Television
Television Tuesday: American Gothic.
29/July/2008 18:32
Yet another Hulu discovery: American Gothic.
I have to say that this series was weird, X-files weird (or possibly the outer limits weird)!
I thought that since Gary Cole (Lumberg from Office Space) was in it, that it would be rather comical. I was wrong. The story revolves around a small town in the south that has a lot of inexplicable phenomena happening. If you make a deal with the Sheriff, your life is prosperous, but eventually you will have to pay him back. Throughout the series I was wondering if he was corrupt, if he was some sort of witch with supernatural powers, or if he was the devil himself!
Even though the series is rather dark and at times, I think, disturbing, I highly recommend it.
If you want some more info about the series, click here for the Wikipedia entry (SPOILERS WARNING!)
I have to say that this series was weird, X-files weird (or possibly the outer limits weird)!
I thought that since Gary Cole (Lumberg from Office Space) was in it, that it would be rather comical. I was wrong. The story revolves around a small town in the south that has a lot of inexplicable phenomena happening. If you make a deal with the Sheriff, your life is prosperous, but eventually you will have to pay him back. Throughout the series I was wondering if he was corrupt, if he was some sort of witch with supernatural powers, or if he was the devil himself!
Even though the series is rather dark and at times, I think, disturbing, I highly recommend it.
If you want some more info about the series, click here for the Wikipedia entry (SPOILERS WARNING!)
|
Television Tuesday: Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show
22/July/2008 18:29
Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine
Show !
Ok there isn’t much to say about this show that can adequately describe it! You just have to see it!
This is a series of short webisodes. The show is essentially a mocking of those crazy Japanese television shows, and the engrish and utter wackiness that you see in them.
Also check out their website: CLICK HERE
Ok there isn’t much to say about this show that can adequately describe it! You just have to see it!
This is a series of short webisodes. The show is essentially a mocking of those crazy Japanese television shows, and the engrish and utter wackiness that you see in them.
Also check out their website: CLICK HERE
Television Tuesday: Peacemakers
15/July/2008 18:25
Whenever I see a western, I tend to turn tail and run
the other way. This has been a result of really bad
television westerns when I was a kid.
Every now and again I try to be open-minded and watch a western. The Peacemakers is a western that I like!
You essentially follow a doctor/coroner, a US marshal, and an oxford-educated-former-pinkerton-lab guy in a crime solving mission. It’s funny to see the lab guy undertaking modern forensics while the marshal is busy contaminating the crime scene (since he doesn’t know any better). In short, it’s like “CSI: Will West”. I have to say that I really like the series. Too bad it was never renewed!
Every now and again I try to be open-minded and watch a western. The Peacemakers is a western that I like!
You essentially follow a doctor/coroner, a US marshal, and an oxford-educated-former-pinkerton-lab guy in a crime solving mission. It’s funny to see the lab guy undertaking modern forensics while the marshal is busy contaminating the crime scene (since he doesn’t know any better). In short, it’s like “CSI: Will West”. I have to say that I really like the series. Too bad it was never renewed!
Television Tuesday: Terminator, The Sarah Connor Chronicles
08/July/2008 18:19
I am a big Terminator fan, that is why I am happy
this series is coming back
for another season!
I initially approached this series with skepticism, but it ended up being quite good! My reasons for being a skeptic were that I really could not see anyone other than Linda Hamilton taking over the role of Sarah Connor, and the idea of a high-school-aged terminator T800 was laughable (at the time).
Well the show has made me a believer! The action is great, the story line is good, and it essentially keeps you in suspense throughout the season. One of the things that was not answered in the movies was the origin of skynet. I know that in the third movie we wee the military makes skynet, but did this mean that it was fate? That skynet would be built no matter what? Or could the future be changed? As the season went on we saw a number of various possibilities as to the origin of skynet, and as one by one they got eliminated, you kept wondering just who and under what circumstances, made skynet.
I look forward to the new season, and to the recap of the first season starting August 10. I really hope that the Reese family is explored more, and we see more futuristic shots. I also hope that they tie in the third terminator movie. I am all for time paradoxes and alternate timelines, but I really do want some sort of tie in.
I initially approached this series with skepticism, but it ended up being quite good! My reasons for being a skeptic were that I really could not see anyone other than Linda Hamilton taking over the role of Sarah Connor, and the idea of a high-school-aged terminator T800 was laughable (at the time).
Well the show has made me a believer! The action is great, the story line is good, and it essentially keeps you in suspense throughout the season. One of the things that was not answered in the movies was the origin of skynet. I know that in the third movie we wee the military makes skynet, but did this mean that it was fate? That skynet would be built no matter what? Or could the future be changed? As the season went on we saw a number of various possibilities as to the origin of skynet, and as one by one they got eliminated, you kept wondering just who and under what circumstances, made skynet.
