The Silver Screen Oasis

Anne, I agree about "Medium". The first season was well-written, but it starting sinking fast during the second year. And every time Patricia Arquette would break into one of her ridiculous crying scenes (as close to actually saying boo-hoo as anyone I've ever heard), I'd run screaming from the room.

Wasn't "Daria" a spinoff of "Beavis and Butthead"? I always watched them, but never caught her show. I loved Mike Judge's "King of the Hill" for a while too.

I don't like "Medium" though my wife does. I got tired of the "gotcha" dreams. I wasn't keen on the premise in the first place.

Our family likes "NCIS." I came to it late but we've seen some on DVD and it's very enjoyable.

Daria was a spin-off of B&B, but it had a different, better, animation style - more like King of the Hill. I forget now - I think Daria was a student at the same high school as B&B. But Daria was completely different in style and focus.

I've already expressed my fondness for Ghost Whisperer. I'm a fan of JLH and I find the show very entertaining, although a bit inconsistent. Some episodes can be somewhat groan inducing, but some have been excellent. But I wonder why they gave the Camryn Manheim character's son those growth hormones. Last season he was about 12, and now he seems to be 18 or so, and a different actor. It's the "Little Ricky syndrome" all over again.

Daria was a character that appeared in Beavis and Butthead, but I don't think Mike Judge had anything else to do with the series.

Daria was long overdue, in my opinion - there needed to be a series that sympathetically dealt with the lives of the teen outcasts and at the same time empowered them. Until then, you had clueless bilge like Saved by the Bell, in which only the pretty teens seemed to matter and the outcasts were such caricatures that they couldn't be taken seriously - and it was pretty clear you weren't supposed to identify with them. And I had to wonder what odd universe the writers came from - you had the popular kids being condescendingly polite to the awkward ones and including them in their circle, and I thought, OK, in what high school does this happen....

-Stephen

jdb1 wrote:Oh, how I miss Daria. That was a really realistic look at what teenagers, especially teenage girls, are like. And it was consistently funny, too. Gotta love those Morgendorffers. Especially Daria's younger sister, Quinn, and the whining way she drew out the syllables of the word "Mom," in a way that I can't recreate here with a mere 26 letters.

LOL!

My sister also loved poor stressed-out, neurotic Jake (the father). And those teachers. Touchy-feely Mr. O'Neill was a riot.

jdb1 wrote: Many people I know never saw Daria because it was run on MTV and they assumed it would be mindless drivel. Too bad.

Well, as with their other programs, MTV also played the show to the point of overkill during its first run. There were marathons often.

Unfortunately, if you're a fan, I would say the only way you'll ever get the show is through bootleg sources. I'm sure they'll never want to lease the music rights - much of the music for the show came from whoever was popular on the Billboard charts at the time, and the music would probably cost a fortune.

My favorite episode was the season 2 opener, "Arts N Crass," in which Daria and her friend Jane enter an art contest, with Jane painting a picture and Daria composing a poem to accompany it. The school believes the message will be too offensive (it wryly deals with self-image) and takes steps to censor it. My favorite line, spoken by the ever-astute Mr. O'Neill: "See, even beautiful people have problems! So hang in there, kids!"

-Stephen

Most of the remarks about comedy vs. drama are on the mark about how to keep audiences coming back. One of the few shows I watch on a regular basis is NCIS - it stays with the mystery theme most of the time, but occasionally breaks off to do a personal back story show on one of the characters ->>>

NCIS is my favorite of the police procedural (that is the term, right?) type of show. I love the oddball characters and the humor. One of the best things for me is dialogue (in both movies and TV shows) and this show delivers. The way the Harmon character flicks his team in head when they're being dense cracks me up--I do that to my kids when they are being dense or disrespectful in a playful way.

Tracey

Tracey:

If you get t he chance you might want to check out the first DVD from the first season. There is a commentary from Belisario which gives a lot of interesting information on the characters, their background and even how they shot the show.

My family likes the show too. I've started to watch too. My wife gives those head slaps too. She threatens "Am I going to have to give you a DiNozzo?"

My favorite Sitcoms

Seinfeld
Mary Tyler Moore Show
Everybody Loves Raymond
Hogan's Heroes
Frasier
Cheers
Bob Newhart Show
I Love Lucy
McHale's Navy

But, my heart belongs to MASH, Alan Alda ... was superb as Hawkeye Pierce.