Pop Culture Savant

New LOST Secrets Revealed at Comic Con

2011-07-23T09:08:00.001-04:00

As Team PCS continues to reel from the fact that we weren't able to make it to Comic Con this year, the news that LOST showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse showed up to take part in EW's 'Totally LOST: One Year Later' panel makes it sting a little worse. Especially since Cuse appeared in full storm trooper armor to hide his identity until reveal time!!

But the best part of all is this new LOST clip that has a little fun with the notion of whether the ending was "planned all along" in this clip that was "cut" from the season 1 finale which - most importantly - finally reveals the name of the Man in Black.

Enjoy...

For the full scoop, check out Alan Sepinwall's recap over at Hitfix.

The Walking Dead season 2 trailer

2011-07-23T08:27:00.000-04:00

Season two drops October 16th at 9pm on AMC. Have at it...

True Blood Season 4 - "She's Not There"

2011-06-27T14:02:00.014-04:00

Hey, True Blood is BACK, and in good timing to make me forget how much I miss Tyrion Lannister.

I guess we have to talk about that opening scene, don’t we? We can’t just pretend that it didn’t happen, hope Alan Ball learned a lesson, and move on? No?

With the blur of events over a few short months in the past three seasons, I’m glad the writers thought to give the characters some breathing room and time to recuperate. It was much needed.

I did NOT anticipate the jump in time from Sookie’s perspective. I kind of feel bad for the girl. She’s been home like, two days in the past year and a half. Who picks up her mail? She must have the most understanding postman ever, making the long trip up Hummingbird Road day after day. Maybe Bill. That seems like something he would do. “Sookkeh, I have come to returrnnah your pohhstal mahhle.”

Besides the ridiculous special effects, I was a bit annoyed at the too-literal take of “fairy land.” I’m sorry AB, but you are now required to stop using the anti-Bubba excuse of “it would be too ridiculous, fake and unbelievable!” And if you do, fans now have ammo in holster. On another note, it was fun casting that both Stephen Root and Gary Cole have now been on True Blood…Too bad not together. Moving on.

So Sookie returns, and heads home to find her house painted and landscaped. Looks like her driveway still isn’t fixed though. Cheap bastard!

Also, Jason has a goatee, so he might be evil now. TBD on that one.

Apparently everyone thought Sookie was dead. I wonder why they hadn’t made her a headstone? See, that would have been a much more shocking way to mark the passage of time. Sookie arrives back in Bon Temps cemetery with Grandaddy, escorts him to the family plot, and encounters her on gravestone.

At home Bill arrives, bangs look good. I actually feel bad for Bill because Sookie’s being kind of callous. The poor man was so devastated that chopped his hair and started wearing sweaters! There’s no more evidence you need of a man in grief. Good for Bill for walking away here, when she clearly expected him to be her bitch again.

Andy eventually arrives, upset about a safety plaque which is so Andy. And he’s hiding vials of V in his squad car, which was something Jason once did. Chris Bauer’s facial expressions here are amazing. If someone hasn’t made a gif of this yet, get on it.

Cut to the strip mall witch coven, and Lafayette has a ridiculous haircut. I’m starting to think the writers are changing everyone’s appearance to clearly mark the passage of time. Like we wouldn’t have been able to sort that out ourselves. Oh but, Lafayette has a Mohawk, so clearly now I understand that it’s a year later.

The highlights of this episode for me were both Pam’s apathetic sales pitch and Eric’s commercial cut with King Bill. The editing of this scene was done very, very well.

AND WOAH how come nobody is talking about that weird Mommy-Son-Proxy thing going on with Maxine and Tommy?

That is some Buster Bluth, Lucille Two shit going on right here.

If Hoyt weren’t like six foot three, I would even think he was wearing Hoyt’s clothing.

And Compton Manor has like..a moat, now? Good for Bill. This was always one of my life dreams.

More thoughts later on Episode 2, where I'm either less harsh because it was really great, or because Viking high-handed professions have broken my critical spirit.

First Look: J.J. Abrams' Person Of Interest

2011-05-18T19:25:00.001-04:00

I'll admit that I thought the premise sounded iffy at best, but after watching the trailer - I'm a believer in JJ Abrams/Jonah Nolan's Person Of Interest starring Michal Emerson and Jim Caviezel.

I mean, what more could you want then the guy who played Ben Linus and the guy who played... well... Jesus in a sort've updated version of Marvel Comic's 'The Punisher'?

Well, how about (as is implied by the trailer) a computer that gives them numbers assigned to people that are about to commit violent crimes so that they can trump violence with violence (what the what?)? I was sold at Caviezel's delivery of the line "I don't like killing people, but I am very good at it"... Sounds very Ben Linus, doesn't it?

Trailer and official synopsis below. Person Of Interest airs this fall on CBS.

PERSON OF INTEREST stars Jim Caviezel, Emmy Award winner Michael Emerson and Academy Award nominee Taraji P. Henson in a crime thriller about a presumed dead former-CIA agent who teams up with a mysterious billionaire to prevent violent crimes by using their own brand of vigilante justice. Reese's (Caviezel) special training in covert operations appeals to Finch (Emerson), a software genius who invented a program that uses pattern recognition to identify people about to be involved in violent crimes.

Using state-of-the-art surveillance technology, the two work outside of the law using Reese's adept skills and Finch's unlimited wealth to unravel the mystery of the person of interest and stop the crime before it happens. Reese's actions catch the attention of the NYPD, including homicide detective Carter (Henson), and Fusco (Kevin Chapman), a cop who Reese uses to his advantage. With infinite crimes to investigate, Reese and Finch find that the right person, with the right information, at the right time, can change everything. Emmy Award winners J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk ("Lost"), Academy Award nominee Jonathan Nolan ("Memento"), David Semel ("Heroes") and Greg Plageman ("Cold Case") are the executive producers for Warner Bros. Television.

First Look: J.J. Abrams' Alcatraz

2011-05-16T18:36:00.001-04:00

Here's the first look at the new J.J. Abrams Drama/Crime/Sci-fi(?) show Alcatraz set to premiere mid season 2011-12 on FOX.

Executive produced by geek guru Abrams and Lost and Deadwood alum Elizabeth Sarnoff, Alcatraz stars Sarah Jones and everyone's favorite cursed lottery winner, Lost's Jorge Garcia. Below is the preview and the official synopsis from FOX. It's safe to say that Team PCS is excited about this one...

When San Francisco Police Department DET. REBECCA MADSEN (Sarah Jones, “Sons of Anarchy”) is assigned to a grisly homicide case, a fingerprint leads her to a shocking suspect: JACK SYLVANE (guest star Jeffrey Pierce, “The Nine”), a former Alcatraz inmate who died decades ago. Given her family history – both her grandfather and surrogate uncle, RAY ARCHER (Robert Forster, “Jackie Brown”), were guards at the prison – Madsen’s interest is immediately piqued, and once the enigmatic, knows-everything-but-tells-nothing government agent EMERSON HAUSER (Sam Neill, “Jurassic Park”) tries to impede her investigation, she’s doggedly committed. Madsen turns to Alcatraz expert and comic book enthusiast, DR. DIEGO “DOC” SOTO (Jorge Garcia, “Lost”), to piece together the inexplicable sequence of events. The twosome discovers that Sylvane is not only alive, but he’s loose on the streets of San Francisco, leaving bodies in his wake. And strangely, he hasn’t aged a day since he was in Alcatraz, when the prison was ruled by the iron-fisted WARDEN EDWIN JAMES (Jonny Coyne, “Undercovers”) and the merciless ASSOCIATE WARDEN E.B. TILLER (Jason Butler Harner, “The Changeling”). Madsen and Soto reluctantly team with Agent Hauser and his technician, LUCY BANERJEE (Parminder Nagra, “ER”), to stop Sylvane’s vengeful killing spree.

By delving into Alcatraz history, government cover-ups and Rebecca’s own heritage, the team will ultimately discover that Sylvane is only a small part of a much larger, more sinister present-day threat. For while he may be the first, it quickly becomes clear that Sylvane won’t be the last prisoner to reappear from Alcatraz. Through the course of the investigation, Madsen and Soto will learn that Agent Hauser has known about the prison’s secret history and has been awaiting the prisoners’ return. Soto will witness his life’s work – the history of Alcatraz – come alive. Madsen will be forced to keep her supportive San Francisco cop fiancé, JIMMY DICKENS (Santiago Cabrera, “Heroes”), at arm’s length from the highly classified assignment as she sees everything she thought she knew about her family’s past shattered, all while fighting to keep the country safe from history’s most dangerous criminals

Fringe - thoughts on "The Day We Died"

2011-05-07T10:55:00.001-04:00

Hats off to Fringe's show runners Jeff Pinkner and JH Wyman - you've done it again.

