Turn Me On: Readers Write In

In an effort to stay on top of the feedback here in the TV section of Cinema Blend, I thought I'd address some of the comments that have been left by our readers regarding various stories. As it's September, the Emmy Awards and the upcoming fall premieres are obviously a hot topic. I also felt the need to address some fairly negative comments made about the Joss Whedon series, Angel. What was said was pure blasphemy!

In response to our Fall TV Preview for the new Vampire series, Moonlight, Darkangel said:

"Loretta hit the nail on the head! Although, Angel's premise was very similar to Forever Knight's, that's where the similarities ended. Angel seemed to be nothing more than a vehicle that capitalized on the success of Buffy.

FK was a much better series. It did not cater to the obligatory WB/CW tweenie generation demographic, it was cast with theatre trained thesps, and had adult themed episodes. It was witty, slick and far more entertaining than the "pretty kids with problems meet Dracula" content of Angel.

I'm not going to argue that Angel is extremely similar to the premise of Forever Knight. I never watched FK but based on the premise, I'd say you're correct in that the two shows are comparable. That's about the only part you got right. You said, "Angel seemed to be nothing more than a vehicle that capitalized on the success of Buffy." That might be correct from the network's point of view but as Angel became less and less like Buffy with each passing season, I doubt the writers would agree with you there. I certainly don't. For one thing, Angel was primarily Buffy's love interest in Buffy. Sure, we got a little bit of back-story on his character over the course of the first three seasons but by the end of the third season, he'd outlived his usefulness on Buffy.

They could've just written Angel out of Buffy and left it at that but instead, they used his departure, as well as Cordelia's and Wesley's, to expand on their stories as well as the world Whedon had created. You said "Buffy was a superior series." I don't disagree with you there but if anything, Buffy was a lot closer to being "pretty kids with problems meet Dracula" than Angel ever was (and for the record, I wouldn't use that phrase to describe either show). Angel was, for the most part, a lot darker than Buffy and much more adult oriented.

Based on what you've said, you probably haven't seen an episode of Angel and are basing your opinion of the series on nothing more than the covers of the DVD cases.

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In our Fall TV Preview for Grey’s Anatomy, TV Blend writer, Kona Gallagher said she hates the Izzie/George storyline. Lea commented and said:

”Well, everyone has a right to their opinion. I have loved the progression of George and Izzie from bestfriends to lovers. I love their chemistry and goofyness with each other. They steal my heart everytime they are on screen. They reflect, in my opinion, how real relationships start and grow into a lifetime love. I wholeheartedly agree with Tara in the first comment that the signs were all there, but they had some many other storylines going on that it might have gotten lost in the shuffle if you weren't looking for it. George and Izzie had a case of bad timing, and their own internal struggles to deal with. From what I could see, George saw Izzie as out of his league, and Izzie had to experience the love that Denny had to offer her before realizing that George was the one for her. Did you notice in Season 2 how Izzie talked incessantly about George when she was with Denny. Well, I could go on with other examples, but rather, I suggest you rewatch the DVDs to see what I am talking about.”

Are you kidding me, Lea? First of all, “lovers” wouldn’t be the word I would use to describe George and Izzie based on their drunken sexual encounter. I didn’t see any signs that George and Izzie were going to get together and I did watch the DVDs.. From the way you put it, you’ve taken a couple of random scenes from the show and filled in the rest with your own shipper-fantasy.

Prior to the drunk-sex, Izzie and George’s relationship seemed reminiscent of two siblings who care about each other but are “just friends.” That was, up until George got into a fight with Callie, got drunk and then jumped into bed with his best friend.

I think Izzie’s a great character but the girl has some major flaws. The way I saw it, she didn’t want to share George with Callie. That’s jealousy. Prior to Callie, George was always there for Izzie and now his devotion and loyalty is towards another woman. He made that clear numerous times.

The sex they had wasn’t lovemaking. It was two people getting hammered and acknowledging the fact that they’re both hot and feeling lonely and confused. George probably shouldn’t have married Callie but cheating on her with Izzie was definitely poor form. This isn’t generally how “real relationships” begin and it definitely isn’t how romances begin. Not in television and typically, not in real life.

Something certainly could develop between the two down the line but as it is now, from a realistic point of view, what happened last season was just a bit of sloppy, drunken, adultery and I think Izzie’s confession of her love was her way of once again, trying not to lose George. That’s understandable but it still doesn’t justify her actions.

I’m really hoping that both characters find a way to make amends for their actions when the new season starts up. I would love to go back to rooting for them, together or apart than to see them hit bottom the way they did by the end of last season.

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And now on to one of many loud comments that I actually agree with. With regards to the semi-recent Vanessa Hudgens nudie-pic scandal, we reported that it looks like Hudgens’ career with Disney is still in tact for the time being. Liliana said:

“if they fired vanessa hudgens hsm3 would suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!suck suck”

Your enthusiasm and apparent love of the exclamation point frightens me, Liliana. In fact, most High School Musical worshippers scare me a little bit but in this case, I completely agree with you. Disney can’t afford to recast the female lead in this hugely popular franchise and it’s extremely unlikely that they will. I’m pretty sure it will take a lot more than some dimly lit photos of Hudgens bearing her goodies for Disney to risk the monstrous ratings (and dollars) they’ll be getting when the final installment of High School Musical premieres.

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Anyone who saw the Emmy Awards ceremony on Sunday noticed that a couple of moments from the broadcast were censored. We reported that one of the things that was cut out was Ray Romano saying “Frasier is screwing my wife”. This was in reference to Patricia Heaton playing opposite Kelsey Grammer in the new series, Back To You. JoshT posted a comment, saying:

“Screwing is now a curse word?? We are so screwed.”

Indeed, JoshT. We are screwed. Honestly! As though there are any little kids watching the Emmy awards anyway! If they’re not in bed already, they’re probably doing anything but sitting in front of the TV watching a three hour ceremony celebrating shows they’re obviously too young to be watching if they’re too young to hear the word “screwing.” Once again though, we have the nipple-gate to thank for this. If there’s a positive side to the Romano censor, its that Fox spared us from having to hear the corny joke.

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And finally, a response to the questions about the Jericho Season 2 Premiere. Regarding our article on the Fall TV Premiere Schedule, Mike asked:

"What about Jericho?"

Well Mike, information about the official premiere date has been scarce. Word around the internet is that its not set to premiere until mid-season. I think if it were set to air this month or even October, we would've heard about it by now. So I'm guessing it'll probably premiere in January 2008 or sometime even later than that.

And that about wraps it up for me in terms of the most recent wave of comments here at Cinema Blend’s TV section. Feel free to flame me mercilessly for my opinions or agree with them if you must.