Dammit show!!!!

3.07 "Eris Quod Sum"

Okay, I said I was quitting Heroes, and I really thought I was going to and then I forgot to remove it from my Tivo Season Pass and so I had it recorded and I read that Kristen Bell was in the episode and one thing led to another...

I watched it. And it was pretty interesting. It's nice to have everyone converging on one idea the way they did in season 1. It's also nice that they got rid of two characters, Maya and Matt's dad, in one episode. Also, I like the fact that Sylar didn't want Peter to die. And Elle was around. And the fact that she ended up walking into Pinehearst and Sylar was already in there means the future could hold some Sylar/Elle interactions. And I just can't not watch that.

Plus the next episode is going to be a flashback. And this show does flashbacks really, really well. So I'm betting it'll be the best episode of the season.

Fuckin' A show. Why must you keep dragging me back in? And why do I keep letting you? So in the immortal words of Jack Twist: "No more beans." Wait...nevermind.

I spoke too soon about that miniseries thing.

So I just read that Crusoe is a 13-part miniseries, rather than an intended ongoing series. This relates to two points I made in my pilot review.

First of all, I wondered why the U.S. had yet to discover the miniseries and make use of it the way the U.K. does. Obviously I was speaking without having properly researched the situation. Although this does seem to be the only instance of a miniseries on the major networks.

And secondly, I commented that it didn't seem even remotely reasonable as an ongoing series meant to last for seasons and seasons. And now it's clear that it isn't that. Which is good.

So I originally predicted that the show would only last six episodes. So far it's ratings are weak, so in normal circumstances I'd stay with that prediction. With this new knowledge I'm not so sure. It's very likely that NBC ordered the full 13 episodes in one go. It also seems likely that they're already most of the way through production of those 13. So now the question is, if the full 13 episodes have been finished but the show continues to have poor ratings, will NBC still air the full run or will they attempt to put a bigger moneymaker in its place? Hard to say.

Pilot review: Crusoe

This show has pirates. And a tree house better than the Swiss Family Robinson. And two smokin' hot shirtless dudes. And treasure hunts. And a backstory that involves Sean Bean and Sam Neill. And a female pirate who's very weirdly reminiscent of Captain Jack Sparrow.

All logic indicates that this should be my favorite show of all time. And while I did enjoy it tremendously, there was something vaguely mid-90s New Zealander production about it, if you catch my meaning*, albeit with better filming locations. I will continue to watch it while it's on, but just based on the extreme Britishness of it, the unapologetically historical nature of it, and the fact that it's numbers weren't really so hot, I give it six weeks. Although maybe NBC just doesn't have anything better. We'll see.

One thing I found odd was that presumably the actual Robinson Crusoe story has an ending. This is just like Life on Mars where I'm wondering how they plan to make it an ongoing story for several seasons. And judging by the nature of the show itself, I really think it would be better as a miniseries. When is American network television going to discover and embrace the miniseries? It works great in England. Over there practically everything's a miniseries. And they can do multi-season miniseries if they see fit. Then they could just air it all, continue it if it's successful, and not deal with the stigma and humiliation of having to cancel a show that they purchased in the first place if it's not.

Also, the episode title was "Rum and Gunpowder". There was plenty of gunpowder, but I didn't even hear a mention of rum. The question (and obligatory reference) of course being: "Why is the rum gone?".

One more thing. Why oh why oh why didn't Philip Winchester play Will Turner in Pirates? He's like Orlando Bloom, just without the gross facial hair and able to act.

* my meaning(s)

Alright show, we're done.

That's it. I'm done with Heroes. Too much going on. Not getting to any point anytime soon. I just don't care anymore and it's not worth my time. If I hear that it's improved, I'll catch up and return. Until then, the Season Pass is canceled.

Pilot review: Life on Mars

Wow. I like this. Although that could be because I've seen the whole thing before.

