Some gifs of Morgan Woodward in various guest star roles...

Some gifs of Morgan Woodward in various guest star roles (1962-1979).

Friends, Greek, Airwolf, Logan's Run

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

05.00 Friends
06.00 Greek
07.00 Airwolf
08.00 Logan's Run

Friends. Episode 19. "The One with the Evil Orthodontist" Rachel and Barry and Mindy and Barry. Chandler obsesses over phoning a woman.

A real soap opera type of episode, with Rachael having an affair with Barry. It's not very funny, but it's compelling drama/soap.

The Chandler storyline is a tad over the top, but it generates a lot of laughs. The conclusion is way over the top, but it's an easy out.

Greek. Season 2, Episode 5. "Pledge Allegiance" Rusty leads the Kappa Tau pledges in a bid for more power, Casey deals with Frannie's attempt to usurp power and Evan tries to exert power over Michael.

Power plays. In every storyline. Nicely done.

Airwolf. Season 2, Episode 3. "Moffet's Ghost" A computer program takes control of Airwolf.

Not without it's flaws, but this is one of the very best episodes of Airwolf and one of my personal favourites. The story is very exciting and clever. Moffet (the bad guy from the pilot) left what is referred to as a "logic bomb" in Airwolf and she starts to misbehave, nearly causing loss of life. What can Stringfellow do? Who can he trust? He's working closely with Archangel he certainly can't trust him, so he turns to a hot lady scientist (Robin Riker), cos every '80s action show is better with a hot lady scientist.

It's a great story and a great dilemma. Moffet was/is crazy and there's no surefire way to defeat him. Despite String's best efforts Archangel does manage to exert influence on the scientist (not to take control of Airwolf for it's own sake, but to prevent loss of life) so there's a great twist where she turns a gun on our heroes and demands that they back down.

And, to make things even better, time is crucial. The episode opened with a scientist being dropped off behind enemy lines for top secret talks, and Airwolf must return to get him. Somehow. If they can ever figure out how to stop her from shooting down everything in sight.

This episode contains one of my all-time favourite images from the series: Airwolf high in the atmosphere, with the curve of the planet behind her. It's an awesome image.

As for flaws? Well, they are minor. Some of the early scenes of comeraderie fall flat, mainly due to Jan-Michael Vincent who does't exude warmth in quite the way the script requires him to. Deborah Pratt, however, makes a great impression as Marella who seems genuinely nice. Alex Cord is superb, as ever, and this is one of those episodes which remind us that you can't quite trust him 100%. Always a good thing.

Logan's Run. Episode 8. "Fear Factor" Scientists who remove emotions.

One of the weaker episodes. The story, such as it is, makes sense in it's own right but it doesn't quite fit into the established world of Logan's Run. It would be better if this was a show with heroes who visited planets for adventures. In that context, it would make more sense to have a society such as the one written about here. However, since Logan's Run is set in a post-apocalyptic future it seems odd that there such a large society living totally unaffected by the stuff we've seen in other episodes. It doesn't quite gell.

As a story, it's kinda weak and obvious. Mumbo-jumbo about removing emotions and independant thoughts while creating a race of drones and rapidly growing children into soldiers. And there's some stuff in there, too, about Logan being the only non-coward they've ever encountered and the scientist's attempts to tap into his fear factor.

Or something.

It really has an air of our trio stubling into something and stumbling around a bit before leaving. The cast gives is 100% conviction, however. Ed Nelson and Jared Martin (of course) are great to watch, and pace is fast and furious, so it's fun to watch. Even if it fails to make much sense.

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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago

Wed, Dec 10, 08 - Logan's Run, Sarah Connor, Twilight Zone, Swamp Thing, Captain Power

06.30 Logan's Run
07.30 The Sarah Connor Chronicles
08.30 The Twilight Zone
09.00 Swamp Thing
09.30 Captain Power

Logan's Run. Episode 9. "The Judas Goat" It's all a bit slow-moving and serious, and there is a logic flaw at the start, but this is a very good story in several respects.

It starts off in the City Of Domes that Logan and Jessica ran from at the start of the series. The police force (the Sandmen) have created a double-agent (Nicholas Hammond) whose mission is to head out after Logan and fool him into coming back. He does this with ridiculous ease, making you wonder why the Sandmen don't just head out and ambush Logan since he is that easy to find.

