So What's Josh Schwartz been Up To Then?
Thanks to the L337 tecknikal knowledge of a certain Miss ActonB - who I believe was schooled in the art of L337 by an even more certain Killer Rabbit - I've finally figured out the fine art of downloading.
And what have I been using these mad skillz for, you may ask? Well, aside from trying to get all those episodes of Ed that I missed due to Channel Ten treating it like whenever filler without enough regular viewers to care if it was on a Thursday one week or a Saturday the next week or a weekday midday the week after - and yes, it's old, and so I really am probably watching a copy someone taped on their *cough* VCR some seven years ago and the picture and sound quality aren't all that awesome but any Ed is better than no Ed and until the networks get their arses into gear and release this awesomeness onto DVD (and the chances of that happening seem to be slimming so fast that even Nicole Richie is jealous) this is going to have to do *sigh* (I love Ed), I've been catching up with some of the new shows that are yet to reach our outdated, antequated Australian shores - or if they have, aren't being made available to the free-to-air viewing public.
And where better to start than with the the new stuff Josh Schwartz is putting out there.
read the rest
Now, we all know who Josh Schwartz is - the son of New York toy inventors who started subsrcibing to Variety at the age of twelve and ended up being the youngest ever creator of a network television show at age 26*. That show was The OC, and it made him rather famous, and also rather hated when it all went a bit pear-shaped in the second and third seasons, and then it made him loved again when Season Four was awesome, but by then it was too late and it made him unemployed.
But not for long - in fact, he began working on two shows, both of which premiered in 'The Fall' over in the US. And both of which I - as a diehard OCite - have been rather curious about for quite a while.
And now I have seen the pilots of both, I'm ready to deliver some verdicts.
First off: Chuck. I wasn't sure about this one, because it's a step away from teen drama, but it's actually really ... adorkable. Everything about it is adorkable. Especially Chuck himself - the twenty-something Nerd Herder who lives with his sister and is still pining for his college girlfriend and who accidentally downloads the entire NSA and CIA databases into his brain (in cool clockwork orange picture form and featuring more pie that one might expect).
Why, yes, dimming the 'but how ...' part of ones brain at the door does help in ones enjoyment of this show. And, yes, it could very easily have been rather bad - and don't think there aren't a fair number of viewers out there that think it was - but I for one loved it. It's cheesy, it's cheeky and it doesn't take itself very seriously at all. But it also has heart - and Chuck (Zachary Levi ... who I've never seen before but who I kinda love a little bit now) is so likeable that it makes all the stupid stuff ... cool.
And there is plenty here that could be stupid: car chases, improbable fight scenes, a token 'hot spy chick' who spends a lot of time in her hotel room in her underwear, a Baldwin - but it's so much fun that I don't care at all.
Plus there's a character called Captain Awesome. And that, my friends, is awesome. The Verdict: Two very enthusiastic thumbs up - fine holiday fun.
Next up, I subjected myself to Gossip Girl. Which isn't really right, because it's hardly a chore watching so many pretty people running around New York being bitchy (unless you're asking me to watch Sex and The City ... because that is painful).
Gossip Girl is - thematically - a lot closer to The OC, and it's therefore a lot harder not to compare the two. This kinda sucks for Gossip Girl, because it lacks a lot of the heart that The OC had. It's also - unfortunately - based on a series of books (kinda like Sweet Valley High meets Famous magazine, or something), meaning it's got a second in-built group of haters right there because - gasp! - it dares to not follow the books to the letter.
Sigh. What would be the fun in that?
So I liked it. It's delightfully soapy. The cast are all pretty and they all get about in pretty clothes and go to pretty parties. And of course there is evil and darkness (mostly in the form of serial attempted-rapist Chuck (because apparently it was decided that every show that premiered on American TV last year had to feature at least one character called Chuck - and that's really why the writers went on strike, but you didn't hear it from me) who is the most despicable character who's graced my TV screen in some time) and lots of Beautiful People Behaving Badly.
It's flawed - the voiceover, while supremely cheesy and adding a lot to the feel of the show, needs a little bit more work, and you can see all the storylines getting way shlocky about halfway through the season - but I'm adding it to my list of Guilty Pleasures.
And despite the fact that I didn't love it as much as Chuck, the soapiness means I'm hanging out for the second episode a little bit more.
So, after seeing both the pilots - I'm seeing a bright future for Mr Schwartz, so long as he doesn't let these shows go the way of The OC. Really, the guy is older and wiser now (he's like ... 31) so there's no reason to think he'll make those juvenile 20-something mistakes all over again.
And if you've seen more than I have and I'm wrong ... please don't tell me. I need something to look forward to in the mostly bleak wasteland that is TV world.
* In other words, he got the life I wanted. Toy inventors? So cool.
