About two years ago, my beautiful bride moved in with me, and before she did, I got a bunch of DVDs for us to watch. She was a big fan of House, so I got a season of it. Also 24, Psych, and Chuck. And, since we both liked Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan, I got the first season of How I Met Your Mother.
HIMYM, as it's known by people who don't want to type "How I Met Your Mother" a hundred times in one article, is the first live-action sitcom I've been into since... I don't know, Cheers? It's one of three that we watch regularly, and it's definitely my favorite.
I really don't remember how I felt after watching the pilot episode of HIMYM. I'm sure I liked it, because within a week or so, we'd gotten the next season, and the next as soon as it became available - in spite of the sticker on the package that proudly touted Britney Spears's guest star turn. More on that in a few. We've been watching it ever since. I'd say we watch it religiously, but I think we might be watching it more cultishly. I watch HIMYM like some people watched LOST - which, this season, has been curiously apt.
Anyway, back to my early impressions of HIMYM. It was a decent if occasionally unremarkable ensemble. Alyson Hannigan can make all the shitty spoof movies and stupid teen comedies she likes - she used to be Willow on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Neil Patrick Harris I had only recently gotten into because of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, but he was great as relentlessly straight Barney. Cobie Smulders as Robin filled my quota for hot Canadian chicks, but she really didn't get a lot to do for a while. Hannigan's on-screen fiance, Marshall, was played by Jason Segel, and it took a while to warm up to him. And the central character, Ted, as portrayed by Josh Radnor, was a little bit of a cipher. In the framing device for the show, Ted is played by Bob Saget, who is never credited and never seen.
By the way, at this point Jason Segel is one of my favorite actors. It probably started about the time he first slapped Neil Patrick Harris so hard Harris spun on his way to the ground. But it might have been when they were cuddling in cheerleader outfits. It might also have been the first season finale, where he has a dialogue-free scene that is still a startling moment of honesty from a guy I'd written off as a "schtick" actor. I don't know. In any case, Marshall Erickson is one of my favorite characters in TV, and Segel one of my favorite actors.
You know what, I had said I'd talk more about Britney. Fuck that. She was terrible. Her last couple of episodes, where she was more paired up with NPH's Barney, were the best of her run. She wasn't a prominent guest star, but she was there, and that was nearly bad enough. She was introduced during Sarah Chalke's run as Ted's love interest, Stella. Sarah Chalke (the blonde doctor on Scrubs) is cute and fairly funny, but it was the strike year, and I don't know if her part would have been more organic (or at least entertaining) if that pressure hadn't existed.
As a side note, other love interests for Ted have included Jennifer Morrison (the blonde doctor on House) and Anne Dudek (the blonde "cutthroat bitch" doctor on House.) I just hope we don't get Katherine Heigl as the mother. *SHUDDER*
Further to the side, it still kind of boggles my mind that the same Jennifer Morrison was Dr. Cameron on House and the homely, none-too-bright murder victim in "Stir Of Echoes." And she's also the same Jennifer Morrison that's credited as an associate producer on a lot of the first season of Glee.
Back to HIMYM and my LOST reference earlier. I wasn't kidding, by the way. And no, I'm really not stretching it. Like LOST, How I Met Your Mother is about destiny and, to a lesser extent than LOST, the interconnectedness of the characters and their stories. Like LOST, HIMYM isn't afraid of non-linear storytelling. Like LOST, HIMYM will occasionally pause over a moment of subtle beauty, and without the dramatic and beautiful backdrop of Hawaii. Like LOST, my favorite character is a time traveller (yes, really. It's a minor thing, though.)
Like LOST, Jorge Garcia has appeared as a somewhat clueless, probably stoned guy who everybody loves and who apparently was "stuck on that island" for years. It wasn't that funny in the moment, either. There are even smoke monster gags in the Garcia episode.
And, like LOST, this sixth season features a church as a primary location. The church here isn't an abstracted metaphysical place that represents some sort of gateway into an unspecified afterlife, but it is the scene of the titular moment. Sometime in the next eight to ten episodes, Ted is going to meet the mother of his children, and the series's days will be numbered.
There's a lot more I could say about the series. The most recent episode ("Bad News") alone is something I'd like to talk about, and I probably will. It'll be its own entry, though, so you can skip it if you like.
