TV Talk: Quick and Dirty Reviews

I have been up to my eyeballs in good TV the past few days. I love it!

After putting off the inevitable for months, I ripped the proverbial bandaid off of my DVR and watched the final 3 episodes of Pushing Daisies. While they were all good, the final episode was one of the best they ever did, and I will miss that show very, very much. *shakes fist at ABC*

Warehouse 13's season finale aired Tuesday night. It's not one of the best shows I've ever seen, but it is fun - great for family watching, if you're looking for something like that - and its strong point is the chemistry between all of the major characters. And it can be pretty funny.

Oh, Castle, how much do I love thee, let me count the ways...1,2,3...a MILLION. I thought the season 2 premiere was very strong, I was very pleased with the changes in Beckett (changes like more casual clothes and a bit more tomboy-ish manner that I had been wishing for last season) and I am totally, madly in love with Nathan Fillion.

Community was pretty darn funny, which is good, since it's a comedy.

If Katey Sagal does not get nominated for an Emmy for her work on Sons of Anarchy this season, I swear I will go to Los Angeles and stand outside the theater and protest the awards show myself.

Tonight's viewing schedule: FlashForward series premiere, last night's series premiere of Modern Family and CSI's season premiere and oh my God, Fringe, too! An excess of riches!

Pushing Daisies Alert!

This almost got by me, and I'm probably too late in letting you know: ABC will start burning off the final three episodes of Pushing Daisies tomorrow night at 10:00 PM.

I'm setting my DVR as we speak...

TV Talk: Familiar Faces Return

Sort of good Pushing Daisies news! No, not that - the show's still canceled - but ABC has decided to air the final three episodes prior to releasing the season 2 DVD on July 21.

ABC is burying it deep in their schedule: They'll be showing them on Saturday nights at 10:00, beginning May 30. This is one of those times where I thank God for the Internet. Otherwise I would never have known.

Also, Fringe is back tonight! I may need to look for a recap somewhere of the most recent episode, because I have no memory of where the show left off. But that's OK - I've missed it and I'm looking forward to getting back into it. I just hope the long break didn't result in a big loss of viewership, because this show can't afford it.







ETA:

I just found out that Deadliest Catch returns tonight, too, at 9:00 PM on the Discovery Channel! Yay! I'll have to send myself an e-mail reminder to set the DVR...

This?

SUCKS:

Daisies' Final Episodes to Bloom this Spring — But Not on TV

For the moment, Paleyfest attendees will be the first to see Daisies' final hours, with a screening set for Sunday, April 19, at Hollywood's ArcLight Cinema. Further sweetening the deal will be series creator and executive producer Bryan Fuller, on hand to introduce the event.

The article says attendees will be the "first" to see the episodes, so maybe there is hope that ABC's stone cold heart will melt and they'll actually air them at some point before the DVDs come out in the summer...but I doubt it.

ABC sucks. Suckity-suck-suck-SUCKS!

(that ought to get me some interesting Google hits)

I Love and Hate My TV v. 2008

My word, the holidays do seem to overwhelm everything more and more each year. Sorry I've been gone so long!

It's time for my second annual "I Love and Hate My TV" posts, wherein I list all of the things that are on or related to the television that either pissed me off or made me very happy.  

This year, I am happy to report that the "Hate" list is far shorter than than the "Love" one.

Things that made me hate my TV:

1.  The death of Warrick on CSI.   Was Gary Dourdan the best actor on the show?  Absolutely not.  Was he smokin' hot and lovely to look at and incredibly cool? AbsoLUTEly.  I guess if I'm going to hate anyone for this, it's Gary Dourdan.  Dude, get your act together and come back to my TV.

2.  CNN's lame election night "hologram".

First off, it's not a hologram.  Second, she's not reporting from the field but from inside a tent, surrounded by cameras.  And she doesn't appear to Wolf - he's talking to thin air.  My only question:  WHY?

3.  This makes me angry and very, very sad:  The cancellation of Pushing Daisies.  I've gone on and on here about what an amazingly creative, heartwarming and hilarious show it is, and how much everyone who doesn't watch it is missing out on something fantastic, so I won't do that now (oops, just did!);  I will, however, ask that if you haven't watched it, please do yourself a favor and watch it when it comes out on DVD.  You won't be disappointed.

