Holy cow. The River of Mnemonsyne challenge at The Tenth Daughter of Memory is over, and I'll be honest: I'm exhausted. Voting is underway amid some fierce competition and I can't wait until the entire process is over.
It's nice to get back to a much less demanding schedule. Mondays and Wednesdays, for the past couple of weeks usurped by the challenge, are now back in the domain of ranting about things that I feel like ranting about (regarding matters of which you likely care not).
Kind of a pity, really, that I can't think of anything to say. My brain is still trying to dump the story I spent so much time on. Ah, well... I'll normalize in a few days, I'm sure.
Random Musings
In addition to Theme Thursday, I've begun participating in another writing group called Magpie Tales. It's a similar group, but uses an image as a prompt, rather than a word. My only hesitation with the group is that the entries are due on Tuesdays, which (if you take a look at my intended posting schedule) pretty much preempts all of my work to one of the two groups. Where am I going with this? Well, in all likelihood, while I will most certainly participate in both, it's probably not going to be on a weekly basis anymore. After all, there's still the normal bi-weekly The Tenth Daughter of Memory to worry about.
I need to travel. Overseas. I haven't for a while and I can feel it. I'm a bit of a wanderer and I don't like staying in one place for too long. I've received invites to Croatia and Morocco. Anybody else feel like offering a couch?
Been enjoying Chuck on NBC and picked up Burn Notice on USA. Love 'em. Also caught Human Target on Fox, and while I'm a huge fan of the comic books, I'm so far unimpressed with the television version. Lost, however, seems to be recapturing some of its old magic.
I find it hilarious that, due to the dominance of the Canadian and American teams, Women's Hockey might cease to be an Olympic sport.
Speaking of the Olympics... anybody else enjoying their fade into irrelevance? Maybe I'll expand on this at another time, but maybe I won't. I think they need to go back to holding the entire Olympics every 4 years, rather than the 2-year rotation between Summer and Winter.
Eh... that's enough from me for today.
Showing posts with label Lost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lost. Show all posts
Monday, February 22, 2010
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The Spring 2008 Television Season: a Quick Review
Okay, so this is more of a "first three months of 2008" review, rather than a Spring 2008 one, but who the Hell cares?
At any rate, the WGA strike is over and television will soon return to some semblance of normalcy (provided SAG doesn’t strike next). Until then, however, we were left with a rather chaotic early 2008 season. Here are my humble opinions:
The only show I watched on ABC this year (so far) was Lost, and it is pretty damned good, if you ask me. Still, one can notice a certain "rush to finish" (next season is reported to be the last) and the new "flash forward" gimmick has already proven itself too weak to support the season in its entirety, but it still rocks.
On CBS, I was convinced by a friend to watch Jericho, which, thankfully, has just been axed. Great concept, but a definite "rush to finish" mentality (not entirely the writers’ faults, mind you), but extremely sub-par execution. This is not suprising, however, as CBS is rife with sub-par execution (anything without CSI in the title).
The best thing on CBS so far this year was Comanche Moon, the final chapter of the Lonesome Dove saga. Great series, second only to the original. Steve Zahn was near-perfect as Gus McCrae.
Moving on the NBC, I forced myself to suffer through that hack Knight Rider update. Ugh... it’ll get picked up for series, I’m sure, where it won’t last a full season. Think Bionic Woman and you’ve got the right idea.
Let’s see... off the top of my head, I can only recall watching one series on ABC, one on CBS, and not a one on NBC (still waiting for Life and Chuck to come back). Which brings me to Fox... ah, thank the television gods for Fox.
There was Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, New Amsterdam, and American Idol. T:TSCC was rather interesting, and I did rather like it.
Unfortunately, the entire premise is based on a continuity error (explicitly identified in the pilot episode), and it’s really hard for me to keep watching. Still, with the surprising addition of former Beverly Hills 90210 loser Brian Austin Green as a fairly convincing soldier from the future, the show still has my interest. Now we just have to see if it gets picked up.
New Amsterdam has a concept that I really, really like. But, as with many new shows, the series hasn’t found its groove yet (which isn’t an excuse), and it may not make it. Sucks, too, since I have a connection to the lead actress. Ah, well... here’s hoping it gets much better... and fast.
