A few good ways to win me over, if you’re thinking of making a TV show with just me in mind:
- Female protagonist I don’t hate. Wendy Watson hereby joins the other… three.
- A character who doesn’t take half a fucking hour to get over every surprising turn of events. Writers! The stuff you’re writing didn’t really happen, so watching your characters refuse to believe it happened is not actually terribly entertaining for us!
- Conversely, disbelief at just how idiotic your plot is makes them highly entertaining.
- Max Payne references.
- Scenes where a character starts to say something about what we’re seeing, then thinks better of it.
- Ultra-mild curse words, ideally accompanied by a character who actually does swear her face off at the appropriate times. Somehow that makes the gosh-darnits seem extra mild.
- Ending an episode with a Russian Futurists song. This one was laser targeted at me.
Dante: I too have been watching The Middleman, thus fueling my suspicsion that you are, in fact, me in disguise.
Guessing game, three female protaganists you don't hate... I figure one must be Veronica Mars.
LaZodiac: I'm sure you've noticed, but all of the pictures but Bullet Time are RedX.
Pentadact: They're not pictures, they should be YouTube clips. Still working for me - anyone else?
Jason L: All working for me.
Pwnzerfaust: All work for me.
And just letting you know that you have convinced me to watch television again. I hope you're proud of yourself.
BullDozers: all the clips are down now (13:30 central european on 20.7.08)... i cant believe that ABC doesn't realize that they're getting a free ad campaign with these clips.. (cue anti-corp rant).
I watched the first 3 episodes. There are some weak moments and while I get it that the joke repetition is intentional, i think the show could use more variety... but it's not bad. thanks for introducing it.
Pentadact: Still working for me, 13.36 CET. I have been noticing that all over the place, YouTube clips are reporting "This video is no longer available" as if it's been pulled, when what it actually means is YouTube timed out because it's under huge load. But that wouldn't entirely explain LaZodiac's phenomenon here.
BullDozers: Yea, you're right... works again, so clips weren't pulled. What is the world coming to!!?! what will happen to us without youtube??? oh, the humanity.
Jason L: I bet it couldn't possibly be people uploading Dr. Horrible to Youtube in anticipation of its disappearance.
J-man: Can't see any of the pics, just that white square with a red X.
Pentadact: If someone who's seeing Xs could try this link and see if it works, that might edify things:
I've heard mixed things about this Middleman show, Tom. Other than the things you cite, is it actually, you know, good?
H: I'm seeing Xs but that link you put up works.
The_B: Red X's here too, and while the link works, it doesn't fix it when returning here at all.
Pentadact: Thomas: Yes. It's knowingly tacky, gleefully pulpy and openly nonsense, but it has a sense of fun about it that I find in very little else. And I like everyone in it, which is rarer still.
It says something that the best laugh of the latest episode is a fourteen year-old girl dying. I'm not sure what, but something.
Particularly the chorus of "Middleman!" at the end.
Yub Yub, Commander: Thank you thank you thank you for posting this! I finally have another show to watch, now that Doctor Who is done for another season!
and what you said above: "It's knowingly tacky, gleefully pulpy and openly nonsense, but it has a sense of fun about it that I find in very little else. And I like everyone in it, which is rarer still." is a SPOT ON description of the show.
"No more monologuing, or I'll Swiss-cheese you on principle."
Pentadact: Heh. And wasn't the latest episode fantastic? The Prestigous Egon Spengler Award For Excellence In Physics. And Middleman fighting like a girl. And the frat boy's performance throughout.
Yub Yub, Commander: Another thing: Brilliant episode titles.
"The Pilot Episode Sanction"
"The Manicoid Teleportation Conundrum"
"The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation"
etc.
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Guessing game, three female protaganists you don't hate... I figure one must be Veronica Mars.