Hulu Awards Week 6: John J. Joex’s List

Round 1 Nominations:
This week had some good categories in Round 1 including Dramatic Movies, Dramatic TV Series, and the chance to highlight some of the internet only webseries that Hulu has available.

Best Dramatic Movie:
This category had a real mixed bag of options ranging from older classics to some more recent upstarts. I really could have gone a number of ways with my voting, but decided to stick with some of the timeless classics.

1. In the Heat of the Night – Hard to argue with this one as it ranks high on the list of all time best movies in my opinion. A commanding performance by the incomparable Sydney Poitier propels this one to the top.
2. Kagemusha – My only knock on this one is watching it on that tiny little window in the middle of your computer screen definitely deters from the beauty of Kurosawa’s film. It’s better seen on the big screen, but still worth checking out here.
3. Khartoum – A grand military epic with Laurence Olivier, Charlton Heston, and Ralph Richardson. What’s not to like here?
4. Moby Dick – Gregory Peck and Richard Basehart (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea) take on the great whale with John Huston directing and Ray Bradbury chipping in on the screenplay. Orson Welles steps in as well for good measure.
5. The Great Train Robbery – One of the last in the fading genre of epic movies, but still managed to capture some of the earlier magic with Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland taking the lead roles.

Honorable Mention: The Karate Kid – I have a soft spot for this movie, but just felt it did not quite belong in the company above. I see that I will be getting a second chance to nominate it in the Family Movie category, though.

Best Dramatic TV Series:
I know that I should be nominating shows like ER, Chicago Hope, and The Practice, but the fact is that those shows never really registered with me. Not at all saying they are bad shows, I just never jumped on board with them. So instead, I will throw in a few nods for shows that I did really like and hope that they make it into the later rounds.

1. Picket Fences – This early David Kelley series is flew under the radar, but really pushed the boundaries of Prime Time television when it aired. It ranged from police procedural to courtroom drama to riveting social commentary. It did descend into melodrama during its final season, but still provided plenty of engaging viewing during its four year run.
2. Equal Justice – I was a big fan of this series about young public defenders working the D.A.’s during its short one and a half season run. It introduced us to a young Sarah Jessica Parker and brought Joe Morton to the small screen. Unfortunately, Hulu has only a small sampling of episodes available.
3. Raines – I’m a huge fan of Jeff Goldblum and regret that he has rarely received the proper material to allow him to show off his acting chops. This odd little short-lived procedural with a supernatural bent seemed like the perfect vehicle for his talents. Unfortunately almost no one tuned in and it disappeared after seven episodes. The good news is that Hulu has the full run of the show available.

Best Short Format Series (non-comedy):
While I have known about the availability of internet only webseries and have sampled a few, this category and the next have really opened my eyes to what all is available out there. These short series that tend to run about five minutes per episode can really be hit of miss (with typically more misses), but they also represent a whole new outlet for creativity that has only just begun to be tapped at this point.

1. Devil’s Trade – This seven part mini from FearNet.com really hit the mark. It presents a scary and engaging story that does not rely on gore or violence. It outdid any of the episodes from last summer’s failed horror anthology Fear Itself on NBC and I would love to see more in this vein.
2. Gemini Division – Through eight episodes, this serial has kept my attention and I plan on continuing through the end. Better than some of the options currently available on Prime Time television, though it would not work as well on that venue.
3. Satacracy 88 – Kind of cheesy at times, and the acting could use a jump start, but still somewhat engaging.
4. LG15: The Resistance – Another one that is kind of uneven, but it does manage to draw you in with its over-arching premise.

Best Short Format Comedy Series:
A lot more misses here, but I managed to find a few stand-outs.

Carpet Bros – I can’t find his name attached to it anywhere, but I would swear that Quentin Tarantino had a hand in this one with its sharp, droll dialogue and retro look.
The Writer’s Room – A rather humorous look at the behind the scenes world of writing for a comedy series.
Mr. Justice and Powerful Girl – Two normal people dress up in superhero costumes and set out on a quest do one good thing every day. Can be a bit slow at times, but it has its moments.


Round 2 Nominations:

Best Movie Comedy:
This is a pretty easy round for me as all four of my Round 1 nominations made it through. I will throw in the Jim Carry comedy Liar Liar for the fifth slot.

1. Bedazzled
2. Men in Black
3. The Ghostbusters
4. Eddie Murphy: Raw
5. Liar Liar

Best Comedy TV Series:
Another easy one as again all of my Round 1 nominations advanced. I will tack on Arrested Development in the number five position.

1. The Tick
2. The Simpsons
3. Saturday Night Live
4. Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
5. Arrested Development

Best Comedic Short:
I seem to be riding a good wave in this round. All five of my Round 1 nods advanced, and I haven’t changed my mind on anything, so I get a bye here.

1. Shaolin Delivery
2. Non Fat
3. Stricteternum
4. Music For One Apartment and Six Drummers
5. Silencer

Round 3 Nominations:
My last time visiting my least favorite group of categories: Reality Shows. Fortunately my decisions are not as tough as I thought they would be as at least one show that I can tolerate in each category made it into the finals.


Best Competitive Reality Show:

Top Chef – When in doubt, always go with one of the food shows I say. And this one is a decent enough candidate.

Best Celebrity-Driven Reality Show:

Kitchen Nightmares – Hurray! I did not have to vote for something like Living Lohan in this category! I latched onto this one in Round 1 and I will stick with it to the end.

Best Non-Competitive Reality Show:

Queer Eye – I’m changing my mind on this one. Previously I had America’s Most Wanted ahead of Queer Eye, but I’m flip-flopping. Partially because now they do not even have any full episodes of the crime investigation series available and mostly because Queer Eye is just a lot of fun.

(Editor's Note: The general public can participate in the nominations as well. Go to the links above for any or all of the categories you are interested in and cast your vote for the shows you think should win. All of the general votes will be tallied up and count as one panelist in deciding the final winners. PSW)

Movie Review – Twilight (A Review for the Older Crowd)

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

While the target audience of the big screen adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s novel Twilight is pre-teen to teen girls, many older viewers will be roped into attending this movie as the primary demographic has yet to earn their driver’s license. This review is for those older viewers like myself to give them an idea of what to expect as they find themselves headed to the local multiplex this holiday season with their daughters in tow.

In a nutshell, the story follows teenager Bella Swan (Kristin Stewart) who moves to a small town in Washington state to live with her father because her mother is traveling with her step-father who plays minor league baseball. At her new school, Bella has an instant attraction to fellow classmate Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) who seems to have a dark and mysterious goth-thing going on. She finds out that he and his family are vampires (of the “good” variety, that is), but this does not deter her affections for him. Then a bad vampire shows up and just has to have Bella (apparently just to annoy Edward) and the “good” vampires face off with the “bad” ones.

Even those who have not read the Twilight books most likely know going in that this is a vampire movie, unfortunately it takes at least half the movie for Bella to find out the truth of Edward’s nature. This provides a rather long build up to a revelation that even those who know nothing about the book series have probably already figured out in the first thirty minutes. That first hour delves into much of the teen angst you would expect from its main characters and will probably have the older crowd checking their watches quite frequently. Fortunately, the movie picks up after this point and maintains the interest of both the older and younger viewers for the rest of its rather daunting 120+ minutes.

