u l t r a m o o k i e

I just blew through the first season of Damages on DVD. The show is superbly written and has an excellent cast. Like its sister show, The Shield on FX, Damages is about flawed people. When shows are about flawed people, I am drawn in because this makes the show more interesting — watching perfect people [...]

I just blew through the first season of Damages on DVD. The show is superbly written and has an excellent cast. Like its sister show, The Shield on FX, Damages is about flawed people. When shows are about flawed people, I am drawn in because this makes the show more interesting — watching perfect people doing perfect things is really boring. But, watching bad people do bad things, now that is interesting.

Damages follows a fresh lawyer, Ellen Parsons as she joins up with a morally corrupt Patty Hewes. Patty Hewes is in the midsts of a huge fight against an ex-CEO Arthur Frobisher. Damages is refreshing in that the show does not follow one case per episode — with the case being nicely tied up by the end of the hour. The Frobisher case is the driving arc of the season and everything revolves around the Frobisher case.

Hewes is portrayed by Glenn Close and she is just a joy to watch. Ted Danson is Frobisher and he does a fantastic job, I really enjoyed Danson and hope he returns for the second season. Rose Byrne plays Parsons and I am in the air about her. She is OK, but not fantastic like Close and Danson. I did enjoy watching her though.

The storyline for Damages actually jumps between current time and about six months before. The two timelines eventually meet. And in the last few episodes the writers continue to warp time and make things more interesting. What I did like about the writing was that by the end of the season, the writers were able to wrap up all the storylines in a very satisfying fashion — yet, they were able to spin up new storylines for the second season.

I thoroughly enjoyed Damages and am really anticipating the second season — which I’ll have to wait for on DVD as I don’t get FX. This show is what good TV is all about: Perfect spot-on writing and great acting.

Reposted from baddub.

So, I was kind of wary going into the Knight Rider movie last night. Knight Rider was one of those shows that I loved as a kid. As a naive kid 25 years ago, everything in the show was cool. A lot of the stuff in the show did not make sense [...]

So, I was kind of wary going into the Knight Rider movie last night. Knight Rider was one of those shows that I loved as a kid. As a naive kid 25 years ago, everything in the show was cool. A lot of the stuff in the show did not make sense (I will come to this later), but as a kid it was just cool: The Hoff with his thumbs up, KITT the talking car, etc. The return of Knight Rider is reminiscent of the return of Battlestar Galactica. I wasn’t a fan of the original Battlestar Galactica, but I am a huge fan of the current BSG. Why? Because the new show chose to reimagine the universe of BSG. The new BSG chose to bring BSG into the future — not make a direct sequel and try to hang onto all the old stuff.

Unfortunately, the people behind the new Knight Rider chose to hang onto the old and not bring it forward. Sure, the timeline in the show is now. The characters have all moved on. But, the show is basically a direct sequel to what happened in the 80s version of Knight Rider — I am guessing that it is because the producers and writers felt that they had to appease the old fans. And this route they took, instead of reimagining the show, was an unfortunate choice.

The whole show was an advertisement for Ford vehicles. If we lived in the world that the new KITT lives in, everyone would be driving some sort of Ford vehicle. How unfortunate for all of us. Yes, the show really did make the Shelby GT500 KR look nice — but after the fiftieth time of seeing the Cobra logo, or the spoiler, or the low profile tires, or the car flying past the camera, it all wore thin: We get the idea, Ford sponsored the movie, now move on.

The new KITT (Val Kilmer) is about the best actor in the whole show — and that isn’t saying much cause he’s just a car. The rest of the cast was terrible. The “new” Michael is horrible. Deanna Russo is horrible. Sydney Poitier is horrible. Bruce Davidson is just there collecting a paycheck. The worst of the actors is Greg Ellis who is the head baddie in the film. His emotional range is limited to one emotion: Mad. His facial expression is limited to one expression: Scowl. The man was a walking robot throughout the film. There was no acting in this movie.

The script for the film was just as bad. Plot holes abound — and some strange way of explaining the new Michael. There are “twists” that could be seen for miles away (Gee! Is “old” Michael going to show up?  Holy crap!  Are you telling me that was a body double?  What a minute, that dude was working for the baddies?  No way!)

So, instead of reimagining, the producers felt they needed to keep all the silliness of the 80s in the show. Here’re somethings that really bugged me:

