All Along The Watchtower

BSG Season Finale

2007-03-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

Various contributers to this blog have their thoughts on the BSG Season Finale at their primary blogs.

The line by line analysis for Battlestar Galactica/All Along The Watchtower

Song Source information for the cover used in the show

Thoughts on the impact of the finale for the Cylon and Human races

General thoughts on whether or not the ending jumped the shark

Comparisons to Deep Space Nine

Set your recording devices!

2007-03-16T07:59:00.000-07:00

If you've been holding off watching the best new show on network television, then this is your lucky day.

Starting tonight, Bravo will re-air every episode of Friday Night Lights. One episode will air tonight and three more tomorrow afternoon. This pattern continues from now until mid-April.

Here's some details:

“See [‘FNL’] for the first time or all over again, beginning with a single
episode on Friday, March 16 at 6 p.m., followed by a triple serving beginning
Saturday, March 17 at 1 p.m.
“[‘FNL’] on Bravo continues every Friday (one
episode at 6 p.m.) and Saturday (three back-to-back episodes beginning at 1
p.m.), culminating on Friday, April 13 at 6 p.m.”

Set the VCR or DVR or make plans to catch up on one of the truly great show to come along in the past few seasons. Trust me, it's worth it.

It worked for Battlestar Galactica...

2007-03-16T07:58:00.000-07:00

We all knew the producers of Veronica Mars are big fans of Battlestar Galactica. But who knew that love would extend beyond just incorporating the word "frak" into the show?

Should Veronica Mars survive into a fourth season, creator and producer Rob Thomas has a plan to jump the show's chronology ahead a few years and have Veronica taking classes at the FBI Acadamy. Thomas has prepared a test reel (which should be on U-Tube by the time I'm done writing this...) of the show's potential new direction to show to CW execs in an attempt to sway them into renewing the struggling (ratings wise) series.

This news comes on the heels yesterday of reports from E! On-Line that Veronica's fate had been decided and there would be no fourth season. There hasn't been any confirmation of this story or any comment from the CW or anyone involved with Veronica Mars.

I have a feeling this show's fate may depend a lot on of Alexis Bledel decides to come back for an eighth season of Gilmore Girls. If Gilmore is gone, I see Veronica's chances being better as a tent-pole show for CW.

Direct to DVD Galactica movie confirmed

2007-01-10T07:07:00.000-08:00

There's a lengthy interview in The Chicago Tribune's TV blog that, among other things, confirms the direct to DVD Battlestar Galactica movie is happening. The movie will take place between seasons three and four and address but not resolve the season-bridging cliffhanger. Executive producers Ron Moore and David Eick basically say it will give some background to the cliffhanger.

If you read the article, be warned there are SPOILERS in it for the back nine of the season.

Moore and Eick address a certain picture floating around the Net (featuring Baltar), the rumors of a major character death in the back nine and the changing of the opening credits. Basically, it all boils down to--don't take everything you see and hear at face value (esp. where said picture is concerned).

Rome, If You Want To

2007-01-08T11:02:00.000-08:00

There are two new Rome behind-the-scenes thingies over at HBO ONDemand. One centers around a party that Atia is throwing the other concerns Pullo and Vorenus. It contains major spoilers. If you can't wait for Sunday, check it out to whet your Roman appetite.

I'll give you just one tasty morsel.

Spoiler Alert!!!

Caesar is dead. I think Brutus might have been in on it.

End Spoilers.

Screech tape is a fake?

2007-01-08T08:15:00.000-08:00

Did Dustin "Screech" Diamond use a boyd double for his infamous sex tape?

According to some sources he did.

Schmidt suspects Diamond has been doubly deceptive.
"I have reason to believe that is not Dustin's [manhood] in the movie," says the agent. "You never see his face and his [manhood] in the same shot. If, in fact, he used a body double, I'm going to sue him for defrauding me, Red Light and the American public."

Good to know we have such people out there defending Americans from such horrible fraud. And it seems that Screech staged the tape in order to get some publicity, according to the article.

But at least Screech is lucky. His girlfriend is standing by him during this time of crisis.

Diamond's girlfriend, Jennifer Misner, questions whether that's really his signature on the contract and claims Diamond gave in to Red Light because "there was no way to stop the tape once it hit the Internet."
Misner, who isn't on the tape, says she never would have let Diamond engage in his infamous "Dirty Sanchez" session with two women. But she's adamant that Diamond didn't use a stunt organ.
"That is all Dustin," she says. "I would definitely know. I'm proud of my man."

Short clip from next week's HIMYM

2007-01-05T04:38:00.000-08:00

CBS has posted a short clip from next week's new How I Met Your Mother.

It's pretty funny, but will the episode rival the hilarity that was the slap-bet episode?

Best of Christmas

2006-12-20T07:09:00.000-08:00

Looking for the best Christmas specials, episodes and videos? Well, here's a list of 100 Christmas-themed things for you to watch on-line. It's a pretty diverse list from the classics like A Charlie Brown Christmas to things like The Star Wars Christmas Special (which you will lose respect for yourself if you watch).

It's hours of fun and a great way to waste some time at work as you get ready for the holiday break...I mean, a great way to get in the spirit in the evenings after you've worked hard all day.

Peter Boyle passes away

2006-12-13T10:14:00.000-08:00

Peter Boyle, the actor most known for his roles in Young Frankenstein and as TV's Frank Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond has passed away. He was 81.

While Boyle is best known for these roles, one of my favorites roles for Boyle was in the third-season The X-Files episode, "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose." Boyle won an Emmy for best guest-actor for the part.

AFI's best in movies, TV

2006-12-12T04:35:00.000-08:00

The AFI has announced its list of the ten best movies and TV shows of 2006. Unlike other lists that rank the movies and shows, AFI just announces the ten best.

Movies: Babel, Borat, The Devil Wears Prada, Dreamgirls, Half Nelson, Happy Feet, Inside Man, Letter from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, United 93

Television: Battlestar Galactica, Dexter, Elizabeth I, Friday Night Lights, Heroes, The Office, South Park, 24, The West Wing, The Wire.

ABC moves Lost

2006-12-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

When Lost returns from its hiatus on Feb 7th, it will return an hour later at 9 p.m. CST, according to Variety.

Part of this is to get away from the juggernaut that is American Idol (seriously, why does anyone watch it?!? It boggles the mind!) which airs its results show on Wednesday nights. Also, Lost has recently lost ground to Criminal Minds. So I guess ABC didn't want to come in third in the hour. Also, you have to consider that any show following Lost is immediately put on cancelled list since ABC has yet to find a way to program the time-slot after Lost.

In other news, it appears that CBS will waste the post-Super Bowl time slow with Criminal Minds instead of going for something good like How I Met Your Mother.

Hints about Heroes

2006-12-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

Heroes ends its fall run tonight with an episode that is supposed to wrap up the "save the cheerleader, save the world" storyline (which NBC swore up one side and down the other that we'd get answers to two weeks ago). The series then goes off the air or into repeat mode until it returns on Jan 22 and faces strong competition from FOX's hit serial, 24.

TV Guide has an interview today with series creator, Tim Krieg in which we get hints of what will happen tonight and what is to come when Christopher Eccleston joins the cast in January.

From it, I can safely conclude that neither Peter nor Hiro will perish in tonight's installment. I also bet they won't kill off Micah or Niki/Jessica.

So, who will it be? Guess we'll all find out tonight. (Well, unless you search around for SPOILERs or something like that).

St. Elsewhere

2006-12-01T13:19:00.000-08:00

::Yes, this is a review that I'm doing because someone promised me something in exchange for the review. ::

That being said, I would have done the review anyway, because the product is my all-time favourite hospital show. As far as I'm concerned, St. Elsewhere set the as-yet-unreached standard for medical dramas. The current crop of doctor shows all owe a hefty allegiance to Eligius.

Let's take a look, shall we?

House

Irascible grouchy doctor who actually knows best most of the time? Dr. House, meet Dr. Mark Craig.

ER

Yes, I guess this show is still on. When it first broke many years ago the most popular thing about it seemed to be that insane rush of people on the brink, and the seemingly superhuman ability of Doctors to pull the rest of us back from the brink. This was often an element inherint in St. Elsewhere at many levels--both in their trainwreck of an E.R. and in the O.R.

You say you preferred E.R. for the hot doctors like George Clooney? Well, then. I humbly submit St. Elsewhere's Mark Harmon for your consideration. Oh yeah. There's that other guy too. What's his name? yeah. That's right. Denzel something or other....

Scrubs

Whacky, zany stunts pulled by a hospital staff to let off steam? Yep. St. Elsewhere has that in abundence. I still think Howie Mandel's best work was in the halls of St. Eligius Hospital.

Grey's Anatomy

Shonda Rhimes has done a great job of humanising doctors, of showing the romance behind the blood. These stories were a large part of St. Elsewhere's stock in trade for many years. The heartbreaking story arcs for Dr. Jack Morrison--so well played by David Morse--were some of the most humanising stories ever to hit prime time.

So, clearly and without reservation I recommend that any of you who love any of these shows give the new St. Elsewhere Season One DVD a try.

Battlestar Podcasts coming

2006-11-29T13:13:00.000-08:00

In his official blog over at SciFi.com, Ron Moore talks about the three upcoming podcasts for the best show on TV, Battlestar Galactica.

Three -- count'em -- three podcasts are winging their way to you this week from snowy Vancouver: "Hero," "Unfinished Business," and a discussion of the show with a group of the actors, myself and MrsRon sitting in our apartment and talking over various aspects of the show.

The "Roundtable Discussion" as we're calling it, is a freewheeling discussion, and there are definitely times when there's too much cross-talk and too much laughter on the recording to discern anything coherent (especially in the beginning) but tucked in amid the revelry are some interesting and fascinating tidbits which I hope you'll enjoy. Think of it as being a fly on the wall during a dinner party with a group of people delighted to be talking over the ins and outs of their favorite show. In addition to myself and the missus, we were joined by James Callis, Jamie Bamber, Tamoh Penikett, Mark Sheppard (an upcoming guest star with a major role in the finale) and Henry, a child-hood friend of Jamie's who happened to be in town that night.

The "Unfinished Business" podcast also features Tamoh and Grace Park.

If you are watching Battlestar and not listening to the podcasts, you are missing on a great insight into the show. And if you're not watching Battlestar Galactica, what the frak is wrong with you?!?

50 Things Lost hasn't explained

2006-11-28T13:16:00.000-08:00

As Heroes popularity continues to soar, let's not forget to give props to the show that created the new interest in serialized shows--Lost.

One big complaint lodged against Lost is that it never answers any questions. I can see that, but honestly I think if you're looking for some deeper, profound, earth-shaking answers from Lost, you're really missing the whole point of the show. It's not about the answers, it's about the journey.

But I will admit Lost does have some dangling plot threads. And the people over at IGN have been kind enough to come up with a list of 50 mysteries that Lost has brought up but has yet to resolve. It's interesting and it reminded me again of just how much I love Lost. So surf over, read and let the debate begin.

ABC Does It Again OR How 'Lost' Kills Everything Around It

2006-11-27T07:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I should know better.

Repeat after me: I will not become interested in intelligent, well-written drama with good characters and story.

This weekend ABC announced that The Nine is disappearing from it's Wednesday night schedule.

That's such a shame, considering that of the new fall dramas, The Nine was the most consistantly well-written. Only Ugly Betty (which I consider to be more of a comedy) has a stronger script and cast.

ABC has complained about The Nine not holding the lead-in from Lost. Personally I blame that more on Lost. How many of us tune in consistantly to find out the new mystery, stay glued to the TV to those 'final five minutes YOU WON'T BELIEVE/EVERYONE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT/BEST LOST EVER!!!!!' only to turn off the TV in disgust at yet another weak non-answer?

Personally I've been TiVo'ing The Nine and watching it a couple of days later. I did the same thing last year with Invasion. Sadly, Lost has become so frustrating that it kills my interest in ABC's followup programming. I usually need a few days to get the taste of Jack out of my mouth.

Preview this year's Doctor Who Christmas special

2006-11-27T07:10:00.000-08:00

Four minutes from the upcoming Christmas special epiosde of Doctor Who, "The Runaway Bride."

Christmas Specials

2006-11-24T05:13:00.000-08:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

USA Today has a listing of some of the highlights of the Christmas special viewing season. Among them are:

A Charlie Brown Christmas, Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET/PT, ABC
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, Dec. 5, 8 p.m. ET/PT, ABC
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Dec. 8, 8 p.m. ET/PT, CBS
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Dec. 12, 8 p.m. ET/PT, ABC (This is the cartoon version, not the Jim Carey movie)
It's a Wonderful Life, Dec. 16, 8 p.m. ET/PT, NBC
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Dec. 17, 8 p.m. ET/PT, TBS (Best..Christmas...movie...EVER!)
A Christmas Story marathon, Dec. 24, 8 p.m. ET/PT, TBS

Harry Potter Order Of The Phoenix Sneak From HBO

2006-11-21T12:51:00.001-08:00

You may have thought the teaser trailer was mack-daddy. But you haven't seen this yet.