This season has been filled with episodes that I enjoyed but that I felt didn't do much to move the story along until the final 5 minutes which made you re-evaluate the entire episode and its place in the season.

The season 3 finale, 'The Day We Died', was no exception to that pattern.

In the wake of 'The Last Sam Weiss's unexpected ending, I found myself wondering how they were going to explore this future avenue and tie up the season with a bow on it. By the episode's midpoint I was fully prepared for disappointment. By the time Walter explained his plan to resolve things I nearly threw my hands up in frustration. At the moment where Peter 'merged' the universes I felt completely let down that the show had reached the point almost all of us knew it would get to by way of visit to the future. But then something happened... [Spoiler Alert]

Peter disappeared.... WHAT?!?! Ok Pinker/Wyman, you pulled me back in with moments to go in the episode. But that was just part 1 of the 1-2 punch as the audience is taken to just outside on Liberty Island where the Observers explain to one another/the audience that everyone in the room doesn't remember Peter because he never existed.

DOUBLE-WHAT?!?!

This raises a number of questions all of which Pinkner and Wyman have said in interviews are the "right questions to be asking" as in: "trust us... we know where this is heading, now talk amongst yourselves for the summer and we'll see you this Fall for Season 4."

So what are the 'right' questions? Are there any 'wrong' questions? Here's what Team PCS is pondering the wake of Season 3's Lost-esque mind bender...

If the two universes have been merged, if Peter never existed because his purpose was to "bridge" together these universes, does this mean the first three seasons of the show are now somewhat irrelevant? This is akin to the question of what happened after Juliet detonated Jughead in Lost's Season 5 jawdropper. If Peter, essentially, just pressed a big old "reset" button in the Fringe-verse doesn't that sort of invalidate everything we've watched to get to this point? In a small sense, yes. In a larger sense, no because this new universe seems to have both versions of all of our characters meaning that you still need to understand what makes them tick, and that is what Fringe has been exploring while laying out the larger story.

It was good of the writers to acknowledge the paradox issue and just move on rather than wasting time trying to explain it. They essentially asked the audience to just accept it as a story telling device and move on - these sorts of things never bother me. When a show simply acknowledges something ever so briefly, we know the writers considered it and felt it was inconsequential to the larger story. What is the paradox issue I'm babbling about? The Machine. If Walter sent the machine into the past to be discovered by the opposing Fringe divisions, then it has no point of origin. It existed in the past because it was sent there from the future but it was in the future because they found and built it in the past. No start/no end. But again, it doesn't matter because ultimately the point of the machine was to get us to where we were when this episode ended.

The Observers seem pretty satisfied with themselves (as much as they are capable of satisfaction). Afterall, in 'Firefly' September set up a complicated series of events just to prove that Walter was capable of making the decision to let go of Peter for the greater good. In the end that is exactly what Walter ended up doing, albiet 15 years later. The implication then is that The Observers wanted to ensure this endgame - the merging of the universes. But why?

The First People are Walter, Ella, and Astrid? I'm not going to lie - I found this to be a major letdown. An anti-climactic conclusion to a mystery that I thought would have much larger implications.

And how does Sam Weiss fit into all of this? In the penultimate episode of Season 3, he told Olivia that Sam Weiss was something of a mantle, passing down secret knowledge from generation to generation. If that's the whole story, that's even more anti-climactic than the First People mystery. That being said, I'd wager that is not the whole case. Why? Keep in mind two things: 1) Weiss previously told Olivia that he was much older and taller than he appeared. I don't believe Wyman/Pinkner would throw that in there just as a red herring. 2) In the Season 2 finale, a chalkboard "over there" had the phrase "A Demon's Twist Rusts" written on it, something clever viewers pointed out was an anagram for "Don't Trust Sam Weiss" a fact that has since been acknowledged by the showrunners.

The glyphs this week spelled out "No More" which, when combined with last week's glyphs of "Multi", gives us "Multi No More" as in: "No more 'over here' and 'over there', there's a combined universe now."

Overall, 'The Day We Died' was a mind-bendingly good finale. A finale that I'm liking more and more as I rethink it. What left me feeling pretty empty (until the end) is now sitting with me pretty darn well in retrospect as I write this - a feat which (as a I previously mentioned) the writers have been able to pull off time and again this season.

Leading up to the finale, I had read where Pinkner and Wyman said that they wanted the finale to make you have a different context when you rewatched the season. To be honest, I'm not sure that it will make me watch in a different context, per se. But I am anxious to rewatch Season 3 knowing its conclusion.

Fringe Season Finale Trailer - 'The Day We Died'

2011-05-02T14:11:00.003-04:00

Mind = blown.

This puts the same feeling in my stomach that I felt with each Lost season finale - a mixture of joy at waiting to see how it would play out and dread at thought of waiting 4+ months for a new season while pondering on whatever jaw-dropping cliff-hanger they ended on...

Doctor Who Season 6 Trailer

2011-03-30T13:17:00.003-04:00

Or "series 6" for you Brits... This looks epic.

Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams' Super 8 Trailer

2011-03-11T12:18:00.004-05:00

Here it is...

The Event Returns Tonight!

2011-03-07T13:39:00.002-05:00

It's been a long 3 months. Long enough, almost, for me to stop caring about The Event. Its not that I hadn't been enjoying the show - I had been. Its that a three month layoff is a looong time and for a genre bending show like this it can be a killer. Anyone who was rooting for FlashForward last TV season can attest to that. So for anyone who had watched the awful trainwreck of a series (The Cape) that temporarily took The Event's timeslot during the hiatus, be happy to have something good on TV in the Monday 9pm timeslot.

For those who fell off The Event bandwagon, but are interested in the show without having the time to play catchup on the episodes you missed, I'm led to understand that there is plenty of expositional dialogue in tonight's 2-part episode that will fill in anything you missed.

For my money. nothing beats a good-old fashioned catch-up video. So here you go, courtesy of NBC:

New Fringe Promo

2011-03-04T11:30:00.002-05:00

In case there was any doubt that Fringe is currently the best show on television and that season 3 is heading for a climactic conclusion, be sure to watch the latest promo from Fox...

Fringe - thoughts on "Immortality"

2011-02-12T09:07:00.000-05:00

I'd hate to say that this week's much hyped episode of Fringe disappointed, because it didn't disappoint per se. However, the "shocking" twist the television pundits have been talking about was... well... largely expected by much of the Fringe fanbase. That [SPOILER ALERT] Faux-livia is preggers.

All in, 'Immortality' was a solid "monster of the week" episode that let us dive back into life "over there" peppered with "clues" that we (or at least I) don't have enough information yet to read too far into.

Among those clues?

How about the episode title itself? Fringe episode titles often reveal little going into an episode, but their meaning is almost always apparent when the episode ends... I'm a little unclear about what this episode had to do with Immortality, other than the 'Bug Man', Dr. Anton Silva, was convinced that his name would be trumpeted alongside the likes of Jonas Salk... If that is all that the title was referring to, I'll be a little disapointed.
In a "blink and you'll miss it" moment, we saw a license plate that read "APT6B." My catalog of pop culture trivia couldn't come up with what exactly this might be a reference to, though I later realized that next week's episode is called...(wait for it)... 6B. So I suppose we'll know soon enough.
The glyphs this week read ROMAD. ROMAD? I honestly thought that I missed a letter until I confirmed with the interwebs. Turns out ROMAD is a slang term describing a group tricked into a job no one else wanted to do... Can we infer from this that it was Walternate's plan all along for Fauxlivia to get pregnant? That maybe he never was really interested in getting Peter back, but rather his offspring? Unless he was secretly pumping her full of fertility drugs, I find it hard to see how he could plan on that happening while she was "over here", but I also can guess at no further implication of ROMAD.

Some other miscellanious observations:
I find it an interesting point of comparrison that the "villainous" Walternate refused to allow children to be used as test subjects for their reverse engineered Cortexiphan, while our beloved Walter had no problem testing on children (we know that he was a very different person back then, but still...).

Lincoln Lee is in charge of Fringe Division? I mean, no offense to Lincoln, but they don't have someone with a little more... experience to promote? He looks like he's 23!

