yeah .. not good.still watch it on sunday afternoon with young'un.its really not worthy of an evening schedule.
― mark e, Friday, 18 October 2013 10:13 (ten years ago) link
http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/90040/the-check-in-the-agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-are-still-stuck-scooby-dooing-around-the-marvel-universe
― resulting post (rogermexico.), Friday, 18 October 2013 15:32 (ten years ago) link
this made me lol:
The show has taken a world in which Norse thunder gods and armored billionaires soar through the skies and made it as compelling as a commuter flight to Albany.
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 18 October 2013 15:34 (ten years ago) link
Good point re: this paradox:
With billions of future dollars at stake, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s creative process is almost necessarily more about the boardroom than the writers' room. This means that the late-night, cheap takeout–fueled inspiration that has led to some of scripted TV's most indelible moments won't be happening here. What's worse, an exploration of the Marvel U's most fascinating corners — like Wakanda, say, or the Savage Land — is also unlikely. Why burn something on a random Tuesday night in October when there's a chance of blowing people's minds with it on a summer weekend in 2019?
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 18 October 2013 15:43 (ten years ago) link
http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/10/24/shield-agents-steranko-entertainment-geekly/
― j., Saturday, 26 October 2013 21:46 (ten years ago) link
caught up, i feel like i'm watching one of those syndicated sci-fi shows that were on in the 90s before all of that stuff was pulled into the sci-fi channel's orbit (and is probably still there)
but the '… will return in a moment' bumper makes it seem an AWFUL LOT like it is meant to be family-oriented, occasional dirty joke aside
― j., Tuesday, 5 November 2013 00:36 (ten years ago) link
I finally started watching this last night (after reading that it was going to be following up on the events of the next Thor movie). Everybody's being so hard on this show! It's nothing spectacular, but it's fun enough. Naturally, it doesn't hold a candle to the Marvel films or to Whedon's peaks, but I don't know if/why anyone is really expecting that to be the case. And the creators are in a uniquely weird spot inasmuch as they have to develop a show that fits in a universe established and altered by the movies, which I'm sure is a less challenging challenge when you're trying to figure out how your single Captain America movie is going to relate to the movies released on either side of it. And they're clearly planting seeds for interesting developments. And I'm really happy about the existence of a live-action series set in the MU. So I'm giving these dudes a major pass until/unless things start to legit suck.
― Blood Ass IV: Blood Fling (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 15:41 (ten years ago) link
That's pretty much where I am, too. Also everyone on this show is v v pretty.
― the doleful cant of a bigot blinded by fear and hate (DJP), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 15:57 (ten years ago) link
They should have had Joss write a big list of Whedonesque quips that they could pepper throughout the series but not let him anywhere near the casting. He's assembled his typical mix of bland, wooden nobodies again. The science couple at least have accents which is something. It reminds me of the Alan Moore quote. "Stan Lee had this huge breakthrough of two-dimensional characters. So, they dress up in costumes and do good, but they've got a bad heart. Or a bad leg. I actually did think for a long while that having a bad leg was an actual character trait."
― wk, Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:12 (ten years ago) link
ya he is p bad at casting
― socki (s1ocki), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:13 (ten years ago) link
I thought he got Firefly right
― the doleful cant of a bigot blinded by fear and hate (DJP), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:17 (ten years ago) link
im not really a fan of everyone's nerd hero nathan filion... and everyone else in that show is p forgettable
― socki (s1ocki), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:20 (ten years ago) link
fair enough, I dig Adam Baldwin's scene chewing and Gina Torres is my wifey
also Alan Tudyk has a very specific schtick that I have not yet grown tired of
― the doleful cant of a bigot blinded by fear and hate (DJP), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:22 (ten years ago) link
man gina torres isnt forgettable c'mon
― balls, Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:27 (ten years ago) link
none of his regulars exactly set the world on fire when their series ended know whaddimean?
― socki (s1ocki), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:29 (ten years ago) link
was the cast of barney miller forgettable?
― balls, Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:30 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmmAdbDF1xA
― balls, Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:31 (ten years ago) link
Nathan Fillion is kinda overdone but I thought everyone else on Firefly was excellent.
