I don't know that I've ever fallen so hard for a TV show as I have for The West Wing. That's not to say for sure that it's become my number one favorite TV show of all time, but it is to say that it's so good that I want to start rewatching it even before I've finished watching it all for the first time.
We're on season 3 right now, and I'm loving each new episode we watch. At the same time, I'd love to go back and watch all of seasons 1 & 2. I don't know if that's ever happened to me before. I mean, I've gotten into a show in season 2 or 3 and then started to watch the earlier seasons to catch up while still watching what's currently airing, but of course The West Wing isn't currently airing at all. It's just SO good that eps I've already seen have nearly the same attraction as the ones yet to come!
Then again, what does it mean that with shows like The X-Files, I blew through the DVDs as fast as I could (until I got to seasons 8 & 9, of course), just longing for the next one and the next one? I don't know. Maybe they're different kinds of shows.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
A new (to me) favorite TV show
So, this past month or so, my family has been watching Sports Night on Netflix. Tonight, we watched the series finale. As usual when I reach the end of an excellent show - especially one that was canceled far too soon - I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, it was excellent, and it brought me much joy, laughter, and too many quotable lines to count. It also introduced me to many fine actors and actresses that I'd either never watched in much of anything before, or only seen in brief guest-starring roles. On the other hand, it's over! And far too quickly. It really deserved more.
It's a stellar cast: Peter Krause, Josh Charles, Felicity Huffman, Robert Guillaume, Sabrina Lloyd, and Josh Malina (who has recently shot up to being rather high on my list of favorite actors), as well as some excellent guest stars. It's not just for people who like sports a lot, either. I'm not a huge sports person, though I'll watch a game with my dad if it's a team in which I'm at least faintly interested. But my mom pretty much hates sports, and she looked forward to each new episode of this show.
It has its minor issues of course: some plotlines & character moments that were frustrating or that I didn't really like, and some dialogue that bordered on frankly ridiculous in its snappy Sorkin-ness. (That's especially noticeable when you watch a lot of it in a row, interspersed with episodes of The West Wing.) But overall, I would highly recommend it to anyone who might be looking for a show with a fantastic cast, great heart, hilarious dialogue, and wonderful characters.
Here's a video that someone made to celebrate the show. It's goofy and cute, but don't let that fool you: the show itself is a comedy, yes, but with many moving dramatic moments as well.
It's a stellar cast: Peter Krause, Josh Charles, Felicity Huffman, Robert Guillaume, Sabrina Lloyd, and Josh Malina (who has recently shot up to being rather high on my list of favorite actors), as well as some excellent guest stars. It's not just for people who like sports a lot, either. I'm not a huge sports person, though I'll watch a game with my dad if it's a team in which I'm at least faintly interested. But my mom pretty much hates sports, and she looked forward to each new episode of this show.
It has its minor issues of course: some plotlines & character moments that were frustrating or that I didn't really like, and some dialogue that bordered on frankly ridiculous in its snappy Sorkin-ness. (That's especially noticeable when you watch a lot of it in a row, interspersed with episodes of The West Wing.) But overall, I would highly recommend it to anyone who might be looking for a show with a fantastic cast, great heart, hilarious dialogue, and wonderful characters.
Here's a video that someone made to celebrate the show. It's goofy and cute, but don't let that fool you: the show itself is a comedy, yes, but with many moving dramatic moments as well.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Very likely my favorite fan video of all time
If you're a Firefly fan (or Browncoat, as we're proudly known), you've probably already seen this video:
It's set to a song that I probably wouldn't count among one of my favorites, if it weren't for this vid: "All These Things That I've Done", by the Killers. But it so perfectly encapsulates the incredible show that is Firefly that since I first saw the vid (I believe linked to in Television Without Pity's Firefly forum), I've loved it. The creator of the vid beautifully shows us each beloved member of the cast, and moments to remind fans of what makes them awesome. It still has the power to give me chills - and sometimes even bring tears to my eyes - whenever I watch it now. That ending... "We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty." ::sniff::
This show hasn't been on the air since 2002 (and all too briefly then, of course!), and it's been more than five years since the movie Serenity was in theaters. Still, it lives on. You can't stop the signal.