Leaky has posted the HBO OnDemand sneak peak. Lots of goodies here.

Get Smart movie news

2006-11-21T07:33:00.000-08:00

A Get Smart movie? Why am I only just now hearing about this?

Seems that Steve Carrell will be taking over the part made famous by Don Adams in the big-screen version of Get Smart. Variety reports that Anne Hathaway will take over the role of 99, as played by Barbara Feldon.

Now, I know the current rage in Hollywood is to make big-screen adaptations of beloved TV shows. And while I can see that Carrell could be good in the role of Maxwell Smart, I'm still not convinced that this movie will hold a candle to the original series.

So, will it be like The Fugitive or will it be another Beverly Hillbillies?

Battlestar moves to Sunday

2006-11-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

Ain't It Cool News is reporting that when season three of Battlestar Galactcia resumes in January (after it's holiday break), the show will move to Sundays at 10 p.m. EST/9 p.m. CST.

Is this a good or bad move for SciFi?

I can see that it's a bit of both....

New Harry Potter teaser on-line

2006-11-20T13:12:00.000-08:00

The teaser trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is on-line for your viewing pleasure.

Right now, I can hear Kat Coble counting down the days....

Die, Fat Man, Die!

2006-11-20T08:10:00.000-08:00

There is a level of boredom that induces sleep. I've only experienced it at three public performances. The first was after a day of drinking bourbon on the lake with my fraternity brothers, we went to the local cinema for a showing of the Vietnam War movie Hamburger Hill. I don't think the movie was the problem. Rather, it was the amount of anesthesia in my system.

The second time, or actually the first as I now remember this predated Hamburger Hill by a couple of years. This girl took me to a 'Til Tuesday concert. Once they played that one song that I knew, I was out like a light. Plus, my date was kind of a bitch. So, I figured I could get a few minutes of sleep before having to have another tedious verbal exchange. Later that night, we ran into some a group of friends at the old nightclub Limelight. I traded my date to a friend of mine whose assholish overbearing personality was a perfect match for my date. In exchange, I got my roomate, who had a trunk full of beer and a bag of very potent hash. Twenty years later, I'm still convinced that was the best trade of my life.

Yesterday, I fell asleep in a movie. Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause put me to sleep sometime in the second act. When I awoke, a short time later, it was like I missed nothing. My step-sons mostly keep me from going to movies that I actually like. They have the worst taste in movies. Ever. I should have known this when the first movie I went to see with them was Cheaper by the Dozen 2. They have a penchant for shitty sequels and shitty remakes.

The funniest part, for them, was the farting reindeer gag. They laughed the hardest at that particular highlight. As far as they were concerned, they would be happy to watch a farting reindeer movie every day of the year. Other than that, they weren't that impressed.

For me, the gag reel at the end was the funniest (and most welcome) part of this Disney cash-in.

Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 13%.

Pajiba said, "If you’re unlucky enough to get stuck in a theater showing The Santa Clause 3, it is at this point that you basically have two options: 1) You can bang your head on the seat in front of you and hope it knocks you unconscious, or 2) you can start to fantasize that the Jigsaw Murderer from Saw III, playing in the theater next door, finds his way into the film, plants a bear trap in Tim Allen’s mouth, and gives him 90 seconds to lay waste to his nine reindeer before the trap separates his jaw in two, delivering the necessary one-liner: “There’s your Christmas cheer, asshole!”

I spent my awake time wondering why Mrs. Claus looks so much hotter on Lost, and dreaming about sneaking out without raising suspicion. Last thing I wanted was the wife yanking me by the hair out of the showing of Casino Royale next door.

Veronica Mars gets full season order

2006-11-17T07:45:00.000-08:00

Veronica Mars' third season will be a full season.

The CW picked up the show for the rest of the season, though there's a catch. The show is getting only a seven-episode order instead of the back-nine. That means season three will run 20 episodes instead of 22.

How this affects the second and third mystery arcs remains to be seen.

Veronica Mars airs in Nashville on the new CW, Tuesdays at 8 p.m.

More Friday Night Lights

2006-11-14T06:47:00.000-08:00

NBC gave Friday Night Lights a full-season order yesterday.

This is cause for much rejoicing from me. This is easily the season's best new show and I'm glad to see NBC giving it a full-season run. It almost reminds you of the good ol' days when NBC showed some faith and patience with such classics as Seinfeld and Cheers.

Here's hoping Friday Night Lights has a long, successful run.

celebrity jeopardy time

2006-11-09T20:43:00.000-08:00

So, it's night 2 of Celebrity Jeopardy, which they are running for 2 weeks (I think) in honor of their 5,000th episode. I have to say, I've been looking forward to this for a long time. Now that I've seen it twice, I can't figure out why. I'm still eagerly tuning in each night, but while I watch it's mostly just cringey and generally uncomfortable.
In general celebrities are best scripted, or in the case of folks like pro-athletes, silent. Some may be quite knowledgeable about many things, but those that are just emphasize how, umm..., unskilled in Jeopardy-related activity everyone else is. And the questions are clearly dumbed down, and the judges let anything fly. Tonight they gave Doug Savant "Charlie tuna" for "Starkist." Com'on now.
Even still, I'll keep watching and wincing, enthusiastically.

Jericho to run repeat free

2006-11-08T12:22:00.000-08:00

Jericho is following the Lost model in its freshman season according to TV Guide On-Line.

The new CBS series will take a 10-week hiatus after its mid-season finale in late November. The show will return with episodes in February, including a flashback episode of what life was like before the bombs. (I bet it's just filled with all kinds of unresolved mysteries and bad foreshadowing).

Intersting to hear that Jericho is taking this route instead of attempting to bring in new fans via repeats. Of course, we know that some serialized shows don't repeat well (Lost) in terms of ratings. But with a freshman show like Jericho, you'd think CBS would try to find a way to build the audience and expand it, espeically since the juggernaut that is American Idol will be coming back. Or maybe that's why they're doing this--to keep Jericho from getting lost in the shadow of American Idol.

It will be interesting to see how the two, hit freshman serial dramas approach repeats. We've seen what Jericho is doing. Would Heroes go repeat free as well with a long hiatus? And how will Heroes do when it's repeated?

And is this just one more step toward block scheduling of shows and the end of the sweeps month model that has dominated TV for so long now?

Teaser from tonight's Veronica Mars

2006-11-07T06:50:00.000-08:00

The first four minutes of tonight's all new Veronica Mars. I know I've not been blogging every Veronica epiosde this year, but I have to say I'm really enjoying season three.

Check out the first four minutes here and tune in tonight at 8 p.m. CST on the new CW.

Did Ellen Tigh know?

2006-10-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

Last week's Battlestar Galactica featured a scene in which Saul Tigh poisoned his wife, Ellen, as a punishment for her betrayal of the resistance movement. The scene has caused some debate on-line about did Ellen know she was being poisoned or not.

In his podcast commentary, Ron Moore didn't exactly clear it up one way or the other, so the guys at TV Squad when right to Moore and asked him the big question. And here is the answer:
"We intentionally blurred this point so as to be somewhat ambiguous here. It's not entirely clear in the scene whether she knows or not and I liked leaving it for the audience to decide for themselves ultimately whether Ellen participates in her own punishment or dies as Saul wants her to -- peacefully, and unaware of what's happening to her."
A new episode of Galactica airs tonight at 8 p.m. on SciFi, following a new (to America) episode of Doctor Who. Quite possibly the best two hour block currently on TV.

Nobody's Watching: Tribute to Lost

2006-10-27T06:48:00.000-07:00

This is hysterical. Definitely worth a look!

Scrubs returns!!!

2006-10-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

NBC is bringing back Scrubs sooner rather than later.

The comedy will return for its sixth season on Nov 30 at 8 p.m. CST as part of a new Thursday two-hour comedy block.

Freshman series 30 Rock is moving to Thursdays, following Scrubs. The kick-off of the return of the two-hour comedy block will feature "super sized" installments of My Name is Earl, The Office and 30 Rock on November 16.

It's good news that Scrubs is coming back, but the time slot is a competitive one between that little crime show on CBS and that little hospital show on ABC. Hopefully people will get tired of gore and bad mysteries on CBS and the never-ending interpersonal drama in a hospital on ABC and tune in for the hilarity that is Scrubs.

No word on the fate of 20 Good Years, but it doesn't look good. The show's three fans are very upset.

24: Season Six Preview

2006-10-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

Here's where it could get interseting--season six of 24 vs Heroes. Who will be the winner in the ratings?

And I'm putting Studio 60 on notice--you have until Christmas to convince me not to rewind my tape of Heroes or 24 and watch it instead on Monday nights.

The first four minutes of Borat

2006-10-24T07:50:00.000-07:00

Check out the first four minutes of Borat, coming Nov 2 to a theater near you.

24 Seaon Six Trailer Debuts Today

2006-10-24T07:46:00.000-07:00

At 2 p.m. CST, the trailer for season six of 24 premiere on-line. It's also going to be shown on some huge screen in New York City as well.

Will it reveal who the villain of season six is or what the threat for the season is?

We'll find out later today...

Does Studio 60 Suck? Of Course It Does!

2006-10-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

I'm done with this show. Aaron Sorkin churns out dialogue on a weekly basis that would make the writers of the later seasons of M*A*S*H* choke.

USA Today's Robert Bianco has a critique of what needs to be done to fix the show. All seven of his bullet statements are certainly on-target. Let me add one more bullet-- to the back of the head. This show should be cancelled, and soon. Whatever they do, they'll do it with one less viewer.

How does this show continually fail to do anything but capture the mediocre self-importance that is the Sorkinomatic Script Generator's continually hammering the themes of how a mediocre self-important television program is the most important cultural institution of the last fifty years? Let me count the ways.

Spoilers follow:

Nate Corrdry's parents come to visit.
Are they cardboard stereotypes of Middle Americans? Of course they are!
Have they heard Abbott & Costello's "Who's On First?" routine? Of course they haven't!
Everyone knows the Fly Over States are culturally illiterate.

DL Hughley realizes he's the token Garrett Morris.
Does he decide that hiring an up and coming black comedian as a writer will elevate the material he performs? Of course he does!
Is this comedian he and Chandler go to check out a cliched hack with material that plumbs the depths of "You ever notice that white people...?" Of course he is!
Do they find the answer to their prayers in a black comedian that is bombing terribly with original material? Of course they do!
Does it remind the viewer of how they took a black kid from out of nowhere to make him President Sheen's little buddy? Of course it does!

Harriet Notalent's baseball playing boyfriend shows up to the party.
Is he a jerk despite his high profile gig and physical attractiveness? Of course he is!
Does he hit on Amanda Peet? Who wouldn't? I mean, of course he did!

Eli Wallach shows up quite literally out of nowhere spouting Alzheimerian gibberish. Is he rescued from security by the dude from thirtysomething? Of course he is!
Do his random words make sense to one of the super-literate geniuses that populate the Sorkanian universe? Of course they do!
Have I used both Alzheimerian and Sorkanian in the same paragraph? Of course I did!
Did he turn out to have landed at Omaha Beach? Of course he did!
Did we get a little history lesson? Of course we did!
Did he also wind up being named as a Communist during the Blacklist? Of course he did!

Is this form of a review annoying? Of course it is!

Well, sit through an hour of it and you have a pretty good idea of what watching Studio 60 is like.

Friday Night Lights moves to Mondays

2006-10-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

NBC is heralding it as a one-time only thing, but you never know with these types of things.

Friday Night Lights will replace Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip in the Monday at 10 p.m. EST/9 p.m. CST timeslot for one week on October 30th.

Good news if you're looking for a vote of confidence in Friday Night Lights by NBC. Bad news if you're a fan of Studio 60, which has been hemorraging ratings of late.

You can bet if Friday Night Lights holds a better portion of the Heroes audience, that Studio 60 may be out of the time slot permanently. I have to applaud the move because I think Friday Night Lights is more compatible with the audience for Heroes.

Plus anything to challenge the dominance of the horrible CSI franchise is good with me....

Good news for Tuesday shows!

2006-10-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

The good news is that the ratings for Friday Night Lights picked up Tuesday as did those of Veronica Mars. Hopefully this means Friday Night Lights will survive because the show is really, really good.