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:32 (ten years ago) link
Fillion is setting the hearts of TV Guide readers on fire; Castle consistently does well in their polls
also Summer Glau is kind of a geek icon now and Morena Baccarin is on Homeland now
I know Christina Hendricks wasn't a "regular" per se but still
― the doleful cant of a bigot blinded by fear and hate (DJP), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:33 (ten years ago) link
lol finding out hendricks was on firefly was what made go 'ok NOW i'll check it out'
― balls, Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:36 (ten years ago) link
Gina Torres was in a show that lasted for a bit, IIRC?Alan Tudyk is workingKaylee was on Stargate or something
so pretty much Adam Baldwin, the Doc and maybe Preacher are the only ones making a living on the convention circuit.
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:37 (ten years ago) link
i don't think the problem is with casting per se on shield. the problem is the combination of boring actors and boring characters.
― lollercoaster of rove (s.clover), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:39 (ten years ago) link
baldwin was on chuck for years. he's been a pro forever.
― lollercoaster of rove (s.clover), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:40 (ten years ago) link
oh my god that was christina hendricks???
― Mordy , Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:42 (ten years ago) link
fancy whore ended up on homeland
― balls, Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:45 (ten years ago) link
as dan noted
What does "set the world on fire" mean in this context?
Allyson Hannigan is on a long-running sitcom. Boreanaz is on a long-running crime drama. Morena Baccarin is on, Homeland, which I'm told is popular. James Marsters has never stopped working, whether on Smallville or some SyFy series or whatever. Gina Torres is always getting cast in something or other and is currently a regular on Suits, which does well for basic cable. Adam Baldwin was already well past his movie-star sell-by date when Firefly came around, but he was a regular on Chuck and never has trouble getting both guest slots and voiceover work.
Like, none of these people just disappeared. They're on TV almost literally all the time, and Alan Tudyk has a serviceable movie career.
― Ian from Etobicoke (Phil D.), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:46 (ten years ago) link
many XPs
smg costars in the big new hit sitcom of 2013
― balls, Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:46 (ten years ago) link
Summer Glau is on Arrow
― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:48 (ten years ago) link
Amy Acker can always find work, too.
― Ian from Etobicoke (Phil D.), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:48 (ten years ago) link
guys it's fine, all s1ocki meant is that he's not interested in these ppl, and actually that's okay
there's no need to save-a-Whedon
― the doleful cant of a bigot blinded by fear and hate (DJP), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:51 (ten years ago) link
it is funny cuz there have been a lot of actors from cult or whatever shows i watched where i was like i wonder what happened to them and what happened is they got another show that is massively more popular than what i know them from
― balls, Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:52 (ten years ago) link
"he is p. bad at casting" implies some objective standard beyond "I don't care about these actors," but I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it.
― Ian from Etobicoke (Phil D.), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:53 (ten years ago) link
if ruffalo as the hulk was his call (which i doubt tbh) i cant criticize his casting cuz i never would've guessed that would work
― balls, Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:55 (ten years ago) link
i get whats slocks is saying about filion, if only bc his style is a little bit too much '80s smarm for me, but i still liked him in firefly and serenity.
― christmas candy bar (al leong), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:59 (ten years ago) link
i don't even know what i mean by '80s smarm tbh.
― christmas candy bar (al leong), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 17:01 (ten years ago) link
if ruffalo as the hulk was his call (which i doubt tbh)
There's a thing on the Avengers DVD where he says Ruffalo was his number one choice from a list of many. Take with a grain of salt or whatevs.
― Blood Ass IV: Blood Fling (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 17:05 (ten years ago) link
― balls, Tuesday, November 5, 2013 11:52 AM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
lol that's true
i dunno i just guess i find them all very... actors that belong in the supporting ranks in a semi-successful network tv drama, which... they are! and there's nothing wrong with that. but i dont get worked up about them like i do performers on other shows i really like
― socki (s1ocki), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 17:05 (ten years ago) link
It's a small-ish ensemble at the moment, though. I'm sure we'll lose and gain some folks soon enough (sure seemed like J. August Richards is meant to get pulled back into the narrative at some point).