I look forward to the new season, and to the recap of the first season starting August 10. I really hope that the Reese family is explored more, and we see more futuristic shots. I also hope that they tie in the third terminator movie. I am all for time paradoxes and alternate timelines, but I really do want some sort of tie in.
Television Tuesday: Burn Notice
01/July/2008 06:10
Thanks to Hulu, I have been exposed to yet another
great television show (no I
don’t spend all my time at home watching
television).
Burn notice is a series about a CIA agent who’s been, well to put it bluntly, screwed. He’s off on a mission at the beginning of the series, tries to make a deal with some shady people on behalf of the US government and BAM! He’s cut lose! “We never knew you, we never heard of you” type of situation.
When he gets back to the US, he is essentially stranded in Miami, with an FBI tail, people trying to kill him, and all this time he is trying to work a few odd jobs here and there (utilizing his CIA skillset) so that he has food and a roof over his head. The series is pretty nice because the main character is not a Rambo ‘blow everything to bits’ type. He is a cool headed (most of the time) character that prefers non violence if possible.
If you do have some free time, check it out on hulu. You won’t be disappointed.
Burn notice is a series about a CIA agent who’s been, well to put it bluntly, screwed. He’s off on a mission at the beginning of the series, tries to make a deal with some shady people on behalf of the US government and BAM! He’s cut lose! “We never knew you, we never heard of you” type of situation.
When he gets back to the US, he is essentially stranded in Miami, with an FBI tail, people trying to kill him, and all this time he is trying to work a few odd jobs here and there (utilizing his CIA skillset) so that he has food and a roof over his head. The series is pretty nice because the main character is not a Rambo ‘blow everything to bits’ type. He is a cool headed (most of the time) character that prefers non violence if possible.
If you do have some free time, check it out on hulu. You won’t be disappointed.
This season’s orphaned shows
18/June/2008 18:09
OK, so the television season has been over for a few
weeks and we’ve now found out which shows have been
orphaned, in other words cancelled. Here are four
shows that I wish would get picked up by another
television station:
Jericho: Network: CBS. Post nuclear USA. If you haven’t seen it, you should! It’s a season and a half of great suspense. The end of the second season leaves us with the Eastern state alliance (remnants of the ‘old’ USA), the Independent State of Texas, and the Western alliance (run by corporate interests who instigated the attack). I would be interested to see what happens next! Aren’t you?
Moonlight: Network: CBS. It follows a relatively young vampire (80 year’s old? I think). In any case, he is a private detective, has a fling with a girl he saved from the crazy vamp that turned him, so in essence he is like Angel. Good show.
New Amsterdam: Network: FOX. The show follows a Dutch man who has lived in NYC since it was a Dutch colony who’s been given eternal life, until he finds his soul mate, at which point they can live until death do them part. It’s a good show, it shows him being frustrated at not dying, seeing his kids die, and former loved ones, and he longs to just grow old with that someone special. I personally want to find out if he ever finds that special someone.
Aliens in America: Network: CW. My final pick follows a Pakistani exchange student in Wisconsin. The strength of the show is not only showcasing the cultural differences and similarities between Americans and Pakistanis - or non Americans (alien #1), but also the awkwardness of being in high school – the clicks, the classes, the popularity contests (alien #2). The show also does a good job at showing the hypocrisy of human nature (smoking cigarettes when you are not supposed to, saying that you are a good Christian but hating going to church, and so on). The show tanked in ratings and I really wonder why. I wish someone else would pick it up
There are two other shows that got the can, Cavemen and Carpoolers. I never tuned in specifically to see these shows, but I did enjoy watching them two or three in a row on ABC’s website. I really liked both of the shows and wish that they would resurrect them as regular 20 minute sitcom episodes, but available online and on DVD only.
Jericho: Network: CBS. Post nuclear USA. If you haven’t seen it, you should! It’s a season and a half of great suspense. The end of the second season leaves us with the Eastern state alliance (remnants of the ‘old’ USA), the Independent State of Texas, and the Western alliance (run by corporate interests who instigated the attack). I would be interested to see what happens next! Aren’t you?
Moonlight: Network: CBS. It follows a relatively young vampire (80 year’s old? I think). In any case, he is a private detective, has a fling with a girl he saved from the crazy vamp that turned him, so in essence he is like Angel. Good show.
