Nothing too crazy tonight. Smallville was up first with a solid outing and the first appearance by a comic book character from the Superman mythos. John Jones was shot and Clark pretended to be a cop to find out who shot him...the story was fine...nothing too dramatic. But the best part was that Clark's partner was the little known Dan Turpin. Dan Turpin has been in the Superman comics since 1942, and is a bastion of ethics...whereas this episode deals with how he determines how to make that decision. All in all a good episode with solid characterization.
Grey's feels like the third act of the Serial Killer/Sick boy storyline that has been running through this month. There were some very strong scenes, and I was once again reduced to tears by this show (it gets me more than any other show on TV...I think because it deals with death so much). I would also like to say how much I like Dr. Hunt on this show (the guy from Journeyman plays the part)...and I can't wait for Denny to go away.
I have a sick girlfriend, so I don't have much time to type more. Nothing doing this weekend, but if I see Greg Proops at the comedy club on Sunday, I will certainly let you know about that.
Night all!!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
LOST (in time?)
Tonight was the TV event of the year up to this point. Tonight was the premiere of LOST. Tonight was AWESOME!!
Again, since this is the first time that I am reviewing this show, I feel it necessary to start out by stating that this is an incredible show. It is well written, it takes itself seriously, it is far and away the best show in terms of continuity, and it is such a smart show. So if you have not seen it before, I would highly, as highly as I can, recommend renting the seasons from Blockbuster or Netflix and catching up as soon as possible.
Also, this review is SPOILERS ON!! Read on at your own risk.
When last we left our LOSTies, several had gotten off of the island: The Oceanic 6 - Jack, Sayid, Kate, Sun, Aaron and Hurley; Desmond, and Frank. Meanwhile, Ben had turned the "frozen donkey wheel" and sent the island and all its inhabitants away. A freighter had exploded, apparently killing Jin and Michael. And John Locke was now the boss of the Others. If you have read this paragraph and are completely lost (no pun intended), then I suggest stopping now and renting the show or waiting until I watch something else later in the week. If it all makes sense, then ever-onward.
Tonight, we begin in the past. The guy from all the training videos goes through his daily routine and is in the middle of filming a new training video when he gets called to the Orchid Station. There, we learn that they (the Dharma initiative) are trying to harness the power of the island to manipulate time. One of the workers don't believe that the doctor is all there, and mentions something to someone walking by...who just happens to be Daniel Faraday!! Faraday is a Quantum Physicist who was on the island when it disappeared, and now is in the PAST!!
From there, we go through several scenes rotating between the present (off the island with the Oceanic 6), three years ago with both the islanders and the Oceanic 6, and the islanders as they are jumping through what we later learn is time. It would be crazy for me to try and recap everything that happens, but suffice it to say that some of the Oceanic 6 (Jack really) is trying to get everyone back together and back to the island, along with Ben and his crazy support system. The islanders are trying to figure out how to stop the time jumps. Desmond is trying to get to Oxford to meet Faraday's mother and to have her help him help the island. Whitmore is trying to find the island still and is working with Sun somehow. Hurley is trying to avoid the police, but then uses the police arresting him to get away from Ben. Aaron just wants to go home and watch cartoons. Kate is trying to avoid taking a blood test that would prove that Aaron isn't her son. Sawyer just wants to put a shirt on. Juliet is wicked hot. And John Locke needs to die, or he is already dead, or he isn't...whoa.
By far, my favorite moment of the entire episode was when Neal was bitching at Rose and Bernard about what they don't have. He goes on this huge tirade, and finishes it off by saying that "Berny the Dentist can't even start a FIRE!!" and then he gets lit on fire by a flaming arrow shot into his chest. Absolutely genius.
While we are on the topic of genius...check out my genius theory. I think that the people that are appearing in visions off of the island are trying to tell the Oceanic 6 to not bring Locke back to life. It appears that they are talking about Aaron (Charlie tells Jack that he "isn't supposed to raise him" and Claire tells Kate "don't you dare bring him back")...but what if they are talking about Locke...what if the lines were actually supposed to mean that Jack "isn't supposed to raise him" from the dead?! Or Claire tells Kate "don't you dare bring him back" from the dead?! WHOA!!
