Doctor Who, S04 E12: The Stolen Earth
The week: everyone from the extended Whoniverse turns up in one of the best episodes of Doctor Who ever.
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Archive for the 'sci-fi/fantasy' Category
Tags: billie piper, catherine tate, David Tennant, doctor who, freema agyeman, john barrowman
Doctor Who, S04 E11: Turn Left
This week: What would have happened if Donna had never met the Doctor? We find out when she accidentally creates a Doctor-less universe. Apparently, Catherine Tate would have shouted a whole lot more.
Tags: billie piper, catherine tate, David Tennant, doctor who
Right now, there are a fair number of decent shows on the summer schedule. Okay, three. Maybe four. Still, it’s enough, in theory, to tide me over for a bit. Plus, right now I should be packing, preparing for the big move in a week’s time. This, of course, explains why I decided it was the perfect time to rewatch season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Now, I am an unabashed Buffy fan. While it was still airing, some might have even said obsessive (I would have to disagree – what do you call the level between buying action figures and traveling to attend the conventions?). I watched every single episode as it aired – no delayed Tivo gratification for me – with the phone unplugged and the blinds drawn. This remained true throughout the frustrating later seasons as well. Even erratic, dark Buffy was better than no Buffy at all.
Still, if the show suffered from one major flaw, it is that it peaked too soon. The sheer brilliance of seasons 2 and 3 was hard to match, and many viewers quickly became disappointed in the show. There were enough excellent one-off episodes (“Hush,” “The Body,” “Once More With Feeling”) to convince me that the show still had a lot of life left, but they often were placed between forced drug metaphors and annoying little sisters. Even when it was good, it wasn’t as good as earlier seasons, and each week I watched the show, wondering if this was the week it returned to top form. It never really did.
And yet, watching it again without such impossibly high expectations, I can only remember why I loved it. I’m no longer horrified by unexpected and unwanted plot twists (seriously – a little sister?) and can appreciate everything the show did right. Sure, it was inconsistent, but so were earlier seasons, as anyone who remembers the swim team monsters or the magical Christmas snow of redemption can attest. The show was still witty and interesting and, although it can be painful to watch our strong heroine behave like a self-destructive college student, I can’t say that depiction is entirely inaccurate. I have entire parts of my brain dedicated to humiliating university incidents that I would happily lobotomize.
It’s a pleasure rediscovering this old show without the weight of its earlier excellence pulling it down. I’m not sure if I’ll be quite so generous when I get to the bimbo god or the crayon that saved the world, but I’m certainly going to try.
What about you? What shows improved upon a second viewing, and why?
Tags: buffy the vampire slayer
Doctor Who, S04 E10: Midnight
This week: the Doctor is under threat in one of the most chilling episodes yet.
This episode was good. Really, really good. In fact, it was one of the best episodes of the revived Who ever. And pretty much all of it took place in one small space, with hardly any special effects. Well done, Russell T Davies. Your self-penned episodes have hitherto not been among the very best of the series, but this was bloody brilliant.
Tags: David Tennant, doctor who
Every summer, I bemoan the loss of all my favorite shows, and every summer, the networks throw me a few bones to keep me entertained throughout the warm months. (Yes, I know that summer is supposed to be spent outside, enjoying margaritas on patios and long walks in the sunshine, but I live in the UK. We get six days of sun all summer.) This year, we have Swingtown, Weeds, and Burn Notice, all quality programs that make the long wait till September a bit more bearable.
ABC Family is also trying to get into the action with The Middleman, a show that is earning far better reviews than it has any right to. It’s all part of the channel’s efforts to rebrand itself, an effort that had surprising success with the frat house comedy Greek. What makes Greek so successful is that, despite having the feel-good exterior with a warm creamy center necessary for a family channel, it is also well-written and surprisingly original. The show takes some of the most easily stereotyped characters in the history of TV — the party guy, the rich guy, the gay guy, the nerd — and gives them depth and layers. It’s actually an intelligent show underneath it all.
The Middleman, unfortunately, does not succeed on the same level. Based on a graphic novel, the basic premise centers around the titular heroes, who go around secretly saving humanity from various bizarre things that defy rational explanation. This is a common sci-fi trope for a reason — it’s a whole lot of fun — so I won’t say anything mean about that. Yes, I can forgive a lack of originality if it amuses me. I’m fickle that way.
In fact, overall, the show should work. It’s whimsical, but not self-consciously so. Matt Keeslar is entirely charming as the veteran hero, and Natalie Morales, playing his newly recruited assistant is…fine, I guess. Her line readings are a bit forced at times, but she sufficiently embraces her character’s geekiness for me to overlook that flaw. In the end, the program suffers by trying to be young and hip AND a family show. Every time it succeeds with the former, the latter pulls it right back down. Just as I start to enjoy the ridiculously quick-paced banter or the stylized production, up pops the “family” from the channel’s title. We’ve got a robot that looks like a cranky schoolmarm and a gorilla that thinks it’s a gangster. I’m fairly certain that I saw those when I was seven and watching The Wonderful World of Disney. It’s not fresh, and it clashes noticeably with the parts of the show worth watching.
It’s not a bad show, by any means. If I stumbled across it while flipping through channels, I’d probably watch it. It’s a pleasant enough way to kill an hour. But, since iTunes gets a pound off me every time I watch a show, I’m going to pass on this one…and keep waiting eagerly for September.
