In which I sound embarrassingly like a PR flack and exhort you all to find a UPN affiliate, any UPN affiliate, near you
Okay.
Right now, everyone knows that the two best TV shows no one is watching are Arrested Development and Veronica Mars, right?
Well, if Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and two freaking Emmys for Best Comedy can't help Arrested Development, nothing I say can make a difference.
But really, as much as I like Arrested Development, I LOVE Veronica Mars. Imagine if Nancy Drew were a new millenial teen, and her lawyer father had been disgraced. Now imagine that Ned Nickerson's sister was Nancy's best friend, and had been brutally murdered, and Nancy's father thought Ned's father had done it (and that Nancy's mom was only NEWLY missing, in the wake of the scandal). And imagine that Cedar Heights was rife, RIFE I say, with class tension, secrets and scandal. And imagine the whole thing as written by the Buffy staff at height of their inventive powers of dialog and characterization. You are probably getting at least a hint of why I love this show.
Veronica Mars is the high school show all high school shows want to be, with archetypal characters who still feel real rather than stereotypical, insanely melodramatic storylines that still seem organic and believable, and even adult characters who have real lives and functions other than to be the Peanuts-esque "mwah mhwah mhaw mwaaaaaw" voice in the background of the teens' lives.
In the world of Veronica Mars, there are few easy answers and even happy endings are delineated in shades of gray. Seemingly throwaway characters come back and become more integral to the storyline, and relatively major characters can fall by the wayside... literally. Last night's second season premiere carried through on the promise of the first season, making clear that there would be no idyllic storybook ending now that we know who murdered Lilly Kane. Every mystery solved opens a fresh set of wounds, and no matter how much she wants to go back to her "normal" life pre-best-friend's-murder, Veronica is now even more in the thick of things than she was before. But despite the show's extremely dark undertones, both the sunny Californian visuals and the snappy, witty dialog make it a joy to watch. Veronica's life could be played as dismal noir, and the narration gives us the sense that she knows it but will be damned if she's going to let the bastards get her down. Like Buffy, she deals with shitty situations matter-of-factly and with an eye toward making her small corner of the world a better place not just for her and her friends, but also for those weaker than herself. Unlike Buffy, she doesn't whine about it.
Speaking of Buffy, no less a TV luminary than Joss Whedon recently posted a note on his official website extolling the virtues of Veronica Mars... and if you think I sound effusive, Mr. Whedon sounded like an obsessed 13-year-old girl talking about Orlando Bloom's hair.
So, in summary.... Veronica Mars! Watch it! Now!
posted by Morgan @ 2:36 PM
4 Comments:
But... Buffy has, like, vampires and shit that are totally Outside Your Genre. Also, it's long off the air. There will always be time for Buffy. Veronica Mars on the other hand... it's fresh! And new! And its legions of fans don't have seven seasons worth of repeat viewings and in jokes with which to annoy you.
I'd like to make some kind of SoCal urban studies pitch, but... um... well, hey, at least there's class tension.
Also, I am one hundred and ten percent convinced that SOMEONE modeled Neptune on Laguna Beach.
I, too, love (LOVE!) VM. I only wish it wasn't on the same time as lost since my tivo has to be on the channel its recording. its like sophie's choice for me. (VM won but I have a few "backups" recording lost for me). now if only I was a nielsen family. I could single-handedly save the show.
Ah, see, you need the magic of the two-channel-recording tivo! I still have the first eps of Lost, if you need them... I haven't watched them yet.
How DOES one become a Neilsen family? I figure all of us out here are disqualified on account of the media thing, but I feel like with so damn MANY relatives in the Midwest, I should know at least one.
My family was Nielsen for a week. We didn't know how to track though b/c my Dad changed the channel every commercial break. Sometimes more often. So we'd be writing 3 shows for a single half hour slot. I would also like to temper this with "I'm pretty sure this actually happened" since this memory is from elementary school and I could have just wished it into my mind now that I think about it.
Post a Comment
<< Home