I cannot wait to read Lostpedia tomorrow morning (it is a website completely devoted to researching everything that happens in each episode and putting it in a database). And I cannot wait for next week. And you really shouldn't be reading this any more...you should be on your way to Blockbuster to get the first season on DVD. Seriously...GO!!
Again, since this is the first time that I am reviewing this show, I feel it necessary to start out by stating that this is an incredible show. It is well written, it takes itself seriously, it is far and away the best show in terms of continuity, and it is such a smart show. So if you have not seen it before, I would highly, as highly as I can, recommend renting the seasons from Blockbuster or Netflix and catching up as soon as possible.
Also, this review is SPOILERS ON!! Read on at your own risk.
When last we left our LOSTies, several had gotten off of the island: The Oceanic 6 - Jack, Sayid, Kate, Sun, Aaron and Hurley; Desmond, and Frank. Meanwhile, Ben had turned the "frozen donkey wheel" and sent the island and all its inhabitants away. A freighter had exploded, apparently killing Jin and Michael. And John Locke was now the boss of the Others. If you have read this paragraph and are completely lost (no pun intended), then I suggest stopping now and renting the show or waiting until I watch something else later in the week. If it all makes sense, then ever-onward.
Tonight, we begin in the past. The guy from all the training videos goes through his daily routine and is in the middle of filming a new training video when he gets called to the Orchid Station. There, we learn that they (the Dharma initiative) are trying to harness the power of the island to manipulate time. One of the workers don't believe that the doctor is all there, and mentions something to someone walking by...who just happens to be Daniel Faraday!! Faraday is a Quantum Physicist who was on the island when it disappeared, and now is in the PAST!!
From there, we go through several scenes rotating between the present (off the island with the Oceanic 6), three years ago with both the islanders and the Oceanic 6, and the islanders as they are jumping through what we later learn is time. It would be crazy for me to try and recap everything that happens, but suffice it to say that some of the Oceanic 6 (Jack really) is trying to get everyone back together and back to the island, along with Ben and his crazy support system. The islanders are trying to figure out how to stop the time jumps. Desmond is trying to get to Oxford to meet Faraday's mother and to have her help him help the island. Whitmore is trying to find the island still and is working with Sun somehow. Hurley is trying to avoid the police, but then uses the police arresting him to get away from Ben. Aaron just wants to go home and watch cartoons. Kate is trying to avoid taking a blood test that would prove that Aaron isn't her son. Sawyer just wants to put a shirt on. Juliet is wicked hot. And John Locke needs to die, or he is already dead, or he isn't...whoa.
By far, my favorite moment of the entire episode was when Neal was bitching at Rose and Bernard about what they don't have. He goes on this huge tirade, and finishes it off by saying that "Berny the Dentist can't even start a FIRE!!" and then he gets lit on fire by a flaming arrow shot into his chest. Absolutely genius.
While we are on the topic of genius...check out my genius theory. I think that the people that are appearing in visions off of the island are trying to tell the Oceanic 6 to not bring Locke back to life. It appears that they are talking about Aaron (Charlie tells Jack that he "isn't supposed to raise him" and Claire tells Kate "don't you dare bring him back")...but what if they are talking about Locke...what if the lines were actually supposed to mean that Jack "isn't supposed to raise him" from the dead?! Or Claire tells Kate "don't you dare bring him back" from the dead?! WHOA!!
