Psych Season 1, Monk Season 5

[meganbmoore]

I did end up watching all of season 1 of Psych.  While I like it, I can't help but think it would have been much, much better without the fake psychic angle.  Even without it, Shaun is still an obnoxious guy who can't keep a steady job and likes to solve crimes with a photgraphic memory and, thanks to his father, keen analytical skills, which alone sets him apart from all the other TV detectives currently running around, and is something of a nod to the TV detectives ofthe 70s and 80s.  The fake psychic angle turns Shaun from "obnoxious but endearing" to "obnoxious pain" everytime he gets into that mode.  It says a lot that my two favorites are Lassiter and the captain: the two who don't buy into the act and don't cover for him.

And I watched Season 5 of Monk.  There were some really good episodes here-particularly "Mr. Monk and the Actor," "Mr. Monk and the Leper"(though I'm biased as Paul Blackthorne, aka, Harry Dresden, gueststars, and it was made to be similar to noir) and "Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy"(though, again, biased, as I dislike the bulk of the tech/forensics crime investigations shows and this was a bit of a parody of them) but I can't help but think that the series is starting to mock Monk's OCD a bit.  In the past, it's always been funny  because you can't help laughing despite being kind of sad because of what the OCD does to him, and people's reactions were always more of an "I don't understand this guy so he's absurd to me" thing but we weren't made to share the opinion, where as it approached it more as "isn't this absurd?" a few times this season.  One scene that really bothered me was in "Mr. Monk Can't See A Thing" when Monk was on the steal beam...now, I've seen people not stop to help a lost blind person before, but I find it hard to believe that that many people would see a blind man on a steal beam, clearly thinking he was over open air(he wasn't, but didn't know that) and not stop to help him...lost is one thing...scared out of your wits for obvious reasons is another.  Still, not nearly enough to get it dropped from my list.

Comments

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

I've seen the first 2 seasons of Monk & some random episodes since then (I hated what'shername leaving) but I'm really thinking I want to get back into the show. The only thing holding me back is - has he learned anything else about his wife? How much closer is he to solving things? I was so mad at the end of season 2 because he'd learned tiny bits but the small things he's learned were essentially just taunting him that he still hadn't learned enough.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Sharona's leaving was handled horribly...the way it was described was deliberately designed to make us mad at her and sympathetic to Natalie, which kinda had the opposite affect on me. I've come to like Natalie and Sharona about equally though.

Monk hasb't learned anything else about Trudy's death, at least nothing majot, but he hasn't been tauned like that again, either. The thing of it is that before her death, his OCD was at levels where he could still function normally and just be regarded as a bit odd, but it's not being able to solve the important mystery that keeps him at the stage he's at. Most fans think that when he solves it, he'll get better because the mental block will be gone. He'll probably solve it the last 2 or so episodes of the series and then we'll get an epilogue of him as a cop again or something. But, anyway, while he hasn't solved it, they haven't dangled it like a carrot in front of him again.

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

Oh, good. That was just too torturous to him. This series is going strong enough that I don't think I need to worry about it being canceled without things getting wrapped up either.

As for Sharona, her leaving that way was just unbelievable. But, I'll get over it. Now I've just got to find the 3 seasons I'm missing....

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I doubt anyone was happy when they did that to him. Probably why it hasn't been done since.

My understanding is that when Bitty Schram left, she and the actors playing Randy and Captain Strottlemeier were having problems because a lot of the guest stars were making more per episode than they were. Shaloub and the other producers were making "hit series" money, but they weren't. So instead of paying all 3 more, they paid 2 more and replaced the third with someone they wouldn't have to pay as much yet, and they went so overboard with Sharona's leaving so that there'd be no chance of her ever coming back. You could tell there were problems because she wasn't as around as much just before.

What made me mad about it is that in season 3, Sharona is taking care of her mother a lot...instead of simply making her leave to be with her mother, they went out of their way to villainize her and make it so she could never come back.


At the end of season 4, Monk was guaranteed 3 more seasons...by the time the contract is ready for renewal it'll be at seven years, when a lot of stars start getting ready to move on, so I imagine that Monk will have a planned ending instead of cancellation.

Completely off topic but, do you know where the frame in your icon is from?

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

I'd heard a lot of rumours at the time Bitty Schram left - that she wanted better billing & pay (which, she was practically his partner) but they decided to prove to her the show was Monk - not Sharona & Monk - so they kicked her off.

I'm glad to hear the show should run 7 seasons - it's one of my favorite shows. I hate those CSI type shows, too. ")

The frame on my icon? It's a brush I made in Photoshop. I use it a lot (see Sano icon) My personal computer crashed last week & I'm picking it up today from the IT guy at my work who was kind enough to fix it. He tried to salvage what was on my hard drive but most of it was lost. If I still have my Photoshop & brushes, I can give it to you, if you like. It's so simple you can make it yourself, too. Or - if you don't have photoshop & if I still have my Photoshop, I'd be happy to apply it to anything you like.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

yeah...how it went down all depends on who you ask. Really, though, the bulk of what makes the show work is the fact that even though he drives them batty, the rest of the main cast unconditionally loves, supports and believes in him...without them, it wouldn't be a good show.

There's one episode in season 7 that basically mocks all the CSI type shows. The only ones I like are Bones(for the OTP) and Numb3rs, because its still his brain that makes it all work.

I can never figure out how to make frames, and i only ever get trial versions of photoshop and such, so when i have it, i'm busy utilizing my time making icons. I really do like that frame...most of the ones people make have too much frame and don't leave much room for the picture. Do yeah, I'd love to have it to use.

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

I'll hook up my computer tonight & see what was salvaged on my computer & let you know if I've still got it.

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

Well, I did end up losing my Photoshop & it's way too expensive for me to run off & buy so I'm resorting to GIMP which so far isn't bad at all. I remade the brush so here it is in gif format - that way, no matter what program you want to use, you can convert it to a brush.

Here's the brush! (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b267/ockola/brush.gif)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

*saves*

thankies