What Have You Done For Me Lately?

I read earlier tonight that Bryan Singer is growing close to signing on to produce and possibly direct a Battlestar Galactica feature film. Ordinarily, in a post-Superman Returns world, I'm not sure I'd know how to feel about that.

Luckily, Universal has managed to make my feelings very strong about this one.

Despite the fact that they're rolling over a super-popular, critically acclaimed BSG series helmed by Ron Moore, they've decided that they don't need Moore involved with this project. And yeah, I guess that's true since they've decided to ignore the recent TV series and make this movie a throwback to the original series.

If I had the emoticon for shaking my head nearby, I'd use it here.

I mean... fuck.

Seriously?

I'm not sure where this ranks on the stupidity scale but I have to imagine it may be just a little bit lower than Fox deciding to base a Buffy movie remake on the original film and not the wildly-popular Joss Whedon TV series.

So, two amazingly talented writer/directors give you two amazingly fantastic TV series that revive your property that was basically dead and buried before they came along and their reward for their hard work and talent?

"Well, we'll just do this next one without you."

What have you done for me lately?

Some Random Thoughts

Just sneaking in before the witching hour with some random thoughts about random stuff...

*** Lakers heading into Game 6!
It's not like I don't have absolute faith in the Purple & Gold but... well, let's just say that when I found out that Game 7 was scheduled for Sunday evening, I had to put in quite the effort at work today to get them to switch my schedule so I worked in the morning instead. Gotta be prepared, you know?

*** Prop 8
I know, I know. After all the fuss I raised back in November, you expected some huge diatribe on my part but I don't think I have it in me this week. Suffice to say that with all the riots, all the crime, all the jokes about pollution and earthquakes and fake breasts and all that jazz, I can honestly say that I can only recall two times in my life where I've been embarrassed to be from California and they both were because of this issue. It's a crime, it's a travesty, and until it's righted, it's a wrong that Californians shouldn't just accept. Oh, and for all those religious folks out there crying "Morality prevailed" - you can come pay me a visit and we'll discuss your morality and what it means to real people.

*** Remakes! Remakes! Remakes!
I know everyone's GOT to be as sick of the remake trend in Hollywood as I am. It seems like every week has a half dozen remakes greenlighted but this week scraped the bottom of the barrel. "Hey, I know. Let's make a Buffy The Vampire Slayer movie but not involve ANYONE that actually saved that creative concept the first time around." God forbid they actually make money on something.

*** Twilight At Comic-Con
I'm disillusioned, I must admit. I can not fathom any earthly idea why there would be a Twilight panel at Comic-Con. Not one. Not a single hint of one. I know it's popular, I know it appeals to horny teenage girls. But come on... really? This is almost enough reason alone to make me not want to go this year.

*** Battlestar Galactica Lives On
And I'm not even talking about Caprica. Between receiving the soundtrack in the mail, last night's post about the live concerts of the score, and the super-fantastic amazing board game that the Missus and I just finished a rousing game of, I'm more in love with BSG than ever.

Oh, and I don't really have a comment on this but...

How 'bout them Dodgers?

Hey! That's Weird!

So, I was super-stoked when I got home to find my long-awaited copy of the Battlestar Galactica Season One soundtrack waiting for me.

And imagine my surprise [and pure joy] when I read this just moments ago...

(May 27, 2009- Burbank, CA) – Battlestar Galactica and Caprica composer Bear McCreary will have a busy summer, with the release of two soundtrack recordings and concert performances. On June 13 the music from Battlestar Galactica will kick-off the 2009 Grand Performances Series at California Plaza. Three days later, on June 16, La-La Land Records will release the soundtrack for Caprica.

Bear McCreary will again conduct the music from Battlestar Galactica for three nights at the House of Blues in San Diego from July 23-25th – during Comic Con! The concerts will celebrate the July 21 release of a special 2-CD set, Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.

Anyone else up for this?

Fraaaaaaaaak

Well, it's over.

Granted, it's not as a crazy of a conclusion to me as it is to others since I've really only been watching Battlestar Galactica for somewhere South of a year. We sprinted through the DVDs and got through the first half of season 4 thanks to a Sci-Fi HD marathon before the 4.5 premiere. But we watched along with everyone else for the final episodes and as disappointed as I was with a handful of them, I was greatly nervous about tonight's show.

