"From the Earth to the Moon" (miniseries, 1998), C+
The most schizophrenic miniseries in television history. Other than the obvious similarity in topic among the twelve segments -- each but the first dealing with a particular Apollo launch -- and some crossover in actors, there's almost no tonal, thematic, or aesthetic thread connecting the dozen episodes. Some have intertitles, and some don't. Some use first person narration, some use third person narration, and some use no narration. Some are approximately 75 percent jokes, and some are exactly 0 percent jokes. Some follow the expected storyline very closely, and some almost completely ignore their ostensible subject (say, oh, Apollo 13) to instead focus on some old newscaster who's being pushed out of his job by some young whippersnapper. (Apollo 13 episode rating: D+.) Acting's fine, largely by a bunch of TV comedy actors from then and now (Stephen Root, the two leads in "Wings," the father in "Malcolm in the Middle," the wife in "That '70s Show," Perry White in "Lois & Clark," etc.), but jeepers, that inconsistency.
--- "Sports Night," season 1 (1998-99), C+
I've always been a defender of Aaron Sorkin's writing in "The West Wing," but I'm now wondering if the primary strength of the Sorkin years of "The West Wing" wasn't as much Sorkin as it was the acting. If you trade Felicity Huffman straight up for Dulé Hill, every primary actor on "The West Wing" would be better than every primary actor on "Sports Night," and man, it shows. Doesn't help that Sorkin doesn't realize that when you are writing 22-minute episodes rather than 44-minute episodes, you cannot just write a 44-minute episode, cut it in half, and call it two 22-minute episodes. (Most every episode is an explicit or implicit two-parter.) Certainly doesn't help that Sorkin doesn't seem to care about sports; there's so little sports-specific content that revamping any of these episodes to an episode of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" would probably take less than an hour. Mrs. William H. Macy is of course predictably wonderful, even if the love interest aspect is thrust upon her character rather than allowed to occur organically. But the rest? Eh.
--- "The West Wing," season 1 (1999-2000), B+
Really, I do like Aaron Sorkin.
--- Dr Pepper Berries & Cream (2006), B-
The problem with adding a fruity taste to Dr [sic] Pepper is that the original is already a mix of cola and an indescribable strong, fruitlike flavor. (There's reason why the rumor that Dr Pepper contains prune juice won't go away.) Adding a completely different taste to Dr Pepper, such as vanilla, wouldn't be a problem -- there's no competition -- but adding a secondary fruit taste to Dr Pepper confuses the taste buds terribly. Certainly very drinkable, but certainly inferior to the original.
i sincerely do not know what you are doing here. are you lost? were you
looking for your delicate calico cat, and did you follow her up two flights of stairs
to this room? she is not here. she was here, yes. we gave her a warm bowl of milk, we talked with her about campaign finance reform for a time, and then she bid us good day. i believe she was
going to the post office two blocks down, but i don't quite recall.
for surely you did
not find your way from prinsiana, the least traveled site on
the internet. if you did, though, perhaps you are looking for humor. perhaps you are looking for profundity. perhaps you are looking for answers.
i'm sorry, but you shall go naught-for-three.
