I know I’ve talked about Community a lot more lately, but…
I think that last night’s episode, “Mixology Certification,” was probably my favorite of that show yet.
Screencaps from here.
Also, “L Street” and “The Red Door” sound perfectly like douchey/hipsteriffic bars that people of a certain/ridiculous persuasion would frequent.
And: Farscape > Stargate.
I’ve enjoyed the past two weeks’ episodes of Community (after a several episode string of incredibly sub par episodes), and while obviously Joel McHale is the quite able star of this show and the whole ensemble is wonderfully realized and characterized by this point in the show with the exception of Chevy Chase’s character, who wisely written out of this latest episode, “Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design,” (or “…and Soft Defenses,” depending on where you look), it seems like there’s always debate on who the show’s “breakout character” would be, and most land on the lightning rod that is Danny Pudi’s Abed.
It seems like most people are going after his character and the writer’s obvious love for him, which allows for them to do more parody, because of that very fact. By pushing him and more towards the Asperger’s side, it seems like he’s just a portal for postmodern musings. There’s nothing wrong with that, but just in occasional spurts, I think. That’s not a wad that I think you’d want to shoot as much as they have so far a 1/3 of the way or so through the second season.
That out of the way, I think we’re not paying attention enough to the show’s real MVPs…
Alison Brie, and
Donald Glover. Clearly.
There’s an equation to Community and it’s a shaky one, one that’s easy to take for granted or to screw up by relying too much on one aspect and not enough on another, or a balance of all elements. As I said before, last season Community and Modern Family were my favorite new sitcoms, and I feel like Modern Family‘s formula can’t be screwed up too much. Well, of course it can, in it’s (hopeful) 5th or 6th or 7th season by bored writers and a desperate network, I’m sure, but it should be solid for at least a few years, but part of what makes Community really work when it does really work is the right lighting of it’s particular fireworks. I’m just hoping the whole factory doesn’t get blown up before the 4th of July, as it were.
Other random thoughts/notes…
Julie Bowen is kind of nuts, and I think I like it.
Lost‘s Carlton Cuse is developing a new “event series” set during the Civil War. Color me intrigued.
They’re doing a claymation episode for Community‘s X-mas episode this season.
I haven’t watched Gossip Girl since the first few episodes of it’s second season, but… You’re supposed to hate the Penn Badgley character, right? Cause, if that’s not the case, then his whole douchey look here is really kind of a waste.
Spidermen: “We talked it out.”
And last, but certainly not least…
Since there’s been a few posts on TV this past few week, I thought I’d throw out a few quick thoughts on a handful of TV shows. Nothing too in depth, nothing too glamorous, and possibly nothing too well thought out. But, around here, what else is new?
Those shows being…
The Office. The last episode with Timothy Olyphant was not bad, but not particularly great. The previous episode, the much talked about one featuring the return of all of Michael’s exes… not so great. And the few before that, about the same. As even Benjamin Light has mentioned to me the past few times we’ve talked about it, you can really feel the show going through the motions this year. Also, during the summer there was a lot chatter and speculation online about who would replace Steve Carrell when he leaves the show at the end of this season but, honestly, sadly, horribly, heinously, overly dramatically, doesn’t it seem like they’re trying to set up Andy as the new boss-type character?
I can’t think of anything I’d dislike more than that. Andy really feels like a character who should’ve been around a season or two and then maybe have gone bye bye. Also, let’s get serious here: Andy and Ellie Kemper and the dude from Sabre have to make the least attractive love triangle on television.
I hate to say it, but I’ve really checked on out on this show after Pam and Jim’s wedding. Maybe that would’ve been the fine conclusion this show will potentially have to work hard for (and would mirror the end of the original British version interestingly). Also, for a “documentary” about the life of people in an office, when does this “documentary” actually air?
30 Rock. This show is still going strong. Not every episode is a home run, but it is consecutively strong. As long as you have Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon, Alec Baldwin’s Jack Donaghy, and Tracy Morgan’s Tracy Jordan, nothing can harm you. What this show does with it’s guest stars is frequently brilliant (Jon Hamm, Matt Damon, even Kelsey Grammar in the most recent episode) and there’s a joy to the dialogue and it’s one liners and non sequiturs that is intoxicating. I thought that the live episode was a good deal smarter than it was funny, but I applaud this show for taking it there. And I found it fascinating that the last episode dealt with Liz Lemon’s long simmering “fear” or general uncomfortableness with sex.
