tv season wrap-up, part 2

OMG. The new TV season starts next week and I haven’t finished my wrap-up from last season. ARGH. Going to try and do this quickly…

Hellcats
Poor cancelled show. It totally ran out of gas in the last half of the season. I got whiplash with Alice/Jake (who I really liked), Alice/Lewis, and Kathy/Lewis. And I think the show lost its way when Marti and Savannah were given completely separate storylines with their families instead of focusing on their relationship with each other and their team. It’s too bad. This was a fun cast!

Gossip Girl
Oh show. I can’t quit you. Even though you fail to give Nate any meaningful storylines (at least he’s good for eye candy), can’t seem to commit to consistent characterizations (Blair, Chuck, their relationship), and keep introducing the C-R-A-Z-Y (Juliet, now Ivy). But despite all that, I’m so on board for next season. Serena in LA. Blair’s wedding that is SO not going to happen. A secret pregnancy. Dan’s tell-all book!!! I hope there’s room to develop the Dan and Blair friendship even more. I can’t help that I love them so.

Grey’s Anatomy
%$#@ has hit the fan! And it’s pretty damn depressing. Like REALLY. I’m torn. Especially about Cristina/Owen and their pregnancy. Isn’t this her second unplanned pregnancy? Shouldn’t someone who clearly (it’s practically written on her forehead) doesn’t want kids be more careful? So I’m sympathetic but at the same time I’m not. (I realize that sounds weird). And while I agree with Owen that Cristina shouldn’t make a decision about abortion without him, I also feel like he was trying to guilt-trip her which bothers me. And then there’s Meredith/Derek. I’m inclined to side with Derek about the clinical trial because that’s a professional issue and Meredith was wrong to switch the medicine. But leaving her? Stranded with their newly adopted baby? These storylines are rubbing me the wrong way. But I’ll keep watching because I’m a sucker.

Nikita
I liked this show from the beginning but the quality really got better and better as the season progressed. The finale was especially great. I’m a sucker for a great love story (Nikita and Michael on the run, yay!) but this show reeled me in with Nikita and Alex. And to see the conflict and tension between them in the finale killed me. It’ll be interesting to see the two of them working against each other (well, at least from Alex’s point of view). And I’m excited that the plot seems to be moving at a good pace now that the show has found its footing.

The Vampire Diaries
My current favorite show next to The Good Wife. I actually think the penultimate episode of the season felt more like a finale (with the ritual and the epic deaths) than the actual finale, which was mostly set-up for next season. I’m not terribly enamored by Damon/Elena (I like her with Stefan, what can I say) but I’m intrigued by Jeremy seeing dead people (Anna!) and the return of Stefan the Ripper. Should be GOOD.

Annnddd that’s it.

Oh. Except that at some point I need to finish watching the last 2 episodes of Smallville. OOPS.

Now to figure out my Fall TV schedule…

midseason tv report card, part 2

Ok, part 2 of the TV report card!

Hellcats – C+
Yes, I’m still watching this show. Heh. It’s not much more than a typical college drama but it’s totally grown on me. I love Marti, Savannah and the rest of the Hellcats (Lewis, Darwin, even Alice!) and the random singing and/or dancing in each episode. I was even pleasantly surprised by the storylines until recently when the show did an about-face and broke up 2 couples (Savannah/Dan, Marti/Lewis) and possibly damaged a major friendship (Marti/Savannah) to develop a relationship between Marti/Dan. UGH. I’m a sucker for romance, I admit, but not when it comes at the expense of the characters’ integrity and their other relationships. Also, the adult characters need to go. They contribute… nothing. (And DB Woodside deserves better).

The Big Bang Theory – B-
I just started watching TBBT regularly this season so I sometimes feel like I’ve missed out on important character backstory by tuning in so late. I may try and catch up at some point. Regardless, the characters are enjoyable and I love all the quirky friendships (is it weird that my favorite relationship is Penny & Sheldon?). I love the show best when all the characters are interacting, like this past week’s episode where everyone (including Bernadette and Amy Farrah Fowler) takes a road trip to a science symposium. Gotta love the musical beds, lol.

Bones – B-
Still a good show but I feel like it’s slowly becoming another procedural. I know it technically is but the characters have always elevated the show beyond the traditional formula. Unfortunately the past few seasons they’ve all been running in place.

