I read about this book over the weekend in the Chicago Tribune while I was down there visiting family including my brand-new niece. As a pretty big fan of "The Time Traveler's Wife" reading news about this new novel from the same author got me intrigued.
The endurance of love animates this gothic story set in and around Highgate Cemetery, in London. When Elspeth Noblin dies of cancer, she leaves her estate, including an apartment overlooking the graveyard, to the twin daughters of her twin sister, from whom she has been estranged for twenty years. When Valentina and Julia show up to claim their inheritance, they soon discover that Elspeth is still in residence, in ghostly form. Niffenegger’s writing can be wearyingly overblown, but she has a knack for taking the romantic into the realm of creepiness, and she constructs a taut mystery around the secrets to be found in Elspeth’s diaries and the lengths to which she will go to reunite with her younger lover. It’s no small achievement that the revelations are both organic and completely unexpected.
the story sounds appealing enough, and not TTTW Part 2.
It drops on the shelf today I guess, September 29th. I may have to stop in at the library or 1 of the bookstores this evening just to get an idea on price and everything, but as little recreational reading as I do, this may have to be one I make time for in the near future.
Ironic as I am also reading another Bryan K Vaughn novel series "Ex Machina" but that's a bit different I suppose. I also checked out "Snow Crash" again from the library for my trip, but with a portable DVD player and a bunch cheap and free dvds from the library, I never got around to it nor the other Daniel Clowes graphic novel "David Boring." But hopefully I'll find the time in the coming weeks to try and read them along with this new novel "Her Fearful Symmetry."
Also on the leak front, a couple of the large sum of October releases leaked over the past few days.
Transatlantic and Editors. Hopefully comments will come soon.
And "True Blood" I am close to being done with Season 1. It without question is the best Vampire show in awhile, respect to Moonlight. An entry should be coming just on it alone. I'm sucked-in :p and can't get enough of it right now.
also the local 9 baseball club, the Twins, are somehow still in the hunt for the post-season. Playing a double-header today to makeup for a rainout last evening in Detroit. Both teams don't really do a lot for me as for post-season hopes, but with the pressure off (with or without Justin Morneau), it might be nice to have them play in the playoffs without expecting anything.
A mysterious global event causes everyone on the planet to simultaneously lose consciousness for 137 seconds, during which many see what appear to be future memories of his or her life six months later. When it is over, many are dead in accidents involving vehicles, aircraft, and any other device needing human control. Everyone who survived is left wondering if what they saw will actually happen.
Sort of using the "Lost Flashback/Flashforward" as a (loose?) premise. It does have John Cho (Harold and Kumar) and Dominic Monaghan (Lost, Lord of the Rings), and Garbielle Union in the cast, and one of the writers appears to be Brannon Braga whose known for his work in the post-The Original Series: Star Trek. Although in glancing at his credits, he had a lot to do with the worst ST show, the last one, Enterprise. He also was involved with the Brent Spiner failed Scifi show "Threshold." So, while it's nice he has a Scifi background, not all of it is necessarily favorable for his resume to lead me to have hope for this.
Early comments aren't all that wonderful about it. I haven't watched it yet to be fair, but I'm kind of questioning how good this will be, or if it'll even last.
Vampire Diaries
They moved Smallville for this? lol..I skimmed through the 1st 2 episodes and while I have a thing for Vampire shows, the idea of trying to watch a Twilight-inspired Vampire-soap opera with a bunch of junior-college-level actors who belong on the Family channel instead of an actual Network (sort-of) is nauseating. This show has got no stars, no characters I like, and not even the most alluring eye-candy that I can tell. The only time I will consider dvr-ing this is out-of-boredom and desparation for some kind lust. This ain't Forever Knight, Buffy, True Blood, Dracula:The Series, or even Moonlight. It's too bad, there was some talk of bringing on a new "Dark Shadows" to either FOX or the CW.
edit: there may still be!
The last I saw, one of the people cast was going to be Matt Czuchry whose probably best known for playing Rory's Yale-boyfriend Logan, on Gilmore Girls.
But until then, I don't expect much of my attention here. Perhaps if a cool guest-star happens I'll want to watch (fast-fwd to the good parts), but other than that, all this is, is CW's attempt to cash-in on the Twilight-craze. And pretty much all that is, is another Teen Soap with a vampire-story overlay with pretty much no substance, just like Twilight, lol.
At least I still have a lot of "True Blood" to watch (I'm on Episode 5 of Season 1). I'd even go for seeing the Lifetime Network's "Blood Ties" ahead this, really in a heartbeat.
Community (NBC 7-7:30PM on October 13th, 8:30-9PM originally on September 17th)
Community centers on Jeff (Joel McHale), a suspended lawyer who is back in school after his college degree is deemed invalid by the State Bar. The show centers on Jeff's experiences going to community college and the people he meets there. John Oliver plays Duncan, a professor at the community college, whom Jeff represented as a lawyer. He also meets a girl, Britta, who is his main love interest in the series, as well as Pierce (Chevy Chase), an older student who has been married seven times.