In fact, I'd say if you haven't already--give up on Gilmore Girls and come on over to Friday Night Lights. You won't regret the move.

Also, while Veronica's jump is good, I am still wary of the juggernaut that is House returning to the time slot in a few weeks.

Gilmore Girls Thoughts

2006-10-18T06:24:00.000-07:00

When did Gilmore Girls go from a show about the dynamic of three generations of the Gilmore women to a show about Lorelai and her wacky relationships? The show has lost focus and while it'd be easy to be blame the new regime for this, this was already happened long before Amy Sherman Palladino flipped the network and whoever took over the show the bird by having Lorelai sleep with Chris to somehow rebound from Luke. It really started last spring with the plot device known as April was introduced merely to keep Luke and Lorelai apart. Suddenly it's less about the characters and all about the drama. And the show has suffered since.

I could endure this if there were other things in this show to keep me interested. But the biggest sin any show can commit is to be boring. As I watched last night's episode of Gilmore Girls, I found myself not really happy or upset about anything unfolding on screen so much as just bored.

Oh sure, we got some Snakes on a Plane references, but really those stopped being hip and topical about five minutes after the movie started up. It felt like the new crew's desparate attempt to fall back on the strength of previous years. Last season, we had Luke debating the Star Wars movie and this year we have to talk about Snakes on a Plane--look at us, we're hip the show seems desparate to tell us.

But don't you see Gilmore Girls--that you're not as hip as you think you are? And what drew me in wasn't your hipness but your great dialogue, your good characters and the interaction. This season feels so disjointed. It feels like one plot comes to a halt and we have to desparately shift gears every time there is a scene change. This was so evident here as we skipped from Rory's plot to the Chris/Lorelai thing to whole Luke and Amber storyline. In isolation, there are bits of each that I like--I loved April wanting to set Luke up with his teacher. I found it interesting to see Rory make other friends besides Paris. And the saving grace of this show was Emily's plotline of getting pulled over for talking on her cell phone.

But yet, in the end, it still led to a point I didn't like. Now, I know that Lorelai and Emily don't get along as well as they'd like...but Lorelai's sheer giddiness at her mom being arrested seemed a bit out of character. In the past, we've seen Lorelai take some measure of pleasure in her mom's discomfort but her sheer giddiness at her mom being arrested here seemed totally out of character. It was almost to the level of being cruel. No sympathy or compassion for her mother, who last season was ready to accept Luke and had bought a house for Lorelai and Luke to live in when they got married. And maybe that's the problem-the show is just not ready to let anyone on it grow up. Maybe we'll see that all of this is Lorelai's rebound and explains her immaturity and bad behavoir. The thing is, the show is getting so far into left field that I may not be around to see these changes and developments.

There may not be any more Battlestar Galactica Webisodes

2006-10-18T06:16:00.000-07:00

Remember the dark days of the mid-80s when there was the writer's strike (for painful evidence of it, see season two of Next Generation)?

It looks like we could be headed for that again, only this time it's not about the product delivered to our TV screens, but instead to the monitor screens. Part of the furor that has erupted is related to the Battlestar Galactica webisodes that led up to the third season launch a few weeks ago.

Here's the details from MSN:

Listen up, "Battlestar Galactica" fans. A war is brewing, fiercer than anything involving Cylon robots. The battlefield: the Internet, where fans can get their "Battlestar" fix with three-minute mini-episodes created especially for the Sci Fi Channel's Web site, SciFi.com. NBC Universal, the studio behind "Battlestar," refused to pay residuals or credit the writers of these "Webisodes," claiming they're promotional materials. So "Battlestar" executive producer Ron Moore said he wouldn't deliver any more of them, including the 10 that were already in the can. In response, NBC Universal seized the Webisodes and filed charges of unfair labor practices against the Writers Guild of America, which advised Moore and producers of three other NBC Universal shows not to deliver any new Web content until they had a deal over residuals. "The guild unlawfully pressured producers not to perform," says Marc Graboff, West Coast president of NBC Universal TV.

The "Battlestar" skirmish is only the beginning as the Writers Guild heads into negotiations for a new contract with the studios next year. The talks are taking place just as shows are being delivered and promoted on the Internet and through iPods and cell phones —none of which is covered in depth by the current guild agreement. "It doesn't matter which technology wins out, the companies are going to make money, and we can't get shut out," says David Young, the new executive director of the WGA, West. The stakes are huge: viewers streamed "Battlestar" Webisodes 5.5 million times last month, doubling traffic to SciFi.com within two days of the premiere. By comparison, 2.2 million people showed up for the show's third-season opener on Oct. 6. Talk of a Hollywood strike is growing louder. Some 900 writers, including "Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry, attended a "unity" rally Sept. 20. Says "Galactica's" Moore: "We're all heading toward a collision over digital content. Somebody's going to blink, but I don't think it's going to be the writers."

My biggest question in all of this is--Moore delivers a weekly podcast commentary on the new episodes of Battlestar Galactica. I wonder if this will be affected by the not wanting to deliver content for Internet distribution. If so, that is a shame.

STAR TREK 2nd PILOT Deleted Scenes

2006-10-17T07:04:00.000-07:00

Clips from the original presentation of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" for the NBC suits. This is the pilot that sold Star Trek to the network and the rest is television history.

Why this footage wasn't somehow put on the DVD sets is beyond me.

As a huge Star Trek fan, I can tell you the only adds are one additional line from Kirk about Spock's learning to enjoy his human ancestory and some shots of the crew strolling down corridors as the main credits roll. The classic Trek theme is no where to be found here and we do get an interesting new intro to the series--not the famous 36 words that start off with "Space, the final frontier..."

If you want to hear commentary by myself and my good friend, Sarah Hadley, on the full episode, you can go here or you can listen directly.

Battlestar to run on NBC?

2006-10-10T05:39:00.000-07:00

During Heroes last night, NBC aired a promo for Battlestar Galactica. The cross marketing makes sense and if it drives new fans to BSG, I'm all for it.

But rumors are flying this morning that NBC is considering airing Battlestar on NBC at mid-season. SciFi is owned by NBC/Universal, who also produces BSG. Rumors are that Battlestar could make the jump and air after Heroes on Monday nights, if NBC decides to move Studio 60 to a cushier time slot.

NBC has aired repeat episodes of Battlestar on the network as well as a trimmed down version of the mini-series.

NBC is denying the rumors at this point.

I'm assuming if BSG makes the jump it would be repeat episodes and not NBC taking away new episodes from SciFi. But you never know. The one great thing about this is that the show is filmed in high-def but SciFi doesn't broadcast in HD. NBC does which means we could get high-def BSG.

We'll Always Have Baltimore

2006-10-09T07:06:00.000-07:00

So, last night I'm watching The Wire. As Proposition Joe is making it clear to Marlo Stanfield that he has his ear to the ground, it struck me that it all seemed familiar somehow.

Then, it hit me. Prop Joe is the Sydney Greenstreet character from Casablanca, Signor Ferrari. Ok, so the picture is from The Maltese Falcon, but just bear with me.

So, does that make McNulty the Bogart character, Rick? To further strain the comparison, Ilsa Lund's Baltimore analog would be Rhonda Pearlman and Victor Laszlo would be Cedric Daniels.

Or would Ilsa be Theresa D'Agostino and Victor be Tommy Carcetti? Mmmm. Theresa D'Agostino.

For that matter who would the Nazis be and who would be the French? Either Stringer Bell or Marlo Stanfield would have made a good Major Strasser. But the cop/Nazi connection is too ripe with comparison to pass up.

Is Bunk Moreland closer to Sam or Captain Renault? What about Freamon and Greggs?

Ok, so maybe the whole Wire/Casablanca thing doesn't really stand up under close examination. But the two fat men are too much alike for me to not think of Greenstreet saying, "As leader of all illegal activities in Casablanca, I am an influential and respected man." everytime I see Prop Joe double dealing someone.

Everything I Need To Know About Current Events, I Learned Wednesday Night

2006-10-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

The first lesson came from Jericho. That lesson being that the Chinese are the real enemy. Or maybe the Koreans. They weren't real specific about that one. The other lesson from Jericho is that Skeet Ulrich can do anything. He can perform a tracheotomy on a child or pull the flight recorder from a crashed airliner. The most important lesson was one that everyone should know by now. Your neighbors are greedy, dumb panicky jerks. They will screw you over for a warm place to shit and clean out your grocery store without so much as a thank you.

Next we learned effective interrogation techniques from Lost. Let me tell you, from a professional aspect, The Others put on a clinic of how to break high level detainees. Juliet used the "We Know All"combined with the "File and Dossier" approach after hammering Jack with control questions and behavior modification drills.

Sawyer got plenty of behavior modification with his little Skinner Box cage. It seems fairly obvious that the kid Karl, from the other cage, will be playing the Peter Graves role in the Others' version of Stalag 17.

An interrogator's delight is for a subject to start showing off or demonstrating an overcompensation. It reveals a psychological weakness. Sawyer did both.

Kate got her a purty dress. Another great approach is one of futility. Show someone the complete power you hold over them. People generally cooperate with those who have complete control over them. From FM 34-52:
Making the situation appear hopeless allows the source to rationalize his actions, especially if that action is cooperating with the interrogator. When employing this technique, the interrogator must not only be fortified with factual information, but he should also be aware of, and be able to exploit, the source's psychological, moral, and sociological weaknesses.

The upshot of the episode was that psychologically breaking someone is far more effective than just plain torturing them.

Finally, South Park taught us that if you aren't careful, defeating the thing you hate, may turn into the thing that you hate.

Battlestar Galactica Season Three Premiere Teaser

2006-10-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

God bless the Internet!

The first ten minutes or so of the two-hour premiere of Battlestar Galactica are streaming on-line for you to enjoy!

UPDATE: The Ron Moore post is correct in how you can find the first 13 minutes. But here's a direct link to save you some time.

UPDATE AGAIN 2:23 p.m.: (Possible SPOILERific) It really turns out to be about 10 minutes of new footage when you factor our the new opening credits, the recap and the basic establishing of the premise of BSG. That said, damn it's good and damn I cannot wait until Friday night. I thought this might help but it's only made it worse.

And yes, as the music started up and the words "The Cylons were created by man" appeared on screen, my pulse picked up a bit and I felt a tingle of excitment....

I won't say more, except that it's gonna be really good.

Oh and the flashbacks do include a clip from the Webisodes, so if you've not watched, you may want to do that before Friday.

The CW's Tuesday line-up

2006-10-04T05:55:00.000-07:00

I want to like the new regime over at Gilmore Girls. I really, really do.

But yet, tuning in last night I found my interest slowly waning over the course of the hour. I watched the show on videotape last night and there were moments I just desparately wanted to fast forward through, hoping that we'd get to something, anything happening. Or maybe we'd get to the part where the characters snapped out of it and started acting like themselves.

There were so many things happening here that just didn't make any sense. How did Luke go from three days earlier being totally in love with Lorelai to the scene in the grocery store where he casually dismisses their relationship as them not being "meant to be together" doesn't make one lick of sense. Oh sure, it could be the man trying to cover up the pain he's feeling, but it honestly felt more like one huge honkin' reset button being pushed. We're back now to where we were before season five with Luke and Lorelai unrequited but oh so cute in their banter. What's next? Rory goes back to Chilton because she didn't pass some minor class?

And while Kirk setting up an open air diner across the street was funny, the timeline again makes no sense. Does Kirk just have a million hair-brained schemes ready to go at any given moment and can easily have one come to fruition like this? And he got his liquor license in 24 hours?!? Come on now, Gilmore Girls. I know you've not been the most grounded in reality show to start with, but at least pretend like you're going to follow your own internal rules of storytelling and logic. Because it's things like this that take me completely out of the episode.

All of that plus the fact that you were just trying too hard with the pop culture references. The banter felt forced and didn't flow as well as it has in previous years.

Meanwhile, over on Veronica Mars, we had the best show the CW has showing why it's earned that title time and again. Mars is back and reinventing itself in a good way. The show is still rewarding to Veronica Mars geeks like myself who have been in the game since episode one but it is accessible enough that new fans can drop in and not feel too lost.

I saw this one on free MSN preview last week and loved it. I will give you the mystery of the week was kind of not the greatest, but the rest of the show was just sheer Veronica Mars genius that it didn't bother me as much as it normally would. The thing with this show is that it's all about the characters. Outside of Battlestar Galactica, there's not a show on TV where the character dynamics shift and change as much within not only a season but an episode. Watching how the characters constantly evolve and move foward, backward and sideways is a delight.

And then Veronica is able to throw is pop culture references and make it feel like part of the world that is Veroncia Mars, not just "oh look at how brilliant I am." For example, the genius incorporation of the word "frak" into the show's lexicon. Loved it.