And the Twin Peaks allusions continue... Last season we had "Northwest Passage", two weeks ago Walter referenced "Dr. Jacoby from Washington state" and this week guest star Joan Chen played Walternates girlfriend/lover. Peaks fans will of course know Chen as Josie Packard.

As a tech nerd I found it funny how the "tablets" they use over there are in cases to make them not identifiable as any real world brand, yet the cases also had a hole in the side where the volume buttons of the actual device could be accessed where one could see that it was unmistakably an iPad, so it seems even "over there" Apple has cornered the market on tablet computers.

That's all for now. Miss the preview for next week?

Fringe - thoughts on "Reciprocity"

2011-01-29T11:43:00.000-05:00

Damn you Fringe!

Now, before any "Cortexi-Fans" misinterpret that opening, I mean that in the best possible way. Last night's episode of Fringe was not only compelling and unexpected, but moved the story line forward. That being said, how dare they show us the completed doomsday device in the show's opening and not do anything more with it!?! Tease!!!

Speaking of the show's opening, I couldn't help but channel my inner Michael Scott. When Olivia, looking at the device said "It's bigger than I imagined", I was waiting for Peter to chime in and say "That's what Faux-livia said". Yeah. Sorry. Couldn't help it.

Anyway...
2/3rds of the way through the episode, I felt it was kind of scuffling along, fairly ho-hum in the wake of a string of strong episodes. But in the end "Reciprocity" came together in a major way making me realize it was never scuffling, but pacing itself.

In ratings related news, it seems that Fringe did it again this week - holding on to it's same audience from last week. Keep it up Fringe fans and there'll be no way Fox can deny us a 4th season.

Peter Bishop: Shapeshifter Slayer
In a "twist" it turned out that Peter was the one offing the shapeshifters, something that is obviously out of character. We do know that Peter has a shady past, and can't rule out the possibility that he has killed people before. But this was clearly not the Peter Bishop that we know.

Initially I felt that Peter was killing the shapeshifters to protect Walter, who was determined to regrow the part of his brain that he had asked Bell to remove. The shapeshifters could know the same information that Walter had removed, and thus by offing them, Peter could be protecting Walter (and everyone else) from the consequences of that knowledge (turned out I was quite wrong in that line of thinking)

But again, our Peter is not a murderer. He attempts to exonerates himself by explaining that "they're not even human." Good point, Peter, but wasn't the point of the episode "Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep" (a nod to Philip K. Dick's classic sci-fi novel 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' (as if anyone reading this didn't know that!)) to get us thinking about whether or not these non-human constructs could actually be close enough to human that they could be (to borrow a phrase from Blade Runner (based on Dick's novel, of course) that would later influence Rob Zombie's lyrical content) 'more human than human'?

No, something else was at work here.

Chimp DNA and Why No Line of Dialogue on Fringe is Irrelevant
As Fringe always manages to do, they took a seemingly trivial detail and used it as a metaphor to explain the larger story of the episode. When Walter, trying to take a serum to regenerate his missing brain tissue, accidentally takes one for a chimp, he later displays some chimp-like traits. While, initially, this seems like nothing more than a quirky 'Walter being Walter' moment, the devil is in the details. Explaining to Astrid, Walter says "It's fascinating how even the smallest change in our composition can yield such drastic changes in our behavior".

Which brings us back to Peter. Coming into contact with the machine imprinted him with something much like Walter's chimp DNA, altering his behavior. Or, as Walter puts it, Peter has become "weaponized." But whose weapon?

When the first body is discovered, Broyles and Olivia ponder "why someone other than us would kill a shapeshifter?" Olivia posits that Walternate may have sent over "cleaner" to "tie up loose ends." I suppose she should have stuck with her gut reaction on this one as it wasn't someone other than them killing the shapeshifters. By that logic, was the next line a clue? Has Walternate "weaponized" Peter to "tie up his loose ends"? Perhaps Peter could be a "weapon" of the 'First People'? After all, all signs point to them being the creators of the doomsday device. Or could it be someone else we've met...

Brandon explains to Nina Sharp he discovered someone else had been searching for the "First People" books several years ago... William Bell. Could Peter be Bell's weapon? His way of continuing his work from beyond the grave? Then again... there is the fact that we've never seen Alter-Bell. One thing is for sure - Joshua Jackson has been practicing his 'creepy' look and he pulled it off very well at the end of the episode.

As a final thought, I just want to say that Brandon's explanation to Nina actually gave me goosebumps thinking about the huge story implications. This is paraphrased, but the ideal is still there: "The planet has been spinning for 5 billion years. We've only been here for the last 250,000 years. There's been five extinction events before we even crawled out of the much. Who's to say one of them didn't wipe out a great civilization?"

Wow.

Miss the preview for next week's very X-Files looking episode, "Concentrate and Ask Again"? From the looks of it, we're going to have to wait to learn more about the Doomsday device and the First People, to which I, again, say "Damn you Fringe!"
Check it out here

Fringe - Finding "clues" in the name 'Violet Sedan Chair'

2011-01-28T14:03:00.025-05:00

In the wake of Fringe's viral 'Violet Sedan Chair' promotion, one thing that I'm struck by is the point I've seen people make over and over again - that 'Violet Sedan Chair' is an anagram for 'Olive Can See This' (Olive, of course, being Olivia's childhood nickname). I mean CLEARLY, there must be some clue to the future direction of the show hidden in the band's name, right?

Well... probably not.

While I, like many Fringe fanatics, love the notion that JJ Abrams, Jeff Pinkner and JH Wyman have scattered clues everywhere, it's probably a little bit of apophenia to try to look for anagrams in the name of Walter's favorite band. That being said, I started to wonder what else it could be an anagram for and came up with some (very tongue in cheek) possible hints as to the future direction of Fringe. And what better way to gear up for tonight's episode than to examine those...

Anagrams for Violet Sedan Chair :

Olivia Resnatched - Kidnapped again by Walternate.
Olivia Cat She-Nerd - The trauma of the war with "over there" is too much and Olivia retires to become a crazy cat lady.
Olivia Cashed Rent - Olivia will retire from Fringe division, buying property with her savings and become a landlord.
Olivia, She Can't Read - in a season finale jaw dropper, it will be revealed that Olivia is illiterate. This is why she was offended by Peter's book - not because it was intended for Altlivia.
Olivia Red Ten Cash - Olivia finds a $10 dollar bill from the red universe "over there" that Altlivia left in her apartment
Olivia As Tech Nerd - The doomsday device will spark Olivia's imagination for technology and she'll join Brandon at Massive Dynamics creating things like bionic arms.
Olivia Charts Eden - Olivia finds out that the "first people" are... Adam and Eve?
Olivia Hand Secret - It turns out that just like George Costanza, Olivia has great hands and will become a part time hand model.
Olivia Heard Scent - Uh oh, looks like Olivia's been trying out Walter's LSD - she's hearing smells and seeing sounds!
Olivia, Dent Chaser - Olivia leaves Fringe division to become the lowest of the low - lawyers who chase car accident victims.
Olivia Ash Centered - We've been waiting for Olivia to "flame on" using her latent pyrokinetic powers since we found out about them in Season 1. Could we finally see that?

But what if it's not about Olivia, but Astrid?

Astrid, A Vino Leech - Astrid has trouble coping with the aftermath of the war with over there and becomes an alcoholic. Peter notices bottles of wine missing from his fridge.
Astrid in Love Ache - Working together for so long, Astrid develops feelings for Walter. Feelings that are unrequited and thus she aches with longing to be with him.
Astrid Hole Cave In - Will the Mole-Rat-Boy from Fringe's worst episode (Season 2's 'Night of Desirable Objects') return and tunnel underneath Astrid's home?
An Evil Astrid Echo - A shape shifter poses as Astrid. Why not? They did it once with Charlie.
Astrid, An Ice Hovel - Clearly Astrid will move to Alaska and build an igloo to get away from Walter's madness.

What other "hidden clues" about Fringe's future could lie in the letters that make up "Violet Sedan Chair'? Weigh in below!

Thoughts on "The Firefly" and the Return of Fringe!

2011-01-22T12:35:00.000-05:00

Fringe returned lastnight in its new Friday time slot to much trepidation from the fanbase who feared Fox was sending the show out to pasture with the "Friday death slot."

The good news? The show, which has reached new heights creatively this season, continued to fire on all cylinders in its return episode. The great news? The ratings were actually up from where Fringe was on before the mid-season hiatus and Fox has claimed that if it can pull in the numbers on Fridays thatit was pulling in on Thursdays then the show will have a long lifespan.