The Series Finale is a difficult one. It's much easier to remember really bad/weird Series Finales than it is to remember good ones. Things like that bizarre final Cheers or the lackluster Seinfeld closer are a lot more likely to stick in the craw than the awesome Newhart finale or maybe something like Friends or the like.

But BSG, as they often did during their run, has re-set the bar for the standard of awesomeness in a Series Finale. And of course, you have to now turn your attention to Lost to see if they can top it. Prison Break, Scrubs, and a couple of others may end between now and then but after tonight, all eyes turn to Lost to see if they can actually manage to wrap up all those loose ends they've created thusfar.

I don't want to spoil BSG's finale for the masses who may not have seen it yet but let's just say there's the near-perfect blend of action, suspense, heartbreak, jubilation, and just about any other emotional heartstring they can tug on. There was some glorious shots and some images that'll stick for a long, long while. And there was just a touch - okay, maybe more than a touch - of cynicism about the world we live in.

I may write more in a few days when I've had a chance to absorb it a little more but for now, I say it was a glorious farewell to one of the best shows that television has ever had the honor of airing and things just won't be the same without it.

At this point, I can barely even remember Lost from this week after sitting through tonight's two hours so BSG obviously wins the final round and it was soooooo damn good, I'm tempted to give 'em bonus points so they win the Final Showdown!

BSG vs Lost: Week 7

We're in the home stretch of this showdown as there are only two more nights of BSG to go after last week's episode. I've kinda enjoyed doing this weekly review so I may have to find a new opponent for Lost in a couple of weeks or maybe I'll switch to a Show Of The Week format! Who knows?

But for now, it's still a head-to-head showdown between Lost and BSG for Television Supremacy.

Lost was wacky this week but had some big moments. We saw what was presumably the four-toed statue we saw all those episodes ago once again - and it was dressed in Egyptian garb. We got to see Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, and Jin living the Dharma lifestyle in what is apparently the 1970s. And of course, we got to find out that Sawyer and Juliet have grown quite close in those long three years.

But he didn't look like he forgot what Kate looked like, did he?

I commented to the Missus that even the love triangle/quadrangle on this show has been written uniquely. Most shows tend to write their triangles in such a way that you immediately pick a favorite and root for that person while at the same time, it's easy to know which way the writers are wanting you to lean as well. Lost avoids that like the plague. We've seen great moments between Jack and Kate, Kate and Sawyer, Jack and Juliet, and now Sawyer and Juliet - all of which make you think you probably would be just fine if that's how the show ended up. There's never any sign of which way the writers are pushing the situation and quite frankly, it's pretty tough to root for one over the other.

It was an interesting episode while not the most awe-inspiring after the past several weeks of question answering.

BSG took a step up this week with some pretty dramatic shit as well. The ship is dying and now we all know it including the President, Tigh, and Adama. Boomer did indeed kidnap Hera for Cavil but seems to be having some regrets over that decision. Kara continues to have issues with who she is with Gaius providing the latest theory - she's an angel. Don't know about that one, buddy. Oh, and don't forget Anders getting plugged into the machine and becoming one of the weird Hybrid dealies.

All in all - a much more compelling episode than we've seen recently.

This week is close. Very close.

But in the end, I decided that BSG just barely squeaked this one out. So, after seven weeks of head-to-head battle...

Lost - 4
BSG - 3

With Lost taking a week off this week, there'll be no score added until the BSG finale week. One final showdown with a win by Lost or an overall tie. It's quite anti-climactic, isn't it?

Jack's Back

I posed the following question moments ago...

"Is it possible that it's neither Lost nor Battlestar that had the best show this week but 24 instead?"

Actually, I also included Dollhouse in that statement but since we're watching older episodes of Dollhouse trying to catch up, I guess that's not really fair. But beyond that, it'll take some pondering but I think I just may have enjoyed 24 better than either one of the others this week.

In case you haven't heard the news, 24 is back and perhaps better than ever.

If you're one of the people who abandoned 24 either during some of the lackluster seasons or because of the writers' strike, it's time to check back in because a third of the way into the season, this is one of the best seasons ever. So much has already happened, it's difficult to imagine where else this showdown could possibly go from here but Jon Voight has JUST gotten introduced as the season's (presumably) main antagonist.

The return of Tony plus the addition of FBI Agent [and former General Hospital "star"] Renee Walker not to mention the relocation of the show to Washington D.C. has breathed new life into it. Now, when our old favs return like Chloe, Bill, and Aaron, it's a breath of fresh air in a season that already has got me hooked.

