So I just finished watching the last/final 18th episode of the now canceled show. It definitely got more interesting the last few episodes including the Season/Series finale "Apotheosis."
The way they tied the monotheists plot in to the Graystone's finally meeting up with the Zoe in V-world, and then her destroying the world Clarice set up for her group to ascend to after blowing up Caprica stadium.
The use of the Cylons to isolate the terrorists, etc.
Now, how/why they killed off Willie Adama and in the final 5 minute montage, showing a younger boy named Bill Adama, honestly felt a lot like the cop-out on Smallville with Jimmy Olsen dying and having a younger brother, then taking on his name, lol. They wanted the Bill Adama we get to know in BSG to have some sort of legacy to fulfill.
I suppose with Blood and Chrome coming and at least a lot of it to be based on Bill Adama's growth in the military, they will explain more about that. It also could be worth going back to BSG now and looking for any and all references to Bill Adama's childhood and younger days. Maybe Joseph and Sam Adama, and even the Guatrau and the Guatrau's daughter (who becomes The Guatrau).
I'm not sure, I don't recall a ton of Tauron past with Adama on BSG. I mainly just remember the plot and rivalry with the Taurons and anti-Tauron people. I suppose it might be worth going back now and watching BSG from the beginning. There are some parts of the show, namely Season 2, that I don't believe I have even seen before. Now having seen Caprica, it probably would help to watch those.
Some comments on imdb said some of the truncated nature of the finale probably was due to time and including the closure/montage at the end. As a result, a lot of footage was not included/deleted and could end up on the dvds. I may seek those dvds out just for that reason (or look for those scenes on youtube or another site). Because namely Lacy Rand's role and everything that went down on Gemenon and the short bit with Clarice going there and Lacy being "Mother" just was so truncated. There definitely should have been more explanation to how that happened.
Another comment on imdb mentioned how perhaps on Blood and Chrome they will show flashbacks to more how the Cylons evolved. So in a way, while the evolution/birth of the Cylon race was supposed to be told in Caprica, and it was shortchanged a bit by getting canceled after 1 season; Blood and Chrome could be an opportunity to tell a lot more of it in flashback form.
The only sad part or issue I have with that is with the established cast and characters on Caprica, the story may not be told with those characters or even just the actors themselves. I guess why I really hope a lot of the cast can make appearances on Blood and Chrome, if in fact those flashbacks happen. Namely Alessandra Torresani, Magda Apanowicz, Eric Stoltz, Paula Malcomson, and even Polly Walker whose the actress that plays Clarice.
It was fitting and kind of predictable, but still nice to see Zoe be born as the 1st "Skin job" in the montage. The sad part about that though is if the show had been able to show the process of how that happened. How her body was made, the details, hangups, glitches, genetic flaws, could have made for some interesting scientific/biological/genetic details. I guess for me, with the new BSG and the whole AI/evolution of mechanical life, etc I always wanted to know how that could be done. How synthesized or another process of making an actual skin-body could be done. There perhaps have been movies or novels written about it in other works. And even in real science today I guess. But that probably is 1 of the most fascinating things to ponder within this show and AI stories in general. So I guess for that, that may be the biggest or saddest part of the loss of this show.
As well, how their evolution led to a merging of the V-world entities/beings and the robots (U-87's), and what leads to them taking over Caprica.
But again..perhaps Blood and Chrome there will be opportunity to explore more of that.
I just twittered about this. Am I surprised? no. Am I sad, a bit. Mainly due to the fact Caprica and I guess Warehouse 13 is all SyFy's got (sorry Stargate, Sanctuary, Eureka, and Haven fans). And the truth be, it was OKAY, but I was into the show more in the hope it would get better over time. BSG did anyway. But I can't be surprised given it is SyFy and they seem to be run in the same way their parent network is, NBC.
Now if the guy running USA Network were involved, I'd be more surprised.
What will replace it? as I posted on the comments section over on that tvbtn story, perhaps Caprica's James Marsters new show Three Inches about a group of Superheros, Marsters playing the lead who can move objects with his mind, but only 3 inches, lol. Rather Pushing Daisies-like (or The Tick perhaps?).
Otherwise, the status of something Bryan Fuller has talked about working with SyFy hopefully will be announced. "Sellevision" or something else.
edit: someone posted something about Fuller doing a remake of The Munsters which I would certainly be curious about.
but as for the BSG universe..we have the rest of those episodes to be burned off sometime in 2011, and then the Will Adama in his 20's movie. I suppose it's better than the whole thing going bye bye already.