Good news too, as TV Overmind reported yesterday that executive producer Jeff Pinker says that the show's creative team has pitched Fox on the direction of the show through a seventh season. Planning that far ahead when all the TV pundits are counting on your demise? That's impressive!

But let's talk about 'Firefly' - lastnight's ironically titled episode (ironic in that the "Friday death slot" was where Fox put Joss Whedon's beloved space western Firefly to die).

Observers Everywhere/Everywhen
While it had previously been strongly inferred that The Observers don't "experience time" the same way as the rest of us, it was never truly hinted that they can travel through it. We now know they can as The Observer brought Roscoe Joyce's sun Bobby from the past to the present to give a message to the former Violet Sedan Chair keyboardist.

Speaking of Lloyd - who was great as the aging/aged rocker - of course they had to add a time travel element to the episode he guest starred in. I mean, of course they would!

We also learned that The Observer is, in many ways, super human. Let's count the ways:

He flings criminals through the air as if he has the strength of Superman
He stops bullets by grabbing them out of thin air
He has Batman's ability to completely vanish even in an open setting when you turn away for a second and look back
Super-speed? Why not. One second Olivia is right behind him, the next second he looks over his shoulder at her from several rooftops away
And lets not forget that nifty little trick where he unlocked the car door by touching the lock - the "man" is a walking toolbox of useful tricks!

What does it all mean? Could the Observers be the last of the mysterious "First People"? It's looking that way - after all, using a character that has been around since the pilot would be the simplest way to tie together a recently introduced concept (that of the "First People"). That being the case, this is Fringe and they rarely take the simple way out, so while it's easy to connect the dots and say that The Observers are the "First People", I'm still going to hold out and say that they're a separate faction in and of themselves.

Fringe and Twin Peaks - the references continue!

Like most Twin Peaks fans, I couldn't help but think it was a coincidence that the season 2 episode where Peter flees to a tiny town in Washington state in the aftermath of finding out he was from "over there" was titled "Northwest Passage". Afterall, "Northwest Passage" was the title of the pilot episode of Twin Peaks - which took place in a tiny town in Washington.

So imagine my delight when Walter put on the strange duo-toned glasses with one red lens and one blue lens and then attributed them to his friend "Doctor Jacoby from Washington state." Dr. Jacoby, for you non-Peaks enthusiasts out there was the wacky psychologist from Twin Peaks who often wore those same glasses (see above photo)!

Further, in this episode Walter becomes increasingly aware of the repercussions of his actions in traveling "over there" to take Peter. The two universes have long been represented by the colors of red and blue. In this way, it's hard not to view the Walter/Jacoby glasses as a metaphor for Walter being able to see the point of view of both universes - something I expect will continue as he realizes more and more that the destruction "over there" and Walternate's desire for revenge are truly his fault.

A final thought - so Walter Bishop knows Dr. Lawrence Jacoby, yes? And as we saw an Oceanic airlines ticket in a season 1 episode, can we conclude that Lost, Fringe and Twin Peaks all took place in the same universe? This fanboy will choose to believe it as that holy trinity of television mark 3 of my all time favorite shows. Also- can we at least get a cameo from Kyle McLaughlin as Agent Dale Cooper so we know that he eventually escaped *SPOILER ALERT* being trapped in the Black Lodge in the unresolved-due-to-cancellation cliff hanger ending of Twin Peaks second season? PLEEEEASE?

Sacrifices
In the end, it seems that The Observers carefully orchestrated game of Mouse Trap was to simply see if, given the right circumstances, Walter would allow Peter to die if he had to.

Curious.

Clearly they're not going to kill of Joshua Jackson's increasingly messianic Peter, as they can't even replace him with a Peter from "over there" since, well... he is the "Peter from over there." (Side note: On occasion I'll say or write something about Fringe and realize how absurdly awful the show would sound if you tried to explain it to someone has hasn't seen it. Think about it - if you had a friend visiting and you said "I've got to watch Fringe at 9, I know you haven't seen it, so here's the gist of things...". They'd say "Um... you enjoy it. I'm going to go grab a beer, call me when your show is over").

One thing that can't be understated are the repeated mentions of Peter's "favorite book" 'If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him!' by psychotherapist Sheldon Kopp. I'm certain there's some deeper meaning to be gleaned from this, but without diving into the book I have little to add at the moment other than the fact that one of Kopp's more famous quotes is "All of the significant battles are waged within the self” - interesting to the Fringe universe since the characters are not metaphorically but quite literally battling with themselves (ie- their "over there" counterparts).

A great epsiode. Here's hoping Fox lets Pinkner and J.H. Wyman see Fringe through their plans for the next four seasons!!

(Side note- if you haven't been keeping up with the "Violet Sedan Chair" album drama online, do yourself a favor and read Michael Aussiello's scoop on it then Google it to keep up with the latest developments. Or just go here to listen to the actually really really good fake album: http://soundcloud.com/letitplayout/sets/violet-sedan-chair-seven-suns-lp-side-2/)

Miss the promo for next week's episode "Reciprocity"? Looks like shit is about to get real.

Midseason 2010 TV Shows Graded!

2010-12-21T15:19:00.001-05:00

We've reached the dreaded holiday hiatus. A time of re-runs and poorly thought out reality singing competitions replacing our favorite programming.

Fortunately, the fall 2010 TV series has been pretty solid and your friends at Team PopCultureSavant are hear to grade those shows for you. Find out what we thought about what you're watching, what you're not watching and what you probably should be watching...

30 ROCK
PCS Jeff Says: A

30 Rock has maintained the high bar mixture of laugh out loud humor, clever writing, and (oft-times) not so subtle parodying of real life situations (read: cable megacompany Kabletown buying the “fictional” NBC). If you had told me back in season 1 that by now they wouldn’t have played out Tracey Jordan’s lunacy or Kenneth the Page’s ignorant innocence, I would’ve told you that you were crazy - but that’s exactly what they’ve done. (And they’ve even gone far enough to create a website for Kabletown that looks strangely like the company they’re poking fun at).

PCS Jacy Says: A-

THE BIG BANG THEORY
PCS Jeff Says: A+

The writing is sharp, the jokes are hilarious and if anyone thought the show might jump the shark with the addition of a “relationship” for Sheldon (in the form of Amy Farrah Fowler) they couldn’t be more wrong. Much like Larry David’s impression of himself on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Sheldon’s antics continue to be both amusing and endearing (if not downright relateable). A tough feat that wouldn’t work with a lesser writing staff.

PCS Jacy Says: A

BORED TO DEATH
PCS Jeff Says: B+

Another solid season of dry witty dialogue. From the Jonathan’s S&M mishap, to the rise of Super Ray to George Christopher’s misdiagnosed prostate cancer - the trio of Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifianakis and Ted Danson continue to prove that there is no storyline too outrageous for them to pull off.

PCS Jacy Says: A-

DEXTER
PCS Jeff Says: A-
This season of Dexter was destined to not be regarded as highly as Season 4, who’s shadow looms large over the show. That being said - the producers made a wise choice in trying to one-up themselves, instead providing a compelling story whose conclusion held the mirror up to the character once more.

PCS Jacy Says: A

EASTBOUND & DOWN
PCS Jeff Says: A-

Kenny Powers continues to be the guy we both laugh and cringe at. He’s the caustic, racist, sexist, self-centered guy at the end of the bar that we can’t wait to have a beer with. He’s like the offensive mulletted uncle that you’re ashamed to admit that you like. Fortunately to a nation of Kenny Powers fans, this season of Eastbound proved that “You’re F*%king Out” is just as hilarious as ever.

PCS Jacy Says: B+

ENTOURAGE
PCS Jeff Says: B+

Entourage is well... at this point it’s Entourage. You know what you’re going to get. The show’s best days are clearly behind it, though I’ll admit that I’ll miss Ari Gold’s antics when the series comes to a close next season. Is it too soon to start petitioning HBO for a spin-off - “Ari Gold: Super Agent”? Every week a different celebrity could guest star as an exaggerated version of themselves (as they often do in scenes that take place in Ari’s office) and he could blow his lid and yell at Lloyd. I’d watch that sans Vinnie and Co. Wouldn’t you?

PCS Jacy Says: B-
Does Drug-Addict-Asshole Vince seem more of a construct of "we're running out of ways to explore this character"? Well, yes. But Entourage has been comparably better this season. Plus, it's enjoyable to watch the gang finally get some balls.

