Why did they show that? (Reviews and Comments) I like scripted TV! But sometimes the show runners make me wonder .... Twitter name is SciFiOne

Stargate Universe is a one-hour SciFi melodrama spin off from the SG1 series. I've watched three of the hours recorded during my vacation and didn't like much about them. The story sequences have been very jumbled and confusing. There is a lot of bad camera work. But worst of all, the stories are depressing and none of the characters are likeable - more like an afternoon soap opera. Overall, it is frustrating to watch. I'll finish what has been recorded, but its future does not look good for me. 11/06/2009
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I watched the original V this summer on DVD - out of date and a tad dull. I don't plan to watch it again but it was passable. The new V pilot, a one-hour aliens come to earth SciFi drama, has newer tech, but I was surprised that it was boring. I thougt it might be a lot of things, but not boring. I'll try a few more episodes. Hopefully it won't all take place in the dark. 11/06/2009
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Three Rivers is a one-hour medical drama. Trouble is, the episode I tried was boring. We shut it off after about 15 min. 11/04/2009
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The Middle is a sitcom about a family of 5 in Indiana, not that the state makes any difference. I'm sorry to say it was pretty dull within about 3 minutes and got worse as time went by. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't gross, it just wasn't interesting. 10/01/2009
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Hank is another Kelsey Grammer sitcom, this time about a downsized CEO who has moved back to his hometown with his family. You're going to have to really like Grammer to like the show. I didn't like it. The scenes with the kids were OK and Jordan Hinson (Zoe from Eureka) was excellent. She is indeed a grade A actress. 10/01/2009
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Trauma is a one-hour drama about rescue personnel in San Francisco, the people around them and their problems - Grey's Anatomy from the paramedics' point of view. That's right, another medical drama. The pilot started with a flashback teaser. If the back-story is complex enough to require that in the first episode, what are they going to do for the rest? It didn't seem that important. Instead it seemed to be there mostly to be sensational. Anyway, it was badly photographed and I did not like the music or the characters. I made it about 20 minutes in and it did not get any better. It was obvious when the next trauma was going to occur (3rd, 4th?) so I quit and deleted it forever. Sorry, no sale. 09/30/2009
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Eastwick is a one-hour lightly funny fantasy drama about three women who are new to being witches. In fact they only find out in the pilot. As in the movie and I assume book, they conjure a powerful male, who will probably be the devil or a minion. The pilot was not perfect but was great fun. I wasn't bored for a moment. The casting, acting, characters, editing and script were great. The only negative is the camera work was a little too tight for full screen, use wide screen if you can swing it. 09/25/2009
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The scripts are the same every week and are rarely funny. I've downgraded this one to optional. 11/06/2009

The pilot for Cougar Town (a pun BTW) is one of those rare laugh-out-loud absurd sitcoms to be treasured. I don't know if the rest will be any good, but they got my attention. The show is about the antics of a 37 year old recently single woman trying to start dating again and her friends and family. It was very enjoyable to watch. (The pun is that the high school teams are the Cougars and she is a "cougar" in the dating world.) 09/25/2009
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Modern Family is a half-hour sitcom about three nontraditional families. I did not like the pilot and quit about 7 min in. It was done documentary style with characters giving seated "interviews" and often used hand held camera. It also was uninteresting. Sorry. 09/24/2009
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Mercy is a one-hour medical drama about nurses, the people around them and their problems - Grey's Anatomy from the nurse's point of view but not quite so good. One nurse is just back from Iraq, another just out of school, and one wants out of the bad neighborhood. The characters, directing and cinematography are good, but as one of the characters said it's about the "worst times." The script was a little boring too. Oh well... 09/24/2009
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The Good Wife is a one-hour lawyer drama. The lead just reentered the workforce because her husband cheated and was also convicted of government improprieties. Based on the blurbs and previews I saw, I did not expect to like the show. But the pilot was very, very well done. The bad news is the only two characters I like are the lawyer and her investigative assistant. All the rest appear to be mean back stabbers, some played by actors I don't like. Where the scripts go and which characters they emphasize will determine whether I keep watching. 09/23/2009
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Accidentally On Purpose is a half-hour sitcom about a 37-year-old single woman movie reviewer who hooked up with a younger man and became pregnant. He wants to be part of the child's life and they are now sort of living together. That's the pilot. Where the story goes now will determine its fate. The show did not seem to click perfectly and has some iffy characters but I'm biased because I like Jenna Elfman. So I'll keep watching it. 09/23/2009
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I cannot fully say what It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is about. The show started with 3 egotistic twenty something guy jerks talking at a bar. I didn't like them from the first sentence. When the young woman came in with something important to say, they ignored her but instantly responded when the older man came in and said the same thing. I didn't like that or him either - strike 2+. After the credits, there was a scene with the woman, and I didn't like her character either. - strike 3 plus. I waited till the next scene which I didn't like and turned it off. To top it off, it was forced and wasn't funny. 09/21/2009
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The second episode flunked the class big time. It was almost painful to watch. Even the heart warming end could not save it. 09/25/2009

