Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Worst TV Shows Ever

I forgot about some of these. Some of these I never even heard of.

I remember Quark as being a bad attempt at Sci-Fi humor. It came out after Star Wars, trying to cash in on the SF craze at the time. The Brits did a much better job with Red Dwarf a few years later. 

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Supergirl Returns

The writers of Smallville are adding Supergirl to the cast next season.

Look, up in the sky: it’s a bird, it’s a plane! It’s...Supergirl! This fall, Supergirl will be joining the lineup of burgeoning superheroes and villains in “Smallville.” Supergirl is the latest DC Comics character to join the series that has previously welcomed Martian Manhunter, The Green Arrow, The Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg and Brainiac. Casting for the Supergirl role is currently underway. “Smallville” airs on Thursdays at 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET on The CW.

On “Smallville,” the seventh season premiere kicks off with the arrival of Supergirl, whose name is Kara, as Clark’s (Tom Welling) 19-year-old cousin. She was born on Krypton and is the daughter of Zor-El, Jor-El’s brother. Kara possesses all of Clark’s powers and one he doesn’t yet have ?? she can fly! Kara also has a strong, rebellious streak that puts her at odds with Clark, and puts her onto Lex’s (Michael Rosenbaum) radar. In addition, she takes a romantic interest in Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore).

Sunday, June 10, 2007

End of the Sopranos?

Not since Twin Peaks ended with Agent Cooper laughing at the mirror or the cigarette smoking man getting killed in a ridiculous manner on X-Files, has a TV show concluded with such a pointless denouement. The ending of the Sopranos was like the season close of previous seasons. A non event. If that’s a kind of statement from series creator David Chase, the statement is: “Don’t watch any more David Chase shows.”

Sure, it had it’s moments. And thi season was pretty good, unlike the last season of Twin Peaks and the X-Files. But really, of all the stupid ways to end the show, just ending like life goes on, in such a cock tease fashion is almost an insult. I mean, it would be an insult if I hadn’t gotten wise to David Chase’s propensity for non-events.

In the end he created a memorable series with great characters, but like life, the Soprano is full of disappointments. Maybe that’s his point. 

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Bwahaha!

Friday, May 25, 2007

Somewhere, a Farmer Needs a Cow

After this heated exchange, Rosie won’t be back on the View. Now if they could just can that Bette Midler-looking bitch. 

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Two Great Finales

Wow. Tonight had some great TV shows. The Season Finale of American Idol was really good. In addition to seeing all the previous winners of American Idol on stage (except Fantasia who is working on Broadway), they had Tony Bennett, Gladys Night, Smokie Robinson, Bette Midler, Gwen Stefani, Green Day, Joe Perry among others. There were some really fun bits including a beat box duet between Blake Lewis and Doug E Fresh. All 12 of the finalists this season were also on stage. It was great to see some of them again. The show ended with a really nice Beatles medley starting all the past winners and the current top 12. Of course, Jordin won. No one was surprised there. But I’m sure a lot fo talent this year will get CDs.

Carrie Underwood got a lot of face time. She has become the most successful Idol to date, apparently. The good news is Taylor’s CD went platinum and Chris Daughtry’s CD sold 3 million units so far. Katherine McPhee’s has done well, also.They didn’t even mention Bucky an Kellie’s CDs, which have also been a success.

I can’t say I wanted to see Sanjaya’s solo (I’d rather hear that Bush Baby dude sing), nor did I care much for Kelly Clarkson’s new single, which sounds lie an attempt at “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morrisette. But boy, did Smokey Robinson have good plastic surgery or what? I guess botox works for some people.

Gladys Knight sounded great. It was nice to see her hug Melinda at the end. Melinda is a big fan. Frankly, the Knight medley was excellent from beginning to end.

And Lost, man did they turn in a good episode. It was full of great twists and turns with a powerful surprise ending.  They really pulled this show out of the doldrums in the last six or seven episodes. 24 writers, take note! My only complaint is, Charlie could have shut the hatch door behind him. He didn’t have to stay inside.

Now I wonder what happens next. I have a feeling the rescue might be something else entirely. Will the next season have them back home with flashbacks to the island? Hmm.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

American Idol Finale

Well, it looks like Jordin will win unless Blake has more fans. They both did well, but I can’t say I felt it was the kind of competition we saw last season. I was not that involved. I wanted to see Melinda win, but I guess the teenagers wanted someone closer to their age.

Tomorrow should be interesting. Taylor Hicks will perform and pass the torch. Last season’s closing show was incredible. I’m really wondering how this season’s will be. Expect to see the top 10 perform. 

