Why It’s Worth a Watch Wednesday – Football!

July 25, 2012 By 12 Comments

This week on Why It’s Worth a Watch Wednesday, we have a special theme! My fabulous writing partner Tiffany White debuted her novel Football Sweetheart last week. Here’s a little bit about her book:

Aimee Freeman is looking forward to the start of her senior year.  She knows her best friend Ella has been keeping secrets from her all summer long, but with football season right around the corner, the student trainer decides not to worry about it—they’ll have plenty of time to catch up on the field.

Then Ella goes missing, and Aimee realizes those secrets might be the key to finding her.  As the case unfolds, Aimee discovers more than one person may have wanted to harm Ella.  Was it Ella’s current boyfriend, a social outcast the entire city seems intent on blaming for her disappearance?  Or her ex-boyfriend, the beloved star quarterback who has harassed Ella since their breakup?  The list of potential suspects continues to grow after Aimee reads Ella’s journal, but she must first break her best friend’s secret code to reveal their identities.

Unbeknownst to Aimee, her investigation has not gone unnoticed.  Ella’s abductor is watching and waiting.  Will he decide Aimee needs to be silenced—making her the next target?

 

So, in recognition of Tiffany’s accomplishment, I queued up Friday Night Lights.

Friday Night Lights follows the lives of Texas high school football coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler), his wife (Connie Britton) and daughter (Aimee Teegarden), and the various players and members of town in love with their football team, the Dillon Panthers.

I’ll admit, I never watched Friday Night Lights before this review. The only football I really watch is the Super Bowl (and the occasional college game), so I didn’t really think that I would connect to this show. Now that I am an embarrassingly large number of episodes into it, I’m sorry I didn’t watch when it was on TV.

Since the show has several characters, storylines are varied, so I won’t get into the details of those (particularly since even in the first episode, things happen that I don’t want to spoil).

What I will instead focus on is what makes this show work for me. The characters in this show are well rounded and relatable. Taking place in small town Texas, I honestly expected more caricatures, more stereotypes, but the writers didn’t take the easy way out on this. (Head writer Jason Katims is also responsible for Parenthood, so I shouldn’t be surprised.)

In addition to crafting compelling characters, Friday Night Lights is unique in that the shows were not rehearsed ahead of time. While being scripted, actors were encouraged to do and say what felt right to the character. Camera operators were directed to follow the performers (rather than having set blocking), giving the actors the freedom to act in a way that felt natural.

This may explain why some of the performances in the show pulled me in as much as they did. So much so that I had to stop myself from watching more so I could write this review. Not only did I care about the characters’ stories, but I even found myself enjoying the football scenes.

Despite the initial marketing efforts for the show which focused mainly on the football aspect of the show (quite possibly part of the reason that viewership was not as good as it should have been), the show is really about family and life, the good and the bad of it, giving everyone something to relate to.

I give Friday Night Lights a GTV, definitely worth queuing up all five seasons on Netflix. It may even make you want to head back to your old high school this football season.

Did you watch Friday Night Lights when it was on television? Have you watched in on Netflix? What do you think of the show? Can anyone watch and NOT develop a crush on Kyle Chandler?

Now, if you watched Friday Night Lights, or if the idea of High School Football in Texas appeals to you, be sure to check out Tiffany’s book Football Sweetheart!

Head over to Tiffany’s blog, where she highlights the YA drama side of things with her revisit of Pretty Little Liars.

Come back next week we begin the 2012 Tamberny Awards…

Remember to stop by the #watchwed hashtag in Twitter to discuss any of today’s reviews, or to mention any television programs that you’d like to see on Why It’s Worth a Watch Wednesday in the future.

A Recap of The WatchWed Review System:

GTV (Gourmet TV): Everything we want and more
MacTV (MacNCheese TV): Guilty pleasure. Not perfect, but is satisfies
GMacTV (Gourmet MacNCheese TV): A combination of fine wine and comfort food
JFTV (Junk food TV): It’s not great for us, but we’ll go back for seconds
TBPTV (Twice Baked Potato TV): Part gourmet and delicious, while absolutely horrible for our cholesterol
SSTV (Still Simmering TV): It has potential, but the jury is still out
NIV (Nyquil Induced Viewing): Perfect for that late night television sleep timer
LOTV (Liver&Onions TV): Do we really have to explain? Blech

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Why It’s Worth a Watch – Common Law

May 30, 2012 By 12 Comments

This week on Why It’s Worth a Watch Wednesday, Tiffany and I are hanging out at the USA network. Well, not literally. But for how much love we show for their programming, they should be extending an invite. This week, Tiffany visits the already in progress Fairly Legal and I check out the brand new Common Law.

