I’m a pretty big sci-fi tv buff.  But I’m also pretty critical of what I watch.  I won’t just watch any old thing cuz I’m bored, you need get me invested with a good plot and strong character work, or I’ll stop watching.  So when I first heard about TNT’s new series Falling Skies, I was interested, but wary.

Sure, the trailer looked good, but that’s the job of a trailer, to make things look good.  The show seemed right up my alley (alien invasion, human resistance/survival in a post-apocalyptic world) but it could really go either way.

So when my parents and younger brother made a big deal about sitting down to watch the premiere last week, I decided to pass.  I tend not to trust my family’s judgment on most things television, since they’re the sort of people who choose to watch The Biggest Loser instead of catching up on Doctor Who with me.  But I digress.

Then I started hearing good things about the premiere cropping up on the internet, and when Damon Lindelof tweeted about it, that sold me (because I’ll follow that guy everywhere, including what he’s watching on television apparently. I’m easy).  I had to watch this show.

And now here I am, reviewing for you guys.  So how did it hold up?  And is it worth tuning in? (Slight SPOILERS…)

The thing I’m most struck by when it comes to Falling Skies is how much potential it has.  The pilot does what it’s supposed to, introducing the world, characters, and the overall goal of the series, but it’s not overly remarkable in the way it does those things.  In fact, the two episodes that premiered last Sunday felt rather familiar.

I’ve seen some criticism of the show from people saying it’s basically The Walking Dead but with aliens instead of zombies.  And while there are differences… at this point, they’re not wrong.  I’ve seen these plot scenarios before, and I’ve seen them done better.  But I’m sticking with this show, because I honestly think there is a ton of potential for awesome.

The pilot episode opens with a voice over of a child (Tom’s youngest son Matt, as we soon discover) explaining essentially what happened during and immediately after the invasion of the spider-like “Skitters” (I really dig the design of these aliens, they remind me of the one from Super 8).  And then we’re thrust into some action and explosions, witnessing human resistance fighters we don’t yet care about retreating from said aliens and “Mechs,” the sizeable robots engineered by the aliens as weapons to use in overtaking the earth (they’re like giant clunky Cylons, really).

I wasn’t a fan of this hook or the giant exposition info dump we get in the first ten to fifteen minutes of the episode.  Even when they got into introducing the characters and their situation, it was still hard for me to keep track of everyone as well as focus on the situation at hand and the possible subtleties that might be going on between the characters and the way they interacted with each other (I’m sure I’d benefit from a rewatch at some point).  It was a lot to juggle, which I think was an ambitious choice that didn’t exactly pan out too well.

But opening issues aside, by the time this episode really got started and our main character(s) headed off on their reconnaissance mission, I was into it.  And by the time some most perilous danger befell them, I was hooked (if you’re able to make me say “oh sh*t!” out loud while watching, we’re generally in a good place.  I’m invested).

So far, one of my big complaints about this show is the characters—or, rather, the lack of development.  I feel like the only one I really have a handle on so far is Tom Mason (the main character, played by Noah Wyle, who is quite good).  Even then, though, that’s pretty tenuous.  I like that his background is in education, and not in the military or the police or anything where he’s accustomed to using a weapon and being all militarized.  It’s an interesting choice, and I like that he’s not in his element, but the show doesn’t really give us much of a chance to see that so far.  We get a lot of people talking about how he’s just a history professor, but it seems to me he’s good in a fight and he’s a good leader.

This discrepancy/telling-not-showing arises because we start en media res several months into the occupation of earth, which I like because it just tosses us into the situation and forces us to kinda think and go with it, learning things along the way as we see these characters interact.  But the flip side of this is it’s alienating (pardon the pun) and detrimental to the development of the character.  Instead of learning about the world and being introduced to the ancillary characters with our lead; instead of witnessing the journey and metamorphosis of this history professor into the second-in-command of this group of resistance fighters calling themselves the 2^nd Massachusetts, we’re tossed in and expected to learn and catch up to the status quo as it has been for a while now.  That leaves me very little to connect emotionally with these characters at the start.

And while they give Tom an emotional arc and a goal to push towards as the season progresses (the rescuing of his son Ben from the Skitters), the other characters are sorely lacking.  Watching these first two episodes, they’ve been focusing pretty much on Tom for the most part, but I get the feeling that this show can/may turn into straight ensemble really quickly, which is an issue if we can’t get invested in the other characters and better understand and root for them.  Sure, Hal wants to get his brother back, but what else is driving him?  And what about Doctor Glass?  What about Karen, and all the other people I’m supposed to be caring about but can’t for the life of me remember their names (which just tells you how far they have to go)?

I’m especially interested in how they choose to develop and portray the various female characters on the show.  I like that they have a badass, gun-toting blonde on a motorbike, but I want to see her as a complete person and not just a badass, gun-toting blonde.  Round out Karen’s character.  Develop her.  Give her actiony things to do, don’t just relegate that to the guys.  (They get a little further in this respect with the introduction of Maggie in the second episode, but she looks really similar to Karen, which is a casting choice I question.  Hopefully they do something with this in the future?)

I could keep going, but I’m going to cut myself short, because ultimately, I really want you guys to watch this show.  I know I’ve been going on about my problems with it, but Falling Skies proved to be quite enjoyable and interesting overall.  It’s an ambitious series with an abundance of characters to work with and (hopefully) develop, and a lot of potential to explore not only the post-apocalyptic world it’s introduced us to, but also issues that face us in the everyday mundanity of real life (which is what the best science fiction tends to do).

While not without its flaws, Falling Skies has a lot going for it, and I know I’ll be tuning in week to week from now on.  Hopefully you decide to join the ranks of the 2^nd Massachusetts as well.

(Falling Skies airs on TNT every Sunday at 10 pm.)

We start our discussion with non-spoiler reviews of the film before falling into a full-on dissection/discussion of the show with heavy SPOILERS. Enjoy!

There’s no doubt that vampire dramas are definitely popular these days. Every decade or so something comes around to start the vampire craze all over again. From Anne Rice to Buffy, vampires have definitely had a good run over the last two decades.

Teens have no shortage of vampires today: from the sparkling vampires of Twilight, to the soon to be lapis lazuli wearing vamps (if they kept true to the books) of the up-and-coming CW teen drama The Vampire Diaries. And while many adults have been as enraptured by the Cullens as teens have, quality adult vampire stories had taken a back seat.

Until Alan Ball got a hold of Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries.

Ball, creator of Six Feet Under, and HBO have undeniably scored a win with the sexy, gory, vampire saga of Sookie Stackhouse and her beloved vamp, Bill Compton. The series is most definitely not for the faint of heart. But if you enjoy great storytelling and episodes that consistently leave you on the edge of your seat, then you’ll love True Blood.

In the world of True Blood, barmaid Sookie Stackhouse is a pretty young woman from a small town in Louisiana called Bon Temps. Sookie was born with what she calls a disability: she’s telepathic. When she meets the new vampire in town, Bill, she’s instantly attracted to him. Not only because he’s the first vampire she’s ever met, but because he’s able to offer her the one thing she’s never been able to find with another person: silence. Sookie discovers she can’t read the minds of a vampire. And that is just the start of her attraction to Bill.

So yes, I did mention that Bill walked into the bar where Sookie works. In the world of True Blood, vampires have “come out of the coffin” so to speak. The Japanese developed a synthetic blood that can sustain vampires without the “need” to kill humans. Once the vampires discovered this synthetic blood, they decided to reveal themselves to the world at large. Vampires are now fighting for their rights as “Undead Americans” and of course they have their radical religious enemies, a church-like organization called The Fellowship of the Sun.

Ball does a brilliant job of weaving the complexities of Harris’ world to life. He has also managed the scary proposition of taking a beloved book series and translating it to a series in a new and exciting way. While the series does draw heavily from the novels, they are not afraid to expand the world away from the books a bit, especially as you move into season two. And even more surprisingly, they’ve managed to do it in such a way that it is fun to see how they pull a little further away from the books each episode. Instead of alienating the fanbase, I feel more drawn into the world to see just how they are going to do it differently.

That said, I do still recommend reading the books. They’re great, quick, fun reads and I feel add depth of character to the television series. But I’m not your book reviewer, so back to the series.

Anna Paquin (Rogue from X-Men) is surprisingly grown up and yet still innocent in her portrayal of Sookie. She does a great job of translating Sookie’s quirks and confidence to the small screen with ease. Her vampire beau, Bill Compton is played by Paquin’s real-life fiancee Stephen Moyer. Moyer simply smolders on screen with his southern gentleman persona that exudes cool charm and old world grace. The world of Bon Temps is rounded out by wonderful secondary characters like her best friend, feisty Tara (Rutina Wesley), her simple man-whore brother, Jason (Ryan Kwanten), her sweet boss Sam (Sam Trammell), the smoldering vampire sheriff of area five Eric (Alexander Skarsgård ), and fan favorite, the flamboyant Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis). These characters add so many layers to the series they their storyline at times overshadow Sookie and Bill’s romance. And you simply don’t mind in the least.

Season Two has seen the addition of two more characters, Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) and Maryanne (Michelle Forbes finally in a role that utilizes her talent). Both characters have added so much to Season Two that the viewer is left wanting so much more than one hour each week. Every episode is frustratingly left with a cliffhanger so big you just don’t see how you’ll ever make it to the next week. But of course, you’re parked right back in front of the television the following Sunday (or whenever you happen to pull it off of your DVR).

As I said before, this series is not afraid of violence or sex. It is by no means high art. It has it’s cheesy moments just like any other show; however, with True Blood the cheese just seems to add to the charm. So if you’re looking for some grown up vampire drama with vampires that don’t sparkle, check out True Blood. Season One is now available on DVD, and I promise, each episode will only leave you wanting to sink your teeth into more.

Hello fellow TV fans. Sorry for the delayed absence. Some real world issues got in the way for a few months, but the worst seems to have passed. So now it’s time to talk television. And just when we thought the summer had nothing to offer us, along comes the good ol’ BBC.

Torchwood: Children of Earth (henceforth, T:COE), was a week long event that basically crammed the entire third series (season) into five nights. And they were some brilliant nights of television to be sure. I could sum up the plot, but at this point, I’m sure you’ve seen it and already know all of the heartbreaking details.

So let’s talk about some of the incidentals. First, let’s discuss the pacing. Trying to cram what would typically be a season long arc into 5 nights could make the viewer feel like things were rushed. I never got that impression with T:COE. As a matter of fact, each hour or so long episode moved with such grace that they felt much more fulfilling than a mere hour. I never felt shortchanged by the end of the hour.

Ok, plot. Here’s where some of the flaws sink in to T:COE. Overall, it is an amazing idea, and a classic tale re-told with some amazing panache. The deal with the devil that proves to never really be over. And in Torchwood, the devil is instead a race of drug-trafficking aliens known only to us by a frequency: The 456. It’s the brazenness of Torchwood that confounded me in this story though. Jack and Ianto bursting into Thames House all John Wayne-like to save the day. Is this surprising for Jack? No. Captain Jack Harkness is confidence and brazenness personified. It’s Ianto’s presence that confused me. We all know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jack cannot die. But bringing Ianto on what is sure to be a suicide mission? I know it was a plot device to bring Jack down a few hundred notches. Does it make it any less meaningless? No, I don’t really think it does.

That being said, the performances of T:COE were up to and probably over par of anything we’ll see coming from the Emmys and Oscars this year. Ianto’s (Gareth David-Lloyd) death scene was one of the most tragic and heartbreaking moments on television this year. And that was only the first of many to come. Eve Myles, probably one of my favorite actresses today, gave Gwen a new depth of pain and humanity that I didn’t think was possible. Gwen has always been one of my favorite characters, but the moment she stares into a camera and says, “I want to know about that Doctor of his. The man who shows up and saves the world. Only sometimes he doesn’t . . . Sometimes the Doctor must look at this planet and turn away in shame,” you can’t help but feel the complete and utter hopelessness that this finale is going to offer.

