Best Television of 2008

My top TV episodes of 2008:

10 – Fringe: Pilot / Leverage: The Nigerian Job

This was a bit of a tie, because both these shows aren’t all that great, but they are fun to watch. Fringe was one that I was really looking forwards to, and I’ve been somewhat disappointed by how it’s been handled over the season that I’ve watched thus far. Hopefully I’ll get to marathon the entire thing at some point. That being said, the pilot for the show was very fun to watch – it was interesting, had a fun concept and was so over the top that it’s laughable, but again, fun.
Leverage is a show that I’ve started watching because I like Heist shows, and this one is certainly one of the better ones that I’ve seen, ever since the show Smith a couple years ago. There’s a fun cast dynamic and some good hooks in this episode for future episodes.

9 – Big Bang Theory: The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis
I’ve been wary of this show until this season, and now, I’ve really gotten into it for some reason. The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis really takes the show away from some of the easy jabs at the characters and makes some room for some real character development at the end. Plus, the following quote from Leonard is just plain gold:

Do you know what this means? If I can get a healthy ovum, I can grow my own Leonard Nimoy!

8 – Barack Obama 30 Minute TV Spot
No matter what side of the aisle you support, this TV spot was a brilliant move on the part of the Obama administration. It consumed a news cycle of talk show, talking heads and really outlined the priorities of the incoming administration and helped put Pres/Elect Obama into the lead, furthering his momentum. I personally was a supported of the Democratic Ticket, and while this TV spot showed us nothing terribly new to supporters, and essentially reiterated his position, it was a good introduction to people who still weren’t sure who to support.

7 – John Adams: Join or Die
The John Adams miniseries was a very well done series based off of the book by David McCullough by the same title. This pilot episode demonstrated fantastic production values and is an outstanding adaptation of history, from the characters and casting to the look and feel of the sets. These first episodes showed the American War for Independence, a crucial time in our history, in a way that has largely been glossed over in a few short lessons in school.

6 – Lost: The Constant
This was possibly one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, where Desmond begins his own time jumps back and forth through. While Lost has overdone the lifes of some of the other characters like Jack and Kate, this episode really got into Desmond’s head and proved that the writers could still write compelling and interesting characters, while advancing the story forward while doing so, rather than just exploition on why the characters are the way they are.

5 - Battlestar Galactica: Revelations
Episode 410 of Battlestar Galactica brings the show to a point that we’ve been looking for for the past four years on the show : Earth. Four of the last unknown Cylons come forward to their friends, and Kara finally leads the fleet to the people, only to find a devastated landscape. There was a lot of emotion and storylines caught up here. Characters were not what their friends thought they were, and the episode represents a culmination of a number of storylines, and ends on a killer cliffhanger.

4 – Pushing Daisies: Comfort Food
I’m very sad to see this show go – it’s one of my absolute favorites. Comfort Food follows Ned and Olive during a cooking contest, while Chuck has brought her father back to life, at the cost of Dwight Dixon. This was the end/middle of a mini-arc, and it really does a fantastic job with both Ned and Chuck – Chuck with seeing her father return, and Ned for having his trust betrayed. And there’s a Colonel who’s been deep fried.

3 – When We Left Earth: Landing the Eagle / The Explorers
This year was the 50th Anniversary of NASA, and to celebrate, Discovery released a documentary on NASA’s human exploration of the solar system. This episode, Landing the Eagle, details the Apollo program through to Apollo 11, while The Explorers follows the remaining five moon landings. The footage here is absolutely stunning, and even includes interviews with Neil Armstrong. I get chills watching the landing.

2 – Life on Mars: Out Here in the Fields
I was very skeptical about the remake, and the first pilot didn’t leave me with any confidence here at all. But Out Here in the Fields, the second pilot to the UK remake, helped to allay my fears that this would be a poorly done show and showed not only could this re-make be a good one, but one that would stand on its own, with its own qualities. I can’t wait for its return later on.

1 – House, MD : Wilson’s Heart
Season 4 of House was pretty lackluster. The change up with new staff only marginally worked, and while we saw some new characters, they’re not quite to the point of Chase, Cameron and Foreman. The newcomers are interesting, but too similar, except for the fanatic character Amber, whom I can’t stand. This episode made me entirely rethink her character, but also saw an incredible amount into the characters of House and Wilson. These episodes of House are the best ones, when we see real development, and it’s happening fewer and further between episodes now. The last ten or so minutes of this episode are possibly the best minutes of the show that I’ve seen yet.

Top Geek Things of 2008

It’s coming up to the end of the year, and looking back, 2008 has been a very fun year for geeks everywhere – in books, television programs and films, among other things. Over the past couple of days, I’ve been thinking back over the year to see what was the best and worst of 2008.

The Best:

Starbuck returned from the Grave; The Fleet reaches Earth. (Battlestar Galactica Season 4)

The third season of Battlestar Galactica was a little rocky in the middle, but the last episodes set up a real bang. Starbuck was presumably killed, only to turn up during a major confrontation of the Human and Cylon fleets. Season 4 opens even bigger, with one of the best space battles that I’ve ever seen. Our four new cylons are freaking out, Starbuck’s back and everything culminates in the discovery of Earth in episode 10.Galactica has long been one of my favorite shows, and with a certain end point in mind, Season four was where Galactica got somewhat back onto the tracks, with a fairly tight story arc, only to get to another long wait for the final ten episodes. It’s been well worth it though.

Pushing Daisies… back from the Grave, and back to it

After a long hiatus due to the writer’s strike (more about that in a bit) my favorite show of 2007-2008 came back with a new set of episodes. There are not enough good things that I can say about this show. We left off last year with Chuck learning that it was Ned that killed her father, only to end up at the end of this season with him being awoken. It was another season of fantastic storytelling, character development and extremely fantastic dialog. Unfortunately, the show has been axed due to low ratings. Fortunately, Bryan Fuller will be going to Heroes for the latter half of Season 3.

Lost Gets Better – Again.

Here’s the situation. LOST season 1 blew everyone away. Season 2 drove them away. Season 3 brought some people back, and Season 4, everything got interesting again. This season was the best since Season 1, in my opinion. We had several new characters (my favorite was Daniel Faraday, the physicist), and a couple people killed off. We started seeing flash-forwards, where Jack has a beard and addicted to pain pills, Hurley’s in a mental institution and Sayid is channeling Abram’s Alias. Oh, and they get off the island. Then the island vanishes.

I have Leonard Nemoy’s DNA? (The Big Bang Theory)

This show started in 2007, where I was annoyed by its laugh track and annoying characters. But this year, I started watching it and enjoying it. While it’s certainly a very stereotypical portrayal of nerds and geeks, it’s fun, because the creators have put in place a series of fun characters, and the writers make some jokes that are actually funny. This week’s episode was absolutely priceless, when Sheldon gets a napkin signed by Leonard Nimoy. Now, if they’ll just ditch the laugh track. This show’s likely to be around for a while longer – it’s been getting better and better ratings as the year goes on.

