So I´ll be able to end the wonderful year of 2012 (it has been great in my personal life) I am going to compliment the actors on my favourite TV shows.
They all great actors and clearly dedicated to their craft and what they do. They make the TV shows enjoyable and thoughtful to watch and have a high standard which is good.
They keep their personal life seperate from their private life. I have not once found an article in a gossip magazine (which I flick through occasionally I admit) or in the local newspaper gossip section that mentions any of their names or their latest scandal or has a demenaing photo of them. It´s refreshing to see Hollywood/American actors that are not obsessed with being famous and/or being in the tabloids.
And that is something I greatly respect them for.
Happy New Year!
Monday, December 31, 2012
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Racial Diversity on TV - TV Equals and my thoughts
I recebtly discovered that TV equals (a good website) posted a great article abut racial diversity where they compared various TV shows on various networks and how they represented racial minorities. It was very interesting to read through the article and it´s very informative.
Click here to go to the article
I´ve already done something like this on my blog but I only looked at my favourite crime TV shows.
I was impressed to see that Castle scored an A grade because the have characters representing two minorities, African-American and Hispanic with three characters. And the officer running precinct number 12 is an African-American female! Now that is in my opinion a very good choice, seeing that most high ranking police offers on Crime shows today are Caucasian males. And the actress is also awesome.
I was not surprised with NCIS:LA scored a C. LL Cool J is the only African-American person (a person of racial minority) on the show. The rest are all Caucasian. But they regularly have people of minorities appear as minor characters and diplay racial diversity through their choice of extras and guest actors.
NCIS scored a B as they have an African-American and a Hispanic actrees (whom plays a Jew oddly enough). They like NCIS:LA display racial diversity through their choice of extras and guest actors. And they are the only series on American TV (I know of) that has a Jewish character which is odd, seeing how many American are of Jewish descent/are Jewish.
Criminal Minds scored a C as well and like NCIS:LA they only have one character of racial minority, in their case Derek Morgan as African-American (in fact biracial). And they don´t expres that much racial diversity in their choices of extras in my opinion. And what´s up with having Morgan only interrogate Af-Am suspects, not the rest of the characters? But Criminal Minds has touched upon racial profiling several times which is an important subject.
I am interested in seeing how racial diversity and different ethnicites are portrayed on TV show. It´s a messy business but interesting to observe.
Click here to go to the article
I´ve already done something like this on my blog but I only looked at my favourite crime TV shows.
I was impressed to see that Castle scored an A grade because the have characters representing two minorities, African-American and Hispanic with three characters. And the officer running precinct number 12 is an African-American female! Now that is in my opinion a very good choice, seeing that most high ranking police offers on Crime shows today are Caucasian males. And the actress is also awesome.
I was not surprised with NCIS:LA scored a C. LL Cool J is the only African-American person (a person of racial minority) on the show. The rest are all Caucasian. But they regularly have people of minorities appear as minor characters and diplay racial diversity through their choice of extras and guest actors.
NCIS scored a B as they have an African-American and a Hispanic actrees (whom plays a Jew oddly enough). They like NCIS:LA display racial diversity through their choice of extras and guest actors. And they are the only series on American TV (I know of) that has a Jewish character which is odd, seeing how many American are of Jewish descent/are Jewish.
Criminal Minds scored a C as well and like NCIS:LA they only have one character of racial minority, in their case Derek Morgan as African-American (in fact biracial). And they don´t expres that much racial diversity in their choices of extras in my opinion. And what´s up with having Morgan only interrogate Af-Am suspects, not the rest of the characters? But Criminal Minds has touched upon racial profiling several times which is an important subject.
I am interested in seeing how racial diversity and different ethnicites are portrayed on TV show. It´s a messy business but interesting to observe.
Actors of "international origin" on TV shows
As a Scandinavian that speaks 5 languages, there of 3 fluently and happens to have an obsessive interest in foreign languages I am always happy to discover American actors that speak more languages than English and are of foreign origin. And I am very partial (jokingly) towards actors that are of Scandinavian origin.
And to my endless delight, many actors on my favourite TV shows are of international origin.
Eric Christin Olsen is of Norwegian origin
Kristen Vangsness is alo of Norwegian origin
Daniela Ruah is Portuguese (and apparently a huge star in her own home country!)
Cote de Pablo is from Chile
Stana Katic is of Serbian origin
It´s always nice to hear Cote de Pablo speak Spanish. Considering how many Americans managed to butcher Spanish pronounciation it´s a delight to hear it spoken correctly and fluently. Not to mention what an incredible actress Cote is.
Eric´s character Deeks has mention regularly that he´s Norwegian-American and I´ve read interviews with the actor where he describes himself as 100% Norwegian so I am guessing he considers himself Norwegian.
Kristen Vangsness is just an awesome actress!
Stana Katic speaks Serbian and has a great name. Funnily enough, any person from my country pronounces her name right on first read (stah-na with a as in cat) but the actress has mentin in interviews that a lot of the time people call her stay-na. It´s great to have an actress with an unusual name. Not to mention that apparently she speak several languages.
Daniela Ruah is Portuguese and a very popular actress in her home country. I laughed out loud when I watched an interview with Barret Foa when he visited her in Lisbon and he was completely surprised that she was a huge star in her home country. And it´s great to hear her prattle away in Portuguese, surprising American interviewers. And to boot she speaks French well,with the correct accent and everything.
I like all the actors on my favourite TV shows but let´s face it, Norwegians on American TV are always awesome ;)
And to my endless delight, many actors on my favourite TV shows are of international origin.
Eric Christin Olsen is of Norwegian origin
Kristen Vangsness is alo of Norwegian origin
Daniela Ruah is Portuguese (and apparently a huge star in her own home country!)
Cote de Pablo is from Chile
Stana Katic is of Serbian origin
It´s always nice to hear Cote de Pablo speak Spanish. Considering how many Americans managed to butcher Spanish pronounciation it´s a delight to hear it spoken correctly and fluently. Not to mention what an incredible actress Cote is.
Eric´s character Deeks has mention regularly that he´s Norwegian-American and I´ve read interviews with the actor where he describes himself as 100% Norwegian so I am guessing he considers himself Norwegian.
Kristen Vangsness is just an awesome actress!
Stana Katic speaks Serbian and has a great name. Funnily enough, any person from my country pronounces her name right on first read (stah-na with a as in cat) but the actress has mentin in interviews that a lot of the time people call her stay-na. It´s great to have an actress with an unusual name. Not to mention that apparently she speak several languages.
Daniela Ruah is Portuguese and a very popular actress in her home country. I laughed out loud when I watched an interview with Barret Foa when he visited her in Lisbon and he was completely surprised that she was a huge star in her home country. And it´s great to hear her prattle away in Portuguese, surprising American interviewers. And to boot she speaks French well,with the correct accent and everything.
I like all the actors on my favourite TV shows but let´s face it, Norwegians on American TV are always awesome ;)
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Numb3rs
As I have seen every single episode of NCIS, NCIS:LA and Castle mulitple times I don´t watch old episodes of those series very much but rather the new one´s with excitement. And now that exam season is upon me at University I had to find a series to watch that would be entertaining, intelligent, I had not seen before and would help me rest my brain from all the studying. And the series I ended up choosing was Numb3rs.
I know that is kind of strange since Numb3rs was cancelled two years ago and I don´t get the feeling that a lot of people watch it anymore. But the series looked interesting and fun, I had seen some episodes before that I liked and I thought the characters were likeable and realistic. And I have not been disapointed in this series. I have infact enjoyed watching it very much. It´s not the best series I have seen but it´s very high quality and has a lot of things about it I appreciate. And in some respects it´s even better than my current favourite series. And here´s why
-There is a great emphasism on family. You meet the Eppes brothers and their dad and you watch their relationship and interaction and how they grow and develope. They are not perfect and there are troubles that come up regularly. In fact they behave like a normal family and this is a component of the show I particularly enjoy.
-All the women in the show as portrayed as intelligent, strong and successful in their careers. There is no sexualisation or degrading portrayance of women. Their looks are not important and it´s their personalities that matter, They are good characters on their own and are very strong. It´s such a relief to watch a series that manages to portrayes women in such a positive and empowering and yet realistic light. I am very happy with the characters of Megan Reeves and Amita.
-The relationship between men and women and coworkers is so well portrayed, both nuanced and realistic and I gratly appreciate that.
-The characters are all realistic and nuanced. They are highly skilled at their job but they are portrayed as hman with their positive and negative traits that both empower them and prove a hindrance in their job. No one is perfect and here is obvious care in developing and portraying realistic round characters.
-The math component is brilliant. I am certaintely no math geek but I love the quality that math brings to the show. It makes it more intelligent and the math is explained (most of the time) in a simple and intriguing way. I know that the way with which they use math in the episode is not the most realistic but it´s so cool to watch. I personally love discovering those math theories and how they work in the show.
-The storylines are always interesting and well executed. There is ample respect towards various things and great care in delivering a good and thoughtful hour of entertainment.
In some ways it´s a great pity that Numb3rs was cancelled as it really is a brilliant show but the good thing is also that because it was only 6 season, the episodes were high quality and enjoyable to the end. And I am now a proud Numb3rs fan.
I know that is kind of strange since Numb3rs was cancelled two years ago and I don´t get the feeling that a lot of people watch it anymore. But the series looked interesting and fun, I had seen some episodes before that I liked and I thought the characters were likeable and realistic. And I have not been disapointed in this series. I have infact enjoyed watching it very much. It´s not the best series I have seen but it´s very high quality and has a lot of things about it I appreciate. And in some respects it´s even better than my current favourite series. And here´s why
-There is a great emphasism on family. You meet the Eppes brothers and their dad and you watch their relationship and interaction and how they grow and develope. They are not perfect and there are troubles that come up regularly. In fact they behave like a normal family and this is a component of the show I particularly enjoy.
