Television

[Kathy Li]

I am soooo loving Drive, I cannot begin to express. The simplest analogy I've seen is (in the dread SAT analog format):

Lost : Survivor :: Drive : The Amazing Race

And I'm addicted to The Amazing Race. I'm just sad that Fox, in its usual short-sightedness has sheduled the Spielberg reality competition thing for moviemakers (On the Lot) in such a way that we're only going to get to see the first six of the thirteen episodes of Drive, and the back seven are going to be shown much later. Sigh. Way to bust up momentum.

Also, I had much happiness that Gilmore Girls has returned. Now, I think I'm just waiting for Veronica Mars and Smallville to come back...

[Kathy Li]

Bump.

The new fall season starts up next week. What are you watching? The following new shows are on my give-it-a-whirl list:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>Chuck<LI>Journeyman<LI>Reaper<LI>B ionic Woman<LI>Life<LI>Pushing Daisies[/list]
Of the entire list, though, the only one I'm really excited about is Pushing Daisies, because Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Heroes) is writing it. And I think that I'm going to miss him on Heroes--he was the guy writing the Claire/HRG storyline.

[Emi]

I'm excited about Reaper, Bionic Woman, and Pushing Daisies too!! Reaper because of Kevin Smith (the best director /actor /screenwriter /whatever else he does), Bionic Woman because come on it's BIONIC WOMAN, Pushing Daisies because it looks really cutee...

I can't wait to see Gossip Girl... I haven't read the books yet, but it looks so interesting! And Survivor is coming soon.. and a whole bunch of reality shows like Dancing With the Stars and such.. *is a reality junkie*... I'm just overall excited!!

[Garrett Fitzgerald]

Tsk, tsk, Kathy.

How can you get on me for posting one-liners when you're coming along making double posts? Somehow, that seems like it's not quite fair... :-)

[Kathy Li]

Garrett, double-posts are short posts that were done at roughly the same time--i.e., "afterthoughts" that could have been added to the previous post with an edit. Did you happen to note the dates of the posts? (grin).

The bigger crime to focus on, here, is going off-topic. Which you seem bound and determined to do. Tsk. tsk. tsk.

You could have at least mentioned a tv show.

Y'know, like how Sarah Jane Adventures is going to start airing on the BBC on Monday or something.

Emi--as far as I understand it, Kevin Smith directed the pilot, but he may not be involved in the show much after that. If he is, hurray. But it could be like Bryan Singer directing two episodes of House and then never coming back. So, I'm holding off a little.

For me, Pushing Daisies is the one I really hope survives. Not only is Bryan Fuller my new Joss Whedon, but there are so many Broadway names in the cast! Kristin Chenoweth alone would have been enough to get me watching, but we also get Ellen Green, Swoosie Kurtz, and Jim Dale (the voice of Harry Potter audio books to most, but to me, he will always be Barnum).

The Bionic Woman--just a warning. It's really really dark. It has a lot of the same people in common as the new Battlestar Galactica, and they're more or less following the same path of twistedness. But if they have circuit-board-faced cyborgs at some point, I'll be happy. I just wouldn't hold out too much hope for Max the Bionic Dog to show up.

[Birdhead]

I'm really looking forward to Bionic Woman, although less so since I heard that they're re-casting the deaf sister to be non-deaf (sad!!!) I really liked that aspect when I <STRIKE>saw the pre-air pilot</STRIKE>heard about the show. However, Katee Sackhoff! Yes! *boogies happily*

In a similar vein, The Sarah Connor Chronicles look slick - I haven't seen T2, but Summer Glau! I'm definitely excited to see her in something else; also the guy who played Zach from Heroes (Claire's totally-still-gay-no-matter-what-the-retcons-say friend), Thomas Dekker.

Pushing Daisies looks cute but it might be a bit twee for me, I'll have to wait and see; altho', Kathy, if it results in a lack of Claire-HRG awesomeness, I will probably cry giant tears of sadness. From what I've heard about Reaper it might be a bit too frat-humour for me, although I could have heard wrongly; haven't heard anything about Traveler or Life, gimme the scoop?

