Another season gone

By Marilyn Armstrong on 07/06/2013 • ( 2 )

So many hopes and dreams died and I’m not particularly optimistic that anything better — or even as good — will be offered. Still, one lives in hope. Or anyway, I live in hope. Takes the despair out of watching television. Some of the good ones from last year survived. but overall, the dumbing down of television is relentless. I am convinced that eventually, any semblance of intelligent series will be eliminated. Part of the whole cynicism thing. If I like the show I can almost guarantee it won’t survive its first year.

Last September slipped into mid-October when I originally wrote this and we settled into watching what we could find that we didn’t hate. A few things we liked. Some stuff, we almost liked and though if it got a chance, it might just make it. Mostly, it didn’t. Here and there, a few bright spots remain.

This author reserves the right to change her mind at any time without warning. And without explaining herself. This is about network television series. Not even a hint of life and death. TELEVISION. Are we all clear on this? No ranting or swearing. I’m not in a tolerant mood. Find somewhere else to fight. Just so you know.

What happened?

Blue Bloods – Renewed

Favorite after NCIS, the show sometimes reminds me of the old Cosby show, except that the kids are adults and they’re all cops. It isn’t a unique concept, but it’s well done. Tom Selleck has matured and makes the kind of Police Commissioner every large city wishes it had. For that matter, he’s the father everyone wishes they had. Granddad, the old school commissioner from days gone by adds a bit of spice. The adult children are each different, ranging from obsessive and a bit deranged (in a good way), to snarky, sarcastic and some might even say bitchy. Yet they manage to be believable as they hang together in crisis and snipe at each other the rest of the time. The next generation is growing up. With a little luck, this show will last. That the family doesn’t always get along really helps keep the series from getting too treacly. Against all odds, the show made it through another season and will return next year. Yay.

Actor Michael Chiklis (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Vegas – Cancelled

It was good. It had drama, decent scripts, good acting. So they cancelled it. With Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis as the two oppositional forces, it worked. Good acting and a scripts weren’t enough.

Nashville – Renewed

I don’t much care because we stopped watching it a while back. It had potential, but slid immediately into soap opera . Nashville shows the price you pay for glamor. It posed the bigger question that no one can answer: How much is fame worth to you if it will surely eat you and spit you out in pieces? Great premise. Pity about the turgid writing and acting and the phony sub-plots.

The Mentalist – Renewed

Back again. Entertainment on the slightly heavy side of light. It’s fun to watch, usually, and maybe, with a little help from a few hallucinations, the show will finally move on from Red John into some other storyline. Enough Red John. Time for something else. I’m really done with this storyline. I’m at the tooth-gnashing stage, so writers, get it together.

Private Practice – Cancelled (and none too soon)

We stopped watching it last season but gave it another try this year. The intricately melodramatic personal lives of doctors was annoying last year but became depressing this year. Is that an improvement? I couldn’t see any reason to watch it. It was no longer interesting, funny, or intriguing. And it wasn’t going anywhere but downhill.

Grey’s Anatomy – Renewed (why?)

A notch above the now defunct Private Practice only because the actors are better (sometimes), but in my unenlightened opinion, the series’ melodramatic over-acting is boring. Or ridiculous. Another prime time soap. Sandra Oh was the bright spot and she was mostly MIA. Add a heavy dose of death and misery and you have a genuinely missable viewing experience. Cross it off my list. Again.

CSI – Renewed

Danson brought new life to this moribund series. It’s an improvement. Still not a thrill a minute or as quirky and interesting as it was with Peterson, but it has moved along and shows signs of new life. It’s still limping, but it has usable legs again. Maybe with a couple of new cast members and clever scripts, it’ll find a new lease on life.

Person of Interest – Renewed

It is what it is. Against all odds, they made the characters more interesting, given them back stories and a hint of depth. Maybe season 3 will be their breakthrough. They’ve got the pieces in place. Let’s see how they play them.

Criminal Minds – Renewed

This show needs an injection of something. Ideas? Better scripts? Originality? Snappier dialogue? Less personal angst? Nice it’s been renewed for another year, but it has gotten so predictable — and so grim. We can sing along with the dialogue on shows we haven’t seen before. Not a good sign. Unless it perks up, I doubt it has long to live. It’s become … well … dull. Yawn.

Bones – Renewed

They got past baby and went back to work. For which I am grateful. This show really doesn’t work as a domestic comedy. Without the bones, gore, gristle and goo, it was merely silly. Temperance grew a bit this season … as have Booth, Cam and the rest of the cast. Overall, Bones has better scripts than most network series and that’s what makes it worth watching.

NCIS – Renewed

This show remains the highlight of our viewing week. Leroy Jethro Gibbs and crew are our light in the long dark tunnel that is network television. The news that Mark Harmon signed for 2 more years is heartening. We are grateful. David McCallum is back and good as ever.

Major Crimes – Cancelled

The Closer spinoff wasn’t as good as The Closer, but it was pretty good and had potential, but it’s gone. Bye bye.

Law & Order: SVU – Renewed

I still think this series is over. We stopped watching it regularly three season ago, even intermittently the season before last. Talk about predictable. Wrap it up and move on.

Thirty Rock – Finished

It’s was fun while it lasted, but it really was over. Sometimes, it’s time to turn out the lights and go home.

Elementary – Renewed

I like it. Interesting characters, good scripts, not always predictable. It might even continue to improve. Isn’t that a concept!

The Good Wife – Renewed

Through its early seasons, the show moved forward. Characters developed, plots got complicated, but situations resolved and didn’t get stuck. Now, though, they are in a cycle of annoying characters, irritating yet strangely tense situations. Renewed or not, it annoys me. Everyone on the show annoys me.

In summary

Maybe there will be more good stuff coming up. I’m grateful to movie channels and especially Turner Classics, as well as the World Series for keeping us from becoming comatose.

We need a breakout season on television. It’s been too long since there’s been anything to get excited about. It’s not as bad as it could be, but that’s not saying much.