As vampire stories go, this one passes through some familiar territory. It offers the vampire who feels deep remorse for what he is, the mortal/immortal love story, the “good” vampires vs. the “bad” vampires. However, it handles all of this without descending into cliché or giving way to banal, hackneyed dialogue. It also creates its own spin on the vampire mythology: the vamps can go out during the day, but in direct sunlight they have a shimmering appearance that would give them away. Also, the “good” vampires only drink animal blood (they call themselves “vegetarians”) though they do have a desire for the real stuff. It helps that the story is packaged with fantastic cinematography and stunning imagery (mostly from the amazing location shots) and a driving alt-rock soundtrack (of course available on CD). The directing can be a bit obvious and overblown at times, but it carries the movie forward and does not distract too much from the story and visuals.

My one big issue with the movie, as a parent at least, is the romanticizing of Bella’s relationship with a dark and dangerous figure. There is definitely some wish-fulfillment going on here, but it glamorizes the situation for some very impressionable young minds. Sure, in the movie-world, Edward is really a good person deep down and we know that he would never hurt Bella. But in the real world, dark and dangerous people are just that, dark and dangerous. You should probably take at least a few minutes to discuss the difference between reality and entertainment with your daughters after watching the movie, at least on this point.

Still, all in all, I would say the movie proved quite entertaining. It did not quite connect with me because of my age bracket, the same reaction I had from the Harry Potter movies, but I did find it enjoyable. And I have to admit that it stuck with me for several days after seeing it, and could likely lure me into seeing the sequels (already in the planning stages), though I will bring my daughter along for cover. It is rated PG-13 for violence and some suggestive scenes, but there is nothing major to be concerned about. Your daughters will enjoy it and you may enjoy it as well along with scoring some major points for bringing them (a definite added bonus).

-Paul S. White

Buy the Twilight books at Amazon.com for up to 60% Off:


Buy the Twilight Soundtrack at Amazon.com:

Sam Christopher's Quick Hits

First up this week we have Marvel’s Thor: Man of War, in which writer Matt Fraction (The Order, The Immortal Iron Fist) and artists Clay Mann (Heroes for Hire) and Patrick Zircher (Champions, Nightwing) tell a tale of a young, arrogant thunder god on a rampage. Angry with Odin for allowing the Aesir to become decadent and weak, in Thor’s eyes, Thor runs amok across the Nine Worlds in an effort to force the All-Father himself into a personal confrontation. Balder, the Warrior’s Three, and the Valkyrior led by Brunnhilda all join the fray before Odin himself takes a hand wearing full Destroyer armor and armed with the Odinsword itself. Great story with fine art, but the ending left more than a little to be desired; how many times does this lesson need to be taught, anyway?

In Superman #682, Clark and Martha go to pay their private respects at Jonathan’s grave only to find a crying Bizarro already there. Interesting. Also, Zor-El and Alura lead the Kryptonians, Supergirl included, on a “purging” mission to round up every criminal that’s ever caused any Kryptonian trouble, which leads to the reintroduction of an old friend of Superman. Meanwhile, the Guardian looks for work and an assassin leaves his day job to do some personal investigation. James Robinson (Starman, Wildcats) and Renato Guedes (Saw: Rebirth, Smallville) relate the 6th chapter in the New Krypton serial.

Vincent Price Presents #3: “Bluewater’s 1st Ongoing Series!” the blurb on the cover trumpets. So far it’s been nothing but, as Georgie Weiss of the ’94 film Ed Wood put it, “crap with a star”. While Chad Helder’s writing has been mostly passable—the stories have improved since the pitiful first ish effort, although long gone is the near-perfect tone for the intro and outro Price monologues—the Rey Armenteros artwork is simply awful. Joel Robinson’s intro and outro art and bonus pinups are really the only thing to recommend this book, and at $3.99 a shot it’s just not enough.

Writer Gail Simone (Secret Six, Villains United) and artist Aaron Lopresti (Excalibur, Ms. Marvel) bring us the first chap in the Rise of the Olympians storyline in Wonder Woman #26. Gods return to find their home vandalized, Wonder Woman’s beau is stripped of his rank and arrested on charges of treason stemming from his involvement with her—fallout from the Amazons Attack mini—and Diana herself is on the receiving end of a brutal ass-kicking that is shocking in its near offhand manner. Excellent beginning to this much-anticipated—by me anyway—serial.

In Walking Dead #55, Robert Kirkman (Invincible, The Irredeemable Antman) and Charlie Adlard (The Establishment, Green Lantern) craft another great story with a glimpse into Rick’s psyche as he works through his wife’s horrible death in his own mind and a look, perhaps, into the “biology” of the undead. I’m really hoping Eugene turns out to be a nut. I don’t want there to be any over-arching plan to his getting the group to DC, and I don’t even want him to turn out top be just as he’s described himself. I just want it to turn out that he’s delusional after all that’s happened. Whatever happens with him, though, I trust that Kirkman will make the right story choice. Or at least that he’ll make a choice and then make it right.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #19 shows the end of Time of Your Life. Buffy… Fray… Willow… older dark Willow! It’s literally the end of an era as Buff whacks the one villain she thought she’d put behind her, and maybe destroys a world in the process. Whedon (Astonishing X-men) is doing an outstanding job with Season 8 and this story in particular. Karl Moline’s (Fray, Rogue) art is very good here, too.

Other comics:
Birds of Prey #124: I was wrong. Babs and Joker have their tooth (heh, heh) and nail confrontation in this ish. Excellent!

The Kingdom One-Shot: Al Pratt’s sons play rough as the darker side of Gog’s “gifts” become more apparent to everyone. Anyone who saw the fourth season of Angel can see the writing on the wall.

Hulk #8: Still going with the split story format. Luckily, one story ends next ish.

Incredible Hercules #123: The return of Herc’s most implacable enemy of all time draws this third chap in the Love and War serial to a close. I guess there’s always a tradeoff for shacking up with a hot chick like Namorita.

Why Were They Cancelled?

Four shows have gone down so far this season. Why did they get cancelled you ask? Ultimately, we know it was because of the ratings, but I will take a few minutes to delve a little deeper into the causes.

Valentine (CW, Sundays 8 PM EST) – The reasons for cancelling this one are pretty clear. No one watched it. Only twice did it pull more than one million viewers and it wrapped up its eight episode run with only a little more than 500k viewers. It also wasn’t that great. Oh it wasn’t terrible, like say Knight Rider (why is that still on the air?), it was just boring. You would expect some thunder and lighting with Greek gods milling about and all, but it never really registered. And with Desperate Housewives veteran Kevin Murphy on board, I expected some decent flashes of wit. But those were few and far between. I also hear that the CW did a poor job of promoting the series (along with the entire Sunday night Media Rights Capital slate), but even if they did, I don’t know that this one would have ever soared.

Episodes Completed: 8

Chances of Resurrection: Are you kidding me? I did hear that the Save Valentine campaign will be sending Valentine cards to the CW. Both fans have already mailed theirs.


My Own Worst Enemy (NBC, Mondays 10 PM EST) – This high concept series suffered from a poorly realized premise and convoluted, contrived scripts. Not enough viewers tuned in to begin with, and the few that did quickly lost interest. It’s unfortunate too, because Christian Slater really shined in the dual role of Henry / Edward. Had they focused more on the Jekyll and Hyde potential of the series and less on the espionage aspects, perhaps it would have succeeded. But ultimately the show performed well below last year’s cancelled Journeyman in the timeslot and NBC quickly lost patience.

