I did a little math last night. I've got over 80 hours of programming recorded on my TiVo, with another 23 or so still available. With the exception of my 2 Millionaire episodes, a few Good Eats shows with recipes that looked promising, and a handful of Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law cartoons (you mean you haven't Tivo'd that yet? Great Scott old chum, do it now! I'll wait...) (and which Scott is it exactly who's so great, anyway?) [a few minutes and a Google search later...] (apparently it's General Winfield Scott), I haven't watched any of it yet. That's over 75 hours of unwatched material. 75 hours!
The plan, y'see, was to clear off a bunch of movies during the summer while everything was in reruns. But all the networks decided to air new programming in the summer, and all bets were off. Last weekend was a free movie preview on Starz, adding another 8 films to the backlog. And now the new season's begun and already Las Vegas and The Lyon's Den are Season Passed, and I consciously avoided watching Joan of Arcadia, Karen Sisco, and The Handler because I was afraid I'd have to Tivo them, too. And Jake 2.0 conflicts with 2 other higher-priority shows in the same time slot (Angel, The West Wing), so sayonara.
There's just too much to watch. We need more crap on TV, to thin the herd and make sure the really good shows get the audience they deserve. Fortunately, when there's a shortage of wretched programming, Whoopi's there to pick up the slack.
So Monday is now Movie Night at chez Pierre. Little by little, week by week, I'm going to tame this beast. And then... then the world will be mine! Muahahahahahaha...
Posted by Peter at October 1, 2003 10:24 PMHi Peter, it's Danny B92, K89. I, too, am a TiVo disciple, and I, too, have too much recorded. I feel your pain.
And yet, i must dispute your choice of television. Lyon's Den? We finally watched the pilot last night, and I gotta say, it had good points, and bad points. The best point was Rob Lowe's channeling of Sam Seaborn. And I like David Krumholtz. But more than few times we were cringing (the sappy Nigerian martyr story that inspires Rob to do his part for the world and take over the corrupt law firm? please). And what's with the bordering-on-campy-but-just-plain-uncomfortable relationship between Frances Fisher and Kyle "Homefront" Chandler? It wasn't campy-cute, it was campy-dumb. Lowe left The West Wing because his character wasn't getting stories that were "important enough" and he replaces it with a soap opera laced with gag-me sensitivity operettas? Ick.
On the other hand, Karen Sisco rocked, but I agree with Ken Tucker, they should have scheduled it before Alias, not opposite Law & Order.
Posted by: Danny Novo on October 2, 2003 7:00 AMHi Danny! Good to see you on the radar screens.
The pain comes in the box along with the DVR. Just add programming. I have 2 DISHPlayers rather a Tivo (which, along with east coast and west coast feeds allows me to get West Wing, Jake 2.0, Angel, and far too much more all on the same night) and have managed to fill up about 85 of their collective 120 hours all too quickly (only had these particular machines a couple months). Still have yet to watch a Jake 2.0, Karen Sisco, or the Angel premiere, but I agree with your take on Lyon's Den. A couple of interesting characters caught up in a soap opera with some couples/characters that are downright creepy (and not in a necessarily entertaining way like Boreanaz playing Angelus). And since Lowe's new show invites comments on his old one, I wondered if anyone else felt that last night's West Wing wasn't quite up to snuff. Although I expected a change in feel post-Sorkin (much less of his ballyhooed walking and talking and wordplay), but I thought the season premiere worked. Last night's, however, seemed consistently flat. They let cameras wandering over characters' faces stand in for poignancy way too often. When they find Zoey, I didn't feel like the cutaway shots (especially the one to Charley) carried the weight it would have in previous seasons. And why cut to Will Bailey's character staring blankly when the president is signing himself back into office? Was the take that bad that they need that cutaway? I'm still trying to put my finger on what's missing, but I have the decided sense that it's lost a step or three.
Posted by: David S on October 2, 2003 7:40 AMDavid,
We're dragging this way off (but I don't want to justify TiVo to myself anyway). As to West Wing, I agree that it was disappointing. Too many hints at good ideas that just didn't carry through. I don't think it was only the dialogue and shots, but also a bit of an attitude change. Given the situation, I just didn't think the tension was there. I was left feeling everything was wrapped up a bit too neatly and everyone went home just a bit too happy. I'll keep watching, but I do have a feeling the show will start to become formula now. I would have welcomed major development of the "Republicans are in office wanting to push their agenda but also knowing a step too much could be seen as heartless" angle. Instead it looks like they raised the possibility and then moved on, oh well.
Danny: The Lyon's Den is in its probationary period-- we'll see if it earns its Season Pass. Right now it's there mainly because of Rob Lowe, Frances Fisher, and Kyle Chandler (the novelty of seeing him play a jerk after years of Early Edition).
Angel's premiere was terrific. They've completely revamped the show, keeping a lot of humor while injecting conflict and excising soap opera. The whole Cordy/Angel/Connor thing had overstayed its welcome. I think the actress playing Eve was miscast, though-- she lacks the noirish, vampish gravitas I think that role wants. In other words, she's not Lilah. I never liked Harmony, but so far she works. And next week Spike comes on board, which looks to be delightful.
Sorkin is sorely missed on The West Wing. This episode suffered from Star Trek Syndrome-- the conflict was wrapped up in a tidy bow in the last five minutes. I didn't catch any of the explanation of how the FBI found Zoe-- it was drowned out by the helicopter. Which might have been intentional, but ineffective. The reunion sequence fell flat. And then, WHAM!-- Bartlett's large and in charge again. Rushed and clumsy, and not boding well for the rest of the season.
Posted by: Peter Sarrett on October 2, 2003 11:13 AM