Nevertheless, the stuff with the double-agent is very good. Before he leaves the City Of Domes he is brought to the council of rulers (last seen in the pilot) and learns to his surprise that all is not as it seems in the City. This short scene adds a nice political subtext to the series: corrupt city officials trying to keep the population in the dark, etc.

Once our double-agent finds/joins Logan the rest of the episode plays out like a typical adventure-of-the-week: the trio (now a quartet) find a hidden society and run foul of it's leader (the excellent Lance LeGault). That fact that one of the heroes is a double-agent (and we know it) makes the story much more interesting than it would normally be. Logan and the new guy have a strong dynamic. And this conflict between the 'heroes' is a nice change of pace for the show.

All in all it's a solid hour. Logan's Run is such a serious drama series, it's difficult to think of it as being only a couple of years older than Buck Rogers. The two shows are decades apart in style and sensibility. One is fluff and nonsense and the other (while flawed) is a very strong drama series with occasional flair in the storytelling.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Season 2, Episode 12. "Alpine Fields" Another flawless outing. And another example of this show's fantastic storytelling.

Derek is the main character this time out (with Sarah having a very strong b-plot). The story unfolds on three fronts: one in the far future, and two of them in the present day, but six months apart. It's the story of a family that (first) Sarah and (then) Derek are trying to protect from a determined Terminator.

Samantha Krutzfeldt almost steals the episode out from under Brian Austin Green, but not quite. Nevertheless, she makes quite an impression as two versions of the same young woman separated in time by six months of experience. The story leaves no opening for the character to return, which is a great pity, but given that Krutzfeldt is exceptionally beautiful she will undoubtedly appear on Supernatural before too long!

The Twilight Zone. Season 3, Episode 5. "Dream Me a Life" Absolutely superb. J. Michael Straczynski (once again) delivers a really great story, and Eddie Albert delivers a showcase performance.

Roger is living a quiet live in a friendly retirement home when he starts to have a series of vivid nightmares, when he meets a woman who is terrified of something trying to break down a door and get to her. She pleads for help. Over and over. It all means nothing to Roger until the same woman suddenly moves into the same retirement home. He tries to speak to her, but she speaks to nobody. She just sits there. In silence, shut off from the world. Next time Roger enters the dream to try and save the woman, he burns his hand and wakes to find the same burn on his hand here in the real world...

The dream sequences looks fantastic and Albert is fantastic to watch. On one occasion the camera just stays on him for a long passionate speech/rant and he covers about 96 different emotions and moods going from line to line. It's pretty cool, and Roger is one of the Zone's coolest heroes.

Swamp Thing. Episode 1. "The Emerald Heart" A strange concoction. Which probably owes something to Twin Peaks for it's odd flavour.

There's no story, as such, just a lot of random events involving a mad scientist, a kid and a mysterious 'monster' who dwells within the swamp.

Some of the cast are very, very weak and the lines they are given are often quite dreadful. There's no logical behind most of what happens. Characters regularly say and do things that make no sense, and don't serve the story.

It's really odd, and deadly serious.

Captain Power And The Soldiers Of The Future. Episode 1. "Shattered" Solid opening episode. It opens with a long, exciting action sequence and follows up with a good story of betrayal and loyalty.

Captain Power (who leads the resistance forces against evil Lord Dredd) gets a message from an old flame. He goes to meet her in the remains of San Francisco. Turns out that it's a trap. But there's more to it than that, and a fairly compelling reason behind her actions. Guest star Ann-Marie MacDonald gives 100% to the role and sells all the horror and pain that is needed to justify what the character does. She's amazing.

The regular cast comes across very well, too, with Jessica Steen in particular making a great impression as Pilot.

Highlight? The Sarah Connor Chronicles (blows me away, yet again)
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Wed, Nov 19, 08 - Logan's Run, Sarah Connor Chronicles, House, Big Wolf On Campus, My Secret Identity

07.00 Logan's Run
08.00 The Sarah Connor Chronicles
09.00 House
11.30 Big Wolf On Campus
12.00 My Secret Identity



Logan's Run. Episode 7. "Crypt" It might be a tad po-faced and slow in places but this is a great hour of TV. On their way to rescue six cryogenically frozen plague sufferers Logan and his crew are caught in an earthquake and half of the antidote is destroyed! So Logan is face-to-face with six strangers (from 200 years in the past) who only have 48 hours to live, and only enough serum to save three of them. It's a great dilemma, perfectly realised by six talented guest actors: Led by the always-great Christopher Stone and a very sexy Adrienne Larussa who sets out to seduce Logan.