Episodes Completed: 9

Chances of Resurrection: Miniscule. I have seen a few rumblings in some of the forums to petition NBC to keep it and/or the Sci Fi Channel to pick it up. But they don’t have much momentum at this point.


Eli Stone (ABC, Tuesdays 10 PM EST) – This odd Fantasy / Legal Drama just barely received the greenlight for renewal after its freshman season because it pulled marginal numbers in its Lost lead-out slot. Without the boost from that series during its second season, it has languished in the ratings, and I also understand that it has lost its way creatively (see Sam Christopher’s review). It did not see the same drop-off as Pushing Daisies, but the numbers dipped low enough to convince ABC to pull the plug on the show.

Episodes Completed: 13 for Season 1; 8 for Season 2 (with an additional 5 planned)

Chances of Resurrection: Slim. At this point I have not seen a significant fan movement step up to try and save the show. There were petitions circulating around to get a second season when it was on the bubble the first time around. But I do not see too much out there now that ABC has pulled the plug on it.

Pushing Daisies (ABC, Wednesdays 8 PM EST) – Alas, this wonderful little series was probably doomed more by Prime Time audiences than network short-sightedness. I think that it was just too unique and off the wall for the standard viewers that tune into Prime Time network programming. ABC really supported the show early on giving it a full season pickup after only a few episodes of its first season had aired. When that was made moot by the writer’s strike, they renewed it for a second season and even ran a promotional campaign in early September that included a traveling bakery. And from what I understand, ABC president Steve McPherson continued to pull for the show up until the very end, but Disney execs gave the final thumbs down seeing how far the ratings had fallen this year. I think that if Pushing Daisies had produced only slightly better numbers (maybe similar to what Eli Stone had) it might have at least survived for a full second season. It had critical acclaim and took home some Emmy’s after its first season, so I believe that the network would have given it some leeway. However, it has dropped down to CW level numbers (pulling less than 5 million total viewers on its November 19th airing), and Disney decided to cut ties with the show, breaking the hearts of millions of devoted fans.

Episodes Completed: 9 for Season 1; 13 for Season 2

Chances of Resurrection: Slim, I’m sad to say. The series has a dedicated fan base that is currently lobbying hard for the show. And even though Jericho fans succeeded in convincing CBS to grant them a renewal after sending a mountain of nuts, Season 2 had even fewer viewers than Season 1 and the show ended up being cancelled for a second time. Other networks will definitely take this into consideration when deciding on renewals for shows with iffy ratings. Series creator Brian Fuller has promised to wrap up the story in a comic book, but this will hardly be satisfying to those who delighted in the unique visual experience that the show offered. Fuller also mentioned the possibility of a theatrical movie, but studios will be wary after the Firefly / Serenity experience. Perhaps the best that fans can hope for is a direct to DVD movie to cap off the series. For more information on the fan campaigns to save the show, go to: savepushingdaisies.blogspot.com


Why Weren’t They Cancelled?

While four went down, two series received full season pickups despite their poor ratings. So what happened there?

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX, Mondays 8 PM EST) – This one came out of the gates in its second season underperforming and early on seemed sure to get the axe especially considering FOX’s quick trigger finger with Science Fiction and Fantasy shows. Yet surprise, surprise, they gave it a full season order. FOX execs apparently see something in the franchise and they acknowledge that all shows on the network see a boost to their ratings after American Idol returns to the schedule in January. At that time, the series will move to the Friday 8 PM EST timeslot and play the lead-in to Joss Whedon’s new series Dollhouse. Not certain if that is good news, though, as I cannot remember any genre show that has succeeded on FOX in that timeslot (The X-Files had the 9 PM timeslot). At least for now we can see this as a good sign and hope that it indicates FOX will have more patience with genre shows going forward (but we are still not ready to forgive them for cancelling Firefly).

Knight Rider (NBC, Wednesdays 8 PM EST) – The Peacock Network obviously decided to give this underperforming show the nod for a full season because of its highly devoted fan base and its critical acclaim --- wait, no, I have that wrong It’s numbers have been in the toilet and it has been lambasted by almost any reviewer with the slightest amount of integrity. So why is it still on the air? Perhaps they still saw something in the franchise and did not want to kick it to the curb just yet. But then Bionic Woman did not receive the same love last year and it had much better numbers. They do plan on retooling the series and bringing it closer to the feel of the original (less espionage, more helping the down-trodden). Still I can’t see how they expect much of a turnaround in the numbers. So why is this one still on the air while quality shows like Pushing Daisies get the boot? If I could understand the thinking of the Entertainment industry, I could probably also solve the oil crisis, peace in the Middle East, world hunger . . .

-John J. Joex

Buy Pushing Daisies, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Eli Stone and more on DVD at the Axiom's Edge Webstore

Weekly Update – Cancellations and Renewals; CW to Air Reruns of Jericho; Ratings Update; New HBO Fantasy Series; Robotech Movie

Cancellations and Renewals: As we mentioned last week, Pushing Daisies and Eli Stone both got the axe from ABC because of their poor rating performance. Both will finish out airing their thirteen episode second season orders (Daisies has already wrapped production on all thirteen and Stone should wrap in early December). This makes four total cancellations from the season so far including the CW’s Valentine and NBC’s My Own Worst Enemy. We had previously announced that ABC’s Life on Mars had received a full season pickup, but this was apparently premature. The alphabet network has only ordered four more episodes at this point and will move it to the 10 PM EST lead-out slot for Lost when it returns in January (this should be a good pairing for the freshman series). CBS still remains mum on the fate of The Eleventh Hour despite the fact that it is one of the strongest performers among genre shows this season (tops in fact if you throw out the borderline genre show The Mentalist). While it does regularly lose a fair amount of the lead-in audience from CSI, I would be surprised if it did not receive a full season pickup.

CW to air Jericho: The CW’s decision to have another company program its Sunday night lineup has proved a disaster, with all three shows produced by Media Rights Capital (including Valentine) pulling dismal ratings. They have since decided to part ways with that company and will air reruns of programs from other networks on that night including Jericho which CBS axed (for the second time) last season. The CW is basically just filling air time for now and I have seen nothing to suggest that they have considered producing new episodes for that series which still has a strong fan movement pushing for a renewal. And even if the reruns perform will in the ratings, the tenuous status of the CW Network makes it unlikely that they could air a third season of that show even if they wanted to.

Ratings Update: Perhaps the biggest news from the ratings for the Science Fiction and Fantasy series on the networks this past week (apart from the cancellations mentioned above) is the continued downward trend in viewers for Heroes. This past week it pulled only 7.59 million total viewers which I believe represents an all time low for the series. While it continues to win the timeslot with the 18-34 demographic and also continues to perform respectably with the expanded 18-49 demographic, NBC cannot like the continued attrition among total viewers. The series has already experienced some behind the scenes shake-ups and creator Tim Kring has promised to simplify the stories. Also, Brian Fuller should be free to return to the show now that Pushing Daisies has ended. Whether these two can reverse the current trend, remains to be seen. Keep up with the weekly ratings with our Network Ratings Tracker as well as the likelihood of cancellation with the Renew/Cancel Index at TV by Numbers.

