FarScape Season 3
So I really wondered how they would resove the whole two-Crichton thing.
Ouch.
Most definitely not what I expected. Impressive, while heart-breaking.
Doctor Who
The writers of The Shakespeare Code (ha! I say again: ha!) must just have had so much fun writing this episode. You get to include lots of nutty references to Shakespeare; a few other famous lines that Shakespeare isn’t allowed to steal; and you get a nice reference to Harry Potter as well! Very nice, very clever! And you set up a confrontation between the good Doctor and Good Queen Beth; I really hope they come through with that. I love her costume; it would be a shame to waste it on a 30 second spot.
And they definitely hinted at Shakespeare being bi. Ha! and again – ha!!
Doctor Who
I am very excited about the new Dr Who season. Having gone out last night, I taped, and only just remembered to watch it. Squee!
As a friend of mine said, one of the nice things about this episode (and the Christmas ep, too) is that they allow the Doctor to grieve for Rose, which makes him more… approachable, if not more human. Not that I’m a really great connoisseur, but I don’t remember any particular sadness at the departure of previous companions. I think this is the function and result of having a younger and, frankly, sexier doctor: if he was completely and utterly callous (rather than just the short-term callous we all know and love), then he wouldn’t really be very much fun at all.
So the new girl looks good, although I am a little dubious at shoving the sexual tension right in your face from the get-go – and is it just me, or are they making the Doctor more come-hither as well? This first episode was quite enjoyable… especially “Look! I even brought a straw!” with which to suck your blood.
Doctor Who
I just saw an ad for Torchwood, which will be on Channel Ten… and a little while ago, I saw an ad for Doctor Who, on the ABC. It’s going to be a weird, weird season of TV.
Very weird.
But hey, on the flipside, being on Channel Ten might make it cooler for the young ‘uns and spark a revival/discovery of interest in Who. Which can only be good.
Stargate Atlantis
Oh. My. Goodness.
Henry Winkler! On Atlantis! Playing some sort of Tommy Lee Jones Under Siege mercenary character.
Totally cool.
Stargate Atlantis
Having finished SG-1, we decided that we’d give Atlantis a go – having ‘met’ the cast in one or two of the SG episodes, and because we needed our fix. We’ve got so used to having TV shows to watch on DVD – SG, West Wing, Firefly… and J isn’t a fan of FarScape, so we thought: why not? And weve just signed on for Bigpond movies, so we made this our first request. The first four disks turned up within a few days, and voila – away we go.
I like Major Sheppard; he is going to be very entertaining. Certainly in the tradition of Jack O’Neill, but different enough that it’s not annoying. Rodney is definitely going to get on my nerves, and I’ve just realised who Dr Weir reminds me of: Janeway. And that is not a good association, as far as I am concerned. I was wondering early on whether they’d get their very own pet alien, as with SG1, and at the moment it looks like that will be Teyla – although I think IMDB says she’s only in a few episodes. Which is good, because I’m getting a bit sick of her shoulders-back-boobs-out posing.
So far, Atlantis is great – after three episodes. It’s also different enough, so far, from SG1 that it doesn’t just feel like a rehash of the same old stuff. It’s a lot more alien, which makes sense since the whole place is alien. I’m looking forward to watching the rest of it.
StarGate
I have, in the past, mentioned how uncomfortable I am about being the over-enthusiastic fan. Nonetheless, having just finished Stargate SG-1 season 10…
The last season was mostly brilliant. The 200th episode was hilarious: a revisit to Wormhole Xtreme!, which makes a lot of sense – the team being asked for their input into a telemovie. This enitre episode was an homage to the rest of the show, as well as a few others. There’s a comment about how weird it is to make a movie from a show that only lasted a few episodes, and T’ealc says there was a lot of interest on DVD… hello, Firefly! But my absolutely favouritest reference, which nearly made me cry with laughter, was Vala trying to convince the producer to create a new show – basically FarScape. Claudia Black was her own character, but Michael Shanks was Crichton and and Ben Browder was Stark. And the producer makes a quip about how he’s never heard of anything like it… Marvellous.
See what I mean about being a fan?
Anyway, the last episode was pretty cool, too, And my theory is that they knew the show was canned (so sad!!) when they were filming the last one, at least – the very last line is something of a reassurance to fans, I think, that there will be more Stargate, eventually.
I do hope so.
Oh the joy
I have finally found someone else who likes BSG! Hallelujah!
The story goes like this:
Friend happens to find out we have been watching it – not sure how; maybe I confessed I was tired because we were watching it too late at night. He then admits that he got hooked on the first season. But – and here is the tragedy of the story – he doesn’t have broadband and didn’t know that the second season was out on DVD. So you know what he’s been doing?
Oh yes. Reading the scripts.
So I fed his addiction and gave him season 2 – which he watched in the holidays – and then season 3. He just finished season 3 last night, so we were able to have a good old yak about it today. It was so nice to talk to someone else about it!! Somehow talking to the person you watch it with – that is, J – isn’t quite the same as finding someone who has watched it independently.
Sideshow
Having just watched Paul M’s new show, I will be fascinated to see how long it lasts. There was a bit of swearing, which was amusing given the timeslot – which McDermott kept emphasising, like a little kid trying to push his parents’ buttons. Truly he is like a mischevious boy, who is so cute that no one is willing to tell him off.
I like Tripod – they are incredibly talented, and their song tonight I could relate to: honey I love you, but can we just wait until I’ve finished this level? I’m not a huge fan of the Kransky Sisters, and their story tonight – about one of them being punished by her mother – was really in poor taste. Flacco is always amusing, and Ed Byrne was hilarious…. The show will survive if, and only if, it continues to get guests of the same quality as this.
And if Paul occasionally sings, that will help a lot too. 🙂
Robin Hood
We saw the final episode of this in the UK – oops. But it did get us quite excited about the fact that ABC bought it, and it started tonight.
It’s pretty bad, and pretty good at the same time.
Bad:
Oh, the action
The music – very Superman/Star Wars
So, so may cliches
Two arrows at once?!
Robin is short
Good:
Oh, the action
Robin has to work for Marion
The music – very Superman/Star Wars
Very, very modern
OK, so overall it was pretty bad. Definitely no Ivanhoe, Will Scarlet is no Christian Slater, the scenery didn’t even try to emulate 1190s reality (1190s? Didn’t he mention it was Urban II’s crusade??). But the sheriff – he is SO bad; and Guy of Gisborne, from what I have seen in this and the final episode, walks that wonderfully fine line of being bad but evoking a fair amount of sympathy from the audience – enough that it makes things a little bit uncomfortable for them, And, to make matters worse in the UK, just after the final episode was the Christmas episode of the Vicar of Dibley, in which the actor who plays Guy was the romantic lead… very, very funny.
I think I will be watching more. If only to find out how the Arabic girl (oops, slight spoiler there) makes it into the Merry Men.
Randomly Yours, Alex 