Last Monday's two hour episode was off-the-hook-fucking-batshit-crazy so if you missed that, I'd go back and download it somewhere because that would be a killer starting point if you haven't been watching this season.

With two episodes of BSG left, you'd think that would be the most anticipated TV night of the week but for me, Monday and Wednesday have been ruling the coop. But that's a story for a later post!

BSG vs Lost: Week 6

You know, in all honesty, when I first started doing this a month and a half ago, I thought it'd be more of a blowout than this. I was coming off a stretch of sprinting through BSG to get caught up before the final batch of episodes and I was in awe of what a tremendous piece of television they were putting on. Lost, I figured, was starting their second to last season but still had a lot of time to go and seemed likely to "waste a few."

But as it turns out, it seems like BSG has been the series willing to "waste a few" on and off over this last batch of episodes. Not that I'm saying they're not putting on fantastic, compelling stuff because they certainly are but...

Let's look at this week for a "for instance." Anyone who saw this week's BSG would be hard-pressed to think they were watching anything but a "filler" episode until perhaps the last twenty minutes or so. Now, in that "filler", there was some fantastic character moments and some very obviously "building blocks" but with them being down to their final three episodes, how many building blocks could they really need at this point? At this stage, I really don't feel the urgency to find a new home as much as I should considering the state of the Galactica and the fleet. The ending of the most recent ep may change that drastically but... well, as someone who just dropped $100 this morning to go see a panel/screening about BSG and the Caprica prequel in April, I'd like to see the show's final three episodes just kick the collective shit out of me.

Over on Lost, they continue to pull no punches in being completely badass. Almost the entirety of this week's episode took place off the island and I'm not sure of the last time that's happened - if ever - but it still managed to be compelling shit that made me wonder what in the hell was going to happen next. They succeeded in making the waters between Ben and Widmore even more murky with poor John Locke trapped between them. So, when the climax of the episode hits, it's like a gut punch... but then... well, the manage to bring it all back to where it needs to be - the island. And I'm counting the moments until Wednesday night.

Maybe I was expecting too much out of BSG but for the final episodes, I'm left feeling like it's just another day at the office for the writing team [not that it's a bad thing - just... unexpected.]

In case you hadn't guessed...

Round Six goes to Lost!

After six weeks...

Lost - 4
BSG - 2

And yes, that means that BSG needs to pull the clean sweep with the final 3 episodes to win this almighty showdown of amazing television.

So say we all.

Lost vs BSG: Week Two

TOTALLY forgot to do this last week until someone reminded me on Sunday.

So, last week featured a showdown between a FRICKIN' HYDROGEN BOMB on the Lost island and... well... complete and unbridled chaos on BSG.

Lost was incredibly good as we dove even deeper into the whole time travel thing - Desmond getting involved (maybe TOO involved for his own good) in trying to discover what happened and getting obsessed with himself being the only person to potentially save the people on the island. We found out that Farraday FUCKED SHIT UP before vanishing off the face of the Earth. We also got more of the Locke and Richard story. Plus, the Others speak Latin? What the fuck? It was some crazy shit going down... and oh, did I mention A FUCKING HYDROGEN BOMB?!?!

I really didn't think BSG stood a chance of knocking Lost off their lofty perch in Week 2 of this head-to-head showdown and to be honest, I hadn't really given the show much thought when I dragged my tired ass home late on Friday after working a closing shift. By the way, if I haven't said it before, I believe there's a special circle oF Hell reserved for the person who invented the late closing shift on Friday.

So, there I was... tired and ready for sleep when I decided that I should probably give BSG a watch before I went to bed.

There's this science fiction story that some of you may have heard of. Starts off with a pretty basic set-up...

"It is a period of civil war."

That saga turned out pretty okay so I guess it's only fitting that before BSG wanders off into the nostalgia of our minds that they go through their own civil war.

AND WHAT A CIVIL WAR IT'S TURNING OUT TO BE!

Badass Adama and Ty throwin' down with the young punks, whippin' out assault rifles and pistols like they're on Arnold's team in Predator. We've got Starbuck blastin' suckas like she's straight out of Boyz N The Hood - or that scene in Swingers where Sue gets stepped to. Plus, there's Lee getting suckerpunched by some fool. Balthar and the President working together - sorta. And so much more.

