So...I'm halfway through season 6 of The West Wing already...makes me very sad. lol. But I am working on making my very own Josh/Donna fanvid...could be interesting.
I finished Scrubs. I really liked the way it ended.
I finished season 4 of Will and Grace...which is all I have...for now.
I've started Freaks and Geeks. And there are a few others that I can borrow from Ness after that...
In terms of downloaded shows...I'm enjoying new Showtime show Nurse Jackie. -A little weird, but entertaining.
I'm loving In Plain Sight....Course once we get through season 2 we'll be screwed!
I'm still behind on Brotherhood, and NCIS. I've got 2 more eps of NCIS left to download...I just can't be bothered..I think I'm losing interest in that show.
Still gotta catch up on Mad Men too...I haven't watched season 2 yet and season 3 is starting. oops. Maybe I can track that down soon.
Oh well...before I know it, september and the Emmy's will be here. Maybe Kristin will win this year. :)
---------
Carlie
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Sunday, 12 July 2009
Why I Like TV Series More Than Movies Part 1
Just something I felt like noting down. -Now this list won't apply to every single movie ever made...but to the majority anyways.
2. Because of the limited time period of movies, there is only selective character development. Only the pivotal characters evolve, the minor characters fill their role and rarely get a lot of attention. They generally a 2 dimensional and serve a specific purpose.
3. TV series allow you to follow characters from week to week, year to year. Some characters play larger roles one week, and smaller ones the next. But you generally count on them being around. You become attached to these people you let into your world, they become like a friend.
4. TV is an investment. Its not just an hour and a half of time wasted, but you're in for the long haul. It's a commitment, to following the stories and the characters each week. Movies you can watch over and over again, but it is still the same exact movie.
5. Series allow you watch a specific part of the storyline, instead the whole narrative. You can watch 1 episode from the middle season, and then jump to the end, and back to the start again if you so desire.
2. Because of the limited time period of movies, there is only selective character development. Only the pivotal characters evolve, the minor characters fill their role and rarely get a lot of attention. They generally a 2 dimensional and serve a specific purpose.
3. TV series allow you to follow characters from week to week, year to year. Some characters play larger roles one week, and smaller ones the next. But you generally count on them being around. You become attached to these people you let into your world, they become like a friend.
4. TV is an investment. Its not just an hour and a half of time wasted, but you're in for the long haul. It's a commitment, to following the stories and the characters each week. Movies you can watch over and over again, but it is still the same exact movie.
5. Series allow you watch a specific part of the storyline, instead the whole narrative. You can watch 1 episode from the middle season, and then jump to the end, and back to the start again if you so desire.
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
The West Wing....In The End
So.....very good ending...sad as it is to not have any more eps to watch. I guess it ended well.
It was very nice, and end of an era.
I was a little confused cause I thought that they jumped forwards again at the end...but they didn't.
As far as my predictions went.....
I did guess that Sam would be Deputy COS...cause really what else would Josh give him...he's too good for anything lower.
I did guess that Charlie would go to Law School...which was pretty good, seeing as I had NO idea, and there were no hints given in the flash forward!
I guessed Annabeth or Donna would be Press Secretary or media relations/communications (director or deputy in Annabeth's case)...so I was close. Annabeth did become A press secretary...just for The First Lady.
I never would have imagined that Donna would become Helen Santos' Chief of Staff...an excellent position for her though...all growed up with her own office...twice the size of Josh's :P
- but shall I mention the mirroring of her and Amy.....cause I'm also guessing that Josh took her to Tahiti...he likes it apparently.
-Kate should go work for The First Lady...apparently that's where all the blondes are :P
I was off with CJ, I guessed she'd end up back in PR or some random government position.
I never would have guessed that Toby would become...well we're not exactly sure what he is...but I'm guessing a lecturer or something, all they said was he was at Columbia...I'm gonna assume the school and not the country :)
also my DVD set arrived today......can I just say how fitting that it came on Aaron Sorkin's birthday!
