JOHN ADAMS on HBO

Are any of you watching this miniseries? I had high hopes for it, since I generally like those particular actors, and I love learning about historical figures. Plus, there hasn’t been a good miniseries in a while.

Well, this one isn’t good either. I say that with regret, and I keep watching in case it improves. But instead, it keeps getting…. worse.

At this point – four installments into it – I have a basic question:

Are we supposed to like or admire John Adams as a man, a husband, a father or a statesman? At all? Because so far, I don’t on any score.

I am convinced that if this portrayal is accurate, then the man never deserved to be VP, let alone president. And certainly never deserved to be married to Abigail, although she doesn’t come off so well in this production either.

Meanwhile, the show commits the biggest sin of all – it makes a thrilling part of history seem a little dull. They insist on having all the big events happen off screen, which would be an interesting technique if the little events that happen ON screen weren’t so tedious. (I’m sure they do this in the name of “historical accuracy,” but slavish devotion to verifiable facts or letters or diaries, without trying to capture the underlying spirit or vitality, is simply not accurate at all. Apparently most of the scenes and dialogue are based on letters between John and Abigail, and that’s all well and good, but perhaps they didn’t write down many of the interesting tidbits, remarks, etc, and they kept their observations cryptic because letters in those war-torn days could easily be captured by the British. /rant)

Oh well… Maybe next week’s episode will be better.

P.S. The George Washington character is okay, but the actor who plays that role also played a serial killer in DISTURBIA, which I just saw for the first time a few weeks ago. So even that isn’t working for me. On the other hand, Ben Franklin is kind of fun. But honestly? There’s no one I really admire in the whole darned thing. If these guys are the fathers of our country, we’re in BIG trouble.

Side Note: The best scene by far was right after Jefferson finished writing the Declaration of Independence, and other people started editing him. He told them coolly that he had chosen each word very carefully. And that got me to thinking – this wasn’t just pre-computer, it was pre-typewriter (: - o), and yep, I’ll bet you really did choose each word with greater care when you knew what a mess it would make if you wanted to change something later. (According to this rendition, Jefferson didn’t really “hold these truths to be self-evident” – he held them to be clear and irrefutable, or words to that effect, but Franklin changed it. ) I’m with Franklin on that one, but still…..

Just popping in to note how FANTASTIC Supernatural was last night. Great dialogue, great plot, great demons! Dean was his usual sexy self, and we were basically assured that Sam's crying days are over, so I'm in heaven.

Kate

Okay, not really an ode. But wow, what a season already. Episode One was good, then 2 and 3 were unbelievable. In fact, if you were to watch those two episodes back to back, you’d see just about everything that makes this show so hot, so great, so perfect, so funny, so scary, so .... well, did I mention perfect?

In episode 2, Dean is at his hottest – amazing looks, charm, charisma. The dialogue is great, the plot crazy but believable. Sam is Sam at his best. And those creepy kids – well, let’s just say, no one does creepy kids like SUPERNATURAL. Great kid acting, great special effects. And the subplot about Dean thinking Ben is his son – wow. They tackled a powerful idea there and nailed it.

There were some great touches of humor in Ep 2, but when Ep 3 hit the screen, it reminded me what great comic timing both these guys have. Dean can be sexy/funny/charming/hot simultaneously, and often just with a look. And Sammy? Hey guy, way to take the pratfalls! You’re a genius.

I kept meaning to blog about Ep 2, but I was on a mission to complete the YA manuscript, so I kept putting it off. Then Ep 3 hit, and really, I was speechless.

Best two episodes of the best show on TV. If you missed them, watch them – and watch them in the right order.

If you’ve never watched the show before, prepare to be converted!

Kate

I have learned to loathe gimmick TV – shows with a clever premise and nothing else. Sure, they have an attractive hook, but they don’t seem to want to tell you a story. They just want to draw things out over endless episodes. If they happen to have some charismatic actors or actresses, they can string you along for a while. But eventually, you realize you’ve been had.

And if they don’t cast charismatic characters, you catch on by the second episode.

LOST is the best example. Riveting, frustrating, and eventually…. ::yawn:::.

Oddly enough, the reason I didn’t watch HEROES right from the start was that it seemed so clearly gimmicky. Each character with a special power – great set-up, but without a strong storyline, just another pretty face. I’m so glad my friends bugged me and bugged me until I finally tuned in, because HEROES is a perfect example of what happens when you’re willing to tell a great story every week rather than just teasing the audience with the possibility of a story. ( Click here to read more about gimmick tv )

If you come here often, you know I've been recommending BBC/BBC-america's series Jekyll.

Last night was the season finale.

Wow. This show was great from the first episode to the most recent. In my opinion, it was the sharpest thing on TV this year. Yep, better than HEROES. Better than SUPERNATURAL.

