Ramblings and Musings of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

So part 2 of the CHiPs saga thankfully reaffirmed my faith in the show. I still don't find it believable that Ponch could find such an annoying person attractive, but he broke things off right after the kiss and said it shouldn't have happened. Both he and the girl decided by episode's end that there had just been some crushing/infatuation and they were going to be friends.

The best part of the episode was totally when Ponch finally chewed her out for being such a smarmy jerk all the time. And when both girls got disciplined for disobeying orders yet again.

The main girl randomly realized, after a while of being angry, that it was right for them to be disciplined. It didn't quite make sense to me that she would suddenly mature like that, as there was no scene really leading up to it. It reminded me of how Once randomly decided to make Hook good after having him be so nasty. But whatever, I was glad to see some acknowledgment by the show's writers that the character needed to get over herself and grow up.

Both girls finally did something right and made a good judgment call that helped bring three escaped convicts to justice. And they were made full-fledged motorcycle officers. So things ended nice.

... Except that Ponch's girlfriend never did stop being annoying or be willing to listen to explanations when the other girls were around (even though she KNEW they worked with Ponch and would be around). He really needs to find someone better than her. There's plenty out there.

I was going to write about our latest shopping trip, but I've had this entry up for hours with the computer on stand-by. I've been up doing Christmas things for hours and I need to close the computer and try to get some sleep. I could leave the entry saved in LJ and finish it later, but I think I'll post it now and write about the shopping in a separate entry later.

So I watched part 1 of a CHiPs saga where Ponch is training a female motorcycle officer. She is seriously irritating, so cheeky and smarmy and disobedient. She's kind of a female counterpart to Ponch in some ways, but much more annoying. Usually I like Ponch; even when he's doing something stupid, he manages to be endearing.

At the end of part 1, Ponch is yelling at her for doing something really dumb and disobeying him and getting herself into life-threatening danger (seriously, he barely rescued her from being stuck in a car that blew up seconds later), and she's enjoying watching him blow his stack and you just know she doesn't really grasp the problem that she REALLY DID A DUMB THING and then Ponch goes and kisses her and she kisses back and part 1 ends.

Yawn. I know that back in 1980, they probably couldn't think of any way to do a script of a guy and a girl working so closely together without dragging romantic attractions into the mix. But seriously? What an eye-roller. And I really wouldn't expect Ponch to fall for someone so much like himself in some ways. He has a soft spot for kids who are growing up kind of the way he did, but that's a far cry from falling in love with someone acting like him. Then again, maybe it's not such a stretch for him. But in any case, I don't like it. Maybe I wouldn't be so irritated by it if the girl was actually likable.

Her roommate is a little annoying too, but overall she's much more tolerable. I really don't tend to like female characters who are in a constant state of amusement over the fact that guys find them attractive, though. Being a little amused by that in certain situations where it comes out would be different, but a constant state of that is just irritating. It makes them seem kind of ... uppity.

Oh, and then there's some girl that Ponch was apparently seeing kind of steadily. Long before the end of the episode and the romantic nonsense, the girlfriend walked in on a situation that looked bad but was really innocent. And, as is typical of girlfriend characters in shows, she isn't really up for hearing explanations. When another related innocent problem happens later, she just walks out and refuses to hear explanations. If she'd had trouble with Ponch before, maybe it would be more understandable, but as it stood, that seemed to be the first time there was any trouble. She should have been more willing to listen. And honestly? Being so smarmy with Ponch's friend and inviting Ponch to a party that turned out to be a party Ponch was throwing is just ... ugh! Of all the gall!

So overall, totally not impressed with any of the guest-starring females in that episode. At least Bonnie, the regular female cop from season 3 on, was awesome as always.

I'll be recording part 2 later day to watch, of course. But I am totally not expecting much from it. I'll be glad when we're past this saga and we can go back to Jon and Ponch patrolling the streets, as it should be.

I'm excited to work with Dad on getting some stuff Mom will like for Christmas. I just hope we'll be able to successfully do it without Mom seeing, since she'll be right there. And I just wish Dad was as easy to buy for as Mom is. I feel terrible that we probably won't have as much for him. It's so, so very hard to find things that he really likes.

I looked at Wal-Mart's Hello Kitty again and she was much more appealing this time around. The clothes are kind of cheaply sewn on, but gosh, she's so soft and cuddly. And so much cheaper than Build-a-Bear's. So she's back in the running. JP sent some lovely gift money and a wonderful card and I'm pondering how best to spend the money.

Another possibility is that Target is running a sale on certain Equestria Girls dolls and I've had my eye on the recent Sunset Shimmer with her hair done the right way. But since I already have a Sunset Shimmer (wrong hair notwithstanding), I'm not sure I could bring myself to buy another one when I have so little spending money. It's a struggle. I would be thrilled to be gifted the second Sunset, but actually buying her when I could instead buy something I don't have in any form makes me quibble. I think there's a Rarity doll that's also part of the sale, and I don't have Rarity in doll form yet. There's also the Cutie Mark Crusader doll set, which is probably too expensive, but I couldn't even find the price on it when we were at Target last time.

I could get a DVD; I really want Maleficent. I saw that in the theatre and I adored it. Bringing out that true love isn't just romantic? And that it's not going to happen after just meeting someone once? Oh yes, please!

Or, of course, I could combine the gift money with some other money and get something at Build-a-Bear, which was my original plan. But when push comes to shove, I think I'd rather have a character I like better than Pinkie, and I'm not sure that the pure white Hello Kitty is going to be back in stock. (And I must admit, I cringe to think of how much it would cost to dress her. She would have to have clothes.)

I will be highly amused if I end up deciding to stick to the original plan and get Pinkie anyway. If she entrances me as much as she did last year, it could happen.

So 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.