This at least has got Chevy Chase, and with the departure of My Name is Earl, a show I felt did jump-the-shark somewhat all-the-way-back to Season 3, this might be the only sitcom on NBC to get my interest. Sorry, I'm not all that crazy about, the every voter-in-the-awards-shows favorite SNL-derived sitcom "30 Rock,".. and "The Office"?....lol, yeah right.
But 2-weeks-in, I haven't caught it yet. But mean to soon enough. Chase wasn't bad on Chuck and some other guest-appearances recently. But let's be honest, his far past his prime/time. He could more-or-less do no wrong in the 80's, but since, he's more or less done nothing good, especially when he was featured. I liked the Naomi Watts indie "Ellie Parker" but while he was good, he barely was in it.
The rest of the cast are names I don't know save for Ken Jeong who I saw in "The Hangover" but really didn't impress me much at all in.
So, I may give this a few episodes, like the ABC sitcoms and Accidentally On Purpose, just to hope to be surprised. It's not like NBC has anything better, nor the other stuff on from 7-8PM either.
8-9PM
Fringe (FOX premieres September 17th)
Well, they didn't renew The Terminator show, but this and Dollhouse instead. While among the 3, at-the-time, this was my 3rd favorite, I still like this show. Is it a bit of X-Files? Sure, does it remind you of Lost, a little bit in some of the creepy, tense scenes. But I think where it distinguishes itself, at least for me, is the humor that Josh Jackson aka Pacey from-Dawson's Creek, and especially John Noble provide, who plays Walter the brilliant scientist with a guilt-ridden past that has lead to his slightly eccentric personality. Almost like someone with a mild case of Asberger's. So, he definitely got me through some of the dark stories and grotesque, graphical work they describe and sometimes show here.
I can't ignore also the job Anna Torv does as the lead, Olivia Dunham. She's hot and a good actor. I won't deny that having a babe with her appeal as the central character gave me reason to keep going back here. Lance Reddick who plays Broiles also has a certain appeal on-screen. He's a very stern actor, whose delivery, voice, and mannerisms, have an unusual quality that I couldn't help but get sucked-in to. Like he adds importance to what he's saying or doing. He was on Lost, but didn't do that kind of speaking. I think this role really fits him.
While I liked this show last season, I kind of neglected it about midway through the year for other shows. But the episodes were still on my DVR all the way until late July when I finally caught up and finished the 1st season. I certainly was glad, as I was shaking my head afterwards why I ever stopped watching it.
There's a potentially interesting story-arc with Olivia's past including seemingly Walter and his partner William Bell whose played by Leonard Nimoy. We have barely seen much of Nimoy thus far, but I'm betting he'll show up around Sweeps period with some decent screen-time. The Star Trek movie experience with JJ Abrams I think got him interested in acting again. It could be Abrams, but it would be nice to see Nimoy do some more acting again, and this hopefully will be the next of many newer roles for him.
In watching the 1st 2 episodes, the Charlie character won't be around much longer obviously. But my guess is that's also something to be resolved during November Sweeps coming up.
This is definitely the best Network show now on Thursday Nights now (maybe I'll give Bones another go as a friend of mine is after many years of finding it too gross), and one of the better Scifi shows still on the air. Hopefully it'll last, although I wouldn't bank on it given Terminator's cancelation last season.
Burn Notice (USA Network midseason premiere January 2010)
This show rules. Clever writing (narrative and dialogue), excellent action sequences, and usually an interesting plot twist to the story. The Summer 1/2-season, while a little different, still worked. Matt Nix and the writing staff are trying a few different things like Fiona getting kidnapped and some clients or people who know more about Michael than others in the past.
I would agree with some of the comments from the fans in that they really should try and invent 1 or 2 new plots or angles to the direction of the show. Sure, the client-of-the-week is usually still worth doing, but perhaps have Michael find new means for his interets beyond getting his name off the blacklist.
Or perhaps have his Burn Notice lifted, have him go back to the FBI and then invent some new civil-conflicts within that. That might explain more as to why and how he was burned in the first place.
I dunno, I can't complain really as the show is never boring. At times I enjoy it ,that-week, more than Psych actually. Bruce Campbell, Gabrielle Anwar, and some the guest stars included.
It's definitely 1 of the best 10 shows on all of tv for me. And it's received some good recognition of late (although still no Emmy nor Golden Globe nominations of course. Jeffrey Donovan alone is extremely good, he deserves a nomination but may never get one). It was renewed for a 4th season recently too. It's future should be interesting to follow, and I am excited to see what the writing staff cook-up for the Winter-Season. Wouldn't be surprised to see Moon Bloodgood return as the cop on Michael's tail. That plot never really did get resolved last Summer.
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.
also a new Steven Wilson interview ^ I saw linked on mp.com I really like the way he describes progressive rock among things. More time, hopefully I'll elaborate on that.