-All the women in the show as portrayed as intelligent, strong and successful in their careers. There is no sexualisation or degrading portrayance of women. Their looks are not important and it´s their personalities that matter, They are good characters on their own and are very strong. It´s such a relief to watch a series that manages to portrayes women in such a positive and empowering and yet realistic light. I am very happy with the characters of Megan Reeves and Amita.
-The relationship between men and women and coworkers is so well portrayed, both nuanced and realistic and I gratly appreciate that.
-The characters are all realistic and nuanced. They are highly skilled at their job but they are portrayed as hman with their positive and negative traits that both empower them and prove a hindrance in their job. No one is perfect and here is obvious care in developing and portraying realistic round characters.
-The math component is brilliant. I am certaintely no math geek but I love the quality that math brings to the show. It makes it more intelligent and the math is explained (most of the time) in a simple and intriguing way. I know that the way with which they use math in the episode is not the most realistic but it´s so cool to watch. I personally love discovering those math theories and how they work in the show.
-The storylines are always interesting and well executed. There is ample respect towards various things and great care in delivering a good and thoughtful hour of entertainment.
In some ways it´s a great pity that Numb3rs was cancelled as it really is a brilliant show but the good thing is also that because it was only 6 season, the episodes were high quality and enjoyable to the end. And I am now a proud Numb3rs fan.
PS. I feel like I should say something on the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting. My hearts and prayers go to the families that lost their children that day and to all the people that lived through terrible circumstances that day. May God heal their souls and bind their wounds.
Friday, November 30, 2012
NCIS:LA spinoff - oh dear
I am not much into spinoff shows, mostly because I just don´t bother watching them but I am partial towards the NCIS spinoff NCIS:LA. And now the newest thing is the fact that they´ll be making a new spinoff of the spinoff NCIS:LA. Except this time it´ll involve a team that travels the country and are forced to live together. I was not too excited about the idea of a spinoff but accepted it might be good. Today I just ran into the description of the characters of this new spinoff and oh dear, words cannot describe my feelings of incredulity and disgust when I read those descriptions.
You can read the descriptions when you click this link
First of all the main character is called Paris - That is just a bad name in every way and for someone that´s a secret agent, even worse. I doubt anyone takes seriously a person called Paris so I am secretly hoping for an awesome middle name like Camille, Cecilia or just Elizabeth for that matter, jut any normal sounding name. And she is described as beng as sexy as she is tough. And apparently she works best alone, so she is the sexy lone wolf?
Why oh why in the world do the producers feel the need to specifically say that she is sexy (as well as smart and tought but that is clearly not important). Do they think no one will watch the show unless the main female character is sexy and drop dead gorgeou. Clearly, normal looking woman are just not the thing today. No, everyone must be sexy!
The character Roy (like the name) that is a retired marine. So I´m guessing it´s the alpha male character in the vein of Hetty Lange. He´s probably a bald guy in his fifties and the resident daddy type of the team.
Danny the forensic specialist that has little talent (except probably for investigating) and is the resident oddball. What does being an oddball mean exactly? Can we except him enjoing classical music and pottery making or just being the typical socially awkward dude. And I am guessin Danny is meant to be like super cute and gorgeous but doesn´t know about it. And apparently he has no skills in driving whatsoever (kind of like Ziva?) .
Clara the brainican, lawyer and military junkie that is also supersexy. And she thinks she´s just the regular tomboy nexy door.
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT IT GOING ON???
Why on earth are they creating a series where two of the main female characters are meant to be drop dead gorgeous and sexy and it seems to be a big portion of their character.
Are the producers implying that it´s imposible for women to be good in their field and be normal looking?
Is it completely impossible for them to create female characters without objectifying them and calling them sexy at every turn?
Is it not possible to have a tough but normal looking female character on national television?
Have we really come this short in our fight for equal justice between men and women that females still need to be objectified and lowered to a terrible level where only their looks matter, not their character and where showing as much skin as possible is necessary for their survival?
And the character Kai is the youngsest on the team and and IT nerd that is affectinately desribed as being the little brother everyone loves. Excuse me while I go throw up. And yes, my only adivce when it comes to computers is simply to reboot again and again.
To say I am pessimistic about this series is putting it mildly. I know I will not be watching it. Not ever.
You can read the descriptions when you click this link
First of all the main character is called Paris - That is just a bad name in every way and for someone that´s a secret agent, even worse. I doubt anyone takes seriously a person called Paris so I am secretly hoping for an awesome middle name like Camille, Cecilia or just Elizabeth for that matter, jut any normal sounding name. And she is described as beng as sexy as she is tough. And apparently she works best alone, so she is the sexy lone wolf?
Why oh why in the world do the producers feel the need to specifically say that she is sexy (as well as smart and tought but that is clearly not important). Do they think no one will watch the show unless the main female character is sexy and drop dead gorgeou. Clearly, normal looking woman are just not the thing today. No, everyone must be sexy!
The character Roy (like the name) that is a retired marine. So I´m guessing it´s the alpha male character in the vein of Hetty Lange. He´s probably a bald guy in his fifties and the resident daddy type of the team.
Danny the forensic specialist that has little talent (except probably for investigating) and is the resident oddball. What does being an oddball mean exactly? Can we except him enjoing classical music and pottery making or just being the typical socially awkward dude. And I am guessin Danny is meant to be like super cute and gorgeous but doesn´t know about it. And apparently he has no skills in driving whatsoever (kind of like Ziva?) .
Clara the brainican, lawyer and military junkie that is also supersexy. And she thinks she´s just the regular tomboy nexy door.
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT IT GOING ON???
Why on earth are they creating a series where two of the main female characters are meant to be drop dead gorgeous and sexy and it seems to be a big portion of their character.
Are the producers implying that it´s imposible for women to be good in their field and be normal looking?
Is it completely impossible for them to create female characters without objectifying them and calling them sexy at every turn?
Is it not possible to have a tough but normal looking female character on national television?
Have we really come this short in our fight for equal justice between men and women that females still need to be objectified and lowered to a terrible level where only their looks matter, not their character and where showing as much skin as possible is necessary for their survival?
And the character Kai is the youngsest on the team and and IT nerd that is affectinately desribed as being the little brother everyone loves. Excuse me while I go throw up. And yes, my only adivce when it comes to computers is simply to reboot again and again.
To say I am pessimistic about this series is putting it mildly. I know I will not be watching it. Not ever.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
A good article worth sharing and female sexualization on TV
I just fond this article and I thought it was very good and worth sharing. It highlights the problem of today´s media and female representation in it.
Click to go to article
Click to go to article
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Kensi - Part 2
I will be continuing my dissection on Kensi in this post.
In season 3, Kensi actually turned out to be the most developed character on NCIS:LA aside from Deeks. She was so well nuanced, realistic and enjoyable to watch. The Kensi Blye 2 parter was an absolute treat to watch and revealed so much more of the character and explained her motives and past. And in season 3 Kensi startd having her emotions of the surface and displaying them much more frequently than in season 1 which in turn made her seem more human which made her more likeable. I don´t know about others but I want TV characters to be humane and relateable.
And the best treat is her interaction with Deeks. Those two are so much fun to watch. They both keep me laughing and still I find it also god how their complicated but trusiting relationship is portrayed. They are the equivalent of Tony and Ziva. I am looking forward to seeing how the character will continue to develope and change and I am absolutely enjoying the way she is now and from the looks of it, it can only get better.
And Daniela Ruah does do a great job of portraying Kensi.
And to end this dissection
Things I like about Kensi as a character
-Her humour
-The fact she is not particularly obsessed with cleaning or cooking
-Her wardrobe is so nice, simple but stylish (I regularly think 'Oh, I want this t-shirt')
-Her wonderful relationship with Deeks
-The fact that she can speak good French!
-Her well nuanced emotional life and expressions
-The fact that she´s not guy obsessed
Things I don´t like
-How often she is sexualised as a character
-The fact that she always as to perform crazy ninja moves undercover when dressed sexily
-That her tactics are sometimes to good to be true
-Those scenes where her, shooting a gun, is supposed to be sexy or cool. Try as I might, I don´t find anything sexy about guns. And the scene in one episode where she is dressed in a burkah and then pulls out a rifle and starts shooting everyone around her bothers me a lot. I think it was meant to be a cool scene but all I could think was how much this reminded me of Anders Breivik and and the massacre in Utoya.
-
In season 3, Kensi actually turned out to be the most developed character on NCIS:LA aside from Deeks. She was so well nuanced, realistic and enjoyable to watch. The Kensi Blye 2 parter was an absolute treat to watch and revealed so much more of the character and explained her motives and past. And in season 3 Kensi startd having her emotions of the surface and displaying them much more frequently than in season 1 which in turn made her seem more human which made her more likeable. I don´t know about others but I want TV characters to be humane and relateable.
And the best treat is her interaction with Deeks. Those two are so much fun to watch. They both keep me laughing and still I find it also god how their complicated but trusiting relationship is portrayed. They are the equivalent of Tony and Ziva. I am looking forward to seeing how the character will continue to develope and change and I am absolutely enjoying the way she is now and from the looks of it, it can only get better.
And Daniela Ruah does do a great job of portraying Kensi.
And to end this dissection
Things I like about Kensi as a character
-Her humour
-The fact she is not particularly obsessed with cleaning or cooking
-Her wardrobe is so nice, simple but stylish (I regularly think 'Oh, I want this t-shirt')
-Her wonderful relationship with Deeks
-The fact that she can speak good French!