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
08 January 2011
19 January 2010
I'll Always Have Trek
So, I decided to DVR Star Trek: The Next Generation and see how it held up. Thought I'd record a weekend's worth and watch them all in one big go, but it turns out it doesn't run as much as I'd expected. And it also turned out that the third episode, recorded last night (MLK Jr Day) was one I remembered VERY fondly.
"We'll Always Have Paris."
Saw it 20+ years ago and loved it. Haven't seen it in almost that long. Just finished watching it.
It's probably not fair to start with a favorite old episode of a show you haven't seen in years and years. Perceptions could be colored as memories shift.
"Paris" holds up like gangbusters.
I took notes as I watched it. Mostly those notes were very surface, and ignored questions of writing and acting. I know, right? Why the fuck am I watching a TV show if I'm going to just give it a pass on the writing and acting?
Because. It's Trek. You don't go back to your childhood home and pay attention to whether the house is laid out well. You don't notice that there is a bigger closet off that bathroom than the one that was in your bedroom when you lived there. You just look around and think it's smaller than it used to be. And then you realize it's where you grew up. And you look around a little more and you realize, it's a pretty nice place, with a decent little yard, and sure the highway is right there...
And then you get smacked RIGHT in the face when that metaphor you've been stretching breaks.
Anyway.
Most of the notes I made had to do with impressions. Music, design, and so forth. And a fair few were snarky. The music is dated as hell, and my notes do have a couple comments and cracks about it. So let's get that out of the way.
My first note referring to the music is one word long: SynthTASTIC! But knowing what little I do about music production for TV, I totally get it. Ron Jones was probably operating under horrendous time pressure. Synths make it (relatively) easy to do so, and the FM synths he seemed to be using were state-of-the-art. The music gets a bit busy from time to time, but for the most part it's completely forgivable. And the music in the cafe scenes is actually pretty damn good.
And concerning music Jones DIDN'T write, there's the theme. I can't even tell you if I objectively think the theme is any good. It reminded me of my thirteen year old self, and that's something.
Design of set and special effects? I have no idea what kind of budget they were operating under, but I'll promise you that BONES has a bigger special effects budget for four episodes than TNG had for an entire year. And the gear required has only gotten cheaper in the past twenty years. So never mind that. But the computer interfaces were pretty shiny. Wouldn't mind having the TNG touch screens as a theme for my phone, to be honest. Also, the matte painting used for the Paris holodeck sequences? Pretty nice.
Costume design is... well, terrible. Apologies to the costume department. The uniforms needed the collar introduced later on, the piping looked kind of silly, and the guest stars... oh, that poor woman. That poor, poor woman.
So that's the superficial stuff out of the way. (Except for the makeup, which I will dispense with quickly: It really seems like the Klingon makeup got better.)
There is some GREAT stuff here. Primarily in character work, but I'll get back to that.
There's a scene about halfway through where Picard, Riker, and Data see themselves in the turbolift. They're experiencing some sort of time loop, and the trio of "now" is aware of the trio of "then" and vice versa. Data Then: "I feel no disorientation." Data Now: "Nor do I." And then Riker takes a minute to explore the philosophical ramifications of the bilocation and seems to have a good grasp on it, even though you know what he's really thinking of is tag teaming Troi with himself.
Love that scene.
For character work, Brent Spiner as Data delivers what I recall as being an incredibly reliable, quirky interpretation of a highly advanced, logical being. So advanced and logical that TNG pretty much didn't bother with Vulcans.
Jonathan Frakes as Riker didn't have a whole lot to do, but he did it well, even if he was still holding Captain America's shield. Gates McFadden as Dr. Crusher had about as much to do dealing with the occasional subplot of her involvement with Picard. Levar Burton, Michael Dorn, and Marina Sirtis were really just there to be there as Geordi, Worf, and Troi, respectively.
This is mostly a Picard episode, though, and Patrick Stewart, being Patrick Stewart, delivers in spades. And there's a lot of setup for his character in this episode, even though it's mostly just touched on. As usual, he elevates every scene he's in.
The thing I liked about this episode, and still like, is that it set Picard even further apart from Jim Kirk. This was NOT a love-'em-and-leave-'em guy, most emphatically. He had baggage, and he remembered his loves and his losses, and they informed who he was. And even at thirteen, that spoke more eloquently to me than Kirk ever could.
