I recently finished viewing the first season of Showtime's hit series, Weeds, and let me just say this now, this WILL be a mixed review. I just had to get that little disclaimer out of the way first.
As you probably already know if you're a television connesieur like myself, Weeds centers on recently widowed soccer mom Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) solving her financial problems by dealing marijuana in her upscale California suburbs. That's a great premise for the show. It's like Desperate Housewives with drugs. From here on, I'll just break down what I like and what I cringed at.
What I did enjoy:
- Elizabeth Perkins steals the show as Nancy's neighbor and head of the PTA, Celia Hodes. Perkins is hilarious but in a subtle, restrained way that I just love. To continue with the inevitable Desperate Housewives comparisons, Celia is like Bree Van De Kamp, but way bitchier. I don't want to spoil anything, but when she swaps her daughter's chocolate bar with a laxative - priceless!
- Heylia James, Nancy's pot supplier, is also great. She brings a sort of warmth to this series where most, if not all, of the characters are morally questionable, to say the least. Oh, Heylia's definitely no saint either, but she tells it like it is, no bullshit. She's always telling Nancy what stupid white bitch thing she's doing now.
- Mary-Louise Parker (you know, the one who beat all four of the desperate housewives at the Golden Globes) seems made for her role. With another actress, Nancy could easily be unlikeable (and honestly, I thought I wouldn't like her either), but Parker brings a vulnerability and charm to her performance that makes Nancy unquestionably rootable.
What I did not enjoy quite so much....AKA What I absolutely hated:
- Nancy's kids. God, they're awful. The less said about them the better.
- Nancy's brother-in-law, Andy. He's so friggen' annoying. There's so much more to be said but I really don't have the energy to rant right now.
Overall, Weeds is an enjoyable show, although somewhat overrated in my opinion, but I will definitely be checking out Season 2 once it becomes available on DVD.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
Desperate Housewives: 5/20/2007
I think it can safely be said at this point. Desperate Housewives has jumped the shark. I was not at all pleased with this year's season finale (must be an ABC thing).
Bree's long-awaited (and for a reason) return was interesting, I'll admit. Frankly, I didn't see the pregnancy twist coming, so at least the show managed to surprise me on that one. Although, I must say, I was a little disappointed because I thought I wouldn't have to see that little wretch Danielle again for a while, but I digress. Bree's back and I'm very happy about that.
Lynette's new storyline with the cancer does show promise, and if any of the actresses could pull it off perfectly, it would be Felicity Huffman. However, for Lynette, the season finale focused more on her rocky, at best, relationship with her mother. Speaking of which, what is it with the housewives' mothers? I think having them all be neglectful and selfish is just a bit much. Anyway, hopefully, this is the beginning of a good, meaty storyline for Lynette.
I prayed it wouldn't happen, but unfortunately it did. Gabrielle married old man Victor (his father must have been five when he knocked some girl up). Fortunately, though, it looks like the union won't be lasting very long, as it seems that Victor only married Gaby because of her race and the impact it would have on his constituency. I loved the kiss between Carlos and Gaby, but I don't see them reuniting all that quickly, even if she does dump the geriatric jerk.
Speaking of weddings, how about that pukefest woodsy ceremony of Susan and Mike's. Seriously, it was all I could do to hold in my dinner when I had to watch those two tie the noose. If only they could just sail away into the sunset never to return. I know it'll never happen, but I can dream.
Finally, the episode's big shocker of a cliffhanger. After being dumped (and rather harshly) by Carlos, a depressed Edie hung herself. All I have to say is she damn well better be alive next season. Edie is my favorite character on the whole show, and I will shit bricks if now that she's finally gotten time on the frontburner like she deserves, she's killed off. Honestly, if she does turn out to be dead when the show returns in the fall, I'll be so disgusted that I don't know if I'll even be able to keep watching. I'm particularly furious, because suicide is completely OUT OF CHARACTER for Edie. It's totally unbelievable to me that she would ever off herself. I'll say this, no matter what happens, the writers have their work cut out for them next season.
Now, my review of Season 3, as a whole. The season started out great, and it was definitely a breath of fresh air after the convoluted and mostly boring Season 2. Things kept on getting better until the action finally climaxed with the end of the Orson/Alma/Monique mystery. All the momentum the show had gained suddenly came to a screeching halt as soon as Marcia Cross left for maternity leave. Really, since those episodes, nothing has been able to hold my interest on the show. Even the season finale was uneventful for the most part. With that said, the third season was certainly not a failure, as I found the first two-thirds of it to be excellent. At this juncture, though, I think it's pretty obvious that Desperate Housewives has jumped that dreaded proverbial shark.
