57 posts tagged “tv”
The way too awesome news: Joss Whedon has a new show in development, starring Eliza Dushku and with the involvement of Tim Minear (who's produced Firefly, Angel, Wonderfalls and Drive). The not so great news: television writers are pretty much on strike.
As someone who wants to be a writer and would love to write for/about television, I definitely support the writers. No doubt they're underappreciated - they've got one of the most vital jobs in television, and they don't get nearly the credit they should.
What sucks about the timing is that this could delay Whedon's new show, "Dollhouse," which otherwise might have aired as early as the spring. But Whedon has stated that he'll be on the picket line, which just makes me love him more, really. And I guess if it's for a good cause I can handle waiting a little longer for the awesomeness that will no doubt come from his magnificent brain.
The really freaky part of the strike - shows like "The Daily Show," which are not scripted very far in advance at all, will be the first affected. That'll be followed by daytime soaps, which are scripted about a month in advance. And depending on how long this goes, most shows will run out of scripts around January. Meaning pretty much the only thing on TV will be reality shows, reruns and, well, Lost, which has 14 out of its 16 scripts for the year already written and isn't set to start til January anyway.
Personally, I'm just hoping the writer's demands are listened to and this can be resolved quickly. Because while I'm all about supporting them, I so don't want to be left in a reality TV wasteland.
Premiere week is pretty much over, so I threw together a wrapup of some of the new shows, and which ones I'm hoping don't fall prey to the early-cancellation curse.
Ok, on to the shows.
The Good (basically in the order that I like them):
Pushing Daisies: Whimsical, dark, funny and insanely enchanting, "Pushing Daisies" is the story of a pie-maker with the power to bring the dead back to life. He touches them again, they're back to dead. And if they stay alive for more than a minute, someone else has to die in their place. This of course is complicated by the fact that his childhood sweetheart is murdered, and once he brings her back to life to find out who did it he can't bear to kill her again. With this plotline, "Pushing Daisies" pushes yearning and forbidden love to whole new levels. The cast is brilliant, and the style is something like Dr. Seuss meets Lemony Snicket meets Tim Burton meets Amelie. Fantastic.
Chuck: Take one nerd going nowhere, mix some government secrets into his brain, and throw in a beatiful CIA agent and a deadly NSA agent (played by the hero of Canton, the awesome Adam Baldwin) trying to protect those secrets, and you've got a formula for an action-packed, funny slice of a nerd's secret dream-life. Zachary Levi is adorable and charming as the awkward Chuck. I've heard the character described as a mixture of Seth Cohen and Jim Halpert, and that seems spot-on. With that kind of awesome-ness (and even a character named Captain Awesome), this show is a whole lot of fun.
Dirty Sexy Money: The deliciously scandalous Darling family springs off the screen as some combination of every awful, rich, entitled celebrity to ever hit the tabloids. Peter Krause is fantastic as their beleagered lawyer, who's mostly just trying to get to the bottom of his father's (the Darling's former lawyer) murder. From the corrupt clergyman to the excessively extravagant twins, the Darlings manage to be both horrifying and almost lovable. This one has "guilty pleasure" written all over it.
Reaper: Slacker Sam finds out on his 21st birthday that his parents sold his soul to the devil before he was born. Now the devil is back to collect, and makes Sam a bounty hunter for souls that have escaped from Hell. This show isn't perfect, but it's funny, charming and could have a whole lot of potential. Ray Wise is deliciously smooth as the devil, and as long as "Reaper" can avoid becoming too formulaic it's could be one of the most entertaining hours of TV this season.
The Decent:
Aliens in America: I didn't expect to like this pilot, but it was funny and felt very true-to-life. Some un-PC lines will surely be crossed in this show and that's kind of awesome. The premise is, basically, normal family gets exchange student to help their son make friends. Instead of the burly blond the hilariously ignorant mom envisioned, they get a Muslim student from Pakistan. While the son initially thinks his life is going to be even worse than before, and his mother freaks out entirely, he and the exchange student soon bond over their outsider status, and there's a lot of timely commentary on how we treat people we view as "different".
Gossip Girl: This is not the new "O.C." But the pilot had it's moments, and it's possible this could be the new guilty pleasure for those looking to fill the gap left by "The O.C."'s absence. I've always been a sucker for prime-time soaps, but this one just didn't hook me enough to make me a regular viewer. Maybe I've grown up since the adventures of Ryan Atwood hit the small screen, but "Gossip Girl" didn't appeal to me on the same level.