The series’ regulars were not the only performances that were astounding. Peter Capaldi plays middle-man John Frobisher who is asked the un-askable after 30 years of service to his country, and who is left to make the only choice he feels he has left: to keep his family safe, he must remove them from the equation. The sheer horror of knowing what was coming, yet watching his resolution as his the room to his daughter’s door slowly swung closed was nearly unbearable.

Undoubtedly the acting in T:COE was remarkable; however those performances wouldn’t have been much without the writing. While there were indeed some awkward moments and obvious plot devices, the sheer scale of the writing left the viewer emotionally drained by the end of the finale. The realization of what the Prime Minister is going to ask of Frobisher, to the council’s meeting to decide how the sacrificial children should be chosen, to the understanding that Jack has had to sacrifice his lover and his family to save the world, to the final realization that The 456 didn’t need the children to survive, but rather just to get high. The writing was compelling, powerful and emotional.

And I loved it. Was it hard to watch at times? Yes. Am I upset at how Ianto was killed? Yes. Do I want to punch Jack in the face for running away from all of it? Yes. But is it all true to character? Absolutely. Is it what we’ve come to know and love about Torchwood? Without a doubt. Jack makes the hard choices (remember “Small Worlds” from series one when he sacrifices a child to save the world against the rest of the group’s wishes?). This idea is not new to Torchwood. It’s why we love Torchwood.

Now we are just left to hope that they…are…coming. Back.

“Born to Run” was an episode that showed what this show was meant to be: a story about the future leader of the resistance, his mother and his protector. I don’t think many will disagree when I say that so many episodes of T:SCC fell short this season. Most of them revolved around Sarah Connor. This show excelled when it dealt with the dynamic of John and his mother and protector, and of the mystery that surrounds the beautiful but deadly Catherine Weaver. This final episode encompassed all of that, as well as answered so many questions. Yet just enough were left unanswered to keep the audience from feeling spoon fed the finale. And on the incredible long shot that the series is picked up for a third season, there is possibly more story to tell.

Erroneous characters like Jesse and Riley added story that in the end didn’t do much to further the overall arc. If nothing else, they were tools used to make John stand up and start becoming the leader he is destined to be. But even in that vein, it went on longer than was necessary.

Extraneous characters started dropping like flies over the last few episodes, and it was done absolutely perfectly. Riley’s death was necessary, Jesse’s disappearance added intrigue (is she dead or not?), Charley’s death added to character growth,and Derek’s death was sudden and painful (hello, Wash all over again!). And each did more to further the story than a single episode that revolved around Sarah’s three stupid dots ever did.

This finale was utterly brilliant with spots of comedy (”I’m sure you’ve considered he can roll any number he wants.”), action, and superb homages to the original films. Jeffrey Pierce’s (Charlie Jade) T-888 going into a gun store and Summer Glau’s Cameron taking out a police station were done in such a way that they nodded to the films, yet still made each scene their own.

Also, characters from previous episodes were brought in and used to add authenticity to the series. Father Bonilla returns as an intermediary between mother and son. Just as he sheltered them in the season two opener, he helped them again. Chola returns as the strong and finally not-so-silent aide to the Conners,  giving some advice to John and Cameron from Sarah.

We can’t talk about the finale without mentioning Catherine Weaver and John Henry. Catherine (Shirley Manson) became a favorite character of mine simply for the fact she always seemed to be learning, yet was always one step ahead of everyone else. She was ambiguous at best, deadly at worst. And the moment we realize that she is in charge of helping to stop SkyNet and that John Henry is a vital tool to that end, the series achieved its potential. That reveal made everything click into place.

Speaking of John Henry, I do want to take a moment to applaud Garret Dillahunt. These are the performances that are overlooked because they “just sci-fi shows.” His transformation from cheesy out-of-work actor, to deadly terminator, to child-like fascination were so subtle they were flawless. He brought a heart to John Henry that didn’t belong. His brutal honesty matched Catherine’s coolness and the scenes between the two were always charged with intensity.

But to return to the episode itself, the ending was much more along the lines I like. Answers with a side of equivocation. John Henry scraps Cameron for parts. Catherine takes John to the future to take his role among the resistance, then disappears. John sees his father face-to-face and meets the human version of Cameron who we can be sure now is the love of his life.  And with a final spark we hear Sarah’s final words to him, “I love you, too.”

Though Fox is still calling this T:SCC’s season finale, this was undoubtedly the series finale. Wwitching nights did nothing to improve the series continued ratings drops. As a matter of fact, it’s been released that the only reason we saw a season two in the first place was because Warner Brothers reduced its fees to keep the show on to help promote its upcoming Terminator: Salvation. WB isn’t likely to reduce their fees again for a show that barely stayed alive all season long.

And I am good with that. It seems clearly evident that Josh Friedman and company knew their fate and left the series in such a way that the ending stands as a solid explanation for how things came to be as we know them. Considering this was a series that several months ago I was ready to walk away from, I couldn’t be more pleased with the ending and would almost be disappointed if it tried to go any further. This ending was a thing of beauty and I am glad to have been along for the ride. This, my friends, is some of television at its best.

I’m sure by now most of you have figured out I tend to like most shows that I’m watching. That is why I, er, watch them. And while the original is always best, I was really enjoying this American update of Life on Mars. Was it the original? No. But Jason O’Mara brought a certain charm to Sam Tyler that kept me coming back each week.

The addition of Dean Winters (or as I heard him referred to by an Entertainment Weekly reviewer, Cute, Cute Dean Winters) as Vic Tyler, Sam’s deadbeat dad, added even more panache to the show. But Cute Cute Dean Winters always brings his A game, so there’s not much of a surprise there.

The second to last episode, “Everyone Knows It’s Windy” had me starting to doubt the ending a bit. When Agent Morgan tried to convince Sam that the tiny robots were real, I started to think, “They’re really not going to do some whacked out ending like that, are they?’ But it’s later revealed that the Agent had seen Sam’s psych evaluation and had tried playing into Sam’s delusions to cover his own illegal dealings. So I moved forward with the crazy notion that the ending would still be a pretty terrific one.

And then I watched the series finale, “Life is a Rock.”

And similar to the BBC original, Sam seems to be spiraling deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole. A mysterious caller tells him he has to complete three tasks to get home. He has to save himself (as a child) and confront his father (who somehow knows that adult Sam is his son). In the meantime, he admits his feelings for Annie, who finally gets her due and is promoted to Detective, or as Ray must now begrudgingly call her, “No Longer No Nuts Norris.”

And then the phone rings to give Sam his final instructions so he can go home, and Sam succinctly tells the voice to shove it and that he’s happy right where he is, in 1973.

And that is when Colonel Sam Tyler, the astronaut in capsule 2B awakens from his cryo-sleep. As do the rest of the crew members of the 125: Chris, Ray, and Annie. They all tell of the programmed “dreams” they had for the journey, and Sam admits his had a glitch. Their computerized guide, Windy, helps them receive word from ground control, who is Agent Morgan from the previous episode. It is revealed that it is 2036, and they discuss that their mission to Mars is a “gene hunt” to show signs of life (Yep, Life on Mars). Oh yeah, and that’s when they wake up the final team member: Major Tom (a.k.a. Harvey Keitel. And no, I’m not kidding). Sam goes to talk to him privately when Major Tom places a snake-tattooed hand on Tyler’s shoulder, and calls him son.

For the promise the show had, it felt like such a cheap ending. Sam’s whole journey was to resolve daddy issues? I understand they had loose ends to tie up quickly, but this ending is so far from what I had imagined, it is a huge let down. That being said, no I didn’t expect the amazing ending the BBC series offered. But I surely expected more than this.

And according to an interview with TVGuide.com, this was the ending they’d always envisioned for the series. And if that is the case, I am glad it was canceled. Because this Dallas-style “It was all a dream” crap is hard to swallow after 17 episodes. Imagine what it would have been like after several seasons.

Primeval was honestly a series I was not crazy about from the start. A lot of people raved about the series, but it just seemed like Torchwood with dinosaurs instead of aliens. And basically, that is the premise of the show.

Nick Cutter, an evolutionary biologist, is called in by the goverment to help with a rash of strange animals randomly appearing throughout the city. It is discovered that there is an event called an anomoly that allows creatures from the past to slip into modern day. These creatures have to be hearded back through their anomoly and back to their own time before everyday citizens catch on to just what is happening.

Cutter assembles a team from the university that works together to assist the goverment, return the animals to their timelines, to study the creatures, and the anomolies. His team inlcudes: his right-hand man, Stephen (James Murray); herpetologist Abby (Hannah Spearritt); and Connor (Andrew-Lee Potts), the equipment and tech specialist. They also have a department liason, Claudia (Lucy Brown), a love interest for Cutter, whose wife was presumed dead eight years ago.

As I mentioned, the show was a little slow to start. I had a hard time rooting for Nick, played by Douglas Henshall. There was something about him that I just couldn’t get behind in the beginning. The episodes themselves were pretty formulaic and the effects were impressive, for a television budget.

And then we started to learn more about the anomolies. They weren’t just portals to the past, but also to the future. And when a future creature is released onto the populus that is the most honed and evolved hunter imaginable, the show got interesting.

Not only did we learn that the anomolies could open up a path to the future, we also discover how the smallest mistake can change things indefinitely. At the end of Series 1, Claudia and Cutter are finally starting to realize their feelings for one another when one tiny mistake through an anomaly removes Claudia from existence. And replaces her with her doppelganger, Jenny. And what was brilliant about it, is that it stuck. Series 2 wasn’t all about finding out how to get Claudia back. She is gone and no one but Cutter remembers who she is.

Even the way Cutter’s group worked with the government changed. Rather than at University, they were in a modern building and state-of-the-art lab with resources and facilities they were never privy to previously.

More intrigue is added to the show by Cutter’s presumed dead wife, Helen, played by Juliet Aubrey. She is almost a Gaius Baltar type character – there is something about her that just makes me seethe disgust. She is a character you love to hate, and yet, are never able to really figure out what exactly she is up to.

Series 1 is just six episodes, and Series 2 is seven. I believe Series 3 has already begun on ITV in Britain, and according to the BBC America website, will be coming to BBC America sometime this year. With limited runs on Torchwood and Doctor Who this year, British sci-fi fans are itching for a return of some really enjoyable television. And Primeval has proved to be just that – well worth the wait.

The latest Supernatural episode, “On the Head of a Pin,” is arguably the best episode of the series. This episode did more to further the season and the characters than any episode that readily comes to mind. We learned just how Sam has become so strong, how Dean had to learn to survive in Hell, how the Apocolypse began, how it must end, and just how tough Castiel and Anna can be. That’s a hell of a lot to ask from one episode, and this one did it beautifully. Ben Edlund, the writer of such classic Whedon episodes like Angel’s “Sacrifice” and Firefly’s “Jaynestown,” wrote this penultimate episode. Even the stunt casting of Christopher Heyerdahl in the role of Alastair added such darkness and dimension to the show that the viewer is left cringing.  Kripke and Co. showed exactly how to come back from a hiatus, and how to do it with a bang, both literally and emotionally.

Speaking of Joss Whedon, this week’s episode of Dollhouse was advertised as the best yet – the one to make you grab hold and not let go. And as expected, he did not disappoint. The latest episode, “Man on the Street,” added more intrigue, suspense, and action to the show than the previous six episodes combined. Dushku continued to amaze with her versatility from frightened housewife to deadly assassin. And we learn that Alpha is not the only one after the Dollhouse. This episode cemented my devotion to the show, and I strongly urge anyone who had given up on the show to treat yourself to a mini-marathon. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

As for disappointed, I’ve heard many say that they felt the Battlestar Galactica series finale was amazing, but overall, disappointing, even lazy. While I can understand that some might feel that way, I thoroughly enjoyed the culmination of four seasons of Ron Moore’s amazing vision for BSG. The show has always been steeped in mysticism and mythology, and I would have been surprised if they had ignored that heritage in the finale, especially since they had not addressed it much this back half of the season. I liked the ambiguity of it all. It made me cheer, it made my cry, it broke my heart and it inspired me – everything this series has always done. And one thing’s for sure: I will never hear “All Along the Watchtower” in the same way.

