Last night, I really wanted to settle in and watch two hours of quality television: "The Sopranos" and "Big Love." I watched the first 20 minutes of "The Sopranos," then turned it off to read until "Big Love" came on. I watched 10 minutes of that, then turned it off and read until I fell asleep. I was tired and not up to the task of watching quality television. So much going on, and you've got to absorb it at the pace they impose on you. Reading is much easier and much more self-indulgent and luxurious. You can drift into your own thoughts at will and return to you old place or skip ahead or back.
But if you're looking for a place to talk about "The Sopranos" and "Big Love," go right ahead and use the comments. Don't worry about spoiling it for me. I prefer the shows spoiled. It removes the distraction of paying attention to the plot points and to see what's really happening, to concentrate on the details. I often watch these shows twice, and the second viewing is always better. That's how you know it's worth watching once.
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David: By your standard, "Anna Karenina" and "Madame Bovary" are not quality books.
A bad paraphrase of Oscar Wilde: a book is neither moral nor immoral; it's either good or not.
But then we know what happened to him!
Ann, it seems that now TV is becoming like the movies to you!
Ron: Dramas watched live are.
Hey Ann,
1. Sopranos: Maybe it's just me and my testosterone, but I'm giving the show one more week, and if whacking does not commence in prodigious quantities, I'm out of here.
On the other hand, remember my comment about A.J. and Michael Corleone in the Godfather? Well, that comparison was a huge element in this episode. You'll see A.J. clumsily drop a big hunting knife just before he knife's his uncle, and then you'll hear A.J. himself refer to the Godfather scene.
I still think it's interesting that Tony is not taking A.J. into the family business.
I leave comments about the crazy Vito behavior to others. DowntownLad, where are you with this one?
2. Big Love: Worth watching this time. You tell me just what other show in modern American television could get this quirky. I double-dare you. Bruce Dern and that sink thing? The show just does not stop.
Oh, and when Tripplehorn tells Chloe that "it's over", guess what? I bet it's not, and I rest my case on the last scene.
And, I was really proud of Margene for her perceptiveness, for her willingness to carve, and for confronting the clucking hens about the scratch in her car.
Clearly, not one of Paxton's 3 wives are shrinking violets.
Wow.
Ann,
Why watch them live?
DVR the shows and then you can pause, skip ahead, skip back, etc. to your heart's content.
Gil: I have both shows on HBO on Demand, but I like to watch them live for the HD widescreen.
So, I suppose you missed "The Simpsons", Ann? You might have enjoyed it. Principal Skinner gets into predictable trouble for making President-of-Harvard-esque statements about girls in math and science, so Springfield Elementary soon becomes two separate boys-only and girls-only schools. The "girl's math" class features questions like, "How does this number make you feel?" Heh. But I laughed out loud when the kid flautist comes onstage playing riffs from "Thick As A Brick" and everybody starts throwing stuff at him.
I haven't actually seen a Big Love episode. But, between your commentary and Television Without Pity's recaps, I'm hooked.
Sopranos? Big Love? Please.
When will you blog about United 93, or the immigration rallies, or other stuff I can link to here and thus steal eyeballs to my blog!
Cheers,
Victoria
Did anyone else think the lawyer looked like former MSNBC loony lefty Lawrence O'Donnell?
And what was with AJ's hair being short, then long, then short again?
In Big Love, the lawyer doesn't look like loony lefty Lawrence O'Donnell, he IS Lawrence O' Donnell.
(and the ultimate resource in Lawrence O'Donnell lefty lunacy, would be Cathy Seipp (part one, part two, part three))
Regarding Sopranos (didn't watch Big Love), I find the parallelism between corporate practices (Starbucks, Jamba Juice) and mobster protection rackets interesting. Especially with the possible suggestion that the corporations are far more efficient at their version of the 'shakedown' (the Starbucks manager telling the mobsters, to paraphrase 'sorry fellas, can't pay the graft, the corporate guys watch my books too closely, and if you beat me up or kill me, I'll just be replaced the next day').
(and in my mind that's a very good thing, it forces franchisees to stay consistent, and focused on service as well as the bottom line, nothing wrong with that)
By the way, it is my contention that "Aqua Teen Hungerforce" is the best (made-for-Cartoon-Network) Adult Swim cartoon.
JLR, I must respectfully disagree (which really means I must angrily call you an idiot, usually), but the best made for AS show has been Robot Chicken. Cleary the best stop-motion animated sketch show featuring children's toys ever, bar none.
Of course you are entitled to your opinion, as I am mine (but you are wrong and I am right).
Apologies to anyone else not interested in this bit of threadjacking.
As far as the use of Aqua Teen Hunger Force as shorthand for how slackerrific AJ was behaving, I agree that it was just about the best choice of what could have been shown on the TV screen during that scene.
my opinion of quality T.V. does not include mafia dons and polygamist Mormons
Wait, I'm confused, I thought there was a disclaimer at the beginning that they weren't Mormons. Did that end?
Luckily, there's not much danger that this problem you're having with quality television will force you to turn "American Idol" off in the middle tonight . . .
My prediction: The theme for the next seasons is "outing." Vito outs himself. And he will out the family when his gay lover convinces him to REALLY write a book.
MrsWhatsit: You're right. I love the personal freedom junk TV leaves me. And I can blog during to show!
Another good thing about American Idol is that it is possible to knit a lace sock while watching it. I discovered last night that this is not such a good idea while watching "24," unless one wants to spend the next hour fixing one's knitting mistakes.
Does this mean that "24" is quality television?
I tire of reading about the bored rich
I tire of culture snobs, but life is hard; we must all endure.
I prefer Shakespeare, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Thucydides.
Yeah, you know what? They're not writing anymore, and you can easily finish all of their existing works in under a year. Then what? Sit around complaining, I guess.
Mrs. Whatsit,
Yes, much of TV is made for sporadic viewing patterns. I cannot do laundry or anything else during 24, so I don't watch it much. One missed scene and one is hopelessly behind.
I'm a little disappointed in Sopranos as it's getting kind of soapoperatic, but still and yet it's good movie quality stuff. And AJ is not such a bad kid--who didn't lay around a lot when young?
Meanwhile, Simpsons was quite good this week, with Principal Skinner as Larry Summers. All the proper villains were satirized. Anyone see it?
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