I seem to be the only Veronica Mars virgin here atCliqueClack. How embarrassing during Veronica Mars Week! I can’t explain the oversight or what I was doing when the show aired, but honestly, I don’t think I even ever saw a commercial for it. Maybe the fact that it was on the CW and at times I didn’t even know which channel on my remote that channel was? I don’t have anything against teenage girls or private investigators. And after having loved Alias and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I would say I’m probably the target audience for Veronica Mars.
Tonight, my husband and I watched the pilot for the first time. I can see the show’s appeal, but I don’t think it’s quite hooked me. I have a theory about the appeal though: This show is the John Hughes movie of TV shows. It has a lot of the same elements of both Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful. The lead character is from the wrong side of the tracks or has somehow fallen from grace. The lead character makes a misfit friend who helps them (PiP, SKoW, VM). There are really mean, popular boys who have confrontations with the lead woman (all three) (because they are secretly in love with her (all three) — and I don’t know if Jason Dohring’s character is or isn’t, but I’d be willing to bet he is; however, they will be only friends for a really long time after their initial nastiness fades because of some plot point) and are generally one-dimensional and absurdly rich (all three).
There are also tough guy bikers who scare everyone else but are staunchly loyal to the heroine (VM, SKoW). The heroine’s mother is absent, and the heroine takes care of her father (all three). So, it’s not hard to see why Veronica Mars developed such a large following — it had all the right elements from the pilot episode. I don’t know, though, that without the buzz I’d want to watch another episode. I really like Jason Dohring, loved him on Moonlight, but I didn’t like him in the pilot. It had nothing to do with his character either — he must have come into his own as an actor… later. However, Kristin Bell is smart, funny, and not too pretty. In the absence of Alias and Buffy, she would have been a very welcome alternative.
That made me wonder: What is the equivalent show now? Do we have one? Or do we make do with shows like The Closer and In Plain Sight that contain some of the more general characteristics (strong female protagonist, solving crime, daddy-daughter issues)?
Clacked by Jen Creer
on Dec 17, 2010 @ 12:00 EST5EDT
Yes, you’re nuts! :-) I can definitely see how’d you’d get this impression from the pilot, but the characters evolved into so much more than what first meets the eye. No one is a stereotype.
Veronica Mars was a Dvd summer for me a few years ago. I watched a lot of tv and had never seen such sharply drawn, unique characters. The writing was just whip smart and clever. And it did not pull punches – there were rapes, murders, alcoholism and spunky girl detectives. Smart – we will not see its like again.
Jen,
I wasn’t actually on the bandwagon until the middle of the first season. I actually heard all of the buzz, but hadn’t given it a shot until the show as about 10 episodes in. Someone had them on tape (cough cough), and I was able to sit down and watch all of them. I sat there with your reaction through the first four or five episodes, but at some point, and I don’t even know when, I was hooked, and didn’t realize it.
Oh, and it started on UPN, which may or may have been worse :P
Well, I agree with you on a lot of accounts. First thing I agree with, there were rarely any commercials! I didn’t watch VM until my brother convinced me during Season 3 when he had Season 1 & 2 on dvd for me to watch. The pilot was good, but as the season progressed, the show became phenomenal! Jason Dohrig was NOT a good guy in the first episode, but he was supposed to be a jerk. Watch it, and I think you’ll love it! Also, I see a lot of the John Hughes similarities, and since I love John Hughes, maybe that’s why I loved VM.
thanks I watched a lot of tv and had never seen such sharply drawn, unique characters.
I agree with you on a lot of accounts