The goggle-box
Sep. 30th, 2011 11:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caz963I haven't posted much lately about Wot I 'ave Bin Watching on the telly. Partly, that's because I've not been watching much and partly it's because I just haven't got around to it.
But with the new seasons starting on both sides of the Pond, I thought it was time to ask what people are going to be watching and/or looking forward to later.
I hate to admit that I've still not seen the last couple of episodes of Torchwood. I enjoyed it for the most part, and I thought it was a fantastic premise, but even though I've not seen the end, I don't think the execution of the story is living up to its potential, if that makes any sense. Also - and it's hard to find the right way to say this - I was becoming less and less sold on the idea that "it's still Torchwood, but just with an American flavour", because it felt less and less like that to me. I really don't know exactly what it was. It wasn't the characters especially (although I think they killed off the one who had real potential in Vera!) and it wasn't the acting. I think it's just that back when TW was a solo UK production it felt a bit, I dunno, "special" - because we Brits don't normally produce a huge number of sci-fi shows, and sadly, many of those we have produced in the past haven't been all that good. (With some notable exceptions of course.) But the US has had much more success in producing sci-fi shows - some good, some not - and it seems to me that TW has simply been "absorbed" into the US sci-fi genre/market, and as such, it's now just one of many. Does that make any sense? I'm not trying to trash MD because it went to America; like I said, I've enjoyed what I've seen so far, but it just doesn't feel like Torchwood any more. And coming after CoE which IMO was one of the best things on telly in recent years, the contrast was even greater.
On the plus side, though, Gwen was completely awesome. On the negative - what on earth happened to Jack? He seemed to have lost his agency - in previous series, he's been a catalyst for action, he's been in the thick of things, he's been proactive; but in MD it felt as though he was taking a back seat most of the time. I suppose it could be argued that he was still traumatised from what he had to do in CoE, but I assumed that as he'd returned to Earth, he'd made his peace with that.
I've finally managed to catch up with what's been going on in White Collar. Stupid UK TV hasn't even shown season 2 yet, so I'm having to watch it by *alternative means* - and fortunately, Mozzie is as awesome as ever. I love how he calls El "Mrs Suit" :-) I think WC is a great example of how you can make a show that can - in plot terms - be a bit samey; but because the central characters and the relationships between them are so well written and acted, it doesn't matter. I mean, the basic plot is - Peter wants to catch the bad-guys, so they set something up using Neal's contacts and/or inside knowledge; Mozzie helps - the end. But I don't care because the characters are engaging.
Fringe is back - yay! And it's airing here only a few days after the US, so I can watch it "live" and not be months behind. On the downside though, is the fact that I'll have to put up with all the stupid hiatus (hiatii?!) that pepper the US seasons :( I'm not expecting an especially fast answer to the "where's Peter?" question, but I hope they don't string it out for too long. The season opener was good, though and it was interesting to see and hear about the way things have changed in the light of Peter's "non-existence", like Walter living in the lab and being afraid to go outside and the fact that it was Olivia who got him out of the mental hospital.
Also - I got the boxed set of S1-3 from Mr Caz for my birthday, so I hope to be able to spend some time reminding myself of how we got here in the first place.
Coming back to this side of the Pond, I can recommend the new series on BBC 3 The Fades. It's a fantasy/horror series (6 parts) about a 17 year old geek called Paul who can see dead people (!) - Fades - and is destined to fight them and stop them taking over the world. Or something like that. That's a crappy summary, but it's well worth checking out. It's quirky and quite funny (the guy who plays Paul's best mate is hilarious) - there have been two episodes so far which are probably on the iPlayer, and it's on Wednesdays on BBC 3 at 9pm.
I think I'm actually looking forward more to the new series of Merlin than I am to the finale of Doctor Who. I mean, Merlin is at least likely to make sense!
Oh, and there's Downton Abbey on Sunday nights, too. It's not at all taxing and looks wonderful; just the sort of thing you need at that point in the week. Yes, I know it's basically a soap-opera, but it's one with a LOT more polish than the usual rubbish that's dished up each week - and it's got Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton, if further inducement to watch is needed!
