Recently in Television Category

So, you are all geared up for a few hours of alone time before the wife and child get home from their Thursday night adventures.  Your iced cold drink is on the coffee table, you laptop is booted and ready to rumble, the AC is kicking and the couch is comfortable.  Everything for an evening of BSG season 2 is ready to roll but it things aren't as good as they seem.  You pop the disk sent loving by Netflix into the DVD player and stretch out on the couch.  After a short pre-roll you launch into the menu and hit "Play All".  Then, everything breaks down.  The title sequence rolls and the "Previously on Battlestar Galactica" kicks in and you recognize none of it.  WTF?!   Lee Adama and President Roslin were in jail but they escaped?  Helo and Starbuck are on New Caprica with a bunch of human survivors?  Admiral Adama is no longer in charge of Galactica?  When the fuck did all of this happen? 

You fumble with the remote to jump out to the menu to see if maybe the disk started on the wrong episode only to find out that the entire disk is wrong.  NOOOOOOOO!!!!  Neflix shipped me Season 2 Disk 2 in the Disk 1 pouch!  Those COCKSUCKERS!!!  After all the good things I say about the company I still get the shaft.  A perfect evening RUINED I tell ya! 

Ok, maybe that is going a little overboard but it was disappointing.  The good news is I reported the error to Netflix and they are shipping a new disk no questions asked.  I should have it no later than Saturday.  All in all that is pretty good service.  I'd still like to get my hands on the person responsible for mixing up the envelopes though! 

As I watched LOST a few weeks ago I noticed a name flash by during the credits.  Brian K Vaughn first showed up as a writer on the show in season 3 and has done work on several episodes during season 4.  Although most people will not recognize the name, he is well known in the comic book industry.  Vaughn recently finished a critically acclaimed series called Y: The Last Man.  At the time I spotted his name during LOST I had not read any of the series but I decided to pick up the first trade (trades collect issues of a comic book for easy reading so you don't have to go out and find back issues) on my next run to my LCS (that's "local comic shop" for you hipsters out there). 

Y: The Last Man is about Yorik and his monkey Ampersand, the last males of any species on Earth.

Yorick is faced with a world slowly coming unraveled and is thrust in to a quest to save humanity and find his girlfriend while being beset on all side by females with their own agenda.  There are vigilante woman trying to capture and sell Yorick to the highest bidder, organized "amazon" women who believe men have been cleansed for good reason, and politicians who have their own motivations for assisting Yorick and his band of travelers.  Yorick is a man stuck in one hell of a hen party.   

From what I have read so far this is a really excellent book.  The book is completely serious but also humorous without making fun of itself or the genre.  I am early, very early, in the series but I am already hook and can't wait to plow through all the trades.  This is also a series that I hope I can get my wife interested in.  It certainly has that air of mystery that surrounds LOST and I can see why they brought Vaughn on as a writer.  The really great thing here is that the story is finished.  The last issue came out a few months back so the final collected trade should be out soon if it hasn't already hit this stands.  I don't have to worry about waiting for the next part of the story like I do with so many other series that I read in both novel and comic book form.  I can remember how excruciating the wait for Dark Tower 3 was so having a series complete when I start reading is really quite refreshing.

The comic book industry is in a state of flux today.  The trade market is growing with mainstream books stores now stocking a wealth of books, including Y.  You should be able to pick up the first book at any local Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Borders, or any other large chain store.  I recommend, however, that you seek out your local comic shop and buy the book from the specialty retailer.  Supporting the comic shops helps keep the industry running.  There is a lot of amazingly wonderful work being put out today but the industry is in danger of disappearing in the near future.  I have a longer essay on this subject but it is enough now to say that if you like good writing and good stories you need to go out and buy the product.  If not, where are movies like 300 and Iron Man going to come from once no one is writing the stories anymore? 

Check out Y: The Last Man and let me know what you think.       

The new Battlestar Galactica series started while I was in school.  I didn't have much time to watch TV then so I missed the premier.  I never was able to pick the series up and pretty much forgot about it while the first season was in its initial run.  I casually kept up with the fight to keep in on the air.  When it was announced that the show would enter its final season this year I became more interested in the program.  A few weeks ago I ordered the premier miniseries from Netflix and had the opportunity to watch it while home with a sick child.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that this show equal and exceeds the original.  I am impressed with how it is shot theatrically and not like your standard sitcom.  The material is also taken seriously which is something that too often does not happen with sci-fi on TV.  I really enjoyed the pilot mini and am currently working my way through season one.  I wish the Sci-Fi channel would produce more shows like this and quite putting out those horrible monster of the week movies.  Really, who watches those?

