Dead TV Shows

[Smokey Stover]

I know there is no category for this, but sometimes we miss the shows entirely the first time around, but get a chance to appreciate them when they appear on cable. I've already named Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I have three more I'd like to nominate at this time:

1. Queen of Swords. No one has ever seen a rerun of this short-lived series, as far as I know. The female protagonist, a sort of Zorro figure, was one of the most beautiful actresses ever seen on TV, named Teresa (Tessie or Tessa) Santiago. But she was not seen often. The show was scheduled, if I remember correctly, for 5 p.m. Saturdays. Efforts to have the show rerun ran into a stone wall of non-permission.

Oddly another show, Good Morning Miami, with no swords involved, cast Tessa Santiago, but dropped her. Her beauty, it has been said, was considered too distracting by the producer, and that made it hard to write plausible stories. Don't leap to the conclusion that she was just a pretty face. She threw herself into the Sword role, learned horsemanship and swordsmanship, was never daunted or too proud to try anything. I can vouch for her ability to deliver her lines convincingly, as well as ride a horse or wield a sword convincingly.

2. Crossing Jordan. This ran for six seasons on NBC, ending about a year ago, and I didn't see a single episode. Now I watch because it is on cable at a time I want to watch something, and I find it strangely interesting. It stars Jill Hennessy as one of a great many improbable characters in television, and one of many rather improbable characters in this series. The plot requires her to be seen as a desirable woman, which requires a stretch of the imagination. I like Ms. Hennessy, but hot she is not.

Do you remember the White Shadow? Ken Howard as a basketball coach? For Crossing Jordan, which takes place in Boston, he learned to speak Boston. I'm not sure you could tell it from a Maine accent, but he does nobly and subtly.

You might see some parallels with Bones, but the personalities take very different directions. Leave your implausibility meter at home.

3. Jeeves and Wooster. Very dead. Not on cable anywhere, but available on DVD. If you like P.G. Wodehouse you'll like this. Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie are virtuosos at their craft, and this is very funny stuff. I do have one problem with it. Both characters, but especially Bertie Wooster, speak genuine British of a variety that I cannot always understand without captions. And there aren't any, so you're on your own.
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I know you guys have some favorites no one has mentioned. Let's hear about them.

[SaberGal]

Like you, Smokey, I never watched Crossing Jordan when it originally aired but do enjoy the reruns on cable.

One of my favorite shows that reruns on cable is Alias starring Jennifer Garner. Hubby and I started watching it during its 3rd season - we enjoyed the show but found ourselves completely lost since it is one of those shows that you HAVE to watch from the beginning in order to follow it. So, one week when we were both on vacation from work, we decided to rent the first two seasons and watch it from the beginning - we camped out in the living room all week with our two dogs and had a marathon of sorts. That week is still one of our favorite times together and we still talk about it to this day! The series lasted 5 seasons and though we were very sorry to see it end, the plot was starting to wear thin. I am sorry that they couldn't do more with it.

If you are one that enjoys CIA/espionage type shows, I highly recommend this series.

I have never heard of Jeeves and Wooster but I may have to check it out as Hugh Laurie is one of my favorites!

[Smokey Stover]

[cut]
One of my favorite shows that reruns on cable is Alias starring Jennifer Garner. Hubby and I started watching it during its 3rd season - we enjoyed the show but found ourselves completely lost since it is one of those shows that you HAVE to watch from the beginning in order to follow it. So, one week when we were both on vacation from work, we decided to rent the first two seasons and watch it from the beginning - we camped out in the living room all week with our two dogs and had a marathon of sorts. That week is still one of our favorite times together and we still talk about it to this day! The series lasted 5 seasons and though we were very sorry to see it end, the plot was starting to wear thin. I am sorry that they couldn't do more with it.
[cut]

I have indeed seen a few episodes of Alias, and I, too, got started late, but never went back to catch up. Looking at my own choices, and then yours, I realize that I tend to go for stories with a woman either as the heroine (or lead role), or part of a male-female team with a relatively equal distribution of power. In Hunter, the female role (actually three actresses in succession) was something of a sidekick. In Bones, it's the male who is, psychologically, something of a sidekick, although a strong role. (Bones, of course, is not dead. My wife is hooked on it, as well as on House.)

