caz963 | Telly ramblings

Current Mood: sad

Entry tags:

Telly ramblings

I said I was going to write this when I was feeling more awake, but I lied. There's stuff on my mind, so I thought I'd get it written down before I forgot it.
Not that it's important or earth-shattering, you understand - I just wanted to say it.

It comes as a surprise to nobody... the death knell for Studio 60 sounded a long time ago, but given that the sets have been struck and Brad has been talking once more about shaking his famed Etch-a-Sketch (seriously, I'm thinking of sending him one!) NBC must surely be going to make it official sometime soon.

I watch very little TV these days anyway, none of it what I'd call "must see". S60 hasn't aired over here yet, but I'm thinking it might take Ugly Betty's Friday night slot on C4, because that's got about another six weeks to run; that'll take us into late June/early July, which is when I think C4 said they'd be airing it.

I know there are people on my f-list who didn't like or couldn't get into S60 for various reasons. We can't all like the same things, and there's no reason why we should. But I liked it. It took a while to find it's way, yes, and there were still things that were wrong with it (*cough* pregnantleadinglady *cough*) - but I was willing to give it a chance, because when it worked, it really worked. It had potential, and I'm sad that it's not being given the chance to grow. I understand the commercial pressures and reasons for what's happened. I worked in the entertainment industry (albeit a different division of it) - supposedly a more "artistic" arm of it, but even that's all about money in the end. It all is. And that's the way it is. But knowing all that doesn't stop me from being pissed and sad that it's not coming back.

That nice article in The Times last weekend confirmed my long-held suspicion that the show would probably be better received outside the US. I seem to recall that WW was always held in high esteem here, even when it wasn't getting such a good reaction in the US. Don't know why - maybe it's because we're a bit further away from it all over here and distance gives us a clearer view.

We've always been pretty dependent on US imports over here, TV scheduling wise, but I think that over the past ten years or so, that's become even more the case. Of course, my take on it is undoubtedly skewed by my own viewing preferences - I don't watch the big soaps, I don't watch quiz or game shows, I'm not a fan of "homey Sunday night drama". We don’t produce 22 episode seasons over here (apart from a couple of medical dramas) – our most successful recent drama series, Life on Mars ran for two seasons of eight episodes each, The Office was almost the same (two seasons of six, plus a couple of specials) – and there’s been very little else home-grown that’s grabbed my attention. I love Doctor Who, but if for some strange reason, it got canned tomorrow, it wouldn’t bother me.

I loved Six Feet Under (although I still need to catch up with the final season), NYPD Blue was great, and I watched it all until C4 started pissing about with the scheduling big time, so I don't think I've seen the last three seasons. I watched the first two seasons of Without a Trace, which I enjoyed, but due to work stuff last year, I couldn't keep up. My point being that I watch very little UK produced stuff (very unpatriotic of me!), so I look towards the US for decent telly. From snippets I've read here and elsewhere, there seems to be little to get worked up about for the forthcoming season. I hope I'm wrong, because I could really do with a new show to get excited about.

coloneljack said it right earlier when she said it felt weird to find herself without a fandom for the first time in eight years.
I can't say that, because I didn't even know there was such a thing as fandom until two or three years ago, but I do know how she feels. I was trying to remember if I'd ever been as invested in a TV show before West Wing came along, and I really don't think I was. The only show I can remember having even half as much interest in was Babylon 5 (anyone remember that?) which was a great show that suffered from being pissed about by its network, meaning that the fifth and final season was a bit of a botch-job. But it had vision, and, a little like WW, was written in almost its entirety by one person.

We've had some very good UK-made dramas that I've enjoyed a lot - a few years back, Paul Abbott's State of Play was wonderful for example, and I've already mentioned Life on Mars and Doctor Who.
I watch CSI, DH, House, Ugly Betty... but I'd miss none of them if they disappeared from the schedule.

It's been nearly a year since WW ended. And there's still nothing - for me - that fills the void it's left behind. It's stupid, and I'm a total saddo, I know. It pisses me off that I feel that way, because I'm old enough to know better. But there it is.

*sniff*

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's been nearly a year since WW ended. And there's still nothing - for me - that fills the void it's left behind. It's stupid, and I'm a total saddo, I know. It pisses me off that I feel that way, because I'm old enough to know better. But there it is.