Two shows on the CW, both of which should be flagship shows for the new network. One is earning that distinction and the other is fumbling it...badly.

Now I'm worried...

2006-09-29T05:37:00.000-07:00

The new season of Veronica Mars hasn't started yet and already I'm worried the show may not make it past the initial order of 13 episodes for the year.

Why is that? you ask.

Because the ratings for the season premiere of Gilmore Girls tanked Tuesday night.

Looks like "Gilmore Girls" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino may get the last laugh. The show's seventh-season debut copped an audience of 4.5 million on the new CW network Tuesday night -- down nearly 2 million viewers compared with last fall.
Sherman-Palladino, you'll recall, took a hike at the end of the show's sixth season when Time Warner division Warner Bros., which produces the show, would not agree to give her and her husband, "Gilmore Girls" exec producer Mr. Amy Sherman-Palladino, a multiyear contract.
The CW noted yesterday that in addition to premiering against tough competition, "Gilmore Girls" had switched local stations in nearly a third of the country because of its move to the CW network.
Which is great, except that the CW's reality series "America's Next Top Model" managed to equal its best debut audience ever when it premiered last week, although, because it's a former UPN series, it had moved to new local stations in nearly two-thirds of the country.

Mars fans were counting on Gilmore Girls to deliver a solid lead in and hopefully have our favorite show hang onto and build on those good numbers. But if Girls is struggling, that means the ratings for Mars could be even lower, thus leading to the axe coming down sooner rather than later.

Honestly, the fact that Gilmore's ratings have dropped is not a shock to me. As I watch, I see parallels between GG and Lois and Clark. Back in season three, Lois and Clark got the leads together, had Lois figure out Clark equals Superman and then spent a good third of the season breaking the two up, having them get back together in typical bad romantic comedy fashion. Then for sweeps, the producers and ABC decided to rush a wedding into the storyline and created the five-part wedding arc that was a complete disservice to the characters and an insult to the fans. The show's rating tumbled, esp. in the wake of the wedding that didn't happen. Lois and Clark tried to pick up the pieces but it was too late as a lot of fans got disguisted with the show and tuned on. Even a late fourth season return to quality didn't gain back fans and the show was eventually cancelled.

I hate to say it, but the same pattern is emerging on Gilmore Girls. The giant "screw you" by Amy Sherman Palladino to end the season has turned off fans and many may never come back. Even TV Guide critic and Gilmore fan Matt Rousch last week recommended watching Friday Night Lights over Gilmore Girls.

But back to my point--Veronica was in need of a good lead-in. We thought Gilmore Girls might be it. But now it doesn't look good. Which is a shame because Veronica Mars is one of the best shows on TV.

Gilmore Girls is back...or is it?

2006-09-27T05:47:00.000-07:00

So, last night was the first new epiosde of Gilmore Girls by the new production team since Amy Sherman-Palladino did a scorched-earth policy as she exited the show. (I don't blame her really but it does leave the new writers with a hell of a hill to climb to open the season).

For those of you who missed it or were living in a cave this summer and missed all the on-line buzz about it, here's what happened. Lorelai got tired of putting off the wedding to Luke, gave him an ultimatium to marry her right then and Luke said he wasn't ready. Lorelai went to her ex (and Rory's dad) and ended up spending the night with him. The final scene of the season was Lorelai waking up with Christopher and having a look on her face of--dear heavens, what have I done? (In a case of art mirroring life, this is exactly what fans of the show were thinking about ASP's decision to move the Luke/Lorelai storyline in this direction..but I digress).

Now, this plotline hasn't quite been the trainwreck that a lot of fans and critics would want you to believe. Yes, it's misguided and everything about it reeks of TV "we've got to invent reasons to keep the couple apart" but it's not the end of the world as we know it.

The whole thing is--the plots left the show at a crossroads and while I hope that ASP had a way to get out of this, we'll never know since she's taken her toys and gone home.

Instead, she leaves a new producer David S. Rosenthal in charge and we mark the beginning of a brand new era of Gilmore Girls. We got our first taste of it last night.

And the report card is a fairly solid C+. In a way, it's like Manny Cotto taking over Enterprise in season four--he was left with a messy cliffhanger and had to spend two episodes cleaning up the mess before he could get into his stories. And that is a lot of what this week's episode reminded me of--Rosenthal taking the pieces he's given that he has to work with and doing his best to make something out of them.

Of course, my big criticism last year of Gilmore Girls was that you could watch the first five minutes and skip to the last five minutes and not really miss anything. And that appears to still be valid here with big things happening in the first five minutes and then big things happening in the last five. But on a show like this, it's about a journey with the characters. And we got that here--Lorelai dealing with what she did, Rory trying to figure out Logan's message and the plot in Stars Hollow that leads Luke to a revelation and was about as subtle as a two by four upside the head. Oh look, Luke has a hard time dealing with ultimatiums and making quick decisions...I get that. But if not, here it is once more.

It all end with Luke realizing he's an idiot, coming to Lorelai and then getting his heart ripped out, stomped on with golf shoes and drug behind a truck for a few hundred miles. Of all the choices Lorelai could have made, sleeping with Christopher was the worst and may have doomed (for now) her relationship with Luke. So, I am guessing this season will be about picking up the pieces and the long distance relationship of Rory and Logan, which honestly felt more like an adult relationship than Luke and Lorelai did...

What was missing--well, we got no Emily and Richard who are always conspicious by their absence. And while the dialogue was good at some points, at others it felt like it was trying too hard to be witty, urban and Gilmore-Girl-like.

I'm not breaking up with the Girls yet, but I am still wavering in my loyalty to the show. I want it to get back to what it was but I'm wondering if that is possible. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks.

TV Dinners

2006-09-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

After a week, I've had time to compare, contrast, consume, digest and expunge the new fall season of television programs. Some of the shows went down quite nicely. Many left a bad after-taste. Several of them require a second helping. I could torture this metaphor all day, so let's get to it.

I wish I had something intelligent to say about Heroes. I got suckered into watching Monday Night Football last night and missed the first part of it. Well first I got suckered into watching the idiot-fest that is Deal or No Deal. Then, I watched MNF. So, the last twenty minutes of Heroes was pretty good. Frankly, from all the promos they've been running for the last couple of months, it wasn't hard to figure out what was going on. As for the ending, in the words of Shyamalan, "What a twist!" We'll see how this show turns out. Despite a promising start, shows like this can degenerate into hacky freak of the weak stories pretty quickly. They also should look into getting it off of Monday nights.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which for some stupid reason I keep wanting to call 77 Sunset Strip, was on next. I have to get this off my chest. Although, I like the show, I'm not buying all of this Aaron Sorkin knob-slobbering that is going on. I didn't want to say anything, so as not to upset you sensitive writer types, but enough already. I liked Sports Night. But thirty minutes of people repeating the same dialogue back to each other four times while walking down the hall is my limit. By minute thirty-two, it is on my last nerve. That's why The West Wing was so unwatchable. Well, that and Martin Sheen. I like my Martin Sheen the way I like my women: tanned, youthful and in Vietnam. Wait, that's Gary Glitter who likes them like that.

I have to defer any further criticism of the show to The Studio 60 Drinking Game for a better look at the Sorkin style manual. I'm still of two minds about this show. Salon distilled my dilemma concerning it with the tagline, "Does Aaron Sorkin's "Studio 60" tackle the self-perpetuating mediocrity of the TV industry, or romanticize the self-importance of overpaid jackasses?" That is exactly what I'm trying to figure out.

On Tuesdays, we have a fight in the house about, well, House. The children hate the show until I make them watch it. Which is probably wrong given the subject matter. But they wind up enjoying it, especially when, say, someone's testicles explode. Unfortunately, they are enamored of Dancing With the Stars. I blame their mother for brain-washing them into liking reality television. I try to coerce them into not watching that show without resorting to gay-bashing, but after seeing Sara Evans in that revealing outfit last week, they may be on to something.

CBS has shown some brains by realizing that Jericho is a nice complement to the juggernaut that is ABC's Lost. Rather than trying to counterprogram on Wednesday, they have conceded that hour as, er, lost.

Jericho started out strong, and hopefully will keep up the momentum. I worry that they are going to start cranking out too much plot and not enough character study. How will they solve the issue of just driving out of town to see what happened to the rest of the world is going to be worth seeing. Unfortunately, the show isn't hip enough to use the words "Forbidden Zone".

What Jericho needs, oddly enough, is Aaron Sorkin. His dialogue would make a post-apocalyptic small town a lot less depressing and give the inhabitants some wisecracks to go along with their important work of rebuilding civilization.

Another family struggle is on Thursdays, when I get overruled on My Name is Earl and The Office. Why, you ask? Because the rest of the family wants to watch The Amazing Race War, er, I mean, goddamn Survivor.

The first thing that struck me about this season of Survivor, other than I can't believe people still watch this crap, was how the race groups automatically started into self-parodying stereotypical behavior. I ain't naming names, but if you watch it again, you'll see what I mean. As expected, they will integrate the tribes with forced busing, race riots and National Guardsmen walking the remaining members of the black tribe to tribal council. The white tribe will move to one of the suburban islands, still within easy commuting distance, but with better schools.

After that comes Celebrity Duets. Or as I like to call it, Yet Another Goddamn Reality Show. Let's just say I'm rooting for Lucy Lawless for less than noble reasons, and just leave it at that.

I haven't watched ER for a couple of years. It wasn't bad, despite it looked like I had only missed maybe two episodes in the interim. It is a still serviceable warhorse for the NBC schedule, but at what point will they take it out back, shoot it and call the knacker.

Until Battlestar Galactica comes back, I'm barely tolerating you Friday night. We get the bloated results show of Celebrity Duets, and that's about it. I will say this, Marie Osmond has gotten hotter as she's gotten older.

Saturday is, of course, the day I get to rule the remote with College Football. Although if the ESPN night game sucks, we can check out the reruns of shows from earlier in the week. I think. Last Saturday, they showed Law & Order:SVU's season premiere. After watching it, I feel they should rename it, Law & Order: WTF?.

I get that they were trying to figure out a gimmick to get Mariska Hargitay out of the picture for a while, but what in the name of Lenny Briscoe was that crazy shit about? Never mind the bad acting, nonsensical characters and illogical character motivations. It reached B-movie heights based on the awful Southern accent that Marcia Gay Harden tried to pull off. She sounded like Kevin Bacon's wife in The Closer, but with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. They threw everything but a zombie apocalypse into that dumb-ass story. I'm pretty sure a zombie attack would have improved that shit.

Sunday nights I get shafted again with The Amazing Race. This show makes me root for the contestants to break down sobbing, scream at each other and lose, lose, lose. I hate everyone on this show. I can't believe I'm missing The Simpsons for this shit. Although, after the lame-ass season premiere of The Simpsons I'm not that upset.

The hidden gem of Sunday night programming is The Venture Brothers. Last week's episode, "I Know Why The Caged Bird Kills" was well worth sitting through The Idiotic Race for.

What about The Wire, you say? That fine program show up On Demand the Monday before HBO broadcasts it on Sunday. In fact, I've already watched, next week's episode. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but let's just say it involves crime in Baltimore, and leave it at that.

Enjoy your television watching this season, as always, tip your servers.

Round one to ABC

2006-09-22T09:18:00.000-07:00

Grey's Anatomy beat CSI in the ratings last night and by a fairly large margin.

Here's the breakdown of the overnights from Zap2It.

"Survivor: Cook Islands" put CBS on top at 8 p.m. with a 9.8/16. A "Grey's Anatomy" clip show on ABC was a strong second at 9.2/15. NBC was third with season premieres of "My Name Is Earl," 5.8/10, and "The Office," 5.7/9 (which actually built on its lead-in a little in total viewers and 18-49). "'Til Death," 3.9/6, and "Happy Hour," 3.0/5, were fourth for FOX. The CW went with a "Smallville" rerun.

At 9 p.m., the "Grey's Anatomy" season premiere, 15.7/23, scored a rather shocking win over CBS' "CSI," 13.5/20, which has dominated the timeslot for several years. "Deal or No Deal" was a distant third for NBC at 6.5/10. "Celebrity Duets" slumped to a 2.4/4 for FOX. A "Supernatural" rerun on The CW trailed.

Another medical drama, NBC's "ER," won the 10 p.m. hour with a 10.0/16. The premiere of "Shark" on CBS averaged 9.8/16. ABC's "Six Degrees" lost a big chunk of its lead-in to finish at 8.6/14.

First big Thursday showdown of the year

2006-09-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

So, last night was the first big showdown of the fall season with a lot of heavy-weight shows facing off against each other. I will be interested to see where the ratings fall for each show and will post that as soon as I see it on-line.

