Smallville - It's all a blur to me

This week was supposed to be one of those episodes that helps advance the storyline arc on Smallville, but I think the writers are not exactly sure what the hell they are doing and some of the characters are really coming across different than how they usually are. I know the Davis is supposed to be the "big bad" of this season (since we are currently Lexless it was an interesting choice), but the whole angst story with him not knowing what is going on (really?) or being conscious of who he really is (again, really?) and the whole love triangle crap with Chloe and Jimmy is just turning into a bad soap opera.

I really hate how they are turning Chloe into this simpering Lana like sap (and we all know how I love to hate the Lana character) that is completely clueless about Jimmy and the whole stupid Doomsday/Davis thing. This year they have managed to Brainiac her, wipe her memory, give it back to her, and now they have no idea what to do with her since she seems like a redundant character with Lois and the Daily Planet in the picture. They just need to put her back at work in Watchtower mode at the Isis Foundation, coordinating heroes and becoming more Oracle like -- it would work well with the series and she could be useful instead of being the victim of the week. There are rumors that a character will be killed off this season but I am pretty sure that they will do a Death of The Red Blue Blur finale with Doomsday and then show his resurrection for the new season premiere, but they may decide to get rid of Chloe since she is not even part of the regular continuity in comic book land. They haven't even looked at her supposed healing powers or if they even still exist after all the rebooting that they have done with her over the past few months. They really seem to have a problem with writing the character at this time and it's frustrating as she has been the real gem of the series since it's debut.

I am still not liking the Tess-macher character and don't find her interesting or original at all, especially with her now trying to navigate that gray zone that Lex was a master at doing, nor did I buy any of the bull that she was shovelling in the last episode. I almost laughed when she made the allusions to child abuse in her past via her father in that special bonding moment with Clark. I thought it was too obvious and convenient that the plane crashed and burned and that Clark saved her... Clark needs to wake up and smell the coffee, but our boy scout is sticking to his full inspirational form. I am happy that he wants to play hero more, and loved the "costume" change in the phone booth at the Daily Planet. It still feels like baby steps and they need to get the guy in costume and out there as Superman soon.

Any episode that has no Lois is not a great one and they need to get Erica in more episodes, so hopefully the rest of the episodes coming up will be better -- I'd like to see more Justice League action soon... I know that Zatanna is around the corner and that will be sight to see.

Weekend Rant - The Week in Review

The past week was one of those ups and downs one on the tube. A few things were great, there was some real crap and I even discovered a new show that has been picked up on the schedule.

The Amazing Race is starting to pick up steam and the challenges are as interesting as always, but I know I will be way more in to the competition once we get down to the final few teams. I like our travelling around this week to Cambodia and the temples were astounding and beautiful. I am not surprised that our long distance couple, Aja & Ty, didn't catch up, they just had too much of a time deficit and didn't have much of a chance. I am still routing for our brother and sister team of Nick & Starr and I hope they kick our frustrated divorcees off the Race soon. Kelly & Christy have to go. We don't get to see enough Dallas.

Heroes rocked my world this week with a fantastic episode. Lots of plot twists and turns and it's getting really hard to tell who is good and who is bad. Lots of grey area in this show, but I am really enjoying seeing more Elle, and loved the flight scene with Claire. The blonde squad is pretty damn tough.

Momma Petrelli is one dangerous lady (even in a coma) and her influence with Gabriel (Sylar) seems to be stretching further than things appear. Peter's miraculous survival after being thrown out the window a few stories up was just a tad too convenient. I am really digging the direction of the series this year and as some plot lines get tied up (Maya), others are being opened up and it's an intriguing story.

I can hardly wait to see what kind of Dream walk Hiro goes on and I have the distinct impression he is going to run into Mama Petrelli, she seems to be off in the dream realm and this better be the time when Hiro starts going bad ass superhero and being the Hiro we saw in season 1. Maybe I am just dreaming.. to could be that timeline and alternate Hiro no longer exists in the current time space continuum. The bad news is that we skip a week due to the election, and of course just when things were getting really interesting.

Dancing with the Stars made me happy and sad this week with Lance rising to number one position (yippee!) and my beloved Cloris being let go. Guest Judge Michael Flatley was quite the bore, and I wasn't sure if his appearance was only PR for his upcoming show (interesting and yes he is talented but there is still something smarmy about him I don't like). His scoring certainly threw the curve off this week. I thought Bruno was going to have a conniption.

