Thundercats' Ho! or How I am such an 80s kid

Variety reports that Warner Bros is going ahead with the CG-movie version of that 1980s children's hit Thundercats. This is actually really good news as I am a big fan of the show (if only those dvds were not insanely expensive I would already be reveling in 80s scantily-clad cat-men on a daily basis!). For those of you who don't know what the hell I'm talking about Variety offers a very simplistic summary:

"The property revolves around a group of humanoid cats who must flee the planet of Thundera, which is destroyed. Once crash-landing on another planet, Third Earth, they must thwart Mumm-Ra, an evil sorcerer bent on killing them off."

This obviously doesn't even touch upon the greatest aspects of the story nor does it mention Tygra - that tiger-based, whip-bearing man crush of mine, but just thinking about Thundercats sends me back to my school's sandbox where I played with my Lion-O sword/belt/claw combo and buried my action figurines with my friends. Good Times.

I forget though, that
a. Warner Bros chose this game-director who has no experience in film (and the hell if directing a game is the same as directing a feature film) and
b. Warner Bros needs to be boycotted. Why you ask? No, it is not just because they gave us Kate Bosworth in Superman Returns, but because, as Nikki Finke reports that the studio president has been heard saying "We are no longer doing movies with women in the lead". Yeah. I know. Bitches!
So, we'll see if I actually get around to watching anything by the WB (who, also, on a whim I'll be blaming for killing my childhood as well)

Piled Higher and Deeper, or How I Hope This is Never My Life

Found these amazing comic strips that I just had to share with you, not just because they are hilarious but because they pretty much express how I feel right now:

Watching TV Redux, or How Showtime's Serial Killer Slayed Me

Sunday

9:00 Dexter (Showtime)
So while Network television is great (see my notes on ABC's Pushing Daisies, NBC's 30 Rock or even CBS' How I Met Your Mother) I have always wondered what those crazy kids at Cable were up to - I never really got into The Sopranos or even Six Feet Under (I do enjoy watching Nip/Tuck every once in a while). Which is why I figured that for my 'Watch with Manuel' segment I should include something that hails from the Cable world: enter Netflix. Yes, now that I (finally) joined I was able to browse through and found Dexter's season 2 premiere on their 'Watch Online' must-sees. And so, I watched it. An hour later I was in love with a serial killer. Or maybe just with Michael C. Hall. Yes, that's less creepy - it's all in his voice, which the show uses as a voice-over and an inside to his thoughts and motivations: who knew a serial killer could be so devoid of life, lacking in normal social skills and psychopathic in nature? Okay, I think I answered that question myself. Just as with Nip/Tuck I am always awed by the anesthetization of something gory and bloody. I am the kind of person who looks away during those surgery shots in ER, but I can never turn away from the screen when Julian is doing a nose-job, and I find myself enthralled with Dexter's killing techniques.
So for those of you who don't know Dexter (America's favourite serial killer): when he was a boy Dexter saw his mother brutally murdered, developed a psychopathic nature which his foster-dad nurtured to do good (only kill bad people, he learns): see? Dexter is a hero and a villain. It is all very beautiful - add a romantic interest (Buffy's Julie Benz), a sister and a distrusting cop who he works with (and a season-long serial killer-nemesis) and that sums up the first season. This season begins with Dexter unable to kill. It's just emptiness he feels now - killing fills a void he cannot otherwise alleviate. It's like taking alcohol from an alcoholic, or money-mongering from Fox. I won't spoil the details of the episode, you just need to know that it is quite a ride and it is quite a feat (mostly due to Michael C Hall's performance) for any show to make you care about a serial killer.

Favourite part of the show: "Let's this be a lesson for you" - from a white serial killer to a blind black voodoo serial killer. No irony.

