In past years, I've done posts on which shows I plan to watch in the new TV season. I never did that this fall. Now it's November, and basically everything that's going to air this fall has already started. So, I figured I'd do a post on what I think of the shows that I've watched. Some I've been keeping up with religiously, watching the first night it's available online. Other shows I've seen a few episodes of, and may watch more if I find the time. Others I may give up on. Mostly, I've been a bit disappointed with this year's freshman shows. We'll start with those.
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New Shows
Pan Am
I love this show. I'm a couple episodes behind, but only because it's not a show the Housemate watches (loser). See, most of my TV-watching time is during dinner (and lunch on the weekends) which I have with the Housemate, so any show that he's not interested in gets pushed aside, and I have to find my own time to watch it.
Pan Am is probably my favorite new show this season. I love the period setting, the world travel, the glamour of it all, even if it is exaggerated (I don't care). Of the six main characters, I loved about half of them right from the start, and the rest I've warmed up to in recent episodes. The show is funny and fun, but can also be surprisingly moving, as I found myself tearing up a bit on behalf of Colette in the Berlin episode. Anyway, if you're at all inclined to watch this sort of show but haven't given it a try, I highly recommend you check it out.
Terra Nova
I so wanted this to be good. I still do. It's just they keep being stupid about it. I'm no writer, I don't know how to fix it, but I can spot bad choices when I see them. First, they chickened out in the pilot by tacking on an awkward scene in which Mira (Christine Adams) and some other Sixer discuss Taylor's son, basically saying "See? We already have answers to our mysterious mythology, we promise." But that scene somehow managed to make the mystery both less mysterious and more confusing at the same time. Then you had that terrible conversation between Mira, the evil(?) Sixer leader(?) and hero Jim (Jason O'Mara) that went something like this:
Mira: You seem useful. Be on the right side of history. Make the smart choice. Join us.
Jim: But I like Terra Nova. It's a new beginning, and all that good idealistic stuff.
Mira: You're naive if you think that's really what Terra Nova is about.
Jim: OK, I'm listening then. What is it really about?
Mira: You know, you'd think I'd tell you because I'm trying to convince you my side is the smart choice, but the writers are telling me we can't give away too much of the mystery yet, so instead I'll just say, "You'll see."
Inexplicable. Side plots have been pretty lame, too, perhaps reaching a new low as Jim and littlest daughter Zoe spend the whole episode trying to get out of what is essentially a personal theater room. Why does that room only have an emergency door release on the outside? Is it a prison cell or something? I've been in walk-in fridge rooms, and they have emergency releases on the inside, because that is the more awkward of the two sides to get stuck on. And why would someone construct an access shaft that's only large enough for a small child to fit through? Did Hobbits build the place? And how many different scene cuts do you need to spend on these people figuring out how to escape that room? The only thing that could have made their plotline exciting would have been if there were ACTUAL spiders in there, trying to attack them.
OK, I should have saved my Terra Nova rant for its own separate post. Contrary to how it may sound at this point, I'm still enjoying the show, and I watch it every week. But I do so hoping that it will suddenly get better. They have a beautiful, interesting world to explore and some good characters. They just need to figure out what they're doing and use them intelligently.
Person of Interest
I like this show. I don't love it as much as I'd hoped, but I think they've been doing a pretty good job with it. I think my main issue is the cool, detached manner that Jim Caviezel gives hero Reese. It makes scenes with him that don't have any action a little...boring. Without more passion, I find it hard to really become attached to the character or the story. But I'll keep tuning in for now.
The New Girl
I really wanted to love this one, but after three episodes, I've just been a bit disappointed. There have been some good laughs, and I like some of the characters sometimes, but just not enough. Only if I find myself with a lot of free time, or hear that it's gotten much better, will I catch up with this one. I think Zooey Deschanel is a talented, funny actress. I just wish the material she got were better.
Revenge
I started this one late, but now I've seen three episodes and I have to admit, it's totally a guilty pleasure show. Watch beautiful people live extravagant, glamorous lives, and see the nasty ones take nasty falls. Like Pan Am, the Housemate doesn't watch this one, so I have to find time to catch episodes on my own. I may watch some more episodes at some point, but only if I'm caught up with everything else.
Once Upon a Time
I wasn't entirely sold after watching the pilot, but after watching the second and third episodes, I'm loving it. If any show challenges Pan Am as my favorite new show of the season, it's this one. The characters are fun (especially the Evil Queen), and the fairytale premise is intriguing. I just wonder how they can keep the plot going. I guess time will tell.
Grimm
Another disappointment. It's not bad, but it does suffer from characters being unbelievably stupid from time to time. It's also a bit hard to believe how many fairytale-creature cases Nick and his partner pick up. Does this reflect a universal percentage of perpetrators who are actually fairytale monsters? If only a Grimm is well suited to take out these creatures, does that mean that the rest of them, who get other detectives assigned to their cases, go free? It's one thing when a certain detective is well known for being good at "these sorts of cases", and gets called in from around the city or state to investigate. Alternatively, they could explain that this city is a fairytale monster haven. But they need some sort of explanation, because at the moment, it just doesn't make sense. There have only been two episodes, so I'm willing to give it some more time. If it gets better, great. If it gets worse, I may start tuning out.
Returning Shows
Fringe
Favorite show on TV right now. It's a bit frustrating at the moment (vague SPOILERS) with the new altered storyline, but things are definitely progressing in an exciting way. I love it.
Nikita
This was my favorite new show of last fall, and I think it's still going strong. The formula has changed a lot since the first season, and that took some getting used to, but change is good. It keeps things interesting.
How I Met Your Mother
Fun, lovable characters, and I've been enjoying Kal Penn's recurring guest star role this season. And, as I've already explained, I really liked their Ewok episode. Ted can take as long as he wants to find their mother.
Big Bang Theory
The other of the two sitcoms I watch. It's light and amusing, and I like the characters. They've had a couple good cameos so far this season, and they FINALLY admitted that maybe, just maybe, there might be one or two women out there who actually like comic books. Progress.
Glee
I think I've only watched the first episode, maybe two, from this season. The Housemate has given up on it, so I find it's a good one to catch a couple episodes of while I'm beading, since it doesn't exactly require my undivided attention. I'll have to see more before I decide what I think about this season.
Merlin
Yes, the Housemate and I are still hooked on Merlin. It alternates between painfully silly and surprisingly grim, and I really wish the characters would learn to recognize traitors (Look! He's smirking! All the time when bad things are happening! Why doesn't anybody see?????), but somehow I love it still. I like fantasy and Arthurian legend (even perversions of it), and I've fallen for the characters. Also, James Callis was in an episode this season. Oh, how I miss Baltar.
Walking Dead
This is a good show, but it's also distressing and depressing. If the Housemate weren't such a big zombie fan, honestly, I might drop it. It just never leaves me feeling good. At least it's staying interesting.
Chuck
This is Chuck's last season. We were lucky we got it this long, seeing as it was renewed only by the skin of its teeth the past couple seasons. I'm finding the current plot very frustrating. I understand why they wanted to switch up the Intersect a bit, keep it fresh, and didn't want to make things too easy for them, but it still pains me. Still, I've been with the show long enough that I'll see it through till the end, which I trust them to wrap up in a satisfying way, given that they have advance notice of the series finale.
Covert Affairs
I'm so glad we didn't have to wait until next summer to see more of this show. I love it so much. Annie, Auggie, and Joan are great, and the filming on location that Annie gets to do is beautiful and refreshing. So many shows try to make L.A. look like other cities in the world, who can blame the Covert Affairs folks for rubbing it in: "See? We really went to Paris! Not a set! And this? Yeah, we went to Venice. For real!" Fun, delightful show, and lighter and more realistic than my other two returning favorites, Fringe and Nikita.
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Well, I think those are all the shows that I've seen this TV season. Any other shows I need to pick up this fall before I fall too far behind?
Showing posts with label Glee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Glee. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Happy Autumn, Moon Festival, and Hobbit Day!
It is now officially fall, if you take the beginning of fall to be the autumnal equinox, which was at 5:09 pm Hawaii time (erm...11:09 pm East Coast U.S. time, and the rest of you will have to figure it out for yourselves). September 22 is also the Chinese Moon Festival this year, also sometimes called the Mid-Autumn Festival, but I won't call it that because I just said that autumn started today. I feel like a bad half-Chinese person, but I don't really know much about the Moon Festival, beyond that we get to eat mooncakes. Mmmm. Today also happens to be Hobbit Day, as September 22 is the birthday of both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. So there are many reasons to celebrate today (though I realize that for most of the world it is already tomorrow, which messes up the alignment of autumn with Hobbit Day and the Moon Festival, but whatever). Anyway, happy autumn, happy Moon Festival, and happy Hobbit Day!
