Robot Chicken - Star Wars
All sort of cool things on the Robot Chicken - Star Wars page at Adult Swim, including a new trailer and an awesome video of George Lucas in therapy.
Go now! Watch it! Hope that some Canadian Network is carrying it!
May 31, 2007
May 28, 2007
Clone Wars
Shiny! A trailer for LucasFilm's new CGI animated TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars!
May 07, 2007
Robot Chicken
When Star Wars and Robot Chicken meet it can only result in comedy goodness.
April 30, 2007
Studio 60
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is back on the air on May 24.
Whether this is just to run out the finished episodes or a sign it will get picked up for another season is unknown, but at least we get a few more episodes.
April 25, 2007
Drive Out
Dammit! Didn't I tell you all to watch Drive before it got canceled? Nobody ever listens to me.
April 17, 2007
Drive
If you missed out on the two-hour premiere and last night's first regular episode of Drive you totally missed out.
First off. It's an awesome, action-packed racing show that has Nathan Fillian from Firefly.
Secondly. It's got a deeply embedded mystery that seems solid (so far) and not all mystical or mythological like other shows have become (coughLOSTcough).
Third. It's clever, creative and unlike anything else on TV. Which means it has about six episodes before it gets cancelled. The ratings on the premiere weren't great and it was up against Deal Or No Deal and Dancing With The Stars.
Sigh. Watch it while we have it.
January 23, 2007
Rome On Demand Update
From: Phil
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2007 6:19 PM
To: web moviecentral
Subject: Rome Season 2
Hey guys! How come Rome Season 2 isn't on Movie Central On Demand like you guys said it would be in your press release (http://www.corusent.com/corporate/press_room/pressReleaseDetail.asp?id=1190)?
I missed the first episode, but figured it should be okay, since I'm a MCOD subscriber. What's going on? When will it be avaiable?
-- Phil
-----------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 14:09:32
From: web moviecentral
To: Phil
Subject: RE: Rome Season 2
Hi Phil,
Thanks for the email. We always enjoy hearing from our viewers.
Due to an encoding backlog, we are currently unable to add as many new episodes to our Movie Central On Demand package as we normally schedule. We can assure you that this is a temporary situation and do apologize for any inconvenience this technical difficulty may be causing.
Your patience with this matter is appreciated. We are working as quickly as possible to rectify the problem and this service should be operating at normal capacity shortly.
Regards,
Movie Central Viewer Relations Department
January 22, 2007
Rome Season 2
Okay, it was with very little fanfare that Movie Central here in Canada started showing the second season of Rome. I don't know how it got past me -- where I work I tend to get big notice on stuff like this.
Episode 13 ("Passover" - they are continuing the numbering from Season 1) was already on, and isn't scheduled to repeat in the next couple weeks. Movie Central's November press release says each episode should be available through Movie Central On Demand on the Tuesday following each broadcast. If It's not there yet, odds are Movie Central screwed up and it should be there shortly.
Episode 14 ("Son of Hades") was on Sunday, but repeat broadcasts are on Movie Central 4 on Wednesday at 9 pm and Thursday at 4 am (Mountain Time).
Episode 15 ("These Being the Words of Marcus Tullius Cicero") is on the following (Mountain Time, Calgary channels):
55 MC1 Sun 1/28 9:00 PM
302 MCHD Sun 1/28 9:00 PM
55 MC1 Mon 1/29 4:00 AM
302 MCHD Mon 1/29 4:00 AM
58 MC4 Wed 1/31 9:00 PM
58 MC4 Thu 2/1 4:00 AM
January 16, 2007
Amazing Race 11
Check out the lineup for The Amazing Race 11 - All-Star Edition!
Lots of fun people are back, like Uchenna & Joyce and Rob & Amber. The neat one is Eric and Danielle, who were on opposing teams in season 9 and are now dating (and competing) together.
October 25, 2006
Must See TV
Nearly everything on the fall television has premiered by now (with a few exceptions, like Daybreak).
Here's our breakdown of the shows we watch and what we've axed.
October 13, 2006
15 Minutes
There's been much talk over the years about reality show contestants making the most of their 15 minutes of fame. Some have had success, like Rob & Amber (who've had their own shows plus appearing on multiple contests) and Elisabeth Hasselbeck (who parleyed her appearance on Survivor to a hosting gig on The View). Most don't get anywhere.
Now former Apprentice contestant Raj Bhakta is running for congress. We'll see how that works.
October 12, 2006
TV Success
According to my newspaper, the only two new shows to be declared a 'success' in network terms this year so far are Heroes and Jericho. Both of which I watch and enjoy immensely.
Seriously though, Heroes is one of the best shows on television. I'm actually left guessing what will happen, but the surprises don't come out of nowhere like they do on Lost or similar mystery shows. No, they make sense and are entirely plausible. You know, once you get your mind around the basic premise.
Watch it!
October 10, 2006
The Bionic Woman
From the file of not-entirely-well-thought-out ideas. A remake of the Bionic Woman.
Hey, it worked with Battlestar Galactica. Lightning strikes twice, right?