It's sci-fi-ish, but also light horror. The humor is biting. The underlying romance is fun and quirky, and surprisingly powerful as time goes on. Every performance is fabulous, especially Dr. Jackman (and Mr. Hyde), and Jackman's wife Claire, who is the most talent female performer on TV today.

If you ever watched the terrific series COUPLING -- always described as a British "Friends" -- you'll be surprised to hear that the same guy who wrote that also wrote Jekyll. Huh? What a great surprise. And what a talent he is too! (Oh and the actress who plays Claire was in COUPLING, so there's a wild connection between the two shows)

If you have some sort of "on demand" cable system, you might be able to watch all of the Jekyll episodes (and Coupling too, fyi). If not, it's worth trying to get the series on DVD, either rent or buy. Definitely worth buying -- I just checked and it's available at deepdiscountdvd, the supplier that feeds my habit. They usually have a 20% discount in November, and I'll buy it then.

That's it! I haven't been blogging because my day job is SEVEN days a week, 10-hours a day lately. Ugh. That will end sometime in September, I'm told. Let's hope so!

Kate

Are you looking for good TV?

I’ve been doing some scouting for us, and here’s my report:

Jekyll on BBC America has been sooo good so far. I think we’ve had three episodes. All were good, and the third was really, really good. Great sign!

Damages on FX is interesting. A little manipulative and violent, but great performances.

Of course, BIG LOVE and Entourage are great on HBO, but they’re almost over. Same with Flight of the Conchords – hilarious but ending soon. (I didn’t like John from Cincinnati – too much like Deadwood, with even less justification – and apparently it’s been cancelled. If they do another Deadwood clone, I’m writing to them!)

I vote “no” on MAD MEN and BURN NOTICE, but they aren’t terrible. Just not my cup. As for RESCUE ME, well, I watch it, but I can’t bring myself to recommend it.

Surprisingly, KILL POINT is good. And I still watch The 4400 (mostly b/c of a misplaced sense of loyalty).

As for Fall, I’m looking forward to the return of SUPERNATURAL and HEROES. And if 24 comes back, I hope it redeems itself. What else? Hmmm… maybe Desperate Housewives, but that’s a long shot. I’m hoping HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER will still be good. And then there’s The Shield – which is excellent, but if you’re just tuning in now, maybe not. Also, if BLOOD TIES comes back, I’ll watch it (not exactly a rousing recommendation, but I liked it).

Clearly, we need more sci-fi. There’s a new one called JOURNEYMAN – it stars one of the centurions from ROME, and I’m not sure about him, hero-wise. We’ll see. It’s time travel, and as you might recall, I’m love-hating that genre at the moment.

We also need more comedy. Will those cavemen save the day? I kinda doubt it.

Later!

Kate

p.s. I didn’t get to Bourne last weekend but we’ll try again. We’re having a mega-birthday weekend at my house – enchiladas and carrot cake. And speaking of birthdays, hey miladyinsanity!!! Happy Birthday!

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while, but truly, my day job is becoming completely obnoxious. Twelve hour days, work on the weekend – it’s gotta stop! I’ve tried twice to take a day off, but the phone rings, there’s a big meeting, and my plans are dashed.

Meanwhile, I’m still getting some great contest entries. Thanks! It’s fun to hear stories about past-life experiences or encounters with ghosts. And it’s also fun when some of the most unexpected people tell me they don’t believe in such things.

A quick writing update: Writing? What’s that? Another casualty of my busy day job. No sales to report, of course, or I’d make time to post.

I’m not up to date on all my TV, since I haven’t watched the tapes of 24 or LOST. I did watch ENTOURAGE, SOPRANOS, HEROES, and SUPERNATURAL. Supernatural was outstanding. The others were good. Oh and THE SHIELD is amazingly good this year.

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, also known as, my son’s birthday. We celebrate every year with a vengeance!!!

See you soon.

Kate

King Arthur, Robin Hood, Zorro -- I love those guys so much. Don't you?

If you have BBC America on your TV, you can watch the new ROBIN HOOD series on Saturdays, starting March something-or-other. I saw a long preview, courtesy of our cable network, and it looks like fun. 

Just thought you'd want to know!


Kate

p.s. I guess if you have real BBC rather than BBC America, you've already seen this show, since I think we're behind by about a year. If so, let me know what you thought/think of it! (Although it would have to be awful before I'd skip it)

I know the world doesn’t revolve around me, but sheesh! Every time I blog about liking a TV show, the next episode of said show sucks. And every time I pan a show, well, I love, love, love the next episode (except Studio 60 – my hat’s off to them).

In other words, SUPERNATURAL was lame last night, while HEROES this week rocked like the good old days.

