coffeeandink: Misc. tv

Micole (

coffeeandink) wrote,
@ 2006-02-13 08:52:00

Entry tags:

other tv

Misc. tv
I have nothing to say on this week's BSG, and therefore I will say nothing.

I tried Grey's Anatomy last night since so many of you have praised it, and indeed it has many strong female characters and many strong characters of color, although I am not sure if it will overcome my antipathy towards medical/legal/crime shows and shows without spaceships or dragons in them. If it were Grey's Anatomy IN SPACE, I would be so much more likely to watch. ("Time to put on my space scrubs, Dr. Grey!" "Hand me the space scalpel, Dr. Blue!") I will say, though, that since apparently no woman on the show has the sense to want him, I will happily take George as my boyfriend. He is quiet and listens and is smart enough to put the listening to use, and looks very cushy and comfortable and has hair that rumples delightfully.

I guess I will Netflix S1 when it comes out, and see if I still feel like watching it.

(Post a new comment)

	buymeaclue 2006-02-13 02:01 pm UTC (link)
	I haven't watched Grey's since season one, so I dunno if they've changed the character at all, but...I used to squeal at least several times an episode. "George!" (Reply to this)(Thread)

	coffeeandink 2006-02-13 03:38 pm UTC (link)
	And now, whether or not I watch another episode, I can understand this reaction. Oh, George! (Reply to this)(Parent)

Spoiler comments ahoy!

upsy_daisy
2006-02-13 02:13 pm UTC (link)

Yay! I hope you stick with GA; I've been watching it since the first ep, and I have to say it gets better and stronger each week, as the cast and the writers really settle into the characters and the stories.

And yes, George is wonderful. I don't know why they all ignore him so.

As a copshow-procedural fan :), I have to tell you this is unlike any of the others on the air right now; this is a drama in the way that LA Law and Hill Street Blues, and even my beloved Third Watch were dramas. That is, the show isn't about the weekly cases, it's about the longer-arc stories and about the character's *reactions* to the weekly case. And there's a wonderful mix of tone -- it goes from tension and woe to just the right dose of levity to a splash of romance, all one after the other and feeling very seamless. Last night's scenes just before the explosion were a perfect example of that: we flash-cut from Bailey's husband flatlining on the table to Bailey giving birth to Meredith slowly removing the bomb, and all the drums of Meredith's fear, and not knowing who was gonna die, and George sweetly encouraging Bailey and trying to show her how right she was to have the baby, and then right in the middle, Bailey barks, "Stop looking at my va-jay-jay!" Ha! Exactly the right moment to break the tension and get us to laugh.

That said, Meredith is a giant black hole in the middle of the show, which is sad since she is the titular character. Although I did like her this week.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	Re: Spoiler comments ahoy! upsy_daisy 2006-02-13 02:19 pm UTC (link)
	Hmmm, you know, now that I re-read this, I'm not even sure LA Law and HSB are accurate comparisons. That's one of the things I like about GA -- there really aren't a lot of shows like it around, that bounce between tones and stories with as much deftness as it does. (Reply to this)(Parent)

Re: Spoiler comments ahoy!

coffeeandink
2006-02-13 03:37 pm UTC (link)

See, the problem is ... I don't generally like TV dramas. They make me feel claustrophobic and disassociated, like shopping malls. Their little enclosed worlds have the wrong dimensions and I start panicking.

I really liked Meredith -- mainly because she was abrasive and weird and unattractive and scared and brave -- until the last scene, when suddenly she was a TV Heroine Talking to Her Love Interest, and it was horrible.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: Spoiler comments ahoy!

upsy_daisy
2006-02-13 03:51 pm UTC (link)

Their little enclosed worlds have the wrong dimensions and I start panicking.