American Idol is, well, American Idol. I can honestly say that I’m tired of the purposefully-goofy auditions, and would much rather watch a serious show. I can also honestly say that the current contestants see themselves far greater than they are (with one or two possible exceptions). And, to wrap it up, I can also honestly say those concert-going posers in the audience really annoy the fuck out of me when they stand up and sway during ballads. I get that they’re all 14-year-old girls, but for fuck’s sake... It’s gotten to the point that I fast-forward through the singing because I can’t stand to watch.
This blog is getting long, and there is no clear train of thought, so let me just add a few things:
HBO’s John Adams is undeniably the miniseries of the year (sorry Comance Moon). It’s a must-see. And, if you don’t like it, or at least find yourself not having a little more respect for our flag, then you need to get the fuck out of my country.
BBC America is addictive. I pretty much watch everything Gordon Ramsay, and am now stuck on yet another kitchen show: Last Restaurant Standing. Fantastic. I can’t wait for an American network to import it and fuck it all up.
I’m sure there are more shows I’ve been watching that I’ve missed, but oh, well... I’m sick of typing.
Have a nice day.
At any rate, the WGA strike is over and television will soon return to some semblance of normalcy (provided SAG doesn’t strike next). Until then, however, we were left with a rather chaotic early 2008 season. Here are my humble opinions:
The only show I watched on ABC this year (so far) was Lost, and it is pretty damned good, if you ask me. Still, one can notice a certain "rush to finish" (next season is reported to be the last) and the new "flash forward" gimmick has already proven itself too weak to support the season in its entirety, but it still rocks.
On CBS, I was convinced by a friend to watch Jericho, which, thankfully, has just been axed. Great concept, but a definite "rush to finish" mentality (not entirely the writers’ faults, mind you), but extremely sub-par execution. This is not suprising, however, as CBS is rife with sub-par execution (anything without CSI in the title).
The best thing on CBS so far this year was Comanche Moon, the final chapter of the Lonesome Dove saga. Great series, second only to the original. Steve Zahn was near-perfect as Gus McCrae.
Moving on the NBC, I forced myself to suffer through that hack Knight Rider update. Ugh... it’ll get picked up for series, I’m sure, where it won’t last a full season. Think Bionic Woman and you’ve got the right idea.
Let’s see... off the top of my head, I can only recall watching one series on ABC, one on CBS, and not a one on NBC (still waiting for Life and Chuck to come back). Which brings me to Fox... ah, thank the television gods for Fox.
There was Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, New Amsterdam, and American Idol. T:TSCC was rather interesting, and I did rather like it.
Unfortunately, the entire premise is based on a continuity error (explicitly identified in the pilot episode), and it’s really hard for me to keep watching. Still, with the surprising addition of former Beverly Hills 90210 loser Brian Austin Green as a fairly convincing soldier from the future, the show still has my interest. Now we just have to see if it gets picked up.
New Amsterdam has a concept that I really, really like. But, as with many new shows, the series hasn’t found its groove yet (which isn’t an excuse), and it may not make it. Sucks, too, since I have a connection to the lead actress. Ah, well... here’s hoping it gets much better... and fast.
American Idol is, well, American Idol. I can honestly say that I’m tired of the purposefully-goofy auditions, and would much rather watch a serious show. I can also honestly say that the current contestants see themselves far greater than they are (with one or two possible exceptions). And, to wrap it up, I can also honestly say those concert-going posers in the audience really annoy the fuck out of me when they stand up and sway during ballads. I get that they’re all 14-year-old girls, but for fuck’s sake... It’s gotten to the point that I fast-forward through the singing because I can’t stand to watch.
This blog is getting long, and there is no clear train of thought, so let me just add a few things:
HBO’s John Adams is undeniably the miniseries of the year (sorry Comance Moon). It’s a must-see. And, if you don’t like it, or at least find yourself not having a little more respect for our flag, then you need to get the fuck out of my country.
BBC America is addictive. I pretty much watch everything Gordon Ramsay, and am now stuck on yet another kitchen show: Last Restaurant Standing. Fantastic. I can’t wait for an American network to import it and fuck it all up.
I’m sure there are more shows I’ve been watching that I’ve missed, but oh, well... I’m sick of typing.
Have a nice day.
Monday, December 3, 2007
The Fall 2007 Television Season: an Update
Now that we're moving into the mid-season breaks, it's easier to call which shows have it, and which ones don't.
Obviously, fan favorites such as Lost and 24 have yet to return, so I won't be offering any conjecture on those.
Well, I'm tired, so let's just run through this, shall we?