October 06, 2006
Heroes Pick Up
Sweet! The ratings are excellent and we'll get a full season of superhero goodness!
October 05, 2006
Eureka Renewed
So the Sci-Fi channel has renewed Eureka for another season. Which is awesome. Only the first three episodes have been aired up here in Canada, but I love the show already.
October 01, 2006
Brothers & Sisters
We didn't want to like this one. Just watched the premiere, hoping that it would suck and we could cut another show from the schedule.
But no. No such luck.
I've talked a lot this season about one major pitfall of new shows: introducing the secrets before investing us in the characters. Here's another example of doing it the right way.
The entire show was focused on getting to know the family. The conservative radio host, the drunk surfer boy, the gay businessman, the rest of the siblings all in the family food business. Set up relationships, old conflicts and connections. Then, finally, in the last bits, introduce the real problems, the issues that will drive everything else in the series.
And it was good, damn it. Even handling of political sides, good solid characters that feel real.
Kidnapped
See. This is what I was talking about. SImilar premise -- kidnapped person, hints of secrets and conspiracies, but it's quiet and to one side, with the focus on the people and the procedure. We may not like them all, but we're given reasons to understand who they are and why they are the way they are.
I like the action between the private operative and the FBI agents. Former connections, yet diverging purposes. I like that they work together as much as they can and actually have respect for each other.
We watched two episodes in a row and I enjoyed each one.
September 29, 2006
The Class
Yet another case of the actors trying too hard.
The premise is fine. Eight people whose only connection is that they were in the third grade together reconnect and hilarity results. The pilot was funny, but the freshman overacting of the cast continued through the second show. They have to settle in soon, or people will flip channels.
The show won its place on TV due to the pedigree of the creators (some of the folks behind monster-hit Friends) so I hope it will improve. I think the pre-planned dynamics -- these two will fall for each other, this one will have an affair with this one, etc. -- are a bit contrived, and I'd like to see more cross-pollination of the storylines.
We'll keep watching. FOR NOW.
The Amazing Race: Season 10
The Race is up there with Survivor on our all-time favourite shows. I go into serious withdrawal when it's not on, enough so that I actually watched a few episodes of Treasure Hunters before running screaming from the room.
Really, it's awesome. We love it so much that every episode is an analysis of 'What We Would Do'. Which one of us would do the Roadblock, which Detour we would take...we cheer on favourites, Lisa screams at the assholes and we roll our eyes at everyone who prays that God will leap them to win the leg. Frankly, we were happy to see the Muslim team this year say, "We will win if Allah wills it" which is awesome. Too bad they lost out first episode.
It's one of the very few reality shows that both of us would leap at the chance to be on it.
People we hate this season: None so far. Rob & Kimberly suck and there is zero chance of their marriage surviving the show. David & Mary are showing to be a lot more open and accpeting than the stereotype the show painted them as, but they do grate. I think Tyler & James, the models/recovering addicts will win. That would be cool, especially if it helps other people get over addiction.
Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance
You've been watching the web mini-episodes right? If not, go watch them now.
If you're not in the States, you likely can't view them (stupid Sci-Fi Channel). Thankfully, they're all over YouTube and can be download from various websites.
Bones: Changes for Changes Sake
Again, I'm not sure I get the rationale for adding a new cast member. The dropping of Goodman for Camille was done, apparently, because "the director of the Jeffersonian would not spend so much time in the Forensic Division". It gives more tension, since Camille doesn't let the Squints get away with murder any more.
But again, contrived. Unneccessary. I like to see my mad geniuses throwing dead chickens into wood chippers. That's part of the fun.
I will admit that it's given some more depth to Booth, which rocks.
Desperate Housewives: Building Momentum
Last season sucked. There, I said it.
The plan this year (reportedly) is to get back to basics. An underlying mystery that connects all the main ladies on Wisteria Lane. Good. All the scattered plots bored the pants off me, and the big mystery? Who cared!
A big draw is the cool evilness of Kyle MacLachlan. He's groovy. And if Lisa watches enough of him here, I might be able to get her to watch reruns of Twin Peaks.
How I Met Your Mother: Season Two
One of the rules of a comedy show is that you can only have one stable relationship between primary characters at any time. Like how before Chandler and Monica could get together permanently, Ross and Rachel had to break up.
So with Ted and Robin now together, Lily and Marshall are broken up. I don't like it. Beyond the fact that I can't believe anyone could ever say no to Willow, their relationship was a cornerstone of the show. It's another case of shaking things up for the sake of shaking things up.
I predict they will be apart until Spring Sweeps, when Ted and Robin break up.
Bah.
Jericho
We watched the premiere of this apocalyptic small town show and episode two is sitting on the PVR. I liked it well enough, but I think its premise may be its downfall.
It's too real.
Small town is cut off by nuclear attacks. They have to deal with rationing, power loss, no information, panic, mobs, fallout...all the grim stuff that we know would happen in the real world. But I'm not interested in the real world. If I were, why would I be watching television?
There has to be something else brewing in there, otherwise the show will turn into week after week of rationing and boiling water. Exciting.