Bree's long-awaited (and for a reason) return was interesting, I'll admit. Frankly, I didn't see the pregnancy twist coming, so at least the show managed to surprise me on that one. Although, I must say, I was a little disappointed because I thought I wouldn't have to see that little wretch Danielle again for a while, but I digress. Bree's back and I'm very happy about that.
Lynette's new storyline with the cancer does show promise, and if any of the actresses could pull it off perfectly, it would be Felicity Huffman. However, for Lynette, the season finale focused more on her rocky, at best, relationship with her mother. Speaking of which, what is it with the housewives' mothers? I think having them all be neglectful and selfish is just a bit much. Anyway, hopefully, this is the beginning of a good, meaty storyline for Lynette.
I prayed it wouldn't happen, but unfortunately it did. Gabrielle married old man Victor (his father must have been five when he knocked some girl up). Fortunately, though, it looks like the union won't be lasting very long, as it seems that Victor only married Gaby because of her race and the impact it would have on his constituency. I loved the kiss between Carlos and Gaby, but I don't see them reuniting all that quickly, even if she does dump the geriatric jerk.
Speaking of weddings, how about that pukefest woodsy ceremony of Susan and Mike's. Seriously, it was all I could do to hold in my dinner when I had to watch those two tie the noose. If only they could just sail away into the sunset never to return. I know it'll never happen, but I can dream.
Finally, the episode's big shocker of a cliffhanger. After being dumped (and rather harshly) by Carlos, a depressed Edie hung herself. All I have to say is she damn well better be alive next season. Edie is my favorite character on the whole show, and I will shit bricks if now that she's finally gotten time on the frontburner like she deserves, she's killed off. Honestly, if she does turn out to be dead when the show returns in the fall, I'll be so disgusted that I don't know if I'll even be able to keep watching. I'm particularly furious, because suicide is completely OUT OF CHARACTER for Edie. It's totally unbelievable to me that she would ever off herself. I'll say this, no matter what happens, the writers have their work cut out for them next season.
Now, my review of Season 3, as a whole. The season started out great, and it was definitely a breath of fresh air after the convoluted and mostly boring Season 2. Things kept on getting better until the action finally climaxed with the end of the Orson/Alma/Monique mystery. All the momentum the show had gained suddenly came to a screeching halt as soon as Marcia Cross left for maternity leave. Really, since those episodes, nothing has been able to hold my interest on the show. Even the season finale was uneventful for the most part. With that said, the third season was certainly not a failure, as I found the first two-thirds of it to be excellent. At this juncture, though, I think it's pretty obvious that Desperate Housewives has jumped that dreaded proverbial shark.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Grey's Anatomy: 5/17/2007
OK, I've had time to collect my thoughts on last night's Grey's Anatomy season finale, and here they are. Overall, the episode just had this very depressing vibe about it, that I didn't like, and in my opinion, the season went out with a whimper (although some may disagree). Suffice it to say, I just wasn't left anxiously awaiting the fall for the show to return, but I'll get into that more in just a moment.
The Chief is not stepping down after all, which seemed pretty obvious would happen to me. However, he did choose Callie to be Chief Resident over Bailey. Now wait just one damn minute! Don't get me wrong, I love Callie, but why in holy hell would Chief Webber choose her for the job over Dr. Miranda "The Nazi" Bailey?! I have read rumors that Sara Ramirez (Callie) is departing the show, so if that's true, perhaps this particular plot twist has something to do with it. Speaking of Chief Webber, I liked that he and Adele are giving it another go, and hopefully we'll see Loretta Divine (Adele) more next season because I just love her.
I swear to God, Derek and Meredith have got to be the flakiest couple in television history. I mean, they're worse that Ross and Rachel. Not that I really care, but does anyone really know if Dere and Mere are on or off? Their status changes with the weather! Oh, and writers, don't think that we don't know where you're going with Lexie Grey (AKA the girl Derek met at the bar). It's painfully obvious.
So George failed his intern exam, huh? Whatever, I could care less, but hopefully this is the beginning of the end of the horrendous George/Izzie love story that never should have happened. Just don't even get me started on those two, they piss me off entirely too much.
Hear that sound? It's the sound of me rejoicing that Ava/Rebecca is gone gone gone! Seriously, I could not stand that twit. Addison didn't have much to do in this episode, but considering she'll have her own show in the fall, that's really no surprise. I really really don't want her to go! Stay in Seattle, Addie!
And finally, Burke called it quits with Christina, practically at the altar. Apparently, he realized what he should have known since before he even proposed to Christina (he drags her down!). Hopefully, this means Isaiah Washington is on his way out. I would be very pleased to see him off Grey's. Sandra Oh stole the entire episode, but was particularly amazing at the end when Meredith was helping her tear off her wedding dress. That's her Emmy reel, right there.
