Rather than trying to do any kind of structured TV reviews, I’m just gonna do the occasional post of random TV review thoughts for whatever points in time, regarding whatever random shows (in random order)…
Star Wars - The Clone Wars (Through 1.02): I thought the theatrically distributed debut film for this series of animated episodes was passably entertaining. It was certainly not without its flaws, but I liked it well enough. Then again, I’m not the average fanboy who loathes the prequel trilogy. In fact, I quite like Episode 3. So shoot me. I mildly liked the previous set of Cartoon Network’s Clone Wars animated shorts, but haven’t really watched them since they first ran. However, I must admit that I really liked the first Cartoon Network episode of this series, and the second one wasn’t half bad, either. If there’s one complaint I need to make, it’s that I hate the battle droids. They were bad in the prequel films, but they weren’t in it all that much, frankly. With the amount of time they are getting in these Clone Wars episodes, I think they are a bigger blemish on the franchise than Jar-Jar Binks was. Still, Yoda was great in the first episode, and the clone troopers work quite well. The animation seemed more impressive in these TV episodes than the theatrical debut film, as crazy as that sounds. Overall, I’ll continue watching if they can keep up the production quality.
Knight Rider (Through 1.02): I rather liked the backdoor pilot film that NBC made, and had hopes of liking the TV series that was green lit after the pilot film did well. I’m a fan of the original series, and thought the pilot film did a pretty good job staying true to the original while still finding a new approach. Then along came writer/producer Gary Scott Thompson to overhaul the production when it got picked up for series. I can only assume he’s to blame, because in this new series form, this show sucks. The moderate amount of intelligence from that pilot film has been completely lobotomized. This might as well be WWE Wrestling for all it’s worth. If it weren’t for the holdover cast from the pilot film, this would be complete garbage. The first episode was abysmal. The second was an improvement, but not particularly good either. I’ll give it one or two more episodes to improve, just for my loyalty to the original, but I’m not expecting a wild turnaround.
Fringe (Through 1.04): Looks like JJ Abrams and his gang have the breakaway best new show of the year on their hands. This is definitely my favorite new show so far this season. I’m totally loving it. From the fantastic cast to the creepy stories and plot arcs to the great production quality, I’m very thankful to have a successful X-Files styled show back on the air. There’s also the fantastic gimmick of their “floating in mid air” title cards for location names, reminding me of stuff like David Fincher’s opening titles for Panic Room. It’s surely a gimmick, but it works wonderfully. The network must like what they’re getting, too, since they just picked it up for the full season.
Do Not Disturb (Through 1.02): Since I just talked about a great new show that just got a full pickup, I’ll follow it with this lame sitcom that just got a quick cancellation. I was hoping it would be good, since it starred Jerry O’Connell, but it just wasn’t meant to be. After his great Carpoolers comedy series from last year didn’t succeed, it’s only fitting that a truly lame sitcom would fail even worse. Never mind the fact that the original pilot episode (which I saw a leaked copy of over the summer) was as bad or worse than what actually aired. This was a bad sitcom, plain and simple. In fact, it looks like this will be the first year I can remember there not being a new multi-camera sitcom that I like, unless there’s another new one I haven’t seen yet. I imagine this will be the last I write about this show.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Through 2.04): This surprisingly good TV series entry to the venerable Terminator franchise continues to be impressive. From the typically excellent production quality to the great cast, it fights against the odds and just plain works. After the wonderful final act of last seasons’ final episode, I was hopeful for a good continuation. Though the John Connor character has been a little bit weak and annoying during the first couple of episodes this second season, the show has otherwise been very good. Brian Austin Green continues his nice performance and has been added to the main cast. This second season has done another bit of odd and interesting casting with the addition of rocker Shirley Manson to the main cast, in an intriguing role. While this show continues to stray into the Battlestar Galactica world of machines rising against their creators and questioning their possible humanity, it remains a uniquely Terminator take on the idea. I look forward to further episodes. And speaking of Battlestar connections, composer Bear McCreary continually hits his episodic scores out of the park on this series. Perhaps not quite to the amazing level of quality that Battlestar has gotten from him over the years, but he’s doing some darned impressive thematic and texture scoring for Terminator.
Anyway, more to come soon. Or later. Or whenever.