The Rest:
Carpoolers: This sitcom, about four guys who carpool to work together, had some laugh-out-loud moments, especially in the character of one of their sons, who is like a more grown-up Napolean Dynamite without pants. But so far, nothing special. Definitely not the revival of the sitcom.
Moonlight: I tend to love vampire shows, and this could suck me in. Alex O'Laughlin and Jason Dohring are both enticing, but Sophia Myles grates, and some of the creative choices (music especially) were seriously questionable. If this pulls itself together quickly it could be a guilty pleasure. Otherwise, I'll just watch my "Buffy" and "Angel" DVDs and wax nostalgic about the good ol' days.
Back to You: With such sitcom star power (Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, seriously), you'd think this show would have at least a glimmer of charisma. But no. Not very funny, and so far, none of the characters are very likeable. Barely a chuckle in the pilot, and I have no desire to watch more.
The Big Bang Theory: This one got a few laughs out of me, but the nerds are such incredibly stereotypical caricatures that it just rings false. And why does the "hot" girl have to be dumb and oblivious? Better than I'd anticipated based on commercials but still really not good.
I think that's pretty much it for the pilots I saw all the way through. The glimpses I saw of "Life" looked much more promising than I'd anticipated, and I've heard "Journeyman" has it moments. My attempt to watch "Bionic Woman" mostly bored me, with the exception of Katee Sackhoff's character.
Overall, not a bad crop of new shows. There are at least four that I'll give my attention to this season, and one or two others could make their way onto that list with some improvements.
Not that I need anymore TV shows.
I took a bit of a break over the summer, when there wasn't much TV anyway, but I'm back!
Next week is jam-packed with season premieres, and in honor of that (and also because I'm trying to entertain myself while I watch 5 hours of political documentary for class), I present what I thought were the 10 best hours of TV last season. I'm sure I've neglected something fantastic, and please take into account that I haven't caught up on every great show yet (sorry, Friday Night Lights!) This is just one humble person's opinion based on the TV I happen to be watching.
*WARNING: SPOILERS WITHIN. Proceed with caution.*
10. The O.C. "The End's Not Near, It's Here" - This is more of an honorable mention (there were probably even better episodes of the O.C. this year), but belongs on this list as a wrapup to four seasons (two great, two okay) in the world of these characters. The last 10 minutes or so brought the series full-circle in a lovely and satisfactory way. And for those of us who adored the show's stellar first season, meh-ed the second, and were disappointed in the third, the turnaround back to fun, fresh TV in the fourth season was a welcome surprise.
9. Bones "Aliens in a Spaceship" - Who'd have thunk I'd put a forensics show on this list? Certainly not me. But Bones is surprisingly engaging, with lovable, fully-formed characters, and this episode was a standout last season. Two beloved characters in mortal peril plus a fantastic performance by David Boreanaz (whose acting I've certainly ridiculed in the past - hellooo, worst Irish accent ever) made this a solidly great hour of TV.
8. Gilmore Girls "Bon Voyage" - A touching sendoff for the Lorelais. After seven seasons of fast talking and copious junk food, Lorelai and the town send Rory off into adulthood, complete with a solid hour of tears. If you watched and didn't cry, you have no heart. For real.
7. Battlestar Galactica "Exodus Part II" - Season 3 of this consistently stellar show got off to an INCREDIBLE start, and this episode, where Galactica finally charges in to help the people of New Caprica, is a standout.
6. Ugly Betty "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" - For a show that has definite elements of the telenovela about it, Ugly Betty managed to pull out some very realistic and moving moments in its first season. This episode, in which the lovably bitchy, flamboyant Marc finally comes out to his mother, dealt with serious issues in a way that managed to be funny, smart and ultimately touching.
5. Doctor Who "Doomsday" - I was all set to hate Rose when I first starting Netflixing Doctor Who - a blond shopgirl played by a former British pop star? Psh! - but Billie Piper made the character lovable, real and a perfect foil for the Doctor's (slight) insanity. She even managed to transfer her chemistry from Nine to Ten, and when they finally said goodbye (at Bad Wolf Bay, fittingly), she had transformed into a confident, radiant hero. (Daleks vs. Cybermen was pretty cool, too.)