------
Carlie
It was very nice, and end of an era.
I was a little confused cause I thought that they jumped forwards again at the end...but they didn't.
As far as my predictions went.....
I did guess that Sam would be Deputy COS...cause really what else would Josh give him...he's too good for anything lower.
I did guess that Charlie would go to Law School...which was pretty good, seeing as I had NO idea, and there were no hints given in the flash forward!
I guessed Annabeth or Donna would be Press Secretary or media relations/communications (director or deputy in Annabeth's case)...so I was close. Annabeth did become A press secretary...just for The First Lady.
I never would have imagined that Donna would become Helen Santos' Chief of Staff...an excellent position for her though...all growed up with her own office...twice the size of Josh's :P
- but shall I mention the mirroring of her and Amy.....cause I'm also guessing that Josh took her to Tahiti...he likes it apparently.
-Kate should go work for The First Lady...apparently that's where all the blondes are :P
I was off with CJ, I guessed she'd end up back in PR or some random government position.
I never would have guessed that Toby would become...well we're not exactly sure what he is...but I'm guessing a lecturer or something, all they said was he was at Columbia...I'm gonna assume the school and not the country :)
also my DVD set arrived today......can I just say how fitting that it came on Aaron Sorkin's birthday!
------
Carlie
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
A follow up
So I had a few more comments to make on the whole 'getting to the end of WW' thing...
Over the past year...my TV viewing has taken a huge change in nature. -I discovered the beauty of Wicked and Pushing Daisies within the same week I think. And then everything just catapulted from there. See I have Kristin Chenoweth to blame and thank for everything almost.
I always knew I'd love Wicked. -I'd been waiting for it to come to Melbourne for a long time.
I'd forgotten about Kristin -who I'd seen in other things, and knew I liked, but with the strike and other things going on, -I'd forgotten about her. Then the Emmy nominations came out....and I figured I'd better watch Pushing Daisies. After 1 ep I was hooked!
Then I made it my mission to watch anything Kristin I could get my hands on. Ness and I even did our Kristin movie night.
We were even contemplating watching just her eps of The West Wing.....wow oh wow what a mistake that would have been!
I think Kristin was the final straw that broke the camels back when it came to us watching The West Wing....it was one of those shows that was WAY over my head at the time, and I probably wouldn't have been able to find it on Aussie tv anyways.
But with not much left on tv, or nothing overly interesting, we decided to give it a shot. -We LOVED Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. We loved Bradley....Allison...Rob Lowe....and a bunch of the people who guest starred over the years.
Within 1 ep we liked it....and slowly started to get used to all the political stuff...then we developed a love for everyone else. Janel, John, Martin, Richard, Dule....Moira....and then it snowballed into obsession.
And the rest is history.
On October 4th 2008....our lives as we knew them changed.
While I can't wait to watch the last four eps and see how things end up....I'm SO sad for it to all be over. The excitement, looking forward to new eps, and the fear of spoilers, and the thrill of knowing the things we did know.
So I'd just like to thank Aaron Sorkin for creating this wonderful show....and thank GOD for DVDs. Without them we would have missed a rare jewel of a TV show.
-------
Carlie
Over the past year...my TV viewing has taken a huge change in nature. -I discovered the beauty of Wicked and Pushing Daisies within the same week I think. And then everything just catapulted from there. See I have Kristin Chenoweth to blame and thank for everything almost.
I always knew I'd love Wicked. -I'd been waiting for it to come to Melbourne for a long time.
I'd forgotten about Kristin -who I'd seen in other things, and knew I liked, but with the strike and other things going on, -I'd forgotten about her. Then the Emmy nominations came out....and I figured I'd better watch Pushing Daisies. After 1 ep I was hooked!
Then I made it my mission to watch anything Kristin I could get my hands on. Ness and I even did our Kristin movie night.