Community. I wasn’t so much a fan of the last episode of this show, and I kind of feel like it maybe tackled people’s biggest two gripes with the show itself: Abed (all things “meta”) and Chevy Chase. And the episode prior to that certainly paled in comparison to what many would consider the show’s strongest outing: the paintball episode from season 1.
All that said, I honestly feel that this show and Modern Family were the best new comedies of last season and I don’t see anything that feels like long term signs of that changing anytime soon.
Things I would change about this show though: 1) Get rid of Chevy Chase, who’s character is not funny and is lazily portrayed. You just get the sense that Chase is bored or perhaps unhappy, and maybe that unhappiness has something to do with watching Joel McHale doing a variation of the Chevy Chase persona from the 80s, just better? I’d watch a Joel McHale iteration of Fletch, sure.
2) Keep characters like Ken Jeong’s Senor Chang to a minimum, and the same with some of Abed’s “We all live in a TV show” stuff. I think some of the references catch with the smart folks in the audience, and some literally watch fire with the simple minded, but as Shirley said recently, I think far too much of it doesn’t play in Poughkeepsie, and bores the rest of us. The only thing worse than being not funny is trying too hard. Keep Abed’s character simple and utilize more gags like the Abed in the background/pregnancy bit in the background a few weeks ago:
from here.
3) More characters. For the background or whatever. Along with 30 Rock, I feel like this is the show that has the best chance of inheriting what there is of the Arrested Development mantle, and yet, the vision of Community almost feels too limited in some regards. Maybe give someone like Star Burns a little break, okay? Also, the character of the dean? We get it. It was funnier when it was called Tobias Fünke.
Running Wilde. Sorry, Mitch Hurwitz and Will Arnett, somehow even you shall not be inheriting the throne that once was Arrested Development, I fear. Kudos to you fine chaps though for bringing Felicity along for the ride.
The Event. I watched four episodes of this show and came to the same realization I had before the show even started and was just a much hyped but vaguely explained situation coming soon on NBC: I could not give two halves of a shit about whatever the fuck “the event” ends up being.
We complain about the meta-ness of Community and it amazes how we don’t talk about how not an event the actual release of The Event is. “Lost meets 24,” huh? Go fuck yourself, NBC. This show could do with a little more Lost and a hell of a lot less 24. Talk about a textbook example of not getting what made both of those shows goddamn brilliant at their heights. This is the briefest I shall ever be on this blog: Character.
from here.
Also… casting. Jason Ritter? Give me a fucking break. Jason Ritter is the guy who should be getting coffee for the stand in for your lead actor.
Lost. This goes without saying: You are missed.
Also: this. Interesting.
Hawaii 5-0. Go fuck yourself if you like this show. I watched two episodes that would’ve had the exact same effect on me if I had seen them either in or out of a coma. Also, Hollywood: Stop trying to make Alex O’Loughlin happen.
Modern Family. As I said before, this is a strong comedy here. It shouldn’t work as well as it does, but it does. I don’t think that, once you get what’s going on with it, that it’ll ever blow you away, but it stays consistently funny and watchable and every single character is endearing. And it will hopefully stay that.
Smallville. This show is still on. Did you know that? People are still watching this! It scares me, that thought. (Almost as much as the notion that people were ever watching it.)(I mean, obviously I’m a comic book nerd here, but this show? Come on. Shit is shit, right?) Who are you people? Who are you? It terrifies me that there’s an audience for this show still and they’re providing market research to people in suits who can’t buy a clue from the general public. (Though I still like Erica Durance.)
True Blood. This past season had a lot of ups and a lot of downs, as usual, but the finale was incredibly boring. I guess it was a bit of a serious dramatic let down and also not compelling at all. But, though it may be an uneven supernatural soap opera, it’s amazing how much more it appeals to me than some fucking police procedural on CBS.
Party Down. I miss you. Come back? Please? Was it something I said? Was it the fact that I don’t subscribe to Starz and watched you solely via megavideo and just that once via itunes? Is it Starz? If it is, you don’t have to say anything. Just nod your head and blink. Do that and I will stab a stake through Starz like the life sucking vampire monster that it is.
Parks & Recreation. Is this show still on? Coming back at midseason? That’s a shame, but not shocking, I guess. This show is not bad, not bad at all, but it lacks… something. Sadly, you still have to kind of compare it to The Office in some way. This is a show where you like all the characters/actors involved, but I don’t feel anything for them. They seem like they’re swimming twice as hard for maybe half the results. Except for Ron Swanson. Brilliant televisionary character and I’m so thankful that they keep him to the minimum. I guess I’m glad that this is where Adam Scott landed after Party Down, with a paying gig, but I’d stick this show’s head in a full bath tub until it stopped kicking and squirming if that’d bring back Party Down. No joke.
