Movie Quote: "Screws fall out all the time. The world is an imperfect place." -John Bender, The Breakfast Club

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Fall premieres fall short


With the appearance of back to school commercials in full effect, another popular promotion emerges: series premiere plugs. And after loitering all summer, I was fully enthusiastic about the premieres of some of my favorite TV programs, including Grey’s Anatomy, and House. Unfortunately, I am left unimpressed by the pair of medical shows.
Concluding with an intense cliffhanger in which a main character dies, the Grey’s premiere was ultimately depressing. As hospital employees grieve in unison, a new plot diverges away from the chaotic lives of Seattle Grace’s residents, toward Chief Richard Webber’s (James Pickens Jr.) struggle to maintain his position at the hospital. The restructuring of the show is due to conflicting schedules among cast members, as Katherine Heigl was filming a movie at the same time that Grey’s was filming. Also, Ellen Pompeo was expecting a baby throughout filming, which explains why her character will be subtly faded out of some of season six. Overall, the new season looks disappointing, especially sans George, the sweet, altruistic, and promising young surgeon whose death was the focus of the dreary two-hour long premiere.
Conversely, in the premiere of House, Hugh Laurie’s character’s storyline is the only one’s to progress. The show starts off by isolating Gregory House in a psychiatric facility, where the stubborn doctor is analyzed and treated, and apparently cured, in the span of the two-hour program. The program concludes with a psychiatric doctor temporarily withholding House’s medical license. So not only does the season premiere exclude House’s posse of coworkers, it further removes itself from the medical genre by limiting House’s interaction with the cast of doctors. In doing so, the episode fails to deliver the humorous quips that fans expect from the show.
I think it’s time for me to find a new medical-themed show this season.

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