I think I've mentioned this before: I was a fan of Wiseguy, one of the first series to have story arcs. I remember the producers of the show met with resistance on that format because the Network was afraid new viewers wouldn't watch if they didn't know what was going on. Wiseguy's story arcs would be 6-12 episodes followed by 2 or 3 standalones. The show fizzled out after 2 or 3 seasons but I don't think it was the format (yes, I'm looking at you, Ken Wahl!).
The X-Files blew that door off the hinges, as did Buffy the Vampire Slayer and now just about every show has an arc of some sort and all I can say is HALLELUJAH! I grew up watching T.V. in the 70's where all characters were static from episode to episode. They didn't have much backstory nor did they grow; they never had indelible marks on their psyches when their love got blowed up or shot (like the amnesia plot, and the evil twin plot, the death of a loved one plot is in the Plot-o-matic Rolodex {I guess it's been ported to software by now}).
I told you that to tell you this:
I have always had a love-hate relationship with Television: it can accomplish so much more in a series than a movie could ever dream of - for instance Terminator II used the phrase "Judgement Day" but you never had enough time when the action started to think about the ramifications of that phrase. In the new series you start seeing all the religious parallels especially as people who are pulled into the Connors' story start believing in cyborgs from the future - I know the bible didn't mention a Robot Holocaust in Revelations, but it'll do, won't it?
The hate part is that television so rarely does accomplish more and usually simply sucks eggs. Every once in a while you get lucky though. I pointed out to someone recently that when I give my love to a show it can be embarrasingly unconditional. I ran out of SCC episodes to watch last weekend and so I finally watched 2 more episodes of Life I had tucked away on my TiVo (bear with me, this is all connected).
Despite the show starring Damian Lewis, I managed to miss most of the first-run episodes for a really dumb reason. They weren't closed-captioned, and with a raging 2 year-old in the house, I might as well be hearing-impaired. I also have to admit I wasn't that impressed. Now I'm kinda sorry I didn't watch the whole first season (11 eps) - the writers have toned down Charlie's quirkiness and I've come to like both main characters. All I can say is thank goodness for TiVo and Amazon UnBoxed: I'll be able to finish out the series before season 2 starts this fall (hooray for NBC!).
Most people are comparing this show to House but I'm still sticking to my Veronica Mars theorem, even more now because I found out the mystery of who set up Charlie for the multiple murders is discovered by the end of Season 1. I loved the Veronica Mars format of one major mystery per season intersped with the "case of the week". I think it nicely balanced the need for a week-to-week connection with the characters versus standalone episodes to draw new viewers in.
Life is on one level a standard cop show. Lewis's character, Charlie Crews, is your basic Brilliant Detective, but in the few episodes I've seen, I like that he tends to ferret out clues to the mystery-of-the-week through sheer bulldoggedness as opposed to making Batman vs. the Riddler quantum-leap connections between two ephemerally related crime-scene objects (although sometimes Crews does that too). But I'm starting to like the character, who, after 12 years in the slammer, is a little off. Kind of the way a cat would be off if you locked it in a room for 4 weeks with about 100 alarm clocks that were set to randomly blare every day.
His partner, Dani Reese (hey I don't make these names up - I just report them), has a fine set of drug and alcohol related problems herself but spends most of the time playing put-upon straight-man to Charlies antics and the rest of the time keeping him anchored when he gets out of control. I'm liking her, too. She's starting to be more well-rounded than a lot of female characters who are not the center of a show (if they make the show more central to both Crews and Reese in season 2 I think it will be a major improvement).
Look, I'd be lying if I said that I don't find Damian Lewis to be amazingly attractive and that's the major reason I'm giving the show another try. I haven't given it my unconditional love yet, I have 4 more episodes to go in this season, but I want to. We'll see how it turns out. In the meantime, Lewis's hair is even more awesomly red in high-def. I'm just saying.
One more PS: have you noticed I'm watching more T.V.? It's because most of the movies I want to watch are too violent for Brenden. I need to watch SOMETHING! I will gladly take any suggestions for t.v. series to watch.
A Word From the Boss
8 years ago
3 comments:
Great tv post - I love the way tv has evolved, and the way at least some series are taking advantage of the potential.
I don't know if I can recommend anything you haven't already seen . . . I'll have to check your comments to get more ideas for me.
I watched a few seasons of Upstairs, Downstairs and that was good. Those had their arcs, but each episode had a self-contained plot that was dominant. I think I got started on that after watching the Forsyte Saga (thanks to you.)
Did you watch Six Feet Under? It had its ups and downs but I was attached to those characters. And that series had a great recapper at TWoP, and that always makes a difference!
Hey Nancy:
Upstairs, Downstairs looks like something I'd watch - Jon won't but that's what my weekends are for. I'll Netflix that.
I saw an ep of 6 Feet Under once while on a business trip. I kept meaning to check out more - I'll give that a shot too. I have to be careful w/HBO shows but this one didn't look as violent as the Sopranos.
You're right about good recappers. I doubt I'd enjoy Battlestar Galactica as much as I do without Jacob's amazing impassioned recaps.
Oh, definitely give SFU a try, then! Every episode begins with a death, in the first few minutes, but for the most part they're not violent - not as I recall, anyone - not like the Sopranos. There was a lot of sex in it, but I doubt that nekkid people would even register in Brenden's consciousness enough at his age for it to be a worry. I don't know. Now I'm more censorious (?) of what Anthony sees because he notices stuff and asks questions and might even talk about stuff in school. "My mommy watches movies with naked people lying on top of each other." Might not sound good to the daycare people.
I just finished watching the BBC miniseries To Serve Them All My Days - eleven hour-long episodes and I just felt like grieving when they ended. I loved it so much. It's better than it sounds from the description, too. I got it then put off watching it for awhile, thinking it might be dull. Then once I started, I couldn't hardly stop between episodes. Compelling stories, loveable characters, an evil foil . . . I'll give you a warning - no - I'll email it with the title spoiler. Because despite the warning, it's worth watching.
Another great one - you can see I'm in an Anglophilic phase - is The Jewel In The Crown.
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