Lost: Season Three
The premiere is next week. Lisa remarked to me when we saw that the PVR had taped the 'previously on' show Wednesday that she hasn't even thought about Lost since the finale last Spring.
I'm nearly the same, although I lightly followed the Lost Experience and it's bizarre results which may or may not actually have anything to do with the truth of the show.
Despite the success of the last two seasons, the producers are throwing even more cast members at us. How about resolving something -- anything -- with the current people before adding more? Just a thought.
My Name Is Earl: Not on the list
The producers of My Name Is Earl have announced that not every episode of the series this year will focus on Earl crossing an item off his infamous karma list. Instead they will have some wacky side-adventures with the other cast members.
The pilot gives us a taste of this, with a storyline focusing on Joy and the aftereffects of getting a giant television that can be hidden in its entertainment center.
I wasn't thrilled. Joy is funny and all, but two much Joy is a bad thing. The heart of the story is Earl's list and with some 200+ items remaining on it, there's another eight seasons of material waiting to be mined. I guess having one of the highest rated and critically acclaimed comedies on television wasn't good enough for them.
Smallville: Stunt Casting
Word is that Tori Spelling is going to appear on Smallville sometime this season as the Daily Planet's gossip columnist. And she'll have POWERS. She can turn into water or something.
Wonder where her Wonder Twin will be...
September 28, 2006
Smallville: In The Zone
Smallville is back, and I couldn't be happier. I love way the pieces of the mythology are coming together. I love the addition of Jimmy Olsen to the cast, I love the fact that apparently there is going to be a 'Justice League' episode sometime this season with a bunch of other heroes.
And I love that Michael Rosenbaum got to say, "Kneel before Zod!"
Now there's what looks like up to six escaped Kryptonians or Phantoms from the Zone are roaming free. Lex Luthor has access to some rocking Kryptonian technology, Lionel seems to be taking advantage of the remnants of Kryptonian knowledge in his brain (for nefarious ends no doubt). Cloe is moving on and Clark is unsure if he likes it or not.
Yay!
Prison Break: Out in the Open
It's a completely different season. The crooks are all out in the open, they are racing fo DB Cooper's five million. Not everything can be answered by the tattoos on Scofield's body, and good thing too; the federal marshal knows nearly everything and can figure out the rest.
It's a different feel to the show, out of the confines of the prison and it's a hard thing for the TV folks to make it consistent with what's come before...
...but I think they are handling it fine. I like the scramble, I like the chase. I like the fact that Scofield has someone with a bit of intelligence working against him and the weaknesses are all on his side. I like that the whole conspiracy is not being dealt with much -- it felt a little over the top last season anyway.
Good show! More!
Shark
James Woods = Television goodness.
Everyone likes to see lawyer getting yelled at. It's a good time. But the secondary characters are all one-dimensional cardboard standups. The misfit, the rich kid, the irritable Hispanic, the suckup. It's all cookie cutter, and there is only so long that even James Woods can carry the show by himself.
Predictable line of the night: Why did the daughter choose to stay with her Dad instead of her Mom? "You need me." I called it ten minutes before it was uttered.
Smith: Bad People Doing Bad Things
Another case of the TV people wanting us to sympathize with unsympathetic characters. At least this time they are deliberately unsympathetic.
We watched it because I love a good heist story. But I wonder how much of that the rest of the show will involve. For me, the fun is in watching them plan, gather associates, execute the plan, deal with emergencies and walk away with the goods. This looks like it will be all the 'what next'.
We liked it enough to watch another episode. I think it's waiting on the PVR right now...
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
We watched Sports Night in its original run. We like behind-the-scenes stories, the characters were smart and funny and just a little damaged, and the writing was tight and spot on. We were very sad when it was cancelled. We weren't really into the milieu though. We like sports, but sport reporting leaves us cold. The show was so good, we liked it despite that.
We watched the Sorkin years of The West Wing. Again, not because of any particular interest in American politics, but because it made us laugh and cringe and kept us on the edge of our seats. Something was gone when Aaron Sorkin left, and we stopped watching very soon afterwards.
And now he's back with a show about something we do love very much. Comedy.
Bradley Witford is always awesome and Matthew Perry was (in my opinion) the most under-valued performer on Friends. His guest stint on The West Wing rocked and obviously earned him a spot in the Sorkin Stable of Actors.
Oh, and Evan Handler? Doesn't matter what role you play. You will always be Shrug to us.
The Unit
We liked The Unit a lot last year. I remarked to Lisa that it was probably the most right-wing, pro-US government show we watched.
When it popped up in our PVR list of recorded shows, we were like, "Oh yeah, that one."
If we barely thought about it during the off-season, we figure we don't really need to watch it now. If it continues to do well, we'll catch the DVDs. it's not like it's a watercooler show anyway.
Vanished: Gone by Thanksgiving
We watched the first two episodes of Vanished. Aaaand then we were done.
It's a failing of new television shows that are about conspiracies or secrets or mysteries. They all want to be Lost but they just can't be. The first episode had more subplots and dangling threads than characters, and this is an ensemble show.
