Saturday, January 14, 2006

No more Book of Daniel

I hate to say it, but The Book of Daniel sucks. I'm not morally outraged or anything. It's just not my cup of tea. I did the same as with Desperate Housewives: I tried it and for one episode thought it was decent - liked a few characters, laughed at a few jokes. But by the second ep I was over it. Too outrageous. The situations are annoying. Anyone who actually takes these people seriously is a very naive television viewer. They are obviously over-the-top. And I don't do too well with over-the-top fantasy soap opera in general.

Although it is quite ironic, then, that my favorite show of all time is Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is the epitome of fantasy soap opera, and was frequently over-the-top. But it knew it and could even make fun of it. It used its genre as a platform for messages about teenage and later young adult life. The situations were nutty, but the reality behind them - and the emotions, and the people, and especially the dialogue - rang 100% true. Sigh...they just don't make 'em like that anymore. Well actually, Earl is close, and from what I've seen, Arrested Development. But honestly, the world would be a better place if we'd all just go rent some Buffy. Then you'd see what TV can actually be and, like us, you might stop settling for crap. Our set isn't even on most of the time. Thank God.

But I still liked what few minutes I saw of Jesus on Daniel. He was still pretty consistent, although he was having a minor wardrobe malfunction (showing a little shoulder skin). Ah well. It wasn't on until 10 last night, after Dateline (not exactly appointment viewing). Clearly they have no intention of running this show past the initial 5-ep order. Which is probably best for the world in general.

Here's something fun - check out this book.

2 comments:

Peterson Toscano said...

Aaah, Buffy. She's my girl and that is my show. Cheesy and over the top but in my opinion, it NEVER jumped the shark.

I really enjoy listening to Buffycast, which is a podcasst that offers incredible analysis of the Buffy, the character, seasons, etc.

Anonymous said...

I dunno, Peterson. Season Six of Buffy came awfully close to jumping and rejumping with the Legion of Dim, and Season Seven had me wishing the pain would stop. I have to admit, though, that even Buffy at its stinkiest was still better than 95% of the television fluff that's out there.

The Book of Daniel just bored me. I gave it a chance and shut it off after 20 minutes. I much preferred Joan of Arcadia even though I was an apatheist during its entire run, which should be a clue to how good it was that it could impress a then-nonbeliever, and I'm hopping mad that we'll never get see if Ryan Hunter really is Joan's nemesis or what.