I don't have anything humorous or insightful or cool or geeky to share today, just some scattered thoughts. It has been a very long week, and I can't believe it's only Wednesday. Feels like it must be Friday. The Housemate is on the mainland this week for a workshop relevant to the research he is doing, so I've been having solitary evenings and nights. It's a lot less fun when there's no one to watch TV shows with me (especially considering that this week is the big pilot episode week for most TV shows), cook dinner with me, and dine with me. And cuddle with me. I think of it as practice for when he goes to Antarctica for over three months. But thinking that makes me sad.
My grandmother went to the hospital on Saturday night, just a couple hours after I had visited her at her apartment. She had seemed tired when I saw her, but I just assumed it was because I was visiting during afternoon nap time. I guess later she was feeling extra tired, and very weak. Turns out she had a very low red blood cell count, and low sodium. The MRI also revealed what the doctor told me were "mini strokes", which I thought sounded bad (even a mini stroke is still a stroke, right?), but he said they didn't seem to be causing problems, so it was fine. So every day this week, I've been driving my grandfather from his retirement home to the hospital in the morning, then going back after work to visit my grandmother, help her eat dinner (and make sure she eats well--she needs her strength!), and take my grandfather home. The last time she was in the hospital, there were other relatives that my grandfather asked to help out, too, but his brother is in China right now, and his sister-in-law just had an eye operation and can't drive... So it's been me. I'm happy I'm here to help, but it has made the days especially long. The good news is that they discharged her this evening, and I just drove her home. It will still be nice to visit, especially since she's in the special care wing of the retirement home, rather than her apartment, but at least I don't have to do all the driving anymore. And she's happy to be back at the retirement home, which is good.
Even though I'm going to wait until the Housemate gets home before I watch most of the TV shows this week, I will mention what shows I plan on following this fall. New show Nikita (CW, Thurs. 9pm) has already hooked me, after debuting two weeks ago with a pretty awesome pilot. I'm very excited for the return of Chuck (NBC, Mon. 8pm), How I Met Your Mother (CBS, Mon. 8pm), Glee (FOX, Tues. 8pm), Big Bang Theory (CBS, Thurs. 8pm), and Fringe (FOX, Thurs. 9pm), all of which are back this week. I'm still trying to catch up on last season of Castle (ABC, Mon. 10pm), which came back this week as well. I have high hopes for the Hawaii Five-O reboot (CBS, Mon. 10pm), as well as the new J.J. Abrams creation Undercovers (NBC, Wed. 8pm), about a married couple who return to the CIA, both of which debut this week. I also plan on checking out No Ordinary Family (ABC, Tues. 8pm, starting next week), about a family who suddenly get super powers, and The Event (NBC, Mon. 9pm, starting this week), which looks like "this year's FlashForward"--a confusing, mysterious sci-fi/conspiracy type thing. I actually watched about half the pilot of The Event before feeling guilty and deciding to wait for the Housemate, but I was pleased with myself when I recognized a couple of the filming locations to be here on Oahu, though I don't think the scenes were supposed to be in Hawaii. This got me all the more excited to see Hawaii Five-O, which is shot here in Hawaii and is supposed to be Hawaii. That should be fun.
OK, looks like it's time to end this rambling post. Sorry about that. Tomorrow I'll post the video I took snorkeling in Sharks Cove, which includes a glimpse of an octopus. I promise tomorrow's post will be decidedly less rambling.
I don't have anything humorous or insightful or cool or geeky to share today, just some scattered thoughts. It has been a very long week, and I can't believe it's only Wednesday. Feels like it must be Friday. The Housemate is on the mainland this week for a workshop relevant to the research he is doing, so I've been having solitary evenings and nights. It's a lot less fun when there's no one to watch TV shows with me (especially considering that this week is the big pilot episode week for most TV shows), cook dinner with me, and dine with me. And cuddle with me. I think of it as practice for when he goes to Antarctica for over three months. But thinking that makes me sad.
My grandmother went to the hospital on Saturday night, just a couple hours after I had visited her at her apartment. She had seemed tired when I saw her, but I just assumed it was because I was visiting during afternoon nap time. I guess later she was feeling extra tired, and very weak. Turns out she had a very low red blood cell count, and low sodium. The MRI also revealed what the doctor told me were "mini strokes", which I thought sounded bad (even a mini stroke is still a stroke, right?), but he said they didn't seem to be causing problems, so it was fine. So every day this week, I've been driving my grandfather from his retirement home to the hospital in the morning, then going back after work to visit my grandmother, help her eat dinner (and make sure she eats well--she needs her strength!), and take my grandfather home. The last time she was in the hospital, there were other relatives that my grandfather asked to help out, too, but his brother is in China right now, and his sister-in-law just had an eye operation and can't drive... So it's been me. I'm happy I'm here to help, but it has made the days especially long. The good news is that they discharged her this evening, and I just drove her home. It will still be nice to visit, especially since she's in the special care wing of the retirement home, rather than her apartment, but at least I don't have to do all the driving anymore. And she's happy to be back at the retirement home, which is good.
Even though I'm going to wait until the Housemate gets home before I watch most of the TV shows this week, I will mention what shows I plan on following this fall. New show Nikita (CW, Thurs. 9pm) has already hooked me, after debuting two weeks ago with a pretty awesome pilot. I'm very excited for the return of Chuck (NBC, Mon. 8pm), How I Met Your Mother (CBS, Mon. 8pm), Glee (FOX, Tues. 8pm), Big Bang Theory (CBS, Thurs. 8pm), and Fringe (FOX, Thurs. 9pm), all of which are back this week. I'm still trying to catch up on last season of Castle (ABC, Mon. 10pm), which came back this week as well. I have high hopes for the Hawaii Five-O reboot (CBS, Mon. 10pm), as well as the new J.J. Abrams creation Undercovers (NBC, Wed. 8pm), about a married couple who return to the CIA, both of which debut this week. I also plan on checking out No Ordinary Family (ABC, Tues. 8pm, starting next week), about a family who suddenly get super powers, and The Event (NBC, Mon. 9pm, starting this week), which looks like "this year's FlashForward"--a confusing, mysterious sci-fi/conspiracy type thing. I actually watched about half the pilot of The Event before feeling guilty and deciding to wait for the Housemate, but I was pleased with myself when I recognized a couple of the filming locations to be here on Oahu, though I don't think the scenes were supposed to be in Hawaii. This got me all the more excited to see Hawaii Five-O, which is shot here in Hawaii and is supposed to be Hawaii. That should be fun.
OK, looks like it's time to end this rambling post. Sorry about that. Tomorrow I'll post the video I took snorkeling in Sharks Cove, which includes a glimpse of an octopus. I promise tomorrow's post will be decidedly less rambling.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Back from the Big Island
Well I'm back from my last-minute long weekend trip to the Big Island (aka the island of Hawaii). It was amazing. The Housemate and I were staying on the Kona side of the island (where they grow the coffee). We did a lot of snorkeling, and it was the best snorkeling I've ever experienced. Maybe it was just different--Hanauma Bay has tons of fish in accessible locations, but the Big Island snorkeling spots have large reefs of live coral and some cool fish I'd never seen before. On Saturday we drove all the way around to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (it's a BIG island...particularly because you can't drive over the mountains). I saw some things there that I never thought I'd see. It will take me a while to sort through all my photos and video footage, because I took a LOT (let's just say I'm glad I sprang for the 16 GB memory card rather than the 8 GB). But there should be some good photos and videos to share--we saw some crazy cool (and some red hot...) stuff on the Big Island.
I also have a bunch of catching up to do. I just watched some highlights from the Emmy Awards last night. Congrats to Jane Lynch of Glee (supporting actress - comedy) and Jim Parsons of Big Bang Theory (lead actor - comedy) for their wins. They're both absolutely hilarious, and I love their shows. Now I have to catch up on blogging stuff and see what everyone else has been up to since Wednesday. I will return soon with photos. I can't wait to show you what I saw...
I also have a bunch of catching up to do. I just watched some highlights from the Emmy Awards last night. Congrats to Jane Lynch of Glee (supporting actress - comedy) and Jim Parsons of Big Bang Theory (lead actor - comedy) for their wins. They're both absolutely hilarious, and I love their shows. Now I have to catch up on blogging stuff and see what everyone else has been up to since Wednesday. I will return soon with photos. I can't wait to show you what I saw...
Thursday, July 8, 2010
2010 Primetime Emmy Nominations
The 2010 Primetime Emmy nominees were announced this morning. Let's see how "my shows" fared.Glee was one of the big winners of the morning, with a total of 19 nominations, including one for Outstanding Comedy Series. Apparently there are some Gleeks in the Academy. Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester) and Lea Michele (Rachel Berry) received nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a Comedy Series, and Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) and Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel) got nods for Outstanding Supporting Actress and Actor in a Comedy. A few guest stars also got recognized, with Outstanding Guest Actor/Actress nominations for Mike O'Malley (Kurt's dad Burt) in the episode "Wheels" (where he argues for Kurt's right to audition for "Defying Gravity"), Kristin Chenoweth (April Rhodes) in "The Rhodes Not Taken" (the first episode she was in where April joins the glee club), and Neil Patrick Harris (Bryan Ryan) for "Dream On". Glee also got nominations for writing in the pilot episode, and directing in the pilot episode and the episode "Wheels". If you're interested in the other nine nominations Glee got, they were for casting, art direction, interactive media, costumes, sound mixing, and two noms each for hairstyling and makeup. All very well deserved.
