Thanks for the link. I'm psyched for Amy Ackers' The Unit, and anything with Gina Torres. But a soccer mom?? That's one bad-assed soccer mom.

BTW, just saw a snapshot of Gina with husband Lawrence Fishburne at a cafe in Paris. It was in a trashy mag i flipped through at a salon...US Weekly, i think. (I know, i know. Resist.) First of all, didn't know they were married. Fun. And second, it's rare that it's our Whedonverse actors who are caught by photogs when they're just doing their thing, and are featured trying to just live their lives. Gina looks so uncomfortable; it made me feel jerky for even looking, and it made me abhor the practice even more than usual, because it was one of my BDH. Sadly, this kind of intrusion could be in store for all of our friends if Serenity soars.

barest_smidgen | May 07, 20:40 CET

She also mentions (and loves) Kitchen confidential, which is Nicholas Brendon's new pilot.

Storyteller | May 07, 20:50 CET

Soccer Moms sounds REALLY good, as does Kitchen Confidential (anybody else find it ironic that both men in the latter show played the same sort of role in their previous action shows? Buffy-Xander, Sydney-Will? I digress...) The Unit I'm not too keen on, but Amy's in it, so I MUST WATCH. :-D.

Emma Frost | May 07, 21:41 CET

I wish Gina, Nicholas and Amy great success with their respective pilots.....

barest-smidgen, I had the good fortune to speak with Lawrence Fishburne - hold on, heart palpitations coming on! - for a good while some years ago while we were both in an Air New Zealand airport departure lounge in the wee hours of the a.m. at Honolulu airport. There were only three of us there - Lawrence and my friend and I. He couldn't have been (a) nicer, (b) taller, (c) more handsome. A stunning man and a stunning actor. He said he was on his way to visit his girlfriend/fiancee who was doing some work down under. This was right around the time that the Matrix Reloaded (?) was being filmed in Australia. (I think Gina also did some TV work in either Australia or NZ?) He was visiting Gina! (Does this mean I'm three degrees of separation from Joss Whedon?! Wow.) At the time Gina was barely a blip in the public radar. I didn't know who she was. Now? And after Serenity? And being married to the divine Mr. Fishburne? Yup, the public eye might get a little too much. I hope it ends up being a good experience for her. I hate those intrusive paparazzi and their cheesy stolen photo ops, too.

phlebotinin | May 07, 21:45 CET

Oh, phlebotinin. What a happy, happy accident to fill the time during your delay! That's a great story. He really seems like an interesting guy.

I'm just starting Alias from Netflix, since there's nothing left on T.V. that I enjoy...and just got to an episode with Gina in it. This link, plus the magazine, plus your Kevin-Bacon-game connection...I feel like it's Gina-palooza week.

Edited to add: of course, it goes without saying that the Serenity screening kicked off Gina-palooza.

[ edited by barest_smidgen on 2005-05-07 20:06 ]

barest_smidgen | May 07, 22:06 CET

Who is Scott Foley and what has he done? Is NB definitely involved with Kitchen Confidential? I'm surprised she didn't mention him.

marmoset | May 07, 22:15 CET

Scott Foley was Noel on Felicity, and he was married to Jennifer Garner for a few years. He was also a reoccurring guest star on Scrubs last year.

LilaBramble | May 07, 22:30 CET

Gina Torres and Laurence Fishburne were married the week that "Out of Gas" was produced. If you listen to the Firefly director's commentary, you learn that the reason Zoe is knocked unconscious the majority of the episode is so Torres wouldn't have to work the full week. So when you watch that first scene where Mal is showing Zoe the new ship he just bought? In the back of the actress' mind she was saying to herself, "Oh my gawd! I'm about to marry Laurence Fishburne! What the hell am I doing here on a soundstage! I have to go get ready!" This should make us appreciate all the more, Gina Torres' paramount professionalism in the face of a personal life going all happily higgledy-piggledy.

Back on topic; here's my knee-jerk reactions to Kristin's reactions...

