And here we’ve got write-ups on “Angel,” “West Wing,” and “Tru Calling.”
Also…I’m not adding it to the round up, but did anyone see “Frasier” ths week? I did NOT see the ending coming. The coming attractions looked hilarious. And the possibility that we’ll see Marris now rises. Personally, I thought a TV Guide suggestion was inspired: Juliet Landau. “Drusilla” herself. She’s thin,and I assume she’s diminutive (she was shorter than Spike, and I’m taller than Marsters.) I think she’d be perfect.
ANGEL: Opinions seem split on this one. Personally, I thought it was a hoot. I loved the spotlight on Mexican culture and the entire world of masked wrestling, which is as mythic to Mexicans as…well, Superman or vampires. Angel’s snapping out of his funk at the end seemed kind of pat, but it beats having half a season of increasing gloom that only ends when he shags Darla. A lot of the dialogue was great (ANGEL: Did YOU know the Devil built a robot? WESLEY: El Roboto Satanico! ANGLE: Nobody tells me anything.) I had the sense that groundwork was being laid for future developments with Spike and Angel, which is positive. All in all, a nice little study of the nature of heroism.
WEST WING: It appears they’re trying to go with the concept that the President is suffering a form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder…which would explain why he’s in a walking coma. The only spark he displayed was as Martin Sheen in the PSA at show’s end. My concern goes deeper, however. See, the characters of West Wing are all brilliant people. They could be because their writer was brilliant. The folks writing it now? Not so much. So the President doesn’t sound like himself, but is it stress? Is it that he’s upset because Abby’s gone from the opening credits? Or is it that the writers just aren’t bright enough to write him? And yeah, politicians are steamed at Josh. It’s Washington, someone’s always steamed at somebody, and it’s not as if everyone on the team hasn’t screwed the pooch at some point or another. What’s happening to Josh now requires that Josh never took a bullet, never defended Leo during Leo’s drinking, never covered for CJ, never defended the Surgeon General when she implied pot should be legalized, never had to deal with the President’s non-disclosure of his MS. In short, only by ignoring everyone’s history can we then accept the hammering he’s taking by his own team. It’s unconscionable, and it’s pìššìņg me off. These political operators should be better than this because they used to be better than this. The series hasn’t lost its way; it’s lost its mind.
TRU CALLING: So I missed the pilot episode, in which—so I’m told—young Tru (short for “Trudy,” I assume, although her last name isn’t really “Calling”), is at her mother’s funeral and is assured by her mother’s voice that she’s okay. Flash forward ten years and Tru is working in a morgue where corpses ask for her help…at which point we’ve got “Groundhog Day: The TV Series” as she relives the day in hopes of saving them. No real explanation is given for her ability. My assumption is that she inherited it from her mother because, in tonight’s episode, we learn that as of 1993, the city’s death rate was way down. But after 1993, and her mother’s demise, the death rate jumped up. So I’m figuring her mom was doing the same thing Tru is now: Running around like Lola and saving people. Once mom died, no one was averting deaths, and boom. Increased death rate. If it all sounds formulaic, well, it is. But we already see tonight that the formula can be messed with, and that Tru doesn’t always accomplish everything she wants. Besides, after six or seven episodes, they might start mucking with the formula even more, and besides, Eliza Dushku is clearly having a grand old time in the spotlight, and we’re having a grand old time watching her. Without her, this show is canceled by episode two. On the other hand, it’s SF on Fox which means if it hits thirteen episodes, it’ll be a miracle worthy of Tru. And if not…”Faith the Vampire Slayer” anybody?
• 
I think Eliza’s great but I saw the pilot and it almost put me to sleep. I hope it works out for her, but as long as Friends is on at the same time, my attention is elsewhere.
P.S. I’d tape it but I already tape ER and Karen Sisco so I got enough stuff on VHS
Im glad SOMEONE liked Angel this week. Just didnt work for me..
but heres a shocker! PAD didnt like season 2 of angel? (sorry if im reading into something that isnt there)
I thought it was the best Mutant Enemy Season yet of any show, and considering your amazing, and not entirely dis-simliar, current storyline in captain marvel, i woulda figured you’d like it too.
next time you have one of those open blogs, ill ask you what you thought about season 2.