I hope Alessandra Torresani and Magda Apanowicz namely go onto other, better things. I feel bad for Magda especially given that's twice in recent years (Kyle XY) her CABLE-based show got canceled before it could end it's story.
Well I don't have a lot of time to comment, but the show and Season 1.5 actually does return this evening at 9PM on SyFy. Why it got pushed up or HOW, I honestly never read any of the stories that explained it. I know it had to do with the writers contracts expiring and needing a new one around the 2nd week of August. Perhaps they got one? or perhaps the geniuses at SyFy finally wised up for once and realized they should air the rest of Season 1's episodes sooner rather than later (nearly 1 year after Season 1 premiered).
As far what happens, etc..it looks promising. It appears based on that trailer, Amanda Graystone dies or goes missing and Daniel captures her avatar and creates an interactive hologram of her. Very much like Zooey.
I guess given I was into the show last Winter when it aired, and with not a huge rush of new good shows (there have been a few, namely Rubicon) along with potential upcoming cancellations (Chuck?), I'm as much if not more excited to see where the show goes here. And by some chance, it gets renewed and comes back either in the Winter or at worst, the Fall of 2011.
Well, it's not 86'ed yet, but it was originally supposed to return to the air sometime this Fall; however it was recently announced the 2nd half of it's 1st Season (1.5) will air in January now.
And that link above mentions how as early as next week they may announce if it's coming back for a 2nd Season or not, due to next week (being August) contracts are to expire.
I just mentioned something on imdb about the SyFy channel. Of course they are owned by NBC, who like pretty much any of the large networks, often cancel good shows and replace them with bad ones. SyFy channel in a lot of ways does the same thing. However, the USA Network is also owned by NBC, but unlike SyFy and the parent network, comes up with many good shows and actually RENEWS THEM.
My friend and I have had these rants on our Psych podcast on more than 1 occasion. Why doesn't NBC have the people who run the USA Network also not only take over on SyFy but their own network itself. It's pretty baffling to be honest. As my friend likes to make the analogy, NBC is like a last place Major League Baseball team who has a lot of really good AAA talent, but fails to promote those players to their Major League roster to save their butt. The logic, at least from afar, doesn't make much of any sense at all to us.
I have those movie reviews to post and at least a few blogs about music. I've been catching up on tv of late too. Lost is almost over and Breaking Bad is winding down and close to end of it's season as well. I just am a bit depressed about epic/episodic story-arc tv shows not really being around now with Lost gone. BSG is over already, Caprica is good, but not as intriguing at this stage as BSG was (yet). And Fringe has gotten better, but it's still not Lost or even BSG really. But at least it's gone from watchable to intriguing.
And of course next week is the fall lineup announcements. I suppose along with posting that whole thing (or what is each day by network) it should be worth adding some more of the Summer calendar stuff. When Royal Pains, Burn Notice, White Collar and Psych (along with Covert Affairs) will air. I'm totally behind In Plain Sight still along with Parenthood and V. Hopefully not for long. But also returning this Summer are Warehouse 13 on SyFy and I'm still assuming My Boys, which I guess is the final season with Jordana Spiro starring in a new NBC show I guess next fall/year.
Speaking of, here's a list of shows I hope to see now and/or in the future.
Sellevision: Bryan Fuller fictional show about a home shopping network. It's Bryan Fuller. That's all I need to know.
The Star Wars live-action show: imdb says it's slated for 2011 now. Set between Episode III and IV and it's supposed to focus on the minor characters i.e. not Luke, Leah, Han Solo or even Vader I guess. Just kill off JarJar at least.
Party Down: Rob Thomas of Veronica Mars and Cupid among other work has been doing this show at least for a year. The cast and guest stars are people I really enjoy. It's on the Starz! network which I don't get, but the 1st Season is probably on DVD now and/or online hulu or another site to stream. I along with Daria and some other shows, am going to have to try and make en effort to watch over the Summer.
Undercover: a new JJ Abrams show which is described like a Mr and Mrs. Smith the tv show, or a more serious/dramatic version of Chuck if he was married to Sarah.
True Blood: I may sign up for HBO just for this over the Summer. It returns soon, like maybe even in June.
Bryan K Vaughan has not worked on Lost this season. I'm not sure if his presence would have helped, but so be it. Imdb does list feature length movies for "Y: The Last Man" "Ex Machina" and "Runaways" among others for him. Joss Whedon may be involved in some of those, namely Runaways, which I believe both of them along with a few others were writers. As long as the casting is ok, I'm totally looking forward to those. But Shia LeBeauf as Yorick better not happen in Y: The Last Man.
This is something I wrote one day after work soon after the midseason finale.
The 1st season (or 1/2 season) of this show has been maybe as good if not better than I expected. It is a prequel series, but not being done in such an
obvious way. Connecting the dots so predictably and melodramatically as other ineffective prequels have been done. It is not really BSG -1.0. But at the same time, telling the origin of a mechanical or artificial lifeform, can be interesting, if they avoid cheese. Everything with the holo technology and avatars being alive; and how the 1st cylon found it's way out of the v-world. And being the avatar of the daughter of the co's ceo.
I think the girl who plays Zoe (Alessandra Torresani) is probably the most interesting part of the show, which they cast the right actor to play her. She's both beautiful yet compelling. They are selling, like BSG did, the (AI) Cylon-sympathy.
So now how they're going to tell what she does at Gemenon could be interesting. What is in Gemenon? some scientists working on synthesized bodies? More of how the human Zoe was so brilliant to create a seemingly real copy of herself in the v-world? And what is both James Marsters and the head mistress's relationship to whoever she needs to see at Gemenon. I sense whoever it is, we will learn more of what the human Zoe was going there for, and for good reasons why.
Of course the plot with Daniel Graystone and Vergis keeps heating up. And is Amanda dead? I suppose it could go either way, and it may depend on if the actress decided she wants to continue on the show.
We'll see. Merlin takes over Caprica's timeslot this coming Friday and I imagine it will be on for a number of months. Stargate Universe (blech) , Warehouse 13 (yay!), Eureka (blech) or that Amanda Tapping Sanctuary show may also be aired there. But it's supposed to return for the 2nd half of the 1st season next late Summer/early Fall.
Friday Nights, the night of death if you're a tv show. Somehow we've found bizarro world with this being one-of the busiest nights-of-the-week now. Stuff has been moved and somehow some of the networks have decided to bank on the lower viewership here. Maybe it'll cost them less? People often don't watch tv on Friday Nights because they go out. But in the age of the DVR and online stream/downloads, maybe some of them have decided to throw in the towel and save a little $, by gambling on new shows and more reality shows earlier in the week.
What it means for me is, this is a busy dvr/watching evening, which given some of the Cable shows also air on Fridays, I'm not all that crazy about.
7-8PM
Smallville (the CW 7-8PM Premieres September 25)
So this is now the 9th season of this show, lol. It started out the same fall as Enterprise. That's all you need to know. I mean obviously the writers are trying to eventually get Clark to become Superman and have him hook up with Lois Lane. And gradually they keep killing characters off. Although, Chloe, the one character in the Superman Cannon they easily could, they never have. She is a loved character, and Ally Mack has always been a cutie. But it's surprising. Jimmy is gone, but now we learn he wasn't actually THEE Jimmy Olsen that is part of the Superman lexicon, but the older-brother. Mmmmkay.
This really is the only show on The CW worth watching, even if some of the plots, acting, and stories can be a bit fluffy and lacking. However, the actors are attractive, and if you like the Superman universe, you probably still enjoy it. How much is there left to do before Clark actually is "Superman"? you'd think not a heck of a lot. He hasn't started flying yet I suppose (if he ever will, lol). And the plot with Doomsday ain't over yet of course. I gotta believe it's finally this season Lois will have a more central role on the show. And you'd think they will manage to bring Lex back again, at least a guest.
Also now just reading, it appears Brian Austin Green who we last saw on the now canceled Terminator show, will be portraying John Corben/Metallo. He was good in the Terminator show, so I welcome his appearance here.
Also Callum Blue apparently has been cast to portray Major Zod. Callum Blue I really enjoyed as Mason on Dead Like Me. Now part of that was his british accent/british personality traits and humor. As Zod though, who knows. The accent will probably be gone, and the humor? Perhaps they can write his dialogue a bit like Ray Wise in Reaper. Sure he's evil, but he's charming and thus funny at times. Speaking of Wise, a note about him in another Friday show in Dollhouse.
We'll see. Why they moved it to Friday is puzzling, but it must be some kind of budgeting thing.
Brothers (FOX 7:00-7:30 premieres September 25th) is a television sitcom scheduled to premiere on Fox on September 25, 2009. It will air on Friday nights at 8:00 pm as part of the 2009 fall schedule.
Michael Strahan can act? I like Daryl Mitchell, but if this turns out to be another one of Fox's black sitcoms, I don't know why I'll watch. But who knows, it might be better than most of the other new sitcoms the networks are trying out.
8-9PM
Dollhouse (FOX premieres September 25th)
Well, this show barely survived I guess (and Terminator did not, given the choice I would have gone for the other way around). Eliza Dushku and Joss Whedon reunited again. The premise was unusual, but the story arc actually got me eventually. Echo is a doll like the other dolls, but she is learning. Who the good and bad guys is a bit ambigious. Maybe The Dollhouse actually is a good thing? I do like Tahmoh Penikett who plays the FBI agent Ballard. He was good on Galactica, and also here. And Harry Lennix as well.
I suppose part of this show's fate could be if the story-arc doesn't fall into what happened with Heroes or even just with Buffy in the latter seasons. Can Joss keep it fresh and will the ultimate direction of the show keep the audience intrigued? The ambiguity might be the biggest reason why. Who really is the bad guy here? Echo will bust the Dollhouse, but how and when. Ballard will be involved with them now. And not just that Dollhouse, but all the others that exist across the globe.
EDIT: Ray Wise who was really good as the Devil for 2 Seasons on Reaper, will be guest starring on Dollhousearticle
it looks like Summer Glau from Terminator/4400/Firefly and another Whedon alum Alexis Denisof also will be guest-starring. Ugly Betty (ABC Premieres October 9th)
This show got moved to Friday too. I would like to care about it, and the show has never been bad, but just a victim of my time/interest compared to more appealing shows. I'm totally out-of-the-loop about it, other than the fact Rebecca Romijn is gone for Eastwick, and Tyler Jensen for Accidentally On Purpose. I can't say if or when I'll try and get back into this show, but I wouldn't rule it out.
8-10PM (Cable)
Caprica (SyFy Premieres January 22, 2010)
is a television series set in the fictional Battlestar Galactica universe. Beginning 58 years before the events seen in Battlestar Galactica, Caprica tells the story of how Colonial humanity first created the robotic Cylons, who would later plot to destroy human civilization in retaliation for their enslavement.
The trailers look intriguing. It has Eric Stoltz and Magda Apanowicz (Andi from Kyle XY) among others in the cast. It's the BSG writers. So, why have I not gotten around to watching the 2-hour pilot? Good question, other than I don't feel like paying for it. There is the option of a download of course, even on and in a dark and low resolution monitor.
I will see it. Hopefully SyFy will air the 2-hour pilot soon enough. And hopefully this show will not be an absolute direct prequel to BSG, but instead more of a complex origin of the new BSG story/universe. How did the Cylon race come to be? Have they been in existence for much longer than we figure. They didn't evolve from toasters did they?, lol.
And while it should have some good original characters, it could be nice to off-and-on reference the BSG characters we knew. Their ancestors, and even younger versions of them. Will any of the BSG cast show up? Somehow I think it's inevitable. Perhaps though, they could get Dirk Benedict finally to appear here, as he failed to do so on the recently finished BSG show; maybe have him play like an uncle or father to Starbuck.
No, I'm looking forward to this certainly, it's just a matter of can it come close to the quality of what Ron Moore set from BSG. I hope so. Especially since Warehouse 13 is done; we get another Stargate show, lol ("Stargate Universe" premieres October 2nd, Lou Diamond Phillips is cast) and Sanctuary (new season I guess premieres October 9th)?
This at least seems like SkeeFee's best potential show they got coming up.
Monk (USA network. 8PM Series Finale December 4th, 2009)
It's final season, and unlike the previous 7, it will air all the episodes in succession (more or less) from August through December. Normally they air an 8-episode Summer, and then 8-episode Winter schedule. I'll admit, I never got into this show until I started watching Psych in 2006. But it's grown on me a lot, and I will miss it. Shaloub gets nominated for a Globe and Emmy every year for this. I probably missed them, but he did win 3 Emmy's and 1 Globe, although those were early-on in the show's history (2002, 2003 mostly) which is the trend. He and the show will be eligible again next September for an Emmy again.