Porcupine Tree's "The Incident" I just noticed debuted at #25 on the Billboard charts. Muse was #1. I'm not sure for how much longer "prog" will be considered underground, lol.
This airs 7:30-8PM on Wednesdays on CBS. This is not a bad sitcom. I say it's "not-a-bad" in that it's not hilarious, but it's also not really boring. I'm not sure entirely why I say that. Jay Mohr and Paula Marshall do work well together as rival ex''s and the writing for the kids isn't annoying. Even their parents are worth watching when they guest star. And like Two-and-a-half-Men, the guest stars, namely the women who Gary dates, gave me more reason to tune-in/dvr this. I actually really liked Vanessa (Jamie King) the girl who played Gary's girlfriend the 1st half of last season, but they sort of faded her character away. Hopefully they'll bring her back again.
Nah,this show was actually a good guilty-pleasure show that I looked forward to each week. Jay Mohr kind of grew on me. If CBS actually were smart, they'd put this on during the missing 1/2-hour on Mondays and they'd pretty much kill for the sitcom audience as they've had 3 viewer-loyal shows for a number of years, but haven't managed to find a 4th to fill the 2-hour timeblock. This would fit-in really well. Perhaps if it's lasts, it'll find it's way there when Two-and-a-Half-Men finally is done. Hopefully sooner than later.
Mercy: (NBC) Doubt I'll watch this. Anothhhhhhhher medical drama. I think this was brought on due to ER's finally getting off the air. Michelle Tractenburg and Kate Mulgrew are noticeable in the cast. Buffy and Star Trek. So where's the Scifi element? About 3 nurses, with a military background. Sounds more like Grey's Anatomy than Fringe. Humor or a cool story would work for me, but I don't really see where that'll be here.
ABC's new sitcoms. The previews and premises don't do much for me, but I wouldn't mind being wrong.
7PM Hank: Kelsey Grammar plays a WallStreet Executive. The creator's credits don't do a lot for me. (premieres September 30th)
7:30 The Middle: Patricia Heaton show, sort of a midwestern Malcolm in the middle.
(premieres September 30th)
8-9PM
Modern Family: Christopher Lloyd stars and created this. Julie Bowen, Ed O'Neil and Sofia Vergara among others. Lloyd I enjoy as an actor, but as a writer? dunno. The previews I caught actually before a movie screening and really didn't do much for me. This is a fictional (of course) mock-Reality show of a Family/s in Suburbia? meh, I wouldn't mind being surprised, but I ain't expecting much even with the cast.
The series is about Jules Cobb, a Florida woman who recently had a divorce and now, with a 17-year old son, decides to find some excitement in her dating life. With the only guy near Jules's age dating barely legal females, she decides to prowl the jungle and comes up with a guy named Bobby. With Jules, however; dating life at her age is suicide.
Cougar Town: This may be the 1 sitcom that I have a bit of hope for among these 4 new sitcoms that in all likelihood, will get pulled for some Reality Show re-runs anyway. Courtney Cox, Busy Phillips, Dan Byrd, Josh Hopkins. And it's about Cougars aka older women who eye younger men. If the writing sucks, it won't matter. the Jerry O'Connell show or even the last Amy Sherman Palladino show had a good cast and premise potentially, but awful writing and so thus they became that way.
Given the other 3's potential to suck, I'm hoping this will stick out and actually be watchable. And a good lead-in to Eastwick.
Glee (FOX) I haven't seen it yet. I like Jane Lynch, and my cousin is involved in the wardrobe selection, but I dunno. The previews left something to be desired. I suppose I hope it continues to air given it's for my cousin's work/and a show (that she enjoys working for I guess).
This Beautiful Life: Another case of an actress I like in Mischa Barton, but it pretty much looks like another 1 of the CW's lovey-dovey teen-soap dramas I am nauseated even thinking of watching. This CW = Clueless Wankers. But I'm failing to even care given every good show they ever bring-on (Veronica Mars, Aliens in America, Reaper) they pull for more of this kind of unwatchable rubbish.
9-10PM
Eastwick
Eastwick is a paranormal drama that airs on ABC. It is based on the movie The Witches of Eastwick and the novel of the same name by John Updike.
cool premise. definitely a good cast: Rebecca Romijn (Pepper Dennis, Ugly Betty), Matt Dallas (Kyle XY), Lindsey Price (Pepper Dennis), Sara Rue and Paul Gross among others.
On Wednesdays until Lost returns in January, i figure this will be THEE show to watch. Cast, premise, if that of course almost-predictable roll-of-the-dice of a movie/old show remake can work. Who knows. The Jack Nicholson/Michelle Pfeiffer movie while a cult-film, could certainly be explored more in-depth.
edit: so it appears both NBC (in 1992) and FOX (in 2002) tried to make a show for this and both failed. So, why did those fail, and why could this succeed? And it's ABC this time, lol. Given this was where Life on Mars aired last Season, it probably won't be back next season. But at least it seems ABC's budget for this will be high enough, they won't have the balls to pull it before it airs at least 13 episodes. I mean we did at least get to see the end of Life on Mars (unlike Pushing Daisies of course).
