On Feb 24, 8:37=A0am, Bobcat <bob_c...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> On Feb 24, 8:11=A0am, Bobcat <bob_c...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Everyone likes lists, including MENSA members. Jim Werdell the
> > chairman of the brainy group has picked what he considers the ten
> > smartest TV shows of all-time. I have some serious arguments with his
> > choices and his numbering. I mean, Frasier listing as eighth? I would
> > have given it first place, and House second. But Mad About You and not
> > Seinfeld anywhere in the list? I'm certain you other Frasierites have
> > your own candid =A0comments and I'd love to hear them. Here are
> > Werdell's choices.
>
> > 1. M*A*S*H
> > 2. Cosmos
> > 3. CSI
> > 4. House
> > 5. The West Wing
> > 6. Boston Legal
> > 7. All in the Family
> > 8. Frasier
> > 9. Mad About You
> > 10. Jeopardy!
>
> After I posted that, I've reconsidered my comments in it. I regret to
> admit to my fellow loyal Frasierites that after watching an
> outstanding 2-part "House" on DVD from the second season last night,
> and other (to me) amazing episodes over its four year run, I'll have
> to reverse my order. Kelsey, DHP, John and the others are splendid,
> and so are "Frasier"s scripts and production. But with the superb Hugh
> Laurie as the cranky doctor, the gifted sup****ting cast, and the
> program's sensitive and clever p[roducers and writers, I'll have to
> make it "House" #1 and Frasier #2. Sorry, gang.
I find there's a greater range in writing for "FRASIER". "HOUSE" too
often has been formulaic [the team deals with yet another freak,
difficult-to-diagnose ER patient, while sorting out yet another
intramural squabble of some kind], much more so than "FRASIER" ever
was. I'd say one of the high points in "FRASIER" was the February
sweeps back in 1998 when they presented *three* bedroom farces ("The
Maris Counsellor", "Room Service" and "The Ski Lodge"), and each was
very different. In fact, only "The Ski Lodge" was out-and-out farce.
OTOH, I've been saying to people lately that "HOUSE" easily has the
best overall cast since "FRASIER". There are even some minor
parallels --- both shows include a British-born actor playing an often
grouchy American who walks with a cane!
The current season of "HOUSE", though has been more interesting, in
part due to the competition to hire new people, though the
interruption due to the writers' strike means we still don't have a
handle on the entire season yet.
I'd even suggest that David Shore's old Canadian series, "Traders",
was quite competitive up against "HOUSE" --- again a superb cast
(Bruce Grey had come a long way since "Strange Paradise" thirty years
earlier) and an impressive range of stories and arcs. I don't think
it was ever seen in the US, at least not widely, so it wouldn't have
been a candidate for the MENSA list.
Charles
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