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Undertoad · 10-05-2001, 01:56 PM

Agreed all arond on West Wing. The terrorism episode seemed a little preachy, as does the show at times. But when you step back and look at it, here is, as you called it, the idiot box, using a prime-time TV drama to EDUCATE THE PEOPLE. Wow. There were bits in that script directly lifted from the Afghan-American letter I posted here BTW.

Two things about WW that bothers me more and more. One is the wham-bam dialogue. You could make a case for it developing within an organization, but even outsiders use it. It's just too unnatural.

The other thing is how characters seem to be too at-the-ready with facts and figures. You'll see Rob Lowe's character sudddenly bleat out "There were 17,000 cases of injury from ladder usage last year. 73% of those were from ascneding, 20% from descending, and 7% from carrying." OK, got it.

I'm going to dedicate time to Enterprise. I think it is extremely promising. The other ST series got to the point where they were not vulnerable enough, and so weirder and weirder aliens pursued them. Now, with only a pea shooter and transports that clunk into the ship while trying to dock, you feel like there is real danger and real anticipation, which oughta make for more drama and less rehashing of old plots.

Agreed on Friends; it's two seasons past its time, the writing is downhill, but I always feel like rooting for the show because it's made me laugh unpredictably so many times. It should return to being a show pretty much about nothing, where a friendly football game constitutes an entire episode. We'll look back and say it captured an era: the time when the economy was good, the mood was high, and Gen-Xers could be happy and carefree with life. It'd be nice if that era could go a while longer...

I'm looking forward to The Tick. Old cellarite mason introduced me to the comic, which was great. The animated series picked up some of its wacky humor and of course the bizarre villians. Patrick Warburton is so perfectly cast here. Could be a real funny show.

The Simpsons is, unfortunately, DONE. It stood the test of time longer than it should have, and it's possibly my favorite comedy series of all time; but finally, it's missing something and I'm not sure what. I think I'll pass this year.

I keep waiting for The Daily Show to re-find itself since 9/11. I have faith. Jon Stewart is excellent.

10-05-2001, 01:56 PM	#4
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Agreed all arond on <b>West Wing</b>. The terrorism episode seemed a little preachy, as does the show at times. But when you step back and look at it, here is, as you called it, the idiot box, using a prime-time TV drama to EDUCATE THE PEOPLE. Wow. There were bits in that script directly lifted from the Afghan-American letter I posted here BTW. Two things about WW that bothers me more and more. One is the wham-bam dialogue. You could make a case for it developing within an organization, but even outsiders use it. It's just too unnatural. The other thing is how characters seem to be too at-the-ready with facts and figures. You'll see Rob Lowe's character sudddenly bleat out "There were 17,000 cases of injury from ladder usage last year. 73% of those were from ascneding, 20% from descending, and 7% from carrying." OK, got it. I'm going to dedicate time to <b>Enterprise</b>. I think it is extremely promising. The other ST series got to the point where they were not vulnerable enough, and so weirder and weirder aliens pursued them. Now, with only a pea shooter and transports that clunk into the ship while trying to dock, you feel like there is real danger and real anticipation, which oughta make for more drama and less rehashing of old plots. Agreed on <b>Friends</b>; it's two seasons past its time, the writing is downhill, but I always feel like rooting for the show because it's made me laugh unpredictably so many times. It should return to being a show pretty much about nothing, where a friendly football game constitutes an entire episode. We'll look back and say it captured an era: the time when the economy was good, the mood was high, and Gen-Xers could be happy and carefree with life. It'd be nice if that era could go a while longer... I'm looking forward to <b>The Tick</b>. Old cellarite <i>mason</i> introduced me to the comic, which was great. The animated series picked up some of its wacky humor and of course the bizarre villians. Patrick Warburton is so perfectly cast here. Could be a real funny show. <b>The Simpsons</b> is, unfortunately, DONE. It stood the test of time longer than it should have, and it's possibly my favorite comedy series of all time; but finally, it's missing something and I'm not sure what. I think I'll pass this year. I keep waiting for <b>The Daily Show</b> to re-find itself since 9/11. I have faith. Jon Stewart is excellent.