TV Verdict

Somebody Thinks They Can Dance

adam arseneau — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:39:59 +0000

Much to my embarrassment, chagrin and ever-increasing shame (which runs inversely to my wife’s cackling glee) I seem to enjoy the dancing. To be specific, So You Think You Can Dance, which airs its finale tonight (August 7, 8/7c).

While I could give a rat’s ass about dancing as a subject in any other form or function, there is an undeniable attraction to this competition. It lacks the tackiness of other reality shows, and has none of the spite, competition or burning resentment that sours other competitions.

Now that the show is in the final episodes and gotten past the American Idol-style embarrassing audition phase, exploiting the poor underclass of American idiots who want to be on television, the actual talent and devotion to the craft emerges. Whether you “like” dance or not, one cannot deny the sheer talent these kids have, dancing their freakin’ pants off, and having a ball. The more you watch, the more compelling it becomes. Also, for the first time, we have two breakers in the finale; in of itself quite the victory.

After thousands of contestants were vetted down to a mere twenty, it all comes down to the last four: Courtney G., Katee, Joshua and Twitch. Last night was the voting show, tonight is the result show, and one of them walks away very happy.

So who will win? In terms of pure dancing talent, Katee could probably mop the floor with her competition, but the smart money is on Twitch in my book. This is nothing but a popularity contest, after all… and the dude be stylin’.

Of course, if Joshua wins, my wife has promised to hurl her bra at the television and scream uncontrollably… so, either way, I win there.

I pretty much loathe reality television, but I admit: I like the dancing. We’ll be back tonight with the results.

Man v. Wild - New episodes, new day, new time

Michael Stailey — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 06:12:23 +0000

Discovery Channel’s hit series Man v. Wild returns for a third season starting tonight (Aug 6) at 10p ET / 9p CT, its new day and time. Those of you with weak stomachs or card carrying PETA members be forewarned. Host Bear Grylls is an absolute nut who’s not above going to great lengths in order to live life to its survivalist fullest. There’s a video clip of his second season Zambia adventure for you, after the jump.

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Future Pulse: A post-Galactica interview with Jamie Bamber

Michael Stailey — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:58:31 +0000

While Comic Con tends to be kamikaze journalism for those of us foolish enough to throw ourselves into it, some of the hidden gems are the small interview opportunities that pop up throughout the weekend, and this is a perfect example. Best known for his work on Battlestar Galactica, a relaxed Jamie Bamber was tucked away in the Genius Products booth at the back of a manic Saturday morning convention floor doing small press for Pulse: Afterlife, a film he shot during hiatus last season, and arrives on DVD September 30. But as these interviews often go, the conversation strayed into some fascinating areas.

TV Verdict: Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse (Kairo)…

Jamie Bamber: Thank you for mentioning it.

TVV: Of course. The film was a fascinating J-Horror metaphor for our increasing anxiety over technology dependence…

JB: You know, I loved it. I just loved it, from the very first shot of these people in this sort of plant nurturing place which is on a building… like a nursery within an office building… it’s just a patio… and they’re so distant from each other… and it’s just about how disconnected we actually are. We think we’re connected by this technology, and that’s an illusion. And then people get haunted by the illusion, and ghosts come through and it takes over their lives… I thought it was mesmerizing, really mesmerizing. I have to say that’s why… Pulse 2, a sequel to a film I really liked… that’s why I decided to do it. To see if we could do something a bit more faithful to Kurosawa’s piece. I have no idea whether it is or not. It probably wasn’t one of the aims of the producers to be honest… to be faithful… because foreign films that leave the camera rolling on wide shots and don’t cut into it every two seconds are just not particularly en vogue in America right now. But I think we’ll learn and we’ll wake up that that’s actually more dramatic than being slapped around the head with a bat and told you don’t expect this, but you do and here it is.

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Shall we play a game? An interview with director John Badham

Michael Stailey — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:31:13 +0000

Chief Justice Michael Stailey had the pleasure of sitting down with producer/director John Badham to discuss the relevance of Wargames in today’s technologically advanced world, the joys and pains of working on two current hit television series — Psych and Heroes, and how television directing has evolved from the late ’60s when he first got into the business.

TV Verdict: Two of your films have recently been given the Special Edition DVD treatment — Wargames to coincide with the release of the follow-up WarGames: Dead Code and Short Circuit to capitalize on WALL-E…

John Badham: We think WALL-E is capitalizing on Short Circuit. (He laughs)

TVV: Do you look at these films differently now, twenty years later, than you did when you were making them?

JB: Gosh, no. I love both of these movies and you hope that every movie you work on you’re going to be that excited about; that thrill, because you know it’s such a great script. In the course of your life, you’re gonna have to work on some stuff that maybe is not the greatest — for one reason or another — and reading both of these scripts, I’ll always remember my reaction to them, which was so positive and strong. “Whoa man, this is great!” Feeling that they both turned out really well even early on, that’s the strength of the script being decently done by the actors and the director. But if you don’t have a good script, you’re never gonna have something you’re happy with. All you can do with a bad script is dress it up and try and dance around it; do what Bob Fosse called “all that jazz,” to try and conceal the weaknesses of it. But when you get down to the heart of it, it’s still a piece of crap. But that’s not the case with these movies. You know, these movies stand because the characters are strong. Number 5 is a strong character. David Lightman is a character you just go “Aw man, I care about this kid. He’s in a lot of trouble. How’s he gonna get out of this shit?”

