Weekly Writing Challenge – 7 October

We are trying to grow a bit in the Weekly Writing Challenge this week. I chose to make a Top Ten list. My subject is the ten television shows I am tuned in to now.

Number Ten: Person of Interest I came to favor Michael Emerson as the complex villain with the overarching plan on Lost. Now he plays a reclusive billionaire who is responsible for a machine that sifts through untold terabytes of computer data to identify those who are likely to commit or be the victim of crimes. James Caviezel is his ex-special forces operator who goes around the streets of New York saving the identified “innocents” along with Taraji Henderson and new addition Sarah Shahi, who ditched her dresses and heels from Fairly Legal to be a hard core gun-toting chick who gives the team more punch.

Number Nine:Grey’s Anatomy This is one show I will watch with my wife. The characters are so familiar and the antics combined with the medical drama has shades of Saint Elsewhere, E.R. and Chicago Hope. The ensemble cast has everything you can want as they try to continue their careers while finding their way through romances with each other.

Number Eight:The Mentalist Perhaps I am just too far removed from the whole arena of serial killer based television shows, but the Red John story arc from the Mentalist is certainly intriguing. This season CBS promises to resolve this long running theme. Simon Baker is still charming as the maddening yet brilliant mentally superior crime solver working with a California Bureau of Investigation team. I have to wonder if the show will lose it’s edge when this seminal villain is unmasked.

Number Seven: Scandal Political intrigue has always been one of my favorite themes. With the passing of Vince Flynn and Tom Clancy the sources of this are dwindling. From the creator if Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice we have an answer for this shortage. The president is determined to weather the storm when he dumps the First Lady for his lover and the government that surrounds him schemes to make the most of the opportunity.

Number Six: NCIS Los Angeles The only spin off this far from the juggernaut NCIS is a different turn, but still quite enjoyable. LL Cool J and Chris O-Donnell make a superb pairing as the lead agents in a Los Angeles based naval crime investigation team. Linda Hunt is powerful as the diminutive yet oh so dangerous Hetty Lange. Daniella Ruah brings the girl power while Eric Christian Olsen’s cheeky humor fits his character’s personality perfectly.

Number Five: Hostages The President of the United States is in the crosshairs in the new CBS show. A plot to eliminate the leader of the free world is a new  idea for a television show. Drawing on a serial idea, this show promises a neat fifteen episodes to resolve it’s premise. Veteran dramatic actor Dylan McDermott headlines a cast of lesser known actors that will surely carve out a place through this tense and well written suspense show.

Number Four: Bones Fox has a long running hit that pairs a Forensic Anthropologist with a former Army Ranger sniper turned F.B.I. agent to solve murders.  Combined with their great supporting cast with great comedic timing and writing, this show delivers both drama and comedy in one neat package. Solving crimes is the draw for me as with many of the shows on my list.

Number Three: The Black List This is a new show and a radically new concept, something television sorely needs. James Spader is one of the top ten most wanted criminals on the FBI’s Top Ten list. He comes in on his own with an offer: he will help them capture the worst of the worst, which are his fellow criminals. The catch: he demands to work with a rookie profiler named Elizabeth Keen. Elizabeth quickly realizes there is something deeper to his desire to work only with her.

Number Two: Hawaii Five-O Cops in Hawaii, with a former Navy Seal in charge. While I certainly enjoy the show and the sometimes comic banter between Alex O-Laughlin’s McGarrett and Scott Caan’s Danny Williams, I notice there is way too many plots that involve hostages. I think the writers could explore other story lines to strengthen this show. I like the four characters that make up the Five-O team. I found Daniel Dea Kim when I watched Lost. Grace Park is new, but totally believable as a hard hitting rookie to the group.

Number One: NCIS Still going strong entering the eleventh season, this show combines some of my favorite drama pieces. The government, crime solving and some well placed humor. Mark Harmon came on my radar when he starred with the ensemble cast on Saint Elsewhere. While the others in the cast were somewhat lesser known when they began with this show, they are worldwide names now. This show gives no impression of slowing down, even with changes to the cast.

Check out the other responses to this week’s challenge:

1. Closing Walls and Ticking Clocks | Inception
2. They Called Me! | Passionate Dreaming
3. My fiction story begins like this… | THE BE BUILT BLOG
4. Wrestling the Dragon: The Meaning and Purpose of the Lunar Nodes | Beyond the stars astrology
5. Archive of Comments | Arlen Shahverdyan. Author’s Blog
6. Boat Punk Mash-Up | The Life NomadikThe Life Nomadik
7. Weekly Challenge: Stretching out of comfort zones | Winding Road
8. Streaming | FUNNY…PECULIAR
9. Hanging by a sliver… | The Indecisive Eejit
10. #DearCongress – A Special Edition of What-They-Said-Wednesday | Mommy in Bonlee
11. Weekly Photo Challenge: Good morning! | Marcia Clarke–La Chica Writes
12. Creative Nonfiction: The Mitten Monster | apprentice, never master
13. Weekly Writing Challenge: LIKE A BLAST FROM THE PAST, LIKE A METAPHOR, SIMILE OR LIKE, Y’KNOW … | SERENDIPITY
14. I’ll never get a Nobel Prize! | Neva Samaki
15. Losing a parent | A mom’s blog
16. The Insane World of Completely Different! | alienorajt
17. Blast from the Past: From Weekly Writing Challenge to Painting a Red Bicycle | littlegirlstory
18. Mission Memories | Manresa, Maine
19. The Dusty Bottom of My Heart | True Stories
20. IF LANDSCAPES COULD TALK BACK TO ARTISTS | Standing Ovation, Seated
21. Blast from the Past: Weekly Writing Challenge: An Ode to Chilli Con Carne | Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss
22. Weekly Writing Challenge: Blast From The Past | imaginations
23. Dear College, What Do I Miss About You? | America’s Finest Tiger
24. Weekly Writing Challenge – 7 October | Joe’s Musings
25. A Fit Of Poetic Folly | Fish Of Gold
26. The Fourth | Heartyblue
27. ardiansyahfredi
28. Hollywood Goes Wild | HOLLYWOOD HUSKY
29. The Journey of You | My OCD Diaries
30. Coffee Chronicles | scribbles in the chocolate box
31. An Open Letter to Myself | Stuphblog
32. nope, i lost it; it’s gone | wannabepoet
33. Tripping | Girlie Groove
34. The Definitive List | The Magic Black Book
35. Haftalık Foto Mücadelesi: Günaydın! | 06cedmuho
36. BLAST FROM THE PAST -The Best Medicine | SERENDIPITY
37. My Grandmother: a Stranger in a Strange Land | Life with Tess
38. 10 Thoughts From A Dehydrating Turtle | A’A IN PARADISE
39. Top 10 Gushiness | ~ronaleer~
40. An Open Letter to a Bully | Front Porches and Candlelight
41. Shipping carton | tjbarkerseattle