4. The Writers' Strike. My hatred of the strike was not based on its merits but on the effect it had on my favorite shows: abbreviated seasons or in some cases - 24 - no season at all. The strike is also partially responsible for #3 on this list. ABC decided not to bring PD back once the strike was over, and it was gone for so long that it completely fell off of people's TV radar.

5. If there was one word to sum up the dismal third season of Heroes, it would have to be STUPID. Almost every plot advancement was the result of a character acting stupidly, and the most glaringly stupid example? In the very first episode, Hiro removed the formula from the safe, right after being told not to by his father, for no other reason than he is bored, setting into motion the entire story arc for the season. Characters like Sylar and Nathan and Elle switched allegiances not only from episode to episode, but multiple times within a single episode, with no obvious motivation. And if there was a reason for the shift, it was - yep, you got it - it was stupid. And I have never watched a television show with more superfluous characters. You could kill off Matt, Mohinder, Meredith, Maya, and the girl who runs really fast and whose name escapes me right now without impacting the storyline AT ALL.

I could go on and on about all of the ways that Heroes disappointed me this season, but I would just be repeating myself. I'm still not sure if I'm going to give it another shot when the new chapter starts up, but if I hear that the story arc will involve a future New York City in peril, I'm done with it for good.

So, those are the ways in which my TV pissed me off or disappointed me in 2008. Was there anything that made you hate your TV?

Later, Part II, the "Love" list!

TV Talk: Sex, Pies and Cellophane Tape (for wrapping presents, get it?)

HBO's vampire series True Blood was on my list of new shows to watch this fall, but it somehow got dropped along the way. I think I felt as though my TV plate was full at the time, which is funny because it really wasn't. And then I heard that the show had a slow start and maybe it wasn't that great so I thought, "OK, now I don't feel so bad about not checking it out."

Then I started to hear good things. And then my friends started watching the episodes On Demand and raving about it. So I watched the first two episodes last night and I LOVED it. I could do without the somewhat excessive and borderline pornographic sex that was sprinkled about in these two episodes, and I'm hoping they either tone it down or it's not quite as gratuitous as it seems and there's some greater meaning underlying the speed humping, but everything else? Love! The main vampire character, Bill (that's him in the picture), is just dead sexy, pun intended, and he doesn't engage in any speed humping, thank God. He and Anna Paquin, who plays Sookie, have blazing hot chemistry, and they've barely kissed.

The first season is only available On Demand until December 22. I have 10 episodesleft to watch before then. I think I can do it!

What else have I been watching? Lots of Christmas specials, that's what! So far this season I've managed to see A Christmas Story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Shrek's Christmas and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Only a bazillion more to go...

Oh, I've also been watching what are the final few episodes of one of the most imaginative shows ever made: Pushing Daisies. After I watch this week's episode, there will only be 4 left. Not a lot of time, but perhaps just enough to end things somewhat satisfactorily. I will miss it.

TV Talk: Playing Catchup

Oh, so much TV Talk to catch up on, so let's just jump right in.

I cannot express to you my heartache at the news that Pushing Daisies has, for all intents and purposes, been cancelled by ABC.  The network has declined to pick up any new episodes besides the 13 that are already in the can, "at this time".  The network hasn't actually officially cancelled the show, but it's as good as gone.  They say they might wrap up the story in comic book form, but that is about as appealing to me as, well, comic books are - which is NOT AT ALL.  Such a shame.

I have a recommendation for you: Spaced, Simon Pegg's BBC comedy that originally aired from 1999-2001.  If you're a fan of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" (and The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Wars Trilogy - but not Phantom Menace! - for that matter), then you will LOVE "Spaced".  I recorded it when BBCAmerica ran a marathon a couple of months ago - and just watched it on Sunday - but you can rent the DVDs. My love for Simon Pegg knows no bounds.

I am this close to dropping Heroes for good.  I can no longer deal with the inconsistent characterizations, the insipid dialogue and the waste of a perfectly good premise.  It makes me sad that I used to eagerly await each new episode of this show, and now I just don't care.  The time will come soon when I will stop watching altogether.

Sons of Anarchy, however, has continued to amaze me, and last week's penultimate episode (the season finale is tomorrow) was just incredible.  The show did an amazing job of building drama over the season and all of the pieces of the story arc are really coming together, in sometimes heartbreaking ways.  I cannot wait to see what happens next.