Pepper Dennis probably won't make my radar.
Everybody Hates Chris might give me a reason to watch UPN. I'll probably catch the pilot at least.
My Name is Earl has Jason Lee in it, so I'll be there.
Soccer Moms will get my attention solely because Gina Torres is in it. However, if it's ANYTHING like Desperate Housewives I won't be able to hang. I may be the only person on the planet who doesn't understand the fascination with that tripe.
The Commuters has Jeri Ryan (plus!) and David Arquette (minus!) which is a draw, but again if it's a DH ripoff, I may not even tune in.
Kitchen Confidential is on FOX, and I don't start new series running on Fox out of principle. If it's good, they'll only cancel it. If it's bad, I would have wasted my time, so anything on Fox is lose/lose for me.
The Unit sounds like a CSI/NCIS ripoff, but Acker's in it so I'll probably give it a chance. I like CSI so who knows?
The Catch and What About Brian gets a "huh?" and a "what?" from me, respectively.
Arrested Development is on Fox, so I don't watch it.
Jake in Progress is Stamos, and a lame premise. So I don't watch it.
Eyes don't watch.
The Office and Carnivale are on cable so I don't watch. Am considering getting Carnivale on DVD via NetFlix but haven't decided yet.
American Dreams is purposefully heart-puppet drivel. I refuse to give it the time of day and wish it would curl up and die already.
Scrubs I hate it the few times I did watch it, though they suckered me in when they had Michael J. Fox on for two episodes. That worked for me, but the rest of the eps I've seen make me wince.
Veronica Mars gets my attention on rare occasions when there's nothing else on. I'm growing to reluctantly appreciate it for what it is, but the intended target audience obviously doesn't include me. I wish they'd spend more time on Veronica's father, cuz it seems his life is more interesting, but then I can relate with that guy better than his daughter, since I'm not an adolescent female suffering from remorse over being date raped a year ago. I mean, I just can't relate to her, but a divorced male facing middle age trying to put the pieces of his life together? I can relate there.
The Bachelor, The Contender, The Swan, Life on a Stick, The Starlet, Committed, Quintuplets, and anything with Paris Hilton in it Kristin's right on all counts. Kill. Absolutely. Terminate With Extreme Prejudice. I'd add American Idol to that list, but I fear nothing short of three well-aimed bullets can kill that juggernaut of juvenile delinquency.

All the other shows I want to see die:
Crossing Jordan I love her but she's had her struggle and it's time to let her cross over. This past season has been CSI Lite with a side order of Vegas. Which brings me to:
Vegas Die. Die. Die. Die. Shallow plots to give the girls excuses to walk around in clothes that threaten to fall off them at any moment. Throw in some sex and you'd have a porn show. Too bad it's not on cable. Then you'd have something. Otherwise it's an hour of tease. Who needs that?
Law & Order: blah blah blah I never liked this cookie cutter franchise so replace these twelve hours a week with something I might actually watch.
CSI Miami and NY The yellow and blue filters give me a headache, and are there to hide the fact that with the exception of the talent and location (and colored filters), it's the same damn show as the original CSI, which still kicks ass. Keep CSI 'Vegas' and kill any other show with either CSI or Vegas in the name.
Anything on FOX, in fact if terrorists chose to target all of Fox's television stations nationwide with suicide bombers, I'd be hard pressed to shed a tear over it.
Extreme Makeover Home Edition just makes me cry every time I watch it, so I don't watch it anymore cuz I'm a guy and guys don't cry over underpriviledged families getting their homes bulldozed and rebuilt.. *sniffle* So I can't stand it anymore.. *tears up* Although it is a well made show. *choke* If they'd keep doing this for people but stopped turning it into an hour long commercial for Sears... *bawls like a baby* Okay keep it on and help those poor people but I'm still not gonna watch it no more!
ER, House and Grey's Anatomy If I see one more hospital dramadie in my TV Guide I might just scream.
Cold Case is cold. Boringly cold. Like a meat locker.
Without A Trace needs to disappear.
Charmed Please for the love of God put this thing out of its misery!
Steve Harvey's Big Time needs to curl up in a fetal position and be removed from existence with as little fanfare as possible.
Star Trek Enterprise wore out its welcome for me two years ago. I'm surprised it's lasted as long as it has.
The King of Queens Oh my God is this STILL on the air? KILL!
UPN's entire Monday night lineup will not be missed by me when it's gone.
7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls and Everwood are glorified soap operas that make me wanna puke my guts out.
Everybody Loves Raymond Thank God that's over. It was like having my ex-wife's family over every week.
ABC's entire Tuesday night lineup I like Jim Belushi, but not enough to tune in to a formulaic sitcom more than a few times. I don't think I've ever even watched George Lopez or My Wife and Kids cuz I don't like George Lopez or Damon Wayans. At least Home Improvement occasionally had tolerable writing, but this formula no longer works. For that matter, Eight Simple Rules has been given kid gloves after John Ritter passed away. Has enough time passed for this show to die without people taking it the wrong way? That the only reason it was any good at all was John Ritter? Can we say that now without feeling guilty?
All of us and Eve ..whubba who?
Dr. Phil is a fraud and a walking joke.
Alias is totally unbelievable and really needs to die already. I can't even watch the commercials anymore - this last episode they were going to have Sidney portray her father's WIFE? Isn't that incestuous or something? Gross!
Dateline NBC and Prime Time Live Do people actually watch this crap?
Survivor: Anywhere, Amazing Race 8, Supernanny, America's Next Top Model, The Apprentice and anything that is a game show which pretends to be something other than a game show. Die. Die. Die. Die. With the possible exception of Celebrity Mole cuz that was funny. Fear Factor KNOWS it's a game show so it can stay.
Kevin Hill barely hit my radar and the premise sounded lazy. Although I hear Christina Hendricks is in it now and she makes anything she wears look like you wish she weren't wearing it. So if this show survives the fall I might tune in once.
Smallville jumped the shark when Lois Lane showed up. I've barely given it lip service since. Started off strong though. The first two seasons were a great ride.
Joey is so sad. I had great hopes for that one. The talent's strong, but the writing is weak and the premise is sour. It's like they don't know where they're going with it and they have no plot arc in mind. Joey makes Ellen Degeneres' attempt at a sitcom look like a success.
WWF Smackdown I honestly think UPN's network execs are on some major drugs.
Blind Date, Elimidate, Cheaters and any of those terrible syndicated 'boy meets girl and things go horribly wrong' crapola shows. COPS can die too. Just seeing five seconds when channel jumping makes me break out in hives.
Desperate Housewives can't become a flash in the pan soon enough for me.
And did I forget to mention EVERYTHING ON FOX?


