TV Tuber

Opening myself up like never before!

Well hello there!

Several people has been reading this thing I laughingly call a "blog" for years. Through many incarnations, hosts, and titles, droves of people (read: 2) have been following my life and media reviews in this space. It's always been a fairly "closed" group.

But, now Typepad offers the ability to post directly to Facebook and Twitter so I've decided to actually publish more stuff and tell people about it! If my goal in life is to really be a media commentator I need a readership. Yes I realize my stuff in the epitome of amateurish but the more I do, the better it gets. Well, that's the hope at least.

If you decide to stay, please comment, I want feedback (especially if you have some ideas on what to name this mess.)  The format as it is now is mostly media reviews and commentary (as it were) but personal stuff will be there too, hell read back a while and it gets SUPER personal back there. If you decide to leave, that's fine too, I still love you. I'm not expecting anyone to become a regular but you're welcome to visit whenever.

I should also mention, and longtime reader will vouch, I has a tendency to has looooooooooooooooooong stretches of nothing in this space. Maybe "the muse" has eluded me, maybe I'm lazy either way I disappear often. I find the "mini-blog" aspect of FB and Twitter more appealing on a day-to-day basis. But I love to write. I really adore it and the only way to get better is to A)do it and B) have others read it.

So, welcome, stay awhile. Read back in the archives (running themes include: movies, TV, random, boredom, hatred of life, job and massive depression) and remember, as with FB and Twitter this space is used, not just for commentary but it's also a space to vent and release the demons form my head and into the ether. It relieves stress.

Welcome to the blog!

What I'm watching

--ABC has once again erred on the side of financial responsibility rather than growing a viewership and cancelled "Eastwick".While I thoroughly enjoy the show, I do understand the decision as it was consistently not pulling its ratings weight. But, to drop it and keep "The Forgotten"? Really?! I'm a certified TV addict and I generally forget (pun very apt and totally intended) that show even exists. "Eastwick" at least has a great cast, "The Forgotten" has...Christian Slater (wow, check that cast, I'm so glad they're keeping them employed)

--November sweeps is in full swing and the strains the economy is putting on the industry is showing a little- fewer "WOW I gotta see that!" moments and more "huh, that looks interesting." But this is the time when the shows pull out all the stops to get viewers so I though a quick rundown of what I feel is deserving of those eyes would be in order. Because, y'know, no one makes a move without my go ahead:

• "Eastwick": Send it out with a bang won't you. If nothing else Rebecca Romijn, Jamie Ray Newman, Lindsey Price, and Sara Rue look amazing.
• "Modern Family": One of the funniest shows on TV right now. Surprisingly, endearingly, and cringe-inducingly real.
• "Cougartown": Also hilarious in the same slapstick-with-a-heart vein as "Scrubs"
• "Castle": A quirky procedural in a "Moonlighting"-esque way. Plus, Nathan Fillion can just stand there and I'll watch.
• "V": The Potential is there. I really hope they push towards it. And, maybe a bit faster, as the pilot was sloooooooowwww
• "FlashForward": Still going and still interesting
• "Ugly Betty": This season is awkward and uneven so far, but the hilarity ensues. Delicious soapy goodness. But, y'all added Daniel Eric Gold (Matt) to the main cast and he's thus far just been another in the long line of people pissing all over Betty. And, we ALL KNOW they're getting back together at some point, let's get this moving.
• "How I met your mother"/"Big Bag Theory": SO HILARIOUS
• "Melrose Place": While some of the shine has gone from this campfest, I'm holding hope for the January reboot and the loss of Ashlee Simpson-Wentz (and Collin Egglesfield!) and return of Heather Locklear
• "Vampire Diaries": The mythos is growing, which is good. The acting is actually regressing which is bad. Hit or miss really, and I wanted out out episode 4 and then they had to grow a damn plot.
• "Stargate:Universe"/"Sanctuary": Specific genre stuff here but "SG:U" is brilliant in its fresh take on the 15-year-old "Stargate" franchise and while "Sanctuary" has changed a lot since it's freshman season (killing a main character, and bringing in a new "anti-hero" played by the fabulous Agam Darshi) it still struggles on the day-to-day while the arc stuff is wonderfully enthralling.

*WHEW* I watch a lot of TV (and that's leaving out the reality shows: SYTYCD, Project Runway, DWTS, and ANTM. And Amazing Race when I remember). Happy Sweeps!