It's Hot Here in Austen, or How I Love Jane's Men

The Jane Austen Book Club
Dir. Robin Swicord
Robin Swicord (screenplay)
Karen Joy Fowler (book)

Fiction (read: movies and books) are always about making easy decisions hard. In The Jane Austen Book Club these type of decisions are of the order of: Marc Blucas or Kevin Zegers? (The answer should always be Kevin and not Mr Riley Finn); should I take back a cheating Jimmy Smits? (The answer should always be no dear Judge Amy!); or even, why does Maria Bello hesitate in falling for Hugh Dancy? (thankfully the movie seems at a loss in answering this one)
Yes, it is hard to understand the world in which these women (and men) live in. A world deprived of easy choices - tormented by the chaos that is 'modern life' (quite bluntly expressed in that initial montage to Paolo Nutini's New Shoes, which I rather enjoyed). What comforts them, you ask? (My personal answer would be the hot men they are surrounded by, but) The movie suggests reading Jane Austen. Six characters, Six novels, Six months... You get the idea. And while the movie is formulaic (as all "girlie" movies tend to be these days) Book Club has moments of brilliance and a heart-warming feel throughout that - like an Austen novel, makes you feel deeply in love with it, despite (or in spite) of its flaws.
Good part of this is due to the cast, which is why I went to see it in the first place: how could I pass viewing a movie with the most attractive guy alive (yes ... that former Air Bud kid - we're the same age, so it's not creepy) or refuse watching a movie with one of the hottest actresses around (the delicious Ms Blunt of Devil Wears Prada Fame)? And yet, it was Mr Hugh Dancy who stole my heart away - if I had a choice I would still sleep with Kevin, but Hugh made me fall in love with him. I mean, how can you not fall for a guy who (besides being ridiculously good looking) has R2D2 as his ringtone, attends Buffy conferences and loves a good cup of Starbucks coffee?
The plot is of course quite traditional - it's Austen v.2007, but Swicord and her cast make you care about the characters - we understand Prudie when she cries "High School is never over," grieve alongside Sylvia when her husband leaves her for (not even a younger!) woman, and come to understand Grigg's "No rules, no fear" aphorism by the end of the movie. And in a sense we do this by reading. Ultimately this movie may be about relationships, or about Austen, but for me it was about reading - a book, a letter, a smile, a look. If the characters are indeed immersed in the chaos of modern life (where cars break down, metal detectors are a bitch and vending machines refuse to pay up) then in a very romanticised way, The Jane Austen Book Club shows us what happens when we find 'human connection' through reading. I just wished the ending had been a bit more brave: just like Austen characters, the characters here seem unequivocally leading to heteronormative monogamy (marriage and such) and I find that disheartening - I can't really follow up without major 'spoilers' but suffice it to say that the smartest of the group is the hot young lesbian.

Favourite Line: "It's the Empire Strikes Back in reverse!" Grigg bringing a bit of Lucas into Austen: hilarious.

S-Shock, or How you should really do yourself a favour

Now, unless you live under a rock, you probably know I am a Joss Whedon fan - yes that is why Ms Gellar gets a 'guest spot' on my blog banner. Now, being the fortunate and devoted fan that I am (I own Buffy, Angel and Firefly/Serenity in all their divine dvd-ness) I had the great chance to hear him speak at San Diego ComicCon this past summer (pictured) and one of the main highlights was the unveiling of his new foray into webcomics: the crazy thing that Dark Horse Presents (in new myspace form) gave us, entitled SugarShock, drawn by the very talented Fabio Moon - whose brother gave us that other new book I fell in love with.
Why am I telling you this? Because Sugarshock's 3-issue story is over and you should read it. I have very unabashedly stolen this image of Dandelion - our heroine and band-leader from Fabio and Gabriel's blog (but I figured I would pay my respects by linking to it and telling you about their fabulous work!)
So about Sugarshock:
It is a webcomic that features a very eclectic band - Dandelion (lead singer and Viking-hater), Phil the Robot and L'Lihdra (guitars) and Wade (drums). The plot is way to intricate, and crazy, and amazing to try and explain so I'll just say it includes an 'Intergalactic Battle of the Bands," the 'Saddest Song in the World' (along with one of the most fascinating explanations of sound in a comic), Abraham Lincoln daydreams, Space lobsters, amazing sound-effects and my favourite dialogue exchange between a robot-torso and a red-headed fashion forward girl:

- I can't lose you Robot Phil!
- Thanks, can you get my legs?
- I swear I'll make them pay. I will scorch a blazing path of cosmic destruction in your memory!
- Or alternatively you could get my legs.
- By all that's holy...
- Legs. Right over there.
- By the spirit of my in-no-way-viking ancestors--
- Annnnd. The legs.
- You
- Legs.
- WILL
- Legs.
- BE
- Avenged
- LEGS!
- Hey. There's a thought.

So give it a go - here, linked for your convenience is, Joss Whedon and Fabio Moon's Sugarshock:

Issue 1
Issue 2
Issue 3

Joss Whedon, Sugarshock

ManuelVision, or How Self-Aware is the New Rock

And so we come to the close of 'Watching Premieres with Manuel" - it's been a good two weeks. We laughed with Barney, enjoyed Katee kicking ass, fell in love with a certain 'undead'/'alive again' show, Star Warred with Peter and we couldn't get a better show to end with than my newest obsession: Tina Fey's hilarious 30 Rock:

Thursday

8:30 30 Rock (NBC)
What do you get when you mix Jerry Seinfeld, Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey? An amazing half-hour of TV. The beginning of season 2 sees everyone at TGS getting back to routine after a summer hiatus. Jane Krakowski gets the Jamie Bamber BSG Season 3 premiere treatment and shows us what happens when you, star in Mystic Pizza, the Musical! Tracy Jordan ties the knot with the adorable Kenneth the Page (who's one scene in the elevator with Seinfeld was hilarious). Alec and Tina keep trying to convince themselves into thinking "this will be our year!" (and with an Emmy under their belt, I really hope it is) - only yielding a great neurotic Jack-breakdown and a boyfriend-less wedding-gown wearing Liz. The whole show had me laughing out loud - Seinfeld's virtual guest-starring roles (on Deal or no Deal, and SVU to name a few) are really funny, but the punchline came when he tells Jack that he kinda likes LOST "Could I guest-star on that?" Oh NBC you are so self-aware (something we rarely see outside of FOX in Groening shows) - "You wouldn't buy NBC Seinfeld, you don't have $4 million doll... oh god"

Favourite Part of the Show: Jack 'consoling' Liz - "Lemon, women your age are more likely to get mauled at the Zoo than get married"

But really the best part was Liz crying with Seinfeld, mocking - and yet 'not-mocking' - Jerry's hysterical and over the top acting from way-back-when: funny, too funny.

This is kinda cool, or How you should comment on my posts ;)

C'mon, it's better if this is a two-way street, no? Check out what I mean here.

Push my Daisy, or How I found a new TV show I looove!

Wednesday

8:00 Pushing Daisies (ABC)
"First touch: Life.
Second touch: Dead again, forever."
If I could tell you how much this show made me smile you probably wouldn't believe me. That's okay, let me try:
Where to start? Barry Sonnenfeld's pilot episode for ABC's Pushing Daisies is - and I'm not exaggerating - one of the best hours of television I have ever had the pleasure to experience. Having said that, I am wary of over-hyping what is arguably one of the most hyped about shows. Thankfully the show (or at least the pilot) lives up to its hype. There are so many quotable lines, so many desktop-worthy images, so many heart-warming moments and so many laugh-out loud instances that to list them would be a disservice - because it would mean YOU were watching something else and didn't get enlightened!
The concept: Ned (played by the awkward yet dashing Lee Pace) can touch dead people and bring them back to life... for a minute - or else someone else dies. And if he touches those 'alive again' dead people, they die for good, again... Fate has him 're-enlivening' his childhood crush Chuck. Together they are now finding out who murdered her.
The concept is so 'out-there' it is very much 'in.' It's a bit Tim Burton-ish, a bit Roal Dahl-esque, and in a sense reminds of the 'magical realism' that marked my childhood: characters don't freak out or overanalyse Ned's power, and that in itself makes for a very magical world where symmetry, bright colours and fairy-tales are evoked, invoked and reworked into the very fabric of the world.
Pushing Daisies isn't just a pleasure to watch (sets, costumes and all other art direction choices are inspired), and it isn't just clever (the dialogue is so awkward and cute it reads like a Jane Espenson Buffy episode) but it is... okay - I will stop over-praising because I feel I've gotten to a part in my review where it feels like I'm losing credibility. So just do yourself a favour and watch this show ;-)