Chuck just looks like Jake 2.0... 2.0. Out of loyalty to the former show I'm not sure I'm allowed to watch Chuck! :P I kind of want to watch Moonlight just to observe what I'm sure is going to be a spectacular train wreck, plus exactly how David Greenwalt planned (before his untimely departure) to make a vampire detective in LA that's not. You know. Angel.

I am also really, really excited about S4 of Stargate: Atlantis. [Casting Spoilers:] <span class="ev_code_WHITE">Amanda Tapping! Jewel Staite! More awesome than you can shake a stick at! Although it's sad about Torri Higginson leaving </span>[/Casting Spoilers] The new pics up at Skiffy make me v. happy, too, what with the leather coats and the leaning. Plus, what I've heard of the upcoming season sounds extremely nifty.

Um, what are some other returning shows I'm looking forward to... the usual suspects: Bones, House, Heroes of course, Supernatural... maybe Private Practise, although I haven't heard good things; possibly Grey's Anatomy, although the S3 finale was such a shocker. (oh, I love that smilie code! lamentation! it's adorable.) And, hey! Friday Night Lights! That's an awesome show, by the way everyone, and you should all watch it, all the time, because its ratings suck - how we can be at the umpteenth million season of Survivor while fantastic shows like this suffer - watch it! Please!

OK, I think I'm done... oh, no, wait, I was going to ask Kathy what she thinks of Buffy s8! I particularly loved the next-most-recent issue, the one before the current Faith arc. I thought it was wonderfully done. And, hey: Brian K Vaughn!

[Kathy Li]

Ditto on all the Bionic Woman comments. The one real weak link is the writing.

SJC also <STRIKE>looks</STRIKE>sounds completely awesome. I had no idea anybody was a bigger James Cameron fan than me, and there they are, making the thing. Nutter has visually quoted every bit of Terminator and T2 he possibly can in the pilot. And I love how a) there is tacit agreement the third movie never happened; b) the name Sarah chooses for her alias; and c) the name of the Terminator.

Unfortunately, Fox is holding it back for midseason. We won't be seeing it for a while. Ditto The Return of Jezebel James, the new Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls) sitcom. Oh, and Amsterdam, too. So, that means December/January there's going to be another wave, which probably includes Lost, Medium, The Amazing Race, etc.

Pushing Daisies--oh, yes, twee to the max, but it's a good twee. ("I've been ruminating. And by ruminating I mean thinking not chewing cud.")

Both Reaper and Chuck have the frat-humor aspect to them. Chuck, to me, isn't as charming as it thinks it is, and Reaper is the better bet (Kevin Smith), but neither one looks all that great.

Traveler starts off with a bang, but quickly rus out off steam. It's trying to do a twist on the 24/Prison Break thing, but the high level of paranoid/conspiracy stuff was not to my taste, and the writing was just.. eyew.

Life is another spin on the House formula: get a complex, on-the-surface-unlikeable eccentric character, cast him with a top-notch Brit actor and see what happens. The plot is that there's a cop who was sent to prison for 15 years, and then exonerated. Now free, with a huge settlement from the city, he's back on the police force, very zen, and very weird. Played by Damien Lewis. Could go either way.

Moonlight==oh, exactly.

For me, the return list is House, Heroes, CSI, Criminal Minds, (well, [<span class="ev_code_white">until Patinkin leaves.</span>]) and last (but not least!) Dexter. Ah... Dexter. I'd talk about you, but you're TV-MA, and should not be discussed here.

Oh, and I'm way behind on the Buffy comic. (sigh). MdDS can really suck. All you can do is watch tv sometimes.

[Garrett Fitzgerald]

Originally posted by kli6:
Garrett, double-posts are short posts that were done at roughly the same time--i.e., "afterthoughts" that could have been added to the previous post with an edit. Did you happen to note the dates of the posts? (grin).

*looks innocent*

The bigger crime to focus on, here, is going off-topic. Which you seem bound and determined to do. Tsk. tsk. tsk.

