Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
06.30 Lost
08.30 The Good Wife
11.30 Rules Of Engagement
The Good Wife. Episode 17. "Heart" Baby; The Kiss
Sometimes I hate when I show goes off in a direction that really doesn't seem to be what's intended by the premise/title. And sometimes I love when a show goes off in a direction that really doesn't seem to be what's intended by the premise/title. Go figure.
It always bugged me when Magnum, PI, took all those cases for his friends, or - even worse - didn't have a case at all, just wandered into the middle of something iffy. I mean, he's a private eye, he should be having cases every week not an endless stream of coincidences!! I also didn't like it much when Airwolf was constantly finding lost children and what not.
On the flip side, I always got a kick from the A-Team episodes where they didn't have a case/client (cos they tended to be the most inventive stories) and I am a huge fan of the second season of seaQuest (where they stopped going underwater and started being a superhero show, where they good guys used the sub as a sort of floating lab).
I guest there's no real rule of thumb. Going off the reservation, in itself, is neither good nor bad. It comes down to what else is happening in the show. Some shows seem to be flailing out of control when they do this, and some shows give the impression that they are growing in exciting directions.
The Good Wife rests firmly in Camp #2. When it started - and given it's title - I expected the full focus to be on Alicia. Given the fact that she's working in a law firm it is to be expected that the other characters would become prominent and - in some episodes - dominate the screen time to a certain degree. But that's fine. I think that fits in with the show concept as I understood it from the pilot. They work with her, they are part of her everyday life, so it makes sense to feature them. A lot.
However...
I would have expected them to sideline her husband more. I certainly didn't expect them to give him a storyline, and an entourage of characters, that has absolutely no bearing on Alicia at all. All of this stuff (right from the start with the children knowing about the photos) exists independent of her. In fact, sometimes, it could be scenes from a complete different series. A series about a guy trying to get his political career back.
But, it's all so good, I have no problem with it. For a start it's given us Alan Cumming as a character with absolutely no ties to our title character and - one would assume - no logical reason to be in the show. Bottom line: his character (like all of this stuff) makes the show a much better show, and I have no problem with any of it.
I'm curious, however, if this project existed under any other names before "The Good Wife" became it's moniker. I have no problem with this current title (in fact I love it) but I wonder if they ever tried out anything else more all encompassing.
Or maybe the show was never intended to head in these directions?
Rules Of Engagement. Season 4, Episode 6. "Third Wheel" Jeff's dinner with Liz
Weakest episode so far this season. Yes, there was some laughs but none of the storylines caught fire. Jeff's dinner with Liz had funny lines but it really went nowhere much. I suppose the dinner scene was the destination in that little tale, but it wasn't anything to get excited about. And it was kinda silly.
Adam and Jennifer were (again) relegated to short scenes and their plot was little more than an idea. It did give us the very funny final shot, though, and made me laugh.
And the Russell/Timmy stuff had me most confused. What happened to all the continuity with the previous two episodes? Was this one filmed earlier in the season, or what? Whatever the reason, I'm pissed off: I was really looking forward to seeing what would happen next with Timmy's wife-to-be.
Maybe next week?
Yet Another TV Review Podcast
Yet Another TV Review Book
Yet Another Film Review Blog
Follow Me on Twitter
The Good Wife, Rules Of Engagement
