My DVR most likely hates me. It does its duty, and does it well, but I just keep adding more and more shows to it. I wouldn’t be surprized if it slides itself off the television one night and strangles me in my sleep.

JJ Abrams can do just about anything and I will tune in with fangirly glee. I am that easy. I do, however, have the sense to expect a big pile of crap along with my glee. No point in having wild expectations, only to have them dashed against The Rock.

Three episodes of Alcatraz have aired so far, and I am finding it pretty entertaining. We have a secret lair (which is mighty inconvenient with all that water surrounding it, if you ask me), some kind of selective time traveling, Hurley being the smart one, Sam Neill just being awesome by being Sam Neill, and for all of you out there who miss Lost, some potential numbers shenanigans. Personally, I don’t think the numbers mean anything this go around, but I thought Fringe was just gonna be a X-Files rehash, so what do I know?

Looks as though each episode will be the appearance of one of the inmates , and our heroes tracking them down. The first two reappeared inmates seemed to have some sort of directive to get something done. Sylvane got a big-ass key from some poor guy, and Cobb shot whatsherface (what? I don’t know names yet!) totally on purpose. This last guy, while insanely CREE-PEE, didn’t seem to have a job to do, and he ended up dead, dead, dead. I wonder how many people thought, like I did, that when they brought that dead guy back to NewAlcatraz, and handed him over to the apparently perpetual Alcatraz doc, that there would be a shot to the neck or something, and the guy would be brought back to life. Anyone? Just me?

Much like Fringe in its early days, Alcatraz seems to be only okay with the MOW stories, but really interesting with the set up of its mythology. I love this kind of storytelling, and I hope that the audience has the patience for us to get to know these characters and find out what the hell is going on.

I love New York City. I lived in Brooklyn for 12 years and I miss the damn place on a regular basis.

I adore Kiefer. I own all eight seasons of 24 (including the TV movie, ‘Redemption’). I even sorta, kind of stalked the man not once, but twice on the streets of NYC.

So Fox, a network I keep wanting to hate, handed me me a shiny new show that not only takes place in my beloved city, but stars a lovely and awesome (as usual) Kiefer. Touch.

Now this show made me nervous. I want to laud anything Kiefer is in, but this sucker is from Tim Kring who gave us Heroes, which started out as a fantastic show, and devolved into one hot mess.  The man has great ideas, but seems to have trouble following through.

As far as I’m concerned, so far so good. Was the twisty, turny-ness a little convoluted? Yup. Do I care? Nope. Give me something fantastical to believe in and I will happily jump on board. I was worried that this was gonna be an hour of SadDadKiefer, but there were some nice, light moments, and Kiefer had plenty of edge to keep the character from falling over into self-indulgent woes-is-me’s. And the moment at the end, in the rain, on the cel tower? I teared right up. Well played, sirs!

I liked Touch, and am excited to see if they can pull this off week to week. Unfortunately, we’re gonna have to wait until March(!!) to get our next taste. But you know me, I will sit patiently for another dose of Kiefer-ness.

Bookmark It

For years, January was the Best.Month.Ever., television wise. After months of being deprived of my favorite shows, the inevitable post-holiday dreariness, and another two months or more of winter to endure, January brought me back to that mysterious island on Lost, and the high-intensity crack of 24. What is a TV obsessed gal to do this year, now that both of those shows have finished their runs? Instead of being sad and grumpy, I have found some joy in the mid-season television schedule.

Parks and Recreation – I am still at a loss as to why NBC put this show on the shelf for the first half of the season and insisted on cramming the unfunny Outsourced down our throats instead (I actually do know why, but it’s still annoying). P&R got all kinds of awesome last year, and the end of the season brought us some great twists with the addition of Rob Lowe and Adam Scott to the ensemble. Amy Poehler is reliably great, and Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson is possibly the best reason to keep tuning in. I hate singling out people on ensemble shows like this, because every one of  them adds another fantastic layer, making it my easy replacement for the now limping The Office.

V – It’s not like I was waiting with bated lizard breath for this show to return. The first effort was a pale shadow of the original V series and mini-series, but I am a sucker for sci-fi, so I went into the first episode of this new season hopeful, but not expecting a thing. They did amp up the reveals (finally, a glimpse at the lizard face!), had some more action and evil-ness from the queen lizard Anna, and put their special effects budget to good use. But, the writing is still terrible (I feel sorry for some of the clunkers the actors have to deliver), and it looks like we will have to endure even more of Erica’s dolt of a son, Tyler. If I had an inkling to bail on this show, it was squashed by the addition of Sam from Reaper (Bret Harrison), who I think is wonderful, and I hope they don’t kill him off too soon.