• Although super-cool for the 80s kids, why the hell does KITT have that red LED flashing thing in the hood? What is the purpose other than getting Michael noticed when he’s driving down the street. In the movie, the lights served as nothing except for automobile bling. They might as well put neon glow tubes on the underside of KITT to go for that “The Fast and the Furious” look.
• KITT is the ultimate self-sustaining supercar that can get almost 200mpg. Except that he’s really not self-sustaining — he still needs a human to put gas in him. If you are going to recreate KITT, create him with a frigging fuel cell that doesn’t ever have to be replaced. Sheesh, you’ve created some crazy nano-tech shielding for KITT — how much more of a stretch is it to give him a “forever” fuel cell?
• The nano-tech doesn’t work without KITT-the-computer being on. So, when KITT-the-computer is off and is shot at, a window breaks. But, when Michael rams an SUV with KITT (and KITT-the-computer is off), the body panels don’t sustain any damage. Sheesh.
• Why build a supercomputer into a supercar? If there is a war, will KITT be on the front lines? For that matter, why build a supercomputer into a supercar and not put guns on the car? Sure, KITT says he’s programmed to not kill if not necessary — but come on, we want guns dammit! While we’re on this “super” thing: Why not build KITT the supercomputer into a super-Hummer? A Hummer that can run things over? Oh, that would have been more cool.
• Driving down the Las Vegas strip in a hot looking supercar with a blingy red LED thing in the hood, that’ll get everyone’s attention –  then there’s a chick in the passenger seat and no one driving and no one on the strip notices!
• Why is it that KITT can change his exterior to be less “noticed” by people… and then revert back to the blingy LED sporting car? Why not just keep all the changes under-the-hood and put KITT-the-computer into like…a Mini Cooper, or beat up 1980s Toyota Corolla?  Would that not be a better way of being stealthy?  Would bad guys not be alarmed if they saw a bad-ass black Shelby GT500 KR with a red LED strip on its hood?  Wouldn’t it be better if you snuck up on baddies in say a less conspicuous, more ordinary Toyota Camry?  Or Honda Accord?  All the same nano-tech plating, none of the “Hey bad guys, look!  Here I come!”

Anyways, the producers, writers and director could have reimagined the show to be a lot better than this. Instead they went down the 1980s road and just updated some of the stuff for now. How unfortunate. There is talk that this movie is a backdoor pilot and the producers hope that there is enough audience to get the show approved for a new season next year. I hope not. Lets put KITT back in the garage and let him be.

I just blew through Torchwood Season One as a rental from Netflix.  Torchwood is a spin-off series from the new Doctor Who series (”Torchwood” is an anagram for “Doctor Who”).  Torchwood follows the adventures of the immortal Captain Jack Harkness — who was introduced in Doctor Who — and his team of alien hunters.  Well, [...]

I just blew through Torchwood Season One as a rental from Netflix.  Torchwood is a spin-off series from the new Doctor Who series (”Torchwood” is an anagram for “Doctor Who”).  Torchwood follows the adventures of the immortal Captain Jack Harkness — who was introduced in Doctor Who — and his team of alien hunters.  Well, at least that is what it is sold as.  After watching the season, it is turning into more of an X-Files meets CSI type show, which is great.  Torchwood is an edgier and more adult show than Doctor Who — whereas Doctor Who can be shown on the SciFi Channel, Torchwood can never be shown on the SciFi Channel — there’s sex, violence, and a lot of swearing.  The characters in the show are not as palatable to mainstream audiences as the happy-go-lucky Doctor and his companions.  The characters in Torchwood are absolute bastards and they all have huge flaws.  And that is what makes them so watchable.

The series was a little difficult to get into because the first six episodes were not the greatest pieces of television.  The cast and writing were mediocre at best and it was a struggle to get through the first six episodes.  But, am I glad I stuck through the first six episodes because from the seventh episode on, the writers, actors and directors really hit their stride.  Suddenly, the characters are deeper.  The stories are more interesting — mainly because they start to incorporate the human aspects of the characters.  The stories start to draw you in because they have a slight humorous edge to them (”Random Shoes” reminded me a lot of old X-Files episodes that had the Lone Gunmen in them).  And just when I was really loving the show, the season ends.  Sigh.  I can’t wait to see season two on DVD.  It’ll be a long wait.

Do you have to be a fan of Doctor Who to get into Torchwood?  No, not at all.  There are some small references to Doctor Who — the hand in the jar and a whooshing noise at the end of the season — but, they have no real significance to enjoying the show.  I highly recommend Torchwood.  What an exciting show with so much potential.

There are some shows that are airing right now — even with the writer’s strike going on.  So, here are the ones that I have tried over the last few weeks and some that I am looking forward to:

Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chronicles:  Long name, great show.  After Terminator 3, I had my doubts about [...]

There are some shows that are airing right now — even with the writer’s strike going on.  So, here are the ones that I have tried over the last few weeks and some that I am looking forward to:

• Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chronicles:  Long name, great show.  After Terminator 3, I had my doubts about this franchise.  So, it was a huge surprise that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (T:TSCC) is so good!  The series, thankfully, puts Terminator 3 on an alternate time line — SPOILERS AHEAD, skip the rest of this bullet point if you haven’t watched the premiere.  By moving the time line from the 90s to now, they have made everything in T3 invalid.  That is a good thing.  Also, I could not imagine the show being set in the 90s.  And the casting of Lena Headey (”300″) was perfect — she is tough, smart and yet has a bit of vulnerability.  Summer Glau (”Firefly”) as the new Terminator sent to protect John is awesome.  I loved when she said, “Come with me if you want to live.”  The writing for the show is sharp.  It is not all action either — though there is a heavy dose — there is some serious drama.  As a sci-fi show, I rank T:TSSC just shy of BSG greatness — and BSG is now my all time greatest sci-fi show.  All in all, a great new start for Terminator — a nice reboot, if I may say.
• Smash Lab:  When I watch Mythbusters, I see the perfect mix of education, science, personalities and explosions.  Yes, the explosions in Mythbusters are great and fun to see — but the journey to them is what makes the show interesting.  Smash Lab tries to take just the explosions and crashes of Mythbusters and wrap a show around them — and that just does not work.  The four personalities on the show are forgettable and boring — there’s even one that looks like Chip Foose!  They scream, they act excited when things explode, they laugh.  But, they are ultimately boring — not one of them stands out, there is no Adam, there is no Jaime, or Kari, or Grant, or Tori.  There’s just four boring people.  Sure, explosions and crashes are good — but a whole show filled with them?  Boring.  This show just does not get the mix right.
• American Idol:  Yes, I watch this show.  I admit it.  This year is off to a decent start, though I think the producers have said something to Simon — my favorite of the three judges.  Simon is..well…nicer this year.  I don’t like that.  I like Simon because he is brutally honest.  Now, he seems a bit…neutered.  Other than that, the show is still in the auditions stage and it is fun to watch.  I wish that American Idol would switch its voting over to something like “So You Think You Can Dance?”, where the judges make the decision on who to put up for voting out — instead of just the public doing all the judging.  That would avoid sad things like Sanjaya.  I’m hoping for a good season, lets see how it goes.
• Fight Quest:  Eileen and I caught this by accident.  We don’t have it programmed on the DVR, though I am tempted to.  It’s really just a show where two guys go out and get the snot beat out of them.  I don’t know how much of this I can take,  but it sure is fun to watch in small doses.
• Chuck:  The show returns next week with two back-to-back episodes, then its gone again.  I hope they are good episodes.
• Lost:  Lost returns on January 31st.  I can’t wait to see where they take the show.  I just wish that it would take a bit shorter than three more seasons to wrap things up.
• Battlestar Galactica:  Yes!  Battlestar Galactica starts its final season in March and I am hyped to start watching again.  The hiatus was far too long.  I watched BSG Razor last week on DVD and it was pretty good — but, I still hunger to see the real show!

That’s it.  I hope the writer’s strike ends soon because a lot of shows are losing their momentum.

It is ashame that NBC decided not to order more episodes of the freshman show Journeyman. Journeyman got off to a very rough start, but the last few episodes have been excellent. The writers finally found their stride and started developing many of the storylines — and I was especially pleased that they [...]

It is ashame that NBC decided not to order more episodes of the freshman show Journeyman. Journeyman got off to a very rough start, but the last few episodes have been excellent. The writers finally found their stride and started developing many of the storylines — and I was especially pleased that they started to work out the time-traveling portion of the show. The last episode did give a lot of information and gave some closure to the short-lived series. But, it also left the door open, if some other network wanted to pick up the series. Happy travels Journeyman, thank you for the entertainment.

Eileen accidentally deleted the first two episodes of this season’s Heroes this morning. When she told me, I wasn’t disappointed at all. I was kind of relieved. I watched the premiere and about half of the second episode — and that was it. Thinking about it today, I don’t think I’ll [...]

Eileen accidentally deleted the first two episodes of this season’s Heroes this morning. When she told me, I wasn’t disappointed at all. I was kind of relieved. I watched the premiere and about half of the second episode — and that was it. Thinking about it today, I don’t think I’ll watch the rest of this season of Heroes — and will be deleting the DVR event soon after I finish this posting. I thought last season of Heroes was excellent — and that Heroes should have been a one season show.  Save the world, done.

But, in this age of building brands and executing sequels, it was guaranteed that NBC would produce a second season. It is too bad that Americans stand for long running shows that drag on . Look what happened to The X-Files or 24 — or worse yet, look at Prison Break, where they broke out of prison in the first season and now they are on their third season. TV networks should learn something from the telenovelas of the world. Build out a complete and fantastic season; then be happy with it and let it go when it is done.

Good-bye Heroes.

The show Life on NBC has a lot to like about it: Great cast, awesome quirkiness, stories that are engaging, and some very smart writing…
we are none of us alone.
even as we exhale,
it is inhaled by others.
the light that shines upon me,
shines upon my neighbor as well.
in this way,
everything is connected to everything else.
in [...]

The show Life on NBC has a lot to like about it: Great cast, awesome quirkiness, stories that are engaging, and some very smart writing…

we are none of us alone.
even as we exhale,
it is inhaled by others.
the light that shines upon me,
shines upon my neighbor as well.
in this way,
everything is connected to everything else.
in this way,
i am connected to my friend,
even as i am connected to my enemy.
in this way,
there is no difference between me and my friends.
in this way,
there is no difference between me and my enemies.
we are none of us alone.