That said, you'd think my older shows would be getting a lot more love, but no. They too have been fairly disappointing this year (with a couple of notable exceptions--namely Castle, The Vampire Diaries, and The Good Wife). My relationships with my long-term lovers has been strained of late... sometimes ending in flat-out divorce.
IN NEED OF COUPLES COUNSELING
CHUCK
Oh, Chuck. It's been a long, tumultuous road of near-constant worry about our future together. I don't think I've ever had a show that has been on the bubble so many years in a row. For a quick insight into how spectacularly screwed NBC is, ponder this. After years of having to beg
for renewal and only barely scraping by, Chuck has suddenly become one of NBC's highest rated scripted shows. Sadly for NBC, this is not because Chuck's ratings have improved. On the contrary, it's really that the rest of NBC's programming has crashed and burned. Chuck was renewed at the end of last season with a tentative 13 episode initial order. I think NBC assumed that some of its huge slate of new pilots would catch on and they'd be able to axe Chuck sooner than later. Well, rather than axing the show, they've not only given it a full order, they've given it more than a full order. I believe their total episodes will be 24, which is two over usual. Ha! It's truly shocking how pathetic the network has gotten. It's been going downhill ever since Zucker got his hands on things, but this is just sad. Chuck regularly scores a 1.9 in the key demo. For any other network, that would absolutely be cancel-worthy (well, except for the CW, but that's a whole other story). But, on NBC, a consistent 1.9 is close to the best they could hope for and is among their highest rated shows. What does all this rambling have to do with our strained relationship, you ask? So here's the deal. Chuck has been picked-up for a super-sized season... and I don't really care.In years past, this would have been cause for celebration, but now? I honestly would have been fine with the show wrapping things up. There are a lot of reasons why this show has lost most of its luster. First and foremost, the initial dynamics of the show, the dynamics that made it so fun and charming, have mostly been lost. I realize that after so many episodes that was inevitable, but that doesn't make it interesting. So far this season, I've been pretty damn bored. The show still has its moments, but on the whole, it's starting to feel like a chore to watch week-to-week. Chuck and Sarah getting together for real has been as boring as I suspected it would be. No, wait, strike that, it's been way more annoying than that. Seriously, that episode where Chuck spent the entire time bitching about his relationship was utterly cringe-worthy. What's that? You say can decide which episode I'm talking about because that sounds like a lot of them? My point exactly. Don't get me wrong, the will-they-or-won't-they antics needed to stop. But I think I'd greatly have preferred they stopped because one or both of them found someone else to be with. I'm sorry guys, I really don't like them together. It's boring and Chuck's whining has gotten untenable. I have never felt for even a second that Sarah would ever make a good match for Chuck and now it appears I was right. Is anyone really enjoying watching this relationship? I'm sure not.
On top of that, the Buy More has gotten ridiculous, and not in a good way. It's now a government base of operations but no one knows this but Morgan? O--kay. Third (I think), the whole story arc with Chuck's mom has been pretty lame so far. I was super-excited for it at the end of last season, but it just hasn't grabbed me the way I'd hoped it would. I genuinely don't care if she's good or bad or Russian or whatever. Fourth, the missions are dull. Seriously, the A-plots this year have barely kept me awake. Fifth, Casey's daughter? Really? Sixth, Ellie and Awesome are having a baby... because that's just what a show does after so many seasons, right? At least it gives them something to do? You know, like shopping... and stuff...
Sadly, I'm pretty sure I could keep going. I'm trying to love the show like I once did, but if a show is doing things right, I shouldn't have to try at all. Chuck is a show that generally gets cooking after a good ways into a season, so I'm hanging in there, but believe me, I find myself caring less and less with each passing episode. Sigh.
