Chuck And Journeyman

premier week has officially begun on nbc and monday night (last night) we got two new show premiers: Chuck and Jouneyman.

Chuck: i was looking forward to this one and it was exactly what i expected. it was funny and quick and had some action all in a nice fun package. i really want to see where this one goes however. i'm hoping for an interesting through story for the series, as opposed to the more episodic type stuff where each episode is its own individual thing and the grand story arc isn't as important (ala CSI). from what i could tell from the pilot, i think that the through story could be there.

Journeyman: this one, however, looks to be episodic which is disappointing. i wasn't looking forward to this show at all. some guy takes trips back in time, and there is an ex-love-of-his-life, blah, blah blah!! it sounded corny and didn't interest me.

then i watched it and as it was coming to an end i had changed my mind. the relationship thing wasn't corny and he spent a bunch of his time dealing with this other guys life that he had changed on his first trip back.

then it ended and he had done what he had had to do in that guys life (make sure he didn't kill his family so that his son could become a boy genius doctor and safe a bunch of lives) and that was it for that story line. the way it ended they make it seem like each episode will involve him going back and effecting some change or fixing something so that things can work out well in the future. hmmmmmmm, can you say Quantum Leap?????

Quantum Leap was a great show, and yes it was very episodic in that pretty much each episode could be watched without having seen the one previous, but they were interesting and focused on the fixing of the past. at Journeyman it seems like they can't decide what they are doing. there is what seems to be a through story about the ex-lover (and the fact that she might not have actually been killed in a plane crash is an interesting development) and i expect they will get into how, and why, he is doing the time travel thing. however, because of all that, the actual fixing the past part felt very superficial and to easily accomplished. there was no drama or real conflict there.

now, they can also go the route of making the grand story arc the focus and the each-episode-travel-fixes secondary. they just have to pick one, because they don't look like they can have both. but, i like to give shows a chance, so it will remained tivo'd for at least a couple more episodes and we shall see how it develops.

K-Ville And Prison Break

the new tv season has begun and we will be looking at it all as it unfolds over the next few weeks. but for now we have gotten started with the season premier Prison Break and the seriese premier of K-Ville - both on fox on monday nights.

i have been a fan of Prison Break during its first two seasons and was looking forward to the new season, and the premier didn't disappoint.

michael scofield found himself in a panamanian prison at the end of last season and that is where he starts this one - along with some other recognizable characters. and as we find out by the end of the episode, he has been put there in order to help someone escape. SWEET!!!

Prison Break isn't known for its brilliant dialogue or depth of character. it is a cool, fun, exciting show that hooks you and doesn't let go and the season opener lived up to expectations. sure there are some generic characters in the prison and predictable story developments, but that is all moot. the show is fast and intense and i am looking forward to a good season.

as for K-Ville, i wasn't as impressed. the show has some action and such, but the detective/'mystery' part of the show was really not that interesting. what i liked was the characters and the dealing with a post-katrina new orleans and how the city is still so far from what it once was even these years later.

its easy for us to go about our lives and forget about it now that the telethons are over and it isn't in the news all the time, but the people that it effected are still dealing with the repercussions and will be for probably a lot longer.

pilots aren't always the best way to judge a show, so i will keep it on my tivo for now and see where it goes.

Prison Break
grade: B+

K-Ville
grade: B- (but could go up or down and will be adjusted after i check out a few more episodes)

John From Cincinnati Cancelled

crap!!! hbo has announced that they have cancelled the very good John From Cincinnati after one season. this sucks... not only was it a good show, but it had been getting better as the season has progressed.

this isn't the first time david milch (the brilliant creator of the show) has had a show cancelled by hbo. he was also the man behind Deadwood - at least that show made it through season three

i know they are getting desperate for another big, marquee-type show with the end of The Sopranos and before that Six Feet Under and Sex And the City before that. and with other networks like showtime and fx on their heels with some high-quality programming of their own. however, that doesn't make it all better.

