Some Thoughts on TV 

It's been a while since I rambled on about TV. Given that this season is almost over, seems like a good time to ramble anew ...

Lost has been good. But, as much as the writers said "no no, we won't be the X-Files, we won't drag things out", this has been a season of lots of reveals amounting to nothing. The structure of the show is still fun, with the backstories mixed with the island, but they've gone to the well a few too many times with some of these characters. Topping it off, the rhythm of the show has become utterly predictable. Outside of the map on the blast door, I don't think I've had a real "OMG! LOST ROOOLZ" moment in a long while.

On the other hand, Veronica Mars has been fantastic, and I think has moved into #1 on the "best hour-long on tv" list. Each twist of the bus crash mystery, each reveal of a hidden character motivation fills in some gaps and sheds a new light on the mystery. No, we don't really know much more about who caused the crash than we did at the beginning of the season. But it feels like we do. And that's something that Lost hasn't been able to replicate. Plus, the show has continually brought the funny.

It's very possible that The West Wing has also surpassed Lost this year. The final season is certainly the best season since Aaron Sorkin left, and might even be better than Sorkin's final season. It's the whole "Luke becoming a Jedi" arc with Josh Lyman's character as Luke, and it really has offered a nice closure to the whole series.

Want to talk about two hour-longs that haven't been great? How about The O.C. and Gilmore Girls? The two shows that have fallen further in one season than anything I can remember. The O.C. has reached the point where I can't even really watch it. I TiVo it and then do 30 second skip through the whole show (stopping at Seth/Summer stuff, skipping past anything with Marissa). Seriously, this show spent the season on Johnny and Marissa's sister and Seth the pothead and Marissa being a giant bowl of douche? Ugh. I'm pretty sure I won't be watching this show next season unless they kill off Marissa. She sucks, and sucks, and sucks some more. The Girls haven't been nearly as bad as the Marissa-suck-fest, but I don't think there's been a less fun season. It feels like an entirely new writing staff took over and decided that the characters should act completely different. There was a moment when it looked like the season was turning around (Rory ditching Logan and Luke/Lorelai on a happy path) but they've decided to revert to the prior stories of super-intelligent Rory being the dumbest girl on earth, and the L&L tandem being the dumbest couple on earth. Blah.

Five shows. One going out on top. One being so good that it inevitably will get cancelled. One desperately needing to get on with it. One sucking bad enough that I probably won't watch it next season. One needing to wrap some storylines up so they can get back on with doing things that people like to watch.

And this is just the hour-longs. Haven't even talked about the greatness of The Office and Scrubs and the utter shite that is Family Guy.

It's possible I watch too much TV.