>>Juliet Landau…..I think she’d be perfect. <<
Mm. Good suggestion. But I’d rather see the great, but underrated Valerie Mahaffey as Maris!
And I liked ‘Angel’ this week! Although I will miss the shots of a seemingly incongruous, Mexican – wrestling – masked mailroom grunt pushing his cart through the halls of Wolram & Hart!
Hooper
Concerning the current season of the West Wing, it perfectly demonstrates what happens when a very writer-driven show loses its primary creative spark (any comparisons to PAD’s Hulk and Bruce Jones’ is purely coincidental). Hopefully Sorkin will be enticed back long enough to give the series the Viking Funeral it deserves.
Oh, and would someone PLEASE tell me who this new intern guy is that keeps popping his head around doorways, flirting with CJ and dining with Josh?? He reminds me of the kid in Matrix Reloaded who always wants to hang out with Neo and the Big Boys–unless the new writers are going somewhere with this, he’s an annoyance! When CJ has to tell President Jed to “lead us”, his presidency and the show is seriously off the track.
I was upset with the recent episode of West Wing also. Messing with Josh pìššëš me off. I totally agree with PAD’s comments about how the rest of the staff is treating him. It’s not the characters we’ve known. I hope they can pull it together. (Although I did like the preceding week’s episode. Yea! for getting rid of Amy, she made my eye twitch, couldn’t stand her…)
The reason I fell in love with this show was because I loved seeing them function as a family we’d all love to have. (The inspiring father (Bartlett) The tough but supportive mother (Leo), The intelligent soft spoken older brother (Toby ), The samrt a** kid brother (Josh) and the sister (CJ) we all wanna share our secrets with.)
But where o where have they gone…suddenly the sister’s the mom, the mom is the dad, the older brother has turned on us, and the kid brother is wandering the streets.
Heck, I guess the dream of a functional family really IS a dream.
Oh the intern was at the restaurant because Donna knew Josh’s political dinner partner wouldn’t stand him up. He was Josh’s excuse not to look pathetic in front of colleages. Pathetic right? (Although I thought that was sweet of Donna…Hey! Maybe she lov….nahhhh!)
Oh the intern was at the restaurant because Donna knew Josh’s political dinner partner wouldn’t stand him up..
That was supposed to be WOULD stand him up…
..here’s a suggestion for an add in to the blog.. give us an edit button. Although I do preview the post before I post it, I still miss stuff…I’m not edumacated nuff in gramma I rekon.
WEST WING: I want President Bartlet back. Hëll, I want the whole dámņëd Bartlet White House back. Because what I saw this week definitely wasn’t it.
My biggest issue, aside from Bartlet being pretty much inept, is Leo. For Leo to bring in someone else, to bench Josh…see, that’d work if this were just your typical “1-hour drama” a la ER. But these characters are supposed to be not only smart, but great friends…people who’ve been working together 12 hours a day every day for the last 6 years. The Leo I know isn’t that cold. The President Bartlet I know isn’t that distant. The Josh that I know isn’t that stupid. I remember a scene late in the first season or early in the second season, where Toby was railing because the Administration was stuck in neutral and wasn’t getting anything done.
If he could see them now. I think this week’s episode was slightly wittier, mostly because Alexa Junge wrote it, and she has written for Friends before, I think.
But Sorkin desperately needs to return to his baby. I don’t care how NBC does it, or how much they have to pay him. I don’t care if it’s only on a half-time, 10-11 episodes per season basis. A little bit of Sorkin is better than a lot of everyone else.
You know, it just occurred to me. A lot of people have described Sorkin’s “West Wing” as Democratic, liberal fantasy. But what we’re seeing lately…it’s more like Democratic, liberal reality, with politicians stuck in neutral, not moving forward, not fighting for issues but fighting the other guy. I want the “fantasy” back.
Sorkin, come home. Please.
I thought this was a fun episode of Angel, but somehow you immediately know from the humour that it’s not Whedon-written. Or Whedon-directed, I don’t know. It just seemed off, somehow, despite the fact that it did have a lot of fun moments and dialogue.
The opening focus on the mail guy didn’t work, since you immediately figure he’s going to be important in the story, no matter how much banter you surround him with.
Jake 2.0. Jake 2.0. Jake 2.0. Stop hurting yourself with shows that are shadows of their former selves and try a show that doesn’t hurt for once. Try it for one week, I tell you!