KEEP (in order of importance):
Crime Scene Investigation (Vegas only)
Numb3rs (great writing, acting and seems to be going somewhere)
Medium (premise is rocky and acting varies, but it keeps me guessing and doesn't suck)
Lost (weird. unpredictable. Not too sappy. I'm curious where it's leading)
NOVA (that's a given)
Frontline (can't imagine television without it)
pretty much everything else on PBS (I really should send them money)
Fear Factor (love it but for all the wrong reasons)
Joan of Arcadia (third season arc may breathe new life into it. Worth one more try.)
West Wing (big maybe. Depends on if Alan Alda comes back at all)
Two and a Half Men (hey it's funny! Stupid, but funny!)
America's Funniest Home Videos (Again. Stupid funny!)

[ edited by ZachsMind on 2005-05-07 22:04 ]

ZachsMind | May 07, 23:45 CET

The only show I really want to see die at the moment is Charmed, I just really hate it with a fiery passion.

Disagreed with some of what ZachsMind said. I want Arrested Development to come back, and I wish Fox would just tell us whether it is or not already. I want Family Guy to continue, American Dad shouldn't exist, as it's so similar to his other show I feel it was just a way for Seth MacFarlane to get Family Guy back on the air without really bringing it back, who would have ever guessed they'd uncancel Family Guy. I could never wish death upon The Simpsons but it's time really has come.
I had incredibly low expectations for Joey, but it has improved, a lot of people that I've spoken to reckon you have to give it a chance, as it's gotten a lot better, glad it's coming back. I reckon the people that hate it are the people that expected it to be as good as the best episodes of Friends.
8 Simple Rules is harmless, and usually funny, it's a completley different show now that it was while John Ritter was alive, I wouldn't be all that upset if they cancelled it, but I'll watch it till they do, same attitude towards King of Queens, and Smallville (which I feel only really got good in year 3, too much freaks of the week in the first two).
Alias, despite it's weak beginning this year, I probably still consider to be my favorite TV program on the air, and since the two parter it's been as good as it ever has, the cliffhangers are back, Rambaldi's back, and it really is a shame they had to do away with them for the first 2 months to get new viewers.
The rest I wouldn't mind seeing dieing, but they'll probably all keep going longer than the shows I watch.