I'm really glad I gave Trek another try. Don't expect more of these lengthy reviews of episodes, but I will continue to comment as I watch. And remember, It's Wheaton's Fault.
"We'll Always Have Paris."
Saw it 20+ years ago and loved it. Haven't seen it in almost that long. Just finished watching it.
It's probably not fair to start with a favorite old episode of a show you haven't seen in years and years. Perceptions could be colored as memories shift.
"Paris" holds up like gangbusters.
I took notes as I watched it. Mostly those notes were very surface, and ignored questions of writing and acting. I know, right? Why the fuck am I watching a TV show if I'm going to just give it a pass on the writing and acting?
Because. It's Trek. You don't go back to your childhood home and pay attention to whether the house is laid out well. You don't notice that there is a bigger closet off that bathroom than the one that was in your bedroom when you lived there. You just look around and think it's smaller than it used to be. And then you realize it's where you grew up. And you look around a little more and you realize, it's a pretty nice place, with a decent little yard, and sure the highway is right there...
And then you get smacked RIGHT in the face when that metaphor you've been stretching breaks.
Anyway.
Most of the notes I made had to do with impressions. Music, design, and so forth. And a fair few were snarky. The music is dated as hell, and my notes do have a couple comments and cracks about it. So let's get that out of the way.
My first note referring to the music is one word long: SynthTASTIC! But knowing what little I do about music production for TV, I totally get it. Ron Jones was probably operating under horrendous time pressure. Synths make it (relatively) easy to do so, and the FM synths he seemed to be using were state-of-the-art. The music gets a bit busy from time to time, but for the most part it's completely forgivable. And the music in the cafe scenes is actually pretty damn good.
And concerning music Jones DIDN'T write, there's the theme. I can't even tell you if I objectively think the theme is any good. It reminded me of my thirteen year old self, and that's something.
Design of set and special effects? I have no idea what kind of budget they were operating under, but I'll promise you that BONES has a bigger special effects budget for four episodes than TNG had for an entire year. And the gear required has only gotten cheaper in the past twenty years. So never mind that. But the computer interfaces were pretty shiny. Wouldn't mind having the TNG touch screens as a theme for my phone, to be honest. Also, the matte painting used for the Paris holodeck sequences? Pretty nice.
Costume design is... well, terrible. Apologies to the costume department. The uniforms needed the collar introduced later on, the piping looked kind of silly, and the guest stars... oh, that poor woman. That poor, poor woman.
So that's the superficial stuff out of the way. (Except for the makeup, which I will dispense with quickly: It really seems like the Klingon makeup got better.)
There is some GREAT stuff here. Primarily in character work, but I'll get back to that.
There's a scene about halfway through where Picard, Riker, and Data see themselves in the turbolift. They're experiencing some sort of time loop, and the trio of "now" is aware of the trio of "then" and vice versa. Data Then: "I feel no disorientation." Data Now: "Nor do I." And then Riker takes a minute to explore the philosophical ramifications of the bilocation and seems to have a good grasp on it, even though you know what he's really thinking of is tag teaming Troi with himself.
Love that scene.
For character work, Brent Spiner as Data delivers what I recall as being an incredibly reliable, quirky interpretation of a highly advanced, logical being. So advanced and logical that TNG pretty much didn't bother with Vulcans.
Jonathan Frakes as Riker didn't have a whole lot to do, but he did it well, even if he was still holding Captain America's shield. Gates McFadden as Dr. Crusher had about as much to do dealing with the occasional subplot of her involvement with Picard. Levar Burton, Michael Dorn, and Marina Sirtis were really just there to be there as Geordi, Worf, and Troi, respectively.
This is mostly a Picard episode, though, and Patrick Stewart, being Patrick Stewart, delivers in spades. And there's a lot of setup for his character in this episode, even though it's mostly just touched on. As usual, he elevates every scene he's in.
The thing I liked about this episode, and still like, is that it set Picard even further apart from Jim Kirk. This was NOT a love-'em-and-leave-'em guy, most emphatically. He had baggage, and he remembered his loves and his losses, and they informed who he was. And even at thirteen, that spoke more eloquently to me than Kirk ever could.
I'm really glad I gave Trek another try. Don't expect more of these lengthy reviews of episodes, but I will continue to comment as I watch. And remember, It's Wheaton's Fault.
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