TV: In Memorium - 08-09 - ABC

What I think ABC is guilty of, is trying to go out on a limb with a quirky show and then it just doesn't get the ratings they need to appease the advertisiers. So ultimately a potentially great show dies before it's time. Just look at previous years, shows like The Nine and Invasion, both pretty ambitious, but both needed avid watchers to follow the twists and turns. And now they are set to try again to appease the LOST fanbase with Flash Forward, a show about the whole planet blacking out for 2 minutes and having visions of their futures.

Keep it up ABC, eventually one will stick, like LOST.

Anyway on what we did lose this year...

PUSHING DAISES: I guess we should count ourselves lucky that due to a writer's strike we even got a second season of this brilliant show. By far the most creative and original hour on television, consistantly greta every week. Lee Pace and Anna Friel both had great chemistry and played their parts stongly but at the end of the day they were always outshined by the dour Chi McBride and upbeat Kristen Chenoweth.

This is definately the show I will miss the most out of all that got cancelled this year, due to the fact it was a pure joy to watch every week.

ELI STONE: Like Pushing Daises, this benefited from the writer's strike. The lack of any pilots to use this, despite its low ratings, was brought back. Again this was a show that wasn't afraid to go out on a limb and try something different every week. Featuring cameos from George Michael and Seal, and a myriad of muscial numbers concealed as Eli's visions. This show was blessed with a feel good charm that you just couldn't escape.

It is to be noted that the final 3 episodes of this and Pushing Daises will be broadcast on Saturdays during the Summer. Thank you ABC.

LIFE ON MARS: Based off a UK show of the same name, but retold in a slightly different and longer way. I'm glad they managed to finish out the whole season for this, and for the most part it was enjoyable, especially the whole 70s cop show aspect. Except the ending left a bad taste in my mouth, as it sullied the UK version. Like Prison Break though this is a show that would have had trouble lengthen itself out for 2 or 3 seasons, before the idea became tired.

THE UNUSUALS: A late season arrival, jumping in after LOST. It's oddball enough to be enjoyable, but there are better procedurals out there. It's only a shame because that means Amber Tamblyn is off our screens again.


NEXT: NBC & CBS - I don't think there is much on those two networks.. we'll see.

TV: In Memorium - Shows 08-09 - FOX

Taking a lock back at this past season of TV, I deceided to start with the shows that I watched that have been cancelled.

PRISON BREAK (FOX): Of all the shows I watch that got cancelled this was the longest running, I have yet to watch the Series Finale, but after a long mid-season hiatus and a move from the prime slot Monday nights to being a lead-in to Dollhouse on Fridays, rating plummeted. As did the quality.

When the show started four years ago, it all hinged on a gimmick which would make a great mini-series or movie, but was protracted out for this long. For the most part it worked well, great twists and cliffhangers each week. But once they broke out of prison a second time in the third season, suspension of disbelief became a little harder. The fourth season has begun to feel like an after thought with the writes trying to tie up any loose ends they have presented to us in the big Company conspiracy.

Hopefully members of the cast like Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell will get picked up for other shows, as it is them that have made the show all the more enjoyable. And come on who doesn't love to hate Bagwell, one hand and all.


TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES (FOX): After a strong second season, that would give cause for this show to be nominated as the best sci-fi on TV, it was announced today that it wouldn't be returning.

Lena Headey gave us a look past the harden surface of the Sarah Connor previously portrayed by Linda Hamilton, we were give a psycholoical scarred and troubled woman at times. Driven to protect her son in the hope of saving the whole of mankind. Thomas Dekker's John Connor started out not far from what we saw with Edward Furlong, but over the course of it's 2 seasons he matured and began to look like the leader he was expected to be.

The bigger shocks of the second season was the great acting turns given to us by Brian Austin Green and Shirley Manson. Green had some great moments as Derek Reese (brother of John's father, Kyle), including an "I'm not John Connor" line that will be forever remembered in fandom. Shirley Manson, famous for being the lead singer of rock group Garbage, gave a surprisingly great and chilling turn as the seemingly emotion-less Catherine Weaver/T-1000.


NEXT: ABC - guilty of ending too many good shows - Pushing Daises, Eli Stone, Life on Mars & The Unusuals

Return to Oz

Okay, so I am going to try and resurrect my blog. Not that anyone really cares, it'll at least keep my occupied whilst bored through the summer, hopefully. I aim to make a big post early next week regarding my thoughts on the past seasons of TV. With the finales of Grey's, Bones, Hell's Kitchen, Housewives and Survivor to get through this week. I'll gather my thoughts on ALL the shows I have been watching this year. Trust me that is alot.

Other than TV watching and video game playing I have discovered twitter. I was little unsure of it at first but once I started following peeps my twitter feed is full of useless, yet sometimes interesting junk. The thing with twitter is that if you don't follow anyone and no one is following you it seems like you are living in a void. One of the highlights of my twitter is the great MajorNelson who offers free codes for DLC on XBL every now and then, if you are quick enough you might get something out of it. Also every one should follow the quite literally HIGH-larious Doug Benson or alternatively you could just follow me.