"V" is for "Viewable"-ish

Back in 1983, Television was invaded by aliens. This is hardly new, aliens have been a go-to sci-fi tenant forever. These aliens though were snakes, literally, in human skin and the mini-series about them, "V" captivated audiences with it's futuristic take on the holocaust. While it spawned an low-rated spin-off series, no one has yet successfully resurrected it for TV. Until now.

ABC's 2009 "V" update has been fraught with issues from the beginning. The cast is great for the most part, but before a single framed aired people were scared. Scheduling weirdness, writer changes, show-runner changes- it's been a mess. But, still the show soldiered on and "V" has finally bowed. And...?

Enh. The show started slow and never really picked up. While they take a new approach to the story- The Visitors have been here for years setting up humanity's downfall- the getting there is so boring getting there. Once the seeds were sown as it were we were left with a promise of an interesting show that to some may still play out the allegory of the original, or as my staunch Republican parents saw it a scathing indictment of the entire "Obama movement"

3-episode limit remains in effect

A note

Just FYI, because I was getting SUPER depressing and, frankly, boring myself (clear with the oh-so-frequent update schedule) I've decided to refocus on my real passion: Media critique. I would like to update weekly with TV, movie, and maybe music or book reviews, critique, essays, news or what have you.

I would love help renaming the blog too. Leave a comment and the "how's my life going" stuff will still continue, at some point.

Cancellation, confusion and cool!

Well the Fall 2009 TV season has already lost it's first fledgling series: The CW's The Beautiful Life:TBL is gone after just two episodes (although I really only remember one airing) and will be replaced immediately by reruns of Melrose Place. It really speaks to how bad the show must've been that it lost 60% of the viewership from Top Model. Yes, the show scripted show about fake models couldn't hold the interest of fans of the unscripted show about fake models.

ABC also made news today regarding the scheduling of their reboot of the iconic 80's miniseries V. The show will premiere as scheduled in November and then take a break until after the Winter Olympics in March 2010. ABC president Steven McPherson claims this was always the plan to make V seem more like an event. Um, forgive my ignorance, but in my 30 years of TV watching not being able to find the show I wanted to watch consistently doesn't create an "event" it creates boredom, confusion, and lack of interest. It also causes phenomenal shows (Pushing Dasies and to a certain degree Scrubs, Freaks and Geeks, Sports Night, Firefly, Veronica Mars spring to mind. If I thought for a moment I'm sure that I could come up with more) to vanish for no good reason, especially on ABC (the aforementioned Dasies and the late-lamented My So-Called Life ring a bell?) I was really looking forward to V, after the extended trailer during FlashForward even more so. Now, I worry.

And, if you didn't catch the series premiere of FlashForward, find it and watch it, for it was awesome.The network describes it as a sort of companion piece to Lost in a way but it's, to my mind, way more eerie and interesting than a cheap "Lord of the Flies" rip-off with a brain melting mystery element. (What? I hate Lost? I watched for 2 seasons and they answered NOTHING) And I may end up eating these words but I thought the debut, in which everyone in the world blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds only to experience a vision of themselves on April 29, 2010, to be enthralling, exciting and very cool. For you Losties there's even a random animal appearance! Easily my favorite show of the season so far.

Belaboring a Point

America's Next Top Model is a fluffy show. Not in the way of featuring bigger (read: "normal") women- although they have had a few- but more in that when watching, you don't really need to think at all. But does that mean that the viewing audience has no brain at all?

For "Cycle" 13, Tyra targeted "petite" women under 5'7". The theory behind this, given on the show, is that Tyra wanted to show another side of beauty, and unconventional side. Fine. Ok, let's do that. But, then the show began to air and we found out something- these models are SHORT!

Hear me out, the show won't let us forget the models' height. Ever. The house is filled with short jokes, from a sign at the entrance claiming a height requirement to enter to a funhouse mirror that elongates the women, and that's not the worst: So far the models seem to be required to wear FLATS! Quelle Horror!

Yes that's right, Tyra Banks, who extrolls the virtues of heels in all previous seasons is forcing these girls, who are already at a disadvantage, to wear shoes that emphasize it. All while telling them in shoots and shows to elongate themselves and makes themselves look as tall as possible. Here's the thing, they're short, we get it. Why are you constantly throwing that in our faces (the opening credits have the girls' heights next to their names even) at every opportunity? Are you trying to find a new model, or is this merely a stunt?

Clearly, it's the latter and we all know it. Tyra wants ratings pure and simple. But the over-the-top reminders of the theme detract from the purpose of the show- to find a top model (regardless of the fact that they pretty much vanish after the show, that's neither here nor there) and the sooner that they begin treating these girls as if they actually have a shot at a career, the better.

