Friday, October 18, 2002
Ed’s TV Round up. Monday
Yes the new fall season is upon us and I am in pop culture heaven. Here is my breakdown of the new fall season. Why? Because I feel like it.
Until the Simpsons comes back here are my grades so far.
Alias
Alias is a great show. Basically it’s a good old-fashioned spy show.
Spy/college student/hot mamajama Sidney Bristow thinks she is working for the CIA until the real CIA tells her she is working for SD-6 a mercenary splinter group from the CIA, So Sydney now works for SD-6, but is really working undercover for the CIA, and everyone else who works at SD-6, save for a few, still think they are working for the CIA, and Sydney’s friends think she works for a bank, except for her friend Will who knows she is working For SD-6 and the CIA. Got it?
It’s got fast moving, labyrinthine plot lines, a hot, hot lead actress, and writers who pride themselves on figuring out ways to put her into slutty undercover outfits each week (Last seasons finale was a masterstroke. They need Sydney to break into an installation, and the only way to do that was from the building next door which, lo and behold, just happened to be an S & M club). It also has great subplots. This year introduced Sydneys long lost and thought dead mother, who is an evil former Soviet spy murderer, or is she?
Alas with shows like this (not unlike Buffy) they are hard to jump into mid stream. But its worth it for those that do.
Soprano’s
Meanwhile over at HBO there is the Soprano’s. Not much to say here that isn’t already common knowledge. I like the show, but so far this year have been unimpressed, with the show being nothing but uninspired plot threads, and writing that is somewhat noticeable less subtle and understated as it should be (The ”Columbus Day” episode being a perfect example).
Angel.
The spin-off to Buffy. Being a proud Buffy fanatic, I watch and enjoy this show a lot. While it’s nowhere near as good as Buffy (Joss Whedon passed most of the writing and producing reigns off a while ago), its still quite good. The show was very shaky in its first few years as it was finding its voice (neat encapsulated episodes following a high concept “Vampire detective agency” storyline) but has come into its own by becoming more like Buffy (Yes I am fully aware of the contradictory nature of that sentence). It added long running themes and arching storylines over a season, added a son for Angel, who was turned against his own father by a man whose family Angel killed before he had a soul. It suffers from a somewhat weak supporting cast and especially this year, and unsure footing on what it wants to do, but I think its still a worthwhle show.
Becker
Sucks. Always has always will.
Bram and Alice
Sucks so bad it makes Becker look good. It’ll last a month. (But what do I know? Becker is already on its 4th excruciating year)
Charmed
A cheap Buffy knockoff. So bad I am disgusted I even uttered the B word in conjunction with that pile of crap.
Boomtown
It has a Wahlberg. I have better things to do with my life.
American Dreams
I tried, I really tried to watch it, for the simple fact that the lead actress is hot. But I hate period family dramas about coming of age in the sixties. And at the end of episode one, using the Kennedy Assassination as a cheap excuse to drum up sympathy and emotion, as opposed to drumming up real sympathy and emotion through the use of good writing, strong characters and engaging actors, was strike 3 in my book.
Law and Order: Criminal Intent.
2 Law and Orders is quite enough.
TBOGG is hands down the funniest damn blog I read all day. Sometimes approaching Onion greatness. THe man needs a comments section. Badly.
I know what your thinking. It's from the Onion or something. No, this is gods honest truth. From Newsweek no less.
A direct quote from the Juice:
“Look, you’re talking about a guy, Johnnie Cochran, who is a pretty smart guy,If he said maybe I did it, then maybe I did it.”
Monday, October 14, 2002
Osama who?
With Dubya spending so much time worrying about Reagans old pal
Saddam, Al Queda and Bin laden kill over 180 people.
Oct. 14 — The government has to "assume" al-Qaida was behind the
weekend bombing that killed more than 180 people on Indonesia's
resort island of Bali, U.S. President George Bush said Monday. His
comments reflected those by Indonesian officials who blamed the
attack on locally-based Islamic militants, allegedly with the
backing of al-Qaida.
Oct. 14 — There were more signs Monday that the al-Qaida terror
network was stepping up activity around the world. More than a year
after the terrorist attacks on the United States, an Arabic cable
network carried a statement attributed to al-Qaida leader Osama bin
Laden that hailed two recent attacks in Kuwait and Yemen. Meanwhile,
Indonesia's defense minister said al-Qaida was likely behind a
fierce explosion in the vacation island of Bali that left scores
dead.
Sunday, October 13, 2002
Duechebag.
Republican Sen., James Inhofe of Oklahoma exhorted those gathered to vote liberals out office. He called it "doing the Lord's work."