And don't forget that weaselly little fuck Gaeta stirring shit up all the while. Ohhh, I want to see that fucker sucked out an airlock in the worst possible way right now. Adama better not forget that shit. We do not train to be merciful here - mercy is for the weak.

To wrap things up, we've got Ty and Adama like Butch and Sundance ready for one final gunfight.

AND THEN IT ENDS?!?!

The judging should end there - I know this. But I have to give BSG bonus points for the teaser of next week's show - Ty dead? Adama getting airlocked? And Bad Ass Roslin screaming "I'M COMING FOR YOU ALL!"

Holy crap!

If you haven't guessed yet, BSG takes this week in a walk. As awesome as Lost was, I'm SOOOOO much more looking forward to this week's BSG and that's the real test.

After two weeks of battle...

Lost - 1
BSG - 1

Tune in next week - same frakin' time, same frakin' channel.

Lost vs BSG: Week One

It only seems fitting with these two obviously being the best shows on television right now to take a look at both shows each week in a head to head showdown.

Lost made its long-awaited return on Wednesday night with a doubleheader of goodness from the mysterious island. Now, Lost was at an advantage since it was two hours, right? And it also had an edge because it was the season premiere as opposed to the second episode of the season like BSG. Here's the crazy thing about Lost... it was crazy! Time jumps, bizarre goings-on, and more sci-fi than you can shake a stick at. For years now, there has been a very vocal group of Lost fans who've bitched about the sci-fi and how it took away from the show.

Welp, if you didn't like the sci-fi elements of Lost before, I hope you skipped Wednesday night's show because THE...SHIT...WAS...ON! Nobody knows when the hell they are... nobody knows why some people are in certain places/times... nobody knows... well, much of anything at the moment. While it's confusing for now, I'm fully confident that the powers that be will get shit cleared up in no time flat... well, as clear as Lost gets anyways.

And BSG? Well, big frakkin' spoiler alert but...

THE ADMIRAL AND THE PREZ ARE GETTIN' FREAKY!

Plus, the Chief's baby isn't the Chief's baby which means someone else actually slept with his vicious hag of a wife. Ty is having a baby with a Cylon.

AND NEXT WEEK LOOKS EVEN NUTTIER!

But... as awesome as BSG was this week...

I'm goin' with the time jumpin' island.

Lost - 1
BSG - 0

Tune in next week to see if Lost can keep the streak going!

Holy Frak (spoilers!)

Well, that was a mindfucker of 60 minutes of television.

I'm so glad we caught up with all the past seasons so we could watch the final episodes as they happen but I didn't expect the first of the final to go down like that.

Another crew member dead?

Earth in ruins?

THE CYLONS LIVED ON EARTH?!?!

Starbuck is... well, what?

And then, of course, the "final" Cylon is revealed.

I don't want to completely spoil anything so I'll hold off on details other than to say one final thing...

Lost has its work cut out for it to top this one next week.

Holy Frakkin' Shit

Just finished Season 3 of Galactica.

Oh. My. God.

Man, that show knows how to do a cliffhanger right. Good grief. I can't believe I have to wait until... man, I don't even know what I have to wait until to see the next part of it. It just finished on TV so DVDs won't be out for... gah, I can't even think about it.

I have Entourage Season 4 sitting on my computer now but I'm having some DVD burner issues and really hate to watch stuff on the computer if I can avoid it.

Next up? Looks like it's going to be Prison Break.

Ya Frakkin' Frakhole

After finishing Season 2/2.5 of Battlestar Galactica tonight, I have to admit, I'm quite surprised by the direction the show went and frankly, the show in general.

In all honesty, I just wanted to watch it because it's a sci-fi show and I'm a quasi-sci-fi junkie. Spaceships? Cool. Killer aliens? Awesome. Hottie killer aliens? Mega-awesome.

But man oh man, did it turn out to be so much more. The show is amazingly well-written and drifts far and beyond your usual sci-fi faire.

Let's see... just some of the topics they've covered in the first two seasons in one way or another...

Abortion.

Political corruption.

Racism.

Religion.

Religious zealotry.

Hate crimes.

Loyalty.

Rape.

Survivalism.

Theocracy.

Justifiable homicide.

Vigilantism.

Military Dictatorship.

Theocracy vs Military Dictatorship.

And there's a ton more that are just escaping my brain at the moment.

