14 posts tagged “24”

This week we got the last new episodes of CSI, 30 Rock and My Name is Earl.

Tonight we get the premiere of The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It was also supposed to be he premiere night of 24, but the strike has effectively killed the season. TSSC has been getting pretty good reviews, and it stars Summer Glau of Firefly fame, so I'll check it out.

In strike news this week, the DGA has agreed to initial terms to sit down with the AMPTP. We'll see if the DGA can get them to make a fair deal. If so, it might bode well for the writers.

Lots of football on today. More later.

The three biggest finales of the season were this week and Veronica Mars rode off in to the sunset. I'm going to ruin the Lost finale three paragraphs down, so stop reading now if you don't want to risk it.

I really enjoyed the last few episodes of Veronica Mars and was actually very sad to see it go. This season was so inconsistent. We spent a lot of the season wondering where the hell all the regulars had gone. Wallace, Mac, Weevil, all MIA for a lot of the season. The last few episodes of the season/series had the whole gang. I even grew to like Piz as the season wore on and was glad he got the girl. Even Deputy Leo made a return for the final few episodes. I think it was watching Veronica walk away after casting her vote and realizing that we'll never know what happens next that bummed me out. Goodbye Veronica Mars.

And now in reverse order of how much I cared, here are the three big season finales from this week. First up, 24. This season of 24 actually sucked. I was surprised at exactly how much it could suck considering we'd made it through the daughter attacked by a mountain lion season and lived to tell the tale. I used to think the way this show told stories was kind of stupid, but it turns out if you take that same story and make it more like a soap opera, it's worse. Love triangles? Like, how many of them were there? Sheesh. The office romances used to be kind of fun on this show, but this season they were just stupid. Except for the Bill Buchanan/Karen Hayes thing. Didn't see that coming at all from the previous season but it was a great idea. Making the woman head of the NSA and having to fire her counter terrorist husband? Genius. Plus it set up several great Bill is a badass moments when he had to go rogue to save Jack. Bill has become my favorite not-Jack character since they offed Tony last season. The finale was fun, it mostly went down like it was supposed to. Jack saves the day, loses the girl, prevents a war. You know, the usual. Knowing Kiefer Sutherland is signed for three more seasons takes some of the suspense away as to the ending. Rumor has it that the next season will be somewhere outside of LA. Where else will they be able to get everywhere they need to be in 10 minutes every time?

Next, Lost. The last time I talked about Lost I mentioned that it was going to be a surprise and/or a relief when the finally killed Charlie. This was so well done. He died well. A great story line in an overall mediocre episode. I loved the way he dealt with the women who were torturing him. He had such a great attitude. He went down there ready to die, so being threatened didn't bother him one bit. There are a lot of people out there complaining about the way he died. To them I say: which show were you watching? It had to go down that way. If what you're hanging on to is the fact that he maybe could have closed the door from the outside, let me remind you that he and Des were in an underwater radio jamming station off the coast of an island that doesn't exist with polar bears and smoke monsters and strange indigenous peoples who are led by a crazy dude who talks to a chair in a cabin in the middle of the jungle thinking it's some sort of divine messenger. Moving on. First off, who the frak was in the casket?! Does it really have to be that big of a mystery? Oooh, spooky, let's watch Jack be crazy in the future that will never be and not tell you why he's upset. Speculate all you want, I'm not wasting any more energy thinking about it. This is exactly the kind of crap I started to hate about Lost. Is it really so important that we don't know? Ok, so theories? Nope. You know what? I don't care. It's entertaining and if I think too much about it it just makes me angry. Fun show, but way beyond me caring about what's actually going on. I used to want to figure it out. All I figured out is that there's nothing to figure out. Mostly I think I'm still watching to see how big a train wreck it can become. I know I'm not supposed to compare Lost and Heroes but I can't help but think about the fact that the Heroes future episode a) told you from the get go they were in the future b) made you completely buy the vision of the future even though you knew it wouldn't happen that way and c) was made of awesome. Lost did the opposite. Yes, I figured out it was a flash forward almost immediately. Yes, I understand it's a future that won't happen. But do they have to be such dicks about it? There were some great moments in the show, don't get me wrong. I still like it, just not for the reasons I used to. Loved the Hurley in the van moment. Loved that Tom the Other didn't kill the three captives and then Sawyer plugged him anyway. Loved the dark turn Sawyer is taking. Loved the fact that Penny almost got to talk to Des. Loved that fact that you just can't kill patchy. Wanna bet he's still not dead? Loved Jack beating the snot out of Ben. Really loved the first words Rousseau ever spoke to her daughter. Loved the body count. At least they're not afraid to kill characters on this show. It's what happens when good writers have bad material. All hat, no cattle. Rest in peace Charlie Pace.