HBO orders Fantasy Pilot: HBO has ordered a pilot titled Game of Thrones based on George R.R. Martin’s series of novels A Song of Fire & Ice. This will be a Sword and Sorcery type Fantasy series similar to The Legend of the Seeker which has performed very well in syndication so far this year.

Robotech Movie moves Forward: Plans to bring the Robotech franchise to the big screen continue to move forward. Smallville scribes Afred Gough and Miles Millar have received the assignment to produce a script for the movie which Tobey Maguire (Spider Man) will produce. No word at this point on when they plan to have the adaptation available for release.

Sam Christopher's Quick Hits

First, the team of Christopher Yost (Secret Invasion: Young Avengers/Runaways, X-Men: Evolution teleseries) and Pasqual Ferry (Heroes for Hire, Adam Strange) continue their adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game with a second ish in which Ender arrives at Battle School. He makes a roomful of enemies with the help of the faculty—Battle School is run with a Machiavellian bent—and a friend with no help whatsoever, and discovers the Battle Room. I really like the way these two are adapting this story. The pacing just feels right. (When Steve Niles adapted the original Dawn of the Dead to comics it seemed like over two thirds of the story was in the last issue.) Why, oh, why has this novel never been made into a film or cable mini? I read—or listened to—a monologue by Card himself once where he said it was too cost-prohibitive due to his inflexibility story-wise and child actor union rules and labor laws. I’m sure he knows this subject far better than I but I still enjoy complaining about that which I cannot have. As Bones McCoy once said, “It’s the human thing to do.”

Next we have The Brave and the Bold #19, part one of Green Lantern-Phantom Stranger pairing. Arcadia Hospital is a “house of secrets”. Not only does it house the birth-defect scarred children of failed drug company experiments but one of these children, a little girl who’s never spoken, has apparently started having apocalyptic visions—only these visions are of other worlds, and she describes these worlds in their own languages. The visions lead GL and PS to a planet at the edge of the Guardians’ influence, but a world with its own GL. “Without Sin” is written by David Hine(X-Men: The 198, Silent War) and penciled by David Braithwaite (The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe, Secret Invasion: Thor).

IDW brings us another Star Trek mini—the Mirror Universe and Assignment:Earth have been outstanding—this time a “Myriad Universe” 5 issue story called The Last Generation. “Myriad” stories unfold from an alternate outcome to an established ST canon plot point, a riff on Marvel’s “ What if…” concept. This story is set in the Next Generation timeframe and based on what would have happened had the Federation President been assassinated at Khittomer in ST VI: The Undiscovered Country. Andrew Steven Harris (Fallen Angel, Star Trek: New Frontier) and Gordon Purcell (Silver Sable and the Wild Pack, Justice League Unlimited) have fashioned a good first issue. Comes in three covers, one a photo of Brent Spiner as Data, another an homage to the X-Men “Days of Future Past” cover.

Other comics:
Dynamite brings us the apparent end of the Rebirth of Red Sonja in RS #39, and Savage Tales #10 has the first installments of two new stories, one starring The She-Devil with a Sword and the other Hercules.

Ambush Bug #4- Dan Didio R. I. P., and “When Socks Attack!”

Kingdom Come Special: Magog- Peter Tomasi (Nightwing, Aquaman) and Fernando Pasarin (Ion: Guardian of the Universe, Countdown to Final Crisis) story centering on David Reid, the dead Marine resurrected by Gog to become Earth-One’s Magog. Also has a backup story with the origin of the 31st Century Starman by Geoff Johns (The Flash, Avengers) and Scott Kolins (The New Invaders, Marvel Team Up).

Fantastic Four #561- The death of… well, you really should be reading it. I promise someone big really does die. Sort of.

Supergirl #35- A New Krypton chap. Kara’s mother hates Linda Lang, Cat Grant continues to be a vindictive hack, and we learn the truth about Kara’s past. Again. Let’s just hope they stick with this one.

Hulu Awards Week 5: John J. Joex's List

This week’s Round 1 nominations were quite a bit more palatable than last week’s Reality-focused choices. For Week 5, we will focus on Comedy in three different categories: Movies, Television Series, and Short Films. Plenty of fun here, so let’s get on to the nominations.

Best Movie Comedy:

My nominations stay pretty close to the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre (well, what did you expect?), but I threw in one non-genre selection for good measure.

1. Bedazzled – This is the original 1967 version, not the ersatz American remake. It stars Peter Cook and Duddly Moore in a romp that could be described as Monty Python meets Dr. Faustus. If you have never seen this version, you are in for a treat. (Note that the video has currently been pulled from Hulu. Let’s hope that is just a technical glitch).
2. Men in Black – The chemistry between Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones makes this Science Fiction comedy a classic.
3. Ghostbusters – A good partner to Men in Black and almost as funny.
4. Eddie Murphy: Raw – Murphy is not only a good actor, he is a good comedian as this concert film from the late 80’s demonstrates.

Best Comedy TV Show:

I would not call this the best sampling of recent television comedies, but there are definitely some gems on the list.

1. The Tick – Should this really be at the top of my list? As a comic book fan, yes. This one provides a great skewering of the superhero genre and delivered more laughs during its short run than some series do over multiple seasons.
2. The Simpson – Can’t call myself a huge Simpsons fan, but I have to admit that this has delivered more than its share of laughs over its long run.
3. Saturday Night Live – Hulu only has selected clips from the most recent seasons, but this is actually a good way to view the series. These are some of the show’s highlights, and they provide plenty of laughs (especially the parodies of the recent Presidential campaign).
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer – It’s not higher on the list, because I consider it more of a Fantasy/Supernatural show than a comedy. Still, it had its share of warped humor.

Best Comedic Short:

This category provided a lot more misses than hits than the one for Best Dramatic Short. I did find a few good ones though.

1. Shaolin Delivery Boy – A Chinese Canadian actor gets lesson on how to be more Asian. A great parody on the entertainment industry.
2. Non Fat – For those who did not die laughing at this short one-minute film, we know how often you go to Starbucks and what you order!
3. Stricteternum – I saw the ending coming from a mile away, but visually it reminded me of Pushing Daisies. A definite plus.
4. Music For One Apartment and Six Drummers – Answers that question you always wondered about: what if Stomp came to visit your home?
5. Silencer – Just plain bizarre.

Round 2 Nominations:

Best Celebrity-Driven Reality Show:

I dreaded this one as I knew I would have to pick five shows most of which make my skin crawl. At least my two Round 1 nominations made it to the list. For the next three, I simply picked the least heinous of the rest.

1. Uncorked
2. Kitchen Nightmares
3. Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style
4. Flipping Out
5. Clean House

Best Competitive Reality Show:

My two Round 1 nominations made it through, then the next three are all tolerable.

1. Deal or No Deal
2. American Gladiators
3. Top Chef
4. Hell’s Kitchen
5. The Search for the Next Elvira

Best Non-Competitive Reality Show:

Okay, I have to start being more observant. Yet again I totally missed out on one in my Round 1 nominations. As a beer fanatic, not certain how I skipped over Beer Nutz, but I am making up for it here. Then my fifth nomination is really a freebie.