-Her well nuanced emotional life and expressions
-The fact that she´s not guy obsessed
Things I don´t like
-How often she is sexualised as a character
-The fact that she always as to perform crazy ninja moves undercover when dressed sexily
-That her tactics are sometimes to good to be true
-Those scenes where her, shooting a gun, is supposed to be sexy or cool. Try as I might, I don´t find anything sexy about guns. And the scene in one episode where she is dressed in a burkah and then pulls out a rifle and starts shooting everyone around her bothers me a lot. I think it was meant to be a cool scene but all I could think was how much this reminded me of Anders Breivik and and the massacre in Utoya.
-
Ziva - what a great character
The focus in this post is Ziva David. This post wil be somewhat jumbly as it´s exam season for me so bear with my ramblings and spelling mistakes.
Ziva is in my personal opinion, one of the more interesting characters on TV right now and is played wonderfully by Cote de Pablo (a great Chilean actress).
And she is the only Israeli, Jewish character on TV. She comes from a country that is completely different from America, has Hebrew as her native language, was shaped by her extraordinary circumstances growing up as the daughter of the director of Mossad and in war-torn Israel. Not to mention that her brother was a terrorist and she lost her sister and mother early on. And she was trained by Mossad and was in the Israeli military. She has some pretty advanced survival skills and tactics, is very beautiful and speaks a multitude of languages.
This makes her sound like a superwoman character and indeed, she could be pretty flat and uninteresting but somehow the NCIS folks managed to make her both lively and interesting. She has an intriguing past and I have always liked how the writers have woven her childhod and nationality into the shows. The characters has been shown speaking Hebrew several times which I love as it´s so refreshing to hear another language than English spoken. Her Jewish faith is regularly incorporated and they have been very succesful in displaying the complication of it. The character has been predjudiced because of her faith multiple times (one scene sticks out when was called a Nazi loving feminist). But there have also been times where the difference of her faith and the Muslim faith have come up and the difficulties of it are acknowledged and the Israeli sistuation (I will not disclose my opinion of Israel and Palestine).
When she first arrived at NCIS she didn´t adjust immediately and without trouble, but the clear opposite. She didn´t get on with Abby for a long time, had difficulty communicating with Gibbs and figuring out how to interact with McGee and DiNozzo. Her past played a part and it took a while for things to settle. And she had a notorious difficulty with figuring out English. In so many shows, it seems that a new character just adjusts to new things without any trouble at all when in the real world it is not so. I have always found it refreshing to they incorpoated Ziva´s difficulty in adjusting to NCIS into the show It seemed realistic and made me enjoy the character far more to see she wasn´t just some superwoman but that she was actually realistic and well nuanced.
I have always enjoyed Ziva as a character and still do now. She is very well executed, has had some wonderful storylines (the arch with her and Tony and her subsequent trip to Somalia is my firm favourite).
The way her character has developed throughout the season has been a treat to watch and is an example of good storytelling.
Next up for dissection is Tony.
Ziva is in my personal opinion, one of the more interesting characters on TV right now and is played wonderfully by Cote de Pablo (a great Chilean actress).
And she is the only Israeli, Jewish character on TV. She comes from a country that is completely different from America, has Hebrew as her native language, was shaped by her extraordinary circumstances growing up as the daughter of the director of Mossad and in war-torn Israel. Not to mention that her brother was a terrorist and she lost her sister and mother early on. And she was trained by Mossad and was in the Israeli military. She has some pretty advanced survival skills and tactics, is very beautiful and speaks a multitude of languages.
This makes her sound like a superwoman character and indeed, she could be pretty flat and uninteresting but somehow the NCIS folks managed to make her both lively and interesting. She has an intriguing past and I have always liked how the writers have woven her childhod and nationality into the shows. The characters has been shown speaking Hebrew several times which I love as it´s so refreshing to hear another language than English spoken. Her Jewish faith is regularly incorporated and they have been very succesful in displaying the complication of it. The character has been predjudiced because of her faith multiple times (one scene sticks out when was called a Nazi loving feminist). But there have also been times where the difference of her faith and the Muslim faith have come up and the difficulties of it are acknowledged and the Israeli sistuation (I will not disclose my opinion of Israel and Palestine).
When she first arrived at NCIS she didn´t adjust immediately and without trouble, but the clear opposite. She didn´t get on with Abby for a long time, had difficulty communicating with Gibbs and figuring out how to interact with McGee and DiNozzo. Her past played a part and it took a while for things to settle. And she had a notorious difficulty with figuring out English. In so many shows, it seems that a new character just adjusts to new things without any trouble at all when in the real world it is not so. I have always found it refreshing to they incorpoated Ziva´s difficulty in adjusting to NCIS into the show It seemed realistic and made me enjoy the character far more to see she wasn´t just some superwoman but that she was actually realistic and well nuanced.
I have always enjoyed Ziva as a character and still do now. She is very well executed, has had some wonderful storylines (the arch with her and Tony and her subsequent trip to Somalia is my firm favourite).
The way her character has developed throughout the season has been a treat to watch and is an example of good storytelling.
Next up for dissection is Tony.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
I have to eat up my own words and yes, I am a Densi/Tiva shipper
In the last post I wrote, I moaned about the fact that none of the Russian characters that have appeared on NCS:LA have had Russian accents. Well tonight, all the Russian characters had a nice accent that was actually believeable and there was even spoken Russian.
And if it was possible for the series to get any more good - I am very happy about the fact that Aunjanue Ellis is playing Quinn, Sam´s wife. She is a good actress and I liked her a lot on The Mentalist. Plus, the thing of having two superagents married is actually a nice plot twist. I am hoping to see more off her later.
And on the topic of having two superagents married. Can we just please get Deeks and Kensi together? I really like both characters, their interaction is great (key word: chemistry) and the relationship they have is very nice. I am very much a Densi shipper and it is a gulity conscience of mine to go on youtube and watch Densi videos when I need to shut off my brain (I work in a preschool so I cut myself some slack). I do not want them together like now but someday later. Their journey has to be good so that seeing them together will be fun, just like they did on Castle.
And I want Tony and Ziva to start dating please and thank you. Those characters are wonderful (Ziva is one of the most interesting character I have seen on TV) and I really want to see them together. It´d be so much fun and I am hoping season 10 is the year of Tiva.
And if it was possible for the series to get any more good - I am very happy about the fact that Aunjanue Ellis is playing Quinn, Sam´s wife. She is a good actress and I liked her a lot on The Mentalist. Plus, the thing of having two superagents married is actually a nice plot twist. I am hoping to see more off her later.
And on the topic of having two superagents married. Can we just please get Deeks and Kensi together? I really like both characters, their interaction is great (key word: chemistry) and the relationship they have is very nice. I am very much a Densi shipper and it is a gulity conscience of mine to go on youtube and watch Densi videos when I need to shut off my brain (I work in a preschool so I cut myself some slack). I do not want them together like now but someday later. Their journey has to be good so that seeing them together will be fun, just like they did on Castle.
And I want Tony and Ziva to start dating please and thank you. Those characters are wonderful (Ziva is one of the most interesting character I have seen on TV) and I really want to see them together. It´d be so much fun and I am hoping season 10 is the year of Tiva.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
NCIS:LA obsession with Russia
One of the things I find it curious to observe is how foreign characters are portrayed on my favorite scenes. I have discovered that the writers of NCIS:LA are obsessed with Russia/Russians. I swear, almost every other episode, mentions or has Russia/Russian military/Russian spies/Russia as an enemy/Russian characters. And every time they have Russian characters appearing in the show, they never speak with English with a Russian accent and the Russian characters are always the bad guys.
There has, if my memory serves me right, never been a Russian character on the show that speaks English with a proper Russian accent. I am fluent speaker of English but I still have an accent because I learned it as a Lingua Franca just like a Russian person would do. The Russian characters always have an American accent in varying degrees.
And there has only been one Russian character on the show that was shown as a friend, but of course that character was then killed. And the rest of Russian sleeper agents were left on to shoot at the American agents and yet again reinforce the stereotypical image that Russia has agents in America and that they are willing to fight Americans to get their own agenda. It´s 2012 people, not 1980! The meeting in Reykjavik with Gorbachev and Reagan happened decades ago!
I am in no way Russian but I am a European that happens to be a huge fan of the country. Not to mention the fact I have studied Russian history and have some knowledge of the history and culture of the country and can read the Cyrilic alphabet. I highly enjoy NCIS:LA as a TV show but the way in which they portray Russians has never sat right with me and never will. The writers of the show are way too caught up in stereotypes of the country that are long since outdated and have been since the Cold War ended.
I have zero idea whether there are Russian sleeper agents in USA today, there might or might not be. I am tempted to go with the latter however. The possibility of there being agents is obviously intriguing and I expect the writers enjoy being able to explore possible scenarios of what might happen in real life it sleeper agents suddenly got active. It does provide some good material for storytelling.
But please, oh please stop being so obsessed with Russia and portraying it as an American enemy, because it´s not (just like no European country is, we may not always like America but we are all it´s allies). Why can´t they go with another country or better yet, stop being so obsessed with the idea of there being sleeper agents all over the place in America and start doing more Naval concentrated story lines.
I am a big NCIS:LA fan but I do wish they´d shift their focus and am hoping they´ll do so. The shows a lot of good things but this is one of their major downsides in my opinion.
There has, if my memory serves me right, never been a Russian character on the show that speaks English with a proper Russian accent. I am fluent speaker of English but I still have an accent because I learned it as a Lingua Franca just like a Russian person would do. The Russian characters always have an American accent in varying degrees.
And there has only been one Russian character on the show that was shown as a friend, but of course that character was then killed. And the rest of Russian sleeper agents were left on to shoot at the American agents and yet again reinforce the stereotypical image that Russia has agents in America and that they are willing to fight Americans to get their own agenda. It´s 2012 people, not 1980! The meeting in Reykjavik with Gorbachev and Reagan happened decades ago!