Common Law features two police detectives, Travis (Michael Ealy) and Wes (Warren Kole), who are great detectives who seem to be having some troubles in the partnering department. Their captain, not wishing to give up on their partnership, does what he thinks is best: sends them to couples counseling.

Not only are they in couples counseling, but they are in a group counseling situation, which makes for some fun amongst the romantically intertwined.

The partners are your typical Odd Couple. One is straight-laced, bordering on OCD (maybe even crossing the corder), while the other is a shoot from the hip ladies’ man.

Sound familiar? Of course. The “Odd Couple” formula has been played over and over and over (and did I mention, over?). Yet, these two are charming and neurotic enough to keep me from immediately changing the station. The great thing is that they work well together and obviously don’t hate each other. They just have a hard time getting along.

Coming from a big family, I know that feeling. You can love someone to death, yet want to smack them on a regular basis. So, the relationship here is one you can definitely relate to.

There are moments in the dialog and cases that are on the predictable side for me, yet I still found the show enjoyable. USA manages to do what it always does well – deliver characters.

Only time will tell how good the show can be. While the trite “Odd Couple” formula might be a formula for failure on other networks, USA seems to know how to deliver this idea in a way that keeps its viewers watching (think Gus and Shawn in Psych).

This won’t be entering my Top Ten list anytime soon, or even my favorite USA show, but it definitely deserves a spot in my JFTV viewing. We’ll see where it lands in my junk drawer as the series progresses.

Now head over to Tiffany’s blog and see what she thinks of Fairly Legal. Given USA’s track record, I’ll bet it is at least watchable.

Next week we revisit Smash and The Client List, to let you know what happened after we let them simmer for a bit.

A brief announcement: I’ve cancelled my cable service. I’ll be continuing the #watchwed series with Tiffany, but it may mean featuring more programming available on the web, which is great news for those of you who have already made the same jump I just did.

Remember to stop by the #watchwed hashtag in Twitter to discuss any of today’s reviews, or to mention any television programs that you’d like to see on Why It’s Worth a Watch Wednesday in the future.
A Recap of The WatchWed Review System:
GTV (Gourmet TV): Everything we want and more
MacTV (MacNCheese TV): Guilty pleasure. Not perfect, but is satisfies
GMacTV (Gourmet MacNCheese TV): A combination of fine wine and comfort food
JFTV (Junk food TV): It’s not great for us, but we’ll go back for seconds
TBPTV (Twice Baked Potato TV): Part gourmet and delicious, while absolutely horrible for our cholesterol
SSTV (Still Simmering TV): It has potential, but the jury is still out
NIV (Nyquil Induced Viewing): Perfect for that late night television sleep timer
LOTV (Liver&Onions TV): Do we really have to explain? Blech

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Why It’s Worth a Watch Wednesday – Body of Proof

October 19, 2011 By 22 Comments

This week Tiffany and I flip over to ABC, where she examines the long standing hit Desperate Housewives and I discuss the newer (but not brand new) Body of Proof.

First off, I’d like to say that the DVR ate my homework. I didn’t watch Body of Proof before today, but began recording it so I could prepare for this week.

As I settled in on the couch this afternoon to finally prep for my post, I found that my DVR had removed everything we recorded before Monday evening. Everything.

I was able to find the show in question online, and for you, I plopped in front of my computer to watch it.

I know. I’m a giver.

Body of Proof is a show where someone who is smarter than everyone else solves crimes.

Ok, ok, I’ll give you more than that. Dr. Megan Hunt (Dana Delaney) is a former neurosurgeon who sustains injuries in a car accident (that I never got to see) that make it impossible for her to continue her life as a surgeon. She transfers her knowledge and skills over to a job as a medical examiner. Apparently, she is not only good at the medical stuff, but has a keen mind for investigation and is often a step ahead of her cop compadres in solving the crimes.

What’s this? A brilliant and observant person who appears smarter than everyone around them and uses those smarts to solve mysteries or crimes? GENIUS. Very original. Nothing at all like The Mentalist. Or House. Or Psych. Or Monk. Or…

You get the picture.