Lost got some nice recognition for its epic final season. It was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series for the fourth time in its six-season run (it has only won the award once, for its first season). Matthew Fox (Jack) finally got his nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and, as they have before, Michael Emerson (Ben Linus) and Terry O'Quinn ("Locke") were nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama. Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet) got an Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series nomination for her role in final episode "The End". Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof were nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Drama for "The End", which also received nominations for directing, editing, sound editing, sound mixing, and music composition. Lost also got an art direction nod for episode "Ab Aeterno".
OK, now that I have the big ones out of the way, I'm just going to do a quick overview of the rest.
Big Bang Theory got a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy for Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper). It also got an Outstanding Guest Actress nom for Christine Baranski as Leonard's mom in episode "The Maternal Congruence".
How I Met Your Mother earned Neil Patrick Harris yet another supporting actor nomination for his role as Barney Stinson. But the show also got a nomination for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for "Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit" in the episode "Girls vs. Suits". Classic.
Canceled FlashForward got a tiny bit of recognition with a cinematography nod for episode "No More Good Days", as well as nods for stunts and music composition. My dear Fringe had to make due with a single sound editing nomination. A shame. Chuck also got one measly little nom, for stunt coordination.
Lastly, So You Think You Can Dance got two nominations for Outstanding Choreography: Stacey Tookey for her "Fear" dance, and Mia Michaels for "Gravity/Addiction", "Koop Island Blues" (aka "the butt dance"), and "One" (a group dance I had largely forgotten). The addiction dance gives me chills every time I rewatch it (which is a lot), so I hope she wins. No nomination for Sonya Tayeh, though--maybe next year. SYTYCD's Adam Shankman received a nomination for Choreography as well, for his work on the Academy Awards show.
Well those were the highlights of the nominations for me. I know there are lots of shows I should be watching that are also celebrating today (True Blood? 30 Rock? Modern Family? etc.). You can find all the nominees here, or a list of just the major category nominees here.
Winners will be announced in the awards ceremony on Sunday, August 29, hosted by Jimmy Fallon. Congratulations to all nominees!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
TV show finales
Lost had its huge series finale last month, which was a big enough deal that I discussed it in its own post. The rest of the shows that I've been following this season I decided to lump together into one season finale post. While most shows ended several weeks ago, Glee was the late finisher, concluding only this past week. So now I finally get to do my finales post.
As you might have guessed, each section contains SEASON FINALE SPOILERS for its respective show.
V
V started off strong last November, but after only four episodes it went on a long hiatus, coming back in the spring with many fewer viewers and, in my opinion, worse writing. I was disappointed by a number of things this spring, and Tyler and Chad really got on my nerves. Still, I was overall satisfied by the season finale.
There were a couple weak points. I thought the whole situation of Ryan's wife giving birth on the V ship was ridiculous: obviously they were going to kill her--Ryan even expected as much--so why would he let them shuffle him out of the room as she was giving birth?! Even human hospitals, primitive as their technology is compared to V technology, can handle people in the room with a woman giving birth. That room on the V ship was very spacious! He couldn't have been in anyone's way. Seriously, he believed them when they told him he had to leave? Dumb, dumb, dumb. I also thought it was kind of unrealistic that, after Joshua told Chad about the bad things the Vs were doing to the live-aboard people, Chad was able to just wander down the hall, unhindered and unnoticed, to the secret rooms where the weird experiments were going on. I'm glad he's finally on the side of the resistance, but it was a little silly that it was so simple.
Luckily, there were enough cool things that happened in the finale to satisfy me. Erica has successfully infiltrated Anna's circle of trust: Anna is rather pleased with herself that she has recruited Erica for her side to help in the investigations to bring down the Fifth Column, but, ha ha ha, Erica is the Fifth Column. Sweet. And Lisa has now officially chosen sides, and she has chosen the Fifth Column. Yay for her. I like her character a lot. Lastly, when Anna flipped out when she saw that almost all of her soldiers had been killed? So freaky. So cool. So satisfying.
The show has been renewed, though it won't be returning until midseason. Another long hiatus. Hopefully things will continue to get better when they come back.
Fringe
I love this show. The characters had a fascinating foray into the "Other Side", and they met up with Leonard Nimoy who made a fitting exit. I find it a little hard to believe that no one noticed they had the wrong Olivia at the end there, though I guess they were in a hurry. Still, if it takes Peter more than one episode to realize she's the wrong one I will be very upset. It leaves a very interesting setup for the next season. Will Other Olivia (Fauxlivia? She's not really "faux"--that would be more like one of the shapeshifters taking her form--but it has a nice ring to it) realize the error of her ways and help to set things right? How will Our Olivia cope on the other side? The look Walternate gave her as he observed her in her cell was chilling--he wasn't looking at a person there. But will have to be some developments on that side, as well. She can't just stay isolated in that cell until the others come to save her.
I'm definitely looking forward to this one coming back next season. I can't wait to see where they take it. We'll see whether I get used to Olivia's new hair. I think I liked it better before.
FlashForward
So many characters with so many flash-forwards to cover. I was really impressed with how all the flash-forwards panned out. All of them were pretty close to how they were "supposed to be", but some with little twists. Olivia and Lloyd in the right place, but not exactly how their flash-forward had pictured it. Benford finally figures out the message on his mosaic board just in time to...do nothing about it. Janis's baby is fine but--*gasp*--it's a boy! (After stressing that she wanted that exact baby so much, did it turn out she did the wrong thing?) Tracy is OK! Bryce and Keiko find each other (aw!). Nicole was actually saved from drowning! The coolest part, I thought, was the stuff that happened at NLAP. First, how Janis got from there to the hospital where she needed to be while helping the others gain access was clever. Second, the two characters at NLAP, Demetri and Simon, happen to be our two main characters who didn't have flash-forwards, which is good because that would have been the most spoiler-y place for a flash-forward. Nice planning there.
This show had some rocky moments, but I think it's a shame it didn't make it to a second season. Luckily the season (and now series) finale cliffhanger wasn't too bad. I mean, everyone had a new flash-forward, but we only got to see one, so it's not like we had multiple cliffhangers taunting us. It would have been nice to see where the story was headed, but I'm not too tortured by the open ending.
Glee
First, I have to say we had some great episodes recently. I loooved the Joss Whedon episode. Neil Patrick Harris is awesome, as always. Artie finally got to get up and dance. And Shelby is Rachel's mom! Whose idea was it to cast Idina Menzel as the birth mother of Lea Michele's character? Perfect! I also liked the Lady Gaga episode. I've never been a fan of Lady Gaga, but the Glee girls and Kurt doing "Bad Romance" was awesome. I thought Santana was a standout in her part there. I wasn't sure about the "Poker Face" duet. OK, it was an interesting arrangement, but I couldn't believe that the song that Rachel had always been longing to sing as a duet with her long-lost mother was..."Poker Face". Some people really liked it--the Housemate said he got choked up during it--but I wasn't convinced. I got choked up during the part with Kurt's dad defending him. Aw. And Finn at the end in that red dress? Great.
Now the finale. I thought it was awesome. The numbers were great, and I was happy to hear them break out "Don't stop believing" again. Vocal Adrenaline doing Bohemian Rhapsody was very cool, and it worked surprisingly well as a soundtrack for giving birth. Though, while it is a long song, it's still probably not as long as it would take for someone to give birth the first time (ah well, it's TV, what can you do?). I can't help but try to figure out how the judges' voting must have gone, since Josh Groban seemed to like New Directions and we learned that Sue put them first, but whatever. It was good that they didn't win their first year (or else how could they improve, and still feel like underdogs worth rooting for next year?), though of course they had to find a way to keep the glee club together or else there would be no show. I loved Sue's development in the judging panel--when she is no longer the meanest, most successful person in the room, she finds her heart and identifies with the glee club. *Sniffle*. And Shelby adopting Beth was a nice touch.
A very strong first season for Glee. I hope they can keep it up and find ways to keep it fresh.
Final comment about the Glee finale. You know how at the end Will Schuester plays the ukulele and sings "Somewhere over the rainbow" Iz style? Well, I sing and play that song on the ukulele, too! It was the first song I learned (it's easy--five chords that change at regular, long intervals). I even sing it with the traditional (aka "right") lyrics just like Will did, because unlike Iz's mix-up, they actually make sense. So you may understand why I got way more excited about this song than probably most people did. And I can confirm that Matthew Morrison's fingerings on the uke are correct.
As you might have guessed, each section contains SEASON FINALE SPOILERS for its respective show.
