Re-watching “Jericho”

I can’t say I had forgotten “Jericho” completely, but I was pleasantly surprised when my husband added it to our watch instantly queue on Netflix. I watched the series during it’s original airing in 2006. Like the other outraged fans, I was sad when it was cancelled and I applauded the pounds of peanuts sent to the study in protest. That resulted in a short second series that wrapped up a lot of the story lines.

Now I’m watching it again. It hit me that “Jericho” was really a show before it’s time (like a lot of shows that are cancelled early usually are). If it had been aired now in the days of post-apocalytic/dystopian worlds fiction rising in popularity, and “Walking Dead” having a huge following of the TV show and graphic novel I think it would have gone for longer. So far, in re-watching the first season, I can only say that 2 episodes haven’t kept my entire attention. Every other episode is exciting, has some sort of action, and character development.

Can you say the same for “Walking Dead”? It’s like WD wants to be like Jericho, but it’s missing an ingredient. “Jericho” may not have a heavy philosophy attached to it, but characters do explore personal and moral dilemmas which audience members can relate to.

Plus, nuclear inhalation is a lot more likely than zombies so there’s always a sense of “omg what would we do if this happened tomorrow?”

Premier week round 2

I’m not done catching up yet, but this is a start. It’s been all shows I’ve watched previously; nothing new. Look for another post tomorrow or maybe early next week with my thoughts on “Community” “The Office” “Parks and Recreation” and “Modern Family.”

How I Met Your Mother

Two episodes of  “How I met your mother”  premiered this week- both excellent intros to the new season. There was a teaser for Barney’s wedding. Who is he marrying? Robin or Nora? Or possibly neither. Robin came close to telling Barney that she still had feelings for him, but telling Lilly was as close as she got. Speaking of Lilly, she and Marshal spilled the beans about their upcoming addition to the group. It was too tough having Marshal drink for two, and in the end he ended up spoiling Punchy’s wedding by inadvertently revealing the bride’s pregnancy. Hey but at least he pulled attention away from Ted who was in the spotlight because he apparently has a history of crying at every single toast he gives at friends weddings. They just happen to coincide with bad breakups. They just also happen to be filmed and end up on a Finnish YouTube-like website.

In the second episode Barney makes an attempt to win back Nora. She makes it pretty clear she doesn’t like liars, and Barney’s case is pretty hurt when he shows up wearing a fake neck brace. She tricks him with a ta-ta fake out. Barney is such a boob guy! But in the end he winds up telling her most (because, really, I’m sure there’s a few he left out) of the stories he told women to get them into bed. And as he pointed out, she didn’t leave. So Barney isn’t leaving the diner until she agrees to go on a second date. Crazy? Yes. It also sets us up for a scene with Barney another day into staying at the 24 hour diner (and still not having ordered anything) with the rest of the gang visiting at the booth behind him.

Oh yes, Martin Short shows up to give Marshal a job at an environmental firm but first Marshal goes through hell trying to get a rather embarrassing video of himself off the web before his new employer finds it.

Overall I loved these two episodes. They were a great intro to the season and they set up great plot lines for the season. By Season 7 everyone is super comfy in their roles but no one is phoning it in. Everything is running smoothly. I’m trying not to take it for granted because I’d hate for this show to end anytime soon.

I should mention that I purchase HIMYM through Amazon. Yeah, it sucks. If I want to keep up-to-date with it then I need to pay since it’s not on Hulu+.

Prediction: I’m still living with the memory of the Stella season (which was the worst in my opinion), but I think this will top it. I liked Victoria and if she makes a return this season then I’m fine with it. She’s much better than Stella and Zoey IMO!

Glee

Let me be honest: I had to force myself to watch this episode. I really didn’t want to, but it was like morbid curiosity. I knew that AV Club gave it a D+, but Jezebel seemed to not mind it so much.

