Saturday, December 1st, 2007
07:00 Man From Atlantis
09:00 The Office
09:30 The Knights Of Prosperity
10:00 October Road
11:00 Corner Gas
11:30 Taxi
Man From Atlantis. Episode 3 is the least enjoyable of the movies that started the series. The first third details what happens when a small space probe crashes to the sea-bed with a colony of alien spores attached. Mark Harris is sent to investigate and is soon posessed by the aliens. However, since Duffy plays Harris with emotionless monotone, it can be hard to tell when the character is possessed and when he is just being his usual boring self.
The middle third is the best part of the movie. The aliens take Mark out into the desert (for no reason explained adequately in the script). Thing is, since Mark is from the sea he needs to go back to the water every few hours or he will die. The car chase that starts this segment, the chase through the desert and the rescue by helicopter are all very exciting.
The final third, however, is awful. The alien spores escape out into the world and start 'testing' random humans so that they can 'understand' the human condiditon. Or something. What we get are lots and lots of scenes of lots and lots of extras laughing, crying, whistling, throwing stuff around and other embarrassing nonsense. Very hard to watch.
The Office. Season 4, Episode 8. One of the best-ever episodes. Michael takes the stand to help (?) Jan in her case against the company. Lots of what happens is funny and lots of what happens is quite sad and touching. Skillful, wonderful television.
The Knights Of Prosperity. Episode 12. A change of tone episode is the inept group of thieves get involved with a career-criminal in an effort to open the safe they have stolen. The characters are in over their heads and you feel - once lots of gun-play takes centre-stage - that the show is in over it's head, too. There are still moments to make you laugh, but this is definitely a darker show. Consequently the regulars are less sympathetic than before. Now they just seem stupid and selfish.
October Road. Episode 3. If not for the existance of Cavemen, this would be the most hated show on TV. Quite why critics have reacted so harshly is beyond me. Sure it's derivative but it's fun to watch and I always want to know what happens next. Lindy Booth is so adorable in this outing as the Pizza Delivery Girl that captures Phil's heart. Phil doesn't leave his house. Ever. So he invites her "in" instead of "out".
Corner Gas. Season 4, Episode 5. Brent, Hank and Oscar team-up to tear down a barn. Those three together never fail to generate a lot of laughs. Adding dynamite to the mix only helps.
Taxi. Episode 29. Bobby and Tony both date the same woman (the stunning Constance Forslund) and - in the end - ask her to choose between them. As well as all the good gags, this being Taxi, there is a nice character-based ending to the story. The boys ultimately that their friendship is more important.
Highlight? The Office.
Corner Gas, Man From Atlantis, October Road, Taxi, The Knights Of Prosperity, The Office
Bionic Woman, Corner Gas, Friday Night Lights, October Road, The Office
Saturday, October 6th, 2007
07:50 Bionic Woman
08:40 Bionic Woman
09:20 The Office
10:10 October Road
11:00 Friday Night Lights
11:50 Corner Gas
Bionic Woman. Episodes 1. A truly awful pilot. My first time to see the new version re-affirms my problems with this mess. All of the dialogue is false. It's cut & paste stuff from loads of bad TV and bad movies. Yes, the cast is good and, yes, the action sequences are good. But when people stop to talk it is unwatchable. The minor changes (new actress, new character, new scenes) do nothing to make it any better, because the new stuff is badly written, too! Writer Laeta Kalogridis previously worked on Birds Of Prey, which I've always liked. I may have to go back and re-evaluate my thoughts on that show, as a consequence of this show.
Bionic Woman. Episode 2. Much better than the pilot. With all the exposition (clumsily) out of the way, the characters start to talk like people. Not real people, not yet, but they at least sound like TV people. Isaiah Washington & Kevin Rankin join the cast with this episode, and both are fantastic. The plot used is a direct lift from Episode 1 of The Six Million Dollar Man, and the peripheral characters are fleshed out like the characters on BSG. There's still a long way to go to make this thing "good" but, after seeing the jump made here, I'm happy to stick around and see what will happen. I've pretty much given up on Chuck and the new ABC soaps, but Bionic Woman might, just might, yet be a good TV show.
The Office. Season 4, Episode 2. I'm still loving Jim & Pam. Indeed, the show's other couples got some quality airtime in this outing, and it was all good. Mindy Kaling gave me some big laughs this week, as Kelly faked pregnancy to lure Ryan out on a date! Brilliant.
October Road. Episode 2. When Hannah finds out that Nick is staying in town, she assumes that he is doing this to get to know his son. Her son. She's right. She confronts him. He tells her he has a job. Which is a lie. So he sets about getting the job he told her he already had. This leads to some pretty funny scenes and one or two serious ones also, as Nick begins to confront the part of him that made him run away ten years ago. An absolutely great soap.
