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GrayMatter9
Reviews
Friday Night Lights (2006)
I actually like it
Like the above line says, I actually like it. I was dogging on my buddy for an entire year because of how much he liked the show and how much he would endorse it, I saw part of one episode at the time and that was enough for me to make sure my buddy was going to feel really dumb every time he mentioned that show around me. Until about two weeks ago. I watched it on Netflix off XBOX Live (the only way to go), and I gotta admit I was hooked. I think the stories are done pretty well for the most part, especially if you've played high school football at a serious level. But I actually like the camera work, I think it plays well on how shaky the whole f&*$ing thing is. There's not one "stable" character in that show. Throughout the course of the season and a half I've watched of it, I think the show has displayed a lot of characters with a 365 degree view, showing their imperfections and all. I think the camera work is indicative of that. I also come from a younger generation where that style of camera work doesn't really bother me the way it does others and I understand that is a personal opinion as well.
I definitely think some of the actors could use work, but as far as the "main" characters go, I think they're enough to carry the show. The coach and his wife have a great dynamic, appealing to almost any married couple. The coach's persona (not play calling, because we rarely see any examples of it) is so spot-on for what a really good coach is like, it's not even funny. But again that will probably also depend on your personal experience with sports and coaches.
Bottom line, pretty good show for network TV. It would have been way better on HBO or Showtime though.
Flight of the Conchords (2007)
What Happened to Season 2?
I loved the first season of this show, but the second season has just been abysmal, and I'm hard pressed to think it's even the same SHOW! Does anybody have any idea what happened? I don't think I've ever seen a show do such a 180! Even the songs are worse, they just seem half-assed and written as filler instead of the story being written around the songs. I've noticed that Bret is also a lot more "confident" which really sucks, he was way funnier as the really shy and submissive guy in Season 1. I really hope they can turn it around for the second half of the season. (Although Murray is still hilarious as ever). Has anybody else noticed this, or am I alone and I should just put down the bong?