The Closer has a solid A episode last night. One of the comedy ones involving a guy pretending to be a cop and fooling members of the squad. The Closer has this great mix of being a suspenseful drama to outright comedy.
I also watched True Blood another great episode of this A show. Really well done and it really captures my attention, I cannot wait for the next episode.
On tap tonight is Warehouse 13 and last night's Weeds, Nurse Jackie, and Raising the Bar.
Oh well.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Thoughts: 13-July-2009
I watched the latest episode of Royal Pains this past weekend via DVR. What an excellent episode and what a great show this is turning out to be. Medical mysteries like we used to see on House before it got all about how wacky is House going to act this week. Solutions that are original and creative. And characters who walk that thin line where a lesser talent would really make them unlikeable and yet we start to really enjoy and care about them. A for this show.
I find out that Merlin is a BBC show and that it has been renewed. NBC currently has the broadcast rights in the USA but if they pass, we probably will get to see it on BBC America. It does make up for the cancellation of Primeval.
I also saw that that third and last season of Robin Hood is currently ending its run in the UK. BBC America should start showing this last season sometime in the fall. I peeked at the spoilers on Wikipedia and this show goes the same route as Robin of Sherwood which starred Michael Pare. I watched this show when it was on Showtime back in my graduate student days and loved it as I love the current Robin Hood series. Too bad an ending is coming.
Oh well.
I find out that Merlin is a BBC show and that it has been renewed. NBC currently has the broadcast rights in the USA but if they pass, we probably will get to see it on BBC America. It does make up for the cancellation of Primeval.
I also saw that that third and last season of Robin Hood is currently ending its run in the UK. BBC America should start showing this last season sometime in the fall. I peeked at the spoilers on Wikipedia and this show goes the same route as Robin of Sherwood which starred Michael Pare. I watched this show when it was on Showtime back in my graduate student days and loved it as I love the current Robin Hood series. Too bad an ending is coming.
Oh well.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Thoughts: 12-July-2009
Well, I watched the final two hours of Harper's Island last night on CBS. Here are my comments.
1. Henry, the bridegroom, turns out to be John Wakefield's son via Abby's mother. Wakefield trained him to be a serial killer in order to enact his master plan. The only people to survive were the kid named Madison and her mother (whose name escapes me), Jimmy, and Abby.
2. Wakefield's master plan was to have his son kill Abby. Why he needed to kill everyone else on the island was never explained? I guess when he saw how easy it was to create all those deathtraps and clean up the scene hiding the fact all these people were getting killed, he figured why not? Give him something to do there since he did not have wedding invitation and could not join in on that fun.
3. Henry, who turns out to be Abby's half brother, decides to go with his own plan, kills father Wakefield, fakes his and Abby's death which allows him to fulfill his fantasy of living with Abby for the rest of their lives on Harper's Island, and plans on framing Jimmy as Wakefield's accomplice since Madison and her mother know that somebody helped Wakefield to escape from jail.
Conclusion: The real mystery here is why did CBS green light this crap? I mean you have the plot of a 90 min classic 1980's slasher film stretched out for almost 600 min with no R rated sex and nudity, and they thought people would stick and watch this for 13 weeks? The plots were stupid, the acting was bad, and the only two characters I liked were killed (Charlie and Chloe). This whole series gets a D from me.
And what is really sad is that CBS cancel ls shows like Without a Trace and Eleventh Hour that got good ratings and had well written story lines and goes for shows like Harper's Island and reality TV crap like "There Goes the Neighborhood" that was getting a heavy rotation of promotion last night. What is the appeal of reality TV crap? I have not idea.
If this show was not going to end in 13 episodes I would have bagged it up the four episode, that is why it gets a D instead of a F, I actually watched it so I could rant about it here and spare you the misery of viewing it.
Oh well.
1. Henry, the bridegroom, turns out to be John Wakefield's son via Abby's mother. Wakefield trained him to be a serial killer in order to enact his master plan. The only people to survive were the kid named Madison and her mother (whose name escapes me), Jimmy, and Abby.
2. Wakefield's master plan was to have his son kill Abby. Why he needed to kill everyone else on the island was never explained? I guess when he saw how easy it was to create all those deathtraps and clean up the scene hiding the fact all these people were getting killed, he figured why not? Give him something to do there since he did not have wedding invitation and could not join in on that fun.
3. Henry, who turns out to be Abby's half brother, decides to go with his own plan, kills father Wakefield, fakes his and Abby's death which allows him to fulfill his fantasy of living with Abby for the rest of their lives on Harper's Island, and plans on framing Jimmy as Wakefield's accomplice since Madison and her mother know that somebody helped Wakefield to escape from jail.