I fully realized what a good show BSG is when my wife sat down and watched peaces of episode five with me and then said "hey, this is really good".  Now I want to go back and get discs 1 and 2 so she can catch up with me.  Winning my wife over on a genre show isn't exactly the easiest thing to do so I feel I need to nurture this budding fandom to see where it goes. 

I know there is a lot I am not aware of with this series so please don't spoil it for me.  Not leaving comments about who is a Cylon ok!!!!  Just keep your mouth shut and follow me here to see how I am progressing with the series. 

Finally, Number Six...oh what can I say about her (it?).  I think I could definitely compromise the integrity of the colonial defense system for her if you know what I mean.

Thanks go out to Hurley last night for putting a little humanity into the craziness that is LOST.  After watching the episode I can't help but think it all comes back to Hurley.  He always just seems to be in the middle of everything.  Stumbling upon Jacob's cabin was a nice touch and Locke was right there as well.  What was our former paraplegic up to out in the woods hmmm????  It was good to see Charlie even if he is a figment of Hurley's imagination.  I have one thought that bugs me though...this whole show had best not be in Hurley's head.  If they pull a St. Elsewhere on us I think I might have to make a trip to Hollywood to bust some heads.  Who's with me?

It seems that only 8 episodes of this season are in the can so unless the writer's strike ends, and soon, that will be all we get for a while.  What is worse is that I have a bad feeling that this show can not possibly pay off on the level that the fans want.  What could the writers possibly do to make the fans go WOW!?  It is going to be tough to end it well, but there is always hope that this will be one of the greats.  I hope...I hope.

I slogged through the pilot of the new Flash Gordon show on Sci-Fi this week. Can I just say it super-sucked? Bad acting, bad casting, bad special effects, cheap looking props, uninspired set design, and a Ming The Merciless that is about as frightening as the manager at my local Publix. It took me three days to watch the pilot so you can go ahead and guess that the show is fairly unexciting. It makes me want to go back and watch the horrible 80's movie again because, quite frankly, the film is better. Yes it was campy, but at least it had some action, some wonderful music by Quenn, and was interesting to look at. Plus, who can forget Max Von Sydow as Ming? That dude was ruthless. This new show has none of the attributes that made the movie into a cult classic. It is bland, cheap, and completely lacks imagination or vision.

And another thing, why does a show like this have to cast 25 year olds for every damn part? These kids seem just out of college and still wet behind the ears. How am I supposed to believe they are up to the challenge of struggling against an intergalactic, fascist dictator? That's just the thing, I don't believe they can. Based on their performances I have real doubts that they could send an email without calling tech support much less understand the nuances of planetary rift technology. This show was horribly cast before the first second of film ever rolled. These actors are completely unbelievable in their roles.

And lets talk about Ming for a minute. Ming should be the most ruthless, evil, sadistic son-of-a-bitch in the universe but what we get in this show is a Lumbergh from Office Space look alike with about the same temperament. One could make the argument that Lumbergh actually is the most ruthless, evil, sadistic, SOB in the universe but I don't think the Ming character was designed to be so subtle in his offensiveness. No, Ming is the kind of guy that would kill someone just because he was bored but I didn't get that feeling from this guy in the show. This guy could be defeated by a girl scout throwing boxes of cookies.

Finally, are all women in the Flash Gordon universe cast from the same mold? It seemed to me that they were all about 5'6", dark haired, full breasted, and 23-28 years old. Obviously the show is playing to a certain demographic, but it really just made the show bland. My guess is that the dark hair on most of the characters was to make Flash's blond locks stand out. I am sure some producer is sitting back in his office chuckling to himself about how "clever" that idea was. Oh, and let's not forget the token black guy of the series. Flash's best friend was the only black character I remember from the show. Didn't they do the same thing in Smallville? It was so obvious that he was just thrown in for diversity. Couldn't they have given some of the more involved roles to a black/asian/latin actor? Dr. Zarkov maybe? It just so obvious that they created Flash's "friend" just to be sure they got a minority character in the show. It is just horrible, formulaic television at its worst (best?).

I still have the show set to record on my DVR and I will give it a few episodes before I give up entirely, but based on the pilot I am severely unimpressed.

*****SPOILERS BELOW*****

So LOST finished on a much stronger note than HEROES in my opinion. Some action, some drama, and some tragedy. All around a good ending for the season.

