Tag: e4

Five Artfully Awesome Opening Credits

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As I continued my summer’s journey of television mania, (this week: Eureka) it just reinforced my love for clever and artsy main title sequences. I truly miss belting out “CALIFORNIAAAAA” every week with Phantom Planet. I understand that by just using titlecards it can save a precious minute of airtime, but I overly enjoy having a catchy theme to sing or hum along with before all of the laughter and drama starts.

Now, I have many favorite main title sequences, they range from themes you have to jam out with to the boldly graphic. But these are my favorite main title sequences, visual aesthetics and general design being the main factor. Like always, click through the banners for video.

Nip / Tuck, “A Perfect Lie”- The Engine Room

Yes, it’s creepy and the scissor noise in the background is mildly disturbing, but I’ve always appreciated how well the song fits the series. It’s pretty minimal but catches the nature of Nip / Tuck in 45ish seconds. For some reason, my favorite part of the credits is the finger twitch at :09, although I also enjoy watching the lips blow up like collagen balloons at the end.

Six Feet Under, Original Theme

I’ve come to the conclusion that cable shows just automatically have better opening credits. And I think it’s time for the primetime networks to step it up. Six Feet Under’s opening sequence automatically sets up the premise of the show and its tune is delightfully catchy for a song about a funeral home family.

Dexter, Original Theme

Okay. Yeah this one bugged me at first. It’s hella long and the opening shot of the mosquito sinking into Dexter’s arm isn’t particularly my favorite visual. But after a while it definitely grows on you. And the last shot of Dexter’s innocent smile after all these violent shots of a typical morning routine made me laugh out loud the first time I saw it.

Skins, Original Theme

The series 1 Skins opening is my personal favorite. You can’t help but feel ridiculously giddy whenever it plays. The theme is upbeat and just puts an automatic smile on your face. I also appreciate that each season and generation gets a new mix…even though I feel like they’ve all paled in comparison to the original.

Chuck, “Short Skirt”-Cake

You gotta love Cake. And the opening sequence was surprisingly creative and artsy, no complaints here.

Six Reasons Why Misfits Will Not Work Without Robert Sheehan

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I was reading spoilers (surprise, surprise) today and found out some horrifying, devastating news: Robert Sheehan may not return for the third season of Misfits and if he does, it will be in a limited capacity. I’d really like to say that I would continue to watch the show sans Nathan Young, but I really can’t at this point. Nathan makes the show for me. To be honest, I care very little about Simon, Kelly, Alisha & Curtis. We’ve seen the more of Nathan’s home life than any of the other characters. We all know Nathan can be an asshat, but there are viable reasons why he acts the way he does. And it’s also one of the main reasons why I hope with all of my heart that America will not try to remake Misfits. Nathan is a one-of-a-kind character with a one-of-a-kind actor. Robert is Nathan and he can pull off both comedic and emotional scenes in equal measure.

Maybe my title is a little dramatic. I’m sure Misfits would fare fine without Robert/Nathan. The writing has been consistently great and the remaining four actors are all very talented. But I don’t think anyone can deny that it would be a completely different show. I cannot see any other character spewing out “Nathanisms” without a major character rewrite. And if they do decide to introduce another character with Nathan’s attitude, they would never compare to the original. I’m leaving you with my favorite six scenes of Nathan Young. I hope I leave the impression that Nathan is a vital character to the show and how bland the third season will be without the spice that is Nathan Young.

I’m going to note here that the following will include some vulgar language. Nathan has mastered sarcasm and vulgarity. [Click the banners for video!]

6. The Afterbirth Debacle

5. The ‘Old Circle Jerk’

4. The Math Lesson

3. The Fancy Dress Party

2. The “I’m Immortal!” Dance

1. The Epic Rooftop Speech

REVIEW: Misfits

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Dark comedies have always been a favorite of mine. Crude, indecent humor about serious situations is exactly my cup of tea. For a while now I have been hearing rave reviews for the British show Misfits. To say that I was pleasantly surprised is a complete understatement. I believe I have found my newest television obsession. This show is a classic dark comedy and is made of gold, complete comic gold. Plus, things always sound better with an accent.

Misfits is about five teenagers with ASBOs who have been sentenced to community service. After a freak electrical storm, a number of people (including the five misfits) develop special superpowers. Simon can turn invisible, Alisha sends people into a lust haze with skin-to-skin contact, Curtis can rewind time when feels regret over the outcome of a situation, Kelly has telepathy and Nathan is seemingly powerless until he is impaled on a picket fence and learns his power is immortality. As you can imagine, crazy drama ensues from the development of these powers, and anyways, sparks are bound to fly when you throw five completely different, lonely people together.

What really sold the show for me was the character of Nathan, the cocky, arrogant and overall tool of the group. He is a complete and utter ass-hat and solely responsible for most of the hilarity the show has. But there’s something about him you can’t help but love. The Irish accent doesn’t hurt either.

At first, the lack of censorship that occurs in British television was jarring. Each of George Carlin’s “Seven Dirty Words” are dropped at an alarming rate, graphic sex scenes run rampant and words like “retarded” and “masturbation” are tossed around like it’s no big deal. Misfits vividly shows many situations that U.S. television can merely hint at.

This is one of the many reasons why I do not think an American adaptation of Misfits will work. First, vulgar language and what we would classify as “inappropriate behavior” is a characteristic that is canon to many of the misfits. It would just be wrong to have a Nathan who isn’t constantly spewing obscenities and trying to get into every woman’s pants. Second, we tried this type of thing before. It was called Heroes. While I did not watch the show, word on the street is that the show lost its magic fairly early on. It would take some serious reworking to make the show suitable for the U.S., to create a story that hasn’t been done before and to still keep the magic that Misfits has. This all seems highly implausible; syndication is the best option here.

The show is a perfect mix of comedy, drama and science fiction with a couple violent deaths thrown in the mix. Misfits has one sole writer, Howard Overman, and I think it’s safe to say the man is brilliant. This show has had me laughing out loud more than Friends and Scrubs combined. I have also been introduced to a new world of insults, British style. I can’t wait to throw out “monkey slut” during a conversation. However, I am not a fan of the British television schedule. I suppose only having six episode seasons makes it easier for actors to pursue both a television and film career, but if I only got six episodes of 90210 or Glee every year, I’d go insane. That is one hell of a hiatus.

Forget anything I’ve said before, this is definitely the best show you are not watching. You’ve got nearly a year before the third season airs. Get to watching, you will not regret it.