My advice to SUPERNATURAL? No more plots about whether Sam did something vicious because he’s turning, he’s turning! Dean needs to shoot him! But he can’t cause he lubs him! Enough, already. We know Sam isn’t evil. He’s almost perversely sweet for crying out loud.

The preview indicated that they’re doing a funny episode next week. Yay, we need one of those! Although the creepy ones that AREN’T about Sam=evil have been great this season too.

As you can tell, I’m still on NyQuil. I thought I was better, then relapsed completely yesterday. Hopefully the long weekend (Monday’s a holiday at my office) will do the trick.

Have a good one!

Kate

p.s. I haven't watched this week's LOST yet. Ugh, I just don't know what to expect.

I’m still battling the flu, but feeling a bit better, so I thought I’d do some blogging about the sorry state of TV lately (aside from yesterday’s Puppy Bowl, which was the best one yet).

ROME? It’s been such a good show, but last night’s episode bothered me. Specifically, the second torture scene – yeah, that’s problem number one, that they had more than one. And the second one was simply disgusting and without purpose. It also didn’t fit with Atia’s character. And so I have to say – despite all the things ROME does well – it’s beginning to have a pattern, where the personalities change week-by-week, depending on what the writers want to do in that episode. I accepted it to a point, but Atia? She’s from the House of the Julii, for crying out loud. No way does she knowingly participate in last night’s atrocities. Sure she despised the victim, and would love to see her tortured, but a Roman lady of good standing wouldn’t do that to another of her own kind. Kill her? Sure. Humiliate her? Even better. But last night’s barbarity was uncalled for, unrealistic, and wasted a lot of time – not to mention, it just made me sick(er).

24? I’m not impressed with the sudden appearance of tons of Bauers. We worked so hard to get it narrowed down to one, and with good reason. Where were these folks until now? Kim couldn’t have called Grandpa, even if they weren’t speaking, when she was at death’s door time and again?

Battlestar Gallactica? Don’t get me started.

HEROES? They got me on their bandwagon, then started going in circles. I still like it a lot, but it’s getting on my nerves a bit. Maybe it’s just me….

So what’s still good? SUPERNATURAL, for one. And the Dresden Files has some potential. We’ll see.

Slim pickings! Luckily we’re watching the first season of SLEEPER CELL on DVD. It’s pretty good.

Kate

Well, as previously mentioned, I think Taye Diggs is amazingly sexy and talented. I haven’t seen the new James Bond movie yet, and I want to like it, but if I don’t, it will be because Bond isn’t more like Taye Diggs – or rather, his character in DAY BREAK.

(His name in the show is Brett Hopper. It’s distracting for many reasons. First of all, I thought for a while that it was Brett Harper, and I really, really like the name Harper for a sexy detective. Second, they call him Hopper too often. He has a first name, but hardly anyone uses it.)

Anyway, Diggs/Hopper/Harper is an amazing character. Strong, manly, sensitive enough, loving enough, but seriously strong. Smart, wry, quick-witted, articulate but not chatty – sigh….

Okay, back to the show. ( Read more )

Taye Diggs....


Yowza.

I'll review his show later. For now, I just thought I'd review him.

Kate

Well, the tryptophan finally wore off! I’m telling you, they could use turkey as a bio weapon – make the enemy so relaxed they can’t fight back.

This is just a short note to update my vices, TV and video-wise. We rented THE BREAKUP and it was terrible. Just terrible. The trailer made it look like a romantic comedy, but it was soooo depressing. All of the funny scenes were in the trailer, so if you saw that, you saw the best parts already (except there is one hilarious joke toward the beginning that really got my hopes up. Then nothing for the rest of the movie). Seriously, they billed it as romantic comedy, right? Sheesh…

On to TV. Karmela Johnson has me belatedly hooked on HEROES. So I’m thrilled that they’re doing a marathon of the early episodes this week – on Wednesday, on SciFi, in my area. I will be taping like a fiend.

We never made it to the Bond movie (b/c of the bio weapon) but we’ll probably go this weekend. Also, we’re probably buying a new car this weekend, so it should be exciting.

Nothing new on the writing front. But for some reason, I’m feeling optimistic. Based on nothing, I assure you, and maybe I’m headed for a fall, but I guess I’ll enjoy while I can.

BTYL!

Kate

STRANGER THAN FICTION

I knew in advance that I would love this movie. The trailer was detailed enough to share the plot and tone, and it stars some of my favorite performers. I mean, seriously who can resist Will Ferrell or Emma Thompson? Or Dustin Hoffman for that matter?

It’s witty and charming. Not laugh-out-loud funny to the extent WF’s other movies are, but it had some hilarious moments and great one liners. And it showcased the fact that he is absolutely the most loveable person in show biz. Lord, I hope he’s half as genuine as he seems. ( Read more about STRANGER THAN FICTION, and some TV stuff too )

It’s Monday night, so my TV quandary is: Am I ready to cut Studio 60 loose yet? ( Read more )

It’s official. Battlestar G is pretty good this year. Yay! we’ve stuck with it through the lean times, and now we’re getting the payoff. If you haven’t watched it before now, next week might be a good time to start. And if you gave up on it, give it another try.

