Stuff @ The Start
I Forgot One! – In the last column I ran down the shows that I was looking forward to watching. Well it’s been brought to my attention that Deadwood is returning in June. I happened to catch the promo on HBO and I’m salivating now. I really can’t wait.
I Need SLEUTH! – While on vacation, I fell in love with the SLEUTH Network. It’s got the A-Team and Knight Rider. It’s also got the late lamented Karen Sisco. Seriously, SLEUTH might be the greatest network ever.
What I Watched Last Week
Nothing.
Really, I was on vacation. I didn’t watch anything.
I’m damn behind on my viewing. I’ve got loads of TV to catch up on. I’ve got to watch the last three weeks of Big Love (thank goodness for On Demand) and I’ve got to watch every show that’s been on in the last 10 days. Fortunately that means I’ll have stuff to write about for next week’s column.
However I was at my Aunt’s house with my cousin and we stumbled upon the last few minutes of the ER finale. Now since none of the characters were named “Ross”, “Mark”, “Benton”, or “Carter” I was pretty lost. In fact I’d not seen an episode since Carter got shanked at the holiday party, but the finale had me interested. Poor Michael Weston, who apparently gets typecast as the gun wielding sociopath. He was Jake on the Six Feet Under episode “That’s My Dog” (the one when David tries crack).
Anyway, that finale (or at least the closing moments) were pretty solid. If I knew anything about the current cast, other than that a pregnancy might be lost, I’d probably return next fall. But I probably won’t.
Finale Thoughts
I’ve decided to break this up into two columns because my viewing is going to be sparse for a minute, and also because I’ve yet to watch all of my finales. Anyway here are my thoughts thus far;
Grey’s Anatomy – Wow. This show had a pretty great finale. It was basically a three-hour event (split into a one hour episode and two hour episode smushed together), but it worked splendidly.
I hated that Preston got shot. It felt like it happened too quickly. I realized that the reason I love Preston’s character so much is because he reminds a lot of Andre Braugher’s Frank Pembleton on Homocide: Life on the Street.
And when you look at it like that, Frank didn’t get placed in a situation that upset the status quo and endangered his livelihood until the finale of the fourth season. Having Preston get shot and being in danger of having his career threatened just seems to happen too soon as it’s only the finale of the second season. Yeah it was shocking, but it would have been even more shocking if it had happened in a later season, particularly since this season began with Webber’s skills in question.
The Deny/Izzy stuff tugged at the heart like expected. She was foolish to put him in danger in the first place, but if you squint it’s almost romantic. George and Torres’ storyline was tolerable if trite; how many times have we seen the whole “one person says ‘I love you’, but the other person isn’t ready to say ‘I love you’ yet” storyline. And can anyone confirm that the actress who plays Dr. Torres is pregnant or just had a kid?
Cristina sucks. What more can be said?
I enjoyed the Meredith/Derek stuff until the end. I dug how Derek was irked by Meredith hooking up with the vet. It was believable. I enjoyed how Meredith didn’t like Derek judging her (even though he had every right). What I didn’t dig was the Prom shag.
I mean, I can deal with the notion that she still had Derek open, I’m cool with that. But having Derek, very blatantly cheat on his wife rubs me the wrong way, and not just because I love Addison. Until that point Derek was a stand up guy. He hooked up with Meredith in the first place because, to him, his marriage was over. But he’s clearly been trying to make things work lately, so his shag with Meredith kind of goes against his character in that regard.
However I’ll admit that the final scene with Meredith having to choose between the vet and Derek was almost worth it. It was cool to see Derek effectively trying to punk the vet. I’m anxious to see how this one plays out.
Boston Legal – Denny Crane and Alan Shore are a joy to watch, but the finale wasn’t anything special. It was a good couple of episodes, but nothing really sticks out in my mind. Apart from the breaking of the fourth wall by having characters reference time changes, it was just another episode. Granted an episode of Boston Legal features quality not found on most network offerings, but the finale just didn’t feel epic.
Oh and it looks like I was wrong about Alan leaving at the end of the season.
Prison Break – Now this was a pretty solid finale. It was nice to actually the show make good on the promise contained within its title. Seeing the cons freed was understandably liberating.
I was surprised to see T-Bag lose his hand. I don’t see how it was really that necessary, but what are you going to do? Haywire on the loose was pretty entertaining.
I am looking forward to next season, if only to see the paradigm shift, as I’m guessing, Michael’s plans have all evaporated. His usefulness, and thus his role as the leader, should have diminished and I’m eager to see who’ll fill that void.
The lawyer stuff is boring, but the VP stuff is picking up. Like I said, I’m anxious to see what next season holds.
Smallville – A virus? What? I’m pretty sure I caught most of the episodes, why do I feel lost? I don’t really care that Lex is possessed by Zod. I’m kind of curious how Clark will get out of the Phantom Zone, kind of. The finale just left me pretty flat. I’ll be back next season, but the show is really losing luster.
Scrubs – Man, the show was just as on par as Boston Legal, only I’m really looking forward to next season. There’s a suitable shift in the status quo and it’s got a cliffhanger.
I am looking forward to Turk and Carla’s impending birth. I’m looking forward to JD’s potential impending fatherhood. Hell, I’m looking forward to the further adventures of Floating Head Doctor and the future tales of Dr. Acula; I just want more of this show!
Hopefully next week I’ll have my thoughts on the finales of The Unit, 24 and Lost.
Secret Agent Man of Steel?