Although the actress impersonating Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a beautiful girl (Sarah Michelle Gellar), many of the heroines whose shows were liked are somewhat offbeat in their looks. No one can say Jennifer Garner is homely, but she's definitely an offbeat beauty. The same is true of Kristen Bell, who as Veronica Mars enjoyed a limited success. I liked the show, while my wife couldn't stand it. She hated Veronica's boy friend, whom I rather liked. In spite of the very limited success of Veronica Mars, Bell's name still rings a bell in Hollywood.

The talk of male-female teams led my mind straight to Dempsey and Makepeace, a British series that didn't last long and was seen by no one that I know. Except me. I liked it a lot. Makepeace was the British female cop, Dempsey the fish-out-of-water American cop, working as a team for Detective Superintendent Spikings. Tough neighbourhoods, Makepeace as tough-but-beautiful, lots of tough talk between the two of them concealing deep affection. That's a formula that gets to me more than I'd like to admit.

And speaking of English M-F pairs, I hope you saw The Avengers, with the original cast, Patrick Macnee as John Steed, Mrs. Peel, his partner acted by Diana Rigg. What a gal! So elegant! So indomitable! So bold! And in one of her stage performances, so naked! She sat and stood on stage for at least a significant part of the play, night after night, without a stitch on, and kept her composure perfectly, as well as remembering her lines. The Avengers (in which she remained clothed) was such a classic that Hollywood tried to bring it back, with Uma Thurman.

Diana Rigg was called on to do the introductions to the English series, Mystery, which has provided enormous pleasure over the years, with a variety of detectives and their stories, drawn from books by mostly English authors. She has stopped doing the introductions, and I haven't seen the PBS series lately.

And I hope you haven't missed out on Helen Mirren's virtuoso performances, most notably, as far as TV is concerned, the series, Prime Suspect. She is a force not easily forgotten. She has had a long stage career and has made many films (in some of which she appears nude--and voluptuous, as many critics have said, and to which I can attest). One of her roles on TV that most affected me was the story of an unhappy woman who ultimately committed suicide by stabbing herself in the heart--twice. Mirren did this scene in a manner that made it seem completely plausible--and emotionally affecting. I mention Mirren here, among dead TV series, because the series, Prime Suspect, seems to have stopped at three.

[Cat]

Smokey, my husband and I enjoyed "Crossing Jordan" very much. It had an admirable supporting cast. We were really sorry when it ended.

[Louise]

Smokey, my husband and I enjoyed "Crossing Jordan" very much. It had an admirable supporting cast. We were really sorry when it ended.

I did too, it was disappointing to see it end and I never got to see the last episode as we were away at the time.:( I don't think it will be long before they release it on dvd, the first season is already out.

[FLYSODA]

I watch Crossing Jordan every morning. I've seen it from start to finish at least 3 times. And I think Jill Hennessy is good looking. And she can sing! they make her out kind of like a tomboy in the show. But she is the show. I've seen her in some movie roles where she plays a mom. But I couldn't wrap my head around it. anyway, for the person who said they never caught the ending show? I'll fill you in: Lilly has her baby and Bug is with her coaching her. so her and bug are an item now. Jordan told woody she loved him. Macey got his life together and stop drinking and got straight with his daughter. Niles is still himself. and everybody is happy!

[Louise]

I watch Crossing Jordan every morning. I've seen it from start to finish at least 3 times. And I think Jill Hennessy is good looking. And she can sing! they make her out kind of like a tomboy in the show. But she is the show. I've seen her in some movie roles where she plays a mom. But I couldn't wrap my head around it. anyway, for the person who said they never caught the ending show? I'll fill you in: Lilly has her baby and Bug is with her coaching her. so her and bug are an item now. Jordan told woody she loved him. Macey got his life together and stop drinking and got straight with his daughter. Niles is still himself. and everybody is happy!

