• About
  • Bio
  • Fantasy Snippets
  • Gracarin Map
  • Regency Snippets

historyfanforever

historyfanforever

Tag Archives: TV series

CW Superman & Lois

11 Tuesday Jan 2022

Posted by mlrover in Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

action, adventure, binging, CW, Family, review, sciencefiction, superhero, Superman, tv, TV series, twins

Stuck in the house with a vicious illness (not Covid) left me at the mercy of symptoms. No brain, no ambition, and with nothing else to do but binge, I looked into my curiosity about the newest Superman on the CW. It had many good reviews and gushing adoration from fans. Now I know why.

OK, I’m an unashamed closet Superman freak. As a tot I sat on the linoleum floor and waited in squirming impatience to hear the announcer ask if it’s a bird or a plane. Wonderful George Reeves—what he endured was just not fair. Of course, I didn’t learn about his troubles until many years later. I never liked the Lois rendition from that era. She was just too dippy, but poor Noel Neill probably had no choice. Hollywood perpetuated and leaped on every opportunity to keep women in their place. No one in this new series would ever pull that crap on this version of Lois. She knows how to use a Tazer and even Clark/ Superman backs up a step when she’s ticked.

What stands out in this rendition is a family bombarded by challenges and how they handle them. The chemistry between the four is utterly compelling. The Kent boys—no, young men—are enough to cause a dangerous estrogen surge in the global teen population. As a grandma, I just want to get them in my clutches, feed them cookies, soak up their energy, and listen to their victories and tragedies.

A massive part of the addictive aspects of this series is how the characters and their lives are so identifiable, so today and every day. Physical attractiveness is minor; IMHO, although Jordan’s sweetly dimpled smile is enough to shatter an ocular release (sorry, inside joke). There is much about them to admire. The twins have the virtues of their parents inherent, not forced. They are a mix of kindness, honor, integrity, and loyalty mixed up with the angst of their hormone-messed up ages (14). Young people everywhere must identify and get immediately sucked into their problems. The storyline deals with issues like bullying, social disorders, parental disappointments, to name a few. But the twins are not perfect. They yell at their parents and are loaded with teen sarcasm.

Clark has performance issues about being a dad, as any normal parent should. His deer in the headlights expression when being floored by teen outbursts and their acting out blunders is priceless. As is his stunned look the first time he sees Lois.

Lois is feisty, a mom who works hard not to hover and suffers from professional tunnel vision. Not always a bad thing. Scenes with her sons, when the proverbial chips are down and everything has been blown to hell and gone, are touching. The commitment these parents invest in their children is remarkable.

That being written, this is no Ozzie & Harriet yarn. Many glaring errors are not worth mentioning, because the writing is so dang great. TV production budgets are tiny in comparison to a film. There is finite time to get it done and no money for a re-shoot.

Although I’m sure viewers are interested in seeing Superman’s daring feats, and there are many, I am more invested in the family, how they argue, snark, laugh, cling, and hang on to each other for dear life. When Jordan’s heartthrob, the volatile Sarah, gripes at the twins that she wasn’t lucky enough to have a perfect family, the boys share a startled, meaning-filled look, as they hold back the truth that their family has its own set of problems. It’s brief moments like this, speckled throughout the series that makes it so remarkable. There are no sloppy acting moments or scene-chewing silliness. This is ensemble acting at its best and rarely seen in television, certainly not at this level of intimacy.

Season Two starts tonight on the CW. I’ve no idea how I’ve survived the wait.

M.L Rigdon (aka Julia Donner)

Follow on Twitter @RigdonML

Blog: https://historyfanforever.wordpress.com/

Website http://www.MLRigdon.com

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/julia-donner

https://www.facebook.com/Julia-Donner-697165363688218/timeline

Advertisement

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

REIGN PAIN

07 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by mlrover in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

costumes, France, French court, intrigue, Mary Queen of Scots, Protestant, Reign, religious unrest, TV series, Valois

While moseying along the racks at the library, I spied a TV series in the DVD section, one I’d never heard about. History freak that I am, it got snatched before anyone else noticed it sitting there, two seasons worth of what looked like Elizabethan period work. I should have paid more attention to the front cover.

