For those of you who don’t know, or simply just don’t care, my name is Craig, and I am a “writer” on a few websites. I have been lured out of my semi-self imposed retirement to comment on some of my favorite TV shows by my good friend Bryan “Astro” Jones. Why you ask? I honestly have no idea, but my guess is that he just needs filler material for his new website and I owe him a shit ton of money so here goes.
So, what is the Good, the Bad and the Suckly? Basically it will be a weekly-ish (semi retired hello?) column where I will tell you what I like, love and hate about what is on my TV this week. Now the rules are simple, I will only review shows that I like and watch on a very regular basis. I won’t be bashing Desperate Housewives here because I don’t watch it. Not that it’s bad or good; I just have no desire to watch it. Simply put, I will be reviewing shows that I have loved at some point in time and I may or may not love them quite so much anymore.
So where to start, where to start? How bout we start with the Good:
Leverage: TNT almost killed this show before it even got off the ground. They started showing advertisements for this show almost 3 years (I exaggerate) before they showed the premiere, but it has been worth the wait. Basically Leverage is a show about a group of conmen/women who use their ill begotten skills for good. Imagine Oceans Eleven meets The Grifters and you have Leverage in a nutshell. Timothy Hutton (80’s shout out) is the hands down star of the show. Hutton seemed to fall off the TV/Movie radar for a while, but he is back and better than ever. It makes you wonder what he was doing all these years because if he was being turned down for roles, I hope that after seeing Leverage, all the casting agents who told him no got fired. Hutton aside, it is the ensemble cast is what will draw you in. Angel fans will recognize Lindsey McDonald (Christian Kane) but other than that Leverage has a cast of unknowns, but it works. When the show started, I wondered how long they could keep up the “con a week” premise, but so far so good. If you aren’t watching this show, give it a chance. It’s the good.
Next up, the Bad:
House: Blasphemy some will say that I add House to the bad list, but hear me out. If you have been watching this year and are a true fan, you know what I mean. Take a minute to your self faithful reader (man I hope I have faithful readers someday) and ask your self what makes House great. Come on, I will wait. The answer is, to put it simply, House. Nothing else on that show matters. Want proof? Where are Foreman, Cameron and Chase? Remember them? For those who don’t, they were the main supporting characters in the first 3 seasons, and now they are sub characters at best. Why you ask? Because House is about House and that is why the show is great, but this year is a bit off. I know just like you do that every show needs change, but what makes House great is House (yes I said that 3 times but it was for emphasis). This year we have to deal with Wilson’s emotional meltdown, Cuddy’s post partum depression and the love affair between Foreman and 13. Yawn. Show me more House and less exterior crap. The irony of this review is that I don’t care what the characters do in their ‘House’s, I just want the medical drama. That being said, I still consider House to be one of the 5 best shows on TV today and I hope this is just a glitch.
Lastly, the Suckly:
E.R.: Oh how the mighty have fallen…they’ve fallen and they can’t get up. Lets face it folks, ER is old. And with age normally comes wisdom, but that is not the case with tired and washed up medical drama. Now don’t get me wrong, I was a die hard ER fan. The first 5 or so seasons of this show were nothing short of genius. The show was so popular in its prime that you had directors such as Quentin Tarantino lining up to make episodes. This is the show that made George Clooney the superstar that he is today. In short, ER was awesome. Now it is simply awful. ER is suffering from Alzheimer’s, and it simply forgot why it was so popular to begin with. ER was a show about an ER. How hard is that to remember? Sure it had great characters, but the drama came from the endless stream of patients that came and went (sometimes in a body bag). The true drama was the medicine, not the doctors. While each doctor did have a little bit of social interaction with the outside world, the major storylines happened in the hospital. That is simply not the case anymore. Now ER is nothing more than a melodrama about a group of doctors who sleep with each other. Hey ER there is already a show like that. It’s called General Hospital. Not only did the doctors become the main focus, they often were the patients. Here is a short list of the dangers of working at County General. Dr. Gallant was killed while serving in Iraq, Dr. Pratt died from injuries suffered in an ambulance explosion; Dr. Barnett lost both his legs and Dr. Romano was crushed by a falling helicopter (one year after losing an arm in a totally separate helicopter accident). The downfall began when Gloria Reubens character contracted HIV. It was all down hill from there. Dr. Benton’s son was deaf, Sam’s son has diabetes, Abby and Luka make up and break up and the final straw was poor Dr. Greene dying of a brain tumor. As if all that weren’t enough, Noah Wyle (Dr. Carter), once the heart and soul of the show returns for the final season only to be dying of amyloidosis. Sigh. For the sake of Dr. Carter and the rest of the ER, I think it is time NBC euthanized this once great show.