Southland - I don’t watch this show (so I’m not gonna bother finding a pic), but it is regularly hailed as one of the best cop shows out there, and the people I know who do watch it, love the crap out of it. I only mention it because it was dead as a doornail after it’s first season on NBC, and was resurrected by TNT in what I think is a true TV miracle. This is the beginning of season three, and if you’re a fan, enjoy the sweet taste of victory!

Fringe - I know, I know, not a mid-seasoner, but every second this show is not around, I miss it. Fox had been unusually kind to us with this show, until now. Even with the steady ratings slide, they blessed us with a third season, and then they pulled the rug out from under us and moved it to Friday’s. I fear that this may be the last season, and it’s a shame, as this season has been freakin’ outstanding!!

The Amazing Race & Survivor - I am no longer in the reality show closet. I like what I like, and I am not ashamed. Competitive reality shows are one of my weaknesses (along with sci-fi and post-apocalyptic shows), and these two are tops as far as I’m concerned. They will both be back in February for new seasons, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

There are a few others that have me vaguely interested like Game of Thrones on HBO, and The Cape on NBC. The return of Big Love should be more exciting, but I’m not interested enough to write about it. You can bet my DVR will be storing these shows up to try out when it’s too snowy and cold to do anything else.

PS! OMG!! Have you seen this?? June is a very, very long time from now.

Bookmark It

I truly love this little town in the middle of nowhere in Oregon; I have since the first episode.

Eureka’s one of those scifi shows firmly grounded in science and reality (of sorts). It seems like the kind of place you just might get if you gathered the finest scientific minds of their generation and put them all in one place with, more or less, unlimited resources.

It was obvious from the very first episode that Allison and Carter were going to get together, sooner or later. And in Season 2 when they got married and Allison got pregnant, it seemed they weren’t going to tease us with the Sam and Diane scenario for years.

Then, in order to save the town, the timeline, everything, Carter and Henry had to lose their loves to save it all, well, I was willing to go along with it. I was even willing to deal with the detour that was Nathan Stark, as he obviously loved Allison and they did, after all, have a child together.

So when Carter and Tess broke up at the end of Season 3 and Allison had had proper time to grieve, it seemed it was time.

Then, Season 4 had a fabulous opener that did a variety of things:
• gave us insight into the creation of Eureka
• gave us James Callis doing one helluvan American accent
• gave us a time travel paradox
• gave us Allison and Carter kissin’ and lovin’ and Jo kicking some SERIOUS ass.

When our intrepid time travelers made it back to present-day Eureka, it was, of course Fargo, who first noticed not everything was the same. The statue of Archimedes used to be granite, but was now brass (bronze? I can’t remember; I might have gotten it wrong).

Jo finds that Zane is in her jail, but he’s not reminiscing about how they met – he’s really in jail and their love was something that happened in the old timeline. Allison makes it home and both her children are still there, but her son, who’s been autistic and noncommunicative, is a happy, normal teenager who just wants to play Xbox with his friends.

That was a beautiful moment, actually – Allison realizing she could have her son more fully than she’d ever been able to, and knowing that her present was, maybe, better than her previous present.

Then, Carter gets home.

S.A.R.A.H.? Check. But she looks different. We see a purse right by the front door. Is Zoe still at Harvard?

“Yes.”

But it’s not S.A.R.A.H. who answers. It’s Tess.

Not that we didn’t see that coming, sorta. But, still.

In this present, Tess never left town. She stayed and is in love with Carter. He was with her, too. But he’s the same Carter who shared the kiss with Allison in the past and created this present.

So, forget about Jack and Diane; it’s Sam and Diane all over again, except they’re named Carter and Allison.

On the plus side: We have Fargo & Jo having a shared experience, which should create some amusing moments. We have Jo and Zane no longer in love, and an angry, unloved Jo is more fun to watch than a happy in love Jo. Sorry, Jo. We have James Callis rockin’ it in the present.

But I really don’t want this detour in Carter & Allison’s love to last an entire season. And I don’t want another detour.

Other than that? No complaints. I even liked the sepia-toned past. Very evocative.

Bookmark It

The first four minutes of the Lost season premiere:

Bookmark It

Tonight’s start to the two-night, four-hour season premiere is a bit different from the usual: It’s two hours, but it doesn’t start until 9 p.m.

As my buddy Adam over at The Jack Sack commented, there are some little old ladies who are in for a nasty surprise tonight when they turn on Channel 5 (New York) and discover that, instead of that nice Ernie Anastos (or whoever they have on Sundays), Jack’s throttling some terrorist.

Wonder how many calls they’ll get.

Meanwhile, we’re going to be liveblogging over at Blogs4Bauer, so join us there!

Bookmark It