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A little irony in your TV diet

JStewart — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 05:05:31 +0000

Watched what’s going to be the last Doctor Who for a while tonight. In a word: weird. It looks like the end for the Daleks–again (until the writers really, really need a Dalek fix). The episode played up some of the show’s plot quirks: the mortals around him sacrifice their lives and happiness, while the immortal Doctor “never looks back,” and the irony that he’s a loner with so many friends. The latter became my favorite TV irony when it reached its illogical extreme in Burn Notice: If you were dumped in sunny Miami with as many friends as Michael Westen has there (not just Sam, Fiona, and his mom, but a contact for every occasion), wouldn’t you just hit the beach and chill?

Can you call me Blu-ray? Not yet

JStewart — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:06:51 +0000

Bought a Blu-ray yet? No? You’re not alone, according to a study by ABI Research. As the company says, more than “half of the 1000 respondents, citing ‘other priorities,’ say they have no plans to purchase one; a further 23% are likely to buy, but not until sometime in 2009.”

“Most are very satisfied with the performance of their current DVD players,” the firm’s main analyst Steve Wilson said in a press release. The cost and the requirement for an HDTV to go with it were also cited as reasons why people haven’t bought yet.

Makes you wonder: If we’d had economic downturns at the wrong times in our gadget evolution, would we still be watching VHS movies and listening to eight-track and vinyl?

You can read more about it here.

Heroes Season Three Spoilers (…just for one day. See what I did there?)

Ryan Keefer — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:31:45 +0000

So I got up fairly early to go catch the Heroes panel Saturday morning at Comic Con, along with several thousand other people apparently. Many of us remember creator Tim Kring’s rather public “mea culpa” regarding what occurred through Season Two. So at Comic Con, two things occurred, the first was the appearance of the whole cast, but they were barely able to take questions. The reason for this leads me to number two, the entire Season Three opener – which isn’t airing until September 22 – was aired for Comic Con audiences as a thank you for the continued support.

Oh yeah, Kring said to spread the word about the show’s return, so in agreement with this request, here is a spoiler-laden summary of the events of Season Three’s “The Second Coming”, after the jump:

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‘Lost’ Producers Answer Questions About Show at Comic Con*

Ryan Keefer — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:58:25 +0000

*Questions were selectively answered and cryptic in response, save for a few things.

In between Friday’s “Showrunners” Panel with the producers of Chuck, Pushing Daisies, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Saturday’s Lost Q&A, I’ve spent a bit of non-quality time with producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. Aside from being a couple of funny guys (Lindelof wore a “Trust Snape” T-shirt to Saturday’s event and cracked wise on several occasions), they certainly know their stuff. Some of what they answered was covered in Michael Stailey’s blog and Twitter entries from last week, but I’ll add onto some others after the jump:

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The Dharma Initiative Wants You!

adam arseneau — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:13:33 +0000

Or so we’re told by a Hans Van Eeghen via email.

Lost is the rare television show that keeps running even after the episodes dry up during the summer. Devoted fans got to participate in The Lost Experience, an intertextual cross marketing affair that involves easter egg hunts, viral marketing, obscure Web sites and fragments of clues dropped like breadcrumbs. It all amounts to very little in the way of understanding the show, but hey, it’s not like you had anything else to do this summer. Admit it.

Fans at last year’s Comic Con got an advanced taste of The Orchid orientation video, which as we all know, played heavily into the finale of Season Four. This year at Comic Con, a mysterious presence known as Octagon Global Recruiting were recruiting convention-goers to take a strange aptitude test. High scorers would presumably be invited to participate in a mysterious project that may or may not have the word Dharma in it.

Didn’t make it to California? Don’t fret. Starting today, www.dharmawantsyou.com will be hosting a series of tests for participants to judge their worthiness, and no doubt will unveil a host of interesting tidbits and secrets. The site is blank at the moment, but I’ll be checking it all day.

Yeah, so, I don’t have anything else to do this summer either. Wanna make something of it?

You want video? Oh, we got video. Two embedded videos after the jump.

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You’ve gotta like THIS …

JStewart — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:22:31 +0000

… if you’re not on the cable.

THIS TV is MGM’s new digital channel, designed to be broadcast as part of free digital packages put together by local stations. Partner Weigel Broadcasting is bringing it out first in Chicago, Milwaukee, and South Bend. THIS will feature MGM movies and TV shows, although MGM’s press release doesn’t go into specifics.

I’m not sold on digital TV, but if we’re going to have it, it’s time to start coming up with some of that improved content that the broadcasters promised. This sounds like a decent start.

To read more, check out MGM’s release.

To look at Britain’s Freeview, which has been a bit more ambitious in a digital conversion, check here.