Back to You 1x02

I was terribly worried about “Back to You” being against “Pushing Daisies” because I figured, after two weeks, “Back to You” would have an incredible fan-base, and there’d be nothing left to give to my favourite new show of the season.

I have actually looked forward to “Back to You” and having Kelsey Grammar in a sitcom, again. Also, being in the news profession myself, I was really looking forward to seeing people poke fun at my profession.

I was sadly disappointed while watching last night’s episode.

I missed the first episode due to life and an oversight on my part, but I watched last night, and was discouraged for the life of the show. I know it’s only the first season, but so many good shows never get the chance they fully deserve because of a weak opening.

This felt like a weak opening. The only time I laughed the entire night when after Chuck (Kelsey Grammar) had tried three times to replace his dead fish, and he finally had it down, he fried it.

Allow me to explain: He overfed the first one. He thermo-freezed the second. By the time of the third, he knew how the temperature should be, and how much to feed the fish. However, a simple, accidental knock of a light sent it into the fishbowl, electrocuting the fish. I laughed aloud for the first time the whole night.

I do believe this show has potential, but I’m worried it won’t make it there, because Fox has a tendency to kill great shows (“Firefly” “Arrested Development” “Futurama”).

I rest my case.

Bionic Woman 1x01

I decided to give “Bionic Woman” a chance Wednesday, since I had no other show to watch. I was heavily disappointed.

The episode opened with Sarah, the first bionic woman, who just snapped and killed all these people. It was a reflex that she couldn’t control. She didn’t want to kill them, but she did it. We’re supposed to think she’s dead. She’s not. We know from the promos she’s not. There was no point to try to convince us she was dead.

Anyway, we flash forward three years to find Jaime Sommers bartending. She’s lethargic as a bartender, but a far cry from today’s “perfect females.” Yes, I think she’s absolutely breathtaking, but she’s not cookie cutter, and I appreciate that.

That was the highlight of my viewing experience.

The romance feels forced, and though I think Michelle Ryan (Sommers) is quite lovely, her acting ability isn’t what it needs to be for how seriously this show is taking itself.

It was choppy. It jumped around too much. It tried too hard to be an action movie.

The little sister was totally stereotypical, and that bothered me to no end.

In the original pilot, they had a different young lady cast as the little sister. The little sister was played by the young lady from “Arrested Development” who played Anne (Egg… Bland…). Anyway, the little sister, in that incarnation, was DEAF.

What a beautiful juxtaposition to have! Here we have the older sister who has all these amazing abilities and her little sister continues on feeling very different because of the way she was “built.” Like the man who said he let his wife die because it wasn’t his mission to save her with the military technology, here would be a tragic but beautiful image with a little sister who suffered… and the older sister couldn’t tell her about the miracles that had happened, no matter how much she might want to.

So, in short, I won’t be watching, again, but I tried to give it a fair chance.

Bones 3x01

So, one of my favourite shows was back, and while it wasn't an all-out, must-rewatch season opener, it was a lot of fun.

One of the biggest differences between this episode and so many others was Bones' reluctance to be with Booth.

Normally, she's constantly fighting and cajoling Booth to be able to be in the field. Instead, she now seems content to work in the lab, away from civilization, away from Booth.

Throughout the episode, the others try to diagnose the issue. Booth is convinced Bones is angry at him over jailing her father. Cam agrees with this. Angela thinks Bones is freaked out because she was left at the altar with Booth at the end of season 2.

Sidenote: May I just say how pleased I am that this did not open with them married. Yeah. I love them, but I love the quality of this show more. Let the romance build a little more, please.

Anyway, back to seriousness: Everyone thinks they know what's wrong with Bones, and it doesn't click until Zack mysteriously appears in the lab, fresh from the war. Bones embraces him, and as she clings to him, momentarily, the wave of disappointment and resentment that has clouded her suddenly lifts.

Bones was mad at Booth for taking Zack away. It's illogical, but it's beautiful.
As for the case, we have a skull falling out of nowhere onto a car full of pre-pubescent idiots.

While it should be noted that the kid are virtually unharmed (darnit), the skull is part of a person who went missing quite some time ago. The discovery was made by a really neat lab tech who I rather enjoyed, but more on that in a moment.

