T.V. vs. TV on DVD [Numb3rs and Kingdom Hospital]

Ever since I was a younger child, to quote Gary Granada, I haven’t really gotten into watching TV. Of course I gave my share of mindless devotion to some cartoons but I remember preferring the evening strolls with my pinsan [cousin] discussing everything and anything under the … er, moon. However, I must say that TV on DVD is an altogether different matter. Man, talk about addiction (more like affliction). Although I find it frustrating when the shows I like seem to be the ones getting axed, i.e., Carnivale, Millennium and Whedon’s Firefly (down with Fox Network!); I find these reason enough to sit in front of the boob tube and spend hours, and I mean hours, watching TV shows. To me, it makes more sense to watch shows in this compiled format rather than wait for it every week. I can’t imagine how one can follow Jack Bauer’s odyssey in this way; I know I can’t. I’m not sure whether that makes me the kid who gulps down that marshmallow once handed to him or the smart one (EQ-wise) who waits for the second marshmallow.

Anyway, recently I’ve become fascinated with the series Numb3rs and Kingdom Hospital. Denise got them and I’ve been hooked. Numb3rs is about two brothers, the older sibling (Don Eppes played by Rob Morrow, Northern Exposure) is an FBI agent and the younger one’s a brilliant mathematician (Charlie Eppes played by David Krumholtz, who was also in Serenity). They end up working together with Charlie helping his big bro solve cases using math (everyday, everyday). A bit of a stretch there, yes, but I’m not a math genius so I’m not complaining. Ignoring perhaps the supposed inconsistencies in the math (which, for the life of me, I wouldn’t even realize were there); I like the way the characters are developed and their relationship to each other. Larry Fleinhardt’s (Peter MacNicol of Ally McBeal) lines are the best – giving vivid color and meaning to the more or less drab and monotonous numbers spewed by the younger Eppes. Oh, and of course, the music is great. Here’s a somewhat nasty initial review by New York Mag and little bit more information about the show than you need here.

Kingdom Hospital is the product of the creative geniuses of Lars Von Trier (Dancer in the Dark) and Stephen King (Dream Catcher and a slew of other creepy things leaking from his macabre mind), need I say more. The vision of Lars (his novel was the basis for the show) was fleshed out by the imagination of Stephen King (who handled the teleplay, ably assisted by Richard Dooling) and effectively realized by director Craig R. Baxley. Kingdom Hospital gives the same creative satisfaction Carnivale gave me with a bit of hypochondriac high and a twinge of horror just to see me blink from its magical realism beauty. I particularly liked the episode featuring a “fibbing” lawyer, suffering a justifiably appropriate coronary, and later on a poetically just death. The humor is more pronounced since the episode was penned by writer/lawyer Richard Dooling. Hey, what can I say, I’m a lawyer who likes quips against lawyers. Call it self-flagellation. Oh, and the music of course is again excellent. Each episode is introduced by the ethereal melody of Ivy, with story lines weaved by apt mood music with some blues and jazz courtesy of the resident Mr. Kool, Dr. Hook (I kid you not, that’s his name; capably portrayed by Andrew MacCarthy). But don’t take my word for it, read more here. More links here, here and here.