Yes. Exactly.

AS you know i was heavily into a fandom before WW, but in the end that became a painful joke thanks to wanky ptb... so WW was just a breath of fresh air. Plus, WW was good :D

I miss it. I miss Brad. I want him to go win an oscar, or another Emmy, i'm not fussy. TO shake that damn etch a sketch fast and do something new.

WW was good

Ain't that the truth.

I can't believe it's been gone a year and I still miss it so much. And it's crazy, but it's only here that I feel like I can say that because you guys understand and feel the same. In "real life" I'm far too sensible a person to be sad about something so trivial (in the grand scheme of things), if that makes any sense at all.

And Brad can shake whatever he wants, provided it's in my direction!!

it's only here that I feel like I can say that because you guys understand and feel the same. In "real life" I'm far too sensible a person to be sad about something so trivial

For me as well. None of my friends here really would understand, despite a great many of them really loving the show. They just aren't fangirls at heart. *g*

I miss WW, I miss Brad on my TV, but I also miss having a television program to look forward to each week. I know it sounds a bit pathetic, but some weeks knowing I had something good and interesting to watch at the end of the day was what helped me wade through all the crap at work, etc.. *sigh*

I miss WW, I miss Brad on my TV, but I also miss having a television program to look forward to each week.<./i>

Yes, that's it - and if you're pathetic, so am I and so are a lot of us. I guess we feel like that because, it's basically trivial when we think of all the horrible stuff going on in the world that needs fixing - "it don't amount to a hill o' beans."

I don't know anyone in RL who watched WW (apart from hubby, and I only got him into it a couple of years back) - so all my conversations about it have been online ones.

At least I have DVDs and Sunday night reruns. And S60 is due to air here June/July. But after that, it looks pretty bleak. :(

We do have ONE advantage of course when Brad and Jane both get free of their TV obligations... Both of them have expressed and interest in going back to NYC to do theatre.... I can't THINK of a better reason to go on an American Holiday can you?

But the WW thing is true... I direct you to my friends post of the last couple of days...

http://karlski.livejournal.com/

A boy brought over to the darkside... Just call him Anikin!

I couldn't have put it better myself. Back in the day, B5 was my must see television and then I was hooked on BTVS, but I'd never heard of fandoms. I agree that now there's not a great deal I'd cry over if it wasn't there, but if anyone threatened to take away my WW DVDs, I'd be more than a tad miffed.

I didn't get into Buffy - I saw the odd ep and liked it, but it was on at a stupid time of day and I was never home from work to see it.
But I did love B5 - like WW, it was a show I got into and then got hubby hooked on later on. WW was my first foray into fandom though, and I suspect that S60 will be my last.

And if anyone tried to take away my WW DVDs, there's be a bloodbath.

Sigh. That's really all I can do anymore.

Yes, I agree. Sigh, break out the WW DVDs, drool over Brad... and, in my case, write porn (http://caz963.livejournal.com/82749.html)! :)

A girl's gotta have a hobby, after all...

I'm making it my life's work to convert everyone I know to watching TWW. That gives me more people to drool over Brad with :-)

I still need to read that! I just haven't had a lot of time with the craziness that is school. I might have to do that tonight because mmmm.

Heh. Doooo it baby! You know you want to!

But as a fellow wingnut and J/D lover who found your site through your wonderful fic (thank you so much, BTW, please do check out the US Office. It's been given short shrift over here time slot wise and it doesn't have the sheer brilliance of the original, but once you get past the terribly derivative pilot, it's really a great program and one of the few things worth watching on television. And the central couple have chemistry that rivals Josh and Donna's.

Well, firstly, don't apologise for being anonymous! I'm quite happy to meet lurkers. And thank you for the kind words about my fic - much appreciated.

I think the US "Office" has been shown over here, but only the first season. I will try to watch it if it ever resurfaces, although I don't know if I'll ever be able to cope with anyone else as David Brent!
And at least in the UK version, Tim and Dawm got together at the end! I gather Pam and Jim (?) aren't there yet...

Nothing could ever be the WW. And we all know that. And even though my TV plate is pretty full these days (and at one point during WW season six WW was pretty much the only show I watched) I still miss West Wing.

