The IT Crowd
This show has actually been dead for a while, but I just came across it on Netflix. This is an over-the-top British comedy that tells the stories of Jen, Roy, and Moss who work in the basement IT department at Reynholm Industries.
Jen, who knows nothing at all about computers, is the manager, and geniuses Roy and Moss struggle with unending Help Desk phone calls, picking up girls, socializing with other people, and just all-around trying to get noticed by their work associates.
You can imagine the shenanigans! For a taste, check out the next two videos. In the first one, Roy and Moss try to convince Jen that the Internet is inside a little black box. In the second one, Jen presents the Internet at a board meeting.
If you liked that, there's more on Netflix (and other outlets). Overall, I found the whole show to be hilarious. A few times, the over-the-top-ness got a little too much, but I got used to it pretty fast. It can also get on the raunchy side, but it is kept within bounds. I would stick with the TV-14 rating.
My favorite episode of the whole lot is Series 2 Episode 1, "The Work Outing." The IT trio goes out to the theater and the most ridiculous things happen. Oh, man, was I on the floor!
This show has four "series" and a closing two-hour episode to wrap things up. That last episode came out in 2013, some three years after the fourth series ended, so even though it was funny, it felt out of place. The actors look noticeably older, and the magic wasn't quite there. However, I appreciated the fun over-the-top conclusion to the show.
Frequency
It's not too often that the CW comes out with a show that interests me. This was one of four time-travel TV shows that premiered in the 2016-2017 season. And all four got canceled!) Of the four, I watched two, and Frequency was my favorite.
Just like the movie from 2000, a freak accident of nature allows a man from the past, Frank Sullivan, to speak to his child in the future over a shortwave radio. The two end up working together in an attempt to change Frank's future.
In the CW's reboot, the child is a girl, Raimy Sullivan. You can watch the following scene from the first episode ...
The show kept my interest because it played a lot on the human element, and not so much on the time travel mechanics. In fact, I found myself often forgetting about the time travel piece ... it just became a natural part of the show.
In the middle, a couple of episodes felt a little repetitive, but on the most part I thought it had great forward motion.
My only complaint is with the finale. When it came very close to tying off lose ends, the writers did the usual but-wait-guys-there's-a-twist thing in the last couple of minutes. I don't know why people think this is an awesome way to set the stage for the next season. In this case, we'll never know what comes next. But then again, I feel like I got enough of a good story from the first season. I can almost forget that twist ever happened and pretend it was a happy ending.
In fact, a couple of months later, I'm now having trouble even remembering what that twist was.
Whew!
Timeless
This show on NBC was a close second -- the other time travel show that I chose to watch. This show felt a lot more cliche and predictable, it used the annoying "Star Trek" time travel mechanics that relies on "audience" time (yes -- I keep promising to write a blog entry on what I mean by this), but like Frequency, it relied heavily on character arcs that kept the show interesting.
In the middle, a couple of episodes felt a little repetitive, but on the most part I thought it had great forward motion.
My only complaint is with the finale. When it came very close to tying off lose ends, the writers did the usual but-wait-guys-there's-a-twist thing in the last couple of minutes. I don't know why people think this is an awesome way to set the stage for the next season. In this case, we'll never know what comes next. But then again, I feel like I got enough of a good story from the first season. I can almost forget that twist ever happened and pretend it was a happy ending.
In fact, a couple of months later, I'm now having trouble even remembering what that twist was.
Whew!
Timeless
This show on NBC was a close second -- the other time travel show that I chose to watch. This show felt a lot more cliche and predictable, it used the annoying "Star Trek" time travel mechanics that relies on "audience" time (yes -- I keep promising to write a blog entry on what I mean by this), but like Frequency, it relied heavily on character arcs that kept the show interesting.
But wait! Before I continue, I just learned that this show (after having been canceled) has been given the green light for a second season. So, it will have another chance. Thus, I'll cut this one short and try not to spoil anything.
The show seems to do a pretty good job with presenting history accurately. It was this show, and not Hidden Figures, that first introduced me to Katherine Johnson of NASA fame (Season 1, Episode 8). This show is also not afraid to allow history to change! Yeah -- I thought that was pretty cool. For example, Booth did not shoot Lincoln. (Oops! I guess I spoiled one thing.)
Check it out. Some episodes are available to stream for free right now, including the pilot episode.
Emerald City
And I save the worst for last. I really tried to like this show, and I stuck with it for more than half of the season, but I just had to stop watching.
I like a show that will take something familiar and do something different -- if they do it well. I enjoyed The Tin Man, which aired on the Sci Fi Channel way back when. But for me, it seemed that Emerald City tried way too hard to be different. It was as if the writers and creators took every line from the classic movie and asked themselves, "How could we take this line and reinterpret it in the most furthest way possible?"
The result was disappointing, and I'm talking "Kevin Sorbo" disappointment.
I even tried to un-marry the show from the classic movie and enjoy it as a standalone TV show, but still no dice. There were just too many scenes and events that made no sense unless you saw the movie. I'm not even sure what the writers hoped to achieve. Just when I tried to hook myself to a story line, it decided to go in some random direction, and I eventually lost interest altogether. I think it was the episode where they had some big army come through for some reason, but I fell asleep trying to figure out what was going on. I guess they were trying to do something like Game of Thrones without compelling story arcs.
It definitely had special effects covered. Kudos to such a grand attempt, but it was too bad it failed to connect with me. Perhaps the next reimagining will work better.
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