So like Freaks and Geeks, Firefly, this probably will be worth hanging with all season, even if it's doesn't come back. What happens once Lost returns, who knows. It's ABC, they'll float around a new show into 3 timeslots within 2 weeks sometimes.
Lost
I don't see any official dates for a premiere. But chances are it'll air the 3rd week of January. Eastwick will get moved since it'll be 2 hours. And then Eastwick will either get moved, pulled, or go back-to-back with it.
I haven't written much about Lost (nor Psych actually) which is ironic and almost hypocritical. I think Lost is the most passionate, emotionally and mentally draining show, maybe ever. At least in the last 10 years or so. And when the writing is good, it's really like nothing else. I'm glad that this is the last season though, as they've milked-it, and dragged-it-on for awhile here. Given how many episodes they've done, they would be done by now. But hopefully the questions will be answered, and it won't end like Alias did really (no Rambaldi Prophecy explanation). More along the lines of DS9 and especially Babylon 5. It is the Scifi show of the 2000's. I don't question that. Hopefully it'll conclude to the level that it set for itself the 1st 5 seasons.
I should try and babble-on about it more this season, for the very fact it is it's last season among other reasons. Time, discipline, yadayadayada. And the boards hijack my time.
In looking over the schedule this fall for TV, this night appeared to be pretty much totally open. I.e., like Sunday, really nothing that I planned to watch. Gone are the likes of Gilmore Girls or even Buffy, Veronica Mars, and the last 2 seasons, Reaper. And that was just on The CW.
But in now re-glancing at the schedule, there are a couple of shows that I will be planning on watching now.
Giant spaceships appear over all major cities of the world, the alien "Visitors" claiming to come in peace. As some humans begin to doubt the sincerity of the Visitors, Homeland Security agent Erica Evans discovers that the aliens have spent decades infiltrating human governments and businesses and are now in the final stages of their plan to take over the planet. Erica joins the resistance movement, which includes Ryan, a Visitor sleeper agent who wants to save humanity. However, the aliens have won favor among the people of Earth by curing a variety of diseases, and have recruited Earth's youth, including Erica's son, to serve unknowingly as spies.
Ok, this has got the cast:
Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet on Lost)
Morena Baccarin (Firefly..she was hot in that and fits the role well)
Alan Tudyk (Firefly good on that show and even a guest on Dollhouse last season)
Joel Gretsch (The 4400, should be good to see him as a regular on tv again)
Laura Vandervoot (Kara/Supergirl on Smallville..miss her on Smallville. Not a bad place to land)
Scott Wolf (Party of 5, you know him. Will he be annoying?)
and the premise, if it works like the original 80's version did. I guess the questions I have is can they do with this, what the new Battlestar Galactica did. Take a somewhat classic (modern) Scifi show and adapt to the modern day. And/or can they reinvent/re-imagine it in a new, cool way. They have tried it before and failed (Bionic Woman, Knightrider, The Nightstalker) but also some have worked like BSG or even Smallville in a sense.
I really hope it does, because with Lost in it's final season, BSG gone, Life on Mars and Terminator as well. For big, epic Scifi shows, all we kind of got left is Heroes. Perhaps Caprica and Fringe as well, but this is the main network one. Dollhouse kind of counts as well, but the way this seems and looks, it's in that Lost/BSG vein. I for one have gained a new level of anticipation. I mean c'mon, they even stole Juliet from Lost. I sincerely hope it's worthwhile. Also don't be surprised to see some guest appearances from the original cast ala Marc Singer and Robert Englund.
8-9PM
Better Off Ted (ABC January 2010)
Well according to tviv, this will return to ABC's air at 8:30PM starting sometime in January.
My take on this show is, it at times was funny, but also at times the jokes really didn't work. Portia de Rossi and Andrea Anders weren't bad female stars. And the 2 science geeks were amusing enough. ted, actually may have been the least interesting character.
However, this is with seeing maybe 3 episodes. I have still I think 4 o5 maybe more episodes on my DVR from last Spring, lol. I'm not sure if that says less about the show's quality, or just how low a priority it was to finish watching. Cupid and Castle definitely had me more motivated to watch them. The Unusuals, also fell into this category, and yes, it's still on my DVR. I guess the conclusion is how much I hate ABC for throwing 5 new shows at once at me, when i can barely keep up with 3.
Oh and possibly it's best new show, the Gary Cole/Jeffrey Tambor cast/Rob Thomas-written show "Good Behaviour" uh, = never got a greenlight by the networks. I hate you ABC. I really hayyyyyyyyt you sometimes. Somebody needs to storm into their offices someday and hijack the control room and then air that show, damnit!
Past Life (FOX February 2010)
Based on the novel "The Reincarnationist" by MJ Rose, the series uses the concept of reincarnation to solve present-day mysteries caused by past-life traumas.
