web
counter
 

*Shrug*

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under TV Reviews | Comments (55)



425.ncis.odonnell.llcoolj.lc.090809.jpg

The best that I can say for “NCIS: Los Angeles,” is that, if every decent television show on television were suddenly yanked from the schedule, and this was the best show remaining on television, I’d probably watch it occasionally. It’s like the chubby guy at last call — somebody will fuck him, but only at her place. It’s not worth a walk of shame the next morning.

Indeed, like the show it is spun off of, and the star of this one, Chris O’Donnell, “NCIS: Los Angeles” is bland and inoffensive, but it’s pretty, with all the personality of a marmoset, and the flavor of a menthol ultra light — slightly minty, but no buzz. In short, “NCIS: Los Angeles” is butterscotch candy. If you’re bored, and it’s sitting in a candy dish in front of you, you might take one. But it’s not anything you’d seek out.

Given the show’s conceit — that it revolves around special agents who investigate crimes involving the Navy and Marines — the setup in Los Angeles is both mystifying and pointless; Los Angeles is the entertainment capitol of the world, yet so few entertainment figures have ties to the armed services. Why, then, is set it in Los Angeles? Camp Pendleton is the closest Marine base to LA, and it’s a two-hour drive? I guess “NCIS: Laguan Niguel” didn’t have much of a ring to it.

Chris O’Donnell plays Callen; he’s, like, enigmatic and stuff. When the show picks up, Callen is just returning from medical leave after getting shot up. He doesn’t have a permanent address; he can’t seem to stay in one job; and, apparently, he doesn’t remember all of his own past (for instance, he doesn’t know what his own first name is). He’s so undercover that he doesn’t even know himself. Callen’s partner is Sam Hanna (LL Cool J), who is all gleaming white teeth and no personality — LL is something of the straight man here, which is a waste of the little charisma he has. In the first episode, the two are called in to investigate the murder of a Naval Intelligence Officer, which is connected to the kidnapping of a young girl. It plays out as routinely as you’d expect from a CBS procedural that’s not “The Unit.”

All the cliched, nondescript procedural characters are here, too — there’s a geeky Anthony Rapp looking tech geek; a blandly attractive female forensics officer; the rookie with something to prove; and the staff shrink who wants an excuse to carry a gun. Also, Linda Hunt — that creepy old lady you may be familiar with from every hour-long drama to air over the last 20 years. She’s a great actress, although she gives me the heebies.

The only real connection between this show and its predecessor, besides a backdoor arc in last season’s “NCIS,” that I haven’t seen, is Rocky Carroll, who serves as the director of both units, though he only shows up via satellite here in “NCIS: LA.” It’s similar in tone, too: A fairly likable, but forgettable police procedural, great for watching on your kitchen television while you’re making dinner. But then again, if you have a TV in your kitchen, you might want to question your television watching habits.









Sixth Sense, The Review | DVD Releases 09/29/09













Comments

NOMORENOMORENOMORE!

Enough with the friggin' crime scene dramas!
No more CSI.
No more CSI-Miami.
No more CSI-New York.
No more NCIS.
No more NCIS-Los Angeles.

Jesus, people! While we're at it, can we cut down on some of the goddam Law & Order action as well? Every other day is another goddam marathon. A Monk marathon, a Law & Order (insert something-something-unit here) marathon, a The Closer marathon, a House marathon, another CSI/NCIS marathon, etc... Holy shit, shows that haven't even been on the air more than two years have friggin' marathons! Remember when it was neat to be excited for the show? When you'd wait all week to see the new goods? Nowadays, I've had the frigin' shows crammed so far down my friggin' gullet, I don't even want to see the new ones. Hospital drama? Check. Another hospital drama? Sure. How about a cop drama? Well, why the fuck not? And how about we have a friggin' all-weekend marathon of them sammitched between back-to-back-toback showings of LOTR and Spiderman? That'd be goddam A W E S O M E ! And how about we run the same exact programming again the very next day just in case you tried to asphyxiate yourself the first go-round?

I hate television more than I hate Albinos. And that's saying something.

Posted by: Skitz at September 29, 2009 5:18 PM

If they go back ten or so years, then NCIS: The O-C might have worked. There used to be a Marine air station (El Toro) near Irvine -- you remember, the one Will Smith flies from Independence Day to attack the giant saucer that subsequently wastes LA with a slo-mo fireball which, miraculously, does not burn doors.

The airbase is now closed, and is home to an RV park and a stew of toxic chemicals slowly leaching into the ground water, but while it lived it did have its fifteen minutes.

