Comments on: Trash Television

By: Jason L

Jason L — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:09:35 +0000

Presumably everyone knows about Mr. Deity who wants to, but I had somehow overlooked Words and wonder whether others may have as well. http://www.youtube.c... ...RCw-Hfnpxo I'm putting it here because it's the closest to a commentable Seinfeld piece. A look into the 'real lives' of the Mr. Deity cast, it has the same terrible recognition of privilege that you pinned down in the Media page.

By: DoctorDisaster

DoctorDisaster — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:59:09 +0000

Whedon writes great snappy dialogue; Dollhouse really is way below par. Mind, this is coming from someone who has seen about three episodes of Buffy in his entire life. I'm basing my opinion on Firefly/Serenity and the more recent Doc Horrible and Astonishing X-men. I don't think my age and wisdom (?) have anything to do with it.

By: Palms

Palms — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:52:04 +0000

Dante, I agree. Last episode of Heroes, while still flawed, was a lot better than normal. Some of the "tension" between Matt and Mohinder for example was a little contrived, but overall I liked the insight we got into Bennet's mind (even if all his flashbacks told us stuff we already knew...)

By: Dante

Dante — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:38:23 +0000

Oh, and I'm really beginning to suspect Heroes really has turned a corner, last episode featured Mr Bennet in black and white flashbacks about his morally dubious affiliations and stuck to characters important to the story rather than roping in Syler's irrelevant family road trip. Not exactly original, but certainly a cut above some of their recent fare.

Meanwhile I've also been watching a lot of Deadwood, which must be going up against The Thick of It for the title of sweariest show on TV, especially Calamity Jane.

By: Dante

Dante — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:32:41 +0000

I wonder, is this a symptom of us getting older and less cool/stupid. Perhaps in the years since Buffy we've all come to look for our witty dialogue in classier places (ie: The West Wing) and going back is underwhelming.

Alternatively the whole witty teenager speak thing has started going so far up it's own arse it's now merely vaguely annoying and incomprehensible. I blame Juno for this.

By: Palms

Palms — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:50:44 +0000

You and Walker make a good point, Tom; the "Xanderish" archetypal Whedon "nerdy" character who is normally so endearing is, for some reason, annoying to the point that I want to rip his eyes out with a fork. I think it's his arrogance (from which the "cern the diff" line stems). It reminds me of the character in Serenity, I can't remember his name, the one who went on about a signal... The overall air of smugness that surrounded him just made me want to cheer in the cinema when he was (Spoiler) finally skewered (although his last recording was a little sad, in both senses of the word). I expect when we learn more about him he'll be a little more sympathetic. Also the intro music really is terrible, similar to the theme for Fringe (I'd expect more from the genius that is Giacchino). It just sounds so simple and inconsequential. I dunno. Anyway, when we first find out the sinister intentions of the guy hiring Echo I was thinking it would really add a darker edge to the already morally grey (well, not *that* grey) ethics of Dollhouse: That they allowed Echo to be hired for the purpose of hunted game. It would take prostitution to a whole new level. I was actually a little disappointed when I realised that they were just hiring Echo out as an adventurous girlfriend, not as game. (Also, listened to new PC gamer podcast last night, the reading out of the MSN email really cheered me up. Loved the sincere interpretation of idiocy.)

By: Pentadact

Pentadact — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:32:34 +0000

Liked it again, but still not in love. Disturbing and not entirely convincing to see the Middleman play that role. Still don't see why the handler took the job. And still don't see the mileage in such a fraught concept. Like Walker, I had a very hard time not switching it off and never watching again at "cern the diff", but the absence of any esoteric lingo elsewhere doesn't bother me at all. A common thread among the negative reactions seems to be the ways in which it's not Buffy, or Whedonesque - I didn't expect or want it to be. Mostly I'm just enjoying Dushku, who changes impressively, and the stark variety. Not having the faintest clue what might happen even fifteen minute into an episode is a rare thing. I think there are easier ways of achieving it, but whatever, it's working for me. Doctor Disaster: finally watched the United States of Tara pilot on your recommendation. Holy shit.

By: Palms

Palms — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:51:35 +0000

Just watched the new episode of Dollhouse and I'm very impressed. A lot better than the first episode. There are still quite a few clichés but I guess Whedon has always been a little cheesy. Just watching it makes me wish he had the time to expand on Firefly though. Damn that was a good series. Also, I never found Faith hot, but Echo really is.

Interested to know what Tom thinks about it. (The episode I mean, not my opinions on Eliza Dushku...)

By: Dante

Dante — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:01:42 +0000

Personally I always thought HRG and Hiro were the ones still plugging away, no matter how bad the rest got.

I'm uncertain about his role in the new series, he's always done morally grey things, but their best ever episode was the one that humanised him and it's sad to see them repeatedly trying to take that back.

By: Palms

Palms — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:52:20 +0000

"I agree with Dante completely. If you must kill someone, kill a character that can't pull his or her weight in the story."

