Second Chance TV

[alexiscartwheel]

Some time earlier this year, I watched the first episode of Doctor Who, but I never really got into a it. I caught parts of a few episodes on one of the French cable stations this fall, and it seemed interesting enough, even in a language I don't understand, to warrant another go. This fall I watched the pilot of Moonlight and confirmed that Jason Dohring is still hot, but I wasn't completely sold on the series. Then I read an article a couple weeks ago that reported that Moonlight was one of the few new shows this season to gain viewers during October and November. That had to mean that the show got better over time, so I decided to give it a second chance as well.

I started watching Moonlight while I was packing up my room to come home, and I pretty much watched straight through to the most recent episode. It does get much better than the first episode suggested.

One of my biggest problems with Moonlight was the excessive and intrusive voiceover narration, so I was happy to discover that there's a lot less narration after the pilot. The characters also get more complex every episode. I really like Beth. Even though she doesn't have any sort of supernatural power, she's no helpless victim. She make essential contributions to Mick's investigations, and it doesn't take her long to figure out that Mick is a vampire. I expected that to be some great secret identity of his which would make Beth look silly for never picking up on any of the signs. I was surprised that Coraline, Mick's ex-wife plays a pretty significant roll. I find her character pretty annoying, I think because she's very into herself. Apparently she's the same actress I found really annoying in A Knight's Tale, and she named her son Audio Science.... yeah. Anyway, some things about Moonlight haven't changed, though. Josef is still my favorite character. Aside from being hot, he gets all the fun, snarky lines and has an interesting past (he should after 400 years!)

Now that I'm home and free from school, I've been enjoying my oodles of free time by watching Doctor Who. Basically, it's made of awesome. It reminds me a little bit of The X-Files because most of the episodes feature a monster/mystery of the week, but there's also some continuity through the season. So far I'm midway through Season 2, and I'm really enjoying it. It's funny and clever, and the characters are great fun. Rose and the Doctor are a fascinating team, especially considering that the Doctor is played by two different actors. The Ninth Doctor and Tenth Doctor obviously look differently, and they have unique personality quirks, but I love both of them. I like Rose, too. She's a very take-action sort of girl, even when she's halfway across the universe and has no idea what's going on. And I still have plenty more to watch!

Here's some added fun. Last night I was watching an episode of Doctor Who, and the same actress who plays Beth was playing Madame de Pompadour!

Comments

[sea_thoughts]

That's Sophia Myles, and she and David Tennant (who plays the Tenth Doctor) actually started going out after Girl in the Fireplace. Guess the chemistry wasn't just on screen! Whenever they're at film premiers, she looks very satisfied, and who can blame her! Doctor Who was around long before The X-Files: it originally started on the BBC back in 1963 and was ongoing for twenty-six years, until it was taken off-air in 1989 (it had been going downhill, but only because the BBC bosses were sick of it and thus messed around with scriptwriters, money, etc.). There are many Doctors and many Companions, there's a whole world for you to discover. :)

I'm glad to hear that Moonlight is doing well, as I'm still mourning Veronica Mars. Oh my God, is Coraline played by Sossamon Shannon, or whatever her name is? I can't believe she's still working.

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

A twenty-six year run is pretty darn impressive. I had heard of Doctor Who when it started playing on Sci-Fi, but I had no idea it was that long running and popular. (I actually got interested because of the enthusiasm for the show at the Quill.) Have you seen much of the old series?

I miss Veronica Mars too, so it's good that we can at least watch Kristen on Heroes and Jason on Moonlight. Supposedly there could also be a VM movie. And yes, it's Shannyn Sossamon as Coraline.

[d4ni.livejournal.com]

They should totally make that VM DVD extra thing into a movie, that would be amazing. After watching it, I'd hazard to say it'd be about 10 times better than all of season 3.

[sea_thoughts]

Ah, Alexis, you have so much to discover! :D Here's the page you should see to get you started: Classic Series. Most of the episodes are on YouTube from Four onwards, just search for the episode title. :) But the old Who is a little different from the new Who: it moves slower, because they were allowed to have a story that spanned over three or four episodes instead of just two. The special effects are incredibly wonky, but we always say that's part of the charm. Everyone has their favourite Doctor, rather like people have a favourite James Bond. Most people would say that Tom Baker, who played the Fourth Doctor, is the definitive Doctor Who, because he had the longest run and was there at the height of the programme's popularity (mid-late 1970s) but the nice thing about Doctor Who is that you have different Doctors for different people.

A VM movie? Oh, we can only hope. I mean, they made Serenity, there is a precedent! Oh God, Shannyn Sossamon. Why? Incidentally, how do you pronounce that character's name? I would say 'Cora-leen', but I'm sure they say 'Cora-lin' or 'Cora-line', don't they?

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link! I'll definitely try to check out some of the older episodes once I finish with Season 3. Cheesy sci-fi and bad special effects are always good fun. And cause I'm curious... who's your favorite Doctor?

And I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thinks Shannyn Sossamon is weird. Your pronunciation of her name is actually correct, though. Cora-leen. I've never met or heard of anyone in real life called Coraline, but maybe that is the usual pronunciation?

[sea_thoughts]

It's a tie between the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston).

I've never met anyone called Coraline, but I did know a girl called Coralie and there are girls called Corinne (Cor-een) over here.

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

I've only seen Peter Davison in "Time Crash," which was great fun, but not really enough to form much of an opinion off of, but I agree that Christopher Eccleston is, well, fantastic!

[sea_thoughts]

All Peter's episodes are on YouTube. Just pick an episode title and search! :) And yes, Mr. Eccleston is fantastic in every way.