So, I want to ask--did you watch any of the shows airing last night? If so, which ones and how did you choose?

Personally, I watched only stuff from the 7 p.m. CST hour, opting for the one-two punch of My Name is Earl and The Office and the reality "social experiment" that is Survivor.

The NBC comedy block was great with both shows delivering fine installments. Earl was a riot, but The Office edged it out as the best show of the night.

Survivor was...well, it was Survivor. Apart from the shock of Billy professing his love at first sight for Candice and Jeff Probst being stunned, there wasn't much else really interesting about it. Well, except that one guy has the secret immunity idol. But since that turned out to be such a dud of a strategy point last year, I'm not holding my breath.

OK, so those of you who watched CSI, Grey's Anatomy or any of the other shows that started up....any thoughts? Was Grey's worth the wait? Has CSI jumped the shark? Will ER ever be worth my valuable time again? And did anyone watch that new J.J. Abrams show, Six Degrees?

Ron Moore honors Star Trek

2006-09-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

Ron Moore has a great op-ed piece in the New York Times talking about the impact classic Star Trek has had upon his life.

It really sums up what makes classic Trek more than just "another TV show."

Preview fall TV

2006-09-14T06:22:00.000-07:00

There are a plethora of pilots and season premieres cropping up on-line this week. And the good news is--they're all provided by the networks, so they're legal for you to view. Here's a list of what's out there for your sampling pleasure.

CBS
The Class (Google Video)
The New Adventures of Old Christine (Google Video)
Smith (Google Video)
Jericho (Yahoo)

NBC
Kidnapped (MSN)
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (AOL)

ABC is offering the first million people who do so a free download of last year's season finales of Desparate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy and Lost over on I-Tunes.

I've also heard that NBC will offer free, streaming episodes of 30 Rock, 20 Good Years, Heroes, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Kidnapped for the first few weeks the shows are on the air. These will be free but still have commercials placed in them if you view them on-line. I've heard 30 Rock and Heroes are supposed to have the pilots out there for free viewing but I can't seem to find where they are. (Heroes has yet to show up on iTunes as promised in early August).

FOX is getting into the streaming video game as well offering up full episodes of every episode of Vanished and Prison Break (season two only) through Google Video.

See the first six minutes of Sunday's The Simpsons season premiere

2006-09-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

Fox.com is offering a sneak preview of the first six minutes of The Simpsons.

There are just days you have to love the Internet...

Battlestar Galactica Webisodes begin

2006-09-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

The Battlestar Galactica webisodes called "Resistance" have begun over at SciFi. The first episode is now live with the new installments posted at midnight EST on Tuesdays and Thursdays as we build up the highly antiticipated season premiere on October 6.

Doctor Who wins a Hugo!

2006-08-27T14:50:00.000-07:00

Series one (season 27)'s two part story "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dance" took home the Hugo for best dramatic presentation, short form at this year's Hugos. The two part story was in the running with "Dalek" and "Father's Day" also from series one as well as a couple of episodes of Battlestar Galactica.

This is a great win for the new Doctor Who and shows why if you're not watching this show, you should be.

Also, when Doctor Who and BSG start airing together in October, you'll have the last two Hugo winners for the short form dramatic presentation airing on the same night.

In other good news, Serenity won as best dramatic presentation, long form. As well it should have...

SG1 cancelled

2006-08-22T05:57:00.000-07:00

Three days after celebrating a record-setting 200th episode, Stargate SG1 was given the axe by the SciFi channel.

The 10th season will be the last for the franchise, which will end its run with 215 episodes.

Stargate SG1 stated on Showtime before jumping ship to SciFi before its sixth season. The show was a ratings winner out of the gate and may have lead to the cancellation of the far superior in every way Farscape. However, over the past several seasons, ratings have eroded and the show hasn't pulled in the critical and fan buzz that Battlestar Galactica has.

On a good news side, Stargate: Atlantis was renewed for a fourth sesaon. And the cancellation of SG1 makes room for the proposed Battlestar Galactica spin-off Caprica as well as more seasons of Doctor Who as they become available.

Falll season begins tonight

2006-08-21T05:25:00.000-07:00

FOX kicks off the fall season this evening with the return of Prison Break and the premiere of a new serialized thriller, Vanished.

Last year, Prison Break benefited from jumping out of the gate early and hooking viewers on the unique premise--brother who designed a prison gets thrown in there to help his wrongly-convicted brother escape before the brother is given the death penalty. To add to the complexity, there was a conspiracy plotline related to Michael Shoefield's brother going to prison that was slowly unravelling and might just prove his innocence. Last season ended with a small group breaking out of prison, some dramatic revelations in the conspiracy storyline and the fate of several characters left up in the air.

This year, we pick up right where last year left off and the show quickly morphs from a break out of prison drama into The Fugitive with a lot more people running about. This year's quest seems to be to get our heroes to Utah, where Schoefield has enough money hidden for he and his brother to disappear to Mexico.

Prison Break is a show along the lines of 24 in that if you think too much, you're going to ruin it. But at least 24 is happening within the context of one day so you can dismiss some of the things going on and just go with the flow. Also, 24 is just a better show. This year, we're asked to believe that Scoefield planned out every step not only to escape from the prison but beyond and tatooed all of these memory markers on his body. This comes in handy when a new adversary played by William Fincher comes on-screen and begins his pursuit of Scoefield. The good news is that Fincher's character may be a better adversary for Scoefield in the cat and mouse game that will be played out this season with our heroes on the lam.

The bad news--the conspiracy plotline inolving the now president of the United States is still as laughable and annoying as ever. Also, the plot of Michael and company nearly getting caught every week could get old fast and the show could become little more than rehash of The Fugitive or The Incredible Hulk if it's not careful.

As for the fates of characters left on the brink of death--that will be addressed in this episode. Also, there is one major death in tonight's opener. I won't spoil it here but all you have to do is read the opening credits and you'll figure out who will be leaving....

FOX is pairing Prison Break with its new serialized drama, Vanished. (One of two shows this year about someone being kidnapped, the other being NBC's appropriately named Kidnapped).

When Sara Collins, the wife of Georgia senator Jeffrey Collins vanishes from a charity dinner, the FBI sends in a crack team to find her. The first episode follows the first twenty-four hours of the investigation in which we learn a whole lot about everyone involved. One of the two FBI agents is haunted by a case gone badly six months earlier (a child died he was trying to get back) and the senator's family has more secrets than Carter has pills. In the first hour, we learn that his daughter is dating a guy who may or may not be connected to the conspiracy to take the wife, that the senator's ex-wife has been meeting with his current wife and somoene inside the senator's house is pregnant. (I'm going to call it now and say it's the daughter since the wife's parents establish early on that Sara can't have children).

Meanwhile, a driven reporter has arrived on the scene, determined to make her career with this story. And in standard driven female reporter fashion, she puts the kabosh on sex in order to get out and pursue the story. In fact, she becomes aware of the story while in bed with her younger camera man.

Before hour's end, we've got a lot of suspects and potential leads. But not content to stop there, Vanished throws in a far-reaching mystical conspriacy element with a mysterious religious group that happens to drop a calling card and some weird symbols for our heroes to follow.

You have to give Vanished credit--its putting all its cards on the table early. We already get a scene where Collins confronts haunted FBI agent, giving him permission to circumvent FBI procedures if it means saving his wife (last time with the child kidnapping, the agent sent a memo but it was ignored and he followed orders against his better instinct, leading to tragedy). Also, it seems as if everyone who is in contact with the senator's family is in on it, from the daughter's boyfriend to his ex-wife to his son. The show tries to deliver a few shocking twists as the hour draws to a close to hook you into next week and, hopefully, the entire season-long mystery. For the most part, it's successful, though how long I'll stay with once there's other choices on Monday night I'm not sure. I'm intrigued to see why the wife was kidnapped (there are strong hints that it could be about the senator voting for a Supreme Court justice and following "party lines.") and how far the conspiracy goes. And there's a whole lot of interesting family drama to this one (though at first glance, it's very cliched) that might make it worth an investment.

At the very least, it's got Rebecca Gayheart as the driven female journalist. That alone may make it worth watching...well, at least until Monday Night Football starts up.

First look: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

2006-08-09T19:43:00.000-07:00

When your network is in fourth place in a lot of crucial demographics, you have to do whatever it takes to build a buzz for your new fall slate. NBC is taking full advantage of the word of mouth advertising this summer by offering fans previews of some of their more anticipated shows this fall.

Earlier this week, Netflix users could rent a special DVD that contained two of the fall drama pilots.

One of those pilots is the highly anticipated Aaron Sorkin project Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

The show itself is a thinly veiled look at the inner workings of an SNL-like show. Interestingly enough, this is one of two shows on NBC that will poke fun at or look at the inner workings of a live, sketch comedy series. The other is 30 Rock, featuring former SNL player Tina Fey. (It is, alas, not yet available for preview, though give the Internet a few weeks and I bet screeners find their way on-line).

Now, let me preface this by saying that while I admire Aaron Sorkin as a writer, I never quite jumped on The West Wing band wagon. I jumped on and off a few times over the years, but never really saw what everyone else thought was so special about the show.

Sports Night, that was a whole other matter. I loved that show--something I re-discovered on the magic of DVD this summer.

In a lot of ways, Studio 6o reminds me a lot of Sports Night and it's not just becuase both take place on a fictional television series. In both cases, the shows revolve around a television show fighting for respect and ratings. With Sports Night, the show was trying to come out of the shadow of its big rivals while with Studio 60, its a show that is past its prime, trying to recapture the glory days and be relevant again.

All the typical Sorkin trademarks are here--witty dialogue, long speeches and conversations that take place while characters are moving. There's overlapping dialogue that almost demands repeat viewing and the words the characters say here are exactly what we mere mortals wish we could say-that is if we had a team of writers following us around to give us bits of dialogue.

The pilot episode sets a lot of things in motion that I hope and assume will play out over the course of the series. After current producer, Wes (Judd Hirsch), has a melt-down on the air (he's upset they cut a sketch), a new hot shot network exec, Jordan, (Amanda Peet) tries to get back the writing duo that put Studio 60 on the map--Matt (Bradley Whitford) and Danny (Matthew Perry). The creative duo left the show several years before and are working on a movie career that is stalling out for reasons I won't reveal so as to not give too much away. The cast of the show is introduced and Danny has a romantic connection to one of them--they recently broke up and try as everyone might, no one can pin Danny down to the real reason the two broke-up. There's also a network exec, Jack (Stephen Weber), who is lurking in the wings, not impressed by Jordan and waiting for her to make her first mistake--he thinks bringing back the duo of Matt and Danny will be her downfall.

The pilot sets a lot of things in motion that I assume will pay off over the course of the series. The biggest frustration about seeing this pilot so soon is that I now have to wait a few weeks to see the next installment. And that's a good sign--the fact that I want to go back to the Studio 60 universe shows that the pilot has done its job and got me hooked on the show. I'm not sure it will make it into the must see list, but I'm willing to give it a few episodes to grow and develop.

I will admit as I went into this, I had a few biases--the biggest being that I couldn't past the fact that Matthew Perry was Chandler from the popular sitcom Friends. Every movie or other project I've seen Perry in, he basically plays a different variation of Chandler, so I feared he wouldn't have the chops to carry off the drama that is required. After seeing the pilot, those fears are allayed. Perry is a revelation as Danny, showing he's far more than Chandler Bing. He's got the chops and he shows them here. Within five minutes of Perry's first appearance on screen, I'd completely forgot about Chandler and was, instead, seeing his new character come to life.

Not that the rest of the cast is any slouches either. They're all good and as I said, the show has potential.

That said, the similiarities between this and Sports Night are abundent. I hope Sorkin has a plan to distinguish this show. A lot of the themes could be the same but it will take time to see if Studio 60 can come out of the huge shadow cast by the success of West Wing and the greatness that was Sports Night.

So far, it's off to a good start. I recommend the pilot. If you're a NetFlix user who can't wait, put it in your queue and enjoy. If not, it's definitely worth giving a try when it premieres on NBC in late September.

Heroes pilot to be available on iTunes

2006-08-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

At this point, you have to wonder if NBC will have any original episodes left for premiere week?

The pilot to their new show Heroes will be available as a free download starting September 1st on ITunes.

I have to admit I'm intrigued by Heroes and it's on my list of shows to try in the fall. That said, I'm wary because NBC doesn't have the best track record with giving serialized genre shows the time to establish and develop an audience.

At least NBC president Kevin Reilly seems to be acknowledging this and is willing to give the show a chance to develop if it's not a huge hit out of the gate.

