Come over here. Go over there. Let’s go over the bridge, over the wall, and over the plan (while we still have a roof over our heads). But let’s not get over-confident and allow our enthusiasm to spill over. (For that might over-turn the apple cart and we won’t get a do-over!)
Something can be over — that is to say finished, done. And one can be over something (finished with it, done with it). I’ve been struck, lately, by a number of things that are over as well as by the realization that I’m over some things.
The former make me a little bit sad, and a couple of the latter, especially one, took me a bit by surprise!
Warning: There may be spoilers when TV shows are discussed!
Things That Are Over
The Good Wife — This was such a good show! As with many TV series, I often hold off until a series has been on the air long enough to get a sense of its quality and appeal (to me; appeal to others means little to me). And it helps not to get attached to anything that won’t survive a season (or less in some cases).
So I began watching in season three (but caught up with the first two eventually) and quickly became a fan. For me, the show was one of the gems of the TV week. (And I do love a good lawyer show.)
The Kings have started a new show on CBS, BrainDead. It’s… kinda silly, but reasonably watchable so far. I’m just not sure how they sustain this beyond a single season (or even intend to). I do appreciate how they show the bugs making both sides of the aisle bat-poop bonkers.
Castle — Speaking of something being over, as much as I enjoy it, I’ve been expecting this show to die. It had pretty much drawn all possible water from the well, and it was starting to become repetitious and somewhat silly at times.
Still, they had a lot of fun tricking you into thinking this time the plot actually would have supernatural elements. But in true Holmesian fashion (or Scooby Doo, for that matter), it’s always human agency.
And, importantly for me, I liked and respected every character in the show. If I’m to spend much time with imaginary people, I need them to be people I’d want to hang out with if they were real. (A single movie or novel that studies an awful character is one thing. A TV series is a whole other ball of wax. Those are “people” you’re choosing to hang out with.)
As with The Good Wife, I came into this show late. I didn’t realize that Richard Castle was played by Nathan Fillion who I liked so much in Firefly. I kept thinking that guy in that new show Castle looked so very familiar…
Person of Interest — As a work of science fiction, I had a lot of problems with both the fiction and the science of the show. But for a TV science fiction show, it proved to be a superior product. It won me over despite my problems with it, and that’s saying something.
A lot of it has to do with the characters, in particular the character of the characters. The moral issues Finch struggles with reveal him to be a highly intelligent man of high values and great compassion. The evolution of John and Samantha (and even Sameen) gave the show depth and texture.
And the show raised some interesting questions about privacy, surveillance, freedom, and security. The central premise examines the age-old tension between freedom and safety.
All three of these shows (as well as the next) are populated with people I would enjoy knowing if they were real. Many of them I’d happily call friend (or in a few cases, sweetheart). I’ll add that I thought all three wrapped up their series nicely!
Anthony DiNozzo (and Ziva David) — [spoiler!] So Tony left NCIS to be a father to the daughter (by Ziva David!) he didn’t know about. Until Ziva got killed. So Tony is (presumably) gone, and Ziva is definitely dead. Sadness!
In fact, the actor Michael Weatherly is starting a new show, so it’s not likely he’ll be back on NCIS (except, perhaps, for brief guest appearances).
I suppose it was inevitable. He’s been there since the beginning (13 seasons!), and that’s a long time to play a single character. Any actor would want to branch out. What will be really interesting is seeing who they replace him with.
And Tim is now the senior member of the team! (It’s been fun watching him grow over the 13 seasons.)
Et Alia — Rizzoli & Isles (my guilty pleasure) is in its last season. Not sure about Major Crimes (which is a spin-off of The Closer), but I wonder how long that one will continue. The Librarians has a third season coming (yay!), so I’m not done with TNT shows just yet.
And kudos to TNT Ondemand for not disabling FF. Love you guys for that!
Anyway, that’s an awful lot of over in my personal TV fiction world!
I’m totally in fictional mourning.
There are fictional lilies all over the place (and the smell of old electrons).
Things I Am Over
Star Trek — Yes, that’s right. I’m over Star Trek. I have been for a while. It’s been 50 years for me. That’s a lot of Trek. I’ve seen all the TV episodes (except Voyager, which I didn’t care for) multiple times. Many multiples in some cases. And I have, like, 80 of the original TOS novels.
Yeah, that’s enough, and I hate (hate, hate, hate) the new timeline version begun by J.J. Abrams (who to me is even more of an antichrist movie maker than Spielberg).
(Star Wars? I was never that into it, and to the extent I was it was mostly the first, world-changing, movie plus the two original sequels. The Han Shot First thing (and the other revisionism) pretty much ended it for me. The next three movies made the disaffection permanent.)
Sorry, even you!