1. America’s Most Wanted
2. Beer Nutz
3. Queer Eye
4. Ghost Hunters
5. Ghost Hunters International

Round 3 Nominations:

Best Dramatic Short:

Save the Children - Wasn’t too thrilled with the ones that made it to the finals in this category, but I will go ahead and give the nod to this one.

Best Documentary Feature:

Split: A Divided America – I would have preferred to give Koyaanisqatsi the final nod in this category, but it didn’t make it to the finals. This one is a decent enough second option, though.

Best Horror Movie:

John Carpenter’s The Thing – In Rounds 1 and 2 I was just biding my time to give this one the final nod in Round 3. In some categories, it is hard to chose a clear winner based on what Hulu has available. In this category, there’s no debate in my mind. This would make it to my Top 10 list of all time best Horror Movies.

(Editor's Note: The general public can participate in the nominations as well. Go to the links above for any or all of the categories you are interested in and cast your vote for the shows you think should win. All of the general votes will be tallied up and count as one panelist in deciding the final winners. PSW)

Hulu Awards Week 5: Sam Christopher's List

We’re down to the finalists in the following categories:

Best Dramatic Short:
This was an easy choice for me. Evol was okay, I guess, but I really can’t figure out how Happy got here at all; it just wasn’t very interesting at all to me. One Down was interesting, if only because I kept thinking of Vincent Price in the role. The Ripoff was fun to watch but I really think it should have been in the comedy section more than anything else. Which left me with my first choice. The single most interesting and entertaining short I saw through this process was my original choice for best short and nothing I saw changed my mind. Still can’t explain it, but my choice remains:

Save the Children

Best Documentary:
Still a difficult category for me. Just don’t care very much about these nominees. Except for my first choice here which also made it through:

Cosmic Voyage

Best Horror Movie:
This was the toughest finalist cat. Once the obvious loser, When a Stranger Calls, was thrown out I was left with four pretty worthy candidates. Naked Lunch went next as I didn’t really find it scary so much as strange, followed by Christine which is all right but nothing special. So it came down, as I thought it would when I first saw this category, to John Carpenter’s The Thing and 28 Days Later. The Thing is a classic story with a masterful director who uses modern—in 1982—sfx to provide a visceral feel along with a truly terrifying premise that has a very Invasion of the Body Snatchers vibe that is undeniably powerful in this age of ever-growing governmental obstruction and assimilation of the individual into a collectivist consciousness (I truly believe this is the reason for the rise of zombie films of late). 28 Days Later has almost the same vibe, along with a verve The Thing doesn’t have—an oddity here because I usually describe Carpenter’s films in terms of the verve he brings to often otherwise lackluster productions—and ruthless logic and sense of impending doom that accompanies the best of the Romero Dead series to me. At every turn in both these films one is never sure what’s going to happen to who, truly the mark of great horror, but I went with the edgier of the two:

28 Days Later


And now some of the final nominations:

Best Competitive Reality Show:
My first three choices made it so I only had to come up with two others. No long-winded explanations here; I’ll save that for the finals:

1. The Search for the Next Elvira
2. American Gladiators
3. Battle Dome
4. Last Comic Standing
5. Deal or No Deal

Best Non-competitive Reality Show:
Again, all of mine made this round, so:

1. America’s Most Wanted
2. Cops
3. Ghost Hunters
4. Ghost Hunters International
5. Queer Eye

Best Celebrity Reality Show:
Two of Samantha’s picks made it, along with another that I bumped for my only choice, which also made it. She picked the last one here, too:

1. Work Out
2. Snoop Dogg’s Fatherhood
3. Tori and Dean
4. Kitchen Nightmares
5. The Girls next Door

And then the first rounders:

Best Comedy Movie:
The second round here is going to be a killer for me as I didn’t see much I really loved.

1. Ghostbusters - The last season of Buffy says it all. Buffy’s agonizing over who she can trust and Spike asks who she’s going to call. The two pause for a moment then smile. Spike shakes his head and asks, “Do you think that phrase will ever be useful again?” And how many among us do not wish we had been The Keymaster to Sigourney’s Gatekeeper?
2. Casino Royale 1967- Not bad, the best left.

Comedy TV Show:
A little easier.

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - No idea how this gets into the comedy category but no way I could keep the best show on tv for the past 20 years or so out. Simply the best sf ever on tv besides The Twilight Zone and Star Trek. Many funny moments, too.
2. Major Dad - How is this not on DVD yet?
3. The Tick - Short, but hysterical, run.
4. The Simpsons - What is there to say about a sitcom that runs for decades on network tv?
5. King of the Hill - “Let go of my purse! I DON’T KNOW YOU!”

Comedy Short:
I frankly didn’t find many of these I watched to be very funny, but…

1. Stricteternum - This was funny, weird, sad, and New Wave-ish all at the same time. Lynchian.
2. Laid Off - Funny in a sad kind of way. I’d rather live—or die as the case may be—in the Dead Like Me-verse.

(Editor's Note: The general public can participate in the nominations as well. Go to the links above for any or all of the categories you are interested in and cast your vote for the shows you think should win. All of the general votes will be tallied up and count as one panelist in deciding the final winners. PSW)

Breaking News: Pushing Daisies and Eli Stone Cancelled!!!!

While ABC has not made an official statement yet, several sources are confirming that ABC has pulled the plug on its two sophomore Fantasy series Pushing Daisies and Eli Stone. Both series have experienced slumping ratings this season and rumors of cancellation have been rampant for the past month. According to Daisies creator Brian Fuller, ABC President Steve McPherson pushed hard for a renewal, but parent company Disney was unwilling to greenlight additional episodes. Fuller has claimed that he is not too upset at this point over the cancellation and that he is proud of the twenty two episodes they have completed. He also plans to wrap up the storylines that will be left hanging after the cliffhanger thirteenth episode in comic books and that he is also preparing a pitch for a possible big screen continuation of the franchise. (And the good news for Heroes fans is that the cancellation will likely lead to his return to that NBC series). Pushing Daisies has seven more new episodes to air and Eli Stone has at least three more new episodes to air to complete their second season runs. (Read more on the Pushing Daisies cancellation)

Weekly Update: Pushing Daisies Still Clinging to Life; Ratings Update; New Thor Animated Series

Still Hope for Pushing Daisies: As we mentioned previously, the axe has fallen on Valentine and My Own Worst Enemy, NBC has ordered a retooling of Knight Righter, Life on Mars has received a full season pickup and Sanctuary has received a renewal for a second season. ABC’s Pushing Daisies still remains on the bubble with the next two weeks critical to its fate. Kristin Dos Santos from EOnline.com is reporting that ABC will closely watch the show’s ratings after its return from its two week hiatus to make the final determination on its fate. The fan campaigns are currently mobilizing to get the word out and to let ABC know that they want Pushing Daisies to live on.

Ratings Update: This past week produced no major ratings surprises for the network Science Fiction and Fantasy oriented shows. Chuck, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Knight Rider all continue to languish in their timeslots. All three have received full season pickups, but likely will not see life beyond the current season unless they have a major turnaround. The Sarah Connor Chronicles will make a mid-season move to Friday nights to pair with Joss Whedon’s new Dollhouse and this move could improve its fortunes or sink it. As mentioned above, NBC has ordered a retooling of Knight Rider which will involve trimming down the cast and reverting to the tone of the original 80’s series. Chuck will continue with business as usual, which has not served it too well so far this season. CBS’s The Eleventh Hour is considered a bubble show by other sites such as Sci Fi Wire and TVGuide.com, but it has pulled the second highest numbers among genre shows for the season (behind another CBS show, The Mentalist), and I would be surprised if this one did not receive a full season pickup. Yet another CBS show, The Ghost Whisperer, has seen a surge in its ratings these past weeks after a pivotal episode has shaken things up for the series. Keep up with the weekly ratings with our Network Ratings Tracker as well as the likelihood of cancellation with the Renew/Cancel Index at TV by Numbers.