We were even contemplating watching just her eps of The West Wing.....wow oh wow what a mistake that would have been!
I think Kristin was the final straw that broke the camels back when it came to us watching The West Wing....it was one of those shows that was WAY over my head at the time, and I probably wouldn't have been able to find it on Aussie tv anyways.
But with not much left on tv, or nothing overly interesting, we decided to give it a shot. -We LOVED Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. We loved Bradley....Allison...Rob Lowe....and a bunch of the people who guest starred over the years.
Within 1 ep we liked it....and slowly started to get used to all the political stuff...then we developed a love for everyone else. Janel, John, Martin, Richard, Dule....Moira....and then it snowballed into obsession.
And the rest is history.
On October 4th 2008....our lives as we knew them changed.
While I can't wait to watch the last four eps and see how things end up....I'm SO sad for it to all be over. The excitement, looking forward to new eps, and the fear of spoilers, and the thrill of knowing the things we did know.
So I'd just like to thank Aaron Sorkin for creating this wonderful show....and thank GOD for DVDs. Without them we would have missed a rare jewel of a TV show.
-------
Carlie
Monday, 1 June 2009
And then there was Four....
So there it is, we're down to the final four episodes of The West Wing.
Its really pretty impressive that it's taken us this long to watch it. But we didn't want to rush through it, and also, we had to break down the episodes a little.
Last weekend we did the very sad, but extremely well done, death of Leo McGarry episodes. -Which just happen to coincide with the whole, Josh and Donna finally getting together episodes....figures.
One thing I'm very glad about is the fact that they did it pretty early in the season, and not just in the last episode...which while would have been closure, tends to pretty much piss you off cause you don't get enough time for sweetness.
So anyways...back to The West Wing...
By the time we finish season 7....it will have taken us 7 weeks to watch all 22 episodes. Which is quite impressive....some seasons only took 3 or 4 weeks....
But I always get sad when a series is over. Here's hoping I don't bawl, shouldn't happen in public.....but I'm not making any promises. I've cried for every finale I've seen, even Cold Feet which I only watched random eps here and there - and the last few eps ever.
I just get sad when things are over.
-Aaron Sorkin you better get working on another TV series so I can have something new to watch. There's a severe lack of smart stuff on tv these days.
Well at least when it's over, I'll have watching the whole thing over from the beginning to look forward to - I finally ordered the dvd box set. YAY!
-------
Carlie
Its really pretty impressive that it's taken us this long to watch it. But we didn't want to rush through it, and also, we had to break down the episodes a little.
Last weekend we did the very sad, but extremely well done, death of Leo McGarry episodes. -Which just happen to coincide with the whole, Josh and Donna finally getting together episodes....figures.
One thing I'm very glad about is the fact that they did it pretty early in the season, and not just in the last episode...which while would have been closure, tends to pretty much piss you off cause you don't get enough time for sweetness.
So anyways...back to The West Wing...
By the time we finish season 7....it will have taken us 7 weeks to watch all 22 episodes. Which is quite impressive....some seasons only took 3 or 4 weeks....
But I always get sad when a series is over. Here's hoping I don't bawl, shouldn't happen in public.....but I'm not making any promises. I've cried for every finale I've seen, even Cold Feet which I only watched random eps here and there - and the last few eps ever.
I just get sad when things are over.
-Aaron Sorkin you better get working on another TV series so I can have something new to watch. There's a severe lack of smart stuff on tv these days.
Well at least when it's over, I'll have watching the whole thing over from the beginning to look forward to - I finally ordered the dvd box set. YAY!
-------
Carlie
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Well so much for that!.
We are weak....weak, weak, weak. :D
So after our first week of being good and sticking to our 2 ep limit for The West Wing....we went ahead the next week and watched 6. .....Then this week we watched 4. Okay so an average of 4 eps a week is actually pretty good for us. -That's almost season 2 pace.
I think we will probably stick to blocks of 4 or 5 eps for the last few. We do have drinking week in their to drown our sorrows.