So with any luck I will follow this blog up with some more stuff, as fitting thoughts and reviews into a 140 character limit is hard.

JOHN RAMBO

WARNING: some violent scenes

TRAILER OF THE WEEK

THE GOLDEN COMPASS

James Bond and dueling Polar bears.. I'm there.

LOST - FINALE finally.

If you have yet to see this one stop reading and go watch. I mean it. Go NOW!!

‘Through the Looking Glass’ is the best episode of this season and one of the best over all 3 seasons. It answered a couple more questions, confirmed a suspicion and threw a whole bunch more in our face. And a end twist that now leaves us with a painful wait until 2008.

Here are the highlights and questions (BEWARE SPOILERS):

1. DEATHS:
Oh my god!! A big body count for these two hours. 7 nameless Others were killed in the Losties surprise attack. Then Ryan, Tom and another other killed by Hurley, Sawyer and Sayid respectively. The two women Others that held Charlie captive in ‘The Looking Glass’ are killed by Mikhael on the orders of Ben. Then, as predicted by Desmond, Charlie drowns after turning off the signal blocker when Mikhael sets off a grenade outside the viewing window, apparently killing himself in the process. Finally new girl Naomi is killed by Locke as he tries to prevent her from contacting her ship.
2. WHERE’S WALT?:
A great brief appearance from Walt. Is he really off the island contacting Locke?
3. TRUTH ABOUT NAOMI:
Ben tries to convince Jack that contacting Naomi’s ship is a mistake and she isn’t who she claims to be. That the arrival of her so called rescue team could mean the end of the island. Jack doesn’t believe him, but unbeknownst to him on board TLG station as Charlie turns off the system he makes contact with Penelope and she says she doesn’t know Naomi. So is Ben telling the truth?
4. AWWWWW:
I love you – Jack to Kate.
This is your mother – Ben to Alex about Danielle.
Do you want to get us killed? - Sawyer to Hurley
5. FLASH FORWARD??:
The flash backs are not what they seem. The final scene of the episode opens up questions and a need to rewatch what has gone before. We see a Jack who is a suicidal drunk and addict. It turns out the flashbacks are really flash forwards, we are seeing a Jack who was rescued from the island, a man who needs to go back. If this is the future of Jack, is his father alive, he mentions him a couple of times during the episode as if he were there, but is Jack just dillusional. Who was in the casket? Whoever it is they were mentioned in the newspaper and a seeming catalyst in Jack’s interuppted sucide attempt. Who does Kate have to get back too? Sawyer?
6. WHERE NOW?:
Where is Season 4 going to begin? Back on the island as they are rescued or not. Is the whole Jack flashforward a red herring, the show will return to the island and they will do battle with whoever is coming. Will that only be step forward toward the real rescue team coming later. Actually after all that do we want to see them get saved if that is what it is going to do to Jack. It pains me to see our hero the way he is after time on the island.


Did I miss anything? Probably. But isn’t that what rewatching the episode is for.

Blog Resurrected: The Death of Mars

Phew.. okay it's been over 6 months since I posted last on here. And now as I can't get on my Flixster pages at work, blocked by websense, whatever. Maybe i'll go back to posting movie reviews on here first.

It seems it is official Veronica Mars has been killed by the CW. And they didn't make it quick and painless did they? Now this was a long drawn out death rattle. The network has succeded in destroying one of the best shows on TV by mis-representing it. The only reason it did as well as it did was through word of mouth. Even I was skeptical at first, but hearing good things from friends me and the wife rented the first season and got hooked.

Based on commercials during the show and promos that run for episodes the CW was aiming the show at a younger audience, these tweens are the ones who aren't going to the get the hilarious pop culture references that litter Veronica's mythos, especially the Big Lebowksi. A movie, that like Veronica Mars is a homage to the great noir works by writers Chandler.

We can only hope enough of a fuss is raised that like Family Guy on FOX someone will realise the error of their ways and bring back this great show.

VIDEO GAMES: PS3 launches and insanity reigns

I don't see why Sony couldn't have priced their system at $1000 to begin with, at the current $600 price tage they are losing over $200 per unit. The only people making money are the asses who are selling thwe systems on ebay, currently getting twice the price of what they paid. But that doesn't say much for the idiots who are willing to fork out the extra dough to pay for them.

It has been reported that alot more people were just buying the PS3 so that they could make money reselling it. Where as it looks as though the Wii, which didn't completely sell out at all locations until late Sunday, is going to gamers. Well it is less profitable currently only making $200 over it's shelf price.

Just wait until the storm dies down. It is going to be near impossible to get hold of a PS3 before Xmas. Sony just aren't releasing enough systems, they've pushed out only 400,000 compared to 1 million Wiis in the marketplace. And Nintendo hope to make a push upto the holiday with another million or so reaching users.

Or you could just wait five years, when the Ps3, like the PS2 now, will be just getting into it's stride and that is when they will release the next-next-gen systems.