Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
FX has announced that the season/series finale for The Shield will air on November 25th. The good news is that the network is planning events to make the send-off special. There will be a retrospective with a roundtable discussion with the cast and crew. The official The Shield website has already posted exclusive new clips, photos and more. You can see them 
Hey! I thought maybe it was time for another reminder about the new show, Sons of Anarchy which will premiere soon. Seems like the folks at FX felt the same way since they’ve just put out this cool Sons of Anarchy poster.
Isn’t that a cool poster?
I am so ready for the final season of The Shield. It’s not because I’m looking forward to the series to end. I’m not. In fact as the final season draws to it’s ultimate conclusion, you just know that I’ll be wishing that there was more to come.
I’ve been with The Shield since the first episode of the premiere season. I’ve never missed a single show. It’s been a great ride. I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.
Maybe it’s due to some of the programming on RTN. Maybe it’s because of posts by Ivan Shreve at his Thrilling Days of Yesteryear site. For whatever reason, lately I’ve been thinking about tv shows that I enjoyed as a kid. Regular readers know that I was a fan of “The Wild, Wild West,” the original “Star Trek,” and shows like “The Jack Benny Program,” “The Honeymooners,” and “The Twilight Zone.”
Another series that I really enjoyed was “The Immortal.” Christopher George played Ben Richards, a man whose blood made him immune to disease and aging. Richards was on the run from thugs hired by an old billionaire who knew that repeated transfusions from Richards would extend his life. The show premiered in September of 1970 and lasted for one season of fifteen episodes.
I haven’t seen it, since it went of the air, but I sure do remember thinking it was great stuff. Of course I was eleven and sometimes things don’t age well. Then again, maybe “The Immortal” would fit right in with “The Wild, Wild West,” the original “Star Trek,” and shows like “The Jack Benny Program,” “The Honeymooners,” and “The Twilight Zone.”
Ridelust.com charts their picks for the 50 Most Famous Cars from Movies and TV. Looking at the list I’m surprised that my #2 choice didn’t show up anywhere! How in the world could Marion Cobretti‘s custom 1950 Mercury not make the list?Oh well. Using just their choices here are my top ten:
10. 1970 Dodge Charger from The Fast and The Furious film. Fun movie and a fun car!
09. 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 fastback from Gone in 60 Seconds. I didn’t care for the movie at all. I am a huge fan of Mustangs though. In fact I owned a sweet little 72 Mustang back in high school. I did love that car!
08. 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from Smokey and The Bandit. It seemed that everyone wanted a Trans Am back in the late 70’s. They were cool for a while, but then kind of went the way of disco.
07. 1981 DeLorean DMC 12 from Back To The Future. Who wouldn’t want a car that could be cleaned with a brillo pad?
06. 1973 [heavily modified] Ford Falcon XB GT from Mad Max. Hey, the year 2012 will soon be here, so I may need that car!
05. 1972 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 from Miami Vice television series. Heck, I’d even push my jacket sleeves up when driving it.
04. 2054 Lexus CS from Minority Report. All of my previous choices have been heavily influenced by the movie/tv show that the car appeared in, except for #9 and this one. This car is just too cool looking not to want… despite the movie just being okay.
03. 1974 Ford Gran Torino from the Starsky and Hutch television series. There was a time when everyone wanted one of these. People with other makes of cars had the Starsky and Hutch stripe painted on them. I believe that John Beatty would have even given up his beloved Charger for this bad boy.
02. 1966 Chrysler Crown Imperial from The Green Hornet television series. Who wouldn’t want a car that Bruce Lee used to drive?
01. 1955 Lincoln Futura Concept Car from the Batman [1966-1968] television series. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it now, If I was a rich man, this would be my ride.
If you’re a fan of Heroes, then you might want to participate in Sprint and NBC’s “Create Your Hero” contest. Using attributes based on previous fan voting, the show’s creators developed two new potential “Heroes.” Now it’s time to vote for either Audrey, or Santiago. The winning character will appear as the subject of a brand new live action web series written by the creators of Heroes, debuting around the November sweeps week.
