This Fall --> As good as MSCL

[Sascha]

Also there's Life as we Know It on ABC a teen drama from the boys perspective. based on a controversial British teen novel (Doin' It), it's gotten mixed reviews. The cocreator has already said he wants it to be a sorta "My So-Called Life centered around boys" even though it seems like it will lack MSCL's sublety. Still I'll give it a chance.

I was surprised how much I liked Kelly Osbourne's character in that show. But it's really bad written and some of the actors are acting very "woody". Camera and direction is first-class, but the scripts ... ugh ...


At the moment I'm recommending everyone to take a look at UPN's new show "Veronica Mars". It's by all means no comparision to "MSCL", but it's still a nice show - it's mainly targeted at teens and early twentysomethings, but it's not your typical teenage angst soap. The show has excellent writing with a good lead actress. This could be the new hit show for UPN which could cost theWB's "One Tree Hill" a lot of young (and older) viewers. Some reviews already call it "this year's 'Joan of Arcadia'" and I totally agree.

The show has some obvious similarities to the Chloe character from "Smallville". A young, blonde girl who likes to investigate criminal cases. Her dad was once sheriff in a wealthy community in California, but then he arrested an innocent man in a murder case and he lost his job. He then opened a small P.I. company with his daughter being some kind of inofficial employee. Although her dad doesn't want her to, she enjoys helping him out - she follows suspects, makes pictures and knows how to deal with the "bad boys" in dark alleys.

But this is not a cheap "young girl plays detective" adventure soap, it tells an interesting story of a girl who lost all her friends, was raped and is in search for her mother who disappeared shortly after her dad lost his job.

Sure, its a bit unrealistic - a young, seventeen years old girl who helps her dad as a private investigator and still goes to high-school - not exactly what I would call "true to life". But at least the pilot episode is well written and has an interesting character development.

It starts September 22 on UPN.

[EricMontreal22]

U found the pilot of Life already? Anyway you're description largely sounds liek what I expected but i'll still check it out...

Veronica sounds like a lot of fun. It's about time UPN got some good original dramas (or original anything). I just hope it finds an audience--critics have been VERY good to it, but it's time slot seems a bit worrying to me. I'm def gonna give it a try tomorrow. Doesn't sound anymore unrealistic than Alias anyway--I can suspend my disbelief if the show has the right to ask me to

E

[So-Called Loon]

I remember watching some of Thirty-Something, and liked it pretty well. It stands out most in my mind because i once said something about it to my sister and she said, Oh, i hate that show. It's so boring. It's too real. It's like watching your neighbors.

I thought Relativity was dreadful. Seemed very strained and i identified with no-one. That's all i remember.

Jack and Bobby was surprisingly good. But having it as some type of flashback biography is a pointless gimmick that's just annoying.

On an UP note: If the pilot is any indication, the writers of CSI New York are vastly better than those for CSI Miami.

Back in the negative, One Tree Hill's opener seemed like that show is headed for Dawson's Creek, or maybe 90210 territory. It's been on the knife-edge from the start and i think it's slipping away. I fully expect that if it lasts a season or two more, a review of it's plot will read like a really bad soap; with everybody having had a relationship with everyone else and all sense of reality out the window.

[Sascha]

On an UP note: If the pilot is any indication, the writers of CSI New York are vastly better than those for CSI Miami.

But what a dark show! It had an almost depressing post-apocalyptic feeling. Most scenes had only one or two (living) persons in it. And with that whole 9/11 storyline of the main character it got even more melodramatic. Nah, the original CSI:LV is still the best (and also has the best "The Who" song as theme ). I haven't seen it's season opener yet, but I heard it was pretty good.

(But the elevator for the dead bodys in CSI:NY was cool and surreal at the same time)



LAX: Still trying to find out if I like that show. I like Heather Locklear as airport co-manager, but the story in the first two episodes was kinda lame. But cool classic theme song by ELO.

[So-Called Loon]

But what a dark show! It had an almost depressing post-apocalyptic feeling. --- Nah, the original CSI:LV is still the best (and also has the best "The Who" song as theme ). I haven't seen it's season opener yet, but I heard it was pretty good.

It was rather dark and creepy. I can't say about the season opener of CSI:LV. I missed the first half.

As to themes, i don't much care for the music used on any of the three CSIs. Shows need an iconic, distinctive, specifically-for-the-show theme. All three are okay as rock pieces but too loud, obnoxious, and unrelated to the mood and subject of the shows, to me.

Now the X-Files theme was a classic! Perfectly matched. So are the Simpson's theme* and the cheers one. And who doesn't know the Cops theme? Jan Hammer's Miami Vice theme was perfect, and the Gilmore Girls music is pretty distinctive.

LAX: Still trying to find out if I like that show. I like Heather Locklear as airport co-manager, but the story in the first two episodes was kinda lame. But cool classic theme song by ELO.

Missed episode 2. Before the pilot, just having seen the ads i thought, what a stupid idea for a series. It wasn't so bad, but i found the characters rather flat.