THE EVENT
PCS Jeff Says: B+
The Event - I want to like you so badly! And I’m intrigued, for sure. But while you are an entertaining hour of television, you’re going to have to work hard to maintain that B+, and you’re going to have to work extra hard to top it.

PCS Jacy Says: B

FRINGE
PCS Jeff Says: A+
After two seasons of very solid and occasionally great television, Fringe is rapidly becoming one of the best shows on TV. The use of a parallel world to explore duality this season could have come off heavy-handed and sloppy, instead brilliant writing has managed to propel this show forward in a way that it is both mythology driven and character driven - a rare feat for a serialized show whose name doesn’t start with an L and end with a T.

PCS Jacy Says: A
Ever since last season's episode breathtaking episode Peter, Fringe has been hell-bent on fully realizing the mythology set up in the first two seasons and it's been a glorious thing.

HUNG
PCS Jeff Says: B-
Hung was... Solid (pun not intended). At its best points it was fun and engaging, and its worst points a little tedious. I don’t think the show has what it takes to be a great show, but that doesn’t mean it won’t continue to be a good watch.

PCS Jacy Says: C-
I debated ranking this even lower. Boring stories, annoying characters..Sorry, HBO, but this might be the last season for me on this one.

THE INCREASINGLY POOR DECISIONS OF TODD MARGARET
PCS Jeff Says: A
Todd Margaret’s humor proves why funnyman David Cross is one of the best in the business. The star/writer/producer has crafted a brilliant comedy that, while firmly grounded in the sense of humor of British comedies, won’t alienate we Americans either. Margaret is laugh-out-loud, television worthy of multiple rewatches.

PCS Jacy Says: B

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA
PCS Jeff Says: B+
This was a tough one for me, but as I opined last year, the “gang” have set a high bar for themselves. When IASIP hit the bar, it succeeded wildly (see: “Who Got Dee Pregnant”, “The Gang Buys a Boat” and “The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods"), but when it fired it missed, it missed pretty big (see: “Mac Fights Gay Marriage”, "Dennis Gets Divorced"). Overall, there was enough off color comedy to still clock in with a solid mark.

PCS Jacy Says: B
It had its highs and its lows, but a season giving us an instant-classic like The Gang Buys a Boat automatically gets my nod of approval.

MAD MEN
PCS Jeff Says: A+

Is it possible that this was Mad Men’s finest season yet? Well, in this blogger’s opinion, it was. After tossing out the status quo after three seasons, and repositioning the characters with a new firm, new positions, new marriages and more - Mad Men hit the ground running and never looked back this season. It’s going to be hard to maintain a pace of repeatedly topping itself, but so far every season of Mad Men has been better than the last.

PCS Jacy Says:A+
You've got to hand it to Matthew Weiner for making it look so easy. And perhaps that's why Mad Men (maybe unfairly) spreads the bell curve for all other shows. Fantastically complex, yet sometimes predictable, and engaging on every level..And The Suitcase! If there was a year for Don Draper to claim the win over Bryan Cranston, it would be this one.

MODERN FAMILY
PCS Jeff Says: A+
What is there to say? This show has all the makings of a future TV classic. Watching these episodes reminds one of what it was like to watch Seinfeld or Cheers - you knew that episodes would be airing for years and years in syndication.

PCS Jacy Says: B+

THE OFFICE
PCS Jeff Says: B

Last season was not the finest for the crew of Dunder Mifflin. Fortunately, they seem to have rebounded a bit. The writing has been sharper, the plots less forced (for the most part) and there has been an overall improvement. Still, with last season’s low point in the rear-view, and Steve Carrell’s departure on the horizon, I see little chance of The Office getting anything better than a passing grade from this point forward.

PCS Jacy Says: C
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but am I the only one who keeps rooting for The Office to be canceled? Every season, I find myself grading it worse than the season before. At worst, trying way to hard to be "wacky". At best, Timothy Olyphant and any episode written by Mindy Kaling.

RUBICON
PCS Jeff Says: B

This occasionally maddeningly slow conspiracy mystery pulled me in with it’s impending sense of danger and slow but deliberate pacing. As the season hit its final hours, I was fairly riveted. Unfortunately, the final hours of the season were also the final for the show as AMC pulled the plug on Rubicon. Those of us who were waiting to find out how enormous the conspiracy was, will simply have to resign ourselves to not knowing.

PCS Jacy Says: C-
I really wanted to like Rubicon. It had the right components to be another home run for AMC. Rubicon's biggest problem? The mostly-forced urgency left me constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop, and disappointed when it never did.

THE WALKING DEAD
PCS Jeff Says: A+

What started as a fairly safe gamble by AMC (ordering only 6 episodes of a “zombie apocalypse” tv series) has paid off as The Walking Dead became the most watched show on cable for a reason. It’s gritty realism plays at the core of what people do in the face of a cataclysmic disaster. And just because the show uses a zombie apocalypse as the vehicle for the narrative, the story and the characters could work just as well if transplanted into any other epic-scale disaster. Now if only AMC had placed a larger bet on the series instead of only ordering 6 episodes for the first season...

PCS Jacy Says: B+
Any Zombie show worth it's salt will satisfy a certain audience who tunes in specifically to see the gore and missing limbs. The Walking Dead succeeds because, though shocking, those parts are honestly not the most memorable moments.

WEEDS
PCS Jeff Says: A-

Weeds needed to bounce back in a big way. I enjoyed last season, but I was growing tired of the series. And the promos for this season didn’t make it look like it would be terribly interesting (I’m sorry, but the whole “look what trouble the Botwin’s have gotten into now” thing has gotten a little played out. But a strong performance by the hilarious Justin Kirk as Andy Botwin and a heck of an ending that I wasn’t expecting has landed this show a A- from me.

PCS Jacy Says: B-

What did you think? Share your thoughts below...

The Walking Dead - Thoughts on "Guts"

2010-11-10T11:42:00.000-05:00

Off the bat, I'll state that I flat out loved this episode, period. However I imagine a number of other reviewers are saying, "I loved this episode despite several flaws," and I can even see another handful of reviewers proclaiming that the series has already lost them as fans (to which I'd respond that people are too damn fickle these days). In an attempt to address what may be perceived as flaws or missteps after (as far as I've heard) a universally loved premier, let's just hop right to the recap.

The run-down:
We start with Lori (Rick's wife who understandably assumes she's a widow) wandering off into the woods for a brief, frankly rather coarse round of what-have-you with Shane (Rick's former partner who understandably assumes he needs to take over Rick's position as father and husband, even if the only position we see him taking in this scene is dorsal [BOOM!]). It was another great job by the sound department of giving us every twig crack and leaf rustle, which can only lead us to believe that the undead are literally around every bush and shrub. Given the fear level, I don't know if I, personally, could be in the mood for any amorous activity with the constant thought of something dead being on me within seconds, but hey, everyone needs an escape sometimes.

Cut to Rick in the tank - someone is contacting him over the radio, instructing him on how to get to safety. Rick grabs the dead soldier's pistol and grenade, staring at the explosive for just long enough to make it surprising that it is not used or made mention of for the entire rest of the episode. Sloppy editing (or, possible flaw #1), or is Darabont giving the audience enough credit to figure out that it will be used at some point soon, but not in any of this episode's scenes where it practically screams for a cheap and easy grenade throw to save the day? I'm not a Monday morning quarterback, so I'm simply trusting that the grenade will be used and that it will be spectacular.

After a thrilling escape from the zombies milling around the tank, Rick meets up with Shortround, or, um, I mean Glenn, who takes him back to a department store where other survivors from a camp outside of town (where Lori and Rick's son are at, but obviously he doesn't know that yet) have holed up after their supply run has gone afoul. The characters introduced are obviously not headed in a direction other than eventual zombie fodder, with a few exceptions: Glenn, of course, and Merle, who is spouting racial epithets and physically attacking his fellow survivors barely seconds after we are told his name. Now, Merle is definitely the most, well, comic book-ish of all the characters we've seen (possible flaw #2) and while that's not necessarily a bad thing to me, it's different than the premier episode that paid lots of attention to character depth.

