botherd | (no subject)

- This is my favourite bullshit rumour ever. SOMEONE PLEASE MAKE THIS HAPPEN. I can't conceive of anything greater than Lady Gaga as a Doctor Who villain. Fuck, I'd settle for fic.

- Speaking of Who: this week's was awesome. I totally cried at the end. So sad that there are only three episodes left this series! Is there any word as to whether Karen Gillan is sticking around for the next series? She'd better be, but Martha and Donna only got one series each...

- I haven't watched the latest episode of Glee yet, on account of everyone saying it's the worst thing ever. Is there anything at all that makes it worth watching? Usually Glee is made of so much fail that unless there are some awesome musical numbers or Brittany and Santana being adorable and gay, I can't be dealing with it.

- Am writing something weird. Actually writing it, in a way I feel good about, instead of just coming up with ideas or scratching out a few awkward sentences, which has been the extent of my "writing" lately. I thought it was going to be something short, but it might turn into something longer. Possibly it'll turn into nothing! We'll see.

- Is it bad that I'm currently kind of more excited about the US Skins than the British Skins movie? I feel like the US Skins is a blank slate - NOW WITH ADDED LESBIANS - whereas the Skins movie has so much horrible baggage attached (read: series four) that it has to work extra hard to make me like it. And, what with gen 1 characters being involved, I bet the film is going to suffer from the exact same 'so many characters, so little time' problem that series four did. SORRY.

- Ugh, Monday tomorrow. Work. Last week I found out that I fucked up something kind of big but not irreversible, so now I have a ton of extra work to do. Also, my super-religious ex-monk colleague needs to stop talking to me about religion. I don't honestly care if he believes that the shootings in Cumbria were "the devil reminding us that he's there" but talking about religion with someone who has wildly opposing views to you = GUARANTEED AWKWARD. Ugh.

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I don't think there was anything I liked about this week's Glee. All the musical numbers were meh. At one point Brittany wears her cheerleading uniform backwards and that was probably my favorite thing.

I wouldn't say I'm excited about US Skins but I'm more optimistic than I was at first. I still think capturing the edgy vibe of the show will be tough to do on MTV.

I'll probably give it a miss, then. Maybe I'll skip straight to next week's, or maybe this will be the beginning of me giving up on it entirely.

I still think capturing the edgy vibe of the show will be tough to do on MTV.

That's true, but I don't think that necessarily means it's going to be bad. The US version of The Office doesn't really capture the tone of the UK version at all, but it's still good in its own right (or was; it kind of sucks now). So I'm hoping something similar will happen with Skins.

Fair point about The Office. With Skins, though, the thing that sets it apart from other shows about teenagers is the content (i.e. lots of sex, drugs and swearing). My worry is that without those things it'll just be another Gossip Girl/90210/One Tree Hill clone.

Edited 2010-06-06 22:20 (UTC)

My worry is that without those things it'll just be another Gossip Girl/90210/One Tree Hill clone.

Really? IDK My favorite thing about Skins is, when it's not being totally ridiculous, that it does sort of try to mirror real teenaged life (as opposed to the shows you mention, which are really just glossy soaps). I think it could do that without the content you mentioned. I mean, if it could be like a My So-Called Life sort of show, I'd be down with that.

I think part of the mirroring of teenage life, though, *is* the sex, drugs, and swearing, which is part of why there aren't any shows about teenagers on tv these days that are realistic. (With the exception of Friday Night Lights, which I'd say is more a show about community and family than teenager life specifically.) My So-Called Life is a rare little gem that managed to do it and do it well but, you know, it only lasted one season and tv execs are looking for a formula that sells, not a formula that is critically lauded but a ratings disaster.

Obviously when you over-exaggerate those things, as Skins is prone to do, it becomes ridiculous, but those moments that aren't exaggerated are the ones that really speak to what it is to be a teenager in the late '00s. Kids swear A LOT, kids sit around and smoke weed and get drunk, kids have lots of bumbling, stupid sex before they're ready and with people they probably shouldn't be having sex with and it's just everyday life for them. I don't think American tv can accurately portray the debauchery of the average teen's life with the kind of normalcy is deserves. It either gets glamorized, a la Gossip Girl, or after school special-ized, a la Glee, neither of which is realistic.

LOL. Basically I just hate teenagers on US tv shows.

I totally see where you're coming from, but, with the exception of the language (which, I admit, is the part I like best), those all can be represented in an American show. I know there are very few good American shows about teenagers, but I think it can be done. You just need the right showrunner and a supportive network. Hard to come by, apparently.

For years I've thought about how awesome a teenage show on HBO would be, to the point where I was thinking of developing one myself, after which I'd try to find an agent, etc. Anyway, this is obvs an unrealistic goal for me, but I think someone out there, at some point, should do it. It might be awesome!

You just need the right showrunner and a supportive network. Hard to come by, apparently.

Pretty sure these are mythical creatures :) You're right, though, it can be done, it just isn't. (Though I do believe there are some censorship laws regarding drugs on tv that make weed a no-no?)

A teenage show on HBO or Showtime is something I've always wanted and would be AMAZING. Write a pilot, Jen!

Oh, yeah, there's definitely that. I'm not denying that there's a possibility it'll end up being like every other teen show, but I'm still hoping it can be more honest/realistic even without the edgier content. It really depends on how good the writing is.