Monday, May 21, 2007

TV Wasteland

Since I came back I’ve been catching up on all the shows my Tivo captured. Here’s a smattering of my impressions.

24: This season was very uneven to downright bad and silly in places. I’m almost bored with the idea there is a two hour season finale tonight. What could have been another great season was basically an uneven mess.

Lost: On the other hand, Lost was a show I almost bailed on, but they really stepped up their game and the last few episodes have been great. I am looking forward to the season finale this week.

Entourage: Great season so far.

The Sopranos: Ditto. Too bad they couldn’t have been this good in some of the previous seasons. Only 2 more episodes left and it looks like Tony may get whacked.

House: Still entertaining. Hugh Laurie is the show. No other characters come close. I wish they had more foils for him, like thy did with the cop this season or the new boss two seasons back. Maybe if they can pry Stephen Fry from Bones. He and Laurie are great together.

Smallville: Great ending to a good season. I liked he previous season beter, but I am looking forward to seeing the battle between Clark and Bizarro. And hopefully, Clark will finally learn to fly.

Heroes: This show has been really good. And the season finale is something I am looking forward to tonight.

Desperate Housewives: Yes, I watch this show. It’s a guilty pleasure. Even though it’s a somewhat silly soap opera, it’s very well written and I like some of the characters (and dislike some others). The season finale last night was satisfying, except I’m surprised about Edie.

Veronica Mars: I don’t think I’ve liked this season as much as the previous two, it’s still a good show and ell written. Too bad it may not return. Kirstin Bell is my pick to play Linda Williams if they ever do an Espers movie. 

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

American Idol 5/8

We’re at the final four. Last year it was Taylor Hicks, Katherine McPhee, Elliot Yamin and Chris Daughtry. Daughtry went home. This year we have Melinda Doolittle, Jordin Sparks, Blake Lewis and Lakisha Jones.

I think Lakisha will go tomorrow. She did OK, but she did not wow them. And while judges were critical of Blake, I think he will skate through this week. I didn’t think he was that bad. Especially his cover of Staying Alive, which I rather liked.

Melinda and Jordin were the best tonight, and I think they will fight it out in the finale. But Blake has a strong fan base, being the only guy left in the competition. He might have a shot, but I think it’ll be Melinda or Jordin who take home the crown. I’m betting on Melinda, who has been outstanding every week. Jordin has some real star quality, so it all comes down to whether she’ll fumble the ball. I think that’s a possibility as her second song of the evening was kind of weak.

I love Barry Gibb’s music. I as disappointed they didn’t sing some of my faves. I thought Heartbreaker, which he wrote for Dionne Warwick would hav worked really well for any of the ladies. Oh, well.

I’m not as excited about this year as last because I’m not really rooting for anyone in particular. But they all deserve record deals and I will be surprised if they don’t get it.

UPDATE: I was right. Lakisha is gone. Once more she ignored the good advice of the mentor to her detriment. Barry Gibb knows what he’s doing. Blake was #1 on Dial Idol and Zabasearch. But they made it look like he was in the bottom 2. Who knows? I think it will be a Melinda/Jordin finale and a toss up who will win. 

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

24 Jumping the Shark

This season of 24 has been pretty absurd. It was bad enough they had David Palmer’s brother as president, but the usual tropes they trotted out have become rather stale. Now, it looks like the show’s creators have got the message the fans have been sending.

After peaking in the ratings last year, Fox’s thriller “24” has been getting dumped on by seemingly everyone in this, its sixth season. Critics and fans alike are aiming tomatoes at the stage, carping about the soapy and repetitive plotlines that unspool Jack’s unlikely familial past, tiresome romantic triangles in the security bureaucracy and endless bickering among Oval Office advisors.

Last week, with a fresh episode designed to lay the groundwork for what the creators promise will be a typically suspenseful finale next month, “24’s” ratings in the key young-adult category swooned to their lowest level in more than three years, with a total audience of just 10.4 million, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research.

More than one-third of viewers have bailed since the special four-hour season premiere that aired over two consecutive nights back in January. And if that wasn’t enough bad news for the series, last week “24” was one of the prime-time shows that the Federal Communications Commission singled out in urging Congress to curb TV violence.

The vox populi protests have not escaped the attention of the show’s producers, who promise that some big changes are on the way for Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) and other regulars next season. There’s also speculation that something else might be at work in accounting for viewers’

They need to get away from presidents in crisis stories and focus on stories that are more believable. They also need to stop relying on the same tricks to keep the story going.  CTU also needs to seem a lot less dysfunctional.