I am in no way Russian but I am a European that happens to be a huge fan of the country. Not to mention the fact I have studied Russian history and have some knowledge of the history and culture of the country and can read the Cyrilic alphabet. I highly enjoy NCIS:LA as a TV show but the way in which they portray Russians has never sat right with me and never will. The writers of the show are way too caught up in stereotypes of the country that are long since outdated and have been since the Cold War ended.
I have zero idea whether there are Russian sleeper agents in USA today, there might or might not be. I am tempted to go with the latter however. The possibility of there being agents is obviously intriguing and I expect the writers enjoy being able to explore possible scenarios of what might happen in real life it sleeper agents suddenly got active. It does provide some good material for storytelling.
But please, oh please stop being so obsessed with Russia and portraying it as an American enemy, because it´s not (just like no European country is, we may not always like America but we are all it´s allies). Why can´t they go with another country or better yet, stop being so obsessed with the idea of there being sleeper agents all over the place in America and start doing more Naval concentrated story lines.
I am a big NCIS:LA fan but I do wish they´d shift their focus and am hoping they´ll do so. The shows a lot of good things but this is one of their major downsides in my opinion.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Race and TV shows
This post has been swimming around in my brain since last night when I couldn´t fall asleep :)
One of the things I find curious when I watch American TV shows is the way which race characters represent and how the multiethnic culture of USA is reflected in modern media. USA is the most diverse nation on earth and it stands to reason that all of it´s inhabitants are of various nationalities and races and there is a great diversity going on. And that is in my opinion a positive thing.But viewing how media reflects this fact is very interesting.
When looking at episodes before 2000, most shows had Caucasian actors only (European-American for ethnic reference), But after 2000, a change happened and now almost every TV show has at least one member of a different race (either Latino, Af-Am, Nat-Am or Asian) and most shows have two cast members that represent one or more racial groups other than Caucasian. But very few shows include members of all the racial groups. The general rule seems to be that you need at least one cast member that´s not Caucasian, two is even better but if you have three or more it´s starts to look like you´re trying too much (I am obviously generalizing a lot).
To provide a brief example I will show the race of all the regular cast members on 4 shows - Criminal Minds, NCIS, NCIS:LA and Castle.
Criminal Minds has
Reed - Cau
Jareau - Cau
Hotchner - Cau
Garcia - Cau
Blake - Cau
Morgan - Af-Am/Cau (infact mixed-race which I find to be a nice move)
Morgan - Cau
So their ratio is 6/7 of cast members are Caucasian, 1/7 is Af-Am
NCIS
Gibbs - Cau
DiNozzo - Cau
McGee - Cau
David - Jewish (the actress is infact Latino)
Sciuto - Cau
Vance - Af-Am
Mallard - Cau
Palmer - Cau
Their ratio is 6/8 Caucasian, 1/8 Af-Am and 1/8 Jewish. I am well aware that Jews are not considered to be a special race but their is no denying that Jews have a special history and origins that unite them and Ziva happens to be the only Jewish character I can think of on a show today where her faith is an important part of her identity.
NCIS:LA
Blye - Cau (the actress is actually Portuguese which is pretty neat)
Deeks - Cau (the actor ha a Scandinavian last name - Yeah!)
Hanna - Af-Am
Nell - Cau
Beale - Cau
Callen - Cau
Lange - Cau
Their ratio is 6/7 Caucasian and 1/7 African-American.
Castle
Beckett - Cau (the actress is actually Serbian/Croatian)
Castle - Cau
A Castle - Cau
Rodgers - Cau
Esposito - Latino
Ryan - Cau (the actor is Irish-American!)
Captain - Af-Am
Parish - Af-Am
Their ratio is 5/8 Caucasian, 2/8 African-American and 1/8 Latino.
Considering these ratios the Castle characters represent the most ethnic groups and different races with 3 characters with NCIS following with 2 and CM and NCIS:LA with 1 each.
All these shows have characters that are of either African-American, Jewish or Latino background but not on of them has a character that´s Asian-American (which I find interesting). The only shows I can think of from the top of my head tha have Asian cats members currently are Hawai-Five-O and Bones. That is not to say that these shows don´t have Asian guest members regularly because they do, just not as a part of the regular cast. And not one shows has a Native-American character or Arabic!.
This is a phenomeon I find interesting to observe and provies with lots of material for thought which I will post on later on.
And next up is foreigner characters on those shows.
One of the things I find curious when I watch American TV shows is the way which race characters represent and how the multiethnic culture of USA is reflected in modern media. USA is the most diverse nation on earth and it stands to reason that all of it´s inhabitants are of various nationalities and races and there is a great diversity going on. And that is in my opinion a positive thing.But viewing how media reflects this fact is very interesting.
When looking at episodes before 2000, most shows had Caucasian actors only (European-American for ethnic reference), But after 2000, a change happened and now almost every TV show has at least one member of a different race (either Latino, Af-Am, Nat-Am or Asian) and most shows have two cast members that represent one or more racial groups other than Caucasian. But very few shows include members of all the racial groups. The general rule seems to be that you need at least one cast member that´s not Caucasian, two is even better but if you have three or more it´s starts to look like you´re trying too much (I am obviously generalizing a lot).
To provide a brief example I will show the race of all the regular cast members on 4 shows - Criminal Minds, NCIS, NCIS:LA and Castle.
Criminal Minds has
Reed - Cau
Jareau - Cau
Hotchner - Cau
Garcia - Cau
Blake - Cau
Morgan - Af-Am/Cau (infact mixed-race which I find to be a nice move)
Morgan - Cau
So their ratio is 6/7 of cast members are Caucasian, 1/7 is Af-Am
NCIS
Gibbs - Cau
DiNozzo - Cau
McGee - Cau
David - Jewish (the actress is infact Latino)
Sciuto - Cau
Vance - Af-Am
Mallard - Cau
Palmer - Cau
Their ratio is 6/8 Caucasian, 1/8 Af-Am and 1/8 Jewish. I am well aware that Jews are not considered to be a special race but their is no denying that Jews have a special history and origins that unite them and Ziva happens to be the only Jewish character I can think of on a show today where her faith is an important part of her identity.
NCIS:LA
Blye - Cau (the actress is actually Portuguese which is pretty neat)
Deeks - Cau (the actor ha a Scandinavian last name - Yeah!)
Hanna - Af-Am
Nell - Cau
Beale - Cau
Callen - Cau
Lange - Cau
Their ratio is 6/7 Caucasian and 1/7 African-American.
Castle
Beckett - Cau (the actress is actually Serbian/Croatian)
Castle - Cau
A Castle - Cau
Rodgers - Cau
Esposito - Latino
Ryan - Cau (the actor is Irish-American!)
Captain - Af-Am
Parish - Af-Am
Their ratio is 5/8 Caucasian, 2/8 African-American and 1/8 Latino.
Considering these ratios the Castle characters represent the most ethnic groups and different races with 3 characters with NCIS following with 2 and CM and NCIS:LA with 1 each.
All these shows have characters that are of either African-American, Jewish or Latino background but not on of them has a character that´s Asian-American (which I find interesting). The only shows I can think of from the top of my head tha have Asian cats members currently are Hawai-Five-O and Bones. That is not to say that these shows don´t have Asian guest members regularly because they do, just not as a part of the regular cast. And not one shows has a Native-American character or Arabic!.
This is a phenomeon I find interesting to observe and provies with lots of material for thought which I will post on later on.
And next up is foreigner characters on those shows.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Criminal Minds - Alex Blake is awesome!
Just a quick note.
I have been following Criminal Minds this season (while faithfully avoiding Bones and The Mentalist and I do NOT miss those shows) and honestly, this season of CM has been pretty good. Not season 5 good but a vats improvement on season 6 and 7. The characters are rather interesting, the storylines are good and Shemar is as nice as always. And Jeanne Tripplehorn has been awesome as Alex Blake. I knew I´d like Blake the instant she came on and I just love her charactrer, She´s quick, smart and honest and has a very nice vibe about her. She´s independent, not too girly and grounded. Her characters has been very interesting to watch in my opinion and I love her interactions with the team, particularly Reed.
She is a nice change from JJ and Garcia and brings a fresh face to the series I really enjoy. And one of the good things about her is the fact that she is not portrayed as "sexy" or "hot". I am not saying Jeanne Tripplehorn isn´t beautiful because she is. It´s just so refreshing to see a female character being portrayed as an indepent and tough woman without the sexy factor. Her looks are unimportant and that´s something I really enjoy (and something I´d love to see in the characters of Kate Beckett and Kensi Blye as well).
I am looking forward to seeing how they will continue to develope Alex Blake as a character but currently she is awesome and I hope she will continue to be so.
I have been following Criminal Minds this season (while faithfully avoiding Bones and The Mentalist and I do NOT miss those shows) and honestly, this season of CM has been pretty good. Not season 5 good but a vats improvement on season 6 and 7. The characters are rather interesting, the storylines are good and Shemar is as nice as always. And Jeanne Tripplehorn has been awesome as Alex Blake. I knew I´d like Blake the instant she came on and I just love her charactrer, She´s quick, smart and honest and has a very nice vibe about her. She´s independent, not too girly and grounded. Her characters has been very interesting to watch in my opinion and I love her interactions with the team, particularly Reed.
She is a nice change from JJ and Garcia and brings a fresh face to the series I really enjoy. And one of the good things about her is the fact that she is not portrayed as "sexy" or "hot". I am not saying Jeanne Tripplehorn isn´t beautiful because she is. It´s just so refreshing to see a female character being portrayed as an indepent and tough woman without the sexy factor. Her looks are unimportant and that´s something I really enjoy (and something I´d love to see in the characters of Kate Beckett and Kensi Blye as well).
