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30 Days of TV Meme - Days 2, 3 and 4
Jun. 26th, 2010 10:40 pmAh, behind in my meme already! Shocking? Naw, I knew I'd get lazy. Lazy and exhausted from the past couple of days at work.
Thursday was crazycakes in the clinic. At any given point during the day we had three surgeons running full clinics, their only help the 1st year residents, of which we only have two. Our senior resident (and by senior I mean the one who can find his arse in the dark) was in the OR with our future department chief.
Friday we had no clinic: instead we had a 'retreat' day, filled with team building exercises and 'honest' communication. I really enjoyed the day, while others, many who haven't done these types of workshops before, seemed kind of tense and suspicious over every new activity we needed to do. Afterwards, though, we all had a great time, going to a co-worker's house for a BBQ, some drinks and by-the-pool relaxation.
Now, back to the meme!
Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching
Without doubt I would have to say Supernatural. I've tried to get friends hooked on the program but for some reason very few would even give it a try. I don't like spooky shows, Is that the one with the guy from 'Days of Our Lives'?, Yeah, I don't think I'd like it/It's not my thing.
Wankers.
Yes, it is a show about the weird, worriesome and terrifying. It's had its crap episodes (Bugs was on a few days ago :P), sure, but so did The X-Files. On the whole, the show is so much more than a couple of pretty boys, a classic car and scary stories. Overall, the writing is smart, cracking and, having worked our way through the major mytharc, surprisingly spare. No words are wasted in telling the story. Yes, yes, in S4 the running joke was you could tell the episode was over because Sam and Dean would have a heart-to-heart talk, and guaranteed, Dean would be seen crying at least once. The words were good, but playing out their execution sometimes left something to be desired.
I love that from S1 to S5 you could see the characters grow and change. In S1, Dean was the one who thought white picket fences, a dog in the yard and a 401K was death; as the seasons went on, Sam was the one down on 'normal life', while Dean learns the comfort of home and hearth. The characters live unbelievable lives, but the men themselves are believable as people. I can't point to one instance where either Winchester was written OOC (though John has, as the seasons have gone on, been portray more and more as a sonovabitch).
Great writing, genuine characters and a mytharc with heart and angst... what isn't to love? Very few shows have ever made me cry, and this one has reduced me to tears on several occasions. I can be a really hard-hearted, stone cold biatch, so if these fictional characters living out their fantastically unbelievable lives can move me to tears, then damn, this show is something that needs to be experienced, and by as many people as I can possibly drag into my home for a dvd marathon.
Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this TV season)
Well, there were shows this past season that I should have loved (Eastwick, Mercy, V) but, ultimately, were disappointing (sorry Paul. Love ya babe, but... no. If you were gonna play the Devil in 2009, you should've sold yourself to Supernatural).
It has been years since any new TV season had me anticipating new show premieres like a kid waiting for Christmas (and that, btw, was 24). Depressing, innit? Networks have ADHD in regards to giving programs a fighting chance to find their audiences, and why would I let myself become invested in a show that has a 90% chance of being cancelled after 3 episodes? Cable networks, OTOH, tend to give shows a decent 13 ep mini-run before deciding to scrap the underachievers. That was the reason I gave in and gave Stargate:Universe a chance.
Louis Ferreira pretty much ruined himself as an actor I could watch after his scenery-chewing, OTT manic maniac Ray during the first season of Durham County and I was rather... queasy, actually... at the thought of watching a program where he was a morally questionable leader/protagonist in the SG'Verse's version of ST:Voyager, but I was really quite relieved to see him dial down the agita and insanity, and giving emotionally charged performances that didn't leave me seasick.
The writing has been pretty good, even if the arcs being written about are largely cliche'd and unnecessarily convoluted (someone please shoot Lou Diamond Phillips' character and remove his waffling ass from the whole insurgent drama). Many of the characters are stock (the true blue GI warrior, the officer who is gentlemanly pig, scared to being useless civvies having to work along the military types in order to survive, et cetera. Even Robert Carlyle's character is a bit one-note (the attempts to humanize him by flashing back to his life with his wife didn't quite work for me) but does come to life when interacting with Col. Young. I can honestly say, overall, that despite the predictableness of some characters and episode plots, I haven't been bored by the show, and I was really quite invested during the season finale. Finally, one other show that has me looking forward to the next TV season.
