The Week That Was & Is To Be

Six shows, three lists, two to anticipate, one post.

Do NOT mess with The Dean!

Idol Musings

You know how they say news comes in threes?  Apparently, so do my celebrity crushes.

It all started one summer long, long ago when three of the world’s most eligible bachelors got married:  Britain’s Prince Andrew (the Prince Harry of his day), Mark Harmon, and the daily comic strip’s Peter Parker.  (Oh, c’mon, you know who he is!)

Mark Harmon then & now: Still going strong.

My types seem to know no bounds.  One year it was Lorenzo Lamas in Renegade, Joe Lando from Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and… some other good-looking guy I can’t remember.  Unlike the first two, though, he didn’t have long hair.  Maybe it was Mark Harmon.

The next year it was David Hyde Pierce (whom I still adore), the little-known David Marciano from the early years of Due South, and… crap!  I can’t remember #3.  Again. But he too was of the not-particularity-handsome, follicely-challenged type.  See?  I look for inner beauty as well.

These days, I seem to have reverted to the rugged, handsome type.

Procrastinator’s Roundup, Part 3: Meh Monday

So many shows to watch on Monday.  So little to say about them.  Which is why I won’t be covering any of them in any regular manner.

Gotham

I continue to watch Gotham, but in general have little to say about it.   What I enjoy most about the show is what critics seem to dislike, the inclusion of young Bruce Wayne.  But this is what gives the story its heart.

Alfred & Bruce: The best (i.e., my favorite) reason to watch Gotham

We’re told Jim Gordon is a decorated combat veteran, and the son of the city’s one-time District Attorney who was killed before his time, yet these haven’t been addressed since the pilot.  Nor has there been much effort to portray him as a lone policeman fighting corruption.  The only depth of character we’ve seen is his relationship with his fiance Barbara Kean, and that’s not only boring, it’s currently on the outs.  (And will hopefully remain so.)  I’d love the writers to explore the history of Gordon’s father.  Was it really a random car accident that killed him?

Gordon’s partner Harvey Bullock is an enigma.  He may not be on the take, but he’s not a do-gooder like Gordon.  We’ll likely learn more about him as the series progresses, which might add some depth to him.   Supposedly the next episode, “Spirit of the Goat” (106), explores some of Harvey’s history.

What’s New This Fall?

Last year, the 2013 television season brought us several new scifi-oriented shows.  Only a couple of them survived.  Does this year bode as well (or as poorly) for the genre?  I’m not sure.   I’ve been checking out some of the new show previews on Xfinity.  Here’s what I’ve gleaned so far.  Interestingly, these three remind me of three current shows.

Gotham (Fox)

The Gotham cast: All the main players are here.

The most highly-anticipated show of 2014 is a prequel to the Batman saga.  As with Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I’m behind the power curve, having seen only a handful of the many Batman movies made in the last several years.  Ratjer, my exposure to the Batman world came from the Adam West Batman series of yesteryear; and its campy, cartoonish vibe was much different from the dark, forlorn tone of the movies and (I suspect) the comic books.

What to Do? What to Do?

Chloe’s back! With a rad haircut and tons of eyeliner.

Its Monday evening and I don’t have anything to watch!  After a season of Sleepy Hollow, Almost Human, Intelligence, and Warehouse 13, not to mention my silly obsession with Charlie White Dancing with the Stars, my evening is free.

Well, there is 24: Live Another Day, complete with London and Benjamin Bratt.  I suppose it could pass for science fiction as much as Last Resort.  Like Last Resort, 24 takes place the real world (of fiction), with real problems.  But its premise and action are so bizarre, it goes beyond plain fiction.  Perhaps we could say Chloe’s mad computer skills tip the show into the science fiction realm.

Or, I could just watch last night’s Believe.

 

Supernatural in a Word

The season finale does not bode well for Dean.

I had planned to include “Do You Believe in Miracles?” in the “Season/Series Finale-Palooza,” especially since I hadn’t covered the previous two episodes.  But last night’s ending was so shocking, it must be addressed immediately and can’t be hidden underneath Grimm and Warehouse 13.