Good News; you’ve got a new best friend. Bad News; he’s a bit of a show off. Good News; he’s loyal to a fault. Bad News; people around him tend to get hurt. Maybe they lose a limb. Maybe get lied to every week. Who knows? The point is that like all friendships there are ups and downs. Good News; he’ll probably save you life. Bad News; your life will certainly be in danger.
So, would you rather hang out with Jack Bauer (24) or Clark Kent (Smallville).
Mr. Pink was the first to reply over in the forums;
Is there really a choice? With Clark you get rescued at the last minute, with Jack your minutes left on this earth are already numbered. Just about everyone Jack comes in to contact with manages to find themselves killed eventually. Then again there’s a lot of strange stuff that happens in Smallville on a near constant basis… but the survival rate there is better, so I pick Clark.
Stimpy posted a different opinion;
I’d have to go with Jack Bauer…sure your chances of death are greatly increased, but since I get my kicks jumping from perfectly good airplanes, that’s not that big a deal.
And with Clark, I’d run the risk of a skydive being cut short because he’d swoop in and pluck me outta the sky as I plummeted to the planet….that’d be a buzz-kill
But with Jack, everything is always on the go…never a dull moment. Plus you get all that adventure in ONE day….if you live you still have the rest of the weekend to relax.
A Faceless Name comes at it from a different perspective;
Jack would probably kill me for stalking his daughter. Smallville may be crazier, but there are lots of women I wont be killed for taking an interest in.
Insidepulse Alum Aaron speaks from pure ignorance;
Never seen “24” and I’ve never seen “Smallville”, so I’ll just have to wing it here. Obviously, as a fan of “the funny books”, I’m leaning towards Clark Kent. In fact, he’s the one I’m going with. If I learned nothing else from my most recent trip to Vega$, it’s that sleep is most definitely NOT overrated and the entire premise of Jack Bauer and “24” is just a more violent spin on those all-nighters that I pulled in college, except with more torture and more evil Middle Easterners than I ever saw at San Diego State. At some point, I’d need a power nap just to keep up with all of the running around that Bauer does on a week-to-week basis. In contrast, Kent lives in Smallville. It’s a town that evokes front porches, tire swings and sweet tea. On the other hand, I’m told the show’s Black characters tend to get de-emphasized after awhile, so I guess the whole reason I’d pick Clark is so that I can befriend him, then betray him and, hopefully land a recurring role as a B-level threat.
Thomasina brings some common sense to the debate;
Before I basically get toasted, I must say I like 24. I really have to go with Clark on basic protection ability. Questions on the top of my mind were; 1:Who could take a bullet for me the best. Hello! Clark, we all know it. 2: Jack couldn’t even save his wife. If I died couldn’t Clark do that flying around the world backwards stuff and make time go back to save me. True, that happened in one of the Superman movies, but Clark can do that now that he can fly. I will admit that some kryptonite would really mess Clark up, but that’s still only one con for Clark. Still gotta go with him.
Colin breaks it down to simpler terms;
Is this really a choice? Who’s my friend, the gummint agent with a penchant for torture, or The Man of Steel?
You’ve gotta know it’s Clark. Sure, Jack could probably save one’s bacon, but there’s a huge chance you could catch one in the crossfire. Clark, on the other hand, could catch those bullets out of the air.
Plus, there’s the whole “Oh dang, I just remembered I need a case of beer and the store closes in 2 minutes and it’s all the way across town! Clark, could you help a bro out?” factor. Sweet.
As for me, I’ve got to admit some bias; I’ve just returned from spending a week in a small town. Thus I’m not really too keen on hanging out with Clark. If I hang out with Jack I’m guaranteed some form of mass transit, even if said transportation runs the chance of getting attacked by terrorists or assassins. Plus there might be an opportunity to stop by the mall and pick up some things while we deal with an evil plot. The only mall in Smallville is in its name.
I’ve got no problem being active for 24 hours, as I keep late hours as it is, but staying awake in the sleepy burg of Smallville would be a real chore. If I hang out with Jack I can try to out snark Chloe and say things like “I need you to get me that satellite image!” How cool would that be?
Oh yeah, I’m hanging with Jack.
Naturally this brings us to…
Good News/Bad News/Question of the Week
Good News; summers over and temperatures have dropped. Bad News; you’ve got to go back to high school. Maybe you’re entire transcripts been erased. Perhaps it’s part of an elaborate prank. It might even be because you never graduated in the first place. Who knows? The point is that you’re going back to high school. Good News; you’ve got a choice of two schools. Bad News; both of your teachers think they’re funnier than they actually are.
So, would you rather be in the Individualized Honors Program (Head of the Class) or hang out with the Sweathogs (Welcome Back Kotter)?
(You’ll notice that this week I provided links so you can actually view an episode, if you’re unfamiliar with program.)
Links
Romo looks at;
NBC’s Fall Lineup
ABC’s Fall Lineup
CBS’s Fall Lineup
MyNetworkTV’s Fall Lineup
CW’s Fall Lineup
Fox’s Fall Lineup
Craig shares his thoughts on the past and future of;
Kevin also takes a look back.
Josh has the Weekly Pulse, plus he’s started a new poll. Peep his brutally honest mea culpa in the opening paragraph of that thread.
Mr Pink also started an interesting thread, that I think deserves more attention. It’s a thread where you pitch your own TV show. Rest assured I’m going to be participating in that one.
Joe (Reid) Sometimes
Joe gets his blog on and tells you about his sick day viewing. Elsewhere, Joe gets political.
And that brings us the end of another column. Should you feel like it, you can post on the thread devoted to Remote Destination.
Laters.