Scrubs is excellent, but I feel next year may be it's last, same with Veronica Mars if it's ratings don't pick up.
I am a little worried about how long Lost can keep going, as I do feel it's a show that could very easilly become crap if they don't handle it properly.

Ghost Spike | May 08, 00:11 CET

"I want Arrested Development to come back, and I wish Fox would just tell us whether it is or not already" THAT! Right there! That's why I don't watch anything on Fox. Even if the world says I'm missing out, cuz Arrested Development is supposed to be so fantastic. It's on Fox. Fox has no clue what their audience wants, doesn't seem to want to care, and refuses to politely keep their audience in the loop as to their direction or progress. So anything on Fox is tainted by affiliation. There's just too many shows over the years that just as I started liking them, Fox took them off the air. With the possible exception of X-Files which I liked from the start, and lasted about four years longer than I thought it should have. Pretty much everything else, from Ally McBeal to Firefly, if I started liking it, it was gone. Their animation shows are their only saving grace now, but I resist the temptation to tune in cuz at this point I just want Fox to die so I can believe there is a karmic justice in the universe. Simpsons shoulda bit it about five years ago, but they cling to it like a liferaft. Futurama, again is another show I just started paying attention to when they killed it. I hate Fox.

I was kinda hoping Joey would be a slightly more intelligent American version of Rowan Atkinson's Bean. Joey's not THAT stupid, but pretty close. I didn't want to see him surrounded by a fluctuating and forced supporting cast. It shoulda just been him trying to make it on his own and completely alienated by anyone around him, making you wonder why he's still breathing. That woulda been funny. I think the problem is not that people were expecting it to be Friends, but that the producers are trying to make it Friends. Lucy Liu was a good casting choice. Again, the acting talent's there. The producers just haven't a clue where to go with it, and the writers force the comedy and the plot development. That Emmys show awhile back where Joey got stuck in traffic is a prime example of what I'm talking about.

If and when Lost tanks, it's going to be a beautiful train wreck. So, sink or swim, it's still worth watching. I don't see how they can write themselves out of the corner they're now heading towards, and they haven't even gotten to the corner yet. X-Files was like that in the latter seasons that still had Duchovny and Anderson. After they left, it just went to hell, but up until then it was a glorious train wreck. I'm predicting the same for Lost. At this point the only real solution would be for them to explain as little as they can get away with, then I wanna see them kill off more people over the course of the next season, and then have ANOTHER plane crash at the end of next season with a whole new cast to intermingle with the remnants of the old one. That'd shake things up. The show will have probably tanked by then, but what a train wreck!

ZachsMind | May 08, 00:55 CET

Boo. Zachsmind, I love Alias, this week's episode was the best one ever! Yes, the one with Sydney having to pretend to be Jack's wife. I loved it because it revealed how Jack was before he became cold and hardened. It wasn't incestous at all and fit the plot which by the way was out of sight and all twisty and caught me off guard. Awesome acting by all involved! Give Victor Garber a emmy already.

eddy | May 08, 01:05 CET

ZachsMind, I agree with your concerns about Lost derailing. Hopefully they know what they're doing. I just hope it doesn't become like Alias with the ridiculous plots. My disbelief is easily suspended but Alias is too ridiculous even for me.

Two and a Half Men is stupid, but it's even funnier than it is stupid. Cryer and Sheen work great together.

My greatest point of agreement with you is Christina Hendricks: Awesome!

jaynelovesvera | May 08, 01:23 CET

ZachsMind - The Office is actually on NBC, not cable.

eddy - I thought the last episode of Alias was really good, too, but this season's been somewhat mediocre overall. Better than the last two, but nowhere near as good as the brilliant first season.

I'm pretty upset that Eyes is on the verge of being cancelled. It's the second-best new show of the season, after Veronica Mars. But The Unit seems like it'll be a must-watch show, so I have my hopes up for that one.

Invisible Green | May 08, 01:36 CET

House is ace, I love it. Finally I get to see a grumpy old bugger as the lead on mainstream US telly.

Simon | May 08, 01:42 CET

I watch House for House and House only. He makes up for the lackluster characters around him 100%. Well, his boss is pretty cool.

