Fav Scene of the Week 23rd-28th Nov 09 Part 2

The second clip is from Modern Family. This show is easily one of my favourite new shows and it was hard to pick just one clip. The whole episode was great but I chose a Fizbo scene which has restored my faith in clowns that was broken by Stephen King's IT (lol). I could have also pick something from Cougar Town, which also showed a great holiday episode.

Fav Scene of the Week 23rd-28th Nov 09 Part 1

It's been quiet of late and I didn't post anything last week. Partly because I didn't think anything really stood out for me. This time around, I found two clips.

The first clip had me laughing and clapping at the same time. Family Guy has funny and controversial moments but this next scene has to be one of my favourites of this season. Brian had been trying to find out why Quagmire doesn't like him and he finally gets to know the reason why.

Is FlashForward a Flash in the Pan?

It was billed as the natural successor to Lost, which shall finish in May 2010. It has a plot that got people excited, a list of actors and creative team that had people’s mouth watering, but has FlashForward been a disappointment so far.

The show started with 12.4 million viewers but this week only 8.3 million watched. This was the first time this season that Bones beat it in the same hour, with the Fox show being watched by 10.2 million.

The first episode was high packed with information, some would say a bit too much as lately the story has been stumbling along slowly. Replaying the same flash forward in practically every episode has become annoying. I don't need to mention which one as a lot of people have been commenting on it already.

I can't really put my finger on it but there are a few things that seem to be wrong. It's not just the pacing but some of the direction of each episode. I've made a point of not mentioning Joseph Fiennes accent as his character as a whole bugs me.

One thing that does come to mind was the introduction of Dominic Monaghan's character, Simon. He came in at the end of episode 4 and then wasn't shown again until 6. He wasn't shown during episode 7 until the last couple of minutes in a scene that lasted a few seconds with no dialogue.

In episode 7, titled The Gift, a particular act was shown to help the characters believe that their flash forward doesn't necessarily have to happen the way they saw it. Are we to believe that the characters never thought that they couldn't possibly change their outcome and what makes them think that what they're doing now isn't leading them to exactly what they are trying to avoid. I could go further into this but I'll probably be here all night.

The last couple of episodes, I've putting to the end of my list of shows to watch, preferring to catch up on shows aired on Friday before watching it. The episodes don't leave me excited to watch but the idea itself, is the thing that's making me stick with it. Also wondering what will happen in the episodes towards the end of the season.

It's a shame, as this was one of the new shows that I was the most excited about seeing this season while those that I watched just to see what they were like, have surprisingly impressed me more.

A couple of people that I know, have shared my opinion that it only seems to be the last 5-10 minutes where anything interesting happens and for them, it's become background noise or something to watch when there's nothing else on.

I like to think that it's early days but the question is, what can they do to make people stop turning this show off and what will happen once we get to the point of the flash forward.

Fav Scene of the Week 8th -14th Nov 09

I have to admit that there wasn't a lot of choice for my scene of the week (I blame ABC for not showing Modern Family this week). It would have been easy to pick a scene from Glee, which had one of its best episodes this week as well as Grey's Anatomy and Fringe. Instead I chose a scene from Ugly Betty, which also was a season best.



I thought it was a really sweet moment with Justin and his mother, Hilda but also the scene after really had me thinking about where they are going with Justin. They have made a real point about showing how he's coping with high school and it brings up a new element to both Justin and Hilda.

This show has been quietly producing some great stuff and though I listed it under my cancellation predictions, I would like to see this have another season.

Fav Scene of the Week - 7 Nov 09

For this week, I chose a scene from Grey's Anatomy and it doesn't involve any of my favourite characters (Cristina, Callie, Mark or Miranda Bailey). It's the scene with Arizona and the Chief. Now I like any scene when someone is telling off the Chief and in previous weeks, I could have easily picked Arizona or Shepherd telling off the Chief. It's no secret that he's on my annoying/boring character list so any time someone shouts at him, it gets a big cheer form me.

Character Transplants Needed

The other week, I had a conversation about characters that I found either annoying or boring and could do with a personality transplant (a rewrite would do). So I decided to write them down.