Bones and Booth eventually locate a vault filled with all manner of strange thing, and this includes a gold skeleton filled with body parts from various people. And the ungual pattern suggests people have been chewing on the people. Ew.

As the one suspect with the mysterious diamond tooth described the taste of flesh, I had to click away. Yes, I eat raw fish, but that's flash cooked! I may nibble my hubby's arm in jest, but I don't think I'd like to take a big bite out of his muscle right now.

However, there's another.... Yes Skywalker... There's another. So, we have a continuous storyline since TPTB are trying to make up for screwing the amazing serial killer from seasons 1 and 2. I still can't watch "The Man on Death Row" without tearing up. Howard Epps was sick, but he was brilliant.

Anyway, we got to meet this really brilliant lab tech for about twenty seconds before Zack came back, and I hated to see the kid go, but I do acknowledge that cast bloat at this time probably isn't a great idea.

Angela and Hodgins are still goo-goo over one another, but he's changed up his hair, and it's taking me a little while to get used to. Zack's back. Cam is a LOT cooler this season. I really appreciate her as a buddy to Booth rather than a love interest. They're the type who can go out together after work and grab a beer. I really do like that.

I also liked our center. Booth and Bones were back to what they used to be. There's a little tension. There's a little trepidation. There's a lot of love. He worries about her burning her tongue on her coffee, and they realize that they're the heart of the team. The two of them have to be solid, and that's what I think was missing last year. We didn't get to feel the characters as much of a team.

Season 3. I welcome you.

Heroes 2x01

So, I told myself I had absolutely no interest in "Heroes" this season, but it didn't keep me from flipping the channel last night at work, and listening in a little with my headphones.

This season started off four months after the finale. Somehow, Nathan lost track of his brother up there in the big explosion, and fell apart. Nathan's wife left him, and he's taken to boozing and growing a long beard. But, as someone else so smartly mentioned, he's sure to get his monthly haircut.

Claire "Butler" and her family are starting over in California, and are all instructed to stay as out of sight as possible. Claire's even told not to raise her hand in class. Daddy wants to make sure she's invisible.

But, Claire of the beginning of season 1 is not Claire of the beginning of season 2. Back in season 1, she was a bit on the popular side, and a bit into being, as West put it, "The Robot." This year, she's stronger and she's been through the world with all this mess. She stands up for a young lady who's pickd on, and then offers to do a back tuck off the tower to protect her. She mounts the tower and the music builds, and she suddenly stops and says she can't do it. She realizes she's not supposed to stand out, but you can see it hit her, and you can see how much it hurts.

She really wanted to prove the snooty cheerleaders wrong and protect her new friend. West notes the difference in her. He already knows she's smart and doesn't want people to know. Or, at least, she knows who Charles Darwin is (an appropriate nod on the show's part to the show itself).

Meanwhile, her poor father has really ended up in the paper business with the worst kind of boss. So, using only one of the manager's fingers, Noah bends him into mercy. It's a brilliant reminder of the kind of deadly force this man has inside of him. He's not your average paper man, and he doesn't want to be.

However, he has a side game. He's trying to take down "The Company" which mysteriously goes unnamed, not because he doesn't know their name but because we're not supposed to know its name. Whatever.

Claire, on the other hand, is struggling. She somehow gets her hand on bio-Daddy's new phone number and calls the drunken fool, but he doesn't feel much like rousing speeches of inspiration and togetherness. The former politician effectively hangs up on her, leaving her to ponder while Superm... er, West, flies outside her window.

So, it's obvious that Claire will find her fellow freak in this new kid, who's even a little freaky for a freak.

Let's see... what else is interesting?

Molly now lives with Suresh and Matt, though Suresh is busy in Egypt, right now, getting recruted to "The Company." And Molly's taken to being really freaky and bitter, while Matt is finally a police officer again, now in NY.

David Anders puts in an absolutely brilliant performance as Kensei. Just about lost it watching him. I absolutely adore him, and have since I first saw him on "Alias" back when "Alias" was a decent show. However, the whole storyline is just a bit slapstick.

