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Post by Jeremy on Apr 23, 2017 11:59:27 GMT -8
Okay, I may at some point repost some of my older reviews from the original thread. But in the meantime, let's focus on new essays. I'll continue writing as I continue making my way through what is simultaneously television's most incredible and most frustrating network.
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 23, 2017 12:01:50 GMT -8
Sex and the City (Season 2)
The first season of SatC was surprisingly entertaining, mixing a fun quartet of characters with a wry sense of blue comedy. Though a couple of storylines verged on needlessly tasteless, most were funny enough to put my fears to bed. (Metaphorically. Get your minds out of the gutter.)
For the most part, Season Two is even better than the first. Though the episode count is greater (18 as opposed to 12), Michael Patrick King and co. fill the time well with amusing episodic stories that nicely highlight and differentiate the four leads. I was reminded of Seinfeld in the way each episode weaves four distinct story threads into a single half-hour, even as SatC lacks the climactic convergence of its many plots that made the best of Seinfeld so satisfying.
If there's one complaint I have with this season - even more so than the first - it's the core relationship upon which so much of the long-term character development is based. Carrie and Big are, put plainly, not all that interesting, and a good chunk of the season is devoted to their half-baked relationship. King, like Darren Star before him, wants to paint Big as "the perfect guy," but without a real name and barely any personality, he just becomes a blank slate, a catalyst to help Carrie explain each Theme of the Week. (While we're on the subject: Cut down on the puns, Carrie.)
Still, a pretty solid show. Miranda and Charlotte are a lot of fun, and I spotted a fair amount of now-famous actors playing Boyfriend of the Week. (Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, and Justin Theroux, to name a few.) I'm told it makes the leap to great television in its later seasons, so I'll be starting S3 shortly.
Side Note: Donald Trump makes a cameo in one episode. I imagine he doesn't want people to know that.
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 25, 2017 5:24:52 GMT -8
Uh-oh. Turns out the majority of HBO shows on Amazon Prime will be leaving next month. Some hasty rescheduling is in order.
Sex and the City will be sticking around, so I can put that one on hold. I have easy access to some of the miniseries DVDs, albeit not all of them. So right now, I'll focus on the two I need Amazon to watch: Angels in America and Generation Kill. Will try watching those over the next few weeks.
(Also, stop messing with me, HBO.)
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Apr 25, 2017 6:05:44 GMT -8
I think I have Angels in America on DVD if you want to borrow that.
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 25, 2017 6:39:14 GMT -8
(runs off screaming)
Actually, maybe. Depends on if I really feel like watching the whole thing on my computer.
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Post by Jeremy on Jun 27, 2017 20:13:58 GMT -8
I finished Season Three of SatC. Overall, my opinions remain pretty much the same - this is a lively and fun show which gets plenty of mileage out of the differences and dynamics between its four leads. There's more serialization here than in the first two seasons, although I do wish the show had more episode-to-episode continuity. (There's a two-parter midseason in which the ladies go to LA, but even those two episodes are pretty self-contained. On the plus side, the LA episodes feature Matthew McConaughey, Vince Vaughn, and some gal named Sarah Michelle Gellar.)
It's nice to have Kyle MacLachlan in a major role, and his character makes for a fun pair with Charlotte. But he's the only thing about the season that really feels like a shake-up of the status quo. We could use more of that going forward.
In other news: Turns out the HBO stuff on Amazon isn't going away after all! (At least not till the end of 2018.) Over the next few months, I'll be combing through HBO's many acclaimed miniseries. I'll be going chronologically, starting with From the Earth to the Moon (the network's first miniseries of the modern era) and continuing with The Corner, Band of Brothers, and so forth. This should help fill some significant gaps in my summer TV schedule.
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Post by Jeremy on Jul 3, 2017 19:30:28 GMT -8
From the Earth to the Moon (1998)
This is technically the first "official" HBO miniseries, right? I mean, I know they aired a few other limited shows during the '80s and '90s (including something called Hotel Room, which was directed by... David Lynch?) But From the Earth to the Moon is the first HBO miniseries produced during the era when the network officially entered the world of ongoing scripted drama - airing a year after the debut of Oz and a few months before the premiere of The Sopranos. So this is where I'm going to start.