Superhero Movies and TV Shows — I realized this was true when I missed several episodes of Agents of SHIELD… and didn’t care! In that particular case, I’d grown to really dislike nearly everyone on that show, but extra especially Daisy and Mack. Hate those guys.
I began to realize this when Supergirl (on CBS) began to bore me. Keeping up with the plot arcs began to feel like an unwelcome chore. (I won’t be following the show the The CW.)
Even Gotham, which I never really liked (too revisionist, Jim Gordon is a dumb thug, and there’s really no one in the show to actually like). Robin Taylor’s Penguin was kinda fun, but it’s not enough to sustain me.
Cable News — I posted recently about how I’m done with CNN. (At least, the American TV channel incarnation of it. They do better with their written and international aspects.)
Last week I tried to watch a bit of TV news about the GOP convention. I just couldn’t take it. Even PBS annoyed me. I turned it off after less than five minutes. I’m just so very, very over watching and listening to talking heads go on and on. This election cycle has made very clear how little they really know.
(It’s a bit like baseball stats. Analysis of what has happened can be very good and often rock-solid. Predictions of what will come based on past events seems like more and more of a crap shoot.)
Bernie Sanders — Not only over, but growing increasingly irritated with. Dude. You lost. Time to get behind the winner. Time to convince your crazy followers to get on board with enthusiasm.
Train is leaving; stop acting like Republicans!
Look. The distance between the hardest core Sanders supporter and Hillary Clinton pales in comparison to the distance to the National Embarrassment. Given who’s on the ticket, are you really going to let being piqued about the election allow even a ghost of a chance the monster wins?
And on that note…
Over and out!
Logos con carne 
July 27th, 2016 at 4:58 pm
Heya Chris, AMEN to your comment about Bernie (mostly his supporters at this point but he created it). There was a twenty something woman actually crying last night on the tele saying how it was ‘just so unfair’….oh brother!!! i thought the same thing i.e, that they are acting like Republicans – and then you went ahead and wrote it!!! love that!
have a great (stormy) day. J.
July 29th, 2016 at 11:40 pm
Heh, I didn’t see the clip, but I read about a crying woman who might be the same one. She cried that it was so unfair that there wasn’t a vote. (Apparently she wasn’t clear on the whole Primary process!) Truth is, a lot of Bernie supporters are the same sorts of mindless idiots found among Trump supporters. They’re on our side, so we like them more, is all. (Some of the violence at Trump rallies was started by Sanders supporters!)
Lotta anger and a lotta stupid out there. Such a winning combination.
July 27th, 2016 at 8:56 pm
I did like the main theme of the latest Star Trek movie, but I can’t escape the notion that these movies could have been done with a different crew. Nothing in the movies that have been made recently requires the original series’ characters. It’s a shame they’re not building something new.
Personally, I wish there would have been a new show instead of movie series. Star Trek is about optimism and working together to solve problems, which is an idea that really needs promoting nowadays.
July 29th, 2016 at 11:50 pm
Absolutely right. It springs from the heart of Gene Roddenberry and the 1960s sensibilities. Despite the Vietnam war, it was indeed of time of hope, prosperity and growth. We’d walked on the moon. Anything seemed possible.
I still haven’t seen the second movie. (And only recently learned: Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan? WTF??) As you say, the rebooted film series is Star Trek pretty much in name only. J.J. Abrams at the helm of both Star Trek and Star Wars kinda says it all. Simon Pegg (who I usually really like) as Scotty is joke casting, and the new Kirk is another modern idiot thug hero who only wins because script.
There is some hope the new TV series will honor the spirit of Trek, that it will focus on story and character rather than space battles and CGI. Trek was never about that shallow eye-candy glitz — a point that completely escapes Abrams.
August 4th, 2016 at 9:13 pm
All three movies gravitate around a thematic virtue (friendship, sacrifice, and unity – in that order). For movies, they’re decent. But I think that they’re just needlessly tagged with “Star Trek.”
I just looked up the new series, and it could be anything. Personally, I’d rather they continue forward in time. There were some real interesting things happening at the end of DS9. You could even have a classic crew (i.e., no silly infighting when writers get lazy) and keep things popping.
Lately, I’m seeing too many stories relying on people who are supposed to trust each other stabbing each other in the back and then pretending like nothing bad happened. It boggles my mind sometimes to think these stories get published/filmed/broadcast.
August 4th, 2016 at 10:48 pm
Ha! You just touched on something that’s been bugging me, too: The Betrayer meme! I wrote a post about it last year: Storytelling: The Betrayer
I completely agree that storytelling has changed to reflect a darker view of ourselves. It even became a thing for me with regard to Star Trek. As usual with things that really bug me… there’s a post: Berman’s Vulcans XD
I’ve heard recently the new TV show takes place between TOS and TNG. There was some talk Shatner might show up as an old admiral. I just can’t get interested in the movies, but I’ll check out the TV show. You never know… it might be good.
