So, I'm currently hung up on the short-lived but much-loved Fox sci-fi series of 2002 Firefly, on DVD. The last time I binged on a TV show like this was the Sopranos a couple of years back. (OK, wait, there was The Boondocks, too.) Firefly is great. With 90 minute episodes, it's almost like watching a series of actual movies, but with this natural caveat: it feels episodic. You know? New episode, new crises, good guys win and everyone's still on Gilligan's Isle when it's over. But it has made me realize that something very otherwise was going on with the Sopranos: that series always seemed to be charging towards some ultimate resolution. I'm not really a TV watcher, but it seems to me like that's what they did better than everyone else: made you feel, episode after episode, that the shit was finally about to hit the fan once and for all. They stayed in the third act, climaxing and climaxing. You can't watch the episodes randomly, because they're always a tedious argument of insidious intent, leading you to an overwhelming question. At least that's how it seems to me, at 11:31 on Thursday. Can't wait till the final season hits DVD.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Firefly, Sopranos
So, I'm currently hung up on the short-lived but much-loved Fox sci-fi series of 2002 Firefly, on DVD. The last time I binged on a TV show like this was the Sopranos a couple of years back. (OK, wait, there was The Boondocks, too.) Firefly is great. With 90 minute episodes, it's almost like watching a series of actual movies, but with this natural caveat: it feels episodic. You know? New episode, new crises, good guys win and everyone's still on Gilligan's Isle when it's over. But it has made me realize that something very otherwise was going on with the Sopranos: that series always seemed to be charging towards some ultimate resolution. I'm not really a TV watcher, but it seems to me like that's what they did better than everyone else: made you feel, episode after episode, that the shit was finally about to hit the fan once and for all. They stayed in the third act, climaxing and climaxing. You can't watch the episodes randomly, because they're always a tedious argument of insidious intent, leading you to an overwhelming question. At least that's how it seems to me, at 11:31 on Thursday. Can't wait till the final season hits DVD.
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My wife is a HUGE Whedon fan via Buffy and the related titles. She caught all of the Firefly episodes and loved them, along with the movie. I have yet to indulge. Similarly, and I'll probably get whacked for this, but I have not seen one single episode of the Sopranos. I've always heard it was great, but just never got around to seeing one. So don't tell me what happens!!
Never saw it either, Joe, but only because I've never had the HBO. I guess my episodic indulgence is Lost, which I have followed religiously since the beginning. The last few episodes of this season were phenomenal. I am also enjoying the third year of Hell's Kitchen. For some reason.
I've got a coworker who RAVES about Firefly and Serenity, so I guess now I'm obligated to check it out, as I've reached recommendation critical mass. Never been a Whedon fan before, but would YOU think that was some booty kicking sci-fi just from the titles? Me, either. Sounds like a kid's cartoon and a sleep aid, respectively.
It's easy to get turned off by a movie or series when you hear everybody raving about it, but you have GOT to check out the Sopranos. (Don't bother with that watered-down A&E bullshit, either.)
I got into Heroes last season, but I was losing interest by the season finale ... Lost seemed interesting, but I missed the first half of the first season and decided it was too late to catch up.
What is Hell's Kitchen?
I have to check out Hell's kitchen. I read Whedon talking about the name Firefly in a way that made it obvious he's been questioned on it before, something like "we wanted to draw on movement and light.." It had me picturing some kind of futuristic Tinkerbell. I haven't followed his other shows, but he does create a deeply thought-out reality for them.
He has also done an X-Men series (Astonishing). It's been pretty sporadic, with a lot of issues running late. Kara's bought and read them all, but I quit after two or three.
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