TV creator folks, it is vital to make us actually care about the characters before you bury them in plots. You've got an unsympathetic husband with two annoying kids and a FBI team with more baggage than Paris Hilton. Seriously, we watched the show and felt that she probably ran away because they all annoyed the crap out of her.
March 24, 2006
Bones Picked Up
Fox digs up Bones for Season 2
Woo! We love that show. Smart people who don't entirely get along. Yay!
March 08, 2006
CBS Renewals
CBS has renewed a bunch of shows including some of our favs like How I Met Your Mother and Criminal Minds.
February 27, 2006
Aw MAN
This sucks. Why didn't anyone tell me that Don Knotts died last week? Man...
January 27, 2006
Next Great Prime Minister
This has to be a joke. A new reality show where Kim Campbell, Joe Clark, Brian Mulroney, and John Turner all decide which contestant would be the Next Great Prime Minister.
January 24, 2006
Everybody Hates Chris: Blargh
Insufficiently funny or original. An early casualty in this year's watch list.
Moved to the Dead List.
Ghost Whisperer: Faded From View
Nice enough show (Lisa really liked it) but too much else was better and Jennifer Love Hewitt is too cloying for large doses.
Moved to the Dead List
November 24, 2005
Farewell Alias
Looks like afetr five seasons Alias is ending.
November 23, 2005
Rome: Finished?
SO Rome may or may nto come back for a second season. You'll have to sign in to the LA Times to read this article about HBO challenging ABC on Sunday nights, but the gist on Rome is that is really, really expensive to make, complicated to script and plan, and the lock on the actors is fading rapidly.
November 17, 2005
BG: Renewed!
Looks like Battlestar Galactica has been picked up for a third season. Great!
Now can I see the goddamn second season already? Stupid doesn't-carry-Sci-Fi-Channel-country.
November 14, 2005
Aquaman
I guess the Aquaman episode of Smallville a couple weeks back did well enough that he's going to get his own series. But with a different actor, plot, story and absolutely no links to Smallville.
November 10, 2005
Terminator on TV?
How about a new show set between T2 and T3 called The Sarah Connor Chronicles?
November 04, 2005
Prison Break I Love It When A Plan Comes Together
Another show that gets better and better all the time.
The plan for the escape is so tight, there's no wiggle room. And the damn thing is wiggling all over the place.
There's too much! The needy, nagging, nosy doctor lady, the predatory Captain Bellick, The Evil Government, T-Bag's 'needs'... It's impossible!
T-Bag will die. He has to at some point. He can't betray them and they can't take him with them. Dr. Sara will probably find out everything, but in a HEART-WRENCHING DECISION will help out.
They will get out of jail, that's obvious. But I can't conceive what will happen after that. After all, the woman who wants Burrows dead is the Vice-President of the United States, after all.
Rome: Caesar is Nuts
Rome is building towards its massive finale. Only three episodes left and then we'll have to wait a year or so for HBO to put out season two.
I like how HBO doesn't hold back on anything. Suicide, murder, torture, sex, politics. The incest scene between Octavian and Octavia was very, very disturbing, but I can see how the little runt is shaping up to be Caesar's successor.
Vorenus is now in over hsi head as one of Caesar's magistrates, and poor Pullo has nothing to do for the first time in his life. She doesn't love you Pullo! She's just a slave!
Running out of enemies. Pompey's dead. Cato's dead. Cicero and Brutus surrendered. What's left?
Amazing show. Love it. If you haven't watched the previous episodes, don't start in the middle. Wait for the DVD or catch the whole thing from the beginning in reruns. It's worth it.
October 25, 2005
America's Next Muppet
Seems like the Muppets might have another comeback, this time in a faux reality show.
October 20, 2005
Boston Legal: Marty McFly! Denny Crane!
Michael J. Fox is going to be doing a three-episode guest appearance on Boston Legal sometime this season.
Back From the Dead?
Sad that they killed off Michael Vaughn on Alias? Reports are that Michael Vartan returned to work on the set. No details available.
October 06, 2005
Desperate Housewives: Better Answers Needed
Okay, someone walks up to you and asks you what is making that awful banging noise in your house at all hours of the day, and you are reluctant to tell them that you have a guy chained up in a cell in your basement who may or may not be your abusive husband. Do you:
- My son is renovating. Yes, at two in the morning.
- Have something better made up already since, for God's sake, you have a guy chained up in a cell in your basement who may or may not be your abusive husband. Seriously! You planned well enough to sneak this guy into the house with no one noticing and you have nothing better as an excuse than 'My son is renovating'? Damn!
October 05, 2005
Boston Legal
Last night we got around to watching last weeks Boston Legal premiere.
First: I got the same blase feeling watching it as I did the premieres of Lost and Desperate Housewives. Like there was no oomph to it. An ABC symptom? Weird.
Secondly: Why get rid of all the pretty little lawyer girls if you just plan on replacing them with more pretty lawyer girls. Suddenly there's all this drama and exposition around the new people and I'm all 'Who cares?' at the screen.
Ah well. If it's like other ABC premieres, then last night's show should rock. When I get around to watching it, like, next week.
