Sunday Night Lament - Too much to watch!

[Meryl]

Once in awhile, it seems the networks have a meeting and decide to schedule everything I want to see on the same night.  Anyone else have this feeling?  Here's the lineup tonight:

7:00    Dateline: "Going for the Gold" (2-hour special interviewing Golden Globe nominees) on NBC

8:00    The Amazing Race on CBS

           Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Pilot episode) on Fox

9:00     Masterpiece Theater: Jane Austen's "Persuasion" (First episode) on PBS

           The Golden Globes on NBC

            "Comanche Moon" (First of 3-part Western written by McMurtry/Ossana) on CBS


Since I don't have the technical setup to watch and record, I'll have to do a lot of channel flipping!  On the plus side, maybe I'll finally be motivated to figure out how to download and watch stuff on my computer. 

[Meryl]

Well, I watched the first hour of GG interviews (okay), then flipped back and forth between "Amazing Race" (yay, the obnoxious Jen and her long-suffering boyfriend got eliminated)  and "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" (really good!  Tomorrow there's another episode at 9:00, which I recommend to any "Terminator" fans).

Ended up sticking with "Persuasion," which was very good, though not quite as good as the version with Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root that came out a few years ago.  This version was shorter, I think.  I did very much like the look of it, though.  Everybody looked like they really made their clothes and styled their own hair--there wasn't that Hollywood sheen to everything.

What I saw of "Comanche Moon" looked pretty standard, but a cut above some of the Western sagas I've seen.  Not as good as the original "Lonesome Dove" by a longshot, but it was nice to see Karl Urban in a good role.  Guess who played Steve Zahn's girlfriend?  Our own Cassie, Linda Cardellini.  I kept expecting her to say "I don't get you, Ennis del Mar" any second.  Oddest thing was Val Kilmer being kept prisoner by some Indians in a cage hanging over a cliff, and he sang Papageno's aria from "Magic Flute" in German and Guglielmo's aria from "Cosi fan tutte" in Italian to keep himself entertained.  That's certainly the last thing I expected to see in a Western!  Part II ( of 3, I think) is on Tuesday night.

[David]

I try to watch shows like the Amazing Race over the others because they will rerun the others at a later date.    The Amazing Race never gets replayed.   

[Jeff Wrangler]

What I saw of "Comanche Moon" looked pretty standard, but a cut above some of the Western sagas I've seen.  Not as good as the original "Lonesome Dove" by a longshot, but it was nice to see Karl Urban in a good role.  Guess who played Steve Zahn's girlfriend?  Our own Cassie, Linda Cardellini.  I kept expecting her to say "I don't get you, Ennis del Mar" any second.  Oddest thing was Val Kilmer being kept prisoner by some Indians in a cage hanging over a cliff, and he sang Papageno's aria from "Magic Flute" in German and Guglielmo's aria from "Cosi fan tutte" in Italian to keep himself entertained.  That's certainly the last thing I expected to see in a Western!  Part II ( of 3, I think) is on Tuesday night.

It was kind of amusing to see Cassie Cartwright in a hoopskirt. 

Part II will be broadcast Tuesday.

Edit to add a couple more things after doing some research at IMDb:

Not being a LOTR fan, I wasn't really familiar with Karl Urban, whom I'm liking as Woodrow Call. I was laugh-out-loud surprised to learn from IMDb that he had appeared as Julius Ceasar in both Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. I remember him as Ceasar--I remember the haircut! 

Elizabeth Banks (Maggie) is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Spoiler Comment:

This is the kind of historical fiction that makes me want to research more of the history. The notion of Comanches attacking the state capital of Texas as late as 1858 sounds a bit far-fetched to me. I'd like to know if that really happened. I couldn't find anything in my own library at home to prove or disprove it.

[Meryl]

I try to watch shows like the Amazing Race over the others because they will rerun the others at a later date.    The Amazing Race never gets replayed. 

Exactly, David.  We might see some of the players turn up in later racing groups, but these episodes just don't play well as repeats.  Maybe they will appear on cable at some point, though.

[Meryl]

Not being a LOTR fan, I wasn't really familiar with Karl Urban, whom I'm liking as Woodrow Call. I was laugh-out-loud surprised to learn from IMDb that he had appeared as Julius Ceasar in both Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. I remember him as Ceasar--I remember the haircut! 

Elizabeth Banks (Maggie) is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Spoiler Comment:

This is the kind of historical fiction that makes me want to research more of the history. The notion of Comanches attacking the state capital of Texas as late as 1858 sounds a bit far-fetched to me. I'd like to know if that really happened. I couldn't find anything in my own library at home to prove or disprove it.

Yes, I went through that "where have I seen that guy" thing when I saw him in LOTR and was LOL that he'd been in the Xena series.  I think he may have even played Cupid in a couple of episodes. 

One good role he's had since LOTR is as the villain in the second Jason Bourne movie.  He played a bad Russian agent. 

I'm glad you saw the "Comanche Moon," too.  I have only the vaguest idea of the story line.  Let me know if your research turns up anything helpful. 

[Jeff Wrangler]

Re: Karl Urban

Yes, I went through that "where have I seen that guy" thing when I saw him in LOTR and was LOL that he'd been in the Xena series.  I think he may have even played Cupid in a couple of episodes.  

Yes, he did. Those appearances are included in his listing at IMDb.