REM (the show's best regular character) gets several solid scenes in this one: trying to understand the strange ways of humans and (in the story's final moments) giving a long speech before revealing which of the candidates are not who they appear to be. Although they both get a fair amount of screentime, Logan and Jessica appear here as secondary characters to REM. The opening scenes are nothing more than the two of them firing questions at REM. Questions he is always able to answer. Later his very nature (as an android) is a matter of much debate among the plague sufferers and - as I said - at the very end he is the one who solves everything.

The end of the story is very good. And, while Logan's Run is certainly not as good/clever as something like Star Trek, it is far above '70s contemporaries like Fantastic Journey, Man From Atlantis or Buck Rogers.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Season 2, Episode 9. "Complications" Another flawless episode. Ellison makes a horrible mistake that has me shouting at the screen in despair. But, given all that has been happening to him this season, it makes sense that he would trust Catherine Weaver. Idiot!

Cameron gets some amazing scenes this week, as her nature continues to evolve. The scenes with John and the moment where she turned Ellison over (from lying on his back) are among the best that the show has ever done with this character.

But the absolute how-frakkin-cool-is-this highlight of the episode was the Derek storyline as he and Jesse capture/torture/execute a man from the future for crimes he committed in a timeline that Derek does not remember anymore. Awesome.

Awesome because we have tangible proof that the heroes are getting some good work done and awesome that a TV show delivers a low-key time conundrum that makes sense. Ideas like the decision to torture the younger version of the prisoner really make this the most exciting show on TV right now.

Brian Austin Green does some of his best work in his scenes with Richard Schiff. The whole thing is a delight.

House. Season 5, Episode 5. "Lucky Thirteen" When you watch House you keep hoping for things to happen that never will. You want House to show his nice side and treat someone with compassion. In this episode Thirteen (who is dying) is spiralling out of control and you keep hoping House will treat her well, reach out to her. But if he doesn't then he's not really House any more.

It's a great episode. Thirteen's downward spiral into drugs and casual sex is wonderfully realised and you keep hoping the show will offer her a light at the end of the tunnel. But if it does than it's not really House any more.



Big Wolf On Campus. Episode 1. "Pilot" Broad comedy and great characters. While both stars are terrific in their roles it is Danny Smith as the sidekick who gets all the big laughs and provides the main reason for watching/loving this cool little show. The tone of the show allows the comedy bits to be large and OTT, but the moments that allude to the friendship between the guys are played down and - consequently - work. Brandon Quinn is a terrific leading man. Tommy is an atypical superhero. In his normal life he is the popular kid: everybody loves Tommy and he's the star of the school. Becoming a werewolf puts a major crimp in his style until Merton shows up with a ton of answers and their friendship is born.



My Secret Identity. Episode 1. "My Secret Identity" It's got one of the best-ever TV Themes and it's about a comic-book reader who gets superpowers. What's not to love? Jerry O'Connell and Derek McGrath make a great team from the get-go. So what if the mechanics of the plot (the kidnapping of a girl that Andrew likes) are simplistic? It's just a ton of fun watching Andrew master his powers and Jeffcoate rush in to give back-up.

Highlight? The Sarah Connor Chronicles (time-travel conundrum)
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Wed, Nov 5, 08 - Sarah Connor, Twilight Zone, Hitchhiker, Logan's Run

06.00 The Sarah Connor Chronicles
07.00 The Twilight Zone
07.30 The Hitchhiker
08.00 Logan's Run

The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Season 2, Episode 7. "Brothers of Nablus" Another winner. No big events in this one, but a solid advancement of several running themes. Cameron gets to be bad-add cool (again) and kill some kids who picked the wrong house to rob. Sarah gets to make a very bad decision (from the heart) and give Cromartie a solid lead towards finding them. Derek gets to hold some secrets from the others and voice his dissatisfaction about how John is growing up, and how Sarah is handling things. Ellison gets attacked, but saved.

The Twilight Zone. Season 3, Episode 2. "Extra Innings" DELIGHTFUL. Marc Singer stars as a time-travelling baseball player. He lives a double life: in modern times, he is a failure with a broken marriage, but in the past he is the star of his baseball team. It's a real treat. I love time-travel stories in general but this one is a hoot. Usually, I hate the boring story-device of the cranky unsupportive wife/girlfriend who just doesn't 'get' the importance of what the male hero does. Yes, I know that the world does have women just like that, but on TV it's a lazy storytelling device.