Season 1 of the British version of this show is only 8 episodes long. For some reason, despite the fact that I enjoy it and I've had it since May, I've only watched 5 episodes. I told myself I'd finish at least Season 1 (of 2) before I watched this episode, but I just didn't get around to it.

Anyway, this was practically a shot-by-shot remake of the British pilot. I don't quite understand how when the pilot for this version was filmed the first time (this one was the second go of it) it was so damn awful (per the media). It seems like if they followed the original version, it'd be exactly the same. Although they recast the whole thing so maybe it was just bad acting.

But basically I'm wondering two things. 1) Why did they have it take place in New York when the British version takes place in Manchester (not London)? 2) When the first season of the original was only 8 episodes and the entire original series was only 16 episodes how are they going to do a 22 episode season of this show? Much less multiple seasons?

As far as the first question goes, it was kind of cool to be able to have him immediately recognize that he wasn't in 2008 because of seeing the World Trade Center towers. Also, just from a comparison of the street scenes in the two versions of the show, the U.S. (or at least New York) was a very different place from England (or at least Manchester) in the '70s.

Okay, that's all I've got to say so far. The differences are minor. I like Jason O'Mara as Sam. I'll definitely watch the next episode tonight. I'll also finish Season 1 of the British version this weekend and attempt to watch Season 2 in the next couple of weeks. Score 3 for Fall 2008.

Pilot review: My Own Worst Enemy

Surprisingly I actually liked this show. And I haven't liked Christian Slater in anything other than Heathers. The whole accidentally switching back and forth between the spy personality and the cover personality at inopportune times thing was entertaining. Although that could potentially get old quickly. The two personalities actually managing to communicate with each other and coordinating attack plans also made for good entertainment.

I particularly liked the fact that Henry (cover) called Edward (spy) a dick after looking at his wardrobe. Maybe it was just amusing because it was Christian Slater calling himself a dick.

I guess I don't have much else, other than that I enjoyed it. I might even have to watch it again next week. Or catch up via Hulu every once in a while. Weird.

Is this Score 2 for Fall 2008? Of course I haven't checked the reviews. Maybe I was the only one who liked it.

I'm tired of blogging about this show...

3.05 "Angels and Monsters"

I'm definitely going to continue watching the show, as I remain interested, but I'm just finding myself at a loss of anything substantial to say about it, so I'm going to stop commenting on it every week. As for this episode...

...Thank God for no Mohinder voiceover! Replacing it with Nathan was okay for now, but it'd be awesome if they could get rid of the voiceovers altogether.

As always, it was a pleasure not to have Matt around. And the lack of Peter was pretty refreshing. Turns out Maya is way less annoying when she's not whining and is instead terrified. Mohinder is less annoying when he's not whining and voiceovering and he's gone crazy and enjoys killing things and wrapping them up like bugs. Who would've guessed? Tracy is less annoying when she doesn't talk much and stands around behind Nathan or Angela looking pretty. Ando is less annoying when he's dead. It's too soon to tell if killing Ando will make Hiro less annoying.

And most importantly, Sylar is awesome, as usual. And the HRG & Sylar buddy cop team is brilliant. It should be the whole show. (A side note, though: Didn't Sylar steal super-hearing and should therefore have been able to hear what HRG was saying to Vortex guy?)

This Mr. Petrelli (does he have a first name that I've just forgotten?) plot could really go either way in terms of interesting-ness and non-insane-ness. Robert Forester's cool, at least. Guess we'll see.

Pilot review: Eleventh Hour

This show is much worse than Fringe or Bones. I don't like it. Rufus Sewell is really boring. Marley Shelton is also boring. Marc Blucas is terrible and has unattractive hair and facial hair. The whole show seems to have the taking-itself-too-seriously-while-overexplaining-absolutely-everything slant that CBS seems to really love in its dramas.

Okay, I'm only fifteen minutes into this show and I'm bored. I'm switching to Life on Mars.