Posted by: Neodiogenes at September 29, 2009 5:21 PM

WHO THE HELL WATCHES THIIS!!!!!???

I don't know of any actual people who watch NCIS!

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at September 29, 2009 5:32 PM

I decided just to do a quick list of medical shows and then cop/detective/FBI shows.

ABC:
Castle
Private Practice
Scrubs
FlashForward
The Forgotten
Grey's Anatomy

NBC:
Law & Order
Law & Order: CI
Law & Order: SVU
Trauma
Mercy

CBS:
Cold Case
Criminal Minds
CSI
CSI: Miami
CSI: New York
NCIS
NCIS: Los Angeles
Flashpoint
Numb3rs

FOX:
24
Bones
Fringe
House

FX:
nip/tuck

USA:
White Collar
Monk
Psych
In Plain Sight
Royal Pains

HONORABLE MENTION:
The Mentalist & Lie to Me

So yeah, I'm sure there's more, I didn't feel like looking.

Posted by: DeistBrawler at September 29, 2009 5:48 PM

"“NCIS: Los Angeles” is butterscotch candy. If you’re bored, and it’s sitting in a candy dish in front of you, you might take one. But it’s not anything you’d seek out."

Hey, there are more CIS shows on the air than there are of us. Don't get all touchy.

Posted by: Butterscotch Candy #0012472714, at September 29, 2009 5:54 PM

I saw my first episode of NCIS last week when I was in Berlin on business and they were showing a dubbed version late at night while my jetlagged brain kept me up. Two things:

1. Mark Harmon is equally sexy when he is dubbed in German
2. NCIS is so transparent in plot that one can actually follow the whole thing and predict who did it even if one does not speak German.

Posted by: PaddyDog at September 29, 2009 6:07 PM

Deistbrawler:

If you came up with the list off the top of your head, may I suggest that you put the computer down, back out of your basement slowly, allow your eyes a few minutes to become accustomed to day light, and start seeking out a life.

Posted by: PaddyDog at September 29, 2009 6:10 PM

I hate a lot of TV, but NCIS:Original Flavor isn't terrible watchin'. The characters are interesting, and like the above poster reference, Mark Harmon is teh sexy. My love for the show could totally spin from a long term desire to lick Mr. Harmon in his tingly places, so take my rec with a grain of salt. Naughty thoughts aside, if I'm looking for something entertaining I don't have to think too hard about to enjoy, I could do a lot worse than NCIS. It's also the only show I can share with my mom, who otherwise only watches nurse shows and Wheel of Fortune.

Posted by: chamalla at September 29, 2009 6:28 PM

This reminds me that in Germany, they have a detective show called "Tatort".

Immensely popular since its inception, they film different versions of it for different regions of the country (and even 1 in Austria I think). So in total, right now there are like 15 simultaneous, different versions of the show, each with different actors, settings, but the same basic plot/stories.

We ain't seen nothin' yet in terms of what's possible with B-grade police procedurals...

Posted by: Jacktrade at September 29, 2009 6:28 PM

Maybe this type of show is over exposed, I’ll probably watch it just because of the eye candy.

Posted by: Nancy at September 29, 2009 6:35 PM

"Shrug" sums up the original NCIS, too. I can't believe it stayed on the air so long -- it's so boring, even though some of the cases they work on sound pretty interesting. How can a show about interesting stuff be boring? I don't know. (I feel the same way about L&O: Criminal Intent, too...)

Glech.

Posted by: ka like a wind at September 29, 2009 6:37 PM

"The Mentalist" totally belongs on that list, but I would protest "Scrubs" and "Psych", which are comedies more than procedurals. "Flash Forward" is hopefully more sci-fi/drama. "the forgotten" will probably be cancelled within five eps. You forgot "The Closer".

Posted by: Three-nineteen at September 29, 2009 6:37 PM

Well, Chris O’Donnell, I guess this is what you get for doing those shitty Batman and Robin movies....

Actually? This kinda sounds like a perfect storm of Shitty.
LL Cool J? Linda Hunt? Come on! It's worth at least one watch.
That is, until your eyes start bleeding from your ass and you actually become a self inflicted crime scene.

Posted by: Odnon at September 29, 2009 6:58 PM

Sorry, my bad.

TNT:
The Closer
Saving Grace
HawthoRNe
ER
Without a Trace
Dark Blue

Posted by: DeistBrawler at September 29, 2009 6:59 PM

I could have sworn Chris O'Donnell had been shot down during an ATF raid on a meth den in Nebraska.

Are you sure this is him?

