Welcome to eh-whateverville. These shows I like, but they've either fallen off, just not grabbed me yet, or they're just starting to pick up steam. I'm paying attention, but I'm not losing sleep when I miss an episode. They're often just noise in the background....
Lost- ABC, starring a lot of people who are more lost and confused than their audience- but only by a little.
Viewing history: Previously obsessive, I-can't-have-class-that-night, now-let's-go-web-surfing-for-more-clues. Now- I missed a few weeks and came back as confused as I had been when I stopped. Besides, who needs to keep up when ABC runs a recapper show every few weeks it seems?
Why the hate?
1. (This is true of all of ABC's biggies these days.) Would it kill you to air the show regularly?! This goes way beyond a hiatus break- those are expected. ABC has been engaging its audience in a sick game of keep-away with its new episodes, and I, for one, am really tired of playing.
2. Occasionally, it would be nice if you would solve one of those little mysteries you keep dangling in front of us. The X-files got away with it for as long as they did because for most of its seasons, it remained primarily a creep-of-the-week format. The over-arcing side mysteries were just that- sides. Lost's plot seems built entirely on mysteries, and they're multiplying like bunnies.
Why do I care?
1. For all it's infuriating mysteries, it has all those infuriating mysteries. It's like the build-up to Christmas. I'm watching all these presents slowly appear under the tree. I have no idea what's inside and the suspense is killing me. I'm deathly afraid they're all socks and clothes instead of the toys and books I've wanted for the last year. But the 'rents never let me down, will the writers of Lost?
2. Matthew Fox and Terry O'Quinn. I enjoyed the whole Sawyer/Kate/Jack triangle last season, but watching Jack and Locke circle each other like wild animals encroaching on each others' territory has been electrifying. Sawyer's already taken advantage of that once, to spectacular results. But now that things are coming to a head with the Others, will Jack and Locke be able to pull it together? Or will Locke's compulsion to discover the island's secrets/powers lead him to doing something that will push Jack over the edge? (Egad, I sound like ad copy, don't I?)
Train Wreck Status: Mid-to low. The writers, while taking sadistic pleasure in the audience's frustration, do seem to know (or are acting like they know) were they're going. But if another season finale comes and goes with no major resolutions (remember the hopes we all had for that hatch?) the odds will skyrocket.
Stargate SG1/Stargate Atlantis- SciFi, starring Aliens, humans, and "whatever" tech that would make even the casts of 24 and Alias roll their eyes and say, "Yeah, right- pull the other one."
Viewing history: Previously religiously- had the VCR set every week. Even watched it with MamaRaven and the Old Crow. Now- I'm surprised (sort of) that it's still on.
Why the hate?
1. Like I said, I'm surprised it's still on, the "original" SG1 I mean. We're creeping up on 10 (?) seasons here, folks, and we've gone so far up the alien threat evolutionary ladder that we had to invent a new galaxy for the Gods to come crawling out of. We're not recycling plots anymore, we're regurgitating them en masse.
2. Franchise fatigue- it was an issue when the original series aired. SG1 got around it by using clever sci-babble to explain its existence, a minor retcon to justify its existence, some initial good multi-season series arcs to keep us interested in its existence. They also had some really good casting to replace the movie actors so it could exist on TV in the first place. Atlantis met their sci-babble, didn't really need the retcon, but it hasn't raised a good arc yet, and the casting I might fold on...
Why do I care?
1. SG1's current arc is a little better than what they've had in previous years. (I swear the Atlantis thing was just so they could do a spin-off.) The "Gods" are coming to kill/convert us all and the "Gods" that could fight them on their own terms opted out of the race aeons ago. If SG1 can somehow re-engage the Ascended Ones, I might check back in, but if the puny humans find a new whatever tech to save the day at the 11th hour, I might finally give up for good. Stunt casting Ben Browder and Claudia Black (Farscape alums) hasn't helped. (Although Black's scenes with Michael Shanks can be downright hysterical if they're played right.)
2. Atlantis has so much potential. It needs a better cast shake-up than the substitution that happened at the beginning of this season. And they need to get back to the desperate isolation they had in the early part of the season- no ship from earth, no info going back and forth, nothing. Sink or swim on your own, folks. The CSIs manage it (to varying degrees), and you should, too.
Train Wreck Status: High. SG1 was SciFi's flagship show, the first real series undertaken under it's own power. (After they acquired the series from Showtime, that is) And as such, SciFi is a bit afraid to let it go. It still has a large and loyal fanbase, nearly all of whom jumped on the Atlantis gate, too. But fans don't equal quality or originality, and these shows are being slowly, painfully run into the ground.
NCIS- CBS, starring Mark Harmon and one of TV's more colorful casts of crime-solving misfits.Viewing History: Previously ignored. (Hey, I wasn't a JAG fan so there was no cross-over appeal) Now if I'm surfing and it's on, I'll usually stop and watch awhile.
Why the hate?
1. CSI and L&O got there first and better.
2. In general, quirky characters do not an entire series make.
Why do I care?
1. Really quirky characters can make middling fare more palatable, and NCIS runs the gamut. Geeks, Jocks, the hot foreign chick, they're all there. Drop 10-20 years off their ages and it could be American Pie, you know, only without the pie, and the sex, and the parties and the... Well, OK, not American Pie, but you get my drift, right? They're silly, hormonal, snarky and they look like they're having fun. Since all of my regular shows are all overly-serious and death-like, this is my version of a sitcom- only with guns, and a body count.
2. (Really more of an extension of #1.) Let's face it, if you could smack your co-workers around like Gibbs, wouldn't you? WOULDN'T YOU!?!?
Train Wreck Status: Low. If JAG could cruise by for years on good looks and a sweet disposition, why can't NCIS?
Middling Mentions
Bones- Fox, starring Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz. Again, it's CSI-lite with a quirky cast of misfit geeks, only where NCIS is heavy on the investigators, Bones is heavy on the geeks. Plus it's my Boreanaz fix. It's like my Buffy/Angel habit has spawned this little obsession of watching just to see what's up with the guy. (Sadly, this compulsion never made it to How I Met Your Mother or Kitchen Confidential.)
Law and Order: SVU- Mariska Hargitay, Christopher Meloni and Ice Cube. Of all the spawn of the L&O franchise, this is the only one I'll watch. Hargitay is one of the most convincing female cops I've seen in a long time. (Keep in mind I said convincing, not accurate.) And Meloni's slow and steady meltdown has made for some fascinating developments. (Will someone get that guy an Emmy already?)
Scrubs/My Name is Earl- These are both hit-or-miss with me. While both offer occasional knee-slapping humor, they often veer off into sillyville and stupidland. I can take small doses, but I can't overdo it, I'll go into a diabetic coma.
House- one of last year's must-sees, this year not so much. House = grouchy know-it-all. Check. Cameron = cute and sweet know-it-all. Check. Foreman = angry, pulled-myself-up-by-the-bootstraps-so-don't-mock-my-skillz know-it-all. Double check. And Chase = ..... he is still on this show, right? I'm still watching, but I'm not really caring. Maybe if someone actually died once in awhile, they've had, what, one fatality out of two seasons? Where's the risk = drama?
*Amended 5-3-06: They just killed a guy last night, but only to up the ante on the two leads who have/might have contracted the same disease. Personally, I'm not caring about Foreman anymore, but can someone PLEASE give Cameron a break, here?*