I’m a fan of Ed Brubaker’s crime fiction so I was glad to hear that he has a new live-action crime series called “Angel of Death” set to premiere in 2009. Zoe Bell, best known for her work in Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof” will star as an assassin who, after suffering a severe head wound, becomes so haunted by her victims that she decides to go after the crime family that ordered the hits. What makes this weekly series unique is that each episode will be eight to ten minutes in length and air on-line!You can read the full story here.
By the way, Sean Phillips, who teamed with Brubaker for Sleeper and Criminal did the promo art above.
C.T.U. is gone. The nation is under attack. Jack Bauer is on his own… but not until January! Arrgh! Here is a trailer for 24 season 7 to give us a taste. How about you check it out and then I’ll give you my thoughts?
Ok. Thanks for swinging back. Yeah, I agree the plot seems right out of the last Die Hard movie. I know, I know, bringing back Tony Almeida from the dead may be pushing it. But, this is 24 and I’m willing to go with it. They’ve never let me down in the past… well, except for maybe with the cougar trap stuff…
Anyone else planning to tune in to “Sons of Anarchy”? It’s by the same guy who created “The Shield” [that alone is enough for me to give it a shot], and the trailers look pretty good. You can see them and a bit more 
I love used book stores. My buddy, Rob, has been telling me about Chamblin’s Book Mine in Jacksonville, Florida for some time now. Today, I knew I would be in the area and so I made it a point to go there. My wife and I were excited about hitting Chamblin’s. If it was half as good as Rob described it, we’d get some great books at great prices.Funny thing is… I didn’t consider that they’d be closed on the 4th of July. They were. Arrrgh! We’ll try again the next time we’re in the area.In the meantime, have a Happy 4th of July! We’re off to see the fire works and then back home to catch some episodes of Twilight Zone Marathon on the SciFi Channel!
About a year and a half ago I posted that I’d love to find the opening to the sixties tv show “T.H.E. CAT.” I hadn’t seen the show since it originally aired in 1966-1967. I was 8 years old at the time and thought T.H.E. Cat was the man. Often things we find awesome as kids don’t hold the same appeal when we become adults. I doubted that the opening could be as cool as I remembered it.
Along comes a man who saves lives at the risk of his own. Once a circus performer, an aerialist who refused the net. Once a cat burglar, a master among jewel thieves. And now, a professional bodyguard. Primitive, savage, in love with danger. The Cat.
Entertainment Weekly created their list of The 100 Best Shows from 1983 to 2008. Using just their choices, here’s my top 10:
NBC and dramas led the way with 5 of my top ten favorites. I’ll bet in five years, dramas will still be my favorite genre, but wonder if NBC will still be the top network.
Most ZONErs know that I’m a big Lee Marvin fan. So I’m pretty excited to hear that “M-Squad” is coming to dvd. If you’ve never heard of “M-Squad” you can see the opening here and read more about it here. So, anyone besides me and Chris Mills excited about this news?
Tim Russert, host of “Meet the Press” and NBC News’ Washington bureau chief died today after suffering a sudden heart attack while prepping for Sunday’s show. Mr. Russert was just 58. He leaves behind his wife and son.
I’m going to miss Tim Russert. He was a newscaster that I truly enjoyed watching. His love of the political process was evident in each broadcast. Although he covered the world of politics, Tim Russert never let his own take center stage. He believed that his job as moderator of “Meet the Press” was to “learn as much as you can about your guest’s positions and take the other side, and to do that in a persistent and civil way.” And that’s exactly what he did, often with a smile, and never with the feeling that it was personal. He didn’t yell or belittle those he interviewed. He allowed them to respond and gave thought to their answers. He showed respect to members of all parties. It’s too bad that more newscasters [let alone politicians] can’t adopt that same outlook.
Our thoughts and prayers will be with Mr. Russert’s family, friends and fans. May he rest in peace.
Anyone planning to tune in to NBC’s new horror series, 