I'm hoping they put out a SOA soundtrack.  The music in the show is always fantastic, and this song was put to good use in last week's outro:

Lastly, take a look at this - a new promo for Battlestar Galactica's final episodes, which will begin airing in January:

Woohoo!!

Is that much of a foregone conclusion?

Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller says he might return to Heroes: "In the wake of co-executive producers Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander getting fired from Heroes, online fans have been crying out for former Heroes writer (and Pushing Daisies creator) Bryan Fuller to rejoin the show. Apparently, somebody is listening. Fuller told EW.com that he's open to a comeback. 'I am exclusive to Daisies through the delivery of the 13th episode of our 13-episode order, which will be mid-January,' says Fuller. 'If Daisies isn't picked up by then, I will definitely be going back to play with my friends at Heroes.'"

God this makes me so sad. It's particularly painful because while it has a fraction of the viewers, Pushing Daisies is FAR superior to Heroes.

And Fuller? You don't have to sound so excited about the prospect of Daisies being cancelled.

>=|

Has Pushing Daisies Been Canceled??

The answer right now is No...not yet.  But all indicators seem to point to the distinct probability that it will be:

The current rumor being spread is that Daisies producers were told by ABC to treat episode 13 (which begins filming Monday) as a series finale, which some fans have interpreted as definitive news that the network decided to cancel the series.

Not true, say my sources. Producers have not yet been told whether they will receive a pickup for the remaining nine episodes of the current second season, and that is still a possibility.

However, it is true that producers were asked to change the plan for the 13th episode, which initially was a two-parter, with payoff in the 14th episode. ABC told producers to make number 13 a stand-alone episode and to "cover all bases," meaning that the episode should be able to serve as either a series finale or a launch pad into the final nine episodes of season two.

We can't let this show be canceled! Please! Pushing Daisies is unlike anything you've ever seen on TV and it is beautiful and funny and delightful and sad and sweet and did I mention it was funny?

Click here to find out what you can do to help save the Daisies.

Please.

TV Talk: Pushing Pushing Daisies

I just wanted to quickly mention that ABC, being the only major broadcast network to not be airing Obama's infomercial at 8:00 tonight, will instead be showing a new episode of one of the best and least-watched shows on TV right now: Pushing Daisies.

So, I'm going to ask all of you people not interested in watching a half hour of Obama - whether you're voting for him or not - to PLEASE watch Pushing Daisies instead. ABC hasn't picked up the remainder episodes for this season yet, and if there was ever a show that needed a ratings spike it's this show at this time.

It's an incredible show and you will NOT regret it! Here's a little taste of what you're missing:

TV Talk: Reminder

The second season of Pushing Daisies begins tonight on ABC at 8:00!

I also wanted to mention that Fringe has gotten progressively better with each passing week. Last night's episode was their best so far. The tone and story were both consistent and the characters were well-written. John Noble as Walter is still the breakout star, but Olivia is becoming more likable and like a real person and they're all becoming characters you can begin to care about. And I loved the creepy Observer guy! I think I saw him in the train station last week's episode. If you haven't seen the show yet but want to see what I'm going on about, you can find the first three episodes at Hulu.

Please don't f--- with the Daisies!

Replanting 'Daisies': Will it bloom or wilt: "The show's unabashed quirkiness was, to worried ABC officials, off-putting. When Daisies went back into production in June, some recalibration was in order. "The first part of (this) season was really tough," Fuller says. "They were like, 'Let's ground the show a little more; it can't be a cartoon. We can't have the show be weird and not get an audience.' And we were like, 'We can't have the show be boring and not get the people back we had last year.' The challenge to me was to make sure the fundamental DNA of the show didn't change." "

It's not a cartoon and it's not weird! Leave it alone!

The article claims that the new episodes don't seem to be all that different: "And happily, an early peek at the new season reveals Daisies has not been neutered. The season premiere, titled "Bzzzzzzz," has Chuck going undercover at Betty's Bees, a maker of honey-infused beauty products (think Burt's), where a star "bee girl" company spokeswoman has been stung to death. Morbidly funny special effects are still part of the picture. Future episodes revolve around a circus and taxidermy."

I'll believe it when I see it. Just because an episode is set in a circus doesn't mean it's charming by default.

Harumph.