But I do have to wonder--the first week numbers are critical. Will the distrubuting of the episode free on-line help or hurt the show? The helpful--it builds buzz. The hurtful--people who are anxious to see it will watch it and may not tune in for the first episode...

Just a thought....

Studio 60 Pilot on-line

2006-08-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

The pilot for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip will be available for rent to Netflix subscribers starting Saturday.

But if you just can't wait to see it, the pilot has turned up on YouTube.

Well, at least it has for now. I bet NBC gets wind of this and it's soon taken down....

CW Crossover

2006-08-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

Michael Ausiello is reporting that there will be a crossover between Veronica Mars and Gilmore Girls this year.

Brace yourselves — the Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars universes are about to collide! I just got a smokin' hot tip that Gilmore guy Matt Czuchry will cross over to Veronica Mars on Oct. 24 — but not as Logan Huntzberger. It's better: He's playing Charlie Stone, half brother to none other than Logan Echolls! Can you believe it? Logan is playing Logan's brother! I love it!

Yes, this is no way sounds like a bad idea....(That last part was sarcasm)

America Does Indeed Have Talent

2006-07-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

We have a talent for making two great tastes taste great together!

Nobody's Watching picked up by NBC

2006-07-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, Scrubs scribe Bill Lawrence created a show called Nobody's Watching. It was the story of two guys, best friends united by their mutual love of sitcoms. Lamenting the sad state of sitcoms today, they decide to create their own and move to California to do so. They end up with a development deal with the WB and the show was supposed to chronicle their ups and downs of putting together the best sitcom ever.

In a way, it kind of sounds a lot like the season four arc to Seinfeld.

The show never made it past the pilot stage, despite having some good buzz.

At this point, you'd think the show would be dead and gone.

But now we've entered the new Internet era. The pilot was posted to YouTube and became something of a success. 300,000 people watched the pilot and enough people liked what they saw to tell a friend or blog about it. (I watched the pilot and it is pretty funny). The show had potential, but alas it seemed it would never be realized.

Well, someone at NBC figured that a show that was creating its own buzz and fanbase might be worth giving a shot to. NBC has ordered six episodes of Nobody's Watching for a mid-season berth on the network.

Now, networks spend a lot of money each year trying to find the next big thing that the American public is going to like and embrace. Does the success of Nobody's Watching mean that the networks might try to find new ways to get some direct feedback on pilots and ideas in development? Would you want to watch a streaming episode of a new show and give feedback on it? Would this lead to better shows or just more of the same?

In an interesting turn of events, the failed CW pilot Aquaman showed up on I-Tunes this week. For two bucks, you can see what might have been.

I do wonder if the CW and Warner Brothers (who produced the show) are hoping for some kind of viral marketing and buzz for Aquaman similiar to what has happened here with Nobody's Watching. If there is a positive response to the pilot and a clamor for more, might Aquaman be green-lit for mid-season or next season?

Also, might we be seeing the start of a revolution on content delivery? If people are willing to pay two bucks per episode of a show and you get enough paying customrers, might the networks suddenly be left out of the equation? If the end user can fund the show either by buying it on-line or having it delivered on demand to a DVR, would this be a viable way to produce and distrubute a show? Also, if a show were to go this route, would it be free of the network demands on it in terms of standards and practices?

On the flip side, how hard might it be for the creators to still achieve their vision of the show if the fans feel an even greater sense of ownership of the show since, by golly, we paid for it.

Arrested Development Syndication News

2006-07-27T06:49:00.000-07:00

I was going to call this one Arrested Development news, but I thought might give many false hope that the show had been revived.

Arrested Development and its 53 epiosdes of comedy brilliance will go into syndication this fall. And fans can find it one of three ways. One will be on cable's G4 network, which gets farther away from the original premise of the show about computers and technology every day. Another is in HD on Demand.

The third way is on-line with MSN's new video service. But unlike other services that offer episodes of shows on-line, MSN will make AD available free of charge.

Yes, you read that right--free.

Take that iTunes!

The return of Babylon Five

2006-07-25T07:14:00.000-07:00

This news should make fellow B5 junkee, Kat Coble extremely happy.

Rumors are circulating from the ComicCon Babylon Five panel that the universe that is Babylon Five will return in series form. The series will be done as direct to DVD anthologies. Here's some details from Ain't It Cool News about the series.

So I thought about it, and I suggested a bunch of short films. Little mini-movies or an anthology show set in the Babylon 5 universe. I pick a character and develop an hour-long story around that character. Stories that I wanted to tell during the B5 series but never had the chance to develop. They said, Okay. I said I wanted complete creative control. Do not change my words that I write, and I want that in writing. They said, Okay. And I want to direct. They said, Okay.

This project was green lit less than two weeks ago. Its going to happen. Production starts in September in Vancouver, Canada. Post-production will occur from October to February with a release of the first three anthologies in the second quarter of 2007.

Also, reading the article, JMS is apparently suddenly a big commodity in Hollywood again. He's got a lot on his plate from the new B5 to writing for Marvel's flagship The Amazing Spider-Man to a new script that is to be directed by Ron Howard.

But let's face it--the exciting news is that B5 could be back...

Rumor: SciFi to plan schedule around BSG

2006-07-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

Gateworld is reporting this morning that SciFi is considering running the entire season of Battlestar Galactica (which kicks off again October 6) in one, long 20 episode block. Last year, the series ran in two blocks of 10 epiosdes each with a mid-season cliffhanger.

This move would create a six month gap in the seasons of Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis if it were to become a reality. It also shows that while there are other shows on SciFi that attract a good audience (such as last week's premiere of Eureka) that in terms of buzz and attention, SciFi knows where it's bread is buttered--and that is Battlestar Galactica. It could also be seen as SciFi trying to find a way to offer original programming year round to attract and keep viewers to the network.

BSG Season Three Promo

2006-07-21T05:57:00.000-07:00

SPOILERS within! You have been warned!

This minute long preview aired during the premiere of Eureka Tuesday evening.

Dear heavens...October cannot get here fast enough!

Heath Ledger?!?

2006-07-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

As the Joker in the Batman Begins sequel?!?

Slice of SciFi is reporting that the Latino Review is reporting the story that Heath Ledger is the lead actor to be the Joker in the next Batman movie.

Now before you hit comment to mock me, consider that the Latino Review also broke the story that Brandon Routh was cast as Superman....

Kevin Smith vs Joel Siegel

2006-07-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Movie critic Joel Siegel was at a critic's screening for Kevin Smith's highly anticipated (at least by me) Clerk's 2.

Siegel took offense to a running gag in the film and decided to walk out on the film. According to reports, Siegel made sure everyone in the theater knew he was walking out.

Smith isn't too happy about it--not just the fact that Siegel walked out but that he made such a distraction of himself doing it. In fact, Smith posted about the incident on his MySpace blog.

Then, the two got into on the Opie and Anthony show. But the funny thing is that Siegel doesn't realize for a good amount of time that he's debating with Kevin Smith. You can hear the interview here. I love the pause when Siegel realizes that he's been talking to Smith and then starts to backpeddle.

First of all, I have to say to Joel Siegel, it's a Kevin Smith movie! What'd you expect--fluffy bunnies and everyone hugging?

Clerks 2 opens tomorrow in theaters.

Netflix subscribers can preview two NBC pilots

2006-07-20T05:42:00.000-07:00

Starting Aug 5, Netflix subscribers can check-out a DVD containing the pilots of two highly anticipated NBC series as part of their subscription service. The DVD will contain the full pilots for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Kidnapped, as well as previews and teasers for the rest of NBC's new fall line-up.

NBC had a simliar promotion last year when they offered subscribers of Entertainment Weekly the full pilot of My Name Is Earl as part of their regular magazine subscription. But the premire epiosdes of shows have never been released in this massive a campaign and so far in advance of their premiere dates (almost a good six weeks) before. NBC is hoping to capture a target demographic that uses Netflix as well build some early word of mouth for these both shows and the rest of their fall line-up.

It should be interesting to see how this plays out. Yes, it could capture an audience for these shows but will people be interested in watching the premieres six weeks later? Will audiences instead, having already seen these respective pilots, tune into other premieres and skip these episodes?

It's a risky strategy for NBC, but when you're in fourth place, you've got to do something to make a splash.

This is what entertainment is all about ... idiots, explosives and falling anvils.

2006-07-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday morning, I stupidly left the television on Channel 5 for a couple of hours. The combination of Dora the Explorer, Blues Clues and whatever other cloying garbage passes for children's entertainment these days made my brain scream for the sweet embrace of death.

Not to get all Grandpappy-ish, but in my day...

Violent cartoons, crypto-dope fiend puppets and slightly pervy playhouses were what we watched.

And by golly we liked it!

For example, let's look at the offerings on a Saturday morning in 1974. Here is what I would typically watch, instead of that edumacational crap the kids are force-fed today.
8:00--Yogi's Gang
8:30--Flipping between Scooby Doo, Where Are You and Bugs Bunny.
9:00--Hong Kong Phooey or Emergency plus Four. That's right ladies, a cartoon Randolph Mantooth.
9:30--This was a real toss-up. CBS had Partridge Family 2200 A.D., ABC had New Adventures of Gilligan, and NBC had Run, Joe, Run. Of the three, Run, Joe, Run was the best. And by the best, I mean didn't suck as much as the other two. The Gilligan cartoon wasn't horrible. Not like the Partridge Family living in a Jetsonian future with recycled Josie and the Pussycats plots.
10:00--This was a no-brainer. Land of the Lost.
10:30--Depending on the mood and which one was a rerun; Sigmund and the Sea Monsters vs. Shazam.
11:00--Is there any doubt? Superfriends, bitches.
11:30--Star Trek: The Animated Series. No, I don't want to go out and play. I'm watching TV, goddammit!
12:00--U.S. of Archie. Ahead of its time. Spoofed by South Park when Cartman goes back to witness the founding fathers debate war with England.
12:30--Hey, hey, hey! Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. My favorite episode was the one about prison rape.
1:00--"Hey Mom, what's for lunch?"

There you go. At least five hours of eating bowls of Chocolate-Coated Sugar Bombs and sitting three feet from the television every week didn't hurt me none. The kids today are going to wind up being precocious little turds from watching the dreck that passes for children's television these days.

Luckily, you can find the good shows on DVD. Adult Swim has started rerunning Pee-Wee's Playhouse. There is no good reason to make your kids watch the crap of today, when the crap of yesterday is so much better.

Oh, and this long-winded trip down memory lane is to mention in passing that:

Star Trek: The Animated Series is coming to DVD.

Buffy Season Eight...

2006-07-19T05:37:00.000-07:00

No, Joss Whedon isn't reviving his classic TV series for the small screen (if he were, I'd barely be able to type with my excitement...).

But he is scripting a continuation of the Buffy saga from Dark Horse comics. EW has the first cover at their web site if you're interested.

The new series picks up after season seven with a new army of Slayers. There will be Dawn agnst and a new big bad for the storyline, which Dark Horse is keeping secret (The Master, anyone?) . The first issue goes on sale at ComicCon this weekend and I know I'll be keeping my eye out for this new series in comic book stores.

Veronica Mars News

2006-07-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

TV Guide's Michael Ausiello is at the fall press tour (along with a lot of other media type people) and is posting reports in his blog at TV Guide On-Line.

Yesterday was the press tour for the new CW. There were some interesting tidbits about Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars in his notes.

But one of the most interesting and potentially SPOILERy (turn back now if you don't want to know...) is that....

...uber-VM fan Stephen King might cameo in the third episode next year.

First Joss Whedon and now Stephen King..man this show rocks. So, if you're not watching yet--why the heck not?!?

Just another step toward the world predicted by MInority Report

2006-07-17T05:34:00.000-07:00

Reading USA Today's coverage of the CBS press-junket for the fall season, I came across this interesting tid-bit of how some of CBS's line-up will be marketed this fall...

In the latest marketing gimmick to promote fall shows, CBS has scrambled together "egg-vertising," ads that will be laser-printed onto fresh eggs sold in supermarkets. Individual eggs will be inscribed with such slogans as "CBS Mondays: Leave the yolks to us" and "CSI: Crack the case on CBS," which will appear alongside expiration dates and "traceability codes" for the ovoid edibles.

Advertising and marketing is becoming more and more pervasive.

Battlestar Start Date Set

2006-07-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

Mark you calendars....season three of Battlestar Galactica starts Friday, October 6 at 9 p.m. CST. according to the Unofficial Battlestar Galactica blog, which got its info from the Futon Critic.

Two things: I know where I'll be Friday, October 6th and man, it can't get here soon enough!

See the Emmy nominated episodes

2006-07-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

Last week, the Emmy nominations were announced and TV fans everywhere let out a collective "What the heck?" and "Why wasn't ________ nominated?"

