Cinemablography@gmail.com
Cinemablography
  • Home
  • About
  • Journal
    • Existentialism in Film >
      • The Existential Philosophy of Melancholia
      • The Philosophy of Camus in The Dead Don't Die
      • The Existentialist Subtext of Dear Evan Hansen
      • An Existentialist Reading of "The Turin Horse"
    • A Woman's Perspective: Gender, and Identity in the Romanian New Wave
    • Film Theory Issue 1
    • Film Theory Issue 2
    • Science Fiction
    • Science Fiction Issue 2
    • Pan's Labyrinth
    • Kathryn Bigelow >
      • Opening Scene
      • Supermarket Scene
      • Round Table Discussion
  • Blog
  • Articles by Category
  • Contributors
  • Videographic Essays
  • Our Work
    • Links

Forever:  Rich Primetime Supernatural Drama? Or Tried and True Daytime Romantic Mystery?

10/12/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
by
Billy Martel
 


               


Television certainly has come a long way, hasn’t it?  From being seen as a threat to the film world when it was introduced in the 30’s television has evolved into a unique media that is home to many different forms of storytelling, the most popular today being the serialized story format.  Dramas like Breaking Bad (2008 - 2013, Gilligan) and Sons of Anarchy (2008 - 2014, Sutter) are created with the idea that the story will end.  Each episode will advance the over-arching plot of the series and lead inexorably to the finale where a (hopefully) satisfying resolution to the story will be offered.  Dramas, Police Procedurals, and even sitcoms have begun to take on this format of storytelling. 


In the face of this, Forever (2014, Miller) seems to be several years too late, a series from a bygone era where all you needed for a show to be successful was a quirky bunch of entertaining characters with decent chemistry solving mysteries with an extra twist thrown in to make it stand out from the other shows with the same formula.  After all it worked for Magnum PI, Quantum Leap, Dukes of Hazzard, and many others, why not here?  And that’s the thing.  It does work.  It works well.  I’m not sure what I was expecting tuning into this program, but I was surprised at just how charming and, I hate to say it, quaint it was. 

Of course what I just said also describes some other very popular shows of more recent years such as Psych (2006 - 2014, Franks), Monk (2002 - 2009, Breckman), or Criminal Minds (2005 - present).  But those shows set themselves apart in ways other than relying on the charisma of the leads and the quirkiness of the premise.  They took risks, they pushed the envelope, they got messy.  Psych pushed boundaries with its fourth wall breaking humor.  Monk combined humor and pathos by introducing us to a truly disturbed main character.  Criminal Minds has kept audiences hooked with a combination of fascinating psychological profiles of serial killers, and Intriguing story arcs on par with more serialized shows.  From what I've seen, Forever plays its premise very safe.


A brief, the plot is that Dr. Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd) is immortal.  He has been alive for 200 years, appearing to be exactly the same in physical appearance as the night he was first killed.  Every time he dies from a mortal wound or disease, he wakes up in water, naked and alive.  Since his last death, he has been working as a medical examiner for the local police department, surrounded by a kooky supporting cast and armed with his keen deductive skills.  Now up until that last sentence my summary conveys a lot of intrigue, almost like Life on Mars (2006 - 2007, Graham, Jordan, and Pharoah) or Once Upon a Time (2011 - present, Kitsis, and Horowitz).  There is a mystery to solve.  A supernatural or science fiction element is introduced.  Elements of Steampunk, shades of Tuck Everlasting (1975, Babbitt), and potential for great story arcs and themes in the future.  But then the last sentence gives the show a much safer, much more "tried and true" feel. 

Too be honest, I really enjoyed the show.  This is a show where you don’t have to feel intimidated coming into the series on a random episode.  No extensive backstory is needed when the protagonist is a likable, handsome guy, who gets through the day by just being charming and being able to run faster than the crook.  It is fun, interesting and really non-threatening to children, parents, and most importantly the network, which would be fine, if this was the 80’s.  Unfortunately these days most people don't watch TV casually anymore.  most obsess over our favorite shows, binge watching them to catch up on storylines before a newest episode.  TV shows are no longer savored, they are devoured like a banquet set before a starving man.  Even the advertisers know it.  The commercials for Sean Bean’s new show Legends (2014, Gordon, Nachmanoff, and Bomback) claimed outright that the show would become “your new obsession.”  In an atmosphere like this, I find it hard to believe that a show that seems, like its protagonist, to be out of its own time will survive. 


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    February 2023
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.