I can’t really bring myself to write even a little bit of a recap of the episode. It starts the same way it always starts….blah blah blah Nationals blah blah. Rachel and Finn are still together. Sam and Mercedes are not (because Sam is off the show). Mercedes now has a new bf. Quinn is a “skank” now. That’s what she’s calling herself….I just called her that before. Shue and whatsherface are living together in a sexless relationship and Sue has reverted back to the beginning of Season 2 terribleness. Ummmm…I think that’s it. Otherwise I broke it down into good and bad things about the episode.

Good things: Rachel and Kurt’s friendship and less Rachel and Finn relationship. Less Quinn. Great Anything Goes number!

Bad. Sue reverting back to stupid villain. What happened to all her good character development??? BLAINE!!!!!!! HATE BALINE. STUPID. OVER THE TOP BLAINE SINGING! Seriously, I do not get his appeal. Don’t get me wrong, I love that Kurt gets a cute relationship, but I do not like who it’s with. Also, EW NO SOCKS! For a show  that treats most things with sensitivity (bisexuality, bullying, death), they didn’t treat Aspergers with any sensitivity. I mean wtf was Sugar? There are seriously no repercussions about her going around claiming she has a serious diagnosis just so she can insult people?

Prediction: Blerg. I don’t even know. I wanted to quit this show, but it shows up automatically in my queue in Hulu+ because it was there from last season. Despite what Ryan Murphy says and despite bringing on board talented writers like Marti Noxon (!!!! of Buffy fame!!!!) I’m just not sure about this season. This episode felt like it could have come straight out of last season. IF I continue with this season we may be in store for another uneven one. I’ll keep up with reviews before I bother watching. Fox isn’t cancelling this show any time soon though. It’s like their darling/cash cow. And, yet, somehow there are still tons of Gleeks out there. People are still really dedicated to this show for some strange reason. Please, if you can, explain it to me.

Grey’s Anatomy

Apparently we’re picking up not long after the season finale. I really could have used a refresher, but luckily the beginning pretty much caught me up. Christina and Meredith are living together to raise MerDer’s adopted daughter. Apparently Christina hasn’t gotten her abortion yet. Both marriages are still strained. Communication seems to be a foreign concept to these people.

Professionally, Mer has been fired for her stunt that compromised the Alzheimer’s study. Teddy is staying and will work with Christina but in some effed up way that slightly tortures her. Kepler sucks at being Chief Resident. Are we surprised? Meanwhile Little Grey is rocking at the job right under her nose. I think that might be a running thing for a few episodes.

That was just the first episode of the night.

Apparently Meredith is a baby stealer. Christina is a Gunther…or maybe Avery is? Basically this just means Avery stepped up and lead the charge when the group was tasked with coming together on a case (a woman pulled from a sinkhole whose leg had to be amputated on the scene. Don’t get me started on the sinkhole in Seattle. Ridiculous. Hated that). And hey, subtle reference to George by Derick! BTW Mer gets her job back by the end of the episode. I guess the Chief figured he owes it to her what with her tampering with the study for his wife in the first place.

I guess the theme of the second episode was motherhood? Normally the theme is a bit easier to pick out, but I had trouble with this one. Still, I have to applaud “Grey’s” with handling Christina’s abortion with maturity and going so far as to showing her in the doctor’s office. I’m sure they’re getting hate mail on that one. My heart broke for Meredith as she and Derick lost custody of Zola. It sucks when capable parents are chosen to adopt or be parents for children yet so many crappy parents are out there.

I wasn’t wowed by this set of episodes, but they provided a smooth into back into the season.

Prediction: If you’re a loyal “Grey’s Anatomy” fan then I think it will be a pretty good season. We know that Patrick Dempsey’s time is limited so that could prove to provide some interesting story lines. I wonder if this show is nearing the end. Could this be the last season?

Other Stuff:

– I’m not watching “Ringer” the second week (at least not until it appears on the CW’s website. They FINALLY put the first ep up. But I’m so not paying for another one). It got D on AV club and not much better review anywhere else.

-I am apparently alone in not loving “New Girl” Jezebel, PopWatch, AV Club all thought it was great! Maybe worth watching the second ep?