And what a place to start! Produced by Tom Hanks as a sort of spiritual successor to Apollo 13 (a great film that was just begging further exploration), FtEttM is a 12-hour saga charting the lunar voyages that NASA's finest made during the late '60s and early '70s. What makes the show so compulsively watchable - even during its slower spots - is that every episode feels entirely distinct from all the rest. It would be very easy for a show like this to fall into a boring pattern - dudes go to moon, dudes go home - but the writers deftly avoid any formula. Instead, every episode has its own identity. "We Have Cleared the Tower" is styled in part like a fictional documentary. "That's All There Is" is a buddy comedy... in space. "For Miles and Miles" is a tale of redemption starring Alan Sheppard. And so on.
The cast is filled to the brim with familiar faces. The closest thing to a main character is the NASA officer who instigates the moon mission, played by Nick Searcy (Art from Justified). Beyond that, we have Bryan Cranston, Al Franken, Steve Zahn, Peter Scolari, Stephen Root, Tony Goldwyn, Tim Daly, John Carroll Lynch... and that's just the first episode. The series features dozens of great performances, even from actors who only pop up for a single episode.
FtEttM retains a sense of optimism throughout its run, as we watch its characters defy all odds and make a journey that the world once thought impossible. And it leaves you asking if maybe... just maybe... we will someday make that journey again.
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Post by Jeremy on Aug 16, 2017 20:21:58 GMT -8
Well, I finally did it. I took a deep breath, sat down, and finally watched the first season of The Newsroom.
I'd heard people on all sides of the political aisle refer to this show as bad, but from my recollections of the pilot (which I saw a few years back), there was potential here for a promising (if rough-edged) show, with good doses of whip-smart Sorkin banter and humor.
Well, the pilot is the best episode of the season by a significant margin. (There's another semi-decent episode, "Bullies," which is hampered by the fact that it's basically a blatant copy-and-paste of The West Wing's "Night Five.") The rest of the season? Bad. Really bad. There were actually times when I started longing for the days of Studio 60.
Where do I even start? These characters are awful. They're preachy, they're vainglorious, they constantly insult one another in ways that are supposed to make them seem charming instead of punchable. Will McAvoy is a know-it-all jerk who, despite his claims of being a Republican, makes Arnold Vinick look like Robert Ritchie. Don is an annoying suit who disagrees with Will at every turn, and thus must be proven wrong about everything. Charlie is an old man with a dumb bowtie that makes him look like Bill Nye's evil uncle, and gives a bunch of awful and hypocritical speeches about the media.
And don't even get me started on the women. Sloan occasionally gets a funny line, but that's mostly because she's typically relegated to the sidelines (and because she's played by an actress who actually has good comic timing). But Maggie and (especially) Mackenzie are simply insufferable - shrill, dumb, and constantly getting things mansplained to them. (Yes, that's how bad this show is, guys. They actually forced me to use the word "mansplain." I feel dirty.) Here's a fun drinking game: Take a shot every time a male character says something to a female coworker that, in real life, would get him served with a harassment suit. The bottle will be finished before the season.
Oh, and all the "even-handed" politics the show talks about in the pilot? The need to make an "honest" news show to combat all the biased media? Oh, yeah, there's definitely no bias here. Why, I can recall at least two brief snippets of dialogue that criticize Democrats, while Republicans only get bashed for about thirty minutes in each episode. And for a show that so casually dismisses Fox News, they sure like to spend a lot of time playing clips from Fox News.
(Thankfully, Sorkin finlly realizes the error of his ways by the season finale. After a full season spent bashing Republicans in order to appear non-biased, the characters realize they've been going about their work the wrong way, and acknowledge that they haven't spent enough time bashing... Republicans. We then get a heroic montage of the characters using underhanded journalistic techniques in order to take down as many right-wing politicians as they can. You have to try to make television this stupid, guys.)
Setting this show in the real world, allowing Sorkin to comment on news events of the recent past and give his characters magical journalistic foresight, is a dumb idea for too many reasons to list. I will save you the time by just saying it's a dumb idea.
