Sound off

There's no point in me posting a reaction to specific TV shows, as I have no indication that my modest readership is interested in that sort of thing. Also, I am lousy at offering any cogent argument about why a show is good or bad; I feel no compulsion to deconstruct the reaction that way*, and thus no inspiration springs to mind. Besides, unless I plan on turning this into a site focusing on that sort of topic, that kind of thing is better suited for posting on a message board pertaining to the show(s) in question. There are no shortage of places on the 'net where one can find such a forum to engage in lively debate.

And by "lively debate" I mean one can be told that one is a "douche bag" for having one's opinion.**

More general notions, like disappointment, are fair game here.

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I used to watch The West Wing (yes, on the EW "new classics"), and I found I really looked forward to it each week. Even through some periods where it wasn't getting good ratings, and even at the end when Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda were the focus, I enjoyed it. What that says about me is anyone's guess, but I like to think I merely liked it because it was, by and large, a well-done show.

Three of the actors from that show (although not necessarily the big names) landed on cable series. Mary-Louise Parker most notably got the lead on Showtime's Weeds, Dulé Hill got a co-lead (although really kind of supporting) role on USA's Psych, and now Mary McCormack is also on USA with the recently premiered In Plain Sight.

Coincidentally, all of those are series which start in the summer (or late spring) rather than in the autumn. *** So they have started up or will be soon.

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I am not here to review any of those series. Let's be clear about that.

However, to sum up, I had enjoyed Weeds (although I missed its first season because I didn't have the pay channels at the time), especially the 2007 season. I found Psych to be a nice little way to spend a Friday evening after watching Monk, although it was not necessarily ground-breaking in its execution. And from the ads for In Plain Sight that started running back in January (for a June premiere), I thought it looked like it would be a good show.

And the fact that these all feature actors whose work I enjoyed in West Wing only enhanced things.

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Psych starts its new season this Friday, so I can't say how that will be. That leaves us with Mary and Mary(-Louise).

The new seasons of both Weeds and In Plain Sight started a month or so back. I concede the current runs should not be judged until they have played out where they're going. However, my initial reaction to both—and I'm not saying I have any good reason for feeling this way; it was merely my glib but genuine response—was that, while both actresses are good in their respective shows, the shows were not quite what I was hoping they'd be.

Having had all winter and spring to gather up anticipation (which, conceivably the producers of the shows wanted) in my head, they were not eliciting in me the same level of can't-wait-for-next-week excitement that the show on which I really got to know them, The West Wing.

Sigh.

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It wasn't that I abandoned all hope they wouldn't come around—or perhaps, that I wouldn't come around—as the summer progressed. I kept watching, perhaps because of the expectations.

With the latest episodes, I find Weeds really starting to get back to the response it caused last season. In Plain Sight is getting better at dragging my attention away from the computer, which is (believe it or not) something of a compliment.

I have to admit: I've given less of a chance to other shows. Perhaps there's many shows on which I've missed out because they didn't grab me right off, and I didn't keep watching to see if they'd improve.

And all because they didn't feature former West Wing cast members to get in my viewing door. Apparently, that was the road to redemption.

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That, gentle reader, is a topic for this site.

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* Although, yes, one might expect that from me--sometimes I confound even myself.

** I find myself disinclined to post anything on those. The reason it simple: I already know my opinions are crap; I don't need someone with nothing better to do than hang out on message boards all day telling me I'm a douche bag for having those less-than-supportable opinions.

Maybe I just don't know how to have fun.

*** It's a glorious time for TV viewing. In the past the summer was a wasteland of reruns, but now there are new shows that start their run when the fall shows have wrapped up.

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P.S. I know that technically the names of TV shows should be placed in quotation marks, not italicized. In case you hadn't noticed, this is not a term paper. But I'm sure someone will think me a douche bag for italicizing.

Or for starting sentences with conjunctions.