TV Review - CSI: Cyber

Photo credit: CBS.com

The latest addition to the CSI family this season is CSI: Cyber. It centers around a unit in the FBI devoted to solving cyber crimes.

I've never watched a CSI before, aside from an odd episode here or there. I was too young when the original came out to really be interested in crime TV, and neither Miami or NY caught my attention. But this one did. As a child of the digital age, I'm fascinated by (and terrified of) cyber crimes, so I was highly anticipating this when they first announced it last year.

Five episodes in (at the time of writing this post), I have mixed feelings about it. My favorite parts are the cases, which are fortunately the driving force of the show. Though I sometimes feel like they over-explain the technical elements (cyber crimes for people who don't really know much about computers), I occasionally find myself learning something. The pace of each episode moves pretty well, and there's a strong element of suspense that keeps me on the edge of my seat.

What I find lacking are the characters. If you've read any of my previous posts, you know how important characters are to me. I can forgive a lot of sins if the chemistry is there, and I don't feel it in CSI: Cyber. I don't like Patricia Arquette's Avery Ryan much at all, and I'm not invested in her backstory or her emotions. In fact, the only character I have any real interest in is Brody Nelson, the blackhat hacker that Avery brought into the team. The other secondary characters--including James Van Der Beek's Elijah Mundo--have the potential to be engaging, but they haven't gotten there yet, even though we've been giving significant looks into the lives of Elijah and Daniel Krumitz, one of the other team members.

So I'm still up in the air about this one. For now, I enjoy watching the episodes enough to keep up with it, but if the characters don't start stepping up soon, I'm not sure how much longer I'll stay invested.

Anyone else watching this?

CSI: Cyber airs at 10:00 on Wednesdays on CBS.

TV Review - The Odd Couple

As many of you (at least the Americans) know, CBS recently revived the 1970s TV show The Odd Couple. The show was based on the 1968 Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau movie, which was based on the 1965 stage play written by Neil Simon. It aired on ABC for five seasons and spurred two previous resurrections in the late 70s and early 80s. It's also used as the butt of nearly every "opposites attract" joke that's been made since 1965.

If you're unfamiliar with it, however, the show revolves around two main characters, Felix Unger (played by Thomas Lennon in the 2015 remake) and Oscar Madison (played by Matthew Perry). In the pilot episode, Felix--an obsessive neatnick who's on his way to getting a divorce--comes to live in Oscar's apartment, which--like the man himself--is a pig sty. Oscar is a playboy sports talk show host whose wife also left him. Together, the two unlikely friends try to learn to live without them... and with each other.

I have to admit that I never watched the original film, and if I say I've seen two episodes of the 70s show, I might be exaggerating. However, my parents were fans, and I've heard references to Felix and Oscar for most of my life, so I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting into when I sat down to watch the pilot a few weeks ago. But this does mean I won't be comparing it to the originals in this review.

I was surprised when I heard Matthew Perry was going to be cast as Oscar. To me, he makes more sense as a Felix. Chandler, his character from Friends, had some quirks that I could easily have seen allowing him to make the transition. However, when I found out that Thomas Lennon, whose most recent TV credit was Sean Hayes' boss on the short-lived Sean Saves the World, was going to be Felix, it suddenly all made sense. Lennon does a great job with the minute mannerisms necessary to make Felix obsessive but not obnoxiously so. There's so much he gets right in the little details. Sometimes I want to smack him, but most of the time I just want to hug him.

Perry does a better job in the role of Oscar than I expected. He yells a little much for my taste, but I'm told that's pretty typical of Oscar from Odd Couples past. But he straddles the line between abrasive and just easily frustrated pretty well, and there are some genuinely warm scenes between him and Lennon that really tie the show together.

The secondary characters--Oscar's friends, Roy and Teddy; his assistant, Dani; and his neighbors and romantic interests, Emily and Casey--have developed nicely over the three episodes that have aired so far. They enhance the show's chemistry, and I'm curious to find out more about them as the series airs, but they don't take away from the main focus.

So far the plot has been pretty focused on Oscar helping Felix get over his ex-wife. Since the series is so new, this is pretty appropriate, but I'm looking forward to a time when that's not quite so front-and-center. There's plenty of potential there.

