OK. I watched House earlier. I needed some tea before I could post.
Yes, there were issues with it. Some of them were major.
I still liked it rather a whole desperate lot. And I'm the girl who spends most of her life taking apart disability/mental health portrayals in TV drama because they don't match my experience. If they can make me go from shouting at the screen that this is not what psychiatric hospitals are like, to being so drawn in that I needed to turn off my phone and close e-mail, they've done rather well. Even if they're curing catatonic people with music boxes (ha, ha ha, ha ha) and persuading one of my fellow bipolar types to take medication (ahem). Still an awesome story about four people's journeys (the least interesting of those people being House) that I'm going to have to watch again tomorrow.
If The Girl pans it, I will be unimpressed.
I still wish psychiatric hospitals of the sort that top specialists could afford were represented realistically. He'd have been in a veritable hotel.
I still wish psychiatric hospitals of the sort that top specialists could afford were represented realistically. He'd have been in a veritable hotel.
Given House's propensities, he may have decided he's not worthy of a fancy place and went with something grittier. Then he could say "Well, of course I wasn't cured, I was in a crappy place." It feeds his problem.
the least interesting of those people being House
I don't agree with that. The stuff he had to work through was awfully familiar material in my household, and that part rang true. Sparked some good conversation, in fact.
I do agree that the portrayal of treatment and facilities, nsm, But I'm okay with that.
I think my tolerance level for House is just super-high. Nothing bothers me as long as I can have Hugh Laurie.
I'm with you, Dana.
And if you like crime fiction, I do recommend Connolly.
I liked NCIS! I've not really watched it in real time much, but I caught last season's finale and needed to see how it resolved, and I liked Tony's narration and the eventual resolution, even if Gibbs seems to run like Usain Bolt and not be out of breath. He can cover some distance.
Though it really wasn't a procedural this week.
It isn't like I am going to give up on House.. but 3 or 4 times a season i have to be mad at the show.
I enjoyed House--even though I cringed at some of the Cuckoo's n Nest rip-offs and the anvils. Still--watching Andre Braugher and Hugh Laurie go toe-to-toe was delectable.
The stuff he had to work through was awfully familiar material in my household, and that part rang true.
I should have added an 'IMO' disclaimer. House's story didn't always work for me, and I'm not sure why not. But I think it was partly the number of fascinating characters they'd created, right down to peripherals (the junior psychiatrists, for example). There was so much going on that was interesting, I was less interested in House.
Also, we've seen House's issues used as comedy, portrayed as the source of his genius, etc for several years. Suddenly to have them explained as a problem, in themselves, was jarring and not easy to accept. It was a similar kind of irritating, for me, as when someone is diagnosed with a major condition on the show, and it's explained away as curable or easily treated. Yes, I know it's part of the show's winning formula, and that I get behind that formula most weeks. I still sometimes find the total disconnect from reality difficult to accept.
I do agree that the portrayal of treatment and facilities, nsm, But I'm okay with that.
Ugh. It just irritates me. So often, when there's a portrayal of mental health treatment or psychiatric hospitals on TV, it's really badly done. Buffy did it. Lots of shows do. I don't think there's any need for it (and I think sometimes it can be quite harmful, but that's another issue). I would have got behind House's story far more if I could have believed in the situation he was in.
Still--watching Andre Braugher and Hugh Laurie go toe-to-toe was delectable.
Really, really good.
I liked NCIS LA better than I liked the pilot. Still not sure I'm loving it.