Friday Night Lights. Episode 17. From a cool (but very fake) small town to a less 'cool' (but very real) small town: Dillon, Texas. This is the episode where Julie tells Matt that they are going to have sex. Classic! Julie's mother sees him buying condoms and the trouble starts. Four of the scenes stand out for me. (1) Heartfelt conversation between mother & daughter, (2) the evening in the cabin between boyfriend & girlfriend, (3) the conversation between the parents waiting at home, and (4) the final meeting between Julie and her parents. Aimee Teegarden & Connie Britton do the best work they have done on the series so far, and Kyle Chandler & Zach Gilford aren't far behind. It's only when it's all over that you remember you've been watching actors. It's really beautiful what the are doing here: honest, clever and majestic.
Corner Gas. Season 4, Episode 1. Not the funniest outing. Wanda acting like Judge Judy goes on for too long and is overboard for the tone of this series. Likewise, Brent's new haircut, and Oscar's car trouble. Both ideas go on for too long, past the point where it's funny anymore. Rare to find an episode that's short on laughs, but this is it!
Highlight? Friday Night Lights.
Big Shots, Dirty Sexy Money, Moonlight, October Road, Babylon 5, Corner Gas
Saturday, September 29th, 2007
07:50 Big Shots
08:40 Dirty Sexy Money
09:20 Moonlight
10:10 October Road
11:00 Babylon 5
11:50 Corner Gas
Big Shots. Episode 1. Light-hearted drama about four male friends who are very successful in the world of business, but totally at the mercy of the women in their lives. One is caught beween his wife and mistress, one is caught between a grown daughter, an ex-wife he still loves/wants, a reporter out to ruin him, and a she-male he had an "encounter" with. One finds out that his wife was cheating with his boss, and he has a female co-worker might might take his job, or might just get him into bed. And, finally, there's a running around like crazy to please his unseen wife. Hmmm. I'm not sure what to make of this. It's light cheerful nonsense, but it's far from being laugh-out-loud funny. It may, or may not, have something to say about the state of the sexes today. I can say that it has a great cast, and all four guys are great fun to watch. But, at this writing, I'm not sure I'll watch it again. (If I don't, then the one thing I'll remember is Jessica Collins, who I've always been a fan of. But I've never seen her looking so amazing.)
Dirty Sexy Money. Episode 1. A very similar type of show to Big Shots, but with a tad more bite. This one revolves around a lawyer who has to work with a rich and somewhat eccentric family. He spends his time sorting out their OTT problems, and one of their sub-plots is the exact same as one featured in Big Shots. Hmmm. I'm not sure what to make of this either. It's got a great cast, and some of the characters are interesting enough to make me want to see what happens next. (But, if I don't, the one thing I will remember is Glenn Fitzgerald as a very agressive Reverend. Hilarious.)
Moonlight. Episode 1. Have we reached a stage yet, I wonder, where most of the vampires in television fiction are heroic detectives? Let's see: there's Nick Knight, Vachon, Angel, Henry Fitzroy and Julian Luna (who I don't think solved crimes, but was still heroic). The novelty of having a vampire as good guy diminishes somewhat when you consider that there are hundreds of nice vampires running around TV. Well... six, if you add Mick St. John to add to the list. Mick is exactly the same as the others. And the show is... exactly the same as the others. Forever Knight was the first and best, Blood Ties has already made it's mark as the 2007 version, so I'm not sure we need Moonlight. (If I don't watch it again, the one thing I will do is dig out my Forever Knight tapes and watch some of the best episodes again.)
October Road. Episode 1. Finally, after an evening of new TV shows, one that I fell in love with. Instantly. It's about a writer to returns to his hometown and the people he screwed in a famous book. He meets all his male friends (including the one who can't forgive him) and he meets the woman he loved and lost (who now has a son, the exact same age as the time he was away. Hmmm.). There's nothing in this show I haven't seen before, but I really liked it and I want to see what happens next. Can't say that about any other pilot this evening.
Babylon 5. Voices In The Dark. Babylon 5 was a sci-fi series that ran from 93 to 98 and - rather than doing a big reunion type of thing - this project seems to be an attempt to create 'mini' adventures that are like lost episodes, and put them out on DVD. Dirt cheap. Or something. Taken as such, then the project is a great success. The first story here features only three characters. Only one of whom was a show regular (during the final TV season), the other two being a priest and a man possessed by a demon. There is a strong story, almost no action and a lot of talk. But, thanks to the strong hand of the writer, and great acting from all three actors, it totally feels like a new episode of the show. I'm hooked. And I loved this.
Corner Gas. Season 3, Episode 19. The last episode of the season is one of the best. There is an abundance of one-liners, the usual criss-crossing of plot-lines and a wonderful final scene were all the regulars appear together at the same time. Oscar, my favourite character, is central to the episode as he: (a) loses sunglasses that then find their way to various other characters, and (b) strives to buy a suitable anniversary present for his wife Emma, who terrifies him. Some of the funniest lines make no sense out of context, but suffice to say I'll be laughing about about the idea of a "deaf monkey" for months to come.
Highlight? Having a new, and very good, Babylon 5 to watch.
