Changes to this blog

I'm a bad blogger, I don't have a regular schedule and I'm a bit random, though random about TV film theatre and books.

So I've been thinking, and I'm wanting to organise myself a little bit better.

The plan is this: to write three regular blog posts per week, one for the TV I've been watching, one top ten/top five/pic spam and one lucky dip.

If you want to prompt me with a theme for a list please comment.

So with out further ado I give you My Top Five Shows that were cancelled too soon.

1.  Dollhouse.

I was one of the few.  I loved this show and thought it was pretty damned epic. The premise sounded hokey I'll give you that and the first five episodes of season one were not very good and we know that was all down to the network interfering in Joss Whedon's show.  When the plot arc took off the show really did come into its own. So many layers of deception and it just kept on getting twistier. (What you say twistier isn't a word, well  damned well should be.) I was amazed when it got a second season and what a second season it was. The red herrings, the feints, the grand reveals, Epitaph 1 and 2. I'll concede that Eliza Dushku isn't that strong an actress but as with all Whedon shows it wasn't about Echo, it became about the Ensemble.  The subject matter wasn't an easy sell either but it was a great show and I for one really miss it.

2.  Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

I'll let you into a little secret, I actually prefer Studio 60 to the West Wing.  Now, before you call me out and want me shot, let me explain my theory why.  I came to Studio 60 first, I'd missed out on the West Wing and the goodies it had to offer and my introduction to Aaron Sorkin was this gem which ran for 22 episodes.  The writing for the pilot is completely exquisite and some might argue that the show lost pace half way through its run, I still loved every second. I have a deep abiding love of Matthew Perry and the relationship between Matt Albie and Danny Tripp is one of the most absorbing friendships I've ever seen portrayed on screen.

3.  Firefly

Its a must on any list for a show that was cancelled too soon. Another one of Joss Whedon's greats. Completely underrated when it first aired and pulled too frakking early.  Now another little confession and a controversial one. I prefer Dollhouse to Firefly. There I said it and I believe it so deal with it.  I like Firefly and yes it was cut down in it's prime but it didn't hit some of the buttons for me that Dollhouse did. I don't know maybe I'm just born that way or something I don't know.

4.  Caprica

I really got into this series I watched the first ten episodes fanatically, I was so excited there was going to be ERic Stoltz there was going to 'Grandpa' Joe Adama as a younger man, young William. So many possibilities and I loved the forties Noir feel of the show and then came the hiatus.

And we waited and we waited and the show got buried.  I still haven't finished watching this show, but I will, one spare weekend I'll over dose on the lot. It had some great promise and Sasha Roiz as Sam Adama. Who could ask for more?

5. Pushing Daisies

Oh this show was so saccharine it hurts your teeth but its a bittersweet too. Another show that managed two seasons before getting chopped off despite having some great little plot arcs, it was romantic and sweet and funny and very very knowing.  

Where else could you fine Kristin Chenoweth and Ellen Greene in the same show? Remember this was pre Glee!

Olive Sings Hopelessly Devoted to You

Torchwood Miracle Day

I've been quiet the last couple of weeks because I was hoping that Torchwood would improve and its with a heavy heart that I have to report that its completely lost the plot.

I'm not someone who is adverse to change, I like it and equally I find shows that retread the same set of tropes endlessly somewhat a chore to watch.

I've been reading a number of opinions out there on what's going on with Torchwood and the consensus is that it has lost it's charm somewhere along the flight across the atlantic.

Some people have suggested that Miracle Day started life as a 5 parter like Children of Earth it's true that the pace of the show feels like there's rather a lot of padding going on.

As far as the characters are concerned, Rex can go die-in-a-fire. Esther who was a little bit like Tosh 2.0 is so consistent at doing stupid things I'm about ready to pop a vein when I see her on the screen.  Gwen and I have always had a difficult relationship, I didn't really like her, although she utterly redeemed herself for me in Children of Earth by being AWESOME.  Miracle Day, she veers between almost likeable and bat poop crazy. I love Eve Myles and it is fantastic that we see a normal woman sized woman on the screen but by the cringe Gwen makes me want to stab my own eyes out.

And where the hell is Jack?  For many people Jack is Torchwood and in Miracle Day he's around briefly and he's all out of character and not the Captain Jack we adore and love to see taking names and kicking ass.

It’s a mess, a big mess. I'm persisting with the show because its one I used to hold so dear and it makes me sad to see the show that I used to enjoy so much become so much of a chore.

