Summer TV

[ghost2]

I think the pickings this summer are far worse than they were last year. :( As usual, I've been checking out many of the new shows, at least on the major networks, and am very underwhelmed.

Merlin: NBC has aired four episodes so far. This show sure isn't finding much of an audience. The first two episodes had mediocre ratings, then the pair last night shed a lot more viewers to end up at just over a puny four million. That's opposite reruns, which makes it even more pathetic. Of course, I don't think the quality is very good so far. The younger cast members are uniformly horrible actors, and the dialogue is pretty bad. Still, it's watchable enough, for summer fare, and I'm desperate for new episodes of almost anything. Will give it more time to see if it picks up.

Mental: That guy who was Whistler on Prison Break is a psychiatrist here. Again, not a very good show and I have a feeling this one doesn't have much potential to improve anytime soon. It's like a really watered-down House. It's also not finding much of an audience.

The Philantropist: Rich guy with tragic past decides to help those who need it. Broken record time: The pilot was not good. OTOH, it wasn't that dreadful. One TV reviewer suggested that this series is the worst show ever. What, he's never seen Dollhouse, Cop Rock, The Bedford Diaries, or Head Cases (the gloriously awful Chris O'Donnell series that aired all of two episodes)? Shows that burn in the memory like those disasters come along only every so often. The Philanthropist doesn't even come close to being in their league. So, I will check it out again.

So You Think You Can Dance: I was always mildly interested in this reality series and watched it during the summer because of lack of options, but I finally stopped this season. Why? Because of judge Mary Murphy. Simply put, she laughs too damn much and has one of the most annoying laughs ever. It sounds something like this: HAW, HAW, HAW, HAW, HAW! I used to grit my teeth and tolerate her whinnying with poor grace, but this summer it wore me down. In a last-ditch attempt before quitting the show, I tried to hit the mute button at moments when she might potentially let loose with another loud cackle. The problem was, she laughed in the middle of dancers' auditions; she laughed when other judges gave their evaluations; she laughed when stating her own opinions. In short, she didn't know how to friggin' shut up! Thank you, Mary Murphy, for ruining the show for me.

Comments

[happydalek.livejournal.com]

Ah, TV. I remember when I used to watch that. Thanks for the summaries, guess I'll still be giving it all a pass. After what House did last season and Kings got canceled, I've got no reason to bother with any of it anymore.

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

my roommate loves true blood so i've been watching that with him a bit, and this season is pretty damn good -- it seems to have found a balance between crack, drama, excessive violence and trashy sex. i don't know if you watch cable so that may not be helpful at all, though.

[neutralalienist.livejournal.com]

BUT MERLIN IS SO CUTE. I'll admit it, it's like my telly cupcake. I do think it gets Properly Good around the second half; To Kill A King is pretty damn awesome.

I've mostly been catching up on good shows I missed. I suck at tv, so I miss a lot.

(What did you think of True Blood's first season? I enjoy the books, but...)

[stellastars]

Adding my agreement to neutralalienist's comment above -- the writing for Merlin does improve mid-season and the episode To Kill A King has some very nice moments. Also, I'm happy to keep watching and daydreaming that Merlin is actually Jethro Cane on a medieval adventure with the Doctor. ;-)

My summer watching always includes The History Detectives, cause I'm just that much of a PBS/history geek!

[amaresu]

I was never able to get into Merlin. Lots of people seem to like it though.

I enjoyed the first episode of The Philantropist. Enough to see how they're gonna spin this out into a series.

My summer tv is done on USA, a.k.a the Dealer of Crack Network. Burn Notice and In Plain Sight are both so damn good. Royal Pains is okay. I'm not sure I'd watch it if it wasn't on after Burn Notice.

Leverage is coming back to TNT and that makes me happy. I gets to have Leverage again. I also recently picked up The Closer and The Cleaner to watch. And Sci-Fi has a new show starting on Friday that looks interesting.

Clearly, for me, summer tv is all about cable.

[cersia5.livejournal.com]

I guess it's rather pathetic of me but my eldest daughter and I enjoyed the hell out of Merlin...together. Which is rather weird because well I really don't enjoy what she likes and vice versa of course. It had the feel of the Crystal Cave series by Mary Stewart to it (I suppose that's why I enjoyed it). Merlin in the stocks well that was just plain fun and enjoyment. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that it was on this week, which to me means it needs a more memorable time slot. It's a rather interesting take on it that Merlin and Arthur are about the same age and well have this love/hate relationship at first, which actually seems to work for me. I really enjoyed it all but I suppose my expectations of what makes a great Arthur series are low. It sure beats the hell out of watching reality series after reality series. As for True Blood, after Blade: The Series...I just don't want to get into another vampire series.

[lilly-rose.livejournal.com]

I can't help it, I'm stuck on Merlin. The cheese factor is only a bonus for me. I know the core Arthurian legend by heart, so I'm interested to see how they get the characters from where they have them now to where they should be. Then there's shallow me: I'd watch Anthony Head in practically anything, Merlin and Gwen are adorable, and it's not fair that anyone should be so gorgeous as the girl playing Morgana.