Particularly this most recent series. Asylum of the Daleks and Dinosaurs on a Spaceship are already two of my all time favorites from the Smith era, and you can tell that the episodes have gotten noticeably more cinematic. Moffat is one of those writers that you have to sort of put a lot of trust in his vision to really enjoy though, a la Sorkin or Whedon.
The only real complaint I have is that occasionally he will fall back on more contemporary plot obfuscation gimmicks very much in the vein of Lost in order to build and maintain a level of suspense that keeps you coming back, but can feel at times like a carrot on a stick.
That being said, his team writes The Doctor extremely well, which is really a make or break for the show considering he is the focal point for the show's universe. Doctor Who is one of those very rare concepts that attains a level of iconic uniqueness that reminds me a lot of why I fell in love with IPs like Star Wars in the first place. The only limitations to it is the imagination of the writers, and Moffat and his team certainly don't lack imagination.
Speaking of Moffat, as an addendum I'd like to throw Sherlock into the mix. Fantastic modern retelling of Sherlock Holmes in a really interesting format, seasons of three episodes that run for 90 minutes each, so its really like watching three small movies a season. Add to that the tour de force performances by Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Holmes and Watson, respectively, not to mention without a doubt the scariest portrayal of Moriarty I've ever seen, and you have a recipe for a show that I'll probably keep coming back to for years.
Also, thanks for mentioning the Newsroom Om because I completely forgot it in my original post! Was the original reason I decided to delve into TWW in the first place. I don't think its nearly as strong a show as TWW, and unfortunately Sorkin seems to be letting the more radically liberal aspects of his creative ego bleed through in his more recent writing. The show puts me off sometimes when it becomes painfully obvious that he's just setting up an argument for himself to win, or "burning" hardline Republicans, and often times at the peril of slanting the viewer's perception of an issue farther to the left than is really necessary. (I'm thinking of the economist's diatribe against the repeal of Glass-Steagall, while totally omitting the fact that in a globalized market, bank segregation would cripple US-based firms or they would find a way around it.)
But when the show shines, it really shines. The root-concept of a theoretical reclamation of the Fourth Estate provides a fascinating show framework while highlighting very real human problems in the way were are changing how we consume news media. The attempts to inform people on the scary state of affairs currently within the Republican Party also merit applause, but unfortunately the more noticeable liberal slant compared to TWW probably means Sorkin will end up just preaching to the choir. And above all, Sorkin is really good at writing characters and relationships that you immediately start to care about, even if he's not super great at writing women.
Hopefully he'll hit his stride in season 2, I'll still be watching at any rate.
Is Falling Skies worth the effort to get into? I watched half of the pilot, and I was a little intrigued, but I had other stuff on my list and it got pushed back onto the to watch list, not sure how I should be prioritizing it.
The only real complaint I have is that occasionally he will fall back on more contemporary plot obfuscation gimmicks very much in the vein of Lost in order to build and maintain a level of suspense that keeps you coming back, but can feel at times like a carrot on a stick.
That being said, his team writes The Doctor extremely well, which is really a make or break for the show considering he is the focal point for the show's universe. Doctor Who is one of those very rare concepts that attains a level of iconic uniqueness that reminds me a lot of why I fell in love with IPs like Star Wars in the first place. The only limitations to it is the imagination of the writers, and Moffat and his team certainly don't lack imagination.
Speaking of Moffat, as an addendum I'd like to throw Sherlock into the mix. Fantastic modern retelling of Sherlock Holmes in a really interesting format, seasons of three episodes that run for 90 minutes each, so its really like watching three small movies a season. Add to that the tour de force performances by Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Holmes and Watson, respectively, not to mention without a doubt the scariest portrayal of Moriarty I've ever seen, and you have a recipe for a show that I'll probably keep coming back to for years.
Also, thanks for mentioning the Newsroom Om because I completely forgot it in my original post! Was the original reason I decided to delve into TWW in the first place. I don't think its nearly as strong a show as TWW, and unfortunately Sorkin seems to be letting the more radically liberal aspects of his creative ego bleed through in his more recent writing. The show puts me off sometimes when it becomes painfully obvious that he's just setting up an argument for himself to win, or "burning" hardline Republicans, and often times at the peril of slanting the viewer's perception of an issue farther to the left than is really necessary. (I'm thinking of the economist's diatribe against the repeal of Glass-Steagall, while totally omitting the fact that in a globalized market, bank segregation would cripple US-based firms or they would find a way around it.)
But when the show shines, it really shines. The root-concept of a theoretical reclamation of the Fourth Estate provides a fascinating show framework while highlighting very real human problems in the way were are changing how we consume news media. The attempts to inform people on the scary state of affairs currently within the Republican Party also merit applause, but unfortunately the more noticeable liberal slant compared to TWW probably means Sorkin will end up just preaching to the choir. And above all, Sorkin is really good at writing characters and relationships that you immediately start to care about, even if he's not super great at writing women.
Hopefully he'll hit his stride in season 2, I'll still be watching at any rate.
Is Falling Skies worth the effort to get into? I watched half of the pilot, and I was a little intrigued, but I had other stuff on my list and it got pushed back onto the to watch list, not sure how I should be prioritizing it.