[Front-Ranger]

Any comments about the windup of Commache Moon? I missed 90% of it due to teenage shenanigans in my household.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Any comments about the windup of Commache Moon? I missed 90% of it due to teenage shenanigans in my household.

Final installment airs tonight (Wednesday). I'm enjoying it. At one point last night I more than half expected Linda Cardelini to say to Steve Zahn, "I just don't get you, Gus McCrae." 

Thanks to our Texas history researcher extraordinaire moremojo, it appears that the Comanche raid on Austin is a figment of Larry McMurtry's imagination.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Final installment airs tonight (Wednesday).

Spoiler (except the series is over):

I was watching Wednesday night and thinking I could see something Woodrow Call had in common with Ennis. Call could probably have had more happiness in his life if he had brought himself to marry Maggie Tilton, but he didn't. 

[Lumière]

I didn't know Persuasion started playing on Masterpiece theatre already. 

I have been eyeing the DVD on Amazon for a while now.  I think it was released 2 days ago or so.
I think I'm gonna pick-up a copy of it.

[Meryl]

I didn't know Persuasion started playing on Masterpiece theatre already. 

I have been eyeing the DVD on Amazon for a while now.  I think it was released 2 days ago or so.
I think I'm gonna pick-up a copy of it.

I hope you like it, Milli.  A Brit friend of mine has seen the new "Sense and Sensibility" and quite liked it, saying it was much like the Ang Lee movie.  She liked all the actors, except, being a big Alan Rickman fan, she missed him in the role of the Colonel.

I was watching Wednesday night and thinking I could see something Woodrow Call had in common with Ennis. Call could probably have had more happiness in his life if he had brought himself to marry Maggie Tilton, but he didn't. 

I know; I wonder what he was so afraid of. 

My main complaint about "Comanche Moon" was that it seemed to meander a lot to little purpose.   I was surprised to find out the same director did both "Lonesome Dove," which I loved, and this one.   As a kind of slice of life of Western life in that period, it was nice, but it lacked dramatic tension.  What were they trying to say---that life's a bitch and then you die?  I mean, neither love relationship worked out, Maggie died and Newt was left alone, Blue Duck never got caught and he even killed his pa, poor Pearl got raped and her husband killed himself---not the most cheering of sagas.  If it had more emotional resonance, it would have been more satisfying.

[Jeff Wrangler]

My main complaint about "Comanche Moon" was that it seemed to meander a lot to little purpose.   I was surprised to find out the same director did both "Lonesome Dove," which I loved, and this one.   As a kind of slice of life of Western life in that period, it was nice, but it lacked dramatic tension.  What were they trying to say---that life's a bitch and then you die?  I mean, neither love relationship worked out, Maggie died and Newt was left alone, Blue Duck never got caught and he even killed his pa, poor Pearl got raped and her husband killed himself---not the most cheering of sagas.  If it had more emotional resonance, it would have been more satisfying.

Indeed. And Clara finally gave up on Gus just because Mrs. Scull made a fool out of him? (I have to admit I liked it when Gus slugged Mrs. Scull.  )  And as for poor Maggie, I wanted to slug Woodrow. If his reason for not marrying her was his being a loner, I don't think we saw enough to establish that. Otherwise it was like he got the milk for free all those years, so he wouldn't buy the cow? And they had (have) parrots and jaguars in northern Mexico? And what was the significance of the title? I wonder if the book has anything to say about it?

I did like Karl Urban and Steve Zahn, though.

[belbbmfan]

I hope you like it, Milli.  A Brit friend of mine has seen the new "Sense and Sensibility" and quite liked it, saying it was much like the Ang Lee movie.  She liked all the actors, except, being a big Alan Rickman fan, she missed him in the role of the Colonel.

Oh, definitely! We've seen the mini series too. It was good, but I prefered the movie. The Colonel Brandon in the mini series was good, but Alan Rickman was so much better.

[Meryl]

And they had (have) parrots and jaguars in northern Mexico? And what was the significance of the title? I wonder if the book has anything to say about it?

I did like Karl Urban and Steve Zahn, though.

I was LOL when that parrot came out and attacked that guy!  Reminded me of the ferocious killer bunny in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  And the jaguar was only slightly less hilarious.  I didn't see the first episode, so didn't hear about the prophecy or whatever, but that was another example of the director being out to lunch, I think. 

I agree that Karl and Steve, and our own Cassie, were redeeming features. 

[Ellemeno]

Comanche Moon has Gus and Woodrow in it?  How does it fit in with the Lonesome Dove stories?

[Kelda]

I hope you'll be watching TAR tonight Meryl!!

[Meryl]

I hope you'll be watching TAR tonight Meryl!!

I certainly will be, Kelda!   Now, if only the dratted football game cooperates and doesn't make it go past 9:00!  I'd like to see the beginning of the next Jane Austen feature on PBS: "Northanger Abbey".  At least two conflicting shows is better than four or five, though. 

[Jeff Wrangler]

Comanche Moon has Gus and Woodrow in it?  How does it fit in with the Lonesome Dove stories?

Comanche Moon is/was a prequel to Lonesome Dove (which I've never seen, BTW). It tells about Gus and Woodrow's lives in the period 1858--1865, although there is kind of a jump in there from maybe about 1859 to 1865.

Apparently they stayed home from the Civil War to fight the Indians.