I am looking forward to seeing how they will continue to develope Alex Blake as a character but currently she is awesome and I hope she will continue to be so.
NCIS:Los Angeles - better than NCIS?
This autumn I have enjoyed following both NCIS and NCIS:Los Angeles, two of my favourite series. I enjoy waking up more early than usually and catching my favourite shows before I start my day. Since they are both shown one the same day I typically watch one show before I get out of bed and the other one in the evening before I go to sleep. I typically watch NCIS in the morning and NCIS:Los Angeles in the evening as I have always surmised that the NCIS was somehow more enjoyable and more fun and more of an early must-see that the NCIS:Los Angeles one. I like both series very much but have always thought NCIS to be just a tad bit more my vibe for a variety of reasons.
However, this year I have found myself looking much more forward to watching NCIS:LA than NCIS. I am more excited for the episode, watch the promos more often and enjoy the spoiler information more. And when the episodes come out I am much more excited for NCIS:LA. I have been enjoying this season a great deal and the episodes have been terrific. It´s in my opinion, one of the best series on TV right now. NCIS has had a solid season as well but somehow, as a series it has seized being exciting or providing anything new to enjoy. It´s a wonderful series but it seems there is nothing new or fresh going on. Maybe it´s because I have seen every single episode of the series and some of them multiple times (such as "Under Covers") and enjoyed reviewing my favourite scenes on youtube several times the series has simply gotten tired to me.
The storylines are getting tired and repetitive and the characters are getting somehow more flat and uninteresting. Not that they are enjoyable but the freshness and uniqueness that I enjoy so much about them in the earlier series (particularly Ziva and Tony) is lacking. In the earlier series the characters were incredibly realistic and enjoyable and their interaction was a true treat to watch but now it´s just dry and to a certain extent boring.
Whereas on NCIS:LA the characters continue to surprise me and I love their interactions. Deeks (a part Norwegian just like me!) and Kensi continue to be wonderful as personalities and their interaction with each other is just great. Callen has been pretty good this season and Hanna is growing on me and he definitely has his moments. The humor has been great this season (and was last season as well) and the storylines have been generally interesting and well executed. I am loving the Sam Hanna two parter and am looking forward to the next episode. And kudos to the writers for having done their research (the meeting beetween Reagan (I think) and Gorbachev was indeed in Reykjavik (the capital of Iceland) and they even pronounced the name of the city right (which was awesome to hear!)!
Somehow I am just much more psyched about this season on NCIS:LA than NCIS. NCIS:LA is by no means perfect and still has some rough spots but the series has gotten so good whereas NCIS is still solid but nothing has changed since season 8 (which was the last good season in my opinion, 9 didn´t work for me) and the series has been at a standstill.
I will of course continue do follow NCIS and I am looking forward to seeing what the series brings on next but currently NCIS:LA holds my attention better.
And this is a critisism of the series as a whole, NOT of the actors. I enjoy the actors on both series and would go fangirl crazy if I were to meet any of them.
However, this year I have found myself looking much more forward to watching NCIS:LA than NCIS. I am more excited for the episode, watch the promos more often and enjoy the spoiler information more. And when the episodes come out I am much more excited for NCIS:LA. I have been enjoying this season a great deal and the episodes have been terrific. It´s in my opinion, one of the best series on TV right now. NCIS has had a solid season as well but somehow, as a series it has seized being exciting or providing anything new to enjoy. It´s a wonderful series but it seems there is nothing new or fresh going on. Maybe it´s because I have seen every single episode of the series and some of them multiple times (such as "Under Covers") and enjoyed reviewing my favourite scenes on youtube several times the series has simply gotten tired to me.
The storylines are getting tired and repetitive and the characters are getting somehow more flat and uninteresting. Not that they are enjoyable but the freshness and uniqueness that I enjoy so much about them in the earlier series (particularly Ziva and Tony) is lacking. In the earlier series the characters were incredibly realistic and enjoyable and their interaction was a true treat to watch but now it´s just dry and to a certain extent boring.
Whereas on NCIS:LA the characters continue to surprise me and I love their interactions. Deeks (a part Norwegian just like me!) and Kensi continue to be wonderful as personalities and their interaction with each other is just great. Callen has been pretty good this season and Hanna is growing on me and he definitely has his moments. The humor has been great this season (and was last season as well) and the storylines have been generally interesting and well executed. I am loving the Sam Hanna two parter and am looking forward to the next episode. And kudos to the writers for having done their research (the meeting beetween Reagan (I think) and Gorbachev was indeed in Reykjavik (the capital of Iceland) and they even pronounced the name of the city right (which was awesome to hear!)!
Somehow I am just much more psyched about this season on NCIS:LA than NCIS. NCIS:LA is by no means perfect and still has some rough spots but the series has gotten so good whereas NCIS is still solid but nothing has changed since season 8 (which was the last good season in my opinion, 9 didn´t work for me) and the series has been at a standstill.
I will of course continue do follow NCIS and I am looking forward to seeing what the series brings on next but currently NCIS:LA holds my attention better.
And this is a critisism of the series as a whole, NOT of the actors. I enjoy the actors on both series and would go fangirl crazy if I were to meet any of them.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Kensi Blye - a paradox in development - Part 1
This is a critisism of the character, not the actress Daniela Ruah (whom I like)
Kensi is probably the character I disliked most when I first watched NCIS:LA and have now, after 1 year ended up liking the most. She has developed so much over 3 season that it´s pretty astounding. But it´s also good to see how her character has improved and gotten better and better. Right now, she is one of the better created characters on TV.
In season 1, she is the super-ninja-kick-ass-deadly-agent that can assassinate, kill, destroy, hurt and injure people without ruining a fingernail and look sexy while at it. She is the alpha female, beautiful looking but still deadly. And she manages to put her life in danger over and over again, use her sexuality to get suspects (which is an aspect I have never enjoyed in her character) and shoot and kill dozens of people without blinking an eye. Nothing seems to affect her, except when Don dies (probably the first moment she was genuinely hurt in the series). She is very unrealistic and definitely not someone females can relate to. As a character she has her moments but a lot of the time, she is flat and unemotional. She does her part well but she seems to have no soul, no feelings, no back story. It seems it´s not until the last 4-5 episodes of season 1 she suddenly starts springing out as a real character. And that is great to watch. At least, when watching old episodes, I detect a great change between the earlier and later episodes of season 1.
In season 2 there is a sudden developement in her character straight from the beginning which is very welcomed (where Deeks plays a part). Suddenly as a character she starts to display more feelings and seems much more affected by what she does. She is no longer the unfeeling ninja-assassin agent but someone that´s a kick-ass agent with a healthy dose of feelings. Her back story is explained and it gives her more depth. She starts to relate more to people (such as in the black widow episode) and is affected by what goes on around her. And I can´t help but mention that her humour suddenly explodes. I can´t count all the times I either giggle or laugh heartily at the antics she and Deeks pull off. Episode 2x17 is a turning point because she is genuinely affected by Deeks being shot and is shown being scared, confused, worried, frustrated and feels the negative aspects of her job. She is someone that really feels, someone that´s human (And Ruah´s performance in this episode was great!).
In episode 2x20 The Job she is at her best in my opinion in season 2 She does pull the ninja-agent-seducing card but she does it with a genuinely human feeling. She is shocked when a man is shot, scared when she needs to meet the thief, tired and off after being hit on the jaw (probably the first time an injury she has sustained has had any lasting damage) and she is for the first time terrified of what might happen. In other words, she goes through a range of emotions that make her seem wonderfully human. This is the episode where I really began to enjoy Kensi as a character and like her. And I have re-watched it several times and each time, enjoyed it as much.
It´s kind of like the writers had a burst of epiphany between season 1 and 2 about how they wanted to develope character and the end result is great!
Next Part will be about season 3 and a little bit more dissecting :)
Kensi is probably the character I disliked most when I first watched NCIS:LA and have now, after 1 year ended up liking the most. She has developed so much over 3 season that it´s pretty astounding. But it´s also good to see how her character has improved and gotten better and better. Right now, she is one of the better created characters on TV.
In season 1, she is the super-ninja-kick-ass-deadly-agent that can assassinate, kill, destroy, hurt and injure people without ruining a fingernail and look sexy while at it. She is the alpha female, beautiful looking but still deadly. And she manages to put her life in danger over and over again, use her sexuality to get suspects (which is an aspect I have never enjoyed in her character) and shoot and kill dozens of people without blinking an eye. Nothing seems to affect her, except when Don dies (probably the first moment she was genuinely hurt in the series). She is very unrealistic and definitely not someone females can relate to. As a character she has her moments but a lot of the time, she is flat and unemotional. She does her part well but she seems to have no soul, no feelings, no back story. It seems it´s not until the last 4-5 episodes of season 1 she suddenly starts springing out as a real character. And that is great to watch. At least, when watching old episodes, I detect a great change between the earlier and later episodes of season 1.
In season 2 there is a sudden developement in her character straight from the beginning which is very welcomed (where Deeks plays a part). Suddenly as a character she starts to display more feelings and seems much more affected by what she does. She is no longer the unfeeling ninja-assassin agent but someone that´s a kick-ass agent with a healthy dose of feelings. Her back story is explained and it gives her more depth. She starts to relate more to people (such as in the black widow episode) and is affected by what goes on around her. And I can´t help but mention that her humour suddenly explodes. I can´t count all the times I either giggle or laugh heartily at the antics she and Deeks pull off. Episode 2x17 is a turning point because she is genuinely affected by Deeks being shot and is shown being scared, confused, worried, frustrated and feels the negative aspects of her job. She is someone that really feels, someone that´s human (And Ruah´s performance in this episode was great!).
