Category: TV

Lost Has Lost It’s Way

Posted on by

I’ve been a Lost fan since the first season premiere.  I’ve never missed an episode and was really looking forward to the final season.  I have to admit that I’ve been disappointed so far.  I still record new episodes, but there’s no longer the rush to watch ’em.

What’s been buggin’ me is the alternate timelines/universes.  Now what happens doesn’t seem to matter as much because it’s just one of who knows how many possible timelines.

Bah!

At least I’m not the only one who feels that way.

I’m still going to watch the final season and hope that it returns to old form.

“The Walking Dead” Moves Closer

Posted on by

Patrick Sauriol at Coming Attractions has posted an exclusive review of Frank Darabont’s pilot script for AMC’s “The Walking Dead”.  Darabont, who will also be directing the pilot is perhaps best known for his work as the screenwriter/director of “The Shawshank Redepmption”, “The Green Mile” and “The Mist”.

Saurol’s review is extremely positive and the following paragraph gives the best indication of why he thinks “The Walking Dead” will be a great series:

Contained in Darabont’s 60-page pilot script are all the elements to make the show a success. There’s plenty of horror that happens in those 60 pages. The director’s script covers the broad range of the zombie horror emotional spectrum, such as giving us moments of extreme gore (hey, any zombie TV show wouldn’t be a zombie show if it didn’t have folks being munched on!), moments of shock value (hey, you didn’t think that there was a zombie hiding behind that car, did you?) and the moments that I believe are the best indicator that The Walking Dead TV series has what it takes to transcend the boundaries of being simply labelled a horror show, the psychological horror scenes. Those scenes are the hammers that you’re going to remember and the ones that are going to propel this show to be viewed as something more important than just a scary show.

You can read the full piece by clicking here.

As a long-time fan of “The Walking Dead” comic series, I’m psyched as the television adaption moves closer and closer to my tv screen.

Conan vs Leno

Posted on by

If you’re at all interested in the whole Conan vs Leno debacle then you owe it to yourself to read Mark Evanier’s summary of “What Went Wrong”.  Evanier breaks it down to show how a series of immediate decisions created a long term disaster.

Both Conan and Leno were suffering in the ratings.  I tend to agree with the thought that if all of the people rallying to Conan’s “side” had been watching his program to begin with, he wouldn’t have been bumped.  I don’t watch either show, so I have about as much interest in how this turns out as I do who’ll be the next WWE champ.  When this all settles perhaps Conan and Leno should schedule a grudge match on Monday Night Raw.  Now THAT could be a ratings winner.

“The Invaders” Are Coming

Posted on by

Tomorrow morning starting at 8am EST, the Syfy channel is running a “The Invaders” marathon.  “The Invaders” premiered January 10, 1967.  I was 8 years old and can still remember that scary, ominous music and then the opening…

The Invaders, alien beings from a dying planet.  Their destination Earth.  Their purpose?  To make it their world.  David Vincent has seen them.  For him it began one lost night on a lonely country road, looking for a short-cut… that he never found.  It began with a closed deserted diner, and a man too long without sleep to continue his journey.  It began with the landing of a craft from another galaxy…  Now, David Vincent knows that the Invaders are here… that they have taken human form.  Somehow he must convince a disbelieving world that the nightmare has already begun.

I probably haven’t seen any episodes of “The Invaders” since they originally aired, but you can bet I’ll be tuned in tomorrow.  In fact, I’ve got the DVR ready to record ’em all.  I’m hoping that the eight year old in me won’t be disappointed.

“The Human Target” a Bullseye?

Posted on by

I really like this ad for the new Fox series “The Human Target”. Seeing it reminded me that I should post a reminder about tonight’s premiere.  “The Human Target” comes from a DC comic series about a body guard / security specialist.  In the comic, Christopher Chance usually worked alone and would assume the identity of the person he was protecting.  The tv series has tweaked the concept a bit  [nothing wrong with that] and provided a supporting cast [nothing wrong with that].

From all reports the series works.  Entertainment Weekly gives it a “B+” and the commercials that I’ve seen make “The Human Target” look like a fun ride.  You can see if “The Human Target” hits the mark when it premieres tonight at 8pm EST on Fox.

Gorn “Star” [Trek]

Posted on by

The MTV Movies Blog is reporting that when asked about the Star Trek  sequel, JJ Abrams responded:

“I have to admit the [‘Star Trek’ sequel] is really all about the Gorn.”

I  hope that JJ Abrams was just throwing out an idea and is really considering using the Gorn for the next Star Trek movie.

Sure, looking back, the alien costume is really funky looking [yeah, I guess it was even when the original show aired], but that episode was always one of my favorites.

Can you imagine how scary-repulsive-cool the FX crew could make the Gorn look with today’s technology?

Yeah, bring on Kirk [Spock and the crew] vs the Gorn!

All Time Best TV

Posted on by

Time magazine in partnership with CNN posted their selections for the 100 Best TV Shows of All Time.  So, using just the shows on their list I came up with my top twenty which are posted below in alphabetical order:

  • 24
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents
  • American Idol
  • Hill Street Blues
  • I Love Lucy
  • Leave It to Beaver
  • Lost
  • Sanford and Son
  • Seinfeld
  • Star Trek
  • Survivor
  • The Cosby Show
  • The Dick Van Dyke Show
  • The Honeymooners
  • The Mary Tyler Moore Show
  • The Shield
  • The Sopranos
  • The Twilight Zone
  • The West Wing
  • Wiseguy

Not a bad list, but how could “The Wild, Wild West” not have been on their Top 100?  It would have easily  made my Top 20.

Top 50 Cartoon Characters

Posted on by

Recently About.com posted a piece about the TOP 50 Cartoon Characters.  Like all lists, this one is sure to create some controversy.   I definitely think that several characters that somehow didn’t make the cut, should have been on it.

Still, I enjoy playing around with lists, so, using just the characters on their TOP 50, here is my TOP 10 [in alphabetical order] with comments:

Batman: has always been a favorite comic character and I’ve enjoyed all of the different cartoon versions as well.

Bugs Bunny: was always best in small doses. I also enjoyed the supporting cast [Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, etc.]
 
Charlie Brown: If you were a kid growing up in the 60’s, you have to be a fan of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the gang.  Holidays still aren’t complete without at least knowing that Charlie Brown is playing somewhere.
 
Fred Flintstone: is a simple concept – transport “The Honeymooners” to the stone age!

Mighty Mouse: I’ll admit it.  I used to put on a cape and play Mighty Mouse.  Yeah, laugh now, but if you needed me to save the day, you’d be singing a different tune.

Pink Panther: A great theme song and a fun cartoon.

 Popeye: I probably watched more hours of Popeye than any other cartoon. I especially loved the oldest version with Bluto, Wimpy, the Sea Witch…

Space Ghost: When it first ran, I thought Space Ghost was pretty cool. I watched some episodes years later and thought “not so much”.

Tom and Jerry: Who doesn’t love the old Tom and Jerry cartoons. They were so much fun.

Wile E. Coyote: I was a huge fan of The Road Runner cartoons.  My wife doesn’t like ‘em since they’re all the same.  But that’s the beauty of it.  How many different ways can ole Wile E. screw up?

Okay, now that that’s done… how could Jonny Quest not make the list?

Best of The Twilight Zone

Posted on by

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of The Original Twilight Zone.  Regular ZONErs know that I also enjoy playing around with lists.  So, when I saw that Time and CNN had put together a list of the Top Ten All Time Favorite Twilight Zone Episodes, I decided to play along.  Using just the selections in their Top Ten, I came up with My Top Five.