This is just a guess, but this might be interesting. Or it might totally suck, like a lot of the shows FOX tries. David Hudgins is the writer and producer, and his credits include Friday Night Lights and Everwood. Blech. But this is Scifi. the cast, while the names aren't really familiar, the faces seem to be kind of.
I dunno, based on history, this very easily may never air, or it'll come on in the Summer. But given how little there is to watch on Tuesdays, this may be something to give a chance to come mid-season when "So you Think You Can Dance" is finally over.
One other thing is, Warehouse 13 of course aired on Tuesday nights this Summer. While I'd be surprised if it's back again until next year (if it all) I guess this along with My Boys are 2 things to sort-of slot-in on Tuesdays. My Boys....edit: it appears My Boys will be back (yay!) but not until the Summer of 2010 (predictably).
A new song will be uploaded to their myspazz in a matter of hours. Here's what they posted earlier this weekend.
Hey guys!
thanks for listening to us, its really good to check out peoples opinions about the material.
we're putting a new track up tomorrow from the album
Its titled ''The Resurgent'' its got a bit more groove in there and is a little different to the other tracks on the album but we wanted this to have variety embeded into it. we've re-written huge parts for tracks like night of the long knives so dont be deceived by seeing the name again, if you want to know anything please ask.
pre-orders for the album will be active as of tomorrow aswell.
with the release on October 12th.
I saw some of you were looking for the split online etc.
the split is only on a clear vinyl (no cd's or digital) but you can get it from the link on our page, if you cant be arsed? which is fair enough...the tracks will also be on the album and we'd really appreciate it if you bought a copy to support us.
thanks for writing though hope you enjoy the album!!!
Paul - TAA
The Echo Verses
1 Dead to Me
2 The Tightrope
3 Desolate
4 The New Face of Revenge
5 Night of the Long Knives
6 The Echo Verse
7 The Resurgent
8 You Cried Wolf
9 The Death of Thieves
10 Solice
11 The Last Rise of the Fallen King
ok, I'm happy to FINALLY see some info. What blows though is exactly what I've been saying for how long? THROW US FANS A MOTHER_FUCKING BONE, mmkay?..is it really so hard? The album drops on October bloody 12th. How many weeks..or for that matter DAYS from now?..where were these details, heck even just news about how close to being done it was..say in May or even July?
It's not them specifically, but the trend and end-of-year procrastinating that pisses me off with so many bands. How many bands we still haven't heard anything about? I probably have a dozen or maybe 2 dozen on my anticipation list. I removed a few, just based on the fact, no news means nothing. But I wish they wouldn't tease us 9months ago and then be completely offline. If you want people to look forward to your music, come online and say something once in awhile. Blech..this rant is too off-topic.
More TV blogs coming soon including maybe a bit of Emmy comments. Podcast maybe as well.
the intro of this new song sounds pretty different than their other stuff. I kind of wonder what this record will be like texturally. Call me a bit more interested now. But I also hope it doesn't have some of those songs that go into cool parts, that ultimately don't leave me quite satisfied, but more teased.
original 7/18/09 2:35AM
So this is the new full-length? album from Russian Circles. Kind of soon after last year's sophomore record. It drops on October 20th
Here's a clip (news and clip borrowed from another blog)
Editorial: 2008's "Station" was frankly, a letdown after the debut "Enter" was such a breath of fresh air. "Station" wasn't by all means, awful or anything, but it didn't flow or leave the same enjoyable impression I got from "Enter." The title track, perhaps my favorite part of it, was somewhat of a tease. There's this 1 section that builds gradually, but never really blows up like it could. They seemed to channel more directly, some of their post-rock influences throughout I recall.
I suppose they are in a bit of a similar spot where Pain of Salvation or Porcupine Tree are, just with less history. 1 less-than-par album is worth not worrying about, but if "Geneva" is more of the traditional Post-Rock stuff; meh, I am going to just lower my interest and expectations for these guys. Time will tell, but I've seen many groups go both ways. "Enter" will always be somewhat of a classic debut, regardless. Although given the choice, Long Distance Calling I'd put ahead of these guys now. But maybe after hearing this new album, I won't.
(no embed available). I caved and went with the 3-disc of "The Whirlwind" and the chance to get Mike studio-chart. I hope it comes close to living up to their other records. Go to Amazon or Radiant Records to pre-order.
I'm not a big fan of Radiant Records, but they had my hands tied with the pre-order. Frankly, I'm not a big fan of pre-order in general, having been burned a couple of times of late with multiple copies and the items arriving many days after the retail street dates. But with this, I will be going after a leak anyway, and hopefully my temptation to look in stores will be an afterthought, even if it actually does appear at Cheapo on 10/27.
Oceansize - Home and Minor the new EP trailer and mostly a long clip for the Feed-To-Feed live Boxed Set that comes out soon. A bit too much for my budget for now. And given I have the audio already on mp3. But perhaps someday, especially if they never are able to get over here and do a tour.