anyway, i guess there isn't much more to say here beyond my disappointment with hbo

Nine And Prosperity Gone Again

The Nine and Knights Of Prosperity were two of the best new shows to premier last season and they were also two of the quickest cancelled due to poor ratings (come on people, we need to support quality tv).

anyway, abc decided to bring them both back recently and burn off the remaining episodes they had left, but after a couple airings they have decided to even cut that short and both are now done for good (until dvd i assume).

this is disappointing of course, as it was great to see 'Knights' back if only for a short time, although it was frustrating to be laughing so much and knowing that it was already over and not coming back next season.

add to those two shows, Daybreak and The Black Donnelleys and you had a season of some really good shows that the networks got rid of way to fast. it makes me sad.

let's hope this upcoming season brings us some good shows that get a chance to grab an audience before the short-sighted and scared networks give it the axe.

Who Is This John From Cincinnati Guy Anyway?

that is one of the questions that is probably on most peoples minds who have had the pleasure of checking out hbo's new show John From Cincinnati. the show has already aired about, i think, seven episodes so far and i have to say i am really enjoying it.

i had high hopes for this show when i heard that one of the creators was david milch. this guy is a brilliant writer. his last project was Deadwood and he also co-created (and wrote a lot of the episodes for the first few seasons) NYPD Blue, which is one of my all-time favorite shows.

so i went in with high expectations, but not knowing what to expect since all i knew about the show was that it was about a family of surfers and a visitor who comes into their lives. it didn't sound that intriguing, but after having watched about six episodes, i can tell you that it sure is.

the characters are full and interesting and the writing is very david milch in its pace and style. and then there is this john character who is an enigma. who or what is he i don't know, but the little bit of 'science fiction' that plays into the story is perfect and doesn't seem corny or out of place - which it so easily could have.

i was going to praise the show after the first episode, but i wanted to see whee it was going before discussing it. Well after six episodes i can safely say that hbo and david milch have once again brought us an original, intelligent and intriguing show filled with great performances and high-quality writing.

Grade: A-

New Law & Order ADA

as season 18 of Law & Order starts this september jack maccoy (sam waterston) will no longer be the a.d.a. and will have finally moved up to the d.a. role left vacant by potential presidential nominee fred thompson.

but who is going to be the new a.d.a. you ask? well, that would be linus roache who you might have last seen in last seasons short-lived nbc drama Kidnapped.

Law & Order has always been good at bringing in new cast members and making it work, but this does seem to mean less jack mccoy. i say that because as all us Law & Order fans know, the d.a. is much less prevalent in the shows then the a.d.a. - at least that is how it has been in the past.

Desperate Dana Delany

before they offered it to marcia cross the role of bree van de camp on Desperate Housewives was offered to dana delaney. she turned it down (obviously), but three years after making that mistake (depending on how you look at it) she might be coming anyway.

dana is in talks to come to the show as a regular next season and she would be moving to wisteria lane with her 'husband' nathan fillion and 'daughter' lyndsy fonseca and moving into.

there is no mention of what her storyline might be or what creepiness/craziness would ensue.

Season Finales: The Shield & Weeds

ya, ya, i know i am a little behind, but since i don't get fx or showtime with my cable package (i don't know if any package in canada provides them) i have to catch up with some of my favorite shows on a bit of a delay. with that out of the way, i can tell you all that this week i finished season 3 of Weeds and season 6 of The Shield, and all i have to say is WOW!

especially for The Shield: last seasons finale was crazy and i didn't know how they were going to play this season out. then when macky found out who really killed lem and with only a few days left before he was going to be forced out, again i wasn't sure where they were going to take it. but they took it to some good and dark places. having shane playing both sides of the armenian mob and then having to protect macky's family was all intense, good stuff. not that you need a recap of the whole season. but lets just say it was another great one and keeps it easily in my top 5 favorite shows on tv. i was really disappointed that it was only a 10 episode season.

as for Weeds: season three was another good season and i liked how the whole married-to-the-fbi thing went sour. and of course justin kirk as the brother-in-law is always great (just now with two less toes). as for the season finale, the last 10 minutes were awesome! with the two gangs with the guns pointed at our 'heroes' and her on the phone with her son with the pot in his trunk and the perfect score/music playing, and then the police arriving at the car... that was some great stuff.