Legend of the Seeker has continued to impress each week. Every episode draws a little more from the original books, but does so in a new and refreshing way. And they always do it in such a way as to never undermine the integrity of the characters. Bridget Regan continues to impress with her portrayal of Kahlan. I  have to say that of all the actors, she is the most perfectly cast. The latest episodes, “Conversion” and “Bloodline” have masterfully incorporated such elements from the book as Kahlan’s Blood Rage and Richard’s Pristinely Ungifted sister, Jensen. Even the incorporation of the Mord Sith, though done slightly differently from the novels, is thoroughly engaging and true to the core essence of the characters.

And most recently, Heroes. This episode, titled “Cold Snap,” marked the return of Bryan Fuller to the series. Fuller worked on what is probably the best of Season One episodes, “Company Man.” So, did his return make for amazing television? He definitely made some major changes. From the reveal of who Rebel is to Angela being saved by an unlikely source, Heroes was undeniably compelling. And tragic. While I understand the need for whittling down characters, I am not entirely happy with who they keep knocking off. But I will continue to watch to see if these payoffs continue. Heroes is definitely heading in the right direction for greatness again, and I am definitely glad to see Fuller’s touch return to the show. He adds a poignancy that has been lacking for far too long.

So there, my fellow TV addicts, some thoughts on what has been some amazing television over the past few days. We’ve said farewell to an epic favorite, found a new Friday night addiction, and are encouraged by what is possibly shaping up to be some great Monday night storytelling, again. One thing is for sure, I haven’t enjoyed television this much in a long time.

And here’s to its continued success.

The amazing British series Life on Mars has a sequel. This time she’s back in the nick of time.

A few weeks ago I wrote about Life on Mars, a British import now on ABC. And a week or so after that article, ABC decided to not renew Life on Mars for a second season. Well, at least they’ll finish out their season and hopefully conclude the series in an original and imaginative way.

But throughout that article I mentioned that though the import was a fun and entertaining watch, the original BBC series was the superior show.

And now that series has a sequel.

Ashes to Ashes picks up eight years later in 1981. DCI Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) is a single mother who has risen through police ranks through psychological profiling. One of her cases, that of a now deceased Sam Tyler, introduces her to his world of time travel. She believes it to be a case of psychological trauma. That is, until the psychosis becomes her own.

She is kidnapped by a gunman before her daughter’s birthday party. He shoots her, and she wakes up in 1981. She believes she is stuck in her mind, just as Sam Tyler had been. And the arrival of some familiar faces does nothing to dissuade her.

Back on the scene, DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister), DS Ray Carling (Dean Andrews), and DC Chris Skelton (Marshall Lancaster), reprise their original roles from the original series. And I’ve got to say, it’s great to see Hunt back in rare form.

The immediate chemistry between he and Drake is palpable. The relationship is such an immediate change from Hunt’s relationship with Sam that it is at first jarring. You expect animosity and instead get curiosity. It seems as though Hunt’s been through this before and rather than fight her “craziness” he’s going to get wrapped right up in it.

As in the original we get jarring visuals. In this series, Alex is stalked by a creepy clown (similar to David Bowie’s clown on his Ashes to Ashes album cover). The clown seems to be giving her clues and leading her to the reason why she is stuck in 1981. The same year her parents were murdered by a car bomb.

There are still the same weekly crimes to solve and new mysteries to reveal, but the tone of the show is much more laid back. The viewer gets so wrapped up in the relationship forming between Drake and Hunt that her reason for being there is almost secondary.

If you’re a fan of the original BBC series, you’ve got to give Ashes to Ashes a chance. And, if you tried the American series and are looking for something to fill your crime-drama-time-travel niche, then tune in to Ashes to Ashes. Because if nothing else, Glenister’s Gene-the-Genie is such a delight to watch, you won’t be able to turn away.

Not Shaken . . . Just Nerd.

I am gonna go out on a limb here and say it: Chuck is the most fun show on TV today. That being said, I can see how some people who want a little more depth to their story or more serialized television might not have been a big fan of Chuck in its early days. But to you I say: It’s time to play catch up.

Chuck started out with a rather simple premise. Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi), leader of the Nerd Herd (i.e. Geek Squad) at his local Buy More (i.e. Best Buy) is pretty much a college drop-out slacker-type who lives with his sister. He has a best friend, Morgan Grimes (Joshua Gomez), who is his childhood friend, gaming buddy and all around hanger-on. Then he opens an e-mail from his former college buddy, Bryce Larkin.

And Chuck becomes the most valuable secret the U.S. Government has.

Chuck has downloaded all of the Nation’s most classified and Top Secret projects and personnel into his head. He is now guarded around the clock by his cover girlfriend, the beautiful but deadly Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski), and his cover co-worker and neighbor, the stoic and gruff John Casey (Adam Baldwin).

Admittedly, I watched this show in the beginning for two reasons: 1)It looked to be a fun show and 2) It had Adam Baldwin in it. And I have made a solemn vow to try watch everything Firefly alumni get a role in (Thank you SciFi channel for making me watch some truly craptastic movies). But I digress.

For the first half of the season or so, it was a pretty formulaic and episodic show. But after they came back from the writer’s strike, the show really took off. It is still formulaic, but there is a serious heart to the show now that wasn’t there previously.

I think that charm comes from two things. First of all Chuck has some of the most amazing stunt casting seen today: Melinda Clarke as a deadly seductress (Hey, it’s Nandi – more Firefly!), Michael Clarke Duncan as dangerous villain (The Green Mile), John Laroquette as a former spy and ladies’ man (Night Court), Bruce Boxleitner as Chuck’s sister’s soon to be father-in-law (Scarecrow & Mrs. King) and probably my favorite: Reginald VelJohnson as a doughnut munching cop outside a hostage situation at the Buy More (Die Hard, as a doughnut munching cop outside Nakatomi towers). Each actor and actress just adds a little something to the series as a whole.

The second though, is Yvonne Strahovski. Yes, she wears ridiculous outfits and has fight scenes that make fanboys everywhere melt. But the heart she puts into Sarah makes her more than your average two-dimensional cover girl. We watch Sarah slowly fall for Chuck, and watch her heart break when she realizes that nothing can possibly ever work between them. In a recent episode where she thought Chuck had been killed was some of her best work to date. The utter shock, disbelief, horror and grief that struck her in those few seconds were absolutely overwhelming. She, like so many other genre actresses, ranks among the most underrated in television.

While the show has been a little stale over the last few episodes, news from Chuck’s creator, Josh Schwartz has me more psyched for the show than ever. They have a game-changing ending for this season of Chuck which will lead to one of two things. If Chuck doesn’t get picked up for a third season, this ending will send the show out with a bang. If they are renewed, the show will go a whole new direction next season. I, for one, am good to go either way. I’ve enjoyed the show from the beginning, and am pretty sure I’ll continue to enjoy it through its conclusion, now, or hopefully a few more years down the road.

Returning to the airwaves this week is the CW’s Reaper. It is a fun show similar in vein to NBC’s Chuck. Reaper is the story of Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison), a twenty-something slacker who has dropped out of college and is working at The Work Bench (The Work Bench is to Home Depot what the Buy More is to Best Buy). At work he is surrounded by his two best friends Bert “Sock” Wysocki (Tyler Labine) and Ben Gonzalez (Rick Gonzalez). He also pines for his co-worker and long-time friend, Andi (played by Missy Peregrym for you Season 1 Heroes fans out there).

On Sam’s twenty-first birthday, his parents start acting strange. They finally reveal to him that in return for his father’s health when he was dying long before he was born, they sold their first-born son’s soul to the Devil. They had even tried to not have children, but of course the Devil had made sure Sam would come to be.

When Sam is later confronted by the Devil (played brilliantly by Ray Wise of in Twin Peaks fame), instead of being dragged to Hell, the Devil offers him a job. When Sam tries to back out of the deal, he’s told his mother’s soul will be forfeit. Sam will be Hell’s bounty hunter (or reaper), tracking down and capturing some of Hell’s worst lost souls that have escaped. For each soul he has to capture, he is sent a different vessel with which to capture it. These vessels have ranged from Dirt Devil Hand Vacs, Taser guns, and even a live dove.

The fun of this show is the character interactions. Sock is the slapstick comic relief and typical best-friend-bound-to-get-Sam-in-trouble. Ben is the punching bag for the trio, and sadly, the brains of the operation. His role has moved to a more behind the scenes nature while he plots the strategies that Sam and Sock carry out.

Andi has been newly let in on Sam’s dirty little secret. At the end of the first season, she witnessed one of Sam’s “Reaper” moments and he finally had to come clean, with permission from the Devil, of course. She now helps out the team, usually with research and is just coming to terms with Sam’s new life.

Supporting characters add as much to the show as reoccurring characters. Gladys, the DMV worker who Sam takes his collected souls to, has a love-hate relationship with Sock that grows funnier each episode. Steve and Tony, the gay neighbors of Sam, who also turn out to be demons sent to try to convince Sam to help in a demon-uprising against the Devil. Tony becomes a more significant character towards the end of the first season.

But the highlight of the show for me is The Devil. Ray Wise has been a favorite actor of mine since Twin Peaks. Wise plays the role of The Devil with such relish, you can’t help but enjoy him, even when he is being his worst. I once read of Wise that he has a smile that never reaches his eyes, and it is so very true. And it makes him perfect to portray the bureaucratic businessman who just so happens to be The Devil himself.

Reaper returns to the CW Tuesday, March 3 at 8:00 p.m. ET. I hope you get a chance to tune in. I’m sure there will be a re-cap of the last season that will fill you in enough for the current season’s story lines.  While it may not be up to the caliber of Chuck, there are enough differences, especially in the sense of humor of the show, that make it fun to watch. And any show that has Kevin Smith as a creative consultant has my vote.

With a few exceptions, BBC television imports really work when they are retooled for American television. I was a fan of the original BBC show, Life on Mars, starring John Simm (the Master from the seires three Doctor Who finale) as desperate detective Sam Tyler and the fabulously grumpy Philip Glenister as the horribly comical DCI Gene Hunt. When I heard it was being done for ABC television, I thought there was no way this wonderful and intriguing show would work for American audiences.

And I was almost right. Originally the first Life on Mars pilot was filmed in cheesy 70’s style in bright and sunny L.A. And it was horrid. So show runners re-cast some of the major characters and transferred the location to New York City.

And much to my amazement, it actually worked.

So what is Life on Mars? On the surface it’s a weekly crime serial set in 1973. Detective Sam Tyler (Jason O’Mara for the US version) and the 125th precinct, led by Lieutenant Gene Hunt (Mr. White himself, Harvey Keitel) solve a crime-of-the week (murder, mobsters, general mayhem) with a few over arching character plots that tie the episodes together.

“But that doesn’t sound very sci-fi” you say. And here is where I say, “Now here is where it gets interesting.”

In the pilot, Detective Sam Tyler is a NY city detective breaking a major case, in 2008. As he heads back to his car and radios in his location, an oncoming vehicle mows him down. When he comes to, it is 1973, and he walks into a life that has been set up for him: A job transfer to the 125th and a tiny apartment in the East Village. Sam has no idea how he has gotten there and no idea how to get back home. And now he’s a modern cop having to make-do with archaic equipment and pre-politically correct mentalities.

Now let me add in here that the US show has gone in a completely different direction than its BBC predecessor. Which is ideal. While the BBC series ending was by far one of the most amazing I’ve seen, if the show runners want the series to last longer than one season, things were going to have to change.

And the change has been for the better. O’Mara, who I was highly skeptical of from the first images I saw of him, dives right into the role of Sam Tyler. He plays Tyler’s confused and obsessive personality with realism and without being melodramatic, rarely seen in major network prime time these days. He pulls off drugged, insane, devastated and desperate in such a convincing way, it’s hard not to root for him.