Conclusion: The real mystery here is why did CBS green light this crap? I mean you have the plot of a 90 min classic 1980's slasher film stretched out for almost 600 min with no R rated sex and nudity, and they thought people would stick and watch this for 13 weeks? The plots were stupid, the acting was bad, and the only two characters I liked were killed (Charlie and Chloe). This whole series gets a D from me.
And what is really sad is that CBS cancel ls shows like Without a Trace and Eleventh Hour that got good ratings and had well written story lines and goes for shows like Harper's Island and reality TV crap like "There Goes the Neighborhood" that was getting a heavy rotation of promotion last night. What is the appeal of reality TV crap? I have not idea.
If this show was not going to end in 13 episodes I would have bagged it up the four episode, that is why it gets a D instead of a F, I actually watched it so I could rant about it here and spare you the misery of viewing it.
Oh well.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Thoughts: 11-July-2009
I came up with a rating scale for TV shows that I watch and since I don't have anything to say, thought I would share it with you.
A: Excellent show, worth watching, the best on TV. Some A shows will drop to a B with certain episodes, but the majority of shows for a season get an A. Example: Primeval (BBC America), True Blood (HBO), NCIS (CBS) NCIS get an A, because this season the shows really hit the mark and the scripts were able to make the annoying Tony less annoying than he has in the past.
B: Good show worth watching, but has some element that drops it to a B. An A show can have some B episodes, and vice versa. Example Monk (USA), In Plain Sight (USA)
C: Average, still watching but the show has seen better days Example House (FOX), Desperate Housewives (ABC), Grey's Anatomy (ABC) These ratings will be attached to shows that are starting to wear out their welcome.
D: Barely watchable, only watching so I have something to rant about in my blog. Also some of these shows tie into a better show or I have been watching them for a long time, or I can't believe that Joss Whedon is responsible for this. Example Dollhouse (FOX), Private Practice (ABC), Harper's Island (CBS) and American Chopper (TLC)
F: Could not stand this show for more than one episode and have never watched it again. Example Castle (ABC), Flash Gordon (SyFy), and 30 Rock (NBC)
Eureka last night gets a B, solid show where Carter gets his job back and we have a subplot starting to emerge. The only thing I don't like is the voice that they use for Sarah the computer, come on put in a sexy babe voice, that I what I would demand, Kathleen Turner for example.
Oh well.
A: Excellent show, worth watching, the best on TV. Some A shows will drop to a B with certain episodes, but the majority of shows for a season get an A. Example: Primeval (BBC America), True Blood (HBO), NCIS (CBS) NCIS get an A, because this season the shows really hit the mark and the scripts were able to make the annoying Tony less annoying than he has in the past.
B: Good show worth watching, but has some element that drops it to a B. An A show can have some B episodes, and vice versa. Example Monk (USA), In Plain Sight (USA)
C: Average, still watching but the show has seen better days Example House (FOX), Desperate Housewives (ABC), Grey's Anatomy (ABC) These ratings will be attached to shows that are starting to wear out their welcome.
D: Barely watchable, only watching so I have something to rant about in my blog. Also some of these shows tie into a better show or I have been watching them for a long time, or I can't believe that Joss Whedon is responsible for this. Example Dollhouse (FOX), Private Practice (ABC), Harper's Island (CBS) and American Chopper (TLC)
F: Could not stand this show for more than one episode and have never watched it again. Example Castle (ABC), Flash Gordon (SyFy), and 30 Rock (NBC)
Eureka last night gets a B, solid show where Carter gets his job back and we have a subplot starting to emerge. The only thing I don't like is the voice that they use for Sarah the computer, come on put in a sexy babe voice, that I what I would demand, Kathleen Turner for example.
Oh well.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Thoughts: 10-July-2009
Getting ready for the weekend. I am thinking of going to see the Proposal and Ice Age 3 tomorrow. I have zero interest in seeing Bruno.
Tomorrow night the two part conclusion to Harper's Island. I have to say that this 13 part series was a big disappointment, you are stretching out a 90 min premise for about 600 min, just does not work.
Saving Grace had a good episode this week, F. Murry Abraham played a rival angel named Michael who was ready to give Grace's friend Loretta $180 billion if Grace accepts God. Loretta tore the winning lottery ticket up saying she picks Earl. So, come on Earl, play Loretta a visit.
Oh well.
Tomorrow night the two part conclusion to Harper's Island. I have to say that this 13 part series was a big disappointment, you are stretching out a 90 min premise for about 600 min, just does not work.
Saving Grace had a good episode this week, F. Murry Abraham played a rival angel named Michael who was ready to give Grace's friend Loretta $180 billion if Grace accepts God. Loretta tore the winning lottery ticket up saying she picks Earl. So, come on Earl, play Loretta a visit.