Prison Break - still well-acted and fairly well-written, it's becoming painfully obvious that the gimmick is up. I'll keep watching, though, if only to see where it goes. New viewers might get a kick of it, and loyal fanboys (and girls) will obviously remain loyal, but there's not much here for the casual viewer to latch onto.
Heroes - despite a slow, agonizing start to its second season, the show has finally picked back up and is back to its first season quality.
Bionic Woman - is officially banned from my television.
Moonlight - I gave up on this a while ago, but happened to catch the last episode. It appears that the plot has evolved into something engaging. Unfortunately, poor production values and crap acting are still hampering this great concept. Jury's still out on whether or not I jump back into this one.
House - still the best character on television, and though I'm sad to see the "who gets hired?" subplot go, I'm looking forward to the show's Spring return.
The Unit - finding its way, though given that it's in its third season, it should have done that about 30 episodes ago. Military aficionados will enjoy this, even though military inaccuracies still frequent the series far too often.
Life - best new show on television. Period.
Journeyman - started off good (if a little slow), and keeps getting better and better. It'll be a shame if continued poor ratings forces NBC to ax this one.
K-Ville - another show still finding its way. It's a competent series, but is missing that something extra to make it truly a good one. I doubt it'll last long enough, but it'd be nice if the show finds a direction to go in. As it stands now, this is a show that belongs in the 1980s.
Kitchen Nightmares - yes, it's a reality show, but it's a damned good one. The only slight against it is that it pays less attention to the actual restaurant industry, and more attention to the "drama" inherent to the people working in a failing restaurant. The British version managed to do both, so why can't the American version follow suit?
Battlestar Galactica: Razor - cheesy. Bad characterization, bad plot progression, decent writing. As far as being the actual Battlestar Galactica Season 4 setup? Bad, bad idea.
Pushing Daisies - odd, quirky, and totally engaging in a camp kind of way. In this case, however, camp is a good thing. A good example of a television series simply having fun with itself, and not at the expense of its viewers.
Anyway, the SciFi remake of The Wizard of Oz, Tin Man, is on my DVR. More on that to follow.
Obviously, fan favorites such as Lost and 24 have yet to return, so I won't be offering any conjecture on those.
Well, I'm tired, so let's just run through this, shall we?
Prison Break - still well-acted and fairly well-written, it's becoming painfully obvious that the gimmick is up. I'll keep watching, though, if only to see where it goes. New viewers might get a kick of it, and loyal fanboys (and girls) will obviously remain loyal, but there's not much here for the casual viewer to latch onto.
Heroes - despite a slow, agonizing start to its second season, the show has finally picked back up and is back to its first season quality.
Bionic Woman - is officially banned from my television.
Moonlight - I gave up on this a while ago, but happened to catch the last episode. It appears that the plot has evolved into something engaging. Unfortunately, poor production values and crap acting are still hampering this great concept. Jury's still out on whether or not I jump back into this one.
House - still the best character on television, and though I'm sad to see the "who gets hired?" subplot go, I'm looking forward to the show's Spring return.
The Unit - finding its way, though given that it's in its third season, it should have done that about 30 episodes ago. Military aficionados will enjoy this, even though military inaccuracies still frequent the series far too often.
Life - best new show on television. Period.
Journeyman - started off good (if a little slow), and keeps getting better and better. It'll be a shame if continued poor ratings forces NBC to ax this one.
K-Ville - another show still finding its way. It's a competent series, but is missing that something extra to make it truly a good one. I doubt it'll last long enough, but it'd be nice if the show finds a direction to go in. As it stands now, this is a show that belongs in the 1980s.
Kitchen Nightmares - yes, it's a reality show, but it's a damned good one. The only slight against it is that it pays less attention to the actual restaurant industry, and more attention to the "drama" inherent to the people working in a failing restaurant. The British version managed to do both, so why can't the American version follow suit?
Battlestar Galactica: Razor - cheesy. Bad characterization, bad plot progression, decent writing. As far as being the actual Battlestar Galactica Season 4 setup? Bad, bad idea.
Pushing Daisies - odd, quirky, and totally engaging in a camp kind of way. In this case, however, camp is a good thing. A good example of a television series simply having fun with itself, and not at the expense of its viewers.
Anyway, the SciFi remake of The Wizard of Oz, Tin Man, is on my DVR. More on that to follow.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The "What the F*ck?" Awards, March 2007
The WTF Diplomacy Award
Iran, with all the recent uproar about wanting to open relations with the West, decided to kidnap a bunch of British sailors. I'm pretty sure they meant open "good" relations, but I could be wrong.