Well, that was more of a tirade that I expected. Which brings us finally to Heroes. I've read a lot of comments on the interweb from people who are disappointed at the Heroes finale. Again, I say to them, which show were you watching? This was a great season finale. It payed off the season while setting up next season without being an irritating cliffhanger. The only complaint I can relate to is that I wanted a little more action in the big fight. Great setup, good job bringing all the Heroes together. Sylar's not dead. Which I have to admit I didn't get on the first viewing. So the question remains, did he crawl in to the sewer or was he dragged by the bigger badder bad that Molly won't look for? After killing two in the penultimate episode, it was almost a little disappointing that nobody actually died in the finale. Several potential mortal woundings, but we didn't see anyone actually die. Yet. I loved this show all season and, after a slew of disappointing season finales, was very pleased to see this one deliver. I'm really hoping they don't suffer a sophomore slump. I'm looking forward to next season very much when we learn that the samurai from the stories is really Hiro's dad. Or something.

And tonight? The beginning of the end for Studio 60. It returns in ER's slot to show the rest of the episodes they've already filmed. There will be no more.

Liverpool lost the Champions League 2-1 to AC Milan. I'm sure you were all dying to know that.

I think the only finale left is House. Which is next Tuesday. Guess I better make sure my Netflix queue is current. Or start playing more video games. Or both.

All of the sites I read are reporting a rumor that first surfaced several months ago that ABC will announce that Lost will end after two more seasons. The root of this round of rumors is Kristen at E! Online. She's right probably less than half of the time. The announcement is expected to come at the upfronts on May 15th. The only thing that makes this kind of interesting is that ABC is also supposed to announce that they'll run future seasons nonstop a la 24. So when Lost finishes this season in 3 weeks, it won't return until January and then run consecutively until May. This is supposed to be a response to the ratings tank when Lost returned from its multi month "break". Many serialized shows took the "mid season finale" route this year and all of them took a ratings hit because of it when they returned. It matters a lot less for the procedural shows like CSI, which are ratings juggernauts anyway. People don't like to pay attention to 22 episodes of a story strung together, especially if there are multi week gaps between episodes. That also helps explain the popularity of tv on dvd. You can't miss an episode and be hopelessly lost watching on dvd. The worst that can happen is you might have to wait for Netflix to get you the next disc. Uh-oh, I feel a bit of a rant coming on. Mostly because I'm still pissed at Fox for killing Drive. Serialized dramas scare a lot of people. Especially serialized dramas on Fox. Fox has a history of putting on shows with interesting concepts, getting a number not big enough to keep the show on the air interested, and then yanking the show before anything gets resolved. Drive being the latest example of this. Most of the comments I saw about Drive before it aired (including my own) went something like this: "Hey, that show looks good." "Yeah, but I'm not going to watch it because Fox is just going to cancel it." "Even if they don't, I'll just wait for the dvds and watch the whole season at once." "If it lasts that long." Anyone else see the circular logic in that? Fox has screwed their audience one too many times for people to give risky shows a chance. The other networks less so, but still. It's why the CW pressured Veronica Mars in to becoming more like a procedural and less with the season long mysteries. Does Fox have any serialized shows other than 24 now? How many hours of American Idol do they show a week? Also note that 24 pioneered the idea of the non stop season. Although 24 is a slightly different case, with each season being more or less self contained.

Whew, ok. I feel like Frank the Tank coming out of his debate haze in Old School.

What was my point? Hard to say. I think it was that if this Lost rumor is true, the producers have 44 or so more episodes to clear this crap up and show that they actually know what they're doing. I've got to give them some credit for giving themselves a deadline of sorts. It's better than it going on too long like the X-Files. However, I think they could have done with a deadline a lot sooner. Now they're in a race to wrap it up before too many people lose interest and it gets canceled instead. So are enough people committed to this show to return to it if they make us wait until January? I'm not sure the network execs can win this one. No gaps = losing fewer viewers for the duration of the run. Starting with the rest of the shows in the fall at least guarantees mindshare before they gaps happen. Will people care if they have to wait so long? (Yes, I'm willfully ignoring the BSG part of this argument. It's different.) I think Lost is kinda screwed either way.

I love Heroes. Even the moments you knew were coming were pretty sweet. And at least one jaw drop surprise. The only disappointing thing about this episode is that now there are only four more episodes. I won't say anything more because I know some of you haven't seen it. So go. Now. Watch.

On the other hand, I can't quite make up my mind about The Riches. I'm watching it right now (commercials suck) and every time I think I'm done with it I can't seem to turn it off. It's fascinating and twisted, and it certainly has its moments. I'm just not sure it's actually good. Clancy Brown is guest starring next week. That could be fun.

Which brings us to Drive. It started last week with a two night, three hour debut. I watched all three hours. And then promptly forgot it was on tonight before Heroes. At least Fox is posting the show on myspace so if I miss it I can catch up. It's an interesting idea, and the writing is pretty good. I think they're running the first five or six episodes in a row, and I'll stick around to see how those go. It was worth the price of admission alone to see that wicked little smile on Nathan Fillion's face at the end of the third hour.

I'm now two weeks behind on 24. And I miss seeing The Daily Show and Colbert every day. It's hard to remember to watch it at 10:00 after prime time. It's bad enough that prime time is from 7-10. Who's home by 7? Seriously.

And I think there's a leak in my dishwasher. Add that to the list of things I miss from home. A non-leaky super quiet dishwasher. Now that this project is wrapping up, I'm ready to come home. Although (here's a sentence I never thought I'd write) I'm looking forward to going to Cleveland this weekend. I'm going to visit the college roommate. Half the fun of flying to Cleveland is that when you fly back it's like time travel. I leave Cleveland at 8:30 and arrive in Chicago at 8:30. Whoa.

I've also been reading (shocker!) since I spend about two hours on the train every day. I finished the Barack Obama book, The Audacity of Hope last week. It was in interesting read, but I'm still not sure what he's about as a candidate. I think he's a smart dude. And moderate. Big on the "be excellent to each other" philosophy I'm fond of. Now on Diana's suggestion I have moved on to The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. I'm enjoying it but I'm not sure I get it just yet.

Whew. I've been busy enough lately that I haven't been updating. That and nothing earth-shattering has happened anyway. So here's what's on my little entertainment brain...

First and foremost I guess I should mention that the Oscars are on tomorrow. Since I haven't seen a single nominated movie, I care less about them this year than usual. Of course the tivo is set. Of course I'll watch it. But I'm not making an event out of it like I sometimes do. Also on Sunday nights, my new reality series The Amazing Race. So far I've only seen one episode, but it's really entertaining. This is an all star edition, and the best quote of the show came from one of the other contestants: "We know Rob and Amber because, obviously, we live on the planet." Bwahahaha! I think it's hilarious that we have an all star of all stars reality tv couple. How many shows have they been on now? I lost count. And so far I don't miss Survivor.

The Black Donnellys starts this Monday. NBC did that thing they did with Studio 60 where they made the pilot available from Netflix. And, shocker, I didn't actually get it. So I'll be watching Monday night with the rest of y'all to see how it is. It's getting middling reviews. And I've even seen some people who say that the pilot is really good and they're still not going to watch it. It certainly won't kill me to have one less hour of tv on Monday nights. It also looks as if NBC is rerunning the pilot on Thursday in ER's slot. They've really been promoting it, so I guess that makes sense. Oh, and speaking of which, anyone want to lay odds on whether Studio 60 is coming back? I think it's dead. I guess if The Black Donnellys does even worse in the same slot it might come back. But they'd probably just replace it with a rerun of Deal or No Deal.

Heroes is officially my favorite show on tv. BSG has been sucking wind a little lately and Lost is staging a comeback, but I'm still not sold. I just think the execution of Heroes is so great. There's actual content and story progress every week. And it's just ridiculous enough. It's not postmodern ironic like it could have gone, and it treats the viewer like an adult even though it's basically a comic book in tv form. Now if they could just find a way to excise the Niki/Jessica subplot or at least make it interesting, it could be even better. And why does Mohinder have to be such a sucker? I guess because he thinks Sylar is locked up somewhere that the psycho riding with him to find all the other "gifted" folk is just a little odd? I think the killing of the super hearing lady proves Sylar isn't thinking things through. I'd suspect that Mohinder is going to catch on at some point and I think it would have been smarter to follow him around to find all these people first and then pick them off menu-style starting with the most badass powers first. Instead he kills the first one they come across? Seems rash. I'm still loving the Peter character development. I never understood the motivation of Claude teaching him, or even why Peter thought he could in the first place. But it seems to be working. Turns out all Peter needs is some sort of proximity to the power and it alters his DNA or some such nonsense. It's shaping up to be an epic battle between Sylar and Peter. They'll have the same powers, but Peter might not know about all of them. Classic good vs evil. I'm also still enjoying the ambiguity of which side a lot of the characters are on. Or the fact that some of them aren't on any side but their own (see: Nathan). And I totally didn't see the Simone thing coming this week, but I can't say I'll miss her. Just gives Peter something to be super pissed about. I think in the next couple of weeks we get to finally meet Linderman. Will it be when Hiro gets his sword? I could go on forever about this show (clearly). So great, so much fun.

I'm enjoying the second mini mystery on Veronica Mars more than I enjoyed the first one. The death of the Dean is so much more interesting than the rape storyline. I really like the twist of the forensics professor who literally wrote the book on the perfect crime being the chief suspect. Now if they could just bring the regulars back in to the fold, I'd be satisfied. I miss Wallace. Several interesting twists this week, the biggest being that Keith is back as Neptune's sheriff. Too bad it had to happen at the expense of Lamb, he was such a great foil for both Keith and Veronica. What's going to happen to Keith's open investigations? And does this mean that Veronica can now get whatever info she wants in a slightly more legit fashion? I think father and daughter will butt heads over some of the legalities of V's activities now that Keith has to be above reproach.

And I'd be remiss if I left the return of Lost out of the discussion. So here's a question. Have we learned anything we actually care about? We've been given tidbits about the Others, learned that Jack's tattoos mean something akin to Stranger in a Strange Land (hence the title of the episode), and learned that Desmond can see that Charlie is going to die and he's trying desperately to stop it, but knows he can't. We caught a glimpse of the captured Tailies and saw some of the abducted kids. And then learned exactly zilch about what they've been up to and why they're just roaming around on exile island like that. "Just here to watch"?! WTF? Oh, ok, we learned that Ethan (season one, abducted Claire, shot by Charlie) was the Other's only surgeon until they grabbed Jack. So, that seems like a poorly thought out plan sending the doctor to go undercover and do dangerous stuff. I take that as another sign that the writers are still making it up as they go with no actual plan. I did enjoy Desmond's timebending flashback episode. It was entertaining storytelling, but what exactly was the point? So the jury's still out on Lost, I guess. I've really enjoyed the first two episodes back from the break, but it all still has the patina of "this better be going somewhere good" in my mind. And I think the move to 10:00 was stupid. It's hasn't won the timeslot since the move, and I only see the numbers trending down. So maybe we won't have to wait until year five for some answers, just so long as they give us some before it gets canceled.

I have recorded and not watched The State Within, the BBC miniseries about terrorism. Supposed to be really good. I'll write about it after I've seen it. But it reminds me that the new Robin Hood is coming up on BBC America. I think I mentioned it already, but it starts March 3. There are some other new shows coming up that I'm looking forward to. Fox made it official that Drive will start on April 15 with a two night premiere and they've been promoting the heck out of it, which is great. I hope it's good. Other than Eddie Izzard's new show, The Riches (March 12), I think that's it for my interest in the midseason shows. I sure hope so, because I think you'd all agree that I don't actually need to be watching any more tv.

Then of course there are the British shows that are not technically available. I've started watching season two of Life on Mars, and have finally become intrigued enough to consider Torchwood. Maybe this summer when there's no other new tv on. I'm also hearing good things about The Wire and Rome, both available on dvd now.

I've officially started watching 30 Rock, thanks to a glowing recommendation from Lynn and Scott. So now I've got all of the Thursday night comedy block on NBC, minus The Office, which I still have no desire to watch. I watched the Joss directed episode, which was the only time I've ever made it through an entire episode. It was ok. Loved that the episode he directed had a vampire theme. Genius. I think NBC has finally found another great set of Thursday shows, and I hope they don't screw it up. Oh, right, they're pulling 30 Rock to debut the new Andy Richter show on March 15th. I guess it probably gives it a decent shot at being watched, but is it a smart move? And if it takes off, where will they put it when they bring 30 Rock back?

Not sure I've said anything about the current season of 24 or not yet. It's still very much 24, but it's lacking that certain something this year. Still entertaining in a five-year-old-telling-a-story way and just as over the top as before, but not as stellar as last season. I think the Chloe-Morris-Milo love triangle is pointless. And while it was an interesting idea to make Jack's family part of the baddies, it didn't carry as much weight as I thought it would. They're just too one dimensional. Which is a stupid statement to make given that it's 24 we're talking about and a two dimensional character is almost too much to ask for. The guest actors have been a little disappointing as well. Chad Lowe and The Biscuit have been given really uninteresting characters to play considering they're contemplating assassinating the president. Although I have to admit it was fun to see The Biscuit get his ass kicked last week. All the president had to say was that he valued his input and he decides that maybe it's not such a good idea to kill him in the next hour? Sissy. I hope they give Ricky Shroeder more to do when he arrives on the scene.

I don't think I have any useful gossipy entertainment tidbits to drop on you today. I've not really been paying attention. I keep hearing that Britney Spears has finally lost it. But I almost feel bad for her. I said almost. Too bad she's such an idiot. Anybody who looks to Paris Hilton for guidance is, well, words fail me for how idiotic that is.

I'm sure there are a bunch of random newsish things out there, I'll hunt around later and see if there's anything else to report.

Well now, see what happens when I actually write about the shows and not just news about the shows? Long winded much? We'll see how this goes for the future. I'm not sure reviews are up my alley, but I enjoy thinking out loud about the shows.

Another weekend, another mild technology disaster. Proving once again I am technology kryptonite, another attempt to modernize the tivo was thwarted by the mere fact that it was me trying to do it.

On the other hand, the install of the Wii went flawlessly. Yes, I sacrificed sleeping on on Sunday morning to go stand in line to buy a Wii. After being thwarted at the Albany Target, I ended up at the Pinole Toys-R-Us with plenty of time to spare and some hot Krispy Kremes. Today my shoulder is a little sore from all the tennis and bowling, I think. The other game I got because they made me buy a bundle to get the system is called Rayman's Ravin' Rabbids. It defies description.

And now for your Monday entertainment update:
I think last night's BSG was potentially the worst episode they've made giving Black Market in season 2 a run for its money.

The Police played Roxanne to start off the Grammy Awards last night. It then took me 10 minutes to watch the rest of the show. The Dixie Chicks won a bunch of stuff.

As expected, The Police announced a reunion world tour to start in May. And they're not coming to the Bay Area!? WTF? Guess that makes that decision easier. Also reuniting this summer, Van Halen with David Lee Roth, Genesis with Phil Collins, and Crowded House.

New Heroes and a special two-hour 24 tonight. Twice the torture for the same price!

Life on Mars resumes this week in the UK. I'm very excited about this and don't think I can wait a year for it to show up on BBC America.

Speaking of BBC America, there's a miniseries coming up that's getting great advance notice called The State Within. It starts on Saturday and if I don't melt down my tivo before then, I'll be recording it.

And since I'm on a BBC America kick, the latest revision of Robin Hood starts on March 3. This has already aired in the UK to less than stellar notice but I'll probably watch it anyway since I'm a sucker for all things Robin Hood.

The episode of The Office that Joss Whedon directed is on this Thursday. The promo, which I will spare you from here, is on youTube and it's hi-larious.

Anthony Bourdain guest blogged on ruhlman.com about his fellow food network chefs. Turns out he only hates most of them.

Fox is actually backing a Tim Minear show. There was a good looking promo for Drive during last night's Simpsons.

I've missed Veronica Mars. A Lebowski nod in the tease? Awesome.
Researcher: It's those damn PHAT kids.
Veronica: 'Cause I take it monkeys are delicious?  And, Dude? 'girth challenged' is the preferred nomenclature. Bwhahahahahaha!
Looks like the second mystery arc is going to be kind of fun. What with the Dean's murder being exactly what Veronica wrote in her perfect murder paper for professor what's-his-name who happens to be a criminal profiler and our best suspect so far seeing as he was banging the Dean's wife and all.  And Poor Piz. The nice guy is always gets screwed. Or doesen't. Whatever. Looks like we get less than an episode before Logan and Veronica are at each other's throats again. Apparently because Logan had an encounter with a starf*cker. Idiot. I blame Dick. He leads Logan astray. Besides, Rob Thomas is praying at the altar of Joss: Happy couples = boring television. Round and round on the LoVe (I can't believe I just typed that) carousel we go. At least he hasn't totally pulled a Joss and killed Logan.

(here be Heroes spoilers, stop reading if you haven't seen it yet)
Heroes is back! Hooray! We met the next hero right at the end. I was hoping to see more of him since they'd been making a big deal out of it. Invisible man. He's played by Christopher Eccelston who played the ninth Doctor Who. And now that I look at IMDB, all sorts of other things I liked. Cool. Apparently he's going to stick around for a couple episodes. Loved the bit with nuke man playing with fire in the desert. Hm, and Peter's trying to get out to the Nevada desert so that he can't become a bomb. Does that seem like the wrong plan to anyone else? Mister I-can-absorb-powers is going to meet nuke man in the desert and become a bomb anyway. Or at least that's what we're supposed to think. They've been teasing the fact that nuke man might be the bomb in question. Are they really going to follow through with that? Seems almost too obvious. Peter's dream sequences were well done, too. I enjoyed the fade from white the episode started with. I love this show. So much packed in to every episode, good pacing, Hiro is still hilarious. Love it.

24 is just as over the top as ever. The reveal that that dude from ER who played a villian last season is Jack's brother I did not see coming, that's for sure. We didn't know that before, did we? And his dad is the kindly farmer from Babe. This is going to be fun. Any time Jack's going to torture a member of his own family who happens to be some sort of leader of an international terrorist organization less than an hour after shooting one of his best friends in the neck because he was trying to kill a terrorist that Jack swore to the President that he would protect and then claiming he couldn't do this sort of thing any more because he just spent 20 months in a Chinese prison while a nuclear bomb goes off in Valencia, I'm in. Did I mention this show is ridiculous? Can't get enough.

Studio 60 returned last night as well. This episode was so strange. I can't quite wrap my head around it. I like the characters, the actors and the writing, and yet it's just not sitting right with me. There was some great dialog in last night's episode. I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats. I think the problem I'm having is with the weird stalkeresque relationship Danny has with Jordan. Which sucks because I love Bradley Whitford, and he was made to be a Sorkin character. Sorkin has promised that the show is going to be more of a romantic comedy now. Is that a good thing? I guess so because we'll see less of the horribly bad sketch comedy, but romantic comedy? Really? Next week's guest on the show in the show is Masi Oka, aka Hiro. That dude is everywhere. And talk about product placement, the show is like an ad for NBC sometimes.

Lots of shows returning this week.  BSG is back tonight at its new day and time.  10pm on SciFi.  Another reason I will have a hard time if I ever have to give up my DirecTv is that I get the east coast feed of a lot of channels, so I get BSG at 7.  Hooray!  Heroes returns tomorrow night as does Studio 60.  And of course there's a new 24.  Veronica Mars is back on Tuesday.  Check your tivos.

Other than O'Reilly vs Colbert today, the one show I had to watch tonight was Smallville.  The recurring Oliver Queen/Green Arrow subplot finally came to fruition tonight.  There was so much about this episode that was awesome.  First, the Green Arrow is finally putting together the Justice League.  He's been trying to enlist Clark all season, but Clark had no idea that he'd recruited Victor Stone (Cyborg), Arthur Curry (Aquaman) and Bart Allen (Impulse/Kid Flash). We've met all these guys before in different episodes, and I thought that was cool that the writers were introducing some of the Justice League characters.  It's kind of fun watching Clark be the outsider of this little team of burgeoning superheroes.  It's amusing to me that Green Arrow gave Clark his "Boy Scout" moniker in this  storyline.  Second, The Flash is played by Beaver from Veronica Mars.  Sweet.  They introduced his character three years ago before Veronica Mars existed.  And third, Chloe's codename as mission coordinator is "Watchtower".  The writers are having fun with this and incorporating different eras of the Superman mythology.  The shot where they're walking away from the building that Oliver has just destroyed is pure Justice League opening credits.  Unfortunately, it appears it was a one-shot.  I hope they come back to this, because it's way more fun than the soap opera aspects of Smallville, but that's its bread and butter, I suppose.

