Wednesday, January 24, 2007

"Television, say you love me..."

My friend Will Briarwood and I were discussing tv in 2006. Warning – there may be some spoilers below, if you have not watched current episodes on USA tv.

“The best show on tv is Battlestar Galactica.”

So say lots of critics.

“There was a story line, in which one of the Cylons, played by Lucy Lawless –“

She’s excellent, by the way.

“—she is excellent. Almost made we want to go back and watch some episodes of Xena. So, she’s trying to see the face of God, by killing herself over and over.”

The Cylons that die are reborn in a new body.

“Right. So, in last week’s episode, she does see part of what she was seeking, but because of what happened to her when she reincarnated, no one will know what she saw.”

And?

“That’s a metaphor, kind of, for people who watch the show. We know it’s the best show in many years, but no one – well, not enough people – are seeing what we see on the show.”

I did hear that their ratings were pretty bad this past week.

“Part of that was the football game on that evening. And part is that people like my brother, who would like to check out the show, don’t think they can figure out what’s going on in the middle of the season, and don’t have the time to get caught up on all the previous episodes.

So they watch football. What else did we watch in 2006?

“The next best shows were Veronica Mars and Lost.”

Both in their third seasons, and both supposedly not quite as good as they used to be.

“Veronica is adjusting to college, and so are the show’s creators. I worry that they’re not getting support from the network – I heard they’re going to stop with the multi-episode mysteries, and just go with one mystery per week.”

Another situation where they don’t want the new fans thinking they’ll be lost if they show up midseason.

“Which is also part of the declining ratings for Lost. And they have the most convoluted storylines in the history of television.”

What was their deal this year – they did six new episodes in the fall, took three months off, and they’re going to do all new episodes February through May?

“I think so.”

What else did we watch last year?

Gilmore Girls, 30 Rock, Jericho, Heroes, Project Runway, Supernatural, Desperate Housewives, The 4400, Queer Eye, Eureka, Numb3rs, The 4400, Threshold and Invasion.”

Let’s continue this conversation in another post.

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