Oh dear....
Sep. 7th, 2014 10:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladybug_archiveSo last week on Monday MeTV started their new Fall schedule. First day went fine. Second day, Tuesday, our local affiliate had a really dumb screw-up that caused them to air everything an hour earlier than it was supposed to. We tried to watch CHiPs, but because of the screw-up, we got the TV on at what was then the wrong time.
I was really mad, not just that such a dumb thing had happened, but also that it had happened right after the new schedule went into effect. I'm sure there were lots of people trying to get the new shows and were disappointed.
I complained. On MeTV's Facebook, on their website, on the local affiliate's website, and on their after-hours answering machine. I was civil, especially on the phone, but I made it clear that I was not happy one bit.
The next day the problem was fixed. And I noticed to my chagrin that the local affiliate had actually called back on my cellphone. I didn't catch the call and I don't have voicemail set up, so there was no message, but I immediately worried whether I'd sounded nasty on the message I left on the answering machine. I hope not. I honestly hadn't expected them to call back. Naturally the mess was a stupid accident, but it was aggravating that they weren't paying close enough attention to prevent it from happening. It's not like no one was there and that's how it went wrong; Labor Day was the day when the schedule went correctly. The next day, when people came back to work, is when it messed up.
Also, Naked City is one of the most depressing things I have ever seen. It was created or written or something by the same guy who did Route 66, but it doesn't seem to have that series' charm and hope.
I waited for ages for MeTV to show the Simon episode of Naked City, which was one of the half-hour ones. It was a piece of badly-written junk. There was barely any time to properly advance the plot and it ended in about the lamest way possible, with Simon and the other guy shooting each other dead. I am so glad I didn't try buying the series to get that episode.
I hoped that maybe the series improved when it went to an hour-long format. I found one of Joseph's three episodes, Memory of a Red Trolley Car or something like that, and watched some of it. Unfortunately, even though it was admittedly better written and developed things more, it still ended in a really discouraging way. This poor guy played by Barry Morse was exposed to some chemical and spent the episode roaming around in a daze. When they finally caught up to him and had him in the hospital, he told his wife something about their kids and she looked stricken. "We don't have any kids," she said. "He never wanted any." And it just ended like that.
The other two of Joseph's episodes are going to air this week, as Naked City is now airing six times a week. Joseph didn't have a big part in the Trolley episode and I'm wondering if he has any better screentime in the other two. They both sound like they're probably the same discouraging way as the others I've seen, so I'm wondering if they're even worth watching or recording at all.
Sometimes I don't mind a tragic episode of something here or there; it's certainly realistic. But I get really annoyed if it seems like that's all a series has. I can do without that. There's so many shows and stories that just have what seems to me to be unnecessary tragedies. Even if I get the point of why they're there, their existence can seriously bug me sometimes. I like to watch things largely to escape from reality, not be presented with it even more. And that's not to say that I think all fiction should be sunshine and rainbows; that would be annoying too. I guess I just want a better balance.
And The Man From U.N.C.L.E. started tonight, with season 1. I was slightly worried whether they'd go straight to the color episodes, but no, it looks like they're going to show it all. I hope the episodes will be uncut, especially since they're the only copies of seasons 1 and 3 I'm likely to have. (I own 4 on DVD.)
I don't know that I'll record much of season 2; there's a few I want, but mostly I found season 2 unmemorable and a drag. I am amused that I feel like that and adore season 3, instead of the other way around.
I am also amused how someone once told me that all the seasons after 1 focus more on Illya. Actually, that's not even true. The other seasons focus more on Napoleon and Illya as a team and try to have equal screentime for them both. There's really very little, if any, focus on Illya as the main man instead of Napoleon, which is the impression this person gave me. There's only even one episode in the entire series that doesn't have Napoleon in it at all, and that's in season 4.
I guess compared to season 1's focus on Napoleon doing missions by himself (note I'm trying to avoid the pun of him doing missions solo **headdesk**), it would look like reduced screentime in the other seasons, but honestly, it's not anywhere as much as I was told. Interesting how two people can look at the same thing and see entirely different things. This person doesn't like Illya, so I suppose any more screentime for him, even if it's equally balanced with Napoleon's, looks like way too much screentime in their eyes!
Also interesting is that normally I would just go for Illya, since he's the serious, aloof one. But I honestly can't choose between him and Napoleon. Illya is gloriously aloof, a softie at heart, and not that interested in romance, but Napoleon always makes me laugh. Some of his comments are just priceless.
