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I am a fan.
Over the past few months in my ever increasing boredom I have been watching copious amounts of television. At this point it is getting a little ridiculous. Have some little reactions/reviews! There are no real spoilers, just general descriptions.
I mainlined The Good Wife this past week and I am a little bit in love and quite a bit in shock. This show is on CBS and not only does it not fail, it actually is better both in quality and representation than a lot of cable/premium shows. The basic premise is that Alicia Florrick is the wife of the State Attorney who was caught up in a corruption and prostitution scandal. (The husband, that is, in a pretty blatant call up to Spitzer.) While he is in prison she goes back to work as a lawyer, dealing with cases, family and the on-going consequences of her husband's scandal as well as a well done will they/won't they relationship with one of her bosses (played by Josh Charles). Darlings, I love of Alicia and her troubles and her story, but the best part of the show by far is Kalinda. She is a bi investigator who knows more about everything than anyone. She and Alicia are friends who talk and drink (did I mention every freaking episode passed the Bledchel test?) and basically are lovely.
The cases are predictable a lot of time, and the messages are sent with anvils rather than hammers (though both are better than most of the USA shows so YMMV.) I could do without the Alicia/Will plotlines about half the time, though they do have chemistry. I just like the way they acknowledge the attraction like adults. Actually, that probably is one of the main reasons I like this show. The characters are adults who act as such.
Mad Men is the story of Don Draper. Or at least, it is the story of Don Draper and the world and are he inhabited: 60s Madison Avenue advertising.
I have no freaking clue why I wasn't watching this before. The past few years I had been disgruntled watching it scoop up award after award. But guess what: it deserves them. Not every episode is perfect and there are flaws (only some of which can be explained away by the era) but it is well written, acted and so so pretty. Seriously. This show is eye candy to the extreme. And I am not just talking about John Hamm. The fashions are beautiful and wonderfully rendered.
The characters are as well done as the settings. They are, each and every one of them, flawed. They are awful to each other, to themselves and to the environment (that picnic scene!). Because no one character is prefect, nothing is black and white, or even grey, just fully drawn colors. Again, this is a show I would recommend. (Really, almost all the shows I am talking about in this post are.)
Sherlock is Sherlock. This show has been so caught up by fandom I feel I don't even need to describe it. It is what it is, a buddy bromance about white boys. I love the cinematography, and I enjoyed the first and third eps, but the show doesn't really linger in my mind. Entertaining but not great.
Treme is about post-Katrina New Orleans, focusing on the musicians. Written and produced by David Simon (of Wire and Generation Kill fame) it is a character based study of a moment and a neighborhood. Oh, this show. I knew I was going to love it from the pedigree and the casting onwards (Wendall Pierce! Khandi Alexander! John Goodman!). I had it penciled down for a slot on my Yuletide list before I even watched the first episode.
I was right and wrong in my expectations. The show is very good. It is terrifically well crafted and beautifully acted. Khandi Alexander's performance in the last episode of the season was powerful enough that she should have won every acting award ever for the last 15 minutes alone. I fell in love with the neighborhood and the characters. But I won't be requesting it for Yuletide.
I don't want or need fanfic. With The Wire I want all the fanworks in the world. I want to know about Kima in her early days as a cop, of Carver in the future and Omar when he was in New York. I need the epic story of Barksdale and Bell and how Nick Sabotka fared. I want all these stories and more. I want vids exploring Bubbles journey to reach the top of stairs or comparing the S1 pit crew to the S4 kids. I want so much for there to be a huge fandom.
With Treme, I am content with what goes on on the screen. I think it might have something to do with the focus. The Wire is a crime novel. It is rich and fully characterized, but it is about Baltimore and the cases. The characters tell that story. In Treme the characters are the story. And it is lovely, but my needs are met by the show.
I've watched a few more things, keeping up with Psych (is it just me or is Gus even more awesome this season?) and Project Runway (my hatred for Gretchen is rivaling my love for Tim Gunn) and various other shows. Feel free to discuss any of these shows in the comments and share any fics you love for them.
On another note if you have seen the first season of The Wire, or have no plans to watch the Wire at all, watch the Pursuit of Happiness. This vid is D'Angelo. The clip choice is fucking incredible. Phi and I spent a ridiculous amount of time squeeing about it in chat because it is just that good.
Also, if you have an icon or art request, let me know. As I mentioned, I am bored.
