Derpicus

Leverage is a show I personally have enjoyed, but this season seems to focus a little too much on the plot of each episode rather than what made it good in the first place. The entertaining, light-hearted Robin Hood routine seems to have been taken over by mediocrity in this season. That's not to say it's bad, but it's certainly lost a lot of what made Leverage a good watch. To add to it, there seems to be a little too much effort put into the "character relationships" part that plague many other drama shows. At its heart, though, it's still Leverage- a show that's more entertaining than it is deeply intriguing, which keeps it afloat. The question is, how long before the ship sinks into sub-par entertainment?

If you like a show with wholesome family values, good clean fun, and a mature law-themed show, then Franklin & Bash is not for you. Franklin & Bash is a simple show about two lawyers who use their antics to win their (admittedly contrived) court cases, with plenty of humor along the way. One thing to keep in mind about Franklin & Bash though, is that if you don't like humor obviously directed at young adult males, you probably won't like it very much. The plots and character development take a backseat to the various bits of immature (in a good way) comedy- which is a very fine line to tread, but Franklin & Bash keeps its balance as it unicycles across that line of depth and humor. Surprisingly, for a show that airs on a station whose motto is "We know drama", it certainly isn't very dramatic. And believe me, that's a good thing. The character depth and plot still exists, but isn't the star of the show in any sense. It's all fairly well balanced, allowing for a very fun, enjoyable time through each episode. As pointed out earlier however, the court cases can be a little too contrived at times. They're certainly not meant to be taken seriously, but there's still that sense of "Oh, come on, that would never work" if you think it over. Lucky for Franklin & Bash, you usually have to look past the humor and charm of the show to actually think it over. Another good aspect of Franklin & Bash is that you can re-watch some of the episodes, and catch humorous bits that you may not have caught before- making each episode worth re-watching; a rarity in many TV shows. Ultimately, Franklin & Bash is a show that stars immature, college-level humor, with a supporting cast of charming characters, well placed development, and unusually charming dialogue. It's not the best show ever made, but it's definitely worth the watch if you want a relaxing change from the usual, overly dramatic law shows.

Falling Skies is a prime example of a show trying to do something amazing but falling short of it. To summarize, Falling Skies revolves around a human resistance against invading aliens. Which sounds like it'd be great fun, but unfortunately, it isn't. Getting right down to it, Falling Skies has very sub-par writing. It's B-movie material that's unfortunately given to a great cast of actors- it's basically what you'd expect out of a rough draft from a 15 year old's "epic" movie idea. The "romance" bits are shoehorned in, along with all the other bits of cliche "character bonding" moments. It can't be all bad though, right? Even generic, B-level action movies can still be well liked, if only because of the overly gratuitous action. But it lacks that campy charm from, say, Starship Troopers. The action takes the backseat to the many conversation scenes that take place in the human shelter, which unnecessarily drags the show on and on. When the action finally happens, it's very slow and predictable. To top it off, it all comes across as serious- at least with a B-movie, you know it's a B-movie. However, Falling Skies tries to act like Spielberg's other alien-themed production, War of the Worlds- without any of the feeling of a constant threat, terrifying invaders, or even a somewhat realistic sense of human survival. All of the good things you'd expect from Falling Skies just don't come true. All in all, Falling Skies is a show that's a great idea that pretty much completely fails to deliver.