First, HURLEY, YOU ROCK! Everyone told you to go away, that you were useless, and that you were a liability and you proved them wrong. Way to go my friend, way to go.

Hurley's surprise appearance on the beach was awesome. I was actually cheering when he burst through the jungle in the van. Hell yeah! Sayid, Jin, Bernard, Sawyer, and Juliet all owe him thanks and some owe him an apology. Keep up the good work Hugo.

Desmond and Charlie...what can I say? You had Mikhail down with a spear through his chest. WHY DID YOU NOT PLUG HIM IN THE HEAD A COUPLE OF TIMES??? Has HEROES taught us nothing? This dude has risen from the dead once before already. If you get the chance, turn his face into jelly. Their inability to verify he was dead cost Charlie his life (maybe). This is a lesson all good guys need to learn. When you get a chance to take out the bad guy, DO IT! Sawyer understood that as was evident in his execution of Tom. There is no room for compassion when you are fighting for your life. Let's all learn this lesson please!

Jack? Nice to see him get a backbone, but the flash-forward (tricky move LOST writing team!) took that away from him. Letting your own people be executed was a tough thing, but it was right. Now, you really should have killed Ben, but I will let you off on that one. He got roughed up pretty good. However, if you let the guy with the slick tongue hang out long enough eventually he is gonna get you. Watch out. Oh, and standing up to Locke was great. I think you broke the old man with that one.

And how about Ben eh? Dude can take a beating!

By my count at least 13 "others" took a big dirt nap last night. Their numbers are shrinking fast, don't you think?

Hey "others" isn't it about time to tell the survivors what the hell is actually going on? Maybe then they won't be so quick to blow your brains out all the time. No, go ahead and keep your secrets. It'll all be over soon enough.

John Locke...you let people and other entities use you constantly. I once thought you had giant metal balls, but now I realize that your balls are really in a glass jar on somebody's desk. Probably Jackob's. You're easier to manipulate than a democrat during an election year. Man you should just go back to that pit and die. I think everyone on the island would be better off. Sorry to see ya go, but what is best for the many...

*****SPOILERS END*****

Wow, were there enough changes in speaking voice in that section? My HS English teacher would go into cardiac arrest if she read that.

Anyway, I thought the episode was good. Some of the "rules" of the show were broken and it calls into question some of what we have seen. It is 7 months before the show comes back with new episodes. I don't know who the geniuses are behind the programming schedule, but it seems like they will loose a lot of viewers just because of the delay. I'll be back though and it is good to know the story has an official end date. This is a unique situation that the writers and creators can not plan the rest of the narrative and hopefully develop a satisfying conclusion.

I expect this will be the last TV post in a while as both of the shows I watch regularly are now off the air. Maybe now is a good time to catch up on some shows I haven't seen.

Time to check my Netflix account.

First, who got a call from Nathan Petrelli Monday night? I did.

The penultimate HEROS episode of the season was Monday night and it was fantastic. If you are not watching this show then you suck and don't come back here ever again. Ok, that is a bit harsh, but you really should be watching this show. Click on the link above and you can go watch all of the episodes this season. Really, go now!

Did you go?
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Seriously, do it!
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I'm not kidding!
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Quit being a douche and go watch the episodes. They are free dude!
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Ok, now that you have caught up...YOU DID DO IT RIGHT?...We can continue. Since you have watched the entire season I don't need to warn you about the spoilers that follow.

Monday's episode was excellent and set up the season finale perfectly. Mr. Sulu came back and gave Hiro the education he so rightly deserved and needed. I am still not sure of Mr. Nakamura's power, but I know he his cool as hell. It seems like he used to work with Linderman, but they had a falling out. I can only assume it was over the whole blow up NY thing. As much as I like Hiro, I hope we see more sword fighting and ass kicking from George Takei in the future. I think we all know now how Hiro evolves into future Ninja Terrorist Hiro.

Linderman and the Eric Roberts character (don't know his name and don't really care) got what was coming to them. I particularly like how Linderman was dealt with. Very clever. Nathan won the election of course and now has to run things without Linderman's support. A very precarious position for sure.

I am sorry to see how Ted was removed from the game, but his role was done once both Peter and Sylar absorbed his powers. I was beginning to like the guy. A tragic figure and his death, while expected, was not welcomed.

Parkman and Mr. Bennett seem to make a good team. I'd like to see more of them in the future. Team them up with the Haitian and maybe Dr. Suresh and there could be some interesting stories. They'll have to get past the whole killing the little girl thing, but I think if Hiro succeeds in his quest to take out Sylar then it can all be worked out.