New Thor: 4TheGeekNU.com is reporting that Marvel Animation is developing an animated series based on the Thor character to coincide with the 2010 planned release of the live-action movie starring the Norse God. 26 episodes will be self-produced by the animation company which is also working on a Mighty Avengers series.

Hulu Awards Week 4: Sam Christopher's List (Part 2)

First, the final nominations:

Best Documentary
This just isn’t a great category for me. I enjoy a good doc as well as anyone but the selections here, for the most part, just didn’t grab me. So…

1. Cosmic Voyage
2. Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia
3. Australia: Land Beyond Time
4. Search for the Great Sharks
5. Ocean Oasis

Note: I realize Split will get a lot of votes but I don’t need an hour and a half doc to tell me that rank-and-file Rs and Ds think differently, I’d rather someone tell me why neither side ever seems to notice that the Rs and Ds in government always lead us to the same place.

Best Dramatic Short
There was more depth to this category than I expected. I had originally thought I would find two or three I really liked and then would have to pick the “least worst” for the last two. By the end, though, I had to choose between four for the last two spots.

1. Save the Children - Really grabbed my attention. And I can’t even tell you why. That’s the mark of great cinema.
2. Not What I Expected - Not a lover of musicals usually (past Grease, Singing in the Rain, and Once More with Feeling, anyway), but this was a pleasant—and poignant—surprise. I guess it was (wait for it) not what I expected.
3. The Rip-Off - Cute magic show on film.
4. The Critic - Fun little film about one of the greatest American writers ever. Well, sort of.
5. One Down - An interesting look into the nightmare of a killer. If only this could have starred Vincent Price.

1st Round Nominations

Celebrity Reality Show
And now we move to possibly the worst thing ever put on television—except for one choice. Words cannot describe what I feel for these shows, which told me that I just don’t have the mind to grasp them—except for one. So I did the best thing I could think of. If I don’t have the mentality for a subject, I go to someone who does. I asked the one person I know with the maturity and intellect to glean the inner meaning and fathom the wonderful nuance of these wonders of modern “entertainment”—my 16-year-old niece Samantha. The first pick is mine, the rest were put down as per her sage advice.

1. Work Out - Athletic lesbians exercising in a gym? I think I can handle that.
2. Snoop Dog’s Fatherhood
3. Tori and Dean
4. Living Lohan

Non-Competitive Reality Show
These were a little better. At least I can sit through more than ten seconds without feeling the need for an immediate shower and de-lousing.

1. America’s Most Wanted - I always liked this show and it actually performed a service.
2. Cops - Nothing wrong with watching half-naked drunks and drug addicts do stupid things and go to jail for them.
3. Ghost Hunters - I can watch it. I actually like Most Haunted better, but this is good, too.
4. Ghost Hunters International

Competitive Reality Show
Laughter, lust, and lunacy are the order of the day for this category.

1. The Search for the Next Elvira - Absolutely hysterical! I could not stop laughing when this was on. I actually watched a marathon of it once.
2. American Gladiators - “Follow me, yes, follow me! I’ve got my love, I’ve got my brunette Crush!” With apologies to REM.
3. Battle Dome - Incredibly cheesy American Gladiators rip-off.

Well, that’s it for this week, folks, there will be more next week.

(Editor's Note: The general public can participate in the nominations as well. Go to the links above for any or all of the categories you are interested in and cast your vote for the shows you think should win. All of the general votes will be tallied up and count as one panelist in deciding the final winners. PSW)

Hulu Awards Week 4: John J. Joex's List

Round 3 Nominations:

I decided to tread lightly through the Round 1 nominations for Week 4 because they focus on a category that is the bane of many a television viewer: Reality Shows. I am definitely not a big fan of the genre, but I will also not cast it as a worthless form of entertainment. As with anything, it has its place, in moderation. I regularly tuned in to The Real World for its first six seasons or so (before it turned into a show about hot people having sex with each other). I also caught the Survivor wave early on and have continued to enjoy that show. In my opinion, both of these shows present an interesting social experiment by throwing diverse people together in various situations and seeing how they react. Of course, I’m not going to try and present an extended defense on the relevance of these shows because I admit that their greatest appeal is to my inner voyeur. Unfortunately, Hulu.com has neither of these shows available, so I had to sift through an assortment of other choices. Still, I managed to find a few decent examples among the selections.

Best Competitive Reality Show

These two picks definitely rank high in the guilty pleasure category.

1. Deal or No Deal – Not certain why this is in the reality category and not the game show category, but it makes my decision easy. It’s a simple premise, but it really grabs you and quickly becomes addictive.
2. American Gladiators – Offers some good cheesy fun and a decent enough diversion when you want to put your mind into neutral.

Best Non Competitive Reality Show

This category actually had several decent choices. Nothing at the level of The Real World or Survivor, but still some good ones.

1. America’s Most Wanted – Not what I would consider a reality show, and they only have one episode available, but this series could really present some interesting cases.
2. Queer Eye – Hulu only has clips of this one available, but it could really be fun at times.
3. Ghost Hunters – Never quite convinced me that ghosts were real, but I have enjoyed watching them try.

Best Celebrity Driven Reality Show

This list for this category reads like an inventory of what’s wrong with reality shows and television in general. Most of these represent some of the worst excesses of the genre, but still I managed to find a couple of gems. I will be dreading Round 2, though when I will have to cast votes for five shows.

1. Uncorked – Comedian Billy Merritt is an average Joe who knows nothing about wine so he decides to go on a tour to educate himself on the subject. Presents a good rundown on wine for the non- connoisseur and you will learn a thing or two along the way.
2. Kitchen Nightmare’s – If you ever thought about opening a [beep]ing restaurant, watch this first. It will [beep]ing scare you the [beep] away from the [beep]ing idea. Oh, and be prepared for half the [beep]ing dialogue to be beeped the [beep] out.

Round 2 Nominations:

Best Dramatic Short

Two of my Round 1 nominations made it to this list, and the other three that I voted for this week all have some merit. (See my previous column for my comments on the top two)

1. David Bianchi's Soldiers
2. Between the Flags
3. Applause – An interesting take on motivational techniques and how clueless bosses can be.
4. Uncle Johnny – An interesting look at a child’s perspective on his rather odd family.
5. Lollypops – A geriatric protest film

Best Horror Movie

The top two were easy, and somehow I missed Christine in the Round 1 nominations so I am making up for it here. That’s followed by two others worthy of making it to the finals. (See my previous column for my comments on the top two)

1. The Thing
2. The Toxic Avenger
3. Christine
4. 28 Days Later
5. The Island of Dr. Moreau

Best Documentary Feature

All three of my Round 1 choices made it here along with my guilty pleasure nomination. My fifth choice below almost made it to my Round 1 list as well. (See my previous column for my comments on the top four)

1. Koyaanisqatsi
2. Australia: The Land Before Time
3. Split: A Divided America
4. Burger Town
5. Cosmic Voyage – Some of the greatest scientific discoveries in just over thirty minutes narrated by Morgan Freeman. What’s not to like?