I was giggling like a little girl through most of this week’s angel. The fact that I’m a 30 year old man, and not a little girl…well you see where I’m going.
Anyway favorite moments from this weeks show.
Angel after being thrown through the window….I hate this place.
Angel watching the night of the living luchadors as they run past him to collect weapons.
“The devil has built a robot!”
The only thing that would have made the last scene funnier, is if the wieght lifting luch would have spit out his ciggie, then dropped the weights. Or is this just me?
Overall I’m really enjoying this seasons Angel, which seems more tongue in cheek then previous seasons. They don’t seem to be taking themselves too seriously and that’s my favorite type of writing.
Maybe that explains why I love Peter’s writing so much?
**>>Juliet Landau…..I think she’d be perfect. <<
Mm. Good suggestion. But I’d rather see the great, but underrated Valerie Mahaffey as Maris!
And I liked ‘Angel’ this week! Although I will miss the shots of a seemingly incongruous, Mexican – wrestling – masked mailroom grunt pushing his cart through the halls of Wolram & Hart!
Hooper**
Since Valerie was in the same episode as Frasier’s receptionist I don’t think that will happen. Besides, I don’t think that Valerie is skinny enough to play Maris from the way she’s been described. Of course, they have exaggerated it some. Actually, I always thought that the actress who played Niles’ second wife, Jane Adams, would have been perfect for Maris.
Although I haven’t seen the series, who’s to say her name isn’t Tru Calling? On “Have Gun Will Travel,” the Richard Boone character kept handing out those business cards with the chess knight that read “Wire Paladin, San Francisco.” I always assumed that his first name was Wire. Otherwise, those telegrams of distress might have ended up at the door of Melvin Paladin, his caterer brother-in-law.
I stopped watching Frasier in whichever season Daphne was going to marry Donny, Niles’ divorce lawyer, it just seems to have long since run it’s course, especially if they show Marris, there’s no way she can live up to the mental image everyone will have built up. But then everyone likes different things, I just prefer the style of humor from the beginning of the series.
If you’re going to split in two, could you PLEASE put Angel & Smallville in the same thread, huh?
But me on the sde of liking Angel – I thought the whole concersation about Angel attacking #5 was great, and the rest of the episode rated pretty good (esp. the “You were trying to get me to join in your mission.” “No, I was trying to give you mail.”)
Incidentally, they appear to have totally abandoned the concept of Angel needing an invitation to get into someone’s home, unless he had stopped over by the guy’s house for tea some time before…
And if not…”Faith the Vampire Slayer” anybody?
Hëll, yes.
Angel:
I asked a similar question about the invitation thing on another board and someone suggested Numero Cinco grabbing him and hauling him through the doorway counted as a non-verbal invitation.
All in all, I think it was a great episode. The Luchedore storyline was a lot of fun, there was great dialogue and we had some continuity/foreshadowing moments with the prophecies and the reference to the memory wipe.
I liked this week’s Angel. The whole thing about heroism and the Mexican culture stuff was well done. I especially thought the idea that Mexican wrestlers were once the protectors of the Mexican and Chicano citizens of Los Angeles was a blast (what do you want to bet the Asian population used to be protected by a group of Kung Fu fighting monks). I was mainly just glad that they used a demon from an actual mythology. There’s a wealth of folklore and myth out there and the folks writing these shows keep inventing their own baddies who come from an inordinate number of hëll dimensions. The Aztec thing was a nice break. My one problem: we should have seen some of El Robotico Diabolico.
Personally, I loved this week’s Angel. Moody yet humorous, with a lot going on and yet with a story that began and ended without being pat. Oh, and they finally remembered LA’s ethnic diversity.
OK, since Numero Cinco has been in the background of every episode this season, I wonder if they had this week’s episode planed all along, or they figured “Hey, let’s put in a Mexican wrestler as the mail delivery guy and see if we can come up with something for him to do later.”
I thought this week’s Angel, but then again, I’m an easy sell for Mexican wrestling midgets. I didn’t get the idea that Angel was necessarily snapped out of his funk at the end – more like he was trying to convince himself to be.