April | May 08, 01:45 CET

I agree completely about the Fox network, unless a show is both critically adored, and is immediately coupled with great ratings, they treat it terribly. Futurama was brilliant, and yet Fox treated it like complete crap, when they finished it should have been when they started to think about cancelling The Simpsons and making Futurama the main part of their Sunday evening schedule, but they didn't. Some of the worst treatment of a show ever, that they somehow managed to air 4 seasons as 5. If you listen to some of the commentaries they mention that the show was always supposed to be 1000 years ahead,but they just stopped doing that because they could never tell when Fox would actually get around to airing it.

Though I've never really taken to the show, I will be very happy if Fox lose 24 to NBC.

[ edited by Ghost Spike on 2005-05-07 23:55 ]

Ghost Spike | May 08, 01:50 CET

I was watching some of the BBC 'best sit-com' series and Hugh Laurie was interviewed for one of them. He was *almost* as grumpy and cynical as his character in House. Fabulous.

Caroline | May 08, 01:58 CET

Well if they ever make Ripper, lets have Hugh Laurie play Giles' brother.

Simon | May 08, 02:07 CET

in fact if terrorists chose to target all of Fox's television stations nationwide with suicide bombers, I'd be hard pressed to shed a tear over it.

Can we wait until The Inside completes a successful 5 year run, please?

Allyson | May 08, 02:21 CET

That premieres in august right? I saw another commercial for it during OC.

eddy | May 08, 04:38 CET

The only thing I can think of on FOX that I watch is House and that's due entirely to Hugh Laurie. The man is brilliant!

killinj | May 08, 04:45 CET

ZachsMind said:
Soccer Moms will get my attention solely because Gina Torres is in it.

In addition to Gina, Kristin Davis (Sex & The City) is a big draw for me. She was probably the most underappreciated of the four actors on that series, mostly 'cause she played the more polite traditionalist to the other three's considerably more liberal ladies. Not doing the series any pre-premiere favors are the writers' past credits...Alf, Highlander: The Series, and Highlander: The Raven ? Ehhh..

I may be the only person on the planet who doesn't understand the fascination with [Desperate Housewives].

Some people would say the same about the CSIs, but what's so hard to understand about the appeals of massive mainstream blockbuster TV shows? In the case of Desperate Housewives, for all its soapyness (and for many that's a huge draw--some of us like the occasional trashy drama), the series has some fantastic actors and the dialogue is often very sharp. It's also flat-out hilarious sometimes. It's just entertaining. I figure it has the same allure as something like CSI. Some shocking surprises and a drama you don't need to think real hard about. And like CSI, it's beautifully shot as well. But I can watch DH and not CSI 'cause DH has a lot more heart and I like that there's a story arc. Prefer a soapy prime time drama over a procedural med/cop/lawyer drama any day.

Arrested Development is on Fox, so I don't watch it.

Friend recently lent me the Season 1 DVDs. Very funny (it's not Friends-style sitcom humor though, and there's no laugh track, so I'm sure it's not for everyone). Needs to be seen from the beginning since it's kind of arc-y and jokes build on what's gone before. At the very least, it's worth a look on DVD since there'll be two seasons for sure available, more if Fox renews it.

Am considering getting Carnivale on DVD via NetFlix but haven't decided yet.

Couldn't go wrong with Carnivale Season 1 for summer viewing. Now Season 2 on the other hand...eh, so much of how I feel about Season 2 is tied up in whether or not HBO renews for a much-needed Season 3...If Season 2 is the end, all that build up was entertaining and incredible to look at, but ultimately worthless.

Star Trek Enterprise wore out its welcome for me two years ago. I'm surprised it's lasted as long as it has.

Well, Season 3 was arguably a hell of a lot better than Seasons 1 and 2 (maybe three or four quality episodes total among those first 48), so it sort of deserved to continue if only to see if it could get even better in Season 4. Reactions seem to be mixed on whether or not Season 4 is an improvement. A huge part of the problem with the series for me is the captain. Scott Bakula may've once been a well-loved actor for Quantum Leap, but his Captain Archer just sucks horribly. That's not entirely on his shoulders, the writers, especially the showrunners, are hugely at fault as well.

...Everwood glorified soap operas that make me wanna puke my guts out.

