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Saturday, December 12. 2009

NCIS

In the WSJ: Deconstructing TV's No. 1 Show - 'NCIS' isn't young, hip or edgy, it just has the most viewers.


I watch it because I love Abby.

Posted by Bird Dog in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 14:27 | Comments (22) | Trackbacks (0)

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I watch it cause I love Gibbs!
#1 apple pie on 2009-12-12 15:17 (Reply)
Bird Dog ... We watch it because we like almost everyone except DiNozzo. But we're not supposed to like him anyway. Actually, we watch it because it is a lineal descendant of the classic TV programs made by writers and producers who liked/loved our country, and the scripts are written by writers who are literate and have some sense of history. We used to watch Boston Legal, because it was deliberately outrageous, but that got old fairly fast [who cares if Bill Shatner has a crush on that other guy, and what that crush consists of?]. But we also found the anti-American, anit-conservative snide remarks more and more annoying over time.

It's not a good idea to consistently insult virtually half of your potential audience. NCIS doesn't. Ooops ... got to get back to the Army/Navy game.

Marianne
#2 Marianne Matthews on 2009-12-12 16:23 (Reply)
DiNozzo is the contrast, anti-hero, to Gibbs. Gibbs rubs part of DiNozzo off in practically every show; that's part of Gibbs' job and part of his character.

Abby is a real hoot to watch! She's the teeny-bopper, lab guru, Gibbs' inexplicable favorite. Abby is just so much fun to watch!
#2.1 PeterGunn on 2009-12-12 19:21 (Reply)
Bravo Marianne...Especially agree with the very real fact that Hollywood consistently insults half of this great nation with anti-American, liberal, nihilistic garbage. Moreover, I believe the folks running Hollywood nowadays are terrible businessmen. What business could be around for long while alienating 50% of potential customers? They don't get it...And, they are a dying industry because of it...All they have in the tank it seems are Vampire movies and Realty TV garbage. NCIS appears to be a rare gem however...
#2.2 Scott on 2009-12-13 18:37 (Reply)
I don't like DiNozzo either .... but I like watching DiNozzo because he's an interesting character, and the writers are doing interesting things with him. None of the others has changed a whole lot over the run of the series, except that Gibbs smiles a lot less now. But compare the DiNozzo of early Season 1 to the DiNozzo of season 6, especially the one where one of his old cases resurfaced, and there are some major differences.
#3 wolfwalker on 2009-12-12 18:03 (Reply)
Yes, we have noticed that too. Character development!
A rare thing on TV.
#3.1 Bird Dog on 2009-12-12 18:27 (Reply)
BD - Okay, I'll give it a shot. The first six seasons are on Netflix. Got a particular season you'd rec'mend I start with?
#4 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2009-12-12 18:22 (Reply)
The best place to begin is probably "at the beginning." So start with Season 1. If you started watching with season 3 or later, then the pilot "Yankee White" will answer a number of questions ... besides containing the definitive Early DiNozzo scene, which is funny even as it's being unbelievably chauvenist-piggy.
#4.1 wolfwalker on 2009-12-12 20:03 (Reply)
Added to the queue and thankee kindly.
#4.1.1 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2009-12-12 20:20 (Reply)
I haven't watched a serial program since I can remember. I watch reruns of this show on some channel sometimes. Can't say why other than, most likely, Abby.
#5 Knucklehead (Link) on 2009-12-12 20:25 (Reply)
Just a check here.
#6 Luther on 2009-12-12 20:49 (Reply)
I haven't watched a network TV show, serial or otherwise, in over twenty years.

Well, other than football and the World Series.

When I do watch TV (which is no more than an hour or so a night), it's Discovery, NatGeo, BBC America for Dr. Who and Torchwood and SyFy for Eureka and Warehouse 13.

I know - I know - but really, I'm not a snob, I just don't like network TV in any of it's forms.
#7 Tom Francis on 2009-12-12 20:54 (Reply)
I never watched it until the last few weeks when I was recuperating at home. I immediately was hooked, even though the shows were being presented out of order on cable. Imagine how suprised I was when Kate was killed! I'm a fan now. On the other hand, my wife hates it.Too many gruesome bodies.
#8 Greg on 2009-12-13 10:19 (Reply)
"Too many gruesome bodies" is certainly a valid criticism. The Autopsy scenes can get very graphic.
#8.1 wolfwalker on 2009-12-13 18:16 (Reply)
I like that Illya Kuryakin now has a medical degree and works for the US and has a British accent.
#9 BlogDog (Link) on 2009-12-13 10:40 (Reply)
My wife and I agree that it's the best show on the air. We rarely agree on any type of entertainment, but the tremendous interaction between the characters has us hooked.
#10 straight8 on 2009-12-13 11:10 (Reply)
Love this show! And I have a middle-aged woman crush on Gibbs. Dh knows and he doesn't mind.
#11 Debbie on 2009-12-13 12:43 (Reply)
Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs. Even my husband agrees, though presumably not in the same way.
#12 Texan99 on 2009-12-13 17:44 (Reply)
How does everyone feel about the new NCIS:LA? Abby put in a couple of smashing guest appearances, but, mainly, I am curious for reasons to be revealed in a later comment ;-)
#13 FeeVert on 2009-12-13 18:42 (Reply)
My $0.02 on NCIS:LA: The first half-season was a very conventional cop show, with none of the features that make NCIS great. I didn't like it. The last episode I saw, the one where Hetty rearranged the team's work area, seemed to shift the dynamic a bit in a positive direction. I'll watch a few more episodes before making a final decision.
#14 wolfwalker on 2009-12-13 22:26 (Reply)
Thanks Wolfwalker! I found both of your cents insightful :-)
#14.1 FeeVert on 2009-12-15 14:41 (Reply)
One of the problems that Hollywood has with Tv is script writers. it seems everybody has a kid that thinks they are the next great scriptwriter! Soo, a show gets going really good, let's say about 3 years and then suddenly whamo--everything changes, dialogue, characters, plot, etc. You wanna know why? Everyone out there is leaning on someone to get a spot writing a script for one of the episodes. Pretty soon first writers are gone, and the death spiral begins. I think Harmon avoided this pattern a couple of years ago when he threatened to leave the show. No, I do not think the LA series will amount to much more than another cop show.
#15 apple pie on 2009-12-13 23:27 (Reply)
Gibbs and Duckie. and of course, Gibbs. We got hooked during the first season. This is the only show we watch network regularly, even though we do seem to watch plenty of TV (Sports, history, etc., classic movies, typical Maggie's fare I suppose). Its well written, doesn't try to be too trendy or cute or do anything more than tell a good story very well. But, Gibbs is a great reason to watch the show, or did I mention that...
#16 busy mom wife daughter doglover on 2009-12-14 10:53 (Reply)

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