Congrats to Lance & Lacey for their great Jive and dethroning Brooke from her pedestal. I thought that even though she was suffering, Brooke did an amazing job and that her Rumba was very hot. I still think that the "stick with boobs" (Susan Lucci) should go and Maurice & Cheryl are not far behind. It's a shame that Julianna is having surgery as it may affect Cody's performance, and he has really grown on me over the past couple of weeks. Warren is still a force to be reckoned with and at this rate should be Top 3 if Cody isn't. I will miss Cloris and her wacky antics, but we all knew that she was going to have to leave eventually and she lasted much longer than expected. She deserved all the standing ovations that she got and she certainly added an interesting element to the competition. I bet you she will be hanging around in the audience for the next few weeks and stirring up some trouble.

Top Design started the finale.. and thankfully little Mr Martha Stewart was eliminated and will not be in the last part of the finale. My pick is still Nathan to win, and I can hardly wait to see how these condos finish up. Hopefully Kelly Wearstler will be there for the final judgement, I am getting tired of Bravo sending Flipping Out's Jeff Lewis to fill in as nothing can replace Kelly and that wacky energy she brings. I think she has a real job elsewhere and is always busy, or just can't really give a damn like most of us who are just watching to see how it ends as a matter of principal rather than actual interest. It'll all be over this week.. finally.

Smallville flirted with the idea of Clark being a superhero and Jimmy almost discovering the big secret about our farm boy. Since we no longer have the same creative team as the previous seasons... are we finally going to see more of a transition and some actual flying, costume and Superman? I hope so... I am really digging the new beat, Lois and Jimmy, the Green Arrow and the whole Metropolis thing. Tessmacher is still boring me to pieces but Chloe-Brainiac is starting to amp things up and it may get very interesting. Time for Clark to man up and start being a hero.

Supernatural killed me last week with their Fright episode and Dean's killer air guitar to Eye of the Tiger at the end of the episode (damn that boy is sexy and funny), was the highlight of last week. This week's Halloween episode was damn scary, and between the razors in the candy, the risks of bobbing for apples and the very old traditions of Samhain there were several shudder moments. The presence of a couple of scary angels that aren't afraid to smite a town to save the world managed to up the anty even more and things were very tense between our boys. It's an interesting dynamic with having one of the brothers influenced by angels and the other demons and it has a very Cain & Abel feel to it. My hope is always that over the long haul the boys will win their fight against evil. Lilith is turning into quite the threat. This show is still the highlight of the week and I can hardly wait until the next episode.

CSI is still one of the best shows on TV and I am really digging the new CSI Riley Adams and like her character and the way she fits in with the team. I still remember Lauren Lee Smith from Mutant X and glad to see her still flexing her acting chops. She has my interest and the stories are as still gripping as ever. I still dread the idea of Grissom leaving and know that it will have a profound impact on the rest of the team.

I no longer have any interest in seeing if any of those vapid twits on Paris Hilton's My New BFF get to be in Paris' posse. All I can say is no Onch means no interest so TTYN Paris. Thankfully I came to my senses this week and have more tolerance or patience for such a bunch of dribble.

Stylista is still attracting enough of my attention to give it one more episode, but this week's episode and all the drama was too much. The only good thing was seeing the bitch fight between the Diva and Rich Spoiled Girl. Anxiety boy had to go (and after that meltdown do you really think that he had a hope in hell of being there for another week?) and Geeky Gay Guy is probably not far behind with his major frack up of the week. Big Girl got her TreSemmé moment but I don't expect to see her around for much longer. Maybe we can luck out and get a double elimination next week as this herd needs some serious culling. If there were not those few minutes of brilliance with Anne Slowey each episode it would already be dropped off the Watch List, the cast is so immature for a prize of this magnitude and I just wish they would grow up and prove themselves.

Finally, I was presently surprised with the 2 hour premiere of Legend of the Seeker. I miss the good old days of Hercules and Xena and this seems to fit in quite nicely with those kinds of shows. There is nothing like some good sword and sorcery stories and I like the hunky Seeker (Richard Cypher) and his friend Kahlan, who is of an ancient order of magical women known as Confessors and the wacky wizard Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander. The origin story had some nice special effects, a decent storyline and some fun magic. There has to be something said for the great costumes and it's nice to see a series being filmed in New Zealand again. I will definitely be checking it out for the next while to see where it goes.