Community is a half-hour sitcom about a pseudo-study group at a community college. I did not expect to like it since the group originator is a disbarred con-man lawyer but it worked for some reason. Maybe because the group is diverse in ethnicity, gender and personality like the universities I remember - Maybe because the characters were fun despite or because of their hang-ups and cared about each other. Anyway, I intend to watch for a while at least. 09/21/2009
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The second episode was rather boring. The show was mostly about dull teens and the vampires were less interesting. I had a hard time finishing and am not interested. 09/21/2009

The Vampire Diaries is a one hour fantasy drama about moody cool kid high school teens and a couple of moody vampires, one "good" and one "bad." The show is very well executed and I will probably watch a few more as long as it is easy to record. But I don't care for vampires as lead characters and I've seen the moody teen garbage before so it is unlikely I will continue. 09/12/2009
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The first formal episode of Glee killed the show for me. It still had great moments but they tended to end abruptly in boring unreal trivia. I suspect the trivia was supposed to add humorous content, but the basic story was poor it was not funny to me. 09/12/2009

Apparently the pilot for Glee was a preview episode and the show will be in the fall - Odd. Glee is an hour musical dramatic comedy about the reformation of a high school glee club. It was hard to rate. At times I was quite bored. At others I enjoyed it very much. The show also had very bad photography in places. I doubt they will be able to sustain my interest or continue to do that level of music every week but I will try a few episodes in the fall. 05/22/2009
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Season 1 was enjoyable. Season 2 was great, almost all grade A episodes. But season 3 is not so good. They eliminated the two best characters, the older intellectuals and replaced them with a cop and college post grad. It would be like having Dr Who without the Doctor. There are still good moments and the post grad could become interesting, but the format was changed to jerky, close-up action which makes it hard to look at. Also, the science was pushed beyond belief - it is hard to suspend disbelief. I think they are aiming for a younger audience. In any case, the combined season 1-2 package is worth buying. But if I had started watching only season 3, I would not have continued. 09/21/2009

I watched one middle episode of season 3 of Primeval on BBC and immediately ordered the season 1-2 DVD set. Then I recorded the marathon of the rest of season 3. So far we have watched 5 episodes of season 1 and liked all but one of them very much -good characters, fun stories, excellent CGI and well acted. The show is an hour-long scifi drama. Some kind of interface opens to other times (mostly the past) and creatures come through to terrorize or entertain Briton. The good guys try to figure it all out and send them back. 08/11/2009
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I'm not exactly sure what this show is supposed to be. We started with the first regular length episode. After about 20 minutes my wife said it was boring. I said thank you, stopped the playback and deleted the file. It is apparently a psuedo-scifi melodrama about the interactions of the crew on a long trip to mars - with a lot of flashbacks. No storyline was discernible in what we watched. 08/11/2009
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Tried two episodes of this hour long BBC fantasy drama. After the stretching of Torchwood, I decided on the short versions. It is about a vampire, ghost and werewolf who want to live normally and together. On the surface it appears good, but it turns into a horror melodrama by the end each time. I don't care for either of those and was slightly bored anyway, so I don't plan on watching it. 08/09/2009
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Just for fun I tried two half-hour Family channel sitcoms way out of my demographic, 10 Things I Hate About You and Ruby And The Rockits. Both are soft family oriented shows seen from the teen's point of view. 10 Things has two teens, a wanna-be socialite and a wanna-be rebel, trying to survive high school. I like the rebel, Kat, and her story but everything and everyone else are uninteresting. Ruby has one teen who moves to live near her aging rock star dad, who didn't even know he had a kid, staying with his brother's family. I like Ruby but again the rest are very lame and the scripts were terrible. The fact that I liked any of the characters is a good sign. If you are in the target audience, you might like it but it's certainly not for me. 07/30/2009
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I was pretty certain from the very first scene, a torture scene, that I didn't want to watch Dark Blue. Thirty minutes later I was certain and shut if off. The pilot was a one-hour undercover cop show, thus the Blue in the title. The problem with these is they follow the villains almost exclusively, and even the cops have to act like villains. So most of the time, viewers are watching unpleasant scenes. This one went a little farther with graphic violence all over- thus the Dark in the title. The part of the show I did watch was well put together if you are into this kind of thing. I'm not!! 07/16/2009
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The first regular length episode of Warehouse 13 was better. Not interesting enough to 100% hold my attention, but good enough to watch. The episode was helped by having Tricia Helfer and Lindy Booth as guest stars. I don't know if we will want to watch the reruns or not. That will take a while to determine. 07/16/2009