While I'd like to see Merle's character be more than just an easy to loathe, loudmouth hick (if only because Michael Rooker is a very under-appreciated character actor who can be terrifying at the drop of a hat), his one-dimensional presentation leads to another moral/ethical conundrum for us to puzzle over: not to jump too far afield, but by the end of the episode, Merle is handcuffed to a pipe while the rest of the survivors escape into a truck that Rick has brought to the back of the building. None of the survivors give him a second glance as they run off to safety, except for T-Dog, whom Merle insulted, attacked and arguably was about to kill until Rick intervened. If you had maybe two minutes to avoid being eaten alive, would you bother trying to help someone who you only know as a being violent, unstable asshole escape as well? I don't think anyone can really point the finger at T-Dog for leaving the guy who was pounding on him just hours ago to fend for himself, but how much guilt will stay with him for this? Obviously, we haven't seen the last of Merle (thanks next episode preview that runs over the credits), so we might see things to make Merle even more reprehensible (or maybe we'll get a reason to empathize with him, who knows) but, again, this show isn't giving us the typical easy answers where everyone's learned their lesson and things are back to normal at the 60 minute mark - it's an on-going parade of tough decisions and choices that have to be made quickly and justified later, if at all.

Stray observations:
Glenn's descent into the sewer might be a little extraneous if it only resulted in some freaky-deaky zombie howling and rat-munching (possible flaw #3) but, just like the grenade, I think we're seeing things set up for future episodes.

Katrina reference #2: Andrea asked if swiping a necklace from the department store could be considered looting.

The hacking up of the corpse and smearing of guts on Rick and Glenn was easily the most gory thing I've ever seen on basic cable, and while I'm sure some viewers consider it sensationalistic, I'm just happy that I'm watching a show meant for adults and not some watered-down 'tween version that has All American Rejects on the soundtrack and somebody in a Jack Skellington hoodie and so on.

The faux-zombie Rick and Glenn heading towards the truck scene was really damn exciting. If they ever make action figures for the show, they should make gut-smeared Rick and Glenn figures, just like the toy "Star Wars" line had Han and Luke as stormtroopers.

The Walking Dead - Thoughts on 'Days Gone Bye'

2010-11-03T11:33:00.000-04:00

I didn't want to start this by saying that I was into zombies before they were cool, but, well... I was into zombies before they were cool.

Before you understandably roll your eyes and brace yourself for some vitriolic geek rant where I quote some archaic gorehound fanzines and browbeat you about movies that are so obscure that they may or may not even exist, don't worry - I'm only saying it because I'm a fan and, by definition, I've invested a lot of time sitting through a lot of very, very shitty zombie movies. The zombie market is rather saturated lately, but at least there's stuff to see - in my youth, catching a zombie movie I hadn't seen yet meant staying up until 3 A.M. to catch a heavily edited version of some (usually European) clunker like "Burial Ground" or "Zombie Lake," or it meant ordering some insultingly dumb, painfully unfunny shot-on-video backyard crapathon like "Redneck Zombies" or "The Dead Next Door." Obviously, zombies becoming increasingly popular in the past decade has resulted in a whole new wave of garbage, but I remain cautiously optimistic when something zombie-related comes down the pike and expect to enjoy it (although "Flight of the Living Dead" didn't exactly make me shake with excitement).

As far as zombie movies I've liked, I guess I'm a bit of purist - George Romero's original trilogy is - to me - the litmus test for anything zombie-oriented to come after it (the "Star Wars" of zombies films, or if "Star Wars" isn't cool enough for you anymore, the "Godfather") and his guidelines are what I prefer to see - flesh-eating zombies, non-Voodoo related, slow, silent, bullet-in-the-head-to-kill- them, etc.

In the 25 years since "Day of the Dead" came out, there's been plenty of great zombie movies, but not much that strictly takes the ground rules set in those films and tells the other parts of the story. Even in the past decade, there's been plenty of good ones, but not many I can think of in that sense: "Shaun of the Dead" and "Zombieland" were hilarious, but they were comedies. "28 Days Later" had the tone right, but wasn't technically a zombie movie. "Planet Terror" and "Slither" were super-fun drive-in schlock with more than just zombies. Romero even made another trilogy that easily fell short of the bar he set for himself (one of which I enjoyed, one of which was embarrassingly terrible, and one which I don't know if I have the heart to sit through). The "Dawn of the Dead" remake was cool and all, but it had none of the satire of the original, not to mention that it had fast zombies, and fast zombies are no fun - every other monster is fast, zombies have always been about the sense of impending doom - the same type of thing you see in "The Birds" as more and more crows ominously gather on the playground behind Tippi Hedren while she obliviously smokes a cigarette.

Anyway, on to The Walking Dead - years ago, I picked up some issues of the comic and liked it a lot - it was better than the previous long-running zombie comic "Deadworld" (which had some interesting moments, but also had a wise-cracking "King Zombie" who dressed like Axl Rose and other lame shit, not to mention that it came out about once every leap year) and it wasn't the high-pitched, over-the-top "Zombie Ninja Stripper High School!!" one-offs I saw littering the rest of the horror comic section (also, keep in mind that when I was 15, there wasn't a horror section at the comic store). When I heard it was going to become a series, I was immediately stoked - AMC has quite the track record when it comes to TV series recently and I really liked Frank Darabont's Stephen King adaptations (especially "The Mist," which had the perfect slow, end of the world menace that the best zombie films do, as well as plenty of social commentary) so this show knocking it out of the park seemed like a given. And, unsurprisingly enough, it was - I can't think of a single misstep or dull moment or anything else to make me think that this won't become another gold standard by which all other zombie films (and now TV shows, maybe?) are judged.

The run-down (and if you haven't seen the show yet, please do so): Rick is a small town cop who gets wounded in a shoot-out, slips into a coma and wakes up in a hospital to discover that things have gone to shit, but the reasons why and the length of elapsed time are unknown.

His escape from the hospital couldn't have been done better: at no point was there the cop-out "BOO!" scare (every time he lit a match in the dark stairwell, I kept half-expecting a zombie would lean in to blow it out or something else tacky), but instead, the total lack of music, as well as the slow realization of the scope of the disaster, was just overwhelming. The scene where the camera pulls back to show just how many wrapped-up corpses were lined up in the front lot of the hospital was quite amazing. The prologue scene where Rick comes across an entire field of abandoned cars by the gas station was similarly perfect - total silence except the footsteps and buzzing of flies, and showing that the situation escalated very, very quickly.

Rick goes home to find his family and finds they are gone. He's taken in by a boy and his father who've been squatting next door and they provide each other with something: they inform him of refugees heading to Atlanta (where Rick hopes his family fled to), and he gets them some guns and ammo from the local police station. Off Rick heads towards Atlanta, first on car, then on foot, and finally on horseback.

The amount of character detail paid to the boy and his father (who - depending on how they follow the comic book - may or may not be reoccurring characters) is a very promising sign - even if we've only seen these people for just part of an episode, they're far from throw-away characters or zombie fodder on a fast-track to being lunched on.

Meanwhile, Rick's wife and son actually are safe and in a small camp of survivors outside the city, along with Rick's old partner, who is incidentally making some hot lip-time with Rick's wife (which doesn't seem like it's going to pan out too well). They're camped outside of the city because, as Rick quickly finds out, the city is teeming with zombies, who he discovers - rather hilariously - waiting patiently around a corner. The episode ends with Rick trapped in a tank and finding out he's not the only living person in the city. Perfect.

Before the show, I went back and reread a few issues of the comic and remembered that Rick's escape from the hospital lasted barely a page or two - another great aspect of the show so far is that it's doing a great job of expanding sequences like this, which are rife with opportunity and were most likely compressed in the source material due to page constraints. It also makes the dialogue much less exposition heavy (another typical comic pitfall), and generally, just makes everything more real and believable. Given that Robert Kirkman - the comic's creator - is so closely involved with the show, I look forward to the continued (deluxe if you will) version of an already well-done comic.

Stray observations:
I don't want to be too quick to call out the "Read-In Police", but the cafeteria doors with "Don't Open/Dead Inside" written on it reminded me of the curt info scrawled on the doors of houses containing dead bodies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Sure, opening the series with shooting a zombie child seems sensationalistic, but it also shows that it's not going to be a comedy, and it's going to show people forced to make tough decisions.

Also, if shooting a zombie child bummed you out, I hope you were similarly bummed out by the horse being eaten at the end.

I might have to start watching these on On Demand, because the show stopping and segueing to Swiffer commercials is really killing the end-of-the-world vibe.

Having one of the KNB Effects guys as a consultant is also a good sign, plus they really didn't skimp on the red stuff: not every zombie-dispatchment had to be a total bloodbath, but they also showed some splatter when the point was needed.

