My 2007 TV-Watching Experience

My 2007 TV Watching Experience

I can’t finish my 2007 Film List until Persepolis and The Savages finally make it to Nashville. But I can make of list of cool TV I saw this year.


Day Break
Network: ABC
Initially, it aired on ABC in 2006, but it was canceled only a few episodes in. The rest of the series played out on ABC.com in early 2007. The fact that I had to sit thru interminable buffering and chase Internet connections around testifies to how much I like the show. A dense, labyrinthine mystery that involves a massive conspiracy, political intrigue, and supernatural/sci-fi overtones. And it still manages to devote a hefty amount of time to the character development. Supposedly, the DVD will reveal the writers’ aborted plans for season two.
Performances I liked:
Taye Diggs

Extras
Network: HBO
The only episode to air in 2007 was the final episode, but since its running length is nearly as long as an entire season, I’m going to count it. Especially since I only got around to watching the whole series this year. Ricky Gervais has definitely nailed the comedy of the uncomfortable. I really dug how this series dwelled in life’s failures, but without the very pointed satire, this show might be too depressing to watch. And nearly every episode ended on a melancholy note. Of course it helps to have Cat Stevens’ “Where the Children Play” as your closing credits song. While I think the ending of the final episode is a bit of a cop-out, I still the find the whole final episode sadly funny.
Performances I liked:
Ricky Gervais
Ashley Jensen



Friday Night Lights
Network: NBC
I watched the first season on DVD, and then started watching it “live” when the second season started. I found this show to be very depressing. The fortunes of every character rise and fall with the outcome of the next high school football game. What’s most depressing? Looking at the adults in town and realizing this is the most likely future for most of the students. The show rarely feels contrived or forced. Only in the final episode of the first season, does the show give in to some the sports movie/soap clichés that it had been keeping at arm’s length. The second season has a much more dramatic plot twist, but the show handles it well. And depressingly, of course. This show worked a minor miracle to get me interested in anything football-related. The ratings are still low. Will it get renewed for a third season?
Performances I liked:
Connie Britton
Kyle Chandler
Zach Gilford
Taylor Kitsch
Liz Mikel
Jesse Plemons


It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Network: F/X
The third season. I don’t think anyone else in the world likes this show. I have a devil of a time trying to watch it every week. I don’t have cable. ☹ A very dark, cynical comedy. The timing of the actors has gotten better with every season. This is the only show I watch with no (or at least a minimal) story arc – although the season ends with a bit of a “what if?” These characters mock the mentally impaired (or rappers as the case may be), set each other on fire, nearly chop a baby in half, and take to vigilante justice when “the streets are flooded with the ejaculate of the homeless.” Hell, any quote from this show out of context is hella provocative. “I’m about to show you the white-hot cream of an eighth grade boy.” Is it wrong for me to want to hang out with these guys? It has yet to be renewed for a fourth season.
Performances I liked:
Charley Day
Danny DeVito
Glenn Howerton
Rob McElhenney
Kaitlin Olson


LOST
Network: ABC
There was a span of episodes when I became worried the awesomeness was gone. That unique sense of ominous menace, the carefully constructed revelations, the dark humor – it was all missing. And my boy John Locke was turning into too much of a fool. It was becoming dull. But then it picked up with Locke’s second flashback of the season and it was all back in full form. Usually, when advertisers say that everything is going to change, they’re talking out of their ass. But with the final episode, they really meant it here. I’m thrilled the show takes its characters to such dark places. The people who devised this show are ballsy motherfuckers. I’m so glad Lost exists.
Performances I liked:
Michael Emerson
Domonic Monaghan
Terry O’Quinn


Mad Men
Network: AMC
Set in 1960, this show revels in all the political incorrectness and sexism of the time. Highballs in the office, bullet bras, constant smoking, pushing dames around, and rooting for Nixon to win the election. And that final episode of the season, Christ! I liked the show up until then, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a baby conversation like that on TV. How awesome. This show fits nicely in the anti-hero drama genre. Except the entire world is anti-hero. It has been renewed for a second season. Woo-hoo!
Performances I Liked:
John Hamm
Elisabeth Moss



Reaper
Network: CW
The slacker version of Buffy, but the main characters don’t know how to fight. Hell, they barely know how to work a vacuum. And despite the light-hearted tone of the show, there’s a real darkness to it. The Devil can snap his fingers and a man is crushed by a Zamboni – trailing his blood across the ice. The ratings are low, but hopefully it will be renewed for a second season. I have to find out what Sam’s dad ripped out of the contract and burned. Ray Wise plays the Devil and he’s awesome.
Performances I liked:
Ray Wise


Stone Undercover
Network: NBC - originally some Canadian network.
This crime drama aired at 2:30 in the morning (or on Saturday night, however you prefer) for most of the year. And I became addicted to it. I can't tell you why. There is no justification. Maybe because it's about pursuing white collar criminals. Maybe I just liked having a show I had to catch at 2:30 in the morning. It can get pretty goofy and formulaic, but I enjoyed it while it lasted. Sadly, I missed the second part of a two-parter and now the show is gone. Now, I'll never know what happened with that ghost on the road! Aaaaggghh!