Even Keitel, not usually one of my favorite actors, brings a vulnerability to Hunt that was never seen in the BBC series. Part of that is the different writing staff, but also, part of that is Keitel. Though he does bring a brash sense of humor to the show, he still can’t beat Gleister’s wonderfully brutuish version of Hunt.

In the episode, “Home is Where You Hang Your Holster,” we begin to see that Sam is not the only time-traveler around. When he captures a Councilman during a prostitution sting, the Councilman confesses that he’s not even supposed to be here, that he’s from 2009. Once he convinces Sam that he is from the future, the Councilman also reveals that he’s found a way home. Of course he dies before Sam can find out how, but it’s opened up the mystery even further behind Sam’s predicament.

The best thing I can tell you about Life on Mars is the fact that every week after watching this show I always have to say, “I can’t believe how GOOD this show is!” I am endlessly surprised not only that a BBC show is really working over here, but that even with the re-tooling of the show, it is still so well done.

I have to admit, Fringe is the first J.J. Abrams series I have watched. As many of you may know by now, I’ve never watched Lost, and while Alias did seem like a show I’d like at the time, I never got around to catching up on it.

That’s not to say that I wasn’t a little nervous jumping into one of Abrams’ series. I know people who watch Lost and are simultaneously entranced and frustrated by it. But I’d read Fringe would be different: the viewer would not have to follow it religiously to be able to stay involved with the story. And while I’ve no doubt that is the case with Fringe compared to Lost, I see a show that can be watched carefully to truly enjoy its nuances and overall arc.

If you haven’t watched it, Fringe is the story of a division of Homeland Security that focuses on cases that revolve around the areas of “fringe” science: teleportation, regeneration, suspended animation, etc. The division is aware of an international “Pattern” that seems to be in effect, making the world at large someone’s lab.  There is also a morally ambiguous corporation, Massive Dynamic, which tends to be connected to each case, and the “Pattern.”

The story itself revolves around an agent of this division, Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv). This character by far has been the most controversial of the show. Very cold and apathetic from the beginning, Agent Dunham has been a hard character to root for. Over the season she has slowly melted and become much more personable and at times, even jovial. She’s finally a character the viewer can like.

There could be two reasons for this. Either originally the writers tried to write her as a tough woman and missed the mark by a country mile, or, as I hope the case is, to show character growth. In the first episode, Olivia goes from euphoric love, to seeing the man she is getting engaged to (her partner) nearly blown apart, to later discovering this same man may be a traitor not only to her, but his country as well. That sure is a lot for one character to go through in the matter of one episode. We learn she can be single-mindedly determined, but this determination ends up shutting her down.

As the series progresses, we see pieces of the old Olivia shine through. However, it is not until the introduction of her sister and niece that she finally comes out of her shell. At this time, also, she is finally able to let go of her former lover and partner and gain some closure to that part of her life.

So was that supposed to be the character arc all along, or did the show runner hear the complaints of fans who had trouble getting behind his main character?  Maybe a little of both – we’ll probably never know. Regardless, she’s now a character the viewer can get behind and actually like.

You can’t talk about Fringe without discussing the Bishops. Walter Bishop (John Noble) is the brilliant scientist whose original work seems to be the origin of many of the “Pattern’s” experiments, and who has been locked away in a mental institution after a lab accident killed his assistant. Walter is a big focus for the show, not only because of his inane ramblings which tend to mean more than they seem (or nothing at all), but because his past is still so mysterious, the viewer is unsure of how it all relates back to him. He is undoubtedly, however, the comic relief of the series.

His son is Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), who is needed to get his father out of the institution to help Olivia in the premiere episode. Peter’s past seems to be a legally ambiguous one. He has various shady contacts that he uses throughout the series to help the increasingly strange and unique cases faced by the Fringe Division.

Fringe is a unique series in that you get out of it however much you put in. If you just occasionally watch, you get a good creepy show in the vein of X-Files stand-alone episodes. If you watch each week casually, you get a pretty decent story with some good twists and turns that make continued watching enjoyable. Or, you can pick apart each episode for hidden clues, play the ARG, and follow the “Where’s Waldo” version of the show by watching for The Observer, a pale man in black fedora and trench that appears in every episode. For that, I give Abrams credit for making a show so user-friendly.

Personally, I fall into the middle viewer category. I watch weekly to follow the overall arc, but that’s about it. And the beauty of it? I don’t feel I’m missing anything by not following the ARG or watching for clues (though I do admit it’s fun to watch for The Observer!). I feel like this show is kind of like those Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books from my childhood – you pick your favorite way to watch the show and follow along.

If you’re a Whedonite, you’ve been anticipating Friday the 13th, 2009 for some time now. And now it has finally come: Dollhouse and Joss Whedon’s return to television.

Let me preface by saying I have done everything I could to remain spoiler-free for the premiere. I refused to read reviews, stopped visiting Whedonesque.com, and did my best to skim over Tweets from those who got an advanced look at the episode. I wanted to go in with a clean slate. And as Echo says in the first few minutes of the episode, “You ever actually try to clean a slate? You always see what was on it before.”

That being said, I am not going to compare Dollhouse’s first episode, “Ghost” to any of Joss’ other works. It’s too early to do that, and I honestly don’t think it is fair. Echo is not Faith, The Dollhouse is not Wolfram & Hart, and Topher is definitely no Wash, regardless to their outward traits.

“Ghost” gives the viewer a lot of information in one hour of television (which is helped immensely by Fox’s “More Tv. Less Commercials.” push – Thank you Fox!). On the surface we see The Dollhouse, an illegal private organization that imprints personalities on their “actives” to suit their wealthy client’s needs. The actives are volunteers who have signed on to get a new start at life. They have a 5 year contract, which after they fulfill, they are supposedly free to go, we can assume, wiped clean of all memories of the Dollhouse. Which on the surface, is a relatively simple premise that could give the show a decent season or two of television. But of course, this is Joss Whedon: nothing is ever simple.

In the beginning we see Caroline (Eliza Dushku), who hardly seems  a volunteer. Rather, she seems coerced into signing her 5 year contract. She is transformed into Echo, an almost innocent and child-like soul. When she happens to witness a new active, Sierra (Dichen Lachman), being wiped clean of her former “self,” she almost confusingly looks to Topher (Fran Kranz), the chief mind-wiping tech of the Dollhouse, and says, “She hurts.” The way Topher responds to her is almost as he would a child.

We learn through Agent Paul Ballard (Tamoh Penikett), who has been assigned to the mysterious Dollhouse case for 14 months, that the clientele of the organization include princes and senators, and that the Dollhouse has ties to a Russian human trafficking ring.  His supervisors try to get him under control on a case they think is a “fairytale.” But we also learn that he doesn’t back down very easily.

There is also a rogue active, Alpha, who is threatening to bring down the Dollhouse and its incredibly questionable activities which include not only imprinting people with personalities from real people right for the mission, but the physical limitations that can inevitably come with “real people” (near-sightedness, asthma, etc.).

So there is definitely a great set up for much intrigue and drama amidst the weekly assignments Echo will be sent on.

My biggest concern going into the show was Eliza Dushku. I was never a huge fan of Faith, and the other movies I’ve seen her in, her characters have never seemed to have much depth. So I wondered, can she really pull off being that many different people?

After the first episode: I am hopeful. Dushku transitions from desperate Caroline, to a fun-loving party girl, to the kidnap expert with a troubled past Eleanor Penn, and to innocent Echo very believably. The most haunting scene of the episode is as Miss Penn carries the kidnapped child, Devina, away from her hostages telling her over and over, “You’re free.” The scene changes and fades to Echo peacefully walking away from the mind-wiping chair, once again innocent and free from the burdens she had just faced.

I have heard overall mixed reviews of the show so far and of course everyone is entitled to their opinion. My biggest hope is that viewers will stay tuned to see where the show will lead, because one thing is for certain: Joss will never leave things on the surface. He’ll dig deep into the emotions of the characters and of the themes of the show and leave the viewers with more questions than answers – as good television should do. So long as we start getting answers before too long, this show has the potential for greatness. And that is what I always look for in the shows that I watch: not only what the episode itself said, but what the potential for the upcoming episodes could offer. Like Battlestar Galactica, the fun in watching is the speculation. This show could very well fill that looming gap.

Because in the Dollhouse, as its owner says in the very first line of the series, “Nothing is what it appears to be.”

WARNING: Spoilers for the episode follow – don’t read until you’ve seen the latest episode of Heroes!

Let’s admit it, Heroes had a lot to live up to upon its return. Volume three was amazingly lackluster, especially for a show that has so much potential. That was my biggest issue with “Villains” – its complete and utter loss of focus from the show’s original theme of “ordinary people with extraordinary abilities.”

So the first episode of this arc, “A Clear and Present Danger,” brings us back to that core theme. It has been two months since we last saw our heroes, and villains.  People have moved on: Peter has become a paramedic, Claire has gotten her GED and is looking at colleges, Daphne is a bike messenger (though she’s not too fond of using her bike), and Tracy has moved on from Nathan back to her governor. Oh, and Noah is back to being, well, Noah. And that’s the point – we’re back to our heroes being everyday people.

But of course, they won’t be left alone too long. Nathan has been on a Blagojevich-type media blitzkrieg trying to convince America that he is out to protect the nation from “dangerous people” with his work with Homeland security. Of course the average American thinks he means terrorists, but those with abilities know better.

As for the rest of the episode, you know what happened by now (or at least you should! Stop reading if you haven’t! Unless you don’t care about spoilers, then there is nothing I can do for you). What I want to focus on are some of the highlights of Heroes’ return.

Noah Bennet. We have returned to an ambiguous Mr. Bennet, which really folks, is kinda the way it should be. Protective Daddy was fun for a while, but it was getting old.  It brings up so many new questions – How did Noah get involved with Nathan’s organization? Blackmail or genuine interest in what Senator Petrelli is selling? Noah Bennet is so much more intriguing when he is straying into the gray area, rather than trying to keep things black-and-white.

Speaking of Gray, Sylar’s back and is still trying to find his parents. And still isn’t getting anywhere. As he only person with abilities that was able to beat the ambush that was set up to collect him, he may be the first person out of the gate to try to stop Nathan and his war on those with abilities. Sylar teaming up with some of our other heroes could once again lead to some amazing moments.

Hiro and Ando. We get to see now if Ando has the heroic chops to match Hiro. This is Ando’s chance to shine and I hope James Kyson Lee gets the story line to back up his talent. I’ve been excited to see what he could do when it was his turn to step up and be the hero, and I really don’t expect this arc to disappoint.

The most interesting turn of the events for the evening was Matt Parkman. Visited by visions of the deceased African prophet, Usutu (damn you Papa Petrelli!), Matt is given the “paint-the-future” prescient power. This brings up an interesting point. Are powers transferred if there is no one currently with that ability? Did Usutu get the power after Isaac was murdered? Or, worst case scenario (I really hope this isn’t it), did the writers need someone with the “paint-the-future” power and just give it to Parkman instead of bringing in another new character?

I’m intrigued and my interest has once again been peaked. As I’ve said before, this show is going to get amazing again, and I sure don’t want to miss the episode when that happens. This, my friends, was a pretty good start.

So what did you think, Heroes fans? Are you encouraged by the latest episode of Heroes? Reserving judgement? Or are you ready to give up all together?

Now if they’ll just get rid of Claire’s horrible wig . . .

Welcome back to the third part of my Catching Up series. After tackling the DC Universe’s animated features and series last week, now is the time to take a longer look at the Marvel animated ‘verse in all its glory. But be warned all you Stan Lee disciples out there, you may not like everything you read.

It has come to my attention (by myself) that while singing the praise of almost everything in animated form by DC Comics, I kept taking little potshots at the Marvel productions. Upon further review for this article I realize I may have been a little unfair of some of my criticisms directed towards comics Evil Empire (sorry, while I am not a total insider I do know a little about how Marvel treats the industry and sometimes I feel they are evil – plus every story needs a villain).