In the meantime, they're doing nothing but emphasizing how these girls are falling short.

Hot Drama, cold blood

The CW is somewhat desperately trying to be the place to be for the young adult demo. With shows like Gossip Girl and Top Model, they're in a good place. 90210, well I hear it's trying to get better and Supernatural fulfills the teens-love-horror/comedy quotient. This season they're trying to ratchet up their growing stranglehold by revving up the reboot bandwagon with a new Melrose Place and beating the current vampire trend with a stick with Vampire Diaries.

Melrose Place: New Drama, new bar, same pool.

While the preseason press touted the return of original cast-member Laura Leighton (the once-and-future corpse Sydney Andrews) and Thomas Calabro (evil Dr. Michael Mancini) and of course the acting debut of Ashlee Simpson-Wentz (perhaps "touted" was the wrong word. As well as "acting"), they failed to mention that the slick, ultra-stylized reboot was actually pretty watchable. Sure, the characters are wooden and somewhat one-dimensional, but it's been two- episodes and I'm not bored.

But, it's not the tired murder plot, or the crazy character names (Auggie Kirkpatrick? Really?) keeping me in so far. No, it's the fantastic performances of Katie Cassidy (daughter of Partridge David) and as current uber-bitch Ella and Stephanie Jacobsen (fantastic in Battlestar Galactica: Razor) as hooker-with-a-stethoscope Lauren. Not to gush, but these two need to be in every story as they have more energy and presence than the rest of the cast combined. And yes, I just said that about a failed pop-star/daughter of a 70's cheeseball.

So far, the show is pure soapy goodness: webcams, art theft, sexually ambiguous Brits, and fantastic outfits collide to create a really fun show.

Current Questions: Why were they all so comfortable lounging in an around the iconic pool less than a week after their "beloved" landlady was found floating dead in it? Does David (Shaun Sipos) have a purpose? What about Violet (Simpson-Wentz), besides the long-lost-daughter angle which, again, really? Will Lauren keep hooking? And, if so, will she keep doing it with the gorgeous Niall Matter (yay for Syfy actors being represented on broadcast TV! [sidenote: it's been said to death but how dumb is that name? No wonder your shows, FANTASTIC actors and more respectable TV movies-yes there are some- are mocked when they appear on something that reads like VD])

Vampire Diaries: Insert "suck-related" joke here

While vampires are all the rage- and really when are they not?- taking a 20 year-old young adult series and translating it to the small screen would be a stretch even with better material. Having never read the source material (although I did read the Wikipedia entry on it and, wow. Just, wow) I can only go by what's on screen: A very bland teen soap featuring gorgeous people doing things that vary wildly from typically teen to vaguely menacing to outright scary-in-a-not-really-scary-way. The actors aren't "bad" per se, simply so boring as to not make an impression. The shining exception is the character of Damon (Ian Sommerhalder) who oozes the menace his super-vamp is supposed to convey. The pilot got 100% better once he arrived.

Sadly, the main couple, the comet-crossed-lovers if you will are so deeply boring I couldn't tell if they were kissing in episode 2 or holding each other up. Yes, he's a vampire and tortured. We've seen it (Angel, Spike, Mick St. John, Bill Compton, Alex Elder, Blade, and Edward "disco-skin" Cullen) in better - and worse, it must be said- places so many times it's become a joke. So producers, let's move it along shall we? There's slow build and then there's painful dialogue, fake tension, phony bonding over journaling, and of course supposedly insidious...fog...?

We know where the story is going and there must be a way to, if not speed it up, maybe let it play out more organically while allowing the tension to come from the delicious villain as opposed to the oh-so-tired inner turmoil/teen angst.

Current questions: Is the psychic/witch thing going to be explored, or just toyed with? Or, do we have to wait for Jasmine Guy? Will the viewers even be able to sustain for that long? With so much other "drama" going on, do we actually need the unrequited love of the drug-dealing younger brother or the overwhelmed aunt? Damon is a great villain (so far, in 2 episodes) but if he continues to eat all of Elena's (the somewhat interesting in a somnambulistic way Nina Dobrev) friends and acquaintances, there won't be much time for brother Stefan (the ultra-hot and that's really all Paul Wesley) to moon over her now will there? The owner of the vampire home- Stefan and Damon's nephew- how does he fit into his family's "secret"or will he not be around enough to matter? Will anyone realize that both Stefan and Damon are way too old to reasonably pass for high schoolers- like, 21 Jump Street old- or was the whole town mass-glamoured?

The "3-episode rule" is in effect.