You've known me for 17-odd years, and this surprises you? Tsk. tsk. tsk. :-)

You could have at least mentioned a tv show.

Oh, you mean like watching "Utopia" the other night? Only the presence of da gulls kept several scatological references from coming out of my mouth at various times...

(And yes, I am warped: right after watching that, I ran out and got Dead Again, and watched it with Ael (Erin wasn't interested until she walked in at the final confrontation -- "Why did he have to die, Daddy?"). "Hey, sweetie, want to watch Professor Trelawney, Gilderoy Lockhart, and the Master in the same movie?" *grins evilly*)

Edit: I just realized that Henry V would have served my purposes equally well.

For me, Pushing Daisies is the one I really hope survives. Not only is Bryan Fuller my new Joss Whedon, but there are so many Broadway names in the cast! Kristin Chenoweth alone would have been enough to get me watching, but we also get Ellen Green, Swoosie Kurtz, and Jim Dale (the voice of Harry Potter audio books to most, but to me, he will always be Barnum).

Oh, really? The Whedon quote gets my interest: after all, Joss Whedon Is My Master Now. Chenowitz and Kurtz are also strong draws. Jim Dale for me will always be a resident of Passamaquoddy, though....

The Bionic Woman--just a warning. It's really really dark. It has a lot of the same people in common as the new Battlestar Galactica, and they're more or less following the same path of twistedness.

Ok, now I'm going to start watching it. I said to Donna at some point that unless the Battlestar Galactica folks were doing it, it wouldn't be worth watching.

[Kathy Li]

Originally posted by Garrett Fitzgerald:
You've known me for 17-odd years, and this surprises you? Tsk. tsk. tsk. :-)

No (sigh), it doesn't surprise me... disappoint maybe, but not surprise. :-)

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">You could have at least mentioned a tv show.

Oh, you mean like watching "Utopia" the other night? Only the presence of da gulls kept several scatological references from coming out of my mouth at various times... </div>[quote]
Ohyeah. And it just gets better. I don't suppose you've seen Life on Mars? John Simm completely rocks. I was so happy when he showed up on Doctor Who.

(And yes, I am warped: right after watching that, I ran out and got Dead Again, and watched it with Ael (Erin wasn't interested until she walked in at the final confrontation -- "Why did he have to die, Daddy?"). "Hey, sweetie, want to watch Professor Trelawney, Gilderoy Lockhart, and the Master in the same movie?" *grins evilly*)

Edit: I just realized that Henry V would have served my purposes equally well.

Hee hee hee. Don't you love how it seems like there are only 100 working British actors? And you know, you could have done even more warped not-for-viewing-by-the-kids stuff, if you'd pulled out I, Claudius, spun up those Caligula scenes and point out Ollivander. And Capt. Picard.

Or, you could have grabbed Hamlet. You'd have had to trade Trelawney for Aunt May and Wormtail, but it would've been a twofer.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">For me, Pushing Daisies is the one I really hope survives. Not only is Bryan Fuller my new Joss Whedon, ...

Oh, really? The Whedon quote gets my interest: after all, Joss Whedon Is My Master Now. </div>[quote]Hee hee hee. I used to refer to Dead Like Me as my methadone for Buffy addiction. Then I did the same with Wonderfalls. I wasn't at all interested in watching Heroes until Bryan Fuller's name popped up, and then you couldn't have pried me away.

Chenowitz [sic] and Kurtz are also strong draws. Jim Dale for me will always be a resident of Passamaquoddy, though....

Snort. Titter. Chuckle. Does anybody actually remember Pete's Dragon any more?

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The Bionic Woman--just a warning. It's really really dark. It has a lot of the same people in common as the new Battlestar Galactica, and they're more or less following the same path of twistedness.

Ok, now I'm going to start watching it. I said to Donna at some point that unless the Battlestar Galactica folks were doing it, it wouldn't be worth watching. </div>[quote]I dunno. I liked the old classic show, and it was actually funny at times, with that happy silliness that was part and parcel of Kenneth Johnson shows. And Harve Bennett and James D. Parriott were writers. BW has a higher pedigree to be screwed up than the old BG....

