If you're like me, you're eagerly waiting for the return of your favorite fall shows. Sure, there are some great summer shows (such as Breaking Bad and shockingly Teen Wolf), but fall programing offers a much wider selection. While you're waiting, here are substitutions for some popular fall shows.
1) If you like Once Upon a Time, you should try The 10th Kingdom.
If you're still watching Once Upon a Time, you're clearly fine with cheesiness. You may find this hard to believe, but Once Upon a Time isn't the cheesiest of them all. The 10th Kingdom, a mini-series from 2000, is quite possibly the cheesiest show I've ever seen, and I devoured all 400 or so minutes of it in one weekend. Like Once Upon a Time, it mixes the fairy tale world with our world; a girl and her father from our world are sucked into a magical world with an obligatory evil queen. There's also plenty of familiar faces, including Ed O'Neill as a troll and Gilmore Girl's Scott Cohen as a werewolf.
2) If you like Hart of Dixie, you should try Everwood.
Admittedly I've only seen about one and a quarter episodes of Hart of Dixie, but Everwood's premise is so similar that I feel it would make a good substitution. Both shows feature a city doctor's move to a small town. Granted, widowered father of two Andy Brown of Everwood is somewhat different from the shorts-wearing young woman Zoe Hart of Hart of Dixie; so if you're just watching Hart of Dixie for the hot southern guys, you may not fill that void with Everwood. If you, on the other hand, love the small town medicine in Hart of Dixie, Everwood might be right up your alley.
3) If you like The Vampire Diaries, you should try Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I have such a weak spot for supernatural teen dramas. The Vampire Diaries started out as Twilight-esque mess worth of little more than eye rolls, but by the middle of the first season, it had developed into a fun, twisty ride worthy of only a few eye rolls here and there (although season three drew quite a few more of them). If you're a Vampire Diaries fan and have never experienced Buffy the Vampire Slayer, get thee to Netflix and get your marathon on. The shows share more than a few elements in common, and there's seven whole seasons of Buffy to tide you over until The Vampire Diaries returns. You might be thrown off by the extreme 90s cheesiness of Buffy at first, but once you get to season two, you may even find yourself looking forward to the next Buffy episode more than the next Vampire Diaries one.
4) If you like How I Met Your Mother, you should try Happy Endings.
Unlike the other substitutions on this list, Happy Endings is actually still on the air. It's such a great show that I couldn't help but include it. It doesn't have the same framework as How I Met Your Mother, but they both fall into the group of Friends-esque comedies. While I was ready to swear off Happy Endings after its lackluster pilot, it quickly found its footing. Season one had some great episodes, but season two was full of them. There's nothing wrong with just re-watching How I Met Your Mother reruns of FX (particularly if they're from the golden years of HIMYM), but if you're looking for some new material, Happy Endings shouldn't disappoint you.
5) If you like Castle, you should try Firefly.
On the surface, a police procedural and a sci-fi western may not seem to have that much in common. Okay, they may not have that much in common internally either. What they do have in common, however, is Nathan Fillion. It's hard to imagine Castle achieving the level of success it has had without Fillion's charm, and those of you suffering from Nathan Fillion withdraw can get that fix from Firefly. Don't be turned off by the show's genre; a sci-fi western didn't sound very appealing to me, but I thoroughly enjoyed the show's short run. Plus, after watching Firefly, you'll be able to understand the references to it on Castle.
6) If you like The Office, you should try Summer Heights High
If you've never seen Summer Heights High, you're in for a treat. Like The Office, it's a mockumentary featuring kooky cast of characters. Unlike The Office, the three main characters are all played by the same actor. Chris Lilley plays all three excellently, but I'm partial to snobby, private school girl Ja'mie. While Summer Heights High features a similar off-color humor as The Office does, I should give a warning that the language used on it is somewhat stronger than the language on The Office. I doubt that many people are actually looking forward to The Office's next season (sorry, I had to throw a jab in), but if you are or are looking for a show that's reminiscent of The Office in its glory days, you should check out Summer Heights High.
Alternative: I hated to give another currently airing show as my main suggestion, but fans of The Office should also consider watching Parks and Recreation if they've yet to do so. It's similar to The Office but with more heart. It starts out a bit weak but really finds its footing starting in season two. It's hilarious, and the characters are fantastic.
7) If you like Revenge, you should try Veronica Mars.
I confess: I raked my brain for any current show resembling Veronica Mars because it felt wrong to write a list of TV show recommendations and not include it. Revenge and Veronica Mars aren't exact matches, but they have plenty of similar elements. Although Veronica is more of white hat and and Emily's more of a black hat, both enter their series with revenge for a loved one on their mind. Both are strong female leads, both go on undercover missions, and both pilots start in medias res (okay, the similarities are getting little thin). I'd recommend Veronica Mars to just about anyone, but I feel like Revenge fans will particularly enjoy it.