Although I'm not opposed to homage and references, I'm glad that at least the first episode didn't have someone saying "They're coming to get you Barbara..." or had the "Dawn of the Dead" mall muzak playing during a scene or introduced a characters with last names like "Fulci" and "Argento" and "Russo" and so on.

The end song was wonderfully tacky and ironic, but could have been topped by that horrible "You Had A Bad Day" song that was popular for ten minutes awhile back. And if not that, then "Freak Me" by Silk.

If you saw "Redneck Zombies" or "The Dead Next Door" (or anything else made by J.R. Bookwalter) and actually liked it, you have at least a partial learning disability. There's no other explainable way you could enjoy a bunch of drinking buddies in Halloween store make-up munching on piles of liverwurst shot on a camera meant for capturing family vacation footage.

If you saw "Shaun of the Dead" or "Zombieland" and profess to have strongly disliked it, you either simply don't like horror comedies or you're so up your own ass that you can't laugh at something that other people have found funny and thus walked into to a movie with the intention of hating it in order to be contrary. If you hated either of those movies, then you probably also hated the "Evil Dead" sequels, "Dead Alive," or any other good horror comedy I can think of. The only difference between "Zombieland" and "Army of Darkness" is that "Zombieland" made money when it came out in theaters and the first run of "Army of Darkness" was seen by me and about a dozen or dweebs before being returned to the distributor by the end of the weekend.

Feel free to debate me on this.

TV Show Reboots We'll Probably Be Seeing Soon (Unfortunately)

2010-10-20T12:18:00.001-04:00

It seems that Hollywood has nearly run out of ideas. With remakes of beloved TV shows as films that only vaguely resemble the original, or TV remakes we're inundated with them. While some are done well, most aren't. For every Hawaii Five-0 or Battlestar Galactica or Star Trek, I can can name 5 Dukes of Hazards, A-Teams, Knight Riders and Starsky and Hutches. Heck, it was announced the other day that there was going to be a Munsters remake!

But there's still an untapped goldmine of franchises out there to mine. Today, guest-blogger Mike Madrigale takes a look at some shows that, sadly, are probably right around the corner.

Renegade
Starring Jesse James in the Lorenzo Lamas role, and the Indian side-kick should be played by Charlie Daniels. It would be pitched as a "Sons of Anarchy" type biker show and given the current TV landscape would probably be very successful.

Tyler Perry's Welcome Back Kotter
How about Sinbad as "Kotter"? Or is that too easy? If it is too easy, than "Kotter" can be Kadeem Hardison.
And Bow Wow will lead the Sweathogs (which they'll make into a thug crew with a newish name involving "izzle" or something). Every episode will turn serious by the end as Kotter has to talk sense into the inner-city youth. Alfonso Ribero could play the principal. Oh - and the love interest will be another teacher played by the girl who was Dave Chappelle's girlfriend in "Half-Baked."

The New New Monkees
The producers will try to make it ironically bad (i.e. lots of cameos by Jimmie "J.J." Walker and what have you), plus in an attempt to grab the Gen-Y demographic, the current Monkees will have a DJ and a guy with a faux-hawk and more or less sound like Sugar Ray.

Quantum Leap
If this isn't already happening, a redo by Buffy the Vampire Slayer writer (and nerd diety) Joss Whedon seems inevitable. Obviously the tone will be much more dour and the Scott Bakula role will go to somebody left-over from the canceled "Law & Order" (like the tall, youngish guy who pops up in movies often (the absolutely brilliant in Six Feet Under, Jeremy Sisto- ed.)). Dean Stockwell's role will go to somebody English (Jeremy Irons maybe?).

Robocop: the Series
They should just bring it back & have Peter Weller in cause what else is he doing these days? Get the two guys who wrote all the "2000 A.D." comics to write it and it would actually be good.

Buck Rogers
They'll try to make this campy & with lots of skimpy outfits, and it'll more or less be like Cleopatra: 2025. Buck Rogers could be Bruce Campbell or, if they want to go full-on comedy, a schlubby slacker Jack Black-type guy. I've noticed lots of shows where they try to shove a guy like that in there, so I'm sure they'll keep trying until it works.

Bosom Buddies
It'll be a "...the Early Years!" thing and it'll get canceled after 2 episodes.

WKRP in CincinnatiThey redid it in the 90's and it lasted 10 seconds, so it's due. It'll star Bret Michels as the lead, and probably have Michael Richards as the kooky DJ and the Loni Anderson stand-in will be Jenny McCarthy or something. To make it even worse, Bowling For Soup could redo the theme song.

Also, all these shows will also star Betty White.

A few more potential "goldmines" with the right cast:
Empty Nest
After-MASH (but not MASH)
Head of the Class
Step By Step
Fame (but I guess that "Glee" shit is already the same thing?)

(How come no one has remade Airwolf or Magnum P.I. yet? -ed.)

Thoughts on Mad Men's Fourth Season

2010-10-18T11:59:00.001-04:00

Mad Men closed it's fourth, and arguably best, season last night with a good, though not great, season finale. It's not that it was a bad episode - far from it - but several of the episodes leading up to the finale were, in my opinion, stronger episodes. Not to mention, the season 4 finale was going to have a hard time standing up to the strength of the season 3 finale, wherein [SPOILER ALERT] Draper and co. essentially hijack "their" company back from British ownership.

And while I'll leave the larger implications of Mad Man's story to people far more intelligent then I, it's worth noting a few observations.

I was admittedly late to get on the Mad Men boat, having watched all 4 seasons in the past 4 months. Heck, I didn't even finish the aforementioned season 3 finale until season 4 was a quarter of the way over. So with the entire series fresh in my mind, I can confidently declare the show's fourth season the most engaging yet, though I'm not sure I can put my finger on it. Perhaps it is because most of the characters have been developed so firmly now that they can focus solely on story rather than having to use story as a way to define the characters? Perhaps it is the adventurousness of tearing away the settings and background characters that helped the show succeed for 3 seasons and replace them with a new company and new set of background characters? If not that adventurousness, then perhaps it was the adventurousness of splitting up the Drapers, of Betty getting remarried and finding out that the grass isn't always greener - that even being with a man who is nearly the opposite of Don Draper that she is still miserable and unhappy?

Speaking of which, it's worth noting for all the dynamism of the characters - the growth and confidence of Peggy Olsen, the growing respect between Don and Pete, etc etc that there is one character who hasn't changed a bit since the show started - Betty.

She's still the same spoiled brat/ice queen she has been since the show started, with all the brash impetuousness of a child. The scene between she and Don at the end of the episode played out like a child who had abandoned one toy in favor of another was suddenly angered by the fact that she could no longer have the old toy if she were to decide that she wanted it back.

Speaking of which, Don's engagement was not a surprise. It had been hinted in several ways that he'd likely be getting together with someone. Did everyone believe it would be Megan prior to this episode? Maybe not so much. To me, however, that is far less interesting than pondering how long it will be until the novelty wears off and he reverts to his "I had to work late/cheating heart" ways?

Assuming Megan stays with SCDP (Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Price naturally), it's going to be hard for him to pull the old "I'm going into the office" routine. Or has he turned over a new leaf? Had Don been stepping out on Betty because she was emotionally unavailable (read: completely self-absorbed) and he needed some sort of emotional connection (keep in mind that Don was always quick to tell his various girlfriends more about himself then he ever shared with Betty). Or was the sleeping around just a biproduct of the (theoretically now dissipated) Don Draper self-destructive streak? I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle. So, as long as Megan continues to nurture him emotionally (to be fair - Don has plenty of childlike qualities to him, just nowhere near as many as Betty), maybe we will see a new Don Draper who can curb his self-destructive streak (though, for the sake of good drama, I certainly hope not!)?

(Side note: how great was the look of surprise on Don's face when Sally spilled the milkshake and Megan reacted calmly and tried to fix the situation instead of simply shouting at her as 1965's parent-of-the-year, Betty Francis would do?)

I could go on (and on (and on)). But I won't. Again, I'll let people far smarter than I delve into the larger themes at work this season. But for this blogger, it was an absolute home run. How a show like Mad Men can creatively continue to top itself 4 years into its run is a rate feat. Let's hope they're already cooking plot lines for next year.

Brief thoughts on The Event - "To Keep us Safe"

2010-09-28T12:18:00.001-04:00

The second episode of The Event didn't disappoint. We got answers to two big questions raised by the pilot - where did the plane go? Who caused it? And a half-answer to the meta-question, - who or what are the 'people' held captive at Mount Inostranka?