...I'm hesitant in saying, every character on the show? =)

By: DoctorDisaster

DoctorDisaster — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:21:48 +0000

I agree with Dante completely. If you must kill someone, kill a character that can't pull his or her weight in the story. The difference between the tension now and the tension in season 2 is that the tension now is very well-motivated. HRG is doing extremely unethical things both to protect his daughter and because he genuinely believes that these people need to be controlled. Claire is justifiably appalled as she is brought face to face with her dad's dark side. Whereas in 2 the 'tension' was between "We need to protect our family from a sinister corporation that wants to lock us all up" and "but I like this boooooooooooooy!"

By: Dante

Dante — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 09:32:56 +0000

Back in the first series it would kill them off, but they rapidly became so successful they were scared to repeat it.

Killing HRG in order to give Claire motivation? I bloody hope not, sacrificing one of, if not the best character in order to improve a weak one is not a good plan.

By: Palms

Palms — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:45:39 +0000

" I actually like the tension they're creating between Claire and HRG"

The thing is, they've done it all before, at the beginning of season 2 where Claire was supposed to just be a normal girl. We get it; she wants to be a hero, HRG wants her to act normal, this is just covered ground.

It's one of the main failings of the series; no consistency. The characters learn lessons, then forget them almost immediatly. It completely undermines the journey that those characters took in season 2 when they finally learnt to trust each other (or not, as the case turns out). I would love to see HRG get killed because of Claire's constant rebelling. It could be poignant and the event that kicks some fucking sense into the character.

However, Heroes isn't the sort of show that kills of it's main actors very easily (just ask Ali Larter...) and when it does it almost always makes a hash of it (Elle and Daphne for example).

By: DoctorDisaster

DoctorDisaster — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:34:39 +0000

I actually like the tension they're creating between Claire and HRG. That's definitely the direction they should embrace with those characters. But I agree that they need to emphasize Claire wrestling with a situation where invulnerability doesn't help. That's the situation she's in! All the cheesy bravado is hitting completely the wrong note, particularly when compared with the low-key efficiency she SHOULD have learned from her dad.

By: Palms

Palms — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:42:48 +0000

"Yeah but that thing with the staged escape in the last episode was exactly the sort of nonsensical plot-driving character behavior we've come to know and loathe." hmm, I remember watching it and thinking "none of this makes any sense. Why would Tracy freeze her only bargaining chip in front of the only person who seems to care about her." Also, Dante, while it's great that Claire isn't the damsel in distress any more, she's beginning to remind me of Scrappy doo now. The amount of times she's said lines like; "you're not going to get away with this," forcing me to snort the ricicles I'm eating out of my nose with laughter, indicates to me that maybe she was better as the cheerleader that needs saving. She seems to be punching above her (miniscule) height more often than not, with hilariously clichéd and cheesy consequences.

By: DoctorDisaster

DoctorDisaster — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:58:46 +0000

Yeah but that thing with the staged escape in the last episode was exactly the sort of nonsensical plot-driving character behavior we've come to know and loathe.

By: Dante

Dante — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:02:08 +0000

My thoughts exactly Palms, now Peter's powers have been toned down he doesn't have to act like a moron to keep the plot moving. And they seem to have finally gotten past playing Claire as a victim despite her near invulnerability.

By: Palms

Palms — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:14:40 +0000

I have almost given up on heroes. The last two seasons I watched out of habit more than anything else. When the last episode was released (of the volume; fugitives...*sigh*) I felt like I really couldn't be bothered. The fact is I simply don't care about the characters anymore. They seem to have no motivations, constantly changing their minds and ideals. Simply; since season one, they *have* no character. However, I watched it (the most recent episode) and it actually wasn't half bad. It wasn't amazing, but it is beginning to restore my faith in the series. Let's see what happens when Brian Fuller's influence begins to be implemented.

By: DoctorDisaster

DoctorDisaster — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:55:36 +0000

You're probably right about some later twist hinging on Personality Pudding, but couldn't they have just based that later twist on an initial experiment with Brain Blend? Or at the very least saved the nitpicky details for a later episode? I guess it is kind of a quibble, but it wrecked the pacing for me.

Dante, just last night I was trying to explain what season of Heroes they were on, and gave up. Thanks for clarifying. I agree that the bit they're doing now shows promise, if only because they're ditching all experimentation and lifting the entire premise directly from an X-men yarn. But while cutting down the number of characters who do incredibly stupid things to advance the plot is a step in the right direction, that number still isn't zero and it should be.

I think my friend (who no longer watches the show) described it best when he said Heroes is one of those serials that is always poised to get really interesting, but never quite manages to cross that threshold.

By: Dante

Dante — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:51:29 +0000

Glad you liked it Penty, the name is indeed terrible, and the Oirish lass can be pretty dodgy too, but Bruce Campbell and the brilliant narration make it worthwhile.

I've just watched the first two episodes of the second chapter of the third series (sigh) of Heroes, and you know what? It might actually be getting good again. Maybe Brian Fuller does more than he gets credit for.

Dollhouse seems to be getting very mixed responses, I'll have to take a look sometime soon.