Amazing Race: Stop Screaming At Your Mother
The best part of Amazing Race is when the guys scrambling to not finish last are the guys you hate the very most.
The Screaming Italians VS Father-Knows-Best with the loser crawling home. And Father-Knows-best loses! I felt so sorry for his son, with Dad blaming him for driving the wrong way, despite the fact that DAD gave the wrong directions. And such non-apology apologies. At the end he was all, "I make all the decisions in this family, but you can't hold me accountable if they are wrong because I have so much to do, making all the decisions." Bah.
I hope Momma Italian concusses her two idiot sons with a cast-iron pan next episode.
Also: Not flying to exotic destinations? Not as much fun to watch. I'll take Maori villages over Mennonite settlements any day.
Supernatural: In The Lake
We're an episode behind, so last night we watched last week's episode of Supernatural, the one where the evil spirit in the lake kept drowning people.
First, the images of the Dead Drowned Boy were major creepy. Second, now I'll NEVER get Lisa to swim in any lake deeper than her waist again.
And it's good that Amy Acker is working (she's doing a string of Alias episodes too) but she is still in damn need of a sandwich. Remove the ten pounds that the camera adds and she's in the negative.
Gilmore Girls: Needing a Good Slap
Oh just bloody well grow up Rory. You've become everything your mother ran away from. You've become Little Emily, changing your clothes with the seasons and abusing the help.
Spending more time with Lane is good. God, you haven't talked to her since before she went on her odd Christian-rock tour? Talking to your mother would be better though.
She's really irritating the shit out of me. I want to smack her as much as I want to smack the kid in Two And A Half Men.
October 04, 2005
Smallville
Clark, Chloe and the gang are back and I couldn't be happier.
The season opens with fan service in a big way with the introduction of the Fortress of Solitude, the Minions of Zod (Kneel before Zod!) and a final scene entrance by Brainiac! The little fanboy in me just about went nuts.
Yeah. 'Just about'. Not.
Plus when Clark was fighting the Minions, they tried to trap him in Some Kind Of Vortex. I was all "Phantom Zone! Phantom Zone!" and then when Clark tricked them and tossed them in and it closed? The whole Phantom Zone Rotating Diamond from the movies! AND the Fortress was all made of crystals and shit too.
It's like they are producing this show for me. Me me me.
Survivor: The Curse Continues
Seriously, Stephanie has to be thinking, "Is it me?"
Yaxha has lost like five challenges in a row. Steph must be losing her mind. Thankfully, the tribe isn't blaming her -- and for good reason given that she's the only one performing well at challenges -- but questions are going to start soon.
And what an easy choice to send home. Amy, who despite a twisted ankle, still threw herself into the challenge with full gusto, or Brianna, who we saw actually LEANING AGAINST A POST while the game was on. Good LORD! Bye bye Brianna.
Once in a while, Survivor will touch on the theme of the area and have a challenge that actually does relate to the culture. The immunity challenge this time around was a game of court ball, played in a similar fashion to how the Mayans did it all those years ago -- full-contact, no running with the ball. And the tribe that lost the game had to 'sacrifice' a member. Nice! Violent! Just the way I like it.
Ciminal Minds: Blowed Up Real Good
The team goes after a serial arsonist at a major college. Lots of fire-related tinkering and figgering.
Best procedural of the season, in my opinion. Mandy is awesome, as always, and the team has good chemistry. I like that Mandy's character acts like a teacher even when on assignment, helping the team improve.
Lost: Down the Hole
Feeling better about Lost. The Others are revealed, the guy in the bunker is nuts, new questions are forming. It's all good.
We spent the whole episode last week going, "But where's JIN?" only to find he was having a hard time of things himself. Heh.
Good show!
Bones: Mutual Discontent
You know what's kind of funny about Bones? It's the fact that a lot of the main characters seems to actively dislike each other. Booth hates the squint team, the squints hate Booth back. Jack likes to bug the shit out of Zach and Zach is going to stick a scalpel in Jack's cranium any time now.
Seems like a real workplace somehow.
September 28, 2005
Numb3rs: TV is Educational!
Did you know that Texas Instruments is leading an educational initiative where kids learn better mathematics using the examples shown in Numb3rs? Read about it!
Amazing Race: Family Edition
Loyalty alone made us watch the premiere. How long it will keep us? We don't know.
Seriously. While it's kind of fun to watch a dysfunctional couple snap at each other, watching two sons work on reducing their mother to tears while the father chuckles along with them? Not good! And the only happily together team was the Black family, who were so laid back that it was inevitable that they would go home. No gumption, no big prize.
Also: Rumour has it that the entire race will be in the continental United States, with them visiting points of Historical Interest along the way. As a Canadian, I pretty much gagged at the whole 'Crossing the Delaware/Folding the Flag' segment. Blah!
Also: When the Angry Italian family dropped their clue along the way, where was their time penalty? In previous seasons, that was good for a time-out at the finish line while they watched other teams pass them by. But nothing!
We shall watch another episode. If it doesn't grow on us, it's out until next season.
House: Rotting Phalanges? Ugh!
