Origin of Series

We're trying to find something new to watch of an evening chez Stuart and have therefore been trying out some new stuff of late. What's rather lovely is the fact that - courtesy of Demonoid and similar - you can test the water of any new series, prior to shelling out for DVDs and box sets.

Hence we've watched the first few episodes of several recommended series over the past week or two, with mixed results.

Tru Calling

• Starring: Eliza Dushku, who had previously appeared as Faith, the Slayer gone bad, in Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
  
• Premise: Dushku plays Tru Davies, a potential medical student currently working the night shift in the city morgue. To her surprise, dead bodies occasionally wake up in her presence and whisper 'Save Me' in a sexy voice, at which point she is whisked back 24 hours to enable her to do just that.
  
• Good Points:
  • Dushku's very pleasant on the eye.
  • The acting (particularly Zach Galifianakis, who plays Tru's socially inept boss) is fine.
• Bad Points:
  • It's the same plot over and over again, to the extent that after a couple of episodes you find yourself pointing out those little things unconnected with the plot that Tru will incidentally fix when the day rolls back (spilled coffee, smashed vases etc).
  • The scenario relies on Tru going up to complete strangers and basically telling them they are going to die that day - surely everybody would phone the Police?
  • The titles are dreadful and end on a shot of Dushku looking all moody standing over a grave.
• Current RL Status: Cancelled six episodes into season 2.
  
• Verdict: Tru-ly awful (boom boom). No chance of buying the DVD.

Farscape

• Starring: Ben Browder.
  
• Premise: Browder plays Captain John Crichton, a late twentieth century scientist who slips into a worm-hole during an experimental space flight and ends up on the other side of the galaxy, surrounded by aliens.
  
• Good Points:
  • Engaging lead character.
  • Some imagination has gone into the alien races for a change.
• Bad Points:
  • Jim Henson is behind it all and so there is a certain Labyrinth quality to the puppetry (I kept expecting David Bowie to turn up).
  • It's a bit Buck Rogers, isn't it?
  • Polish subtitles on my copy aren't helpful.
• Current RL Status: Cancelled after four seasons. Followed by a mini-series, The Peacekeeper Wars, which attempts to tie-up various loose-ends.
  
• Verdict: Hard to tell after only one episode, but I think I'll stick with it for a while (J doesn't like space-based sf much though so I suspect it'll be on those rare occasions when there's no-one in the house bar me).

The West Wing

• Starring: Martin Sheen, proper film actor and heart attack victim during the filming of Apocalypse Now.
  
• Premise: Martin Sheen plays President Josiah Bartlet, recently elected President of the United States. The series charts the activities of the President and his coterie of advisors as they face the day to day crises which make up their public and private lives.
  
• Good Points:
  • Great writing.
  • Great acting.
  • Great plots.
• Bad Points:
  • The tendency to have the President thunder out something emotional at the end of each episode or have a touching quiet beat as the screen fades to the titles is a little annoying.
  • The theme tune itself reminds me of Dallas.
• Current RL Status: Seven complete seasons.
  
• Verdict: Brilliant. Hopefully the DVDs will be a Fathers Day present.

We also have Earth 2 to have a look at, but as West Wing seems to be a winner for both of us and Farscape worth persevering with for me, God alone knows when we'll get a chance to fit it into our busy couch-potato schedule.