V
V started off strong last November, but after only four episodes it went on a long hiatus, coming back in the spring with many fewer viewers and, in my opinion, worse writing. I was disappointed by a number of things this spring, and Tyler and Chad really got on my nerves. Still, I was overall satisfied by the season finale.
There were a couple weak points. I thought the whole situation of Ryan's wife giving birth on the V ship was ridiculous: obviously they were going to kill her--Ryan even expected as much--so why would he let them shuffle him out of the room as she was giving birth?! Even human hospitals, primitive as their technology is compared to V technology, can handle people in the room with a woman giving birth. That room on the V ship was very spacious! He couldn't have been in anyone's way. Seriously, he believed them when they told him he had to leave? Dumb, dumb, dumb. I also thought it was kind of unrealistic that, after Joshua told Chad about the bad things the Vs were doing to the live-aboard people, Chad was able to just wander down the hall, unhindered and unnoticed, to the secret rooms where the weird experiments were going on. I'm glad he's finally on the side of the resistance, but it was a little silly that it was so simple.
Luckily, there were enough cool things that happened in the finale to satisfy me. Erica has successfully infiltrated Anna's circle of trust: Anna is rather pleased with herself that she has recruited Erica for her side to help in the investigations to bring down the Fifth Column, but, ha ha ha, Erica is the Fifth Column. Sweet. And Lisa has now officially chosen sides, and she has chosen the Fifth Column. Yay for her. I like her character a lot. Lastly, when Anna flipped out when she saw that almost all of her soldiers had been killed? So freaky. So cool. So satisfying.
The show has been renewed, though it won't be returning until midseason. Another long hiatus. Hopefully things will continue to get better when they come back.
Fringe
I love this show. The characters had a fascinating foray into the "Other Side", and they met up with Leonard Nimoy who made a fitting exit. I find it a little hard to believe that no one noticed they had the wrong Olivia at the end there, though I guess they were in a hurry. Still, if it takes Peter more than one episode to realize she's the wrong one I will be very upset. It leaves a very interesting setup for the next season. Will Other Olivia (Fauxlivia? She's not really "faux"--that would be more like one of the shapeshifters taking her form--but it has a nice ring to it) realize the error of her ways and help to set things right? How will Our Olivia cope on the other side? The look Walternate gave her as he observed her in her cell was chilling--he wasn't looking at a person there. But will have to be some developments on that side, as well. She can't just stay isolated in that cell until the others come to save her.
I'm definitely looking forward to this one coming back next season. I can't wait to see where they take it. We'll see whether I get used to Olivia's new hair. I think I liked it better before.
FlashForward
So many characters with so many flash-forwards to cover. I was really impressed with how all the flash-forwards panned out. All of them were pretty close to how they were "supposed to be", but some with little twists. Olivia and Lloyd in the right place, but not exactly how their flash-forward had pictured it. Benford finally figures out the message on his mosaic board just in time to...do nothing about it. Janis's baby is fine but--*gasp*--it's a boy! (After stressing that she wanted that exact baby so much, did it turn out she did the wrong thing?) Tracy is OK! Bryce and Keiko find each other (aw!). Nicole was actually saved from drowning! The coolest part, I thought, was the stuff that happened at NLAP. First, how Janis got from there to the hospital where she needed to be while helping the others gain access was clever. Second, the two characters at NLAP, Demetri and Simon, happen to be our two main characters who didn't have flash-forwards, which is good because that would have been the most spoiler-y place for a flash-forward. Nice planning there.
This show had some rocky moments, but I think it's a shame it didn't make it to a second season. Luckily the season (and now series) finale cliffhanger wasn't too bad. I mean, everyone had a new flash-forward, but we only got to see one, so it's not like we had multiple cliffhangers taunting us. It would have been nice to see where the story was headed, but I'm not too tortured by the open ending.
Glee
First, I have to say we had some great episodes recently. I loooved the Joss Whedon episode. Neil Patrick Harris is awesome, as always. Artie finally got to get up and dance. And Shelby is Rachel's mom! Whose idea was it to cast Idina Menzel as the birth mother of Lea Michele's character? Perfect! I also liked the Lady Gaga episode. I've never been a fan of Lady Gaga, but the Glee girls and Kurt doing "Bad Romance" was awesome. I thought Santana was a standout in her part there. I wasn't sure about the "Poker Face" duet. OK, it was an interesting arrangement, but I couldn't believe that the song that Rachel had always been longing to sing as a duet with her long-lost mother was..."Poker Face". Some people really liked it--the Housemate said he got choked up during it--but I wasn't convinced. I got choked up during the part with Kurt's dad defending him. Aw. And Finn at the end in that red dress? Great.
Now the finale. I thought it was awesome. The numbers were great, and I was happy to hear them break out "Don't stop believing" again. Vocal Adrenaline doing Bohemian Rhapsody was very cool, and it worked surprisingly well as a soundtrack for giving birth. Though, while it is a long song, it's still probably not as long as it would take for someone to give birth the first time (ah well, it's TV, what can you do?). I can't help but try to figure out how the judges' voting must have gone, since Josh Groban seemed to like New Directions and we learned that Sue put them first, but whatever. It was good that they didn't win their first year (or else how could they improve, and still feel like underdogs worth rooting for next year?), though of course they had to find a way to keep the glee club together or else there would be no show. I loved Sue's development in the judging panel--when she is no longer the meanest, most successful person in the room, she finds her heart and identifies with the glee club. *Sniffle*. And Shelby adopting Beth was a nice touch.
A very strong first season for Glee. I hope they can keep it up and find ways to keep it fresh.
Final comment about the Glee finale. You know how at the end Will Schuester plays the ukulele and sings "Somewhere over the rainbow" Iz style? Well, I sing and play that song on the ukulele, too! It was the first song I learned (it's easy--five chords that change at regular, long intervals). I even sing it with the traditional (aka "right") lyrics just like Will did, because unlike Iz's mix-up, they actually make sense. So you may understand why I got way more excited about this song than probably most people did. And I can confirm that Matthew Morrison's fingerings on the uke are correct.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Fall lineups - what we know so far
Here's what I've been able to gather about the fall TV lineups, concerning the shows that I have an interest in...
ABC
FlashForward has been canceled.
V has received a 13 episode order to return in midseason.
No Ordinary Family, the new Michael Chiklis drama about a family with superpowers ("live-action The Incredibles"), has been given a slot on Tuesday at 8 pm (all times ET).
Castle has been renewed, keeping its slot on Mondays at 10 pm.
(Variety)
While I started out the fall very hopeful (as ABC did) about both FlashForward and V as possible successors to Lost, both had disappointing flaws. However, I felt that FlashForward, unlike V, was starting to pick up again, staying interesting with surprising twists and intriguing turns. If either of these deserved a second chance, I would have said it was FlashForward. I guess V was holding onto better ratings, but sometimes ratings don't know better. That's how it goes, I guess.
FOX
Glee has been renewed, as we've known for a while now, but it has been moved to the 8 pm time slot on Tuesday.
Fringe will be returning in its 9 pm slot on Thursday.
(Variety blog)
I was worried this past year that Fringe's competitive time slot would kill it, but I guess it held its own well enough. I am relieved because, while it's still no Lost, I am definitely very fond of this show.
NBC
Chuck, after being on the bubble at the end of its second season last year, has been given a fourth season order, returning at 8 pm on Mondays.
Heroes has finally been canceled.
Undercovers, the new J.J. Abrams husband and wife CIA agent show, has been picked up to air on Wednesdays at 8 pm.
(Variety)
CBS
Hawaii Five-O, remade with Alex O'Loughlin, Daniel Dae Kim, Scott Caan, and Grace Park (yay!) has been given the 10 pm slot on Monday.
Big Bang Theory will be making the move from the Monday comedy block to Thursday at 8 pm.
(Variety, Variety)
CW
Nikita, with Maggie Q as an assassin and spy, has been given the big 9 pm Thursday time slot behind Vampire Diaries.
(Variety)
ABC
FlashForward has been canceled.
V has received a 13 episode order to return in midseason.
No Ordinary Family, the new Michael Chiklis drama about a family with superpowers ("live-action The Incredibles"), has been given a slot on Tuesday at 8 pm (all times ET).
Castle has been renewed, keeping its slot on Mondays at 10 pm.
(Variety)
While I started out the fall very hopeful (as ABC did) about both FlashForward and V as possible successors to Lost, both had disappointing flaws. However, I felt that FlashForward, unlike V, was starting to pick up again, staying interesting with surprising twists and intriguing turns. If either of these deserved a second chance, I would have said it was FlashForward. I guess V was holding onto better ratings, but sometimes ratings don't know better. That's how it goes, I guess.
FOX
Glee has been renewed, as we've known for a while now, but it has been moved to the 8 pm time slot on Tuesday.
Fringe will be returning in its 9 pm slot on Thursday.