Agree, disagree or just didn’t make it past paragraph 2? Feel free to comment here and I promise to either randomly ignore your comments or berate you for having an opinion other than mine. See you next week.
Can't say that I disagree too much with you this week. I've heard great things about Leverage and plan to catch up on it, but I haven't actually watched it yet. And House was never something I got into, so I can't comment there. As for ER, well, I was never a huge fan, but in the beginning I could at least accidentally get caught up in an episode. But as you said, these days it wouldn't even be good if they aired it in the afternoon, competing with soap operas. At least, that's how I feel about it. :)
Can’t say that I disagree too much with you this week. I’ve heard great things about Leverage and plan to catch up on it, but I haven’t actually watched it yet. And House was never something I got into, so I can’t comment there. As for ER, well, I was never a huge fan, but in the beginning I could at least accidentally get caught up in an episode. But as you said, these days it wouldn’t even be good if they aired it in the afternoon, competing with soap operas. At least, that’s how I feel about it. :)
Astro Jones, you have been saying you were going to "catch up" on Leverage for months. I will not be fooled by you until I hear girly screams all the way in Texas. To say it is the "good" is a bit of a fallacy, it is among the best. I put watching it up with watching Battlestar Galactica, and I honestly don't think any other show has reached those hallowed grounds since before Leverage. Wow, it is just fantastic, and hilarious!
That said, I feel like ER is trying to pull out all the stops and pick themselves off the ground, I just feel like they lay there twitching for so many years without any medical attention, they may have permanent brain damage. I apologize for that analogy out of the gate. I cannot agree more if I tried that the downfall came with Jeannie's HIV status. I have no idea if that is how you spell the character name, but you know who I mean, her last name was something you would hear in New Orleans and just accept it as a last name because of where you were, I remember that much! Carter and Benton, my favorite ER couple of all time, are back, but GAH! it is so depressing and, pointless, at this stage of the show. Show me one Shiny Happy ER alum, and I won't believe you, they all have to be suffering, for some reason, according to the writers of this show!
I've got nothing to add but a gigantic DITTO to the House remarks. Shut up if your name is not Greg House. Crickets? Yeah, Show, you've got a problem.
Astro Jones, you have been saying you were going to “catch up” on Leverage for months. I will not be fooled by you until I hear girly screams all the way in Texas. To say it is the “good” is a bit of a fallacy, it is among the best. I put watching it up with watching Battlestar Galactica, and I honestly don’t think any other show has reached those hallowed grounds since before Leverage. Wow, it is just fantastic, and hilarious!
That said, I feel like ER is trying to pull out all the stops and pick themselves off the ground, I just feel like they lay there twitching for so many years without any medical attention, they may have permanent brain damage. I apologize for that analogy out of the gate. I cannot agree more if I tried that the downfall came with Jeannie’s HIV status. I have no idea if that is how you spell the character name, but you know who I mean, her last name was something you would hear in New Orleans and just accept it as a last name because of where you were, I remember that much! Carter and Benton, my favorite ER couple of all time, are back, but GAH! it is so depressing and, pointless, at this stage of the show. Show me one Shiny Happy ER alum, and I won’t believe you, they all have to be suffering, for some reason, according to the writers of this show!
I’ve got nothing to add but a gigantic DITTO to the House remarks. Shut up if your name is not Greg House. Crickets? Yeah, Show, you’ve got a problem.