Love Hugh Laurie. Love!
I've read that other people are getting tired of his sarcasm and self-loathing, but as I've only seen two episodes, it's all new to me! Plus he's making strides towards actualyl being semi-friendly to people. He was almost friendly to Dr. Lisa at the end. Okay, he said she was a crappy doctor, but that her whole 'caring for people' thing made her a good boss. Of course, he couched it in rude-ass House-isms, but compared to hsi usual self, it was practically a glowing complement.
And EW with the rotting hands. Flecks of dead skin! FLECKS!
Gilmore Girls: Three Pounds of Chocolate?
Mostly I'm wondering why Luke has three POUNDS of chocolate in his kitchen in the first place for the dog to get into. Seriously. Lorelei would have consumed it no more than twenty minutes afterhe bought it.
Rory displayed more of her magical 'everybody loves me' powers, turning an entire community service chain gain into her personal fixer-upper opportunity, but sure seemed to have a sad realization that college was moving on without her and she was stuck with a lifetime of DAR meetings. Shudder.
And when Lorelei told Luke that she didn't want to set a date until things were right with Rory? He knew. He knew.
Two and a Half Men
Have I mentioned that we love this show? Last year I reacted to it the same way I did when I heard about Home Improvement -- sounds bad, don't watch -- but like Home Improvement, it's proved my wariness wrong. It's awesome.
Although I think Charlie's turning Alan's chiropractic office into a brothel should have resulted in more than a stern talking to. And that kid Jake is in serious need of a spanking.
How I Met Your Mother: Just Friends
Wherein Ted throws three parties in a row to try to hook up with Robin 'casually' and they end up determined to 'just be friends'. Inevitable, since we know she's not the woman he falls in love with and marries. Kudos for getting it out of the way.
We like this show, but it's officially dropping to 'like it, watch it when we can' status.
We also feel that "Have you met (name)?" is the best wingman trick ever.
Also, the character Barney has a blog on the CBS website. It's funny. Venn diagram of Lame Parties. Heh.
Prison Break: Slowly but Surely
We're several episodes in (and I haven't watched Monday's yet) but the show is really growing on me.
See I like caper movies with their intricate plots and plans. I like having a group of people working at tasks we don't understand until the very end. And this has all that, with brutal, toe-clipping prison violence as a bonus.
Okay, Michael can now get to the roof and knows which roads the cops come along in an alert situation. He's got the warden on his side and his team is assembled. Monday's show seems to include a riot, likely staged by the folks who now want him dead.
Woo!
Desperate Housewives
You know, I felt the same way about the premiere of Desperate Housewives as I did about the Lost premiere. Something was missing.
Maybe it's because we now know all the secrets. Mary Alice killed Zach's mother when she came back to get her son and her husband covered it up, and Zach is Mike's kid. The writers had to add a new secret plot, with the Applewhite family and their chained housemate in the basement.
I dunno. It wasn't as funny or as gripping. Sigh. Am I jaded?
Numb3rs
Numb3rs is back, with more tales of the wacky mathematician and his FBI brother!
They've dropped Sabrina Lloyd from the cast, which sucks, and they've replaced her some chick who looks like a seedy Marsha Brady. I don't like it. I fear change.
The formula is the same -- Don has a case and Charlie comes up with some mathematical equation to help out -- and there seems to be more procedure this season, which is good. The opener was week and the mathematics not particularly engaging (Charlie used a reverse-decision making calculation to reduce the number of suspects in a case. Fine, but how do you quantify all the qualities that make someone a suspect? Sadly missed.)
We still hold good hopes for the rest of the season.
Ghost Whisperer
First off, I'm convinced that this show will not get cancelled. It's too touchy-feely to be cancelled. The same folks that kept Touched By An Angel on the air will love it.
But not me. Too much smarm. But there were some interesting facets to this tale of a sweet young lass who sees dead people and helps them send messages to the living. First, there is some good production values and the spook factor is well done, if a bit cheesy. Plus there is this whole 'Who told you to find me?' subplot that might be intriguing.
Likely we won't be watching any more episodes, unless there's nothing else on. And looking at the season so far, that won't be the case.
Everybody Hates Chris
You know, I think the show might be funnier without Chris Rock narrating. But that's just me.
Still, it's an entertaining half hour. A good pairing with My Name Is Earl. These two are likely the only comedies this season to make our 'must watch' list.
September 26, 2005
Would You Believe...
It Begins - Fall 2005 Cancellations
Head Cases, the story of two lawyers recovering from nervous breakdowns that starred Chris O'Donnell and Adam Goldberg, is the first show fo the new season to get the axe.
I figured this would happen. That's why I never watched it.
September 23, 2005
My Name Is Earl
Jason Lee rocks.
My Name Is Earl is seriously funny. Another breakaway from the two-camera-and-laughtrack style of sit-coms, where the title character decides to make up for a life of petty crime and juvenile antics by doing a good deed for every bad things he's ever done.
The pilot focuses on his trying to give a bit of happiness to the kid he used to pick on in school. The guy is still alone, so he sets him up with the Daytime Hooker. When she strikes out, he finds out the guy is gay and introduces him to the wonderful world of gay bars.
