Posts Tagged ‘TV’
House finale and other television-related thoughts
The season finale of House was tonight, and I truly believe it to be one of the best I have ever seen. This entire season has really impressed me, and this finale really was a capstone for a tight and well-written season. I got a little teary-eyed at the end. Seriously.
It’s shows like House that make me regain my faith in the American entertainment industry. With the pandering glurge that normally assaults the senses–your American Idols and your Big Brothers–it’s incredibly refreshing to have clever and intelligent storytelling appear in primetime.
I think too often people overlook the ability of television to tell a story and to present ideas in a form that no other medium really can. Now, I am a word fanatic, certainly, but TV has its charm; granted, it is a rare show that can capture exactly what a novel can do.
And I do think there are shows like that now: House, Boston Legal, Lost, The Office. To cruelly heft your broad brush and paint over these diamonds in a heap of festering singers, dancers, B-list celebrities, and contestants is tantamount to artistic murder. The aforementioned shows balance themselves upon their deftly telling a story, or multiple stories, to people who do not want to be told them, essentially. Joe America wants to sit down on his couch after a long day at work, crack a cold one, and watch the latest offering of J.J. Abrams; he doesn’t want to think about the ramifications of what exactly he is watching.
But at the same time, it is the rare skill of these shows to at once entertain the plebes and intellectually stimulate those who are curious and clever enough to see it.
What a tangent. Robert Sean Leonard is an amazing actor, and so is Hugh Laurie. Can’t wait for next season.
The Office season finale
Ok so, let me do a bit of a decompression here.
Great episode, even as an hour-long one. The first few hour-long episodes in the beginning of the season (it was so long ago…) were ok, not fantastic, but hardly bad. This episode is a true return to form, definitely on par with The Dinner Party. Some highlights:
HERE BE SPOILERS! (After the jump)
