The biggest offender currently is Bones. I loved watching this show until the beginning of this season. Season 6 of Bones has not very slowly devolved into nothing short of a soap opera. The already limited forensics, and the solving of crimes (the actual point of the show, and the reason the team got back together at the beginning of season 6) has taken more of a back seat to the question of whether or not Dr. Brennan ("Bones") will get romantically involved with her FBI agent partner, Seeley Booth. And after 5 years of dealing with this issue, I'm frankly tired of it. I lived through this with Moonlighting, when Maddie and Dave held off for so long the sexual tension had taken over the main storyline of the show. Once that tension was resolved, the show collapsed and was cancelled.
I also lived through this with the X-Files where despite the explicit statements of the producers of the show negating the possibility, the fans kept clamoring for Mulder & Scully to get involved. Then it started to creep into the story lines with a slew of near misses. Thankfully, David Duchovny (Mulder) left the show before the story went the way of Moonlighting. In the last two seasons, they actually did get together but by then the storyline had been so mangled any romantic complications couldn't possibly make the show any worse.
In the case of Bones, I want the producers/writers to pick a side and stick to it. If Bones and Booth are going to get together, it's been six years, put them together and go with that! If not, then stop with the hinting and go with that. This on the fence crap is destroying everything that makes this show watchable for me. There haven't been any good villains on the show since the Gormagon. They haven't further explored anything further about Brennan's family. I mean they haven't even had any really interesting murders on the show this season!!!
Before you start burning effigies of me, dear readers, I do have an example of "will they/won't they get together" done right! And that is a show I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Castle. The producers of this show know how to handle the interpersonal relationships between their two main characters, Det. Kate Beckett & Richard Castle, very well. The show has given no doubt at all that the two were going to get together. And the reason the two of them are not together by this mid-point of season 3? Actual psychological issues! Beckett not trusting the maturity of Castle. Castle having to get to know Beckett. Actual miscommunication, believable bad timing, serious errors in judgment (Like Castle looking into the murder of Beckett's mom without her permission!) And they still manage to throw in interesting murder mysteries to boot!
Producers of Bones, take a lesson from Castle and PICK A SIDE!! If this gets any worse, you will lose this viewer. I've dropped shows before, I can, and will, do it again.
No one watches Castle. N u put "Gilmore Girls" and "Desperate Housewives" in the same category? What crack u smokin'? Numb3rs was so overly scientific to the point of being unrealistic. And Supernatural-of course nothing is annoying bout that show. Just everyone always selling their souls to a demon n somehow getting it back. Happy ending. Yeah.
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting, Anon!! Thanks for reading! Now for my rebuttal:
ReplyDeleteEnough people watch Castle that it's on it's 3rd season and going strong. In my opinion, Gilmore Girls and Desperate Housewives are nothing more than relationship dramas, or in better words, primetime soap operas.
Numb3rs was based on real FBI cases and methodologies, and (I just found this out recently) from the 2nd season forward they prepped lesson plans for teachers based on the math presented in each episode. Definitely more realistic.
But the point isn't realism, Supernatural isn't exactly a realistic show, but that a lot of shows are allowing romances to overshadow their storylines. If you're watching a murder mystery, would you want it to turn into a musical about two people falling in love?
Gems like The Jersey Shore also got renewed. Being renewed says nothing about a show cept maybe the audience aint too intelligent.
ReplyDeleteI love Castle, I think they handle things admirably on that show. Sorry I haven't stopped by your blog in a while, but I've been catching up on your posts, and I'm glad to see you're still writing :) Keep up the great work
ReplyDeletei must say you make a rather compelling case.however....:
ReplyDeletefictional shows often try and find a audience by introducing "realistic" dilemas.it dates back to the oldest of shows to the newest ones currently rotting our intelligence.so romance is something that everyone deals with at some point in their lives.whether it be with success or failure its bound to happen to all of us. when it does it takes a toll at diffrent levels of intensity.for some it consumes us and our free time while others are in better control. now fans making it a point to "hook up" certain characters up to reflect the "perfect" romance is bound to happen to every great show.to a certain extent i can understand that.molder not getting any for years would be detrimental to his mental state.as a fbi profiler he needs to keep a clear head or people die.so i agree characters need to get some but i think your right about romance becoming too overused. everything in moderation afterall and a love trapazoid is definitely not needed on any show. i think its best if shows downplay romance and find a balance so proper storytelling can resume.i hope you enjoye'd my comment and please have a nice day.