----
addendem. Oh, geez. They're filming The Colour of Magic. And they got the casting wrong! I mean, I love David Jason, but I know for a fact that when Terry Pratchett saw Jon Singer walk by him at a Worldcon, Pratchett yelled, "That's Rincewind!" (Or, that's the way Jon tells it.) And David Jason looks nothing like Jon Singer.

[Garrett Fitzgerald]

Originally posted by kli6:
Ohyeah. And it just gets better. I don't suppose you've seen Life on Mars? John Simm completely rocks. I was so happy when he showed up on Doctor Who.

I definitely got the "he rocks" vibe from the short time he was on screen -- definitely a good opponent for Tennant. (Of course, there will always be a soft spot in my heart for Jonathan Pryce's portrayal. "They're DALEK BUMPS!")

Hee hee hee. Don't you love how it seems like there are only 100 working British actors? And you know, you could have done even more warped not-for-viewing-by-the-kids stuff, if you'd pulled out I, Claudius, spun up those Caligula scenes and point out Ollivander. And Capt. Picard.

*evil grin* It had occurred to me, yes -- but not _those_ particular scenes. (I'm getting Netflix to send me ST:TOS episodes in the original order to show the girls: they're getting the hang of it pretty quickly. :-) )

Or, you could have grabbed Hamlet. You'd have had to trade Trelawney for Aunt May and Wormtail, but it would've been a twofer.

Ummm... not. :-) Erin absolutely adores Burton and Taylor's Taming of the Shrew -- if I follow up with a 4-hour full-text movie, they'll never watch another one. :-)

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Chenowitz [sic] and Kurtz are also strong draws. Jim Dale for me will always be a resident of Passamaquoddy, though....

Snort. Titter. Chuckle. Does anybody actually remember Pete's Dragon any more? </div>[quote]

I don't think I've had the girls watch it yet. Guess I'll have to remedy that. I hadn't watched it for years, though, before one of our choir members brought "Candle on the Water" in as a baptism song. (Eh? How do you spell that? *checks* Oh. Sorry. At least I can spell Idina...)

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
Ok, now I'm going to start watching it. I said to Donna at some point that unless the Battlestar Galactica folks were doing it, it wouldn't be worth watching.

I dunno. I liked the old classic show, and it was actually funny at times, with that happy silliness that was part and parcel of Kenneth Johnson shows. And Harve Bennett and James D. Parriott were writers. BW has a higher pedigree to be screwed up than the old BG.... </div>[quote]

Oh, I didn't say there was anything wrong with the original: just that there were too many ways to screw up a remake. On a related note, I wish I could dig up a copy of the $6M Man Sasquatch episodes: I used to actually own the novelization. It was the high point of the series, IMHO.

[Kathy Li]

<span class="ev_code_purple">Or, you could have grabbed Hamlet....</span>

<span class="ev_code_blue"> Ummm... not. :-) Erin absolutely adores Burton and Taylor's Taming of the Shrew -- if I follow up with a 4-hour full-text movie, they'll never watch another one. :-)</span>

True. There is that to consider. And I've always preferred the Hamlet in Branagh's In the Bleak Midwinter to his actual Hamlet. BTW, I caught the Branagh As You Like It on HBO the other day. Oh dear, oh my. Brits shoved into semi-feudal Japan. Orlando gets to sumo. None of the Japanese actors get any lines. (sigh). Some bits work, others don't. Hard to recommend.

<span class="ev_code_blue">On a related note, I wish I could dig up a copy of the $6M Man Sasquatch episodes: I used to actually own the novelization. It was the high point of the series, IMHO.</span>

Yup. I still remember that storyline. And how, when you went on the Universal Studios tour they took you through that white-plastic turning tunnel. OMG. I just looked it up in the IMDb. Andre the Giant was Big Foot!

Now, if only somebody would do a darkly remake Misfits of Science...oh, wait. I guess that would be Heroes.

[Birdhead]

y'all quote too much. *going cross-eyed from bold lines*

Don't you love how it seems like there are only 100 working British actors?