Favourite Part of the Show:
(And now... against what I just said, let me single out certain moments of the episode)
"Only Sleeping Beauty/Only Prince Charming could know how she/he felt" - Every Jim Dale line is quotable. It might be the accent...

"It's like one of those half-heart pendants but with monkeys" - I love that this only makes sense in the Pushing Daisies world.

"I used to think 'masturbation' meant chewing your food" - Oh Cheno, how we love you - her "Drew Barrymore!" line in the Ugly Betty Season 1 finale is a highlight of that otherwise drama-overloaded episode.

"I guess dying is as good an excuse as any to start living" - Chuck, we couldn't agree more! Here's to an exciting Season!

Finding Johnny, or How I am Seeing Double

So what if Stanton's newest Pixar robot looks kinda like Johnny 5 from Short Circuit?


The movie (Pixar's Wall E) is probably going to be infinitely better. And I'm not just saying that cause I am a die-hard Pixar fan (I was a fan of the shorts before Toy Story and still follow 'em to this day... though I've yet to watch that one about the vehicles... what was it called again?) but because Andrew Stanton (whatever your stance on that box-office hit you have to admit it was amazing animation film-making) is behind it and Pixar cannot go wrong - not with a rat who wants to be a chef with an unpronounceable name (one of the year's best!) and certainly not with a robot movie that will play for roughly its first half as a silent film [don't believe me? watch the trailer... how much dialogue do you hear?]
Wall E makes an appearance in this (the newest) trailer in a fashion mush reminiscent of another unlikely (albeit Disney) hero - and thankfully for us, shares also with that Chris Sanders' alien an adorable and quirky voice. Check it out:



Can't wait!

Desperate Sisters, or How the Alphabet Channel has a Delicious Sundae

9:00 Desperate Housewives (ABC)
After an estranged season (I can't remember any episodes after that crazy "Bang!" episode) I decided/was forced to go back to Desperate Housewives this season: how could I not, with hottie my favourite space captain setting up shop in Wisteria Lane? It didn't take long for Brenda Strong to fill me in on everyone's dirty laundry - 5 mins in I was aware of Bree's fake pregnancy, Lynette's cancer (why is it that Felicity is getting all the "drama" acting and not enough comedy!?), Gabrielle's marriage, Edie's suicide and Susan's (actually every single scene with Teri Hatcher works like an amnesiac...) The episode was fun as per usual. Too much Teri (and actually stealing a scene right from Nathan's earlier summer exposure: read Waitress - which if you haven't seen, wait for it on DVD and do yourself a favour!) and not enough everyone else, really. I still don't know what they're gonna do with Lynette's cancer - how comedic is a disease, really? and do we need more drama? It was fun, fluff, but fun. Bree still has the best lines, though the fork scene was a bit... over the top. Yet again we have new neighbours (Dana Delany gets a chance to capitalize on that 'Bree' role she turned down) and new intrigues, so we'll see how that pans out. Overall, an enjoyable episode but not the best I've seen of the girls in Wisteria Lane, though the Dana-Marcia rivalry looks more than promising, so we'll tune in on Sundays, when I'm rarely doing anything more exciting.