And, we killed off Sulu in the very first episode of the season.

NOTE: I mean no disrespect to George Takei and his other accomplishments in life, but I don't want to continually write out "Hiro's Dad" when "Sulu" is so much shorter and easier to type.

I do worry about this whole "marked" thing with the symbol. The person wandering around in a hood killing people feels very "Sylar" to me. It just feels a bit like a rehash.

The brother and sister from Mexico are interesting, but I feel they're a little too vague at the moment for me to have a real handle on them.

Suffice it to say, my loyalties lie in the same place they did last year: With Claire and HRG. Towards the end of the season last year, they're who I watched for. I still adore them, and I can only hope it's enough to hold my attention the rest of the year, because I do hate giving up on a show prematurely.

Oh, and I didn't even notice Nikki and Micah weren't there until the episode ended, and I didn't mind one bit. Not a good sign for episodes they're in.

We'll see how it all goes.

One of the coolest shorts ever...

I found this baby over on Bleeding Pixels a while back, and I just think it's absolutely brilliant.

According to that site: ""Red and Boxbot Responds" was done by two guys in 48 hours during the 48h 3D jam 2007 in Stuttgart. Everything from boards, design to modelling, animation and shading."

I just think it's brilliant. I love the idea it embraces, and the beautiful way inwhich it is told. It didn't make sense until the end, but when it did, it was a beautiful tale of sacrifice and love and belief in an amazing cause, and it filled my heart, and I love it. I do hope you enjoy!

"Feasting on Asphalt"

Ever heard of "Feasting on Asphalt?" It's a grand Food Network show hosted by the amazing, incomperable, silly and often zany Alton Brown.

Alton, a former cinematographer, takes his love of food, science, fun and motorcycles, and combines it to create this engaging show that only airs once a year for a few weeks, whenever Food Network deems it so.

"Feasting on Asphalt 1" aired last year as a four episode mini-series. It was a bit of an experiment, and a very successful one, at that. Alton and his team of foodies and crew hopped on motorcycles and drove from the East Coast to the West Coast without using any main, commercialized highways, and without injesting any chain food.


They wanted to taste the open road, to see what types of regional foods were available in the tucked-away corners of the world. We, the viewers, traveled with him across the country, taking in the sights and sounds, and desperately wishing we could savor the tastes.... well, not all of them, because that pig's foot didn't look particularly appetizing, but the rest did!


It was a brilliant little plan, and this year they followed up with "Feasting on Asphalt 2: The River Run." It was a great, six-episode endeavor, this time, that worked its way up the Mississippi River. Having never been off the east coast as far as our country is concerned, I was intrigued by all that the Mississippi had to offer culinarily.


I must say, I noticed a lot of fried foods, very few vegetables, and a lot of pie. However, that could just be the result of Alton's own obsession with pie.


I hope to later link up some of the moments captured and placed online for public consumption, but alas, that moment is not now.


If you have yet to taste "Feasting on Asphalt," I definitely recommend catching it when it airs on Food Network, or taking a big bite by purchasing the DVD's. For the amount of entertainment you get, it's just the right price for that bite!

Why I have hope for "Bones"

Warning: If you watch this, you will be spoiled for the first episode of Season 3 of "Bones."




I am completely obsessed with this here clip video thing. I mean, the interaction between Booth and Brennan is spot-on. I definitely think this is what we needed. We're getting a return to "girl chats." Booth and Brennan have an unease between them, but also this amazing compassion for one another. THIS is why I am excited about this show, again.

See you September 25th on Fox.

"Bones"

Show with the greatest chance of having a killer third season? Bones.

I got into this show the last episode of season 1. No kidding. I then spent the summer between season 1 and 2 catching up and getting to know the characters. I fell in love.

Unfortunately, the show definitely hit a sophomore slump, and I fell out of love with the show. One of the greatest characters, Dr. Goodman, was taken off the show. They got rid of "Wong Foos," the best little eatery since "Sandrines." They emphasized the mythology of the show and got lost in it. And, they introduced a new character who, until the last few episodes of the season, I had no stomach for.