Weeds season three is just a couple months away, so don't forget to check that out and for the Shield you will have to wait till 2008.

Boston Legal Finale Delayed One Week

don't panic if on tuesday may 22nd at 10pm you turn on abc all excited about the season finale of the great Boston Legal only to see some second-rate celebrities dancing around on your screen. it will be okay. i promise. what you will be watching is the finale of Dancing With The Stars, but on tuesday may 29th (one week later) at 10pm you will get the Boston Legal season finale you were looking forward to.

if you were wondering why this was happening it is because abc has decided to add an additional episode of The Bachelor 'after the final rose' at 8pm on the 22nd which pushes the 2-hour Dancing With The Stars finale to 9pm-11pm taking over Boston Legal's spot.

no worries though, we just have to wait a week. and although i don't know anything about the episode, the show is so good i know it's gonna be great.

Drive Is Coming Back (Not Really)

sorry if i got all you Drive fans excited there for a second, but given the poor ratings the show had, there really aren't that many of you out there (i'll admit i was kind of one of the few. didn't think it was a great show, but was beginning to get interested in a guilty pleasure kind of way).

anyway, the point is that on july 4th fox will air the 2 hours of the show that they have left. i guess there were only 6 hours filmed and produced so far, and since we have already had the first 4 hours, we can now watch the last two. this is very nice of them and all, but the problem is that won't it just leave us hanging with more questions and such?

oh well. i guess that is all we are going to get so enjoy it.

Lost Sets An End Date

i really appreciate it when a show can end the way it is supposed to, the way the creators intended for it to end. Lost is going to get one such ending.

it has been announced that the producers of the show and abc have signed a deal that will keep the show on the air for three more 16-episode seasons. everyone seems happy with the deal and it means they can conclude the series the way they always intended which i am very happy to see, since it doesn't always end up that way (shows get canceled, initial creators leave a show, etc). the producers have said that from the beginning they saw the show as about a 90-100 hour series, and with the upcoming 48 hours they will end up with a total of 119.

yes, 16 episodes is a short season compared to the 20-24 that usually make up a network show, however, they will be presented in full blocks without repeats and/or season breaks. So, in 2010 all will finally be revealed.

ER Is Strong And Healthy As Ever

ER on DVD

this week ER began its may sweeps with a wedding episode. the wedding episode is a sweep month classic, but not one that always gets me that excited. the ER one this week, however, was great. the surprise wedding factor, the touching vows, the a-bit-over-the-top rabbi, nilla and the 'shocking' end all made it one really good episode.

but, that is something i have come to expect from ER over the course of its 13 seasons (yup, they are in season 13 right now). i will admit that there were a few years there, around seasons 6 thru 8 that i didn't really watch the show much if at all, but i started getting back into it about 5 years ago and have been a loyal viewer ever since.

like Law & Order, ER has gone through many cast changes over the course of its run and like Law & Order it has remained a strong show. you would have thought that loosing george clooney and dr. green and all those original cast members would have meant the end of the show, but instead it has kept going and, for the most part, not missed a beat. goran visnjic as dr. kovac is really good and a strong presence on the screen. his character alone has gone through so much over the years and has remained interesting and real. the same goes for so many of the other performers and characters. then this season with the addition of john stamos things have just kept going.

with a show like ER that has been around for so long it gets easy to rely on an audiences long connection with the characters and assume that that will sustain the show. thankfully the writers haven't gotten lazy and have continued to develop interesting stories and situations, from the powerful and, for many, eye-opening episodes about the situation in darfur, africa to the goings on at the er.