Favourite part of the show:
Edie: My doctor told me to talk openly about it [her attempted 'suicide']
Bree: Surely not over food.

10:00 Brothers and Sisters (ABC)
As someone reminded me today, I do make 'fun' of people who watch Brothers and Sisters, but like anything else, I believe that to judge you need to have watched/tasted/talked to...well, you get the picture. So I gave it a chance. And, even though I love Calista (if only for that wonderful David E. Kelley show everyone loves to hate), love Rachel (just cause) and love the gay storyline (who doesn't love the gays on primetime?) I find the entire show a bit... over the top. Too much drama, too much 'weep now gentle viewer!' or 'be moved by our stories, which are just like your stories...' - which I can't really stomach. Maybe that's why I like over the top shows (comedic like Ugly Betty, crazy like 30 Rock, sci-fi like BSG, vampire-y like Buffy/Angel, witty like GG, well,you get the idea). That said, it was entertaining to watch - it does have good writing and good acting which I can admire, but needless to say I won't be tuning in next week to see if hottie-son actually died (oops spoilers...)

Favourite part of the show: "I dont want nice, I want my mother!"

Ugly Rabies, or How Thursdays are Hot

Thursday

8:00 Ugly Betty (ABC)
Last year I came to watch Ugly Betty with a hesitation mainly cause I had seen the original Colombian incarnation "Yo Soy Betty la Fea" and while it ended up being too sappy for my taste, it was a breakthrough in terms of Colombian "telenovelas' (how many 'ugly' female protagonists do we get, really?) With that in mind, I think I saw what ABC had done with 'Betty' and it made me cringe: Back then I didn't know how well soap opera conventions would translate into an hour of US Primetime. But after an entire season I think Betty's antics are soapy enough (the season finale featured a gunshot, a car-crash, an enagagement, a prison break and an unexpected pregnancy!), funny enough (just pull up any Amanda/Marc quotes) and hip enough (Kristin Chenoweth as a dentist's assistant? Rebecca Romjin as a tranny? Salma Hayek reprising soap opera roles in the 'fictional tv telenovelas'?) The characters grew on me: I will laugh at anything Marc spits out at Betty, and Vanessa Williams (playing herself, in my eyes) is pitch-perfect as the Ice Queen of fashion (when is she not wearing white, honestly?)
The season premiere was good: the first segment (a 'Betty daydream' where she sees her life as a soap opera) was hilarious - mostly for the awesome spanish lines and set the tone for what promises to be a fun season - is (currently fat) Amanda Faye and Papa Mead's daughter? Will Henry and Betty have a 'happily ever after'? How will Judith Light steal Vanessa's thunder this time around?
All of this makes me sad of course - because come next week, my 8:30 slot will be taken by that Emmy nominated comedy starring the funny Tina Fey and the hilarious Alec Baldwin, but I guess I am hooked enough: I'll probably catch up downloading the episodes anyway! (As if I needed more procrastinating tools!)

Favourite part of the show: "I am never going to see Sound of Music the same ever again!"

9:00 The Office (NBC)
Continuing with shows that I don't normally watch but had to watch the premieres this week (marketing and advertising and EW are to blame for that!) I watched The Office this week. Having only watched one or two episodes before, I was laughing by the first scene (Steve Carrel running over one of his employees was probably the highlight of the episode). The rest of the hour-episode was what is surely common-ground for avid Office fans: Carrel's awkward 'like me, praise me' attitude towards his employees, Pam and Jim lovey-dovey scenes (finally! - or so I hear) and random, ridiculously funny sketches. I find the documentary style at once quite refreshing but also a bit choppy at times - maybe it gets some getting used to, I don't know. That said, I could watch paint-dry if it had John Krasinski who I had heard so much about from a certain someone *wink wink* and now I know why. All in all, a good two-part episode with some laugh-out loud moments.

Favourite of the part of the show: "Support the Rabid!"/ "You don't know me, you just saw my penis."