4. Lost "Through the Looking Glass" - The show took a lot of flack last season for moving too slowly, but by the end of season 3 things were looking up. The finale gave us a heroic death for a character who had moved into the background, a few kick-ass fights (Sayid broke someone's neck with his LEGS, people), and, um, a FLASH-FORWARD.
3. Heroes "Five Years Gone" - Heroes was a freshman hit, leaving it with a lot to live up to in the coming season. But if "Five Years Gone" is any indication, there's a whole lot of awesome up their sleeves. A look at a dark, creepy "what-if" future, this episode may have had an element of X-Men about it (mutant/hero = different = WRONG), but it managed to be surprising and give us a chilling look at what could be. Plus, Peter looked totally hot with a scar. (Kidding! Kind of.)
2. Veronica Mars "Spit and Eggs" - In a season that was admittedly a bit uneven, after a second season finale that drew mixed reviews, "Spit and Eggs" was proof that Veronica Mars still had it. With a couple of truly chilling moments - Parker's courage in the face of her rapist, Veronica's drugging, Logan's purposeful jailing - this episode was a perfect example of why Veronica's fans were (and still are) so devoted.
1. Supernatural "What is and What Should Never be" - Supernatural isn't often held up as the pinnacle of critically-acclaimed TV, but "What Is", well, should be. Jensen Ackles delivered a spot-on, moving performance, and the poignant look at what Dean's life could have been was an emotional punch to the gut.
Here's hoping for a great new season of shows!
With finals finally over, it's time to concentrate on what's really important in May: season (and in some cases series) finales. So here's my wishlist for some of this month's season-enders (air dates in parentheses):
Gilmore Girls (May 15, aka tonight) - Having just gotten into this show last summer, I'm not quite caught up with this season, but I will be glued to my couch tonight for this one. They've given us seven (mostly) great, witty and heartwarming years, and there are only a few things I ask: some sweet Lorelai/Rory moments, some good moments with Emily and Richard, love for all the wacky Stars Hollow townsfolk, and, oh yeah, some Luke/Lorelai lovin'. Because they are MEANT TO BE, people.
Bones (May 16) - We're getting a Hodgins/Angela wedding, so I'm just hoping for some good Booth/Brennan chemistry. Which they never fail to deliver, but let's keep that up, okay?
Ugly Betty (May 17) - Ummm, can Betty and Henry please just get together already? Oh, and as much Marc and Amanda as possible, because they (and of course Justin) are totally my favorite part of this adorable show.
Grey's Anatomy (May 17) - I've been less than impressed with this season, so I think almost anything would be an improvement. If they could stop force-feeding us the George/Izzie thing and make Derek less of a jerk, that would be great. Oh, and more Alex. Always more Alex.
Supernatural (May 17) - I'm not quite caught up with Season Two so I don't know what to ask for exactly... but I'd settle for some shirtless Winchester boys. Pretty please?
Heroes (May 21) - Continued awesomeness. And not killing Peter, Claire, HRG, Hiro, Ando, Micah, or any of my other favorites.
Veronica Mars (May 22) - Let's finish up the Pizonica already and bring back the LoVe - especially since there's a good chance this could be the series finale. My ultimate wish here would be for a fourth season - c'mon, CW, you know you want to!
Lost (May 23) - I've LOVED some of the recent string of episodes, so my wishes for this one just include more answers, more intrigue, and more Sawyer.
There are several other shows I could mention - Numb3rs, Desperate Housewives, House, American Idol - but those are my main wishes for this May. So if the networks could just go ahead and adjust their finales accordingly, that'd be great. Thanks.
Since FOX has already cancelled Drive (boo!), it's good to know that I still have something to watch on Monday nights. Heroes was fantastic last night, jumping five years into the future in what was possibly the best episode so far.
We found out there IS a genetic link with the powers, since Future(kindaEvil)Matt's baby is also "special," and that Peter is the bomb - literally. (He's also pretty damn hot with that scar). Personally I'm concerned with this development, as, based on the visions we've seen of the explosion so far, it could very easily lead to the death of one of the Petrelli brothers, both of whom I love very much.
We also found out that if Hiro doesn't succeed in saving the world, a whole bunch of people are going to die, including Ando, Micah and apparently Nathan (although Sylar could become Nathan if things turn out how they were in this ep).
I'm still reeling from everything - this episode might need a second viewing. But generally, I'm just super-excited for the last few episodes of the season.