the preview for next week's episode told us that stanley tucci would be joining the show as the new er chief (he probably still has all his doctor stuff for his quickly canceled show 3 LBS that aired 2 or 3 times earlier this season). looks like its gonna be good.

grade: A-

Desperate Houswives Review

Desperate Housewives - The Complete First Season
Desperate Housewives - The Complete Second Season

i have made references to Desperate Housewives in past posts but i thought it was time to write up an 'official' review and grade this puppy.

for me Desperate Housewives has gone through three stages which coincide with their three seasons how shocking)...

season one: the show becomes a breakout phenomenon. the show takes a darkly comic tone on the goings on at wisteria lane beginning on the day one of its residents (mary alice young) kills herself. what made the first season so much fun for me was the mystery of why she killed herself. each week, while we are also following the four main 'housewives' in their stories the show is also giving us clues as to what happened that led up to the tragedy. the problem was that at the end of the season we knew it all. the whole mystery that had brought us in and kept us watching was over. (A-)

season two: having finished with the mystery the show felt like it didn't really know what to do with itself and season two fell pretty flat. there were multiple new mysteries and story lines, but really nothing was as interesting as what we had been introduced to in season one. it was turning into a regular prime-time soap and losing the originality and flavour that had made it stand out in the first place. (C+)

season three: although i keep hearing rumours that they are going to give mary alice more screen time and do something with her character (yes, i know she is dead), that still hasn't happened and she is still relegated to her voice over observations about life and the people on wisteria lane (which are great by the way. maybe the best voice-overs on tv along with j.d. on Scrubs, but way ahead of meredith grey on Grey's Anatomy). anyway, so with mary alice in the background the show seems to have settled into its prime-time soap opera vibe with all the sex, death, mysteries and crazy plot lines that we have come to expect from these types of shows.

i wish they had kept up the underlying mystery from season one longer - for example: in Lost they have maintained an over reaching mystery about the island and why they are there since the pilot episode. sure they reveal new mysteries and solve others, but there is always that sense that the show is heading somewhere that we don't know yet. - it might not be totally fair to compare the two shows like that, but that is the sense i had for Desperate Housewives during season one, and i liked it.

I do like the show. it is a fun hour every sunday night, and although i personally would have liked to see them follow through more on what the show felt like in season one, the writing is good and they do seem a lot more comfortable with what they are becoming now then they were last season.

grade: B

Goodbye Girls

Get The Gilmore Girls on DVD

yup, the Gilmore Girls has been officially cancelled by the cw. i have never followed the show, but whenever i did catch an episode here and there i thought it was actually pretty good. nevertheless this current seaon will be its last.

the only thing that struck me when i heard about this was that given that the season is already pretty much done will they be able to end the show properly, which is something i feel very strongly about. i am thinking though, that since the possible renewal of the show has been on the fence for a while now that they had probably set it up so that they could end the show properly at the end of this current season.

a statment was released saying that they "promise to give this series the send off it deserves".

Drive Gets Canceled

well i didn't know it at the time, but i was dead on when i called the show Drive a guilty pleasure, but commented that "if the poor ratings for last nights premier are any indication, it might be a short lived guilty pleasure", because Drive has been canned. after airing only three times fox has said 'enough' and ended it.

look, i'm not going to claim that Drive was a great show, i mean i gave it a B-, but this constant canceling of shows after only a couple airings is really starting to piss me off. i will be ok without knowing how drive ends, but there have been some really good shows that have suffered the same fate this season and those i am not ok with: Daybreak, The Knights Of Prosperity, The Nine and The Black Donnelly's to name a few.

why can't a show, especially a quality one (and the networks know which ones are quality and which ones aren't) get a chance to build an audience. Seinfeld, Cheers and Friends weren't huge hits when they premiered, but look what they turned into (huge hits and huge moneymakers for the networks).

