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Reviews
Fat Actress (2005)
Kirstie too sexy for the show's premise
OK, I'm a fan. I wasn't around for "Cheers" the first time around - but am loving it now. And I absolutely think she was brilliant in "Veronica's Closet". And she was probably one of the best things in those infamous exploitative movies LWT which aren't exactly my cup of tea... So I had high expectations. I think it's impossible to judge a show by its pilot, but some things scream half-achievement already: 1) Kirstie is not *that* fat. I wouldn't say in my country there are many women her age who wouldn't consider themselves average-sized. And by that they mean Kirstie-sized only with the fat not so evenly spread out. Kirstie *is* sexy at the very start of this show. If she's supposed to get thinner and hence succeed/return to major stardom - what kind of message is the real Kirstie (which after all has creative control over what goes on presumably) trying to pass along? 2) She *is* too sexy. Not just for Afro-American men. I'm not one, but I felt kind of insulted... 3) John Travolta as himself commenting on Kirstie's size. That's the pot calling the kettle...never mind, because then Travolta's real-life wife gives some advice to Kirstie which was presumably intended as comic but again I found offensive. I'm not bulimic. I am, however a binge-eater, not proudly, though.
Best things about the show: Kirstie, the scenes in the network's executives' office, Kirstie nicely cast duo of support, and despite what I've said before - the sex scene, and its consequences for the network (if any are really to materialize)
6.5/10.0 with possibilities of progress
Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (2004)
Mildly interesting remake with Great Thespians
I loved Geraldine McEwan's performances over the years. Superb in a classic such as 'Mapp and Lucia' and even very much above average and underused in one certain Kenneth B.'s Shakespeare adaptation... Here she is just wasted. I may be biased. For me Joan Hickson *is* the Miss Marple for my generation (I'm 20-something). And my parents'. Margaret Rutherford played Miss Marple with her very own quirky departs from canon. It was still better than this. Production values are never an issue. They are excellent. And the script follows the book far more closely than dozens of others adaptations from Agatha Christie's work. And Geraldine(Dame Geraldine by now, surely) & Derek (Sir, ditto) manage to sparkle. Perhaps it's enough for what was basically 20th century pop-culture. 1930s, actually. But it leaves me longing for Joan Hickson, June Withfield(on BBC Radio 4) and that seems to render this new adaptation needless. Or perhaps just premature.
Still... 7/10
Will & Grace (1998)
Bland-funny to Hilarious (thus far)
By 'thus far' I mean the first four seasons that have aired on Portuguese television (we're up to the 3rd one on network TV and about to start the 5th on cable).
First of all I think the show is aptly named. Eric's Will is flawlessly unlucky in love, somewhat repressed (uptight?) devoted to friends and played with impeccable comic timing, yes! Debra's Grace also displays that timing. Plus the power of physical comedy and head in the clouds. enough to carry her through her many dips into the pool of lone. Megan's Karen is obnoxiously uncaring, uncompromisingly dead-on socialite fag-hag pill-popping boozy bigot and I love her (mostly). Sean's Jack(hehe...) is perhaps too much of a drama queen, dancing queen, every kind ofqueen - but he plays a stereotype perfectly if at times irritatingly so. Shelley's Rosario is a comedy gem and I hope they've been keeping her busier in the seasons I have yet to watch. Her scenes with Megan are the most achingly-delightful-funny in the show. The multitude of big name guest stars is great fun - but they are under-used... (well, except for Debbie Reynolds!) It's only a bit sad that a show with such a premise makes a nun out of Will and a slut out of Grace (and Jack). But as someone else already wrote here, maybe this is not designed to battle homophobia in the red(neck) states - just to make us laugh, in which case it has mostly succeeded (thus far).