Not to mention Canadian actors. Every time I watch a show filmed in Vancouver I have a moment. I think Grace Park has been in, like, fifteen things I've loved (right down to Dark Angel, cough cough.)

I enjoyed the SCC pilot so much I've started to think about actually watching the Terminator movies (at least the first two); I had to wiki it to get a nice little summary, and obviously I missed all the visual cues and referencing that would have been nifty to get.

I enjoy Heroes and Dead Like Me but Fuller's never brought the sheer funny the way Joss always does for me, I gotta admit.

Actually, I now realise I've seen a few episodes of Traveler *facepalm* for some reason I keep getting it confused with Journeyman. I think I agree with your assessment - a great start but kind of trailed off.

The later premiere that's REALLY getting to me is BSG - can't believe we won't be seeing it until next year :-/ Meanwhile, The Return of Jezebel James will be fun, but I'll miss GG a lot, I think.

& speaking of made-for-TV shakespeare productions - I saw one that was in a series of "modernised" productions, taking the scripts and re-setting them in a modern context - there was a rather wonderful Much Ado set in a television studio which, come to think of it, starred Damian Lewis as Benedick (chances of that being censored: pretty good, I think). Hmm, now I do want to see Life. Anyway, apparently a couple of others were made that were also very good - a Taming of the Shrew, IIRC, and one or two others. If they happen to be aired on US TV you should check them out, I really enjoyed them.

Garrett, I gotta second Kathy's Life on Mars rec - vvv good, although grim enough I have to sort of parcel myself out on it.

OK, now I'm going to go out and watch the Heroes premiere. Oh, I do love the internet. (It's a measure of how popular the show is, though, that NZ television is already advertising Heroes S2 - it'll be on in a matter of a month or so, I believe. My parents will be thrilled - in a bizarre and horrifying twist, they watched every episode I burned for them and clamored for more. It resulted in rather uncomfortable conversations like "When is there more Heroes?" "erm. Well, in America... and in NZ..." "How can we get it when you get it?" "Um.")

[Garrett Fitzgerald]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">>>On Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:27:25 -0400, Kathy Li <kathy@fps.com> wrote:
>>>>Chenowitz [sic] and Kurtz are also strong draws. Jim Dale for me
>>>>will always be a resident of Passamaquoddy, though....
>>>
>>>Snort. Titter. Chuckle. Does anybody actually remember Pete's
>>>Dragon any more?
>>
>>I don't think I've had the girls watch it yet. Guess I'll have to
>>remedy that.
>
>y'all quote too much. *going cross-eyed from bold lines*

Sorry, Birdhead: is this way better? *looks innocent*

Re: plays on TV -- I wish they'd do it more often. I have found memories
of watching The Member of the Wedding on NBC (live?), and, more recently,
Fail-Safe with George Clooney. (It was amusing when one of the actors
forgot his lines, and the captioners took a while to get back on track...)</pre>

[Kathy Li]

<span class="ev_code_green">y'all quote too much. *going cross-eyed from bold lines* </span>

That's why I switched to colors. The quote tag has a limited usefulness if you're an old-school poster who remembers the >> days, and quoting like it's dialog.

Re: 100 working actors
<span class="ev_code_green">Not to mention Canadian actors. Every time I watch a show filmed in Vancouver I have a moment. I think Grace Park has been in, like, fifteen things I've loved (right down to Dark Angel, cough cough.) </span>

Hey, you do not diss Dark Angel. I loved that show down to the ground and have zero guilt about it. Well, ok, maybe a leetle, but it was James Cameron. And the show that trained up Jose Molina so he could write "Ariel" for Firefly. It was also the only show I knew (BSG kinda sorta does it) that was willing to throw out its setup and continuity every season and rebuild it again. I was really really looking forward to the Freak Nation setup for Season 3 when it was cancelled (sigh).

<span class="ev_code_green">I enjoyed the SCC pilot so much I've started to think about actually watching the Terminator movies (at least the first two); I had to wiki it to get a nice little summary, and obviously I missed all the visual cues and referencing that would have been nifty to get. </span>

Wow. I can't imagine watching that pilot without having seen the films. Nice to know it still holds up.