So, apparently this new system is not working.

But are you curious about which episodes from last season were screened and given nods and those upon which the categories will be voted?

If you are, this is your lucky day. The L.A. Times blog The Envelope has a full list of the nominated episodes as well as links for most of them on YouTube to watch the episodes. Not all the episodes are up yet, but they hope to have them all posted by mid-August.

As interesting as seeing the epiosdes from the series that were nominated is, I'd also be curious which episodes were submitted for those obvious omissions. (I know, for example, that Lauren Graham submitted the polarizing season finale for Gilmore Girls as her entry).

The Office Webisodes Available.

2006-07-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

The first two webisodes for The Office are on-line. It's a running story about the accountants at Dunder Mifflin trying to find a $3000 discrpency in the books.

New webisodes go live each Thursday.

Best Game Show Hosts

2006-07-13T09:18:00.000-07:00

GameShow Network is doing a countdown of the greatest game shows of all-time.

RetroCrush has taken the ball and run with it, offering up the top 30 game show hosts of all time. The top five are:

Gene Rayburn
Bob Barker
Richard Dawson
Monty Hall
Alex Trebeck

You can see the rest of the list here. The list is nice becuase it's got tons of links to YouTube clips of the hosts doing what they do best.

Only one woman--The Weakest Link's Anne Robinson--made the top 30.

Emmy nods are out...

2006-07-06T06:48:00.000-07:00

So, the nominations for the Emmy awards are out and all I can say is--this new system isn't working. Here they are:

Outstanding Drama Series: Grey's Anatomy, House, The Sopranos, 24 and The West Wing
Outstanding Comedy Series: Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusisam, The Office, Scrubs and Two and a Half Men

Lead Actress/Drama: Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under), Geena Davis (Commander in Chief), Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU), Allison Janney (The West Wing) and Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)
Lead Actor/Drama: Peter Krause (Six Feet Under), Denis Leary (Rescue Me), Christopher Meloni (SVU), Martin Sheen (West Wing) and Kiefer Sutherland (24)

Lead Actress/Comedy: Stockard Channing (Out of Practice) Jane Kaczmerek (Malcolm in the Middle), Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback), Debra Messing (Will & Grace) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine)
Lead Actor/Comedy: Steve Carell (The Office), Larry David (Curb), Kevin James (King of Queens), Tony Shalhoub (Monk) and Charlie Sheen (Men)

Supporting Actress/Drama: Candice Bergen (Boston Legal), Sandra Oh (Grey's), Chandra Wilson (Grey's), Blythe Danner (Huff) and Jean Smart (24)
Supporting Actor/Drama: William Shatner (Boston), Oliver Platt (Huff), Michael Imperioli (Sopranos), Gregory Itzin (24) and Alan Alda (West Wing)

Supporting Actress/Comedy: Cheryl Hines (Curb), Alfre Woodard (Desperate Housewives), Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds), Jaime Pressly (My Name Is Earl) and Megan Mullally (W&G)
Supporting Actor/Comedy: Will Arnett (Arrested), Jeremy Piven (Entourage), Bryan Cranston (Malcolm), Jon Cryer (Men) and Sean Hayes (W&G)

Here are some of my initial reactions....

Ok, how the hell did West Wing get a nod for best drama over the clearly superior dramas Battlestar Galactica and last year's best drama winner Lost?!? I'm beginning to think the production staff has comprimising photos of the Acadamy members that they're using to threaten them should they not get a nod...

How did Lost get shut out of all the nominations?!? Is it some insane backlash for the not being able to figure out if there was a new episode on a week to week basis?

OK, I know it was a pipe dream to hope that BSG, Lauren Graham and Kirsten Bell would all get nods, but surely at least one of these three is worthy! To say nothing of Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell from Battlestar.....

And wait--House gets a nod but not Hugh Laurie?!? How in the world?!? Hugh Laurie is the REASON TO WATCH House! Not that it's not good, but without Laurie's stellar work, it's just another medical drama.

OK, things they got correct....Denis Leary for Rescue Me, a nod for Scrubs (hopefully it wins this year) and Jean Smart and Greg Itzin for 24.

New Doctor Who Companion Revealed

2006-07-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

Rose Tyler leaves the TARDIS this weekend when Doctor Who's twenty-eighth season (second season of the new series) comes to a close.

This morning the BBC officially unveiled the new companion for when Doctor Who returns next year. Her name is Martha Jones and she'll be played by Freema Agyeman.

Agyeman was in this week's episode "Army of Ghosts" as a different character. She will join the TARDIS crew in the first regular episode next year, meaning the Doctor will be wandering the universe solo for the Christmas special later this year.

Official press-release and a picture are on the BBC's web site.

WB says farewell

2006-06-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

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.

Spidey 3 trailer on-line.

2006-06-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

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.

Classic Star Trek still a winner.

2006-06-21T06:14:00.000-07:00

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.

Best moments from the WB

2006-06-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

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....

Save Screech's House

2006-06-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

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.

13 Most Unpopular TV Characters

2006-06-09T08:18:00.000-07:00

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.

Best Summer TV series

2006-06-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

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.

More theories on Lost

2006-05-29T11:31:00.000-07:00

So, that season finale of Lost...

Doc Jensen over at Entertainment Weekly has an interesting new theory about what's really going on on the island. It's fascinating reading and it even explains out Dickens' Our Mutual Friend fits into the Lost universe. (Note to self: add book to summer reading list).

In related Lost news, the Lost tie-in novel Bad Twin has hit the bestseller list. There are rumors going around that the novel was ghost-written by one of Lost's bigger fans, Stephen King.

I've not read the book but it's on reserve at the library so I'll get back to you on it...

ABC announces fall slate of shows

2006-05-16T06:10:00.000-07:00

ABC unveiled its schedule for fall 2006 this morning. Gone from the schedule are Invasion, Commander in Chief (though it may return as a two-hour movie), Freddie (guess that prediction of a second-season guest appearance by Sarah Michelle Gellar won't happen), Sons & Daughters, Rodney, Hope & Faith and Less Than Perfect. As most of you know, Alias was cancelled long ago to give the producers a chance to wrap-up the series.

New shows: Betty the Ugly, Big Day, Brothers & Sisters, Day Break, Help Me Help You, In Case of Emergency, Greg Behrendt's Wake-Up Call, Just for Laughs, Let's Rob..., Men in Trees, The Nine, Notes from the Underbelly, Set for the Rest of Your Life, Six Degrees, Traveler, ABC Saturday Night College Football.

Moves: We'll see how huge Grey's Anatomy really is when it moves to Thursdays opposite CSI and the much touted NBC show Studio 60. I wonder who will blink first? (Right now, I put the odds on NBC blinking first with its show and moving it early in the season to a less competitive time slot). Dancing With the Stars will be back on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Lost will remain where it is for the time being. Oh and just to annoy TV critics everywhere, According to Jim will be back for a sixth season.

Looking at the list of new shows, nothing jumps out and grabs my attention as a new, must see show along the lines of Lost. But we've got plenty of time for ABC to get that hype machine going and win me over...

Ethan Hunt or Ethan Hawke?

2006-05-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Here's your handy guide.

NBC unveils fall schedule

2006-05-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

It's up-fronts week, that magical week when all the networks renew some shows, send some shows to an early exit and try to get us excited for the next big thing.

NBC is first this week. NBC is trying to reverse the downward trend of previous years and has an aggressive new slate of shows coming out this fall. The line-up for the fall includes six new drama and four new comedies.

Among the highlights:

Heroes - A show about ordinary people finding out they have extraordinary powers. Sounds a bit like Buffy and a bit like the X-Men franchise. Could be good but it's got a tough time slot of Mondays at 8 p.m CST (where it will be opposite 24 come January and the mega-block of CBS comedies).
Friday Night Lights - based on the movie of the same name. Kyle Chandler takes over the lead for Billy Bob Thornton. Scheduled to air Tuesdays at 7 p.m.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Aaron (The West Wing, Sports Night) Sorkin's new show. Stars Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet and Bradley Whitford. A drama about the going-on's behind the scenes at an SNL-like show. This one is being aggressively placed at 8 p.m. on Thursdays between My Name is Earl and the Office and ER. Can it challenge the ratings juggernaut that is CSI?
Kidnapped - A serialized thriller about a teenage boy who is kidnapped. Sounds a lot like they built a show around Kim Bauer if you ask me. Will air Tuesdays at 8 p.m.
20 Good Years - John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor team up for a new comedy that sounds a lot like The Odd Couple. Airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. up against some little show called Lost.
30 Rock - Tina Fey's behind the scenes comedy about a show that is a lot like SNL. Airs Wednesdays at 8:30.

Oh yeah, and NBC has this little thing called the NFL that will air on Sunday nights.

Scrubs is expected to be back mid-season as will Crossing Jordon. All of the various Law and Order shows are coming back as is ER.

Not making it: Surface and Teachers.

The new Andy Richter sitcom, which was reported as dead last week will be a mid-season replacement.

More details and if your favorite NBC show made it back can be found here.

Presidential address could delay start times tonight

2006-05-15T06:11:00.000-07:00

President Bush will address the nation this evening at 7 p.m. CST. As of right now, NBC and FOX will carry the address live while ABC and CBS are on the fence about it. (It does't matter either way if UPN or the WB carry it since no one watches those networks on Monday night anyway and they'll both be gone in a few weeks).

FOX will start the season finale of Prison Break as soon as the presidential address is done and then follow it with the penultimate episode of 24 for this season. Neither show will be joined in progress since interrupting even one second of 24 would force fans to go Jack Bauer on the network. NBC would love to preempt 20 minutes of The Apprentice but Donald Trump's hair won't allow it.

UPDATE (10:42 a.m.): Presidential apprvoal ratings are expected to plummet based on this news. ABC has announced that it will join the two-hour season finale of Grey's Anatomy in progress with a recap of what's happened in the first 20 minutes for those of us in the central time zone (same thing for eastern time). The Oprah special that was to air from 7-8 has been moved.

Can I ask--does this make a lick of sense? You're putting a huge show onto a Monday night to test the waters and you pre-empt 20 minutes?!? I'm not a Grey's Anatomy fan but I can understand how the fans of the show are going to be upset about this. I recall back in the day, ABC interrupted two minutes of Lois and Clark's season premiere to show us Jimmy Carter getting on a plane.

I have a feeling BitTorrent is going to be active. Or is this just a ploy to get people to watch the show on ABC's web site or buy it via I-Tunes?

UPDATE AGAIN (10:50 a.m.): I just checked ABC's web site and TV Guide On-Line got it wrong. Seems that Grey's will air part one of the season finale that aired last night from 7-8 p.m. It will be pre-empted by Bush's speech. The entire two-hour finale will air in the regularily scheduled time slot of 8-10 p.m. tonight. Now, I just need to go talk my good friend Katherine down on that ledge (I totally understand..if FOX were to cut 20 minutes of Jack Bauer I'd be going mental).

"Pain or damage don't end the world."

2006-05-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

This coming season of Deadwood may be the last one, according to CNN. Apparently, HBO has not picked up the 0ption for a fourth season and has released the actors. At least Rome is coming back for a second season.

Al Swearengen: In life you have to do a lot of things you don't fucking want to do. Many times, that's what the fuck life is... one vile fucking task after another.

Classic Cliffhangers

2006-05-09T06:15:00.000-07:00

It's season and series finale time in TV-land. As seasons come to an end, the audience is often left hanging on a cliffhanger, insuring we'll speculate all summer on what might happen next. Some of these cliffhangers will be resolved, some won't due to cancellation.

The Pheonix has a discussion of the top ten season ending cliffhangers of all-time. And while the list is good, they made some crucial mistakes.

The first is any list of cliffhangers in incompleted without acknowledging the greatest cliffhanger of all time, "Mr Worf, fire!" Apologies to Dallas and the question of "Who shot J.R.?" but when it comes to cliffhangers this one from the third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation is the gold standard by which all others are judged (and for the most part, found wanting). The unstoppable Borg have Picard and have altered him to be a servant of the Borg. The Enterprise has one chance to stop them with a weapon that will hopefully destroy the Borg ship or at least cripple it enough to allow Starfleet to bring the fleet to take it out. They have one chance and they've got to take it...but it means killing Picard as well. And Riker orders the weapon be used and then as the music builds to a crescendo, those three hated words 'To Be Continued" appear on screen.

The thing was that since TNG aired in syndication, you wouldn't hear a collective shout of "Nooooooooooooooooo!" all across the country. It came at different times during the week as you realized you had to wait four long months to find out what happened next. And sure, I'll admit that the resolution wasn't as strong as the episode that lead up to it. But what I do recall is one long, hot summer in the days before the Internet existed (at least in my world) to find other fans, to puruse rumors of what would happen next and how it would go, to maybe find SPOILERs...nope, instead, we were left to wonder--did TNG have the courage to kill off the lead of the show just as it was getting really good and hand the show over to Riker? Deep down you knew they couldn't...but then again, maybe they could.