Heroes - The Butterfly Effect

Heroes started up the new season with a big 2 hour event the other night ... and I can`t say that I was all that thrilled with all that happened. Sure there were a few good things (and I am really digging some of the new stuff and have a better appreciated for Suresh and his hot abs), but a whole bunch of the stuff happening left me more with a WTF kind of feeling.

First of all, the whole time travelling "Bad" Peter ... seriously? This seems a bit of a rehash of year one and the whole storyline of Hiro trying to save the world. I love the fact that we finally learned what Momma Petrelli's super power is (precognitive dreaming) which doesn't really explain all of her actions but it was a good step in the right direction. The whole attempted assassination of Nathan by Bad Peter was predictable. I expected them to use the excuse of Claire's blood in Nathan's system (from healing from those nasty burns last season) as the reason for his survival and to not have some ghostly apparition (or is it just in Nate's mind?) of Linderman suddenly appearing and chatting him up.

The whole Buttefly effect thing is that the events set in motion by Bad Peter have changed the future, and things are getting crazy because of the ripple effect by the attempted assassination of Nate. Instead of Nate revealing to the world that people with super powers exist (and making a crappy future for our Heroes) he has now been shot, died and come back to life with a new found faith. Death seems to be quite fickle in this show... and why is Nathan suddenly chatting about God? I am not quite catching how Future Bad Peter trapped Present Peter in another body (what?) to keep him safe... it's a strange plot device that I don't really understand.

Sylar is back but his presence seemed to be missing something. The big scene with Claire and absorbing her healing ability was pretty freaky (I was happy to see Mr.Muggles is still around this season) and the revelation that Claire is more than she seems and different than the other Heroes was intriguing. The Bennett's are having a rough time and things should be even more interesting now that Claire's biological mom and resident firestarter is there to help keep an eye on things.

Hiro and the Speedster is interesting (I loved the special effects) and the whole thing with the Formula seems kind of predictable.Hiro is great as the comic relief (sometimes) but I like him more as the unbridled enthusiasm about being a Hero and having a destiny.I am not sure if I like the future Ando playing nasty and having powers but it seems like a direction that the show is going in for this storyline.

Suresh "discovering" the enzyme that causes powers and his self experiment (after all those warnings from Maya) seems to be the catalyst for change in this season. Suresh thinks that every one's chemistry is different and that the abilities will manifest in different ways. By the end of the episode, our scientist was physically changing (in a freaky The Fly kind of way) and maybe some more tests were needed before trying it on a human. Mind you, having some lab rat or test bunny that can shoot fireballs might be just as dangerous and time will tell if he made the right decision. Hopefully he won't be mutating into some hideous creature, he was just starting to get even more interesting. The chemistry between him and Maya is pretty hot stuff....

The Villains part of the story is interesting, we didn't get to see much of the bad guys that were locked away but I was happy to see Elle survive this round (and zap the hell out of Sylar) and with Daddy out of the picture we'll have to see where this takes her. She was only listed as a guest star (crap) so it may mean that we have limited quantities of Kristen.... which is a shame as she was one of the few interesting things from last year's abbreviated season.

No sign of Michah or any of the rest of the gang down south... and this whole new thing with Niki (dead right?) and Tracy (triplets???) is just confusing. I was in shock that it was none other than the Greatest American Hero, William Katt, playing the reporter who got flash frozen and smashed into tiny bits by Tracy. The powers may not be the same as Jessica or Niki, but the look is completely the same and she seems to have the same affinity for Nathan.

There seemed to be a lot jammed in to the 2 hour opener but it left me more with a confused look on my face than anything else.

I hope the rest of the season develops better... there is still great potential with this show and I am not giving up hope yet.

Weekend Rant - Start your engines...

This week heralds the main part of the Fall TV launch, and I can hardly wait to see a few of my favorite shows starting up this week. The Watch List will be filling up more and more each evening and this year things are well prepared at Couch Potato Central. Recent system upgrades mean that there is now a PVR for each satellite (yup, both of them) and with several different time zones there is less of a chance of missing something. This also means that a bad show will not last for long on the Watch List. There are just too many shows and simply not enough hours to watch everything, and only those shows that are truly well written and entertaining enough (an easy way to slip in those Guilty Pleasures that may be less cerebral but have their endearing qualities none the less) will be regular viewing.