So without further fanfare or ramblings by yours truly let’s take a longer look at the Marvel animated series – specifically Wolverine and the X-Men, Spectacular Spider-Man and Fantastic Four. To my shock and bewilderment I actually like 66% of the shows mentioned above.

Let’s begin with the one I do not care for, shall we? Since Marvel decided to sell the rights to Wolverine and the X-Men to Nickelodeon, which had the bright idea of sticking the show on Niktoons, I am not sure how many people actually get to view this one. And maybe they are better off for it. I gave it a chance, watching on youtube since some nice Canadian (are there really any others besides Sean Avery?) uploaded all of the episodes eh.

While the trailers for the show looked good and honestly got me excited, watching the first episode it became quite evident that this was going to be a painful addition to the Marvel animated family. I am not sure where to begin but the thing that sticks in my mind most is the 1990’s Fox version of the X-Men. I know for a lot of you out there this was your first Marvel animated experience and you remember it fondly while crediting it for getting you interested in the X-Men and comics in the first place. And to that I say, it did its job.

Yes, the stories were classics ripped from the pages, but nothing else about the series was. Wolverine and pals reminds me of the melodramaticness that was the Fox X-Men. It’s like Dawson’s Creek, if Dawson’s Creek was a cartoon. While Wolverine is so popular (which I do not get) I understand making him the lead, but he always serves the story better as part of the team. That is why the character worked (for me) in the beginning. Now its feels forced. Everything about the new series feels forced.

The animation is not that great and I love watching a scene where it’s raining, and a car has its windshield wipers on but there is not actual rain falling. What is that about? Must be the same people who did Ultimate Avengers and decided to have the background drummer just move his arms up and down for the entire scene (No, I am never going to let that one go because they should be embarrassed with themselves).

Anyway, I have wasted enough time on that show as you must know now that I say instead of watching Wolverine and the X-Men, get a root canal, you will have a better time.

Now let’s have some fun, which is what the Spectacular Spider-Man is all about. The animation is different, but good (although it took some time to get used to the big eyes). Pete is a teenager again (ala Ultimate Spidey) and the stories are geared towards the kiddies, but are capable of entertaining us big children as well.

The first season the web-head took on the Goblin, Sinister Six, Doc Ock, Venom, Vulture and more and more and more. It was literally a who’s who of Spidey’s rogue’s gallery, crammed into 13 fun episodes. There was also Gwen Stacy, MJ and Harry Osborn. I am so looking forward to the second season.

Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle capture brilliantly the guilt that Pete carries with him everyday. Remember, with great power comes yada, yada, yada … bottom line, they get it and are showing us how much they do actually get it. Wish they could translate some of that mojo over to the new X-Men show.

Last but definitely not least is the Fantastic Four. In the beginning of the 26-episode run I was a little critical. The animation was good, but severe in places (like Sue and Johnny’s pointy chins, which I still can’t get past). There was a good mix of CGI and animation that impressed me as I watched more and more shows. The thing about this series is that it continued to impress me with each episode and I could not get more fast enough (which was a problem since Cartoon Network only showed half of the episodes produced over a three-year period) – thank goodness for DVD sets.

Now I am a minority when it comes to this, but I liked the FF movies. Appreciated the lightness of the first one and was just happy to get a second one (a third anyone?). One of the things I felt the movies did well was capture who the characters were at their heart. If anything, the animated version did an even better job of showing us the real FF.

The voice work was superb, especially the changing of the Thing’s voice the rare instances he went back to being Ben Grimm because you can’t tell an FF story without making the Thing Ben again at least one time. Besides, it gave Yost and Kyle the opportunity to throw in the She-Hulk (as a member of the FF). Other guests included the Hulk (vs the Thing!), Iron Man and Ant-Man. Victor was back to his arrogant self and the Mole-Man was as creepy as he should be. All was right in the animated version of the FF.

Next time I will review the Marvel animated feature films masquerading as quality (there goes the potshots again). Until then, don’t forget to tip your cab driver – Peace!

Captain Wednesday – Your Friendly Neighborhood Comic Dude

WARNING: Very mild spoilers about the first season follow. You’ve been warned!

Sanctuary started out as 15-20 minute webisodes on SciFi.com in 2007. As the popularity of the show grew, SciFi green lit the show to move to broadcast television for 13 episodes in the fall of 2008. The success of premiere has been equal to another of SciFi’s popular shows, Eureka.  The network has already renewed the series for a second season.

The Sanctuary is an organization started by the main character of the show, Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) an 157 year old British scientist. Her focus is to offer safe haven, and to study, the world’s “abnormals,” creatures of non-human genetic make-up. Thus far the show has explored everything from mer-people, nubbins (think Tribbles from Star Trek:TOS), vampires, and werewolves. Bigfoot is the house butler and valet. The rest of the cast includes: Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne) who is our view into the Sanctuary. Dr. Magnus has chosen him to be her protégé, and we get to see this exciting new world from his eyes. Dr. Magnus’ daughter Ashley (Emilie Ullerup) is the martial enforcer of the group who helps collect new abnormals and protect the Sanctuary. Henry Foss (Ryan Robbins) is our Xander or Wash – the geeky comedy relief with the everyman’s attitude towards these fantastical situations.

The beginning of the series is admittedly slow. It started very episodic, with little to connect the series’ regulars. But after the first half-dozen episodes, the series starts focusing on its origins and nemesis, and that is when the show takes off.

Dr. Magnus hints at her origins in the first few episodes. It is later revealed that she was part of a group called The Five. The Five consisted of some of the most brilliant scientific minds of their time: Dr. Helen Magnus, Dr. James Watson (yes, of Sherlock Holmes fame), Nigel Griffin (later the Invisible Man), Nikola Tesla (the real-life “father of physics”), and John Druitt (who later becomes Jack the Ripper). This is what The League of Extraordinary Gentleman should have been. The Five discovered a vial of untainted vampire blood which gave them all a variety of new abilities. Dr. Magnus has been granted extended life and immunity to disease, Watson’s intelligence and logistic reasoning grew to near above-human proportions, Griffin had invisibility, Tesla turned into a vampire, and Druitt gained teleportation.

Also hinted at in the first episodes are a rival “abnormal” research group called The Cabal. The Cabal is not nearly as altruistic in their intent towards abnormals. They study, transform, and even kill abnormals in pursuit of their goal: protect humanity from the supposed inherent danger of abnormals.

When these two storylines collide, The Five gather to fight the Cabal, and Sanctuary really takes off. By this time the regular cast chemistry has been established and the characters themselves have been more developed. The reunion of The Five is full of all of the wit and tension you would expect. And the season finale itself, though completely predictable, is set up in such a way that we still don’t know how The Cabal has managed to pull everything off, including the betrayal of one member of the Sanctuary.

Knowing SciFi channel, we won’t see the next season of Sanctuary until next fall, so you’ve got plenty of chance to catch up on this creative gem from the network. As I said, the first few episodes are a little slow and discombobulated, but hanging on is definitely worth it –  both to support web-to-series television and especially to see where they take Sanctuary next season.

Not a planned review, but after watching this week’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode I just had to discuss with all of you in the webverse. This week’s show was titled “Fall of the Blue Beetle,” and I am thinking okay maybe this is an episode where Jaime fails and learns a lesson on his way to becoming a “real” hero.

Well I was sort of right and a lot of wrong. Jaime does learn a lesson, mostly why he was selected to become the Blue Beetle in the first place. But this episode was also about Ted Kord’s Blue Beetle and the cast and crew at Batman: Brave and the Bold could not have done the character more justice if they tried.

First let me say this, I am a huge Ted Kord Blue Beetle fan, and an even more of a Blue & Gold fan (when Ted teams up with Booster Gold). Kord’s return to the DC ‘verse are the only issues of the current run of Booster Gold that I enjoyed when they brought (or pulled) Kord back for a couple of issues. Blue & Gold’s glory days in the Giffen-Maguire Justice League was just plain fun.

I don’t want to give to much away, because I always write spoiler free, but I am just gushing over this episode. Don’t forget that this is primarily a kid’s cartoon so the story content has to be delivered in a way as not to frighten the blue beetles out of all the little ones. And how do you tell a tale where in the end, Ted Kord dies so that Jaime can become the Blue Beetle. I’ll tell you how, this week’s episode is how.

Wil Wheaton (Wesley from Star Trek TNG) voices Ted Kord and Blue Beetle 2. Will Friedles continues his terrific job voicing Jaime. The animation is awesome and the Blue Beetle Bug never looked better. Plus the soundtrack was swinging as usual.

If you are looking for a reason to watch one of these episodes, this weeks was the one. And the future should be bright for the rest of the season as I have found that when these series have their moment it is all uphill from there.

Don’t forget to tip the concierge on your way out – Peace!

Captain Wednesday – Your Friendly Neighborhood Comic Dude

Welcome back kiddies to the second of my four-part animated “catching up” series. Today I will be reviewing the last three DC Universe animated shows – Batman: Brave and the Bold, The Batman and Legion of Superheroes. So get on your pajamas, pour a bowl of your favorite sugar cereal, make pretend its Saturday morning and park your butt in front of the TV, its cartoon time!

Just like the animated features, my preferences tend to side towards DC when it comes to overall production. The stories, animation and voice actors all top the Marvel small screen versions on a daily basis, plus twice on Sunday. One would think that since Marvel is now doing everything in-house, this would not be the case.

Although Warner Bros. produces the DCU animated fare, I think it is evident that its not random WB people working on the television shows. You only have to go as far as Bruce Timm to see an overlying theme in all the productions. However, Timm has moved on to the animated movies, leaving an opportunity for a new vision – a vision in my opinion which does not disappoint.

The latest offering from the animated DCU is Batman: Brave and the Bold (which can be seen Fridays on Cartoon Network or downloaded on iTunes – my preferable mode). First, Brave and the Bold is definitely a kids cartoon with stories geared towards a family experience. However, there is no where else you can see so many B-List DC heroes at one time as Brave and the Bold is the ultimate in team-ups.

Each episode Batman partners with two new heroes. Before the title sequence, he will be seen already in-action with Kamandi, Guy Gardner, Fire or the Blue Beetle (the Jaime version). Then the story begins with another hero – Silver Age Green Arrow, Deadman, Wildcat, etc. The action always takes place outside of Gotham finding weird alien locales, the past or the JSA gymnasium.

The animation is different than what we have experienced before and the show’s music has a 60’s jazz feel to it that makes it even more fun. The stories are good, and should be able to hold the interest of any adult looking to enjoying themselves. Hardcore Batman animated fans will probably go into cardiac arrest with this one, especially after the just finished-The Batman series. But I say, give it a go. You will be surprised.

The only odd thing which after seven episodes still stands out to me is the decision to cast former Drew Carey Show alum Diedrich Bader as the Dark Knight. Each time I hear Batman speak, I am waiting for the neighbor in Office Space to bang on Peter’s wall to turn on the breast exam channel. It’s not a negative criticism of the show or him, but rather an observation. Still, Bader’s voice work is good and seems to be perfect for Brave and the Bold.

The next two series both ended last year. The Batman received five solid seasons and debuted right around the time of Batman Begins. Alan Burnett exec produced and Michael Goguen was a supervising producer with animation provided by former comic-artist Jeff Matsuda.

This one took a beating from the hardcore fans mentioned earlier (who many I don’t think even watched an episode) as this was the first-animated incarnation of the Bat not to have Kevin Conroy voicing the Dark Knight and not to refer to the hours of canon that came before in Batman TAS, Batman Beyond and Justice League. It is probably akin to Enterprise for Star Trek fans after over 700 hours of established Trek lore (although as a self-described Trek fan, I loved Enterprise).

I liken animated shows to college teams as you need to turn the core over every four years. For college teams, its about sustaining a winner, for animated shows, its about finding a new audience.