Bionic Vancouver, or How Katee Sackhoff is the shit

Wednesday

8:00 Back to You (FOX)
Did I watch Frasier for Kelsey Grammer? No.
Did I watch Everybody Loves Raymond for Pat Heaton? No.
Why did I watch Back to You? Cause it was on FOX when I got home and I had half an hour to wait til Bionic was on. What I got was a great early 1990's sitcom. It was good for what it's worth, and though I do believe Ms Heaton will shine more in this than she ever did playing Ray Romano's wife (god how I hate that show...) it will take a while (and a certain type of audience) for this comedy to catch on. It feels dated somehow - I mean, how many multi-camera, 'filmed in front of a live audience' sitcoms do we have on right now? How many are successful? Back to You, though filled with great actors, and an impeccable production team, seems to tell us that it's because it's heyday has passed, and I am quite okay with that. I mean the punchline included a dead fish..? Dr Crane can surely do better than that, and I hope in weeks to come, he will.

Favourite Part of the Show: ... that forgettable, I guess.

9:00 Bionic Woman (NBC)
As if the impeccable production, the interesting (re)created concept of the Bionic Woman and the good looks of Michelle Ryan weren't enough of a draw for me, NBC added some Vancouver shots and the electric performance by Katee Sackhoff to win me over completely. But I have to admit, all those other things got me hooked as well (what else was I expecting when the amazing David Eick, of BSG fame was involved?). If we all didn't know the mythology before, I think NBC has done a good job of making the story behind 'bionic woman' well-known with an aggressive marketing push that goes back to Comic-con in San Diego (where that pic from Katee Sackhoff comes from): woman gets 'bionic-ized' (new legs, arm, ear and eye) after an accident leaves her almost dead. This reimagining of Bionic owes much to several strong female-centered shows that came before it: Buffy, Dark Angel and even BSG. Jamie Summers joins a select group of empowered females that battle evil - she's in good company, but she can also stand on her own. That last cat-fight with Katee is by far the best one we've seen since Katee herself battled an arrow-wielding Tricia Helfer, and before that we hadn't seen that girl-on-girl fighting action since Sarah and Eliza were duking it out for Slayer-of-the-year.
My favourite lines were by far those of the evil 'rogue' Bionic Woman - when have we seen such a good way to Time Out of a fight than light a cigarette in order to advance the exposition during a fight? Exactly. Plus, any woman who can wear that much lipstick and not look like a hooker is a pleasure to see (who knew Starbuck could be so evil?) This show is of course a fanboy's wetdream and all I have to say to that is that we are lacking in the hot boys department (if after the episode ended Will indeed died) - because I mean, if all I have to look at for eye candy is Isaiah Washington (don't even get me started on that baffling casting choice)... My point exactly.

Favourite Part of the Show: The self-aware scene with the girl in the car, who, after seeing Jamie running really fast says to her mom: "I just thought it was cool that a girl could do that." So do we, random girl, so do we...

Second Favourite Part of the Show: Seeing Vancouver. Everywhere. I can't even remember what city they're making it pass for, but it made me miss Koerner Library and even Buchannan Tower when I saw it in the background like 10mins into the show...Sigh

House of Bones, or How Fox Delivers the Goods

Continuing with the "Watching with Manuel" Fall TV Preview I give you my dish on Fox's Tuesdays:

Tuesday

8:00 Bones (FOX)
Now, I am not a die-hard fan of procedural dramas (whether they follow lawyers, doctors or forensics... Profiler not-withstanding). But when you add the disarmingly charming David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel's eye-liner you give me a good place to start. I have watched a couple of episodes of Bones, but this was by far one of the more interesting ones: I mean, a random skull, a conspiracy theory worthy of Mr Dan Brown and great tie-buckle ensembles in David's wardrobe choices are clearly elements of a good hour on TV in my books. This was an episode that very clearly (and not as self-consciously as some Heroes....) sets up the main storylines for this season: Bones and Booth; Hodgins and Angela's wedding 'adventure' and of course the vault's conspiracy. I am intrigued and was very entertained for the entire hour making me remember that Fox gives me all the good stuff (even if they do cancel shows obscenely early when Rupert doesn't see profit coming his way by episode 4... coughDrivecough).