Pilot review: Kath & Kim

It should come as a shock to no one that this show is terrible. Although it may only be equally as bad as Do Not Disturb. I don't understand why they feel the need for voiceovers. I'm ashamed to admit that I do find Kim's husband Craig to be pretty amusing. "I can't fully sit up in this couch. It's how it's designed."

So, in terms of lasting power, this show comes on between My Name is Earl and The Office, both of which have managed to not be canceled for several years now, so there's got to be some ratings there somewhere. It's not quite the historic The Single Guy time slot of yore, but it might get them more than three episodes. We'll see.

Pilot non-reviews: Valentine and Easy Money

Valentine and Easy Money both premiered on the CW this past Sunday. I forgot to watch them and forgot to TiVo them. I could make an effort to see them, but I just can't bring myself to care. I haven't felt strongly about anything on the CW so far this year, and neither of those were getting rave reviews. So I'm not going to bother unless I start hearing great things. And the commercials for Valentine looked horrid so I can't imagine I will. Easy Money might fair a little better if only because of Laurie Metcalf. But she deserves so much better than an underhyped CW show. So maybe I'm hoping this will fail quickly so she can move on to something better.

Sylar, the family man

3.04 "I Am Become Death"

Well, that was fun. Why does this show manage to do the future and the past so much better than the present?

Um, I don't have much to say about this one. I like FutureGabriel (his son is named Noah!). I like the idea of (shirtless) Peter and Sylar working together. I like the return of Adam. I like the Daphne/Parkman future, kind of. I like Tracy much better than Niki/Jessica. And I like her and crazy-religious Nathan together. I still don't like Maya and Mohinder, but they seem moderately less annoying now that Maya isn't crying all the time and Mohinder is scared shitless and no longer all holier-than-thou and philosophical. Also, in the future, there was no HRG Noah but Gabriel's son was named Noah. Presumably that means that HRG Noah is dead in the future. Sad. I wonder if we'll ever find out who Noah's mom was. I do still feel like they're doing season 1 over again a little bit, but I'm not bored. I'm definitely re-engaged in this story...for now.

Pilot review: The Ex List

I started out with this one intending to not like it. It just seems annoying and stupid for her to go back redating all the guys she dated before just so she can get married. I guess I'm being hypocritical though, because I liked High Fidelity and I love How I Met Your Mother and this is basically the same thing...just a girl doing it. Also, her name is Bella. Where did that name come from to suddenly be so popular?

Anyway, I kind of liked the roommates. Particularly in the beginning when they're laying around in a kiddie pool. I think in the end she's going to end up with her most recent ex-boyfriend, Eliot. She shares a dog with the guy. The only problem between them seemed to be that he didn't want to get married. I'm guessing he'll come around for whatever reason and that'll be it. Either that or the roommate couple will break up and we'll find out that the guy and Bella once slept together and then it'll be them.

But back to the point. I'm not sure how I feel about the going back to ex-boyfriends thing. All of her interactions with the first guy, played hilariously by the ubiquitous Eric Balfour, made me really uncomfortable. Even though he ended up being pretty awesome. Plus, I'm concerned about Bella's back mole. That's weird and she needs to see a dermatologist. Oh, maybe the dermatologist will be one of her exes.

All in all, I found it to be relatively enjoyable and I kind of want to keep watching it. But I don't feel like I have the time. So maybe I'll see how it fares this season and catch up this summer.

Disappointed

There's a midseason replacement show called Castle, starring Nathan Fillion, slated for this spring. Based on the preview

,

I am not excited. I'm actually disappointed that Fillion can't seem to get a decent job that makes full use of his dramatic, comedic, and smarminess capabilities, that doesn't suck, and is not directed by Joss Whedon. Maybe it'll get canceled quickly and he'll show up on Dollhouse as Tahmoh Penikett's brother or new FBI boss or something. Meanwhile, with Sarah Connor Chronicles likely canceled at any moment, Summer Glau can be an active from a rival company that starts getting into altercations with the Dollhouse actives while out on missions.
...or at least I can dream.