I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about Drive. On the one hand, Nathan Fillion! Tim Minear! Amy Acker! So much Whedonverse! (Plus some other cool people, like the charming Melanie Lynskey). On the other hand, the previews basically made it look like a show about people driving cars in what could be a ripoff of a dozen race shows/movies.
Turns out, it's not half bad. It's no Firefly or Heroes, but the driving looks pretty cool, there are some really interesting characters, just enough mystery to keep me engaged with some actual freakin' answers coming pretty quickly... plus, Nathan Fillion.
I really like Nathan Fillion.
Drive is probably going to be yet another casualty of cancellation-happy Fox, but if it stays on the air, I'll stick with it, at least for awhile longer. It may not be brilliant or groundbreaking, but there's just enough action mixed with intrigue and a dash of humor to make it a good guilty pleasure. Plus, I just wanna see what happens.
A few suggestions for Fox: Give it a few weeks to find its footing before pulling the cancellation-trigger. When you do cancel it, put out a DVD set quickly and complete with unaired episodes. Put Nathan Fillion in tighter pants. Promote, but don't oversaturate the viewing audience. Eliminate some of the less-vital and more annoying characters (we seem to somewhat be on this path already). And, um... more Nathan Fillion?
(Disclaimer: I am not a Nathan Fillion stalker. I just think he's fantastic. Really. In a non-creepy way. Stop looking at me like that. You know he's awesome!)
I don't know why I keep watching American Idol. It's one of those shows that I know is horrible and exploitative and ruining the world, and yet I keep tuning in, obsessively, week after week. I guess I'll just call it a guilty pleasure and leave it at that.
That said, I was really sad to see Gina go this week. I knew she wasn't going to win, but she definitely deserved to outlast at least Haley, Phil, and, of course, Sanjaya, who I have a nagging feeling isn't going away anytime soon. It's not a good feeling.
Melinda is still fantastic. I don't even know what to say about her that hasn't been said - fantastic singer, genuinely nice person. Personally, I think her personality is 100 percent genuine, and I hope she wins it all. She definitely deserves it. I also wouldn't mind a Jordin win, nor would a mind a final two that included Blake or Lakisha. But Melinda is by far my top choice at this point.
But, oh, Sanjaya. Sigh. I know a lot of people think it's funny to keep voting for him just because he's so very bad (and I say this as someone who loved his audition and think he's probably a genuinely nice kid), but I really hate seeing actual talent leave while he sticks around. It's just wrong.
At least Gina went out with some class and a good performance. I wish her the best - girl's got some talent.
Even as an eternal optimist I've had some doubts about Lost lately, but last night's episode? Was freakin' fantastic.
Finally, we get some communication on this damn island, with Sayid informing Alex of her mother's existence. Danielle's face when she finally saw her daughter was heartwrenching. Can we please get a reunion soon?
But the best moments of the night were between Locke and Ben. Let's just get those two their own show now - they're both played by fantastic actors, and their interactions were priceless. Too many great one-liners between those two to even go into.
And finally, FINALLY, we find out how Locke ended up in that wheelchair. I figured it had something to do with his dad, but pushing your own son out of window 8 stories up? Harsh. I'm still thinking Locke's dad is the original Sawyer, too, and maybe now that he's on the island we'll get some answers in that department.
One of the best episodes of the season. Can't wait to see where this is going.
Rumors are floating around that Veronica Mars is either being cancelled or reworked so that next season would take place four years in the future, with Veronica as a full-fledged FBI agent. Personally, I'm not sure how I feel about this. It could be interesting, but it would be a completely different show - and it's doubtful the supporting cast would remain the same. Considering my love for all things Keith, Mac, Logan, Weevil, Wallace, Backup, Dick, Parker and even Piz... I just don't know. I'd be willing to give it a chance, because I believe in the genius of Rob Thomas, but I'm skeptical.
But hey, I'll take FBI Veronica over cancelled Veronica any day.
Apparently Josh Holloway could very possibly be playing Gambit in the next X-Men movie (this is probably old news to some, but apparently I'm not quite caught up).
Um, superswoon.
That kind of news needs to keep coming if I'm going to keep from going crazy in the next month and a half having to wait for new Heroes and Veronica Mars. Stupid TV schedules.
At least I finally have Lost back, and in my opinion, it's getting better and better each week. And if the previews are any indication, we're FINALLY going to find out how Locke ended up in that damn wheelchair soon. It only took them three seasons...