I cannot wait to read Lostpedia tomorrow morning (it is a website completely devoted to researching everything that happens in each episode and putting it in a database). And I cannot wait for next week. And you really shouldn't be reading this any more...you should be on your way to Blockbuster to get the first season on DVD. Seriously...GO!!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
American Idol - 01/20/09
Tonight is American Idol. I have to be honest and say that I didn't start watching this show until the Beatles episodes of last season, and then I got obsessed with David Cook...I think he is a spectacular singer and was invested in watching him win. The audition shows always turned me off of the show...I thought that they were exploitative. I much prefer the way that So You Think You Can Dance handles its auditions...they are much more positive in the way that they handle the auditioning dancers. But I am going to give this a go, and talk about the singers!! Enjoy!!
Tatiana - Boy, I really didn't expect this person to have a voice. The way it was edited, I fully expected a horrible singer...but what do you know, she made it to Hollywood. Not destined for much more I don't think.
Dean - He is wearing the fabric from the couch at my parents house when I was a kid. And I was disturbed just looking at him...and the first time that I heard someone say "The carpet matches the drapes" on a reality show...oy vey!!
Jesus - He should make it through because his family was carrying signs that said "We love you Jesus" and "Jesus is going to Hollywood." He has a decent voice, but he sings too much in his lower jaw. Cute kids get him through to Hollywood. Good stuff.
Dalton - Solved the Rubix Cube without looking at it half the time!! HA...HAHA...brilliant singing!! I didn't think he was going to start, but I am so very glad that he did!! He was excellent.
Akilah - This is one crazy lady. She cannot pronounce the parts of her body (trashia instead of trachea)...and then she says that she sang out of the wrong rectum?! "Paula had a very hit song?!" This is fantastic. She "irractitated" me.
John/Allison/Raquel Montage - All three were excellent, and I hope good things come from them in the Hollywood round.
Annie - How do you not know what you are going to sing?! Jesus...and she was horrible.
Adam - I love the song and his voice is great. He will be very good. He was musical theather-y like they said, but I think he is more mainstream than the past people that they have labled as musical theater. I think he has the potential to go far.
Kai - I was skeptical at first...he is so much better in his upper register than the lower part. It will be interesting to see what he can do with the help of their vocal coaches. He should clean up well and has the chops to make it deep into the competition.
So that is it for this episode. One last thing...I expect Kara and Simon to get into a fist fight before the end of the season.
Tomorrow night is another episode of American Idol, but more importantly, it is the season premiere of LOST. I will tell you about my theory and all about the episode. Until then, Seacrest OUT!!
Tatiana - Boy, I really didn't expect this person to have a voice. The way it was edited, I fully expected a horrible singer...but what do you know, she made it to Hollywood. Not destined for much more I don't think.
Dean - He is wearing the fabric from the couch at my parents house when I was a kid. And I was disturbed just looking at him...and the first time that I heard someone say "The carpet matches the drapes" on a reality show...oy vey!!
Jesus - He should make it through because his family was carrying signs that said "We love you Jesus" and "Jesus is going to Hollywood." He has a decent voice, but he sings too much in his lower jaw. Cute kids get him through to Hollywood. Good stuff.
Dalton - Solved the Rubix Cube without looking at it half the time!! HA...HAHA...brilliant singing!! I didn't think he was going to start, but I am so very glad that he did!! He was excellent.
Akilah - This is one crazy lady. She cannot pronounce the parts of her body (trashia instead of trachea)...and then she says that she sang out of the wrong rectum?! "Paula had a very hit song?!" This is fantastic. She "irractitated" me.
John/Allison/Raquel Montage - All three were excellent, and I hope good things come from them in the Hollywood round.
Annie - How do you not know what you are going to sing?! Jesus...and she was horrible.
Adam - I love the song and his voice is great. He will be very good. He was musical theather-y like they said, but I think he is more mainstream than the past people that they have labled as musical theater. I think he has the potential to go far.
Kai - I was skeptical at first...he is so much better in his upper register than the lower part. It will be interesting to see what he can do with the help of their vocal coaches. He should clean up well and has the chops to make it deep into the competition.
So that is it for this episode. One last thing...I expect Kara and Simon to get into a fist fight before the end of the season.