That was me, see above post! Thanks Fly. :smile:

[awakening2lite]

I enjoyed watching Now and Again. Missed it when it first aired for one season only, 1999-2000, but caught some episodes a couple of years ago.

Here's the synopses of the show:

Now and Again is an American television series which aired in the US from September 24, 1999 until May 5, 2000 on CBS. The story revolves around the United States government engineering the perfect human body for use in espionage, but not being able to yet perfect the brain. In an attempt to get the project off and running, they take the brain of overweight family man Michael Wiseman, who is killed in a subway accident.

Given a new life, Michael is kept in an apartment where he is trained by government experts, led by Dr. Theodore Morris, in the art of espionage. Despite his new life and new abilities, Michael longs to return to his wife Lisa and daughter Heather, who are themselves discovering that not all is as it seems with Michael's death.

The show mixed action with comedy (particularly in the relationship between Dr. Morris and Michael), and focused largely on Michael's emotional connection to his family.

Starring:

Eric Close
Dennis Haysbert
Margaret Colin
John Goodman


Anyone else remember it? Have you seen it on lately?

[maryhaze]

oh Smokey, there is a honking big difference between a Maine & a Bahstawn accent. i'm really good at linguistics & i can pick up an accent without trying. the year in college that i spent most time between a Maine horse/farmer & a Georgia army Major was really cool. imagine a maine/georgia accent.

[Smokey Stover]

I'm glad to hear you say that you can disinguish, as I cannot. Recently I met a fellow from Maine in the Post Office line, and we had plenty of time for a chat. He had a very distinctive "regional accent," which I identified as Maine just because he was plainly from there, and very recently.

As for Boston, I used to live in the area, and there were several Boston accents, none of which I knew well enough to identify. I also used to have a friend who continued to speak with his Maine accent, as did his wife, but I'm damned if I have a good enough ear to distinguish these varieties. Perhaps you could watch Crossing Jorday sometime (if you have expanded basic) and tell me if Jordan's pop really has a Boston accent. He DOES say, Bahs-tn and Jahr-dn.

Thanks for your informative post.

[PatC]

I really like Crossing Jordon to but I was hard pressed to recognize Jill Hennessy as the same actress who played on the original Law & Order as ADA Claire Kincaid opposite Sam Waterston as Lead ADA Jack McCoy. back in the mid-90s.

[Smokey Stover]

My wife and I play the recognition game all the time. "Do you recognize him?" she will ask. Or, "Where have I seen her before?" I will ask. She's usually faster. True, many of the actors we have seen before have had a part, large or small, in my obsession, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In particular, there's a subplot in Season 5 involving a bunch of Crusaders who never went away, the Knights of Byzantium, led by their General (don't ask for a name), a stout, dignified man in kinight's armor. Turns out he has had every imaginable type of part where you might plausibly find a stout man past his first youth. Often he's some kind of enforcer, but he's always an excellent, and to us recognizable, charactor actor.

Mrs. Stover always controls the remote when she's home, so we have seen "Charmed," with the three idiot witches, all the way through numerous times. That show used up young men and women, but expecially men, at a great rate, in episodes where they were usually demons with ghastly make-up. It's amazing how many leading men did their time as a demon on "Charmed."

As for Jill Hennessy, I recognized her instantly in Crossing Jordan as the erstwhile ADA in Law'n Order. I also recognized the character Nigel (Steve Valentine) as one of the demons in "Charmed."

You probably know that Miguel Ferrer (Garret Macy) is the son of José Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney.

Ivan Sergei (Dr. Peter Winslow) also appeared repeatedly in "Charmed." Obviously Sergei is not his real last name, which is Gaudio.

One of my favorite characters was Dr. Devan Maguire, aka Jennifer Finnigan. She had her own show later, "Close to Home," which I rather enjoyed while it lasted. Where the heck did she go?

Everyone remembers Jerry O'Connell from one thing or another, and I've already mentioned Ken Howard from White Shadow and so many other things. Neither of these well-established actors had to take a detour trhough "Charmed."

Did I mention that I think "Charmed" was one lousy show?