What fall shows are you eagerly awaiting the return of? Do you have any suggestions of TV show substitutions? Leave a comment, and let me know.
Showing posts with label Revenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Revenge. Show all posts
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Can you feel the hate tonight?: 5 characters currently on TV that I despise
Like many people, I was sad when Lost aired its final episode. It may not have been a perfect show, but I grew really attached to it and miss it now that it's gone. There's one aspect of Lost, however, that I don't miss at all: Kate Austen. I didn't love every character on Lost, but there was no one I came even close to despising as much as I did her. Now that Lost is over, there are still plenty of characters currently on TV who plague me. These characters bring down their shows, and I'd like to see them gone. My desires to see certain characters disappear almost never seem to be fulfilled (e.g. Kate seeming to have 9 lives), but that won't stop me from hoping.
I'm not a fun person with which to watch Grey's Anatomy. Every time that Derek's on the screen I can't help but feel a strong hatred towards him, and that hatred often represents itself in comment form. I actually liked Derek a lot during the first season. He was cute, charming, and basically, there was good reason to call him McDreamy. Then came the first season finale and the revelation that he was married, and suddenly, his relationship with Meredith lost its luster for me. It's not just the fact that he was married that bothered me, but also the way he treats women in general on the show. He didn't just end things with either Meredith or Addison; he juggled both of them for a long time. Somewhere in there he also dated nurse Rose while he clearly still had feelings for Meredith. Now he patronizes Meredith on a regular basis. Factor in his self-righteousness, and I just can't stand him.
How to Get Rid of Him: Derek gets into a spat with Meredith and goes to cry in his "house of candles." Then it catches on fire while he's in it, and fortunately, the burns are too severe for him to be saved.
I'm not sure how much I've talked about it on here, but I absolutely love Revenge. It's my favorite new show this season, and for the most part, I love the cast. Jack's (Kyle Valenti to my fellow Roswell watchers) little brother Declan, however, is horribly out of place. Declan just provides the show with annoying teen drama and distracts from the more interesting storylines. Plus, I've yet to figure out why his accent is different from literally everyone around him, including his brother.
How to Get Rid of Him: Declan does something to land on Emily's hit list, and she does us the favor of removing this blemish on an otherwise great show
I don't have a lot of reasons to include Alex on this list other than she annoys me greatly. There are actually several Modern Family characters that annoy me from time to time, but Alex is by far my least favorite. I don't know what's worse: when she's written as a know-it-all or when she's written as a "regular girl" (e.g. the episode where she crushes on the guy at the dude ranch). It's a close call, but I'll go with the latter. I feel like these moments are only going to increase as the character gets older. It's hard to believe that someone so annoying could be related to Luke, the superior sibling.
How to Get Rid of Her: However annoying Alex may be, she's still pretty young, so I'll go easy on her. Alex goes off to college early, and we never see her again. Or a car that doesn’t stop at the stop sign Claire insisted on hits her. What? I couldn't resist.
Like Alex, Leo is another annoying teen character, but honestly, he's much worse. First of all, the role of Leo was cast terribly. I haven't seen Emory Cohen in anything else; maybe Smash doesn't showcase his abilities well. Still, he's terrible as Leo, and I cringe every time he's on screen (particularly during a crying scene he was inexplicably given a few weeks ago). Secondly (any maybe this ties into the poor acting), it's as if the person writing for him has never met a real teenager. In the second episode he wines about not getting an adopted sister, and questions "what's going to happen to her?" Viewers have also had to suffer through an atrocious storyline about Leo smoking weed. Now, watching him handle his parents' divorce is almost too painful to bear.
How to Get Rid of Him: In coping with his parents' divorce, Leo turns to harder drugs and quickly ODs. Now that I think about it, that would probably just mean more annoying drama for Julia. I'd gladly just accept Leo moving in with his dad and never being heard from again.
As much as I dislike Leo, there's one character that is much, much worse than him on Smash. Smash has a lot of problems, but Ellis is by far the worst. The hate I feel towards him is definitely an unhealthy amount to feel towards a fictional character. I can feel it seeping through me whenever he's on screen. I have a hard time putting my reasoning for despising Ellis into words because I'm not even sure why my hatred is so strong. Ellis is a villain and isn't necessarily supposed to be loved by the audience. Possibly he's supposed to be a character the audience loves to hate, but I just flat out hate him being on screen. He's annoyingly opportunistic, presumptuous, and somehow believes he deserves credit for the Marilyn musical. I wish I could more eloquently explain my hatred for him, but as he seems to be almost universally hated among Smash viewers, you probably know what I'm talking about if you've seen the show.