[SPOILER ALERT] They are not "of terrestrial origin" (Team PCS called this last Friday when we took a deeper look in the 'The Event' logo for clues and realized that "ET" were prominently featured).

So what does this mean? Are they alien? I'm not quite ready to concede that. Firstly, the show was careful to say that they were not of "terrestrial origin". Secondly, when they pointed out that their DNA was only 1% different from human DNA, the counter point was raised that chimpanzees are only 2% different from human DNA. Not only did no one use the word "alien" (though clearly at this point that is what the writers want us to think), but mentioning primates and humans makes me wonder if the Inostranka prisoners are not of "terrestrial origin" because they are actually evolved humans from the future? (Far-fetched? Sure, but at this point anything is game, right?)

Episode 2 was a nice roller coaster ride full of everything that intrigued me about the pilot, though it wasn't without its holes. So we know now that Mr. "My Arm is Broken, I Can't Swim To Save My Girlfriend" guy and his "girl" were in on the "conspiracy'. Um.. OK, sure. Problem is, how would they know where Sean and Leila would be hiking in order to set up their clever ruse and strike up a friendship in the aftermath? I know in a show where we're debating whether or not the antagonists are aliens or evolved humans these things shouldn't bother me, but they do.

One point for the writers, however - I appreciate it when a show goes out of it's way to have the characters say something that the audience is thinking. Not only does it prove that the writers had considered the absurdity, but also diffuses the situation by making light of something so the audience can move on and not dwell on having to suspend their disbelief. The writing staff of Lost were experts of doing this and we saw this same technique used lastnight when Sean is explaining to the officers who arrested him all about the vast conspiracy, the plane, etc etc. to which he is told to "think about all the planning involved" in pulling off something that large. A subtle line, but for me, by acknowledging, "yes, it's COMPLETELY ludicrous to think that something could be planned this meticulously" I can, as a viewer, move on and enjoy the story.

Also, does that invalidate my prior point about how did the know where Sean and Leila would be hiking? Absolutely, but I reserve the right to still thank that is too far-fetched.

Two quick thoughts as a busy day is preventing me from writing more:
1) The Inostranka prisoners, clearly, do not age. I find it interesting that they show this several time's throughout the episode - dates photos from the 50's, a flashback sequence where they didn't even remotely try to make anyone look younger - but that no one ever actually mentions it (unless I missed it). Curious.
2) The hospital chase scene made me think, for a moment, that I was watching the X-Files and reminded me that the X-Files cornered the market on hospital chase scenes. X-Files fans- think about it and I bet you can recall at least half a dozen without thinking too hard.

So much more to say - not enough time to say it!!! Perhaps we'll try to revisit this episode later in the week.

UPDATE: As with all good theories (And not like it took a huge leap to get to there), my theory about the detainees had already been posited first by EW's Doc Jensen, who I purposefully didn't read until after posting. Go figure:
http://tvrecaps.ew.com/recap/the-event-recap-episode-2/

And here's the promo for next week:

Fringe Season 3 Premiere - Olivia

2010-09-24T15:47:00.001-04:00

Fringe is finally back and the season premiere didn't disappoint as we focused on Olivia's attempt to escape from Walternate. As we mentioned yesterday, this season will focus on keeping the narrative in one of the two universes for (nearly) the entire episode. While It's a little early to see how well this narrative form will work, it worked out great in the premiere as we were able to focus on one storyline, shifting back to "over here" at the very end of the episode to set up for next week.

One of the most fun things, for me, was spotting some of the neat "easter egg" differences "over there". It was hard to miss the sign for the popular musical "Dogs" on top of the Olivia's escape cab, but some other great ones jumped out at me... Apparently "over there" Shell and Exxon have merged to create Shexxon, which is where the cab fuels up. Another sign advertised "Daily Flights to the Moon".

Daily Flights to the Moon? We all knew that "over there" was more technologically advanced, but daily flights to the moon? Sheesh. Next you're going to tell me they can regrow a man's hair in 3 days? Oh. Nevermind, apparently they can. The episode references that it has been 3 days since the events in last season's finale. And yet, Alter-Charlie (Or Scarlie as some call him) had a shaved head. Now Scarlie has all his hair back! Glad he had his priorities straight in the aftermath of the invasion from "over here".

When Olivia first found the photograph of her and her mother I was convinced that the back drop was the same as the one used for the infamous Desmond and Penny photo from Lost. After grabbing a screen cap and comparing, alas, I was wrong...

By episode's end, Olivia seems to be absorbing Faux-livia's memories - she's utilized the sharpshooting talent, she remembers painting the house with her "mother", etc etc. It would seem that Walternate's plan is working. But what Walternate couldn't have possibly known is that Our-livia has plenty of experience with other people's memories in her head and sorting through what is hers and what isn't (Remember John Scott, folks?). Ultimately, I'm assuming this will be what gets Olivia through her "over there" ordeal..(Hopefully they don't do a cheesy flashback recycling old-footage in the middle of episode to remind of that fact!)

Meanwhile back over it seems that Peter and Faux-livia are getting awfully close. In fact this is a clever con by the writers to satisfy both the 'shippers' who want to see Peter and Olivia get together (count Walter among those numbers) and those of us who don't want to see the show fall into that potential rut. We get to have our cake and eat it too - Peter is smooching Faux-livia and Our-livia will never be the wiser! Can't imagine Peter wanting to jump into a relationship with "his" Olivia after realizing he was dating a doppelganger. Problem solved!

All in, "Olivia" was a solid return for Fringe, and I'm excited about the myriad possibilities (or as their marketing tag line goes "endless impossibilities") for this season. While Fringe has been Grade A TV for the last two season, executive producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman could strike gold and enter A+ territory if they play these season out right... and after the two season set-up to get to this point, I'm going to put my faith in the fact that they know what they're doing.

The Event... Possible clues hidden in the show's logo?

2010-09-24T14:23:00.004-04:00

Had an epiphany while listening to the latest episode of The EventCast (theeventcast.net) and the good folks there mentioned how the number 5314 popped up a number of times in the pilot at which point I started thinking about the show's logo and the backwards E.... and I realized that the numbers 5314 are hidden in the logo.

    V = The Roman Numeral for 5
    The Backwards E = 3
    IV = The Roman Numeral for 4 (which looks a lot like an N).

So the logo essentially says E(5314)T... Does that confirm that The Event has something to do with aliens (ie-Extra Terrestrials) as many are speculating? Possibly, though I'm skeptical.

Regardless, I'm quite certain that the inclusion of 5314 in the logo is somehow relevant to the show.

Fringe to Deliver Two 'Separate Shows' in Season 3

2010-09-23T11:40:00.001-04:00

Fringe returns tonight with an interesting twist. In the wake of a season finale that [Spoiler Alert] saw out Fringe team invade the "other side" to rescue/re-kidnap Peter, only to bring back the wrong Olivia, this season Fringe will actually give us two shows.

What? Two shows? How does that work? The show will alternate from week to week focusing on our side (or "over here") and the alternate universe (or "over there").

Remember the alternate credit sequence from last season's finale? Expect to see that every other week as the producers intend to use that to remind the viewer whether that week's story will take place "over here" or "over there."

While the initial news was that this duality in story telling would be used for part of the third season, TV Guide is reporting that we can expect this for the entirety of Season 3. A bold move to be sure as it means half the season will be missing co-star (and favorite of female Fringe fans) Joshua Jackson, as his "over here" version died as a child, sparking the whole war between realities.

Executive producer J.H. Wyman had this to say on the bold direction of the show's third season: "We think that you're really short-shrifting some really compelling moments if you're cutting back and forth in one episode and you're going over there for two scenes and you're over here for two scenes."

One thing fans can expect? More incredible acting from John Noble playing two vastly different sides of the same character in the "over here" vs "over there" versions of Walter Bishop.

Source: TV Guide

Lost Co-Stars to Reunite for New J.J. Abrams Project

2010-09-23T09:22:00.000-04:00

It seems that NBC - who premiered the J.J. Abrams spy/drama Undercovers last night, can't get enough from the acclaimed producer. Next up... the much rumored Terry O'Quinn/Michael Emerson reunion! The network has apparently ordered a pilot of the J.J. Abrams produced project that will reunite the Lost co-stars.

In case you've missed the rumors, the currently untitled project will reunite O'Quinn and Emerson playing aging hitmen with a comedic twist.

Source: Vulture