I will admit that the original limit of 2 eps was unrealistic....but it actually didn't feel wrong that we only watched two.....just like this week it didn't feel wrong that we watched just 4....even though we both kinda wanted to get to ep 5....but at the same time didn't....
I think we both are dying to get to the end...but don't want to get to the end at the same time. -Its a confusing set of feelings.
As far as other tv goes....its the end of the TV season. ER is gone, I've seen the end of Lost, Brothers and Sisters, and every other show I watch, 'cept Greys.
I've got nothing else to watch...nothing waiting for me. This means I will have to start downloading some other things....like the rest of NCIS -which has been my on hold show. I think I've got 3 or 4 eps of that left to see. I've also got to get season 3 of Brotherhood...but I have a feeling its gonna suck - I hope not. Then there is a few mini-series I want to watch, and a couple of movies I've got to track down. But I think I'm going to be very bored over the next few months.
-and waiting till Jan/Feb for new LOST is gonna be hard...this season was TOO good!!!!
-Carlie
So after our first week of being good and sticking to our 2 ep limit for The West Wing....we went ahead the next week and watched 6. .....Then this week we watched 4. Okay so an average of 4 eps a week is actually pretty good for us. -That's almost season 2 pace.
I think we will probably stick to blocks of 4 or 5 eps for the last few. We do have drinking week in their to drown our sorrows.
I will admit that the original limit of 2 eps was unrealistic....but it actually didn't feel wrong that we only watched two.....just like this week it didn't feel wrong that we watched just 4....even though we both kinda wanted to get to ep 5....but at the same time didn't....
I think we both are dying to get to the end...but don't want to get to the end at the same time. -Its a confusing set of feelings.
As far as other tv goes....its the end of the TV season. ER is gone, I've seen the end of Lost, Brothers and Sisters, and every other show I watch, 'cept Greys.
I've got nothing else to watch...nothing waiting for me. This means I will have to start downloading some other things....like the rest of NCIS -which has been my on hold show. I think I've got 3 or 4 eps of that left to see. I've also got to get season 3 of Brotherhood...but I have a feeling its gonna suck - I hope not. Then there is a few mini-series I want to watch, and a couple of movies I've got to track down. But I think I'm going to be very bored over the next few months.
-and waiting till Jan/Feb for new LOST is gonna be hard...this season was TOO good!!!!
-Carlie
Monday, 4 May 2009
What Happened to The TV Viewers?
Did they all suddenly get dumber, and stupid - unable to appreciate good writing, directing, performance and overall creativity???? It feels like it. Maybe they just became jaded.
Over the last few years, ratings keep dropping for new shows. People are just not tuning in for the good stuff. There could be a billion different reasons why shows are not lasting anymore.
I grew up on shows that were institutions. They lasted at least 3 seasons and often went to 5 or more. So what has changed? Is it the audience? The content? Or are the networks just not giving things a go anymore?
I argue it's a bit of all three.
Firstly, I think the popularity of the internet gave people something else to do. It got people away from their televisions. I also think that the introduction and excess of reality programs has really dumbed down the audience. Additionally, those shows are cheaper to make and easier to sell.
There are very very few shows begun after 2002 that really were good! There are always exceptions and we have seen them. In the 20th century somehow there were more shows being given a chance by networks. Nowdays its all about ratings. If something does not rate high straight off the bat, it is doomed. If they had thought that way in the old days, The Brady Bunch and many other iconic shows would never have made it! -Just something to think about.
I think that nowadays the audiences EXPECT new shows to not last. So they are not tuning in in the first place! They would rather wait till it has a good shot, and catch up by watching online or dvd. I find even I think that way. I know what is coming, I know who is in it and sometimes I really really like it (eg. Pushing Daisies, Better Off Ted), and want it to do well, but sometimes even though I want to....I just automatically expect that anything new will not last. (eg. Cupid)
Even with TIVO, people are still not watching the new stuff.