What I loved about the Angel-Wesley exchange about the Devil’s Robot was the wistful look on Wesley’s face. He’s obviously thinking back to a goofier, more charming, and more innocent time, when the threats were simpler. I imagine it’s the look on, oh, the Thing’s face when he thinks about the Living Eraser versus the current crop of super-baddies.
I liked the idea of heroes blood making the Aztec demon “nigh-invulnerable,” a nod to Edlund’s Tick?:
“Ticks suck blood. Do you suck blood? You don’t suck blood.”
“I do to suck blood. I have a straw right here, mister!”
I finished with West Wing last week. I forgot to put a tape into the VCR, and when I realized this about 20 minutes into the show, I didn’t care enough to go fix it.
Sounds like I didn’t miss much.
Too bad, that was the last network show I enjoyed watching. I’m now offically done with TV.
West Wing; I guess my preview of this weeks show was metaphorically correct. Bartlet jumped that tank of sharks.
Angel; Enjoyed the hëll out of it. Bring on El Robotico Diablo. And now we have to see it the Shandingamacallit prophesy was for Angel or Spike.
West Wing: I agree – The staff isn’t what it once was, and everyone dumping on Josh was too much to believe. Although it’s easy to see that some of Bartlett’s funk is from his wife (apparently) leaving him, He should be able to pull out of it more easily than he has.
Angel: One of the best episodes yet. It had great moments, wasn’t fully serious, and had lots of memorable lines. Like an old episode of Buffy, which got me hooked to that series.
West Wing – I like that they want to show what being in the white house ‘doghouse’ feels like, but it’s obvious they didn’t think this plot through. Please, correct me if I’m wrong but Tom Skerritt’s move to switch parties is anything but the trump card that’s been made out to be. Sure, Republicans at Capitol Hill will welcome the change and the press that comes with it, but as far as I can see, it’s career suicide.
It was already established that the Senator was voting with the Republicans on most of the Bills, so it’s not that big of a blow for the Bartlett administration. And I have to imagine that half of his constituency (lets call them ‘the true Democrats’) will leave him, plus he won’t have as much power within the Republican party of his state (not only did he used to be a democrat, but ultimately is a democrat that is out for himself first and the party second). Plus I imagine his candidacy will be challenged by any Republican who was in line to run against him (and this person will most likely hammer him with all that negative propaganda that Josh leaked). So, unless Tom Skerritt’s character was about to retire, this was a dumb move. And if he was, this is still not a great blow to the Bartlett Administration. Heck, CJ has made bigger mistakes… just last week, she disobeyed a direct request (A BIG NO-NO!); while Josh (at the time) had the full support of his boss when he hard lined the Senator.
Anyway, if somebody thinks differently, please say so. Otherwise, I see Tom Skerritt’s character having to run as an independent (reminds me of the old Rough Rider himself)… and loosing badly! Which, ultimately makes the whole thing awash. A temper tantrum at best.
Angel – The world through children’s eyes!
I used to love Mexican Wrestling B-Movies when I was a kid. There was a mixture of super-heroics, danger and sexual tension that was both exhilarating and scary.
As a kid, I was the Calvin & Hobbes type. The only difference is that instead of a stuffed tiger I had a Batman costume (and at age 5, I’m pretty sure I wore that thing out in public…ouch!). Now, imagine turning your TV On and seeing hordes of shirtless masked wrestlers, wearing nothing but tights and capes, riding out on their Harleys with their high-heeled bikini clad girlfriends in tow! And they were off to fight Dracula who had a harem of vampirettes ready to seduce our heroes or at the very least, turn their girlfriends into vampires too! Can you say! BOING!
And you have to give it up for Dracula. The girlfriends were frail. He was scary. And his henchmen were all scantly cladded babes with a penchant for necking.
Oh, and did I mentioned that wrestling was REAL in 1976? Well it was!
Flash forward to 2003. And all I can say is this…
We shouldn’t let our heroes get old. I mean, I know those Mexican B-Movies are silly. That’s why I’ve never seen them again (my recollection of reality is much better than reality itself). But seeing Numero 5 like that was depressing. Sure, the point was to show what happens when you loose your heart, your passion for life; but the whole thing begged the question (at least to me)… Should our heroes die young? (Like numeros 1-4), or get old (like Numero 5). So how about it PAD. If you were to write ‘The last Superman Story’ would you go with the young Elvis or the old Elvis? It seems Alan Moore went with young Kal- El (as did the creators of Superman’s Secret Weapon, Supergirl). But then again, you might be a fan of Don Quijote, and like in Elliot S! Maggin’s tale, have the Eldest Son of Krypton embark on one last impossible (dream) journey into space. Soooooo, what would PAD do? (and what do you guys think?)