The Walking Dead. This show hasn’t even aired yet, but I don’t care. I’ve read the comic book so that gives me the right to voice an internet opinion! Ugh.
That said, within the comic is all the things that would make for a good, solid cable TV drama, especially on par with a level of quality and intrigue that AMC seems to be trying to covet (the snoozefest that is Rubicon aside), but I hope that the producers of the show don’t stick too strictly to the comic. It’s not… great. There, I said it. It’s not that great. It’s good, but it’s true to it’s story and incredibly bleak. It picks up where your average zombie movie ends, with characters having to survive in this world that’s swarming with the undead and it’s something for fans of suffering, for sure. The TV show hasn’t wowed me with the actors they’ve cast, and that sizzle reel didn’t get me hard, and it doesn’t help that Frank Darabont hasn’t brought his A game to anything in a long, long while (though he’s thankfully finally gotten out from behind Stephen King’s skirt). But, despite all of that, I’d like to be pleasantly surprised.
Glee. I saw the pilot not this last summer but the summer before when they showed it months and months before the show’s actual premiere and I thought, “Eh.” Never saw a single episode throughout the rest of the first season because it was just not the show for me and somehow it become this popular media juggernaut. Then I saw two episodes just a few weeks ago from this current season. Not bad. Not all that interesting, but intriguing from a distance. But I do believe there’s credence to the “Three Glee” theory.
But, I have to say that this GQ controversy is ludicrous. Who are you people who are upset about this nonsense? Apparently you’ve never see this show or it’s content or just ignored the Rolling Stone cover from a few months ago altogether. Way to go, Dianna Agron, you are mystifying both onscreen and off. Some people should find bigger things to get super excited and bothered about. Like Taylor Momsen. Speaking of which…
Gossip Girl. Is this still on TV?
House. House is a show that, like Glee, is quality but that I wouldn’t normally watch because, well, I’m just not going to watch a weekly medical procedural show. Or, that’s why it was that I used to not watch House. But then I started watching it semi-weekly (Thank God Hulu is still free), because it’s well written and I saw a bunch of episodes last season by accident and because House and Cuddy are dating now and, well, just because. Also, I like Sherlock Holmes pastiches. Speaking of which…
Steven Moffat’s (and Mark Gatiss’) Sherlock. The show debuted in England in the past year and is fucking brilliant. This is what I would like all TV to aspire to as far as intellectual quality. Eventually this will come to BBC America and you’re a goddamn fool to miss it. The man with the unfortunate name of Benedict Cumberbatch is shocking and mesmerizing as a modern day take on the classic detective and Martin Freeman (“Tim,” the original Jim in the original British version of The Office) is in fine form as his sidekick, John Watson. The little nods to the classic stories are enjoyable and where the show deviates is even better. My only real quibble with the 21st century updates is that rather than just chronicling their exploits in a conventional manner, Watson now blogs about the cases he and Sherlock engage in. Sigh.
The first season was three episodes long and the pilot is amazing (written by Moffat), the second episode is fine, but the third episode (written by Gattis) is immaculate. And what a fucking a cliffhanger.
Freeman was recently cast as The Hobbit after months of everyone knowing he pretty much had the role locked down, but you may have noticed the internet screaming out that the two movies better not stop production on a second series of Sherlock and quite right so.
Speaking of British originals translating stateside: MTV’s Skins, which you can see a trailer for now. And if you click here, you can read my thoughts on that.
Doctor Who. This Christmas special and new season (next Easter, sadly) can’t come quickly enough. I don’t know how I feel about this “split” season. I guess it’s fine, though I’m not crazy about them calling it two different seasons, rather than just one split with a hiatus. It sounds like a fancy way of getting out of contracts quicker, frankly. They recently cast Mark Shephard in a big role, sigh, presumably the two part season opener set in America and featuring Richard Nixon? Cool. I guess. Except for the Mark Shephard bit. That gravely voiced motherfucker hasn’t been in enough big name sci fi shows? Sigh. But, like last season, paparazzi photos have informed us that River Song will be in that episode(s). Great.
Now the theorizing can really begin as to who or what River Song actually is. A future version of the Doctor? Lame. The Doctor’s mother? Lamer. Amy Pond in the future in some form? Lame and tired as far as guesswork goes. Just the Doctor’s amazing wife/partner from a future point as we’ve already been lead to believe? Perfect. But let’s get crazy here: A future version of the Master or the Rani? Hmmm?
