Monday, October 19th, 2009
05.00 30 Rock
05.30 Law And Order
08.00 The Dead Zone
12.30 Arrested Development
30 Rock. Season 4, Episode 1. "Season 4" New cast member search. Pages on strike.
Sometimes I don't enjoy the season premiere's of 30 Rock, but this one hit the mark as far as I was concerned. It amazes me that the show can (successfully) make comic fodder from the troubles of NBC and the economy in general. But it does.
Law And Order. Season 19, Episode 17. "Anchors Away" David Rasche doing TV news, and Jill Eikenberry helping her husband steal money and build an empire.
Great episode, with one of the strongest endings the show has had. It's refreshing to see an older couple (even a criminal one) so much in love, and so devoted to one another and even Connie appears touched by their affection. But the closing minutes drive home the fact (voiced by one of the regulars) that they might love one another, but they don't love anyone else. Even their own daughter, who ends the episode in a sorry state.
Great episode.
The Dead Zone. Season 2, Episode 12. "The Hunt" Johnny goes CIA.
One of the best, and coolest, episodes with Johnny helping the CIA track a suspected terrorist. The first two-thirds show the top secret set-up with documentary-like detail and it's absorbing and entertaining stuff. In it's final third, the story gets really clever and finds a way to plant Johnny in the middle of an intense fire-fight and impact upon the action.
A thrill ride.
Arrested Development. Season 3, Episode 12. "Exit Strategy" Iraq.
AD surprised me greatly by bringing it's three-season storyline to a conclusion. To be honest, as much as I loved the show (and I still) I never thought of it as having a proper 'story' that would need to be concluded. In fact, had it's final episodes been typical chapters I would in no way have felt that I was missing out on anything.
But, as it happens, the writers had an ending for their story arc in mind and in this episode we find out that George Sr. was innocent all along. We also get a guest shot from Gary Cole, which is never a bad thing.
Highlight? The Dead Zone (One of the best, and coolest, episodes)
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A Briefing With Michael: One Year Ago
30 Rock, Law And Order, The Dead Zone, Arrested Development
The Dead Zone, Space:1999
Tuesday, September 4th, 2007
11:00 The Dead Zone
12:00 Space: 1999
For the 8th episode of season three, The Dead Zone puts the Johnny-Sarah-Walt love-triangle front and centre. Johnny goes to a wedding and (through visions) finds out that the bride's first true-love - long believed dead - is actually alive and well, and will return to her. Johnny, Sarah and Walt wrestle with this information for about half of the episode, very aware of the parallels with their own situation: Johnny was in a coma for years, and Sarah gave up on him to marry Walt.
It's a great episode (after a run of weak ones) and it really packs an emotional punch. Not only with the three main characters that we know and love, but also with the guest characters. Best bit? The climax, as we wait to find out which man the bride has chosen to marry.
Six episodes into the first season and regulars of Space: 1999 find themselves back on Earth. Or, at least, a version of Earth. A strange, space phenomenon hurls the moon billions of light years back to where it started from: orbit of the planet Earth. But all is not as it seems, the phenomenon has also managed to duplicate the moon - and the other moon has arrived at Earth 5 years earlier.
What follows is a spooky episode, with lots of silent action early on, as guest star Judy Geeson gets badly affected by the time-warp duplication thing (or whatever it is) and has some creepy nightmares. There's a goofy line of dialogue at one point, indicating that her character now has... "two brains". Sigh. Best ignored. However, apart from that snippet of nonsense, this is a strong episode. Space: 1999 works best when it showcases the regulars as being at the mercy of a crazy, cruel universe that they don't understand. When episodes tell this type of story (as they frequently do) the result can sometimes be quite profound. Or, as in this case, a lot of fun to watch. We get a fast-paced script, a deserted Moonbase Alpha, duplicates of most of the regulars, and a downbeat ending. Nobody in it understands what is going on. They merely try to survive it. And it's good TV.
