Members Ann_SS Posted October 23, 2012 Members Share Posted October 23, 2012 What about the madam and her powerful political johns last season? This season: The senator who had sex on his desk? The wife of the Reverend? All these people have money, power, and privilege which helped them afford and/or get access Olivia's services. The whole thing is unsavory and unappealing. However, I get that this procedural element is part of the show, but I wish it would be toned down a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kapricorn Posted October 23, 2012 Members Share Posted October 23, 2012 "How much of a coward was I to marry her and not wait for you." I loved that line too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wales2004 Posted October 23, 2012 Members Share Posted October 23, 2012 True they have the money but there is more of a human element there for me. Take the service guy they helped and the widow of the pilot. Don't forget the judicial candidate who was oblivious to his wife's past s an ex-hooker was also helped by that madam scandal, as unsavory as it was. I didn't think of the reverend's wife as rich until the mistress demanded all that cash which made her look more like a gold digger than the wife looked like some rich woman trying to protect her image. The wife was sympathetic and ultimately sacrificed to save her husband's reputation. She could have easily said let the woman speak and gone into hiding with whatever millions she had coming to her. I agree with you on some of the cases and disagree on some and I see why the scandal of the week seems unnecessary. Fixing is the essence of Olivia's character though. It would be like having a medical drama where there are no patients every week because the focus is strictly on the medical staff's personal lives. It reminds viewers that Olivia does have a job to do and she can't put her job on hold to tend to her personal business. It all has to fit in somehow. That's soo fangurl worthy like "you complete me." it would be cool to have a list of lines like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ann_SS Posted October 23, 2012 Members Share Posted October 23, 2012 IMO, the problem is that the kind of procedural cases that Olivia handles, the scandals of the rich and famous, is simple not appealing to a wider audience which why one of the reasons that the show has been unable to build its audience and is in danger of cancellation. Yes, you can find the human element in some of the cases, but overall I find myself rolling my eyes at them unless they have a direct connection to Olivia's personal situation like the one with the Reverend's mistress. What police/CSI/medical dramas all have in common is that the good guys win or people are helped/saved. As much as Shonda tries and keeps on repeating it, it is very hard to buy Olivia as a "white hat/good guy" when she is dabbling in cynical politics [ETA] and cleaning up crime scenes.The West Wing was one of the few successful political dramas on broadcast tv and it was full of idealistic main characters trying to do right by the country. Frankly, I think that Scandal straddles too many genres; political drama, serial drama, weekly procedural. I actually think that Scandal would do well on cable where it would find a niche audience like Suits on USA or Sons of Anarchy or Justified on FX. On these shows, the audience accepts that the lead characters are not necessarily good or bad, they are just doing their thing. Scandal could get a solid demo, while it struggles on ABC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wales2004 Posted October 23, 2012 Members Share Posted October 23, 2012 Right, I don't get the constant drilling of the wearing of the white hat because she's not saving your average citizens in any type of noble gesture. She's generally keeping sleazy characters out of potentially damaging scandals and as such cannot come across as some charitable soul. It's kind of hard to see the flip side where protecting these secrets indirectly benefits decent people. I think the nature of the show does not lend itself to drawing a large audience. As you've pointed out, these aren't the kinds of problems people relate to and that's the kind of job Olivia happens to have. Theoretically, it may sound interesting or fascinating--especially if she's fixing scandals of celebrities, but in practice it's not beyond possibly knowing what the scandal being covered up is. You're right. This is a better show for a station like TNT. They would also have the freedom to be more realistic with the dialogue and certain scenes. I never gave the whole grey leading character any thought, but you've got a point. I love Raylan Givens for no apparent reason and Margo Martindale was all kinds of awesome as Mags Bennett. Neal McDonough made Quarles super creepy and was effective but last's season's villains can't come close to the power of Mags. And way off the wall but Boris Kodjoe's "Undercover" show was perfect for USA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ann_SS Posted October 23, 2012 Members Share Posted October 23, 2012 I absolutely love Justified which has the best writing on tv, imo. I adore Raylan and Boyd who are amazingly well written and acted characters. Mags and Quarles were awesome villains along with Arlo and Dewey Crow. Perhaps if ABC passes on Scandal, it would consider selling it to FX or AMC. I think these are the cable networks that I think would fit a more realistically written Scandal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wales2004 Posted October 24, 2012 Members Share Posted October 24, 2012 Boyd hasn't grown on me at all. I guess I could see FX but I don't see it as an