Favourite part of the episode: "No ... ungual, with a 'g,' a 'g'..."

9:00 House M.D. (FOX)
I have to be honest. I had my concerns: House with no Foreman, Chase or Cameron? It sounds like a cool episode (I believe it was done already - that one in the plane where it's just House and Cuddy) but making it work for the rest of the series? You had to be kidding. And yet, the premiere of House M.D. manages to work without the three hotties of the show (oh how I miss Chase's accent though). As per usual House is faced by a patient that seems to have inexplicable symptoms that don't add up and without a team, how will Hugh Laurie sarcastically burn his peers with his dry-wit banter? He improvises, and we all knew House was always about House, so if we still have his cranky mood swings, we still have a good show. Formulaic, true, but a good show nonetheless. That said, the ending blew me away - it was actually quite clever. The preview gave us a glimpse of Chase, Cameron and Foreman so maybe there is still hope for those of us who miss the 'team' but I am also eagerly awaiting what promises to be a "House's Next Top Doctor"-like season ahead; "By the end of 6 weeks, one of you will leave...along with 28 other unfortunate souls."

Favourite part of the episode: "You were bouncing ideas off of a janitor!"

Retroactive TV Sunday, or How Star Wars is the New Pink

Sunday

8:00 The Simpsons (FOX)
Knowing how good The Simpsons movie was, and knowing that Stephen Colbert was guest-voicing a part in the premiere episode, I was very excited to see the new Simpsons season kick-off. Sadly, I was not impressed at all. Instead of the refreshing comedy in the movie (albeit never achieving 'classic' status) we got a standard late-Simpsons season episode: not really funny, really good animation, good guest voices with the odd laugh-inducing gag (In this episode it was the opening sequence - completely revamped! and ending with a Spider-pig appearance at the couch). But other than that, nothing from the movie seems to have affected the Simpsons dynamics: why did we get yet another "Homer disappoints family" storyline crossed with "Homer gets a new job (sort of)" storyline? I don't know. Also: not enough Lisa.

Favourite part of the episode: Bart's blackboard reading "I will not wait 20 years to make another movie" (Oh self-awareness! how we love thee)

9:00 Family Guy (FOX)
So, if the Simpsons premiere was underwhelming, the Family Guy one was overwhelming, in many levels! For those of you who have been living under a rock, the one-hour season premiere was a re-enaction of A New Hope, FG style: Lois as Leia, Chris as Luke, etc. And not only was the animation amazing when trying to mimic the 1970s style effects but the inside jokes regarding the popular culture surrounding Star Wars were clever and almost always laugh-inducing. Stewie as Darth Vader was hilarious and the jokes poked at the original Star Wars (I especially liked the "John Williams everybody!" sketch when Luke is gazing at the two suns and the music seems so over the top and you turn and meet the entire John Williams orchestra). All in all it was a treat to watch, even though I am not a regular FG watcher, but this was not an event to miss.
Favourite part of the episode: "Hi I'm Han Solo and the only actor whose career isn't destroyed by this movie" and Leia trying to record the "Help me Obi Wan Kenobi" message and having to ask what "buffering" is and dealing with R2D2's Windows asking her to download Real Player 7 to continue.

TV Monday, or How Heroes is the most overrated show on the air

It's premiere week!

Most of my favourite shows are returning and now that I have a tv and a less crowded social life (read: mostly non-existent, but slowly working on it) I can revel in watching loads and loads of tv!!
My idea is to blog about the shows that I watch this week.
It'll be like Watch with Manuel.

