The West Wing

I’m currently watching The West Wing Season 2 (much to the delight of one of my best friends Jenn) and several thoughts have occurred to me. Keep in mind that I am well aware that many of these thoughts have been written and uttered during the shows heyday back when it was “current”.

First off, Martin Sheen is quite possibly the best President to ever grace the television screen, and as Erin has remarked about my opinion of him, “Many, many, people have said that if given a chance they’d vote for him in real life.”

As much as this shows brings out the inner neo-liberal in me and has me cheering for this pure vision of a Democratic West Wing and all of its heart felt devotion to citizenship, freedom, democracy, and justice; well, it does get a bit heavy handed at times. I sometimes have to pull back and say to myself, calm down, they’re being a bit arrogant and a bit forceful in their ideologies.

With all of that, it’s still an amazing show that has some of the best writing I’ve ever seen. The pacing is fast, which is surprising considering the amount of exposition and talking that occurs in each episode. [ West Wing is famous for having helped establish ‘walk-n-talk’ scenes.]

I’m just starting in on Season 2 and I’ve already been warned about the eventual degradation in the quality of writing around Season 4 & 5 as a result of Aaron Sorkin’s departure, still I’m excited for so many more episodes, such a fun show. Cheers.

A few months back I watched 100 episodes of Naruto in a row and then took a break. Just picked up where I left off and how I do love my anime……..

“Real strength is not what you have when fighting for only yourself. When you have something special that you want to protect, only then can you become truly strong!!” – Naruto –

A second chance…

I’ve decided to give Dollhouse, Joss Whedon’s most recent television creation another chance. I was put off by the first episode a bit, and I found myself not caring about the main character, Echo, a woman/agent who is continually re(wired) and (re)programmed by a company for dates/missions.

I was a bit worried this would follow what many of Joss Whedon’s series fall into: “monster of the week” [insert – ‘mission of the week’]. And while Joss does rely heavily on this technique there is enough background information starting to form around the larger story arc that surrounds Echo and why she and the company are being hunted down by both the FBI and rogue agents.

I’m about four episodes in and I will be picking this up in the fall in DVD format. 

I urge you to give this show a chance, track down the episodes online and catch up. Cheers.

LOST: Season 5

I do believe this is one of the greatest shows on television right now. This season has been epic from the beginning. Every episode is finale-esque in raising the bar and the tension of what is occurring. I’m kind of turned on right now, w00t.

Save the Cheerleader, Bore the World!

Why am I still watching this piece of shit show?

Heroes: Maybe?

Season 1 of HEROES was epic and amazing. Season 2, was mostly about trying to define itself and figure out where they (heroes and writers) could possibly take us. Season 3, of which part 2 has recently begun has up until this past episode been full of total shit. But there might be hope for this season yet to redeem itself. Unfortunately the only way that this seems to be possible is through restoring a story-line and plot highly remniscent of Season 1. Still, what keeps me interested in this show is Ando/Hiro and Peter. Everyone else, including the most horrible character on that show (insert whiny ass cheerleader), they can all go suck a big one. The show does still resist the X-men factor. These are people not born with abilities, but those that have been engineered. Anyways, I’m so far into this series that I have to just suck it up and keep on watching. Cheers.

Damages: The Best Show You’re Probably Not Watching!

TV is pretty fucking awesome right now and for a number of reasons, let me share a few: Battlestar Galactica (BSG), LOST, Dexter, The Mentalist, 30 Rock, Mad Men, and my favorite guilty pleasure 24.

I have now discovered a show that deserves some paying attention to, DAMAGES. It has been a long time since I’ve seen such a stimulating and intellectual mystery drama thriller.

The series revolves around the brilliant yet ruthless lawyer Patty Hewes (Glenn Close), her protégée Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) and the law firm Hewes runs in New York City. The debut season finds Hewes attempting to win a class-action lawsuit against the former CEO of a corporation (Ted Danson) on behalf of his former workers.

The beauty of the show rests in the split time line narratives. You have the “Present” which opens with a young woman running out of an apartment covered in blood, and the events that occurred 6 months ago leading up to the current murder. The majority of the narrative centers around the events of the past but through pieces and small glimpses we see the “present” narrative explain itself.  A do it yourself look at the past and look at the present-future to figure out who did what and how they ended up where they were. The other piece that really adds some umph to this show is Glenn Close performance as the ruthless Patty Hewes. Her desire to win and control and manipulate is frightening. If you watch this show for any reason, make it her performance and character.

Check it out. Season 2 has just begun and it has been renewed for Season 3. I’m half way through Season 1 and I am on edge with the end of each show, cheers.