[SaberGal]

One of my favorite TV actors is Vincent Donofrio (Det. Robert Goren) from Law and Order: Criminal Intent. I absolutely adore his acting style in that role. The only time I watch TV is in the evenings when I am ready to call it a night (I watch 2-3 hours of TV a day max and a little more on the weekends). Because of that, I DVR my favorite shows so that I can skip through commercials - by DVR-ing, it not only saves time but it also ensures that when I am ready to watch TV, I always have something good to watch without having to channel surf. Even though I love Donofrio so much, his voice usually lulls me to sleep and I end up having to catch the second half of the show the next evening - another benefit of the DVR. I hope that Donofrio was never on Charmed but I wouldn't know...that's never been a favorite of mine either, Smokey, in spite of being a fan of Ms. Dougherty.

[Smokey Stover]

Rest easy, SaberGal, Vincent D'Onofrio already had a big résumé by the time Charmed got started. He was well-known on the stage and on the silver screen before moving to the little screen. So he didn't need the job.

[Cat]

I like Vincent D. much more in movies I've seen than on his L&O role. His sort of obsessive character can drive me a little nuts (not that I'm not already). :girl_haha:

I like the former "Angel" in BONES. I think it's a good role, but he will never top Angel for me. I caught Xander on the FBI program with the blonde computer whiz (never can remember the name of that show) as her new computer nerd boyfriend. It took me a while to recognize him.

[Amusedtdth]

Ahhhh - Crossing Jordan. A&E does reruns during the day, while I'm AT WORK! That show was the best.

[PatC]

<snip>

Did I mention that I think "Charmed" was one lousy show?

I agree (much to my hubby's disgust). Maybe that's why I did NOT know, "... the character Nigel (Steve Valentine) (was) one of the demons in "Charmed."

BTW, hubby and I play that game too and usually it is HE who can remember where we've seen them before.

[awakening2lite]

I like Vincent D. much more in movies I've seen than on his L&O role. His sort of obsessive character can drive me a little nuts (not that I'm not already). :girl_haha:

I like the former "Angel" in BONES. I think it's a good role, but he will never top Angel for me. I caught Xander on the FBI program with the blonde computer whiz (never can remember the name of that show) as her new computer nerd boyfriend. It took me a while to recognize him.

Did you ever see the movie, The Cell, with Vincent D'Onofrio? He was the extreme evil character he often arrests in L&O, wonderful.

[Amusedtdth]

Did you ever see the movie, The Cell, with Vincent D'Onofrio? He was the extreme evil character he often arrests in L&O, wonderful.

OMG - I saw that movie and didn't even make that connection. DUH!

[awakening2lite]

OMG - I saw that movie and didn't even make that connection. DUH!

He is so powerful on screen. They call him the actor's actor.

[Cat]

Did you ever see the movie, The Cell, with Vincent D'Onofrio? He was the extreme evil character he often arrests in L&O, wonderful.

I think I may have seen at least part of that. Fuzzy brain--middle-aged brain syndrome, awakening.

I liked him in this: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107152/

[Cat]

He is so powerful on screen. They call him the actor's actor.

That is what Spencer Tracy was called. Are you a classic movie fan? Spencer was an indescribeable actor. He made it seem so natural and easy. Advice from him to a young actor: "Learn your lines and don't bump into the furniture."
:67302:

[awakening2lite]

That is what Spencer Tracy was called. Are you a classic movie fan? Spencer was an indescribeable actor. He made it seem so natural and easy. Advice from him to a young actor: "Learn your lines and don't bump into the furniture."
:67302:

Yes, I've seen many of Spencer Tracy's movies. I thought he could be very very funny, too.

[awakening2lite]

I think I may have seen at least part of that. Fuzzy brain--middle-aged brain syndrome, awakening.

I liked him in this: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107152/

That's one I missed.

[Alibar]

.
I like Crossing Jordan, also. Also... Jill Hennessy is an identical twin.

Also like Vincent D'Onofrio. I've read that he can be a pain in the neck during taping because he is a perfectionist.