Having recently seen Everwood Season 1 on DVD...gotta say, it's probably the least-false-feeling non-genre drama I've seen in...forever (not counting cable series). I can't vouch for anything after the first year, but Season 1 contained damned good acting and some pretty affecting plots. Everwood dealt with the long-term effects of losing a parent just as well as Six Feet Under or Buffy or any other series you can think of where it was handled well. I watched the pilot when it premiered on The WB a few years back and took a pass on it. Dunno why I was unimpressed, but the season as a whole on DVD was a great viewing experience. It's a shame there're no plans to release Season 2 'cause I'll probably never see it otherwise.

Smallville jumped the shark when Lois Lane showed up. I've barely given it lip service since. Started off strong though. The first two seasons were a great ride.

Not sure what qualifies a show for having "jumped the shark", but if you're basing your opinion on Smallville fucking with Superman continuity...well, I'm sure you realize it was never in-continuity what with Clark Kent and Lex being friends in their younger years before being enemies and all. The Lois thing was a shameless, completely unnecessary attention-getter, but by the time Season 4 rolled around I had long gotten over how insipid most of this show's storylines are. I don't think the show was ever strong, certainly not in its first year. Season 2 showed a lot of promise, but they dropped the ball hard. It is and always has been complete genre fluff and I never expect anything more from it than to entertain me a little, maybe let me laugh at some of the ridiculousness on screen. But it's gotten real boring. Hoping The WB doesn't renew it so I can let it go. There are a few actors in the mix who're obviously talented though, I almost forgot to give it credit for that.

Joan of Arcadia (third season arc may breathe new life into it. Worth one more try.)

Oh thanks for the reminder. Season 1 is out on DVD soon, finally gonna get a chance to check it out.

Depending on how the season ends, I might be switching to DVD-only for Lost next year. I mean I'm hooked, no question, it's got me. But if the main island arc moves this slow next season...Yeah, it's gonna depend on how well they end this initial year, how much pay-off they give us for paying attention for this long. I like the flashback format for character-building, but I'm not sure they'll be able to get away with doing that in every episode again from now until the end of the series...

[ edited by Kris on 2005-05-08 02:49 ]

Kris | May 08, 04:46 CET

That premieres in august right?

I'm betting much earlier, like June, or they wouldn't have promos up this early. I expect them to put the premiere dates on promos during season finales of the current FOX lineup.

Allyson | May 08, 05:02 CET

Charmed writer meeting topic: "OK, how can we get Alyssa in as little clothes as possible and blame it on something magically"?

The kid on 2 1/2 Men cracks me up. He makes that show funny! I saw taped live, he has a wonderful "clown around" relationship with Cryer. Sheen just seemed like an ass.

Harmalicious | May 08, 09:00 CET

Which writers from Highlander, the series are working on Soccer Moms? I liked some of the writing on that show. They tried to do some interesting things.

newcj | May 08, 18:58 CET

Eddy
Alias' plot arc design is worse than BBC's Doctor Who series, and half as believable. The casting is for fashion magazines, not television. You can love Alias all you want, but that doesn't change the fact it's crap. I enjoy watching AFV, but I know it's crap. That's the difference.

Invisible Green
If it was supposed to be on NBC, then I don't know why I never saw The Office. Granted, it seems to be about "office politics" which, comedy or not, would be the last thing I'd wanna spend my free time watching. Too much like work. I don't recall ever seeing The Office on my TV listings. I assumed that meant it was on Fox.

Allyson
Uhm.. No. Or rather, you'd have to talk to the terrorists.

Kris
I tried to get into Sex & The City, but ultimately determined it to be a half hour of gynecological misanthropy. Kristin Davis was nice eye candy, as were all the leading ladies, but half the time I couldn't tell whether to laugh or beat my chest and growl. So I stopped watching the DVDs somewhere around the second or third season. Crime Scene Investigation has plots that require thought from the audience, with refreshing new ideas revealed in refreshing ways. Desperate Housewives takes predictable, overused, soap-operatic plots and tries to utilize them in 'refreshing' ways. There is no comparison. Everwood almost pulled me in because it does have a slightly creative way of storytelling, but the father's new girlfriend turned out to have AIDS and then the son's girlfriend gets pregnant and the characters reacted in predictably soap-operatic ways. If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck... I accepted with Smallville that liberties were going to be made with the source material. That's understandable. Lois Lane was brought into the story solely to increase ratings during a season opener. There was no common sense to it in the arc. It was just a publcity stunt, like when Fonzie jumped the shark in Happy Days. For the record, the idea of Lex & Clark knowing one another before Clark met Lois is substantiated by the source material. In one comic book version of Superman's childhood, Clark was inadvertently the reason why Lex Luthor lost his hair.

