TV Tidbits

Due to the extreme lack of posting of late, I figured I'd at least post a little bit of fluff about the start of the new "season" in American television...

"Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" -- Aaron Sorkin's back, and is back to writing a TV show about a TV show. I'll spare you the summaries since you can find those anywhere, but it's probably on the top of my "watch" list until the next season until "Galact-oh-yeah!" starts up... which means, not for much longer.

Still, it's fine; the typical Sorkin-style rapid-fire dialogue, quirky characterizations, and just-short-of-preachy-but-still-mostly-insightful subject matter. I watched the early years of "West Wing" quite closely, and abandoned it when he left because of the way it lost it's insightfulness and reduced the issues to their typical cookie-cutter BS. I missed out on "SportsNight" when it aired, but saw a repeat long after starting "West Wing", and was a bit surprised to see that it was the exact same show. Much to learn, had I. However, that prepared me for being able to accept "Studio 60" for what it is.

Next up -- a little while ago, out here on the internets, a rip of the pilot episode of "Heroes" was floating around, so I gave it a quick watch. "Meh", I thought. A slightly re-edited version premiered in full HDTV glory this past week though.

And... "meh", I thought.

It reeks of "written by committee" and "dumbed-down for a general audience", which is rather dissappointing. I'll keep it on my DVR for a little longer to see if it loosens up a little, but I don't hold out much hope.

"Startgate SG-1" -- Kind of "meh", as it barrels toward it's own demise after being cancelled. The whole "Arthurian legends" thing is squeezed past absurdity, and the "situation-of-the-week" has a certain "just phoning it in" quality about it. Still, I'll stick with it until the bitter end, I guess.

Speaking of "just phoning it in", "The Simpsons" season... uh, hmm... (I think the show is almost old enough to vote...) Any way, I'm among the multitude of old cranks who think the show is way overdue for a dignified burial. It used to have a fine little subversive wit to it, but now it's just more along the lines of "aren't-I-so-ironic". Still, it's way more amusing than any other network sitcom. And that's just sad. At any rate, my DVR keeps cutting out just before the last minute or so and I keep missing the "punchline". But I'm not really inspired to go out of my way to download it, because it just doesn't seem worth the effort. Oh well.

Starting Sunday on Showtime, there's a new "quirky" series called "Dexter", about a serial killer who's also a forensics specialist for the Miami Police. "CSI" meets "Six Feet Under", I can just imagine (not particularly being a fan of either). Still I'll give it a shot, since my usual HBO Sunday night fare is long over for a while.

And, finally, I'm still watching "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report". It seems to be the only island of sanity and insightfulness about current events these days.

And that's just sad.