All in all, I've been pleased with this show so far. I wouldn't yet list it as one of my favorite sitcoms, but I enjoy it when I'm watching it, and I look forward to seeing what happens next.

The Odd Couple airs at 8:30 on Thursdays on CBS.

TV Review - The Flash

I should begin by saying that I'm relatively apathetic toward superhero fiction. I've seen a few of the movies (The Avengers, Iron Man, X-Men) and I watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but I've never read any of the comics, I don't remember watching the cartoons as a kid, and my entire knowledge of the mythos and backstories comes from listening with half an ear as friends talk about it.

And I love The Flash.

For those who are unfamiliar with the premise, it's about a man named Barry Allen who, after being struck by lightning when a particle accelerator explodes nearby, wakes up to find he has superspeed (among other powers). Together with a team of scientists from S.T.A.R. Labs (Harrison Wells, Caitlin Snow, and Cisco Ramon) and a detective/Barry's father figure (Joe West), they save the world from other people with powers, who they call metahumans.

This show hits all the right buttons for me. The episode plots are exciting, and they don't drive away those of us who were mostly unfamiliar with The Flash before this show. They're taking the time to explain the characters' histories and relationships. If there are little nudges and winks to those who already know the series, I don't feel like everyone's getting it but me, and I don't feel like I'm missing out because I don't understand them.

Normally I'm not a huge fan of big series conspiracy arcs (who killed Beckett's mother in Castle, who is Red John in The Mentalist, etc.), but there's really no getting around them with a superhero show. They all have a driving force, and this is no different. When Barry was a little kid, his mother was killed by a superfast man in a yellow suit, and his father went to jail for her murder. But even this has been handled pretty well so far. While it's a huge underlying part of the series and the impetus for most of Barry's actions, the audience hasn't been sledgehammered with it much. And the bits of information we've been given have only served to whet my appetite rather than fill me up.

The characters are fantastic, every one of them. The more reviews I do, the more you'll come to understand just how important that is to me. I'll forgive just about any other sin if I like the characters enough, and The Flash nails it with almost everybody. The only one I could really do without is Iris, Joe's daughter and Barry's love interest. Otherwise, every week I find a different character to be the most interesting person on the show. And the dynamic between them, especially the familial bond between Barry and Joe, is developing beautifully.

For someone who seesawed on whether I was actually going to watch this series, it's really become must-see TV for me each week. In fact, I'm already looking forward to the next episode.

The Flash airs at 8:00 on Tuesdays on the CW.

TV Review - Scorpion

This is a new blog series. Once a month, I'll be posting a review of a television series I watch (or have watched, since once in a while I'll endeavor to write a critical review of a show I don't watch anymore). I'm open to suggestions as well. I watch about 40 TV shows a week, so there's a fair chance that if you suggest something, I've at least watched an episode or two (if it's on American broadcast channels; I don't watch quite as much on cable nor much at all outside the U.S.).

I'm kicking it off this month with one of my favorite new shows this season, Scorpion.

The show is loosely based on the real life of Walter O'Brien, a genius who founded Scorpion Computer Services. The Walter in the show is recruited--with a group of other geniuses--by Agent Cabe Gallo to consult with Homeland Security. The team is filled out by Sylvester, a "human calculator"; Toby, a world-class behaviorist; and Happy, a mechanical prodigy. And along the way, they pick up Paige, who, when we meet her, is a normal waitress with a genius son.

There are a lot of things I like about this show. I like watching them solve the problems. People who are smarter than I am have expressed some concern over the believability of their solutions, and they're probably right. They definitely stretch the limits of reality. But to be honest, I don't care. It's fun to watch.

I also like the pacing of the show. I was worried when I first saw trailers that it would be all blowing things up and crashing cars. And while there is a fair bit of that, there's substance to balance it out. There are slow periods of emotion and contemplation that really heighten the excitement of the action. There's quippy dialogue mixed with the brainy dialogue that's mixed with the action dialogue. (What exactly is action dialogue? You know, "Run!" "No!" "Look out!") And there's almost always a great, non-action ending that leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy.

Which brings me to the thing I like the most: the relationships between the characters. By themselves, the characters' quirks can be too much, especially Walter's emotional detachment and Sylvester's pile of phobias. But together, they balance. While Walter is the star of the show, Paige is the emotional center. And she brings out the best in the other characters. Suddenly it's not about an annoying trait, but how the character works through it. And it's about how they connect with the other characters, even though it's difficult for them to function socially. It almost always leads to me sniffling on the couch.