Oh well.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Thoughts: 09-July-2009
I watched the premiere of SyFy's Warehouse 13 via DVR last night. The reviews for this show have been pretty bad, I don't know I have seen worst. The premise is that the US government has a secret warehouse where items that have strange powers can be safely put away. Same sort of premise as the Librarian series on TBS and Friday the 13th series where each episode they track down an objected cursed by the Devil and put it away for safe keeping.
The producers spent some bucks to get CCH Pounder (so great in The Shield, but really wasted in this role) and Saul Rubinek (who is the best thing about the series). I am not impressed with the two actors cast as Secret Service agents, Bruce Campbell would have been really good in the part. Right now kind of a so-so series which given SyFy's poor track record for original series is not a good sign.
Then I watched MonsterQuest (History Channel) which was about critical evidence for Bigfoot. Almost no skeptic commentary at all, and the evidence was presented as indisputable. A quick search on Google find plenty of rebuttal and plenty of people who could have added some perspective to the show.
The evidence, in no particular order.
1. Freeman video. This was shot by a park ranger who also was a Bigfoot enthusiast. While recording footprints, he hears a noise and records footage of a Bigfoot. The ranger service did an internal investigation of him and found nothing indicative of a hoax. Freeman is reported to be a nice guy. The video looks like a guy in a cheap costume and was not convincing at all. Not too much time was spent on this critical "evidence".
2. Density of sightings. They mapped out all the Bigfoot sightings in the USA. Highest concentration was the Pacific Northwest, and then they correlated this with rainfall and discovered that high levels of rainfall matched the areas where Bigfoot has been seen the most. This supports the idea that a population may exist. It was noted briefly that there were a lot more sightings in the Northeast than expected. Two points, I would love to see a plotting of black bear sightings made and then a correlation analysis between the two sets of sightings preformed. I bet that there would be a high correlation, i.e. Bigfoot tends to be seen in areas with lots of black bears. I also thought it was interesting how they did not touch on the fact that the second highest density of sightings was northeast Ohio. I lived there for four years and never heard anything about Bigfoot. Not too impressed with this "critical evidence".
3. Tarso Metatarsal Joint. This is a joint in the foot of primates that humans do not have. Humans tend to use their toes to balance and make footsteps. Primates have this joint that bisects across their foot. Analysis of a 3-D image of one of the Bigfoot footprints seems to indicate that Bigfoot has this joint and thus not human. Again this "critical evidence" was hurried over and the scientist did not discuss how many of the Bigfoot footprints has evidence of this joint or how common this is seen. They did not go into this at all, and on a website (www.bermuda-triangle.org) there was a interesting bit about the evolution of the Bigfoot footprints that went from very distinctive shapes over time with no comment as to why by the investigators.
4. Cripplefoot. This is a set of footprints from a Bigfoot who injured one of his feet and developed a club foot. Lots of folks have cited that this is proof positive and on the show, we were told that nobody could fake this. Back to the website that I cited above, we discover lots of doubt about the authenticity of this footprint and I have to say that con artists and hoaxers are some of the cleverest people around. Do not underestimate the intelligence of someone determined to get a hoax off.
5. The Patterson film. The best critical evidence was the famous 1967 Patterson-Gimlen film. This has been so debunked that you can find several citations on Wikipedia for this. They had a special effects guy who creates primate exhibits analyse the film, he claimed it was real. Rick Baker, Oscar winning effects artist, among others say the opposite. Read Wikipedia and check the reference for the book about the guy who came forward saying he wore the costume for 1000 bucks.
Real critical evidence would be a body, until then History Channel and MonsterQuest, your show belongs on Penn and Teller's Bullshit! (Showtime).
Oh well.
The producers spent some bucks to get CCH Pounder (so great in The Shield, but really wasted in this role) and Saul Rubinek (who is the best thing about the series). I am not impressed with the two actors cast as Secret Service agents, Bruce Campbell would have been really good in the part. Right now kind of a so-so series which given SyFy's poor track record for original series is not a good sign.
Then I watched MonsterQuest (History Channel) which was about critical evidence for Bigfoot. Almost no skeptic commentary at all, and the evidence was presented as indisputable. A quick search on Google find plenty of rebuttal and plenty of people who could have added some perspective to the show.
The evidence, in no particular order.
1. Freeman video. This was shot by a park ranger who also was a Bigfoot enthusiast. While recording footprints, he hears a noise and records footage of a Bigfoot. The ranger service did an internal investigation of him and found nothing indicative of a hoax. Freeman is reported to be a nice guy. The video looks like a guy in a cheap costume and was not convincing at all. Not too much time was spent on this critical "evidence".