Tomorrow night is another episode of American Idol, but more importantly, it is the season premiere of LOST. I will tell you about my theory and all about the episode. Until then, Seacrest OUT!!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Monday - 1/19/09
So the best laid plans of mice and men, huh? I had planned on starting tonight's recap with The Big Bang Theory, but for whatever reason, my DVR didn't record the program, so I will be unable to discuss. I did still manage to get in a House, a 24 and HIMYM, so there is that.
House started the evening with its first new episode of the new year, and the first episode since it moved to Monday nights. I must say that I found House by accident at the end of the first season, and I like it for different reasons than I normally like shows. For me, House is a character study, and not necessarily a plot-driven series (though they have moved closer to a serial-type story in the last two seasons). Tonight's episode followed the same pattern that they all follow, and there was a patient that had an undiagnosable, untreatable illness that was progressing at an alarming rate. In this instance, the patient had unbearable pain that was likened unto House's chronic pain. They had many theories, and it wasn't until something happened in House's life outside of the hospital that he was able to figure out that it had to do with the patients testicles (always a welcome story resolution device...testicles, I mean). The episode seemed to set up Cameron's future dilemma for more stories because Cuddy offered her her position while she spends time caring for her new baby (a lot of "her"s in that sentence, but the first her is for Cameron, and the second two are for Cuddy). They have also furthered the "Foreteen" storyline, and set up the idea that Foreman is going to taint (heh) the clinical trial he is doing to get Thirteen from a placebo onto the drugs. Again, I enjoy the show because of the character study, so it was fun to delve into the another storyline where House is driven more by a desire to cure what ails him rather than the patient.
House was followed with 30 minutes of hilarity on How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM). Let me start this review by saying that everyone should watch this show. It is funny the way that Friends was funny in its prime. It has colorful characters who, while at times do things that are unrealistic because it is a sitcom, have depth of character development. The writers also pay the proper amount of respect to the continuity that has developed over the 3+ seasons that it has been on the air. Tonight's episode featured Barney and Ted tending to McLarens (the Central Perk on this show), Lilly trying to get beer to satisfy a tradition that she and Marshall have, and Marshall and Robin interacting trying to fulfill his side of the tradition. Barney and Ted's storyline was a humorous nod towards Cocktail, all the way to the bottle-flipping and the Beach Boys singing Kokomo, all while they were trying to bed two college chicks and Barney was trying to get Party-School Bingo (sleep with a girl from the 25 biggest party colleges in the US per Playboy's list...get five schools in a row, and get bingo...Awesome). Lilly brought back an old favorite character, Rajib (sic?), and Marshall and Robin had some excellent robot talk. Again, a brilliant show, and I highly recommend it to all.
24 was 24. It is escapist TV at is best and worst. The writer's tend to make whatever "needs" to happen, happen so that they can further the story, and they are unable to make it happen in an organic way. Por ejemplo, NSA picks up a conversation that we heard earlier in the episode, and relays it to the FBI...but they were only able to get bits and pieces of the conversation...so they conveniently left out the sentence about there being a mole in the FBI. That way, they are able to create the drama of the FBI boss knowing that his agent is going to be killed, but also continue the suspense of having an unknown mole in the FBI. And how about the federal government in the 24 world needs to outsource their background checks...every season there is a mole in some form of government agency. This season, the White House has someone on the take, the FBI has someone on the take, the Secret Service has at least 2 people on the take...I mean come on!! And has anyone else noticed that the characters on the show always talk in time increments: "We will have to make a decision on whether to pull our troops within the hour," "How long until SWAT arrives? 15 minutes?" And they are always looking at their watches. If I looked at my watch that much, people would talk about it...that is all I am saying. All that said, I still love watching Jack Bauer kick ass...I still think he is the only person that is capable of stopping Tim Tebow next season...someone better start recruiting him!!
I was unable to get to Superstars of Dance, but my brother promises me that it was hilarious tonight, so I promise I will follow-up sometime this week when I get a chance to watch. Until then, enjoy your TV!!
