Week in Review, Nov 5 to 11

Yay! As mentioned in a post last week, I've finally cracked the mental barrier that was impeding my ability to sit and read a book, instead of sitting and only watching TV for hours on end. This is great because I have at least ten books on my bedroom dresser waiting to be read.

The Week in Books

First up: it was about damn time that I finished Richard Dawkins' excellent The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. This book is a beautiful summary of... well, it's all there in the title of the book. Dawkins' previous book, The God Delusion, is one of my favourite non-fiction books (along with Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy and Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma), but it's easy to accuse it of preaching to the choir; it may convince some fence sitters to cross into atheism, but believers aren't going to bother even reading the whole thing. Despite Dawkins' outspoken atheism, The Greatest Show on Earth only peripherally deals with religious objections to evolution (mostly in regards to the fucking morons--Dawkins more kindly refers to them as "history deniers"--out there that argue against geology, biology, history, and physics and try to claim that the earth and man were created less than 10,000 years ago because The Bible says so). This is a book about laying out the evidence for evolution--and there is a lot of it that I wasn't even aware of--in a clear, concise, entertaining way. Dawkins has a witty style, very conversational and accessible. I challenge anyone that thinks that evolution is "just a theory" to read this book.

The Week in Television

I finally had an opportunity this week to see the excellent last four episodes of Defying Gravity, albeit in shitty Space Channel low resolution quality. If a Blu-ray was on the way, I would have waited, but it sounds like the series is only getting a DVD release, which is bullshit. I now refuse to buy DVD releases of series filmed in high definition. I have the same problem with the recent DVD release of "Legend of the Seeker." I want to own the show and rewatch it all, but I won't pay for 480p when I originally watched it for free in 720p. Anyway, I digress. Since Defying Gravity was never meant to end after only 13 episodes, there are obviously a lot of issues left hanging with the season/series finale, but what little resolution is offered is quite satisfying. Defying Gravity was a slow paced show, relying on the relationships between the characters for drama, while also being heavily serialized and taking place in space, so it's not too surprising that it never caught on with the general population--especially since it was premiered during summer for some stupid fucking reason! I have added this show to my list of favourite one-season wonders: Firefly, Wonderfalls, Jake 2.0, and The Lone Gunmen.

Now that the World Series is done with, most of FOX's TV shows returned this week (no Dollhouse until December), and I found myself struggling to keep up with all of these series. If Wednesday hadn't been a holiday, it would have been a lost cause. As a consequence, it's time to start purging the shows that are consistently Meh or lower. In October, I was happy to have so many of hours of TV to watch each week, but now I want to have time for other pursuits, like reading and music and some gaming--and maybe even some dating. Fortunately, in the next few weeks, a good number of shows I am watching now will be over for the season, and for the others, December hiatus is on the way.

Thursday, November 5th
Loved: The Office (6x8)
Liked: 30 Rock (4x4), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (5x8), Parks and Recreation (2x8)
Meh: Fringe (2x6), The Mentalist (2x6)

It was another strong Thursday for comedies. The Office's "Double Date" had the perfect balance of heart, uncomfortableness, and hilarity; I enjoyed the first half more than the second, finding Michael's realization that Pam's mom wasn't right for him, and his terribly awkward way of handling that, a lot more enjoyable than Pam's revenge. Parks and Recreation's "Ron and Tammy" was goofy and silly and way over-the-top, but I couldn't help but laugh at every mention of the evil "Library." I think "Audition Day" was my favourite 30 Rock episode so far this season, although I'm at a loss to say why. The highlight of Always Sunny's "Paddy's Pub: Home of the Original Kitten Mittens" was Charlie's Kitten Mittens commercial; the rest of the episode was my least favourite of the season, although it was still pretty damn funny.

The dramas didn't fare as well. Fringe had a mostly mediocre outing with "Earthling"--too standalone and X-Files rip-offy--although the focus on Broyles was an interesting change of pace. The Mentalist's "Black Gold and Red Blood" again had an interesting premise (Jane in jail), but the ridiculous ease with which Jane can influence everyone and plan everything perfectly is becoming tiresome. I'm officially calling it quits with The Mentalist as of this week; if the Red John storyline is ever resolved, I'll tune in for that one last episode.

Friday, November 6th
Liked: Stargate Universe (1x7), Legend of the Seeker (2x1)

Stargate Universe had a much better week than last with "Earth," an episode that made excellent use of the series' body-swapping communication stones conceit. There was some very good material with Eli, who is easily the best character on the show. I was excited to see Martin Gero's name in the writing credits, as he was a big reason why I enjoyed Stargate Atlantis as much as I did, but unfortunately he's not a producer on SGU.