(Variety blog)
I was worried this past year that Fringe's competitive time slot would kill it, but I guess it held its own well enough. I am relieved because, while it's still no Lost, I am definitely very fond of this show.
NBC
Chuck, after being on the bubble at the end of its second season last year, has been given a fourth season order, returning at 8 pm on Mondays.
Heroes has finally been canceled.
Undercovers, the new J.J. Abrams husband and wife CIA agent show, has been picked up to air on Wednesdays at 8 pm.
(Variety)
CBS
Hawaii Five-O, remade with Alex O'Loughlin, Daniel Dae Kim, Scott Caan, and Grace Park (yay!) has been given the 10 pm slot on Monday.
Big Bang Theory will be making the move from the Monday comedy block to Thursday at 8 pm.
(Variety, Variety)
CW
Nikita, with Maggie Q as an assassin and spy, has been given the big 9 pm Thursday time slot behind Vampire Diaries.
(Variety)
Friday, January 22, 2010
Golden Globes, Spidey director, and a Push TV show
So Avatar won big at the Golden Globes, taking both Best Motion Picture - Drama and Best Director - Motion Picture for James Cameron (who even spoke a bit of Na'vi in his acceptance speech). I was pretty surprised by Avatar's win, but then again, the Golden Globes are sort of a funny award, voted on by something like 86 people, compared to the thousands who vote on Academy Awards and the PGA, DGA, and SAG awards. The Oscars are more likely to follow the various Guild awards than the Golden Globes. On the TV front, Glee was triumphant as the Best TV Show - Musical or Comedy (it is both, after all). It deserved it, and seeing all those cast members on stage made me so happy. If only they'd let them sing themselves off the stage.
In a previous post I reported that the fourth Spider-Man installment with Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire had been scrapped and instead a high-school Spider-Man reboot would be made. Now Marc Webb has signed on to direct the reboot (Variety). Webb most recently directed (500) Days of Summer. Not exactly the type of movie I'd watch and say "Wow, this guy should direct Spider-Man!" But that doesn't mean he can't. Maybe he'll make it great, and soon we'll be saying "Tobey who?"
My last little bit of news is that Summit Entertainment, is planning on developing a Push TV show (Variety). One of my earliest posts on this blog (makes me so nostalgic thinking back *sniff*) was about the sci-fi movie Push (not to be confused with a certain movie based on the novel Push by Sapphire). I had read the script a couple years before the movie came out in the theaters, which had the movie geek in me all excited (an inside scoop! or something). They cast Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, and Djimon Hounsou in lead roles--all good choices. The movie wasn't as good as it could have been, but I still enjoyed it. And now they're trying to make it into a TV series. David Hayter, who scripted Watchmen (also not as good as it could have been), is writing the series, which is kind of promising. I wouldn't expect much of the movie caliber cast to return for the TV series if it gets made, though. I am skeptical about the quality of a possible Push TV show, but I am excited at the prospect of the franchise continuing. We'll see how it plays out.
In a previous post I reported that the fourth Spider-Man installment with Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire had been scrapped and instead a high-school Spider-Man reboot would be made. Now Marc Webb has signed on to direct the reboot (Variety). Webb most recently directed (500) Days of Summer. Not exactly the type of movie I'd watch and say "Wow, this guy should direct Spider-Man!" But that doesn't mean he can't. Maybe he'll make it great, and soon we'll be saying "Tobey who?"
My last little bit of news is that Summit Entertainment, is planning on developing a Push TV show (Variety). One of my earliest posts on this blog (makes me so nostalgic thinking back *sniff*) was about the sci-fi movie Push (not to be confused with a certain movie based on the novel Push by Sapphire). I had read the script a couple years before the movie came out in the theaters, which had the movie geek in me all excited (an inside scoop! or something). They cast Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, and Djimon Hounsou in lead roles--all good choices. The movie wasn't as good as it could have been, but I still enjoyed it. And now they're trying to make it into a TV series. David Hayter, who scripted Watchmen (also not as good as it could have been), is writing the series, which is kind of promising. I wouldn't expect much of the movie caliber cast to return for the TV series if it gets made, though. I am skeptical about the quality of a possible Push TV show, but I am excited at the prospect of the franchise continuing. We'll see how it plays out.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Golden Globe Nominees 2010
It's the hap-happiest season of all!
Ah, 'tis the season of giving--awards!
The Golden Globe nominees were announced on Tuesday morning. Golden Globes, awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are awarded to TV shows as well as movies and split some of their categories into both drama and comedy/musical categories, so there's lots of love to go around. The awards will be handed out on January 17, 2010 at a televised event hosted by Ricky Gervais. They haven't had a host at the Golden Globes in a while, but judging by his good reception when handing out awards at previous events, he should be a great host for the occasion.
Here I discuss some of the big contenders and laud the nominations of my own favorite movies and shows.
Up in the Air topped the movie nominations with six: feature (drama), actor (drama), director, screenplay, and two supporting actresses. Director Jason Reitman's last two features were Thank You for Smoking and Juno--he is on a great roll. I haven't seen Up in the Air yet, but I have every intention of doing so after it opens wide in the U.S. on Christmas day.
The Hurt Locker received nominations for best feature (drama), director, and screenplay. I've seen this at the top of many critics' 2009 lists, and I'm really interested in seeing it. It's being praised as perhaps the only Iraq war movie so far (and there have been many) that was actually good. It is an outstanding war movie in itself, but it is even more extraordinary in that it was directed by a woman (an extreme minority in directing film in general, but even more so in directing action/war films). I hope Kathryn Bigelow receives an Oscar nomination as well (and she has a good chance); if she does, she will be only the fourth woman ever to do so (there have been no winners among them).
Avatar received nominations for best feature (drama), director, score and song. Buzz has fluctuated for Avatar between positive and negative, so much so that I don't even know what it is at right now. But given that I am a fantasy/sci-fi geek, I am sure I will enjoy it, even if it's not the greatest thing ever. Neither was Titanic, which, if you've been living in a box, is the last feature that Avatar's director/writer James Cameron did--quite a lot to live up to. I intend to see this movie as soon as I can, though given my travels on its opening weekend, I will probably wait until after Christmas.
As you might have detected, I have not seen many of the movie nominees this year. This is somewhat surprising given that I like movies so much, but it is somewhat less surprising in that I am a grad student with little life outside studying. I am sad to say that the only Golden Globe movie nominees that I have already seen are District 9 (awesome, awesome movie), nominated for best screenplay, and Up, nominated for best animated feature.
And I wasn't that much better in the TV categories. Luckily, one of the shows that I love got a lot of love from the Golden Globes, too. Glee received four nominations, making it the most nominated freshman series of the year: TV series - comedy or musical (it's both!), actress (comedy or musical) for Lea Michele, actor (comedy or musical) for Matthew Morrison, and supporting actress for Jane Lynch. I think Jane Lynch is the standout actress, even if she is one of maybe two actors on the show who hasn't had to sing, but the supporting actress category is stiff competition given that it includes not just comedies, musicals and dramas but also miniseries and made-for-TV movies.
The other nominees from shows I love are Michael Emerson, nominated for his amazing role as Ben on Lost, and Neil Patrick Harris as the legendary Barney on How I Met Your Mother. Emerson has received three Emmy nominations for the role, finally winning for it this past year, but this is his first Golden Globe nomination. This is NPH's second Golden Globe nomination for his role.
Well, I'm pretty excited about the awards season, though I'll be a little more excited once I've seen more of the movies. Congrats to all the nominees.
It's the most wonderful time of the year!
A full list of the Golden Globe nominees can be found here.
Ah, 'tis the season of giving--awards!
The Golden Globe nominees were announced on Tuesday morning. Golden Globes, awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are awarded to TV shows as well as movies and split some of their categories into both drama and comedy/musical categories, so there's lots of love to go around. The awards will be handed out on January 17, 2010 at a televised event hosted by Ricky Gervais. They haven't had a host at the Golden Globes in a while, but judging by his good reception when handing out awards at previous events, he should be a great host for the occasion.
Here I discuss some of the big contenders and laud the nominations of my own favorite movies and shows.
Up in the Air topped the movie nominations with six: feature (drama), actor (drama), director, screenplay, and two supporting actresses. Director Jason Reitman's last two features were Thank You for Smoking and Juno--he is on a great roll. I haven't seen Up in the Air yet, but I have every intention of doing so after it opens wide in the U.S. on Christmas day.
The Hurt Locker received nominations for best feature (drama), director, and screenplay. I've seen this at the top of many critics' 2009 lists, and I'm really interested in seeing it. It's being praised as perhaps the only Iraq war movie so far (and there have been many) that was actually good. It is an outstanding war movie in itself, but it is even more extraordinary in that it was directed by a woman (an extreme minority in directing film in general, but even more so in directing action/war films). I hope Kathryn Bigelow receives an Oscar nomination as well (and she has a good chance); if she does, she will be only the fourth woman ever to do so (there have been no winners among them).
