Friday, November 23, 2007

Thanksgiving TV Options, et al

The science fiction TV options for this long Thanksgiving weekend are hit and miss. Yesterday the SciFi Channel ran "Ghosthunters", not my cup of tea. What's worse was the 400 or so channels on DirecTV were not much better. There were a few good movies, Christmas With the Cranks, Independence Day, the American President. But most of day was spent channel surfing, I even settled for watching Oprah, Rachel Ray, and Fox News Channel. I tried to watch the Dallas-NY Jets game, but it was a slaughter from the start.

Today (Friday) is a little better, Enterprise is the all-day marathon on the SciFi Channel. I figured they'd shows the most popular episodes, maybe the pilot. But they just continued along the episode list from the Monday Night lineup. UGH!!!!! Enterprise season 3 was awful, and season 4 was not much better. What are those guys at the SciFi Channel thinking? Did they recruit some of those T&A rednecks from Spike to do there lineups? I mean, they replaced The Bionic Woman on Friday nights with reruns of The Dresden Files. And they promote Flash Gordon as if it's really popular. And they expect people to stay around to see Stargate Atlantis?

The SciFi Channel used to be the channel to watch on Friday night. But they have slowly eroded to where all they have they that is decent is Atlantis. They need to bring BSG back to Friday nights, when and if it comes back on (considering the writers strike). BSG Razor will still be on this Saturday night at 9PM, that's good news.

Something else that has been stuck in my crawl, this new Star Trek movie. All the non-trek fans are giddy about it since J.J. Abrams is writing it. You know he did that "Lost" thing, and "Mission Impossible II". Neither do I like, so he holds no weight with me as a critic.

The fact is the new movie is based on story lines Trek fans just aren't interested in. Star Trek is about the FUTURE, NOT THE PAST. Hence, that's where Enterprise went wrong. there are so many loose ends from the various series, that's what Trek fans want to know about. Since the last Trek movie bombed at the box office (ST: Nemesis), I bet the Trek hating execs studio is hoping this one will take an early nose dive. then they can finally put Star Trek to bed.

So Mr Abrams, get a clue, you're way off the mark. Write a story about the FUTURE of Star Trek, and tie in some things from the series' and you'll be successful. As it stands right now I don't plan to see the new movie in theaters, nor rent it either on VHS, DVD, or PPV. I'll wait until I can get it for free from the library.

Anyhow, I leave you with this Youtube video, a collection of Star Trek images set to music. Enjoy! Star Trek Music Video


Regards
John Crawford

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Sunday, November 11, 2007

The Bionic Woman, et al.

I think Michelle Ryan just gets better. For a young gal, and her first American TV gig, she's really got it together. Her character is evolving; Jaime's life is becoming a maze of lies and secrets. While she's beginning to play the good soldier, it is just a matter of time before her home life come crashing down. Her little sister, Becca, has already gotten in trouble. Thanks to Jaime's boss, Becca's not in jail. Seems Jaime's boss and Becca have their own secret.

I'm still a little miffed about her enhanced abilities. Maybe they are afraid that she will appear as "too" superhuman. I guess you'd have to be old enough to remember watching the original Bionic Woman (or the Six Million Dollar Man) in prime time. There was nothing else like it on TV. And like I've said in a previous post, the sound effects were a bit cheesy, and their enemies a bit simplistic. But it was 1976! As much as I like the new show, I think they've lost something. In as much as they're trying to make it unique, they owe their initial popularity to those fans that were fans of the original show. I think allot of would-be fans have turned away because it was not what they expected. They need to do something nostalgic, or bring someone in from the original series.

Anyhow, I found this video on YouTube. It's a collection of SciFi TV clips, very nicely done. Enjoy! SciFi Shows a Plenty


Regards
John Crawford

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Saturday, November 3, 2007

NBC's "Life" IS Worth Watching

If you frequent MSN.com or MSNBC.com, you may have noticed this article "Fall TV shows that should go away now". I started watching "Life" simply because it comes on after the "Bionic Woman". And since I just switched from Cable to DirecTV, I haven't figured out DirecTV's totally illogical channel lineup. So I got to see "Life" from the beginning.

Like many shows it tries to be complex, but keep your attention. It's allot like many sci-fi shows that bite the dust, they simply lose their audience. "Life" may be suffering from that. But, I think the story is worth tuning in to.

So the guy has a chip on his shoulder. Hey if you spent twelve years in prison (or one even on day) for a crime you didn't commit, you'd have a little anger bottled up inside. Charlie Crews is no different, and they try to make this as real as possible. And, in case you haven't noticed, reality shows are very popular. So why are fictitious shows shunned from imitating reality? OK, maybe that's too broad a statement.

Nonetheless, I like the show, and hope it lasts a few years. There's a long term story they're trying to reveal, that we'll never know if it's cancelled. The whole story of Charlie reconstructing the facts and players behind his imprisonment is the REAL, but underlying story. Everything else is the clues, apparently including his partner Dani Reese.

Dani has her own issues. She's a very troubled, intense person underneath that sweet but icy exterior. Having been in rehab for drug and alcohol abuse, she still struggles, and sometimes falls off the wagon. And now she may have a sexual addiction. She trusts no one, or hasn't since getting out of rehab. But that icy exterior is slowly melting as she learns to trust her twisted up partner, because in spite of his unconventional ways, he is good, and he's a good person at heart. Last weeks episode, "Powerless", gives us a glimpse into the real friendship that is growing between Charlie and Dani.

If you didn't see "Powerless", Charlie rescues Dani from a "would-be-killer" alcoholic. Dani meets a guy at a bar, Rick, then goes with him to a meeting (for alcoholics). She is attracted to Rick, but is troubled by his confessions, that he stops short of admitting to a crime. She investigates his background and finds there was a a woman and an incident. They set a trap for Rick (and the other woman) and eventually Rick is arrested. Dani heads home for the night, unbeknown to her that Rick made bail and is waiting in her house for her.

Knowing she is a recovering alcoholic he forces her to drink. Dani is able to reach into her coat and dial her cell phone and call Charlie. While Charlie can hear the drama going on in Dani's house, he and a team head out to rescue her. Rick is tipped off to someone at the front door, that enables Dani to subdue him as Charlie and company charge in. Charlie carries Dani to the ambulance, as she's feeling the effects of the alcohol she was forced to ingest. They share an almost... romantic moment, just before he let's her go into the ambulance. It's a powerful moment fo character building for this show in its infancy.

NBC could give it a boost by showing it at an additional time, maybe a mini marathon we could catch up on the missed episodes. This story is powerful, you gotta see it.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/2138181


Regards
John Crawford

AutismZone
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