But don’t beat this show up too much, it told great stories with a new twist on Gotham’s rogue’s gallery. Plus, there was some A-List names doing voice work, including Gina Gershon as Catwoman (meow), Edward James Olmos, Adam West (is he the new animated-voice go-to guy now?), Ming-Na (ER, Final Fantasy) and many more.

The overall production was excellent and in later seasons they introduced Batgirl, Robin and the JLA (once again to the chagrin of those overseers). Still, if you can take it for what it was worth, it was a really fun 30 minutes each week.

Last but certainly not least was the Legion of Superheroes, which came to an end after only two seasons. Due to the continuing lawsuit over the rights to Superman, this was originally tabbed to be called Superboy and the Legion. But that is mostly a sidebar.

I had high hopes for this one, and while the first season stories (once again geared towards kids) seemed to sputter, overall the show was decent. The animation and voice work were all solid. And the only true noticeable absence in the first season was the omission of Cosmic Boy.

There must have been a lot of negative feedback after year one however because season two saw a new direction for the show, plus the introduction of Cosmic Boy (finally) and a future-cloned version of the Man of Steel (which was just weird). He was an angry version of the boy scout (must have been the clone thing) and if the WB thinks a “darker” Superman movie is going to succeed like the Dark Knight, they need only look as far as this disastrous move in LOSH.

Plus, for some reason they decided to try and make “some” of the characters older, giving Lighning Lad a chin-beard and changing Braniac 5’s haircut. I wonder how many meetings were had over these two decisions (should we cut Felicity’s hair?). Also, Saturn Girl seemed to take a backseat. If this show did not end after the second season, my viewing of it probably would as the stories grew increasingly uninteresting.

There was a couple of glimmers of hope in the second season with an origin story of the three original founding members that really stood out as fun. I felt as if the show had the same problem the current comic run does, trying to make the small “legion” of orginal fans happy who faithfully still read the book looking for the group from when they were kids. All the while trying to change things up and introduce the characters to a new audience; it’s just not clicking for them right now.

That’s all I have for today, I have rambled on far enough. In the end, each of these shows is a different and unique experience. Try them out, you just might find you missed or are missing something.

Next time, the Marvel animated ‘verse. Oh dear, hold onto your hats for that one as I am not all that impressed. Don’t forget to tip your hotel door man on the way out – Peace!

P.S. – There are a lot of DCU programs out there from the past and there is no way I can tackle them all in just one review. But one day I promise to “look back” at all of them (I am talking to you Batman TAS and Justice League).

And also, did you know that this year is the 15th anniversary of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm? And did you know that when it first came out, MOTP was released in the theaters (I should know, I saw it in one)? So nestle into your favorite chair this evening and throw the MOTP into the DVD player for old time sakes.

Captain Wednesday – Your Friendly Neighborhood Comic Dude

The first fear of course would be that it completely flopped. The television series was so beloved over the years, both during its original run and for many like myself, in the numerous years it has run and continues to run in syndication. 

To be sure, by modern standards the show is a little bit campy and has some extreme moments of lameness. But despite this there is a real heart to the show that makes it not only watchable but completely draws you into this world of KAOS and CONTROL. I think without a doubt that that pull comes directly from the main characters Maxwell Smart (aka Agent 86) and Agent 99. There is something about their chemistry as a juxtaposed pair of competence and incompetence that is entertaining to behold. 

Undoubtedly, Maxwell Smart is an idiot. At times watching the old television episodes is just aggravating. Surely a buffoon such as Max couldn’t soundly function in the world?! With the plethora of dangerous KAOS agents around him all the time it truly is a wonder that none of them have shot him to death out of mere annoyance and frustration with his density and ineptitude. 

But beneath all that there is an incredible heart to the character. He really values the security of his country, is highly dedicated to each and every mission, and genuinely believes that he will get himself and/or 99 out of whatever predicament they find themselves in. The most remarkable thing is that he actually does it, against the odds, time and time again! Usually it’s by dumb luck and the inevitable stuff ups of those against him that give Max the small window of opportunity he needs to foil their plots and save the day.  And of course who can resist rooting for the underdog – even if said underdog is often aided by an actual dog that is in some ways more capable at the job than he. 

Another part of what made Get Smart so iconic as a series was its use of prop and sight gags, matched marvellously with a slew of one-line catchphrases and punch lines. The most notable of these being: “Missed it by that much”, “Would you believe?”, “Sorry about that, Chief”, “Oh, Max” and “I request the Cone of Silence”. Don Adams had such a wonderful delivery of these lines that coupled nicely with his mastery of physical and slapstick humour. 

So bearing all these things in mind we come to the 2008 feature film and Steve Carrell’s portrayal of Max. 

This film is a modern Maxwell Smart and a modern CONTROL. The Cold War is over, yet CONTROL lives on, despite the cover that it disbanded years ago. There are no more agents hidden in precarious and ridiculous places (although there is that one nostalgic scene with Bill Murray in a tree doing things “old school spy”); these CONTROL agents have contemporary gadgets, listen to terrorist chatter on iPods, and have a holographic Cone of Silence that ironically still doesn’t work for all its futuristic bells and whistles. 

Steve Carrell’s portrayal of Max is markedly different than that establish by Don Adams in the series. Probably a part of the writing but the contribution of Carrell cannot be denied. A great physical and verbal comedian in his own right, Carrell brings something fresh to the character that pays suitable homage to Adams but also stamps the role as one of his own. Instead of the oblivious blunderer who stumbles upon good fortune to help him save the day, Carrell plays Max in quite the opposite way. The Maxwell Smart of 2008 is highly aware of his foibles yet somehow it seems he is merely the victim of incredible bad luck that constantly undermines all his best efforts at success. 

Like Adams’ Max, Carrell’s is simple, yet not simple minded. He is a man of basic pleasures and isn’t afraid to merely be a man just trying to humbly make a difference in a, pardon the pun, chaotic world. Like in the television series, the affection Max has for 99 is genuine despite her initial resistance and abhorrence towards it. 

This is something I really like about the film. In the television show 99 would always dote on Max in a way that was regularly well, unfeminist, inexplicable, naïve and downright annoying. How could an agent and indeed a woman who seemed as capable as she did habitually defer to such a dunderhead and even fall hopelessly in love with him? 

Well, maybe that’s the magic of television but in today’s world for me that just doesn’t fly. By resetting their relationship at the start of the film to one of aggravation and friction, especially on 99’s part, the viewer has the pleasure of witnessing their formation of a mutual understanding, friendship and indeed by the end of it all, a genuine romantic relationship. 

The addition of the character Agent 23 is another good move on the part of the feature to bring Max into a fuller flesh as the lead of the story. Juxtaposed with Agent 23 Max is the same old Agent 86 we all remember and loved, but in a way he is also more real. Max isn’t the big action hero, like 23, he’s just doing the best he can at the job before him. The gadgets are cool and help him out but it’s still the same old Max pulling them out and inevitably getting himself into trouble thru his misuse of them, for example, his accidental ejection from an airplane handcuffed and without a parachute. 

So coming back to my original question, did the remade movie miss the mark established by the television series by that much? 

To some extent yes and no. All the little hints, motifs and callbacks to the original series are there in the movie. From the cars Max drives, the telephone booth entrance, the series of doors, the shoe phone, the one liners, the regular enemies and old time friends like Fang the dog (aka Agent K-13 in the original series), and of course the infamous Cone of Silence there is no doubt to the educated viewer that this is the world of Get Smart. And any seasoned fan of the series should indeed be endeared enough to at least give it a go if not fall madly in love with this latest incarnation. 

Having said that, however, there just is no substitute for the original gem that made a mark on its time and on future generations of viewers to come after. So charming and ridiculously funny, Get Smart is a one of a kind story that any attempt to recreate it after the fact will only ever be in my opinion, second best. Though I cannot deny that I simply loved the film and was chuckling in my seat to the point of tears. Oh Max! 

Now I have to admit, I’ve never watched an entire episode of Xena or Hercules. At the time they were on the air, I really just wasn’t interested. I’m sure I could enjoy them now, and perhaps one day when I have a little breathing room in my Netflix queue, I’ll give them a shot.

First let me say this: I am a die-hard fan of the novels. Wizard’s First Rule was the first fantasy novel I read. I was thoroughly hooked by Goodkind’s writing and characterizations. The story of Richard, Kahlan and Zedd immediately captured me and I was obsessed. It was the first novel I discussed with my husband in depth, and I think we both share an extra fondness for it because of that.

But I’m not here to talk about the novels. I’m here to talk about the television adaptation of the novels. Originally, the show was slated to be only the first novel. A twenty-two episode arc of Wizard’s First Rule. And I agreed that was the only way a visualization of that book could work. A two-hour movie or six-hour miniseries would never cut it. I kept up with the project by occasionally following the production website and keeping up with casting news, excited by what I was seeing come down the pipe.

Then in November 2008, after an excruciatingly long wait, The Legend of the Seeker aired. And as the first episode neared to a close, I was thinking, “Not too bad, the changes they made were necessary. I can live with this.” Then they literally and figuratively threw the book in the fire. And then, everything changed.

Ok, maybe not everything. But I now had to struggle with not to turning into a hysterical fan girl and saying, “but THAT’S not how it happened in the book!” Later, I learned in an interview with one of the show’s stars, Craig Horner (Richard), that the series is based on the characters from Goodkind’s book and the overall story arc, but with lots of episodic stops along the way.

And once I got over that disappointment and used to the episodic idea of it all, I did sit back and enjoy the show for what it is: a fairly predictable series, chock-full of eerily beautiful cinematography (the New Zealand landscape screams, “Epic!”), and an honorable attempt to bring those three beloved characters to life.

However, it doesn’t always succeed. Episode 5, “Listener,” is about as far away from portraying Goodkind’s story and characters as possible. I have to wonder if the writer, Stephen Tolkin, had ever bothered to crack open the source material. I’m assuming he has, since he was one of the three credited writers for the first episode, “Prophecy.” Apparently, at times, he just doesn’t care. And I was about to the point where I didn’t care either.

But I gave it another chance. And am I ever glad I did. Two weeks later, the episode “Identity” aired, and it brought back the essence of the characters and of the original story of the book. While it didn’t tell the story the same way that the novel did, it was done in an interesting way and I was excited again about the series.

I haven’t been disappointed by its return from the winter hiatus, either. The episode, “Denna,” and “Puppeteer” which followed, were everything I’d come to expect from the series, and a little more: faithful to the ideals of the original story and characters, with an interesting twist that makes me want to see where it is going.

So, will this series appeal to those who haven’t read the books? Perhaps. If you’re missing a sprawling fantasy epic of the likes of Xena or Hercules, you may like the show. Just don’t expect it to have that same campy tongue-in-cheek quality. The show does tend to take itself too seriously at times.

If you are a fan of the book series, I say give it a chance. We’ve all seen how things change when they go to film or screen (X-Men, Spiderman, Iron Man, etc.). For both camps however, new viewers and established fans, if you’re willing to be a little patient, I have a feeling the payoff is going to be worth some of the earlier, lesser quality episodes.

Eureka is the most fun show of SciFi’s television line-up. The show is about a little town in the Pacific-Northwest called Eureka. This government town is filled with the country’s brightest minds and the most advanced research lab, Global Dynamics. Everyone who works in the town is the best in their field, from the head of Global Dynamics to the local dry cleaner. Global Dynamics is sanctioned by the government to be ahead of the technological curve and to make sure the country is ready for any technological or biological threat. That means experimentation, and of course that means things go wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.

The one exception to the “genius” rule, as there is always an exception, is Sheriff Jack Carter, portrayed brilliantly by Colin Ferguson. Carter accidentally finds the town when travelling back to LA with his troubled daughter, Zoe (Jordan Hinson). When the current sheriff of Eureka is crippled by one of Eureka’s notorious experiments, Jack Carter, then an U.S. Marshall, is “promoted” to sheriff of the town.

