New TV Watch: No Ordinary Family

This was one of the shows I was most looking forward to. The plot seemed like it would be a good live-action version of The Incredibles (one of my favorite movies). And Michael Chiklis! Love Him. Oh, and Romany Malco, who needs to be on my TV more often. Well, I started watching it on Hulu this morning, and got about 25 minutes in and just had to stop. Most people are saying that the family aspect of the show is the weakest, and I won't disagree with that. They were doing this lame faux-documentary thing, so it kinda felt like they were trying to do Modern Family, and it really slowed down the whole thing. It didn't add anything and just felt lame.

This is one that maybe if people say it gets better, I'll check back in later. But damn. What a disappointment.

New TV Watch (late ed.): Raising Hope

I didn't write about this show last week cuz I'd kinda forgotten about it. Actually, I hadn't intended on watching it, due to lukewarm reviews. But then I read a review that made me decide to catch it on Hulu, and as it turned out, it's a pretty damn funny show. It's done by the same dude who did My Name Is Earl, which I enjoyed for a few years before it got kind of stale.

Anyway, it's one of those shows where if you're easily offended, you'll probably hate it. I like it enough that I'll stick around for the foreseeable future.

RIP: The Office

The Office had a pretty good run. It was able to make me laugh quite a lot through most of its run, and it was even able to transcend a few sitcom tropes along the way. Jim and Pam got together. Companies merged. Probably a few other things I can't recall. But then last season, it just fell apart somehow. The company was bought out and rather than having that be a real shake-up for the show, it was resolved with no real conflict. It became just another stoopid show where everything basically resets at the end of the episode. And having proved it could do better, that was just unacceptable. I watched all last season, but I did consider giving up a few times. And I was all set to give this current season a chance.

But then I started watching the season premiere, and I just didn't care. I didn't want to watch. I didn't want to watch them do the same old shit anymore. The show basically had its high point last season when Jim and Pam got married. After that, it pretty much went to shit. Even the baby episode was mostly lame and forgettable.

So, byebye Office. I reserve the right to watch any future episodes that contain Amy Ryan, though, because she was an awesome character and I really want to see Michael end up with her.

RIP: Weeds

I watched Weeds through the end of the fourth season. I really loved the first two seasons, and while the third wasn't quite as good, I was still into the show. And I wasn't certain if the show could be as good away from it's suburban setting, I was curious to see where it would go in the fourth season. And I think I mostly enjoyed the fourth season, but towards the end I got a bit annoyed with it. And then when Nancy pulled out the ultrasound to show the dude who was probably about to have her killed that she was pregnant with his baby, I got really annoyed with it. I just didn't want to know where it would go from there.

Well, over the summer hubbie decided to watch the fifth season on Netlix streaming, and he really enjoyed it. And since it had been awhile, and I really did like the characters, I decided to give it a shot. And I mostly enjoyed it. But now in the sixth season, it's just wore me down. The characters DO NOT CHANGE. For the most part, they don't learn from their many, many mistakes. And Andy. Andy was my favorite character. He had an actual chance at happiness with Alanis Morrissette. Then he did something really stoopid, and Shane did something really stoopid, and suddenly, the Botwins are on the lam. Again. And Andy could have stayed and tried to work things out, but no, he had to go along with Nancy, who I started to kind of loathe.

And I watched a few episodes of the current season, and I just don't care. Even the presence of Linda Hamilton isn't enough to keep me around. Besides, she's on Chuck this year, so I won't be missing her. I dunno, I don't think it's necessary that characters change. But at some point, they need to do something, I dunno, unexpected. Something to keep me interested.

And another thing is that I decided to re-watch the series from the beginning, and after an episode I realized: these are really the exact same people. They were fucked up from the very first episode and they were basically Doomed to it. So, I'm done with Weeds for now. I might go back some time, but I dunno. I'd rather just remember that I liked it once.