Back in a Nick of Time (Life on Mars)

One of my absolute favorite shows of all time was Life on Mars. Up until this year, it was only a BBC drama, until ABC picked it up and made a pilot. That pilot sucked, horribly, so the cast was ditched, except for Jason O’Mara, and the show was redone, set in New York City, given a good cast and started up. The result? A solid TV series that’s mirrored the original (but it’s starting to diverge a bit now), a wonderful soundtrack of classic rock and a story that’s actually interesting. I can’t wait for its return in 2009.

The Joker raises worldwide GDP. (The Dark Knight)

First, there was excitement when it was announced that the Joker was going to be the villain. Then Heath Ledger signed up for the role. Then he died earlier this year after filming was completed, leaving some people to wonder if the film would be released on schedule. Then Warner Brothers covered every surface they could find with Dark Knight ads. When the film was released, it went on to gross $996,680,514 in theaters. The film was a huge success, and a fantastic film at that. It was a comic book movie with true darkness, some real symbolism and good storytelling throughout. It’s a pity that we won’t see Heath Ledger reprise his role of The Joker, because he’s done the best portrayal of a villain in recent film memory.

I am Iron Man (Iron Man)

Before The Dark Knight blew the doors off the box office, there was Iron Man. Iron Man has long been a favorite marvel superhero of mine, and everything fell into place for this film. Good story, well directed, fantastic casting (Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark was brilliant) and of course, the Mark II set of armor. Marvel proved that they could make a good superhero movie, one that was relevant and not stuck in the low-humor that characterized other comic book adaptations. Already, I can’t wait for Iron Man 2. And Iron Man 3. And The Avengers.

Eeeeevvvvvaaaaaa (Wall-E)

Pixar has released what is possibly their best film to date. (Except maybe Toy Story and The Incredibles). Following a robot far from home, Andrew Stanton has presented a film with a cute, romantic science fiction story with some social commentary (said to be unintentional) woven into the CGI. Wall-E is easily the most appealing robot since R2-D2 hit the big screen in 1977, and his antics as he’s pulled along for the ride (literally) are cute, heartbreaking and funny.And with very little real dialog.

Roar. Crunch. Repeat. (Cloverfield)

Monster movies meets social networking video and America gets its own monster. This film was brilliantly shot with an extremely fun concept. A monster comes and plays t-ball with the statue of liberty, and it’s caught on camera by a bunch of twenty-somethings as they escape. The project was conceived of by LOST creator J.J. Abrams, and his fingerprints are all over it. From the lack of explanation of everything to the weird stuff, this is a very fun film to watch. Rumors are that there’s a Cloverfield 2 being talked about.

With My Freeze Ray I Will Stop… The World (Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog)

This project was a huge success for Joss Whedon & Co. Conceived of during the Writer’s strike, Whedon presents an aspiring supervillian, Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris), his buddies and his quest to finish his freeze ray, avoid Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion) and win over Penny (Felicia Day). We’re treated to musical numbers, crazy plots and a fantastic venture to prove that the internet is a viable place to release content.Take a look here.

Up, up and away! (When We Left Earth/NASA)

This year was NASA’s 50th year in operation, and the Discovery channel released a fantastic documentary entitled When We Left Earth that touted its major achievements and failures throughout the years, bringing viewers some of the most incredible footage of space that I’ve ever seen, and telling a fantastic story of how NASA has come to be, with interviews with astronauts and support personnel. I get chills when I watch it, and wonder when we’ll return to the moon and beyond.

Hobbit’s Labyrinth (The Hobbit)

After long rumors, production problems and drama with Peter Jackson (who directed Lord of the Rings), Guillermo del Toro signed on to direct the upcoming Hobbit film and prequel. (Or two Hobbit films?) This is extremely good news, because the people who can adequately fill Jackson’s shoes after LOTR are few and far between. del Toro is the perfect director for this project, and has already proven that he can do fantasy brilliantly, with his masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth. Plus, he can play in other people’s universes, as per his work with the Hellboy films. (Which weren’t as good, but fun)

Watchman Trailer (Watchman)

What’s called the greatest graphic novel ever is coming to the big screen, much to the annoyance of its creator, and to FOX, apparently. A trailer for Watchman aired with The Dark Knight, and it made fanboys everywhere sit up and take notice. There’s still complaints about how it’s unfilmable and that it’ll be too short or too long, but from my eyes? This looks like it’ll be THE comic book film to see next year. It looks like it captured the feel of the comic book pretty well, and it’s embellished a bit to look badass. Plus, Rorschach looks dead on. Just like I thought he’d be like.

Large Hadron Collider (Science)

The Large Hadron Collider was turned on on September 10th, to many worries about the world ending. Contrary to popular opinion, the earth didn’t vanish in a tiny black hole. It was set to uncover the mysteries of the universe, but then it broke down again nine days later and won’t be up online until 2009. But, it’s still cool!

Geeks in Politics (Obama [spiderman, conan, superman] Patrick Leahy [Batman Cameo])

There’s been a lot of geekiness in politics this year. No lightsaber waving from McCain this time around, but President Elect Obama has claimed to be a big Spiderman and Conan fan, and did a superman pose in Metropolis, IL. In addition to him, VT senator Patrick Leahy, a huge batman fan, had a cameo in The Dark Knight. He’s also the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ironic.

Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy (Costumes)

The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art hosted an exhibit earlier this year (it’s since closed) called Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy. It featured a number of costumes from a number of classic films, such as the original Superman and Wonder Woman films, but also things as recently released as The Dark Knight and Iron Man. The fashion section was a bit of a miss for me, but the exhibit as a whole was just outstanding. Plus, they had several original copies of Superman and Batman, Spiderman and Iron Man on display. Covered in a plastic shield of course…

Star Wars Encyclopedia (Star Wars)

Del Rey released a new and expanded Star Wars Encyclopedia this year, one that is not only complete, but still remarkably up to date. That’s not likely to last as long, given how fast LFL churns out canon material, but it’s a beautiful repository of information in the universe. I can spend hours just paging through reading things.

“Anathem” By Neal Stephenson

I actually have yet to read this book, but it’s caught my eye, and it’s made a splash when it comes to the sci-fi literary world. All I really know about it is that it takes place on an earth-like world, and doubles as a philosophical text for knowledge and religion. I’ll have to pick it up, and only expand my to-read list further.

A Game of Thrones picked up by HBO (Song of Fire & Ice)

Another book that I have yet to read, but I actually own this one. HBO has picked up the book for a series. If there’s one thing that HBO does well, it’s TV shows, because they can pour money into them and get a good result. And, they have a good track record with adaptations, with things such as Band of Brothers and John Adams. I’ll watch this when it’s released.

We’ss Har Wars End (Karen Traviss)

Several years in the making, Karen Traviss has finally finished her Wess’Har Wars series with book 6, Judge. Starting back in 2003, she introduced readers to a fantastic story of first contacts filled with alien races, political commentary and expert storytelling. Judge didn’t deliver quite as well as I’d have liked (It certainly wasn’t the strongest of the series), it carried the momentum well, and proved to be a good read, one that finished up one of my favorite series satisfactorily. Hopefully, Karen will be back to writing hard scifi again, because she’s incredible at it.