The Big Bang Theory will be back on Monday, and it's the first new comedy in the past few years that I have really grabbed on to. It must be all the nerd references but I find the characters funny and charming in the oddest way, and love the smart side of their comedy. The best news is that Sarah Gilbert will be a regular character and I have loved her chemistry with Johnny Galecki since they were together on Roseanne. It's always a trip to see some actors work together again, especially when they have great chemistry together.

Heroes will also be returning this Monday for a big 2 hour event and it should be some fun viewing. I am hoping for some more Elle this season, she was truly one of the best things about last year. I am eager to see how some of the characters will survive their apparent demises. .. time will tell ( or will that be travelling in time?) the fate of some of our characters but I am pretty stoked about the whole Villains storyline coming up.

Dancing with the Stars will be back in a 3 night event, which should be lots of fun and games. ABC is really going full force with this show and staggering the opening over 3 nights is a pretty big thing... it will make for a lot of late nights this week as each night is getting pretty full and not all the shows are back yet. I am stunned that Cloris Leachman is one of the contestants, and am eager to see how some of these "Stars" will do in the first couple of rounds. The best news is that Maks is back after being off last season and he is one of my favorite dancers to watch.

So you think you can dance? Canada will be back (it appears that the big premieres of all the shows are delaying the competition part until after the rush) a the beginning of October and almost all of my regular shows will be back on. The auditions were great, and I may be jaded but the Montréal dancers were definitely the hottest ones there. The Judges were in awe with all the circus influenced movement and now I can hardly wait to see who will make it out of the second part of the auditions. The talent pool is quite bit different here than in the US.

I will check out Knight Rider, but if it is anywhere near as crappy as the TV movie then I am officially calling it this year's Bionic Woman... which most of you know is not a compliment. NBC doesn't have a great track record with remakes and I have the feeling this will be another one of them. Let's see if they can prove me wrong.

Survivor is back and this season it's in HD. I love that they are back in Africa again, and am hoping this will be better than the Kenya edition. The HD might be a mixed blessing... sure the countryside will be gorgeous but you know how skinny some of those contestants get as the game progresses not to forget about how dirty it is... this could be interesting but I could be setting myself up for a good fright ... or if I luck out some kind of delight... with this show you never know but just the thought of a gross food challenge in HD is just so wrong ... they will have to do it for sure now. It's a great study in human interaction and I love seeing how it plays out and trying to figure out the winner and who is playing the best social game.

Fringe is hanging on by a thread at this point... I will give it one more episode but there are other fish in the sea and unless I start getting more interested (the last episode just bored me to death) I don't think it will last long. Our Mad Scientist is a big yawn-fest, Boy Wonder is just as boring and our lead character Olivia just doesn't catch my interest. Our trio is referred to as the unlikely team and I think it is unlikely they will last a complete season at this point and time. The unbalanced story line in the last episode and the mention of something called The Pattern has me worried about another Rambaldi mess and I am not sure I want to add another complex story to my schedule. This means it sorry JJ Abrams, but not everything you touch is gold and this one misses the mark with me ... it may have been that there was way too much hype and it didn't live up to all those expectations, or maybe I am just not willing to invest in to something that will be long in developing when I have other well written shows that I would rather see developing further like Lost and Battlestar Galactica.

Reality Round Up - Endurance Training

This season of Project Runway is just leaving a bad taste in my mouth, and I am not sure if that is because Suede (please someone, just shoot him) is still on the show or if it is the non stop babbling and drama going on. I honestly lost interest this week and thought that pretty much everyone was bleh about the whole thing. More nattering like this and I will be pulling the plug. I knew things would get worse once Stella left and there is next to no one interesting left to watch.

Maybe my mood will improve next week.

Top Design was okay... but I think I was still in a bad mood from the hour preceding this episode and once I saw that it was a Window Display Challenge with an article of clothing designed by a former contestant on Project Runway I knew I was going to be for a crappy evening.