I did like the second season of “Angel.” I’m just saying I don’t think I’d care to see the identical character arc again.
PAD
West Wing:
I’m tending to agree with DneColt.
I loaned a friend my tape of the current season. The condition was
that I have it back before Wednesday’s episode. I came to realize that it wasn’t worth the gas to go pick it up.
The way this show has gone downhill so quickly just leads to conspiracy
theory. Maybe NBC is embarassed that their “must see” ER isn’t the
show winning the Emmys. Maybe Sheen was too outspoken about the
war, and they just want the show to fall off the map.
It’s just sad.
What’s really ironic, is that for all the talk about a more balanced
right wing/left wing perspective, the Bravo re-runs show that
the Barlett administration takes
its lumps fairly regularly, and shows at least some Republicans
in a fair light. Of course, that’s
from my skewed Liberal Democratic
bleeding heart perspective.
–Ed
I didn’t see Tru Calling (and I agree with you about Angel — a good episode, and “El Roboto Satanico” was a brilliant gag. I just wish there had been a flashback to it), but the concept seems a little weak to me. I think they need a better hook. Like that Eliza Dushku is in the same situation, only “Tru” is short for “Truman Capote.”
Or something.
I liked this week’s Angel. It was odd, but it was the kind of odd that ME does really well. (“The Talent Show,” anyone?) It had good gags, a strong script, good guest-stars, and a nice little under-metaphor to toss around in my brain for a while. My favorite episode so far this season (tied with the Spike/Reaper one).
“The way this show has gone downhill so quickly “
Did you actually watch it last year? It was dreadful. And it was still all Sorkin all the time. Yes the speech was snapier, but the plots were bad (they spent season 2 & 3 building up to a huge Presidential race, and then blew it off with a GWB clone.) There’s a reason everyone was surprised that it one the Emmy (there’s the lead for your conspiracy theory).
Sorkin bailed on the show that he had been driving into the ground.
Frankly, this episode showed promise…Should Josh be in the doghouse over this this bad? Not to the history of the show, but it gives them something to work with. They’re clearly moving some pieces around, setting up the board to try to keep the show going for a longer time. It will either tank or not. But puhleaze, West Wing has been sinking since at least last season if not before. (I’d frankly put it at the neverending MS storyline, which was more or less dropped when they realized no one cared.)
I was really hoping that Angel would open the 4 Lucha-ghosts a job…he needs a back up team.
I miss the old West Wing. This week’s episode left me feeling confused and bereft. I’d hoped to see an hour’s worth of intelligence; instead I saw only an episode without a redeeming moment, filled with out-of-character actions and reactions. Who are these people and what are they doing in the Bartlett White House?
Tru Calling is better than I thought it would be. Somehow I’d missed the bit about the death rate going up after Tru’s mom died; the idea that Tru might be picking up where her mom left off is appealling.
I really miss the Story Arc on Angel. Freak of the Week doesn’t do it for me, but I’ll take what I can get.
On West Wing, the one thing I like is that Josh is going to start taking care of things that he cares about, but never had time to do so.
Travis
I guess what I’ve been missing in the post-Sorkin West Wing is the sense that these people are enjoying their jobs (despite the blows to their personal lives) working for the greatest good, a higher purpose. If I want to know about a White House that can’t help people, that is too much in a funk to raise the moral and ethical bar for us all…i’ll just pick up the New York Times. The Sorkin White House was never a realistic one–it was a fantasy-projection of what we all hope/know it could be. This season the hope for a better government is gone, only stark (depressing) reality remains.
Sorkin’s West Wing was a celebration of public service in the White House. My only gripe was that he (generally) only assigned the nobleness to the White House. Nearly everyone else (on both sides of the aisle) were evil politicians.
However, I’m getting annoyed with the new year as well. The only semi-interesting story is CJ losing faith over the assassination, but that seems to be the “barely-touched, long-term investment” plotline that will grow tiresome in a matter of about 2-3 more shows.
