All Along The Watchtower

films . videos . television

Friday, June 30, 2006

WB says farewell

The WB will say farewell on Sunday, Sept 17th by running the first episode of its signature shows. The list includes the pilots of Felicity, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson's Creek.

Interestingly they could have aired all the last epiosdes of these shows had they now lost Buffy to UPN. Also, I guess they wanted to air eps of Dawson's Creek and Felicity when they were good....unlike Buffy and Angel that both went out on high notes.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Spidey 3 trailer on-line.

It's supposed to be attached to Superman Returns, but you can view it on-line before you head to the theater...or in my case, watch it 50 times, analyzing every detail.

The first trailer for next summer's most anticipated movie, Spider-Man 3 is on-line.

All I can say is, "Wow, wow, wow!" and "Forget that guy in the cape and tights...why can't THIS be opening tomorrow?!?"

I had some fears and doubts for Spidey 3, but this one has answered those and put a lot of them to rest...

Yep, I'll be there, opening day for this one...no doubt about it.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Classic Star Trek still a winner.

Who says the franchise is dead?

Star Trek 2.0 has powered cable network G4 to some of its highest ratings ever.

Just goes to show that some classic series never go out of style. You just really can't go wrong with the original 79 featuring the greatness that is Kirk, Spock and McCoy.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Best moments from the WB

Last night while using the elipitical trainer at the Y, I was skimming an Entertainment Weekly. It was the issue with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn on the cover talking about their relationship and their new movie.

In the magazine, there was an article about the best moments and/or shows from the soon-to-be departed WB network. Included in there were Shannon Dougherty leaving Charmed, the rise of Popular, the Pippi Longstocking moment from Gilmore Girls, the premiere of Smallville and the teen phenomenon that was Dawson's Creek (oh heaven help me, I watched it the first year or so....but only cause it was on after the brilliance that is Buffy).

Anyway, the ultimate, number one best moment or show from the WB was, of course, "The Becoming, Part 2" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer's brilliant second season. For those of you who don't know Buffy eps by title alone, "Becoming Part 2" is the second half of the genius season-two finale where Xander confesses his love to Willow, Buffy reveals her secret identity to her mom and Buffy saves the world, but at the price of sending Angel to a hell dimension after his soul is restored by a spell from Willow. (Did I mention she stabs him with a sword?!?) It ends with that sad, sad Sarah McLaughlin song as Buffy leaves town on a bus.

Brilliance...utter brilliance.

OK, I'm getting choked up just thinking about it...

But while the list was good, there was one show conspicious in its absence--and wouldn't you know it, it was also from the genius that is Joss Whedon.

No mention of Angel. None, nothing, nada. The spin-off of Buffy that emerged from the gaint shadow of Buffy and was fantastic in its own right. Of course, part of it may be that since Angel was one long story arc, it's harder to pick a single episode or moment from the show as defining...but here are a few I thought of:
  • Season three's mid-season cliffhanger. "Sleep Tight". Angel went on hiatus for a few weeks, ending with an episode that had a betrayal, a kidnapping and left the fate of several characters in question. And it left our hero at a crossroads that it would take the rest of the third and fourth seasons to really resolve. It definitely made for a long six week wait for the next new episode. Best thing: Joss Whedon didn't disappoint when the show came back (as if he could).
  • Season one's "Hero." Nine episodes into his spin-off, Joss Whedon does the unthinkable and kills off one of his trio of regulars. Now whether this was planned from the beginning or was becuase star Glenn Quinn was difficult to work with on set, I'm not sure. But this episode alone established that nothing was safe or sacred on the show....it also set the stage for Alexis Denisof to enter the show as Wesley Wyndham Pryce, a move that proved to be genius.
  • The series finale, "Not Fade Away" Yes, the series was cut short in what may be, arguably, it's best season. But thankfully the WB told the cast and crew in time so they could do a proper finale. "Not Fade Away" was briliant in that it did everything it needed to, but left you wanting more. It wasn't the end, just a turning of a page...and it was brilliant. Brilliant, I tell you.
Those are just a few of the many great Angel moments. I could throw in the whole season four Jasmine arc and the Angel's descent into darkness from season two, but it's hard to narrow it down to a single episode or moment in those. Also, I don't want to see like a gushing fan-boy (oh wait...too late).

Which reminds me--I think I need to fire up the DVD player and spend some time in the Buffy-verse this summer....

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Save Screech's House

Dustin "Screech" Diamond from Saved by the Bell fame needs your help. Seems his house is being foreclosed on and he's selling t-shirts to raise money to keep his home.

You can read more about it here.

Friday, June 09, 2006

13 Most Unpopular TV Characters

The Onion A.V. Club has compiled a list of the 13 more unpopular TV characters. They are:

1. Scrappy Doo (Scooby Doo)
2. Cousin Oliver (Brady Bunch)
3. Dawn Summers (Buffy, the Vampire Slayer)
4. Livia Soprano (The Sopranos)
5. Barney (Barney and Friends)
6. Steve Urkel (Family Matters)
7. Pikachu (Pokemon)
8. Pat (Saturday Night Live)
9. Ross Gellar (Friends)
10. Brenda Walsh (Beverly Hills 90210)
11. James Hurley (Twin Peaks)
12. Coy and Vance (Dukes of Hazard)
13. Wesley Crusher (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

OK, I really have to disagree with Dawn's inclusion here. I think the inclusion of Dawn in season five was Joss Whedon's way of showing off what a genius he was. He takes a jump the shark signal and turns it into an asset for the show, storytelling wise. Well, at least for season five. I will admit the writers didn't really have much of a clue what to do with Dawn in season six and then they tried to set up having Dawn take over the Slayer role for Buffy in season seven, but still that one season of actually being well utilized alone should keep her off the list.

Friday, June 02, 2006

Best Summer TV series

Entertainment Weekly has a list of the 10 classic "summer shows". They are:
  • Seinfeld
  • Survivor
  • The Prisoner
  • American Idol
  • Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour
  • Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
  • Hee Haw
  • Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
  • Northern Exposure (well, actually they list this one twice...which must be an error)
I guess the list must be limited to shows on broadcast networks becuase it overlooks The Shield and Rescue Me.