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at September 29, 2009 7:27 PM

BSlim i keep on happening across fans of NCIS, they appear to be normal people and then they drop this predilection (sic) for navy based detecting...

They quickly turn very boring and turn their noses up when i point out that its just KnightBoat for the CSI crowd.

Sense of humour these people do not have, wet suits and sea creature knowledge they do.

Posted by: jim of the lower case at September 29, 2009 7:52 PM

Odd. Would "NCIS:San Diego" have been too much of a stretch? Biggest Naval installation on the west coast, the Mexican border within spitting distance, plenty of drama, and a city that already has experience hosting film and television productions.

The first NCIS made sense because it was near Norfolk, VA- the biggest naval installation on the east coast. I'm just saying, you want go to LA every once and a while fine, but if your job is to investigate crime involving Navy and Marine personnel, it would help to be where they are.

Posted by: bleujayone at September 30, 2009 12:38 AM

@ PaddyDog

NCIS is also exceptionally well dubbed, so the banter between the characters (the only reason to watch the show) comes across equally well.

NCIS LA is just boring. Linda Hunt was much better on her stint on Without a Trace.

Posted by: FabMax at September 30, 2009 9:56 AM

NCIS Los Angeles, not to bad, however the awful music overrides the dialogue so bad you can't tell what people are saying.

Posted by: Kathy at October 6, 2009 9:50 PM

Amen. The music is just plain awful. So is the directing. The episode where Abby appears was shot so poorly, couldn't see the lab. The whole POV thing did not work.

I'd jettison most of the secondary characters, move the show to San Diego, bring in a boss, and start from scratch.

Posted by: Bo at October 21, 2009 10:44 AM

I'd jettison most of the secondary characters, move the show to San Diego, bring in a boss, and start from scratch.

That might work. That should be done as part of the show. The LA group fucks up badly, and Vance comes out to kick ass and take names. Some people get fired and transferred. The unit is moved to the Naval base in San Diego, perhaps overlooking the SEAL BUD/S training facility. DeNozzo from NCIS takes over temporarily as team leader, until they get somebody else competent.

Posted by: JN at October 22, 2009 1:46 AM

I just saw the pilot episode as rerun. Really just awful. The tiny woman had to pick out clothes for Odonnel because apparently orphans don't know how to dress themselves. The characters are ridiculous and the crime fighting budget is outrageous. If I believed there were some genuine government agency dedicated to making cops look like models with ultra sleek tech toys, I'd have to crash a townhall meeting.

Posted by: Forest at October 27, 2009 10:38 PM

I am pleased to post my comment on this blog .I love your blog by the way, I am going to must add you to my list of watched blogs.

Posted by: Watch Greys Anatomy at December 10, 2009 3:27 PM

Television is a major source of entertainment for household these days. This mode of enjoyment has become an integral part of our lives.

Posted by: Timothy Andrews at December 18, 2009 4:32 PM

I love to see more of this tips of yours. My eyes are delighted to read and share your posts as well. Saved and bookmarked this one.

Posted by: Undereye Bags at February 8, 2010 10:58 PM

Hi! I was just wondering is the post appearing for anyone else? Half of it is missing from my screen, it's etting me kinf of worried. Help?

Posted by: Caridad Griglen at February 14, 2010 6:49 PM

Ho..That's right,got it

Posted by: Farrah at May 23, 2010 7:19 AM

Thank you for a great post

Posted by: CNA Training at July 15, 2010 1:24 PM

Ha, can't say you're wrong. Just need to get my head around this.

Posted by: table magician at July 15, 2010 8:14 PM

I saw Inception last night, I went into the film having only seen about 2 trailers and being told from word of mouth that the movie was amazing. I've never went to go see a movie twice in the movie theater but this movie will definitely be an exception.

Posted by: Julianne Desanty at July 22, 2010 8:45 AM

What's the difference between a car and a golf ball? Tiger can drive a ball 400 yards.

Posted by: Golf Equipment at September 10, 2010 1:04 AM

Great point, I'd like to subscribe, but I can't find the RSS button, what gives?

Posted by: SEO richmond va at September 12, 2010 5:29 PM

Hi there! I'm steff. I love to write and in fact i have a column in our newsletter in the office. I'm an extraordinary person because i can see things that will just happen specially if it's a full moon.

Posted by: Interior design at September 16, 2010 2:12 AM

I agree with your sentiment yet theres a few things I would have featured in there .

Posted by: frontierville at October 4, 2010 9:04 AM

Hola unbelievable pictures, thanks for the work. I'm a company teacher in West Virginia and have passed the article to my colleagues.