Mad Men. Nothing to add here.
Still an amazing show and I’m kind of dying to know where they’ll go next season.
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. For what it is, this show is perfect. Especially once Danny Devito joined the cast a few years ago. I’m so glad that we have a mindset like this available to us. And, if you think about it, since we mentioned the inheritance of legacies earlier in this post, this is today’s version of Seinfeld.
Fringe. Man… Whatever. Benjamin Light and I add a long conversation about this show about a week ago because we’re fucking dorks, I guess. Maybe, if you’re nice to him, he’ll do a write up about his thoughts on that show and we’ll have a nice discussion on what we dislike about that show and what we would change (almost everything). And, if anything comes to us, maybe we’ll talk about what we like about the show?
The Venture Bros. As always, a strong, smart, funny show, but I’m trying not to use the words “treading water” here. I keep wanting this show to move forward into telling a larger story, and just when I think it’s going to reveal itself to be doing that… it pulls back altogether. At first it was like, “Ha ha, we are playing with your expectations,” but now it’s just like they’re treading water. Damn. I said it. It’s funny that the last episode was all about Doctor Venture’s brain being hacked and the Monarch trying to force him to commit suicide since I feel like that’s the only logical conclusion to the show.
South Park. I haven’t seen an actual episode of this show in fucking forever. I miss it. Conrad Noir tells me that I really need to see not this past week’s, but the one before, the one pertaining to Jersey Shore. “The Jersey problem,” is how he referred to it. I haven’t seen this last one, the Inception one, either. But now I see that Matt and Trey are in some shit for plagarizing a College Humor video. Jesus. I’m sorry, no, it’s “borrowing.” I get the gist of Matt and Trey’s “take” on Inception, which is a good example of how I can like this show and still pretty much never agree with their take on anything. I don’t think anyone is claiming that Inception is cool because it’s complex, are they? Also, how complex was Inception? Was it really that hard for anyone to follow? I mean… Really?
Louis. I like Louis C.K. I like him a lot. I haven’t loved this show, not like I’ve wanted to, though the Ricky Gervais cameo was a lot of fun. But I’m just glad that Louis C.K. has a show on TV that I don’t think has been canceled yet. I can’t wait to watch it progress. And I think that is the underlining factor that too many showrunners on television don’t take into account: Shows should progress. There’s a long game at work. Consider your package as a whole.
Eastbound & Down. I’ve only seen the first episode of this current season so far, so I can’t say much, but this show defies your average reviewing format. You’re either in or out. Anything else and maybe you should just fuck off. Me: thumbs up.
Bored To Death. Talk about your meta end to a blog post… I’ve only seen about five episodes from the first season of this show. They were meh, honestly. I see the promise of the show picking up and getting interesting, but I’ll get there at some point. But, during some of those first few episodes, I just felt like maybe I wanted to go read an old detective novel and drink some wine instead.
In conclusion: Am I missing any worthwhile shows or any shows that are the exact opposite? If so then by all means, please, please, please let me know.
And: Before we go, if you click here you can read an interesting post about David Foster Wallace and the connection between fiction and television.
Teens have it so hard today, man.
A quick summary of something stupid: Miley Cyrus. Teen Choice Awards. Pole dancing. It looks like this:
Compared to the Sean Kingston thing from a while back, yeah, there’s a big of a double standard going on why this is not okay and that is supposedly okay.
But I think before you even get into objectification and underage sexual representation and, honestly, hypocrisy toward young female sexuality, I have to register this point again: Why is Miley Cyrus a successful pop star again? I feel like ten years ago we were force fed Britney Spears as a joke (herself a slightly more trashier version of someone like… Tiffany)(Though “I Think We’re Alone Now” is still awesome and “Hit Me Baby One More Time” was never all that awesome), and now it’s like that joke has become a wound and BillyRay Cyrus’ daughter is the salt that the Evil Music Industry Powers That Be are stabbing us with because they can.
It’s such a bizarre conundrum of the young female pop star, any young female pop star, with some initial talent and something marketable that is then seemingly surgically removed and changed into something even more marketable. She teases subliminal and not so subliminal interests of naughty sex and eroticized youth while possibly not quite understanding it herself. And not being given the breathing room to actually make that journey of discovery (which, yes, involves the breaking of certain boundaries to see what they’re made of). All the while surrounded by adults who should know better, but possibly don’t know better, or just have $$$ in their eyes. Then there’s the younger generation, who either are lead to believe that this is okay, this is socially acceptable, or that actually find something they can relate to, a down home-ness, a simpler mindset, an affinity for something positive in skeeziness.