In this story, however, it works. For several reasons. Singer's character is an obsessive collector of baseball cards. He's a hobbyist. And it doesn't matter if it is baseball cards or comic books (my own weakness) the sad fact of it is: women don't get it. They don't understand the hobby, or why you must keep these things in mint condition or why you must always be searching for ways to complete the collection. When TV Cops or TV Doctors are saddled with unsupporive wives it bores me. While many real-life relationships can have problems caused by work committment, I think TV storytelling uses this device a disproportionate amount of times. So much so that it doesn't always work.

But it works here. He collects babeball cards, he's obsessed with them and he's refusing to move on with his life. I totally understand why his wife is ready to bail. But, cos it's Marc Singer, I still like the guy and root for him. Plus, he time travels and that's frakkin' cool.

The story has other elements that really work, too. His best friend is a twelve-year-old girl. And the tale makes no point on this. It just happens that that is the case. And that's refreshing to see, too. A grown man who had a friendship with a child. Why not? A female child, too. Even better. It's a pretty cool friendship. She's wise beyond her years and he's basically a kid at heart. I liked all of their scenes together and the ending of cool, too (he stays in the past forever and becomes a star).

State Of Mind was the last TV show (I remember) to make the point that's it's okay, normal and healthy for grown men to like children and make friends with them. He's a perfect example. A strong friendship forged over a common hobby.

Another great little story from the syndicated version of The Twilight Zone. Another reminder that the CBS seasons were rather poor by comparison.

The Hitchhiker. Season 3, Episode 2. "Out of the Night" Stylish and interesting. A man (Ricky Paull Goldin) who appears to be on the run from a cop for an unspecified crime takes refuge in - what appears to be - a very odd hotel. He runs from room to room having a series of surreal encounters and is tormented on an ongoing basis by a strange magician (a superb Kirstie Alley). It's odd stuff. It looks great. The whole thing has a peculiar dreamlike quality and the ending predictable. But still satisfying.

Logan's Run. Episode 6. "Half Life" Guest work from Kim Cattrall and William Smith can't help this weak episode. It pays lip service to deep themes and feels like a rip-off of much better Star Trek episodes. Logan, Rem and Jessica take refuge in a society where each person has been divided into two seperate beings: the good half and the bad half. The good ones live inside the gleaming city and the bad ones live outside like savages. There's not much in the way of logic to the events of the story. Only Jessica is processed for some reason and this means Logan and Rem spend the episode trying to rescue her. Along the way they are (somehow) able to convince the entire society that this is not the correct way to live, that they should reunite and destroy the technology.

Huh?

Daft, simplistic nonsenese. Easily the weakest episode so far in the run. It doesn't really have anything to say. Logan's half-hearted observations that you need both halves of yourself to be a complete person (or something) are hardly profound and it seems incredible that this one thought is enough to unravel an entire belief system and unite both factions.

Highlight? The Twilight Zone (delightful)
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Logan's Run, The Hulk And She-Hulk

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

01:00 Logan's Run
02:00 The Hulk & She-Hulk


Logan's Run. Episode 4 starts with a chase sequence. Logan, Jessica and REM (running from The City Of Domes and trying to find a place called Sanctuary) are being closely pursued by Francis and other Sandmen. Our heroes find an underground complex. The security is elaborate, but REM (being an android) can by-pass it and get them inside, while the Sandmen gather outside. The complex is home to a human called Lisa and two basic robots, whose duty is to take care of her. Lisa has never been outside the complex, and has never met people before. So, Logan and the gang befriend her as they try to outwit the waiting Sandmen and get to the bottom of the complex's mysteries.

It's a great episode. The story is basic, but no less powerful because of it. How successful the episode is depends on the acting talents of the very beautiful Lisa Eilbacher (one of my all-time favourite actresses) whose character undergoes a sexual awakening, of sorts, in the presence of Logan, and - as a consequence - becomes more of a threat than the waiting Sandmen. How successful the ending of the story is depends on how willing the viewer is to buy into the Fairy Tail aspects of what is happening. If you can take that leap, then the ending is somewhat epic and lonely. If you can't then it is probably a bit of let-down. Personally I was quite touched when, at the end, the girl let them all go and watched sadly as they drove off.