Aside from Sweet P and Andre (more on that later), the rest of the designers were none of my favorites. Santino is an ass, Jeffrey is just too unkempt (hello? that facial hair is real bad) and I have no fricking idea why the other one keeps showing but, but perennial contestant and reality show whore Daniel (sad excuse for a designer) was there. I honestly don't see why some of these designers are still around except for their ability to augment the drama quotient in the show.

I had forgotten what such a drama queen Andre is ( I still have the fond memories of the 'Where's Andre?" thing with Tim Gunn) and when he has his meltdown over the wicker accessories I was just so disappointed with the entire episode. It was all bad drama left and right and I was hoping it was another double elimination. Finally after it all hit the fan and the dust settled, Big Daddy (his choice of words and not mine) Kerry is sent home ( See you later, decorator!), His partner, Wisit, was quite lucky but it was more Kerry's lack of leadership and decision making that sunk his ship than anything else.

Mrs.Shroder is the one to watch out for, she is pure evil and as usual she came out smelling like roses again. She was most upset about being teamed up with cutie Preston and once again tagged along and did well. I hope she gets Shazia next time around and we can see a complete meltdown that will have to be bleeped to death.

Overall, I didn't really see anything that interesting that was produced... but the Judges were in fine form. I am just worried after seeing the preview for next week with Jeff and the gang from Flipping Out that this will turn into some terrible incestuous relationship with the other Bravo based reality shows. Sure I like a good cross over story, but constantly having guest stars from your other reality shows shows a bit of desperation does it not? It's not necessary to add some more volatile personalities to the mix... keep mixing up the Challenges and make the designers show their skills. That's the reason I watch the show (well maybe for the eye candy as well) and if I don't see relevant challenges then I lose interest pretty quick.

Seeing the casting ad for Make Me a SuperModel Season 2 made my heart jump -- I loved the first season (and Ronny) and hope that this one is as fun and interesting as the first round. Unfortunately my hope is running out for a second season of America's Most smartest Model. There has not been an official announcement from VH1 and it may be gone for good.

The Rachel Zoe Project hasn't been catching enough of my attention (and there is so much to watch) that it has fallen to the wayside and I could really care less. It was an interesting experiment but I would rather have some whacked out show with Paula Abdul instead.Off the Watch List for you Rachel... that's not very trend setting is it?

The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency had an extremely awkward episode this past week, and as usual I have to blame the editing. After all these months (years?) of whining about the editing, it looks like the voice over guy was off and the episode was worse than usual. Not only did it seem like it was forever before there was a commercial, but the dead air time was horrendous. Janice is still trying to play Den Mother and you know this is not going to work out well. I will still be following but I am not finding this season very interesting, it's just too much manufactured drama and it looks like they are having a problem deciding on who to focus on. Isn't some underwear company looking for new models? That usually gets things going.

Stargate Atlantis - Ghost in the Machine - WTF??

I haven`t blogged much about this season so far of Stargate Atlantis, mostly because this season has been pretty bad so far. I haven`t enjoyed the storyline (or more the lack of story) and the current development with trying to fit in Woolsey in to the mix just hasn`t been that interesting. I do understand that they are trying to set the stage for this season, but it`s taking too long and has not been interesting in the least.

I was really unhappy with the last episode, and it looks like Torri Higginson has had enough of them as well as she didn`t make it back for this past episode, which was to feature the return of her character Dr. Weir.

After the way she got shafted by the writers (who seemed to think that bringing Samantha Carter on board was a good idea for one season and then to have her vanish off the map this year so she can go off to do that other sci fi series) I am not surprised, but disappointed that she is gone.. and that her role in the episode was done only by flashbacks and then the stupid idea to use FRAN`s template as a `new body` for Weir. After the whole song and dance number of it being Weir or not (I say no because it wasn`t her or the writers don`t know how to write her character) and the re-creation of the replicants and then that stupid ending with them floating in space may leave the remote possibility that Weir may appear another day, but I have pretty much given up on seeing her character again.

If she is gone forever -- then RIP Dr. Weir. You were a great character and one of the reasons I liked the show. Maybe she was dodging a bullet by not coming back and it was the best choice for her.... maybe she will get the last laugh out of this.

The way things are going, I am losing interest in Atlantis more and more each week and I can hardly wait until the fall TV season begins... then maybe we can get some decent sci fi. Friday nights used to be my favorite night of the week for sci fi and now it`s just crap...

