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rhienellethEveryone's already been posting the link to Joss Whedon's top 25 TV character list (not including any of his own), but I just have to comment on one particular item: Dude, he listed Anna Devane from General Hospital - I feel like so much less of a cheesy dork now for continuing to watch this show, off and on, for all these years (I was indoctrinated early at my mother's feet). Though I suppose Joss himself is rather geeky or dorky, so why it should make me feel better that he watches it, too...well, I'm not going to look too deeply into that. The man created Firefly. 'Nuff said.
Speaking of GH, I've been damn impressed with certain stories this past year - the rift between Sonny and Jason, the rift between Jason and Sam - ok, so I really don't like the rift between Jason and Sam, but a couple of scenes have moved me involving that storyline, like the one a couple of weeks ago when they were both on the balcony where she was shot in his arms, and he just lost it for a second - that was great. The characters are growing and changing through this story, and really, that should be the whole point, right?
But enough of my guilty soap opera secret. Let's talk about the new show that premiered last night, Vanished. (I have yet to see Prison Break - don't any of you dare spoil me!)
Speaking of GH, I've been damn impressed with certain stories this past year - the rift between Sonny and Jason, the rift between Jason and Sam - ok, so I really don't like the rift between Jason and Sam, but a couple of scenes have moved me involving that storyline, like the one a couple of weeks ago when they were both on the balcony where she was shot in his arms, and he just lost it for a second - that was great. The characters are growing and changing through this story, and really, that should be the whole point, right?
But enough of my guilty soap opera secret. Let's talk about the new show that premiered last night, Vanished. (I have yet to see Prison Break - don't any of you dare spoil me!)
I am really going to risk exposing some of cheesy television habits in this post. First I talk about GH, and now I'm going to mention the fact that the Senator on this show is Matt Cutter from Sheena! (What, you've never watched any cheesy SF/F type shows? Xena? Hercules? The Relic Hunter? Beastmaster? Listing these really makes me feel better about my eight year off and on again loyalty to Charmed.) Anyway, Matt Cutter! Woe! Your arms and torso look so much less hard and built in the six years since last I saw you! But you do pretty good playing the Senator who may or may not have involvement in his wife's disappearance, so I suppose I can live without the gratuitously flashed muscle.
My exposure to QaF was limited to the occassional episode at a friend's house with HBO, but I remember being really impressed with Gale Herold (sp?) on the show - we'll see how he does here. His character is nicely angsty and hard and intelligent so far, a combination sure to win me if done well. I like his partner...can't remember her name. She is a strong character, not easily intimidated, and seems vaguely amused by his quirks. It's sort of refreshing to have a male and female duo working together without any hit-us-over-the-head sexual tension going on. I'm only getting a "we've worked together before and we are an efficient and effective team" vibe thus far. The reporter chick is annoying as hell. I'm not all that pleased she's on the show. The son hasn't had much to do as yet. The daughter is a spoiled brat, don't think I'm going to like her, either.
All in all, it wasn't bad for a pilot episode. I'll tune in again and see where they take us. I do have to say I'm getting kind of tired of the gimmicky shows. 24's success was definitely a double-edged sword. Prison Break is fun, but very, very unrealistic. Because it has to be to keep with its premise. The problem with shows based around such a finite situation - breaking your brother our of jail, discovering what happened to a Senator's kidnapped wife, stopping the terrorists/conspirators/whatever in 24 hours, etc, etc, is that they are very limiting for storytelling. And you can't go outside the box, because the show's title is whatever that finite situation is. Your characters growth and interaction is extremely limited to this one experience, whatever it might be. Shows like Alias, the X-files, BSG, Firefly - they have (or had) strong casts that gave us a group of characters in an open ended kind of situation, that could and often did go anywhere as the shows progressed. Easier to write, easier to watch because they were easier to write - you don't find yourself as the viewer going "So what happens after Sydney completes this next mission??" in quite the same way that you wonder "So what happens after they break out of prison??"
Anyway, I hope this is a fad that is going to go away soon. It is still possible to come up with a premise that isn't pretty much limited to a single season. Look at Heroes - that show has some serious potential, and I'm really looking forward to watching.
This isn't to say that I'm not intrigued with Vanished, cause I am. At least enough to give it another go. I just found myself wishing that they could find the Senator's wife over the course of several eps, and then move on to a new case. I'd like to see how the investigators respond to different cases, different people, different situations.
My exposure to QaF was limited to the occassional episode at a friend's house with HBO, but I remember being really impressed with Gale Herold (sp?) on the show - we'll see how he does here. His character is nicely angsty and hard and intelligent so far, a combination sure to win me if done well. I like his partner...can't remember her name. She is a strong character, not easily intimidated, and seems vaguely amused by his quirks. It's sort of refreshing to have a male and female duo working together without any hit-us-over-the-head sexual tension going on. I'm only getting a "we've worked together before and we are an efficient and effective team" vibe thus far. The reporter chick is annoying as hell. I'm not all that pleased she's on the show. The son hasn't had much to do as yet. The daughter is a spoiled brat, don't think I'm going to like her, either.
All in all, it wasn't bad for a pilot episode. I'll tune in again and see where they take us. I do have to say I'm getting kind of tired of the gimmicky shows. 24's success was definitely a double-edged sword. Prison Break is fun, but very, very unrealistic. Because it has to be to keep with its premise. The problem with shows based around such a finite situation - breaking your brother our of jail, discovering what happened to a Senator's kidnapped wife, stopping the terrorists/conspirators/whatever in 24 hours, etc, etc, is that they are very limiting for storytelling. And you can't go outside the box, because the show's title is whatever that finite situation is. Your characters growth and interaction is extremely limited to this one experience, whatever it might be. Shows like Alias, the X-files, BSG, Firefly - they have (or had) strong casts that gave us a group of characters in an open ended kind of situation, that could and often did go anywhere as the shows progressed. Easier to write, easier to watch because they were easier to write - you don't find yourself as the viewer going "So what happens after Sydney completes this next mission??" in quite the same way that you wonder "So what happens after they break out of prison??"
Anyway, I hope this is a fad that is going to go away soon. It is still possible to come up with a premise that isn't pretty much limited to a single season. Look at Heroes - that show has some serious potential, and I'm really looking forward to watching.
This isn't to say that I'm not intrigued with Vanished, cause I am. At least enough to give it another go. I just found myself wishing that they could find the Senator's wife over the course of several eps, and then move on to a new case. I'd like to see how the investigators respond to different cases, different people, different situations.
