Joan of Arcadia

Joan of Arcadia is the surprise hit of the sason - or is it a surprise? Barbara Hall (Judging Amy) has created a metaphysical space - Arcadia - for us to drop in and visit every week as God visits the teenager Joan. God has many faces - young, old, all races, cultures and occupations - and invites her (sometimes with a little more conviction) to do something that ends up helping someone or inspiring them. The show is thoughtful and I think the acting is excellent. Joe Mantegna as the police chief and the rather dark side of life he represents seemed at first to be too extreme a counterpoint to the supernatural aspect of Joan's relationship with God, but as the show is finding its pace, the elements are integrating well. The show invites us in, and makes me think "ah ha!" rather than weep into my hankie (as Touched by an Angel could do so well). And that's OK. Joan of Arcadia is a show filled with seekers for seekers. I like it very much.

CSI - Las Vegas, Miami, Navy

Why is it audiences like to watch close ups of body innards?

When CSI (Vegas) first came on, I watch it religiously (?!). Then came Miami. I like David Caruso but I still feel cheated because they stole Emily Procter from The West Wing. Anyway. Now Mark Harmon runs the Navy CSI. Different spins on the same theme: experts use forensics to solve very serious crimes. One thing I like about all of these is the cultural diversity of the casts, but all of them are headed by Middle Aged White Males. Then there is the issue of right and wrong. Is the government (police or military) always right, even when the crimes are within the very groups trying to solve the crimes? Something to talk about... How many murder mysteries can the primetime TV viewer handle in one week? And why? I like to vary my television diet. And I do like sports. I watch ice skating.

Life with Bonnie

I don't get to watch this show every week, but when I do, it always has some great laughs. There was a recent episode with the Smothers Brothers in it and it was so funny. Sure they sang that same old Spanish song that they turn into German. We older folks have heard it so many times, but in the show they played two brothers who run a construction company who used to have their own show but now "they don't want to talk about it." Older, yes, and funny as ever. Bonnie plays a morning talk show host so it's a show within a show. This is comedy, pure and simple and it features a woman in the lead. Bonnie's first show last year featured these two Italian cooks making Tiramisu. One did the work and the other one said his job was to watch. I have lived with an Italian nun who was a cook, and it was so realistic I laughed til I cried. Someone had an inside line on that one. Just enjoy.

Without a Trace

I've actually had some negative reactions to my positive response to this fine show... because it's about serious crime. But as a friend of mine said, there's a Good Shepherd quality to these FBI agents who seek out the lost. They are flawed, yes, but compassionate to others. A couple of weeks ago there was an episode with Hector Elizondo who played a priest who disappeared...he needed a liver transplant and time was running out. Try to catch this one on re-runs. He gives absolution to Jack (Anthony LaPaglia) and if you watched last season, this gesture and kindness are so meaningful. Elizondo's priest gives up the kidney, to repair for a sin in his past. So it's not just repentance, it's reparation. Very useful teaching for us to contemplate. Another show whose 60 minutes fly by...

It's November 30th and I just watched the last episode of WITHOUT A TRACE about three firefighters who thought that by doing one wrong thing they could right a bad situation for two of them. The story was so simply well-told, with the moral and ethical issues clearly defined on the one hand, yet grayed by the love of these three men for one another and their families and job as firefighters.

One of the reasons I like this show is that it isn't so blatent about promoting the current government's agenda (JAG and THREAT MATRIX) even though the FBI is involved. It's about real people and a group of FBI agents (with issues that transcend electoral terms) who have their own human flaws. 

 

Everwood

One of the Sisters in my community says that Everwood is a WB show created for adolescents but that the audience is parents and middle-aged people like me. That may be, but I love the pace, the story, the sullen kid who plays the piano like a master (I think he really does). There's not even too much whining (Dawson's Creek...) The issues seem real and the dialogue is not so starched and hip as the Creek was. Maybe this is a show parents can invite their young teens to watch with them? Some issues, like abortion and homosexuality, teen death, are heavy duty, but there's a Northern Exposure sense to this program... wisdom. And I like that.

Tarzan

I think Edgar Rice Burroughs is turning over in his grave. This brought-up-to-date version of Tarzan made me cringe. Tarzan is going to be a vigilante for the NYPD? Jane is a female cop? Maybe it will grow into something, but the pilot was painful. I salute all the efforts to make watchable, even creative television, but either the Nielsons are broke or the shows are just not so great. (I have been watching the ratings for the new shows - where have all the couch potatoes gone? Or the rest of us? TV is in trouble...)

Gilmore Girls

I really do like this show but it will remain to be seen where it will go this year now that Rory is off to college. Women write better scripts than the men and these guys (characters) all drink too much caffeine, the situation is postcard perfect, but it's nice to see a prime time program with young women who don't jump into a sexual relationship every chance they get (not so mama). This is really adolescent fare, and somewhat uneven. But I still watch it. This is nowhere near Dawson's Creek, but maybe One Tree Hill will make up for that.