The show is funny and crude without being over the top. It's sentimental without getting shmoopy or losing any of it's caustic wit. Damn funny.
Watch this show!
Criminal Minds
First off, I love Mandy Patinkin. He was the best part of Dead Like Me (which was a great show in any case). He'll be good to watch. Unfortunately, it's also got Thomas Gibson (Greg from Dharma & Greg). While he's a decent actor, he feels like new show death to me.
The deal is, Mandy is Gideon, an inactive criminal profiler for the FBI, reactivated when a young woman is taken by a serial killer and will likely be killed in a week. He's got a team of fairly standard FBI dudes hanging around him, plus the Genius Kid with a mind full of, well, everything.
Criminal Minds seems to be a decent procedural, and has a lot more plot possibilities than other new shows like Bones, and some high quality acting. I like it!
Bones: If he died in an explosion, why are his bones so gooey?
I don't think Bones is going to survive. Sure, David Boreanaz is engaging and Emily Deschanel is very cute in her aloof, cold way (I still love the way she says 'I don't know what that means' anytime someone makes a pop culture reference). The plots so far are pretty neat, if not particularly intricate.
But the supporting characters are boring me. The Eager Kid, the Conspiracy Guy, the Nosy Best Friend. Blah. So one note. I hate knowing exactly what each of them is going to say. They should learn the lesson of CSI -- more procedure, less personal crap. I was interested in the details of the case, and got bored everytime they starting gossiping about Booth's 'three-days-a-week-live-in lawyer girlfriend'. Ugh.
Survivor: Rumours
Rumour has it that the success of International contestants on Rockstar: INXS has led Mark Burnett into examining if Survivor can be opened to Canadian contestants.
Woo! If it's true, I'm SO applying!
Survivor: In The Mud and Hanging From Ropes
Is it just me, or are the men on this season of Survivor turning out to be mostly useless?
I mean, all the guys on Nakum were wiped out by the 11-mile hike that launched last episode, Blake's wheezing and coughing all the time, and Rafe couldn't even climb a three-rung rope ladder out of the water.
Lydia, in a stunning improvement over last week, impressed her team by displaying monkey-like abilities at rope-net climbing, and the knowledge on how to catch minnows for food. Minnows sounds pretty bad to me, but I haven't gone without food for four days. Hell, other folks on Yaxha were eating ants. Yuck.
Yaxha did make the right pick though. They dumped Morgan, the girl who was unremarkable at the challenges and did nothing around the camp. Pity. I thought having a magician's assistant might come in handy. Don't know how but I'm sure there was something.
September 22, 2005
Lost: And Inside the Hatch Is...
Yay! Season premiere! At last!
And...it was odd. I don't know, but it felt like something was missing. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad my favorite show is back on the air, but it still felt like there was something a bit off about it. I wasn't as engaged as I was in last year's episodes.
The hatch is open though and answers are forthcoming. I hear the real answers won't come until epiosde three and even then I expect they' cause even more questions.
I'm trying to avoid spoilers here (I normally don't bother), so I'll say only this much about What's Down There. I never would have guessed and every bit of speculation I heard was wrong. And as for who was down there? The FUCK?
September 20, 2005
How I Met Your Mother
We watched this one specifically because we wanted to see WIllow and Doogie's new show. The set up is it's a dad some twenty-five years down the line telling his kids the story of how he met their mom, with the episodes all being flashbacks to the present.
Pretty standard sit-com formula, with 'Guy Who Wants To Settle Down', 'Guy Who Wants Never To Settle Down', 'Newly Engaged Couple' and 'Love Interest' plus sundry random sit com walk-ons.
There were some moments of comedic brilliance, some chuckle-worthy moments, and the weird realization that 'Love Interest' is not the Mom referred to in the show title, but an 'Aunt'. Mom's sister? Friend the kids call Aunt? We don't know. A small mystery, but a fun one.
We might watch it again, but this is a 'only if nothing better is on' kind of show.
September 19, 2005
Frenetic Pace
One of the things I like best about Rome is that it moves fast.
I know it's apples and oranges, but let's compare Rome to Prison Break. Both new shows, and both very enjoyable. But while Prison Break looks to be stretching out one month through the whole season, Rome has already gone months and months in the space of four episodes. So much happens every episode, with so many characters and you still learn and understand so much about each one.
It's awesome. And for those who may question the sheer amounts of full frontal female nudity in the show, just know what Mark Antony let it all hang out this past episode. And I mean all.
Survivor Guatemala Premiere
It's back! Woo hoo! Survivor is back for another season!
The first episode in one word: Grueling.
Seriously. Our fearless castaways must trudge through 11 freaking miles of jungle, all in a race to see who gets the good campsite. Bobby Jon and Steph from Survivor: Palau are hauled back for a return run, all set up to be tribe leaders/sacrificial lambs, depending on their performance.