yes, i understand that in a 1000 channel world the audience has so many options that the networks feel they need to grab an audience fast if they want the advertisers to stick around and they also want certain demographics and such and all television shows are really (at least on free tv), are things to kill time between commercials. i get all that, but that doesn't make it right, and a lot of the time that is a network just being really nearsighted.

look at Criminal Minds as a very modern example. that show took a little while to get going, but it did, and this year is actually beat Lost in the ratings a few times when they were on at the same time. also, the ratings for The Office have improved over its first season, so it can happen and it isn't a crazy notion either.

that's why i appreciate what nbc is doing with 30 Rock and Friday Night Lights, assuming they renew the latter like it looks as if they are leaning towards doing. these are two high-quality shows that deserve a chance at building an audience.

sure sometimes it just doesn't happen, look at Arrested Development. they got a couple extra seasons more then their ratings would have suggested, but it just never caught on (too bad cause it was a great show), but at least it had a shot. canceling a show after 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 episodes just isn't fair to the show or the audience that is getting into it or that might have gotten into it had they given them a chance.

back to Drive: fox hasn't said what they will do with the remaining episodes they have in the can, but putting them online seems to be the thing to do these days so i wouldn;t be surprised if that is what they do.

No Ragging On these Riches

i finally got around to watching the pilot episode of fx's new show, The Riches (i know it is late, but there is a lot of tv to watch people). anyway, needless to say i really liked it.

the show stars eddie izzard and minnie driver as a husband and wife who, with their kids, have spent their lives as con artitsts/moden gypsies. However, izzard has started to have a change of heart/midlife and spiritual crisis and decides that things need to change. this leads to the family taking over the identity of another couple and trying to live their lives: as izzard's character says, and it is a great line, "we are going to steal the american dream."

this is a dark comedy/dramady with strong writing an original concept, wit, interlligence and a very engaging cast - especially izzard who is wonderful. the opening scene at a high school reunion is a great way to jump into the show.

it is only the pilot, but it was a good one and one that seems to bode well for another smart and interesting show on fx, which is becoming quite a strong player in the quality-cable-tv wars with shows like The Shield, Rescue Me, Nip Tuck and now this. hbo better watch out - and showtime isn't looking to shabby either these days with the likes of Dexter, The Tudors and Weeds.

this is another show that i will definitely be checking out more episodes to see if it continues to live up to the promise of the pilot.

grade: A

Mr. President, You Owe Me!

i know it's a little late, but i thought that line from the episode of 24 a couple weeks ago was frickin' awesome and i had to mention it.

next bit of 24 talk is the relationship between acting president daniels and his hot blonde assistant lisa. normally this show is great in the casting department and i thought powers boothe was a perfect v.p. daniels. however, the love affair between him and lisa looks so uncomfortable (did you see that kiss at the end of this weeks episode).

speaking of lisa: is it just me or does anyone else think that there is more to this chick then meets the eye? she has got something going on and i'm pretty sure it ain't gonna be good.

24 Hours Of Great Television

Get 24 on DVD

i am an old time 24 fan. from the moment i heard about the show many months before it premiered i thought it sounded like an original and interesting premise. it lived up to my high-expectations back then and has continued to do so through each subsiquent intense and edge-of-your-seat season.

i have never watched a more intense show then 24. the show provides lots of action and intrigue, but yet it also manages to create strong attachments to the characters. the crisis doesn't just bring the characters together, but it also brings them closer to us and we feel a real sense of loss when anyone, even a minor character, gets killed off, which happens quite a bit (i would name off a few, but i don't want to fuin it for anyone who is still a few seasons behind and catching up on dvd).

and you do want to catch up on dvd if at all possible. sure you could watch any season individually, but there are a lot of recurring characters and references to prior seasons that makes it much more exciting and worthwhile to go through them in order (it is always a great moment when some charcter from a past season appears unexpectidly to help or hurt the situation)

at first i was a little worried/curious as to how they were going to make this into anything more then a one or two season show. but they have managed to do so, and just when you think a season itself is getting old or has nowhere to go they throw a wrench in the works and take you off in another direction. for example: the whole audrey raines thing this season.