I can't even fully say why some characters strike me and others don't. Normally the aloof ones are always my main mans. And then other times, I'll like the funny ones. They have to be a certain, intelligent kind of funny, like how I adore Micky in season 1 of The Monkees but can't stand him at times in season 2.
One type I very rarely go for is the streetwise type, which is probably one reason why, even though I like them and want them present, characters like Joey in YGO or Ponch on CHiPs are not my favorites.
Then it seems like the Jack Webb shows always have one single guy and one married guy. And one of them is generally a little weird. I think I like Jim Reed (the married one) better on Adam-12. (Neither he nor Pete fit into the "weird" category, though. But Jim is usually trying to convince Pete to get married, same as on Dragnet.) Then on Dragnet, I like the serious, single Sergeant Friday better than his strange partners (even though I'm very fond of Harry Morgan in general). But on Emergency!, John Gage (the single one and the oddball) is my favorite instead of the more quiet Roy. Johnny seriously amuses me and I'm just so fond of him in spite of his oddities (and occasionally because of them). I totally related to him in the episode where he kept getting woke up while trying to sleep and then he ended up not being able to sleep because he was worried he'd get woke up again. (And Ponch, although not from a Jack Webb show, definitely qualifies under the "weird" category too. LOL.)
Then when it comes to shows like Mannix or The Six Million Dollar Man, even though I love the main characters too, I go for their bosses even more. (And their bosses usually fit the standard pattern of what I typically like in characters.) I relate to them and their concerns and don't feel it's fair when people say those characters aren't as good because they don't just jump in and do what's "right" without question, like how Steve often disobeys his boss and does what he thinks is right. But his boss Oscar, for example, is in charge of a government agency. He has to think of the big picture, even if that's going to clash with what his agent Steve Austin wants to do. He has to worry about red tape and bureaucrats and be concerned about keeping his job. After all, he won't be able to do any good at all if he gets fired. But he tries to always support Steve and Jaime, and if his job ends up clashing with their safety, he puts his job on the line for them. Both he and Steve do what they feel is right; they just have different ideas sometimes on how to go about it. But I think they agree on methods many times when it matters the most.
So yeah. It's pretty much a show-by-show basis and I'm never sure which way I'll go until I'm into the show and watching it. It puzzles me a bit, and yet I think it's probably a good thing that I don't just strictly stick to one type of character for interest. Aloof, serious ones will always be my favorites in general, but it's kind of fun when I have some favorites that break a mold a bit.
I was really mad, not just that such a dumb thing had happened, but also that it had happened right after the new schedule went into effect. I'm sure there were lots of people trying to get the new shows and were disappointed.
I complained. On MeTV's Facebook, on their website, on the local affiliate's website, and on their after-hours answering machine. I was civil, especially on the phone, but I made it clear that I was not happy one bit.
The next day the problem was fixed. And I noticed to my chagrin that the local affiliate had actually called back on my cellphone. I didn't catch the call and I don't have voicemail set up, so there was no message, but I immediately worried whether I'd sounded nasty on the message I left on the answering machine. I hope not. I honestly hadn't expected them to call back. Naturally the mess was a stupid accident, but it was aggravating that they weren't paying close enough attention to prevent it from happening. It's not like no one was there and that's how it went wrong; Labor Day was the day when the schedule went correctly. The next day, when people came back to work, is when it messed up.
Also, Naked City is one of the most depressing things I have ever seen. It was created or written or something by the same guy who did Route 66, but it doesn't seem to have that series' charm and hope.
I waited for ages for MeTV to show the Simon episode of Naked City, which was one of the half-hour ones. It was a piece of badly-written junk. There was barely any time to properly advance the plot and it ended in about the lamest way possible, with Simon and the other guy shooting each other dead. I am so glad I didn't try buying the series to get that episode.
I hoped that maybe the series improved when it went to an hour-long format. I found one of Joseph's three episodes, Memory of a Red Trolley Car or something like that, and watched some of it. Unfortunately, even though it was admittedly better written and developed things more, it still ended in a really discouraging way. This poor guy played by Barry Morse was exposed to some chemical and spent the episode roaming around in a daze. When they finally caught up to him and had him in the hospital, he told his wife something about their kids and she looked stricken. "We don't have any kids," she said. "He never wanted any." And it just ended like that.
The other two of Joseph's episodes are going to air this week, as Naked City is now airing six times a week. Joseph didn't have a big part in the Trolley episode and I'm wondering if he has any better screentime in the other two. They both sound like they're probably the same discouraging way as the others I've seen, so I'm wondering if they're even worth watching or recording at all.