ETA: I forgot to mention, but please do not crosspost comments on my entries to FB or Twitter. I will grant you the same courtesy.
I mainlined The Good Wife this past week and I am a little bit in love and quite a bit in shock. This show is on CBS and not only does it not fail, it actually is better both in quality and representation than a lot of cable/premium shows. The basic premise is that Alicia Florrick is the wife of the State Attorney who was caught up in a corruption and prostitution scandal. (The husband, that is, in a pretty blatant call up to Spitzer.) While he is in prison she goes back to work as a lawyer, dealing with cases, family and the on-going consequences of her husband's scandal as well as a well done will they/won't they relationship with one of her bosses (played by Josh Charles). Darlings, I love of Alicia and her troubles and her story, but the best part of the show by far is Kalinda. She is a bi investigator who knows more about everything than anyone. She and Alicia are friends who talk and drink (did I mention every freaking episode passed the Bledchel test?) and basically are lovely.
The cases are predictable a lot of time, and the messages are sent with anvils rather than hammers (though both are better than most of the USA shows so YMMV.) I could do without the Alicia/Will plotlines about half the time, though they do have chemistry. I just like the way they acknowledge the attraction like adults. Actually, that probably is one of the main reasons I like this show. The characters are adults who act as such.
Mad Men is the story of Don Draper. Or at least, it is the story of Don Draper and the world and are he inhabited: 60s Madison Avenue advertising.
I have no freaking clue why I wasn't watching this before. The past few years I had been disgruntled watching it scoop up award after award. But guess what: it deserves them. Not every episode is perfect and there are flaws (only some of which can be explained away by the era) but it is well written, acted and so so pretty. Seriously. This show is eye candy to the extreme. And I am not just talking about John Hamm. The fashions are beautiful and wonderfully rendered.
The characters are as well done as the settings. They are, each and every one of them, flawed. They are awful to each other, to themselves and to the environment (that picnic scene!). Because no one character is prefect, nothing is black and white, or even grey, just fully drawn colors. Again, this is a show I would recommend. (Really, almost all the shows I am talking about in this post are.)
Sherlock is Sherlock. This show has been so caught up by fandom I feel I don't even need to describe it. It is what it is, a buddy bromance about white boys. I love the cinematography, and I enjoyed the first and third eps, but the show doesn't really linger in my mind. Entertaining but not great.
Treme is about post-Katrina New Orleans, focusing on the musicians. Written and produced by David Simon (of Wire and Generation Kill fame) it is a character based study of a moment and a neighborhood. Oh, this show. I knew I was going to love it from the pedigree and the casting onwards (Wendall Pierce! Khandi Alexander! John Goodman!). I had it penciled down for a slot on my Yuletide list before I even watched the first episode.
I was right and wrong in my expectations. The show is very good. It is terrifically well crafted and beautifully acted. Khandi Alexander's performance in the last episode of the season was powerful enough that she should have won every acting award ever for the last 15 minutes alone. I fell in love with the neighborhood and the characters. But I won't be requesting it for Yuletide.
I don't want or need fanfic. With The Wire I want all the fanworks in the world. I want to know about Kima in her early days as a cop, of Carver in the future and Omar when he was in New York. I need the epic story of Barksdale and Bell and how Nick Sabotka fared. I want all these stories and more. I want vids exploring Bubbles journey to reach the top of stairs or comparing the S1 pit crew to the S4 kids. I want so much for there to be a huge fandom.
With Treme, I am content with what goes on on the screen. I think it might have something to do with the focus. The Wire is a crime novel. It is rich and fully characterized, but it is about Baltimore and the cases. The characters tell that story. In Treme the characters are the story. And it is lovely, but my needs are met by the show.
I've watched a few more things, keeping up with Psych (is it just me or is Gus even more awesome this season?) and Project Runway (my hatred for Gretchen is rivaling my love for Tim Gunn) and various other shows. Feel free to discuss any of these shows in the comments and share any fics you love for them.
On another note if you have seen the first season of The Wire, or have no plans to watch the Wire at all, watch the Pursuit of Happiness. This vid is D'Angelo. The clip choice is fucking incredible. Phi and I spent a ridiculous amount of time squeeing about it in chat because it is just that good.
Also, if you have an icon or art request, let me know. As I mentioned, I am bored.
ETA: I forgot to mention, but please do not crosspost comments on my entries to FB or Twitter. I will grant you the same courtesy.