It's set to a song that I probably wouldn't count among one of my favorites, if it weren't for this vid: "All These Things That I've Done", by the Killers. But it so perfectly encapsulates the incredible show that is Firefly that since I first saw the vid (I believe linked to in Television Without Pity's Firefly forum), I've loved it. The creator of the vid beautifully shows us each beloved member of the cast, and moments to remind fans of what makes them awesome. It still has the power to give me chills - and sometimes even bring tears to my eyes - whenever I watch it now. That ending... "We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty." ::sniff::
This show hasn't been on the air since 2002 (and all too briefly then, of course!), and it's been more than five years since the movie Serenity was in theaters. Still, it lives on. You can't stop the signal.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
I love you, random person in the parking garage.
If you're a fan of anything Whedon-related, you'll know why I had to take a picture of this vanity plate when we went past it in the parking garage outside the local movie theater today:
It pleased me greatly.
It pleased me greatly.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
"Join Us"
So, They Might Be Giants has* a new album out, Join Us.
If you are a fan of TMBG, I highly recommend it. It is completely delightfully them, as well as being new and hilarious and awesome. I haven't had a chance to listen through it many times yet, but some of my favorites include "Can't Keep Johnny Down", "Old Pine Box", "When Will You Die", and also "The Lady and the Tiger", for sheer TMBG bizarreness. If you aren't a fan of TMBG (or even if you are), give this song a try! And then try some of their other hits, like "Particle Man" or "Birdhouse In Your Soul."
*Frequently, I like the UK convention of pluralizing the verb after band names, etc. (e.g. "They Might Be Giants have a new album out"), but it feels weirdly pretentious of me to adopt it, since I'm not from the UK. Also, I wouldn't use it in all the environments where they do, anyway. [/linguistic sidenote]
If you are a fan of TMBG, I highly recommend it. It is completely delightfully them, as well as being new and hilarious and awesome. I haven't had a chance to listen through it many times yet, but some of my favorites include "Can't Keep Johnny Down", "Old Pine Box", "When Will You Die", and also "The Lady and the Tiger", for sheer TMBG bizarreness. If you aren't a fan of TMBG (or even if you are), give this song a try! And then try some of their other hits, like "Particle Man" or "Birdhouse In Your Soul."
*Frequently, I like the UK convention of pluralizing the verb after band names, etc. (e.g. "They Might Be Giants have a new album out"), but it feels weirdly pretentious of me to adopt it, since I'm not from the UK. Also, I wouldn't use it in all the environments where they do, anyway. [/linguistic sidenote]
Monday, July 18, 2011
I knew I'd been forgetting something...
I should have added "Jacksonville", from Fringe's second season, to my list of all-time favorite TV episodes. I just rewatched it on Saturday and was struck by its near perfection. Perhaps the reason I didn't add it to the list was a subconscious desire to avoid the pain that the end of the episode leads into, but it is SUCH a phenomenal episode. Anna Torv gets a chance to shine that she didn't really get in "Grey Matters". The way the conflict between Walter and Olivia plays out, with Peter a not-silent bystander, is just breathtaking. As with many of the best Fringe eps, there's also a high creepy/gross factor. The poor guy at the beginning who gets combined with his alternate-universe self, "Dreamland"-style? Blech. And then Olivia's terrifying dream-vision thing while drugged? Nightmarish, truly.
It's also heartbreaking to think of how Olivia and Peter go from being cute and flirty and funny with each other on the phone at the start of the ep, to Peter being concerned for Olivia throughout their time in Jacksonville, to them taking what will perhaps be a significant step in their relationship (going out for drinks), to... that final revelation at the end. Oh, man. I wonder what it would have been like to watch this as it aired, unspoiled. I think I still would have figured out Peter's origins without having seen the first half of season 3 first, but if the reveal was that stunning even having known, I can't imagine how awesome it would have been without that knowledge.