Project Runway - Olympian Effort

It appears that no NBC related network is free from some sort of Olympic tie -in, so this week Project Runway's designers were given an interesting challenge - Design a look for the American female athletes at the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

It is an interesting challenge as far as making a National statement and the designers were lucky enough to get their news from Olympian Apolo Ohno at the Armory Track & Field Museum. This is the second week in a row that I see no rapport with fashion and the guest Judge and although I know Apolo is cute and popular (and I loved him in Dancing with the Stars), he isn't a fashion expert... the guy is a Speed Skater -- anyways -

After this week's pilgrimage to Mood Fabrics (complete with some drama between Keith and Terri) we get back to work and a few of the designers are completely out of their element. Yup, these are the kids that were never in gym class and don't watch things like the Olympics. I loved the little exchange between the designers as they were talking about their athletic ability or experience.

The baked one (Blayne) thinks that he could win a medal for Tanning as if it is an activity or something important. This is the same guy that was jonesin' for a fix of electric beach earlier and is worried that he is getting pale and losing his shine.

God help me -- these designers are killing me this year and I actually laughed at the baked one. I am not condoning his behaviour but he is so sad and so funny that I can't help myself, it is clear that all that baking has baked his noodle and it's just so damn tragic and funny all rolled into one.

But I digress -- getting back to the episode -- the majority of the designs were terrible, and the only ones that stood out for me were: Joe, Terri, Korto and Leanne. I was leaning towards Joe's look but agreed with the Judges that Terri's look was more versatile and very elegant. In the end it was Korto that won and she kind of snuck in under the radar for me. I liked it but found it very similar to what she had done the week before with the Bell bottom pant suit look.

Stella's idea was interesting and I still find her to be one of the most honest designers and look forward to seeing what she bangs out each week. Most of the mediocre designers floated through and thankfully we had a minimal amount of Suede this week (there are the occasional small miracles in life it appears) and at the end it was between Daniel and Jennifer to be aufed. Jennifer got the boot (her design was so yawn) and now we are down to 12. At this rate the show should be over by Christmas, can't we get back to double elimination weeks again? There are still too many designers and not enough talent this season.

Weekend Rant - Sci Fi Fun & Games

EUReKa came back to the airwaves this week, and it's another of my favorite programs with it's great mix of comedy, sci fi geeks and some progressive thinking. Of course, it really doesn't hurt that sexy Colin Ferguson (who plays the very down to earth but so out of his element Sheriff Jack Carter) is originally from Montréal and has that home boy appeal. Carter is the great "straight man" to all of the zany characters in the government/corporation think tank of a town. EUReKA is one special little town, and I love seeing the mixture of "what if ?" and all those wacky inventors as we all know there is a very fine line between genius and insanity.

The current season zipped out of the gates at light speed this year and followed up nicely from where things were hanging at the end of last season. The special effects budget looked better in the season opener and the chemistry was still there with all the characters. It's kind of funny that they have changed their protagonist from last year (red headed Dr. Beverly Barlowe) to " The Fixer " (red headed Eva Thorne) and I wonder if the red hair is any indicator of being good or evil. Not that it looks completely natural on either of them or anything. Anyways ... the story was a great one to start off the season and it had some nice comedic moments balanced with the touching ones and it left me all warm and fuzzy inside. Just like a good TV show should.

I can't say that I have been as impressed with the return of Stargate Atlantis over the past couple of weeks. Yes, I know that I bitched non stop last season about how they had the Samantha Carter character brought in for no apparent reason last year ( except to replace Dr. Weir, who I still miss). Last season sucked for me, and even the changes they have done so far this season with having Carter removed and Woosley brought in to replace her (and believe me I love Robert Picardo), it's still not doing it for me. The team of characters don't have the same chemistry as they did before, not since the loss of Weir and the apparent re-animation and re-departure of Doctor Carson Beckett. I am still in shock that I have seen the guy that plays the Chairman on Iron Chef as a character a couple of times on the show (Tyre) and keep expecting him to pull out some secret ingredient. That would have been way more interesting than that sad story line with Ronon. If they get back to some hot chemistry between Ronon and Doctor Keller they might make something interesting out of both characters but at this point things are not that interesting. Teyla is slowly getting back to duty after having the baby (congrats) and for some reason they are pushing her towards some kind of techie role. Like I said -- I don't understand what they are doing with the characterisation on this show or if the writer's have a clue.