What you may also notice is that the shows I listed are ones that I enjoy. Sure, there is a basic formula they all employ, but I love the way they do it.

In the episode I watched, a random one from Season 1, I can’t say that I have the same love for Body of Proof.

The actors do a fine job in their roles. But what is it about writing female know-it-alls that has writers stumped? Is it impossible to make a smart woman likeable?

I mean, I get it. This character loses her career, the same career that caused the demise of her marriage and the disconnect between her and her daughter, so of course she is going to be a little bitter. What I’m missing here is the balance in her bitter personality, the balance that makes me either care, or at least enjoy watching her.

A jerk and a know-it-all, sure, but so funny.

Dr. House is bitter about his bum leg, but at least he is funny when he is a jerk. Patrick Jane is bitter about his murdered family, but at least he is charming. Monk is more neurotic than bitter, but he is endearing. And Shawn Spencer is funny, charming and endearing.

Why didn’t the writers of Body of Proof give me a reason to like the main character?

I’m not saying the show is a total waste. Maybe if I didn’t have so many other choices when it comes to a show with the same basic elements, I’d throw this one in the queue for a rainy day. Maybe if the other choices weren’t so much better, I could be convinced.

For that reason, I give this show a NIVTV rating. Only under the influence, too weak to pop in my Firefly DVDs, might I have the desire to tune in.

Oddly enough, the only other show to receive this rating had the exact same problem. C’mon TV writers, step it up. Watch a few episodes of The Good Wife and learn how to write a female character.

Of course, I did only see one episode, so if you are a fan, chime in! What makes you tune in to this show? Do you think I am being unfair to the writers of BoP? Or do you agree?

Now click over to Tiffany’s blog and check out her review of the ladies of Wisteria Lane, Desperate Housewives.

Come back next week when we laugh it up (or at least we hope) with a double dose of TV’s new comedies: Suburgatory, New Girl, Up All Night, and 2 Broke Girls.

Remember to stop by the #watchwed hashtag in Twitter to discuss any of today’s reviews, or to mention any television programs that you’d like to see on Why It’s Worth a Watch Wednesday in the future. We’re currently working on our November schedule and would love to chat with you!

A Recap of The WatchWed Review System:
GTV (Gourmet TV): Everything we want and more
MacTV (MacNCheese TV): Guilty pleasure. Not perfect, but is satisfies
JFTV (Junk food TV): It’s not great for us, but we’ll go back for seconds
SSTV (Still Simmering TV): It has potential, but the jury is still out
NIV (Nyquil Induced Viewing): Perfect for that late night television sleep timer
LOTV (Liver&Onions TV): Do we really have to explain? Blech

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Dear Television – It’s You, Not Me

August 8, 2011 By 22 Comments

I enjoy TV.  But I can be picky.

You may have guessed that, what with me telling you what you should or shouldn’t watch every Wednesday.

While I may watch my fair share, there aren’t too many shows that really grab me.  Most are guilty pleasures, opportunities to tune out.  With more and more web content available (and finding I spend more time in front of my computer than TV) I’ve started checking out more series online.

One series in particular caught my attention, and managed to hold it through the season finale, which was released today.

It’s called Leap Year.

The series follows 5 friends, each trying to start new businesses after being laid off, or “released” from their old jobs, in an effort to win a contest offering half a million in funding for their startup.

Why, on a blog where the readership is largely made up of creative writerly types who should be spending their time working on their novels rather than watching TV, am I taking a post to tell you to go watch something?

Because it’s good.  Believable, likable characters engaged in witty, yet realistic dialogue, in a plot that is interesting and timely…there aren’t many TV shows (well, any at the moment) that I can attribute a similar description to.   And really, with so much focus on making solid characters and stories in your writing, wouldn’t you want to see a great example of those things?

Also, given the time constraints I (and lots of you) have going (attempting to write and a 2 year old), the brief nature of the episodes makes it easy for me to keep up.  Although, I’ll be honest, they hooked me well enough that I’d make time for them if they ran longer.

So, I share with you some non-TV entertainment.  It’s what I wish TV would be.

Check the trailer here:

Currently Listening to: Nessun Dorma, on a loop, because that is what the 2 year old requested, and he is apparently the boss of me

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