Look - I have only seen one episode. It was good. Very very good. This means nothing. The rest of it could suck. A lot.
Written: Jan 16 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Sexy People, Sexy Plots, Sexy American Teen Culture
Cons: Has anyone ever seen that really rubbish TV series Alex Mack (or something like that) in which a girl with super powers is being hunted by the people whose goo made her unique? I mean - it's not that original a premise is it?
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| Barbelith's Full Review: Roswell |
Confession One: Tom's Obsession With American Teen Culture
Let's start at the beginning. I am 27. I have a degree and did three years of postgrad work in the Classics before I decided it wasn't for me. I work as a journalist. I have had things published. I am generally an intelligent insightful person.
I have a weakness - American Teen Culture. Frankly I can't get enough of it. And neither can many people of my age. There is this TV slot in the UK on Channel Four - Sunday morning TV 9am-2pm ish, which has recently become completely dominated by repeats of programs like Dawson's Creek. And why? Because all the club-going twenty-somethings like nothing more than obsessing about Buffy and Angel when coming down from their low-grade-recreational-clubbing-drugs.
And who can blame us? More entertaining original television is made ostensibly about teenagers than any other age group (at the moment). Decent TV for teenagers *has* to be relatively fresh - and some of the gems that have emerged from what appears to be nothing more than genre fiction in the last few years have surely proven that.
Confession Two: Sexy People Make Good Television
Now let's get something straight. Roswell is a TV program about teenagers at High School in America. As such it is merely the latest of many TV programs about teenagers at High School in America.
Interesting note about these "teenagers" - the actors are almost without except all at least 5-10 years older than the characters they play. Case in point - "Max Evans" from Roswell. The actor who plays him is actually only a year younger than me - he was born in 1973. This is a relief frankly, because Jason Behr is pretty hot, and I don't want to get myself a reputation.
But it only goes to prove what I have always said. Whether you want to accept it or not, Sexy People Make Good Television. There's no point riling about the fact that these people are completely fake and create impossible standards of beauty, because much as I agree with the desire to critique Celebrity Culture, most TV is about FANTASY - just like most literature and theatre. Hence why do we get the impression that Cathy and Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights, duh) were basically pretty hot stuff?
Confession Three: I've Only Seen One Episode
In the UK you can only see Roswell (here called Roswell High) on Cable. And if you have cable you can only have seen one episode - because only one episode has been aired at the time I go to print (?). So I am not really in a very good position to comment on the series as a whole. However, I have seen a lot of shows start off appallingly and grow into interesting and challenging (trash) television. Stargate is a pretty good example. Roswell hooked me right from the beginning. I thought the first episode was interesting, sexy and fun.
The premise is pretty simple. Many moons ago a spaceship crashed in Roswell. Something emerged from it, and the Government hushed it up. Several years later some pods splat out three babies (where these pods were has yet to be made clear) who grow into three rather pretty young schoolkids with special powers (Christ this sounds lame).
One PARTICULARLY pretty (actually 26 year old) teenager sees a girl he's in love with get shot, uses his special silver handprint powers to cure her, which arouses her suspicions (previously she only wanted to nail him) along with those of the local obsessive cop. Cue drama.
So, to summarise, it's "The New Adventures of the Young Superman Family", only cooler.
Confession Four: I show no remorse
From what I have seen, this is an ongoing TV series which DESPITE its hackneyed premise STILL has enough going for it to make it worth regular viewing.
So even if you are 27, too educated for your own good, and with a certain reputation to maintain, give up all your pretensions and DO NOT RESIST. For the sexy aliens are out there!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Barbelith
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Member: Tom Coates
Location: London
Reviews written: 38
Trusted by: 128 members
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