(Some spoilers ahead)

Monday
8:00 - How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
I only caught up with HIMYM yesterday, having finished watching the second season so I was more than anxious to hear Neil Patrick Harris finish saying '...dary!' at the beginning of the episode. The gang is back - Ted with breakup beard (and making out with Mandy Moore), Robin back from Argentina (and dating Enrique Iglesias... who only American TV would cast as an 'Argentinian'), married Lily and Marshall and ever so funny Barney. The episode was tres funny as we watched Ted bounce back (and gets 'wings' of his own, in a matter of speaking - the joke is too funny to have it ruined, trust me). Enrique and Mandy were okay - as was the unabashed Mandy CD plug at the end of the episode. The season promises to be a really fun one - now, all we need to know is how Ted ACTUALLY met his as-yet-unborn-and-yet-unnamed kids' Mother... We do know she owns a yellow umbrella, hm...

Favourite part of the episode: Barney saying "We're gonna get Cirque du So-laid!"

8:30 - Last 1/2 hr of Chuck (NBC)
Spies and geeks? Yah-hah, that had me intrigued, and also being a Whedon-fan I had to tune in and see what Jayne was up to. Good thing NBC has had Chuck plastered all over the web, NYC billboards and tv ads: it made tuning in half an hour late easier as I knew the basic premise. The concept sounds funny and I'm sure many girls (and boys) will swoon over Zachary Levi (he has that Krasinski look going for him) but I'm not sold. Was it funny? Yes. Entertaining? Sure. It was also very sleek-looking (both in terms of cinematography and art direction for a TV show - that scene on the roof for example looked amazing) but there was something missing. I mean, I rather have my spies be chiseled like Michael Vartan and Jen Garner, and I rather have my quick-wit Gilmore-style, but the combo somehow feels forced. Nice twist at the end with what Chuck sees from a certain surveillance camera, but I guess my Monday's will have to be okay without the Geek Squad.

Favourite part of the episode: Awkward dinner talk - "I could be your baggage carrier"

9:00 - Heroes (NBC)
That said, I would take any episode of Chuck over an episode of Heroes. Everyone loves it I know, and hey, it actually is a good premise. I enjoy it more when it's called X-men and it's written by Joss Whedon and drawn by John Cassaday, or when it is directed by Bryan Singer and stars Hugh Jackman, hey I'll even take it when it airs on Saturday mornings in the form of cartoons... But I digress. I don't follow it, I've only seen a handful of episodes, but I have the same problems with it over and over again. It tries too hard: to be hip, to be geek-chic, to be cool, to be 'cult' and it isn't helped by lackluster writing. I went in knowing vaguely about where we were at since I watched the season finale on the plane on my way here and even if I hadn't I will give the writers props for giving a 'just-tuned-in' audience a good briefing. That also meant that we spent the first half-hour visiting different 'Heroes' and seeing where they were at: Clare's at a new school, we don't know what happened to Peter, Hiro is in the past, etc. But even as I was watching I could see the show wanting (in a very LOST-esque way) to lure me into asking endless questions that the season will unravel for me if I devote one hour of my life to the show. I think back fondly on techniques like this when they were used sparingly (think seeing Michelle Trachtenberg and SMG fighting at the end of 'Dracula' and hearing the collective gasp of the buffy-fandom going wtf?!) but here, Heroes tries to set so many stories into place the episode felt like a good warm-up that didn't deliver anything substantial, only questions:
Where was Peter, how did he get there (and who did his hair? Cause they need a raise)?
Who's that creepy kid in Clare's school and what does he know?
What are Clare's dad and Indian guy working on?
What's the Sensei symbol doing all over the effing episode?
What will Hiro do?
Who committed that murder at the end?
etc etc...
Too much for too little. (Also - no Ali Larter? Who does Tim Kring think he is?)
That said, what Heroes lacks in writing it tries to make up in casting: as an ALIAS fan, I was happy to see my fave Brit-villain back in the tube in the random role of Takezo Sensei.

Favourite part of the show: Anders punching Hiro.