The WTF Movie Award
Homosexual writers tend to think that heterosexual males are fans of the movie 300 because, deep down, heterosexual males are all latently homosexual. Never mind the kick-ass carnage, the historically-based story, and the insanely good cinematography...
The WTF Politics Award
Sean Hannity, right-wing radio pundit, called John Edwards a piece of shit for staying in the Presidential race, implying that Edwards is trying to use his wife's cancer as publicity.
The WTF Music Award
Sanjaya, the talentless, identity-less, teeny-bopper icon has somehow managed to not yet be eliminated from Season 6 of American Idol.
The WTF Television Award
The two pointless new Lost characters, Nikki and Paolo, are eliminated from the show after several pointless appearances, a few pointless lines a dialogue, and a pointless episode pertaining to their pointless existence on the pointless island.
The WTF Science Fiction Award
Just go read any of my previous blogs pertaining to Battlestar Galactica... you'll get the idea.
The WTF Military Award
Not having any sort of clue what to do with Iraq, Afghanistan, or our military in general, the House and Senate voted for a timeline to pull out of Iraq. I'd rather have a timeline to get rid of the Army's embarrassing 'black beret,' but whatever.
The WTF Actor Award
Jeremy Piven, star of Entourage, apparently ran out of money and left a DVD set of his show as a tip after a dinner at an exclusive restaurant.
The WTF Humanitarian Award
Iraq suicide bombers posed as people giving away free flour.
The WTF Health Award
Nicorette gives me gas.
Iran, with all the recent uproar about wanting to open relations with the West, decided to kidnap a bunch of British sailors. I'm pretty sure they meant open "good" relations, but I could be wrong.
The WTF Movie Award
Homosexual writers tend to think that heterosexual males are fans of the movie 300 because, deep down, heterosexual males are all latently homosexual. Never mind the kick-ass carnage, the historically-based story, and the insanely good cinematography...
The WTF Politics Award
Sean Hannity, right-wing radio pundit, called John Edwards a piece of shit for staying in the Presidential race, implying that Edwards is trying to use his wife's cancer as publicity.
The WTF Music Award
Sanjaya, the talentless, identity-less, teeny-bopper icon has somehow managed to not yet be eliminated from Season 6 of American Idol.
The WTF Television Award
The two pointless new Lost characters, Nikki and Paolo, are eliminated from the show after several pointless appearances, a few pointless lines a dialogue, and a pointless episode pertaining to their pointless existence on the pointless island.
The WTF Science Fiction Award
Just go read any of my previous blogs pertaining to Battlestar Galactica... you'll get the idea.
The WTF Military Award
Not having any sort of clue what to do with Iraq, Afghanistan, or our military in general, the House and Senate voted for a timeline to pull out of Iraq. I'd rather have a timeline to get rid of the Army's embarrassing 'black beret,' but whatever.
The WTF Actor Award
Jeremy Piven, star of Entourage, apparently ran out of money and left a DVD set of his show as a tip after a dinner at an exclusive restaurant.
The WTF Humanitarian Award
Iraq suicide bombers posed as people giving away free flour.
The WTF Health Award
Nicorette gives me gas.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Art & Entertainment Musings
I'm so very bored, and we all know what that means... yes, yes... this is the week that all men prepare themselves for the football game of the year, and all women prepare themselves for its commercials (if that's not a stereotypically sexist statement, I don't know what is).
Katie Holmes has apparently been dropped from the Batman sequel. I think I just converted, because this is proof that there must be a higher power. She sucked in Batman Begins, and there's a shot in which she resembles Sloth from The Goonies. Good riddance.
Rachel McAdams is the rumored replacement for Holmes, by the way.
Chris Daughtry's album is selling well. He's a good guy, in my opinion, but he's also highly overrated. That throat-trill needs to go. There's no gimmick in music that gets older faster (except for five sorta hot British girls with stupid nicknames singing bad songs). Still, he gets kudos for that National Anthem rendition at the NFC Championship game.
There's a movie called Teeth that deals with the supposed male-oriented fear of "vagina dentata." It's supposed to be good, but I wouldn't know. I'm still in disbelief that somebody made this movie.
Some so-called "conservative family groups" are whining about Dakota Fanning's rape scene in her new movie, Hounddog. Um... why? If you can't handle such serious and realistic subject matter, put your blinders on and go watch a different movie.
