TV OR NOT TV
(Thoughts on TV shows past, present, and passing)

“Chuck” is in its last season. At first, I didn't think I'd stick with it because I hated the intrusive nature of the Buy-More setup and felt it just dragged down the 'spy' aspect. It got better later and the inclusion of interesting guests helped. Now it's going out under its own steam and I'd rather see it do that than just disappear without a definitive ending.
CSI/NY/Miami is more fantasy than reality. Real CSIs don't make arrests or do a lot of things their TV counterparts do. I don't think real female CSIs totter around on six-inch heels during the workday, either. Why was Catherine never made head of the lab? Looks like a sure cause for a sex discrimination suit to me. And why did they dump Liz Vassey, then bring in a new girl? NY is my favorite, partially because I lived there, partly because they seem to have the best balance of work and personal life. To date, Horatio Caine has probably committed as many felonies as he's solved. Last week he let a perp fall to his death when he could have saved the man. The only lab type who ever committed more crimes was Jordan Cavanaugh, wno in her final espisodes had violated the gun laws of several states and the federal government and would be liable for anywhere between five and ten years.
Law & Order is probably on its last legs. I don't see it running another season without Benson and Stabler. Elliott's gone and Olivia's getting cut back. As worthy as the franchise may have been, I got tired of Dick Wolf's constant anti-gun polemic/propaganda. Non-police gun owners on the original series were never portrayed as responsible, rational people, and all gun dealers were shady. I know lots of people, including myself, who have owned guns all our adult lives and are law-abiding, responsible people who have never committed a crime. I have had a carry permit since 1995 and never had a problem.
Gilmore Girls is long since cancelled but still being shown. Aside from the mother and daughter and their wonderfully wacky dialogue, there wasn't much worth seeing. The townspeople should all have been wiped out: the mayor was a pompous ass, Lorelei's sidekick Suky was an idiot, the boyfriend was rude and surly, and the parents were awful. Kelly Bishop did a decent job of humanizing the mother, but...
NCIS is still good. Forget LA. I do think Dinozzo's character development has slipped backward somewhat, but the show still has legs. Now, if they could just get someone to teach Gibbs how to speak Russian....
Once Upon A Time/Grimm. Two interesting takes on the fairy tale. Grimm is the better of the two with a more interesting approach. Once suffers from some casting problems: Snow White is far from looking like a fairytale princess, while the Wicked Witch is smokin'. And Snow can't bring off the forest thief bit either.
Law & Order: UK consists largely of American episodes transposed to the UK justice system. That it has survived the ad campaign says something. It might be interesting to see what they could do with the Scottish system, which differs from England in that there are three possible verdicts: Guilty, Not Guilty, and Not Proven.
Burn Notice/Covert Affairs. Both are good fun, but writers keep ignoring the fact that the CIA's operating brief doesn't permit them to mount operations on US soil. Or at least didn't. Maybe 9/11 changed that. I'd love to see a crossover episode. Fiona's definitely my kind of girl.
Psych. I watched three episodes, thought it was the dumbest thing I'd ever seen.
Criminal Minds. Love it. Glad they got smart and brought back JJ & Prentiss. I was rather hoping that the exit episodes might be a pilot for another series with Prentiss working for the State Department's spook shop with JJ as her handler.
Fringe: mind-blowing concept with really good actors. John Noble steals every scene he's in, but he's not working alone. Olivia is one of the more real women on TV.
Sanctuary: Another original concept. Much as I loved Colonel Carter, I'm just mad about Amanda Tapping 2.0 Brains, beauty and balls!
Eureka/Warehouse 13: Again, novel concepts populated by quirky characters in situations that are at once dramatic and funny. Good ensemble work in both.
Nikita: A different feel from the earlier version. Less claustrophobic and more action-oriented. I'd watch it more if Maggie Q gained about twenty pounds. The bikini shot in the first episode was really off-putting for me. Any woman who is thinner than the very hot Melinda Clarke is too thin!
The Closer: Love it. The LAPD as a dysfunctional family. The Christmas ep was an instant classic, as was Eureka's.
Bones, Rizzoli & Isles, Body of Proof. Smart, attractive women doing grisly work with great panache. Tamara Taylor as the 'den mother' for the Jeffersonian crew is a msitress of the throwaway like and the reaction take. All three shows do a great job of balancing humor and drama. I'd still like to see Brennan be more like her print medium character and be involved with the Canadian cop shop in Quebec. Never been sure why they changed the character so radically.
Leverage is a worthy successor to a long line of shows about con men doing good. The original was The Rogues, which starred David Niven, Charles Boyer, and Gig Young as members of a family of grifters who helped the little guy. White Collar also falls into this category with Nat Bomer as the new Al Mundy (It Takes A Thief with Robert Wagner).
I can't get into American Horror Story. There's nobody there to root for: they're all just awful people.