So yeah, awful show. One of HBO's worst. And yet I imagine I'll still keep watching, because Sorkin has this weird power of making his shows watchable, even when they cause viewers excruciating pain. I hate that power.
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Post by otherscott on Aug 29, 2017 12:07:56 GMT -8
Yes I'd like to warn everyone not to make the same mistake I did and make sure you watch The West Wing before The Newsroom.
The problem is that The Newsroom takes things that are mildly annoying in The West Wing and turns them all up to 11, and any time those issues pop up in The West Wing I couldn't help but be reminded of The Newsroom and get infuriated all over again.
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Post by Jay on Aug 29, 2017 12:41:51 GMT -8
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Post by Jeremy on Aug 29, 2017 14:03:04 GMT -8
Every time someone posts a link to that video, I'm forced to watch it all the way through.
Also, hi, Scott! Glad you're back. And yes, your point about The West Wing vs. The Newsroom is entirely true. (Also, you should totally watch Season Two of The West Wing.)
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Post by Jay on Aug 29, 2017 14:29:37 GMT -8
It's probably been me most of those times, but I can never quite remember. It's even yielded two sequels! But yes, even putting aside the recycled material, I would recommend S2 of The West Wing without reservation. Even if an author has certain hobby horses, that doesn't mean that all instances of their work are equivalent.
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Post by Jeremy on Nov 12, 2017 6:40:18 GMT -8
The Newsroom (Season 2)
So the good news is that the second season of The Newsroom is a slight improvement over the first. Very slight. This is largely because there's an actual story arc this season, beyond all the dumb romantic comedy. (Although there's plenty of that too.) But in general, this show is still dumb. Really dumb, and really sanctimonious.
The arc involves a news conspiracy that the main characters all get embroiled in, which generates some tension early on. (The season employs some in media res storytelling, and doesn't completely botch it.) But there's also a structural hook in the form of the 2012 election, which takes up a lot of time and news coverage. Because obviously, the 2012 election will go down in history as one of America's most shocking and unbelievable elections ever, and no election afterwards will ever top it.
Holy cow, this show is dated. All the political themes which seemed so current and hip back when this aired in 2013 feel like prehistoric relics today. (A moment in the finale where Will praises Chris Christie is funny for all the wrong reasons now.) And I wouldn't really mind if the show had anything going for it outside of the political themes.
But instead, we have Will and Mac continuing to be the worst "Will they/won't they" couple in television history. Will continues to be a sexist and an egoist, Mac continues to be a straw feminist and neurotic, and they share no chemistry whatsoever. Ditto Jim and Maggie. And ditto Don and Sloan, who were the only two characters I sort of liked last season, but have now become just two more vessels for unfunny Sorkinesque romantic comedy.
I'm not invested in these characters, and I don't think the show is, either. They just sort of stumble from what political story to the next, occasionally getting an emotional scene that is undercut within five minutes. (One episode ends with a dramatic scene in which a character cuts her own hair; the hair is back to its previous length by the start of the next episode. What is this "consistency" you speak of?)
The big reveal that the entire season builds up to is also a disappointment, because it centers around a morally questionable decision made by a secondary character with virtually no personality. If the drama had pivoted around one of the main characters, it may have actually been effective. But no, the folks in The Newsroom are too pure and good to ever do anything wrong. They're always right, and constantly talk about how right they are! That's why you love them! You do love them, don't you?
The season ends with a horrible two-part episode called "Election Night," which makes The West Wing's boring "Election Night" episode look brilliant in comparison.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Sept 11, 2018 7:34:19 GMT -8
Jeremy, how do you feel about that proposed SATC spinoff where Miranda becomes governor of New York?
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Post by Jeremy on Sept 11, 2018 17:17:13 GMT -8
It sounds pretty weird. But I hear some people prefer it over another season of that show starring the brother of the Inside with Chris Cuomo guy .Incidentally, since it's Emmys week, I'm reminded of that time when the possible future governor of New York was presented with an Emmy by the future POTUS. Simpler days.
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