Did anyone out there watch this, or do you tend to forget that you even have a channel called ABC Family?
Tags: the middleman
Doctor Who, S04 E09: Forest of the Dead
This week: The Doctor brings the dead back to life. Again. Also, he can open the Tardis just by clicking his fingers.
Tags: alex kingston, catherine tate, David Tennant, doctor who
If you were lucky enough to sit in on the pitch meeting for NBC’s summer shows, in which the horror anthology Fear, Itself was greenlit, you likely would have heard something along the following lines:
Executive 1: Right, it’s summer, so kids are staying up late to watch TV, right? We can’t very well expect them to watch reruns of ER.
Executive 2: Come on. No one really believes that show is still on the air.
Executive 3: We’ve got it covered. Two words: Celebrity Circus. What hip young thing won’t want to tune in to watch Blu Cantrell juggle knives? [Ed. note: as much as I wish I was, I am not making this up.]
E1: Well, sure, that covers us for Wednesday, particularly if we can get Joey Fatone into a cannon.
E2: Good luck with that. You know there’s a reason they call him the Fat One, right?
E3: That’s perfect for the younger kids. They still love Bobby Brady, right? It’ll be great. But what about teens? Apparently — and don’t quote me on this — that’s where the advertising money is.
E2: Fucking CW. Just out of curiosity — does anyone know if they’re hiring?
E3: I’ve got it! (holds hands out expectantly, savoring the moment) The Princess Diaries, the series. Fabulous, isn’t it?
E1: No — even better: The Princess Goes to Cheerleading Camp! It’ll bring in girls AND boys who want to watch girls in short skirts. It can’t lose.
E2: You’re high, right?
E3: Oh, but what if people start thinking that we’re copying the “See-ya W”? See what I did there? The “See-ya W”?
E1: Yes, yes, very clever. And an excellent point. We certainly couldn’t lower ourselves to that. Wait, I know! Kids today, they really like their horror.
E3: Oh, we can do that! I’m sure Robert Englund needs a job.
E1: But we gotta keep it fresh. Keep it new. It’s all about Saw and Hostel these days. Really flimsy plots with a ridiculously high degree of gore.
E2: Seriously, you’re high. You gotta share it with me. You know we’re on network television, right? The censors, well, they still frown on televised disembowelment.
E1: No, no, no. We find young actors from really popular shows — like that red-headed secondary character, whats-his-name from Friday Night Lights — and make the women wear really low-cut tops. Smear some red food dye and Vaseline about and, boom, surefire hit!
E2: Is it in your water? Pass it over here. Seriously, dude. Help me out.
E3: No, it’s perfect! Sure, we can’t keep any of the gore that actually inspires all the fear and endorphins that gets them into the theaters, but we can totally recreate the flimsy plots and find completely interchangeable actors! It’ll be just like the movies, but at home.
E1: And we’ll make sure to use really basic characterizations. Like, the smoker? He’s got to die first. Then, the audience will feel really smart when they figure out what’s going to happen.
E3: We are geniuses. NBC will be back on top in no time.
E2: Yes, of course. Now, if you’re not reading those classifieds, would you mind passing them down here? Thanks.
And that was how Fear, Itself came to be. I watched it so you don’t have to. It’s my job. You, on the other hand, should watch Swingtown. Or read a book, or clean your closets. Possibly get a root canal. Just…don’t watch this show. Sure, it’s terrifying, but I rather doubt that “terrifyingly bad” is what they were aiming for.
Did anyone else make it through the first episode?
Tags: fear itself
Doctor Who, S04 E08: Silence in the Library
This is the first episode by Steven Moffat since the announcement that he is to be the showrunner when Russell T Davies steps down at the end of this series, and if we didn’t already know how awesomely perfect he is for this job, then this stellar episode should do the trick. Moffat is funny, he’s brilliantly imaginative, and he knows EXACTLY how to push a kid’s fear buttons. Also, he is the genius behind the glorious Press Gang, and hence can do no wrong (besides the generally crappy Coupling, but I like to pretend he didn’t write that).
Anyway, on with the recap.
Continue reading ‘Checking Out in the Library [Doctor Who]’
Tags: alex kingston, catherine tate, David Tennant, doctor who, steven moffat
Lost and I, we have a tempestuous relationship. I like the characters and the high-concept element of the plot but have little patience for the show’s occasional trips to Self-Indulgenceville (a banal land populated by 6th season Buffy and every celeb reality show ever produced). I don’t want to watch a show that’s going to dance around the same mystery for seasons, teasing the audience with a Grand Plan even as the risk of an anti-climactic ending grows with each episode. I want shows that continually evolve, that solve old mysteries while creating new ones, and there were moments in Lost — let’s call them “the majority of season 3″ — when it seemed as if the show was endlessly circling a black smoke monster, polar bear, Dharma hatch mystery.
And then there was season 4, with a finale that damn near forced me to take back every bad thing I’ve said about the show. Nearly. There will always be Nicky and Paulo to kick around, after all.
Thoughts and spoilers after the jump.
Tags: lost
Doctor Who, S04 E07: The Unicorn and the Wasp
This week: we get possibly the downright silliest episode of the new Who. And yet, despite herself, Anna is entertained.
Tags: catherine tate, David Tennant, doctor who
