From the Ask Matt column in TV Guide online:
Question: A repeat of
Law & Order: Criminal Intent dominated the
Alias finale in the ratings for Sunday, May 4. I happened to catch that show (I was taping
Alias so I could watch it later without commercials), and I'm stunned by how indescribably awful it was. It was literally unbelievable — I could not believe what I was watching and that so many people watch it regularly. It was predictable, embarrassing and completely unrealistic, as the hammy Vincent D'Onofrio tricked this doctor into admitting he had committed a crime. I always thought of these shows (amazingly, I had never watched one before) as some respectable alternative to the story-based programming that I prefer (
Buffy,
24,
Sopranos). The episode that I watched was like some poor
Matlock clone — it's actually upsetting to know that so many people watched this (not just a terrible episode, but a rerun of it, no less) instead of the amazing last hour of
Alias, in which J. J. Abrams ended the season with an unprecedented (as far as I know) and incredible wrinkle to his show. I'm sure you're discussing the ramifications in response to other e-mails, so I'll get to my question: Honestly, Matt, don't you think that ultimately, even if people are idiots and can't follow the week-to-week plot,
Alias is still more enjoyable than those ridiculous ripped-from-the-headlines
Law & Order/CSI shows? — Matt P.
Matt: I'm not sure I would lump
CSI into this discussion — the scientific procedural aspects of that show are fascinating to me — but I couldn't agree more about your dismay and confusion over
CI commanding such a large audience. To me, it's much the worst of all the
Law & Order series, with hammy theatrics and predictable payoffs. (Despite its often gamy subject matter,
SVU is my current favorite of the
Law & Order shows. At least it sometimes shakes up the formula a bit, and isn't afraid to let emotions show.) A colleague of mine also watched CI that night instead of Alias, and was similarly appalled. But the point to keep in mind here is that not everyone wants to watch TV that promises to tantalize, confuse, frustrate and thrill you. Formula TV is so successful because it's familiar, self-contained and safe. This isn't always a bad thing, mind you — although in the case of
CI (though clearly many millions disagree), I truly believe that it is.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yeah, too bad they're keeping it there, but it's dominating there, so why not? (But they moved SVU, which was similarly dominating Fridays). I don't understand it either, and the critics apparently agree. Let's just try to recruit as many people as we can to our way of thinking
evil grin
. . .