Warehouse 13 is apparently going to be a 1-hour weekly light SciFi drama about three people who oversee a warehouse of strange items. Reminds me a bit of the Librarian movie series except the movies were not as dull. The 2-hour pilot started well but indications or boredom started early. Boredom strike 1 was I took my glasses off and did not care that the image was fuzzy. I didn't put them back on - a sure sign of dull photography. Then I kept looking at other things like the clock and the cats and thinking this is boring - strike 2. Strike 3 was when my wife asked to watch something else 40 minutes from the end and I agreed with no problem. The 4th strike was we switched to a season 1 episode of Star Trek the Next Generation I have on DVD-R. Now, TNG season 1 is a bit tame and is getting obsolete but it was more interesting than Warehouse 13! I'll finish the pilot and try some regular episodes but that is all I can say for now. 07/09/2009
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The second episode broke it. 07/09/2009

Make It or Break It is a one hour drama about girls Olympic gymnastic hopefuls in training. It didn't seem like the kind of show I would like so I read the LA Times and Variety reviews. Both said it was good. The pilot was very well executed and seemed to go by very quickly. The characters were interesting and easy to identify. The photography was good, except a few bits in the performance areas as noted in professional reviews. I still have my doubts that the content will keep me interested but I intend to watch until that point. It should make a good mini or limited series if they do that. 06/24/2009
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We are still watching Merlin. The stories are rather predictable to me but the characters are good. Photography is still poor and it still needs to be shown wide-screen, but it is OK. 07/09/2009

I'm having trouble finding time to watch the second episode so I will review the pilot. Merlin is a one hour light drama fantasy about the young Merlin arriving at court and meeting the young future King Arthur and others. The whole first season has already aired in Britain. NBC is importing it. Let's hope they import the whole first season. The pilot was well done and kept my attention reasonably well. The characters were interesting enough and easy to keep track of. The photography was acceptable and was probably fine in wide screen. But it came through full screen on my recorders. There is plenty of room for content and character growth. This one is worth trying. 06/23/2009
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One of the problems the death of a newspaper brings is the lack of a comprehensive printed TV schedule grid. Excite.com does a good job and is better in many ways, but I tend to miss new shows that start out of season. I missed the start of Surviving Suburbia, a routine half-hour family sit-com. Fortunately, the one I watched last week was routine and I don't intend to watch it again. But it was reasonably well done and deserved an earlier review. 06/21/2009
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Hawthorn is a pretty standard one-hour hospital medical drama about the lives of the staff. The twist here is the show follows the nurses. Unfortunately, I'm not much interested in this kind of show unless there is something special about it. The show almost made it based on the cast which is superb. But in the end the content, characters and photography were too ordinary. It is well done. If you like this kind of show, give it a try. 06/17/2009
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After 3 episodes of The Listener, the final vote is no. Episode 2 was tolerable but episode 3 was boring. The photography was bad and the content dull. 06/14/2009