In other news, Colbert vs O'Reilly was nowhere near as interesting as I had hoped.  Colbert was in character for both segments.  It was certainly more Fox News than I ever needed to watch.  The post-game on the Factor was frightening in its "Culture Wars" ridiculousness.  They were talking about how a conservative comedian would never succeed on Comedy Central.  Well, duh, for no other reason than the conservatives don't know how to make with the funny.  Conservative comedian, meet Mr. Oxymoron.  O'Reilly on Colbert was funnier, but O'Reilly was still acting like he had a big stick up his ass.  It's *comedy* for pete's sake.

The Television Critics winter meetings have been going on for the last week or so.  Not much interesting to report.  NBC has officially renewed Heroes and My Name is Earl for next season.  And Fox released its schedule for the Spring shows.  Drive has been scheduled for Mondays at 8, before 24.  It starts with a two hour pilot on Sunday April 15, which is remarkable because the last Tim Minear show on Fox (Firefly) was cancelled before they decided to air the pilot at all.  Then it moves to its regular Monday slot on April 16.  Standoff returns early March, moving to Friday nights.  I'm not expecting this one to be renewed for next season.  And CBS has ordered two more seasons of Survivor.

Now I know it only takes three inches of snow to paralyze Portland.  They drive around on studded tires all winter long up here, but apparently that's just for the ice storms.  The media coverage was fantastic.  KATU channel 2 did something like four hours of live weather coverage.  Pretty much all the schools closed.  It's quite pretty.  Here's the view from the back door of my cousin's house (where I am comfortably ensconced):

IMG_0189

I took advantage of the day today to get caught up on Smallville.  It's really a silly, cheesy show, but I can't help myself.  I'm still really enjoying the Green Arrow subplot.

I'm almost caught up on 24 as well.  If we can't make it out of the house to see Children of Men tonight, I have a feeling that's what we'll be doing instead.

Saw Stranger than Fiction last night at one of the local McMenimans theaters.  Good movie.  Meta in that same sort of way that Adaptation was, but I liked Stranger Than Fiction more.  My only question is, was the movie so meta that they meant to have the boom mic in as many shots as it was in?  Or was it just sloppy filmmaking?  I'd like to think they meant to do it, but I'm really not sure.  I've already seen two movies in a theater in 2007, putting me about halfway to my total for last year.  Admittedly, both were in pub theaters but maybe that's what it's going to take.

The Bagdad in SE Portland is a really beautiful old school theater with the balcony intact and not turned in to a separate theater like many of the theaters of its day.  I think they had four or five or the McMenamins beers on tap there.  Oregon really is a beer heaven.  I've been drinking nothing but local beers since I got here on Friday and I don't think I've had the same thing twice.  (Shameless Plug) I also went to the Lucky Labrador brewery/resaurant in NW on Quimby between 19th and 20th yesterday for lunch.  The manager is none other than my cousin Lauren.  The beer is fantastic and all brewed on site.  Yummy.

Other random tidbits to make the post vaguely relevant: The latest rumor about Drive is that it will be on Monday nights at 8.  Which is a way better timeslot than Thursdays at 9.  Maybe Fox realized it was a bad idea?  That would be a first.  I'd still rather the show was on later so that it could get as interesting as possible, but if it has a prayer of not getting cancelled in a different timeslot, I'm all for it.

Alexandra Pelosi (yes, that Pelosi), who made the documentary Journeys with George about the last presidential campaign is taking on evangelicals in her latest project for HBO called Friends With God.  Popular topic these days.  It premieres on January 25.  Not enough to make me get HBO, but I'll look for it on dvd.

The Lost guys claim they have an endgame and are thinking about ending the show at 5 seasons.

The Golden Globes were on last night.  I didn't watch, and it appears the only thing I care about at all is that Hugh Laurie won for House.

Bill Lawrence, the creator of Scrubs, claims there might be a seventh season after all.  With Zach Braff, who has been saying for months that this is the end.

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy has been cancelled.  I honestly didn't even know it was still on.

Sting is seriously mulling a Police reunion for this year.  30 years already?  Wow.

A sequel of Alien vs Predator is in the works.  Then again, there's also a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie on the way.