In episode 2x20 The Job she is at her best in my opinion in season 2 She does pull the ninja-agent-seducing card but she does it with a genuinely human feeling. She is shocked when a man is shot, scared when she needs to meet the thief, tired and off after being hit on the jaw (probably the first time an injury she has sustained has had any lasting damage) and she is for the first time terrified of what might happen. In other words, she goes through a range of emotions that make her seem wonderfully human. This is the episode where I really began to enjoy Kensi as a character and like her. And I have re-watched it several times and each time, enjoyed it as much.
It´s kind of like the writers had a burst of epiphany between season 1 and 2 about how they wanted to develope character and the end result is great!
Next Part will be about season 3 and a little bit more dissecting :)
Deeks - A good character
I just got my first comment! Thank you Edgar Allen :)
The blog post today is dedicated to the character Marty Deeks on NCIS:LA, because he is my favourite character on that show (Kensi is 2nd). He is in my opinion, the best created character and here´s why in bullet points:
-He is not a superpower, ninja agent. He is "just" a cop which incidentally makes him more toned down than the others and more subtle.
-He is uncomfortable with all the killing they have to do (while the other just shoot away) and when he shot an unarmed man he was distressed and worried. He has a motto of shooting only those who intend to harm him or are aiming a gun at him and shooting. Never ever unarmed people or citizens.
-He knows when NOT to shoot (unlike the rest that seem happy to shoot pretty much anyone) and has the glorious quote:"They gave me a gun because I know when not to shoot. If I have lost that edge, I am just another thug with a gun".
-He talks a lot, has an awkward aura about him and makes blundering mistakes. I can so sympathysize with him talking a lot (a bad habit of mine!) and it´s refreshing to see a character that´s not perfect, but is human and makes mistakes and is a bit blundering.
-He has his issues with sensitivity, chappy lips, dry skin, losing a fingernail and little petty stuff. While it´s little things it´s good to have a character to complains about them and it makes him more human.
-His constant talking and offhand remarks always make me laugh. He is witty, awkward, gloriously unassuming and funny as hell.
-He is incredibly loyal, particularly to Kensi and is always protecting her. It´s a lovely thing to see and it makes their bond that more realistic and nuanced.
-He is uncomfortable with some of things they do. He just doesn´t march on like the rest (well not Kensi) like nothing affects him. He is affected and shows his feelings, both good and bad.
-He displays connection towards other characters and reaches out to them which is always wonderful to see. He is awkward when communicating but he does it sincerely.
-He admits that he has weaknesses and that he had a difficult past. And that yes, he has not moved far aay from the place he grew up in. He admits he isn´t perfect, that things affect him and that he´s still figuring life out. He is human.
-He is Norwegian-American. As a Norwegian, it makes me very happy :)
I love watching Deeks on NCIS:LA and I am a subtle fangirl.
And next up for dissection is Kensi as a character.
The blog post today is dedicated to the character Marty Deeks on NCIS:LA, because he is my favourite character on that show (Kensi is 2nd). He is in my opinion, the best created character and here´s why in bullet points:
-He is not a superpower, ninja agent. He is "just" a cop which incidentally makes him more toned down than the others and more subtle.
-He is uncomfortable with all the killing they have to do (while the other just shoot away) and when he shot an unarmed man he was distressed and worried. He has a motto of shooting only those who intend to harm him or are aiming a gun at him and shooting. Never ever unarmed people or citizens.
-He knows when NOT to shoot (unlike the rest that seem happy to shoot pretty much anyone) and has the glorious quote:"They gave me a gun because I know when not to shoot. If I have lost that edge, I am just another thug with a gun".
-He talks a lot, has an awkward aura about him and makes blundering mistakes. I can so sympathysize with him talking a lot (a bad habit of mine!) and it´s refreshing to see a character that´s not perfect, but is human and makes mistakes and is a bit blundering.
-He has his issues with sensitivity, chappy lips, dry skin, losing a fingernail and little petty stuff. While it´s little things it´s good to have a character to complains about them and it makes him more human.
-His constant talking and offhand remarks always make me laugh. He is witty, awkward, gloriously unassuming and funny as hell.
-He is incredibly loyal, particularly to Kensi and is always protecting her. It´s a lovely thing to see and it makes their bond that more realistic and nuanced.
-He is uncomfortable with some of things they do. He just doesn´t march on like the rest (well not Kensi) like nothing affects him. He is affected and shows his feelings, both good and bad.
-He displays connection towards other characters and reaches out to them which is always wonderful to see. He is awkward when communicating but he does it sincerely.
-He admits that he has weaknesses and that he had a difficult past. And that yes, he has not moved far aay from the place he grew up in. He admits he isn´t perfect, that things affect him and that he´s still figuring life out. He is human.
-He is Norwegian-American. As a Norwegian, it makes me very happy :)
I love watching Deeks on NCIS:LA and I am a subtle fangirl.
And next up for dissection is Kensi as a character.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
A new TV season is beginning
Finally it´s September and my favorite shows are about to start again. And lately, I have been thinking about what TV shows I want to watch this year and what shows I will skip. And it´s fairly obvious, that I´ll do some tweaking.
I will cut out The Mentalist, Bones and Criminal Minds.
The 4th season of the Mentalist was the worst I have ever seen. The story lines became more and more unrealistic and badly written, the characters became more one dimensional and as a whole, the show deteriorated fast. I loved the first 3 season but I saw none of what I like so much about the show in the 4th season. Not the offhand humor, wonderful character interactions and exciting story lines. I honestly became very bored every time I watched the 4th season so I won´t continue.
Bones has become to much of a ridicule. The 7th season had it´s moments but on the whole, the show has deteriorated so much from it´s incredible start and it´s just a shadow it it´s former glory. It´s become tired and dry and I don´t enjoy watching it anymore.
Criminal Minds 7th season was horrid. Minus Reed and Garcia. Ever since the sixth season, the show has been spiralling downwards and watching it trying again and again to be the best crime show on TV and become worse with every attempt is not something I want to spend my TV time on.
But I will continue to watch NCIS, Castle and NCIS:Los Angeles. NCIS continues to be brilliant, Castle is going to wonderful this season and blow my mind and NCIS:Los Angeles has improved so much and become so good that I just have to continue watching it. Not to mention the fact that Deeks and Kensi are just too funny to resist.
So I am excited for this year´s TV season.
I will cut out The Mentalist, Bones and Criminal Minds.
The 4th season of the Mentalist was the worst I have ever seen. The story lines became more and more unrealistic and badly written, the characters became more one dimensional and as a whole, the show deteriorated fast. I loved the first 3 season but I saw none of what I like so much about the show in the 4th season. Not the offhand humor, wonderful character interactions and exciting story lines. I honestly became very bored every time I watched the 4th season so I won´t continue.
Bones has become to much of a ridicule. The 7th season had it´s moments but on the whole, the show has deteriorated so much from it´s incredible start and it´s just a shadow it it´s former glory. It´s become tired and dry and I don´t enjoy watching it anymore.
Criminal Minds 7th season was horrid. Minus Reed and Garcia. Ever since the sixth season, the show has been spiralling downwards and watching it trying again and again to be the best crime show on TV and become worse with every attempt is not something I want to spend my TV time on.
But I will continue to watch NCIS, Castle and NCIS:Los Angeles. NCIS continues to be brilliant, Castle is going to wonderful this season and blow my mind and NCIS:Los Angeles has improved so much and become so good that I just have to continue watching it. Not to mention the fact that Deeks and Kensi are just too funny to resist.
So I am excited for this year´s TV season.
Sexualising TV characters
One of the things I´ve noticed about my favorite TV shows is the fact that all the female leads are stunning. . Most of the time, when in character, those actresses look absolutely gorgeous and natural. The make-up is not too much and the clothes are generally nice (I seriously want Kensi´s wardrobe in NCIS:LA!). They just look natural, stunning of course but still natural.
But sometimes the shows overstep some boundaries in my opinion when it comes to sexualising those characters. Yes, they are beautiful but I see absolutely no need to strip their clothes off and have entire scenes with the characters in nothing but their underwear/swimsuits/ a towel.
I can name several instances on NCIS:LA. In one episode Kensi did a surveilance on a beach dressed in nothing but her bikini, a simple wrap and a beach hat. Yet, she still ran around with a gun, intimidated and shot people and kicked ass.
In another episode she stripped off all her clothes expect her underwear in order to fit through a small hole.
And I can´t count all the times she has gone undercover as a "model" or someone that´s supposed to be stunningly sexy. It seems that everytime Kensi goes undercover it´s essential that there´s a "sexy" angle to her work. And I don´t see the reason why.
I have come to highly enjoy the character of Kensi. She has become much more realistic and nuanced since the 1st season and now has a nice feel to her. When I watch NCIS:LA I do it because of the charaters and their interactions. I enjoy Kensi´s character so much that I see no need to "sexualise" her in order to make her appealing. She stands on firm ground already as a well-rounded and nuanced character with a good backstory, excellent humor and some kick-ass skills. I see no need to strip her off her clothes when the charaters and the actor playing her are both so good.
I don´t need Kensi to be sexy to enjoy and appreciate her character and I hope most fans of the shows agree with me. I enjoy the character because of her personality and great wit, not because of her looks or her "sexyness".
And to be clear. I appreciate Ruah´s work as an actress and I higly enjoy her performance on NCIS:LA.
But sometimes the shows overstep some boundaries in my opinion when it comes to sexualising those characters. Yes, they are beautiful but I see absolutely no need to strip their clothes off and have entire scenes with the characters in nothing but their underwear/swimsuits/ a towel.
I can name several instances on NCIS:LA. In one episode Kensi did a surveilance on a beach dressed in nothing but her bikini, a simple wrap and a beach hat. Yet, she still ran around with a gun, intimidated and shot people and kicked ass.