Here's my problem with "Heroes"

I'm an big fan of NBC's "Heroes". I'm a nerd with a comic/superhero background and a TV addict so I should be hopelessly devoted right? Not quite.

While I watch the show weekly, I have some major problems with the way the show is put together. Before you balk, this is not going to be another "my how the mighty has fallen anti-'Heroes'" rant. It's just, similar.

What day is it?

At what rate does time pass in this universe? How much time has passed between "Villains" and the just started "Fugitives" arc? 1 month? 6 months? 3 hours? If they said on screen I missed it, but regardless time moves at a weird pace, especially between arcs. This isn't normally a huge problem is shows, but in one as serialized as "Heroes" knowing the timeline is essential so you can follow the drama. Without time (and yes I'm ignoring the actual time travel stories, I'm referring specifically to "real time") there's little to no urgency, you have no way of knowing when the cataclysmic event will happen. There's the looming doom, of course, but you never know how close the doom is. It takes a lot of the tension away. And, it's bloody confusing.

You can do what now?

Super powers are a tricky thing, you have to remain consistent. You don't want to get too stupid with abilities (I'm looking at you "The 4400") and, once you establish powers, you can't radically change everything to make things cooler (there are ways to do everything in sci-fi people. You don't have to resort to "secondary mutations" X-Men). The "Villains" arc really messed with everyone. Let's break it down"

•     Nikki's heretofore unknown twin sister (there's a thrid too!) Tracy appears. Same actress, new powers.
• Arthur Petrelli's power absorbtion ability casued at least two characters, Peter and Hiro, to lose their powers. Or did they?
• Mohinder's power granting serum gave super powers to himself, and Ando (as well as numerous soldiers)

Nikki/Tracy I can get over, I've watched enough soaps to get unknown twins. But, Arthur and the serum piss me off. So, Peter lost his powers to his dad and then injected himself with the serum reactivating his powers (it seems). How? His powers should be in his DNA which Mohinder claims the serum rewrites, so unless Arthur's power was to suck out your powers and rewrite your DNA to that of a baseline human how would the serum have helped him exactly? After the injection Peter flew (seemingly copying his brother's powers by proximity, which is his power). Now in "Fugitives" Peter's power seems to work off of touch. Why? And how did that happen? Lazy writing? As for Ando's "supercharge" power, I'm guessing that the writers are going to use it as an everypower, a "we have no idea what we're doing so, hey Ando can do it" ability. Wild guess, Ando will give Hiro his powers back accidently.

And, why does Matt now have precognative drawing? Did the hallucinatory ghost of the African guy give it to him through magic African guy powers? How?

Look, I still like the show, I really do. But, in order to keep moving forward and if it hopes to EVER return the heights of it's 1st season glory something needs to be done. Characters need to remain consistent (If you need help guys, rent some of your own DVDs, or, hell ask your fans), plots need to go somewhere, time needs to be relevant, and everyone needs to stop being aimlessly evil for the sake of being the ominous macguffin of the week. This isn't "Lost" people.

And, really, pick a direction with Sylar. I don't really care which one, but pick one.

Mini rewiews: what I'm reading

Due to various circumastances that I'm not going into, I've been reading a lot. My days at Borders left me with quite the backlog of books to struggle through. Luckily this has been rewarding as I've just finished a fantatic read in "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. the first in a sprawling series, the story follows a super genius child as he is groomed for millitart command. The story is not for the squeamish as it harshly shows mental and physical anguish all for the sake of honing the best leader. But the story of triumph over adversity at all costs and of the struggle to be loved is a powerful one. highly recomended even if it may spurn you to read the whole series (8-9 books with an equally long companion series) Next up, i'm plugging along in the audio version of"The devil wears Prada" and loving it despiste reader Rachel Leigh Cook's lack of affect. I've also begun Charlaine Harris' "Dead until dark" a quirky and cute story that is also the inspiration for HBO's "True Blood". While the story of a sharp-tongued waitress finding love with a vampire is fun so far, I can't figure out how it will sustain itself over the next 6 books. So there you are dear reader, some readng to fill your long days and an audio book to fill your commute.

Life sucks, then you work at an aquarium

When I left Borders, i really thought that my life would improve tenfold. Turns out that it wasn't my job that was slowly killing me, it was me. How did i come to this cheery conclusion? Because I moved 500 miles away and have a totally new and wholly different type of job and my stress level has never been higher and my body is completely falling apart. So I figure, if it's not the job, it must me me. Great I'm slowly killing myself and I don't know how to fix it. Now what?