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Reflections on a rather bizarre season

This has been a season of strangeness. And disappointment.

It started out so well, too. We had a veritable scad of possibly terrific new genre shows. And everything came to a screeching halt with the writers' strike. And then everything kind of turned into crap.

Bionic Woman started strong, but turned into a huge, honking disappointment. Pushing Daisies is clever, I suppose, but it's so twee that it makes my teeth hurt. Chuck just doesn't do anything for me, as much as I wish it did. I actually liked Reaper a lot at first because it made me laugh, but it didn't innovate; we got the same episode over and over, and I finally stopped watching it. (I'm not even going to talk again about the possible new Knight Rider series; already did.)

I liked Journeyman. I really did. I'm not crying that it's gone, but I thought it had something. And I liked New Amsterdam even more. They were going for a sort of serious Highlander, with an immortal character who was out there on his own with no mythology and no other immortals to make him less unique. A man with multiple careers, many families, descendants all over the place, including one who was his best friend. New Amsterdam was cool, and it was acquiring some interesting depth. And of course it was canceled.

And I'm almost too heartbroken to talk about my favorite new show this past season: Moonlight. Its ratings were even pretty good, and it was just getting started. Why, oh why did they have to cancel Moonlight? Yes, its quality was, shall we say, variable, but it was so much fun. I savored every episode, and it was the one I was really pulling for. Damn. Yes, I've heard that there's a faint, tiny possibility that some other network will save it. But I wasn't born yesterday, and I'm not counting on it.

The only new show I really enjoyed that is getting a second season is Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. At least I got something.

As of tomorrow, Lost will be done for an extremely long time, and I'm certain they'll leave us with an agonizing cliffhanger. Battlestar will be hitting its hiatus in a couple of weeks, again almost certainly leaving us with an agonizing cliffhanger -- and who knows how long it will be until we get the final ten episodes. (I'm hoping for fall, but I betcha they'll hold out on us until January.)

Usually I play catch-up during the summer, taking on old shows and doing retro reviews. I've decided that this summer, I'm going to finally finish Six Feet Under and Highlander. I really can't take on another new show: this fall and winter, I'll be doing way too many. The only saving grace is that they're not all starting at the same time.

With my two favorite actors now off the show, I'm thinking seriously about dropping Smallville. Or postponing doing reviews until the DVD comes out.

Anyway, that's what's going on with me. What do you think? Suggestions? Comments?

12 comments:

  1. You've been the only bright light in this otherwise disappointing season.

    Please consider starting to review The Sarah Connor Chronicles (I'm sure many would prefer that over Smallville now anyway).

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  2. Great comments as always! Sorry for the ones you supported and won't be back... c'est la vie!

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  3. I eagerly look forward to your reviews of my favorite shows, and sometimes enjoy them as much as the shows themselves.

    I support dropping Smallville, as we are doing so here ourselves. I'd also love to see Terminator reviews, but I understand work overload. Don't overtax yourself any more than you already have.

    How do you feel about animated series? As the season finales have rolled in, we've started looking to Avatar: The Last Airbender as a new source of quality television entertainment. We've been quite pleasantly surprised.

    --Kkat & co.

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  4. I'm sure you're positively swamped and apologize for even mentioning another show, but still: what about Fringe? I haven't seen you mention it, and I think it looks promising. JJ Abrams is one of my favorites. I love your reviews of Lost and Alias, and if Fringe is even half as good as those two, I think we're in for a treat.

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  5. Hey Billie,
    It would be only right that you follow Smallville till the end, which will most likely be after next season. Unless the writers start to kick a** with storyline, the show, I believe the show will stop. Now that MR won't be returning....I don't know. Maybe the writer's will make all the Superman Mythos zealots ("A fanatically committed person", according to www.dictionary.com)happy . I know a few people who are dillegent about the history of Superman and they are forever disappointed with this show. Hey, thank God Lana left.....
    I'd like to read your last reiew Billie.

    Christine.
    (Love being able to leave a comment without giving up my first born.)

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  6. I really thought u might also take up Fringe..I mean its bound to be as twisted and complex and entertaininig as both alias and lost.

    Keep smallville for the DVDs and take up Fringe

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  7. Yeah postpone Smallville until the next summer. I'm a believer in finishing what's started, but i seriously was suprised to even see this show among such many great other tv programmes.

    Smallville is so sub-par compared to let's say Supernatural or VM (keeping with the age of characters i'm not going to compare to Lost or Dexter) that it's mere presence in the dropdwon menu makes me feel like something is out of place.

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  8. Please do drop Smallville Billie, it's just not worth it compared to your other current shows, definitely sub par and what's the point without MR?!

    I love your Lost, Dexter and Six Feet Under reviews, and CAN'T WAIT FOR DOLLHOUSE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

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  9. You could do far worse than to check out the first few seasons of Bones over the summer. Consistantly well written, and featuring not only David Boreanez but a fairly regular stream of Angel Alum

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  10. I'm really glad that you're going to finish Six Feet Under over the summer. I had caught the show when the 3rd season was airing, then bought the complete series over a year ago.

    It was brilliant seeing such a perfect series from the start, although I do watch at quite a slow pace since I follow so many shows simultaneously (1 episode a week). It was disappointing to find that your reviews stopped in season 3 so it's fantastic that you'll be finishing the rest of the series. I'm currently about halfway through season 5 for the first time and really enjoying it.

    As for Smallville, I definitely agree that if you have to drop any show, it would be my first choice. Strangely, even though I criticise Smallville a lot and find it very disappointing, I have still followed it throughout the years. I've only seen as far as the sixth season, and I finally felt like they were advancing the plot significantly and the show was finally getting interesting in the 5th and 6th seasons, but it was ridiculous that they took so long.

    And even so, it is often quite inconsistent in quality compared to a lot of other shows. But I do think that you should finish the last season when the DVD comes out, because it does seem strange to leave it unfinished after reviewing so many other seasons, which would be unfair to people who do like Smallville.

    Of the shows you're currently reviewing, I like Heroes, Dexter, Battlestar and am really looking forward to Dollhouse since I am a huge Whedon fan. I've lost my patience with Lost to some extent, but would probably keep watching it if it ever returns to terrestrial TV here in the UK. And even though I find it frustrating, I at least appreciate that it is more worthy of discussion than Smallville given that there are so many mysteries and inter-related characters and small noteworthy clues in every episode.

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  11. As per usual I love your reviews, particularly the ones for Dexter. Best show you're doing.

    I'm with dropping Smallville. I stopped watching the show after S5 anyways.

    If you ever do pick a show for DVD, I'd suggest Doctor Who. Season 4 just finished up in the UK and the writing/acting is very Buffy-ish. I think you'd love it.

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  12. My dear friend Gavrielle has "Dr. Who" covered right down to the ground. Check her out:

    http://www.androzani.com/index.shtml

    Billie

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