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30 Day TV meme in 15 days - days 5 and 6
Jun. 22nd, 2010 06:18 pmDay 05 - A show you hate
Criminal Minds. Some very smart people love this show, and from many hours of being in the room on the computer while someone else has it on, I’m damned if I can see why, when it‘s the same old thing most of the time. You get the opening sequence where the serial killer murders someone. The plane. The quotation from some famous writer. Meeting the local cops, who are glad to have the FBI team aboard. More murders. Presenting the profile to the local cops (one sentence per team member). Someone puts the clues together. The big beautiful techno-geek does her thing. Finally we have a showdown with the killer, and a philosophical wrap-up with another quotation. Most of the acting is pretty good and there are episodes that depart from the formula. I’ll actually admit that the one set in Guantanamo Bay was pretty good. But overall I just don’t see what keeps people coming back week after week.
I suppose a Columbo fan isn’t the first person who should be throwing stones about formulaic shows. But Columbo’s formula had to do with the relationship between the detective and the murderer, not with plot points that you kept seeing over and over.
Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show
The Photographer (Mission: Impossible) OR A Deadly State of Mind (Columbo)
The “crème de la crème” episodes of Mission: Impossible are the ones where everything seems to come together - a strong villain, a clever idea, and an ending you don’t see coming until the moment you’re supposed to, at which point you say, “Holy moley, they’re not going to…” and of course they do. “The Mind of Stefan Miklos”, “The Council,” and “The Exchange”, to name three superb examples. What makes “The Photographer” my favorite among these is the sheer audacity of what they get the bad guys to think is happening, and how far away it is from reality. If you haven’t seen it, get a copy and watch!
When a Columbo episode fails to knock my socks off, it’s usually because the ending is weak -- rather than finding a flaw in the murderer’s scheme, Columbo sets a trap that the murderer (usually rather stupidly) falls into. Or, more acceptably but still not dazzlingly, he finds a flaw, not in the initial crime, but in the steps the murderer takes to cover things up after he realizes Columbo is on his trail.
Not so here! Not only is the clue that trips up the murderer fiendishly clever, not only is it rooted in the original crime, but the sequence where Columbo trots it out is funny as hell. Usually they kept the humor for Columbo’s character bits, but here you’re laughing even as our hero gets ready to pull out the handcuffs.
If I have to break the tie, I’ll go with “The Photographer” -- a genuinely stunning effort. And although no one cracks a smile, the ending here is also pretty funny.
Criminal Minds. Some very smart people love this show, and from many hours of being in the room on the computer while someone else has it on, I’m damned if I can see why, when it‘s the same old thing most of the time. You get the opening sequence where the serial killer murders someone. The plane. The quotation from some famous writer. Meeting the local cops, who are glad to have the FBI team aboard. More murders. Presenting the profile to the local cops (one sentence per team member). Someone puts the clues together. The big beautiful techno-geek does her thing. Finally we have a showdown with the killer, and a philosophical wrap-up with another quotation. Most of the acting is pretty good and there are episodes that depart from the formula. I’ll actually admit that the one set in Guantanamo Bay was pretty good. But overall I just don’t see what keeps people coming back week after week.
I suppose a Columbo fan isn’t the first person who should be throwing stones about formulaic shows. But Columbo’s formula had to do with the relationship between the detective and the murderer, not with plot points that you kept seeing over and over.
Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show
The Photographer (Mission: Impossible) OR A Deadly State of Mind (Columbo)
The “crème de la crème” episodes of Mission: Impossible are the ones where everything seems to come together - a strong villain, a clever idea, and an ending you don’t see coming until the moment you’re supposed to, at which point you say, “Holy moley, they’re not going to…” and of course they do. “The Mind of Stefan Miklos”, “The Council,” and “The Exchange”, to name three superb examples. What makes “The Photographer” my favorite among these is the sheer audacity of what they get the bad guys to think is happening, and how far away it is from reality. If you haven’t seen it, get a copy and watch!
When a Columbo episode fails to knock my socks off, it’s usually because the ending is weak -- rather than finding a flaw in the murderer’s scheme, Columbo sets a trap that the murderer (usually rather stupidly) falls into. Or, more acceptably but still not dazzlingly, he finds a flaw, not in the initial crime, but in the steps the murderer takes to cover things up after he realizes Columbo is on his trail.
Not so here! Not only is the clue that trips up the murderer fiendishly clever, not only is it rooted in the original crime, but the sequence where Columbo trots it out is funny as hell. Usually they kept the humor for Columbo’s character bits, but here you’re laughing even as our hero gets ready to pull out the handcuffs.
If I have to break the tie, I’ll go with “The Photographer” -- a genuinely stunning effort. And although no one cracks a smile, the ending here is also pretty funny.