http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2002-2006 by the authors Sat, 9 Sep 2006 02:07:13 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/08/21/172102.php#comment-439588 "But Invasion and Surface aren't about a thread running through the series; you can't watch them as single episodes, their whole purpose is to tell one big epic story." There's nothing wrong with that, Nowhere Man was the same way. Depending on which point viewers came into it, they could easily be confused (especially if they came in after "Contact", which aired just after the Christmas episode the next year in '96) "When you talk about the attempt to give Nowhere Man more of a direction after episode 13 causing viewers to turn off (yourself included) you're making the same point I was." Not really. Larry Herzog, who executive produced the series, never intended that show to be a big story arc. The problem was that the network felt it had to go somewhere towards the answer to the whole plot. In a lesser scope than NW, The Fugitive could have been tinkered with so that Kimble would have found the one-armed man in two years instead of a few more seasons. But as I said with Herzog, it was never his purpose to tell to make that connect to every episode. When you look at it, both the Fugitive and NW refered to their main character's main problems when they were needed. Barry Morse didn't appear in every episode, and when he did, he never actually was on the road trailing Kimble. If he did, he never did catch him because he'd leave the place he was at minutes earlier. Roy Huggins, who produced that based The Fugitive on that Western element of the Wanderer. Nowhere Man is based on the Fugitive, so he kind is the modern-day Kimble (but with a secret organization chasing him instead of a mere police detective). it's also a writer's preference these days to make big story arcs. While it may irritate the average viewer such as you and I, think about how the writer must feel constantly having to make different plots with the same similar outcome. Even Nowhere Man and The Fugitive ended up on the same tip -- they both got away from the people that were chasing them. Also with the huge story arcs, networks are looking for something to hook people in for next week. That's a risk because if episode one sucked, then the rest won't matter -- probably what happened with the two shows you mentioned for alot of viewers. ]]> 439588@blogcritics.org Sat, 9 Sep 2006 02:07:13 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/08/21/172102.php#comment-438681 Thanks for the reference Matthew, even if you didn't agree with me. I think Nowhere Man is a little different from Invasion and Surface. If I remember it correctly it falls into the 'Fugitive' style of series i.e. man on the run has different adventure every week. Now while The Fugitive did have a conclusion (David Janssen found the one armed man) there are several others that didn't (The Invaders, The Incredible Hulk, Branded, The Quest..) and you are quite right in saying there is much enjoyment to be had from re-watching them (I'd be first in the queue to buy The Quest on DVD if it ever got released.) But Invasion and Surface aren't about a thread running through the series; you can't watch them as single episodes, their whole purpose is to tell one big epic story. When you talk about the attempt to give Nowhere Man more of a direction after episode 13 causing viewers to turn off (yourself included) you're making the same point I was. For a series to grow it needs to be accessible to new viewers something that both Surface and Invasion failed to do. ]]> 438681@blogcritics.org Thu, 7 Sep 2006 08:53:17 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/08/21/172102.php#comment-430847 Very nicely stated. As a sci-fi fan, I know that frustration from a show getting cancelled. But then again, X-Files and Buffy would have been better if they were cancelled two years sooner. The new season has me thinking along the same lines that you are. I never get caught up in character romances, but last season I got hooked on Jim and Pam on "The Office". Will they get together? Well, it's a sitcom, so almost certainly yes. But there will be a series of comic obstacles keeping them apart until the second-to-last season. I think with the internet and DVD's, we get so much inside information that it detaches us from a show's fantasy. If a hero dies in a battle, that's good TV. If he dies because of failed contract negotiations, it doesn't have the same impact. But you've got the right approach in enjoying what's available. ]]> 430847@blogcritics.org Mon, 21 Aug 2006 21:02:57 EDT