In the first of two columns today, I review NBC's "Trauma," which has a good cast (Cliff Curtis in particular) and pedigree, but isn't as exciting as it wants to be.
Monday, September 28, 2009
'Trauma' review - Sepinwall on TV
In the first of two columns today, I review NBC's "Trauma," which has a good cast (Cliff Curtis in particular) and pedigree, but isn't as exciting as it wants to be.
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I was the 70s show "Emergency!"'s biggest fan. Loved that show, and still get a kick when Kevin Tighe showed up on shows like "Murder One" and of course "Lost". Jamie Sheridon is no Robert Fuller :) I may give it a try, but it's up against CBS comedies, so it will probably be a pass.
well, thank goodness - I have no more tuner cards.
This is on NBC so I automatically know it will be overwrought, maudlin and over-the-top cheesy, like all non-Law and Order NBC dramas. I predict cancellation.
Don't see how you don't like True Blood for being silly but think an NBC drama has potential. They're by far the worst shows on TV currently. The "trailer" for this show came on in my theater before the movie and the whole audience in my theater was howling with laughter at the cheesy, high adrenaline slo-mo action scenes, which I'm sure isn't the reaction the creators were going for.
bettyd - I'm going to have to challenge you as biggest fan of "Emergency!". The first day of preschool I decided to change my name to "John" (as in John the Paramedic). My poor parents even gave in a got me a "Happy Birthday John" cake for my 4th birthday. One of the first times I ever got grounded was for punching my sister because she dared to talk during Emergency.
Thankfully I grew out of that phase, but it was truly depressing to catch a rerun of the show a few years back and see what a truly awful show it was. It made Chips look like a big-budget extravaganza.
Emergency was such a favorite in our household, my brother, cousin and I would play it all the time. We had bunk beds which we would pretend were a burning building and we'd set up my dolls and stuffed animals to be "rescued" But since there weren't very many female firefighters at the time, they always made me be Dixie or a rescuee.
My brother would do an impersonation of a CPR patient, which my parents would encourage him to do for company. We all wanted to be firefighters when we grew up. My brother & cousin actually went to take the test, but were rejected because of asthma.
I'm not entirely sold on the "Burn Notice as an 80's throwback" idea. Maybe my memory of the shows are fuzzy, but I don't remember the A-Team really going after the military court who imprisoned them "for a crime they didn't commit."
My knowledge of tv is pretty limited, but I look back on The X-Files as the point when longer arcs started to have real importance over story of the week.
In the 80s, the premise set up standalones. Today, the standalones reinforce the premise.
My opinion, of course.
I'm not entirely sold on the "Burn Notice as an 80's throwback" idea. Maybe my memory of the shows are fuzzy, but I don't remember the A-Team really going after the military court who imprisoned them "for a crime they didn't commit."
It's obviously much more arc'ed than an equivalent '80s drama, but a lot of what the show does is along similar stylistic lines to a "Magnum PI" or "MacGyver" (and not just because Michael cobbles together weapons out of household objects).
Yeah, I can see that- especially the Magnum, PI relationship (again, for more than just the girls in bikinis). I just think that without some sort of overreaching arc, a show today would pull in Psych numbers, rather than Burn Notice.
On a related note, I watched Lie to Me tonight at your suggestion, and I think I'll be adding that to the schedule here in Wyoming.
It was funny to see you peg Cliff Curtis as the breakout star. I've been saying that since the 90's. _The Piano_, _Once Were Warriors_, _Three Kings_, _Whale Rider_; even his smaller bits in _Blow_ and _Training Day_. It has been a long time coming.
I watched the first 15 minutes and the dialogue was so horrible and cheesy the explosions and crashes couldn't even hold my attention. Switched to a re-run of Frasier!
Well, if nothing else it answers the question of where the ER Romano copters of doom/deux ex machina went to. Like the shark from Jaws, it can travel. It went from Chicago to San Francisco.
And then there's the useful lessons of don't text while driving or listen to you ipod at a loud volume while ignoring the 2 way radio warning of an impending electrical charge.
Eh, I found it better than I thought it would be. The prevailing thought I had when watching the show was how much I miss San Fran. That and for some reason I couldn't stop thinking of Jamie Sheridon as being James Cameron.
One thing did bug me though. Anyone with a shred of medical know-how knows that you never put a severed appendage directly on ice, as you'll just end up freezing it.
Okay, it wasn't the only thing that bugged me, but for me, it's worth a season pass, and watching on slower days.
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