Carter is the everyman of the show. He sees the world as we, the average viewer would see it. We all know that book smarts and common sense do not always go hand and hand, and that is the primary point of the show. A town full of geniuses cannot always see the obvious, and Carter is typically stuck trying to simplify things for the audience, and for the too-smart-for-their-own-good characters. He also tends to break down the techno-babble associated with these types of shows. For example, after a highly technological description of a machine that can kill people with one shot, Carter dryly asks, “It’s a ray that causes instant death. Why don’t you just say death ray?”

While the basic plot sounds like it could get old, and it is at times formulaic, like all good television, it’s the characters that keep the viewer invested: Carter’s evolving daughter Zoe; the brilliant and beautiful head of Global Dynamics, Allison Blake (Salli Richardson); the snarky Deputy Sherriff Jo Lupo (Erica Cerra); the wise friend Henry Deacon (Joe Morton); the egotistical genius, Nathan Stark (Ed Quinn), and the quintessential screw up, Douglas Fargo (Neil Grayston) are just a few of the lovable and hate-able characters of Eureka. Even the throwaway and reoccurring characters add a sense of whimsy to the show that is hard to deny.

You can’t talk about amazing quirky characters without talking about the writers. The characters would not be an ounce of who they are without brilliant writing. Show creators Jamie Paglia and Andrew Crosby write the bulk of the series’ episodes. That is what keeps this show alive. Instead of show runners who throw out ideas to their writing staff, Eureka is largely written by the men who know where the show is going. And after hearing Paglia speak at Dragon*Con two years ago, they do have an idea of where this show is going, unlike some other not-to-be named show runners (yes Tim Kring, I’m talking to you).

Eureka has recently fallen victim to SciFi’s latest round of showing only half a season. However, the remaining half of season three will be closer to a full-length season as SciFi renewed Eureka for an astounding twenty-one episode run, rather than it’s usual thirteen. With the remaining half due to air over the summer, you have plenty of time to catch up on the first two seasons of one of SciFi channel’s most original, creative, and all around best shows.

The Legion of Superheroes took a visit to Smallville tonight in an episode written by comic scribe Geoff Johns. It was, without a doubt, the BEST episode of the entire series to date. Geoff Johns succeeded where every writer to ever work on the show has failed… he wrote the perfect episode of Smallville.

So that’s what I think. But I want to know what you guys thought! Discuss the episode in the comments section below!

Apparently the pilot for Dollhouse may not make television history, but there is still hope, I mean come on its Joss. Time Magazine posted a review online for the new show and had more than a few things to say about the pilot…

“If it weren’t for Whedon’s pedigree, I’m not sure I’d be dying to see a second episode. But for me, the main draw now is not seeing Dushku become a different person every week, but getting to see Joss Whedon become a different writer every week.”

(TIME via AiCN)

A Pilot Review by Scott Carelli

I really like Vampires.

But as a fan I’m also a really picky one. Ever since Buffy, I’ve never seen or read anything vampire-related that’s really impressed me. Moonlight was a rip-off of two other vastly superior vampire series (Forever Knight and Angel) with a generic, bland plot filled with generic, bland characters I couldn’t care less about if I tried. Reading the novel Twilight, I was immediately turned off by the portrayal of vampires as nothing more than gothic runway models. I had all but given up (assuming that once you go Whedon, you never go back), when I started being accosted by viral marketing ads for a new HBO series called True Blood.

The first of which was for a new beverage called “TruBlood“, which I assumed was some new drink cleverly disguised as blood in a bottle for the hip gothic crowd (Available soon at a Hot Topic near you!). It even comes in different flavors: O Negative, A Negative, B Negative, and AB Positive. The site itself was complete with clever commercials, downloads, and even a short quiz to determine what blood type you would prefer. It was all odd for sure, but I didn’t give it too much thought and forgot about it for a few weeks.

Then I discovered another one, a human/vampire dating site called “LoveBitten“. At this point I began to suspect viral marketing and that’s when I noticed the copyright of the site was owned by HBO. So, in an attempt to find out more information, I registered with the dating site. Once finished with the questionnaire though, I was informed that due to the high volume of registration requests, I wouldn’t be able to join their service at this time. It also told me to browse their members area, but when I tried, it of course told me that I had to be registered. The site had successfully lead me in a circle, chasing for a wild goose. I still had little to no info about what exactly this was, but a third advertisement caught my eye.

This one was for a blog called “BloodCopy” which claims to be a site chronicling “the amazing days we live in as vampires attempt to integrate with humans.” There’s a lot of information to take in here, and the site does the best job setting up this world in which vampires have “come out of the coffin”, revealing themselves to the public. The most interesting part of the site, are a series of news reports focusing what the world has been like since “The Great Revelation”. Sites for “The American Vampire League” and “The Fellowship of the Sun” are mentioned here which focus on vampire rights. It all paints a very realistic picture of what the world would probably be like if these events were to transpire.

Finally, I discovered a much more straightforward advertisement for a webcomic prequel for a new HBO series called True Blood. Usually, comic tie-ins (especially of the web variety) are pretty low quality, with scripts that read as if they were written over a coffee break and the most generic, stiff artwork possible. I assumed that this would be no different, but was actually surprised at the level of quality. It’s no Watchmen by any means, but definitely better than any webcomic tie-in I was familiar with (*cough*Heroes*cough*). It follows the Vampire King of California (is that anything like the Sausage King of Chicago?) as he gets involved with the distribution of TruBlood, giving a lot of back-story along the way from the vampire perspective which wasn’t really explored on the BloodCopy blog. In any event, I was hooked and ready to see what this series was all about.

The other day, I had the chance to catch a screener copy of True Blood’s pilot episode. I must say, there’s a lot to like about this new series. Turns out, it’s based on the Southern Vampire series of books by Charlaine Harris and was adapted for television by Six Feet Under mastermind Alan Ball (who also wrote and directed the pilot).

The main problem I’ve always had with vampires is how they’re depicted. My worry was still very much alive going into the pilot episode of this series, but fortunately, the opening scene put them to rest. It involves two teenagers stopping at a convenience store, which happens to carry TruBlood, to ask the attendant about the beverage and the customers who purchase it. There’s a twist at the end of the scene that you’ll probably see coming, but I don’t want to ruin just in case you don’t. Right away, I knew I was in for something a little different.

The series stars Anna Paquin (”Rogue” of X-Men fame) as Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress at a diner in a small Louisiana town. The pilot begins two years after the vampires “came out of the coffin” and the people of the town have seemingly recovered since then, going back to their regular lives. It reminds me a lot of the time right after 9-11, when most of America seemed restless, not really knowing what to do or where to go from here (okay, you can stop singing the Buffy musical now…). We’re introduced to a variety of characters including Sookie’s best friend, boss, and brother. All of the characters in the pilot were interesting to varying degrees, and I didn’t dislike any of them (other than the ones I was supposed to.)

The show finally starts moving when a vampire named Bill shows up at the diner, much to the dismay of the restaurant’s patrons. Sookie is the only person there who isn’t afraid to talk to him, and does so with all of the southern hospitality she can muster.  Stephan Moyer plays Bill as overly mysterious and gothic, but I think that as the show goes on, it will be revealed as mostly an act on Bill’s part to portray a vampire the way the town would probably assume they would be. Even in the pilot, there were instances where Bill seemed to be lowering his defenses around Sookie and letting his real personality come through.

Another interesting part of the mythology of this show is that vampire blood can be used as a drug of sorts. Humans capture vampires and drain their blood to either use for themselves or sell for a nice chunk of change ($2500/ounce). It was unclear to me if they ingest the blood or inject it, but it apparently makes you feel strong and healthy. I’m assuming the experience is similar to MGH (Mutant Growth Hormone), the fictional drug from the Marvel universe that grants users temporary superpowers, or in this case, vampire powers.

The rest of the episode sets up a murder mystery involving a local “fangbanger”, a sort of groupie for vampires who allows them to drink their blood during a sexual encounter. When she winds up dead, the evidence points to Sookie’s brother, but the town is convinced that Bill had something to do with it. Nothing is resolved, so I’m assuming that it will be a multi-episode arc, possibly spanning the whole first season, but I’m not certain.

An aspect to the show that isn’t really gone into is Sookie’s telepathy. She can read minds, and because of this she is the town outsider. How do they know what she can do? For whatever reason, Sookie goes around answering people’s thoughts every chance she gets. Seems like something I would keep to myself, but I suppose everyone would react differently to a situation like that. I do, however, love that her friends and co-workers mistakenly refer to her as ‘psychic’, much to her dismay. It reminds me a lot of the public confusion between ‘anorexia’ and ‘bulimia’ or ’schizophrenia’ and ‘DID’. But overall, Sookie’s mind reading seemed mostly like an easy way for her character and Bill to connect almost immediately because when Sookie tries to read Bill’s mind all she can hear is white noise. I hope more is explored with this aspect of her character, because so far it seems to serve little purpose beyond making her a bit eccentric.

Overall, I think the pilot does a great job of introducing us to the world of True Blood. My favorite part of any series, is discovering the mythology behind the show (Lost, Heroes, Buffy, etc.), and I’m happy to see that True Blood is no different. Having watched this, and enjoying it so much, I had to ask myself what was different about this series? What makes it better than any of the other recent vampire outings? All I could come up with was one simple answer: this show has heart. And I’m not talking about romance or a family hug. No, it’s something bigger than that. Something that isn’t really seen on the surface. The series, like Buffy, cares about its characters almost more than you do, which I think is a huge strength that speaks volumes about the creators. Was it the best pilot I’ve ever seen? No, not remotely. But it was strong regardless, and I urge you all to give the series a shot. I’d almost given up on finding a new vampire series worth watching, but I’m glad I didn’t.

True Blood premieres Sunday, September 7th on HBO.

A Recipe For Success…. Take a handful of young, attractive and gifted actors. Mix well with Horror, Drama and Comedy. Sprinkle liberally with clever and insightful dialogue. Bake in DVD player for 6,480 minutes. Garnish with audio commentaries and behind-the-scenes featurettes. What you should end up with is one of the most innovative and original television programs of the past decade. Join me as I review the collected DVD Box Set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A wooden stake and a crucifix are strongly recommended before you continue.

WARNING: Contains Minor Spoilers!

Sunnydale is a small town located in Southern California, close to Los Angeles. Beneath the local high school sits the center of mystical convergance, aptly named The Hellmouth. This irregularity often produces all kinds of manifested evil, and as a result, a short life expectancy for Sunnydale’s inhabitants. Enter Buffy Summers, a troublesome cheerleader who was kicked out of her old school for burning down the gymnasium because it was crawling with vamp– Asbestos.

Buffy is in fact The Slayer, a chosen warrior with enhanced abilities, destined to stop the spread of evil in Sunnydale and eventually the world. Buffy herself is reluctant to perform such a task. Luckily, she does not face these threats alone. This is the true nature of the show. It uses the supernatural as a metaphor to depict the hell of high school life and ultimately, growing into adulthood. The show also stresses the importance of family and friends, as time and time again, Buffy’s success is due to the support of those around her. Were it not for these crucial characters, she would not have made it past her first year at Sunnydale.

This is also true of the show itself. The cast and crew were able to elevate the material introduced in the campy, guilty pleasure of the original 1992 film, into what has now become cinematic storytelling of intense, moving drama, all on a weekly basis. Buffy the Vampire Slayer also raised the bar in the way television programs would be produced and appreciated. TV was often cited as the lowest form of quality entertainment. TV was once where failed movie producers and dwindling actors went to die. Thanks to creative minds like that of Joss Whedon, the medium of television has now risen to the level of epic, greek tragedies full of groundbreaking ideas and promising acting talent.