[Smokey Stover]

Like awakening2lite (interesting alias), I've seen a bunch of movies with Tracy. If they're in color, you've seen them too. I'd like to name two that affected me more than most. One was the b/w film Captains Courageous (1937), re-creating the Kipling novel of that title. Hah--betcha didn't see that! I saw it when I lived in Seattle, which had a renovated theater that showed old movies, some much older than 1937. It had a theater organ, played by a wizard of an organist, for the many silent films the theater showed. Going there ws a wonderful entertainment for me and my constant date, Petunia. (Her name was really Patsy, but she liked Petunia, and so did I. I'll tell you about her sometime.) They divided the show by means of an intermission, at which the local Scout troop sold refreshments. It made buying refreshments less like self-indulgence and more like supporting your community. There was often a comedy one-reeler at either the beginning or the end, with intermission coming between reels of the feature. The Tracy film was a feature, of course.

Then, in 1955, a very different Tracy in Bad Day at Black Rock, a sort of film noir. Of course, Tracy took all kinds of roles and did superbly in all. The sinister feeling of this film was so memorable that almost immediately CBS employees began to call CBS headquarters "Black Rock."

It's not news that Tracy and Hepburn got along together in real life as well as in the movies. One of their best movies, I think, was Desk Set (1957). If it comes along on TV and you haven't seen it, jump at the chance. If you're in the mood, that is, for some old-fashioned and very warm social comedy, with two of the best there ever were.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++

On the other hand, you may have been spoiled for old-fashioned comedy by new-fashioned dramedy or sitcoms or police procedurals, like the spate of movies featuring medical examiners. You might almost characterize as spin-offs the series of real-life shows with medical cases. I confess that I have a taste for them. However, Mrs. Stover, who won't go into a hospital or even a doctor's office unless she is unconscious or has to drive ME there, won't watch that kind of show at all, not even if it's "Emergency Vets" on Animal Planet.

One such show with an M.E. theme (note the use of "an") is Crossing Jordan. I watch it between 8 and 9 a.m., or as closely to 9 as I can, seeing that I have to drive Mrs. S. to work. She watches some of it, and is appalled by Nigel, not only by hiis irrepressible manner (and lack of manners), but by his hair--especially his hair. I did NOT know that Jill Hennessy had a twin, which I now know thanks to Alibar. You could have fooled me. In fact, for all I know I WAS fooled, if the two of them ever decided to play a trick on the viewers.

In fact, such a trick was played on the viewers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It turns out that Nicholas Brendon (a.k.a. Xander) has an identical twin named Kelly Donovan (a.k.a. Xander--at least for a bit). In the episode called "The Replacement" a misdirected strike from a demon splits Xander into TWO Xanders, who interact interestingly.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^

I'm sure y'all will forgive me for one more comment about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, still alive in my imagination. I've mentioned before the viewer comments on the IMDB site, which appear to be rotated or changed in and out in due course of time. The first comment presently exhibited in another duesy:

'Interesting, but ultimately pure bluff, 18 August 2005 [!]
Author: RunEba from United States

"Buffy The Vampire Slayer" more than lives up to its silly title. As a television show it's pure soap mixed in with generally banal plot lines, but unfortunately it contains enough charm that it isn't too unbearable, but still, it isn't really quality television at all, and Whedon was to do better with "Firefly".

Perhaps the single most unsatisfying element of the program is just how forgettable and uninvolving its sense of mythology is: vampires are slain by the thousands and the few that are humanized make the very idea of the vampire more of the cartoon, all of it of course delivered with self-consciousness and pop culture references, like when the character of Spike says in season 1 something like"what is this--an anne rice novel?" But Anne Rice made the vampire myth sexy and riveting--she didn't treat it as a mere backdrop to teen drama! For that's what "Buffy" is: pure soap, and there's the sense that it doesn't really take itself all that seriously, as if its embarrassed of its subject, so we get exaggerated makeup and vampires whose bodies conveniently vanish when slain. The idea of a dark underwold is never exciting because its never treated seriously, and thus you can't fault it because its campy on purpose.

And Joss Whedon's dialogue, while it can be cute and funny, is often annoying because its "humor" tends to remind one that these people saying it are really just television characters.'