1. Legal Teens
2. Getting Where Water Cannot
3. Monodrones
4. Home & Minor
5. Didnealand
6. The Strand
SHADOW GALLERY, widely considered a major and innovative force within the realms of progressive rock and metal, have returned with their sixth studio effort, "Digital Ghosts". Following up 2005's "Room V" as well as the "Prime Cuts" compilation release of material from previous albums in 2007, "Digital Ghosts" will be released on October 26 in Europe and November 3 in North America via InsideOut Music.
After the tragic passing of lead singer Mike Baker in October 2008, SHADOW GALLERY's new CD introduces new vocalist Brian Ashland and not only sees the entire band once again sharing additional vocal duties but also features guest vocal appearances by Ralf Scheepers (PRIMAL FEAR) and Clay Barton (SUSPYRE) to complement the release. With "Digital Ghosts", SHADOW GALLERY's members Brendt Allman, Carl Cadden-James, Gary Wehrkamp, Ashland and returning drummer Joe Nevolo (who appears on two songs of the record) have focused their powerful energies on creating a seamless blend of progressive, metal, and symphonic rock as a transcendent work of musical art that advances the boundaries of these genres into new directions.
Commented Wehrkamp: "As a band, we are thrilled to have new music to share with everyone. This album is a dedication to our wonderful fans, and also to the memory of our singer and friend Mike Baker.
"We had to deal with a few tragic events during the course of this recording, but pressing on we approached the production the way we always do: Trying to provide our very best. We had a terrific time making this record and hope all the emotion and love we put into it endures, transcends and touches everyone who is ready for it.
"You can expect some shades of a new direction on this record. We had long been trying to incorporate more prog elements and the time was right to stretch out a little bit, while remaining true to the heavy and powerful rock based songs that have been a staple of SHADOW GALLERY since the earliest days."
"Digital Ghosts" track listing:
01. With Honor
02. Venom
03. Pain
04. Gold Dust
05. Strong
06. Digital Ghost
07. Haunted
Thanks for subscribing to the official Fair To Midland email list! We'll try not to spam your inbox with a bunch of crap, but we thought we'd share our newest tour info with you guys. Plus we've got a new teaser video with a taste of what's to come on the new record!
Here's the exclusive tour teaser trailer.. complete with a sneak peak of new FTM music:
Don't miss the Fall '09 Tour! We'll be bringing our friends The House Harkonnen along with us for a night of unforgettable rock!
We'll be playing a ton of stuff from our upcoming new record!
Oct 3: University of Texas at Dallas - Rock The Campus For The Cure: Richardson, Texas
Oct 10: Spicoli’s: Waterloo, Iowa
Oct 12: The Rock: Maplewood, Minnesota
Oct 14: Joe’s: Chicago, Illinois
Oct 16: The Hayloft: Mt. Clemens, Michigan
Oct 17: Machine Shop: Flint, Michigan
Oct 18: Miss Q’s: Ft. Wayne, Indiana
Oct 21: Midtown Music Hall: Chattanooga, Tennessee
Oct 23: Varsity Theatre: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Oct 24: Riverside Warehouse: Shreveport, Louisiana
Oct 30: Clicks: Tyler, Texas
More dates TBA!
For the most up to the minute FTM info, add us on Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace
We love you guys! Hope to see you all very soon!
-Darroh, Brett, Cliff, Jon, & Matt
The Rock again..*rolls eyes*..I can't complain though, even if it's on a Monday. They bring it live every show pretty much, and it's been a little while given how often they've played here. And the new material should be more than worth going-for again. But this tour should confirm that the next LP will be out in all likelihood, 2010. Of course, some words with Cliff should help confirm that.
Let me guess: Far From Falling and Johnmny Rook will open. I'll say no more.
length-ly interview, but not completely boring. Wish they would have asked him more about the new album.
HardTimes.ca conducted an interview with the Raleigh, North Carolina-based progressive metalcore quintet BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME prior to the band's September 8, 2009 concert in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Watch the 15-minute chat below.
Victory's metal focused web platform, VictoryMetal.com, is premiering the first full-length track from "The Great Misdirect", the forthcoming album from BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME. "Obfuscation" is now available for streaming at this location (free e-mail signup required). The nine-minute-and-fifteen-second song is a testament to the technically otherworldly original and proficient musicianship of BTBAM.
An audio teaser for "The Great Misdirect" is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. The CD is scheduled for release on October 27 via Victory Records.
BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME vocalist Tommy Rogers recently told Noisecreep about the group's Jamie King-produced follow-up to 2007's "Colors", "It's definitely a step forward for us, I think. I don't know ... when we write records, we never want to repeat ourselves, and we definitely have done that. So, I was worried when we started writing this record that we were just going to end up with something that sounds like 'Colors', and that's definitely not the case."
According to Rogers, "The Great Misdirect" is "more dynamic than we've ever been." The band, he said, tried "different things" on this record, resulting in a rather equal mix of "mellow stuff and more intense stuff. It's definitely BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME," Rogers added. "That's the coolest thing about our records. No matter what we do, it still sounds like us."