It's also heartbreaking to think of how Olivia and Peter go from being cute and flirty and funny with each other on the phone at the start of the ep, to Peter being concerned for Olivia throughout their time in Jacksonville, to them taking what will perhaps be a significant step in their relationship (going out for drinks), to... that final revelation at the end. Oh, man. I wonder what it would have been like to watch this as it aired, unspoiled. I think I still would have figured out Peter's origins without having seen the first half of season 3 first, but if the reveal was that stunning even having known, I can't imagine how awesome it would have been without that knowledge.
Friday, July 15, 2011
"The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well."
In case you don't recognize it, those are the last two sentences in the last book in the Harry Potter series. And while I have a few issues with the epilogue that concludes the series, I thought it made a fitting title for this blog post, which coincides with the release of the final Harry Potter movie. Much has been made of how the beloved saga is finally coming to an end, and so it is, in that there is no more new HP material being released (as far as we know, other than JK Rowling's new website for fans, Pottermore). But in other ways, of course, it's not like the ending of the books and the movies means that we can't go back to read or watch them whenever we want. To paraphrase Neville in the last movie, even after it's all over, Harry & the others are still always with us. [/sappy]
Even as I say that and mean it, though, it does feel like a significant chapter of my childhood has ended. How could it not? I'm far from the only young adult who "grew up with Harry" and his friends, but that doesn't make it less true. Some of us weren't even big fans of reading or fantasy or magic before Harry came along (I was, but I know many, many people who weren't). We are the generation who read the first few books before they were bestsellers, back in elementary school or middle school/junior high, and then waited in breathless anticipation for each new book to be published. We were the ones who were sent into rapturous excitement when we heard about the movies, and would stop everything we were doing to watch the trailer for The Sorcerer's Stone when it happened to be played on TV. Okay, maybe not all of us would hear that distinctive John Williams theme playing and run downstairs just to watch whatever trailer or ad was featuring it, but my sister and I sure did. Even now, when I listen to the soundtrack to the first movie, "Hedwig's Theme" especially has the power to give me chills. Kids who start reading the books now won't have the torture of waiting years for each new installment. Instead, they can just check out or buy all of them at once, if they so choose. In exchange, however, they lose the sheer joy of knowing that the mailman is going to be delivering an all-new copy of the newest book to your door on the release date, or hurrying out to the nearest bookstore to pick up your copy.
I loved many books before I loved Harry Potter. I know I will love many more in the future. But Harry has a special place in my heart, and always will. Now that I've seen the final movie (a detailed review later, perhaps), I do feel some sadness at the end of that phase of my childhood. JK Rowling, you have given us a great gift, and we are more grateful for it than words can express. And Daniel Radcliffe & co., you have also given us a gift. Thank you.
Mischief managed.
Even as I say that and mean it, though, it does feel like a significant chapter of my childhood has ended. How could it not? I'm far from the only young adult who "grew up with Harry" and his friends, but that doesn't make it less true. Some of us weren't even big fans of reading or fantasy or magic before Harry came along (I was, but I know many, many people who weren't). We are the generation who read the first few books before they were bestsellers, back in elementary school or middle school/junior high, and then waited in breathless anticipation for each new book to be published. We were the ones who were sent into rapturous excitement when we heard about the movies, and would stop everything we were doing to watch the trailer for The Sorcerer's Stone when it happened to be played on TV. Okay, maybe not all of us would hear that distinctive John Williams theme playing and run downstairs just to watch whatever trailer or ad was featuring it, but my sister and I sure did. Even now, when I listen to the soundtrack to the first movie, "Hedwig's Theme" especially has the power to give me chills. Kids who start reading the books now won't have the torture of waiting years for each new installment. Instead, they can just check out or buy all of them at once, if they so choose. In exchange, however, they lose the sheer joy of knowing that the mailman is going to be delivering an all-new copy of the newest book to your door on the release date, or hurrying out to the nearest bookstore to pick up your copy.
I loved many books before I loved Harry Potter. I know I will love many more in the future. But Harry has a special place in my heart, and always will. Now that I've seen the final movie (a detailed review later, perhaps), I do feel some sadness at the end of that phase of my childhood. JK Rowling, you have given us a great gift, and we are more grateful for it than words can express. And Daniel Radcliffe & co., you have also given us a gift. Thank you.
Mischief managed.
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