Here's my thoughts on Season 3, as a whole. This year, Grey's Anatomy was very inconsistent, unlike the amazing Season 2 which was just excellent from start to finish. This season, when it was good, the show was on fire, and when it was bad, the show just plain sucked. The third season had a lot of potential, but it seemed as if the writers just weren't interested in tapping into it for whatever reason. I'm hoping that Grey's can redeem itself in Season 4, but I fear that just the opposite might happen. I know a lot of people who have said Grey's Anatomy has more or less sucked this season, and if this trend keeps up, the show is in trouble. I want to love this show the way I did in its first two seasons, it just needs to give me a reason to.
The Chief is not stepping down after all, which seemed pretty obvious would happen to me. However, he did choose Callie to be Chief Resident over Bailey. Now wait just one damn minute! Don't get me wrong, I love Callie, but why in holy hell would Chief Webber choose her for the job over Dr. Miranda "The Nazi" Bailey?! I have read rumors that Sara Ramirez (Callie) is departing the show, so if that's true, perhaps this particular plot twist has something to do with it. Speaking of Chief Webber, I liked that he and Adele are giving it another go, and hopefully we'll see Loretta Divine (Adele) more next season because I just love her.
I swear to God, Derek and Meredith have got to be the flakiest couple in television history. I mean, they're worse that Ross and Rachel. Not that I really care, but does anyone really know if Dere and Mere are on or off? Their status changes with the weather! Oh, and writers, don't think that we don't know where you're going with Lexie Grey (AKA the girl Derek met at the bar). It's painfully obvious.
So George failed his intern exam, huh? Whatever, I could care less, but hopefully this is the beginning of the end of the horrendous George/Izzie love story that never should have happened. Just don't even get me started on those two, they piss me off entirely too much.
Hear that sound? It's the sound of me rejoicing that Ava/Rebecca is gone gone gone! Seriously, I could not stand that twit. Addison didn't have much to do in this episode, but considering she'll have her own show in the fall, that's really no surprise. I really really don't want her to go! Stay in Seattle, Addie!
And finally, Burke called it quits with Christina, practically at the altar. Apparently, he realized what he should have known since before he even proposed to Christina (he drags her down!). Hopefully, this means Isaiah Washington is on his way out. I would be very pleased to see him off Grey's. Sandra Oh stole the entire episode, but was particularly amazing at the end when Meredith was helping her tear off her wedding dress. That's her Emmy reel, right there.
Here's my thoughts on Season 3, as a whole. This year, Grey's Anatomy was very inconsistent, unlike the amazing Season 2 which was just excellent from start to finish. This season, when it was good, the show was on fire, and when it was bad, the show just plain sucked. The third season had a lot of potential, but it seemed as if the writers just weren't interested in tapping into it for whatever reason. I'm hoping that Grey's can redeem itself in Season 4, but I fear that just the opposite might happen. I know a lot of people who have said Grey's Anatomy has more or less sucked this season, and if this trend keeps up, the show is in trouble. I want to love this show the way I did in its first two seasons, it just needs to give me a reason to.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
The State of TV These Days: Part 1 of My Rant
Here's my view of television these days. Network executives are good for shit. They don't know what people really want. These days, any idiotic reality show is art (I'm looking specifically at you, NBC). I'm sick of seeing promos for the latest television equivalent of fast food. You know it's a sad day when degrading shows like Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? pass for entertainment.
When the suits at the networks do strike gold, suddenly, they lose what little concept of originality they still have. Take CSI, for example. Instead of greenlighting shows that in every right should be hits, the networks try to replicate the success of the prior season's hits. Do we really need 213 variations of CSI hogging airtime? CBS might as well stand for Crime Based Series because since about the 2000-2001 season, those have pretty much constituted that network's entire lineup. Although CBS by no means is the only network guilty of creative lazinesss.
If non-reality based shows are to survive into the next couple of decades, networks, producers, and especially the damn FCC must be willing to take risks and evolve. This is the reason cable has recently become such a popular alternative for programming with shows like Nip/Tuck, where language and nudity aren't entirely out of the question. I believe this is a key reason as to why the ratings for network shows are declining. Of course, Janet Jackson set that movement back at least 20 years, but I digress.
More thoughts to come later.
When the suits at the networks do strike gold, suddenly, they lose what little concept of originality they still have. Take CSI, for example. Instead of greenlighting shows that in every right should be hits, the networks try to replicate the success of the prior season's hits. Do we really need 213 variations of CSI hogging airtime? CBS might as well stand for Crime Based Series because since about the 2000-2001 season, those have pretty much constituted that network's entire lineup. Although CBS by no means is the only network guilty of creative lazinesss.