Avatar received nominations for best feature (drama), director, score and song. Buzz has fluctuated for Avatar between positive and negative, so much so that I don't even know what it is at right now. But given that I am a fantasy/sci-fi geek, I am sure I will enjoy it, even if it's not the greatest thing ever. Neither was Titanic, which, if you've been living in a box, is the last feature that Avatar's director/writer James Cameron did--quite a lot to live up to. I intend to see this movie as soon as I can, though given my travels on its opening weekend, I will probably wait until after Christmas.
As you might have detected, I have not seen many of the movie nominees this year. This is somewhat surprising given that I like movies so much, but it is somewhat less surprising in that I am a grad student with little life outside studying. I am sad to say that the only Golden Globe movie nominees that I have already seen are District 9 (awesome, awesome movie), nominated for best screenplay, and Up, nominated for best animated feature.
And I wasn't that much better in the TV categories. Luckily, one of the shows that I love got a lot of love from the Golden Globes, too. Glee received four nominations, making it the most nominated freshman series of the year: TV series - comedy or musical (it's both!), actress (comedy or musical) for Lea Michele, actor (comedy or musical) for Matthew Morrison, and supporting actress for Jane Lynch. I think Jane Lynch is the standout actress, even if she is one of maybe two actors on the show who hasn't had to sing, but the supporting actress category is stiff competition given that it includes not just comedies, musicals and dramas but also miniseries and made-for-TV movies.
The other nominees from shows I love are Michael Emerson, nominated for his amazing role as Ben on Lost, and Neil Patrick Harris as the legendary Barney on How I Met Your Mother. Emerson has received three Emmy nominations for the role, finally winning for it this past year, but this is his first Golden Globe nomination. This is NPH's second Golden Globe nomination for his role.
Well, I'm pretty excited about the awards season, though I'll be a little more excited once I've seen more of the movies. Congrats to all the nominees.
It's the most wonderful time of the year!
A full list of the Golden Globe nominees can be found here.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Busy, busy
So this month is poised to be my month with the fewest posts since January. It is sad. My excuse(s)? Well, first there was trying to catch up on work that I missed when I was away for a week in Berlin. Then there were midterms. Then I have this huge deadline at the beginning of November for something that I haven't started yet because I've been concentrating on putting my paper and talk together for Berlin, then presenting in Berlin, then doing the make-up work, then doing the midterms. I'm applying for a fellowship and money is good so it would be really good if I got a decent application together.
Anyway, sorry I haven't had more posts. Hopefully things will be better in November. The Housemate and I keep talking about November as if it's The Promised Land. We'll go to the movies... in November. I'll bake cookies... in November. We'll go to the North Shore... in November. We'll go surfing again... in November. We'll go snorkeling and hiking... in November. I'll introduce him to BSG... Sounds like I've got a busy November ahead of me.
I do have a few more posts that I hope to get out before November. One more post with Berlin pictures (the zoo), and probably a post about entertainment news. The best bit of news I just can't wait any longer to share (though putting it here will make my entertainment news post 95% less cool):
Joss Whedon is going to direct an episode of Glee!!!! (EW.com) Fox ordered the rest of a full season of Glee, and Whedon, a fan of the show, agreed to direct one of the back nine. Too exciting! Joss Whedon + Glee = too much coolness for me to handle. Squee!!
Anyway, sorry I haven't had more posts. Hopefully things will be better in November. The Housemate and I keep talking about November as if it's The Promised Land. We'll go to the movies... in November. I'll bake cookies... in November. We'll go to the North Shore... in November. We'll go surfing again... in November. We'll go snorkeling and hiking... in November. I'll introduce him to BSG... Sounds like I've got a busy November ahead of me.
I do have a few more posts that I hope to get out before November. One more post with Berlin pictures (the zoo), and probably a post about entertainment news. The best bit of news I just can't wait any longer to share (though putting it here will make my entertainment news post 95% less cool):
Joss Whedon is going to direct an episode of Glee!!!! (EW.com) Fox ordered the rest of a full season of Glee, and Whedon, a fan of the show, agreed to direct one of the back nine. Too exciting! Joss Whedon + Glee = too much coolness for me to handle. Squee!!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Fall 2009 TV Season
Some TV shows have had an early start to their fall seasons (e.g., Glee's new episode last week), but for the most part, shows are just about to kick off for the year. Here's a list of the shows I'll be watching and when they'll air just in case you're interested, too.
Wednesday, Sept. 9
8/7c - So You Think You Can Dance (FOX)
Dancers of all disciplines from across the country must salsa, waltz, disco, hip hop, contemporary dance, tango, jazz, etc. their way through the competition to win the title of America's Favorite Dancer.
Kind of like American Idol for dance, SYTYCD is a competition where unknown talented dancers (and um, not-so-talented dancers) audition, the 20 best (10 girls, 10 guys) are selected to compete on the show, and America votes on their favorite dancers, eliminating one guy and one girl each week until one dancer wins in the finale. The dancers perform in couples (1 guy/1 girl except on special occasions towards the finale), selecting one or two styles of dance to tackle for the week. For the first five weeks, dancers are voted on as couples, and the judges have the final say in who goes home, selecting one guy and one girl from the three couples with the least votes. Once it's been narrowed down to the top 10 dancers, though, dancers are voted on individually and it's all up to America's votes. Dancers perform solos in their own style of dance if they are in the bottom three couples, and also every week once they get to the top 10, but most of the competition forces the dancers to move outside of their comfort zones--ballet dancers do hip hop, break dancers do smooth waltz, etc. How the dancers adapt is always surprising and impressive. The choreographers, who are tasked with not only choreographing but also teaching the dancers their style of dance, are amazing. I love this show for exposing such a large audience to such different styles of dance, making true art in many cases. ANYWAY, SYTYCD has had five successful summer seasons (one just ended a month ago), and now FOX is bumping it up to "real season" status. As long as they keep the good dances coming, I'll keep watching. Actually, I generally skip the audition episodes and wait until the real competition (with the top 20) starts. That won't happen until Tuesday, October 27.
9/8c - Glee (FOX)
Misfit students in the high school glee club try to find success (and glee) in the face of their "cool kid" oppressors (i.e., cheerleaders and jocks).
I talked about this show last week. The new episode last week was even funnier than the pilot (in my opinion)! It's a really smart, hilarious new show, and the music is delightful.
Thursday, Sept. 17 (FOX)
9/8c - Fringe (FOX)
FBI agent Olivia Dunham investigates crimes and disasters relating to the fringe sciences, along with Walter Bishop, a scientist specializing in fringe sciences, and his son Peter.
This show started off a little shaky last year, but by mid-season it was going strong with exciting mysteries and a thrilling blend of suspense and ickiness. The metaphysics behind the storyline revealed at the end of the season is intriguing. FOX is moving it up to the big time--9PM on Thursdays is the prime time slot, shared by juggernauts CSI and Grey's Anatomy. It holds the title of "last season's strongest freshman in the 18-49 demo", but here's hoping it'll catch on even more and hold its own.
Monday, Sept. 21
8/7c - How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Ted tells his two kids the long, meandering story of how he met their mother. Many hijinks involving him and his four best friends ensue.
In my opinion, this is the best sitcom on TV right now. Hilarious, clever, and sweet. I still haven't seen most of the early seasons, but I didn't have too much trouble diving right into it at the beginning of last season. And we're getting closer to meeting the mother than we've ever been before. It's going to be legendary.
8/7c - Heroes (NBC)
Normal people, who have discovered they possess mutant superpowers, try to go about their normal lives but mostly find themselves fighting to resist (or assist) assorted bad guys and organizations hatching nefarious plots that only the Heroes can stop.
Like many, I loved the first season of this show, but in the two years since then, I've been disappointed. They keep saying they've learned from their mistakes and will make it good again, but they keep not delivering. I'll at least give it another shot. If it continues to be sucky, though... my schedule is pretty full.
9:30/8:30c - The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Nerds Leonard and Sheldon, along with friends Howard and Koothrapali, and their new "normal girl" neighbor Penny find that they can learn from each other. Hilarity ensues.
This show is definitely funnier for the nerds and geeks among us who can understand all the jokes. There are some jokes that even go over my head--it's that nerdy/geeky. But the quirky characters (who with the exception of Penny are triple-crown nerds, geeks, and dorks) are different and adorable, the writing is good, and the story is being taken interesting places (I loved last season's episode where the four nerds tried to muster the courage to talk to Summer Glau on the train). I'm looking forward to its return.
10/9c - Castle (ABC)
Popular murder mystery author Richard Castle tags along with NYPD homicide detective Kate Beckett for research and inspiration, much to her annoyance, but beyond explanation manages to be helpful in many situations.
This was a new show last spring, and I had to tune in because the main character Castle is played by dear Nathan Fillion. He's great, the female lead Stana Katic is also great. The show isn't brilliant or anything, but it is light and enjoyable.