Catherine and Orson from Desperate Housewives. I'm struggling to remember why they are even needed anymore. Catherine is so annoying that she's actually taken over the role of the most annoying character, from Susan. I was actually disappointed that Susan didn't do a better job of shooting her. What was once a intriguing character, Orson has now turned into a bad side show, like his kleptomaniac storyline from last season. Maybe with the plane crash coming, these two can finally be removed from our screens.

Thirteen and Foreman (Foreteen) from House. To put one annoying character with a boring one really made for one of the least interesting couples. Even the break up was boring and left me saying 'so what'. For me, they were in competition for the title with Riley and Jonah from Melrose Place.

Speaking of Melrose Place, Violet is next on the list. You can critisize the acting, writing or both. Whichever way, this character is awful and uncomfortable to watch. I, for one, am happy that the end of this character is near. It doesn't convey crazy very well, just sad and desperate, like Catherine from Desperate Housewives.

Langston from CSI. I'm I in a small minority of people that are not excited by the crossover. I will certainly watch it but if this is the plan to gain back the viewers that have left, then they should have used a different character. Maybe this could be the thing that turns it around for the character and we might get to see more depth. If not, I just feel that Laurence Fishburne should have been given a better character to work with.

Chief Webber from Grey's Anatomy. You just have to watch it to know why. He's going round sacking people and like Derek said, he needs to take some blame for the chaos he's created. I loved Arizona's scene with him on last week's episode.

I'm sure there are more but those are my main ones though Ryan from Three Rivers nearly made the list. I thought I should give it a couple of more episodes.

I Think We Have An Emergency

What can be said about the three new hospital dramas that debuted this fall? Mercy, Three Rivers and Trauma have aired to less than impressive ratings and less than favoured reviews. There was a big gap left in NBC’s schedule after ER ended; it was a mainstay in the schedule for 15 seasons. It puzzled me that NBC went for both Trauma and Mercy but hey, I’m no network exec.

I’ve watched all three of these dramas and in the case of Mercy and Trauma; I’ve already stopped watching them. With Mercy, I lasted 3 episodes and 5 minutes of episode 4. My problem with this show was that I just didn’t care. I didn’t care that one of them had issues since returning from war. I couldn’t sympathise with her or understand her to any extent. I found Michelle Trachtenberg’s character a bore and more annoying than her character in Buffy and I never thought that could ever be possible. I couldn’t find a character to route for and the storylines were boring. The show has been picked up for a full season.

What can I say about Trauma? A quote from my mother sums it up “Trauma is traumatic to watch.” The last episode I watched had someone being electrocuted, another guy’s arm cut off and a guy falling on something that went straight through his body. The show seems to be intent on finding ways to try and gross people out. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t get grossed out easily, I’ve seen four of the Saw films and will watch the latest. I don’t mind watching things like this on film, but I don’t want to see this week in and week out. It wouldn’t be such a bad problem if there was a storyline, some character development, anything to keep people interested. it seems like a mini-movie with no plot and just an aim to see how much they can spend on effects.

News came this week that NBC was to air 13 episodes but it was as good as cancelled. Someone mentioned that it would at least give it time to wrap up storylines, what storylines?

This then moves me on to Three Rivers, which I'm still watching. This is a very slow paced show and even with a storyline about a bus crash, it's still failed to ignite anything in this show. For a couple of episodes, ratings for this show haven’t been helped by extended football games but that is no excuse. The slow paced drama has one thing over the over two - three actors with a fan base. Alex O'Loughlin, Alfre Woodard and Katherine Moennig are probably keeping some viewers watching despite the show itself. In some ways, that's probably part of the reason I'm still watching it. All three of them have been part of shows that I've watched (Moonlight, Desperate Housewives and Young Americans). I feel like I'm waiting for something to happen, I'm just not sure what it is yet.

I have yet to hear of anyone with the opinion that they think Three Rivers or Trauma will get a second season. I'm not looking for an ER replacement, as I stopped watching it for the last few seasons that were aired. I just think that with medical dramas, there should be a good balance between the medicine, the characters, the story within the episode and the story within the season. I don't want a snooze fest either, just a well-written drama.

Fav Scene of the Week - Oct 25th 09

I have to say that at first, The Middle sort of passed me by. I was watching but not immediately blown away like Modern Family but I also wasn't turned off like Hank. Episode 4 was the make or break episode for me and it made me take notice of how funny this show is.

I love the character Brick and I could have easily picked one of his scenes but I went with Frankie and Sue.