The Good and The Bad of TV - Part 1

I know it’s been ages since I’ve updated, and for that, I’m a bad person. However, before we hit the stretch run to the end of the TV season, I want to run down the good and the bad we’ve seen so far.

First, a little RIP for Bea Arthur. Best known for Golden Girls, Maude, and celebrity roast jokes, she will be missed. Just imagine if Maude had been on during the time of idiot bloggers. The landmark abortion episode would have caused the web to explode. My take on it would have been that no matter what your views on abortion, the episode should not have aired. Not because of the fact it was about abortion, but for the fact that there is no way Bea Arthur gets pregnant at over 50 years old and looking like she did in that show. That’s all I’m saying.

Anyway, on to my rundown. Part 1 now and Part 2 tomorrow.

24 Plot Twists.

The Good: Tony Almeida being the good guy.

The Skinny: When we first jump into 24 this season, Tony is working with the terrorists while Jack is trying to bring him down. We then find out that Tony is actually working with Bill and Chloe to bring down rogue elements of the government. Far-fetched yes, but still good drama. Plus, Tony was always a good guy, even if it’s highly implausible that he survived that attack last season. If you want revenge for Michelle, go after Logan, not the US Government.

The Bad: Tony Almeida being the bad guy – redux

The Skinny: So, Tony goes to all this trouble helping Jack get the CIP device and warning him about the attack on the White House and taking out the Starkwood Compound only for us to find out he is actually working against the government and now had a canister of the nerve gas. Huh? If this was his goal, just keep the attack on the White House a secret or just lay low at the Compound instead of blowing it up. It just makes no sense he would go to all this trouble.

Series Finales:

The Good: Battlestar Galactica

The Skinny: Like I didn’t go into enough detail about this. I really liked it, it tied up things nicely, and it is aging extremely well…so far.

The Bad: Life on Mars – The US version

The Skinny: I’ve said before that the US version isn’t half bad if you lobotomize yourself to forget the British version. It was intriguing and kind of made you wonder how they were going to play it out. The best part of the British finale was that the easiest answer was the correct one, and Sam made his choice. The US version decided to go the exact opposite.

What we got was an actual literal playing out of the show title, as a space ship touched down on Mars, all played to an Elton John song (instead of David Bowie). They all wake up from their sleep pods and it was all a dream for Sam. Not only that, but Gene is his father. Are you frakking serious?

It’s like the writers took the Mission Space ride at Epcot one too many times. If they tried, they couldn’t have come up with a worse finale. I really don’t think I’ve seen a finale this horrid. I was watching with the Duchess and she turns to me after it’s over and was like “That sucked.” I think she was being nice. To paraphrase Bart Simpson, this both sucked and blew.

Mid-Season Series:

The Good: Castle on ABC

The Skinny: Detective writer Richard Castle needs to start a new book series and decides to base his new character off of NYPD Detective Kate Beckett. Wackiness ensues. I find this show entertaining and hope that ABC renews it (which means they won’t). Nathan Fillion is a freaking riot as Castle. There isn’t one character that annoys me either. The cops at the NYPD and Castle’s mother and daughter are separate, yet both make the story great. The best thing and an easy trap for every show, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, yet isn’t complete camp.

The Bad: The Unusuals on ABC

The Skinny: When you watch the ads for this, you think it’s going to be a quirky cop show, which is desperately what TV needs. I was also intrigued because Amber Tamblyn was getting a paycheck for doing something that didn’t involve Bible thumping or an overly dramatized plot about a well-travelled pair of jeans.

So, I watched the first two episodes and found myself struggling. Yesterday, I sat there looking at it in my DVR trying to talk myself into watching it. Instead, I watched the 1998 series premiere of Seven Days (I miss the old days when UPN would throw everything against the wall to see what stuck).

Unlike Castle, this show does take itself too seriously, while the ads make it seem campy. I don’t know how they did it, but they did. Plus, seeing as I don’t like this show, ABC will probably renew it over Castle. Sometimes I just hate TV.

See you all tomorrow.