"Sanctuary" premiere interesting but flawed...

The two-hour premiere episode of "Sanctuary" was nicely done. They in packed a lot of set-up and back story, and wove an intricate web of entanglements between the three main characters: Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping), her seriously butt-kicking daughter Ashley, and the young Dr. Will Zimmerman.

I thought it was a little slow, but my Sweetie thought it was nice that they didn't jump right into explosions just for the "wow" factor. The green screen technology lends it a rich gothic look, but the lighting crew needs to pay a bit more attention to their work before it suspends my disbelief.

"House"... not the grumpy crumudgeon I used to love

What is it with "House"? When the show started, House was a grumpy, complicated curmudgeon, and the medical mysteries were intriguing. But now the irrascible old coot is just plain mean, not only self-destructive, but destructive to everyone around him. And the medical mysteries are rather lame, turning into an exercise in how to torture a patient before actually helping him. Are the writer's getting tired, or have they exhaustive the materials?