The Hulk & She-Hulk. Episode 15. Apparently, CBS wanted to revamp The Incredible Hulk in it's 4th season. They wanted less screen-time for the Hulk (because it was expensive) and they wanted to give Banner a side-kick, who drove around the country in a mobile lab offering him assistance. This, too, was to cut down on expenses, by giving the show a standing set. Thankfully these awful ideas weren't put into practice.

Sadly, however, the animated Hulk series of the 90s did undergo a substantial re-vamp for it's second season. The show's serious tone (and supporting characters) were dropped and the She-Hulk character (formerly a guest star) took centre stage. So much so that this 15th episode is more about her than Bruce Banner.

Several elements of the episode suck. The show's version of She-Hulk is heavily influenced by John Byrne's superb run on the comic book, which was once described as a comic book version of Moonlighting. In other words, it was funny, sophisticated and the character didn't take herself too seriously.

Unfortunately, the animated series fails to do this justice. None of the supposed comedy is funny, and Jennifer comes off as a jerk whenever she acts cocky and self-confident. It's also very annoying that all of her dialogue is underscored by hideous jazz music. So, in this way, the Over-The-Top and adorable Jennifer Walters: She-Hulk of the comics becomes annoying and embarrasing on-screen. Nice work, guys.

Bruce Banner, too, has changed. Gone is the angst-ridden mild-manner scientist of Season 1. Now we have a fairly muscular man-of-action, who can handle himself in a fight and isn't too bothered when he turns into The Hulk. Quite where they got this characterisation is beyond me. Season 1, at least, was faithful the the Dr. Banner we know and love. This guy is kinda bland.

The story, here, is nonsense and seems to establish the idea that Bruce and Jennifer drive around the country in a flashy red convertible having adventures. Yeah, right. I buy that. I wonder is that what CBS wanted to do the 70s series? Makes me shudder.

Damages, Extras, House, Logan's Run, Samantha Who?, The Big Bang Theory

Wednesday, October 24th, 2007

07:30 The Big Bang Theory
08:00 Damages
09:00 Samantha Who
09:30 House
10:30 Logan's Run
11:30 Extras

The Big Bang Theory. Episode 5. We get to see where Penny works for the first time. Leonard, meanwhile, shares a night of matter-of-fact passion with fellow scientist Leslie. Leslie's second episode is funnier than her first, but the highlights of the episode are Leonard's attempts to decipher Penny's innocent comments for hidden meanings.

Damages. Episode 6. Lots of surprises in this outing. David seems to be falling into the clutches of a psycho, and an attempt is made on Gregory's life from an unlikely source. But the episode belongs to Ted Danson who gives a stunning performance when his character wrestles with his self-image and decides to write a memoir to correct the public's mis-conception of him.

Samantha Who. Episode 2. The top-rated new show of the season hits another one out of the ballpark. Applegate is funnier than I've ever seen. And Samantha is an absolutely adorable (and somewhat manic) character. My favourite parts are whenever she makes her point and then speaks for a little bit too long: "By the time you and I are out of court this place is going to be called Chapman, Funk and Newly. Or just Funk and Newly. [pause] Newly and Funk. [pause] Either way." Dialogue like that is delivered with pitch-perfect gusto from Applegate. Her performance, plus snappy writing, make this an unmissable show. Samantha is the craziest heroine we've had on TV in quite a while. It's great.

House. Season 4, Episode 4. One of my favourite new regulars bites the dust in a good episode about a woman seeing ghosts. The reasoning behind House's dismissal of Henry made perfect sense and the two of them were in perfect sync right up to the end. I'll miss Henry, he brought a whole new dynamic to House's relationship with his team-members. Oh, and it's great to see Cameron back for several scenes. But my heart went out to Foreman as he realised nobody wants him. Because he's... too much like House.

Logan's Run. Episode 3. Logan must team up with his enemy Francis when both of them are hunted through the wilderness by a crazy couple. There's lots of running through the woods, good guest performances from Mary Woronov & Horst Buchholz, but the best parts of the episode are the conversations between Logan and Francis. They debate the ethics of the City of Domes that Logan escaped from, and make promises to one anther that (suprisingly) are honoured in an excellent conclusion.

Extras. Season 2, Episode 5. Ian McKellen guest-stars and Andy has major problems appearing in a "gay play" but the episode highlight occurs early on when Andy tries to chat up a passing woman (to prove a point) and ends up shoving an exploding bottle of sparkling water into his own mouth.

Highlight? House.