Wednesday, Sept. 23
10/9c - Eastwick (ABC)
Three New England women discover that they have supernatural witchy powers.
I've heard very little about this show, and it might suck, but I will probably tune in to give it a shot. I like witches.
Thursday, Sept. 24
8/7c - FlashForward (ABC)
All at once, every human being in the world blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds and has a flashforward vision of what they will be doing at 10pm on April 29, 2010. Having people black out for over two minutes causes some considerable chaos to recover from, but there remain questions of why the blackouts and flashforwards occurred and what each person's vision portends.
This is the show ABC is hoping Lost fans will pick up while waiting for Lost's final season in 2010 and then stick with in following years. I had wondered at first whether they could continue the show after the first season (it seems that after April 29, 2010 it will lose some of its mystery), but apparently they've mapped out five seasons of FlashForward should they prove necessary. The cast includes Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love), Sonya Walger (Penny from Lost), John Cho (Harold & Kumar, Star Trek), and Dominic Monaghan (Lost, Lord of the Rings). This one looks promising.
Friday, Sept. 25
9/8c - Dollhouse (FOX)
Armed with technology that allows them to program a person's mind, an organization known as the Dollhouse rents out its "actives" who have been specially programmed to be suitable for their clients' tasks. There are weekly missions to complete according to the current clients, but there are also greater mysteries about the Dollhouse to uncover.
It took several weeks to hit its stride, but Dollhouse is good enough for me to tune back in. Everyone was surprised when it got renewed, since it didn't have the ratings--one can only assume that FOX was still regretting the way it ended Firefly (like Dollhouse, a Joss Whedon show) and wanted to avoid repeating that mistake (though Dollhouse wasn't as worthy of saving as Firefly). Guest stars this season include Summer Glau, Alexis Denisof (both Whedon alums), and Jamie Bamber. Can't wait.
Tuesday, Nov. 3
8/7c - V (ABC)
Aliens arrive on Earth claiming to come in peace, but some people know better and work to expose the aliens' evil plans.
A remake of an 1980s NBC miniseries, this looks like it might be a cool new sci-fi show. Its cast includes Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet on Lost) as an FBI agent in the resistance movement and Morena Baccarin (Inara from Firefly) as the alien leader. Sounds good to me. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait a long time for this one.
So what is that? 12 hours of TV a week? (SYTYCD is a time hog with 3 hours a week once it reaches its 2-hour performance, 1-hour results episodes routine). I'll be busy this season...
Wednesday, Sept. 9
8/7c - So You Think You Can Dance (FOX)
Dancers of all disciplines from across the country must salsa, waltz, disco, hip hop, contemporary dance, tango, jazz, etc. their way through the competition to win the title of America's Favorite Dancer.
Kind of like American Idol for dance, SYTYCD is a competition where unknown talented dancers (and um, not-so-talented dancers) audition, the 20 best (10 girls, 10 guys) are selected to compete on the show, and America votes on their favorite dancers, eliminating one guy and one girl each week until one dancer wins in the finale. The dancers perform in couples (1 guy/1 girl except on special occasions towards the finale), selecting one or two styles of dance to tackle for the week. For the first five weeks, dancers are voted on as couples, and the judges have the final say in who goes home, selecting one guy and one girl from the three couples with the least votes. Once it's been narrowed down to the top 10 dancers, though, dancers are voted on individually and it's all up to America's votes. Dancers perform solos in their own style of dance if they are in the bottom three couples, and also every week once they get to the top 10, but most of the competition forces the dancers to move outside of their comfort zones--ballet dancers do hip hop, break dancers do smooth waltz, etc. How the dancers adapt is always surprising and impressive. The choreographers, who are tasked with not only choreographing but also teaching the dancers their style of dance, are amazing. I love this show for exposing such a large audience to such different styles of dance, making true art in many cases. ANYWAY, SYTYCD has had five successful summer seasons (one just ended a month ago), and now FOX is bumping it up to "real season" status. As long as they keep the good dances coming, I'll keep watching. Actually, I generally skip the audition episodes and wait until the real competition (with the top 20) starts. That won't happen until Tuesday, October 27.
9/8c - Glee (FOX)
Misfit students in the high school glee club try to find success (and glee) in the face of their "cool kid" oppressors (i.e., cheerleaders and jocks).
I talked about this show last week. The new episode last week was even funnier than the pilot (in my opinion)! It's a really smart, hilarious new show, and the music is delightful.
Thursday, Sept. 17 (FOX)
9/8c - Fringe (FOX)
FBI agent Olivia Dunham investigates crimes and disasters relating to the fringe sciences, along with Walter Bishop, a scientist specializing in fringe sciences, and his son Peter.
This show started off a little shaky last year, but by mid-season it was going strong with exciting mysteries and a thrilling blend of suspense and ickiness. The metaphysics behind the storyline revealed at the end of the season is intriguing. FOX is moving it up to the big time--9PM on Thursdays is the prime time slot, shared by juggernauts CSI and Grey's Anatomy. It holds the title of "last season's strongest freshman in the 18-49 demo", but here's hoping it'll catch on even more and hold its own.
Monday, Sept. 21
8/7c - How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Ted tells his two kids the long, meandering story of how he met their mother. Many hijinks involving him and his four best friends ensue.
In my opinion, this is the best sitcom on TV right now. Hilarious, clever, and sweet. I still haven't seen most of the early seasons, but I didn't have too much trouble diving right into it at the beginning of last season. And we're getting closer to meeting the mother than we've ever been before. It's going to be legendary.
8/7c - Heroes (NBC)
Normal people, who have discovered they possess mutant superpowers, try to go about their normal lives but mostly find themselves fighting to resist (or assist) assorted bad guys and organizations hatching nefarious plots that only the Heroes can stop.
Like many, I loved the first season of this show, but in the two years since then, I've been disappointed. They keep saying they've learned from their mistakes and will make it good again, but they keep not delivering. I'll at least give it another shot. If it continues to be sucky, though... my schedule is pretty full.
9:30/8:30c - The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Nerds Leonard and Sheldon, along with friends Howard and Koothrapali, and their new "normal girl" neighbor Penny find that they can learn from each other. Hilarity ensues.
This show is definitely funnier for the nerds and geeks among us who can understand all the jokes. There are some jokes that even go over my head--it's that nerdy/geeky. But the quirky characters (who with the exception of Penny are triple-crown nerds, geeks, and dorks) are different and adorable, the writing is good, and the story is being taken interesting places (I loved last season's episode where the four nerds tried to muster the courage to talk to Summer Glau on the train). I'm looking forward to its return.
10/9c - Castle (ABC)
Popular murder mystery author Richard Castle tags along with NYPD homicide detective Kate Beckett for research and inspiration, much to her annoyance, but beyond explanation manages to be helpful in many situations.
This was a new show last spring, and I had to tune in because the main character Castle is played by dear Nathan Fillion. He's great, the female lead Stana Katic is also great. The show isn't brilliant or anything, but it is light and enjoyable.
Wednesday, Sept. 23
10/9c - Eastwick (ABC)
Three New England women discover that they have supernatural witchy powers.
I've heard very little about this show, and it might suck, but I will probably tune in to give it a shot. I like witches.
Thursday, Sept. 24
8/7c - FlashForward (ABC)
All at once, every human being in the world blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds and has a flashforward vision of what they will be doing at 10pm on April 29, 2010. Having people black out for over two minutes causes some considerable chaos to recover from, but there remain questions of why the blackouts and flashforwards occurred and what each person's vision portends.
This is the show ABC is hoping Lost fans will pick up while waiting for Lost's final season in 2010 and then stick with in following years. I had wondered at first whether they could continue the show after the first season (it seems that after April 29, 2010 it will lose some of its mystery), but apparently they've mapped out five seasons of FlashForward should they prove necessary. The cast includes Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love), Sonya Walger (Penny from Lost), John Cho (Harold & Kumar, Star Trek), and Dominic Monaghan (Lost, Lord of the Rings). This one looks promising.
Friday, Sept. 25
9/8c - Dollhouse (FOX)
Armed with technology that allows them to program a person's mind, an organization known as the Dollhouse rents out its "actives" who have been specially programmed to be suitable for their clients' tasks. There are weekly missions to complete according to the current clients, but there are also greater mysteries about the Dollhouse to uncover.
It took several weeks to hit its stride, but Dollhouse is good enough for me to tune back in. Everyone was surprised when it got renewed, since it didn't have the ratings--one can only assume that FOX was still regretting the way it ended Firefly (like Dollhouse, a Joss Whedon show) and wanted to avoid repeating that mistake (though Dollhouse wasn't as worthy of saving as Firefly). Guest stars this season include Summer Glau, Alexis Denisof (both Whedon alums), and Jamie Bamber. Can't wait.
Tuesday, Nov. 3
8/7c - V (ABC)
Aliens arrive on Earth claiming to come in peace, but some people know better and work to expose the aliens' evil plans.