although there are complaints about the show focusing on the middle east for its bad guys, anyone who has watched the show knows that they have had bad guys from all over the world, including: china, mexico, ex-american agents, russia and the american government itself. there is even a rumour that the bad guys in season 7 will be quebec seperatists (a faction of quebecers that advocate for the province to seperate from canada and become a sovreign nation) - it's about time the show 'came to canada': kieffer sutherland is canadian and one of the producers of the show, jon casser, is from montreal.

whatever they decide to do i will be there watching every second of the next 24 hours and of course there are still five hours left this season.

grade: A+

Battlestar Galactica Is Fracking Great

Battlestar Galactica - Season One
Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.0 (Episodes 1-10)
Battlestar Galactica (2004): Seasons 2.0 & 2.5

i have to admit i came to this show pretty late. as of about six months ago i hadn't seen one episode of Battlestar Galactica. then a listener of my podcast, 'Watch It' wrote to me complaining about how i never mentioned the show when i talked about the best shows on television and how it was such a great show that had won many awards, etc... so i decided to check it out. i started at the beginning with the pilot/tv movie and a few days ago i finished the last episode of season three and am now totally caught up. having seen the whole series to date i have just one thing to say... Battlestar Galactica is one of the best shows on television.

the show may be science fiction but the writers ground the story very much into todays political and social climate. the parallels to the government, the war in iraq and the general war on terror are obvious and well explored. issues cover multiple side of an issue without being preachy. the situations are written so that picking a side isn't always easy to do and sometimes the side you find yourself on may not be the same as the character you think of as 'the good guy'.

the issues are complex and so is the show, and i was happy to read that they have renewed it and asked for a complete fourth season worth of episodes (talked about it briefly on the Watch It podcast episode #34)

i am not a huge science fiction fan and maybe that is what is keeping some people from tuning into the show. however, you shouldn't let any preconceived notions you have about science fiction shows keep you from checking it out. if you haven't seen the show then you should really start from the beginning and enjoy it as it was meant to be seen.

grade: A

Shields Up

The Shield on DVD

with all the hype surrounding the start of the final nine episodes of The Sopranos, the 6th season premier of The Shield on fx might have been missed by many out there. or at least it hasn't gotten the hype it deserves.

the show, about a team of corrupt l.a. cops is one of the best shows on tv and it has been consistently good throughout its 5 seasons already. in case you aren't completely caught up i don't want to give away how season five ended, but needless to say it was intense and season six has picked right up where it left off last year.

forest whitaker is back this season, playing the internal affairs detective determined to bring down michael chiklis' character, vic makay, if it is the last thing he does. while the main characters, makay and his crew, are bad and corrupt the show manages to make you root for them (and this is a guy, makay, who we saw murder another cop in the pilot episode).

a lot of that has to do with the idea that they are doing bad things to bad people (except for the cop of course): they might take money from drug dealers to let them ply their trade and they might kill and forgo the law in order to cover up their misdoings, but if someone is dealing drugs to kids or importing a mass amount of weapons into the country, etc... they are right there knocking down doors and knocking in faces to get the bad guy. and you don't want to mess with their families - they have a strong moral code (albeit a very selfish one most of the time) but it works to complete the picture of who these guys are. things aren't black and white and playing in that gray area is one reason the show is so good. (the characters are based on actual l.a. cops who were convicted on many charges years ago, and i have heard that the the cops on The Shield are not as bad as the real ones they are based on)

of course there is also the great acting, writing, directing and the hand held camera work that adds to the intensity of the show.

if you are a fan of the show then i'm sure you were right there when season six started a few weeks ago, and if you haven't been watching it then get yourself all the past seasons on dvd and catch up before you start watching season six. enjoy!!!

grade: A+