So, in a word…

The Second Season Poll Results

Well yes, you could just look at the post below to see the final tally of which freshman sci fi shows should get a second season, but since I’ve been neglecting this site for a week or two, I thought it might good to report on something, anything.

The winners are Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Intelligence.  Whether ABC or CBS will take our recommendations to heart is unclear.  With a total of 25 votes (i.e., 13 voters, since one of you only voted for 1 show), we probably don’t make up a majority of the viewing (and sponsor-buying) public.

Goodbye Karl Urban and Michael Ealy.

Personally, I voted for Intelligence and Almost Human, but news came this week that Fox didn’t renew the latter.  There is a rather clever conversation about the cancellation on Previously.tv (the defacto replacement for Television Without Pity, which thankfully died earlier this spring).  Like Natalie and me, the reviewers faithfully watched the show while complaining how it could be better.   Or was that just me?

I admit I have been ignoring my favorite sci fi shows.  I didn’t watch last week’s Supernatural (Alex Annie Alexis Ann) until yesterday, and have yet to watch “Bloodlines.”  (Although I plan to later today.)  I just finished this week’s Agents of SHIELD and I have to say, it was pretty darned good.  We’ll see where the end of the season takes us.  Look for Agents and Supernatural reviews later this weekend.

My sci fi watching schedule has been derailed by my new obsession for love of interest in Charlie White on Dancing With the Stars.  Along with the rest of America, I’ve been smitten with the charming, adorable mop-topped Olympic ice-dancing champion; and have been spending entirely too much time rewatching his dances and stalking him on the internet.  As someone somewhere on the internet said, “”If you threw the essence of sunshine, puppies, and rainbows into a jug and shook them up, you’d pour out Charlie White.”  Aww.

Hello Charlie White and ice dancing partner Meryl Davis

Hello again, Charlie and Sharna Burgess of Dancing with the Stars

 Hello Charlie White (and Meryl Davis and Sharna Burgess)!

No Recaps This Week (Possibly)

It is likely recaps will not be coming this week.  Call the Midwife left me so devastated, I’m too emotionally drained to watch, let alone write anything.  Perhaps as the week wears  on things will get better.     😥

Wait! Downton Abbey Is Science Fiction?

Of course it is!  How could Bates have gone into York, taken the train to London, found Green in Piccadilly Circus, push him into the street, and return home all before evening without a super jet-pack and tracking gizmo?  Come to think of it, how else do you explain every eligible (and one ineligible) man falling under Meany Mary’s spell?  It has to be some kind of alien force field.

Now that we’ve established that, and given the unremarkable season 4 finale of television’s Most Overrated Show, let’s look at ways this show could give us the unexpected—but won’t because Julian Fellows can’t seem to come up with anything new.

Downton Abbey”s Best Dressed Lady

Lady Politic or just Lady?

King of Smirks

NOT Downton’s Best Dressed

How long will the bliss last?

So Many Shows, So Little Electricity

Mulch & Bucket return after a too-long absence.

Thursday is my big night for television.  First there’s DreamWorks Dragons: Defenders of Berk, then Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.  Next is Project Runway All Stars, followed by Elementary.  (Granted, the last two aren’t SciFi Chicks-worthy, but they nicely round out an evening of enjoyable television.)  Last Thursday was extra special, as Defenders of Berk was featuring a two-parter, with the return of Mulch and Bucket.

At around 5:00 pm, the lights flickered a couple times, then went totally dark.  Fortunately, my What-a-Light and Olde Brooklyn lanterns provided enough light to work on Christmas cards.  When the electricity still hadn’t returned by 8:00, I went out for dinner, figuring the lights would be back on when I returned at 9:00.  They weren’t.  So I continued with the Christmas cards.  Of course, the lights finally came back on at 11:00, just after every show had aired.

OnDemand has allowed me to catch up, but I seem to prefer making Christmas cards to reviewing the shows.  (You heard me right—making Christmas cards!  Pretty impressive for someone who hasn’t sent out Christmas cards in many years.)  It’s actually quite addictive.  I shall try to catch-up during the hiatus.

Speaking of Christmas, and our first snow of the season, you’ll notice SciFi Chicks has gotten into the spirit with falling snow.  It’s the kind of snow I like, the kind you don’t have to shovel.