I am glad that they have started doing some changes, but as the last remaining Stargate Show on the air I am still hoping for better cohesion and some better stories or this franchise might be over quicker than expected. At best, it's still testing my patience.

I did get a copy of Stargate: Continuum and am happy to say that if follow up nicely the franchise and it was great to see so many of the characters again.

It was a great time travel story (and who doesn't love a great one of those?) and in our alternate time line we get to see bad ass Vala (still one of my favorite new characters) and an unsettling vision of how things could have been if the Stargate Program hadn't been put together.

Seeing all of the originals and their great chemistry together was like welcoming old friends in to your house and things were like old times. I hope the direct to DVD movie is enough of a success that they will churn out a few more as I want to see more of this gang, and would have preferred if they had stayed on the tube instead of the gang in Atlantis. But as we all know, you don't always get what you want when it comes to programming and the TV graveyard is full of "Brilliant but cancelled " shows.

Smallville - Siren

This has been one of those weeks that had way too many "WTF?" moments. My response?

Dear Smallville,
Please stop adapting well established DC characters and turning them into mockeries of these dearly beloved characters. Your recent portrayal of Black Canary was such a vicious slap in the face that I feel compelled to take one of the Ninja Knives (WTF?) that you gave said character and gut you like a fish.

Best,

The Couch Potato (and comic book geek)

... You may have figured out that I was most unimpressed with the recent portrayal of Black Canary (who it appears is named by Clark.... I really don't get this show sometimes) and how they were so off with her look.. the costume was not that bad but what was it with the hair and that ultra cheesy makeup job -- at least they had the decency to get her look and personality down in the Justice League Unlimited Cartoon series.

Black Canary is a strong character that relies on her martial arts skills and Sonic Cry to disable her opponents.... She doesn't usually use weapons such as knives, cross bows or guns and having her portrayed with all the knives was ridiculous. The Sonic Cry was cool, but the hair and that bad make up was just too much...

Anyways -- there was the return of Green Arrow (yippee!), Clark was a bigger douche than usual this episode, Lois got some nookie with GA/Oliver Queen, learned about his double identity and said she isn't ready for that kind of thing... yeesh... somehow they managed to take a half interesting character and still have to have an angst filled plot. I wish they would lay off the teenage soap opera routine... all this crap is ruining the stories and I have no idea why it has to be in continual Dawson's Creek mode. BORING---

Chloe got to have some fun and games helping out Ollie, I love seeing her involved and being the great sidekick. I think it's time Clark got more serious and started playing hero instead of just being a big schmuck and all whiney. Yup another episode and as much as I rant I still can't stop watching...

Smallville - Gemini

It's been a few weeks since our last episode, and last we saw Clark was in the Fortress of Solitude getting chided by Jor-el and Kara had amnesia in good old Detroit.

It seems like a bit of time has gone by, and the gang is wondering where Clark is, Chloe is covering for him and it's the Holiday season.

Lois is supposed to be doing her big expose on Lex and is still secretly banging boots with our impossibly young editor, Lex's *gasp* dead brother Julian. Long story short, Lois gets an ultimatum from a mysterious stranger who breathes hard on the phone and has hidden a bomb on dear cousin Chloe. Oh joy, yet another reason to frack with Chloe (it's getting a little out of hand Smallville writers, give the girl a break). Said stranger wants to blow the whistle on Lex's Gemini experiment which has ruined his life, and he is willing to go to any means possible to take down Lex.

Clark reappears on the farm and we are treated to more angst with Lana. Clark seems a bit aloof and cold, and he has says he needs to know everything that Lana knows about Lex so they can end this once and for all. There is a whole bunch of stuff about what Lana has on Lex at the Isis Institute, so our intrepid duo are getting info about Brainiac and stuff. It's hard to follow the storyline with having such a big break and it doesn't look like it's getting any better.