Trooping (501st)

This year I got back into trooping with the 501st Legion. All in all, I did a total of 30 or so events, ranging from small affairs here in VT to much larger ones. The most memorable ones were the Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Burlington Kid’s Day, the Weird Al Concert,  St-Jean-sur-Richelieu Balloon Festival, Walk for Autisms, and the 2008 Woburn Halloween Parade. All my events are listed here.

With all the good things that have happened this year, there’s the other side of the coin, and some letdowns, disappointments and pure flops.

Worst:

Writer’s Strike

Okay, this started in 2007, but it messed up television for the foreseeable future, by ending some shows and putting others on a long hiatus that has really hurt ratings. Pushing Daisies was one casualty, Terminator was almost one, LOST was put off for a year, as was 24, and already, we’re on the eve of another major strike over pretty much the same issues – internet distribution. Hopefully, some lessons will be learned.

Surviving a Nuclear Detonation (Indiana Jones)

Indiana Jones came back, and he came back bland. Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull was an impossible undertaking to fill the hopes of fans for the past twenty years. While it’s not a horrible film, it’s nowhere near as high quality as Raiders or Crusade (although I did like it better than Doom). There was no passion, a crazy storyline and some annoying characters. It does have its moments, but they are few and far between.

Skyguy/Snips/Roger Roger (The Clone Wars)

Star Wars was another big LFL franchise that came back this year, and while The Clone Wars certainly had its moments, even high points, this film just extends the image of money grubbing that LFL is involved with, which is a shame. There’s too much bad dialog, characters and situations to make this a good part of the Star Wars universe, but the TV show has been making some improvements. The animation is stunningly good, some of the stories are actually good, but every time the battle droids start talking, I want to throw something at my TV.

Michael Crichton Eaten by Cyborg T-Rex and Flesh eating Space Bacteria from the Past.

While my interest in Michael Crichton has waned over the years as he began to write crappy books (Such as Prey and State of Fear), there’s no doubt that he’s shaped my reading. I’m still a huge fan of Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, Terminal Man and a number of his older novels. He’s one of the most popular scifi authors (although he’s resisted the genre title) out there with his works, most of which were made into films. It’s a shame that he’s passed – I was always hoping for another good story from him.

Gary Gygax failed his saving throw

Geek-God Gary Gygax likewise passed away this year, leaving behind a legacy that has shaped nerd-culture in the US forever. His creation, Dungeons and Dragons, along with co-creator Dave Arneson, was one of the defining features of geeks everywhere, something that I got into back in 2001. Along with giving geeks something to do in groups, it helped define a generation’s activities, reading materials and conceptions of fantasy through to this day.

Arthur C Clarke becomes the Space Child

Arguably one of the greatest science fiction authors ever, Clarke’s death hit the world hard. He helped to define the literary genre, and the actual science behind it, and was responsible for such classics as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rama, Childhood’s End, and numerous others, as well as the telecommunications satellite. He will be sorely missed, and is one of the last of the golden age of science fiction to be with us.(Today would have been his 91st birthday)

CNN Hologram technology

On election nigh, CNN touted their new thing in news casting, a hologram of Will.I.Am. Looked cool, and it looked like a hologram, but it was nothing more than a lot of cameras and empty space plus some CGI. Blah. Let’s see some real technology in action please.

Close the Iris! (Stargate Atlantis)

I was a huge fan of Stargate SG-1, and same with Atlantis for the first couple of seasons. This season has just plain sucked. It’s a shame, because there’s a good concept there, amidst the horrible characters, stories and situations. Not long now, because Atlantis has been canceled, and will be replaced with Stargate Universe next year.

Even more Confusing and Confounding! (Heroes Season 3)

Heroes Season 1 was brilliant. It introduced a new spin on superheroes, only to fall to its own success and have a fairly slow and boring second season. (To be sure, the writer’s strike had something to do with it, because it got better). Season 3 was promised to be bigger and better. And it was certainly bigger, with heroes coming back from the grave, more time travel and action, but none of it really made the same impression that season 1 did. I’m still behind episodes, but apparently it’s been getting better. Now that Bryan Fuller’s returning to the show, can we PLEASE start off really good and get better? Please?

Weird Science (Fringe)

I was really excited for Fringe, the latest show by JJ Abrams. It was a fun concept, and had a good couple episodes at first, but just became so dull that I stopped following it. I might pick it up again at some point, but only when I can marathon the entire thing at once.

Forrest J. Ackerman Dies

Forrest J. Ackerman, one of the first science fiction fans out there recently passed away. He was a key element of the spread of science fiction fandom, and he helped to found the LA Science Fantasy Society, among other numerous achivements, as well as influencing numerous authors over his long life.

Borders Downsizes SciFi Sections

I ranted about this earlier, as did a number of authors. Borders has been downsizing their sci-fi sections. While it’s understandable that they have to sell items, and that they can’t put everything on the shelf, you can’t predict what the next big hit will be, and you can’t know that until you actually start selling things.

That’s it for this year. Next year, there’s already quite a bit coming up. Should be a fun year.

TV Recap – November 6th

An interesting week of programs:

Studio 60, 106: This episode started off kinda slow, but then grew to another really good one. Tom, one of the actors on the show, was arrested after defending Harriet after being confronted by a pair of gays who were offended by her views. The episode starts with Tom (dressed as Jesus Christ), Simon, Cal, Jack and two Chinese visitors in a backwater Sheriff’s office, waiting for a judge. The episode goes back to flashbacks, and involves Jesus being made the head of the NBS (or a portion of it) and the sketch for the week would have been part of that. The Judge doesn’t like the show, and they are on a very limited time limit before Tom’s due back on the show. It was a fun episode. Not my favourite, but next week’s (this is a two parter) is looking funny.
In other good news, the show’s been picked up for a full 22 episodes!
Prison Break, 210: I’m starting to get a little nervous with some of the directions that the show’s taking. Lincoln and LJ were captured, but freed by Linc’s dad, and we enter back into the Company territory again, which is the part that could drag this down a little. Michael and Sara meet up, talk, and are tracked down by Mahone, and after a brief cat and mouse stalking match, Michael traps Agent Mahone in a cage with a propane line open, preventing the agent from shooting him. Sara walks out on Michael, only to be caught by Kellerman. It’ll be interesing where that story leads, although the convinience of Linc’s father coming and rescuing them is a little suspect. Plus, seeing T-Bag get beaten up more is even better, because the punk had it coming. Who’s going to bet that he’ll rip off his hand getting out before the police arrive?
Heroes, 107: I love this show, and I’m loving that they’re starting to get some of the main characters together, more so than before. Greg Grunburg’s character is still fairly isolated, but hopefully, they’ll be bringing him into the fold soon. Peter’s brother is a dick, and annoying me. I bet he’ll become a villian, and Scyler is proving to be an interesting plot point, although I hope that they show him soon. The fact that there’s a number of other people out there with powers is interesting, and I’m excited to see who else they will eventually show. This show rocks, hardcore.
Veronica Mars, 306: Okay, this was a fun episode, but not as good as last week’s episode. Plagerism is the theme of this week’s episode – Remember what happened to Wallace last week? Well, that’s more of a central focus, and resolved – Wallace is still in class, but buckling down and drawing out of sports. Veronica is accused of cheating on a paper of her’s, which leads her around to find some interesting things about a professor, and gets to be buddy/buddy with the Dean, who seems to have chilled a bit for this week. Lamb has a surprising appearance when Veronica goes to him with some information, although his reaction to Veronica is hilarious, as usual. Her father was hit by a car! I thought that they’d seriously hurt him, but looks like he got really lucky, twice. And finally, Piz has a more central role, and Veronica makes some headway on the rape case. So, fun, good episode. Hopefully they’ll give this the full season order again. EDIT: As of Friday, the CW has given an order for three additional episodes, which is a step in the right direction.
House, MD, 306: House is still in hot water, and they have a 500 lbs patient who claims that his recent coma wasn’t due to his weight. I liked him, finally, a patient with some brains and really rationalised the fact that he was obese. Cameron is turning into a more interesting character by the episode, more sarcastic. I suspect that House is rubbing off on her a bit. And Chase was being really annoying, but where did he go? He vanished mid episode. David Morse’s character is also annoying, but he’s not wrong about some of the things that he says. That being said, I still don’t like him very much. Next week’s episode should be interesting, but I really wish that FOX would stop with the “In their most controversal/challenging/puzzling case yet.” No shit sherlock- They’re hard cases, that’s why House gets them.
LOST, 306: Gaaah! If there’s anything that LOST is good at, it’s making people jump up and yell at the TV. That was my reaction to this episode, especially at the end. And, NATHAN FILLION aka MALCOM REYNOLDS, from FIREFLY. YAY! No obvious Firefly nods, but it was good to see him again. Kate and Sawyer get it on, and you just know that sex kills on that island. I’m seriously wondering if they have the guts to kill either Kate or Sawyer. I doubt it, but I was seriously thinking that they’d kill off Sawyer this episode. And What was it that Locke paused about? Either that quote means something to him, or he just realised something about the island. And the Others really need to invest in Masterlocks. AND, Holy Cliffhanger Batman! This is going to be a very long 16 weeks.
Jericho, 107: Finally, an episode that’s probably the best since the pilot, if not better. This episode is how the show should be going. The brothers father is still ill, and they have to go to a city that’s about 90 miles away for meds. When they get there, they find that the city’s deserted, and that the hospital has been shot up – by a group of mercenaries. They meet up with a surviving merc, who’s wounded, and a doctor, get the meds, and have to shoot their way out. Meanwhile, back in town, Grey confronts Hawkins about his past, and they find an FBI badge. Somehow, I doubt that Hawkins is in the FBI. Although I thought that part of the story was a little heavy handed.
This episode worked because of several things: The pacing and editing was good, they’re focusing on the world outside the town, and it’s interesting to see that the government is still intact, to some extent, and I think we sorta found out where Jake was for five years (Iraq). I’m thinking that he was also a mercenary. Plus, Bitchy!girl didn’t make an appearance, nor did the store keeper. If they focus on the civil unrest and the actual bombs, that would be better than the interpersonal things in the town.
Supernatural, 207: Wow, this was a fun and pretty creepy episode, and it made some interesting changes. Over the past 30 or so episodes, we’ve seen Sam and Dean break the law a number of times, breaking into places, killing things, the whole nine yards. Now, the law actually catches up to them, and from the episode Skin, there were some repercussions. The brothers are caught after a spirit appears to have killed a couple of people, and they’re implicated. The two cops (I believe that they are alumni of major horror movies) and when the female detective also sees the ghost, she and Sam team up to track the spirit down. Turns out it’s not a vengeful spirit at all, it’s trying to tell them who the real killer is, and it’s the detective’s partner. Nice way to turn that around a couple ways. Light on the classic rock, but the soundtrack took an extremely creepy turn this episode, which was cool. The spirit was also pretty creepy – nice job with the CGI here. I’ll be interested if the events from Skin pop up again somewhere.
Battlestar Galactica, 208: This episode was both good and disapointing at the same time. Good, because it’s a darker episode – Roslin and a majority of the fleet consider genocide as they find out that the Cylons are able to catch and die from the disease. Disapointing, because this could have seriously been a major story arch, but only to have one character effectively kill it – with the cylons that were the carriers – off within the episode. The Galactica had a bunch of Cylons on board, ready to execute them in order to kill off the entire Cylon race. It doesn’t get any darker than that.
The ramifications of this are just as dark- Should the humans completely wipe out the race that’s been attacking them, destroyed their entire race and sent them flying around the stars with little hope for escape? Everyone except Helo I guess. The Cylons should have been killed off and the humans should have done everything in their power to do it, to maintain the fact that they’re still alive. Helo’s arguments were crap – There would have been very few tears shed for the Cylons, and maybe a historian or two to argue about the morality over it. I guess Helo just ‘forgot’ that humanity was almost completely wiped out. The nice thing is that they’re returned to the question that’s been asked a lot earlier in the seasons – How Human are the Cylons? Still unanswered.
The episode did have it’s strong points, and if Helo didn’t kill those Cylons, this may have been the start of one of the best episodes in the series. The team going into the Cylon Basestar was fun to watch, although I’m wondering about the desctuction, and where Athena’s allegences really lie (I suspect that she set off the self destruct on the ship). Lee’s realization with what the course of action should be sent chills down my spine.
And where was Tigh and Starbuck? They really weren’t in this episode at all.

Also, I’ve watched the remaining episodes of Smith, and I’ll try and post a review up shortly.

TV Recap: October 30

Some good episodes this week:

Prison Break, 209: Fantastic episode – Several surprises throughout. Lincoln was captured at the end. I didn’t see that coming at all. Mahone’s secret, the guy he’d been chasing buried in his back yard, which was a very nice tie in to where the guy was mentioned earlier in the season, which really makes Mahone’s character more interesting. C-Note’s bringing his family together was interesting, and finally, T-Bag runs into Bellick and gets knocked around a bit. The bastard finally has something of what’s been coming to him. There was a lot going in this episode, and the next episode should be good. This is definently one of the best shows on TV.
Heroes, 106: This seemed to focus mostly on Nikki, which I was a little worried about. She’s not my favourite character in the group, but this episode made me like her a little more. Her husband comes back, and we learn a bit of their background, and it was also interesting to see insane!Nikki and Hiro’s paths cross in the poker game. Claire’s father setting up the fake parents was interesting, as was the relevation about her illness as a kid. Peter and the Painter was interesting, advancing the story a little bit. And where’s Greg? I hope that he links up with the group sometime soon. Good episode though, still really loving this show.
Studio 60: This was on haitus this week, which annoyed me. NBC is assuring us that the show’s not going to be cancelled any time soon, but this isn’t the best of moves. I’m really waiting for next episode.
House, 305: I only caught the last half of this episode, but House seems to be back to normal, and he’s been arrested! Yikes. Hopefully, I’ll get more from the recap or find it on Youtube, but it’s good to have the doctor back.
Veronica Mars, 305: I love Veronica. Where last week’s episode was fairly lackluster, this one came back with a bang. Veronica went to find Logan in an illegal gambling room on campus, only to be there when two guys, dressed up in masks and fake guns stormed in, stole all the money and Veronica’s necklace – A gift from Lilly. Much of the episode is spent on solving that case, but there’s a little progression made with the rape case, as Veronica identifies the guy in the ATM photo, and on Keith Mar’s side of things, he helps the Dean of Herst College find a former husband of his wife’s, only to get tangled in a bit of a mess there. Couple of really funny things, Veronica using Weevil as a presentation in her class. “He said we could use audio/visual components. He’s audio, ‘Yo!’ and visual.” Lamb was pretty funny this episode, as was the interactions between everyone and himself.
The only weird thing was with Wallace. He’s clearly having trouble in class, but the entire storyline just didn’t fit with the rest of the episode. It was good to see a lot of the regular cast though, although Piz is still nowhere to be seen, and Logan had a pretty small role. Great episode though.
LOST, 305: Finally! A couple answers – we learn why Jack (At least sorta, kinda) was brought to the Other’s place, to treat Ben, but that there’s factions within the group. I’ll be interested to learn more about that in upcoming episodes. Plus, Ecko died, right with a great backstory on him. ‘Tis a shame, but I guess we’ve all sorta seen that coming since he was arrested for some sort of driving charge. It really is a curse. And we get another good look at the smoke monster! It’s back, and it can make a fist and slam people around. Weird and interesting.
Jericho, 107: Well, that sucked. This episode seemed to be “People taking a stand”. They’re still dealing with people being unlawful and hording food and things. Jake tries to deal with the guys, and they sort of come to an arrangement. We learn that NYC wasn’t nuked, and that they stopped the people before hand- We learned that this was the actions of three person teams in trucks, which is interesting. Bitchy!Girl is still here, and with more screentime than ever, which is annoying, as with the shop keeper. Even Hawkins wasn’t that interesting this episode. The dad’s about to die, and from the preview of next week, the brothers are going out to find meds, and run into soldiers, who’ve either gone crazy or someting random like that.
CSI, 705: I don’t usually watch CSI, becuase I find it too formulaic. However, Alan Tyduk was in this episode, as a child sex offender, which was really odd to see. The characters look a bit different from when I last saw the show. Two children went missing, and the CSI team goes out after them. Really creepy episode.
Supernatural, 206: Wow, I think this was one of the best episodes in the season thus far, if not the entire series. A lot of the episodes have followed a lot of plots and taken elements from horror movies, this one is the first that I can recall that takes the camera work to that level. Lots of handheld work, and it really was pretty creepy at times. In this episode, the US’s first Serial Killer, H.H. Holmes, (Who was real – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes) who was killed where there was an apartment building. He’s now gone to kidnapping and killing blonde women in the place. The Brothers are joined by Jo, who went against her mother’s wishes and tagged along, and ends up getting captured herself. They end up tracking the spirit down, but instead of killing it, they trap it in place in a ring of salt. Very cool plan, and the spirit definently didn’t like that. Plus, they made fun of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise.

Sam: What’s in Los Angeles?
Dean: Young girl’s been kidnapped by an evil cult.
Sam: Girl got a name?
Dean: Katie Holmes

Battlestar Galactica, 306: Another fantastic episode – We’ve left behind New Caprica, but there are repercussions. Tigh and Kara are bitter about their experiences, and I suspect that despite the talking to that they got from Adama. Baltar is with the Cylons, and being busy, and Lee lost all that weight that he gained. Finally, Sharon is now Athena, which is an interesting touch for her.
The most interesting part of this episode was the interior workings of the Cylons. There was a lot in this episode, from how the Cylons percieve things, the interiors of the Basestars, the Hybrids, the controls, some more information about the remaining five unknown Cylon models.
Finally, there’s the beacon from Earth, and the fleet seems to be on the way to Earth, and it could prove to be a race. That’s assuming that the Cylons aren’t wiped out by the disease, which is very interesting. Looks like the Humans on Earth are pretty advanced, to some extent. Next episode is looking good.
And did anyone get a Minority Repot vibe with the Hybrids?

TV Recap – October 24th

Decent episodes this week, some dropped shows:

Prison Break, 208: Finally, after a three week break, the convicts are back, and after one helluva cliff hanger, when Sucre held a gun to the remaining convicts and seemed to run off with the money. Seems that he and Michael planned that whole thing, and it would’ve worked until they realized that they didn’t have all the money after all. Sucre ended up getting pinned by a tree for most of the episode, Lincoln actually came up with a good plan to reunite with his plan, Mahone and Kellerman are working together? Man, I didn’t see that coming.
Heroes, 105: This show frickin rocks. The groundwork for the various characters meeting up is placed, with Nathan and Hiro meeting in Las Vegas, Peter and the painter meeting up, and with Hiro telling Peter to tell his younger self something that he finds over the episode. Future!Hiro looks badass. I can’t wait to see what happens next, and man, this show’s going to rock.
Studio 60, 105: This show just gets better and better with the humor, every week, and this episode was amazing. Jordan’s antics trying to find a friend was really funny, another side to her character that we haven’t seen much of yet, Matt and Harriet’s connection is becoming more and more interesting, if a little predictable, and the veteran and alum of the show coming back for his photograph was just brilliant, well acted and scripted.
Veronica Mars, 304: Er. I love Veronica Mars, but this was one of the weaker episodes thus far in Season 3. Two storylines, with Veronica helping prove that one of the suspect fraternities wasn’t behind the rape, and helping Logan find out where some of his money was vanishing to when he finds that his inheritance was running low. Where’s Wallace, Piz and Weevil? The thing that I really liked about the first two seasons was the ensamble cast. While this episode wasn’t horrible, it wasn’t a usual Veronica Mars episode. That being said, the preview for next week looked really good.
LOST, 304: Finally, a bit more of a good episode that a) carries the story forwards a bit more, and b) adds in some more interesting elements, like another island. We learn some more into Sawyer’s past, that he went to prison (did anyone else get a prison break vibe there?) and he was beat up, stabbed with a really big needle and told that he had a pacemaker in his chest (he didn’t really). All this still brings us to the question of: What do the Others want? Hopefully in the next two episodes, we’ll get a litle more.
The Nine, 104: I missed this week’s episode, and I’m not in the mood to deal with ABC’s crappy platform for video. Maybe I’ll get the episode next week, maybe not.
Jericho, 106: I’m still hanging onto this show, because the previews for each week look better than the last, although that’s not always the case. This episode brought everyone to the realization that there’s probably no help coming, and there’s the threat of lawlessness. Jake’s family’s horses were stolen, along with a large portion of the town’s food supply. The farmer getting pissed off about everyone wanting his crops was interesting, and I’ve added the storekeeper to the list of people who I want to see die on the show, along with bitchy!girl, who seems to think that an ATM card = a get out of jail free card. The show’s got potential, but they need to get away from the drama-ey aspects of it. Focus on Hawkins and the fact that the US has been nuked.
Supernatural, 105: Remember last season when they came across a kid like Sam with powers? He turned out to be a murderer, and in this one, they find another kid, who can Obi-Wan someone into doing what they want, and he’s killing people. And he’s connected to the demon. Fun episode tonight, pretty gruesome at times, but there were some great lines. “Dr. Badass.” “…I have an evil twin brother…” and Dean just giving up the Impala to the good brother. Priceless. They’re definently pushing the storyline with the kids with powers, and I’m betting that there’s to be more with them later on.
Six Degrees, 106: I skipped this show. I think that I’m going to drop it from the list – It’s no longer holding my interest and it’s turned out to be a composite of everything that’s good with other shows – similar cast types, good soundtrack, but completely lacking direction and a decent story.
Battlestar Galactica 305: In the first four episodes, we saw that some people collaborated with the Cylons – now we see what happens to them – 13 are spaced, by a special tribunal of six people, grossly violating human rights in and of itself. We also learn that Baltar is on board a Basestar, and it’s interesting to see what they look like from the inside.
The most interesting part was when they kidnapped Gaeta, who worked for Baltar under the occupation. He was almost spaced before he told them that he was the one supplying them with intel. I would have thought that he was going to be killed off, but someone else will get that title. There were some interesting things between the characters – Tigh is pissed off, at Gaeta and, apparently Adama. I want to see something with that in the near future. Starbuck is also a wreck, and it’s looking like there’ll be some problems with her marriage. Overall, good episode. Next week’s looks very good.