House started the evening with its first new episode of the new year, and the first episode since it moved to Monday nights. I must say that I found House by accident at the end of the first season, and I like it for different reasons than I normally like shows. For me, House is a character study, and not necessarily a plot-driven series (though they have moved closer to a serial-type story in the last two seasons). Tonight's episode followed the same pattern that they all follow, and there was a patient that had an undiagnosable, untreatable illness that was progressing at an alarming rate. In this instance, the patient had unbearable pain that was likened unto House's chronic pain. They had many theories, and it wasn't until something happened in House's life outside of the hospital that he was able to figure out that it had to do with the patients testicles (always a welcome story resolution device...testicles, I mean). The episode seemed to set up Cameron's future dilemma for more stories because Cuddy offered her her position while she spends time caring for her new baby (a lot of "her"s in that sentence, but the first her is for Cameron, and the second two are for Cuddy). They have also furthered the "Foreteen" storyline, and set up the idea that Foreman is going to taint (heh) the clinical trial he is doing to get Thirteen from a placebo onto the drugs. Again, I enjoy the show because of the character study, so it was fun to delve into the another storyline where House is driven more by a desire to cure what ails him rather than the patient.
House was followed with 30 minutes of hilarity on How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM). Let me start this review by saying that everyone should watch this show. It is funny the way that Friends was funny in its prime. It has colorful characters who, while at times do things that are unrealistic because it is a sitcom, have depth of character development. The writers also pay the proper amount of respect to the continuity that has developed over the 3+ seasons that it has been on the air. Tonight's episode featured Barney and Ted tending to McLarens (the Central Perk on this show), Lilly trying to get beer to satisfy a tradition that she and Marshall have, and Marshall and Robin interacting trying to fulfill his side of the tradition. Barney and Ted's storyline was a humorous nod towards Cocktail, all the way to the bottle-flipping and the Beach Boys singing Kokomo, all while they were trying to bed two college chicks and Barney was trying to get Party-School Bingo (sleep with a girl from the 25 biggest party colleges in the US per Playboy's list...get five schools in a row, and get bingo...Awesome). Lilly brought back an old favorite character, Rajib (sic?), and Marshall and Robin had some excellent robot talk. Again, a brilliant show, and I highly recommend it to all.
24 was 24. It is escapist TV at is best and worst. The writer's tend to make whatever "needs" to happen, happen so that they can further the story, and they are unable to make it happen in an organic way. Por ejemplo, NSA picks up a conversation that we heard earlier in the episode, and relays it to the FBI...but they were only able to get bits and pieces of the conversation...so they conveniently left out the sentence about there being a mole in the FBI. That way, they are able to create the drama of the FBI boss knowing that his agent is going to be killed, but also continue the suspense of having an unknown mole in the FBI. And how about the federal government in the 24 world needs to outsource their background checks...every season there is a mole in some form of government agency. This season, the White House has someone on the take, the FBI has someone on the take, the Secret Service has at least 2 people on the take...I mean come on!! And has anyone else noticed that the characters on the show always talk in time increments: "We will have to make a decision on whether to pull our troops within the hour," "How long until SWAT arrives? 15 minutes?" And they are always looking at their watches. If I looked at my watch that much, people would talk about it...that is all I am saying. All that said, I still love watching Jack Bauer kick ass...I still think he is the only person that is capable of stopping Tim Tebow next season...someone better start recruiting him!!
I was unable to get to Superstars of Dance, but my brother promises me that it was hilarious tonight, so I promise I will follow-up sometime this week when I get a chance to watch. Until then, enjoy your TV!!
A New Blog
I have decided that I want to start chronicling what I watch on TV at night. It gives me an opportunity to critique things and just give my thoughts about what I saw. I will start with tonight's line-up:
House and 24 on Fox; Superstars of Dance on NBC; The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother on CBS.
I hope you enjoy, or read at all!!
Thanks!!
House and 24 on Fox; Superstars of Dance on NBC; The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother on CBS.
I hope you enjoy, or read at all!!
Thanks!!
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