What a difference a week makes, as I’ve basically gone from having no television shows to talk about, to having an overabundance of television shows to talk about, as The OC, Reunion, Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad all made their return. Pretty much the only show I watch that was in reruns last week is Lost, and I have something to talk about regarding that show anyway.
The Continuity Police are going to get off this week, but I want to remind people that if they can think of a continuity error regarding any television show, send them my way. My criteria is pretty basic: I’m more or less forgiving of first season mishaps, because the show hasn’t really grown into itself yet (although I have used first season instances in the past), and I usually disregard the error if it is self-depreciating or purposefully ironic. And, for the most part, cartoons get a free pass. Send along any suggestions you may have.
RIDDLE ME THIS:
My brother-in-law’s brother Chris (the same one who created the “arrow” riddle a couple weeks ago) told me this one last night, and it actually didn’t take long for me to figure it out. Anyway, here you go:
S30
O31
N30
What comes next? Send your answers to the e-mail address provided below, and the answer will be revealed in next week’s column.
LOST:
Well, my county newspaper actually wrote up a very interesting read on Lost a couple weeks ago, so I thought I might share some of the tidbits they had, since we don’t get a new episode until later this week. By the way, I’ve discussed it with a lot of friends and family, and many people agree that while Shannon seems like the most likely person to die, it would be too tragic, considering the fate of Boone. I still can’t firmly decide who I think it is that will bite the dust, but I’m really, REALLY hoping it won’t be Kate (which it won’t) or Sun (who seems dangerously possible).
So, basically, this newspaper did this “what we know” and “what we think will happen” type article on Lost, and I found a lot of it pretty interesting. For example, they DON’T think it will be Shannon who dies, and while they aren’t willing to make a prediction, they believe that Locke will be the person who commits the murder. That sounds like an intriguing theory, but I’m not sure if I agree, considering the hand Locke played in Boone’s death. Also, the article brings up another interesting possibility: They state that there is no reason to believe that The Others are one organized group. Some of them may be survivors from the shipwreck, some of them may be from the Dharma Initiative, or survivors from “the incident” that the orientation video alluded to.
Regarding pressing the button every 108 seconds, the article believes that nothing will happen if they don’t do it. Their mentality is that if not pressing the button is supposed to be the end of the world, and at some point in the series it won’t be pressed, the show will end, so it must do nothing. Well, I don’t know if I agree with that logic (since, after all, no explanation is really truly what it seems), but I’m not sure I disagree with the possibility that this could all be an experiment. It seems very likely, and even really interesting, however the one thing holding me back is that it seems far too obvious, way too early in the series.
One thing about the article, however, has bothered me. It says “the communication issue brings up a nit-picky point that’s bothered us since the first episode. How come no one’s whipped out a cell phone or Blackberry and tried to text message for help?” If you recall, in the pilot, Boone attempted this very thing. In the background, you could very clearly see and hear him continuously attempt to make phone calls from his cell.
The article also brings up a very potentially interesting story: The French woman getting a flashback episode of her own. That, I believe, will be exceptionally entertaining, and will surely fill in a lot of gaps of what’s happened on the island before our survivors landed on it. There is also the possible theory that the two bunkers (the one the tailies were staying in, and the one in the hatch) are actually connected to each other. Along with that, they believe that Michael and Walt will be reunited, but only shortly, and with a tragic ending.
Another thing to consider, and this isn’t in the article, but in something I read elsewhere, is that there is no time frame set for the series. The only thing we DO know, is that it doesn’t take place in the future (since Jack makes reference to the Red Sox never winning the World Series). Other than that, we know very little. For example, we don’t know how long ago Jack got married in relation to when he was in the plane crash, or in relation to when Sarah got into her car accident. One thing is for sure, though, according to the co-creator, people should not be looking for one grand answer to reveal everything we’ve been wondering.
ONCE AGAIN MUST-SEE-TV:
Slowly but surely, Thursday nights have become Must-See-TV for me again. Ironically, I watch a show on pretty much every station BUT NBC.
A few quick comments about Survivor, as I’ve really gotten into this past season. If I had to choose one person to win it, I would absolutely go with Danni. The girl is exceptionally cute, and she seems really sweet. Plus, she’s been playing a really good physical game. I’m with the critics who have turned against Stef, as I’ve found her almost unbearable this season. I absolutely, positively LOATHE Jamie, and nothing would have made me happier than seeing him get voted off last week. I really, REALLY hope he gets the boot this week. The immunity idol thing is really interesting, and I’d like to see Bobby Jon, Danni, or Gary get it. It always seems that the group of people I like are in the minority, and thus taken off piece by piece. That said, this past week made me like Rafe a little more, and I’m hoping he’s the piece that breaks up this little alliance. I hope he, Lydia, and Cindy are smart enough to realize that once Gary, Danni, and Bobby Jon are gone, the three of them are next.