July 30th, 2016 at 3:06 pm
I was amazed by all the ladies crying over Bernie. He must’ve felt like a rock star. He actually blushed.
Saw him on Bill Maher last night…there was a lot of the same old stuff—and my god is Bernie repetitive—but also a moment of personality that revealed why he’s so appealing to people of my generation: he’s a real human being, flawed for sure, but real. That’s the same appeal you know who has, and which Hilary lacks in a major way. I will say, she did well when she attacked Trump. That felt authentic. I think she’d have more appeal to Bernie supporters if she left the mom stuff for Michelle Obama and let loose her snarky wit.
July 30th, 2016 at 6:06 pm
Yeah, the thing about “fan” is that it’s short for “fanatic” and the term is entirely apropos all too often.
If HRC hasn’t learned to unbend by now, it’s hard to believe it’s a lesson she can learn. I read an article that suggested it may come, in part, from her training as a lawyer. (And maybe her cultural conditioning as a woman in politics herself as well as being the wife of a notable politician.) She certainly plays them close to the vest personally while at the same time trying to straddle a lot of lines publicly. Tough juggling act.
The Comedy Channel has a show (which I’ve been meaning to watch but haven’t) called Drunk History. Apparently historians get drunk while talking about history? Maybe what we need is Drunken Debates. The candidates get hammered and we find out what they really think!
July 30th, 2016 at 6:26 pm
Now that’s a great idea! I’d love to see Hilary drunk. Not so much Trump.
July 31st, 2016 at 1:26 am
At least we’d know for sure if he’s really that way! At this point, it’s hard to believe he isn’t, but seeing him drunk would certainly remove all doubt.
But he doesn’t drink, says he never has. Who was it that said to never trust a man who doesn’t drink?
It was James Crumley in The Wrong Case (1975):
I couldn’t agree more!
Wouldn’t surprise me at all if Trump avoids drinking because it would reveal his inner psychopath (or sociopath or clinical narcissist or whatever ’cause he ain’t normal).
July 31st, 2016 at 11:17 am
Could be that he’s all too aware of what happens when he drinks…or it could be medications. Or it could be he’s got some mysterious undiagnosed illness which makes him immediately hungover from half a glass of wine. Or maybe his orange face turns purple?
There is something to be said for the drunken personality test. Some people get violent, of course, and others change in some other way. My father always got super cheesy and nostalgic, often crying out of pride for his children. Or, if he was with someone he didn’t like, he’d get into a big fat argument. Usually politics. When he wasn’t drinking, he’d fall into total silence. It was creepy.
As for me, only those who know me well can tell I’m drunk. I get a bit more talkative. If I’m with friends, maybe I’ll break out into song and dance. Karaoke time, baby. 🙂
July 31st, 2016 at 11:58 am
My opinion, FWIW (but I do have considerable personal and observational experience in the matter), is that one of the first things to go is judgement, particularly that part of our judgement that filters the more primitive core person — the inner child or inner beast or inner lover, which ever is real.
Put another way (and I do like Freud’s model at least as a metaphor if not reality), alcohol takes out the superego first. That lets the id off the leash. Drink enough and it’ll take out the ego, too, giving the id free reign. That’s the point people turn Cro-Magnon and lose much of their civilization.
Some seem to have more superego and ego brain power available, or better conditioning, or truly better inner personalities, and don’t devolve as much. It might be a matter of control; it might be a matter of genuine inner light. (I do take considerable heart from the fact that I’m a happy, sentimental, joyful, loving drunk. I also have extremely muscular mental discipline.)
But bottom line is that alcohol removes filters and tends to reveal what’s really lurking beneath the social facade. It’s always a bit fun to find out who changes a lot versus who just seems to become more them self. My drinking buddy is that way (I think I am, too). What you see always is pretty much what’s really there.
As for Karaoke, there isn’t enough alcohol in the world to make me forget how badly I carry a tune or to make me think it’s a Good Idea to demonstrate that under any circumstance!
October 22nd, 2016 at 3:34 pm
I was shocked and stunned to learn that Gary Glasberg died in late September. He was the showrunner for NCIS and the creator of NCIS: New Orleans. (Thankfully, he had nothing to do with the other NCIS show. That would be a stain on his soul.)
I’ve seen many clips of Glasberg in NCIS extras on the DVD. He really was instrumental to the show, and he’ll be missed terribly.
He was 50 years old, died in his sleep, and left behind a wife and two sons. RIP, Mr. Glasberg, RIP.