I highly recommend House. Not as a West Wing substitute or anything, cause its obviously a totally different kind of show. But it has great (if insane) plots and hillariously quotable dialogue, and its pretty easy to jump right in. The US Office is great. I haven't seen The British version, so I don't know how it compares, but its got great characters and a really sharp sense of humor. I got into it right after WW went off the air.

I still really miss West Wing. I've got Lost, House, and Office to obsess over, but I still miss it. Cause there's nothing else like it (but thats okay!)

I do like House - Hugh Laurie is fabulous and I like the snark, but still... the shows I mentioned are all things I could take or leave - I wouldn't be upset if they disappeared tomorrow. I tend to be doing something else while they're on, because they just don't require the same level of concentration that you need for teh Sorkin! Not that I'd want all my TV to be like that - I think an hour a week for something smart and funny isn't too much to ask... but clearly it is. *sigh*.
I did start watching Lost, but got about two thirds of the way through the first season, missed a couple of episodes and never picked it up again. I didn't see the second season of DH, although I'm watching S3 - my TV watching last year consisted basically of WW, because I was buried under so much paperwork and had very little spare time.

I just can't believe I miss a damn TV show so much. It makes no sense whatsoever, and like I said, I'm old enough to know better. But WW was unique. And I seem to have been stuck by quite a few fic ideas lately, so I can at least keep my obsession going that way for a while.

Well, *I* think it makes sense. When you watch a serial show every week for years it becomes part of your routine and your life. And then it disappears and you have no control over it. I sort of felt the way you feel when Friends went off the air, because the next TV season the only show I watched was WW (and I sort of watched it casually).

And yeah, Lost, House, DH, these are all different kinds of shows that require a different kind of thinking. I doubt there will be another show like WW for a while, because it takes a particular type of writer, and networks are always wary.

It's not just that they're wary - it's that they're stupid. I'm fed up with the lesser of 'who cares', too - or in this case, pandering to the lowest common denominator. And if that makes me an elitist, then so be it. :(

Bitter - moi?

We're on episode 14 of Studio 60 (The Harriet Dinner part 2 will be shown Monday). Its broadcast on TV3 ( http://www.tv3.ie ) .

I often find it bizarre that Irish channels get the US imports before the UK. CH4 have to have more money than TV3, I wonder why they've waited so long to show it.

I remember during one season of the West Wing that Ireland was a full season ahead of CH4.

I guess the UK produces alot more tv than Ireland so we have more space on our schedules to fill.

Yeah, it's odd how you get stuff before we do. But thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I don't have to wait to see US stuff any more :)

I've been very good, and am watching Studio 60 and Heroes as it airs on Irish channels.

It normally works out well though because if I miss something I can always catch it when its on CH4.

Now if only I cold figure out how to miss the Eurovision tonight, its going to be on all the channels :(

Now if only I cold figure out how to miss the Eurovision tonight

If you figure it out, let me know, will you??

I think I can stop myself from watching the actual songs part *shivers*, but the voting .... that'll be a different story.

Well, I'm watching last week's Grey's Anatomy. But otherwise, I'd be watching a couple of eps of Heroes that I need to catch up with.

Of course, my take on it is undoubtedly skewed by my own viewing preferences - I don't watch the big soaps, I don't watch quiz or game shows, I'm not a fan of "homey Sunday night drama".

Yes, yes, yes. With the honourable exceptions of Dr Who and Life on Mars hubby and I are almost entirely dependent on US TV for are viewing fixes.

I was trying to remember if I'd ever been as invested in a TV show before West Wing came along, and I really don't think I was.

I'm probably what ought to be called a serial fan girl (or crone in my case) so I have been invested before and probably will be again but I know that once your series is gone it leaves a huge hole. Sometimes the obsessive love will strike again when you least expect it and sometimes it doesn't for years.

It's been nearly a year since WW ended. And there's still nothing - for me - that fills the void it's left behind.

It hurts doesn't it. Rewatching WW is hugely enjoyable, though at the moment I'm trying to summon up the courage to go post-Gaza, but nothing beats a first run series and the excitement that it generates. A friend of mine is very into Heroes and I do enjoy that but it doesn't have anything like the gravitas and the sheer humanity of WW at its best. It's a series that's going to be very hard to beat for a long time.

