(no subject)

[nny]

Think I'm done with NCIS:LA. The actors don't really charm me - save LL Cool J, perhaps; they've tried ever so hard to write quirky characters and that gets my back up. You have to work with the actors you're given, in this, y'know? I dunno. Maybe I'm just taking issue with the fact that the latest episode was kind of hard to watch. Reminded me of how little I do to help my students. That and the fact that if NCIS is clumsy in its storylines, NCIS:LA is clumsy with gardening gloves.

:/

Comments

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Yeah, me too. NCIS is at least genuinely quirky; NCIS:LA just doesn't hack it. Except for Linda Hunt, stuck with the unenviable task of being both Ducky (metaphorically) and Director (de facto) at once.

[villainny.livejournal.com]

There's a bit of Gibbs in her, as well. She's too awesome for one human being to contain, and while that would usually be a compliment here it's just another badly written nail.

Mmph, I'm grumpy. The episode made me cry, I dislike it when things make me cry.

[ladycat777.livejournal.com]

For a while I thought it was getting better. There were a few episodes that I actually enjoyed on their own merits, instead of just tangential familiarity.

But Tuesday's ep was really bad. I think they suffer from too many characters - NCIS started with just five real, main characters, and you might even say it started with three. LA is trying to shoe-horn six from the start and it's just not working. No, wait - seven. And it's sad that I can't even remember their names!

[villainny.livejournal.com]

Not just that, though, they're kind of... doing exactly the same characters but in slightly different roles? Only they don't have anyone as awesome as Abby, as adorkable as McGee, as weirdly charming as Tony, as... yeah, you get my picture. They've allowed the cast of NCIS to put a lot of themselves into the characters I think, and that's awesome, and then they've mistakenly thought that what worked was the combination of character types. Does that make sense?

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Does to me. I mean, there's a miniseries I'm currently ridiculously fannish over that has a leading cast of about a dozen, mostly unknowns, in situations where it's almost impossible to tell them apart visually but where you *can* distinguish them as individuals in other ways.

[villainny.livejournal.com]

Oh?

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Band of Brothers. Yeah, probably most people won't be able to tell them apart on a first watching, but there are a good few distinctive characters across the ten eps.

[villainny.livejournal.com]

Aaah. apiphile was deeply into that and wrote a bunch of fic, too. I'm not into war things, not unless they're floating and wooden.

[lamardeuse.livejournal.com]

I know - I desperately wanted to get into it, because MY GOD, the looks they give one another, but I've never really been a fan of procedural shows like that anyway, and the dialogue is just painful whenever they do any of the plot. *sigh*

[villainny.livejournal.com]

See, I love procedural crime shows. I don't know why, I've always been a fan of detective stories; I guess this harks back to my Hardy Boys days or something. And NCIS is wonderful, I think, just exactly what I want from a show, so I was really intending to get into LA too. Also because, as you mention, it is essentially the 'G and Sam are gay for eachother' show, even down to the opening credits.

(Seriously, picture them to the Baywatch theme or something sometime.)

But yeah, the scripts are painful and the acting is, for the most part, stilted. And I've watched 11 episodes now and I'm still not clear on names. THIS IS NOT A GOOD SIGN.

[havenstar.livejournal.com]

I think the thing is that it took time, on NCIS, to build up to the team dynamic and quirky awesome that it is today. The first season was awesome- they had me hooked pretty much from the start- but, I mean, when you look at then vs now... McGee doesn't even properly join them until second season, and he is pretty much my favourite part.

But on NCIS: LA it's like they're trying to dive right into that camaraderie and team-ness off the bat, and while I don't blame them (they want to squeeze in on NCIS' ratings as fast as possible, after all) it just doesn't work that way. They need to give it time, which unfortunately they're not willing/able to do because networks are so hasty about canceling shows that don't look promising enough.

There are things I quite like about LA. Sam and G play off each other pretty well, my love for Eric borders on ridic, and I do quite like Hetty, even if she's a bit of too much at once. I like the concept of the show, the fact that they're not kicking down doors and flashing badges left and right. But on the whole... :\ I passed it up in favour of a Criminal Minds rerun this week. it just hasn't grabbed me. maybe it will in time, but for now.. I mean, I already have an NCIS. it is quite a good one. I am happy with the one I have. why bother picking up another?

[villainny.livejournal.com]

YOU! YOU SENT ME A GRUE! HE IS CUDDLING MY ROBOT!

*beamy grateful face*

[havenstar.livejournal.com]

Yes! I did! I'm so glad he reached you safely! I was a bit worried he wouldn't, being so tiny and all. I thought he might get lost D: so YAY and yay for robots as well XD <3