How to Get Rid of Him: Do it by any means necessary. I'd prefer a violent, painful death (Smashed by a bus?), but I'm not picky. Seriously, just get Ellis off this show.
As you can see, I have a lot of feelings when it comes to fictional characters. How do you feel about my picks? What current characters bother you? Let me know in the comments.
1. Derek Shepherd (Grey's Anatomy)
I'm not a fun person with which to watch Grey's Anatomy. Every time that Derek's on the screen I can't help but feel a strong hatred towards him, and that hatred often represents itself in comment form. I actually liked Derek a lot during the first season. He was cute, charming, and basically, there was good reason to call him McDreamy. Then came the first season finale and the revelation that he was married, and suddenly, his relationship with Meredith lost its luster for me. It's not just the fact that he was married that bothered me, but also the way he treats women in general on the show. He didn't just end things with either Meredith or Addison; he juggled both of them for a long time. Somewhere in there he also dated nurse Rose while he clearly still had feelings for Meredith. Now he patronizes Meredith on a regular basis. Factor in his self-righteousness, and I just can't stand him.
How to Get Rid of Him: Derek gets into a spat with Meredith and goes to cry in his "house of candles." Then it catches on fire while he's in it, and fortunately, the burns are too severe for him to be saved.
2. Declan Porter (Revenge)
I'm not sure how much I've talked about it on here, but I absolutely love Revenge. It's my favorite new show this season, and for the most part, I love the cast. Jack's (Kyle Valenti to my fellow Roswell watchers) little brother Declan, however, is horribly out of place. Declan just provides the show with annoying teen drama and distracts from the more interesting storylines. Plus, I've yet to figure out why his accent is different from literally everyone around him, including his brother.
How to Get Rid of Him: Declan does something to land on Emily's hit list, and she does us the favor of removing this blemish on an otherwise great show
3. Alex Dunphy (Modern Family)
I don't have a lot of reasons to include Alex on this list other than she annoys me greatly. There are actually several Modern Family characters that annoy me from time to time, but Alex is by far my least favorite. I don't know what's worse: when she's written as a know-it-all or when she's written as a "regular girl" (e.g. the episode where she crushes on the guy at the dude ranch). It's a close call, but I'll go with the latter. I feel like these moments are only going to increase as the character gets older. It's hard to believe that someone so annoying could be related to Luke, the superior sibling.
How to Get Rid of Her: However annoying Alex may be, she's still pretty young, so I'll go easy on her. Alex goes off to college early, and we never see her again. Or a car that doesn’t stop at the stop sign Claire insisted on hits her. What? I couldn't resist.
4. Leo Houston (Smash)
Like Alex, Leo is another annoying teen character, but honestly, he's much worse. First of all, the role of Leo was cast terribly. I haven't seen Emory Cohen in anything else; maybe Smash doesn't showcase his abilities well. Still, he's terrible as Leo, and I cringe every time he's on screen (particularly during a crying scene he was inexplicably given a few weeks ago). Secondly (any maybe this ties into the poor acting), it's as if the person writing for him has never met a real teenager. In the second episode he wines about not getting an adopted sister, and questions "what's going to happen to her?" Viewers have also had to suffer through an atrocious storyline about Leo smoking weed. Now, watching him handle his parents' divorce is almost too painful to bear.
How to Get Rid of Him: In coping with his parents' divorce, Leo turns to harder drugs and quickly ODs. Now that I think about it, that would probably just mean more annoying drama for Julia. I'd gladly just accept Leo moving in with his dad and never being heard from again.
5. Ellis Tancharoen (Smash)
As much as I dislike Leo, there's one character that is much, much worse than him on Smash. Smash has a lot of problems, but Ellis is by far the worst. The hate I feel towards him is definitely an unhealthy amount to feel towards a fictional character. I can feel it seeping through me whenever he's on screen. I have a hard time putting my reasoning for despising Ellis into words because I'm not even sure why my hatred is so strong. Ellis is a villain and isn't necessarily supposed to be loved by the audience. Possibly he's supposed to be a character the audience loves to hate, but I just flat out hate him being on screen. He's annoyingly opportunistic, presumptuous, and somehow believes he deserves credit for the Marilyn musical. I wish I could more eloquently explain my hatred for him, but as he seems to be almost universally hated among Smash viewers, you probably know what I'm talking about if you've seen the show.
How to Get Rid of Him: Do it by any means necessary. I'd prefer a violent, painful death (Smashed by a bus?), but I'm not picky. Seriously, just get Ellis off this show.
As you can see, I have a lot of feelings when it comes to fictional characters. How do you feel about my picks? What current characters bother you? Let me know in the comments.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
A Letter to ABC: Save the Eye Candy
Warning: This post contains spoilers about television deaths and extreme levels of silliness and shallowness. You have been warned.
