Looking for new Netflix series

[dreamshark]

My current obsession is Mad Men, but I'm caught up through Season 3, which I guess means I'll have to wait another YEAR to see Season 4 *sob*.  I'd like to see the second season of Dollhouse, but apparently it's not released yet.

We finally finished Veronica Mars.  I gave Gilmore Girls a try, as it has been recommended by several people. I was disappointed - I couldn't even make it quite to the end of the pilot. I found it teeth-achingly cutesy with a nasty aftertaste.

This left me idly wondering why, if that's the way I feel,  I liked Northern Exposure so much yet disliked this show so immediately and intensely.  Like Gilmore Girls, Northern Exposure was a show built around a not entirely likable protagonist plopped into the middle of a town full of over-the-top Quirky Supporting Characters. However, in Northern Exposure the QSPs were mostly pretty likable. And their quirkiness, while not exactly subtle, was introduced gradually as the first season evolved.  None of them were just walking caricatures, like the Accident Prone Cook, or the Snooty French Hotel Clerk, or the Health Nut Diner Employee who spends all day trying to discourage customers from consuming anything sold at his diner. Even in the sitcom world you have to wonder how these people keep their jobs.

But my main problem is Lorelei. I am neither amused nor charmed by adult women who act like children, in fiction or real life. I'm pretty sure that we're supposed to see her as flawed but nonetheless adorable. I didn't. In fact, I found her relationship with her daughter to be intensely creepy. I realize that there are mothers in this world that are no more mature than the children they are supposed to be raising, but I don't find them cute. So.... no. I sent the disc back largely unwatched.

Maybe I'll just queue up another disk of Northern Exposure. We've been watching that on Netflix off and on, and it holds up surprisingly well.

Comments

[hakatrip.livejournal.com]

I've been watching Eureka on Netflix, and in mid-season 3 moved to watching it on Hulu. It's sci-fi, but light, our main character being a man who takes on the job of sheriff in Eureka... a small company town filled with scientific geniuses. Suspension of belief is required, but I really enjoy it. There's quite a bit of humor, and he's clearly in over his head with the science. But, (as I was trained in science I know this to be true), genius does not equal common sense and practicality. Einstein could not find his way across his hometown. Carter is good at his job and they need him. The series starts up again soon on ScyFy.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

We've watched the first couple of seasons of Eureka on Netflix and enjoyed it. They've got an interesting set of characters and a good ensemble comedy cast, but I wish they'd get away from the "mad scientist project of the week" plots and do something actually CREATIVE with the idea of a town full of geniuses. The plots are so, well, dumb that I can't take too much Eureka at once. But thanks for reminding me to check if there's a new season out there. It's been a while since we watched it. It's another one that totally rests on the likability of the main character, and in this case it works for me.

Along those same lines, Big Bang Theory takes a tired sitcom premise (hapless bachelors in an apartment trying to get the attention of the gorgeous gal across the hall) and makes it surprisingly funny. I don't know if the show was actually created by real live physics nerds or if they just have a few of them penned up in a lab for observation, but the writers hit the nail on the head far more often than I expected.

I was also surprised at how enjoyable Chuck is. I'll sit through the silly kung fu in high heels theatrics just for the workplace comedy at the "BuyMore" store, or those little moments where Chuck finds a way to use his real world skills to pull off a caper. Chuck and Sarah have amazing chemistry together, and Adam Baldwin (who played Jayne on Firefly) is a brilliant comic actor.