Paradise Kiss, and what's turned into a House rant...

Lest I forget, I watched the first two eps of Paradise Kiss the other day. I was a bit dubious by the time I reached the end of the first ep, but I liked it enough by the end of the second ep that I'm actually looking forward to seeing some more. What did it for me was that it was very mature and actually had some depth to its characterization.

My dad and I are currently an episode behind in our House watching, though actually I'm not since I watched it on Tuesday while making bracelets for my mum (don't ask...). I went to read reaction posts online, and am surprised, even though I shouldn't be, that there are people who have a lot more invested in this show than I do. In that they think things like, oh, an emphasis that House is handicaped, or a emotionally charged song at the end of the show making some sappy point is unusual. It's those sort of cliched moments that make me want to turn the show off and never watch again, and the only thing that saves it is that it was Hugh Laurie acting his socks off.

I mean, really, the only thing House has going for it is great acting (and usually good guest stars as well) and snark (I would say dialogue, but the non-snarky dialogue is pretty hit and miss.). They're getting better at faking out the viewer in the beginning too, if that helps. Other than that, the plots are cliched and contrived. Many of the medical symptoms and such that they find half way through the show to be dramatic are actually things that should never have been missed in the first place. In short, their medical realism sucks and there's no way some of the Cottages should have made it as doctors with their obvious hang ups and bad bedside manners. The way the patient's always mirror the personal lives of one of the doctors is annoying. And House's "i have an idea moments" are often ruined by 1) the plot contrivance of a clinic patient with a similar illness 2) the fact that it's something a world class diagnostician should have thought of a lot sooner.

With the exception of Three Stories (and perhaps Autopsy), the scripts could be a lot better. The reason why people find Cameron so annoying is because she's ridiculously nosy, and often for the purposes of the script - like in episode five with House's parents. See, I can understand needed a character like that if you're writing a book where the povs are limited to main characters - but this is a tv show. You can show a hell of a lot more than your telling. You don't need someone to be nosy about someone's personal life because you can just show their personal life without the other characters knowing about it *gasp* Of course, House is nosy too, and yet his nosiness is a lot less offensive when you know he doesn't care about much more than solving the 'puzzle' he's stumbled on. (Or maybe it's just because Hugh Laurie makes a good charming bastard.)

Speaking of which, I'm amused that lots of people seem to think that House is being meaner this season. I think it must be a reaction to his cancer jokes because I didn't notice anything and in fact, was happy to be back on track with the snark since the delving into House's past or angst scenes are pretty hit and miss on this show. (Stacey for instance, is interesting in flashbacks and her choice was generally a difficult one but she comes off somewhat badly in the present. Not all the time, but that 'you were the one' speech was just crap.) It just seems like lazy characterization to me every time they hyper focus on House's ANGST over his leg. I mean, it's one of those assumptions when you have a handicaped character that they'll be angsty over their missing limb/horrible disfiguration etc. You do not need to beat the audience over the head with it, which granted, this show doesn't always do, but it just comes off as gratuitous when they do. And I won't even start on how they beat you over the head with the patient of the week...

Paradise Kiss, and what's turned into a House rant...

Lest I forget, I watched the first two eps of Paradise Kiss the other day. I was a bit dubious by the time I reached the end of the first ep, but I liked it enough by the end of the second ep that I'm actually looking forward to seeing some more. What did it for me was that it was very mature and actually had some depth to its characterization.

My dad and I are currently an episode behind in our House watching, though actually I'm not since I watched it on Tuesday while making bracelets for my mum (don't ask...). I went to read reaction posts online, and am surprised, even though I shouldn't be, that there are people who have a lot more invested in this show than I do. In that they think things like, oh, an emphasis that House is handicaped, or a emotionally charged song at the end of the show making some sappy point is unusual. It's those sort of cliched moments that make me want to turn the show off and never watch again, and the only thing that saves it is that it was Hugh Laurie acting his socks off.

I mean, really, the only thing House has going for it is great acting (and usually good guest stars as well) and snark (I would say dialogue, but the non-snarky dialogue is pretty hit and miss.). They're getting better at faking out the viewer in the beginning too, if that helps. Other than that, the plots are cliched and contrived. Many of the medical symptoms and such that they find half way through the show to be dramatic are actually things that should never have been missed in the first place. In short, their medical realism sucks and there's no way some of the Cottages should have made it as doctors with their obvious hang ups and bad bedside manners. The way the patient's always mirror the personal lives of one of the doctors is annoying. And House's "i have an idea moments" are often ruined by 1) the plot contrivance of a clinic patient with a similar illness 2) the fact that it's something a world class diagnostician should have thought of a lot sooner.

With the exception of Three Stories (and perhaps Autopsy), the scripts could be a lot better. The reason why people find Cameron so annoying is because she's ridiculously nosy, and often for the purposes of the script - like in episode five with House's parents. See, I can understand needed a character like that if you're writing a book where the povs are limited to main characters - but this is a tv show. You can show a hell of a lot more than your telling. You don't need someone to be nosy about someone's personal life because you can just show their personal life without the other characters knowing about it *gasp* Of course, House is nosy too, and yet his nosiness is a lot less offensive when you know he doesn't care about much more than solving the 'puzzle' he's stumbled on. (Or maybe it's just because Hugh Laurie makes a good charming bastard.)

Speaking of which, I'm amused that lots of people seem to think that House is being meaner this season. I think it must be a reaction to his cancer jokes because I didn't notice anything and in fact, was happy to be back on track with the snark since the delving into House's past or angst scenes are pretty hit and miss on this show. (Stacey for instance, is interesting in flashbacks and her choice was generally a difficult one but she comes off somewhat badly in the present. Not all the time, but that 'you were the one' speech was just crap.) It just seems like lazy characterization to me every time they hyper focus on House's ANGST over his leg. I mean, it's one of those assumptions when you have a handicaped character that they'll be angsty over their missing limb/horrible disfiguration etc. You do not need to beat the audience over the head with it, which granted, this show doesn't always do, but it just comes off as gratuitous when they do. And I won't even start on how they beat you over the head with the patient of the week...