Bravo, Craig! I have seen one epi of Leverage and liked it. Even tho I missed the beginning and had no clue what the heck was going on, it roped me in good. When I get my tiny little brain to remember to set up a season pass for it on my DVR I will become a die hard fan, but for now, I just keep forgetting it's on… I tend to be consumed with another show out there and get tunnel vision. ;) House is still a favorite of mine but omg, stop with the romance between 13 and Foreman! I didnt care about Chase and Cameron hooking up either. Besides, 13 already has a "story", the Huntington's. Then Taub has the infidelity issues *snore*… If they have to do backstory on someone other than House why does Kumar get the shaft?? I LOVE Kal Penn, and is the only character I have any interest in other than House. ER? I have followed it since the very first episode, never missed it and will watch every last episode, dammit. But not because I think it's awesome, mostly just out of spite. I'm just too stubborn to give it up, no matter how painful it gets.
Can't wait to see your next installment of "The Good, The Bad and the Sucky"!!
Bravo, Craig! I have seen one epi of Leverage and liked it. Even tho I missed the beginning and had no clue what the heck was going on, it roped me in good. When I get my tiny little brain to remember to set up a season pass for it on my DVR I will become a die hard fan, but for now, I just keep forgetting it’s on… I tend to be consumed with another show out there and get tunnel vision. ;) House is still a favorite of mine but omg, stop with the romance between 13 and Foreman! I didnt care about Chase and Cameron hooking up either. Besides, 13 already has a “story”, the Huntington’s. Then Taub has the infidelity issues *snore*… If they have to do backstory on someone other than House why does Kumar get the shaft?? I LOVE Kal Penn, and is the only character I have any interest in other than House. ER? I have followed it since the very first episode, never missed it and will watch every last episode, dammit. But not because I think it’s awesome, mostly just out of spite. I’m just too stubborn to give it up, no matter how painful it gets.
Can’t wait to see your next installment of “The Good, The Bad and the Sucky”!!
I can't say much about Leverage as the TV gods have deigned Canada not worthy enough to run it up here, but KOM loves it as do many of our recappers so I'll take their (and your) word for it :)
(I did acquire a few episodes, but when I watched the first one and saw Aldis Hodge (?sp) whom I HAAAATE, I couldn't watch anymore.)
House: totally agree, but they have upped the ante a bit on the medical stuff lately, and I find the diagnoses they talk about and tests they would do are pretty accurate. I think Foreman is a pompous ass and I want him gone, but I would like to see them follow up a bit with 13's Huntington's.
ER: Watched the first few years but after 18 years working in trauma/critical care, my eye-rolling was seriously affecting my vision ;)
Thanks Craig, looking forward to reading next week(ish)'s recap!
Aw, Pixie, give Leverage another shot, if you can acquire it. You will love Aldis Hodge! He will win you over big time. Honestly, he has differentiated himself completely from any other role he has ever done with this one, and he is hilarious!
I can’t say much about Leverage as the TV gods have deigned Canada not worthy enough to run it up here, but KOM loves it as do many of our recappers so I’ll take their (and your) word for it :)
(I did acquire a few episodes, but when I watched the first one and saw Aldis Hodge (?sp) whom I HAAAATE, I couldn’t watch anymore.)
House: totally agree, but they have upped the ante a bit on the medical stuff lately, and I find the diagnoses they talk about and tests they would do are pretty accurate. I think Foreman is a pompous ass and I want him gone, but I would like to see them follow up a bit with 13′s Huntington’s.
ER: Watched the first few years but after 18 years working in trauma/critical care, my eye-rolling was seriously affecting my vision ;)
Thanks Craig, looking forward to reading next week(ish)’s recap!
Aw, Pixie, give Leverage another shot, if you can acquire it. You will love Aldis Hodge! He will win you over big time. Honestly, he has differentiated himself completely from any other role he has ever done with this one, and he is hilarious!
Thanks for all the comments everyone. It is much appreciated after my long haitus. Thanks to Astro and CC for dragging me back. I am loving this site.
Thanks for all the comments everyone. It is much appreciated after my long haitus. Thanks to Astro and CC for dragging me back. I am loving this site.