Monday, May 12, 2008

Crazy Like A Fox....

Looks like the old Fox Network, you know; the guys with the great unbiased news, are at it again. I'm sad to say they are not renewing New Amsterdam which I was really enjoying and I thought was a refreshing take on the immortal story. I may not ever find out which woman stopped his ticker on the subway, but I know it wasn't the doctor.





Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku's Dollhouse is slated for a mid season replacement. Are you getting Firefly flashback chills yet? Fox has a habit of canceling mid-season shows before giving them a chance. Why do any scripted genre dramas even get shown to Fox? Let them stick to bad reality shows and legacy comedies. Heck, you have a better chance of keeping a show going on the family channel.





On brighter news. It looks like the CW may renew Reaper. We'll know tomorrow when they announce their lineup.

While on the subject of Reaper. I really enjoy this show. Yeah, it's having some growing pains, but oddly enough most of the criticism seems to be that the show isn't going anywhere. Not only do I disagree, but that aside, when did we start needing every show on tv to have a long story arc?

The shows I grew up on didn't have season long stories. The A-Team fought a different guy every week, so did Wonder Woman. The Six Million Dollar Man, Knight Rider etc. all had similar bad guy of the week formulas. Star Trek just boldly went...wherever. Different alien of the week, different situation. Only the faces were the same. Yes there was character development but this happened within the confines of single episodes, and shows rarely referenced what had gone before. it also made shows easier to jump into and enjoy.



Reapers building a little mythology behind it, but for gods-sake it's not Lost. I don't need an answer every week as long as the journey is enjoyable.
Maybe audiences and networks need to remember that this is entertainment.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Charlie,

Let's see....Boro was
Queens, Halsey JHS, Forest Hills HS. Maybe even PS220? Our friends were Dave, Paul, Robert, Evan , Tommy, Miriam, Julia 'Nancy...just to name a few. Long time ago and we lost touch after High School. Anyway I was talking to someone who said that Reagan Youth was one of their musical influences. It made me think. Anyway glad to see you are doing well.

Fran

Anonymous said...

I hadn't seen Cindy since 1992 in Miami. Then we hired a caterer in Boston for a huge baby shower and low and behold it was owned by litl' Cindy. She had a boob job and platinum hair (wig), plus, put on a healthy 20 lbs or so, so I didn't recognize her, she immediately knew me. She had a blast with my 2 year old. Her desserts are, of course, awesome. Dan died of Lymphoma in 2001....put on a good fight...4years worth. remember crazy Patty? Kris Needs' wife. Well she was murdered in 1997 in New Jersey by a boyfriend. Kris is living in England and raised their son, Danny, who is like 24 now..Kris is remarried and has a page on MY SPACE. HMMM, what else...Lillie is married to a Morraccan guy and lives in Boca Raton, has 2 kids. Anthony died of liver failure in 2004. So it goes.... most of this stuff I found out by stumbling on it. Love the reviews, more accurate than the media. I played Libery City with my 9 year old, very entertaining.....trappedinnorthcountry@yahoo.com

Charlie said...

Thanks Fran,

I do remember you, and I think we were in 220 together, though I was only there half a year. Any photos or mementos from that time in my life are long gone.
As you know our Reagan Youth experiences took a toll on all of us and our friendships.
I think of Nancy every time I'm in Queens since the route to my Aunt's place takes me past where I remember her parents house to be. Plus I had a huge crush on her that I don't recall ever admitting to (unless I was wasted at the time)since I felt she was way out of my league. Sigh
I'd love to hear anything you've got on that old crowd. I've been thinking of setting up an email address to this blog so I can write people privately without them having to post or get spammed.
Maybe I'll get to it today. It's great hearing from you and thanks again.