If non-reality based shows are to survive into the next couple of decades, networks, producers, and especially the damn FCC must be willing to take risks and evolve. This is the reason cable has recently become such a popular alternative for programming with shows like Nip/Tuck, where language and nudity aren't entirely out of the question. I believe this is a key reason as to why the ratings for network shows are declining. Of course, Janet Jackson set that movement back at least 20 years, but I digress.
More thoughts to come later.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Grey's Anatomy: 5/10/2007
How ironic that the Seattle Grace interns were taking their exams on the same day that I was taking one of my AP tests. I go to school, take a test, come home and watch Grey's Anatomy, and lo and behold, they're taking a test.
So Meredith fucked up and didn't answer a single question on her exam, but of course, this wouldn't be Grey's Anatomy if someone didn't ride to her rescue, and this time it was her surrogate father (oh, sorry, he's NOT her father!), Chief Webber, who allowed Mere to take the test again. If only real life were so convenient.
Amnesia-Girl isn't so amnesiac after all. Seems she's just been masquerading as a dumb patient with no memory of her identity, but as it turns out, she's really just a dumb patient. Now, can we be done with her, please? I did like Alex's way of telling her off though, glad to see he hasn't been castrated as I'd suspected the last few episodes.
Now Callie's challenging Bailey for Chief Resident? Oh, that's not gonna turn out good. I love both of them, so I hope this isn't the beginning of a possible rivalry between the two. Frankly, Callie needs all the friends she can get at Seattle Grace.
Adele (Chief Webber's soon to be ex-wife) is pregnant? You're kidding me, right? OK, I guess you're not. Honestly, though, who didn't see the end of the episode coming miles away? As soon as Addison told her she was pregnant, I immediately knew that was coming. When did Grey's become so predictable? I don't like it at all.
I guess this review was mostly my random bitchings about last night's episode, but I really did enjoy it for the most part. I just couldn't think of anything truly great to say about it.
So Meredith fucked up and didn't answer a single question on her exam, but of course, this wouldn't be Grey's Anatomy if someone didn't ride to her rescue, and this time it was her surrogate father (oh, sorry, he's NOT her father!), Chief Webber, who allowed Mere to take the test again. If only real life were so convenient.
Amnesia-Girl isn't so amnesiac after all. Seems she's just been masquerading as a dumb patient with no memory of her identity, but as it turns out, she's really just a dumb patient. Now, can we be done with her, please? I did like Alex's way of telling her off though, glad to see he hasn't been castrated as I'd suspected the last few episodes.
Now Callie's challenging Bailey for Chief Resident? Oh, that's not gonna turn out good. I love both of them, so I hope this isn't the beginning of a possible rivalry between the two. Frankly, Callie needs all the friends she can get at Seattle Grace.
Adele (Chief Webber's soon to be ex-wife) is pregnant? You're kidding me, right? OK, I guess you're not. Honestly, though, who didn't see the end of the episode coming miles away? As soon as Addison told her she was pregnant, I immediately knew that was coming. When did Grey's become so predictable? I don't like it at all.
I guess this review was mostly my random bitchings about last night's episode, but I really did enjoy it for the most part. I just couldn't think of anything truly great to say about it.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Just for nostalgia's sake...
Just because I felt like it, check out some montages of one of the best TV shows ever....Melrose Place.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Private Practice: Yay or Nay?
This is kind of a delayed reaction, but here are my thoughts on the spin-off portion of last week's two-hour Grey's Anatomy episode. First of all, I think it would have been much easier to follow if the show hadn't kept skipping back and forth between Seattle and Los Angeles. What they should have done was devoted a whole hour for each instead of going back and forth. The Private Practice cast does have a great natural chemistry, but considering the actors, that's no surprise. The only characters I didn't care for were the young surfer guy who just seemed out of place, and the guy with the car/internet sex problems (I can't recall their names). I must grudgingly admit, Addison does fit in well with the rest of them, and it's great to see her not being in kind of the outcast role as she is at Seattle Grace, but I still don't want her leaving Grey's Anatomy. What I would have done would have just used Addison to introduce the new characters/new show but kept her in Seattle. Things I did like were the friendship between Addison and Naomi (Merrin Dungey is great), the incredible chemistry between Addison and Tim Daly's character, Tilly the elevator voice lady, and the therapist played by Amy Brenneman (I can't remember any of their names!!). If and when (because, let's face it, it will) the spin-off gets officially picked up by ABC, I'll watch it, even though I'm still against the idea of Addison relocating.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