Day 04 - Your favorite show ever
After thinking about this for more time than I am comfortable to admit, I realized that, no matter which show I chose, I'd wind up changing my mind. At this moment in time I would automatically say Supernatural. Before discovering SPN, I would have said 24, or The X-Files. But, I am going to go with a show that I discovered late in its TV run, a show that literally smacked me over the head and dragged me off into its world like a caveman trolling for a mate. That show is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I find it odd that I am choosing a show that, as I experienced the whole series in sequence via DVD, I grew to dislike and eventually reject the titular character as any role model for 'girl power', feminism or honourable, conflicted hero. All of the White Hats became unadmirable as the series ran to its end, due to the sloppiness of its show runners and conflicting agendae of individual producers, writers and maybe even some of the actors. With an absent creator and an exec producer inflicting her own personal issues on the show's leading characters, what I first came to love for its snappy writing, interesting characters and (initial) commitment to continuity, devolved into a show where character histories and personalities were reconstructed to fit an episode's specifications, where hypocrisy became a common trait within the good guy camp and the demons were showing more humanity than the humans.
But, this show did something that no other show had managed to do before, which was suck me so totally into its universe that I launched myself into the fandom world. I became more adventurous with my excursions out in the Internet world. Between BtVS and 24, I made my first 'on-line' friendships that have endured for years. I discovered fanfic and eventually wrote some stories. I was exposed to other fandoms which led to new shows to discover, new friends to meet and new things to become excited over and all of it was mostly separate from my 'real life' world. I wound up doing a lot of things I never thought I'd do, in 'real life' and in cyber-life, and maybe became better for them. So that is why, at this particular moment in time, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my all-time favourite show.
Whew, long post again. And I'm still exhausted. Nite nite y'all.
x-posted at LJ
Thursday was crazycakes in the clinic. At any given point during the day we had three surgeons running full clinics, their only help the 1st year residents, of which we only have two. Our senior resident (and by senior I mean the one who can find his arse in the dark) was in the OR with our future department chief.
Friday we had no clinic: instead we had a 'retreat' day, filled with team building exercises and 'honest' communication. I really enjoyed the day, while others, many who haven't done these types of workshops before, seemed kind of tense and suspicious over every new activity we needed to do. Afterwards, though, we all had a great time, going to a co-worker's house for a BBQ, some drinks and by-the-pool relaxation.
Now, back to the meme!
Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching
Without doubt I would have to say Supernatural. I've tried to get friends hooked on the program but for some reason very few would even give it a try. I don't like spooky shows, Is that the one with the guy from 'Days of Our Lives'?, Yeah, I don't think I'd like it/It's not my thing.
Wankers.
Yes, it is a show about the weird, worriesome and terrifying. It's had its crap episodes (Bugs was on a few days ago :P), sure, but so did The X-Files. On the whole, the show is so much more than a couple of pretty boys, a classic car and scary stories. Overall, the writing is smart, cracking and, having worked our way through the major mytharc, surprisingly spare. No words are wasted in telling the story. Yes, yes, in S4 the running joke was you could tell the episode was over because Sam and Dean would have a heart-to-heart talk, and guaranteed, Dean would be seen crying at least once. The words were good, but playing out their execution sometimes left something to be desired.
I love that from S1 to S5 you could see the characters grow and change. In S1, Dean was the one who thought white picket fences, a dog in the yard and a 401K was death; as the seasons went on, Sam was the one down on 'normal life', while Dean learns the comfort of home and hearth. The characters live unbelievable lives, but the men themselves are believable as people. I can't point to one instance where either Winchester was written OOC (though John has, as the seasons have gone on, been portray more and more as a sonovabitch).
