Ah, Christian Slater, how we won't miss you.

[trinityvixen]

So long My Own Worst Enemy. I watched one episode and I knew this had "fail" stamped all over it. And after I sat through He Was a Quiet Man last night, the less I see of Christian Slater and his rapidly disappearing hair, the better. (The high point of that movie was me recognizing that Ms. Parker of Pretender fame in a photograph with William H Macy. Alas, she was not in the movie.) It's not that Christian Slater is a terrible actor per se, just that he gives me the heebie-jeebies, and that movie did not help.

I like how that article I linked to above blames Heroes for My Own Worst Enemy having a bad lean-in show. I doubt that American Idol would hold anyone's attention long enough to get them to watch either show at this point, but it's a fair cop that Heroes sucking so much sewage is not helping. But I dreamt of a way to fix Heroes! I had a dream this week where Hiro's adventures were narrated by Jim Dale. And me, watching the show in my dream, was like, "Wow, I could watch anything if Jim Dale narrated it." He made Hiro's ridiculous bopping around in the past and future almost cute. Hiro's antics and exuberance would be a pretty ideal match to Jim Dale's whimsical voice-over, too.

So, NBC, take note: if THE WORST THING EVER HAPPENS and Pushing Daisies is gone, get Brian Fuller back, sure, but make sure you bring Jim Dale with as well.

Comments

[bigscary.livejournal.com]

Actually, I and Q really liked it.

[jendaby.livejournal.com]

There is a lot of rumor floating around about Pushing Daisies heading for the chopping block. :( I think I will cry if it happens, as that is the only show I still go out of my way to watch.

I have been watching My Own Worst Enemy, but that's because I want to spend time with gryphonrose and because I sort of sit there stunned at the fact that Shelley Johnson could possibly be old enough now to have teenage kids! *feels ancient*

But I don't particularly like the show. And Supernatural has been getting a bit preachy, IMHO. But that may just be me rolling my eyes at their repeated lack of research. Though, according to the dictionary of Angels, Castiel is "A Thursday angel" - funny.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Heroes or My Own Worst Enemy? I can forgive you if it's the latter...it just seemed boring and more often than not full of itself, but I only saw one episode.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I wonder if ABC could rescue Pushing Daisies if they paired it with LOST, which is also genre. I am desperate to believe that ABC, with few or no stand-out shows and with a shorter LOST run might hold onto Pushing Daisies. It was doing better last week...

My Own Worst Enemy felt rather preachy to me. darkling1 pointed out that shows that are based on a fictional trope--in MOWE's case, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde--that don't acknowledge that such fiction exists even in their fictional world feel really, really fake. It's like how Heroes was fun at first because Hiro was aware of geek traditions--comic book super heroes, Star Trek, et al. It meant that this was our world, it just also had super powers. You kind of need that, otherwise you find yourself wondering why this seems so crazy and new to everyone else...

Re: SPN--I bet that that's why they picked Castiel :P What haven't they researched? Granted, my knowledge of angels is heavily biased by things like The Prophecy, where they're not so great actually.

[mithras03.livejournal.com]

Lol. Narrated by Jim Dale? Is that supposed to turn out like St. Elsewhere? The whole show was happening in the mind of an autistic child! :-P

[viridian.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, I just wondered aloud the other night how many more episodes it'd be til My Own Worst Enemy got canceled. I really liked Christian Slater back in the day, but he has only gotten creepier as he's aged.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

OMG SPOILERS!

Kidding. Yeah, I mean, right now, Heroes could take a pass on everything since end-of-season one with, "And then Hiro woke up," and I would probably prefer that.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

To really carry a Jekyll/Hyde thing, you need someone who isn't just creepy but is also menacing. Christian Slater isn't scary, and "Edward" wasn't badass enough to make up the difference. (As a result, "Henry" was a pussy-whipped noodle.) So, yeah, no surprises here.

[ecmyers.livejournal.com]

Watch Jekyll instead.

[droidguy1119.livejournal.com]

I liked He Was a Quiet Man until things turned sour for Christian's character near the end, and then the horrible ending.

In his defense however, the hair thing in HWaQM is clearly a makeup effect, even if it is going away.

It's too bad, though, I think I said this last time you brought up My Own Worst Enemy, but he really deserves to be in something that doesn't fail, and at this point it's almost entirely on the basis that he keeps trying new things. Someone who actually makes an effort to be in non-generic projects deserves some credit, and beyond that I think he's a good actor.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I liked He Was a Quiet Man until things turned sour for Christian's character near the end, and then the horrible ending.

I must have put this on my Netflix queue for the premise at the beginning. I really loved the idea that one homicidal gunman might be pre-empted by another. There's enough absurdity and indictment in the idea--that the second gunman is only a hero because he killed a killer instead of his original target. But yeah, the ending copped out. If he'd gone back and shot people up and proven the myth of the hero is entirely in the retelling by people who weren't there, then maybe it wouldn't have been so pointless.

In his defense however, the hair thing in HWaQM is clearly a makeup effect, even if it is going away.

Oh, I'm aware it was all makeup--the bad lip-wig, the roseate cheeks, even his teeth seemed fake. It just doesn't help Christian Slater's creep factor to accentuate those things. But I guess there's a healthy history of uglifying up people for roles.

It's too bad, though, I think I said this last time you brought up My Own Worst Enemy, but he really deserves to be in something that doesn't fail, and at this point it's almost entirely on the basis that he keeps trying new things. Someone who actually makes an effort to be in non-generic projects deserves some credit, and beyond that I think he's a good actor.

I think he's a decent enough actor, and trying new things helps. Except My Own Worst Enemy wasn't a new thing, it was a lazy retread of old things. It had neither irony or realism to see it past its own little foibles. (And in the episode I saw, no one has a sense of humor, which is oppressive to watch.) It seemed like yet another hollywood-actor-to-tv-star vehicle combined with the lazy update attitude NBC's been throwing around for a while. (Bionic Woman, nuff said.) It wasn't a worthy show for anyone, not least Christian Slater, though I feel most upset at the waste of Alfre Woodard.

[viridian.livejournal.com]

I'm impressed that you paid enough attention to know the show's premise. All I processed from the ads was "lol Christian Slater" and tended to fast forward through them.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Well, to be fair, darkling1 pointed out their names to me and then I was like the most genius child in the world going "OH, NOW I GET IT."

But I mean, Jekyll/Hyde literally or no, it's a pretty common story--a man split in half, good vs evil within etc. It just wasn't done well, even though Christian Slater wasn't even that bad a choice.

[droidguy1119.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how the ending would have proved that. All I got out of the existing ending is It Was All A Dream and there's really no salvaging that, IMO.

[bigscary.livejournal.com]

My Own Worst Enemy

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Not unless it's Heroes--where as I said above, hand-waving it away would actually improve the series...

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I'm with darkling1 on this, and I haven't even seen the show yet: watch Jekyll instead.