In other TV news, I’m trying to like The Unit, but their male/female split is somewhat annoying. The men care about crimes and terrorists, the women care about family. That’s nice – yawn. How about mixing it up a little!!

LOST is officially terrible. UGLY BETTY won’t grow, despite its potential, so I’ll probably drop it soon. Where is the next great show? Even Alec Baldwin’s show was a disappointment, although I intend to give it time, because let’s face it – it’s Alec Baldwin.

In writing news, I’m working on my time travel again, and if tomorrow goes well, I’ll be sending the proposal to my agent on Monday. Wish me luck! I love, love, love this story.

After that, I’m going to try and write a gulp…choke…gulp Silhouette Romantic Suspense. How much confidence do I have that I’ll get the right balance of romance and suspense? Not much. But I’m going to try. It’s a very good story, I’m confident about that. But is it a Silhouette Romantic Suspense? I have no earthly way of knowing. So again, wish me luck.

Okay, we rented THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, so I’m off now to watch it with Paul. I’ll blog a review tomorrow.

BTYL,
Kate

I promised to post my Top Ten, plus my Outcasts, my Hall of Fame, my Hot Prospects, Hot Shows, and Underachievers. To see them, click on the following link:
( click here )

In the comments to my FLIGHTPLAN review the other day, Karm and Charity talked about Sean Bean (who had a role in the movie), and I responded that he’s on my list of top ten all-time sexiest guys, actor-wise. Which is true.

But thereafter, I had to ask myself, who were the other 9 guys on my list? So I’ve been trying to figure that out, but guess what? I need several lists to really tell the story.

There’s the Top Ten itself.

Then guys who fell off of my Top Ten with a thud because of unhunky behavior, on or off screen. My Outcasts.

Then there’s the list of guys I’ve retired to my Hall of Fame – they don’t do the sexy roles anymore, and maybe can’t pull them off, but they went out with hunky grace, and so they get a special place in my heart.

There’s also a group of guys who can turn in a Top Ten performance, but it’s not consistent. That’s probably a credit to their acting skills, right? But for a real Top Ten, they could star in a Viagra commercial and still seem hot, so there’s a distinction.

And what about the up-and-coming guys, NPI? They merit watching, but they haven’t made the list yet.

And finally, there are TV shows or movie franchises that can actually imbue hotness into their entire male cast. I’m thinking Entourage, Buffy, Rescue Me, and a few others. It’s impossible to tell whether it’s the role, the writing, the company the guy keeps, or the guy himself – although obviously, it’s a combination to a certain extent.

So start making your lists! I’m still fine-tuning mine, but I’ll try to post them all tomorrow. I keep getting the feeling I'm leaving someone out, so you'll have to help me with that.

Kate

p.s. There are also the guys who could be hot if they’d just try a little harder. Do they deserve their own list? Maybe, if only to encourage them to put a little more effort into it!

Well, I dropped VANISHED from my line-up. Too bad because they had a few plot elements that were intriguing. But those were negated by the plethora of non-intriguing plot elements. I felt like they were throwing too many random ideas into the show, probably to keep the pace fast and to keep us guessing, but the effect on me was that it felt contrived. Even key issues, like did the husband really love the wife, were on the table. Which I guess says something about me. I like unpredictability, but I don’t want to feel like I’m constantly being conned. Maybe that’s a reaction to shows like LOST that have taken viewer enthusiasm as permission not to have any internal plot integrity at all. (okay, so I’ll probably watch the first few episodes this year to see if it’s back on some sort of track, and to see Sawyer again, but really, they’re “losing” me)

Ray Liotta’s SMITH didn’t work for me either. I think they were trying for a Sopranos type of show (mob guy with a family life and a fake job), and like the Sopranos, the cast is full of criminals who are selfish, selfish, selfish – and brutal. Unfortunately, that’s a recipe for ugh when not handled deftly. If you just hate everyone in the show, why would you watch it? Sopranos made you see some of the characters as vulnerable originally, then slowly revealed the depths of the moral bankruptcy. In contrast, SMITH just handed you a cast of despicable, shallow, selfish caricatures in the first episode, and I guess their plan is to flesh them out, make them human as the show goes on. Maybe that’ll work for other viewers. I have a feeling that some guys will like the show for the virginia madsen factor, but that just made it even more grotesquely laughable for me. And the heist? It simply made no sense. Lots of slick elements when viewed separately, but together they didn’t make a decent, much less mastermind-level, plan. The hype compared it to Oceans Eleven. Um… ( Click here to read more )