And what have I been using these mad skillz for, you may ask? Well, aside from trying to get all those episodes of Ed that I missed due to Channel Ten treating it like whenever filler without enough regular viewers to care if it was on a Thursday one week or a Saturday the next week or a weekday midday the week after - and yes, it's old, and so I really am probably watching a copy someone taped on their *cough* VCR some seven years ago and the picture and sound quality aren't all that awesome but any Ed is better than no Ed and until the networks get their arses into gear and release this awesomeness onto DVD (and the chances of that happening seem to be slimming so fast that even Nicole Richie is jealous) this is going to have to do *sigh* (I love Ed), I've been catching up with some of the new shows that are yet to reach our outdated, antequated Australian shores - or if they have, aren't being made available to the free-to-air viewing public.
And where better to start than with the the new stuff Josh Schwartz is putting out there.
read the rest
Now, we all know who Josh Schwartz is - the son of New York toy inventors who started subsrcibing to Variety at the age of twelve and ended up being the youngest ever creator of a network television show at age 26*. That show was The OC, and it made him rather famous, and also rather hated when it all went a bit pear-shaped in the second and third seasons, and then it made him loved again when Season Four was awesome, but by then it was too late and it made him unemployed.
But not for long - in fact, he began working on two shows, both of which premiered in 'The Fall' over in the US. And both of which I - as a diehard OCite - have been rather curious about for quite a while.
And now I have seen the pilots of both, I'm ready to deliver some verdicts.
First off: Chuck. I wasn't sure about this one, because it's a step away from teen drama, but it's actually really ... adorkable. Everything about it is adorkable. Especially Chuck himself - the twenty-something Nerd Herder who lives with his sister and is still pining for his college girlfriend and who accidentally downloads the entire NSA and CIA databases into his brain (in cool clockwork orange picture form and featuring more pie that one might expect).
Why, yes, dimming the 'but how ...' part of ones brain at the door does help in ones enjoyment of this show. And, yes, it could very easily have been rather bad - and don't think there aren't a fair number of viewers out there that think it was - but I for one loved it. It's cheesy, it's cheeky and it doesn't take itself very seriously at all. But it also has heart - and Chuck (Zachary Levi ... who I've never seen before but who I kinda love a little bit now) is so likeable that it makes all the stupid stuff ... cool.
And there is plenty here that could be stupid: car chases, improbable fight scenes, a token 'hot spy chick' who spends a lot of time in her hotel room in her underwear, a Baldwin - but it's so much fun that I don't care at all.
Plus there's a character called Captain Awesome. And that, my friends, is awesome. The Verdict: Two very enthusiastic thumbs up - fine holiday fun.
Next up, I subjected myself to Gossip Girl. Which isn't really right, because it's hardly a chore watching so many pretty people running around New York being bitchy (unless you're asking me to watch Sex and The City ... because that is painful).
Gossip Girl is - thematically - a lot closer to The OC, and it's therefore a lot harder not to compare the two. This kinda sucks for Gossip Girl, because it lacks a lot of the heart that The OC had. It's also - unfortunately - based on a series of books (kinda like Sweet Valley High meets Famous magazine, or something), meaning it's got a second in-built group of haters right there because - gasp! - it dares to not follow the books to the letter.
Sigh. What would be the fun in that?
So I liked it. It's delightfully soapy. The cast are all pretty and they all get about in pretty clothes and go to pretty parties. And of course there is evil and darkness (mostly in the form of serial attempted-rapist Chuck (because apparently it was decided that every show that premiered on American TV last year had to feature at least one character called Chuck - and that's really why the writers went on strike, but you didn't hear it from me) who is the most despicable character who's graced my TV screen in some time) and lots of Beautiful People Behaving Badly.
It's flawed - the voiceover, while supremely cheesy and adding a lot to the feel of the show, needs a little bit more work, and you can see all the storylines getting way shlocky about halfway through the season - but I'm adding it to my list of Guilty Pleasures.
And despite the fact that I didn't love it as much as Chuck, the soapiness means I'm hanging out for the second episode a little bit more.
So, after seeing both the pilots - I'm seeing a bright future for Mr Schwartz, so long as he doesn't let these shows go the way of The OC. Really, the guy is older and wiser now (he's like ... 31) so there's no reason to think he'll make those juvenile 20-something mistakes all over again.
And if you've seen more than I have and I'm wrong ... please don't tell me. I need something to look forward to in the mostly bleak wasteland that is TV world.
* In other words, he got the life I wanted. Toy inventors? So cool.
Labels: Chuck, Gossip Girl
posted by MissE at
9:00 am
1 Comments:
Welcome to the darkside....I must now go and download the Gossip Girl that I have missed. As I now have Foxtel I could just watch it but that causes much moaning and groaning from Mr KR as he thinks I have enough teen American shows in my life - as if.
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