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Fall TV previews - Free at Blockbuster
Sep. 9th, 2007 09:23 amSoooo...NBC put three of their Fall pilots on DVD for a free rental from Blockbuster. Since Life and Chuck and Bionic Woman were all on the DVD, I took it home and watched. Now, I no longer want to see Life or Bionic Woman. Good job saving me some time, NBC. All three shows have big problems. Bionic Woman and Life have the same one...the lead is unlikable. In Life, that could be because he can't act. Farscape managed to overcome the handicap of lead actors who can't act. So did Bones. Both shows, however, had other things to offer. Life has a promising premise but needs someone like Prison Break's Wentworth Miller to carry us through. I kept falling asleep. I don't think anything will save Bionic Woman...too dark...to derivitive...and boring.
Chuck...is charming. The actor is great. Zooming in, going way too close to his face, the show still holds my interest. But the concept is really wobbly and the supporting cast is cardboard with the notable exceptions of his friend and his sister. I've had friends like Morgan, so I can relate to him. But I'm not sure if most of America will. The real problem with Chuck is that people won't know what to make of it. It isn't quite action or comedy or drama. A ninja fight scene is particularly excruciating to watch...though the joke the next day was good. The problem with Chuck is it never really commits to a genre. Jake 2.0 did this much...MUCH better...admittedly on a crappy network with no follow through. Eureka does this, too. But it is hard to know what to make of this kind of show and too easy to dismiss it as just poorly executed.
Pushing Daisies...finally saw the preview and changed my mind about this one. I was upset because the concept is a direct steal from the first episode of Torchwood (the Doctor Who spin-off). Amazingly...seeing the pilot and knowing that the producers really are Doctor Who fans...has made me want to watch. These people saw what I saw...that Modern television is starved for innocent wonder and love. And it looks like they are trying to give us the Rose/Doctor essence of S2 in this show. I believe in these people and their intense affection for each other. And that is a very rare thing indeed. So...now...I have to hope the show makes it through the corporate mulcher. Because Doctor Who would never have gotten off the ground in America.
Rae
who also saw an extended preview for Reaper...and thought...Clerks meets Ghostrider...that could work...or blow! Not sure I want to pull for a show that makes me appreciate the lighter side of the devil.
Chuck...is charming. The actor is great. Zooming in, going way too close to his face, the show still holds my interest. But the concept is really wobbly and the supporting cast is cardboard with the notable exceptions of his friend and his sister. I've had friends like Morgan, so I can relate to him. But I'm not sure if most of America will. The real problem with Chuck is that people won't know what to make of it. It isn't quite action or comedy or drama. A ninja fight scene is particularly excruciating to watch...though the joke the next day was good. The problem with Chuck is it never really commits to a genre. Jake 2.0 did this much...MUCH better...admittedly on a crappy network with no follow through. Eureka does this, too. But it is hard to know what to make of this kind of show and too easy to dismiss it as just poorly executed.
Pushing Daisies...finally saw the preview and changed my mind about this one. I was upset because the concept is a direct steal from the first episode of Torchwood (the Doctor Who spin-off). Amazingly...seeing the pilot and knowing that the producers really are Doctor Who fans...has made me want to watch. These people saw what I saw...that Modern television is starved for innocent wonder and love. And it looks like they are trying to give us the Rose/Doctor essence of S2 in this show. I believe in these people and their intense affection for each other. And that is a very rare thing indeed. So...now...I have to hope the show makes it through the corporate mulcher. Because Doctor Who would never have gotten off the ground in America.
Rae
who also saw an extended preview for Reaper...and thought...Clerks meets Ghostrider...that could work...or blow! Not sure I want to pull for a show that makes me appreciate the lighter side of the devil.