New things on the telly
Mar. 1st, 2013 07:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wiseheartBecause, contrary to common belief, reruns outdated German court shows, decades-old German zoo reports and Tele5's ongoing Stargate and Star Trek marathons aren't the only things I watch on TV. No, I occasionally watch Hungarian TV, too, and sometimes even new programmes. Below are my impressions of said new programmes, in no particular order.
Let's start with the touchy topic that will probably turn my English friends into an angry lynch mob: Downton Abbey. It came to Hungarian TV, and I gave it an heroic try, what with it being such a big thing and winning all possible awards and whatnot. Well... I must shamefully admit that it bored me to tears. I was capable of suffering through 20 minutes or so, and by that time I was covered with moss out of sheer boredom, so I gave up on it and will most likely never watch it again.
I assume one has to possess a certain affinity for English period drama or whatever it is called. Or one has to possess previous knowledge about the life in England in that particular period. Or know and like any of the creators, writers, actors, whatnot. I sorely lack all these motivating aspects and therefore Downton Abbey simply isn't for me.
Foley's War, OTOH, is something I've come to look forward to every time I happen to be at home when it runs. I like the acting, I like the charcters, and it doesn't bother me that I know so very little at the time period in which it takes place. Also, this is one of the very few things Mum and I both like and so can watch together. The other one being the Murdoch Mysteries, which still haven't lost its fascination for me. I love the settings, the charcters, the stories, and whenever I see Yannick Bisson in Sue Thomas FBI, playing a modern character and laughing and smiling all the time, I must pinch myself to realise that it's the same guy who plays Murdoch.
And then there's Elementary, the American answer to Sherlock BBC. God, but it's so awful it's like watching a train wreck. I hope each weak that it might get better, but it doesn't. It gets worse. Actually, the stories have become marginally better. The actors, OTOH, keep surprising me with worse, more wooden acting every week. The guy who plays Holmes even tried to do the same mind palace thing Sherlock does in "Baskerville" - it was a pitiful caricature. And I'm supposed to care whether these utterly dull characters live or die? Why should I invest in them emotionally again?
I know, Moffat and Gatiss probably spoiled me for any other modern ACD interpretation. I still haven't been able re-watching the full Reichenback episode, and when I dare to look up a few scenes from it for fannish purposes, the acting of Cumberbatch, Freeman and Gatiss breaks my heart every time. I think it was a very good choice to make only a handful of episodes, with years in-between. The results are beyond amazing. Mind you, I never saw any of the actors before, their names said me nothing at all, so I went into watching Sherlock completely unbiased, even with a healthy amount of scepticism. They converted me in the first ten minutes into the unaired pilot.
Aaand then I caught a few glimpses of the Eleventh Doctor, too - mainly the last third of random episodes, which ended 10-15 minutes after I'd finished watching something else on a different channel. I'm afraid this is another case for the lynch mob, because I really don't like it. I don't like Eleven and I definitely don't like River Song. So shoot me. I didn't like Ten, either. I found Four amusing, Three (in the few parts I caught on YouTube) interesting, an I still haven't seen much else of Classic!Who. But as things stand now, my favourite is still Nine. Which must have something to do with the amazing talent of Christopher Eccleston, I guess.
The final season of Merlin started on German TV 3 weeks ago. It's not as bad as I feared it would be - but it's not really good, either. Better than Season 4, that's sure, but... My main problem is the complete lack of character development. Supposedly years have gone by since Season 4, yet Arthur and Merlin still behave like two bickering teenagers, Merlin is still the butt of all stupid jokes, and continuity? What continuity? Ah, well, I think I'll buy the DVDs anyway if I can hunt them down. I'm simply too fond of Merlin and Gaius.
Then I gave this new mystery/crime series, Grimm, a try. It's not bad, but it's not very good, either, and I mourn the lack of known faces. Actors I like usually make tedious programmes more palatable for me. The basic idea isn't really new - Special Unit 2 was vaguely similar - but that wouldn't be a problem in itself. I hope I'll be able to develop an interest in the characters; the horribly mangled, German-sounding names of the creatures are wort a laugh every time.
And that was it, basically. I'm going to watch the reruns of Eleventh Hour tonight. It isn't a very good show, but Rufus Sewell is my idea of eye candy (those eyes!), and I'm shallow.
