It's time again for TV.com Commenter Shout-Outs, when our acerbic and erudite commentariat are given a tip o' the hat. Once again, to borrow a phrase from David Letterman, we respectfully remind you that there will be no wagering. Now that that's out of the way, let's begin!
Alas, poor Camelot. The Starz spin on the King Arthur legend turned out to be a bit of a snooze, despite the best efforts of Eva Green and her heaving bosom, and poor ratings led to its cancellation. Most of you seemed to be okay with that.
AngelaBeith thought the fault lay in the casting of the key role of Arthur, with pretty, blonde Jamie Campbell Bower hardly fitting the bill:
Camelot got canceled as it was rubbish—got fed up wondering why anyone would prefer a skinny runt who couldn't lead the way out of a paper bag, to Morgan, who, while a little unhinged, at least had a pair.
Dang! She doesn't mince words, does she? In contrast, teambff will miss the show—but mainly for just one, pretty shallow reason:
Very sad that Eva Green (err Camelot) is canceled, I could watch her doing mime impersonations to a rock and I'd be happy. Since when does Starz care about ratings!? How dare they take Eva Green off my screen? Very, very sad face.
It was a big week for national birthdays in North America, what with the Fourth of July weekend and Canada Day on July 1. In honor of the latter, we listed some of the best Canadian TV series of all time—shows like Kids in the Hall, Degrassi Junior High, and Road to Avonlea.
(Full disclosure: I was raised in Canada but have lived in the U.S. since 1995, so, yes, most of my Canadian TV references are from the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Hey, at least I recognized Canada in the first place! Where is the love, people?)>
Several of you were irked to see that Corner Gas hadn't made the cut. Vidsignup summed it up thusly:
Not only is Corner Gas the best Canadian show, it was also the most successful both domestically and internationally. By far. Not sure how such a specific list could miss that. It's like making a list of Mathew Perry's best work and skipping Friends.
But not everyone agrees! NotAmerican offered this entertaining assessment of the state of Canadian TV:
Degrassi:TNG is not a Canadian show; hell, I don't even know if it's SHOT in Canada. And the reason there's been no shows listed after 1999 is because there's been no good Canadian shows this century. Okay, maybe Flashpoint... Durham County if you're going by non-U.S. standards (i.e. a show is allowed to have between 6 and 26 shows per season; the "seasons" can be ill-defined [i.e. you can have 9 episodes, take an 18-month break, and then show 22 more episodes... or whatever), but yeah, other than that we've got sh!te copies of already sh!te U.S. reality programs (SYTYCD Canada, that game show with Howie Mandel...). We had some pay-cable channels that used to be good, but, like every other non-HBO-type-network out there, they have become sh!te as well. And hell to the yes for You Can't Do That On Television. ... And I wouldn't watch Corner Gas if I was put in one of those Clockwork Orange viewing devices. I would will my eyes to pop out of my head. And that goes TRIPLE for its spin-off, [Some Goof] For Mayor. JMHO.
Finally, TNT appears to have a shlocky sci-fi hit on its hands with Falling Skies, a show that by Episode 3 had our own Tim Surrette in full-on "meh" mode. But what about you guys, he wondered? Would you stay or would you go?
ArjunaJenning saw similarities to another apocalyptic survival series, and not in a good way.
This has the same feel of Jericho. There is some really big event that the viewers never witness and so are then subjected to the monotonous trials of some rag-tag humans because that's all the budget can afford. What happens then is a gap forms between what is happening in the world of characters and what is happening in the world outside of them. So we get aliens hiding in dark corners and humans freely riding around in motorcycles when most of the humans are dead. The writers seem to have checklist of the human complexities they can exploit in their scripts, it comes off campy and lame.
Wow. That was a pretty spot-on analysis. But some of you like it the show! RobYoung3 echoed many when he gave the series props for actually, you know, having a script and actors and stuff:
Oh for God's sake people! Okay, so maybe this show does have the violence/language/horror some people want, but it has something that TV has been lacking since the 'reality show' came to the forefront, it has PLOT! I understand that some people have to have the graphic sex, gore, and action of some of the newer cable series, but I for one am quite glad to see a show with plot and not have nudity and sex every ten minutes. Reality TV has killed my taste for television, but shows like this could actually get me watching again.
Amen, brutha! Well, that's it for this week's TV.com Commenter Shout-Outs. Thanks for all of your input, and remember: Keep watching, and keep talking. (That seems to be the sign off we've landed on. What do you think?)
Didn't watch Camelot and won't bother now. I saw a bit of Falling Skies and it was good so I will watch that from the beginning. At least in this show the Aliens have decent screen time, which was a frustrating factor for ABC's V where the Visitors screen time in their natural form was limited.
Regenesis was a good show and that was Canadian, I also Liked Jpod.
I have no opinon on any of these topics. I want to express my opinion about another topic, and this was the best place I could find to do so: Chaos. Somewhere upon watching the series as it continues to air towards it demise (why CBS, why?) I had an epiphany. Despite it being cancelled after two (or 3?) episodes, (that's just the way tv works today) this could quite easily be the best new show to premiere this year. Sad.
Okay, Falling Skies isn't exactly a great show. The character development is lacking, the action is so-so, and the dialogue sometimes cheezy, but I still find it to be interesting and intriguing compared to whatever is on during the summer. I love Lost but people have to stop comparing shows to Lost and move on.
@notamerican I tink Lost Girl and Being Erica are pretty awesome, and I thought they were canadian...