A remake of an 1980s NBC miniseries, this looks like it might be a cool new sci-fi show. Its cast includes Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet on Lost) as an FBI agent in the resistance movement and Morena Baccarin (Inara from Firefly) as the alien leader. Sounds good to me. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait a long time for this one.
So what is that? 12 hours of TV a week? (SYTYCD is a time hog with 3 hours a week once it reaches its 2-hour performance, 1-hour results episodes routine). I'll be busy this season...
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Glee Is Back!
The long-awaited return of Fox's new series "Glee" is finally here!
After premiering the pilot episode following the season finale of American Idol last spring, FOX has been hyping Glee all summer. A LOT. Rarely has a new TV show received such a huge promotional push. The pilot has been available on Hulu all summer, Fox has been airing ubiquitous commercials, they aired the pilot again last week with real-time Twitters from some cast and creative crew... It's been kind of a big deal. FOX thinks they have something golden.
But it seems to be paying off. Glee is the most buzzed about new show this season, the cast's Journey cover "Don't Stop Believing" from the pilot episode shot to the #1 spot on iTunes (I, uh, helped with that), and Glee fans have already been given their own nickname: "Gleeks". The critics all seem to be on their side, heaping praise on the smart, funny hour-long musical comedy show. The world of TV is humming with anticipation for its triumphant return.
Glee is poised to be the new big hit. But the test is whether the buzz translates into viewers this week and in the coming weeks. I'm hopeful.
Watch Glee tonight on FOX at 9/8c. And if you miss it, just wait until the same time Friday when they'll air it again. I said they were pushing this show hard.
After premiering the pilot episode following the season finale of American Idol last spring, FOX has been hyping Glee all summer. A LOT. Rarely has a new TV show received such a huge promotional push. The pilot has been available on Hulu all summer, Fox has been airing ubiquitous commercials, they aired the pilot again last week with real-time Twitters from some cast and creative crew... It's been kind of a big deal. FOX thinks they have something golden.
But it seems to be paying off. Glee is the most buzzed about new show this season, the cast's Journey cover "Don't Stop Believing" from the pilot episode shot to the #1 spot on iTunes (I, uh, helped with that), and Glee fans have already been given their own nickname: "Gleeks". The critics all seem to be on their side, heaping praise on the smart, funny hour-long musical comedy show. The world of TV is humming with anticipation for its triumphant return.
Glee is poised to be the new big hit. But the test is whether the buzz translates into viewers this week and in the coming weeks. I'm hopeful.
Watch Glee tonight on FOX at 9/8c. And if you miss it, just wait until the same time Friday when they'll air it again. I said they were pushing this show hard.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Chuck saved, upcoming fall shows, and Thor
I don't have much interesting new entertainment news to report since my last post on the subject, but there are a couple exciting things that I couldn't wait to share.
Firstly, NBC renewed Chuck! It will come back with a tighter production budget, but at least it secured a 13-episode order for a third season (Variety). This was the last show that I follow whose fate I was waiting to learn. Turns out the only show I watch that got canceled this spring was Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Chuck, Castle, Dollhouse, as well as all the other shows that were never in serious danger got renewed. This means that I will be rather busy next fall.
Fox has made some interesting choices in their fall schedule (Variety). First, their summer hit "So You Think You Can Dance" will be getting a fall skein. I have loved watching this show for the past few summers--I love dance and greatly admire the quality of the choreographers and dancers in the show--so I'm excited to see it moving up in the world. But it is a big time commitment, with two hours on Tuesday and one on Wednesday, which is fine when I don't watch anything else in the summer but will make things a bit crowded in the fall. Following the SYTYCD results show on Wednesdays will be new musical drama/comedy "Glee". The show focuses on a group of high school geeks who find their place in the school glee club. Fox clearly has high hopes for Glee, granting its pilot a golden sneak preview spot this Tuesday after the final performance episode of American Idol (that is, at 9pm). Early word is that it's clever, funny, and overall pretty great. Fringe has been moved from its first season Tuesday spot to the 9pm Thursday slot in the fall. This essentially is a big promotion, that time slot being the high attention spot that currently is home to heavy hitters CSI (CBS) and Grey's Anatomy (ABC). The question is whether Fringe will be able to hold its own in the time slot. Dollhouse will remain at 9pm on Fridays. New show "Human Target," about a decoy-for-hire who saves lives by assuming the identities of people in extreme danger, will debut in the winter starring Mark Valley and featuring Jackie Earle Haley; a new season of 24 is also scheduled to start in the winter.
ABC has given a series order to new sci-fi show "Flash Forward" (Variety). They had been promoting it with teasers during Lost commercial breaks, showing little clips followed by the words "What did you see?" without naming the show, and during the season finale last week gave it a proper full promo. The premise is that on one day, for 2 minutes and 27 seconds, everyone on Earth falls unconscious and sees a flash forward of their lives six months in the future. The show seems meant to tide Lost viewers over through the fall as they await the final season of Lost to arrive in the winter. Joseph Fiennes, Sonya Walger (known to Lost fans as Penny), Courtney B. Vance, Jack Davenport, and John Cho are among the cast.
My last bit of cool news is that it looks like Thor has finally been cast. Chris Hemsworth, recently seen as Captain Kirk's father (himself a Captain Kirk for 12 minutes) in the new Star Trek, is in final negotiations to take the lead role in the Kenneth Branaugh-helmed movie adaptation of the Marvel franchise (Variety, IMDb).
Hemsworth
The deal would also land him a part in Marvel's planned Avengers film. Oh, Chris Hemsworth. Yesterday morning, I didn't know who you were. Then just minutes into the Star Trek film you won me over and broke my heart with your heroic resolve and sparkling blue eyes at once both joyous and pained beyond imagining... *Sigh...* Ahem. Yes, well, now he's poised to become a blockbuster superhero. God of thunder and all. I hope the Thor movie will be good.
Firstly, NBC renewed Chuck! It will come back with a tighter production budget, but at least it secured a 13-episode order for a third season (Variety). This was the last show that I follow whose fate I was waiting to learn. Turns out the only show I watch that got canceled this spring was Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Chuck, Castle, Dollhouse, as well as all the other shows that were never in serious danger got renewed. This means that I will be rather busy next fall.
Fox has made some interesting choices in their fall schedule (Variety). First, their summer hit "So You Think You Can Dance" will be getting a fall skein. I have loved watching this show for the past few summers--I love dance and greatly admire the quality of the choreographers and dancers in the show--so I'm excited to see it moving up in the world. But it is a big time commitment, with two hours on Tuesday and one on Wednesday, which is fine when I don't watch anything else in the summer but will make things a bit crowded in the fall. Following the SYTYCD results show on Wednesdays will be new musical drama/comedy "Glee". The show focuses on a group of high school geeks who find their place in the school glee club. Fox clearly has high hopes for Glee, granting its pilot a golden sneak preview spot this Tuesday after the final performance episode of American Idol (that is, at 9pm). Early word is that it's clever, funny, and overall pretty great. Fringe has been moved from its first season Tuesday spot to the 9pm Thursday slot in the fall. This essentially is a big promotion, that time slot being the high attention spot that currently is home to heavy hitters CSI (CBS) and Grey's Anatomy (ABC). The question is whether Fringe will be able to hold its own in the time slot. Dollhouse will remain at 9pm on Fridays. New show "Human Target," about a decoy-for-hire who saves lives by assuming the identities of people in extreme danger, will debut in the winter starring Mark Valley and featuring Jackie Earle Haley; a new season of 24 is also scheduled to start in the winter.
ABC has given a series order to new sci-fi show "Flash Forward" (Variety). They had been promoting it with teasers during Lost commercial breaks, showing little clips followed by the words "What did you see?" without naming the show, and during the season finale last week gave it a proper full promo. The premise is that on one day, for 2 minutes and 27 seconds, everyone on Earth falls unconscious and sees a flash forward of their lives six months in the future. The show seems meant to tide Lost viewers over through the fall as they await the final season of Lost to arrive in the winter. Joseph Fiennes, Sonya Walger (known to Lost fans as Penny), Courtney B. Vance, Jack Davenport, and John Cho are among the cast.
My last bit of cool news is that it looks like Thor has finally been cast. Chris Hemsworth, recently seen as Captain Kirk's father (himself a Captain Kirk for 12 minutes) in the new Star Trek, is in final negotiations to take the lead role in the Kenneth Branaugh-helmed movie adaptation of the Marvel franchise (Variety, IMDb).
HemsworthThe deal would also land him a part in Marvel's planned Avengers film. Oh, Chris Hemsworth. Yesterday morning, I didn't know who you were. Then just minutes into the Star Trek film you won me over and broke my heart with your heroic resolve and sparkling blue eyes at once both joyous and pained beyond imagining... *Sigh...* Ahem. Yes, well, now he's poised to become a blockbuster superhero. God of thunder and all. I hope the Thor movie will be good.
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