He continued, "It's a little over an hour of material, and it's definitely a lot of music. The thing with us is — yeah, we do have long songs, but we just try to never have a lot of filler. Some bands will have long songs, but half of the song will be a lot of filler. On 'Swim to the Moon' [the last track on the disc, which clocks in at over 18 minutes], there's no downtime. We try to pack everything with music, because we like to give people their money's worth."
I'd add more about the new album and the 2 songs from the sampler, but I haven't listened to them enough. It's funny how on some boards, people are shitting on them. The boards; I've almost come to the point of expecting that people will jump off a bandwagon just to act like they know everything. Like they're smarter and have better taste than everyone else. It's these people who seemingly never will get out of their parents basements and realize whether you say something sucks or not, it doesn't make you look more informed or intelligent in any way, shape or form. All it does, is make you look like you're wasting yours and others time.
Tyler Labine, who was hilarious at times on "Reaper" is the biggest reason to watch this. I swear, the guy needs to work with Jack Black in the worst way. But it's not going to air until March or April unfortunately.
other than this show, pretty much everything on Sundays on Network TV sucks.
Come March:
Breaking Bad returns on AMC. It's 3rd Season. tv.com imdb
and presumably in April again, In Plain Sight could return. Although that's assuming it's going to have the same schedule it did this past season, and not a 8-episode Summer/8-episode Winter schedule like Monk, Psych, and Burn Notice.
Also the Ian McKellen/Jim Caviezel remake of the popular 60's BBC series "The Prisoner" comes to AMC sometime in November. Considering it's a mini-series, it'll probably end up airing like every night over 1-week.
How I Met Your Mother. (CBS 7-7:30PM) premieres 9/21
Still one of the most consistently well-written sitcoms on tv. And after 4-seasons, the media and networks are finally giving it the credit it deserves. Neil Patrick-Harris as Barney is worth watching in this every week. What is up with Season 5? Not sure, but I would imagine they'll bring Alyson Hannigan back more regularly. For some reason she was MIA for a good portion of the 2nd half of last season.
edit: apparently she had her 1st baby last March, so maybe that explains some of it.
Why this was moved to 7PM and Big Bang Theory got bumped out until 8:30PM is strange, other than perhaps the network is trying to help the new Jenna Elfman show and figure it'll be a stronger lead-in. I wouldn't be surprised by mid-season the TBBT/HIMYM 7/7:30 lineup comes back.
Accidentally On Purpose (CBS 7:30-8PM) premieres 9/21
Accidentally on Purpose will follow Billie, a San Francisco movie critic in her 30s, who gets pregnant after an affair with a man named Zack (Jon Foster) who is in his 20s. To make matters more complicated, Billie has decided to keep both her baby and her new beau. And on top of that, she just broke up with her boss, James, who wants to resume their relationship after being humiliated.
Thanks to this unexpected arrival, Billie and Zack have agreed to live together platonically. While Billie receives encouragement and advice from her party girl best friend Olivia and her conventional younger married sister Abby, she also has to deal with Zack's freeloading friend Davis, among others, when they start turning her place into a frat house, leaving Billie to question whether she's living with a boyfriend, a roommate, or if she just has a second child to raise
meh, despite her Scientology, I do or rather have always liked Jenna Elfman. She's pretty similar to Lauren Graham or even Christina Applegate in her sarcastic yet witty sense of humor. Those clips and this premise might work. They got the Scottish chic from Ugly Betty, Ashley Jensen, and Grant Show if I recall from Melrose Place back-in-the-day.
I suppose this show is a bit like Gary Unmarried; doesn't seem amazing, but compared to the other stuff on, it looks Emmy-worthy. And compared to many of the other sitcoms CBS has aired in recent years (Christine show, Rules of Engagement, Worst Week), this may have some legs. I still question it being in the 7:30 time-slot, and predict by mid-season it's either off-the-air or moved to 8:30PM.
Heroes (NBC 7-8PM)
So NBC, the 3rd (last) place network pulls Chuck until mid-season and bumps maybe it's best (only good) show up an hour. Are they desperate? Who knows, but the fact is, the audience for Chuck and Heroes, while might have been similar, it wasn't the exact same demographic. So this might be an experiment that'll work or utterly fail. People are not going to be happy Chuck will be gone. And the Heroes audience might have to forgo what they normally like to do/watch at 7PM for this. or of course those who have DVRs or watch these online won't change.
Bryan Fuller's return last season in the middle after the sad departure of his short-lived ABC Dramedy "Pushing Daisies" and I thought at times really helped some of the writing for Heroes. However, I recall reading something about how he won't be back again? He's talked about wanting to do a new Star Trek show and now reading, something with Comic-Book adaptation director Bryan Singer called "Sellevision." although according to that link, it's not supposed to air until 2012. So he very well may be involved with some of their writing this upcoming season.
