I did indeed sit through the premier of "Commander-in-Chief," starring Geena Davis as the first-ever female president.
To put it mildly, it's no "West Wing." And, yes, I used to enjoy the "West Wing" very much, until it started becoming sanctimonious to the point of lunacy. Maybe that's changed: I haven't seen it in awhile.
Anyway, CiC just didn't resonate with me. Part of it was because they should have picked an unknown actress for the role. Every time I see Geena Davis, I think of my first real celebrity crush in that scene in Tootsie where she's in her bra and panties. It's hard for me to get past that.
Secondly, could the show have BEEN any more predictable? I think I foretold that the teleprompter would go on the blink in mid-speech last Wednesday.
Oh, and a vice-president with her husband as her chief-of-staff? Unlikely. Telling her 7-year-old daughter not to tell anybody that the President suffered a stroke? Ummmmm, unlikely. The U.S. strong-arming Nigeria to release a female adulterer? Unlikely. The extraction team consisting of an overweight dude with no helmet, looking as uncomfortable with a rifle as a hemmorhoid sufferer sitting on broken glass? Un-fucking-likely.
Overall, it was a lot to swallow, with too many one-dimensional characters, too many implausible scenarios, too much cheesy dialogue, and not enough depth. Chances are good I won't tune in again.
Now, HBO's series "Rome". . . there's a show that kicks some serious ass, with Indira Varma being one of the hottest actresses I've seen since Salma Hayek. Polly Walker's pretty hot too, but I'm biased on that because she did full-frontal Bareishness in the first episode. Where was I again? Oh, right. . . work.
FURTHER THOUGHT: It occurs to me that, if CiC were to tank, as the first episode seems to indicate it will, a lot of people will steadfastly maintain that it's because knuckle-dragging Americans can't accept the idea of a female president, and they'll be totally oblivious to the obvious inadaquacies of the show itself. CiC has some potential, but they have a lot of work to do, that's all I'm saying.
Oh, and also, watch this movie. It's surprisingly good, and the little dude delivers an outstanding acting performance.
Posted by Ryan at September 28, 2005 10:49 AM | TrackBackThe only reason I can think for this particular turd to float any longer is because CiC can be pronounced "Sick" which is kind of cool.
Don't you know that TV's not supposed to be edgy? I heard some guy at CostCo last night trying to get his girl to come over and watch reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond and I had to restrain myself from slapping him in the face and letting him know he's part of the problem.
I expected schlock and watched the Giants effectively end their season by allowing Ramon Hernandez to get 7 RBIs against them last night. Damn!
Posted by: Johnny Huh? at September 28, 2005 11:48 AMLoved the Station Agent. "The Little Dude" is in the new series Threshold and is cool in it as well.
Posted by: Beth at September 28, 2005 01:56 PMI saw the Station Agent in a theater at the behest of a friend and went in not knowing anything about it. I was extremely impressed at the complex, understated performances. Especially given the sparsity of dialogue, the depth of character development is pretty remarkable. Bad actors indicate their character's emotional state by shouting it, whereas good actors can do it without saying a word.
As soon as I read your prediction that the cancellation of CiC will be accompanied by some "media critic" or another positing that it failed because America's not ready for a female president, I braced myself for the inevitability of same. Even though that would be a bit like saying that Fox's cancellation of firefly means that Americans want to de-fund NASA.
I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise in the Reality TV era that some people, pundits included, seem to have such a hard time distinguishing real life from television.
Everybody Hates Chris, by the way, rocks.
Posted by: flamingbanjo at September 28, 2005 02:51 PMHBO's series "Rome". . . there's a show that kicks some serious ass
I already have the Season 1 DVD on reserve at Netflix. Make them hurry up and finish showing it on HBO so they can release it. Threaten to cancel your subscription unless they show the rest of the episodes back to back every night this week. They're all about customer service at HBO, so I'm pretty sure that will work. Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Yeah, the show is definitely no West Wing. But- it was the first episode, and Sorkin had a whole movie to practice with first--and he even pulled over a bunch of the actors from the movie. I'm hoping CiC will get better.
I'm waiting to see if she actually has "independent" party politics, or if she's just a Democrat in disguise. :p
Posted by: moonbatty at September 30, 2005 08:26 PM
Stumble It!
