This being the dog days of summer and TV viewing, my thumb finds itself punching the upchannel button on the remote with regularity.
Over the past few weeks I have found Bones, The Closer, and Saving Grace, all on Monday night.
Holy crap. :eek:
Did I not get the memo on these shows? I love them!
On Bones, the (supposed) sexual tension between the leads is boring (been there, done that), but the supporting actors and plots are great. The lead is sufficently nonsocial to be included as “crazy”. And whoever is responsible for the look of the show (decades old cadavers, in some cases) is absolutely brilliant. The detective resolution of each episode is top notch as well.
I’m not sure I get The Closer. Whatever, she is just twisty enough to be enjoyable.
We come to Saving Grace. This is a seriously crazy person. I think what I love the most is that this show is set in OKC, not NY or LA. And I think that this show would be great without anything paranoromal, e.g. Earl.
I don’t know if what I have seen is new or reruns. To afficianados: do I need to quit now and start from the beginning by rentals, or what?
I love The Closer and I’m kinda “meh” on the other two. Brenda Leigh does stuff that would get a guy shoved out a high window, and gets away with it because (a) she’s usually right and (b) she’s seriously hot. She’s overdrawn at the favor bank with Pope and her boyfriend, but manages to get them to give her even more favors anyway. The only weakness is, her squad. How did any of these bozos make detective? No one but her appears to have ever closed a case in his career. And she’s dead set on not letting any of them get fired? I don’t think so. I like how every one of them comes from another cop show, though. The Closer is a way station for veterans of every obscure police drama of the last 20 years and then some (That one guy is from Police Academy!). It’s sort of a celebration of all TV cop shows, and I enjoy it a lot.
Saving Grace? Here’s my problem with it, and Medium and Profiler and every other detective with a supernatural angle. “50 minutes and I still can’t crack this damn case! Oh wait, I just remembered, I have psychic/magic/divine powers. Why don’t I tap those for a second…?”
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Bones** need more grit, less gore and a more believable rapport between its leads. Emily has a ways to go before she’s my favorite Deschanel.
Brenda Leigh is supposed to be from Atlanta, although the accent is apparently all wrong. It was more important at the beginning of the series, because she was an outsider, and resented by everyone in the squad except for Chief Pope (J. K. Simmons), with whom she’d had a working and personal relationship before they both came to LA. It also sometimes comes up in interrogations, because the suspects think she’s a stupid hick, until she manipulates them into confessing.
Yeah; I’ve lived in Atlanta for 20 years and don’t often hear people who sound like her. I don’t know why tv shows so seldom bother to get the various Southern accents right; it wouldn’t be difficult at all, if they cared.
Try this, then: It doesn’t require faith to believe in a god/angel who actually shows up in your living room and swipes your last Hot Pocket. Faith requires strength of character. Reacting to Earl does not.
It’s Touched by an Angel-meets-She’s the Sheriff. It’s half as edgy as it thinks it is, and except for an incredible cast, it’s pretty unremarkable.
Here’s my favorite scene from **The Closer **so far: Chief Pope is warning Brenda Leigh about a serial killer on the loose. “You need to be careful, because you’re kind of his type.” Words of concern from her boss/ex-lover. She goes about her business.
Later, she asks another detective about the killer’s preferred victims. “Oh, they’re really trashy women. Strippers, truck stop waitresses, hookers…”
I love The Closer. I really like Brenda’s squad, particularly Lieutenant “I don’t run” Provenza. Just watching the stuff the squad does quietly in the background while Brenda is talking is hilarious. My favorite episode is the one where Flynn and Provenza find the dead body in Provenza’s garage.
**Bones **I watch mostly because I like David Boreanaz. I was really unhappy with their wrap-up of the serial killer story arc last season.
Has everything you need! Hot crazy lead woman detective (well, US Marshal, close enough,) token male partner with lots of sexual tension (who is a US Marshal who’s name is Marshall…brilliant!), and even crazier family.
I’m expecting another “Flynn and Provenza stumble upon a body in an inconvenient location” episode this season. After the one in Provenza’s garage and the one in their buddy’s casket, it could become a tradition.
If you want more Crimefighting cuties on Monday night- there’s “The Middleman” on ABCFamily at 10pm on Mondays. She (Natalie Morales) reminds me of the cute girl from Clerks 2, though the show is VERY Campy and reminds me a lot of the campy Batman and Robin from the days of old if Kevin Smith or someone like that updated it for todays young generation.