Senators do occasionally change their parties in real life — Ben Nighthorse Campbell switched from D to R in 1995, and has been re-elected since; James Jeffords switched from R to I, voting with D, a couple of years ago; Richard Shelby went D to R in 1994 (about 10 seconds after being re-elected as a Democrat, thank you very much) and has since been re-elected as an R. They do only when they think their constituents will follow them over.
On Josh — the fact that Josh has been loyal to the WH isn’t really relevant to the problem, which is that a large part of his job in is to deal with members of Congress, and they’re the ones who want no part of him. In real political life, I think Josh would be gone.
Thanks for the perspective, DonBoy.
Is the Leo that said to Josh “as long as I have a job, you have a job” the same Leo that is now turning his back on Josh? I don’t think so. And Toby has a right to start worrying about “the Bartlet Legacy”–I am too.
My two favorite lines have already been noted: “I hate this place” and “…nigh-invulnerable….”. For the first. I imagine Angel lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling, not even having moved from having been thrown. The tone reminded me of “I got a rock” from the old Peanuts Halloween special.
I very much enjoyed this episode of Angel.
Oh, and (having caught a few minutes of modern-day wrestling while waiting for CSI re-runs last year), the Mexican wrestling scene looked real, even though it was certainly acting. Maybe it’s just that the guys on Angel were better actors than your average WWE dude?
ANGEL:
Nice change of pace episode overall. But is there a master plan for this season? The episodes have been enjoyable enough, although I still get the sneaky suspicion that something is going to hit the fan before the season finale.
TRU CALLING:
In last week’s episode Peter, Tru was able to prevent everything that went wrong as far as she knows, but there was one scene that established that her older sister is still using cocaine despite Tru intercepting what was her original order of the junk.
Take care.
Yeah, I’ll agree that the West Wing last season was creatively downhill compared to the previous seasons.
But I think that almost every drama series, as time wears on, stretches itself thin, especially those that are based in “reality.” Take a show like “the Practice,” for example. It won “Best Drama” during its first couple of years, and the storytelling in those first three seasons is absolutely bar none fantastic. But, once season four, five, six, and seven began to wear on, the show became more melodramatic, more shock driven, more convoluted. Same with NYPD Blue. Same with ER. Same with almost every other long-standing drama on TV now.
It happens. I will say, I’d gladly trade the work of Sorkin last season for the display of the staff writers this season thus far. I’m not saying its a bad show now…I don’t doubt the talent of the current writers, and in fact, I think it’s still probably better than most other long-standing drama series still on television. But compared to the show in its infancy? The show has changed.
I’d like to have an optimistic yet struggling Bartlet White House, and not just a struggling, flailing, fighting, bickering, pìššëd Bartlet White House we’ve seen thus far.
Like I said, these people are friends. They sit around and drink beers together and discuss the world. They play pool. They respect one another. This season, they seem like antagonists for one another. The President’s pìššëd at Leo, Leo’s pìššëd at Josh, C.J. is pìššëd at the President, Toby’s pìššëd at everyone, Will is pìššëd at Toby, etc.
“The West Wing” has always represented the White House I wish really existed. Now, it doesn’t embody that anymore. It disappoints me.
The big bads of the ME shows usually don’t start to make a fuss until the 7th or 8th episodes. Usually during November sweeps.
Just hang tight, something will show up sooner or later.
Senior Partner?
I’m glad to see someone else agrees with me that it’s completely asinine for the way Josh is being treated by his own people.
I was pretty ticked off throughout the whole episode over it.
I was particularly happy to see that Donna continues to be the one true person in his life.
That scene at the end when she brought in the folder she’d been keeping was a nice touch.
Otherwise, I’m becoming more and more fed up with this limp wristed writing they keep turning out.
I can’t believe that every single person here could not correctly remember the name “El Diablo Robotico.”
That was a great line!
I’d ask you to review “Clone Wars” but it would probably take 5-10 eps to even see enough to form an opinion.
What, no 24 reviews?
The only way this week’s Angel would’ve been better was if they had snuck some Los Straitjackets music onto the soundtrack. (For those of you who don’t know, LS is the rockabilly band who performs and poses for publicity photos in Mexican wrestling masks. They are very cool.)
Couldn’t let this week’s episode slide without a shout-out to them…
-D.