It was a fun episode of The OC, I felt. I liked the scene where Summer and Marissa were fighting over the mirror, and Summer is like “you’re twice my size, I’m sure we can figure this out” and Marissa just stood behind her as they both did their make up. My love for Ms. Bilson continues, as she had many cute and hilarious moments this past episode (including her parrot imitation). I also enjoyed Marissa mentioning that she’s ruining dinner, only for Seth to say “alright, maybe a little.” The whole Dean storyline was concluded earlier than I expected, but I’m not especially upset about that, though. The stuff with Julie is interesting, and I’m intrigued to see what it takes for her to turn her back on Kirsten. Also, in the previews, I found Seth’s line to Ryan about trying to not hit Summer incredibly funny.
I really enjoyed Reunion, because this past week’s episode accomplished what others have failed to do. For the first time, I actually felt like a year had passed. In earlier episodes, it was almost unbelievable that in three or so years, practically no progress was made whatsoever in either love triangle. Sam was still with Craig, Will still hadn’t told her how she really felt, and Sam still had feelings for Will. Meanwhile, Carla was still in love with Aaron, and still hadn’t told him how she felt. In this sense, none of their lives were progressing in a realistic way. It also seems as if either Jenna or Sam was murdered, and I keep second guessing my current line of thought. On one hand, if a celebrity (or former celebrity) like Jenna were murdered, I am sure it would be receiving much more coverage. On the other hand, neither Will nor Craig seems to be reacting in a way that would indicate their former serious lover was murdered. Also, based on what we know now, why would somebody contact Aaron regarding Sam’s murder, when he’s had the closer relationship with Jenna? Oh, and a very nice twist by having Craig be paralyzed in the present day, and extra credit points for not immediately revealing why.
ANIMATION DOMINATION:
Well, Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad returned tonight. How did they rank up? In my opinion, Family Guy took home the gold, Simpsons walked away with the silver, and American Dad came up short with the bronze.
I actually quite enjoyed the opening segment of The Simpsons. The comments about how exceptionally boring baseball can be was great, and the reaction on God’s face when he was getting sucked into the whirlpool was hilarious. The short with Mr. Burns hunting everybody was actually pretty funny, especially when Homer tried to climb the tree, and ended up catapulting everybody into danger. Then having Moe land on the compass arrow thingie, only to win the lottery, and then have Chief Wiggum land on top of him. The Bartificial Life skit was pretty good, I suppose, but probably the weak link of the episode. The costume one was pretty good, actually, as I really enjoyed Homer’s “are you going to talk about it or do it already?” line. And the ongoing bit of Nelson being a raccoon was pretty funny, as was Dr. Hibbert continuously being called Blackula. Overall, a better Halloween special than we’ve seen in the past couple years.
The opening segment of Family Guy was quite possibly the funniest thing I have seen on television in a long, LONG time. The bit with Osama Bin Laden not being able to get through his speech without laughing was funny enough (if only because it went on entirely too long), then having Stewie imitate the opening of The Naked Gun made it a home run. However, what made it an absolutely, positively grand slam was when they continued the imitation, of Stewie riding his tricycle, and running over Homer Simpson. Then having Peter say “who the hell is that?” at the end. Especially funny bits from the episode include Lois’ “do you like eating red carpet” line while beating up Peter (and having Quagmire overhear them), as well as the continued antagonizing of the FCC. That song they sang, using both new and classic clips from Family Guy was great. Overall a great episode.
American Dad was a bit hit or miss, actually. I think the show really became funny when it drifted itself away from the political stuff, and focused more on actual familial issues (like, for example, Steve feeling like a disappointment in Stan’s eyes). In turn, I was a little skeptical when they had an episode where Stan and family move to Saudi Arabia. The To Be Continued thing was pretty surprising, so I guess we’ll see what happens.
TV FUN FACT OF THE WEEK:
The Continuity Police might be taking a break this week, but the fun fact of the week stands strong. This week, we’ll take look at an old favorite of mine, which SHOULD have been renewed this year, but wasn’t. I am referring to, of course, Joan of Arcadia, starring the absolutely beautiful Amber Tamblyn.
Show creator Barbara Hall wrote a list of guidelines for the writers, which she called “The Ten Commandments of Joan of Arcadia”. These “commandments” are:
1. God cannot directly intervene.
2. Good and evil exist.
3. God can never identify one religion as being right.
4. The job of every human being is to fulfill his or her true nature.
5. Everyone is allowed to say “no” to God, including Joan.
6. God is not bound by time. This is a human concept.
7. God is not a person and does not possess a human personality.
8. God talks to everyone all the time in different ways.
9. God’s plan is what is good for us, not what is good for him.
10. God’s purpose for talking to Joan, and everyone, is to get her (us) to recognize the interconnectedness of all things – i.e., you cannot hurt a person without hurting yourself; all of your actions have consequences; God can be found in the smallest actions; God expects us to learn and grow from all our experiences. However, the exact nature of God is a mystery, and the mystery can never be solved.
Interesting stuff, no? Well, anyway, I hope everybody has a good week, and much like this year’s Simpsons Halloween Special, I have no idea how to end this.