Good news! Studio 60 has had three more scripts ordered for it, so it’s not going anywhere just yet – Let’s hope that the studio comes to its senses and orders more scripts.

TV Recap: 10-16

My thoughts on this week’s TV:

Heroes, 104: I love this show. So glad that it’s gotten the full season order from NBC, because this show has a huge amount of potential coming in it. Characters are linking up together, which is interesting and Peter getting visited by the time-warping Chinese guy, from the future. Although, wouldn’t someone notice in the autopsy room that their subject just got up and left? Can’t wait for next week.
Studio 60, 104: Another fantastic episode. This one opened funny and stayed that way, although the story was a little weak. Not entirely sure what they were doing with the picking up the reality show then dropping it in the background of the main plot, but I’m guessing that it’ll set up some tensions between the network chairman and president. The romance plot is really getting into stride, and it’s not sucking. Imagine that. If you have not seen this show yet: GO WATCH.
Veronica Mars, 303: I love Veronica. She’s just a great character, and the writing for this show continues to blow me away. In this episode, she helps a friend of a friend of a friend recover a lost/stolen playbook, and manages to not only uncover it, but link a bunch of other things together. This episode was dense. Not only did they cover that, but Veronica and Logan are having their own problems, which is bound to br brought up later on, and Weevil’s back, a little heavier, and for a short time, was working for Veronica’s father as a PI. Yep, that’s right. Can’t wait for next week.
LOST, 303: Finally, a better episode, although I haven’t been able to see the end, because the ABC network platform kept crapping out on me. But, finally, a couple answers. I guess we won’t be seeing the hatch any more, seeing that it’s been destroyed, and apparently the key destroys the anomaly that was forcing them to key in the numbers. Hopefully, we’ll learn more about it and why DHARMA is there, although I suspect that we’ll learn about it through th same thing with the Others. It was nice to see the island regulars again, and not just Jack, Kate and Sawyer. Can’t wait for next week.
The Nine, 103: I like the concept of the show, but I’m getting a little worried about the direction that the story’s taking us. The past couple episodes have both released some more hints about what happened in the bank robbery, all well and good, but after those couple of minutes, we’re over to the lives of the characters in the aftermath. Some are taking interesting turns, but for the most part, they’re having their own problems, while I’m wondering about what happened in the bank. The girl is still freaking out over the fact that she didn’t have any memory of the robbery, the doctor boched the job of killing one of the robbers in the hospital, and the social worker is still pregnant and freaking out about it. I’m not as interested in who’s going to develop a relationship or who’s going to fall out with the other. If I wanted that, I’d watch Grey’s Anatomy.
Jericho, 105: Good episode. All the phones in the town get an automated message that Homeland Security is on the way, and a fire breaks out in the library because of a power surge. Bitch-girl is still there, and still annoying, and Rob (the black guy with the armory and suit) is still a mystery. What the hell is he doing and who does he represent? He’s more interesting than Jake and his absence from the town. And missiles were launched! I wonder what that’s all about.
Supernatural, 204: Cool episode, and an interesting spin on zombies. A guy brings back his dead girlfriend after she has a bad car accident and now she has a temper problem. Unfortunently, her temper comes with breaking people’s necks. The brothers get involved with some real character stuff, with Dean and Sam still dealing with the aftermath of their father’s death. Summer Glau was supposed to be in this episode, but wasn’t, and that makes me sad.
Six Degrees, 105: I’m starting to lose faith in this show, and it was so promising too. We learn a little about Mae’s past and why she’s been on the run, but there’s not much else that’s really holding my interest with this show. Characters are interesting, to a point, but the story’s not going anywhere. I’ll give it another week or so to see if things will improve, although I’m not holding out for anything.
Battlestar Galactica, 304: Holy frack, this episode just brought everything that’s good about Galactica to the table, the incredible action, CGI, characters and story. The Galactica returns to New Caprica to rescue the remaining people, and oh man, do they do that. Adama uses raptors and drones to draw off the base stars and then jumps the Galactica into New Caprica’s atmosphere, shedding fighters and dropping like a rock, before jumping back out. Adama is a badass. People are freed, Tigh kills his wife, Kara finds out that Kasey isn’t hers and the fleet loses the Pegaus. The emotion, from when Tigh’s wife is killed, to the look on Adama’s face when he’s told that the Galactica’s lost FTL and will probably be destroyed, is perfect. Right to the incredible moments when the Pegasus comes to Galactica’s rescue to when the Galactica jumps into the atmosphere. Brilliant. Just brilliant. This show has got to win an emmy for this episode. Or I’ll be pissed.

TV Recap: 10-9

South Park, Make Love, Not Warcraft: I don’t watch South Park on a regular basis, but when they do something like make fun of World of Warcraft and generally make fun of geeks, it’s worth watching. This episode was fracking hilarious. The sterotypical geek they produced were hilarious, and in true South Park style, they throw some morals in here and there.

Studio 60, 104: Another killer episode from this show. I missed it on the initial run, but thankfully, NBC has apparently been named the #1 website for online content. I thought that this episode was hilarious, lots of witty humour and some great jokes. This episode dealt with a joke sketch that was plagerized, with hilarious results, and it’s brilliantly handled. I’m a history major at school, and plagerism is such a huge issue. Interesting to see what the reaction would be if it happened in a show like this. Episode also dealt with Harriet’s and Matt’s former romance and things popping up. The ratings drop seems to be slowing down a little, so hopefully the show’s found it’s audience. I really hope that it’s enough for the show to continue.