BTW we have very similar tastes in TV because we loved Babylon 5 too :)

It really does hurt, and I can't believe it. I'm such a practical and down to earth person, it just amazes me that I can feel that way about a tv show!

at the moment I'm trying to summon up the courage to go post-Gaza

Because of Brad's terrible haircut? :) Don't blame you. I have to summon up the courage to watch early S6 (other than NSFT of course) too!

I haven't seen Heroes yet - I'll probably wait until it airs on BBC2 later in the year. I do watch a few other shows, but like I said, nothing is "must see" for me any more. The last show that was like that was B5 and probably ER back in the early days.
Maybe I should get tbe B5 videos out, although I never got around to getting all of S5...

I will always be thankful to NBC for giving me *my* West Wing for seven glorious years but the idiotic way they treated Studio 60...... *sigh*

Well, yes, they do deserve credit for that, at least.

But they screwed up S60 from the get go. Too much hype and dreadful promotion.

I'll have to get my Brad-fix from DVDs... *sigh*

I'm going to miss getting to see beautiful, beautiful Brad on my tv screen on a weekly basis.

Well yes, there's that too, of course.

Have u seen the bio for the next Studio 60?

The Disaster Show: 05.24.07

Allison Janney guest hosts when a strike makes everything go haywire!

I can't wait, now I just have to figure out how Im gonna watch the damn thing. Trust NBC to FINALLY put new eps on when Just get back to Australia! Hateful

I think that listing is incorrect - I understand AJ is guesting in the final episode.

Brad has directed an episode as well - #20 IIRC.

and Brad has been talking once more about shaking his famed Etch-a-Sketch

Really? Where? Have I missed some recent interviews or something?

it felt weird to find herself without a fandom for the first time in eight years.

Nine years for me...Sports Night was my first love. And that heartbreak still hurts the most, really. I don't think I was this strongly into a show (or shows) since I was a kid, and I adored Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and MacGyver. This is even stronger, really, since the internet.

It's been nearly a year since WW ended. And there's still nothing - for me - that fills the void it's left behind.

Me, too. I do love The Office (US...still need to see the UK version), and I will say that The Riches (with the can't-say-enough-good-or-AD-things-about Eddie Izzard) is doing a bang-up job of trying to fill the WW void, but I simply have no must-see-TV anymore. And, since I can find most things online these days, I find that I just don't turn the telly on anymore.

But, you know...it's good that there's a number of us who feel the void so keenly--because when we love and miss it so much, we'll still want to 'live there' again from time to time...and that keeps us writing and reading fic, and making icons, and generally keeping the love alive. It's not a bad thing at all.

Brad apparently mentioned his Etch-a-Sketch at that thing for John Wells he was at recently. And that's his code word for sitting around on that cute ass and chilling out for a while!

Oh you have to see the original The Office, it's just wonderful.

But yeah, having no "must see" tv is a bummer. It was nice to have something to look forward to each week, but now, there's nothing I'd miss if it disappeared. I used to watch a lot of movies... so maybe I'll have to go back to that.

And I've got a few fics on the go, so I have them in my head at least.

But it still won't fill that WW (and Brad) shaped hole...

FYI - I was watching Stirred last weekend, and at one point Hoynes mentions that the Etch-a-Sketch will be shaken up a bit after the Republican primaries. Makes you wonder who steals from whom - Brad or Aaron!!

Anyway, I agree about the state of television. There are a few shows I will watch if I have time, but nothing that captures me like The West Wing or Studio 60. You should give the The Office (US) a shot, though. It certainly as bears a resemblance to the UK version, but it really has become it's own animal. It's worth it for the tertiary characters alone!

Well, that Etch-a-Sketch does get about, doesn't it?!

I think the US Office was shown here, or at least one season of it, but I haven't seen it in the schedules lately. I'll try to give it a go, but really, the UK version is just so perfect, I think it'll be hard to dislodge Ricky Gervais et al...

It's been nearly a year since WW ended. And there's still nothing - for me - that fills the void it's left behind.

Me too!! Oh, me too. I miss WW so much!!!

christinekh said it right the other day - We're West Wing Widows!

We really are. *sniff*

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Telly ramblings

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

I realize I'm just anonymous

Re: I realize I'm just anonymous

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject