TV Show: Bunheads
Like/Don't Like: Conditional like, if only because it is so familiar
(NOTE: There is a big spoiler in this so stop reading if you haven't watched the first episode and are planning to. Or keep reading and just live with knowing.)
I don't normally review TV shows, simply because I don't usually start watching new TV shows. I don't like being committed to a show, even with the magic of the DVR. And also, it's tough to judge a show on just a few episodes. But this was created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, who created Gilmore Girls, and if there was one show that I loved and truly miss and wish that they would do a reunion special just so I can see how happy Luke and Loralei are right now that would be it. So I recorded the first two episodes and watched them tonight and am happy to report that this is Gilmore Girls on the west coast.
Proof: it has several actors from GG. Like Emily. And Gypsy. And Mitchum Huntsburger as a hippie barkeep. The same gal who did the music in GG is doing the music here, with similar guitar strumming and la-la-ing. It has the same rat-a-tat-tat dialogue that I loved in GG, with lots of pop culture references and sarcastic zingers. And Sutton Foster is a good fit for that, even though I hope she'll ease out of her Broadway broadness and into the subtleties you can get away with in television. So over all, I liked it, because it was so nicely familiar.
But here's where I object (And here's where the spoiler begins. You've been warned.) I do not think that I can get beyond Alan Ruck being given to us for one episode and then so abruptly taken away. When I saw that it was him I squealed, because who doesn't love Cameron? And he's such a sweetheart in the first episode. And now he's gone. Boo. I fear I will always think what might have been.
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Sherlock
TV Show: Sherlock (both seasons 1 and 2 - because I'm behind, okay?)
Like/Don't Like: So much to love!
I never reviewed this after the first season but I finally got around the watching the last episode of the second season and I am still heartily in love with the whole thing that I felt like I needed to share it with the world. Although, let's be honest here, you've already seen it right? Right?! So you know what I'm talking about. It's AWESOME! With a side of Holy Cow!
Aren't you so excited that they got it right? Sure, the Robert Downey Jr. movies are highly entertaining, but they're not really Sherlock Holmes. He's just a really beefed up smart guy (listen, I'm not complaining. I'm just speaking the truth.) But this is Sherlock Holmes. Even as a 21st century Sherlock, it's dead on. It has captured his genius and arrogance and condescension and his itty bitty slip of humanity. I love how they have taken his most famous stories - A Study in Scarlett, The Hound of the Baskervilles, etc. - and gave them a modern twist. The stories move quickly and nothing is wasted, just like the books.
Benedict Cumberbatch has that other-worldly look about him, which makes him a great Sherlock because we all know he's an alien. And Martin Freeman has always been the perfect rumpled but stalwart friend - just right for Watson. They made Moriarty sufficiently creepy. Maybe too creepy. Can he be too creepy? And bonus, Rupert Graves is Lestrange. He has aged into quite the silver fox from his days as the floppy-haired Freddie Honeychurch in A Room With A View.
I just saw that there will be a season 3. Let's rejoice!
(Note: season one is streaming on Netflix and you can catch season two on pbs.org. It's worth it. Also, have something or someone to hold onto because it gets a little tense.)
Like/Don't Like: So much to love!
I never reviewed this after the first season but I finally got around the watching the last episode of the second season and I am still heartily in love with the whole thing that I felt like I needed to share it with the world. Although, let's be honest here, you've already seen it right? Right?! So you know what I'm talking about. It's AWESOME! With a side of Holy Cow!
Aren't you so excited that they got it right? Sure, the Robert Downey Jr. movies are highly entertaining, but they're not really Sherlock Holmes. He's just a really beefed up smart guy (listen, I'm not complaining. I'm just speaking the truth.) But this is Sherlock Holmes. Even as a 21st century Sherlock, it's dead on. It has captured his genius and arrogance and condescension and his itty bitty slip of humanity. I love how they have taken his most famous stories - A Study in Scarlett, The Hound of the Baskervilles, etc. - and gave them a modern twist. The stories move quickly and nothing is wasted, just like the books.
Benedict Cumberbatch has that other-worldly look about him, which makes him a great Sherlock because we all know he's an alien. And Martin Freeman has always been the perfect rumpled but stalwart friend - just right for Watson. They made Moriarty sufficiently creepy. Maybe too creepy. Can he be too creepy? And bonus, Rupert Graves is Lestrange. He has aged into quite the silver fox from his days as the floppy-haired Freddie Honeychurch in A Room With A View.
I just saw that there will be a season 3. Let's rejoice!
(Note: season one is streaming on Netflix and you can catch season two on pbs.org. It's worth it. Also, have something or someone to hold onto because it gets a little tense.)
Monday, June 21, 2010
How the Earth Changed History
Show: How the Earth Changed History
Channel: National Geographic
Time: What, Like I'm your TV Guide? Look it up.