What or how will the show end? It's kind of obvious; he solves his wife Trudy's murder. They have been bringing on the big guest stars this final season. Expect to see Sharona return certainly.
Monk isn't entirely done though as the USA Network have a new "Web Series" called "Little Monk" (kind of like Psych's "Little Shawn and Little Gus" except it's live-action), so that is something to look forward to after the finale on December 4th.
White Collar (USA network Premieres October 23rd 9PM)
White Collar is about the unlikely partnership of a con artist and an FBI agent who have been playing cat and mouse for years. Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer), a charming criminal mastermind, is finally caught by his nemesis, FBI Agent Peter Stokes (Tim DeKay). When Neal escapes from a maximum-security prison to find his lost love, Peter nabs him once again. Rather than returning to jail, Neal suggests an alternate plan: he'll provide his criminal expertise to assist the Feds in catching other elusive criminals. Initially wary, Peter quickly finds that Neal provides insight and intuition that can't be found on the right side of the law.
It premieres on Friday October 23rd after Monk, which makes me think Psych will be done at that point. This doesn't look bad, although like every new USA Network show, they promote the hell out of it. I swear I've seen that trailer 100 times already. Matt Bomer was good on Chuck as Bryce Larkin. It also has Tiffani Thiessen, who generally is worth having on a show for eye-candy among other reasons anyway. Tim DeKay looks familiar, but looking at his credits, other than some guest-appearances, nothing stands out from my viewing memory.
Some of the word is this is basically a ripoff of the DiCraprio 2002 movie "Catch Me If You Can" but I don't exactly follow that. The ending perhaps. But also some mention of a 60's show called "It Takes a Thief" which based on that premise, I can follow a little bit more why. But people said Burn Notice was a ripoff of Dexter, Heroes a ripoff of The 4400 and X-Men. Yes and No.
Jeff Eastin is the creator, and his credits on imdb really give no evidence about how good this may be. But sometimes an unknown can be better anyway. Just imagine not knowing of Bryan Fuller with Dead Like Me, Steve Franks with Psych, or J Michael Straczynski before Babylon 5? (who btw, it appears is doing a Silver Surfer movie and Forbidden Planet remake..interesting) hell, even the guy who created Burn Notice, Matt Nix, didn't have a HUGE resume and the show may have been received all the better for that. we'll see, although it does have heavy-shoes to fill as the cliche goes with Psych leaving and then I imagine when Monk is done, Psych will get paired on Friday with this show depending on how many episodes are ordered.
Edit: 14 episodes, so certainly that will go through January.
Or depending on things, we may see what I'd really like is Psych and Burn Notice on Fridays, and then pair White Collar up with Royal Pains on Thursdays. I guess it may depend on how well this show does.
Psych (USA Network airing through October 16th, 2009. Then returning in January 2010)
The best show on tv. Well, close competition from Lost and The Big Bang Theory I suppose. It still is. And I do a podcast for it even. Why is it so good? It's funny, clever, rarely boring, and the plots are always fun and intriguing. It doesn't take itself too seriously, which is the problem with a lot of shows. The pop-culture references are addictive. Gilmore Girls and Buffy did them, Veronica Mars as well. Now it's Psych, and they are probably doing it as well if not better.
What's the story arc? only that he continues to get away with being a fake, but it doesn't matter that he is; what is important is we want him to remain known as a psychic for as long as possible. Dule Hill inconsistently is more funny than Roday I think. Sure, I'd love for him to get more credit for solving the murders; but it doesn't matter. He's funny, and Shawn's not as good without him.
So enough kissing-of-its-ass. With Monk's departure coming up, some big things could happen for Psych I presume/hope. For one, who are the academy/foreign press going to nominate for a Globe and Emmy with no Tony Shaloub for Monk? Come 2011 for the Emmys and Golden Globes we should know. And what show will the USA Network be pimping? I gotta believe it'll be Psych. It'll be the veteran show on their network, and frankly it deserves a lot more recognition from a media-standpoint in Hollywood, and just on their network itself. They air Monk reruns all-the-time, but Psych? Pretty rarely.
We'll see, but I'm optimistic about it's future prospects. It is the heir to Monk, and hopefully it'll reap the same benefits once the father is gone, handing the throne over to the son.
