I am suddenly retrospectively sad

[eruthros]

So, when The Sentinel did a prison episode, they sent Jim Ellison undercover as a prisoner and Blair Sandburg undercover as the thoughtful, caring prison English teacher.

Or they did an episode involving carjackings in which Blair Sandburg is the young gruff truck driver and Jim Ellison is his educated partner who just has to come along as part of the team.

Or there's the one with a witness protection program where Jim Ellison and Megan Connor go undercover as a married couple and Blair Sandburg goes undercover as their "nephew."

Why, then, when they did a basketball episode -- two basketball episodes -- did they resist the temptation to make Jim Ellison go undercover as a second-string basketball player? And Blair Sandburg as, perhaps, the team doctor? It wouldn't have been plausible, but then nothing else was on the Sentinel.

Two basketball episodes and a baseball episode, and not once did Jim inexplicably have to join the team! And there's even a horse racing episode and a boxing episode, and he never had to enter as a contestant!¹ What was wrong with those writers?

¹Though, I mean, there was a chase scene in which Jim Ellison leapt onto a horse and chased after, like, a motorcycle or something. Through an amusement park, possibly. So at least there's that.

Comments

[toft]

Hahahhahahaha. Hahahahhahaha.

Oh, the Sentinel. Such I love I have for it.

[thingswithwings]

I was all set to feel sad with you, but then I was totally distracted with the giggles by the memory of that "horse vs motorcycle" chase scene. OH THE SENTINEL.

[cesperanza]

Seriously, the Sentinel came pre-cracked and pre-slashed for your convenience. *g*

[cobweb_diamond]

dang, now i am filled with a genuine desire to buy sentinel dvds. i've only seen like 4 episodes, but they were hilarious. (plus the fanfiction is the BOMB)

[mab_browne]

You used 'plausible' in relation in TS. I don't think so; and I love the show and the fandom dearly. *g*

[livrelibre]

What, you mean someone hasn't rectified that in fic? 3, 2, 1. . .

[eruthros]

Well, the rest of the show is pretty hilarious, too. I watch it and laugh and laugh. Sometimes I describe episodes to people and they don't believe me! But only the first season is available on DVD; if you want the rest of it you'll have to check *cough* other sources.

[eruthros]

Oh, I'm sure someone has! Many times over! But it's not the same as a hilarious canon undercover-basketball-playing scene :)

[eruthros]

It is such an amazing show!

[eruthros]

IIRC, five minutes into the episode you were like "... they totally just did this so that they could have a horse race at the end." And unsurprisingly, you were right! It's the Sentinel version of Chekhov's Gun: any unusual vehicle that appears in the first act must necessarily be part of the chase scene later. Or part of the first-act chase scene, at least!

[eruthros]

Hey! Sometimes it was totally plausible! Like that time when, um. *counts off first season episodes* *counts off second season episodes* Oh! I've got one! Jim Ellison's flashback moustache was totally a plausible 80s moustache.

[eruthros]

But, sadly, they didn't accomplish every gay porn trope or every undercover trope!

[cobweb_diamond]

i don't think i'd be able to cope with more than one season anyway, TBH. one time i showed an episode to one of my friends and the next day he thought he's been drunk and imagined it it was so WTF.

[copracat]

Fiend! You fooled me with your subject title.

Anyways, Jim hung from a helicopter landing runner. How can you be asking for more?

[(Anonymous)]

The show is really laughable, if oddly endearing. My favorite thing is that Jim was constantly kissing all these really inappropriate people - criminals, colleagues, random women (not Blair, alas, although if the show had been on HBO...). For somebody who was supposed to be some savvy covert ops guy, he had a ridiculously out of control libido. As for the basketball and boxing, who knows?

knitty_woman on lj

[eruthros]

That is a great story that basically describes exactly how I feel about the Sentinel! Sometimes while watching it.

[eruthros]

I love that scene so much! The moment when he handcuffs himself to the landing runner, as if that will save him if he falls, reduces me to laughter every time. Oh, Jim Ellison and physics!

[cobweb_diamond]

Upsettingly, season 1 only appears to be available in region 1 DVD format. Why are they discriminating against us brits? well, probably because it never aired here. but whatever. i am still bummed.

[bluewolf458.livejournal.com]

It was shown in the UK (on SciFi)some years ago, and in the past year the first two seasons have been shown twice on CBS Action