Dear ABC,
You've done some things right lately. Your shows were among the first to return after the winter break, and I appreciate that. I've also really enjoyed two of your new shows: Revenge and Once Upon a Time. Additionally, the Wednesday lineup of Modern Family, Happy Endings, and Revenge is just amazing scheduling.
You've also generated some controversy lately, but you've dealt with it. Work It was kind of a flop, but you wisely cancelled it. Cougar Town fans wanted their show back after it was held in limbo for a while, and you finally announced a return date. But neither of those two things are what I want to speak to you about.
My problem is something more serious. It's affecting many of your viewers, and it needs to be addressed before it gets worse. This problem is the trend of your shows killing off the hot guys.
For example, there was Sheriff Graham on Once Upon a Time. Sure, he wasn't the most well-developed character, but he was really cute. Plus, we finally were getting to see a glance at his intriguing back-story. I appreciate that his death helped move the plot forward, but I miss him and his adorable face.
Speaking of Once Upon a Time, you also killed the brother of the character we now know as Prince Charming (who actually was the original prince). This wasn't really a big deal because Josh Dallas is still on the show, but it was still quite a shock to see him die.
Then, there was Henry on Grey's Anatomy. Oh Henry. He was so charming and so cute, and you just had to let him die. The whole "marrying someone you don't love for alternative reasons and then falling in love once you're married" plot is the stuff of Lifetime movies, but it worked with Teddy and Henry because Henry was so delightful. But now he joins George in the group of dead characters from Grey's Anatomy that I miss. Why couldn't you have just taken Derek (It's not that Patrick Dempsey is unattractive. I just really hate Derek.) instead?
Luckily, there's still hope for my last example, Daniel from Revenge. He's gorgeous, sweet, and basically perfect. So what happens to him? He was supposedly killed in the opening scene of Revenge. I say supposedly because his face is never shown. It's weird that the characters would assume that a face-down dead body is Daniel without good reason, but I'm certainly hoping that they're wrong.
ABC, there's still time to save Daniel and countless other hot guys on your network. If you don't take preventative action, who will be the next victim? Happy Endings' Brad? Once Upon a Time's Prince Charming? Castle's Castle? So I'm begging you to please do so. Don't let another hot guy die for the sake of drama and ratings. It's not worth it. Save the eye candy.
Signed,
A Concerned Viewer
Dear ABC,
You've done some things right lately. Your shows were among the first to return after the winter break, and I appreciate that. I've also really enjoyed two of your new shows: Revenge and Once Upon a Time. Additionally, the Wednesday lineup of Modern Family, Happy Endings, and Revenge is just amazing scheduling.
You've also generated some controversy lately, but you've dealt with it. Work It was kind of a flop, but you wisely cancelled it. Cougar Town fans wanted their show back after it was held in limbo for a while, and you finally announced a return date. But neither of those two things are what I want to speak to you about.
My problem is something more serious. It's affecting many of your viewers, and it needs to be addressed before it gets worse. This problem is the trend of your shows killing off the hot guys.
For example, there was Sheriff Graham on Once Upon a Time. Sure, he wasn't the most well-developed character, but he was really cute. Plus, we finally were getting to see a glance at his intriguing back-story. I appreciate that his death helped move the plot forward, but I miss him and his adorable face.
Speaking of Once Upon a Time, you also killed the brother of the character we now know as Prince Charming (who actually was the original prince). This wasn't really a big deal because Josh Dallas is still on the show, but it was still quite a shock to see him die.
Then, there was Henry on Grey's Anatomy. Oh Henry. He was so charming and so cute, and you just had to let him die. The whole "marrying someone you don't love for alternative reasons and then falling in love once you're married" plot is the stuff of Lifetime movies, but it worked with Teddy and Henry because Henry was so delightful. But now he joins George in the group of dead characters from Grey's Anatomy that I miss. Why couldn't you have just taken Derek (It's not that Patrick Dempsey is unattractive. I just really hate Derek.) instead?
Luckily, there's still hope for my last example, Daniel from Revenge. He's gorgeous, sweet, and basically perfect. So what happens to him? He was supposedly killed in the opening scene of Revenge. I say supposedly because his face is never shown. It's weird that the characters would assume that a face-down dead body is Daniel without good reason, but I'm certainly hoping that they're wrong.
ABC, there's still time to save Daniel and countless other hot guys on your network. If you don't take preventative action, who will be the next victim? Happy Endings' Brad? Once Upon a Time's Prince Charming? Castle's Castle? So I'm begging you to please do so. Don't let another hot guy die for the sake of drama and ratings. It's not worth it. Save the eye candy.
Signed,
A Concerned Viewer
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