Wasted Television

Paralleling a little bit on the television theme, and involving some plugs from my favorite shows.

Perhaps its a bit selfish of anyone to nitpick on writers of television, particularly if your nitpick is "I could do this better". I often respond to this with put up or shut up, and at times am usually faced with what the world fondly calls 'fan fiction.' I've been pleasantly surprised to see that many times the fan fiction rivals or surpasses the writing on the show.

A painful example of this comes from one of my favorite shows, House. Its painfully procedural, but still has mind capturing characters, all of whom you can actually see grow as the show progresses. Season 4 was a wonderful change up of formula, after a dragging season 3, and ended on a tragic, yet still brilliant point. Or at least, it would have been brilliant if the following season opener wasn't so pathetic at the follow up.

It started out nicely, with a strong basis, and then began to die. Its has shifted towards side characters who don't even have the good standing to be in the opening credits. (The show's opening credits haven't changed once since the show began, though one season used a different opening song) I was unable to press on after the second episode, though I know I should watch til about the 5th or 6th one in, as it is still dealing with my two die hard favorites, House and Wilson. I've only heard horrible things though that causes me to back away slowly as if it were a rabid dog ready to bite.

I don't understand why initially ensemble casts force the watcher to focus on the same set of characters every week (Cough cough Foreman and Thirteen) and to waste the characters that are actually intriguing to watch (Wilson, either up the dosage on those antidepressants or kill yourself, because Amber isn't coming back.) I also don't understand why writers spend season after season building truly good roots for romance between two characters (House and Wilson. The sexual tension is palpable. Or maybe that's just me...) simply because it goes against the grain. It is broadcast on Fox after all, and they coined the phrase "terrorist fist bump". Hey, we all love Cuddy, but does House NEED to love her too? I don't think he does. And backing this theory is the producer, as well as a few of the writers. Hugh Laurie himself has said he's happily open to House and Wilson getting their love on, if Robert Sean Leonard is comfortable. (We love you, Robert. wink wink nudge nudge.)

Speaking of Cuddy, do all women, once they've become mothers, need to become sniveling, weepy whiners? Really? You spend five seasons developing this woman as a strong, independent woman, and then trash that entire build up as soon as you throw in a baby. For a woman at the top of her field, and a successful handler of one of the most stressing human being on network television (Dr. Cox and House would make a wonderful team, if you like interns with slashed wrists) you would think that she would successfully adapt to a baby. But no, any and all women must be portrayed as ye damsels in distress. This was decreed after the finale of Xena. You can't have too many bad ass chicks on television. Gives us ideas.

I'll pull away from my rant, which is obviously fueled by being slighted out of a finely crafted bromance, and return to the initial point. House is only an example of failed plotlines and shark jumping. After so many seasons, you begin to feel as if you've wasted effort on a show as it begins to tumble down without the satisfying pop into the towel. I think thats why I find British television more appealing. They know that, inevitably, all things must end (Except Doctor Who.) and often deliver that satisfying end to the viewers at home.

We, though, on this side of the big pond, insist on dragging things out. Milking that last dollar from the franchise. Without a Trace started out brilliantly, but is trapped in its formula. It remained trapped long enough that I lost interest. Two and a Half Men stumbled along, with a few shining points, and finally began picking up when the kid's voice finally changed, though you have to wonder how it lasted that long and if it really should have. CSI: Miami is a television TRAVESTY, and I'm horrified that this is actually the favorite in most countries. I'd like to point out that this also follows the franchise trend. I won't get into Law and Order. I wholly stand that it should have ended when Jerry Orbach did, perhaps even sooner. You can only rehash it so many times.

This isn't to say that some truly great shows haven't come of these lengthy endeavors. CSI (The original, now) has recently breathed new life into its series, through a fine finale of last season, a successful exit of William Peterson (though they almost ruined that with that Deathly Hollows-esque epilogue) and the successful arrival of Laurence Fishburne. The show needed a feeling of new, and a reteaching of old skills. After so many seasons its difficult to simply fall into a show that relies so heavily on the viewer knowing what the characters are doing with that there microscope. I'm glad they gave it a boost.

