{"id":17159,"date":"2010-04-19T20:24:01","date_gmt":"2010-04-20T02:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=17159"},"modified":"2015-05-08T12:19:47","modified_gmt":"2015-05-08T18:19:47","slug":"a-guilty-tv-viewing-secret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/04\/19\/a-guilty-tv-viewing-secret.html","title":{"rendered":"A guilty TV-viewing secret"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The Blurry "S"<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Hi. My name is Dave.\u00a0 And I watch Smallville<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

Hi, Dave!<\/em><\/p>\n

When Smallville <\/em>first started I had — well, less-than-zero interest in it.\u00a0 “Look — it’s Smallville <\/em>Creek,” I’d josh, and though I’d occasionally tune it in if I was on a business trip and in the hotel and it was the right day and I wasn’t doing something else … nothing I saw made me feel any different.\u00a0 Cheesy effects, Young Super-Hero Teen Angst, and … well … meh<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I decided, when the big “Justice Society of America” episode came up this season to give it another look-see, if only to see how godawful it was. I am a JSA fan, after all.\u00a0 And …<\/p>\n

Well …<\/p>\n

Okay, it’s like candy corn.\u00a0 It’s sweet.\u00a0 It’s cheap. It’s mildly nauseating in excess. It’s not what you’d want to have every night.<\/p>\n

But it’s not that <\/em>bad.\u00a0 The FX are still pretty crappy — amazing what you can do with blur-o-shaky-cam-vision — and the story is still soap-operatic.\u00a0 But it’s at least in Metropolis now, and there are enough parallels to the canonical comics (to the extent that applies any more) that I just sort of enjoy, candy corn-like, seeing how they play with the plot elements.\u00a0 Zod, Amanda Waller, Green Arrow, the JSA, Martian Manhunter, Kandor and the lost Kryptonians, Silver-freakin-Banshee, Metallo-fer-goshsakes …<\/p>\n

The whole “he’s not Superman, he’s ‘The Blur'” and coy Matrix<\/em>y non-uniform thing is simultaneously goofy and interesting.\u00a0 The questions of trust and family and who’s preparing to counter whom, and who’s in the right (or wrong) about it is a bit intriguing.\u00a0 There’s some writing there that’s no worse than what the average issue of Action <\/em>has (even if it’s not as sophisticated or interesting or enjoyable as, say, Superman: TAS, <\/em>or the animated Justice League<\/em>). There’s far more insulting drama on TV, in short.\u00a0 Which is definitely damning with faint praise, but I’ll leave it at that.<\/p>\n

I don’t know if I’ll finally watch one episode too many and swear off the candy corn<\/span> series for another year, or if I’ll continue just munching a bit from week to week.\u00a0 If I had to cancel my cable, it would be the least of shows I watch that I’d mourn.<\/p>\n

But I’m still enjoying it.\u00a0 As a guilty not-so-anymore-secret.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Hi. My name is Dave.\u00a0 And I watch Smallville.” Hi, Dave! When Smallville first started I had — well, less-than-zero interest in it.\u00a0 “Look — it’s Smallville Creek,” I’d josh, and though I’d occasionally tune it in if I was on a business trip and in the hotel and it was the right day and … Continue reading “A guilty TV-viewing secret”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[852,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dc-cinematic-univese","category-media-tv"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/smallville.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39917,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/12\/07\/the-tv-series-of-shannara.html","url_meta":{"origin":17159,"position":0},"title":"The TV-Series of Shannara","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 7-Dec-13 12:16am","format":false,"excerpt":"On the one hand, a lot of creative talent.On the other hand, Terry Brooks' \u00a0_Shannara,_ which started with a volume lovingly covered by the Bros. Hildebrandt which was itself an appallingly awful cover of Lord of the Rings.On the gripping hand, starting with a subsequent volume.On the ... um ...\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48745,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/12\/09\/the-superman-prequel-prequel.html","url_meta":{"origin":17159,"position":1},"title":"The Superman Prequel Prequel","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 9-Dec-14 4:56am","format":false,"excerpt":"If \"Smallville\" was a prequel, \"Krypton\" is ...Whatever. I think we all know how it ends. Originally shared by +Paul Christopher: Say what now?+Syfy Syfy developing Superman prequel \u2018Krypton\u2019 | EW.com The world of Superman is headed back to TV. A Superman prequel series called Krypton from Man of Steel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42011,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/16\/will-gotham-be-on-my-watch-list.html","url_meta":{"origin":17159,"position":2},"title":"Will "Gotham" be on my watch list?","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 16-May-14 12:57pm","format":false,"excerpt":"This really does look pretty good. I mean, yeah, it's a \"Smallville\"-class reboot, but it the look and sound and feel of it makes me think it will be a satisfying thing in and of itself, even when continuity gets bent out of shape.Of course, it being on Fox, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9722,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/05\/03\/superman_return.html","url_meta":{"origin":17159,"position":3},"title":"Superman Returns (soon)","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 3-May-06 8:01am","format":false,"excerpt":"The trailer is loose for the upcoming movie ... Overall impressions? Gutsy yet very satisfying move to not simply reboot the movie series, but return to it (ignoring the last...","rel":"","context":"In "Comics & Comic Books"","block_context":{"text":"Comics & Comic Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/superman.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":149136,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2020\/03\/30\/popular-television-that-we-mostly-dont-watch.html","url_meta":{"origin":17159,"position":4},"title":"Popular Television That We (Mostly) Don’t Watch","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 30-Mar-20 10:00am","format":false,"excerpt":"For all that TV seems to be on, there are a lot of things we don't watch.","rel":"","context":"In "Personal Q&A"","block_context":{"text":"Personal Q&A","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/personal\/personal-qa"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/family-watching-TV.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":128137,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/09\/22\/the-universal-new-yorker-cartoon-caption.html","url_meta":{"origin":17159,"position":5},"title":"The Universal "New Yorker" Cartoon Caption","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 22-Sep-15 7:26pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Which, for a variety of personal reasons, is a hell of a lot funnier now than it would have been six months ago. A New Caption That Works for Every 'New Yorker' Cartoon And it's not \"Christ, what an asshole.\" View on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17159"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50638,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17159\/revisions\/50638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}