Well kids, it's started! The first few pilots have rolled out to the public, and the returning series are beginning to roar back (thank God!). It's been a dreary summer for television, so dreary that I watched True Blood despite my initial vow of refusal. If there were a good TV fairy (we know there isn't, or there would be no Jersey Shore), then these would be my three wishes.
1. That at least 2 new shows turn out to be good.
TV Shows should have the same desire as parents, to replace at least themselves when they are gone from this Earth. Thankfully, I didn't lose any shows to death last season, but I did disown a few, and it's the networks' job to replace them! Luckily there are many promising shows this season, unlike a year ago, when all the networks tried to bring back ::shudder:: comedies with laugh tracks.
The Disowned: The Office, maybe Bones.
Adoption Candidates: 2 Broke Girls, Up All Night, Revenge, Prime Suspect, A Gifted Man, Homeland, American Horror Story, Grimm, Once Upon A Time
2. That They Don't Ruin Leslie Knope
Please don't ruin Leslie Knope. Please don't ruin Leslie Knope. If I say it enough times, she'll be fine, right? I trust the writers completely, but her narrative has literally boiled down to choosing either a man or a job. There's ample room for this to go horribly wrong. But with the strong feminist bona fides of Amy Poehler behind Leslie, I am more confident than not that things will turn out ok.
3. Alicia and Kalinda Stay Awesome
I don't know what this entails exactly. I do miss their drunken friendship, but I also enjoy their completely aggressive bitching at each other. For almost 2 years, they had one of the most realistic friendships between women that television has ever portrayed.
For the record, I do secretly believe that the real romantic through line of the entire show is Alicia-Kalinda. I don't meant that in a slash fiction kind of way, but I do find it telling that the biggest emotional beats in the show have thus far involved the two of them, their bonding and subsequent betrayals.
Whatever the writers do, they have to be careful. Alicia's not going to forgive Kalinda so quickly, and how Kalinda responds will be key to the rebuilding or utter destruction of their relationship.
What are your wishes? And before the clowns take over the room, no, you cannot wish for more wishes.
No wishes for Community?
ReplyDeleteHmm...if I had to make a wish for Community...I want it to more consistently awesome.
ReplyDeleteMy wishes are that:
ReplyDeleteBOARDWALK EMPIRE fixes Agent Van Alden. He was the worst part of the first season
THE WALKING DEAD is good every episode instead of only having a good premiere and finale, but a surprisingly boring middle.
HELL ON WHEELS is awesome.
HOMELAND is a smart spy thriller in the tradition of TINKER TAILOR and RUBICON. Oh and I think BOSS looks pretty interesting.
See, I really liked Van Alden apart from his bizarre sexual fixations. I really hope they get rid of Paz Vega on that show, she's annoying as hell.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to watch the Walking Dead, precisely because that's what I've heard.
Critics who've seen the first episode of Homeland say it's fantastic, so I'm looking forward to it! I also think Boss looks interesting, but it's Kelsey Grammer so it could go either way...
I keep hearing things about 2 Broke Girls but I watched the 3 minute preview/trailer thingy and found it painfully unfunny so that is a no-go for me. And I love Will Arnett (who doesn't?!?), but I have zero interest in "new parent" comedies. Instead I have been really surprised by how good the pilot episode for Zooey Deschanel's new sitcom, New Girl, is. Surprised because I am no Zooey fangirl (nor is my husband) and I often find her unemotive and cloying, but NG was really funny. I recommend!
ReplyDeleteI gave up on The Office not long after Jim & Pam had baby Cecilia. I just lost interest in the show, I'm afraid, mostly because it hadn't felt funny in a while, and suddenly my husband and I were 10 episodes behind or something and I just didn't care to catch up. Bones, on the other hand, is never a show I thought was good, and yet I LOVE to watch it when I knit. It's exactly the "so bad it's good" kind of show that I find highly addictive...
I have a bunch of shows I am auditioning since I don't have many returning favorites at the moment. I was excited that SMG was returning to tv with Ringer but the pilot was kind of overwhelming and cheesey so I'm still on the fence with it... I'll give it a few more episodes before I decide its fate.
Also, if Community could return to the consistent funniness of S1 that would be great. S2 was really uneven. Same goes for the last season of How I Met Your Mother; I love that show, but this past season was easily its worst, so here's hoping for an uptick.
I thought 2 Broke Girls was pretty good, after a so-so 5 minutes.
ReplyDeleteI actually didn't mind NG, but I absolutely cannot stand Zooey Deschanel, who seems to singlehandedly embody every horrible cliche that men spout about women in everything she acts in, and even more in this show. (WHAT IS WITH ALL THE WATCHING DIRTY DANCING? WHO DOES THAT?)
Bones used to be my guilty pleasure, then it got really good and addictive, then it became...meh. I still hope it'll pick up though!