![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieI've been meaning to watch Bunheads pretty much since it premiered, but kept forgetting about it. Tonight, though, was finally the night.
I didn't really know what to expect, but I...think I like it? The big city outsider in a small town on the coast angle is very promising, and the kids don't annoy me as much as teenagers usually do--perhaps because there's more than one of them, perhaps because the dance milieu makes them less of a pain in the ass than a high school setting. It seems like Amy Sherman-Palladino calmed down on the quips and wisecracks, especially for the kids, which is a blessing. I couldn't get through more than two episodes of Gilmore Girls for that very reason.
I was impressed by how equally sympathetic and unlikeable the girls are. After the first episode, I figured Boo was going to be my favorite hands down, because she's the awkward dork who wears Snoopy leotards and really wants to be a ballerina but just doesn't have the genetics for it, and heeeey, my adolescence, good to see you. (Well, I didn't want to be a ballerina by that point, but you know what I mean.) But then she turned into a shrill martinet in the second episode,* while Sasha, whom I figured I would hate after episode one, got this great "rock of sanity in an ocean of teenaged crazy" quality, so now I'm not sure who to root for. Ginny I like because awww, I totally sympathize with you about the too-big boobs, kid! And I like your pessimism. But then there was the ocean of teenaged crazy, and as I recall she was a bit of a brat to Boo (unless I'm confusing her with someone else). Melanie...well, Melanie hasn't gotten much development yet, but I enjoyed her inability to read glance-ese, and she was also part of the ocean of teenaged crazy.
One thing that does carry over a bit from Gilmore Girls that I don't like, though, is...okay, so on Northern Exposure or a Bryan Fuller show, say, when something zany happens to one of the characters (especially the POV character, like Joel, Jaye, or Ned), I legitimately think that the character is busy wondering "Why is this my life?" as whatever crazy thing is happening to them happens. On ASP shows, I always feel like the character is busy saying, "LOOK AT ME I JUST TOOK THIS RANDOM GUY'S DOG FOR A WALK BECAUSE I COULDN'T THINK OF A REASON TO SAY NO AND WOUND UP AT A BAR AREN'T I QUUUUUIRKY??!" There's a studied quality to the quirkiness, is what I'm saying, and it bugs me.
But for whatever reason, whether its the actress or ASP maturing as a writer, Sutton Foster actually makes me think the former rather than the latter some of the time. Yay!
Also, there is Ellen Greene as basically a slightly toned-down version of Aunt Vivian, and this is never a bad thing. (Especially the toned-down part, because Vivian was sometimes a little too much to take on Pushing Daisies.)
Also also, I absolutely approve of mainstream TV where every major character and almost every minor character is female. And so far, no fighting over a boy! (Well, okay, there's Truly, but I don't think you could actually call that a "fight" so much as some wailing and some dubious glances.)
* We're definitely still reliving my adolescence here; I just cringe seeing that part on the screen.
I didn't really know what to expect, but I...think I like it? The big city outsider in a small town on the coast angle is very promising, and the kids don't annoy me as much as teenagers usually do--perhaps because there's more than one of them, perhaps because the dance milieu makes them less of a pain in the ass than a high school setting. It seems like Amy Sherman-Palladino calmed down on the quips and wisecracks, especially for the kids, which is a blessing. I couldn't get through more than two episodes of Gilmore Girls for that very reason.
I was impressed by how equally sympathetic and unlikeable the girls are. After the first episode, I figured Boo was going to be my favorite hands down, because she's the awkward dork who wears Snoopy leotards and really wants to be a ballerina but just doesn't have the genetics for it, and heeeey, my adolescence, good to see you. (Well, I didn't want to be a ballerina by that point, but you know what I mean.) But then she turned into a shrill martinet in the second episode,* while Sasha, whom I figured I would hate after episode one, got this great "rock of sanity in an ocean of teenaged crazy" quality, so now I'm not sure who to root for. Ginny I like because awww, I totally sympathize with you about the too-big boobs, kid! And I like your pessimism. But then there was the ocean of teenaged crazy, and as I recall she was a bit of a brat to Boo (unless I'm confusing her with someone else). Melanie...well, Melanie hasn't gotten much development yet, but I enjoyed her inability to read glance-ese, and she was also part of the ocean of teenaged crazy.
One thing that does carry over a bit from Gilmore Girls that I don't like, though, is...okay, so on Northern Exposure or a Bryan Fuller show, say, when something zany happens to one of the characters (especially the POV character, like Joel, Jaye, or Ned), I legitimately think that the character is busy wondering "Why is this my life?" as whatever crazy thing is happening to them happens. On ASP shows, I always feel like the character is busy saying, "LOOK AT ME I JUST TOOK THIS RANDOM GUY'S DOG FOR A WALK BECAUSE I COULDN'T THINK OF A REASON TO SAY NO AND WOUND UP AT A BAR AREN'T I QUUUUUIRKY??!" There's a studied quality to the quirkiness, is what I'm saying, and it bugs me.
But for whatever reason, whether its the actress or ASP maturing as a writer, Sutton Foster actually makes me think the former rather than the latter some of the time. Yay!
Also, there is Ellen Greene as basically a slightly toned-down version of Aunt Vivian, and this is never a bad thing. (Especially the toned-down part, because Vivian was sometimes a little too much to take on Pushing Daisies.)
Also also, I absolutely approve of mainstream TV where every major character and almost every minor character is female. And so far, no fighting over a boy! (Well, okay, there's Truly, but I don't think you could actually call that a "fight" so much as some wailing and some dubious glances.)
* We're definitely still reliving my adolescence here; I just cringe seeing that part on the screen.