Heh. And that would be the exact opposite reason why I don't generally like sci-fi: everything feels unfamiliar and unnatural, and the world is just too big and limitless. :-)

I really liked Meredith -- mainly because she was abrasive and weird and unattractive and scared and brave -- until the last scene, when suddenly she was a TV Heroine Talking to Her Love Interest, and it was horrible.

Sadly, the final scene is how she usually is. But the things that made her likeable this ep -- all the same things you mentioned -- are usually reserved for Christina, who is wonderfully abrasive and obnoxious and aggressive and smart. It felt like they switched spots this week.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

Re: Spoiler comments ahoy!

the_red_shoes
2006-02-14 12:27 am UTC (link)

See, the problem is ... I don't generally like TV dramas. They make me feel claustrophobic and disassociated, like shopping malls. Their little enclosed worlds have the wrong dimensions and I start panicking.

I feel that way about sitcoms. I don't think I have watched one since Roseanne. (And that was more for the feminist element.) I missed the whole Friends phenomena totally. It just makes me....twitchy.

OTOH, I am a complete Law & Order and CSI slut, but I think that's more because I like police procedurals and faux-legalistic setups.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	yhlee 2006-02-13 03:01 pm UTC (link)
	Space scalpel! dies I love your brain. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	coffeeandink 2006-02-13 06:34 pm UTC (link)
	It was a joke on the Firefly set that everything sounds better with "space" in front of it. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	the_red_shoes 2006-02-14 12:25 am UTC (link)
	Oh, d00d, that explains the wonderful "space wrench" and "space screwdriver" and other phrases like that I read in the FF shooting scripts online.... (Reply to this)(Parent)

superplin
2006-02-13 04:06 pm UTC (link)

If it were Grey's Anatomy IN SPACE, I would be so much more likely to watch.

Heh, whereas I wouldn't be able to watch a single episode of that show.

I love Grey's Anatomy. I think it's definitely the best thing on TV: it has carefully crafted stories, and complex characters, and metaphor, and the whole shebang.

And no woman on the show may want him, but every woman I know in real life who watches the show is super into George. I would like one for my very own self, please.

(Reply to this)

katie_m
2006-02-13 04:07 pm UTC (link)

If it were Grey's Anatomy IN SPACE, I would be so much more likely to watch. ("Time to put on my space scrubs, Dr. Grey!" "Hand me the space scalpel, Dr. Whatever!")

Hee. Yes. This is why I try very hard not to judge people who Just Can't Do SF, because my brain can be so resistant to fiction, particularly visual fiction, that doesn't at least involve a little magical realism. Or random musical numbers. Whatever.

(Reply to this)

popfantastic
2006-02-13 04:23 pm UTC (link)

The problem with pimping GA is this:

S1: "This is cool and all, but I can't tell if they know what the hell they're doing with their gender...stuff."
S2: "Oh, they do know. Huh."

I mean, S1 is only 9 episodes and I've watched devlotedly from the pilot, but I think there is a reason that S2 has inspired the following.

I share an inability to get into medical/lega/crime dramas long term with any consistency, and I will say that I think Grey's is a cut above on that front. They do such a good job balancing the episodic Patient-of-the-Week stuff with the ongoing character arcs that it's a different breed, and you may find it more tolerable than the usual examples of its kind.

But it should still be set in space, of course.

(Reply to this)

(Deleted post)

thomasyan
2006-02-13 05:08 pm UTC (link)

Gah, I hate not being able to edit comments. Just in case the unclosed link would cause problems, here's a hopefully non-broken version of my comment:

Regarding BSG, I say: Orange, yes, orange! Indeedy, I am glad you did not ~~say banana~~ use that goddamn flashback technique again! (See the banana-banana-banana-orange knock-knock joke at wikipedia if you are unfamiliar with it.)

