Due to the fact that at the moment, I (sadly) don't have a fandom, I've finally been able to get a bit more up-to-date on the tv shows still languishing on my hard drive.

mareen is right - "Life" really has promise; I liked it a lot and the last few days have been mourning the fact that no more than the first 5 episodes have aired so far. Let's hope the show doesn't get canceled and preferably runs a whole season and, TPTB willing, gets renewed.

I like Charlie Crews. He's damaged and quirky enough to be interesting; he kind of reminds me of David Creegan of "Touching Evil" (US) and Dr. House in that respect. You cringe at what truths come out of his mouth at the worst possible moment, but... well, whatever he says is usually a spot-on observation.

His relationships with the other main characters are almost all flavored with the bitterness of the fact that they believed him guilty of a multiple homicide, and the mystery of who framed him - and why - is always in the background.

Too bad so far, Crews is lacking a slashable male partner. I guess I'll just have to continue watching the series for itself... which is, of course, helped by the fact that Damian Lewis is pretty. Not as pretty as Nicholas Lea, although he reminds me of him (plus, his voice cannot stand up to Nick Lea's). But Lewis has a nicely shaped mouth, an attractive smile and a small area of tan-colored skin in the corner of his right eye that makes him believable and real.

Yeah, I'm shallow. It's not like that's new. *g*

It took me a while to figure out where I'd seen Adam Arkin (Ted Early) before. Somehow, my subconscious insisted on seeing him with a priest collar; I needed IMDB to figure out that instead I remembered him as Dr. Stanley Keyworth, the trauma psychiatrist who'd counseled both Josh Lyman and Jed Barlet in "The West Wing".

Which in turn led to me digging out episode 3x13 "Night Five" of "The West Wing" which then made my mind leap to Aaron Sorkin's newest show "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip". Another series I hadn't gotten around to watching. So I put the first handful of episodes into my DVD Player and was hooked.

Not only because of the Brad Whitford ("The West Wing") and Steven Weber ("Jeffrey" and "The D.A.") factor. Not only because of Aaron Sorkin's deft hand with snappy dialogue. And rather despite the unfunniness of what parts we were shown of the sketches that supposedly guarantee the fictional Studio 60 the leading role in comedy sketch broadcast.

What sold me was the friendship between Matt Albie and Danny Tripp in the pilot; when each was more than willing to fall onto his metaphorical sword in order to help the other. Then there was the tackle on the beach, and the quip about homo-eroticism.

But afterwards - WTF? When did Aaron Sorkin turn into a writer of het romances? When did "Studio 60" turn into The Matt and Harriet Couple Show^TM? With Danny/Jordan thrown in as the second massive ship?

Danny Tripp is the same archetype as Josh Lyman and Dan Rydell, whereas Matt Albie is, of course, the equivalent of Sam Seaborn and Casey McCall. Still, even during the most aggressive moments of the Casey/Dana car wreck dating game, "Sports Night" was never that consistently annoying at shoving the pairing down its viewers' throats.

I. Don't. Care. About. Harriet. Hayes. Most importantly, I don't care about her Most Doomed Romance^TM with Matt. Her Christianity issues have rapidly turned from annoying to ANNOYING. Aaron Sorkin can use her faith as his vehicle to get in digs against the Christian Right from now until doomsday, but another storyline now and then really wouldn't come amiss.

Plus, why does Danny have to end up with Jordan? And wasn't there talk about a baby in some of the spoilers for the later episodes that I've read? Seriously?

When did Aaron Sorkin turn into a yenta?

Also, if Matt and Danny end up having even less screen-time together than in the last handful of episodes, one of them might just as well leave the US and move to Honolulu. It wouldn't make much of a difference.

I like the show for itself. But the shipping-with-a-mallet thing? Pisses me off.

By the way - if anyone knows of any Matt/Danny slash stories worth checking out (preferably looong ones), please tell me so. There doesn't seem to be an archive, and what lj comms I have found have rather meager offerings. :::sniff:::

One last thing: I wish "Standoff" had gotten renewed. Matt Flannery/Emily Lehman - with all its ups and downs - is a het pairing that's actually intriguing instead of painfully boring.