So, any list without that episode is incomplete.

Also, I have to take them to task for their choice of Buffy cliffhangers. They cite season five's "The Gift" as the best Buffy season ender. Yes, it was the 100th episode of the show and yes, it was a satisfying wrap-up to a classic season. And Buffy throwing herself into hell and dying was a great way to end the season. But, when it all comes down to it, "The Becoming, Part 1 and 2" from season was better. Those episodes rank right up there among the best written, best acted and best directed episodes in all of television. Buffy must stab Angel and send him to hell to save the world. Her life in ruins from having been kicked out of school, suspected of murder, revealed her secret to her mother and been told to not come back, alienating her friends and then killing the man she loved just as his soul was restored. And then Buffy leaves town to the strains of a Sarah McLaughlin song that perfectly sums up where our favorite Slayer is. Sure it wasn't a moment along the lines of "Mr Worf, fire" but from a storytelling standpoint, it left the field wide open for the fallout from season two in season three.

It's this episode that cemented me as a Joss Whedon fan-boy for life. Damn, the man can write and direct.

Others that didn't make the list.

Babylon Five, season three: Z'hadhum - Sheridan goes to the planet of his enemies and dives to his apparent death. We're left at a crossroads in the Shadow War. The show even had enough guts to make us think Sheridan was dead for an entire episode as season four started. (Interestingly while the audience finds out that he's alive in episode two, the rest of the characters don't find out until the fourth episode of the season when Sheridan makes a dramatic return and we find out the consequences of what happened and the choices Sheridan made).

Alias, season two - Say what you will about how they've dropped the ball on this since it aired but the whole concept of Syd losing two years and Vaughn being married was pretty darn good.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season five: A Call To Arms - "The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1" started a trend for Trek of ending the season on a cliffhanger. But whereas TNG, Voyager and Enterprise would all end on a story that had to be picked up and resolved within the first episode of next season, DS9 went for a broader storytelling perspective. Yes, huge things would happen in season finales, but they were huge things that had an impact beyond the first hour of the next season and might take a couple of episodes or the entire year to resolve. Case in point: season five of DS9 when the Dominion takes the station and Sisko and Starfleet are forced to leave it. Sisko leaves his baseball as a message to Gul Dukat that he intends to return and then takes the Defiant to join a fleet of ships that will fight the war and eventually take the station back. The images of a fleet of ships flying toward the camera and then the screen fading to black....it was great. And the thing with this one was--DS9 took six episodes to get Sisko and company back to the station in season six. There was no easy out for the crew on this one.

Battlestar Galactica, season 1: Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 2 - It'd be easy to use the cliffhanger from season two becuase it was quite the mind blower. But the image of Adama shot by Boomer was great. It left me wanting more BSG right then...it made the wait of three months seem enternal but damn was it worth it.

Farscape, season two - Die Me Dichotomy - Or as I call it, the hero loses everything. The entire second season of Farscape is one massive arc, if you know to look for it. The thing is David Kemper and company don't reveal the cards of the arc until 2/3s of the way through the season, making you re-examine certain actions and episodes in a new light. And in the second season cliffhanger, our hero John Cricthon loses it all. He is responsible for the death of the woman he loves, the bad guy catches up to him and gets what he wants, all while condemning Crichton not to death but to live with what he's done and what's happened. The final scene of Crichton on the operating table, his skull opened up for surgery to remove Scorpius's nuero chip that has plagued him all season and sent him into madness , unable to speak cohrently and screaming in rage at Scorpius ranks up there with as one of the best and most memorable. Yes, some things were resolved a bit too easily to start season three (Aeryn's death anyone?) but you have to admit this was one hell of a cliffhanger...

The X-Files, season two: "Anasazi" - The first in a long line of great X-Files cliffhangers. Mulder trapped in a box car on fire, just as he got close to finding out the truth. Man, it was good stuff.

Best. Gay. Summer.Movie. Guide.Ever

2006-05-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

AfterElton.com has posted a Summer Movie Guide with a nod to the gay in various films this summer.

Despite their endorsement, I am not paying money for Mission:Impossible 3

I Will Believe A Man Can Fly

2006-05-02T19:55:00.000-07:00

The new trailer for Superman Returns is now online. Before I get into that, first a little background.

I'm an unrepentant Superman geek. There, I said it. BOM has nothing on me. The Richard Donner movies (yes, he directed most of Superman II) hold a special place in my pop culture tabernacle.

If you've followed the development of this current entry in the Superman franchise, this may be old news. This movie had a real potential to suck. It might have sucked the balls of a dead Tijuana donkey. Even worse, it might have sucked like Batman & Robin.

Jon Peters, who more than anyone in Hollywood has proved the aphorism of "failing upwards", has been attempting since the early nineties to bring Superman back to the big screen, despite having virtually no understanding of the character. At one point, he hired Kevin Smith to write a script based on the Death of Superman story. In it, according to Smith, Peters demanded that Superman was not to appear in his iconic costume, nor fly. He also instructed Silent Bob to include a gay robot sidekick to Brainiac, a fight scene involving Brainiac and a pair of polar bears, and insisted that the final act of the film must consist of Superman fighting a giant spider. The script is available online. It blows chunks. Kevin, you can do better.

JJ Abrams turned in a script that was even worse. It was like a bad episode of Alias. Not that I have ever seen a good episode of Alias, but you get the idea. Luthor was a CIA agent, who also happened to be from Krypton, which wasn't really destroyed, and all sorts of other head scratchers.

Who knows what kind of lame-o crap was stewing in the Tim Burton version? Probably Superman as a misunderstood goth-kid with scissors for hands.

By the time Bryan Singer started production on this film, Warners had already spent north of a $100 million in pre-production costs. Ouch. The pressure was on for it not to suck. The ingredients are there for it to suck. Brandon Routh looks too much like Max Fischer, the costume is kinda gay looking, Kate Bosworth is horribly miscast as Lois Lane (Angie Harmon should have got that part, you know I'm right), and a host of other problems that indicated that this was going to turn out to be a turd blossom.

After watching this new trailer, I'm wrong about everything. Except maybe Kate Bosworth. This picture is going to kick serious ass. It looks great. The performances, except you know who, are pitch perfect. Routh will own the role.

What really makes this work more than any special effects or quality performances is the music. The classic Superman theme plays throughout the trailer. Johnny Fucking Williams brings this whole thing full circle and makes me believe that a man will fly.

24 Review/Recap

2006-05-02T06:07:00.001-07:00

Day Five: 2 - 3 a.m.
If you watched the previews for next week's episode, please do not post anything about it in the comments. I tend to avoid the previews because FOX will sometimes give away some of the surprises of the final five minutes of the episode and I'd rather go in with no expectations and unaware of the twists and turns to come. I appreciate it.

I said all that because I'm going to offer some speculation here.

In the closing moments of last night's episode as Dr Romano told Logan he'd have to shoot down the plane, I began to wonder something. Are the producers trying to find a way to redeem Logan in some small way? Sure he's willing to commit treason and work with murders for the good of our country and lower oil prices, but will he be order the shooting down of an airplane simply to cover his own tracks? Will he allow innocent people to die in order to save his own skin? And I do wonder if he might not desparately want the approval of Martha so much and want to win it back so badly that he'd not allow this to happen in some sort of weird effort to win back points with her? Despite his conversation with her in this episode about how she was one step from going over the line the past few years, I really feel the truth about how Logan feels was shown last week when Martha stated she hated him. I think on some deep level, he wants her love, her respect and her admiration. And that motivation might, just might keep him from ordering the plane be shot down or finding some way to get around killing more innocent people to further whatever agenda it is that the Legion of Doom has.

Of course, the plane can't be shot down becuase it's got the Jack Bauer cloak of invulnerability on it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Jack Bauer: is there anything he can't do?

Last week, he sneaks onto a plane. This week he hijacks it and convinces the pilot to let him in the cockpit. And he gets them to turn the plane back to L.A., thus insuring he won't be too far from the plot. At this point, I really expect the plane to somehow land at the Presidential retreat so Jack Bauer can go, well, all Jack Bauer on Logan in the final few hours.

I will say one thing: the thing Jack Bauer can't do is share information. He gets the recording back and just puts it in his pocket. Wouldn't it make sense to send a copy of Chloe or call Karen Hayes with the proof and play it for her via his cell-phone? Of course, if more than one person had heard it and had a copy as proof, that would ruin some of the suspense and need for Logan to shoot down the plane.

In these types of shows, it's always interesting to be an outside viewer and be more omniscient than some of the major players in this game. I refer specifically to scenes with Mike Novak where you almost want to scream at him, "Figure it out, man!" But to see him try to piece things together based on the extremely limited information he is being given is interesting. And it brings up a question--where'd the vice president go? And will he (the v.p.) be involved in the events of the final few hours of the day?

And one more thing I learned: do not hit on Chloe in a bar if she's typing away on her laptop.

Seriously--how funny was it to see her tazer the annoying drunk guy who was hitting on her. Priceless.

Get caught up on Lost

2006-05-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

Never watched an episode of Lost but want to sound like you have? This hiliarious article will get you all caught up.

Battlestar Galactica Spin-Off Announced

2006-04-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

It seems as if every sci-fi franchise is getting its own spin-off show these days. Stargate has one and there's a rumor a third series could be in the works, Doctor Who is getting one in Torchwood later this year with a potential show featuring K-9 for the kids rumored to be coming.

Now comes the word that Battlestar Galactica will get a spin-off. The series is set to take place 50 years before the start of the current series according to a report at TV Guide On-Line.

As a fan of Galactica, I'm intrigued by this but also wary. I worry they'll dilute the brilliance that is BSG with Ron Moore and company having to split focus between two shows. Of course Joss "The Man" Whedon did it--and he even had three shows on the air at one time in the fall of '02. So it can be done....

24 Review/Recap

2006-04-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

Day Five: 1 - 2 a.m.
How many conspirators does it take to have this plan come to fruition?

Last night, we meet the latest evil genius masterminds behind the plan (hopefully these will be the last ones since we're running out of hours in the day).

Let's review who has been behind this plan as the day as unfolded: Walt Cummings, Bierko, Christopher Henderson, President Logan and now this new group led by ER's Dr Romano. I'm a bit confused as to how the chain of command works here, but maybe that's the point. I'm also a bit confused as to why Logan would go along with this group led by Dr Romano (not really the character's name but Paul Crane is best known for that role). I hope that it doesn't turn out that Logan will try to spin it as--well, I was cooperating with them in order to expose the evils of terrorism within our own country.

I do begin to wonder if this group somehow manipulated Logan into power. Did they somehow pull strings to get him into Oval Office so they could pull his strings?

I also wonder if these are questions that will ever be addressed or answered. Maybe, maybe not. We'll have to see.

The most interesting scenes of the show were where Logan reveals his evil plan to Martha. Logan's attempt to try and gain her sympathy were nicely done, as was her reaction of horror, revulsion and then hatred. As much as you want to hate the guy, you do have to feel a bit of sympathy for him when Martha tells him she hates him now. The look on his face as she left the room, leaving him alone there was nicely done. And would it not be cool if somehow Martha had worked with Mike Novak to wear a wire and incriminate Logan now. Of course, if they'd done that, it would eliminate the need for Jack to jump on a plane and get the digital recording of Logan conspiring with Henderson back and we'd not have much to do the rest of the day.

Speaking of Jack--it's interesting that the past few episodes he's been not been in every single scene. Events have unfolded without him at the center of it all. I think we went a stretch of about 20 minutes last night without anything major happening around Jack. He was off to the side and letting the supporting cast shine. I think part of it is they have to find new allies for Jack if he's going to succeed in stopping the conspiracy--whatever it's morphed into for the last five or so hours of day five.

Also, how cool was it when Curtis suddenly shows up at the barn to save Audrey and capture Henderson. Just when you thought it was going to be another instance of bad guy escaping so we can chase him around for a few hours, 24 goes and toys wth that assumption. Great move by the show. And to see Curtis back on the scene was nice. Again, I loved the look on Henderson's face when his plan failed and he realized there was really no way out this time.

Oh yeah and while I applaud Heller for his noble sacrifice, I don't think he's really dead. If the storyline needs him next year, he'll be back. It was left open-ended enough that Heller can crop up next year should he be needed. But you've got to think that Audrey will need some serious therapy should that happen. Two men in her life stage their own death and then reappear. I hope CTU's insurance covers mental health cause Audrey is gonna need it.