Yeah, yeah, I’m an annoying stickler for historical fact, but this thing caused major jaw-dropping due to the history of Mary Queen of Scots getting twisted into something unrecognizable, a sort of hysterical history. Had the characters been taken over by pod people? Had the writers lost all sense of integrity? About half way through the first season it became clear: Reign, for all the bucks they’ve dumped into a very attractive production, has a target audience of teens, quite simply, a soap opera for the teenage masses.

Costumes for the men are a mish-mash covering a three hundred year span. Let’s face it, teens today would not like to see their heroes in tights, heels and bulbous shorts. And the girls, oye, the female costumes look like prom night on meth. For today’s proms, they’re perfect, but the time period is 1558 with ten layers of clothes and twenty pounds of beads and lace.

Mary Queen of Scots had her ups and downs in history but the real action didn’t start for her until she returned to Scotland after the death of King Francis II, who was probably a foot shorter, sickly and had a speech impediment. He kicked it a year and a half after they married, he fifteen and Mary seventeen at the time. And it was never established if their marriage had been consummated. It was said they liked each other well enough, according to Dad, King Henry II, who had ulterior motives, doncha know. And talk about strangling the facts, pious Francis murdered his father on the jousting field? It boggles the mind that puny Francis donned armor and lanced his father to death. Shame, shame, oh ye purveyors of nonsensical history.

On the positive side, I liked the performances. It takes talent and discipline to walk the fine edge of teen angst and soap opera scenery-chewing. Veteran, Megan Follows, is always a pleasure to watch. She infuses Queen Catherine with a vague, sly humor and this tempers the evil of the woman’s scary-cunning political maneuvers.

Now if the creators of this project wanted to make a twisted tale out of the Valois court, they should’ve written about Francis’s youngest brother, who later became king, the charming—and I must say decidedly prickish—Alexandre Edouard, Henri III. Now we’re talking the dark side of the force. This guy had no problem murdering family members, one of which was the Duke de Guise, Mary’s uncle. Henri Three also massacred Protestants after instigating political unrest, fled Paris like a coward and then later plotted to wage war on the city. Oh but the list goes on and on. One bit of accuracy in Reign is that it shows the real power broker, Mom, Queen Catherine de Medici. She ran the show behind the curtains and continued to do so during the tenures of all of her sons.

So why am I whining and ranting? There’s nothing wrong with fiddling with historical fact when it’s being made obvious that is the case. Heath Ledger in A Knight’s Tale was acceptable because the entire movie was tongue-in-cheek. It didn’t make itself out to be anything but a fun story set in the medieval time period, but Reign has warped the entire time period. My hope is that students will become interested enough to look up the truth, especially since our schools aren’t teaching it longer.

And so ends my rant. In a nutshell, if you don’t care about history and just want to see youngsters in costume playing at court intrigues, you’ll like this production. For a more precise rendition of the period, watch Helen Mirren in Elizabeth I.

As Monty Python was wont to say, and now for something completely different. Critique partner and writing buddy, Judith Post, writing as Judi Lynn, has a cover release for her upcoming digital work from Kensington, Cooking Up Trouble, scheduled to come out next year. Take a look-see:

http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2015/11/27/pump-up-your-book-presents-cooking-up-trouble-cover-reveal/

M.L Rigdon (aka Julia Donner)

Follow on Twitter @RigdonML

Website http://www.MLRigdon.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Julia-Donner