Most sci-fi is very clearly written in black and white. The heroes are very obvious - the villains even more so. And BSG tends to follow the same course - but every once in a while they toss in a curveball to make the good guys just not so good and the bad guys maybe not so bad.

Much credit goes out to the writing team for BSG for having the courage and the talent to stray away from the fallbacks of sci-fi and delving a little beyond the surface to create a series that has been absolutely gripping for the first two seasons.

Season Three arrived today from Blockbuster Online [I think] so I'll keep you informed if it rocks my frakkin' ass as much as the first two did.

The Joys Of TV On DVD

Now, I'm not one of those psychopaths who declare they're not going to watch a series on television until it's on DVD - I am far too sensitive to spoilers to pull that shit off. I'd be paranoid that someone would spoil Season 4 - Episode 16 at any moment and my heart just can't take that shit.

I'm also not one of those people who have grown so frustrated with becoming loyal to a new show and seeing it jerked out from under them that they've decided to not watch any new show until it survives a season and is out on DVD - but I understand that theory a bit more. I'm still disappointed that shows like Journeyman and Wonderfalls got the shaft by their respective bonehead networks.

However, I must say that the arrival of entire seasons of TV episodes on DVD is one of the great progresses made in recent years. I still fondly recall watching Season One of 24 on DVD after getting it for Christmas - and it was just a matter of weeks before we'd burned through every season of 24 out on DVD. A beautiful thing.

Tonight, we finished Season Two of Entourage. Couple that with the recent completion of Season One of Battlestar Galactica and the end of the TV season has barely registered on our radars so far. Season Two of Galactica is probably next as it ended with such a nutty cliffhanger, we're dying to see what happens next.

It's actually kinda interesting to see two very different approaches to storytelling and season structure. Whereas Galactica goes for the big cliffhanger to end Season One, drawing you back in for a second season - Entourage was happy to just light up the screen with relatable characters, witty-as-shit dialogue, and just enough intrigue in the overal story arc to draw you in from episode to episode. However, when the season finale arose, they didn't go for the cliffhanger, opting instead to tie things up nice and neat as both seasons came to a close.

Not saying one method is better than another - just different. Good shit though. I'm digging both shows so far and am eager to see what happens next on both.

Top Five Friday: Ignored TV Shows

For Christmas last year, the wife picked up Season 1 of Entourage on DVD for me. Entourage has always been one of those shows that everyone goes on and on about, telling me how much I would love it - but that I just never managed to get around to watching until now. We opened up the set tonight and watched Disc One.

So, in honor of that...

The Top Five TV Shows I Really Should Get Around To Watching On DVD

5. Prison Break
Never seen a single episode of it and have done a damn fine job of not knowing anything about it despite all the watching of 24 right after it last season. I actually have the pilot sitting on my iPod. I bought it last year just before Comic-Con with the intent of watching it there but just never got around to it. Someday... someday.

4. The Office [BBC]
Again, never seen a single episode of it. But how can I not someday check out the show that inspired one of my very favorite shows? Plus, I loved Ricky Gervais in Extras and can't imagine that his version of The Office isn't going to smoke the entire world of comedy.

3. Deadwood
Ahhh, one that I have seen a few episodes of. When our cable company first started offering HBO On Demand, they had all of Season One of Deadwood loaded on there. I got through a few episodes of it before the wife had tired of old cowboys screaming "Cocksucker!" and I never managed to get through the rest of it with her either a] out of the room or b] out of the house. I love Westerns - so I always figured this would be one of my favorite shows ever if I ever got the rest of the way through it.

2. The Sopranos
Come on, it's The Sopranos. Even knowing how it ends, I think I need to see this whole series someday. And yet again, I've never seen a single episode of this one either.

And the Number One show that I really need to get around to watching on DVD someday...

1. Battlestar Galactica
I have a head start on this one! I bought the miniseries off iTunes last summer before Comic-Con and much like Prison Break, never got to watch it there. However, when we went to the Catholic Engaged Encounter [this weekend trip where they throw you in the middle of nowhere with no TV so you can become one with your future spouse and God apparently] I was able to watch it every night when they forced everyone back to their room for the night. Alone in a room where you're not given a TV and not given any access to the outside world - the perfect time to watch Battlestar Galactica! Add to this the fact that I actually have the Season One DVD sitting on a shelf. So, after Entourage, this should be next!


The Sopranos
Battlestar Galactica