New TV Watch: Undercovers

I forgot to write about this one last Wednesday. I was excited to watch Undercovers because the leads are very pretty and the trailers indicated it could be good, if mindless, fun. I guess I was excited until I started reading some of the reviews, that is. Most of them said it was mindless fun, but not as good as it could be. And they were right. The leads are indeed pretty, but they're kinda bland underneath. I didn't end the show just dying to see what would happen next. This one's on Hulu, so it's still around in 5 weeks and I feel like it, i might check in again, but unless someone else says it got better, I probably won't.

I will say it's rather disappointing on another level that this show wasn't better. As far as I know, this was the first show of its kind with two African-American leads. A show on a major network. If it doesn't do well, some programming idiot's gonna think it's because America wasn't ready for it or some shit. Then again, it could do well simply because it is kinda bland and breezy. I mean, Castle is entering a third season. Now, I like Castle cuz even though it's mindless, the characters aren't bland. I had hoped that this Undercovers show could have been fun, with good characters, but it just wasn't.

New TV Watch: Boardwalk Empire

I finally got around to watching the pilot for Boardwalk Empire, and man, it was good. I mean, DUH. I didn't expect anything less. I will say that I'm not rip-roaringly excited for the next episode, but I definitely want to keep watching. Steve Buscemi is, of course, a total bad ass and I adore him.

Update: Yeah, I did like the pilot, but so far I still haven't watched the newest episode, and yes, it's up On Demand. And a new episode is on tonight. It might end up being like Treme for me. I could never watch Treme "live" because it was on at the same time as Breaking Bad, and I COULD NOT miss Breaking Bad. And I never really felt like watching Treme On Demand, even though I really enjoyed the show. I'd end up saving two or three and then watching them all at once. I just enjoyed it more that way. It's what you call a "DVD show", because it flows better when you can watch more than one episode at a time. So maybe Boardwalk Empire will be the same way for me. I'll RIP it if I end up deciding I don't like it, but I definitely need to see more episodes before I can make that kind of decision.

New TV Watch: Nikita

This was one I hadn't planned on watching. I quite enjoyed the original French movie, and just the fact that this show is on the CW kind of turned me off to it. I love Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries, but when I think CW I generally think One Tree Hill and 90210 and generic crap with generic, interchangeable teen actors that I can't fucking tell apart. So yeah, this wasn't high on my list.

But then Mo Ryan from TV Squad gave it a pretty good review, and Alan Sepinwall didn't exactly love it, but said it was better than expected. I wasn't watching anything else at the time, and it was on right after the season premiere of The Vampire Diaries, so I gave it a shot.

And it was pretty good. The actress playing Nikita was pretty kickass and the story was interesting enough. I did like that they pick up Nikita 3 years after she's escaped from Division rather than having yet another origin story. I don't know how long I'll watch this one, though, since I watch two other shows at the same time and I may not want to be watching that much TV. Oh, who am I kidding?? I loves me some TV. I am less certain of this one, so if I feel meh about it after 3 eps, I'll probably stop watching.

UPDATE: I actually had zero interest in watching the second episode, so I guess I'm already done with this one. I can always catch up with it later if I want. It's just so weird when I really like something and then never want to watch it again.

New TV Watch: Terriers

Every year I watch a handful of new shows. What I decide to watch depends on various things, such as creators, writers, directors, actors, storyline, etc. And of course, the all-important, what time is it on and does it conflict with something else I watch? That last isn't necessarily a barrier anymore though, since a great deal of new shows can be viewed later via Hulu or On Demand.

In the case of Terriers, all I really knew was that Donal Logue was in it, and Alan Sepinwall of What's Alan Watching really liked it. So I watched it and immediately liked it. The two leads have great chemistry and the story was okay. I can forgive A LOT if the characters are convincing. I'm not sure I would have made it through the first season of Supernatural if the two brothers weren't so awesome.

I've liked Donal Logue for a long time. He has a certain snarkiness and charm, and on Terriers he also gets to be a bit more dramatic than usual.

I don't think I'll rate these things cuz it seems a bit pointless, I'll just say I really liked it and if I had a DVR this would get a season pass.