Stuff what I've been watching
Monday, October 3rd, 2011 10:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizvogelWe finally got around to watching CHAOS last week.
By partway through the second episode, I could tell that this was going to be one of those shows that I fall madly in love with and nobody else on the planet properly appreciates. It started out this weird blend of silly and serious, which is a tricky thing to pull off, but they managed just the right balance to appeal to me. And as the eps went on, it shift more to the serious -- but fun serious. Decent tradecraft; exaggerated, yes, but without invalidating it. International adventuring, action and sneakiness, internal politicking... in other words, classic spy stories. The opening credits bill the group as "the last of the old-school spies," and this is definitely old-school spy fiction in the modern age. IOW, exactly what I want, and in fact there were a couple of the later episodes that I wish I'd written.
Oh yes, and a character who's immensely competent at violence. Because they needed to push my buttons even more.
I don't think we managed to tape all the episodes they aired, and I'm pretty sure they didn't air all they filmed. It's pretty obvious the network had given up on this one before it even started; they bounced it around on the schedule, I think they ran some of it out of order, and then they dumped the last couple of eps as weekend filler. I can only hope it comes out on DVD anyway. Oh, man, do I hope it comes out on DVD! And soon!
We also caught the first episode of Suburgatory. The premise had potential, reminding me a little of Eerie, Indiana's "Foreverwear" without the SF elements. It was good enough to keep watching despite the appalling surrounding material and commercials -- lordy, it's been a long time since I watched sitcoms, and now I remember why. The humor was uneven, but it seemed like the sort of thing that might get pretty good once they got a few episodes under their belt. I figured we'd give it another ep, at least -- right up until the end, when they revealed that what every girl really wants is a bright pink padded push-up bra covered with lace and little black bows.
Riiiiight. Well, at least we won't have to put up with ABC's appalling sitcom commercials any more.
By partway through the second episode, I could tell that this was going to be one of those shows that I fall madly in love with and nobody else on the planet properly appreciates. It started out this weird blend of silly and serious, which is a tricky thing to pull off, but they managed just the right balance to appeal to me. And as the eps went on, it shift more to the serious -- but fun serious. Decent tradecraft; exaggerated, yes, but without invalidating it. International adventuring, action and sneakiness, internal politicking... in other words, classic spy stories. The opening credits bill the group as "the last of the old-school spies," and this is definitely old-school spy fiction in the modern age. IOW, exactly what I want, and in fact there were a couple of the later episodes that I wish I'd written.
Oh yes, and a character who's immensely competent at violence. Because they needed to push my buttons even more.
I don't think we managed to tape all the episodes they aired, and I'm pretty sure they didn't air all they filmed. It's pretty obvious the network had given up on this one before it even started; they bounced it around on the schedule, I think they ran some of it out of order, and then they dumped the last couple of eps as weekend filler. I can only hope it comes out on DVD anyway. Oh, man, do I hope it comes out on DVD! And soon!
We also caught the first episode of Suburgatory. The premise had potential, reminding me a little of Eerie, Indiana's "Foreverwear" without the SF elements. It was good enough to keep watching despite the appalling surrounding material and commercials -- lordy, it's been a long time since I watched sitcoms, and now I remember why. The humor was uneven, but it seemed like the sort of thing that might get pretty good once they got a few episodes under their belt. I figured we'd give it another ep, at least -- right up until the end, when they revealed that what every girl really wants is a bright pink padded push-up bra covered with lace and little black bows.
Riiiiight. Well, at least we won't have to put up with ABC's appalling sitcom commercials any more.
