Saturday, September 30, 2006

More on Television

OK, the SciFi Channel is rapidly becoming my Most-Watched, because I now have 4 shows that are appearing there:
  • Eureka
  • Doctor Who
  • Battlestar Galactica
  • Heroes

Now, I missed last season of Battlestar Galactica but WILL catch up, and Heroes airs first on NBC but it conflicts with another show I watch so I'm catching the rerun on SciFi. These shows are vastly better than the rest of the SciFi lineup, which seems to consist mostly of C-grade horror, C-grade fantasy, and bizarre leftovers like Ghost Hunters and ECW (which is wrestling? what the...?)

Eureka has proven to be a delightful surprise. It reminds me of Northern Exposure (which I loved) and has been clever and entertaining. The star, Colin Ferguson, is that guy you've seen in a variety of MOWs and failed pilots... he's the guy that looks like a wax mannequin. I was ill-disposed to like him because of his unnatural beauty, but in fact he has worked with The Second City (which is like Harvard or Oxford as far as I'm concerned) and is VERY good and (based on his episode commentary podcasts) very smart. He's no vaccuous twinkie, as I had been inclined to assume. I find myself looking forward to the show each week, which is the hallmark of a really good show - do I only remember it when it shows up on my TiVo, or do I find myself thinking "yay, Such & Such is on tonight...!"

Doctor Who was on last night. Did you know you can see David Tennant's freckles? Seriously... the writing and acting is SOOOOO brilliant. I laugh with delight every single time I see the bit of "The Christmas Invasion" where the Doctor tells the morally questionable PM he can bring down her government with only 6 words... he wanders over to her assistant, and without taking his eyes off the PM, murmurs in his ear, "Don't you think she looks tired?" and walks off. Brilliant.

Heroes has been regularly referred to as "...like the X-Men." And this is bad because...? I love the X-Men! Very memorable first episode, but I feel so bad for all of the heroes because some of them are really suffering and lost and confused... I can't wait for them to all find each other and start a club!

Battlestar Galactica? Loved the first year of the new series, and then for some inexplicable reason didn't watch the next year. Hope to remedy that.

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