A few things have started airing since my last post, plus, I'll have some updated thoughts on some of the newer shows.
First up we'll talk about the couple of premieres in the past couple weeks.
Smash - This show already had an ally in me because I thought the premise was fun and they have some great cast members like Debra Messing and Jack Davenport. Plus, I was always a fan of Katharine McPhee when she was on American Idol and I thought she was unexpectedly funny in The House Bunny. After the premiere, I can give it my preliminary Stamp of Approval. The writing was solid, the songs were fun, and the cast was excellent as expected. Actually filming in New York really gave it a movie-like quality to the whole thing. Yes, there were a couple of stereotypical personalities in there but it wasn't anything particularly off-putting to me. I'm looking forward to the second episode tonight. One thing I will say is that Debra Messing and her writing partner are the most interesting part of the show and I hope the two of them can stay the focus despite Katharine McPhee supposedly being the "star".
Spartacus: Vengeance - Technically this is just a season premiere but when you recast the main character, I'm going to look at you with a judgmental eye until you prove that I can follow through with my love for the first season. So, to recap, Spartacus was one of Starz's first attempt at original programming and they unfortunately decided to follow a more Showtime approach with lots a sex, violence, and language. At first, this was extremely off-putting and it was really hard to focus on anything good in the show because your senses were constantly being assaulted by blood, nudity, and excessive uses of the word "c*ck". However, around episode 4, something strange happened. A really solid story started to emerge and these characters were starting to become people I cared about and wanted to see what happened to them. Characters were killed and I actually felt sad when it happened. By episode 8 or so, I was a full-blooded fan of the show.
After the lead was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, the show was put on hiatus for him to undergo treatment. In the meantime, they decided to shoot a prequel so the fans could get some new content in 2011. This prequel was a very mixed bag in my opinion. Yes, there were some really cool backstory for a lot of the characters but they really ramped up the sex in a couple of episodes and I had a hard time connecting with the main character of this prequel until the last 2 episodes. Overall, I was ready for Andy Whitfield to get better and for the follow-up to the season 1 ending to come.
Unfortunately, Andy Whitfield relapsed and eventually passed away from his disease. However, before he died, he told the producers he wanted the show to continue and even went so far as to give his blessing to the actor they eventually chose to replace him. Liam McIntyre had a lot riding on his shoulders. I mean, come on, the show is called Spartacus. How do you recast Spartacus? Thankfully, now 3 episodes in, I can say that the show is firing on all cylinders creatively. The sex is toned down because you've got too much good story to tell. I think that was the problem with the prequel series is that they were trying to fill in holes (no pun intended) and didn't have enough story to warrant 6 episodes so they threw in sex. It's interesting because Liam is not playing the same Spartacus. He's not doing an impersonation which I think is a good call. This Spartacus is gruffer in some respects and more open in others, specifically with a new relationship. A couple of background players in season 1 have become main characters in season 2 and have done a great job. One of those is already my favorite character of the season.
In essence (geez Zayne, why couldn't you have gotten to this sooner), I'm saying that the show has a really good storyline and some fantastic characters but some of the content is definitely not for the faint of heart. If you think you can handle it, I highly recommend this series.
Now, onto my updated impressions of a few of the new shows.
The Firm - I have not watched another episode of it yet and they're building on my DVR. The show is certain to be cancelled so my drive is lessening by the day. If space becomes an issue, this will the first thing to go.
Alcatraz - I have actually watched a couple of these since the two hour pilot and the show is growing on me. The main girl seems to following in the footsteps of other unknown female actors found by JJ Abrams to star in his shows and become awesome. Hurley is starting to feel less like Hurley and more like a deeper character. His chemistry (not that kind) with the lead is really grounding his character. I think one of things that's really helping me like this show is that the bad guys are appropriately evil. These guys were supposed to be the worst of the worst and the show is certainly not shying away from the fact that these guys were evil and usually brutal men. Of course the character who would be a fount of show-breaking (in the producers' minds at least) information is still in a coma which is frustrating but the week to week nature of the show is entertaining enough at the moment to keep me at bay on wanting too many answers right away. Just give me good weekly cases and solid character interaction and you can probably keep me around for the rest of the season.
House of Lies - Well the first couple of episodes after the pilot continued the unfortunate trend of a whole lot of flash, not a a lot of substance, the couple since then have started to deepen and despite the fact that it's still a very crass show, sometimes even pushing my limits, the characters are fun and you can seem most of them as more than the douchebag facades they put forward. Kristen Bell is constantly proving why she's amazing her character is anything but simple and she plays it with aplomb. Never thought I'd get to use that word. I'm proud of myself.
I'm trying to think now if I'm missing something but the length of this post should partially make up for my extended absence.
I've been trying to think of something I can do on a weekly basis I think I'm going to try and do a regular Monday post with a quick breakdown of my favorite shows of the week. Thoughts?
As always your comments and input are appreciated, sparse though it may be. Until next time!
OH, this is what I did with my weekend, Booyah! If you don't know who these two are, first, slap yourself and kick yourself in the balls if that applies and then go watch Firefly.
