A Lack of Passion...or TV Fails to Inspire Me

[rabid1st]

I recently took some exception to The Voice presumptive eliminations, because it took a bit of the thrill out of things for me. I like a few of the remaining contestants, but I'm not very passionate about them. So, The Voice is no longer "must see TV" for me. <<--Poetry!

And I've noticed that shows are getting lackadaisical about passion these days. Murdoch Mysteries has placed their main romance, Julia/William, so far onto the back burner that I suspect it has actually been moved to the windowsill to cool. Julia only appears in 5 of the 13 episodes this season and she's married; albeit to a man who is crying out to be murdered. Actually, he isn't crying out to be murdered, if he was I'd probably like him better, but he's just as dull as soy whipped cream. Julia is frustrated and bored by him and so am I. And that seems to be the order of the day for romances on TV. I blame the creators of Bones for starting this trend. Though it might well have been SPN that kicked it off with Dean and Lisa. It is as if the fanboys in the writers' room, recognizing that they can't write sex scenes, decided to pretend all passion happens off-screen. It is a small step away from the overused endless UST, but it still isn't very inspiring.

The creators of House have taken several inexplicable steps into theses tepid waters with House adopting/marrying a Russian girl who needs a green card. I don't dislike the girl, heck I haven't seen much of her. In fact, I can't say I remember her name. But she's feisty comic relief of a marshmallow-fluff-pie-in-the-face sort. I honestly can't imagine House having much to say to her. And if I were a Cuddy fan, I would be insulted by her blandness. "I can see the way she looks at you," a character recently told House, which appeared to be news to him. She went on to say that House loves this woman-child, too. These tender feelings have been completely hidden, not only from House, but from the viewing audience.

I do applaud TV moving forward with the lives of characters who have been stuck in neutral for too long. But I hate that TV drama writers seem incapable of imagining the sort of elaborate home lives for their characters that we see in Modern Family, for example. I will say that the Bones writers are trying to keep things interesting with their signature couple. But I'm not sure that boring me is the way to keep my viewership.

Comments

[phdelicious.livejournal.com]

You know who I've actually been pretty impressed with recently for actually doing real character development (though not entirely in a romantic sense) is NCIS. There's been so much extra character background this season that for a while a couple friends and I were wondering if they weren't setting up to end the series.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

I've never watched NCIS, but you are the second person who has told me that they develop their characters. It is amazing how some of the best writing comes out of shows where you would least expect to find quality ideas. Take SPN, few people in my circle respected it as a well-written show a couple of years back, but it turned out to be the only show that really delivered on a five year plan, in my opinion.

[phdelicious.livejournal.com]

The thing about NCIS is that it sort of sneaks up on you. You think - yeah, its just another relatively conservative procedural (and with 9 seasons there is plenty of that) but then you catch an old rerun on USA (for example) and realize - wow, I know so much more about these characters now and they really have grown up, etc.

I watched a couple of SPN episode back in the v. beginning but didn't stick with it. Its on my list of 'Try again at some point' because I know a lot of ppl who seem to really enjoy it.

[asahifirsa.livejournal.com]

The thing about NCIS (and before that JAG) is that it's ALL about the characters in my opinion. Sure we all meet them in their work environment, but those shows work and have such a long life because they care about the characters.

NCIS made me cry and shout and curse at one point and there aren't many series that managed that.

[asahifirsa.livejournal.com]

House isn't scared of drastic moves. Keep watching and it will keep surprising you. Sure surprised me and I haven't even finished it yet.

I really do like Moffats Sherlock series if you're looking to pick something up. It renewed my faith. Can't tell you in what as it's hard to pin point, but it's amazing.