Are there negatives to it? Sure. It's got pretty standard procedural plotlines, with a problem-of-the-week that's solved in 45 minutes or less. As I mentioned before, it stretches reality in both the situations they find themselves in (they wind up in Bosnia in one episode) and the ways they solve them. But the negatives seem small compared to the positives, and it's worked its way up to one of my most highly anticipated shows each week.

Scorpion airs at 9:00 on Mondays on CBS.

W is for the West Wing

*happy sigh* The West Wing.

This is and will likely always be my absolute favorite show that ever aired on television. A few have come close, but nothing else has ever had that perfect combination of wit, drama, intellect, and warm-fuzzies. No one writes a show like Aaron Sorkin can, and even he hasn't written anything else like this one.

I didn't watch The West Wing when it originally aired. I was a bit too young in 1999 to appreciate it. But I started watching Studio 60 in 2006, and I fell in love with the fast pace, pithy dialogue and wonderfully complex characters. When my mom told me it was written by the guy who'd written The West Wing, I decided I had to give that a shot.

Needless to say, I loved it.

I could write a litany on this show. In fact, I did write several papers on it in college. I loved being a television major... though one of those papers was for a religion class. It was on how The West Wing was an allegory for the Bible. My professor said he'd never had anyone take on the topic quite like that before.

It was also The West Wing that first got me interested in (and aware of) politics. I followed the 2008 presidential election like it was my job (which it kind of was, since I was working at a TV news station, but it was local news so that's not really the point). I had a map that I colored in on election night. I tracked every story, watched every debate, and inundated (badgered) my friends with news articles about the candidates everyday in an effort to get them to vote on Election Day.

But I also gained a lot of respect for government. I know (really, I do) that The West Wing doesn't always accurately reflect government. I know that there's a lot of corruption and that the US government has many, many problems. But I also believe (perhaps naively) that most politicians really are acting with the country's best interests at heart, even if we don't always agree on that. And I believe that changes to the system are made by those who show up, so I have respect for the people who do. I could never do it, but I do my part when I can. I'm a big proponent of, "No matter who you vote for, make sure you vote." I've voted in every election since I turned 18 (except the primaries because NJ is a closed election, and I don't want to declare a political party), and I voted absentee for most of them. It bothers me a lot when people don't vote. Especially women, since we had to fight so hard just to have the right.

I think I'll stop here ("But you didn't mention the directing!" the little voice in my head shouts. "Or that Rob Lowe is shirtless in the first episode! Or all the other actors and actresses who are so amazing!"). Seriously, though, if you have some free time, you should check out this show. I watched all seven season in about twelve weeks, and while I know that most people don't have the time to just sit and watch that I did at that point in my life, it's still amazing and worth whatever time you can give it. It doesn't even matter what your politics are (the characters on the show are Democrats, by the way). I think you can appreciate the underlying message even if you don't agree with all their decisions.

I'll leave you with just a few of my favorite quotes (alright, I just found random quotes... they're all my favorite):

• Josh: 68% of people think foreign aid is too high, 59% think it should be cut.
  Will: You like that stat?
  Josh: I do.
  Will: Why?
  Josh: Because 9% think it's too high, and shouldn't be cut! 9% of respondents could not fully get their arms around the question. There should be another box you can check for, "I have utterly no idea what you're talking about. Please, God, don't ask for my input."
• President Bartlet: The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels, but every time we think we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we're reminded that that capacity may well be limitless.
• Man: Uh, Miss Moss? Are you aware that studies clearly show the word 'north' leaves the impression that this state is cold, snowy and flat, significantly depressing tourism and business startup.
  Donna: With due respect, sir, your average temperature is 7 degrees. Your average snowfall: 42 inches, and a name change isn't going to take care of that.
  Woman: We enjoy roughly the same climate as South Dakota. We took in 73.7 million in tourism revenue last year. They took in 1.2 billion. They have the word 'south'.
  Donna: Also Mount Rushmore.
• Donna: A lot of them, their judges spoke at their sentencing about the harshness of what they had to impose.... Scrutinize away. You tell me? Do we toss out Daisy Aimes, mother of three... had a boyfriend who stored a kilo in her closet. She's done eight years and is facing eleven more. That's longer than rapists and child molesters get.... I don't see a list anymore. These are people.
• Josh: Ten words: "I will make America's defenses the strongest in the history of the world."
  Leo: "In the history of the world?" When we say that, are we comparing ourselves to the Visigoths, adjusted for inflation?