Legend of the Seeker's second season got off to a reasonably strong start with "Marked," an episode that effectively introduced the season's big bad (the Keeper of the Underworld) and quest (the search for the Stone of Tears), and also had time to establish Richard as the new Rahl and bring Cara into the fold. It was almost too much, making the episode feel quite unfocused. Despite this, I'm very excited to see what happens next. Good or bad, there are no other shows like Legend of the Seeker on TV right now.

Sunday, November 8th
Loved: Dexter (4x7)
Liked: The Amazing Race (15x7), Bored to Death (1x8), Curb Your Enthusiasm (7x8)
Meh: American Dad (5x5), Family Guy (8x4, 8x5)

Dexter's "Slack Tide" seemed to be the calm before the storm, although it wasn't by any means a filler episode. There were important developments for Deb, Dexter made a big mistake, and Quinn looks to be picking up where Doakes left off two seasons ago. And Dexter and Trinity cut down a tree and killed a deer together--it sounds weird, but it worked. I still can't figure out how there can be five episodes left this season...

Bored to Death's season finale, "Take a Dive," was a strange episode. There was some hilarious stuff, especially with Ray and his boxing opponent, and there were a few important developments for all of the characters, but the second half of the episode (ie. the boxing matches) was quite flat. I'll most likely tune in for the second season, but I'm not at all concerned about the wait.

I enjoyed Curb Your Enthusiasm's "Officer Krupke," but it's in the lower tier of episodes this season. It was pretty amusing to see Larry walking around for a couple days with a security tag on his pants, and his talk with the store clerk about his lost pants was hilarious, but Larry's altercation with the kids at the lemonade stand was too much. However, the way everything tied together in the end was classic Curb.

I am really getting bored with Fox's Sunday animated comedies. This week's double dose of Family Guy was okay, and American Dad was better than most this season, but I'm thinking that if I'm not enjoying these shows anymore, why do I keep watching? I find that I barely pay attention while watching them, instead surfing the internet or writing emails or blogging. It's a healthy choice to stop bothering with these shows. There was no The Simpsons this week, but since new episodes of The Simpsons are generally even worse than Family Guy and American Dad, it's also included in this decision.

Monday, November 9th
Liked: The Big Bang Theory (3x7), Heroes (4x9)
Meh: House (6x6)

"The Guitarist Amplification" was an average The Big Bang Theory episode. Leonard and Penny's conflict was realistic, although I think Penny came off as pretty insensitive because she didn't relent earlier. The best scenes involved the comic book store, and I'm loving the owner's crush on Penny. Sheldon is always an over-the-top character, but there were some moments this week that took it a little too far for me.

Heroes had a stronger week than usual with "Shadowboxing," with all three threads offering something interesting. For the first time this season, I enjoyed the Matt/Sylon scenes. The Peter and Emma storyline continued walking its fine line between endearing and completely pointless. And I didn't hate Claire this week. Plus, Nathan finally returned, and it's always nice to see the Haitian.

House's "Known Unknowns" did not do much for me. It was just there. There were some good scenes with House and Wilson, but the rest was unremarkable. I'm approaching Mentalist-like levels of apathy for House, and don't know how long I'll continue watching.

Tuesday, November 10th
Meh: V (1x2)

Unless people start raving about V as this season proceeds, "There is No Normal Anymore" will be my last episode. I adore Alan Tudyk, and he's almost enough to keep me watching... but this show is thoroughly mediocre. Joel Gretsch and Elizabeth Mitchell are doing about as much as they can do with their thinly written roles, and Morena Baccarin is killing it as Anna, but the rest of the cast is a waste of screen time.

Wednesday, November 11th
Liked: Glee (1x9), South Park (13x13)

With "Wheels," Glee finally spread more of the musical load amongst the secondary characters, giving Artie and Kurt their first solos, with Artie's rendition of "Dancing With Myself" a particular highlight. This was a filler episode with no major plot developments, but it was still enjoyable and had plenty of good character moments.

In South Park's "Dances with Smurfs," Cartman takes over the morning announcements (after the hilariously intense on-air death of Gordon) and, of course, runs with it in the most inappropriate way possible, turning morning announcements into a platform for his politics. This is a pretty good satire of many FOX News talking heads and their completely absurd conspiracy theories. It culminates in a hilarious film where Cartman infiltrates the lives of the Smurfs, because school president Wendy is planning to kill the Smurfs for their Smurf berries... You have to watch it to believe it.