Why then, do you ask, am I so excited about this season? Well, I read some sides early on that tickled me, and I felt like the writers were going to save it this season. Now that I've seen some previews posted on YouTube, I feel better than ever.

We start off season 3 with Booth and Bones at odds. That's the first sign that it's going to be a good season. They got too buddy-buddy too soon, so giving them a little tension is smart.

Bones is obsessed with staying in the lab and in her comfort zone, while Booth attempts to get through to her and figure out what happened to cause her to be this way.

Hodgins and Angela are, thankfully, not married, but are rather searching for her one-day husband who she met in Fiji, jumped over a broom with, had sex, then parted ways. No husband, no anullment.

And, Zack comes back before the end of the first episode.

I think tension between Booth and Brennan is a very bright thing, and I think this show has a lot of potential, and always has. I still won't pay money for the second season, but I'll definitely be tuning in for the third.

"CSI"

My favourite returning show of the season is easily "CSI."

I got hooked on the show back in season 4, and have since been one of the millions obsessed and attached to this show with complete abandon.

CSI left off season 7 with a bunch of crazy revelations. We learned the Natalie is the miniature killer, who, throughout the season targeted people who used bleach. Why, you ask?

Well, Natalie led a strange life. When she was a little girl her mother died, and her father played favourites. An unstable Natalie was unable to handle that, so she did what every jealous sibling does, and she shoved her sister... right off a tree house. Yeah. Chloe went splat, and Natalie's father made her help clean up the blood with bleach, thus starting Natalie's lifelong fear of bleach.

However, the birds-eye view of her sister's death helped her creativity when it came to making miniatures. Her step-father, Ernie Dell, showed her how to make miniatures since he has such a love for train sets. However, Natalie's capture death rather than the exuberance of the iron horse.

Natalie was captured in the finale, but not before she left Grissom a particularly greusome present: a miniature of his girlfriend crushed under a red mustang in the middle of the desert. I mean, the sight of a crushed mustang is terrible enough, but this one has a dying girl under it!

Grissom freaks, ends up admitting to the entire lab that he's in love with Sara (duh), and confronts Natalie by chatting about chess. Then, Natalie freaks, imagines killing Gil with a razer tucked in her mouth, and Grissom ends up shaking the crap out of her in an effort to find out what happened to his beloved.

Meanwhile, Sara lies under a car, crushed as a flash flood rushes water towards her, the rain skimming across the compacted, dry sand and pushing forwards to the already-weakened Sara.

Season 8 should pick up right around the same place, and while we already know that Sara is not under the car when they get to it, what I really want to know is how this team will rally together when the time comes. Should be interesting. See you September 27th.

"Pushing Daisies"

I am so tired of bills. Hahaha. I understand that they're a part of life, etc, but I just abhor them! Bring on television!

"Pushing Daisies" starts the first week of October, and I'm really intrigued by it. I mean, the storyline follows a man with an unusual gift. If he touches a person who dies, he can bring them back to life. However, if he touches the person again, they die forever, and he can never bring them back to life.

A detective coerces him into joining him on a quest to take over the world... to solve crimes and collect rewards. Essentially, our gifted Ned is asked to bring murder victims back to life long enough to find out how the person died and whodunit. Then, Ned puts them back down.

However, things get complicated when he finds out his childhood sweetheart, the girl to whom he gave his first kiss, has been murdered. Charlotte Charles, the girl called "Chuck," died a horrific death. It breaks his heart, but he sees an opportunity.

So, he goes to her casket, opens the lid, and touches her gently, hoping to bring her back to life. She comes back, and he offers her the opportunity to be alive again. She's excited at the prospect, but troubled when she finds out she can never touch Ned, lest she die again.

She even says in the promo, "I'd kiss you if it wouldn't kill me."

It's an interesting premise, to be sure. We have these two people who may very well be in love with one another, but who can never express it through physical affection. It intrigues me, that someone would dream up such a story.

Sure, it was kinda done in the second season of "Dark Angel" where Max and Logan couldn't touch because he was given a virus that was only triggered by her DNA... blah blah blah. This, this is fun.

It seems like a strong cast, and a lot of fun. It's my most anticipated new show of the season.