NCIS seemed as if it was attempting that change up of cast, and I'm thankful that it didn't jump the gun on that. It was painful, as much as I love DiNozzo, to watch the team flounder without our loveable Gibbs. Ensemble-wise, this is probably the best show on television, besting other ensemble based shows that are on in the same time slots. It continues to be witty, fascinating, and still carries its twist and turns. I was worried when they threatened soap opera type plotlines, but I shouldn't have been. NCIS has always delivered, and hopefully will continue, without floundering.

If we're not dragging things out, then we insist upon fantastical storylines that are blown out of proportion or completely unrealistic. Criminal Minds recently revealed more of the past of the fan favorite Reid, but as much as I enjoy his character, I did cringe when I saw those episodes. One was brilliantly crafted, though certainly had an overdone portion. This one was perhaps justified, as people who have not felt the abuse of their peers through school years can't fully understand why a person would react so violently. You would need something to envoke a stronger reaction. (Season 3, Elephant's Memory) The other, on the other hand, came out from left field and I felt a bit of credibility leak out of the writers. (Season 4, The Instincts/Memoriam) This isn't to say that this show hasn't delivered again and again (Big Game/Revelations, Lucky/Penelope, Seven Seconds, Lo-fi/Mayhem, Normal, the list goes on) as well as took the blow of losing a title member suddenly (Though they replaced Patinkin with Mantegna, which, to me, was an unneeded addition to the cast. Seven Seconds proved that.). As for completely fantastical... Well, I mentioned CSI: Miami already didn't I?

Another habit of our television networks is canceling shows that are actually worthy of being on television. We recently lost a fond member of 'great television', Pushing Daisies. A truly brilliant gem amongst what I fondly call CRAP, and it was scrapped because the producer/director couldn't be bothered with fighting for the show, and the network couldn't be bothered with advertising it. For shame.

As for the final habit, and what I find the most PAINFUL, is the fact that we steal. We steal and we steal. There are many films that have been 'borrowed' but we'll stick to the TV. Recently, ABC picked up a show called 'Life on Mars'. Its fine, for our standard of television, though its more cerebral than what we're used to. What I cringe at is that I'd already seen this show. Life on Mars was originally a BBC series that ran for two seasons, with John Simm and Philip Glenister as the leads. You simply can't replace that talent. Eleventh Hour, originally starring Patrick Stewart, was taken and Americanized by CBS. I'm sure commercials will run for it soon, but State of Play, originally a BBC mini series (John Simm, David Morrissey, plus ensemble, with Marc Warren as one of his best roles) is being, or really, has been made into a movie. The director felt the need to cast Russel Crowe (Originally Brad Pitt, much worse) and Ben Affleck (Originally Edward Norton, much better) respectively, in the prior mentioned actors' places, and worst, Helen Mirren (though good as she is) in Bill Nighy's role.

Are we unable to find writers in our own country anymore? Do we really have to steal from Britain, Asia and the Orient? We have stolen just about anything we think could make money from (Including Doctor Who, and FOR SHAME, Fox, FOR SHAME.) and quite often have ruined the original source material in an attempt to make it more relateable. I thought television was originally a way to expand peoples' views of the world, not enclose them into a continually smaller box to avoid inconvenient questions.

I think my rant has gone on long enough, and if you've made it this far, I commend you. I shall now plug a few shows that I believe are true jewels:
NCIS, Criminal Minds, CSI (Original), Life on Mars (BBC), State of Play (BBC), Pushing Daisies, United States of Tara, Dexter, Gary Unmarried, Scrubs, House (Yeah, I know, I just trashed it..) and of course, Doctor Who (And all its spin-offs)

And allow you freedom. Away, away...