Have you ever read a lot of bad poetry in a row? Have you ever read someone who writes poetry, but basically just writes the same poem over and over again, with different words? I have, and it made me sick. I've never wished illiteracy on anybody... until now.
The only thing worse than the aforementioned poet's poetry are his so-called song lyrics. Ugh.
The singer Brandy, who might be charged with involuntary manslaughter stemming from a death in a traffic accident, is now being sued by the dead woman's family for $50 million. You know, tragedy is tragedy, but Brandy hasn't even been found guilty yet. And I'm well aware that you can't really put a price tag on a life, but does anybody else think that this family is more concerned with "cash cow" than they are with mourning?
After a couple of years of wondering if Screech from Saved By the Bell was actually cool, it's been confirmed that, no, he's definitely an idiot.
Prison Break and 24 are off to fantastic starts in 2007. Heroes remains overrated and painfully derivative, yet somehow maintains my interest. Battlestar Galactica is officially a stinker. When the Hell does Lost start back up?
Smokin' Aces looks to be painfully painful. But the glutton in me just can't resist. Besides, after watching Lucky Number Slevin, I think I can handle another cheesy hit man movie.
Rage Against the Machine is supposedly reuniting temporarily to play at Coachella this year. Right on. I just hope this means that Audioslave isn't going anywhere.
Television hit Grey's Anatomy seems to be in a bit of a bind, doesn't it?
The best comic book series of the 21st Century, Warren Ellis' Planetary, is about to come to a close. Do yourselves a favor and pick up the trade paperbacks. Phenomenal stuff.
Coming full circle, there's a rumor that Katie Holmes might end up being the new Wonder Woman. I take back what I wrote earlier about a higher power.
Katie Holmes has apparently been dropped from the Batman sequel. I think I just converted, because this is proof that there must be a higher power. She sucked in Batman Begins, and there's a shot in which she resembles Sloth from The Goonies. Good riddance.
Rachel McAdams is the rumored replacement for Holmes, by the way.
Chris Daughtry's album is selling well. He's a good guy, in my opinion, but he's also highly overrated. That throat-trill needs to go. There's no gimmick in music that gets older faster (except for five sorta hot British girls with stupid nicknames singing bad songs). Still, he gets kudos for that National Anthem rendition at the NFC Championship game.
There's a movie called Teeth that deals with the supposed male-oriented fear of "vagina dentata." It's supposed to be good, but I wouldn't know. I'm still in disbelief that somebody made this movie.
Some so-called "conservative family groups" are whining about Dakota Fanning's rape scene in her new movie, Hounddog. Um... why? If you can't handle such serious and realistic subject matter, put your blinders on and go watch a different movie.
Have you ever read a lot of bad poetry in a row? Have you ever read someone who writes poetry, but basically just writes the same poem over and over again, with different words? I have, and it made me sick. I've never wished illiteracy on anybody... until now.
The only thing worse than the aforementioned poet's poetry are his so-called song lyrics. Ugh.
The singer Brandy, who might be charged with involuntary manslaughter stemming from a death in a traffic accident, is now being sued by the dead woman's family for $50 million. You know, tragedy is tragedy, but Brandy hasn't even been found guilty yet. And I'm well aware that you can't really put a price tag on a life, but does anybody else think that this family is more concerned with "cash cow" than they are with mourning?
After a couple of years of wondering if Screech from Saved By the Bell was actually cool, it's been confirmed that, no, he's definitely an idiot.
Prison Break and 24 are off to fantastic starts in 2007. Heroes remains overrated and painfully derivative, yet somehow maintains my interest. Battlestar Galactica is officially a stinker. When the Hell does Lost start back up?
Smokin' Aces looks to be painfully painful. But the glutton in me just can't resist. Besides, after watching Lucky Number Slevin, I think I can handle another cheesy hit man movie.
Rage Against the Machine is supposedly reuniting temporarily to play at Coachella this year. Right on. I just hope this means that Audioslave isn't going anywhere.
Television hit Grey's Anatomy seems to be in a bit of a bind, doesn't it?
The best comic book series of the 21st Century, Warren Ellis' Planetary, is about to come to a close. Do yourselves a favor and pick up the trade paperbacks. Phenomenal stuff.
Coming full circle, there's a rumor that Katie Holmes might end up being the new Wonder Woman. I take back what I wrote earlier about a higher power.
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