Oh, GA is the series where I skimmed the cliffhanger episode after the Super Bowl, and didn't like enough to add to my busy viewing schedule, not even to at least watch the conclusion. Maybe if I had actually watched it would have liked it more. I dunno.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	the_red_shoes 2006-02-13 05:05 pm UTC (link)
	I have nothing to say on this week's BSG, and therefore I will say nothing Yeah, that was....that was....yeah. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	coffeeandink 2006-02-13 11:13 pm UTC (link)
	I don't have bad things to say about it. I don't have good things to say about it. I think I am probably better off not watching BSG in real time. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

the_red_shoes
2006-02-14 12:23 am UTC (link)

I don't have bad things to say about it. I don't have good things to say about it

Ah, you're better off than me, then, as my reaction was progressively: "wtf? wtff? wtff??" and so on.

I have v mixed feelings about BSG at the moment. I either REALLY like it or REALLY don't. This would seem to argue that waiting til the S2 DVDs come out in full would be best, since I wouldn't get frustrated trying to scrounge around for episodes and then get depressed/annoyed if they suck. I generally feel much less guilty about skipping or ffing through disappointing eps on DVD.

Also, I get the feeling Ron Moore is not someone I would turn my back on in an enclosed space, because he is nuts.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	callmesandy 2006-02-13 05:24 pm UTC (link)
	You can netflix s1 (it's only 9 episodes) starting Tuesday for Grey's Anatomy. It's amusing to note that I tend to watch shows like DS9, SGA & Babylon 5 and think "i would like this more if it weren't in space and set in contemporary times. maybe with some magic!" (Reply to this)(Thread)

	thomasyan 2006-02-13 06:15 pm UTC (link)
	Contemporary times, maybe with some magic? Does Charmed fit the bill? I watched it for a while and then drifted away. Did you ever see Strange Luck? I really liked that show and was disappointed it never got a second season. I'm also disappointed it is not out on DVD. I'd like to at least rent it. (Maybe it's on VHS, but I don't like videotape.) (Reply to this)(Parent)

	harriet_spy 2006-02-13 07:34 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, these days, if they don't have superpowers or are at least from another dimension, I just can't be interested. Thus, for example, my utter inability to sit through an episode of Veronica Mars. (The designers from Project Runway are, in fact, from another dimension.) (Reply to this)(Thread)

	the_red_shoes 2006-02-14 12:29 am UTC (link)
	Someone said on a blog recently (kicking myself for not being able to remember who) that he liked VM but it made him v sad to realize she would never be resurrected, let alone twice, or send her boyfriend to an actual hell dimension or fight vampires. And I knew what he meant. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	harriet_spy 2006-02-14 12:32 am UTC (link)
	...or have her best friend turn out to be an alien. I think we all know that's the closer match. ;) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	the_red_shoes 2006-02-14 12:33 am UTC (link)
	HEH. (Reply to this)(Parent)

thassalia
2006-02-13 08:44 pm UTC (link)

Grey's Anatomy totally started out as this pretty and appealing show with not much substance and has since become my addiction of choice during the week. And much of that is the complexity of the female characters (and really all of the characters) and their relationships. There's really not much medicine involved:) But the show is also surprisingly beautiful. You just have to get past the penchant for voiceovers, and the fact that it's supposed to be Meredith's show, when really, it's about everyone (but particularly Christina!! But then, I adore Christina and you didn't really get to see her in full aggressive, ambitious and difficult mode. Which sounds so much less appealing than it is:)

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	coffeeandink 2006-02-13 08:55 pm UTC (link)
	No, no, I liked Cristina! She was very cool. I am sure the show has complex male characters, but that is not that rare. Finding women who are real people on TV -- that's much harder. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	thassalia 2006-02-13 09:16 pm UTC (link)
	Frankly, it's why I'm watching (aside from noting with incredulous wonder than Patrick Dempsey got hot:) The various female characters are complex, flawed, interesting, ambitious, funny... they're incredibly well drawn without being stereotypes. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	wemblee 2006-02-16 08:58 am UTC (link)
	"Space scrubs" and "space scalpel" made my night. :D (Reply to this)

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