But in terms of the story-arc of the show. What's up with Sylar? Will there be more back-story about that earlier generation? I'm not sure what to think. This show teases me, and then pisses me off. They've done way too much with time-lines and other shit that can ruin good stories. I'm also not sure what the ultimate goal is or how the story might end. Do they lose their powers? Are people with powers eventually the norm? Admittedly, watching Hiro and Ando is 1/2 the reason to tune-in to this every week. Maybe they'll bring back Malcolm McDowell again, or maybe better, bring Patrick Stewart on as a guest. They had Worf aka Michael Dorn as the president, why not Jean-Luc Picard/Dr. X? "Yes, Mr. Worf, beam me down to Earth in the year 2009 so I can fix this crappy television show called Heroes"
8-9PM
Two and a Half Men (CBS 8-8:30PM) premieres 9/21
The show is still worth watching, even if it's rehash to a point. Honestly, I think the female guest-stars..and guest-stars in general are the reason I still watch it. Given Melanie Lynskey is a regular guest as Rose, it won't happen, but it would be great if her "Heavenly Creatures" co-star Kate Winslet made an appearance on here sometime. Lynskey btw, also is in that new Matt Damon picture "The Informant" which I may try seeing next Tuesday.
I also wonder if they might try and bring James Spader on to guest-star given Boston Legal is now over, and he appears with Jon Cryer again in "Shorts." Of course the 2 maybe are best known together from 80's John Hughes/Molly Ringwald Brat-Pack movie "Pretty In Pink." And for that matter, why not Ringwald as well. What the hell is she doing now anyway? "The Secret Life of an American Teen" lol..the show that killed Kyle XY, lol. How ironic.
Given how the Monday 8PM hour has lightened a bit, I may not be DVR-ing this show, at least in the fall. Which when it was up against Heroes and Kyle XY, I often had to. Which might be nice given this show's last little segment always got cutoff by my DVR's blocked program. It frequently would run into 8:30, which shouldn't matter really, but got rather annoying over-and-over again.
Hehe. Jim Parsons is gold on this show. And the entire cast and writing really, always work. I wish this show could be on every night of the week. It's that good. It's the best show on tv, period. Psych and Lost, ok. Psych namely, but this makes so much with so little. It may go down historically with Cheers, Beavis and some others..Freaks and Geeks, as one of the funniest, most well-written tv shows of all-time if it holds up. Granted, it's only 2-seasons in, but I'm coming along for the ride for as long as it lasts. if there is a shark, maybe they'll analyze it's motivations before even consider jumping it.
Raj is hilarious. And they should get the East-Indian actor from "Aliens in America" to guest-star as like a younger brother or something. He played David Spade's assistant for a few episodes on the CBS sitcom "Rules of Engagement," it would make some sense.
When will Leonard hook up with Penny? that may be the only shark-jump of a sort for the show. It will happen, but for example, How I Met Your Mother survived when Ted and Robyn hooked up and then ended.
As I wrote above, the 8:30PM time-slot I predict will not last. This belongs at 7PM, we'll see. Do I think some of the audience will jump-ship? Maybe a little, but some of the Heroes audience will come aboard perhaps along with some of the Two-and-a-half-Men viewers. Same writers actually, which is kind of surprising given how much better a show this is. And perhaps with some of the Emmy nods will help it too.
Heck, maybe a crossover at somepoint. Neil Patrick-Harris and his Lasertag/Star Wars love should appear on here. Kind of like the Psych/Monk crossover, it almost NEEDS to happen.
9-10PM
Castle (ABC 9-10PM) premieres 9/21
Like Eli Stone the year before, this show worked for a short-run last Spring on ABC. So did Cupid, but that wasn't as fortunate. Although Nathan Fillion has a history of being on good shows that get canceled early in their time. So, if this is still on the air next Spring, let alone a year from now (or even as a 2011 mid-season replacement) I'd be surprised.
Fillion and Stana Katic were both good here. Enough clever yet subtle humor with the murder mystery of the week. Sure, that's been done before, but the author-angle and those 2's chemistry made this work pretty well. Given the casualties on Monday nights over the last few years, this by default, I regard as a valued show. Whether it sustains it's quality or gets better, who knows. Fillion is pretty much worth watching no matter I find. Firefly, MissMatch, Dr. Horrible, etc. This is no exception.
Monday Night, over the last 2 or 3 years, has been one clogged-up, overly jammed night of tv. And while it may still be as busy as any evening during the week, it's not quite as filled as it was the past couple of seasons.
Mid-season: We do get the return of Chuck thankfully, and some new NBC show called "Day One" which I may checkout. But overall mid-season and this Fall, there's much less thankfully.
One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, House, the Law & Order and CSI's that the networks trout-out, I couldn't care less about. "Lie to Me" I wasn't impressed by, even though I like Tim Roth as an actor. They brought that back, and didn't bring back the Terminator show of course, lol. The Cable shows and mid-season replacements might add more to this evening, but "Trust Me" "Kyle XY" are done; and of course a show like "My Boys" future is a bit too vague, or even when it'll air. SyFy's "Caprica" appears to be a Friday time-slot starting January 22nd, which makes sense.