Like/Don't Like: I'm putting in my pocket protector and pushing up my glasses. It brings out the geek in me big time.
You may not know this about me but I'm a huge geek when it comes to geology. Nothing sucks me in faster than a good show on how lakes or mountains or islands are formed. I can spend hours reading about plate tectonics and erosion and rock formations. You may have to give me a wedgie and shove me in a locker to shut me up about it but I make no apologies.
This is a week long miniseries about how the geologic changes on the planet have affected the course of human history. How China has become so fertile and rich and how, conversely, Australia has suffered from decades of drought because of the exact same winds. How people continually live on major fault lines (Hi!) because they're rich in natural resources. It's hosted by a Scottish geologist, so his accent is entertaining - especially when he gets excited about rock formations. And it focuses on one specific geological condition - say wind or fire - and shows how they have created not just the earth but also the societies that live on it. It's fascinating.
It's showing this week but I'm sure there will be reruns of it. And the next time I see you I promise not to rumble on too much about volcanoes.
Channel: National Geographic
Time: What, Like I'm your TV Guide? Look it up.
Like/Don't Like: I'm putting in my pocket protector and pushing up my glasses. It brings out the geek in me big time.
You may not know this about me but I'm a huge geek when it comes to geology. Nothing sucks me in faster than a good show on how lakes or mountains or islands are formed. I can spend hours reading about plate tectonics and erosion and rock formations. You may have to give me a wedgie and shove me in a locker to shut me up about it but I make no apologies.
This is a week long miniseries about how the geologic changes on the planet have affected the course of human history. How China has become so fertile and rich and how, conversely, Australia has suffered from decades of drought because of the exact same winds. How people continually live on major fault lines (Hi!) because they're rich in natural resources. It's hosted by a Scottish geologist, so his accent is entertaining - especially when he gets excited about rock formations. And it focuses on one specific geological condition - say wind or fire - and shows how they have created not just the earth but also the societies that live on it. It's fascinating.
It's showing this week but I'm sure there will be reruns of it. And the next time I see you I promise not to rumble on too much about volcanoes.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Robin Hood
TV Show: Robin Hood on BBC America (the second season just ended so you're going to have to Netflix it)
Like/Don't Like: Who doesn't love merry men?
Did you like the A-Team? Don't answer that. Everyone liked the A-Team. And if you didn't I'm not sure I want to be your friend. So, we've established that you like the A-Team. That means that you'll like Robin Hood. Because it is totally Medieval A-Team.
There's a band of outlaws, back from war and on the run from bad guys who are suppose to be good, and in their spare time they help out the poor by staging daring and elaborate rescues and not once getting nicked by an arrow. There is an underlying plot that runs throughout the series but this is basically the premise of every episode. And that may sound kind of dull but it worked for the A-Team because the characters where funny and, well, there's just something nice and familiar about it. Like your favorite breakfast cereal, how you keep going back to it over and over again because you know it's always going to be good even though the flavor never changes. It's the same here. There are funny characters and a few witty lines and sometimes they mix up the formula and kill someone off but for the most part it's just fun to watch.
And, it has the added bonus of Richard Armitage*. He's a bad guy, which makes it all the more intriguing. You want to hate him but you just can't.
*I was just talking to some friends the other day who have not watched North and South yet. I'm not sure how this is even possible because I thought I was pretty clear that everyone needed to watch it. I'm not just talking about sometime in the distant future but RIGHT NOW. GO TO BLOCKBUSTER RIGHT NOW AND GET IT. Do not make me get all Queen of the Universe on you.
Like/Don't Like: Who doesn't love merry men?
Did you like the A-Team? Don't answer that. Everyone liked the A-Team. And if you didn't I'm not sure I want to be your friend. So, we've established that you like the A-Team. That means that you'll like Robin Hood. Because it is totally Medieval A-Team.
There's a band of outlaws, back from war and on the run from bad guys who are suppose to be good, and in their spare time they help out the poor by staging daring and elaborate rescues and not once getting nicked by an arrow. There is an underlying plot that runs throughout the series but this is basically the premise of every episode. And that may sound kind of dull but it worked for the A-Team because the characters where funny and, well, there's just something nice and familiar about it. Like your favorite breakfast cereal, how you keep going back to it over and over again because you know it's always going to be good even though the flavor never changes. It's the same here. There are funny characters and a few witty lines and sometimes they mix up the formula and kill someone off but for the most part it's just fun to watch.
And, it has the added bonus of Richard Armitage*. He's a bad guy, which makes it all the more intriguing. You want to hate him but you just can't.
*I was just talking to some friends the other day who have not watched North and South yet. I'm not sure how this is even possible because I thought I was pretty clear that everyone needed to watch it. I'm not just talking about sometime in the distant future but RIGHT NOW. GO TO BLOCKBUSTER RIGHT NOW AND GET IT. Do not make me get all Queen of the Universe on you.
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