AMC fit. I'd go with the whole TNT they know drama station which seems more of a fit than AMC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ann_SS Posted October 24, 2012 Members Share Posted October 24, 2012 I don't see Scandal on TNT which has "dramas" where the lead are "good" characters. Leverage is the closest thing and it is helping people through a con. TNT and USA are both peppy quirky cable networks. In contrast, AMC has Breaking Bad, Hell on Wheels, The Walking Dead, and Mad Men. All these shows have conflicted amoral ambivalent lead characters so Scandal would fit. Same with FX which has gritty dramas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wales2004 Posted October 24, 2012 Members Share Posted October 24, 2012 I was thinking more like "Southland" where the characters are shades of grey and not all "good." USA is definitely all peppy and colorful although the "Suits" characters are shades of grey no matter how they pass off the means justifying the end. I've never gotten into "Burn Notice" so I don't know if they're a bit shady. I don't think Holly Hunter's Grace ("Saving Grace") was all "good" though her intentions may have been. And "Hawthorne" was one of those breaking the rules for the right reasons character, although in the last season she was a complete mess as was the show. She actually became quite contemptible which is unusual for the heroine of a show but I don't think she was all that likable from the beginning. Michael Vartan's character made her tolerable but then she basically ripped him apart to manufacture drama with Marc Anthony's character and basically wrecked the show because if it. And I never watched "The Closer" but those promos made her seem like a law bender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gladiator in flip flops Posted October 24, 2012 Members Share Posted October 24, 2012 "Why didn't I meet you sooner? What kind of coward was I to marry her and not wait for you to show up?" Ooooh you guys. This is my favorite line this year. My favorite. It's too bad that this show is not a HUGE hit or it would go down in history. Someone said that to me, I would just melt. It is so romantic in an understating way. Who says this and doesn't mean it. Ah, I just love that line. I agree, "Scandal" should have been on AMC. It would have done much better. And they could have shown much more sexy scenes, that's for sure. Don't know if Shonda has some sort of contract with the primetime network. ~Milo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ann_SS Posted October 24, 2012 Members Share Posted October 24, 2012 I forgot about Southland, but despite the hype about it, its ratings have been poor compared to other TNT dramas. The Closer was a great show. There are ethical questions about Brenda Leigh's actions at times, but she never broke the law and there was never any doubt that she was the ultimate white hat. Scandal has a difficult premise to sell to an audience so maybe there is no ideal cable network. Regardless, Scandal's demo and overall ratings have not grown this season so I do not see it getting more than the 13 episodes much less another season on ABC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wales2004 Posted October 24, 2012 Members Share Posted October 24, 2012 I'm thinking that the character of Olivia is a major hurdle. She's not accessible and whatever I've learned about her is by way of interaction with other characters which leads to a lot of fill in the blanks. The biggest assumptions about are made based on her relationship with Fitz. There needs to be moments where her guard comes completely down and who she is and how she feels comes directly from her own mouth as in "I feel this way..." That's usually achieved with a friend or confidant which she lacks. Average viewers may need that sort of connection to become invested in a show and I don't think this show offers that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gladiator in flip flops Posted October 24, 2012 Members Share Posted October 24, 2012 I am just keeping my fingers cross that we get to watch 13 episodes cause things don't look good and I am not holding my breath. The cast is so good at communicating with the fans. You can tell they are trying to do everything to keep the show going. And they are most greatful. I wish back in the day, I would have been able to do that when I actually used to love to watch a lot of tv. Now there aren't too many shows that interest me. ~Milo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wales2004 Posted October 24, 2012 Members Share Posted October 24, 2012 My reaction will probably be "oh well." I can't remember ever caring that a show was cancelled or ended. I have cared a couple of times that someone was leaving a soap which meant the end of a couple I liked but that was momentary. Hopefully their followers are all respectful and sane. The telenovela adaptation I watched ended on the 5th and a group of fans are basically using twitter to constantly plead with some of the stars and others related to the show for a second season. One wants everyone to tweet Nick Cannon since he told kids to find something they're passionate about and they're passionate about the show and getting another season. I'm pretty sure his intent was to encourage teems to help others not to fight to encourage him to get a show but they claim not to be able to live or ever be happy again without it. Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marceline Posted October 24, 2012 Members Share Posted October 24, 2012 Because two episodes ago he said... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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