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Blogs I Follow

  • The Bump and Grind of Daily Life
  • Entertaining Stories
  • Hollywood Genes
  • Hannes van Eeden
  • LIVING THE DREAM
  • Sharing
  • Happiness Between Tails by da-AL
  • Edge of Humanity Magazine
  • BRAINCHILD
  • Dr. Eric Perry’s Blog
  • Bombay Ficus
  • Harmony Books & Films, LLC
  • Facets of a Muse
  • Myths of the Mirror
  • Ailish Sinclair
  • Book 'Em, Jan O
  • The Godly Chic Diaries
  • Staci Troilo
  • The Observation Post
  • From the Pen of Mae Clair

Archives

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

http://writingmusings.com/

  • The Bump and Grind of Daily Life
  • Entertaining Stories
  • Hollywood Genes
  • Hannes van Eeden
  • LIVING THE DREAM
  • Sharing
  • Happiness Between Tails by da-AL
  • Edge of Humanity Magazine
  • BRAINCHILD
  • Dr. Eric Perry’s Blog
  • Bombay Ficus
  • Harmony Books & Films, LLC
  • Facets of a Muse
  • Myths of the Mirror
  • Ailish Sinclair
  • Book 'Em, Jan O
  • The Godly Chic Diaries
  • Staci Troilo
  • The Observation Post
  • From the Pen of Mae Clair

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

The Bump and Grind of Daily Life

Thoughts courtesy of Dee's brain.

Entertaining Stories

Just a fiction writer, trying to reach the world.

Hollywood Genes

🌸 Zoe K Blogs about Old Hollywood and Genealogy 🌸

Hannes van Eeden

LIVING THE DREAM

FOR A NEW TOMORROW

Sharing

Happiness Between Tails by da-AL

Writing/Tales + Tails + Culture + Compassion

Edge of Humanity Magazine

An Independent Non-Discriminatory Platform With No Religious, Political, Financial, or Social Affiliations

BRAINCHILD

gehadsjourney.wordpress.com

Dr. Eric Perry’s Blog

Motivate | Inspire | Uplift

Bombay Ficus

Running, Writing, Real Life Experiences & Relatable Content.

Harmony Books & Films, LLC

Tired of being ordinary, then here are some tips for becoming extraordinary.

Facets of a Muse

Examining the guiding genius of writers everywhere

Myths of the Mirror

Life is make believe, fantasy given form

Ailish Sinclair

Stories and photos from Scotland

Book 'Em, Jan O

Ghosts, Tall Tales & Witty Haiku!

The Godly Chic Diaries

BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

Staci Troilo

Character-Driven Fiction/Pulse-Pounding Plots

The Observation Post

mistermuse, half-poet and half-wit

From the Pen of Mae Clair

Mystery and Suspense, Folklore and Legends

The Bump and Grind of Daily Life

Thoughts courtesy of Dee's brain.

Entertaining Stories

Just a fiction writer, trying to reach the world.

Hollywood Genes

🌸 Zoe K Blogs about Old Hollywood and Genealogy 🌸

Hannes van Eeden

LIVING THE DREAM

FOR A NEW TOMORROW

Sharing

Happiness Between Tails by da-AL

Writing/Tales + Tails + Culture + Compassion

Edge of Humanity Magazine

An Independent Non-Discriminatory Platform With No Religious, Political, Financial, or Social Affiliations

BRAINCHILD

gehadsjourney.wordpress.com

Dr. Eric Perry’s Blog

Motivate | Inspire | Uplift

Bombay Ficus

Running, Writing, Real Life Experiences & Relatable Content.

Harmony Books & Films, LLC

Tired of being ordinary, then here are some tips for becoming extraordinary.

Facets of a Muse

Examining the guiding genius of writers everywhere

Myths of the Mirror

Life is make believe, fantasy given form

Ailish Sinclair

Stories and photos from Scotland

Book 'Em, Jan O

Ghosts, Tall Tales & Witty Haiku!

The Godly Chic Diaries

BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

Staci Troilo

Character-Driven Fiction/Pulse-Pounding Plots

The Observation Post

mistermuse, half-poet and half-wit

From the Pen of Mae Clair

Mystery and Suspense, Folklore and Legends

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • historyfanforever
    • Join 134 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • historyfanforever
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: