Monday, April 14, 2008

So, I still haven't watched Saturday's episode of Spectacular Spider-Man or Friday's episode of Sarah Jane Adventures (although I've seen that multiple times already since it's original UK broadcast). And my stupid recording of Saturday's stupid NASCAR stupid race cut off about 17 laps before the end, so I didn't see who won. (Found out later it was Jimmy Johnson, but it's not the same.)

TV I did see on Sunday, though...

A Room With a View on Masterpiece: Very beautiful, very well-acted. Only, I've never read the story or seen any previous adaptations, so I guess I was expecting a bit more twists and complications. Still, nice scenery, although this is the second British TV program shot in Italy I've seen this week, after Doctor Who, and I can't help thinking that this would have been livened up a bit with the inclusion of lava monsters.

Everybody Hates Chris: Not a whole lot to say. Another hilarious episode of one of my current favorite comedies. Why doesn't this show get more attention?

John Adams on HBO: Again, not a whole lot to say, except as well-done as the previous five installments. A much smaller scale episode after the casts of thousands we've seen in previous weeks, but no less effective for it.

And I'm about halfway through Stephen J. Cannell's Three Shirt Deal, the seventh novel in his Shane Scully series. Like most of the other books in the series, corruption in the LAPD seems to be a major theme once again. As always, Cannell proves himself to be an extremely able, effective storyteller (as you might expect from such a TV veteran).

I have to admit, one of the problems I had with the last book in the series, White Sister, was the seemingly miraculous recovery of Scully's wife, Alexa, after being shot in the head. Not that I wanted her to die, but it just felt too much like a TV series "everything is going to be all right now, just like it was before" type of ending. So while it's painful to read, I appreciate that, in this book, we see the aftereffects of Alexa's injury, and it's clear that it's not quite such a happy ending after all. Hoping to finish this book today or tomorrow.

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