The Listener is basically a one-hour crime drama with a twist. The protagonist is an EMT not a cop and he can read minds. The characters were easy to identify and enjoyable and the photography was interesting. The pilot was well executed. That's saying a lot since I don't like shows that include kidnappings. 06/06/2009
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Three episodes of Mental so far and the review is the same - interesting content, boring photography. I did discover there is something more boing than a talking head, a listening head. I keep looking at the clock and other places when there is nothing interesting on the screen. But the content is interesting enough that we will continue watching. At least there are no gory dead bodies. 06/11/2009

Mental is a one hour drama staring an unorthodox doctor in a mental hospital. The pilot had the most boring photography I have ever seen. It was all badly framed talking heads. The evening news has more interesting photography. But the characters were good, although not fascinating, and the content was good. The hour went by fairly quickly and we plan to try another episode. 05/28/2009
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Royal Pains seems to have petered out. I doubt it is repeatable but it is OK to watch once. 07/09/2009

Royal Pains is about a doctor blackballed by his old hospital after bad luck on a patient and now working as the "hotel" doctor for the rich in the Hamptons. The first 25 minutes of the pilot, the denouement, were slow and iffy, but many shows waste an hour on that kind of thing. Once the show moved to the Hamptons, it became quite interesting. Good characters and dialog, fun photography, and interesting content. I especially enjoyed guest star Christine Ebersole's comic character New-parts Newberg, very bubbly. Most of the other characters, except possibly the younger brother, were interesting too. This show might be achievable. 06/07/2009
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Apparently the pilot for Glee was a preview episode and the show will be in the fall - Odd. Glee is an hour musical dramatic comedy about the reformation of a high school glee club. It was hard to rate. At times I was quite bored. At others I enjoyed it very much. The show also had very bad photography in places. I doubt they will be able to sustain my interest or continue to do that level of music every week but I will try a few episodes in the fall. 05/22/2009
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Doing DaVinci is a good example of why I end up not watching reality shows. The first episode I caught was mostly about the build and I found it interesting. But as the episodes progressed, more and more time was spent on the bickering of the crew. In the final episode I caught, I estimate less than 10 percent of the time was on the build. I suspect the show runners actually choose participants who can't get along just so they can do this. 05/17/2009
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    Let's start with some disappointments (bad new first).
    CHUCK, the perennial boring loser, demoted from archivable to throw-away. It had the same story every episode - how will Sarah, the CIA, Fulcrum and the Buy More screw Chuck. I got really tired of it. At least it was easier to watch as a throw-away since I didn't have to mark edits anymore.
    SANCTUARY, the SciFi show with so much wasted potential. It just didn't gel for some reason, bad directing and editing would be my guess. Episodes tended to be slow, tedious, and with bad camera work.
    SMALLVILLE, a.k.a. the Chole and Davis show. The first half of the season with Lois and Clark stories was great. The second half was mostly about the villain Davis and he was boring!
    Moving on to some bright spots (good news).
    Three new shows were a lot of fun, even if they were not repeatable. CASTLE, MENTALIST and CUPID. All three have great characters, acting, directing and editing. The mentalist tends to be a bit bloody, so to speak, and the long story arc is off, but we look forward to it. Castle is a very enjoyable old-fashioned murder mystery story with two great leading characters. Cupid is the odd duck for modern TV being a romantic comedy show, but it is quite enjoyable so far.
    Finally, the really good shows (archivable).
    I'm glad MY BOYS returned about 5 weeks ago. It is a gentle comedy with a good cast and likable characters. Some episodes are a bit bland but most are good and I usually archive them all.
    TWO AND A HALF MEN started the season poorly, and I was not planning on archiving any episodes. But it picked up with the addition of Chelsea and I hope to save those episodes.
    THE BIG BANG THEORY was better the second season than the first despite the horrendous noise in the scene change graphics. It is archiveable but I am editing out as many of the scene changes as I can.
    LEVERAGE turned out to be archivable despite the thematic change from the first episode. It is more like It Takes A Thief than Hustle. But that is fine. The only episodes and scenes I did not archive dealt with Nate's alcoholism (and a few flashbacks too). 05/14/2009
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Doing DaVinci is a good example of why I end up not watching reality shows. The first episode I caught was mostly about the build and I found it interesting. But as the episodes progressed, more and more time was spent on the bickering of the crew. In the final episode I caught, I estimate less than 10 percent of the time was on the build. I suspect the show runners actually choose participants who can't get along just so they can do this. 05/17/2009
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