True there were moments where I laughed out loud, but they weren't comedy moments, they were meant to be moments of drama which came across as the bat poop crazy variety.

Also we've had lots of coverage of Oswald Danes and Kitty only for them to be completely ingnored in episode six.  Where were they?  Come to mention it, what happened with the creepy mask wearing cult, the souless? THey disappeared pretty quickly and without explanation, also the Dead is Dead Brigade were offed pretty quickly. I'm not a script writer but all the loose ends that are discarded are pretty frustrating for a viewer. There is a frustrating lack of answers and I'd have thought that over half way through the series answers would at least begin to be forthcoming. You know something, anything.


One thing I've been talking to people about is how this show isn't Torchwood anymore, for episode seven I'm going to try watching it as though its called something else, maybe I'll be able to enjoy it then?


So I'm sticking with it out of sheer bloodimindedness.


Wish me luck.

Futile Flame and Demon Dance by Sam Stone

Where the first novel focuses on Gabrielle the second novel concentrates on Lucrezia (yes Borgia) and her story. I have to say Sam Stone doesn't shy away from tough storylines and the second chapter might be rather tough for some readers.

The pace of the novel is quick and I've had to do a few things one handed the last couple of days just so I could see what happens next.

The last third of the novel really takes an unexpected turn and I'm not 100% convinced by it, it's quite a departure to what has gone before, what I will say is that it didn't make me any less determined to read the third in the series.

Demon Dance is the third in the Vampire Gene series of novels and by far the most complicated in terms of its narrative. Futile Flame left us dangling with Lilly disappearing and then phoning up from Sweden and Demon Dance picks the tale up from that point and runs with it.

Again I don't want to give much of the plot away but the major theme in this of time travel and paradox and places which were visited within Futile Flame are returned to and explored from a different point of view.  Lilly is very different to the version we meet in killing kiss. The change is necessary and  does make sense once you start reading.

I have to confess some elements of the book didn't move me, some of the mystical stuff was a bit bangly hobbity for my tastes and the Allucians don't really work for me but having said all that it didn't stop me from enjoying the book.

I like that the author is prepared to make her narratives unreliable and things that one character has told us might not be the truth. I like being hoodwinked by an author it means I have to make decisions as a reader and that's always fun.

I do like the author's use of language, the imagery that she uses to describe scenes is evocative and I particularly enjoyed the description of the relationship between Lilly and Rhuddlan castle.  The description of her magical elements, ley lines and gene magic are both utterly compelling and so vivid.

One thing that I thought sorted itself a tad too easily was the triangular relationship between Lilly, Gabrielle and Caesare. I would have expected there to be some awkwardness even if that was dealt with in the next book.

Overall a very enjoyable and entertaining read, less disturbing than the previous one, I'm looking forward to the next one which I believe is out soon.

Thundercats Ho!

One of my favourite cartoons on tv when I was growing up was Thundercats. To my unsophisticated six year old self it was truly ace, a corking theme tune, memorable characters and good stories, I can't say for sure whether the stories were as ace as I remembered them, I've not seen them since the late 80s but they did stick with me and yes, from time to time I do say Snarf snarf in the voice, just because I can.  I had a crush on Cheetarah, and I adored Wiley Kit and Kat. We almost certainly played thundercats in the school playground.

I found out from various sources over the weekend that Thundercats was being remade. My initial reaction best summed up as (OMGWTFBBQ?) and then when the opportunity presented itself to stream said episode (rather later than it should have been last night) I clicked the link and watched. To be fair I only intended on watching the first five minutes, but you know what? I really enjoyed it and instead of just watching one episode I ended up watching the whole two-parter.

Now the remake is not exactly the same as the old Thundercats, the characters have been redesigned. They are all in a manga/amime style which I love and they seem to have been reimagined but in the good BSG way rather than the bad (insert your own example of a bad remake here) and what they've come up with is a really engaging cartoon, that held my interest for forty five minutes because it was a good story even if a lot of the animation looked a bit cheap.

Now, it could be down to my curiosity to see how the characters had changed, in the redesign, Snarf, is still Snarf but doesn't speak (which is good but I miss the snarf snarfs.) Cheetarah, still hot fwiw and wiley kit and Kat still rock.  I don't want to get into too much about the plot of which there is lots, even if they do pay homage to the Trojan horse.

I felt it was a good, there was humour and there were epic battles. Yes there is still Slythe and Mum-Rah so its not all that different and I think I'll be tracking down more of this cartoon just because it was actually that enjoyable.

Unexpected blasts from the pasts updated for the new millennium ftw.