2. Density of sightings. They mapped out all the Bigfoot sightings in the USA. Highest concentration was the Pacific Northwest, and then they correlated this with rainfall and discovered that high levels of rainfall matched the areas where Bigfoot has been seen the most. This supports the idea that a population may exist. It was noted briefly that there were a lot more sightings in the Northeast than expected. Two points, I would love to see a plotting of black bear sightings made and then a correlation analysis between the two sets of sightings preformed. I bet that there would be a high correlation, i.e. Bigfoot tends to be seen in areas with lots of black bears. I also thought it was interesting how they did not touch on the fact that the second highest density of sightings was northeast Ohio. I lived there for four years and never heard anything about Bigfoot. Not too impressed with this "critical evidence".
3. Tarso Metatarsal Joint. This is a joint in the foot of primates that humans do not have. Humans tend to use their toes to balance and make footsteps. Primates have this joint that bisects across their foot. Analysis of a 3-D image of one of the Bigfoot footprints seems to indicate that Bigfoot has this joint and thus not human. Again this "critical evidence" was hurried over and the scientist did not discuss how many of the Bigfoot footprints has evidence of this joint or how common this is seen. They did not go into this at all, and on a website (www.bermuda-triangle.org) there was a interesting bit about the evolution of the Bigfoot footprints that went from very distinctive shapes over time with no comment as to why by the investigators.
4. Cripplefoot. This is a set of footprints from a Bigfoot who injured one of his feet and developed a club foot. Lots of folks have cited that this is proof positive and on the show, we were told that nobody could fake this. Back to the website that I cited above, we discover lots of doubt about the authenticity of this footprint and I have to say that con artists and hoaxers are some of the cleverest people around. Do not underestimate the intelligence of someone determined to get a hoax off.
5. The Patterson film. The best critical evidence was the famous 1967 Patterson-Gimlen film. This has been so debunked that you can find several citations on Wikipedia for this. They had a special effects guy who creates primate exhibits analyse the film, he claimed it was real. Rick Baker, Oscar winning effects artist, among others say the opposite. Read Wikipedia and check the reference for the book about the guy who came forward saying he wore the costume for 1000 bucks.
Real critical evidence would be a body, until then History Channel and MonsterQuest, your show belongs on Penn and Teller's Bullshit! (Showtime).
Oh well.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Thoughts: 08-July-2009
I saw this in TV Guide and confirmed it via the Internet, Primeval, the great BBC America SF show, is being cancelled after this current season. The reason given for the cancellation, high cost of the show. Good ratings and well received but it costs too much.
And what sucks is the fact that series 3 is going to end on a cliffhanger which will remain unresolved for the near future. There is some discussion that a feature film may get made to tie up the loose ends. I think that the BBC owes us at least a miniseries to end the show properly, what bad form to cancel a show and leave it unresolved. SyFy did this to Farscape, at least they brought that show back as a miniseries to end it properly.
What bothers me is that good ratings are not enough to keep shows on the air. The production costs are playing a bigger and bigger role in what the networks are deciding to air. CBS cancelled Without a Trace and the Eleventh Hour (8 and 11 on the season ratings chart) due I believe to the costs associated with these shows. So what are we going to get now, cheap programming that draws high ratings? And you know what that is, reality TV crap! Yes, lets cancel Reaper and Primeval and have more crap like Wipeout, Big Brother, or the Bachelor/Bachelrette.
The other rant is the news that Claire, played by Hayden Panettiere, is going to have a girl-girl kiss with one of her college roommates on Heroes next season. Is the ratings that bad that they have to do this in order to get the fan boys to tune in for a thrill? Anybody who is that hard up that they need to see this, plenty of porn on the Internet that covers college girl experimentation. I just don't know why they have to add this gratuitous stuff to a show that used to be entertaining without that.
Oh well.
And what sucks is the fact that series 3 is going to end on a cliffhanger which will remain unresolved for the near future. There is some discussion that a feature film may get made to tie up the loose ends. I think that the BBC owes us at least a miniseries to end the show properly, what bad form to cancel a show and leave it unresolved. SyFy did this to Farscape, at least they brought that show back as a miniseries to end it properly.
What bothers me is that good ratings are not enough to keep shows on the air. The production costs are playing a bigger and bigger role in what the networks are deciding to air. CBS cancelled Without a Trace and the Eleventh Hour (8 and 11 on the season ratings chart) due I believe to the costs associated with these shows. So what are we going to get now, cheap programming that draws high ratings? And you know what that is, reality TV crap! Yes, lets cancel Reaper and Primeval and have more crap like Wipeout, Big Brother, or the Bachelor/Bachelrette.
The other rant is the news that Claire, played by Hayden Panettiere, is going to have a girl-girl kiss with one of her college roommates on Heroes next season. Is the ratings that bad that they have to do this in order to get the fan boys to tune in for a thrill? Anybody who is that hard up that they need to see this, plenty of porn on the Internet that covers college girl experimentation. I just don't know why they have to add this gratuitous stuff to a show that used to be entertaining without that.
Oh well.
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