Sometimes I don't mind a tragic episode of something here or there; it's certainly realistic. But I get really annoyed if it seems like that's all a series has. I can do without that. There's so many shows and stories that just have what seems to me to be unnecessary tragedies. Even if I get the point of why they're there, their existence can seriously bug me sometimes. I like to watch things largely to escape from reality, not be presented with it even more. And that's not to say that I think all fiction should be sunshine and rainbows; that would be annoying too. I guess I just want a better balance.
And The Man From U.N.C.L.E. started tonight, with season 1. I was slightly worried whether they'd go straight to the color episodes, but no, it looks like they're going to show it all. I hope the episodes will be uncut, especially since they're the only copies of seasons 1 and 3 I'm likely to have. (I own 4 on DVD.)
I don't know that I'll record much of season 2; there's a few I want, but mostly I found season 2 unmemorable and a drag. I am amused that I feel like that and adore season 3, instead of the other way around.
I am also amused how someone once told me that all the seasons after 1 focus more on Illya. Actually, that's not even true. The other seasons focus more on Napoleon and Illya as a team and try to have equal screentime for them both. There's really very little, if any, focus on Illya as the main man instead of Napoleon, which is the impression this person gave me. There's only even one episode in the entire series that doesn't have Napoleon in it at all, and that's in season 4.
I guess compared to season 1's focus on Napoleon doing missions by himself (note I'm trying to avoid the pun of him doing missions solo **headdesk**), it would look like reduced screentime in the other seasons, but honestly, it's not anywhere as much as I was told. Interesting how two people can look at the same thing and see entirely different things. This person doesn't like Illya, so I suppose any more screentime for him, even if it's equally balanced with Napoleon's, looks like way too much screentime in their eyes!
Also interesting is that normally I would just go for Illya, since he's the serious, aloof one. But I honestly can't choose between him and Napoleon. Illya is gloriously aloof, a softie at heart, and not that interested in romance, but Napoleon always makes me laugh. Some of his comments are just priceless.
I can't even fully say why some characters strike me and others don't. Normally the aloof ones are always my main mans. And then other times, I'll like the funny ones. They have to be a certain, intelligent kind of funny, like how I adore Micky in season 1 of The Monkees but can't stand him at times in season 2.
One type I very rarely go for is the streetwise type, which is probably one reason why, even though I like them and want them present, characters like Joey in YGO or Ponch on CHiPs are not my favorites.
Then it seems like the Jack Webb shows always have one single guy and one married guy. And one of them is generally a little weird. I think I like Jim Reed (the married one) better on Adam-12. (Neither he nor Pete fit into the "weird" category, though. But Jim is usually trying to convince Pete to get married, same as on Dragnet.) Then on Dragnet, I like the serious, single Sergeant Friday better than his strange partners (even though I'm very fond of Harry Morgan in general). But on Emergency!, John Gage (the single one and the oddball) is my favorite instead of the more quiet Roy. Johnny seriously amuses me and I'm just so fond of him in spite of his oddities (and occasionally because of them). I totally related to him in the episode where he kept getting woke up while trying to sleep and then he ended up not being able to sleep because he was worried he'd get woke up again. (And Ponch, although not from a Jack Webb show, definitely qualifies under the "weird" category too. LOL.)
Then when it comes to shows like Mannix or The Six Million Dollar Man, even though I love the main characters too, I go for their bosses even more. (And their bosses usually fit the standard pattern of what I typically like in characters.) I relate to them and their concerns and don't feel it's fair when people say those characters aren't as good because they don't just jump in and do what's "right" without question, like how Steve often disobeys his boss and does what he thinks is right. But his boss Oscar, for example, is in charge of a government agency. He has to think of the big picture, even if that's going to clash with what his agent Steve Austin wants to do. He has to worry about red tape and bureaucrats and be concerned about keeping his job. After all, he won't be able to do any good at all if he gets fired. But he tries to always support Steve and Jaime, and if his job ends up clashing with their safety, he puts his job on the line for them. Both he and Steve do what they feel is right; they just have different ideas sometimes on how to go about it. But I think they agree on methods many times when it matters the most.
So yeah. It's pretty much a show-by-show basis and I'm never sure which way I'll go until I'm into the show and watching it. It puzzles me a bit, and yet I think it's probably a good thing that I don't just strictly stick to one type of character for interest. Aloof, serious ones will always be my favorites in general, but it's kind of fun when I have some favorites that break a mold a bit.