Great writing, genuine characters and a mytharc with heart and angst... what isn't to love? Very few shows have ever made me cry, and this one has reduced me to tears on several occasions. I can be a really hard-hearted, stone cold biatch, so if these fictional characters living out their fantastically unbelievable lives can move me to tears, then damn, this show is something that needs to be experienced, and by as many people as I can possibly drag into my home for a dvd marathon.
Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this TV season)
Well, there were shows this past season that I should have loved (Eastwick, Mercy, V) but, ultimately, were disappointing (sorry Paul. Love ya babe, but... no. If you were gonna play the Devil in 2009, you should've sold yourself to Supernatural).
It has been years since any new TV season had me anticipating new show premieres like a kid waiting for Christmas (and that, btw, was 24). Depressing, innit? Networks have ADHD in regards to giving programs a fighting chance to find their audiences, and why would I let myself become invested in a show that has a 90% chance of being cancelled after 3 episodes? Cable networks, OTOH, tend to give shows a decent 13 ep mini-run before deciding to scrap the underachievers. That was the reason I gave in and gave Stargate:Universe a chance.
Louis Ferreira pretty much ruined himself as an actor I could watch after his scenery-chewing, OTT manic maniac Ray during the first season of Durham County and I was rather... queasy, actually... at the thought of watching a program where he was a morally questionable leader/protagonist in the SG'Verse's version of ST:Voyager, but I was really quite relieved to see him dial down the agita and insanity, and giving emotionally charged performances that didn't leave me seasick.
The writing has been pretty good, even if the arcs being written about are largely cliche'd and unnecessarily convoluted (someone please shoot Lou Diamond Phillips' character and remove his waffling ass from the whole insurgent drama). Many of the characters are stock (the true blue GI warrior, the officer who is gentlemanly pig, scared to being useless civvies having to work along the military types in order to survive, et cetera. Even Robert Carlyle's character is a bit one-note (the attempts to humanize him by flashing back to his life with his wife didn't quite work for me) but does come to life when interacting with Col. Young. I can honestly say, overall, that despite the predictableness of some characters and episode plots, I haven't been bored by the show, and I was really quite invested during the season finale. Finally, one other show that has me looking forward to the next TV season.
Day 04 - Your favorite show ever
After thinking about this for more time than I am comfortable to admit, I realized that, no matter which show I chose, I'd wind up changing my mind. At this moment in time I would automatically say Supernatural. Before discovering SPN, I would have said 24, or The X-Files. But, I am going to go with a show that I discovered late in its TV run, a show that literally smacked me over the head and dragged me off into its world like a caveman trolling for a mate. That show is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I find it odd that I am choosing a show that, as I experienced the whole series in sequence via DVD, I grew to dislike and eventually reject the titular character as any role model for 'girl power', feminism or honourable, conflicted hero. All of the White Hats became unadmirable as the series ran to its end, due to the sloppiness of its show runners and conflicting agendae of individual producers, writers and maybe even some of the actors. With an absent creator and an exec producer inflicting her own personal issues on the show's leading characters, what I first came to love for its snappy writing, interesting characters and (initial) commitment to continuity, devolved into a show where character histories and personalities were reconstructed to fit an episode's specifications, where hypocrisy became a common trait within the good guy camp and the demons were showing more humanity than the humans.
But, this show did something that no other show had managed to do before, which was suck me so totally into its universe that I launched myself into the fandom world. I became more adventurous with my excursions out in the Internet world. Between BtVS and 24, I made my first 'on-line' friendships that have endured for years. I discovered fanfic and eventually wrote some stories. I was exposed to other fandoms which led to new shows to discover, new friends to meet and new things to become excited over and all of it was mostly separate from my 'real life' world. I wound up doing a lot of things I never thought I'd do, in 'real life' and in cyber-life, and maybe became better for them. So that is why, at this particular moment in time, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my all-time favourite show.
Whew, long post again. And I'm still exhausted. Nite nite y'all.
x-posted at LJ