Round 1 Nominations:

Best Show of the Seventies

Barney Miller – I will admit that Mary Tyler Moore might be the superior show as far as its relevance and impact on the medium, but I just like Barney Miller more. And face it, is more of a guy show, while BMMTM is definitely a chick show.

Best Show of the Eighties

A-Team – No idea how Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, and Fame did not make it to the finals, so I have to go with this one because none of the others ever really registered with me. Alf was actually a show with some potential because the Gordon Shumway character was pretty darn funny. Unfortunately all they gave him to work with were standard run-of-the-mill sitcom plots.

Best Classic TV Show

Dick Van Dyke Show – It was a real toss-up between this and Alfred Hitchcock Presents and I ended up deciding to go against my previous nomination and move this one to the top. If you don’t understand why, go back and watch this show because it is still funny today and Dick Van Dyke is a master entertainer.

(Editor's Note: The general public can participate in the nominations as well. Go to the links above for any or all of the categories you are interested in and cast your vote for the shows you think should win. All of the general votes will be tallied up and count as one panelist in deciding the final winners. PSW)

Television Review - Eli Stone

ABC, 10 PM EST, Tuesdays

Rating (after four episodes): 1 out of 5 Stars

On the one hand, I’m tempted to thank the writers and producers of Eli Stone for allowing me to see this second season before buying the first on DVD, which I’ve been very close to doing on a number of occasions. But, on the other, I just want to know what happened over this past summer break that turned a charming, funny, well-acted romantic comedy with a soft sf twist into this morass of smarmy, cutesy, scream-at-the-tv-stupid nonsense, where every single episode seems to be worse than the last. I just do not understand what… what… as Moe says, “I’m chokin’ on my own rage here!” Please allow me a moment to collect myself while you and I, gentle reader, look back on happier times for this series.

Last Season:

Eli Stone (played by Johnny Lee Miller) is an attorney for a high-powered law firm in San Francisco. He is originally shown to be a career-oriented, ruthless shark—the perfect protégé for the firm’s leading partner, Jordan Wethersby (Victor Garber), and fiancée for Wethersby’s daughter, Taylor (Natasha Henstridge)—until he begins having these horrifying “visions”. I say horrifying because they frequently involve George Michael dancing and singing. Anyway, these visions lead Eli to do things he had heretofore never really cared about, mainly to defend and represent people who could never pay for his services. He goes to see his neurologist brother, Nathan (Matt Letscher), only to be told there’s nothing medically wrong. He goes to Dr. Chen (James Saito), an acupuncturist and holistic medicine practitioner, and finds a friend who helps him remember things he had forgotten. The visions continue, affecting Eli’s life and career in mostly detrimental ways, although he does help a few people along the way, but when he finally puts his own life in danger Nathan begins to equate Eli’s erratic behavior with their deceased father’s own oddity. Nathan examines Eli again and finds an inoperable tumor in Eli’s brain, the same thing their father had.

The season continued as the story unfolded. Eli and Taylor broke up and she gravitated toward Matt Dowd (Sam Jaeger), an attorney in the firm that has all of Eli’s former ambition but none of his humanity. Eli himself became attracted to Maggie Dekker (Julie Gonzalo), a very pretty and soulful attorney who’s unfortunately engaged—although she is attracted to Eli as well. And then there’s Patti Dellacroix (Loretta Devine), the firm’s funny, sassy receptionist who acts as Eli’s staunchest supporter and anchor to the real world—probably my favorite character all around. Also, Jordan began to believe in Eli, and even started thinking about changing the focus of the firm to a more “little guy”-oriented business plan, a move which was none too popular with senior partners Martin Posner (Tom Amandes) and Marci Klein (Katie Sagal), who tried to have him removed as managing partner by the board of directors. Eli’s visions led him into more and more uncharted territory, culminating in his convincing the Mayor of SF to close the Golden Gate Bridge because of an earthquake. The earthquake, of course, occurred and collapsed the bridge and Eli was hailed as a hero by everyone who knew—which was a lot of people. All of this on the eve of the newly-developed surgery that was to remove the tumor—and possibly the visions—from his brain.

Headline: IQs in San Francisco Drop Precipitously! Scientists Baffled!

The second season opens with Eli having gone four months without a vision. He’s seeing a psychiatrist (Sigourney Weaver) in an attempt to show that he is emotionally fit to resume his legal practice. Then Nathan has a vision of Jordan trapped inside a collapsed building. Nathan, under the direction of Dr. Chen, comes to find that Jordan is trapped in a stairwell and that the rescue teams are looking in the wrong place. Eli takes this information to the authorites only to find that he has to go to court to get anyone to believe him. In court, he is opposed by Posner, Klein, and Jordan’s own daughter, Taylor. I could only listen to these three argue with Eli in court with my face buried in my hands—while watching I couldn’t help screaming, “Sure, just because he’s been right about everything else—like an EARTHQUAKE—doesn’t mean he’s right now! It’s only been FOUR MONTHS!!!” How could they have forgotten? By the end of the episode, we find that Sigourney Weaver was a messenger from God (I’ve always suspected as much) and that Eli or his brother has to have the tumor, so Eli takes it back, along with the visions. Oh, and, by the way, Jordan was found in the stairwell—right where Eli said he was.

Next, Eli falls in love with Katie Holmes (haven’t we all?), who guests on the show to play a clumsy attorney named Grace who’s leaving the country in a couple of days. They go out a couple times, fall for each other, and she leaves. Meanwhile, Eli is representing a man (Ken Howard) whose son was killed in Iraq but who doesn’t want his son to get a military funeral since his son hated the war. During the case, we’re shown a video the son sent to his mother about how great everything was going over there and, once it becomes clear that Howard is losing the case, he shows an e-mail in which his son complains and blames his father for getting him into the Army. The judge, stating she has to go with the best evidence as to the son’s true wishes, decides that an unsigned e-mail is more conclusive than a videotape. I’m not arguing that it was wrong, just that it made no sense.

In the third and fourth installments this year, Jordan, who has decided to follow Eli into “feel-good” law business, is sued for control of the firm by Posner and Klein. They win, only to find that Jordan actually owns the building their offices are in so they have to move. On the way out, though, they try and bring as many associates as possible with them, luring Dowd and even Dekker. By the way, Maggie’s engagement is broken when Eli has a vision of her fiancée cheating on her with another woman. But of course she gets angry with Eli about it—leading to me screaming at the tv again.

Bottom line:

I see here that Eli Stone’s ratings have dropped this season. Unfortunately, I understand completely why that is. At the end of last season, when Eli’s earthquake prediction became pretty much common knowledge, I had thought this show was going to take us somewhere we hadn’t been before. Most shows like this are pretty formulaic: Guy has weird power that no one knows about or believes in, goes around helping people secretly using this ability in secret so no one will think he’s crazy. This looked like it was going to break that mold by having everyone know who he is and what he does. Instead, they all seem to just forget what happened a few months ago, or even a couple days ago, when it suits the writers. Buffy the Vampire Slayer handled this whole thing perfectly, now that I think of it. The kids in her class knew she did things but never made an issue of it—except on Prom Night when they gave her an award. But they didn’t just “forget” that it happened. Unfortunately, it’s beginning to look more and more like very shortly we’ll all be able to just “forget” Eli Stone entirely.