I’ll stop myself there. I understand how it all works and because of that, I don’t understand how all of this actually works. And I don’t want to. Who are the positive young female role models for their youthful peers in this country?
Beyond that, there’s questions that come with certain aspects of pop culture – lolita obsessions, violence in movies, really bad music that is more choreography than actually listenable music – that don’t have answers. They just pose more and more questions and shudders of worry about posterity. Does everything fall into This Is What They Want?
Obviously she’s not American, but one of the many reason I like Lily Allen is because I still get the sense that she’s either doing or at least trying to do everything on her own terms. Her mistakes and her successes have one very important thing in common: They belong to her equally. Also, she’s awesome.
I’ll leave this particular spice of WTF with saner words than I can manage on the subject, one of Counterforce’s favorite internet crushes, Tracy Clark-Flory:
“That’s some potent imagery: an emblem of childhood (an ice cream cart) juxtaposed with a symbol of modern young womanhood (a stripper pole). Looks like her managers are following the Britney Spears sexy-virgin path to success — or self-destruction, depending on your perspective.”
In other news:
Jake Ryan: “Be my guest.”
Will Arnett and Mitch Hurwitz team up for new FOX pilot.
Big Willie Styles in Vegas for his B-day.
Crystal ball sets hour on fire. Should’ve seen that coming!
Guy coming to rescue gets shot in the balls.
Watch Community, the new pilot starring Joel McHale and Chevy Chase.
Everyone wants a piece of you…
"Hey, what are you watching?"
Season finales. I love them. They’re the show’s last chance before the network decides whether or not they’re going to ax it. In the case of Chuck, that’s exactly what they were going for. Their last hurrah of sorts. While I only started watching this show just recently, it’s become apparent for nerds, like me, to watch it. It tells a gripping tale of the protagonist, Chuck, who had an intersect downloaded into his head. Basically, it’s just a computer containing all the government’s secrets. Two spies are sent to keep a constant eye on him. One is a tough guy named Casey who is sent to work with him. The other is a sultry princess with looks that are beyond any actual person named Sarah.
I would do dirty, dirty things to this woman.
Chuck and Sarah stage a fictional relationship for this to seem normal. Aside from all the danger and chaos they get into, it has got its sappy moments as well. One of the best things about this show is that it has the same producer as the O.C. (Which you all secretly love, except you Benjamin. We all know you love it.), so the music is guaranteed to be awesome. At least until the third season when Marissa dies.
Whooops. Did I spoil this?
So the second season starts to wrap up with Chuck finding out more about his sometimes non-existent father. It turns out that it’s his father, who he hardly knew, that built the intersect. And, something that pleased Chuck very much, his father that got the intersect out of his head. Chuck never really saw himself as a spy, mainly because he has a body type that resembles mine. And it’s not like I’m a moonlight spy. Or am I???? No, I’m actually not. The last episode consists of Chuck’s sister finally getting married. It was a huge thing for their dad to be there, so it was Chuck who brought them together. Behind the scenes, there was another intersect being created throughout the series. An even better one. It was supposed to get implanted in the head of Chuck’s pseudo best friend who sent him the intersect in the first place. With an awesome cameo by Chevy Chase.
Not actually that awesome.
Crazier things start to happen. Chevy wants the intersect for some reason, the CIA wants Chuck’s friend to have it, it gets a little weird, but I’m totally into it. Basically, the wedding gets ruined by these two idiots.
You've got a drunk and an indian lesbian.
But Chevy is actually to blame as they had to stall for Chuck. I’d like to tell you the end, but the last 5 minutes are really the pivotal part of the series. The reason why NBC shouldn’t ax this fucking awesomely monumental show. I guess you’ll just have to watch it yourself. But seriously, is this isn’t reason enough to watch it?
Every nerd herd's fantasy
Next up, Heroes!
We’re entering spring, trees blooming, birds and internet geeks twittering, all that shit, but another season is slowly rearing it’s ugly head upon us again: new television pilot season. Of course most of the stuff that ends up on TV is shit, so it stands to reason that new pilot season might as well be filled wall to wall with shows called Outhouse! (which would probably make a great reality show on FOX), but still, it’s TV, and you want it to be good. You want to think that your next new obsessive serialized love affair is there waiting for you.