So what's everyone else watching/looking forward to?
But with the new seasons starting on both sides of the Pond, I thought it was time to ask what people are going to be watching and/or looking forward to later.
I hate to admit that I've still not seen the last couple of episodes of Torchwood. I enjoyed it for the most part, and I thought it was a fantastic premise, but even though I've not seen the end, I don't think the execution of the story is living up to its potential, if that makes any sense. Also - and it's hard to find the right way to say this - I was becoming less and less sold on the idea that "it's still Torchwood, but just with an American flavour", because it felt less and less like that to me. I really don't know exactly what it was. It wasn't the characters especially (although I think they killed off the one who had real potential in Vera!) and it wasn't the acting. I think it's just that back when TW was a solo UK production it felt a bit, I dunno, "special" - because we Brits don't normally produce a huge number of sci-fi shows, and sadly, many of those we have produced in the past haven't been all that good. (With some notable exceptions of course.) But the US has had much more success in producing sci-fi shows - some good, some not - and it seems to me that TW has simply been "absorbed" into the US sci-fi genre/market, and as such, it's now just one of many. Does that make any sense? I'm not trying to trash MD because it went to America; like I said, I've enjoyed what I've seen so far, but it just doesn't feel like Torchwood any more. And coming after CoE which IMO was one of the best things on telly in recent years, the contrast was even greater.
On the plus side, though, Gwen was completely awesome. On the negative - what on earth happened to Jack? He seemed to have lost his agency - in previous series, he's been a catalyst for action, he's been in the thick of things, he's been proactive; but in MD it felt as though he was taking a back seat most of the time. I suppose it could be argued that he was still traumatised from what he had to do in CoE, but I assumed that as he'd returned to Earth, he'd made his peace with that.
I've finally managed to catch up with what's been going on in White Collar. Stupid UK TV hasn't even shown season 2 yet, so I'm having to watch it by *alternative means* - and fortunately, Mozzie is as awesome as ever. I love how he calls El "Mrs Suit" :-) I think WC is a great example of how you can make a show that can - in plot terms - be a bit samey; but because the central characters and the relationships between them are so well written and acted, it doesn't matter. I mean, the basic plot is - Peter wants to catch the bad-guys, so they set something up using Neal's contacts and/or inside knowledge; Mozzie helps - the end. But I don't care because the characters are engaging.
Fringe is back - yay! And it's airing here only a few days after the US, so I can watch it "live" and not be months behind. On the downside though, is the fact that I'll have to put up with all the stupid hiatus (hiatii?!) that pepper the US seasons :( I'm not expecting an especially fast answer to the "where's Peter?" question, but I hope they don't string it out for too long. The season opener was good, though and it was interesting to see and hear about the way things have changed in the light of Peter's "non-existence", like Walter living in the lab and being afraid to go outside and the fact that it was Olivia who got him out of the mental hospital.
Also - I got the boxed set of S1-3 from Mr Caz for my birthday, so I hope to be able to spend some time reminding myself of how we got here in the first place.
Coming back to this side of the Pond, I can recommend the new series on BBC 3 The Fades. It's a fantasy/horror series (6 parts) about a 17 year old geek called Paul who can see dead people (!) - Fades - and is destined to fight them and stop them taking over the world. Or something like that. That's a crappy summary, but it's well worth checking out. It's quirky and quite funny (the guy who plays Paul's best mate is hilarious) - there have been two episodes so far which are probably on the iPlayer, and it's on Wednesdays on BBC 3 at 9pm.
I think I'm actually looking forward more to the new series of Merlin than I am to the finale of Doctor Who. I mean, Merlin is at least likely to make sense!
Oh, and there's Downton Abbey on Sunday nights, too. It's not at all taxing and looks wonderful; just the sort of thing you need at that point in the week. Yes, I know it's basically a soap-opera, but it's one with a LOT more polish than the usual rubbish that's dished up each week - and it's got Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton, if further inducement to watch is needed!
So what's everyone else watching/looking forward to?
