A long hard winter

So, I had taken on three new shows this season – Life, Journeyman, and Chuck – with low hopes for all three, truthfully. And each exceeded my expectations and filled my TV life with joy (except for the cancellation of Journeyman, just as it was getting really good). And then there was the Strike. Knowing what to do to fill all that sudden free time has been an issue, but I’m bearing up under the strain. I’m pretty much caught up on TiVo for one thing. And luckily the networks have dribbled out a few episodes here and there – though the recent Chucks seemed to ignore the cliffhanger from before the hiatus but let’s just ignore that for now – and I understand there’s some more House and Brothers & Sisters coming. Other notable viewings:

My spouse bought me the Carnivàle S1 DVDs for Christmas (kind of on a lark; I hadn’t asked for them.) and so we watched those and S2 every night pretty much until they were done. For those of you who are not familiar, this was an HBO series about a traveling carnival in the 1930s and a war between good and evil. It’s wonderfully filmed and has some awesome performances in it. But I can only recommend the series with some caveats. I mean, it was gorgeous and I adore some of the characters and it was very entertaining and I am totally a sucker for apocalyptic fiction of any kind. But there are issues. For one thing, it only lasted 2 seasons and so the story wasn’t even close to being resolved when it ended. Most importantly, the second season was just not as grey as the first. The first had a lot more moral ambiguity in the “Bad Guy” and I like that in a show, you know. There are a lot of things to recommend the second season – I love the story-arcs for Ben, Libby, Iris, and Rita Sue, but Justin’s story-arc was more heavy-handed, not as interesting.

PBS has started showing – as part of Masterpiece (nee Masterpiece Theater) – The Complete Jane Austen, with adaptations new and old of her work. I find this terribly exciting, as I adore Jane, like all right-thinking people. But the first two adaptations that I have watched have made me cringe in horror. First was Persuasion, my favorite Austen book, which had already been done so well with Amanda Root and Ciarán Hinds. This version had a very pretty Wentworth, but missed the point of the book entirely and turned Anne Elliot into a lovesick mooning girl who ran a lot. Lots and lots of running seems to be a theme with these adaptations, I noticed. Also, they had Wentworth buy Kellynch. You can’t see it, but I’m shaking my head. My second viewing was Mansfield Park, one of the two Austen novels that I have not yet read (though I have just started it). Even without having read it, I know enough to be offended on Miss Austen’s behalf. Billie Piper and her hair-dressers were mistakes of epic proportion, as was the entirety of that script. And the now ubiquitous running, of course. The only bright spot was that Pullings was in the movie. Next up is Northanger Abbey, which I have heard good things about. We’ll see about that.

And meanwhile, Nikki Finke says that real progress is being made, and we may have TV back for real soon. That would make Spring that much happier.