Television Tuesdays (1)

My sudden venture back into some old TV shows via DVD has left me wanting to share my feelings over certain series’ so Vintage Tuesdays is going to take a backseat for a while and make way for a new weekly feature.



This week is going to be none other than my current flashback Veronica Mars – a show cancelled well before it’s time (if you ask me).

I fell in love with this show as soon as I first saw an episode and quickly spent my money on the seasons (all three of them) as they came out on DVD. In fact, I’m pretty sure that season one was the first television series that I had ever bought. This was also the season that I watched over and over again when my mum and I moved into a new house and we didn’t have to television set up yet. I fell asleep and procrastinated doing homework while watching Veronica solve cases on a portable DVD player.

I think it was my inner Harriet the Spy that attracted me to this show. As each episode unfolded week after week, I was completely caught up in who murdered Lilly Kane and every episode-based case. Plus there was the lack-of romance between Veronica and Duncan which always had you questioning what went wrong between the two of them. Oh, and there’s Logan Echolls... yum. But, come on, a show about a teenage private investigator? How can you not want to watch?

Seasons one and two both focused on a season-long mystery that was solved during the last episode where season three had two mysteries that encompassed half a season each. Thrown into the mix were PI cases that took the entire episode to solve (thereabouts) with a few episodes that were more two-parters. Personally, I’m more of a fan of the first two seasons just because the intrigue built up over 20-some episodes and by the time the final episode came with the climax and resolution you were just about ripping out your hair. Several of my friends were felled during exam time by this show for that reason alone.

Veronica as a character is a girl who you just can’t help but want to be friends with. Set aside the fact that you wouldn’t want to be on her bad side, she’s the smart, sarcastic, and sassy girl that you would want to be but would settle on hanging out with. While watching the show, you want to make Veronica and Wallace’s dynamic (platonic) duo into a trio and help solve crimes. But she’s also such a broken character that you can’t help but feel for her and want to see her succeed where others had failed.

I think that the writing in this show is phenomenal. Set aside the genius for writing mysteries, there are all these classic one-liners and quippy little moments that make you laugh. Plus, the characters are so well developed – a must for the depths of the mysteries – but acting can only take a character so far and the writing foundations must have been great.

Another thing that was great about this show was that it was completely parent appropriate; my dad and I would sit and watch marathons on the weekend when I had a few episodes to catch up on. And, when I got the DVDs, we would watch an entire season at a time. I think that he was only able to stomach it because Veronica’s father was a focus for several of the story lines as was the father-daughter relationship between him and Veronica.

This is one of those shows that I’m able to watch over and over. In fact, I just recently re-watched season three and was devastated when I found out that one of the DVDs was ruined and would no longer play. Sadly, I’m going to have to find a replacement season somewhere inexpensive or try and see if I can exchange it somewhere for a new one.

My only complaint about this show is the wig that they used on Veronica in the season one flashback scenes. It was truly heinous.

So, if you haven’t yet experienced the amazingness of Veronica Mars, you should totally go out and try to find copies to watch. Beg, borrow (but don’t steal) your way to watching this. I promise you that you won’t be disappointed if you give it a chance. Trust me. As crazy as I am about my books, I tend to know a lot more about movies and television shows. And that’s saying something.

Oh, and as a bonus for this show, the soundtrack and the music used in the show is amazing.