Heroes, 103: This show just plain rocks, and it’s getting bigger. This episode was more of a progression from last week, with Hiro going to the US, following the comic book that he got when he went to the future, Matt is now working for the FBI, the artist is still going nuts about what he’s been drawing and other random things. The characters are starting to be drawn together, by the comic book and Hiro’s viewing of a nuclear blast in NYC. I do want to see how the Cop (Matt) and the Cheerleader, will meet up with Hiro and the Nurse. Names just aren’t coming to me…
The other really cool thing is the introduction of some super villians. One is telekinetic, and there’s some indication that there’ll be more. Wee!

Veronica Mars, 302: I love this show. Going on strong with some decent ratings this year, up a bit from last season, which is a plus. This episode went two ways, one with Veronica investigating a soroiety house on campus in connection with the rapist, while Logan and Wallace do a class experiment with prisoners and guards, which has some very funny results, but with a pretty serious side to it. Quite a few guest stars here as well, Dan Castenella from the Simpsons, Samm Levine from Freaks and Geeks, which was cool to see. This show’s definently up there with my top favorites.

LOST, 302: This didn’t actually get the top spot in the ratings, which is very surprising. I’m hoping that that doesn’t mean that the show’s beginning to loose it’s audience. Personally, I’ve really enjoyed everything, including 301, even though it’s a bit confusing. It’s certainly not what I would have expected from watching Season 1 when it first came out, and I suspect that that’s what’s losing people.
Aside from that, this was a Sun-Centric episode, along with more adventures from the three captives. Kate and Sawyer grow much closer and the Others capture the boat. This episode really raised a lot more questions, especially with the role of the Others and what’s going on in general. Plus the Others have contact with the outside world, which didn’t come as too much of a surprise after learning they had a town there.

The Nine, 102: A good continuation from the pilot episode, and we get to see a little more from the robbery, including various details on how and why some of the characters are so pissed off at the police and the job that they did. That being said, the police coverup storyline is interesting, although I’m not sure what to think about it yet. I’m getting to like a number of the characters, especially Egan, Nick and Fran. The only thing is that it’s going to take a while for them to tell us what went on during the robbery, which might prove to be frustrating. Still, it looks and sounds good thus far. Unfortunently, the ratings dropped sharply after the pilot, which isn’t good. Hopefully, they’ll retain an audiance to keep it afloat, because I’ll be really pissed if this one is killed.

Jericho, 204: Right when the show was growing on me, it starts to go down again. Not that this was a bad episode, it just wasn’t very good. There’s a power crisis and a survivor shows up with massive burns, mutters that they’re coming before passing out and tells Hawkins that there’s a traitor in their midst. There’s definently some interesting aspects, like what his entire backstory is and with the family that’s not a family, etc. The downer parts of the episode was that stupid girl throwing a party and generally being a bitch. I’m hoping that she gets outed somewhere along the lines of the next episode, because I can’t stand her. Next week’s episode looks to be very interesting, with a telephone called from Homeland Security and trucks with redlights and explosions. But we’ll see. Jericho’s the second show to get a full season order after Heroes.

Six Degrees, 204: This episode seemed to take a long while to get going, but like a number of other episodes, they really got to tie everything together. This seems to be the relevation episode, where everyone knows something about each other and try to tell each other with mixed results. The other thing was the Puncher, some random guy who basically ran around punching people, for a specific reason, we learn, at the end. This episode wasn’t anything that really stood out, but judging from the preview next week, looks like they’ll finally be getting to some questions, especially about Mae.

Supernatural, 203: Vampires are back, which is fun because we’ve been talking about them in Gothic Lit. This episode’s got the best use of music thus far, with Back in Black by AC DC heralding in the return of the Impala. This episode’s a good look at character, especially after their father dies. The title, Bloodlust, doesn’t just refer to the Vampires, but to the giving into anger and rage and losing sight of what they’re doing. Even more interesting, the different ideals between hunters. Blacks and Whites or shades of Grey? Can’t wait for next episode.

Battlestar Galactica, 303: Galactica’s always been one of those really tightly structured shows, and Season 3 isn’t starting off any differently. The people rounded up to be shot are saved, Sharon makes contact with the resistance and gets them prepped, while # 3 learns that Sharon’s baby is still alive.
And, Marines! Being effective! And with rocket launchers! That just made the episode. Adama and Lee seem to have made up a bit, and the speech that Adama gave, that’s gotta be Emmy material right there.
And next week, that looks to be even better.

TV Recap: 8-1

Long list this week. Just so people know, a number of these I see online, Heroes, Jericho, Prison Break, and LOST.

Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip, 103 : This show is getting better and better. It’s brilliant, critical, funny and has such a good staff and writing throughout. The show’s also got a great balance of formula and storyline, building week after week. This week brought in a power outage, as well as focus groups. I really hope that this show’ll do well. It’s got the critical acclaim behind it. Good stuff already, and judging from the first three episodes, we’ve got good things coming. Now, the show has to actually get a following, it’s not doing so well in the ratings. It would be a huge shame to see this one die on us.

Heroes, 102: Another interesting episode, introducing another person with powers, (Agent Weiss!) a cop who can read minds. Where the first episode built up with the characters, this one expounded on that with more character development and began what looks like a story arc involving a nuclear bomb detonating in New York City. I imagine that next episode will be bringing more of the characters together. It’s an interesting concept thus far, and I wonder how they’re going to be bringing everything and everyone together. It’s very comic bookish, which probably means villians and the like.

Smith, 103: Another really fun episode. The show’s getting a little scattered, with a number of random plots, characters having some problems of their own while the team robs an armoured truck. To do so, they had to break onto an Army base and steal a .50 caliber machine gun. Using kittens. That was funny. The heist was really fun to watch, while they pulled everything together and stole the truck. I think the best parts of the heists are the planning and carrying out everything, and this show’s delivering it. Unfortunently, that’s it, because the show’s been cancelled.

The Nine, 101: A lot of critics have been talking about this show with very good things being said about it. The show starts off with nine or so people having a typical start to the day, and all of their paths cross at a bank. While there, two men come in with guns, knock out a guard and tell everyone that it will be over in five minutes. Commercial break and we see press talking about the recent standoff with police that’s lasted 52 hours. The guard apparently died, another hostage aparently got out, another was shot through the chest and later dies, and there’s the sense that there’s a lot of things that have happened behind the doors, such as some problems with the plan to get people out, leading to one character punching out the hostage neigotiator. The characters all seem to share a bond now, and with random flashbacks from what happened in there. It’s a good concept, and definently a promising one.