<span class="ev_code_green">I enjoy Heroes and Dead Like Me but Fuller's never brought the sheer funny the way Joss always does for me, I gotta admit. </span>

Yes, but you have to remember that Fuller is only one of many producer/writers on Heroes and only managed to get the writer's credit on two episodes. And it isn't exactly a show where humor is called for. And he was fired off of Dead Like Me after it began running, so only the first two episodes are really his. And, no, he's not Joss, but until Joss returns, he's the next best thing. As I said, my methadone.

<span class="ev_code_green">The later premiere that's REALLY getting to me is BSG - can't believe we won't be seeing it until next year :-/ </span>

Actually, this one doesn't bug me so much. BSG started out as one of those summer-not-really-a-season shows on Sci-Fi, so not having it show up in the fall isn't such a big deal for me. And Medium was moved to mid-season last year. But Lost shoving back was a surprise. I wonder if ABC thinks that Lost might boost its ratings by making a midseason entry.

Oh, and I'm looking forward to Smallville as well. Last season was a hoot for an oldtimey comics reader, and this season looks to be just as good: Bizarro and Supergirl right off the bat. What more could a comics fan ask for?

<span class="ev_code_green">& speaking of made-for-TV shakespeare productions - I saw one that was in a series of "modernised" productions, taking the scripts and re-setting them in a modern context ... If they happen to be aired on US TV you should check them out, I really enjoyed them. </span>

Ah. Shakespeare Retold--came and went on BBC America a while back. I enjoyed them, but for me if they update the language, it's not really Shakespeare any more. They were fun, though. The Macbeth was reset to be a modern restaurant and chefs.

<span class="ev_code_green">Garrett, I gotta second Kathy's Life on Mars rec - vvv good, although grim enough I have to sort of parcel myself out on it.</span>

Don't go googling press releases for Ashes to Ashes until you've finished watching Season 2 of Life on Mars (there are spoilers for LoM). But when you have, you'll want to find out.

<span class="ev_code_blue">Originally posted by Garrett Fitzgerald:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">>>>
>>
>

Sorry, Birdhead: is this way better? *looks innocent*</pre></span>
You know, oddly, I can still read the >s more easily than the stuff with multiple quote tags on it?

<span class="ev_code_blue">Re: plays on TV -- I wish they'd do it more often. I have found memories of watching The Member of the Wedding on NBC (live?), and, more recently, Fail-Safe with George Clooney. (It was amusing when one of the actors
forgot his lines, and the captioners took a while to get back on track...)</span>

I miss Jac Venza. American Playhouse doing The Skin of Our Teeth and Live From Lincoln Center showing us the Flying Karamazov Brothers' Comedy of Errors. Nobody just videotapes plays and shows them on tv any more. (sigh).

[Birdhead]

Actually, Garrett, that's a lot more compact. *is a smarty-pants* I won't try to emulate it, though. I like the colour thing, too - it's pretteh as a bonus.

In re: Dark Angel, oh yeah, I loved it in a totally non-ironic way when it aired and was really sad when it died, I just. Well, you know. But I did not know that about Jose Molina, which ups my appreciation for it 100000%! "Ariel" is a brilliant episode.

Re: Fuller, OK, OK! I wasn't dissing him! *holds up hands in self-defense*

See, I only started watching BSG at the beginning of this year - marathoned the mini and the first two seasons in perfect time for the second half of S3, IIRC. So this is my first wait for it, and just my luck, it's foreeeeever. Or seems like forever. And that was some finale! Yeah, I agree about Lost, although I gave up on it after s2 - a few people have said s3 is worth catching up on, but I just feel apathetic towards it.

re: Life on Mars (I like this re: thing, although it's terribly compressive.) Sadly, I had already been spoiled for the show's denouement, as it were, looong before I started watching... c'est la vie.

Aaaaaand since we've now had a few of the shows, how awesome were the House and Bones premieres? Pretty awesome.