― Blood Ass IV: Blood Fling (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 17:12 (ten years ago) link
The point of which being that "fan favorites" aren't always part of the initial ensemble.
― Blood Ass IV: Blood Fling (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 17:13 (ten years ago) link
i dunno i just guess i find them all very... actors that belong in the supporting ranks in a semi-successful network tv drama, which... they are!
haha yeah pretty much
― wk, Tuesday, 5 November 2013 18:54 (ten years ago) link
i think it would probably be fair to wonder what kinds of roles/characters whedon can write best. some of his best work came from a combination of narrativized character history, and from working mythic/heroic/archetypal modes against jokey everydayness. which is why, say, zoe was a character in his sweet spot even if he didn't write much of a backstory for her in the 1 firefly season + movie, but wash's death in the movie could hit hard (because whedon is good at writing believable dialogue for actors to play characters who have history together). the doctor from firefly, less so, maybe because the zone his character-type came from barely had anything to do with those more heroic attributes that whedon is comfortable writing lines for. kaylee, kind of the opposite thing: mechanic-savant who can come through under pressure, but who generally inhabits the everyday aw shucks mode (which makes her a repeat of willow), so doesn't really present any writing challenges.
the comfort with the heroic aspect lets whedon work well with actors/performances that are maybe kind of meh, like hilo on dollhouse. but when the setup kind of excludes that possibility, or makes it code differently, like on s.h.i.e.l.d., maybe the whedon b-team don't realize that they won't be able to get the same effect. everyone involved right now, except coulson, has to be slotted into 'well-trained paramilitary agent or hanger-on', which means that any moves in the more heroic direction character-wise or line-wise have to be made in a constrained space. like, they can have ming na glower, and punch some people, but whenever she does it there are no notes like 'chosen one' or 'outlaw rebel' or 'reprogrammable sex doll/assassin' to hit in the vicinity, so there's less to compensate for/magnify a modest performance.
on dollhouse whedon's way of handling this, which was more of a problem there because of the storylines and because of dushku and because of the slightly more risky initial premise (more variability built in, a few more balls in the air as far as the elements of sci-fi-paranoia-speculative-alternaworlds go), tended to be to work with the extended series structure and build depth over time to make the more modest bits mean more. i'm kind of thinking that's not to be expected on s.h.i.e.l.d. because it's a big abc production, and because maybe the writers aren't whedon. but it could happen.
― j., Tuesday, 5 November 2013 19:29 (ten years ago) link
i thought kaylee was a pretty terrible character
― Mordy , Tuesday, 5 November 2013 19:30 (ten years ago) link
man I had the biggest crush on Eliza Dushku and then I watched the first episode of Dollhouse ;_;
― the doleful cant of a bigot blinded by fear and hate (DJP), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 19:31 (ten years ago) link
...and found out she was a memory-wiped, uh, whatever she was in that show??
― socki (s1ocki), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 19:34 (ten years ago) link
that show was flat out unwatchable to me
obv it took me 3-4 episodes to realize this
I def went in going "yay, I get to watch Dushku every week ^_^" and came out the other side going "COME BACK JESSICA ALBA, ALL IS FORGIVEN"
― the doleful cant of a bigot blinded by fear and hate (DJP), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 19:35 (ten years ago) link
i liked the backwaterness to kaylee's character, combined with occasional indignation at being condescended to, but that seemed to usually be a vehicle for the broader class disparities in the firefly world, not often specifically revelatory of her character. xp
eliza dushku found out she was a memory-wiped animal rights activist iirc, who found out about dollhouse-type stuff after trying to break into / maybe blow up a lab? i forget.
dollhouse is better than it seemed the first time around but they were just getting to the point of settling in when they got axed. :/
― j., Tuesday, 5 November 2013 19:38 (ten years ago) link
I thought dollhouse got better as it went and I think I liked it more than firefly.
he always uses these same kind of stock character types though, all of whom are really annoying: the bland corn-fed hunk, the tiny perky girl, the cocky nerd.
― wk, Tuesday, 5 November 2013 20:16 (ten years ago) link
The cocky nerd's arc on Dollhouse is pretty good, though.
― Ian from Etobicoke (Phil D.), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 20:19 (ten years ago) link