I’ve been looking forward to seeing Miss Burton on White Collar since the casting news was announced.  As you may have noticed by the sidebar, I got into One Tree Hill as a guilty pleasure late in the game.  There was a point around seasons 4 and 5 that my boyfriend could have quoted you the entire plot just from my addiction and affinity for talking about nothing at length.   He’s a good man.

I wouldn’t have said that the MTV VJ turned actress was the best actor on the show but that’s not really a fair comparison.  What’s important is that I did like her character and I found the show compelling enough to watch.  I was looking forward to seeing her spread her wings in a new format with a little more … shall we say credibility.  It’s a progression to adult entertainment and I’m making the switch with her.

All that said, I’m not sure where I sit on her addition to White Collar.  It really depends on how the 6 episode stint plays out.  As of now, after her first appearance, I don’t understand how her character could become necessary for that much time.  At the beginning of the episode, I really didn’t like her but by the end I was actually okay with her being around.  It’s a delicate thing, adding a woman to an incredible bromance.  Supernatural has tried and mostly failed to do so.

Her character is a lot of things.  She’s independent and lonely, she’s an insurance investigator/bounty hunter – think Nate Ford’s old job.  She’s ruthless and curious and in your face but also edgy, addicted to coffee and a little sad.  They showed her right off the bat as strong then softened her with weakness, also making sure that we noticed she was a woman and susceptible to romantic feelings. I’m a little confused as to whether she’s really complicated or just not very well thought out.

What it comes down to is that I’m not sure the show needs her.  I don’t watch White Collar for the great mysteries they solve.  Honestly, I couldn’t even recall three if I had to but I could recall some great Peter/Neil moments, some shining qualities about Elizabeth or something quirky pulled off by Mozzie.  USA – Characters Welcome is their moto and it really is true in this show.  It’s character driven and I hope they manage to keep it that way without too quickly pushing another girl at Neil, or the pair of them for that matter.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

-DoubleBitch

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This show has been a bit of a diamond in the rough and I’ve been meaning to write up a big post on why it’s happily ripping on the success of other such shows in similar situations but fact is, in my stacked TV watching schedule, there’s room for them all.

Despite it’s similarities to things like Castle or Leverage, White Collar puts on an entertaining show with lovable and interesting characters each week. I really disliked how they twisted the cliffhanger at the end of the first half of the season. If you’re going to make one of your characters evil, do it. Don’t just pretend and bend the trust that the audience has put into the characters and the show itself.

Because of this previous blunder, I’m slightly concerned for the final episode of the season. One thing they haven’t done, is set up the finale very well. Shows like say Leverage, Heroes and even Smallville are known for setting up their finales in a two part-er kind of way. I know that’s a to-each-his-own choice but the last episode of White Collar, while good, didn’t do a lot to lean us in the direction of Kate. The music box, yes, but not Kate, which is what both we and Neil want.

The webcast was totally worth a watch if not for the hints at next week’s finale and next season’s plans but to hear DeKay and Bomer harmonize on multiple occasions. Their commradery is even more infectious off screen. You can check out the webcast HERE

A couple other gems from the interviews were:

• “Did you just say poets garret? You are AWESOME!”
• “Parkour” “Parkouur” “PARKOUR” “PARKOUR!!”
• Performed a song about the statue of liberty and full out broke into “Wayward Son” -  in harmony.
• May or may not have given up the secret from the finale but it was so muddled and uninformed by the audience, it didn’t really make any sense but they did act like they’d said something they weren’t supposed to.
• “I will back palm you, I will cup and ball you!” “Don’t cup and ball me”
• “Did you take your medication yet?” “… I took.. the purple one” “but not the green one?”
• “He’s like the Brando of Donkeys”

-DoubleBitch

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First off we’ve seen a major rise in political satire TV.  The likes of John Stewart and Colbert became a part of our daily schedules and on high rotation in the videos we passed around to our friends.  We’ve even seen shows like SNL that have been around for a long time focusing more on the political climate in the US.  In Canada, we’ve got shows like the Rick Mercer Report, and arguably The Hour bringing a cannuck perspective.  Sure there were shows doing this before, This Hour Has 22 Mins and the first few years of Bill Maher’s work but it was The Daily Show that truly came at an influential time and changed how many Americans got their news.

