TV Shows
Ξ March 22nd, 2009 | → Comments Off | ∇ Interesting |
I’ve been watching a couple new shows recently:
Life on Mars – based on a successful BBC series, it starts out as a typical cop drama. Sam Tyler is hunting a serial killer, and while chasing the suspect down is hit by a car. When he wakes up, he discovers it’s 1973. He walks into his precinct HQ, and discovers that he’s expected – as a recent transfer. Needless to say he’s very, very confused. At first he thinks it’s just a dream and treats it as such, but he never wakes up. It’s very surreal with elements of sci-fi, as frequently things will happen that acknowledge Tyler is from the future – a TV will go fuzzy and briefly show a broadcast from 2009, conversations with strangers will seem to indicate they know he doesn’t belong here, he’ll catch glimpses of odd things (the Mars rover, for instance) only to have his attention refocused. Then there’s the cultural disconnect – he’s a cop from the modern era of civil rights and political correctness suddenly working the streets of New York, pre-Serpico. Makes for some interesting situations.
But the real kicker is that the whole series is only a season long. I was watching last weeks episode and saw that the next episode is the last one. No milking of the franchise – they had a story to tell and now it’s done. In the age of Lost, Heroes and BSG, it’s nice to know that the writers seem to know where they’re going with the story.
Lie to Me – From the creators of House, this series revolves around Dr. Lightman, who’s an expert on body language. He runs a company that contracts itself out to read peoples reactions – usually to figure out if someone is lying or not, but also (in at least one episode) to help identify possible assassins at a wedding party. It’s interesting in that they go through the various visceral human reactions to various emotional situations, but I’m not sold on the characters yet. It’s a bit too early into the series to get into the characters heads, and the obvious similarity of the series to House (who’s central theme is “everybody lies”) gives it a bit of a knock-off feel, but, heck, knockoffs can be successful and fun too.
Kings – this series just started up, and it has really good production values. It’s basically a retelling of the story of King David, but placed in a fictional, modern setting. I’m really quite impressed with this so far (well, the evil corporation is a bit cliche and shallow, but I’m willing to put up with it). They have King Saul, the Philistines, Samuel, Johnathan – all the major actors. I do roll my eyes a bit at them making Johnathan gay (natch that they would embrace the modern homosexual theories of David and Johnathan’s relationship, regardless of established theology on the matter), but, again, I don’t think it’s enough to seriously detract from what’s turning out to be a fun show. There’s definitely some acting talent going on here. I’ll enjoy seeing the story unfold.
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