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Undercovers
Dec. 4th, 2010 12:26 pmUndercovers, that NBC show by JJ Abrams with a married couple who own a catering business and go out spying for the CIA, was canceled, as you may have heard.
I just read Why Undercovers Got Canceled and 6 Fixes That Could Have Made Undercovers a Hit and.. I totally disagree with both.
Apparently the reasons I like(d) Undercovers were exactly the things other people thought was wrong with it!
My LIKES:
* The couple have a good chemistry with each other. They're fun to watch with their banter and their flirting and their jealousies that they don't let go too far, and their mutual respect for each other as individuals and as capable spies. And I have no problem whatsoever with either actor.
* The geeky spy with the fanboy crush on "Mr. Agent Bloom", I do like watching. He's geeky and fanboy-y and likes the gadgets, but he's also quite a competent spy thankyouverymuch. He knows how to do spy stuff like speak in accents, in other languages in accents, and pretend to be someone he's not. And he knows other little tricks that the other spies he's working with don't. He knows what works for him and that what works for other spies may not work for him and he's fine with that.
* The catering business. I said before and I totally mean it, that I would watch this show if all they were doing was running a catering business.
* The dialog, the writing. It's pretty smart. Maybe not to Whedon levels or Frasier levels, but it's better than most of the drek out there.
* The main characters are black. If they were white, this show would fade into the background as so much television with promise and potential that just fell flat. But because it's a little different in this aspect, I was more willing to give it a chance beyond one or two episodes. And it did improve after those first few episodes. I also don't think two white actors with people writing for them knowing they were white would've ended up with the same relationship as a married couple. Their relationship and how it came off on screen would've been different. And since I mainly like this show for that relationship, that would've been a great loss.
My DISLIKES:
* The plots. Maybe I'm just not a spy sort of person. Some of the plots are really dull. Others hold my interest better.
* The action. I'm not a fan of action scenes. The chase scenes, the people shooting at each other, yadda yadda. If you want me to keep focussed on an action scene (on the screen or in a book), then I need character stuff happening. Dialog, character growth, witty banter, etc, etc. You have to break it up for me and give me a rest. And keeping it short definitely helps.
--
I'm sad it was canceled. I will watch whatever remaining episodes they manage to air, as long as they warn my Tivo ahead of time. Yet at the same time, I understand why it was canceled. It needed.. something done to it. It needed help.
I just apparently disagree with the internets about what parts needed fixing.
I just read Why Undercovers Got Canceled and 6 Fixes That Could Have Made Undercovers a Hit and.. I totally disagree with both.
Apparently the reasons I like(d) Undercovers were exactly the things other people thought was wrong with it!
My LIKES:
* The couple have a good chemistry with each other. They're fun to watch with their banter and their flirting and their jealousies that they don't let go too far, and their mutual respect for each other as individuals and as capable spies. And I have no problem whatsoever with either actor.
* The geeky spy with the fanboy crush on "Mr. Agent Bloom", I do like watching. He's geeky and fanboy-y and likes the gadgets, but he's also quite a competent spy thankyouverymuch. He knows how to do spy stuff like speak in accents, in other languages in accents, and pretend to be someone he's not. And he knows other little tricks that the other spies he's working with don't. He knows what works for him and that what works for other spies may not work for him and he's fine with that.
* The catering business. I said before and I totally mean it, that I would watch this show if all they were doing was running a catering business.
* The dialog, the writing. It's pretty smart. Maybe not to Whedon levels or Frasier levels, but it's better than most of the drek out there.
* The main characters are black. If they were white, this show would fade into the background as so much television with promise and potential that just fell flat. But because it's a little different in this aspect, I was more willing to give it a chance beyond one or two episodes. And it did improve after those first few episodes. I also don't think two white actors with people writing for them knowing they were white would've ended up with the same relationship as a married couple. Their relationship and how it came off on screen would've been different. And since I mainly like this show for that relationship, that would've been a great loss.
My DISLIKES:
* The plots. Maybe I'm just not a spy sort of person. Some of the plots are really dull. Others hold my interest better.
* The action. I'm not a fan of action scenes. The chase scenes, the people shooting at each other, yadda yadda. If you want me to keep focussed on an action scene (on the screen or in a book), then I need character stuff happening. Dialog, character growth, witty banter, etc, etc. You have to break it up for me and give me a rest. And keeping it short definitely helps.
--
I'm sad it was canceled. I will watch whatever remaining episodes they manage to air, as long as they warn my Tivo ahead of time. Yet at the same time, I understand why it was canceled. It needed.. something done to it. It needed help.
I just apparently disagree with the internets about what parts needed fixing.