The second change we’ve seen, especially in the past few years has been the changing of the guard, the passing of the hat if you will.  TV greats, or at least legends bid farewell to their audiences, or at least their original time slot and changed the face of TV for the first time in a long time.  Bob Barker and Jay Leno are the most notable examples of this.  While we can’t seem to get rid of Leno, Bob is greatly missed.  There was just something about him.  I don’t think we’ll see such a significant retirement in TV again until Trebek and Sajak finally set down their cue cards.

It’s funny to see TV moving away from this kind of ‘personality’ programming for more reality junk.  Especially when people are taking to the web to recreate these kinds of settings.  I would argue that the void late night used to fill is being taken over by vlogers.  Somehow Late Night is still living, but it’s not me that’s watching.

Finally, the MOST influential movement in TV has been the explosion of cable networks and the quality and kind of programming they’re producing.  Without the rise of cable over the past 10 years we wouldn’t have shows like The Sopranos, Queer as Folk, Deadwood, Sex in the City, Dexter, Leverage, True Blood, Eastbound & Down, BSG, Curb your Enthusiasm, Weeds, Californication,  and the L Word – just to name a few.  The TV landscape would have been nothing like it has been without this movement.  How often do you turn on the TV and just soak in some Food Network, the Weather Network or TLC?

It’s made for a rather unstable environment for the Networks and the way that we knew the TV industry to function but I dont think that’s a bad thing.  All media forms are in limbo right now, struggling to figure out where the future is and how we manage to survive in tomorrows world.  I like it.  It’s exciting.

So tell me what I missed.  There has to be something huge.  What was your most influential movement in TV over the past 10 years?

-DoubleBitch

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There’s always that one thing that gets changed from the pilot to the actual filming of the series. Sometimes it’s simply a change in the breed of dog, like in Veronica Mars or sometimes a role is recast. In this case, I’m not so upset about the role being recast as I am about them changing a rather significant fact about the character in the process.

In the pilot, name name, a up and coming FBI agent, Agent Cruz and she was a lesbian. I really enjoyed this character and the dynamic that it allowed to play between her and Caffrey. He thinks she’s hot, hits on her, never stands a chance. I thought it was funny, but maybe it was a one time joke. I think the more things that a character as powerful as Caffrey can’t get his hands on are great story points and important character building factors but apparently I’m alone on this.

Now Agent Cruz has been recast with Natalie Morales in the role. I like her, I do but they’ve decided to go the flirtatious route and they’re not doing it as well as we’re seeing it done on other shows, like.. the very similar, Castle. I don’t feel like Caffrey needs a romantic interest at this time. The character is still chasing after his true love and getting to hit on women left and right through each of the investigations.

In my first post I said this show was leverage-esque but there’s one major thing that Leverage does that this show can’t. It’s sexy. Matthew Bomer is a stud, no question but in 1.05 he lifted a key off a lady and it wasn’t sexy. It wasn’t sleek and it wasn’t impressive. I could feel somebody up and get something out of their pocket too but Parker would do it with style and you’d never even know you met her. That’s -part of- what makes Leverage hot.

The USA network’s slogan is Characters Welcome. I like it, and they’re right. Their characters are their strongest point. I’m finding myself not really that interested in the cases. Short of Mark Sheppard and the dad from Little Mosque, I’m not finding the crimes or criminals all that thrilling. I’m there week to week to see what the characters will do. It worries me that I wonder if this story would be better set as a movie.

I’ve heard there’s a major twist ending and perhaps some changes in how the show is approached for the rest of the season. I look forward to both of these and I’d love to see this get a second season.

-DoubleBitch

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Right off the bat you’ve got engaging characters.  How great is Matthew Bomer?  (also seen recently on Chuck)  He’s charismatic, witty and really pretty to look at.  He reminds me of what Tom Welling could be doing if they’d ever let him grow up.   Head FBI agent is played by Tim DeKay whom you might remember from Carnivale or I would if I ever watched more than the second episode – ooh holiday goal!  Other familiar faces are Tiffany Thiessen who as apparently dropped the “Amber” from her name to be less stripper like.  It’s worked!  Also, the lady who played Burke’s horrific mother on Greys appears.  Oh oh and can’t forget a stellar guest spot by Mark Sheppard.

The show catches you with the characters then throws an interesting, although not entirely original concept on them.  We’ve got the bad guy helping the good guy but there’s also a love story involved with our bad guy brokenhearted after his true love left him.  Mystery! intrigue!

They’ve set up a show I want to see again, stories I care to find out where they go and from what I’ve heard across the twitterverse the first half of the first season was stellar.

Did you watch it?  What did you think?  Anyone want to catch up with me?

-DoubleBitch

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