Harmalicious
I agree that Charmed has deteriorated into a weekly excuse for Alyssa Milano to show off her tattoos. Not that I mind looking at her tattoos, but I'd prefer interesting storylines. If I just wanted skin, I'd watch porn and not tease.

ZachsMind | May 08, 23:50 CET

Didn't Smallville jump the shark when they cast a fembot as Lana Lang? I love the addition of Lois Lane, no matter how nonsensical it is. The actress is quite good and they're actually giving her an attitude, unlike the needy manipulators that they've always written Lana and Chloe as.

Melisande | May 09, 00:44 CET

ZachsMind said:

Everwood almost pulled me in because it does have a slightly creative way of storytelling, but the father's new girlfriend turned out to have AIDS and then the son's girlfriend gets pregnant and the characters reacted in predictably soap-operatic ways.

Awww, c'mon man, I just said I'd only seen the first season. Ah well, I don't care enough about the series to get too bent outta shape about spoilers. That sounds awful, the stuff you just described. Horribly soap-operatic, and not even in any enjoyable guilty pleasure sense. Just cliched. Maybe it's best that I don't watch any more of the series. Gah.

Sex & The City - Heh, fair enough, though I guess I should also point out that I have a higher-than-usual tolerance for supposed "chick flick" material. And I watched the entire series with mostly my friend Lisa and sometimes my sister, so it probably helps to be able to laugh at it with someone who relates to those women somewhat. By the end of the series, I was sure of a few things--that marriage was probably overrated and many people aren't the marrying kind and hopefully realize that before they make the mistake...that men and women can be equally as high maintenance...and that I really want a Miranda, and before that a few Samanthas along the way. And some of their suitors maybe.

Smallville -- What Melisande said about the actor who plays Lana Lang? Kristen Kreuk had...a few decent scenes and episodes throughout four seasons, but otherwise she's the most unengaging actor in a teen genre series...ever. Well, okay, there was Pete, but the writers/producers wised up and wrote him out...then again, we get mega-doses of Lana and Pete barely had any storylines devoted to him, so maybe Sam Jones was a better actor than I thought.

Kris | May 09, 11:55 CET

ZachsMind - has anybody ever encouraged you to read a good book? :)

miranda | May 09, 14:45 CET

Books usually bore me.

A good friend of mine once tried to get me to read Orson Scott Card's book about a kid who becomes a pilot in some space war. I got about eight pages into it and gave up. I thought it sucked but I appreciated my friend's opinion enough to try it.

The same friend convinced me into reading Zelazny's chronicles of Amber series. I got a bit further into those. I've gotten to the third book and can't bring myself to read it. I'd rather wait until someone gets around to making the movie. Tight writing. Enjoyable characters, but as I read it my mind keeps thinking, "who'd they get to play this person in the movie?" And I keep thinking how it'd work as a movie. I'm just more cinematic minded.

Gene Kranz's autobiography "Failure Is Not An Option" is one of my favorite books ever because it reads like a scifi novel but it's not - it's his personal perspective sitting in the hot seat during the Apollo missions. Awesome work. Reading it is like sitting with him over a coffee in the morning or a beer in the evening and listening to him tell you the way it was in the years when we really had a space program and were flying by the seat of our pants to beat the Russians to the moon. There's very few other books I've read over the years that were as much of a page turner. And you'd think not cuz his 'voice' in the book is a little rough at times, cuz he was a rough kinda guy, but it just felt so real and sincere all the way through, in a tough beer drinkin' kinda way.

Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Trilogy of five books is an all-time favorite of mine. One of the few times when reading a book didn't feel like a chore. The way he weaved words together left me in stiches. Loved that tall old bastard. Miss him terribly.

I also enjoy Ray Bradbury's short stories because they fit better with my short attention span. Stephen King's done some good stuff but also a lot of crap.

I do read "good" books on occasion. I generally hate doing so.

...OH! And Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Great book. It was really about Jim though. Jim was cool.

[ edited by ZachsMind on 2005-05-09 23:34 ]

ZachsMind | May 10, 01:24 CET