Chloe gets trapped in the elevator at the Daily Planet with Jimmy and the bomb. Of course the icing on the cake is that the bomb is in her Secret Santa gift, so I applaud the writers for kicking her even harder when she is down. For some reason cellphones don't work in the building (strange for a major metropolitan newspaper me thinks) but she manages to get a message off to Clark. There is some drama with Lois being forced to get a confession from Lex, and we learn that Julian is a clone. Seems like Lex is trying to create his own family and explains at least why the impossibly young editor is where he is.

Clark and Lana show up looking for Chloe and there is a bomb about to explode in the elevator, but Chloe has a last minute with Jimmy, and thinking that they are about to die reveals that she is a meteor freak and then they kiss *gasp*. Of course Clark saves the day. After all is said and done, Lex is the new owner of the Daily Planet, his clone brother is gone (and finished with Lois), Chloe shows her power to Jimmy (healing) and at the very end we see that Clark is still trapped in the Fortress and it is Bizarro with Lana. Merry Christmas to all.... yeesh. Let's see them dig their way out of this one...

Stargate Atlantis - Miller's Crossing

I can't say that I have been loving this season of SG Atlantis. The story lines seem to be off this season, and I am not sure if it is because the character of Dr.Weir is no longer there, or just the way the episodes are being more character driven than big picture... the worst part is that there is a new commanding officer Col. Samantha Carter who is rarely around... why have the big name come over from SG1 and then not use the character?

Anyways this episode was all about McKay's sister being kidnapped and forced to help scientist's daughter dying of cancer and some nanobot stuff. I was not too impressed with the story... the only thing that I liked was the change of venue to Vancouver (where the show is filmed) and seeing the cast in regular clothes was a change... although I prefer when they are on Atlantis or on some world far far away. It was kind of risque for them to have Rodney tasered with all the bad press recently don't you think? I think even Sheppard was bored in this episode as you can see him reading a newspaper and as much as I love our resident Canadian character I didn't think it was that great of an episode (except when his sister called him Nancy Drew) and it left me as unfulfilled as I have most of this season.... something is off with the writing or maybe I miss the chemistry with Weir and the gang... at least according to the preview she is supposed to pop up next week...

Bionic Woman - Do Not Disturb

So if the rumor mill is correct, this is probably the last episode of the series.... and all I can really say is that I am not surprised. They just have not been able to get any decent stories or make the characters interesting enough that people want to watch. Let's take a look at the last episode just to see why...

Jamie and gang do a bit of wake for Antonio (good riddance), lots of awkward moments and Jamie is all bummed.

Jamie uses her bionics in public to stop dude on a motorcycle, the special effects are most unspecial.

Jonas shows up at her apartment with whiney sister... more blah blah and they are sent off to deliver briefcase and take some time off.

Stupid code words about the A Team with junkie contact/assassin.... said ass then ODs in the same hotel and Jamie has to check things out.

Irritating sister meets guy, Jamie finds out she is supposed to kill this guy's father as he is the evil terrorist selling nuclear technology. Since when is the Bionic Woman supposed to be a killer? more stupid writing and they wonder why the series is tanking...

Anyways is was just another terrible episode, the concepts and "re-invention" of the character are so far off the original concepts that it is no surprise it fails. Someone should take these writers out and shoot them. Rumor has it that Katee Sackhoff doesn't even want to return as the villain (smart move there) but I have a better idea, do a final team up, let Jamie be killed and the Sarah character can take over as a rogue agent, and she can take down and destroy the stupid Berkut group. Just a thought.

Bionic Woman - Trust Issues

Blah.


Another episode, and damn it not a sign of Sarah this week so nothing that interesting.


Basics of the episode:


See Jaime run, jump and run.


Interlude of crap with new boyfriend.


See Jaime run even more.


Wow Jaime ran and jumped up a building, and the special effects were terrible.


Isaac Washington's character Antonio gets killed off-- hooray!


Oh and yes NBC, I did notice you trying to subtly sneak some bionic sound effects into the background, but a little late no?

Bionic Woman- The List

After not having an episode last week (and sure that no one missed it), Jaime and gang are back this week in a storyline that has been done so many times that I wonder if the writers were already on strike when this was thought of. Seriously though, haven't they done this kind of storyline on every spy show that has been done so far?


The characters are still not doing it for me, the bionics are crap, the special effects are most UNspectacular and the storylines? sigh.... pretty sure we won't have any more episodes than the ones already done 'cause with viewers dropping each week I don't expect a full season pick up.