 Sarah Michelle Gellar, in her portrayal of Buffy Summers, helped to usher in a new era of strong female role models for young women. The Chosen Collection DVD Set is like a time capsule of sorts, an evolutionary chart in box, if you will. From the series premiere in March of 1997 to the finale in May of 2003, the viewer can witness growth in skill and ability through every aspect of production. From humble beginnings of 16 milimeter film stock and midi scoring, to 35 milimeter, cinema quality picture and orchestral sound. Buffy taught us you don’t have to go to the theater to see a great movie. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That should you be struck down, you can rise from the ashes like a phoenix, more powerful than ever. Above all else, the show taught us, as long as you have the love of friends and family, you can come out of the darkness and into the light and you are never truly alone.

The Chosen Collection, while packaged differently is the exact same as the individual season box sets that are available. This is both good and bad. Many fans often debate on the program’s aspect ratio. While it is possible to purchase the Region 2 set in Widescreen, this is not how the show was intended to be viewed. Joss Whedon makes sure to point this out in a personal note to the fans included in this box set. He states that the show was shot and produced for the standard, square shape of your television. I’ve been told by some, that the widescreen presentation reveals some off-putting moments. For example, in the Season Four finale, "Restless" the infamous Cheese Man can now be seen standing at the far corner of the frame, just waiting to step in and deliver his lines. Except for "Once More With Feeling" from Season Six, all other episodes are presented in their original Full Frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

Because this is a direct transfer of the previous editions, the picture quality in some areas can be grainy or fuzzy. I’ll exclude the transfer of the first two seasons from this complaint, since those episodes were shot on 16 milimeter film and such noise is inevitable. As for the remaining seasons, the picture quality can range from good to VHS tape-like in appearance, which should be a big no-no when it comes to Digital Video Discs.

For the most part, the colors in the series are very vibrant, especially the warmer tones. From the red felt of the pool tables in The Bronze, to the sun-baked skyline of California, the show’s brighter hues are very lush and have a nice pop to them. The photography in certain episodes play a major part in noticing some of the noise and spottiness of some images. The blown out dream sequences in "Restless" and old-school feel of "Once More With Feeling" look very beautiful.

Season Four itself looks especially good for some reason. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for much of Season Five. The darker scenes in "Fool For Love" look especially poor, similar to the 16 milimeter stock, and the exterior sets in "The Real Me", "Buffy Vs. Dracula", "Triangle" and Season Six’s "Gone" look more obviously like the fake, backlot structures that they are. I wonder if that has more to do with the show changing its Director Of Photography in Season Five than anything else. Michael Gershman brought a dark and brooding quality to the show. The last three seasons under Raymond Stella, looked personally to me a bit too bright, cartoonish and candy-coated. Having said that, he did manage to shine in a few key places. The blue filter used at the end of Season Seven’s "Beneath You" and throughout "Conversations With Dead People" evoked a look and feel as far back as the pilot episode. I think his best work is "Normal Again", probably due in part to his reteaming with Halloween 2 director, Rick Rosenthal.

The audio portion of the discs are surprisingly top notch, especially when you take into account the 2.0 sound mix. The dialogue, sound effects and music never overpower each other. A Pro Logic output will produce clean and clear audio, with no static whatsoever. The dusting of a vampire sounds especially nice. Christophe Beck’s sweeping and spine-tingling scores for episodes like "The Wish", "Hush" and "Restless" are strong standouts.

All in all, a decent picture quality, but could definitely use improvement in places. The sound does make up for it, though. Having said that, I would gladly make the triple-dip effort for a high definition transfer.

The amount of Special Features within this set seems to fluctuate, as does their quality. Exclusive to The Chosen Collection, you will find a disc containing some cast and crew interviews, most notably an hour long Roundtable Discussion with the likes of Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon, David Fury, Jane Espenson, Doug Petrie, Drew Goddard, Nicholas Brendon, Charisma Carpenter, Emma Caulfield and Danny Strong. Listening to it, you’re sure to get nostalgiac for the days when the show was new and exciting, just before it hit mainstream popularity. You might even get a little choked up. If there’s one fault of this particular recording, it’s the absence of other show regulars, like for example, Sarah Michelle Gellar. The other featurettes on this exclusive disc are nice, but are kind of a tease, since they’re obviously just snippets of random interviews.

The audio commentaries are kind of all over the place, and I mean that in every sense. We get a nice episode guide booklet with this box set, but there’s still the problem of having to search through each disc if you want to find a specific feature. Luckily, I’m going to take this opportunity to point out where exactly the commentaries can be found. You might want to get a pen and paper for this, or you can do what I did. Print out your own little commentaries list and stick it in the box on top of the episode guide. The entire first season sports only one. The good news is, it’s by Joss Whedon, and those are usually tops. Plus, he does manage to cover both episodes of the pilot, "Welcome To The Hellmouth" and "The Harvest" (disc one).

Season Two gives us three seperate tracks (four if you divide the two-parter, "What’s My Line?"). David Greenwalt discusses "Reptile Boy" on disc two, cementing the fact that the episode is a big, Public Service Announcement about the dangers of alcohol, to be reinstated later by "Beer Bad". Marti Noxon steps in on disc three for "What’s My Line?" in a two hour discussion about what it took to put the expansive episode together. Finally, we have Joss Whedon returning, this time on disc four with "Innocence". It’s definitely the best commentary for Season Two. However, I feel there were a few other episodes that could have really benifited from the commentary treatment, such as "School Hard", "Passion" and "Becoming, 1 & 2".

Season Three gives us an even four commentaries, most of which can be found on disc four. David Fury talks about writing "Helpless", Doug Petrie talks about "Bad Girls" and Michael Gershman discusses "Consequences". We also hear from Jane Espenson on the controversial episode, "Earshot", located on disc five. Curiously, there’s nothing in regards to "Band Candy", "The Wish", "Amends" or "Graduation Day". Oh well.

Season Four gives an astounding seven commentaries, and is probably the best set of the lot in terms of production and content. On disc two, we get a very fun and informative track for "Wild At Heart" by Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon and Seth Green. They even continue talking after the episode has ended and we’re left with a black screen! For some unknown reason, this track seems to be absent from Region 2 discs. It’s a real shame, too. We also get Doug Petrie on the same disc, chiming in about "The Initiative". Disc Three gives us Joss Whedon for his wonderful episode, "Hush". Doug Petrie returns once again, this time to talk about "This Year’s Girl", located on disc four. Jane Espenson can be found on disc five, discussing the wackiness that is "Superstar". Disc six gives us David Fury and James Contner together on "Primeval", while Joss Whedon gives one of my favorite commentaries for one of my favorite episodes, "Restless". The odd man out this time seems to be "Who Are You?" the second half of Faith’s two-part exit.

Season Five brings us back down to four commentaries. The two Davids, Fury and Grossman hit disc one with "Real Me". Doug Petrie gives us his thoughts on disc two’s "Fool For Love" (another personal favorite on both counts). Jane Espenson can be found on disc four with "I Was Made To Love You". Joss Whedon sits down for the brilliant but difficult to watch "The Body", on disc five. Sadly, no love for "The Gift".

Season Six kicks off with disc one’s "Bargaining" two-parter from David Fury and Marti Noxon. Disc two gives us the always entertaining Joss Whedon with more brilliance in "Once More With Feeling". Disc three gives us Drew Z. Greenberg on "Smashed". On disc five we have David Solomon and Rebecca Rand Kirshner discussing "Hell’s Bells", while Rick Rosenthal and Diego Guttierez discuss "Normal Again" (very interesting). Disc six offers up "Grave" with David Fury and James Contner. Unfortunately, we get squat on "Tabula Rasa" and "Seeing Red".

Season Seven hits us with a whopping seven commentaries, two of which are crammed with people. On disc one, we have Joss Whedon and David Solomon discussing "Lessons". Disc two brings us Drew Goddard and David Solomon on "Selfless", and we also have a very lively recording for "Conversations With Dead People" with Nick Marck, Jane Espenson, Drew Goddard, Tom Lenk and Danny Strong. Disc four has Drew Z. Greenberg and David Solomon on "The Killer In Me". Disc five gives us another energetic track in "Lies My Parents Told Me" with David Fury, Drew Goddard, James Marsters and D.B. Woodside. On that same disc, you’ll find Nicholas Brendon and Drew Goddard talking about "Dirty Girls". Finally, Joss Whedon bows out with "Chosen" on disc six. No track for "Storyteller" though. Probably no room left on the disc.

That brings us to the menu and packaging design. The first two seasons seem to have been handled by two seperate DVD production companies. Season two is kind of overly flashy and unnecessary. You have to navigate your way through some cartoony rendering of a cemetery just about every time you press a button. The disc space required for such a menu could have gone towards more commentaries. The menus for the first season I actually like quite a bit. It’s simple and practical. Seasons 3 to 7 are basically the same. We get a quick montage of images from the season, which are nice but run the risk of spoiling something for first time viewers. This is followed by cut-and-paste backdrops and layers, accompanied by looping music and sounds from an episode. Sometimes, the menus are fine. Sometimes, they’re cluttered and have trouble operating on some DVD players. The Playstation 2 had a difficult time properly displaying the menus for season six. For the most part, the menus and intros are quite nice, but I can’t help wondering if the extra megabytes could have been used for extra commentaries, instead.

I have a sort of love-hate relationship concerning the packaging of The Chosen Collection. First off, common sense should tell you never to stack your discs on top of each other like that. It’s the same thing with vinyl records. Coupled with those plastic cases, the weight can hurt your discs over time. Granted, this stacking procedure does diminish the amount of space a set like this would normally take up, but it hardly seems worth it. Secondly, each season is put together like a kind of book. The problem with that is, the spine seperates from the plastic dividers all too easy, causing them to fall out. What we’re left with is a sort of phone book with too many pages, when it should really be constructed more like a CD wallet.

When stacked upon each other in the correct order, the spines show a cast picture. This is nothing more than a promotional group shot from season three. Why that particular season? Beats me. If nothing else, you can at least amuse yourself by seperating books two and three, thus causing Buffy to suddenly be Canadian. To get to these stacked books, you must first lift the lid of the box and then open the front like a drawbridge. This is all well and good, except that front panel design is kind of flimsy, making the box itself not very good at its job. Plus, I personally don’t much care for the fact that the box is pretty much giving birth to these discs when I open it.

The disc holders are made out of thin, clear plastic similar to the previous, fold-out packaging. This kind of defeats the purpose of repackaging in the first place. Once again, you have to worry about the discs becoming dislodged due to the plastic teeth breaking apart. They might as well have made the thing out of glass, but I digress. Probably the most frustrating aspect of the stacked design is having to pull out one of the lower books. Have fun listening to the wrenching sounds of strained plastic if you want to bust out some season seven, followed by the inevitable thud when all the above seasons come crashing down. Point is, proceed with caution.

The outside look and feel of the box is where the love comes in. It sure is purdy-lookin’. All glossy and embossed. The thick, red color goes quite nicely with the white, faded images of Buffy and her friends. It’s attractive, yet understated. A good example where less is more. Although, it is a huge, white box that doesn’t just say "Buffy" on it in thick, red letters. It proclaims it! "I love Buffy like a fat kid loves cake!" There’s no hiding or denying it. The only thing missing would be for the box to be made of some kind of metal or molded plastic, which probably would have been better. All I’m saying is, the box stands out, so be prepared for the uninitiated to take notice. And remember, although it looks all nice and sleek on the outside, there’s a lot to contend with on the inside.

Hmmm, kind of like Buffy herself. Interesting.

***1/2 out of 4. 

I guess the big question is, "Should you get The Chosen Collection, or the individual Slim Set boxes?" Honestly, either one is good. It’s a give and take. The Chosen Collection comes in the pretty box, takes up less space on the shelf and contains that extra DVD. On the other hand, depending on which vendor you decide to go through, I think the Slim Sets are marginally cheaper on the whole, and they have more solid packaging. I myself picked up The Chosen Collection for close to $140, which equals out to almost a dollar per episode. At the end of the day, it’s what’s inside that counts, and Buffy will always be Buffy, no matter how you dress her, unless she’s The Buffy-Bot. Then? Well, that’s when things just get a little weird.