Fine with Camelot being cancelled, boring. Only seen one episode of Falling Skies so reserving judgement but wasn't very impressed with that one. As for Canadian shows, don't know many but do enjoy InSecurity.
Can't quite believe Camelot's been cancelled when absolute dreck like Spartacus is allowed to continue. Very sad; I've always been fond of Arthurian myth and considered this show to be an entertaining take on it.I will agree, however, that Jamie Campbell Bower doesn't have the required presence or charisma.
the problem with Camelot wasnt the actors, but the script and to some extent the director. The Characters werent behaving realistically. If they want to do it properly they should make it a lot darker. Just so they know how bad it was back then, the poorest people of today have it beter than the richest royalty 1500 years ago had it. The Romans didnt have it too bad but when they went away it got "very bad" for a long time. they didnt have soap or even toilets. make it as dirty, filthy and dismal as it really was back then and I'll watch.
Does 'Rookie Blue' count as a Canadian show? What about 'Sanctuary' and I'm pretty sure half the shows on the CW are filmed in Canada -- Nikita being one.
I agree with goodridd that most, eh, ALL of the time it doesn't have that constant threat looming over them when they are in the school building that the aliens could come storming in at any second and extinguish the rest of them at any moment. This quality that Falling Skies is lacking is something Lost did very well and I think they can take a page out of Lost's book there, and while they're at it get some character development tips. That's what made Lost so great, is that we fell in love with the characters and cared about what happened to them, and shared laughs and tears with them. This is what Tim has been talking about each week, and is totally right. Falling Skies needs to step up their character development because there isn't one character I care about right now.moreless
I'm not feeling Falling Skies and it doesn't have anything to do with sex or violence like the way a lot of it's supporters seem to suggest. Personally, I prefer TV to Movies because of how much time can be dedicated to character development and plot, but were really not getting anything of substance. Yes, it does have a plot, but is pretty simplistic. It seems to be stuck in first gear with no signs that it realizes there are higher gears. Granted, it's still early on, but you have to show me SOMETHING to keep me around. Where is the emotion? Humanity is being wiped out and it seems as if everything is business as usual. To me, it feels just like a bunch of people acting out a script and not something that is actually happening to people. I think that is where ArjunaJenning's criticism comes into play. There is supposedly this large scale event but we aren't privy to it. A lot hinges on this weeks episode. The episode is going to have to be pretty good for me to stick around. I can find better things to do with an hour than sit in front of the TV in Catatonia.moreless
I never have watched corner gas that much.. but since you guys are into that you might want to check out hiccups as well because it has the same main guy from corner gas on that show.. and the other sidekick dude on corner gas is on a show called dan for mayor.. other canadian shows to check out are Call Me Fitz where Jason Priestly plays a scum bag car dealer.. really funny..
Degrassi: TNG isn't Canadian? From what I know of it, it's shot in Canada, based in Canada, created by Canadians, stars Canadians, and is primarily aired in Canada. I do agree with NotAmerican about Corner Gas, though -- not a fan of it, at all.
I'm impressed with Canadian TV in the past 5 or so years. Nice too, that we no longer rely on the participation of the US market to deem our offerings a success. We are going it alone, or with the discerning audiences of the R.O.W. And we are no longer limited to what comes out of US production for our own entertainment. Progress can be a good thing... Now if they'd just get those damned production trailers off our main drags at rush hour.... :o/
notamerican is a moron, degrassi is not only shot but takes place in canada, which makes it a canadian show!
What is this guy talking about Degrassi the Next Generation is shot in Toronto
liked camelot, nothing special though, and really like falling skies
Hiccups and Dan for Mayor are not Corner Gas spinoffs. They are actors that have taken different roles after being on Corner Gas. Sometimes actors like to do that.
so pissed about no camelot season 2, the show had alot of potential but they chose the wrong time to come out especially with game of thrones on hbo at the same time.
Caprica was the most thought provoking show in a long time it will be missed. It was an imaginative look into where our society might be heading with the web and VR.
Um, all versions of Degrassi are Canadian and are shot in Canada, including the current one. So...
You guys are kidding yourself this show is absoloute rubbish. How can they can cancel such great SCI-FI shows like SGA and Caprica which had great story lines and drama and renew shows like this. Just goes to show you they are targeting sci-fi fans but religious people because if you watch the show i've lost count to how many times they refer to god and country.... GIVE ME A BREAK !!
I enjoyed Camelot and would had wished to see a second season. With that said, I do understand why people say it was boring. There was never any real threat against Arthur. Episodes went by with Morgana plotting in her chambers and Arthur building an empire while everyone loved him. He was the rightful heir to the throne and had his loyal knights by his side. He never really had to face any real challenges and fight to gain his position. Even at the end when Morgana claimed Arthur had died, she had to pretend to be humble while accepting his place so that people would like her as much as they liked Arthur. We never got to see a really fierce and bloodthirsty side to her in front of the people. In the end she seemed to be a slightly misguided wicca wannabe with a softer side who tried to appear ruthless. Hardly a terrifying opponent to Arthur. It would have helped if we had actually seen where the powers Morgana had gotten came from to see the dark side Arthur had against him. That would have shown us what Arthur was facing and made it more exiting. Another option could have been that Morgana would have taken the throne from Arthur in the beginning, and Arthur would have had to fight against her ruthless regime to take it back. In the British series "Merlin" they have arranged for a real threat against the kingdom, Arthur of Merlin in every episode. While the show is aimed for a younger audience, unlike Camelot, the episodes could even be seen as more exiting than those of Camelot.moreless