Veronica Mars
Network: CW
Veronica Mars may be the only show where I really like all the main characters. I mean I really like them. Even Lamb. So when something bad happens to them, I take it pretty hard. And a lot of bad stuff happened at the end. Alas, this stretch was by far the weakest of the series. Once the second arc of the season was solved, they did away with big mysteries altogether and it really affected the momentum. Regardless, those last two episodes were overwhelmingly emotional. Especially knowing that they would be the show’s last. As I watched I wondered how certain problems were possibly going to turn out okay. The ending is like a punch to the gut. Creator Rob Thomas truly believed the series would be renewed and wrote the final episode accordingly. I may be the only person in the world who thought the ending was awesome. It went out the same way it came in, on a very depressing note. There are no unresolved plot points, but it definitely leaves you with the feeling of life extended beyond the final moments.
Performances I liked:
Kristen Bell
Francis Capra
Enrico Colantoni


TV Shows I Enjoyed Watching, But Was Disappointed In

Dirty Sexy Money
Network: ABC
An absurd comedy-drama about an obscenely rich family and their lawyer, who is investigating his father’s death . . . or should I say murder. There are moments when it becomes way too sappy, and the musical cues are overly distracting, but the characters are crazy enough (Blair Underwood is a Russian?) and the plot interesting enough to keep me watching.
Performances I liked:
Seth Gabel
Peter Krause
Donald Sutherland


Drive
Network: Fox
An illegal road race across the country where characters follow clues from city to city. The show explored the pasts of the participants of the race and reveal why they had signed up in the first place. There seemed to be an ongoing mystery concerning the masterminds behind the race, but the show was canceled within ten days of airing. I saw the four episodes that aired.
Performances I liked:
Dylan Baker
Nathan Fillion

Flight of the Conchords
Network: HBO
I saw three or four episodes. I liked the dry humor, but the actors mugged for the camera too much during the musical numbers. Sometimes very funny. Sometimes groan inducing. I probably would have gotten more out of the running jokes if I watched it regularly, but I probably won’t.

Heroes
Network: NBC
The show runners do a great job of making this show look and feel like a comic. But not even Kristen Bell could solve the clunky plotting and disappointing set pieces (like the 1st season finale). A very inconsistent show. Very additive, but very frustrating.
Performances I liked:
Zachary Quinto

Pushing Daisies
Network: ABC
I’ve seen three episodes. It’s very pretty. And I like the light but dark tone. Still, it’s too light for me. Too whimsical. And despite the constant presence of death, it never struck me as really dealing with death. But now that I have an HD TV, I’ll try to make more of an effort to see it.

The Riches
Network: F/X
A group of traveling con artists take over a dead man’s identity and try to go legit. It sounded awesome, but it didn’t deliver. As con artists, they weren’t especially clever. They felt as if they were constantly out of their element -- skating by on luck far more than skill. And some of the more interesting angles (like their superstitions) seemed to fall away too fast. It wasn’t as fun watching them con people as it should have been. Still, I really liked the kids (I usually hate fucking kids!), and the ending was frustratingly cool.


Robin Hood
Network: BBC
I enjoyed this series a lot – up until about five minutes into the last episode. Suddenly, all the clever twists in my favorite legend began turning in on themselves in a desperate effort not to betray tradition. And the final shot nearly made me gag in my mouth. What the hell happened, Robin Hood? Up until then, it was pretty awesome.
Performances I liked:
Keith Allen
Jonas Armstrong


Other Shows;
Battlestar Galactica: Season Three has yet to hit DVD, so I have not yet caught up.
Five Days: I sat thru three episodes and stopped watching. There were only five episodes.
Jekyll was kind of dull. I saw one and a half episodes.
Torchwood was too British. I saw four or five episodes.
Traveler. I watches 1/2 of one episode. Unwatchable.
The Wire aired no new episodes in 2007.