GLEE
Glee is an odd duck with which I have a love/hate kind of relationship. Last season, it was mostly love. There were rough patches (cough-"Funk"-cough), but overall, this show totally appealed to my love of musicals, my appreciation of good comedy, and above all, the pure satisfaction of seeing something that isn't crime procedural hitting it big. I've never been ob
sessive about the show and don't find myself eager for the next week. Don't get me wrong, I love the show a lot of the time. Seriously, if Joss Whedon could direct every episode, it would be all love all the time. But what Whedon's sensational episode "Dream On" had that the show is increasingly missing is a little thing called story. Throughout season 1, there were more than a few times when it didn't really make much sense to have a song at that particular moment, but I was happy to let it slide. Each episode had a small handful of songs that mostly related to whatever the theme of the episode is. Nowadays? They don't even pretend to have a story most of the time. This show has turned into a series of musical vignettes. It's essentially a variety show with very little variety. This is where the love/hate really kicks in. I love a good musical number, but I hate it when it's completely pointless to the overall story. Wait, no, that implies that there's a story at all... It's weird, because this show will have one episode that reminds me of why I love it ("Grilled Cheesus" and "Duets") but then have these ridiculous theme episodes that have entertaining musical numbers and all, but not the slightest semblance of coherent storytelling (the absurd and delusional Britney tribute, the unfortunately watered-down Rocky Horror send up... seriously, you're replacing "transsexual" with "sin-sational"? Really? Ugh.) It's wildly uneven and disappointingly hit or miss with the ratio getting more and more unsettling with each passing episode. Musicals work when the music and the story are so seamlessly and logically married that you don't think twice about it. Of course that person would break into song right now! With Glee? It's a bit of a mess most of the time... I have heard some good things about upcoming episodes so I'm hopeful they'll find a way to return to former glory, but I think the iTunes dollar signs are a little too distracting for them to really see the big picture these days. They seem so hell-bent on jam-packing every episode with as many songs as possible and not really caring what they have to sacrifice in the process. It's the kind of show I knew couldn't last, but I really hope it hangs in there longer than this... I'm loving this one more than Chuck these days, but they really need to base the show on story, not songs (songs which, increasingly, I've never even heard of--maybe I'm old or uncool, but seriously, half the songs they pick I either hate or have no knowledge of whatsoever... which is all code for: more Broadway!. (Quick note: Wondering where Puck has been? Rumor has it he is making a solo album and the producers of the show were pissed... apparently this is penance.)HIGH TIME FOR A DIVORCE
BONES
Ugh. The only reason I kept this sucker for as long as I did was that it was in an uncrowded timeslot. Well, that's no longer the case, so it's time to make a clean break. Good god this show has gotten awful. It was never great, but back in the day it at least made for a
nice rainy day distraction. Now? It's practically unwatchable. Oh dear lord, did you see their Jersey Shore themed episode?! Shudder... Awful. Simply awful. That was the moment I removed it from my DVR for good. Man alive, the will-they-or-won't-they keeps trucking along at a snail's pace, the constant rotation of interns keeps reminding me of the horrendous Gormogon storyline and Zach's confoundingly stupid dismissal from the show, the stories-of-the-week are lamer than ever (which for this show, is really saying something), and the interpersonal dynamics between the few characters that I actually like are as dull as dirt. Oh, and Bones' new hairdo is hideous and makes her looks like a frumpy housewife from the 50's. It's hard to look it, even on fast-forward... Strike 317. So long once-mediocre, now sucktastic show! You won't be missed. And I'm keeping the mass spectrometer!HOUSE
Well, what can I say? I'm simply done with this one. I held on through last season, but just can't take it anymore. Seriously, I've always been a Huddy proponent, but them getting together came about two years too late. Had House and Cuddy hooked up a couple
of seasons back, I think there would have been some definite sizzle, but now? Who the hell cares anymore? I was willing to give it a shot regardless, but actually seeing them together is unbearable. Oh god, see these two holding hands and taking about their relationship was so awkward. Yikes, yikes, yikes. I couldn't even make it through the premiere. Five minutes of watching them as a couple was more than I could handle. It all just seemed so forced and out of character for both of them. Add that to the fact that I've never really cared about the A-plot, the fact that the ducklings have been broken up and recast about 87 times (with diminishing returns each time) and you've got a show that just needs to stop. I didn't even intend on divorcing this one before the season began, but ten minutes in, I knew it wasn't meant to be. One more free space on my DVR. Now I just wish I had a quality new show to replace it...Well, there you have it. I usually have to make tough choices about older shows so that I have room for new blood, but this year? I'm cutting old shows without a second thought and not picking up a
ny new ones. Well, not anything on network TV anyway... God bless cable is all I can say. And god bless The Vampire Diaries. Speaking of which, here's a little something to soothe the disappointment with TV at the moment. It's Ian Somerhalder dressed up as Stefan Salvatore for Halloween.Ha! Simply fabulous. :) Geez, he looks so different with the lighter hair! I wouldn't suggest he make it a permanent change or anything, but I'm pretty sure he could be rockin' Richard Simmons' unfortunate coif and make it work.
Here's hoping next season has something better to offer... At the very least, NBC is in different hands now so hopefully the creative direction will be better... not that there's any money left. Ouch.
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