Prison Break, 205 – 207: The guys have broken out and are on their way to Utah over the past three episodes, after Westmoorland’s money, which is now under a house in what used to be a ranch. The various characters all come to Utah through various ways, and they begin fighting over the scraps. Two more characters die, Tweener and the Governor, and more into the FBI agent’s drug habits are seen.
The show’s going strong, I’m really interested in what’ll happen next with the standoff between Sucre and the rest of everyone, as well as what Lincoln will be up to, as well as where they’re going with the rest of the government conspiracy thing.

Jericho, 103: Interesting episode, after the rain has fallen, and the people have the chance to see what happened. It’s pretty clear that the US was attacked, but by whom, that’s the question, especially with Tanks running around. And what does that former cop know that he’s not sharing? The show’s starting to grow on me, mainly because it’s got a lot of tale ends…

LOST, 301: Whoa. The Others have a town on the island, occupying a former DHARMA Inititive site, have everyone held captive for some weird reason, and what’s going on? It’s interesting, but yeah, not a whole lot of reference points here. I guess we’ll be finding out in future episodes, but it’s nothing like I expected at all. We did learn where the polar bears came from though.

Supernatural, 202: Nice pickup for the rest of the series following the Winchester’s father’s death. Best words of the series: “Clowns? What the f…?” spoken by a mulletheaded MIT dropout. Yep, this episode had killer clowns, and that was just creepy in and of itself. From all reports, there’s some more characters that’ll be semi-regular throughout the season that appeared in this episode, through a Hunter’s Bar. That was a cool idea. Overall, good episode, and it looks like this season’ll be pretty good.

Six Degrees, 103: I’m still hanging onto this show. Characters are interesting, and there were some relevations into some characters, some motives explained, although not much. It seems directionless, although there’s a couple of plots that are shaping up to collide, such as the murder in the pilot, as well as the Mae’s past. (I’m blanking on some names). I’d be interested to see where some of these things end up. It’s nice to have a sort of mellow show, without lawyers, forensics experts and tons of fantastic happenings. This one just feels down to earth.

Battlestar Galactica, 301/302: Okay, I’m just reminded why Galactica is pretty much my all time favorite show now. Season 3 is beautiful. From the camera work and directorial eye, there are times when this feels like it could be a big budget movie.
Season 3 starts off dark. We see what people have been up to. Tigh is leading an insurgency, Roslin is teaching, Starbuck is being held captive by a Cylon who loves her, and in the fleet, they’re running exercises and getting ready. Adama and Lee are at odds and the Cylons are recruiting humans to do their dirty work.
Man, this is the one show not to miss. I’ll be posting a full review of episodes 301 and 302 tomorrow on the CIC, linked in the sidebar.

Aaaand, the first casualilty of the season has come, with the NBC show Kidnapped being cut. However, the show will continue it’s 13 episode order, and the writers have enough time to end it properly. Other shows, such as The Unit and Heroes have both recieved full season orders. And, as reported yesterday, Smith has also gotten cut.

Finally! Someone notices!

The New York Times just did their review of The Nine, which starts this week, and included an interesting paragraph:

This year, suspense is the new forensics: instead of grisly crimes that are neatly wrapped up by episode’s end, many of the new dramas stretch the plot through an entire season, holding viewers’ attention by withholding a denouement and ending each episode with a cliffhanger.

Anyone with their eyes open could have told you that – it’s nice to see some bigger recognition of this though. TV has gone from standalonish episodes to longer story arcs. LOST is commonly assosiated with this, but it goes further back, to Babylon 5 and to the new Battlestar Galactica. LOST, Smith, Veronica Mars, Battlestar and numerous others are taking this on. It’s a good change.

In other random happenings: I found my camera, got my iPod to work, turned into a zombie at work and am now back on my bike. Wee!

Internet TV: New Season

Last year, and earlier this year, I posted up a series of essays on television’s increase in quality, as well as the changing role of television programmes and the internet. iTunes has increased it’s number of television shows from just a couple of ABC shows to two-hundred twenty. They’ve also picked up shows such as Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Prison Break, Law and Order, CSI, The Office, and have added a feature called a Season Pass, which will allow you to purchase the entire season ahead of time, all that you have to do is download the episode when it’s put online. In addition to the huge number of shows that have been added online, Apple Corp. has just revamped the iPod and iTunes. The new iPods have a better screen and longer battery life, aimed specifically at being able to watch videos on the devices. They’re not the full screen iPods as had been rumoured, but iTunes has become more visual. CD Cover art is more prominant, and the video quality has gone up. Towards the end of the typical TV seasons earlier this spring, where ABC put several of their shows online free, streaming, with limited ads. FOX and CBS have followed suit with some of their shows thus far. Fox put up four of the first episodes of Prison Break, Vanished, and has followed with a couple of other shows. CBS has placed their new show Smith, CSI: Miami, and the Unit online. I’m sure that several other networks (Please, please, please, CW, put up Supernatural and Veronica Mars online).
So what does this mean? Television is breaking further into the internet. NBC, SciFi, ABC, CW, and CBS have all added online video hubs. These hubs offer a number of different options, ranging from the full episodes of television episodes to behind the scenes and promos for upcoming episodes. I don’t think that it needs to be said, but TV is here on the internet to stay.
There’s a couple of reasons for content being provided online. The technology is here, with broadband connections becoming ever more powerful. I, for the first time, have Cable internet, and as a result, I’ve been watching Prison Break, Battlestar Galactica, and currently, Smith, streaming. It’s a cool thing.
I’m also extremely pleased with it because I can now watch the episode a day or so after it airs, which is very nice because my job will be taking me away from the tube, and for shows with content that relied heavily on the story aspect, it’s nice to have the option to be able to catch up without waiting half the year for a re-run.
There are, with all good thing, some drawbacks. iTunes music files are fairly large, ranging from 396 megabytes to 912 megabytes. These are huge files, and they have the potential to really eat up your hard drive in huge bites. No pun intended. But currently, I’m down to about 7 free gigabytes on my own hard drive. In addition, the streaming shows are just that, streaming. The quality level on the full screen settings are pretty weak, and if your connection is spotty, you’re likely to have trouble.
Security is another drawback. with sites like Youtube, Google Video and Myspace videos gaining in popularity, it’ll be a matter of time before there will be some news about television networks and their programs ending up on these sites. I know that House has made an appearance as a six part upload, as I’m sure that several other shows have done. Warner Brothers has signed a deal with Youtube for their content, while another has condemned the site.
Finally, not all shows are online. Fox, much to my annoyance, hasn’t put up House for download on iTunes, nor streaming. So, if there’s really one show that you have your heart set on, it might be hit or miss whether it’ll be online for viewing or not. Well, there’s always the DVDs, or you know, making sure that you’ll be able to make the TV date.
I generally get around that little problem by watching the episodes while I’m doing other things, like writing, talking with other people, and with it in a small corner of my screen.
Things are likely to improve. Image quality has a little ways to go, but I’m betting that we’ll see some slower progress, as with higher quality episodes, we’ll have bigger megabyte sizes. Bigger sizes mean longer download times and more space taken up on your computer.

Next up: Lost Clones, the TV/Movie Barrier and high quality storylines.