Posted by: Used Golf Clubs at October 6, 2010 4:12 AM

AAAHHH Milkshake, i miss that show. I was born in England and have been back a few times. When i went last year with my kids they got up every morning to watch the show. Sorry side tracked from the welcome conversation, so welcome to you.

Posted by: Interior design at October 22, 2010 11:13 PM

If you've ever experienced thinning hair, you know it's inconvenient and embarrassing, particularly when you're younger. However, it doesn't get any much less convenient as you age. Several shave their heads, but most would desire to at least have the option of a complete head of hair.

Posted by: female hair loss remedy at October 31, 2010 7:06 PM

The initial NCIS manufactured sense since it was close to Norfolk, VA- the most significant naval installation on the east coast. I'm just saying, you want go to LA every single when and a although great, but if your position is to examine crime involving Navy and Marine personnel, it would assist to be exactly where they are.

Posted by: baseball gloves at November 3, 2010 12:04 AM

What does this near-constant search manipulation mean for ethical web designers and web design companies?

Posted by: Joshua Zayac at November 15, 2010 11:58 PM

That is an interesting outlook you took. When I glance at the title, I instantaneously had a disagreement of opinion, but I do grasp your side.

Posted by: dkny bangle watch at November 20, 2010 4:18 PM

Hola! Me ha gustado mucho este artículo, opino igual que vos!, la primera ves que entro a este blog, esta muy bueno, me gusta mucho el diseño! Un Saludo

Posted by: Warez at December 3, 2010 2:51 PM

Remarkable Write! When i had been merely wondering that there's such a lot of faulty advise about this niche also, you certainly impacted my own viewpoint. Thanks for an excellent write.

Posted by: Non-IM Riches Bonus at December 15, 2010 1:17 PM

I am not truly definite if best methods cover emerged about stuff like that, but I am confident that your great work is clearly identified. I was questioning if you offer several registration toward your RSS feeds since I would be very interested.

Posted by: samsung lcd tvs at January 2, 2011 2:52 PM

I have always been interested in Navy SEALs and although I couldn't enlist, I bought myself a cool Navy SEAL watch. Girls pay much more attention to me now. =)
Concerning the topic, I should say that I couldn't agree more. You have just confirmed the guesses I had.

Posted by: Navy SEAL Watches at January 10, 2011 8:08 AM

Yes, I agree with the above poster although I suppose you need to put the matter into context of wht is actually being asked for here

Posted by: Burton Haynes at January 25, 2011 2:25 AM

Totally agree

Posted by: Burton Haynes at January 25, 2011 2:26 AM

Yes, I agree with the above poster although I suppose you need to put the matter into context of wht is actually being asked for here

Posted by: Luigi Fulk at January 28, 2011 3:46 AM

Now that i found this site, i wiil seek no more for info in this matter.

Posted by: KATHLEEN at January 30, 2011 1:06 AM

extensive book you admit

Posted by: Dan Latchaw at February 2, 2011 3:20 AM

Castillo de Nottingham es un castillo de Nottingham, Inglaterra.

Posted by: Luigi Fulk at February 6, 2011 5:14 PM

I just thought I would leave a comment to let you how much of a nice read this actually was.

Posted by: justin bieber songs at February 18, 2011 6:05 PM

Wow this really hit the spot know I know everything that i needed to know thank you now I can go and do things my own way

Posted by: Harley Rombs at February 25, 2011 7:59 PM

Hey! Just wanted to say how much enjoyed reading this.

Posted by: swine flu symptoms at March 3, 2011 7:48 PM

Some really howling work on behalf of the owner of this website , perfectly great articles .your link on my blog here http://www.conveyancingquotes.info/?page_id=9 ,

Posted by: Conveyancing Solicitors London at March 16, 2011 7:46 AM

I knew I had been correct. My friend and I placed a bet about which web site was superior. I thought your webpage was much better produced, but she believed this post on trendy style suggestions was much better. We rounded up 5 family memebers who had not seen possibly website prior to to read them each more than. Majority chose your internet site. Many thanks for maintaing an excellent website.

Posted by: fashion at March 16, 2011 11:54 AM


















Viral Hits

>> Pajiba Movie Posters

>> Pop Culture's 20 Greatest Dancing GIFs

>> Mindhole Blowers

>> The 100 Greatest Insults of All Time

>> The "Other" 100 Greatest Movie Quotes

>> The 100 Greatest Movie Threats of All Time

>> The Sean Bean Death Reel

>> Chicks Dig Beards: It's Science

>> The Coolest TV Show Title Sequences

>> The Most Rewatchable Movies

>> The Most Expensive Movies of All Time