In another episode she stripped off all her clothes expect her underwear in order to fit through a small hole.
And I can´t count all the times she has gone undercover as a "model" or someone that´s supposed to be stunningly sexy. It seems that everytime Kensi goes undercover it´s essential that there´s a "sexy" angle to her work. And I don´t see the reason why.
I have come to highly enjoy the character of Kensi. She has become much more realistic and nuanced since the 1st season and now has a nice feel to her. When I watch NCIS:LA I do it because of the charaters and their interactions. I enjoy Kensi´s character so much that I see no need to "sexualise" her in order to make her appealing. She stands on firm ground already as a well-rounded and nuanced character with a good backstory, excellent humor and some kick-ass skills. I see no need to strip her off her clothes when the charaters and the actor playing her are both so good.
I don´t need Kensi to be sexy to enjoy and appreciate her character and I hope most fans of the shows agree with me. I enjoy the character because of her personality and great wit, not because of her looks or her "sexyness".
And to be clear. I appreciate Ruah´s work as an actress and I higly enjoy her performance on NCIS:LA.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Cringing at foreign languages on TV
As a European that does NOT have English as my native tongue and a fluent speaker of 3 languages and have practical knowledge of 3 more I am always intrigued when I see actors trying to speak other languages that English on TV shows. And most of the time, they speak it not too well.
In NCIS:Los Angeles, Callen is supposed to speak Russian and he does that, although it´s with a dreadful American accent. Hanna speaks Japanese but the one time he spoke it, I was cringing the entire time. It´s not many times I have heard such a well rehearsed speech in foreign language with such a dreadful accent. But I also gladly acknowledge that Japanese is a very hard language to speak and Russian too. More importantaly, the actors make up for their language ability by being very funny!
So when I heard Kensi was supposed to use French to communicate with a couple of Vietnamese people I was ready to squirm but was pleasantly surprised. The actress actually had a really good accent, scrolled the R´s very well (something I can do too) and it was a delight to listen to her (the actress grew up in Portugal so she probably studied French in school). So kudos to Daniela Ruah for pulling off French!
I got the same delight when I heard Ziva on NCIS pull off Spanish for the first time. Since the actress, Cote de Pablo, is a fluent speaker of Spanish it was awesome to hear the way it sounded (much much better than Emily Prentiss on Criminal Minds!). Ziva is supposed to speak like 5 languages fluently (which is entirely possible in the real world) and in my opinion the actress generally pulls it off well when she speaks other languages than English (although I do wish she spoke more Hebrew).
But my most favorite thing would have to be Ziva messing up English idioms. I just love to hear the way she messed up idioms again and again and mixes them up and it´s always believable. As an EFL I can vouch for the difficulty of English idioms and listening to Ziva mess up and then being corrected has even helped teach me some (such as "look who´s calling the pot black").
So watching American actors mess up foreign languages continues to entertain me and I keep on learning.
In NCIS:Los Angeles, Callen is supposed to speak Russian and he does that, although it´s with a dreadful American accent. Hanna speaks Japanese but the one time he spoke it, I was cringing the entire time. It´s not many times I have heard such a well rehearsed speech in foreign language with such a dreadful accent. But I also gladly acknowledge that Japanese is a very hard language to speak and Russian too. More importantaly, the actors make up for their language ability by being very funny!
So when I heard Kensi was supposed to use French to communicate with a couple of Vietnamese people I was ready to squirm but was pleasantly surprised. The actress actually had a really good accent, scrolled the R´s very well (something I can do too) and it was a delight to listen to her (the actress grew up in Portugal so she probably studied French in school). So kudos to Daniela Ruah for pulling off French!
I got the same delight when I heard Ziva on NCIS pull off Spanish for the first time. Since the actress, Cote de Pablo, is a fluent speaker of Spanish it was awesome to hear the way it sounded (much much better than Emily Prentiss on Criminal Minds!). Ziva is supposed to speak like 5 languages fluently (which is entirely possible in the real world) and in my opinion the actress generally pulls it off well when she speaks other languages than English (although I do wish she spoke more Hebrew).
But my most favorite thing would have to be Ziva messing up English idioms. I just love to hear the way she messed up idioms again and again and mixes them up and it´s always believable. As an EFL I can vouch for the difficulty of English idioms and listening to Ziva mess up and then being corrected has even helped teach me some (such as "look who´s calling the pot black").
So watching American actors mess up foreign languages continues to entertain me and I keep on learning.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Castle - In short
I can tell the exact I began watching Castle. I was at my grandpa´s house with my aunt and we turned on the TV. They were showing Castle 1x02 and the episode was almost at the end. I watched the final scenes and the episode intrigued me. So much I decided to go home and google it, then finding out it was receiving positive reviews on IMDB I decided to give it a try. I watched the pilot and was hooked. I loved that series the moment I started watching it and saw every single episode in less than a week. It´s been two years since I first saw Castle and I adore this series. It´s TV show heaven for me. I watch every new episode religiously and follow all updates closely.
It has everything I require from a good TV show and more.
-The actors are wonderful and give outstanding performances each week
-The storylines are genuinely interesting and intriguing
-The script always has plenty of humor but is dramatic and heart wrenching when it needs to be
-The characters are wonderfully nuanced and realistic
-The series feels realistic
-There is a great amount of respect in it towards a lot of things which I value
-It´s now showy or flashy
-It makes the viewer think and doesn´t expect the viewer to have no brain
-It´s not dumbed down - instead it´s incredibly smart
-The actors and producers are wonderful with communicating with the fandom. Terri Edda has even tweeted me twice! They are honestly wonderful about it
-I can watch it over and over again
All in all - it´s the best show on TV right now.
Proud Castle fangirl.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
NCIS:LA I just keep on coming back to it
Note: This post is a criticism of NCIS:LA as an episode, NOT of the actors which I respect.
Last year after falling in love with NCIS I decided to give NCIS:LA a try. It seemed interesting and as a spinoff of NCIS it simply had to be good. I watched the first few episodes and liked them at first but my liking very quickly developed into annoyance. The characters seemed so unreal, there were at least 10 people killed in every episode, the banter felt forced, the technic doo-dah was way too much, the action sequences were way too rehearsed, the storylines were way too unreal and the episodes didn´t leave anything behind.
Every time I watch an NCIS episode it leaves something behind, it keeps me wondering. I can watch NCIS over and over again but never NCIS:LA. Yet I decided to go through with the entire 1st season and I lived it through (in TV terms that is). I should have stopped watching but there was something about it as an TV show that kept me coming back.
I gave 2nd season a go and was pleasantly surprised to note that they had improved drastically. The banter was now fun to watch, the storylines were often intriguing and the characters were getting more nuanced and developed. I "fell in love" with Deeks the second he hit the screen and he´s now my favorite character. As a series it had spectacular cinematography and I love being able to get a view of LA. However, what pulled me to the series again was the fact that finally the characters were emerging on their own. Kensi finally stopped being only like a Superwoman and instead turned out to be a realistic woman with her own personality and stories to tell. She finally became interesting as a human being. Hanna and Callen toned down their Superman duo and became individual characters that had distinctive personalities. Deeks emerged as the glorious, incredibly human cop and kept my giggling with his offhand comments and felt genuinely interesting as a person. Hetty also turned out to be human (big surprise to me!). And Eric and Nell were still as human and relate able as ever.
The storylines were getting more and more interesting. The whole deal with the black book was curious and had me guessing. But the icing on the cake was the Deeks storyline where he gets shot. That episode was the first one that genuinely affected me and showed the character´s human side, especially Kensi whom I started to enjoy a lot more after that episode. And I started to love the humor in the series, it´s sparse but they definitely have their moments of great wit.
Right now the show is in it´s 3rd series, I am still following it and will continue to do so. The vast improvement that happened in season 2 has continued and now the series is genuinely enjoyable. It´s not deep, it´s not realistic but it´s enjoyable and infinitely better that most of the crap shown on TV these days (CSI f.ex.). And as a series, it keeps me guessing and keeps me entertained.
So dear NCIS:LA. I am here to stay :)
And just to be clear - I respect the actors and enjoy their work. They do good with what they get.
Last year after falling in love with NCIS I decided to give NCIS:LA a try. It seemed interesting and as a spinoff of NCIS it simply had to be good. I watched the first few episodes and liked them at first but my liking very quickly developed into annoyance. The characters seemed so unreal, there were at least 10 people killed in every episode, the banter felt forced, the technic doo-dah was way too much, the action sequences were way too rehearsed, the storylines were way too unreal and the episodes didn´t leave anything behind.
Every time I watch an NCIS episode it leaves something behind, it keeps me wondering. I can watch NCIS over and over again but never NCIS:LA. Yet I decided to go through with the entire 1st season and I lived it through (in TV terms that is). I should have stopped watching but there was something about it as an TV show that kept me coming back.
I gave 2nd season a go and was pleasantly surprised to note that they had improved drastically. The banter was now fun to watch, the storylines were often intriguing and the characters were getting more nuanced and developed. I "fell in love" with Deeks the second he hit the screen and he´s now my favorite character. As a series it had spectacular cinematography and I love being able to get a view of LA. However, what pulled me to the series again was the fact that finally the characters were emerging on their own. Kensi finally stopped being only like a Superwoman and instead turned out to be a realistic woman with her own personality and stories to tell. She finally became interesting as a human being. Hanna and Callen toned down their Superman duo and became individual characters that had distinctive personalities. Deeks emerged as the glorious, incredibly human cop and kept my giggling with his offhand comments and felt genuinely interesting as a person. Hetty also turned out to be human (big surprise to me!). And Eric and Nell were still as human and relate able as ever.
