Two Under-appreciated shows
Aug. 6th, 2010 10:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiI'm adoring True Blood, of course (and man, was this week's episode fun), and I'm a big fan of a lot of the summer programming -- I'm behind on The Closer, Burn Notice, and Breaking Bad, but enjoy them all, Leverage has been wonderful, and Eureka has shown that it can handle an arc surprisingly well.
But some shows don't get enough love. Last week's Royal Pains was directed by Jay Chandrasekhar, of Broken Lizard fame, and was about the sharpest episode of the series to date (and a nice twist on The Hangover, as well). The guest turns by Christine Evangelista, Bill Bellamy, and Anastasia Griffith were huge helps, but the main cast really carried the show (and how nice was it to see Jill and Divya actually having fun?). I haven't seen last night's episode yet, but I'm still amazed at how enjoyable a show whose initial pitch ("Unlicensed concierge doctor in the Hamptons) bored me, and which I only watched because of John Rodgers's name on the producing credits, is now one of my favorites.
Over on ABC Family, Huge is just a revelation. 'song already wrote about it last week, and I don't have a lot to add, other than that they manage to surprise me even when dealing with mundane and cliched plotlines each week (this week's episode was about a camping trip, complete with the requisite "campers getting separated and lost" subplot, but still offered some surprising bits involving religion and gender, and some good character flashbacks). Nikki Blonski and Gina Torres are both wonderful (even as they often play the least likable -- by design -- characters on the show), although Raven Goodwin and Ashley Holliday tend to give the most compelling performances. Character development is often subtle and thoughtful, and I'm pretty much hooked.
But some shows don't get enough love. Last week's Royal Pains was directed by Jay Chandrasekhar, of Broken Lizard fame, and was about the sharpest episode of the series to date (and a nice twist on The Hangover, as well). The guest turns by Christine Evangelista, Bill Bellamy, and Anastasia Griffith were huge helps, but the main cast really carried the show (and how nice was it to see Jill and Divya actually having fun?). I haven't seen last night's episode yet, but I'm still amazed at how enjoyable a show whose initial pitch ("Unlicensed concierge doctor in the Hamptons) bored me, and which I only watched because of John Rodgers's name on the producing credits, is now one of my favorites.
Over on ABC Family, Huge is just a revelation. 'song already wrote about it last week, and I don't have a lot to add, other than that they manage to surprise me even when dealing with mundane and cliched plotlines each week (this week's episode was about a camping trip, complete with the requisite "campers getting separated and lost" subplot, but still offered some surprising bits involving religion and gender, and some good character flashbacks). Nikki Blonski and Gina Torres are both wonderful (even as they often play the least likable -- by design -- characters on the show), although Raven Goodwin and Ashley Holliday tend to give the most compelling performances. Character development is often subtle and thoughtful, and I'm pretty much hooked.