Nurse Jackie; Mad Men

Have to admit I’ve never even heard of ‘Nurse Jackie’, Pisces. As for ‘Mad Men’… as I said in the above post, I didn’t enjoy it at all. I only watched the first few episodes and perhaps it improves radically, but I’ve tended to notice that if a TV show doesn’t grab me within three episodes (i.e. the running time of an average feature film) it probably never will.

Deadwood is well worth a look if you haven’t already.

That’s been recommmended to me a couple of times before, Lucas. I’ll certainly give it a chance should it ever cross my path, though I’m concerned that I might have difficulty with any show that stars Ian McShane. In my eyes, there’s a part of him that will forever be cheeky antique dealer, Lovejoy.

You missed Psych. 40 minute episodes of pure joy.

I surfed into an episode of ‘Psych’ a while back, Shackleford, and I must admit that it didn’t capture my attention at all. The dialogue was straight out of The Bumper Book of US-sitcoms and the plot required the kind of suspension of disbelief that I have trouble with. I can happily enjoy a fictional world inhabited by vampires or aliens, but the people still need to behave like real people and have believable motivations… sitcom-dwellers almost never do.

I’m currently about half way through Dexter – definitely an intriguing premise, and I’m quite enjoying it but it’s not blown me away.

For me, Larry, ‘Dexter’ is an excellent — and surprisingly well-realised — portrait of sociopathy. It can be inconsistent and occasionally slips worryingly close to “serial killer soap opera” (though that in itself has a compelling aspect to it). But when it examines the motives and drives of the main character and those he hunts down, it’s clearly the work of someone well-versed in psychoanalytic theory. I like the cleverness.

On the much debated Buffy question, I occupy a middle ground between those who decry it and those who rave about it: I think it’s ok.

I can get pretty evangelical about ‘Buffy’ (and about Joss Whedon’s work in general) so I’ll try to refrain from preaching. I just find his writing to be streets ahead of almost anyone else working at the moment — and I’m talking about any medium now; TV, film, literature, whatever. There’s a rich layer of metaphor and symbolism in everything he does that I find very satisfying. I just wish he wasn’t hamstrung by the commercial agenda that dominates television production. It’s the medium in which his style seems to fit best, yet paradoxically it’s the medium in which risk-taking is least acceptable.

Although it’s been a few years, I seem to remember the X Files being Men in Black minus the comedy – a thoroughly tiresome formula.

I’ve no idea whether ‘The X Files’ has stood the test of time, but I was a huge fan when it was first broadcast. Bear in mind, though, that I was a permanently spaced-out philosophy undergraduate back then and was half-convinced that it was a fictionalised documentary series.

Are we allowing anime? My unwritten list would probably include Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex, in case you haven’t seen it.

Not seen it, Larry. I must admit that I’ve never really been too impressed with anime. I know enough people with good taste who assure me there’s some great stuff out there to accept that I’m missing something. But up ’til now, I just haven’t connected with it.

Although it’s been a few years, I seem to remember the X Files being Men in Black minus the comedy – a thoroughly tiresome formula.

Are we allowing anime? My unwritten list would probably include Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex, in case you haven’t seen it.