The storylines were getting more and more interesting. The whole deal with the black book was curious and had me guessing. But the icing on the cake was the Deeks storyline where he gets shot. That episode was the first one that genuinely affected me and showed the character´s human side, especially Kensi whom I started to enjoy a lot more after that episode. And I started to love the humor in the series, it´s sparse but they definitely have their moments of great wit.
Right now the show is in it´s 3rd series, I am still following it and will continue to do so. The vast improvement that happened in season 2 has continued and now the series is genuinely enjoyable. It´s not deep, it´s not realistic but it´s enjoyable and infinitely better that most of the crap shown on TV these days (CSI f.ex.). And as a series, it keeps me guessing and keeps me entertained.
So dear NCIS:LA. I am here to stay :)
And just to be clear - I respect the actors and enjoy their work. They do good with what they get.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Favorite shows - Minor pet peeves
Castle - Pretty much perfection except the annoying fan community that continues to threaten and bombard the actors/producers unless Castle and Beckett get together a.s.a.p. Other than that - this show is pure brilliance
Bones - Booth - he´s way to perfect as a character and not realistic and David Boreanaz frankly makes him rather dull. The forensic doodah that´s impossible to understand and is most of the time very unrealistic. Is way too unrealistic at times.
NCIS - A brilliant show but the whole Navy lingo is a bit hard to understand for a noob like me that has no knowledge of the Navy :)
NCIS. Los Angeles - Totally unrealistic characters (except maybe Deeks, Nell and Eric) and way to well rehearsed action scenes to be realistic. Not to mention the fact that at least 20 people are killed in each episode, no questions asked. And not very interesting storylines. The way they deal with undercover missions, particularly when it comes to Kensi (less is more people!). And yes, 20 effing undercover identities.
The Mentalist - How the hell the female characters can have perfect hair while working the hazardous job of being a homicide detective. Other than that I really enjoy that show.
Criminal Minds - Morgan is wayyy to perfect as a character and completely dull except when with Garcia, JJ and Hotch are just as dull and boring. I much prefer the quirky characters like Reed and Prentiss. The fact they fly around in a private jet and seem to have an endless stream of money. The cars they drive. The FBI superiority. And how they can see the body of a deceased newborn child, shrug and just walk away (4x02, I curse you!!).
But just to be clear - Despite those pet peeves I really enjoy these shows and yes, NCIS: LA is totally my guilty conscience. There is a lot I can´t stand about the show but.... just when I feel like I´m going to stop watching it, it delivers good action and keeps me laughing. So it´s still in my good books.
Bones - Booth - he´s way to perfect as a character and not realistic and David Boreanaz frankly makes him rather dull. The forensic doodah that´s impossible to understand and is most of the time very unrealistic. Is way too unrealistic at times.
NCIS - A brilliant show but the whole Navy lingo is a bit hard to understand for a noob like me that has no knowledge of the Navy :)
NCIS. Los Angeles - Totally unrealistic characters (except maybe Deeks, Nell and Eric) and way to well rehearsed action scenes to be realistic. Not to mention the fact that at least 20 people are killed in each episode, no questions asked. And not very interesting storylines. The way they deal with undercover missions, particularly when it comes to Kensi (less is more people!). And yes, 20 effing undercover identities.
The Mentalist - How the hell the female characters can have perfect hair while working the hazardous job of being a homicide detective. Other than that I really enjoy that show.
Criminal Minds - Morgan is wayyy to perfect as a character and completely dull except when with Garcia, JJ and Hotch are just as dull and boring. I much prefer the quirky characters like Reed and Prentiss. The fact they fly around in a private jet and seem to have an endless stream of money. The cars they drive. The FBI superiority. And how they can see the body of a deceased newborn child, shrug and just walk away (4x02, I curse you!!).
But just to be clear - Despite those pet peeves I really enjoy these shows and yes, NCIS: LA is totally my guilty conscience. There is a lot I can´t stand about the show but.... just when I feel like I´m going to stop watching it, it delivers good action and keeps me laughing. So it´s still in my good books.
Favorite shows - Overview
Name - Castle
Fan how long - Since March 2010
Why it´s a favorite - Wonderful characters, great actors and excellent acting, interesting storylines and awesome humor. It´s a show I get caught up in each time I watch it.
Favorite episodes - All of them :)
Favorite characters - All of them :)
Name - Bones
Fan how long - Since March 2011
Why a favorite - The main character Bones is incredible and it has interesting storylines, good action and a nice script which makes of for the less interesting characters and Hart Hanson on Twitter
Favorite Epsiode - The Gravedigger espisode from season 2 , 1x15 (don´t remember the name) and 1x22
Favorite Characters - Brennan, Sweets and Saroyan
Name - Criminal Minds
Fan how long - Since November 2011
Why a favorite - Garcia! Quirky and well nuanced characters (some at least), great humor and has some seriously good "out of the box" episodes
Favorite episodes - 52 pickup, Mosley Lane, Uncanny Valley
Favorite Characters - Garcia and Prentiss
Name - NCIS
Fan how long - Since February 2011
Why a favorite - Seriously good characterization, wonderful storylines, great humor, realistic and done with great respect towards the navy.
Favorite episodes - Under Covers, Silver War are top favorites but I love all the episodes
Favorite Characters - I can´t really pick a favorite as I love all the characters for various reasons
Name - NCIS: Los Angeles
Fan how long - May 2011
Why a favorite - Good action, it´s a nice way to shut off my brain, excellent cinematography.
Favorite episode - The one where Deeks is shot
Favorite Characters - Deeks
Name - The Mentalist
Fan how long - since March 2011
Why a favorite - Amazingly well done storylines, interesting and arresting characters and a nice twist on the whole procedural thing
Favorite episode - Season 3 Finale, 1x15 (where Jane goes blind)
Favorite Characters - Lisbon
And this is the rundown of my favorite shows which I will blog about in more depth soon :)
Fan how long - Since March 2010
Why it´s a favorite - Wonderful characters, great actors and excellent acting, interesting storylines and awesome humor. It´s a show I get caught up in each time I watch it.
Favorite episodes - All of them :)
Favorite characters - All of them :)
Name - Bones
Fan how long - Since March 2011
Why a favorite - The main character Bones is incredible and it has interesting storylines, good action and a nice script which makes of for the less interesting characters and Hart Hanson on Twitter
Favorite Epsiode - The Gravedigger espisode from season 2 , 1x15 (don´t remember the name) and 1x22
Favorite Characters - Brennan, Sweets and Saroyan
Name - Criminal Minds
Fan how long - Since November 2011
Why a favorite - Garcia! Quirky and well nuanced characters (some at least), great humor and has some seriously good "out of the box" episodes
Favorite episodes - 52 pickup, Mosley Lane, Uncanny Valley
Favorite Characters - Garcia and Prentiss
Name - NCIS
Fan how long - Since February 2011
Why a favorite - Seriously good characterization, wonderful storylines, great humor, realistic and done with great respect towards the navy.
Favorite episodes - Under Covers, Silver War are top favorites but I love all the episodes
Favorite Characters - I can´t really pick a favorite as I love all the characters for various reasons
Name - NCIS: Los Angeles
Fan how long - May 2011
Why a favorite - Good action, it´s a nice way to shut off my brain, excellent cinematography.
Favorite episode - The one where Deeks is shot
Favorite Characters - Deeks
Name - The Mentalist
Fan how long - since March 2011
Why a favorite - Amazingly well done storylines, interesting and arresting characters and a nice twist on the whole procedural thing
Favorite episode - Season 3 Finale, 1x15 (where Jane goes blind)
Favorite Characters - Lisbon
And this is the rundown of my favorite shows which I will blog about in more depth soon :)
Favourite television shows
What is the purpose of this blog?
To blog about my favorite television shows, review them and write about various issues concerned with TV. I love television shows and am very partial towards procedural shows at the moment. There are so many shows I have grown up loving and have remained favorites of mine to this day but I will concentrate on my favorite shows on this blog as they provide ample material to write about and explore.
My favorite shows at the moment are:
-Castle
-Bones
-The Mentalist
-Criminal Minds
-NCIS
-NCIS: Los Angeles
I like those shows because they have interesting storylines, realistic and well nuanced character, nice action and I don´t feel braindead after watching them (unlike after watching something like Sex and the City). Obviously they are not all top material (f.ex. NCIS:LA is nothing as good as Castle) but they are a whole lot better than most of the trash that´s being shown on TV right now (Glee) and I just really like them. And they give me a lot to think about which is always nice. In fact I´d say that NCIS has played a part in teaching me more about the Navy and everything it involves (though I still have no idea what exactly a marine is).
I am not sure what direction this blog is going to take or how it´ll all turn out but I am excited to get started and rounding up my thoughts on the strange thing that is TV today.
To blog about my favorite television shows, review them and write about various issues concerned with TV. I love television shows and am very partial towards procedural shows at the moment. There are so many shows I have grown up loving and have remained favorites of mine to this day but I will concentrate on my favorite shows on this blog as they provide ample material to write about and explore.
My favorite shows at the moment are:
-Castle
-Bones
-The Mentalist
-Criminal Minds
-NCIS
-NCIS: Los Angeles
I like those shows because they have interesting storylines, realistic and well nuanced character, nice action and I don´t feel braindead after watching them (unlike after watching something like Sex and the City). Obviously they are not all top material (f.ex. NCIS:LA is nothing as good as Castle) but they are a whole lot better than most of the trash that´s being shown on TV right now (Glee) and I just really like them. And they give me a lot to think about which is always nice. In fact I´d say that NCIS has played a part in teaching me more about the Navy and everything it involves (though I still have no idea what exactly a marine is).
I am not sure what direction this blog is going to take or how it´ll all turn out but I am excited to get started and rounding up my thoughts on the strange thing that is TV today.
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