Archive for the 'TV' Category

Olivia Munn Is Potty

I’ve never watched G4 TV before, but this clip of Olivia Munn kinda makes me want to start watching “Attack of the Show.”

I think I’m in love.

Individual 2007 Top Ten Lists

Indulge me as I’m in a list making mood. After the jump I’ll list my lists. They’ll include top tens for music, comics, video games, movies, and television shows. Since I’m too burnt out now to write something for each entry, I won’t. I’ll be happy to conduct a civilized conversation in the comments or email though. Oh, and the lists will contain only things I have experienced in ‘07. Stuff I didn’t get to until after the new year, but released near the end of last year (e.g. There Will Be Blood) will go on next year’s lists.
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Top Ten Entertainment Experiences Of 2007

2007 was pretty lopsided for me in terms of where my quality entertainment experiences came from. It was a phenomenal year for video games. Perhaps the best single year of new releases for the medium since 1997, if not better. Conversely, there just wasn’t much there in terms of great music. Some solid releases, sure, but nothing that remain etched in my mind as transcendent. Live shows definitely resonated better for me than the album experience did. For sports, I’ll preface my conclusion by saying that I only regularly follow the MLB, the NFL, and the NBA. Besides the lone entry on the list, there were no other truly memorable moments for me this year. Television was fairly solid, despite the writers strike putting a damper on my mood late in the year. Comics had some pretty high moments, and also some pretty “meh” ones as well. Finally, 2007 was just not my year for movies as I wasn’t motivated to seek out much other than the obvious films. While some were fairly entertaining, I just couldn’t argue for their inclusion on this list over the items picked.

Without any more ado, here’s my top ten entertainment experiences of 2007:
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Pinpointing What Makes Comics And TV So Fun

You know that “whoa” feeling you get when you’re watching the second season of a television series and a character or event happens that ties seamlessly back with the first season? This sort of payoff is a big part of what makes serialized content so appealing. Shows like Lost and The X-Files were always maligned for being impossible to jump in the middle of. It’s hard to cannonball into these shows because the creators have spent so much time building the mythos, that not knowing this history severely impacts the enjoyment one can derive from a given episode. Fans of these shows, though, will tell you that the payoff from these shows is infinitely more satisfying than from episodic shows (Law and Order), or even season-contained series like Heroes or 24.The reason I bring this up is because I just got caught up with Geoff Johns and Dave Gibbons’ summer blockbuster comic storyline, The Sinestro Corps War. It’s one of the most entertaining experiences I’ve had all year in any medium. The Sinestro Corps War is the comics equivalent of a well-done summer action flick. I found myself in an interesting position with this story because I’ve never been much of a Green Lantern reader. I’ve read one or two GL storylines in my life, but by no means am I a regular reader. However, the writers have woven in characters from previous DC mega-stories which I have read. If DC’s goal was to get non-Green Lantern readers to start reading the books, they would have achieved it unquestionably.

Now, barely anyone I know reads comics, but almost everyone follows some sort of TV series. I sorely want to tell everyone I know about this story because I want them to experience the same sense of “fuck yeah!” I had, but I question what its impact will be on a person who knows nothing of the characters. In a sense, comics to the non-reader are like Lost to a non-watcher. It’s too daunting or too disorienting to start in the middle, but comics have an added problem of always being “in the middle.” Comics are essentially television series that have been going on for over 40 years. I imagine publishers are constantly trying to figure out a balance between appeasing long-time readers and getting new blood in, but I really don’t think you can truly duplicate a long-term payoff without diluting the experience.

It’ll probably have to wait until we can download experiences directly into our minds before I can fully share with others what makes comics so awesome.

Joss Whedon Has A New Show

joss whedon

E! Online has details on Joss Whedon’s new television series, Dollhouse, starring Eliza Dushku:

“Echo (Eliza Dushku), a young woman who is literally everybody’s fantasy. She is one of a group of men and women who can be imprinted with personality packages, including memories, skills, language—even muscle memory—for different assignments. The assignments can be romantic, adventurous, outlandish, uplifting, sexual and/or very illegal. When not imprinted with a personality package, Echo and the others are basically mind-wiped, living like children in a futuristic dorm/lab dubbed the Dollhouse, with no memory of their assignments—or of much else. The show revolves around the childlike Echo’s burgeoning self-awareness, and her desire to know who she was before, a desire that begins to seep into her various imprinted personalities and puts her in danger both in the field and in the closely monitored confines of the Dollhouse.”

I never really got into Buffy The Vampire Slayer, but Firefly is one of the best television series I have ever seen. Everything from the pacing, to the characterization, to the plot was top notch. I’m also thoroughly enjoying Joss Whedon’s current runs on the Marvel comics Astonishing X-Men and Runaways. The man has an impeccable talent for writing dialogue in an episodic medium.

Given that, I’ll definitely be giving Dollhouse a chance, no matter how ridiculous the premise of the show is. (Even if the main character’s name gives me flashbacks to a crappy Daredevil story arc)

Let’s also hope that Fox doesn’t kill it off after 12 episodes, especially if it’s even remotely good.

Read the interview with Joss [E! Online]