seismo,allegra,ihnp4}!topaz!blue!trudel
Personally, I like my flying brains dark and evil.