V is for the Voice vs. American Idol

I need to start this post by saying that I'm a television snob. I prefer my TV shows to look like The West Wing (that's tomorrow's post). I really don't like reality TV. I feel most of it is a waste of my time (I really mean no offense by people who do watch it. I can think of a great many things I do that are a waste of time. Reality TV just isn't one of them). But for some reason, I can't stop watching the singing shows.

I started watching American Idol back in the first season, back when Kelly Clarkson was really the only viable option, Simon Cowell was brutally honest (but not vicious), and Brian Dunkleman co-hosted with Ryan Seacrest. I love music, and I love television, and the combination (while certainly not new or unique to American Idol) was an instant winner. I missed a few seasons while I was away at school, but I'm still watching.

Same thing with The Voice, though it's only been on for a season and a half. It came out when I was at my lowest Idol point (when Pia Toscano got voted off last season, if anyone cares) and filled the hole. As a show, I like The Voice better. The judges are critical without being mean (mostly), the focus is on talent rather than gimmicks (mostly), and I can watch Blake Shelton and Adam Levine banter all day long (er... mostly). But at the end of the day, I watch American Idol the day after it airs (recorded, so I can fast-forward through two hours of Ford commercials), and I'm a week and change behind on The Voice.

Idol is a more compelling show. You follow the same group of contestants week after week. In The Voice, the contestants are broken up into teams, and each team goes only every other week. So in the early rounds, you can go four weeks without seeing a repeat contestant. It's harder to pick the contestants you want to cheer for when you can't remember who's already gone. Instead, you're cheering for the coaches because they're the only ones in every episode. Don't get me wrong; I like the coaches. But they already have successful careers. Why would I cheer for them?

That said, the cast of character on The Voice is significantly more diverse and interesting. It's where every singer who doesn't fit that perfect mold goes. Some are overweight, some are gay, some ordinary, some have weird voices or weird noses or weird hair (well, okay, they have that on Idol too). They aren't pretty little perfect popstars. As somehow who would never fall into the pretty little perfect popstar mold, I appreciate this.

The biggest problem I have with both shows is that they take forever. You don't need two hours for six people to sing. Or an endless look into the contestant's sob story. Or the increasingly painful Ford music videos. Or Christina Milan in the Social Media Room (or whatever they call it). They could wrap everything up in an hour, and I could have two hours of my week back.

Do you watch either of these shows? If so, who are you rooting for (I'm torn between Skylar and Hollie for Idol. For The Voice, it's Chris Mann all the way)? Any major beefs with them? Any other reality shows you like that I'm not giving a fair chance?

J is for Jeopardy!

My nerd type is brainy, and I like to show it off. A TV show like Jeopardy! was created for someone like me. It's not about appearing like the smartest person in a room. It's more that I have an unquenchable desire for knowledge. I love to learn, always have. I like knowing at least a little bit about the major issues that come up in the world today, and I love knowing as much random trivia as possible (there are some A-Z blogs--like Jaycee DeLorenzo's--that are really adding to my trivia knowledge... and I love it!).

My parents and I watch Jeopardy! almost every night while we eat dinner. It's one of the highlights of my day. We shout out the answers on top of each other. We laugh when we're blatantly wrong, and we cheer when we get the difficult ones right. If there were ever a Family Week on Jeopardy!, we would dominate.

Sometimes when I get a particularly difficult question right, I'm surprised to realize where I learned the answer. Most of it comes from television shows. I can't count how many answers I've gotten right because I've watched every episode of the West Wing at least three times. The other day I got a question about kendo right because I used to watch Digimon.

I love when knowledge picked up unintentionally becomes important.

I'm having a particularly bad week with my Jeopardy! page-a-day calendar (none right out of the first three questions, and a missed last week's Final Jeopardy! about Glee (for shame!)). But don't ever mess with me about Children's Literature. I own that category.

Are you a Jeopardy! fan?