Anyway, the Hollywood Reporter did a little rundown on Sunday of some of the new pilots coming down the pipe and here’s a few highlights:
Flash Forward, from ABC, based on the novel by Robert J. Sawyer, about scientists working on a high energy experiment that unexpectedly causes a global consciousness shift, flashing everyone on the planet forward to experience a few minutes of their own future.
The concept makes me want to read the novel, but I don’t know how well the idea would work as an ongoing series. I guess we’ll see. It’s from Brannon Braga and the pilot was directed by David Goyer and stars Joseph Fiennes, above, who I want to call Jay.
Community, from NBC, starring Chevy Chase and Joel McHale, is probably designed to pique curiosity but I wonder how good it’d actually be. In it, Chase and McHale (who would continue to host The Soup should the pilot get picked up) play community college classmates. Oh, the hilarity.
Melrose Place, in a revamp/sequel type form a la the new 90210. Ha ha, can you believe it!? Outrageous. They’re probably horny as hell to get Heather Locklear back for it. And I’m sure that Lisa Rinna will gladly come back, but the question is will Grant Show come for it now that Swingtown is a distant memory? What was the connective tissue between the original Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place, wasn’t it that he fucked Brenda and then… just went home to his apartment complex? I feel like he could pretty much play that same role today.
Cougar Town, starring Courtney Cox. Fuck yeah, that sounds like a party, right? But it’s going to have to have some juice to distance itself from the reality show about cougars that just came out and your average Heather Locklear movie on Lifetime.
Human Target, starring Jackie Earle Haley, who was most recently Rorschach in in Watchmen, and directed by Simon West, based on the DC comics character created by legends Len Wein and Carmine Infantino, but was really popularized in it’s Vertigo series by Peter Milligan. It’s about the unique bodyguard, Christopher Chance, who impersonates those he’s protecting to root out and eliminate the threats against them.
Everything about this is bizarre, especially considering it was already tried as a TV show (starring Rick Springfield!) and failed in that arena (though that was before the Milligan run at Vertigo). Secondly, Simon West? Eh, hack. Thirdly, Jackie Earle Haley as Chance? That makes no kind of sense.
Day One, not mentioned in the HR article, and starring Julie Gonzalo (pictured above) is about “a group of apartment dwellers who have survived a post-apocalypse event.” It’s from NBC and will fill Heroes‘ usual time slot while Heroes supposedly goes on a Lost and 24-style January to May scheduling and if we’re all lucky, whether the show is good or bad, maybe it’ll replace Heroes permanently.
A spinoff to NCIS, starring Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J. Wow, that sounds like a license to print money right there. At least, that’s what my mother would say since she loves this show, which itself is a spinoff to JAG.
V, a remake of the 1983 Kenneth Johnson miniseries about alien invaders coming to Earth, is also amongst the hot new pilot ideas being discussed, though it hasn’t been filmed yet.
Also, Lost‘s Elizabeth Mitchell has already been cast, leading many to assume that she’s the season’s big death this year (but I’m thinking it’s probably Sayid, I’m sad to say).
Trauma, about the fast paced world of medical trauma emergency stuff out in the field. I’m a little sick to death of medical shows and the fact that it’s supposedly got some kind of slam bang action opening directed by Peter Berg leaves me totally flaccid.
Caprica, which was also not on the HR list, but I mention it because the pilot to the Battlestar Galactica prequel (which seemingly only kinda ties into BSG) came out on DVD recently and is going to air on Sci Fi channel, or SyFy, at some point soon. My real question to you is: Do you really give a shit about this show?
Parenthood, based on the 1989 Ron Howard film, and starring Peter Krause (who is the quintessential smug asshole that you actually like)(but seems to be in need of a new job at the start of every pilot season) Maura Tierney, Monica Potter, Erika Christenen and Craig T. Nelson. The script by Jason Katims is apparently well like and the show is already going so far as to begin it’s preliminary staffing.
Also interesting though is that like Rob Thomas’ just returned Cupid and Human Target, this was already tried as a series back in 1990 (and Joss Whedon was one of the staff writers) and was canceled. So, are networks just dying to give ideas a second chance all of a sudden or are we completely out of ideas?
I encourage you to take a gander at the rest of the list, but other than what I mentioned, it’s a lot of obvious crap or vague mentions. And since I mentioned Lost a few times, a slight spoiler for the next episode:
(Thanks, Georgia!) And here’s other juicy sci fi spoiler-ish goings ons. And until next time…
“The god damn plane has crashed into the mountain!”
