Some people, if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
Posted
I couldn't find a thread for this, so I thought I'd start one. If another already exists, feel free to close this.
I discovered this show early this summer. It's the kind of smart, funny show that used to be on the WB before it morphed into the CW and became Whores-R-Us.
The Half-Naked Gun 9/14/2009 Season 3, Episode 3
This message has been edited. Last edited by: 742,
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
I love Greek. Wasn't a big fan of the end of season 2, but season 3 is off to a very good start. The acting is better than what you usually find on these kind of shows, and the writing is very crisp - not Gilmore Girls-level crisp but at least on the level of The OC in its prime.
"I don't go to the gym five days a week for my health!"
"Kill her, then have sex with her. It's the Kappa Tau way!"
The writer of this week's episode is my new hero.
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
What I like about the show is how subtle it is, but how smart. Something this low-key would never survive on the CW these days. Storylines about Greek-system politics, playing an assassin game with Nerf guns (the Rusty-Jordan sexual tension was like "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," but good), and two men dating -- just dating, as college students are wont to do -- are minor topics, but the show takes them as seriously as real college students would, and it infuses them with verbal wit reminiscent of "Veronica Mars," "Buffy," and "Gilmore Girls," and that's about as highly as I can praise something. There's no strained melodrama. This is not the drugs-and-sex milieu of self-consciously scandalous dramas like "Gossip Girl" and the new "Melrose Place." This show bears a closer resemblance to my college experience than any modern show I've seen on the subject, and that despite the fact that I neither drank alcohol nor belonged to a fraternity.
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
Originally posted by 742: What I like about the show is how subtle it is, but how smart. Something this low-key would never survive on the CW these days. Storylines about Greek-system politics, playing an assassin game with Nerf guns (the Rusty-Jordan sexual tension was like "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," but good), and two men dating -- just dating, as college students are wont to do -- are minor topics, but the show takes them as seriously as real college students would, and it infuses them with verbal wit reminiscent of "Veronica Mars," "Buffy," and "Gilmore Girls," and that's about as highly as I can praise something. There's no strained melodrama. This is not the drugs-and-sex milieu of self-consciously scandalous dramas like "Gossip Girl" and the new "Melrose Place." This show bears a closer resemblance to my college experience than any modern show I've seen on the subject, and that despite the fact that I neither drank alcohol nor belonged to a fraternity.
Have you rented the first few season or is the current season all you have seen of the show?
Posts: 27162 | Location: Phoenix, AZ | Registered: February 02, 2003
I am currently in college, and I have a special fondness for this show, as it premiered literally like a week or two before I left to move in for my first year. Yes, the show goes off on some blatantly unrealistic tangents (making it rain beer...), but it truly nails the culture and vibe of a college campus today, in 2009. I just love it, because so much of what goes on in my real life has been reflected in this tv show, and this is all happening while I'm living it.
The show's writing is generally delightful, with last night's episode being one of the best of the series. The show was almost perfectly cast - and I want to give a special shout-out to Spencer Grammer, daughter of Emmy fave Kelsey. She is a talented actress with wonderful comic timing and a great screen presence; even when her character veered into pathetic/unlikable territory, she sold it. Amber Stevens as Ashleigh is also wonderful, with Stevens' charisma making Ashleigh one of the most endearing characters on t.v. right now, when she could easily have been one of the most annoying. I need to give props to the casting directors who found Jacob Zachar for the role of Rusty -- I can't imagine anyone else playing this part. He brings the perfect mix of awkwardness, naivete, and charm to the show's central character. I'd be curious to hear the opinions of someone who is a little farther removed from their college days.
Originally posted by 742: What I like about the show is how subtle it is, but how smart. Something this low-key would never survive on the CW these days. Storylines about Greek-system politics, playing an assassin game with Nerf guns (the Rusty-Jordan sexual tension was like "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," but good), and two men dating -- just dating, as college students are wont to do -- are minor topics, but the show takes them as seriously as real college students would, and it infuses them with verbal wit reminiscent of "Veronica Mars," "Buffy," and "Gilmore Girls," and that's about as highly as I can praise something. There's no strained melodrama. This is not the drugs-and-sex milieu of self-consciously scandalous dramas like "Gossip Girl" and the new "Melrose Place." This show bears a closer resemblance to my college experience than any modern show I've seen on the subject, and that despite the fact that I neither drank alcohol nor belonged to a fraternity.
Have you rented the first few season or is the current season all you have seen of the show?
Haven't watched the first season or most of the second. I caught on to the series at the tail end of season two. BuffyMars talked it up to me last year, but the episode I watched didn't hook me so I didn't check it out again until the regular TV season ended this year.
That happens to me sometimes. I became a fan of shows like "Sex and the City," "The X-Files," and "Battlestar Galactica" in their second seasons, but I still haven't seen their early seasons. I just haven't gotten around to them. (I've seen a handful of "X-Files" first season shows in reruns though.) Now that I mention it, I might make that a project. But it'll have to wait until I get some TV down time. The regular season is about to start, and I want to see how it shakes out.
To comment on Duncan Kane's praise of Spencer Grammer, I agree she's doing a fine job. She has a good touch with this kind of light, frothy comedy. I suppose one thing that turned me off from "Greek" initially was remembering her stint on "As the World Turns," where I think she was quite terrible. She played a medical doctor even though she was 22 and looked about 16, and then a year later she was cast in this more plausible role of a college student. She seems to be one of those actors who doesn't do well on soaps but blossoms elsewhere. (Amanda Seyfried is another.)
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
