What’s My Deal With TV?

I finally figured out my vicious TV-show circle, prompted, as I often am, by House, M. D.. However, this wasn’t prompted in my usual there-was-a-theme-or-storytelling-choice-on-House-that-made-me-think-of-themes-or-storytelling-choices-in-general way. Instead, I realized: I don’t want to watch this show any more. And then I wondered why.

I was invested in the characters. I thought I enjoyed the plots and scenarios. But I found myself thinking of each new episode as a chore. “Darn, do I have to watch 45 minutes of this just to find out what happens to House, Wilson, and Cuddy?” I can take rage-inducing themes, inconsistent and/or sexist characterization of women, even sloppy logistics and plot holes. If a show makes me furious, annoyed, or upset, I’ll still love it. But bored? Count me out.

At this point, you may be wondering whether I’m going to type a whole blog entry that can be summed up by, “I’m bored!” Fear not. See, I started thinking about what in particular lost my interest. The showrunners resolved a long-standing sexual tension between two characters I like — was that it? The focus shifted away from the medical mysteries — explanation found? The endings felt predictable — maybe that’s the problem?

And then it dawned on me: no new element in particular was responsible for my sudden and passionate ennui. The things that had me yawning had been in the majority of the episodes: worn-out and simplistic themes, one-dimensional patients who don’t rouse my curiosity, characters putzing around doing trivial things instead of important ones*, really, really tired inter-personal relationship stories (enough with Taub’s wife already!), etc. So the real question wasn’t why am I bored with this show now, but what hooked me about it in the first place?

The characters caught my eye… but not enough to keep me interested through the latest episodes, even though those episodes have been character-focussed. The dialogue is witty and snappy… but so’s the comedy of Eddie Izzard or Monty Python, and I’d rather watch that. There are medical mysteries… yeah, I guess I like mystery-mysteries better, on account of I’ve never really been into biology or medicine. Bring on the fictional serial killers.

When I was trying to get into House, M. D., I started watching from the beginning: pilot, season 1 ep 2, etc. I found it pretty boring and was on the verge of giving up. Then I decided to watch their critically praised episode at the end of season one, “Three Stories”. It was pretty cool and superbly written, playing with the conventions of narration to bring out back story, and I enjoyed it more, but I still could’ve walked away. But then somehow I ended up watching the season four finale, “House’s Head” and “Wilson’s Heart”. Wow.

Still with the playing-with-narration-in-a-creative-and-clever-way, but I didn’t care that they telegraphed the ending long before House had figured out what he was trying to tell himself in his dreams. I didn’t care that I had no idea who these Hadley-Kutner-Taub people were. I didn’t even care that it was silly costume (aka lots of women scantily clad for no good reason) day. Even the fact that I had to put a lot of the story together myself (not having seen, you know, any episodes other than four from season one) didn’t bug me.

The plot, the writing, the characters — they all came together, showcasing just the right amount of everything I like about the show: the relationships and tensions between House, Wilson, and Cuddy; the high stakes that come from House’s willingness to push himself to breaking point for something he cares about; the show’s occasional ability to raise real and complex ethical dilemmas with no right answers; and its (rare**) readiness to make franchise-changing moves when and only if they serve the plot. Essentially, I got hooked on the very best writing, direction, and performing this series had to offer — and I’ve been waiting patiently ever since for the show to hit it again.

Patiently, but also futilely. I know the most recent two season premieres really spoke to some fans, and I’m not trying to say that those they moved are wrong or tasteless to feel that way. For me, however, they fell flat.  Like, Wile E. Coyote run over by the roadrunner driving a steamroller.

Then I realized that this is my way of watching TV shows. I liked The X Files because I caught a glimpse of one of the funniest, tightest episodes, season 4’s “Small Potatoes”, and then I got gradually more and more disappointed because the next five seasons offered only sporadic hope that I might get more stories like the one I signed up for. I’m still waiting for Dexter to hook me with another season like its first. And I will always love Star Trek: The Next Generation precisely because even its later seasons were studded with twisty gems like “Schisms” and “Phantasms”, and its series finale was incomparable.

I’m sure I do this with other serialized things — book series, movie series, writing, life: focus on the very best installment and get disappointed when the others don’t match up. While I’d like to think I’m grown-up enough to know that one can’t spend one’s relationships with other people waiting to re-experience the best times of the past, clearly I demand more from my stories. (Hey, real life doesn’t resolve itself into neat narrative packages with heroes and villains, themes, plots, etc. either.)

It’s funny: I know as a writer that you can’t expect to be at the top of your game all the time on every project, and you’re going to drive yourself crazy if you constantly compare yourself to your own best. But I also know that working in media with less time pressure means that you can go back and hammer at your less stellar projects until they’re at least satisfactory, and that you always have the choice to bury those stubborn not-so-inspired efforts in the back of your hard drive next to elementary-school book reports.

Don’t get me wrong — I don’t drop people, fictional or real, that easily, and I still do want to find out what happens to the House crew. And I know despite my utter disinterest right now that I’ll give the show a few more episodes’ grace,  to see if the new character played by Amber Tamblyn can turn things around, or if the November sweeps will give the pacing a kick in the pants. But I think I’ll be just as happy reading summaries on Television Without Pity and maybe finding YouTube clips of the one or two scenes that sound intriguing as watching the actual show.

* Which I briefly found more amusing by reading an online commentator who described House and Wilson’s putzing around as them playing Lucy and Ethel, with Cuddy having to step in as Ricky Ricardo. If House and Wilson get jobs at a chocolate factory with an ever-accelerating conveyor belt, I am so in again.

** Aka, during the season finale. Yes, House, M. D. has made a few “gutsy” moves that most TV shows haven’t, like changing the Cottages after season 3 (though, er, all but one are back now). But it’s otherwise a rather formulaic, status-quo kind of plot. Which is totally OK, as long as they don’t try to sell it as something it isn’t.