It amuses me greatly that, while all my other conversations seem to end up turning into Doctor Who discussions, the actual Doctor Who discussions keep turning into conversations about every other TV show under the sun. (Most recently featured: Farscape, Stargate and The Dresden Files.)
Speaking of other shows... Is anybody but me (still) watching The 4400? I've recently decided that this program deserves some kind of prize for SF Show with the Most Bizarrely Fluctuating Cast. Which, considering the competition, is impressive. Is this series everybody's side project between real jobs, or what? I can just hear the producers now: You want to go and do a play? No problem! We'll just have you die/go on the run from the police/fall into a coma/get locked up in jail/move to Spain/undergo some weird transformation/disappear for no particular reason. Then we'll find some random way to write you back in for an episode or a season or whatever. It's easy!
This is one of those shows that I kind of wish was either a lot better (because then it would be pretty darned good) or a lot worse (because then I could stop watching it). The overall plot is kind of cool, but the characters are, well, interesting enough to keep my attention, but not quite interesting enough to arouse my enthusiasm. And the Random Cast Fluctuation factor is a little disorienting.
It's also hard not to compare it to Heroes, given the strong similarities in their premises. Which isn't especially fair, as The 4400 was around for quite some time before Heroes came along to hog all the attention. But the simple truth of the matter is that Heroes deserves a lot of attention and The 4400 deserves, well, less.
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I watched the first couple of episodes but didn't stick with it, so I think I saw it before it got all weird and fluctuaty. I've considered renting the DVDs, though.
ReplyDeleteI started out watching it on DVD, by sheer coincidence finishing the first season discs right before the second season started up on USA, and I liked it well enough at the time to tune in for it even though that was pre-Tivo and I pretty much wasn't watching anything as it aired, except for BSG. So that's, well, sort of a recommendation. The plot actually is good, even if the show as a whole never quite reaches out and grabs you the way it seems like it ought to.
ReplyDeleteI find the "4400" absurdly interesting. I also like most of the characters. Sometimes, though its hard to tell who the good guys and the bad guys are, or both
ReplyDeleteIt is one of those shows where both sides (or at least both of the sides we usually see) believe that they're the good guys. I generally regard that sort of thing as a positive, rather than a negative. Simple Good vs. Evil is usually a lot more simplistic and thus less interesting.
ReplyDeleteDresden Files, RIP.
ReplyDeleteI think Dresden being canceled is a pity... It wasn't a great show, yet, but it had definite potential, and the lead actor was terrific.
ReplyDelete