Miffed, worried and underwhelmed
Feb. 14th, 2013 08:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessThe Hour has been cancelled!
I'm really put out by this. I thought it was improving - and I wanted to know what happened next. Beyond the obvious Freddie cliffhanger, there are questions about Lix and Randall, Hector and Marnie... I thought it was such a prestige project (eg it was nominated for a Golden Globe quite recently) that I didn't even question that it wouldn't be back, tbh. And with Ben Wishaw's stock rising post-Q and all. I didn't keep an eye on the ratings. I suppose in these times of budget cuts that they do matter, and despite being a gorgeous show, it was far from flawless, but it was engaging.
To rub salt into the wound, I saw an advert for all the drama on BBC2 (shown on BBC1) last night, which contained clips from The Hour.
Also, should I be worried about Borgen series 3 appearing on BBC4 - the report linked above talks about the channel focusing on factual and comedy programming? Surely not - the channel's made such a lot out of its intelligent international drama niche: Spiral, Scandi noir, BORGEN... But if they're stopping doing homegrown dramas on that channel, that's going to seem a bit weird. Would they move it to BBC2?
Last night, I also watched the Nashville pilot.
Coming in, on the one hand, I don’t like country music much, on the other, I rate Connie ‘Y’all’ Britton very highly (although I only ever saw the first series of Friday Night Lights). It’s airing here straight after The Good Wife, which isn’t a bad lead-up, except it starts at 10 pm, so I would very rarely catch it live.
And for most of the episode, I was dubious if I’d watch any more. Nothing much gripped me. On Rayna's dilemma(s), I couldn’t see why they couldn’t just retrench and sell the house for one without so many dressing rooms and she could go off and record more of the records that she wanted to make. Well, there wouldn’t be any drama. That's a good reason. I liked her more than Juliette and what I took to be the girl’s daddy issues, and even if I sympathised with her a little more after seeing her mother, I still didn’t care much. Pointing out that the men at the label were using and mocking her pouty little self doesn’t add up to critique. I thought the political stuff was so weak that they shouldn’t have bothered. I was unmoved by Rayna’s pining guitarist (her feelings for him and their history were confusing), oh, and most of the songs (if it was their voices, both Britton and Panettiere sound fine, no more).
The story seemed to be a bit predictable. I wasn’t overwhelmed by the way it was shot, mostly (not as striking visually as FNL or Heroes in their own different ways) and found the green screen in the ‘Mommy’s got a headache’ scene far too obvious.
But Scarlett and Gunnar did engage me. First the fact that he was cute in a sea of bland men, then the fact that she’d clearly got her uncle’s talent but was modest about it, then the fact that I was miffed not to see them work together on the song and then we heard it, and it was sultry and beautiful. And now, I am anxious about Rayna nicking it, because they should be duetting that song themselves. (And clearly she should dump her loser boyfriend for this boy who looks like a slightly less well-kempt Cory Monteith and who can sing better.)
So that’s one storyline where I’m pre-emptively sympathising with supporting characters over the main character, and I’m disengaged from the setting etc. Based on all that, I think this will go to the bottom of the pile of shows I will catch up on.
I'm really put out by this. I thought it was improving - and I wanted to know what happened next. Beyond the obvious Freddie cliffhanger, there are questions about Lix and Randall, Hector and Marnie... I thought it was such a prestige project (eg it was nominated for a Golden Globe quite recently) that I didn't even question that it wouldn't be back, tbh. And with Ben Wishaw's stock rising post-Q and all. I didn't keep an eye on the ratings. I suppose in these times of budget cuts that they do matter, and despite being a gorgeous show, it was far from flawless, but it was engaging.
To rub salt into the wound, I saw an advert for all the drama on BBC2 (shown on BBC1) last night, which contained clips from The Hour.
Also, should I be worried about Borgen series 3 appearing on BBC4 - the report linked above talks about the channel focusing on factual and comedy programming? Surely not - the channel's made such a lot out of its intelligent international drama niche: Spiral, Scandi noir, BORGEN... But if they're stopping doing homegrown dramas on that channel, that's going to seem a bit weird. Would they move it to BBC2?
Last night, I also watched the Nashville pilot.
Coming in, on the one hand, I don’t like country music much, on the other, I rate Connie ‘Y’all’ Britton very highly (although I only ever saw the first series of Friday Night Lights). It’s airing here straight after The Good Wife, which isn’t a bad lead-up, except it starts at 10 pm, so I would very rarely catch it live.
And for most of the episode, I was dubious if I’d watch any more. Nothing much gripped me. On Rayna's dilemma(s), I couldn’t see why they couldn’t just retrench and sell the house for one without so many dressing rooms and she could go off and record more of the records that she wanted to make. Well, there wouldn’t be any drama. That's a good reason. I liked her more than Juliette and what I took to be the girl’s daddy issues, and even if I sympathised with her a little more after seeing her mother, I still didn’t care much. Pointing out that the men at the label were using and mocking her pouty little self doesn’t add up to critique. I thought the political stuff was so weak that they shouldn’t have bothered. I was unmoved by Rayna’s pining guitarist (her feelings for him and their history were confusing), oh, and most of the songs (if it was their voices, both Britton and Panettiere sound fine, no more).
The story seemed to be a bit predictable. I wasn’t overwhelmed by the way it was shot, mostly (not as striking visually as FNL or Heroes in their own different ways) and found the green screen in the ‘Mommy’s got a headache’ scene far too obvious.
But Scarlett and Gunnar did engage me. First the fact that he was cute in a sea of bland men, then the fact that she’d clearly got her uncle’s talent but was modest about it, then the fact that I was miffed not to see them work together on the song and then we heard it, and it was sultry and beautiful. And now, I am anxious about Rayna nicking it, because they should be duetting that song themselves. (And clearly she should dump her loser boyfriend for this boy who looks like a slightly less well-kempt Cory Monteith and who can sing better.)
So that’s one storyline where I’m pre-emptively sympathising with supporting characters over the main character, and I’m disengaged from the setting etc. Based on all that, I think this will go to the bottom of the pile of shows I will catch up on.