New Amsterdam: Network: FOX. The show follows a Dutch man who has lived in NYC since it was a Dutch colony who’s been given eternal life, until he finds his soul mate, at which point they can live until death do them part. It’s a good show, it shows him being frustrated at not dying, seeing his kids die, and former loved ones, and he longs to just grow old with that someone special. I personally want to find out if he ever finds that special someone.
Aliens in America: Network: CW. My final pick follows a Pakistani exchange student in Wisconsin. The strength of the show is not only showcasing the cultural differences and similarities between Americans and Pakistanis - or non Americans (alien #1), but also the awkwardness of being in high school – the clicks, the classes, the popularity contests (alien #2). The show also does a good job at showing the hypocrisy of human nature (smoking cigarettes when you are not supposed to, saying that you are a good Christian but hating going to church, and so on). The show tanked in ratings and I really wonder why. I wish someone else would pick it up
There are two other shows that got the can, Cavemen and Carpoolers. I never tuned in specifically to see these shows, but I did enjoy watching them two or three in a row on ABC’s website. I really liked both of the shows and wish that they would resurrect them as regular 20 minute sitcom episodes, but available online and on DVD only.
Television Tuesday: Της Ελλάδος τα Παιδιά
17/June/2008 18:07
OK for those who don’t read (or speak) Greek, the
show is called “Greece’s Children”, it’s sort
of slang for the young people that are military
service. The show is about these slackers who
serve in the Greek Air Force, their commander,
the local snitch, and of course the General that
comes in on surprise inspection visits.
The show is of course a comedy staring Yannis Bezos (not related to Jeff Bezos of Amazon, as far as I know), who also starts in a few other classic television favorites of mine. This is a series that I would buy on DVD, unfortunately Greek series on DVD are something that have not caught on in Greece.
The show is of course a comedy staring Yannis Bezos (not related to Jeff Bezos of Amazon, as far as I know), who also starts in a few other classic television favorites of mine. This is a series that I would buy on DVD, unfortunately Greek series on DVD are something that have not caught on in Greece.
Television Tuesdays: Space Above and Beyond
03/June/2008 18:24
Back in 1995, there was an interesting FOX show called Space: Above and Beyond
.
It was a great show, about fighting off alien
invaders called the ‘chigs’. What made this show
interesting (beyond the sci-fi nature of it)
were the various societal conflicts between the
‘invitros’, humans bred to fight the battles of
‘natural’ humans, and who are treated as second
class citizens, except when they join the USMC.
There are also cyborgs that were made before invitros for the same purpose, but they revolted and they are still around. I guess the lesson is if you are not man enough to fight your own wars, don’t expect others to do it for you. The show was promising, but it was plagued by bad programming decisions on the part of FOX. It didn’t have a regular night, it kept being shifted from time slot to time slot, and it kept being postponed for baseball or hockey games. In the end, it was cancelled after one season due to low ratings.
The show is unavailable on Hulu, but rather cheap on amazon.com
The show might remind you of Startship Troopers, but just remember: it predates Starship Troopers and it is actually better than that movie!
Television Tuesday: John Doe
27/May/2008 19:09
It revolves around John Doe, a person who does not remember his past, but has some amazing, rain-man-like, abilities. He knows everything about everything. The show originally aired on the FOX network. I vaguely remember ads for the show, but I do not remember the reason I elected not to watch.
The show did last one season, and most of it is available on Hulu. The annoying thing is that Hulu does not have four or five episodes (including the Series Premier and Series Finale!) which are the binding elements of the show and which make the show great! I had to go to a korean site and stream the episodes from there.
I really enjoyed the series, and in the end there was quite a twist! (I am not telling though). I really would have liked for the show to have a second season given the ton of questions that still remain (it would be like watching a season of Lost, and calling it a wrap).
I highly recommend this series. Check it out on Hulu and pandora.tv
Jericho’s over!
03/April/2008 21:54
I watched the series finale of Jericho a number of
days ago. The second season was really accelerated,
but it was still pleasant to watch. I really wish
that the series would have at least one more full
season, but I guess it wasn’t in the cards. The
premise of Jericho was that there were a number of
nuclear bombs throughout the USA, and we, the
audience, did not know who did it, and where the
government was.
We found out in season two that it was a corrupt corporation, and a coup d’etat type of plot. The series could have extended into further seasons but it did not (rebuilding, civil disobedience and civil war come to mind as possible plots.)
Oh well, this is a series to get on DVD – too bad CBS was short sighted.
We found out in season two that it was a corrupt corporation, and a coup d’etat type of plot. The series could have extended into further seasons but it did not (rebuilding, civil disobedience and civil war come to mind as possible plots.)
Oh well, this is a series to get on DVD – too bad CBS was short sighted.