Grey’s Anatomy – C+
I go back and forth all the time with this show. While I love the characters, the ridiculous storylines make my head hurt. Last year it was Mark’s daughter (I stopped watching while she was around; she bugged me) and this year it’s Callie’s pregnancy AND Teddy marrying a patient (Scott Foley!) so he could have insurance (they’re totally going to fall in love, I just know it). ARGH. Cristina getting her surgical groove back took a tad too long but Sandra Oh is so awesome she made it work. Random — I saw McSteamy (aka Eric Dane) and his wife in LA a few weeks back. He looks smaller in real life somehow but just as cute. 🙂

Nikita – B
Honestly, I never thought I would still be watching at this point in the season… but I’m really liking it! It definitely needs some work but the show is improving each week. The winter finale, in particular, was a good episode — it set up Alex as an agent working on the outside and it FINALLY addressed my biggest issue when Nikita’s shell program was discovered. Seriously, to have Nikita and Alex basically chatting online whenever they felt like it required too much suspension of belief. Now, if only the show would bring back Owen and get rid of Jaden (ugh, she’s such a one-note character), I would be a very happy camper.

Smallville – C+
I might be an episode behind. Not sure. This season has been a little off for me — the storylines seem a little stale and overall there’s missing something. Maybe it’s the loss of Chloe? Or maybe it’s that the show takes itself way too seriously? I can’t put my finger on it. I also don’t know what happened to me because suddenly I like Lois/Clark. They’re actually kind of cute. I was really hoping that Kristin Kreuk and/or Michael Rosenbaum would reprise their roles as Lana and Lex since it’s the final season but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. It would have been a nice way to close out the series, especially for the fans.

White Collar – A-
Gawd, LOVE IT. It may not be the best or smartest show about the FBI (case in point – the larger mythology storyline involving the music box doesn’t always make sense) but it’s so light and fun that I don’t really care. Besides, it’s the chemistry between Neal and Peter that makes the show so great anyway. The reason it doesn’t get a straight A is that so much of Neal’s backstory is centered around his ex-girlfriend Kate who, unfortunately, is not very likable or sympathetic (thanks largely to the actress that plays her).

Pass:
CSI
CSI Miami

No grades for these shows. I watch each week because it’s become a routine but I’m not too invested.

Dropped:
V
– *yawn*
Supernatural – Watched the first few episodes of the season and it felt a little “been there, done that.” Then the episodes kept piling up on the DVR until finally last month, Rob & I deleted all of them. I enjoyed the earlier seasons (and of course love Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki) but honestly, I just got bored.

Need to Catch up on:
The Vampire Diaries
. I’m about 4 episodes behind but this show is SO good it automatically gets an A for being so AWESOME.

hellcats + nikita

I still can’t believe the start of the Fall TV season is upon us. I haven’t even received the all-important Fall TV preview issue from Entertainment Weekly yet! So I checked out The CW’s new offerings and while I didn’t OMG!LOVE! either of them, I’m intrigued enough to watch a few more episodes to see if they’ve worked out the kinks. I have to remember some of my favorite shows like The Vampire Diaries or The OC took a few episodes to really hit their stride. Maybe that will happen here? Possible spoilers…



Hellcats
I wanted to like this show SO MUCH. Because it’s about cheerleading! And I love Ashley Tisdale. She didn’t disappoint here.

But it’s totally One Tree Hill all over again. Not that I don’t love OTH. Because I do. I just wish Hellcats wasn’t another teen drama hiding behind the “sports” theme. Remember when OTH was about brothers and basketball? Yeah, that didn’t last long. I can see that happening here too. (Not to mention that Hellcats reminded me of OTH right off the bat because the actors playing Lewis and Dan had minor roles on that show).

All that said, I did like the way the lead characters’ relationship was introduced. While Marti (played by Aly Michalka) and Savannah (Ashley Tisdale) started off with a misunderstanding, they actually ended up as friends by the end of the episode. Unheard of! The writers very easily could have let them fall into the typical cliche of girls who hate each other because they don’t understand where the other is coming from.

I have a soft spot for anything related to dance and cheerleading so I’m on board… for now.

Also, is it just me or is it TOTALLY weird to see Tom Welling’s name in the credits as Executive Producer?! WHAT.



Nikita
I never watched the original show or movie so I have no pre-conceived notions of the characters, storylines, etc. Sadly, I was actually a little bored (the show reminds me a lot of Alias with the revenge storyline) until the twist at the very end. Up until that point, I was wondering why I should care about Alex and the other trainees and how they would fit into Nikita’s overall storyline. The ending is probably about 99.9% why I think I’ll tune in for a few more episodes.

The older cast (Xander Berkeley and Melinda Clarke — who is totally channeling Lady Heather from CSI) was solid but I was disappointed in the younger leads. Maggie Q and Lyndsy Fonseca were a little wooden and Shane West was trying too hard (notice how his voice was deeper than normal as if he was trying to imitate Christian Bale’s famous Batman voice?). Buuuut despite the so-so acting, I really want this show to do well. I think it’s high time for a network show to feature an awesome female Asian lead. It has a lot of stiff competition on Thursday nights, though.

Good start for The CW so far.