Let's start with the touchy topic that will probably turn my English friends into an angry lynch mob: Downton Abbey. It came to Hungarian TV, and I gave it an heroic try, what with it being such a big thing and winning all possible awards and whatnot. Well... I must shamefully admit that it bored me to tears. I was capable of suffering through 20 minutes or so, and by that time I was covered with moss out of sheer boredom, so I gave up on it and will most likely never watch it again.
I assume one has to possess a certain affinity for English period drama or whatever it is called. Or one has to possess previous knowledge about the life in England in that particular period. Or know and like any of the creators, writers, actors, whatnot. I sorely lack all these motivating aspects and therefore Downton Abbey simply isn't for me.
Foley's War, OTOH, is something I've come to look forward to every time I happen to be at home when it runs. I like the acting, I like the charcters, and it doesn't bother me that I know so very little at the time period in which it takes place. Also, this is one of the very few things Mum and I both like and so can watch together. The other one being the Murdoch Mysteries, which still haven't lost its fascination for me. I love the settings, the charcters, the stories, and whenever I see Yannick Bisson in Sue Thomas FBI, playing a modern character and laughing and smiling all the time, I must pinch myself to realise that it's the same guy who plays Murdoch.
And then there's Elementary, the American answer to Sherlock BBC. God, but it's so awful it's like watching a train wreck. I hope each weak that it might get better, but it doesn't. It gets worse. Actually, the stories have become marginally better. The actors, OTOH, keep surprising me with worse, more wooden acting every week. The guy who plays Holmes even tried to do the same mind palace thing Sherlock does in "Baskerville" - it was a pitiful caricature. And I'm supposed to care whether these utterly dull characters live or die? Why should I invest in them emotionally again?
I know, Moffat and Gatiss probably spoiled me for any other modern ACD interpretation. I still haven't been able re-watching the full Reichenback episode, and when I dare to look up a few scenes from it for fannish purposes, the acting of Cumberbatch, Freeman and Gatiss breaks my heart every time. I think it was a very good choice to make only a handful of episodes, with years in-between. The results are beyond amazing. Mind you, I never saw any of the actors before, their names said me nothing at all, so I went into watching Sherlock completely unbiased, even with a healthy amount of scepticism. They converted me in the first ten minutes into the unaired pilot.
Aaand then I caught a few glimpses of the Eleventh Doctor, too - mainly the last third of random episodes, which ended 10-15 minutes after I'd finished watching something else on a different channel. I'm afraid this is another case for the lynch mob, because I really don't like it. I don't like Eleven and I definitely don't like River Song. So shoot me. I didn't like Ten, either. I found Four amusing, Three (in the few parts I caught on YouTube) interesting, an I still haven't seen much else of Classic!Who. But as things stand now, my favourite is still Nine. Which must have something to do with the amazing talent of Christopher Eccleston, I guess.
The final season of Merlin started on German TV 3 weeks ago. It's not as bad as I feared it would be - but it's not really good, either. Better than Season 4, that's sure, but... My main problem is the complete lack of character development. Supposedly years have gone by since Season 4, yet Arthur and Merlin still behave like two bickering teenagers, Merlin is still the butt of all stupid jokes, and continuity? What continuity? Ah, well, I think I'll buy the DVDs anyway if I can hunt them down. I'm simply too fond of Merlin and Gaius.
Then I gave this new mystery/crime series, Grimm, a try. It's not bad, but it's not very good, either, and I mourn the lack of known faces. Actors I like usually make tedious programmes more palatable for me. The basic idea isn't really new - Special Unit 2 was vaguely similar - but that wouldn't be a problem in itself. I hope I'll be able to develop an interest in the characters; the horribly mangled, German-sounding names of the creatures are wort a laugh every time.
And that was it, basically. I'm going to watch the reruns of Eleventh Hour tonight. It isn't a very good show, but Rufus Sewell is my idea of eye candy (those eyes!), and I'm shallow.
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Date: 2013-03-05 02:24 pm (UTC)You can watch every season of "Merlin" independently, as the makers hit the Reset button after each season finale. It's annoying because of the whacky continuity (there is some, just not enough for my taste) and the nonexistent character development, but OTOH you're not burdened by most of the crap they did in the previous season, so it can be an advantage, too.
I still love that show, regardless its obvious faults, although I wish they had an overall story arc like the (otherwise crap) "Camelot" did.