Finally, for all of you Ali Larter haters out there, I give you this...

Not only that, but she also said this:

"I hate pretty-looking boys. I'd rather have a guy with a potbelly than one who's in the gym all the time and watches what he eats."

That makes her ok in my book. Besides, Kevin Smith cast her in one of his movies so she's got that going for her. So, back off Ali Larter! Now, let's hear something about about Rena Sofer

Finally, I would love to get together a viewing party for the finale here in the Birmingham area. Anyone interested? I'll be willing to sponsor it at my house as long as no one minds cramped quarters and a dog.

There is nothing quite so enjoyable as sharing something with your child that you once enjoyed and seeing them enjoy it as well. I had such an experience this weekend.

Way back in 1993, Warner Brothers debuted a new cartoon called Animaniacs. This was the second collaboration between Steven Spielberg and Warner Bros., the first being Tiny Toon Adventures. Even though I was a senior in high school at the time, I watched this show religiously. Soon it became a cult favorite within my circle of friends. Well, at least for a few of them anyway. It was great because not only was it full of pop-culture references, but it was very self referential and smart. It incorporated classic music, popular theater, science, and history. Hell, it was damn educational in spots including songs about US state capitals and the countries of the world. all in all it was a great show that I watched as much as possible well in to college.

Sometime during my higher education days I lost track of the show. During the time I was a rabid fan, however, I purchased a CD containing many of the more popular songs found on the show. That CD lived in my collection for over a decade but only saw the light of day when it was packed into a box each time I moved. Time passed, I got married and had a child. Then, one day, I played the CD for my daughter. Some time later, she started requesting it. Hearing the songs again after so long brought back fond memories of gangster movie parodies and Star Wars character cameos. So, when the little one requested the CD this weekend I decided it was high time to show her the real thing and I booted up the ole PC and jumped over to YouTube. Surely, I thought, someone has uploaded some old clips. I was right.

Emily wanted to see on of the Pinky and the Brain segments. I knew there was a good reason I love this kid the way I do! I found a couple of clips along with the Animaniacs intro and several other shorts. I finally had to shut the computer down to get her to put on her day clothes so we could get on with the day. The damage, however, had already been done. A new fan was born.

Things spiraled out of control from there. I had some coupons for Best Buy in the bill box so off we went to track down some Animanics DVDs. I soon came to find out that Warner Bros. released Volumes 1 and 2 just last year! Oh glory to the highest (that means you Mr. Spielberg)! I snatched volume 1 before my wife could argue and it was off to the checkout line. I also noticed that the Pinky and the Brain spin-off series is also available. I made a promise to myself I would be back to bring all of those disk back to a loving home one day and like General Douglas MacArtur, I will return.

See, the important thing to note here is that my wife does not like cartoons. She did not watch them as a kid and will not watch them now. I practically have to tie her up and force her to watch things like The Simpsons and Family Guy and even then it is a touch and go procedure. Even with the tying up part... So, just getting her to go along with purchasing nearly 10 hours worth of a cartoon is a feat in itself. However, since cartoons are "daddy's thing" I guess she saw it as an opportunity for bonding and did not put up much of a fight.

Upon arriving home, the case was opened and the first disk was spinning before the front door was shut. In moments episode one was playing and my daughter, a girl who had been talking from the moment she woke up, stood and watched in utter silence. For close to two hours we watched Yakko, Wakko, and Dot and all of their friends in a state of television watching bliss. Even mommy chuckled on occasion. A good sign!

Over the rest of the weekend we watched several more episodes and always had to tear the little one away from the TV. We are very conscious of watching too much television and this weekend probably busted our limit for the week. However, I loved it because now Emily and I have something in common. And that, my friends, is an inability to understand what a genetically enhanced mouse is going to do when he actually succeeded in conquering the world. Personally, I think we need to see all the episodes before coming to a conclusion.

The sets are cheaper on Amazon by the way...

Just a note:

The "Heros" discussions are starting to get some good traffic here and some great ideas have come out. If you like the show then please register for the forums and contribute to the discussion. I am also interested in just about any other topic others would like to discussion. Send me an email if there is something you feel has merit.

http://forums.anutterwasteoftime.com

Thanks,

Your Host

Really quick...how many of you noticed the license plate on Hiro's Dad's car during Heros tonight?

NCC-1701.

Ring any bells?