The guys on team Nakum need to watch more Gatorade commercials to clue in on the whole 'when you exercise, you must drink' philosophy, should they wish to continue the game with a minimum of bouts of vomiting and blacking out. Bobby Jon certainly came off as a complete loser, totally failing to impress the shit out of his new team.
It got 'em the good site though.
It sapped their will for the next day's challenge though, leaving them gasping while the Yaxha hauled their boat up the shore for an Immunity win. Steph was SO happy! It was the first team immunity she's ever won! Go Steph!
The boot pick was a chinch, as Nakum's Elder Statesman Jim tore a muscle in his arm. Home for you, buddy!
My picks for next week:
Nakum: Bobby Jon. All brawn and no brains, and his brawn let him down. Nothing left!
Yaxha: Lydia. This is a guess, as we didn't see enough of them to judge, so don't put money down on it. But she sure seems useless.
Bones Pilot
I was right, and the network ran an 'encore' episode of Bones on Friday night, enabling us to catch up.
I'm not sure, but I think I liked it. It was cliched in a lot of ways, and moved past being a procedural into science-fiction with the addition of the holographic projector, a neat bit of technology I'm sure real forensic pathologists would love to have, were it not entirely implausible. A device that can recreate what a person looks like from their bones in 3-D projection using instructions only as detailed as "How about if they were white?" Wow!
Still, the actors were fun and engaging and it's nice to see David Boreanaz working again.
Battlestar Renewed
Good news, maties! Battlestar Galactica be renewed fer 'nother season. Arrrr!
Now if'n only we could be seein' this season right now, instead'a having ta wait fer January... arrr...
September 14, 2005
House Call
Bones: Stupid Fox
What's the deal Fox? Why'd you start running House instead of the Bones premiere as originally scheduled? We switched away and you fixed the mistake like fifteen minutes in. So when we come back to see if they were simply switched in the schedule we see House starting again.
Okay, so you've decided to do an 'encore' broadcast' Friday, but still. Really annoying.
Supernatural: Bad acting, yet strangely shiny
Okay, Jared Padalecki was Dean in Gilmore Girls and plays the brother of a Dean (Smallville's Jensen Ackles) in the new show Supernatural. So Dean has a brother named Dean. This will be confusing.
It's a very pretty show, and has some potential. Obviously the WB is dumping money into it so it's bound to improve. The effects are really good.
The acting and the plot were really predictable, but it was the pilot, so a little benefit of the doubt here. I mean seriously, we knew the moment we saw the Girlfriend in her slutty Halloween cheerleader costume that she would Die And Free The Hero To Join His Brother On Their Quest. Plus it looks like it'll be a constant road trip, with the boys following their missing dad's clues around the country and getting ever-so-slowly closer to whatever killed their mother.
I hope, I HOPE that they'll surprise me and find out the big secret this season. I'm not holding my breath.
Gilmore Girls: New and Improved
New season started last night! Woo!
Luke says yes, Rory acts liked a spoiled brat, Lorelei tries the old 'pretend you don't care' trick, Paris freaks about losing her only friend, Michel is back to the intensely offensive fellow he used to be.
Loved it!
September 07, 2005
Shatner Sings Trek
As part of an 'Emmy Idol' segment on the Emmy Awards on the 18th, Shatner is reported as planning to sing the Star Trek theme.
I wonder if he'll be using Gene Roddenberry's original lyrics?
September 06, 2005
Farewell Little Buddy
Gilligan has passed away at the age of 70.
That leaves only Ginger, Mary Ann, and the Professor. Man.
Survivor: Katie DUI
Katie Gallagher has been arrested for drunken driving.
August 31, 2005
Prison Break
The new shows are starting to roll out, and the second one on our list to watch was Prison Break.
Another big conspiracy drama spawned by the success of Lost and Desperate Housewives last year, this one centres around an engineer who gets himself sentenced to the same prison in which his brother is awaiting execution in an attempt to bust him out.
It's all about secrets and prison drama (no Oz-like shower rape scenes we've been promised), and stars the guy who was in John Doe and the girl who shaved her head in Empire Records.
The first show (really, the first two mashed together) set everything up well. Lisa wants them to break out already (in terms of the storyline, the brother will be executed in a month) and I'm betting they will draw it out all year until the finale.
It looks entertaining!
Rome - Episode 1
Watched this last Sunday. One of the benefits of the company I work for is that I get ALL the channels for cheap, cheap, cheap, including Movie Central, which is the only Canadian channel showing Rome here in the West.
My reaction: What the hell?
I don't know if I would have liked it more if I had known who the hell everyone was or not, but as it was the show left me scratching my head. Tons of characters with their little plots, and I was hard pressed to recognize their faces, let alone pick up their actual names.
Still, it was intriguing, and the fact that the whole show is only planned on lasting 12 episodes -- ending with Caesar's coronation is Emperor -- so should be over by Christmas, makes it a lighter commitment on my schedule. I'll let you know how it goes.
Also: I remarked to Lisa as the warning text came on the screen, that I was depressed that 'contains nudity' in shows and movies these days seem to be limited to male posteriors. Next thing I know, there's a graphic sex scene and several full-frontal shots of women striding around. I forgot that HBO had a hand in this...