DVD's I think are also to blame. Now people can watch their old faves over and over and over again without having to care about the new stuff that isn't going to last more than a season. Not that there is anything wrong with watching old stuff.....I'm all for it. -You've seen my dvd collection and read my ranting about The West Wing. But its a factor nonetheless.
It really makes me worry about the future of tv. A lot of the BIG shows (in my lifetime) ended from 2004-2006. Today's big shows started around that time...but they are just not quite at the same standard of excellence and consistancy of quality that the old ones were. -Seriously, you cannot argue that season 5 of Grey's Anatomy is as good as season 5 of Friends. (or for a better example the first 12 seasons of ER vs. the last few)
I wonder what will happen when these big shows we have now call it quits. What will the landscape of American television look like when Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, Heroes, LOST etc. end. I doubt Mad Men will go for more than a few more seasons. Maybe by that time we will be ready to accept some of the old quality back again. Maybe by then we will see some more top shelf stuff make it past season 1, by the likes of J.J Abrams, Aaron Sorkin, Amy Sherman-Palladino, John Wells, the creators of Friends, Will and Grace, and other sitcoms, and any one of other greats I'm sure I've forgotton.
Stay tuned for my next rant.....on the death of the Sitcom!
----
Carlie
Over the last few years, ratings keep dropping for new shows. People are just not tuning in for the good stuff. There could be a billion different reasons why shows are not lasting anymore.
I grew up on shows that were institutions. They lasted at least 3 seasons and often went to 5 or more. So what has changed? Is it the audience? The content? Or are the networks just not giving things a go anymore?
I argue it's a bit of all three.
Firstly, I think the popularity of the internet gave people something else to do. It got people away from their televisions. I also think that the introduction and excess of reality programs has really dumbed down the audience. Additionally, those shows are cheaper to make and easier to sell.
There are very very few shows begun after 2002 that really were good! There are always exceptions and we have seen them. In the 20th century somehow there were more shows being given a chance by networks. Nowdays its all about ratings. If something does not rate high straight off the bat, it is doomed. If they had thought that way in the old days, The Brady Bunch and many other iconic shows would never have made it! -Just something to think about.
I think that nowadays the audiences EXPECT new shows to not last. So they are not tuning in in the first place! They would rather wait till it has a good shot, and catch up by watching online or dvd. I find even I think that way. I know what is coming, I know who is in it and sometimes I really really like it (eg. Pushing Daisies, Better Off Ted), and want it to do well, but sometimes even though I want to....I just automatically expect that anything new will not last. (eg. Cupid)
Even with TIVO, people are still not watching the new stuff.
DVD's I think are also to blame. Now people can watch their old faves over and over and over again without having to care about the new stuff that isn't going to last more than a season. Not that there is anything wrong with watching old stuff.....I'm all for it. -You've seen my dvd collection and read my ranting about The West Wing. But its a factor nonetheless.
It really makes me worry about the future of tv. A lot of the BIG shows (in my lifetime) ended from 2004-2006. Today's big shows started around that time...but they are just not quite at the same standard of excellence and consistancy of quality that the old ones were. -Seriously, you cannot argue that season 5 of Grey's Anatomy is as good as season 5 of Friends. (or for a better example the first 12 seasons of ER vs. the last few)
I wonder what will happen when these big shows we have now call it quits. What will the landscape of American television look like when Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, Heroes, LOST etc. end. I doubt Mad Men will go for more than a few more seasons. Maybe by that time we will be ready to accept some of the old quality back again. Maybe by then we will see some more top shelf stuff make it past season 1, by the likes of J.J Abrams, Aaron Sorkin, Amy Sherman-Palladino, John Wells, the creators of Friends, Will and Grace, and other sitcoms, and any one of other greats I'm sure I've forgotton.
Stay tuned for my next rant.....on the death of the Sitcom!
----
Carlie
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