----------------------------------------------------------------------

There's no point in trying to defend BtVS against this sort of criticism. I'm assuming that the author of it is a youth, anxious to show how clever he is. An older critic might be just as indifferent to (or critical of) the series, but would consider it beneath his dignity actually to publish his dissatisfaction unless he were paid to do so.

I will, however, respond to two sentences, both of which reveal, I think, the lack of perspective of this particular critic.

The first is: '"Buffy The Vampire Slayer" more than lives up to its silly title.' This critic doesn't seem to understand why the "silly title" was chosen. Much of Whdeon's humor depends on incongruity, and nothing could be more incongruous than the future of civilization depending on a diminuitive teen-queen who calls herself Buffy. (That aspect was funny even in the none too successful movie.) One of the funny moments, which at least gave me and SWMBO a big laugh, is when the ancient guardian of the scythe (it's really a battle-axe, but scythe sounds more serious) asks the young female warrior her name. "Buffy," our girl replies. Says the guardian, using the idiomatic vernacular, "No, really!"

The other sentence that shows how much the critic missed the point is this. "Perhaps the single most unsatisfying element of the program is just how forgettable and uninvolving its sense of mythology is . . . ." I don't know how anyone could suppose for a minute that we the viewers are supposed to take seriously the strange lore of vampires and demons. The success of the series (or lack of it) depends on the viewers' interest in the actions and reactions of the characters, as they face unexpected and often stressful situations. Some viewers, like me, found continued interest in the reactions and emotions of the main characters, particularly but not exclusively those of Buffy, as they found themselves in unexpected predicaments.

To me, it's not a vampire drama, although unquestionably a fantasy / action-adventure drama. It is as much a family drama as it is a vampire drama. Indeed, Whedon knows perfectly well that his demons are ridiculously lacking in believability, and exploits this incongruity for laughs. And gets them. But the laughs don't drown out the emotion. And I'm a sucker for a drama that can cause me to have empathetic responses to the emotions of the characters, and can even cause me to have a visceral response.

Lots of people didn't have the same responses I did. I don't blame them--so long as they don't try to belittle me by telling me that my emotional responses to this series are childish and undeserved. Well, they can tell me that if they want. I know what I know, and I don't hold grudges.

Added note: the critic who got me to comment on his views at such length, did not even mention Buffy herself, or the actress who played her. Isn't it strange that a show which owes so much of its success to the beauty and emotional range of the title character can get a review which doesn't even mention her?

I'll start getting worse than maudlin if I try to say just what kind of drama BtVS is. If it's not drama, it's nothing--and if it's nothing this critic is truly wasting his time, as well as ours. The clue that this critic is not even paying attention is that he said not one word about Buffy or the actress impersonating her.

Okay, I'll stop now.

[Alibar]

Smokey, I've no idea if I ever saw an episode of BtVS, but, enjoyed your comments about it and the foolish professional critics. :)

[awakening2lite]

Hi Smokey,

Like Alibar, I don't think I have watched an episode of Buff the Vampire Slayer, but I did enjoy reading your comments on the show.

I will try to catch the movies you recommended.

Thank you for a great read.

[Pandabear]

Did you ever see the movie, The Cell, with Vincent D'Onofrio? He was the extreme evil character he often arrests in L&O, wonderful.

The very first movie I ever saw him in was "Full Metal Jacket".

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093058/trivia

It says there that he gained 70 pounds for his role in the movie. He played a young army recruit that is driven insane by his drill sgt., played by R. Lee Ermey, and D'Onofrio plays the part perfectly. He gave me the creeps in his last scene in the movie.

[Alibar]

I really like V. D'Onofrio, but, have read he is extremely difficult to work with on L&O, mainly because he wants to keep redoing scenes in his search for perfection.

[Mrs Robinson]

My favorite Vincent d'Onofrio role FMJ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdKgM928sow&feature=related)

[hnd001]

I really enjoyed the show Jericho. I'm really not sure why it was cancelled. Probably to open a spot for a new "talent" show or something of that sort.