Locklear is one of a dozen or so actors that fall into a strange category for me. Got no real problem with her, but somehow she seems miscast no matter what the roll. It doesn't even necessarily mean i won't like the show. It's very odd. I've never really bought her in sexy parts. She doesn't convince me here as a power figure. And in really dramatic roles i just can't take her seriously. She worked in "Spin City".

Anybody else have certain actors they just can't buy in most parts?

Another is Tom Cruise. He's been in several films i've really liked, but something about him always bugs me anyway.

I have a list of about the same number of opposite actors. Ones whom no matter what character they play, or how different the characters are, they seem completely believable (assuming the show isn't lousy).

One i can think of is Samuel Jackson. Denzel Washington's pretty much in there as well. Kevin Spacey, maybe.


* Danny Elfman is the uncontested master of music-to-material matching in my book! MIB was brilliant. The Nightmare Before Christmas work was amazing. I always think that if i was a movie producer i would definitely want him doing the music. Unless it was a huge epic, in which case John Williams is the only choice.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Morgan Freeman is one of those actors who I buy in any role. It's not because he physically changes his appearance like other actors - he always looks exactly the same, but he is convincing as a cop, an ex-con, a soldier, or a chauffeur.

[EricMontreal22]

I remember watching some of Thirty-Something, and liked it pretty well. It stands out most in my mind because i once said something about it to my sister and she said, Oh, i hate that show. It's so boring. It's too real. It's like watching your neighbors.

That';s great! Because it's true--but for me that's a complement. I remember flipping past thirtysomethign back when I was young and it first aired and finding it boring. Now that I tape and watch the reruns and *love* it--i flipped by when a friend was over recently and she said "god this is boring..." And... i kinda agree. it's a show that you have to sit down and watch to realize it's not boring (if that makes any sense) Once and Again suffered from this too--not the best for American tv tryign to get new viewers...

I thought Relativity was dreadful. Seemed very strained and i identified with no-one. That's all i remember.

Jack and Bobby was surprisingly good. But having it as some type of flashback biography is a pointless gimmick that's just annoying.

Relativity was a bit too ute at first but grew into its own.

Agreed iwth Jack and Bobby--lose the future stuff and I'll be a much bigger fan.

E[/quote]

[Nostradamus]

Andre Braugher usually hits his mark. Liev Schrieber also comes to mind. Maybe Patrick Stewart. Or Laura Dern?

[special_k]

Once and Again suffered from this too--not the best for American tv tryign to get new viewers...

E

Once & Again was very easy to relate to on many levels. I was still a toddler when my parents divorced, but I could relate to growing up in a single parent environment. As a so-called grown up, I found myself able to understand some of what Rick and Lilly went through. Then there was Karen Sammler. So much to identify with.

[EricMontreal22]

I agree with you--but if you were flipping past it you might think "why should I watch a show that reminds me of my neighbours fighting..."

E

[So-Called Loon]

Yep. I'd have to go along with Morgan Freeman. Excellent. Patrick Stewart is in there as well, though i haven't seen him in as many roles. Didn't make a half-bad Scrooge.

I haven't seen enough of Laura Dern.


Nobody has any actors they can't buy?

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Patrick Stewart is in there as well, though i haven't seen him in as many roles. Didn't make a half-bad Scrooge.

I will always remember his as Captain Picard, but he is a great actor. I saw him do a one man version of A Christmas Carol onstage, and he was incredible.

[Nostradamus]

Patrick Stewart is in there as well, though i haven't seen him in as many roles. Didn't make a half-bad Scrooge.

He was in a small Showtime flick, Safe House, which could have been awful, but he pulled it off. Stewart played a retired G-man who confuses his past intrigues with the dementia of an early-onset neurological disorder. It's a surprisingly effective drama of the pain and loss of Alzheimer's disguised as a light thriller-spoof.

Nobody has any actors they can't buy?

Leonardo DiCaprio. Don't know why, but that guy irks me.

[Nostradamus]

Alternate genres would include China Beach, Northern Exposure, Star Trek, The Cosby Show, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, MASH and more...

Before they started to piddle around and screwed it up, China Beach was excellent. There's one episode that's stuck in my mind forever that i'd like a copy of. Marg Helgenberger and Dana Delany's characters were taken captive by some soldiers and forced to operate on a wounded soldier in a system of hidden tunnels. Part way through, Marg was starting to crack up and tried to dig her way out. The operation was intense, too. They didn't really have proper materials or skills.

FYI: The GoodLife TV Network is showing China Beach every tuesday night as part of their "American Soldier" programming.

[SanDeE*]

Nobody has any actors they can't buy?

I can't buy Sandra Bullock. Seems like every role she's cast in is the same character. Jennifer Aniston as well --- maybe that's because she's just so well-known as that girl on Friends (not a fan of that one, don't know the names). This is no knock on who they are as people at all, I don't know them personally, it's just that when I see them in a movie a feel uncomfortable with their character, or how they portray the character.