-Sam Christopher

Buy Season 1 of Eli Stone on DVD from The Axiom's Edge Webstore

Watch Online at ABC.com

Sam Christopher's Quick Hits

This week Dark Horse brings us The Cleaners #1, a CSI-type story from writers Mark Wheaton and Joshua Hale Fialkov and artist Rahsan Ekedal, a CSI with a supernatural twist, it seems. It’s basically about a hazardous material cleanup company that specializes in human remains and product. First ish is a little iffy. Didn’t really grab me but I’ll check out the next and we’ll see.

The Kingdom Come Special: Superman one-shot also hit the stands this week and I’m forced to admit after reading it that I’m not the most observant guy in the world. It says it right on the cover and I missed it. It says it in huge letters on the third page and I still missed it. On the other hand, I did kind of realize it while reading the book, which is what led me to turn back to the third page and find out. Obviously, Alex Ross had drawn it—and that’s okay with me because even though I don’t really like his superhero art he is co-creator of Kingdom Come and he is entitled— but I didn’t realize he had also written it until after he took us to Metropolis. Not awful but nothing great, either. “The burdens of the Supermen are shared by the Lois Lanes of the universe”?

Next we have Superman & Batman vs. Vampires & Werewolves #3, which continues to surprise. Writer Kevin Van Hooke is crafting an excellent story, with good characterization for Superman—especially his “sense of humor”—and a lively goriness rarely seen in any story involving the Big Red “S”. Which brings us to Tom Mandrake’s artwork. This is the perfect style for a dark and brooding supernatural tale, although his depiction of Supes leaves much to be desired. A super powered alien in a gothic horror setting is a huge contrast.

IDW kicks off Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. Kevin Grevioux and Andrew Huerta show us how the vampire/werewolf war that defines the Underworld-verse began. Not really an auspicious beginning. I find it incredible that Viktor rose to lead the vamps at all, much less maintained power for as long as he did. The vampires have a serious problem here, a problem Viktor helped create in the first place, and the solution falls right into his lap… so he turns it away. Brilliant! On the other hand, maybe he should run for President.

Other comics:
Action Comics #871- Part 4 of New Krypton brings us a new super team that we’ve seen before, a savage beatdown of a formerly un-savage beatdownable foe, and continues the pretty lame subplot of Gen. Lane’s War on Superman.

Amazing Spidergirl #26- Arana and Spidergirl—one and the same! And vice versa! And Lil Benjy saves Christmas.

Hulu Awards Week 4: Sam Christopher's List (Part 1)

This week things really heat up with the selection of the winners for the main tv categories. We also have the second round for nominees for Best Doc, Horror Movie, and Dramatic Short. And then there are the new categories, all of which center around the bane of all “entertainment”, the reality show. I have thoughts on all of this, some of which I borrowed (but we’ll get to that in a later column), but first up are our finalists:

Best Classic TV Show:

I understand completely how anyone could pick any of these. Alfred Hitchcock Presents is easily the best suspense show ever made, and The Dick Van Dyke Show is on a par with The Andy Griffith Show as one of the best two or three sitcoms ever made. But my choice throughout this process has never changed. It is the lightest, silliest, and most fantastical of these finalists, an all-time favorite based not only on the unwavering hilarity of the magnificent regular cast but also the veritable galaxy of guest stars—Paul Lynde alone is worth his weight in platinum. I stand by it:

Bewitched


Best TV Show of the Seventies:

As mentioned before, Barney Miller was just too uneven for me to head this list. Charlie’s Angels was all right—although how any PI show from the ‘70s beats out The Rockford Files I’ll never understand—but hardly the best. I Dream of Jeannie was fun but even a sillier and less comprehensible plot than it’s predecessor by one year, Bewitched (which begs the question of why IDoJ is on the ‘70s list in the first place, but we play by the rules we’re given); on the other hand, Barbara Eden’s “talents” were always much more prominently displayed than Elizabeth Montgomery’s, a situation which couldn’t help but make the show a draw.
Which brings us to the top two. I absolutely adored The Bob Newhart Show. Bob, Emily… Howard, the neurotic and goofy airline pilot neighbor… Mr. Carlin, the just plain neurotic… Jerry, Carol… all of these funny, well-written characters were welcome in living rooms all across America. Too many sitcoms today are populated by characters none of us would really want to know in real life. This show was the familiar old shoe, the one we loved to put on and be comfortable in. But Mary Tyler Moore had all that plus. It had marvelous characters and three of them—Lou Grant, Rhoda Morgenstern, and Phyllis Lindstrom— moved to their own shows, with others—Ted Baxter, Sue Ann Nivens, and Murray Slaughter—who easily could have (and these actors—Ted Knight, Betty White, Gavin MacLeod—all did have their own successful show later). Best show on Hulu? A case can easily be made this was the best sitcom of the ‘70s, period.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show


Best TV Show of the Eighties:

So far this is the worst category for me. I hated Alf. I tried to watch but it just didn’t make it for me. I’ve always thought that Married with Children is easily the worst successful sitcom ever made. To this day I have no idea how anyone could sit through a half-hour a week of this. Benson was watchable. It had a low threshold of comedy, cute without being out and out funny, had characters we could care about, and had Neelix and Odo as regulars—although they were disguised as humans. The A Team was a staple for me in its first season but tailed off thereafter, and the reruns of it now are on a par with Kung Fu: no matter how much I loved them in first run they are both just riddled with unwatchability now. Which leaves us with the one show of all these finalists that was among the best when it was at its best. Faded badly at the end but with an opening that really made us take notice, my choice:

The Facts of Life


As indicated above, I’ll have my picks and reasons for the other, non-finalist categories in a day or so.

(Editor's Note: The general public can participate in the nominations as well. Go to the links above for any or all of the categories you are interested in and cast your vote for the shows you think should win. All of the general votes will be tallied up and count as one panelist in deciding the final winners. PSW)

Mid-Week Update: Cancellations and Pickups

The networks are currently in the process of making scheduling decisions for the back half of the 2008-09 season, so cancellations and pickups are being announced now. To no ones surprise, the fates cast the CW’s romantic comedy about Greek gods, Valentine, to oblivion. The show never even pulled a half of a rating point in the 18-49 demographic and only once made it above one million viewers.

It was also no surprise that NBC axed My Own Worst Enemy which never pulled better numbers in its 10 PM EST Monday timeslot than last year’s cancelled Journeyman. NBC also gave word to the production team of Knight Rider that it needs an overhaul. The series received a full season pickup a few weeks ago, but its numbers have yet to get out of low gear. The show will retool, drop some cast members, and try to get closer to the feel of the original series in an attempt to correct its course.

The Sci Fi Channel likes what it series from the performance of Sanctuary and has given it a pickup for a 13 episode second season. Production on that will begin early in 2009.

ABC has ordered the back nine episodes of Life on Mars, which has pulled decent numbers in its 10 PM EST Thursday timeslot, though it consistently loses a fair amount of the audience from its Grey’s Anatomy lead-in. No word yet from ABC on either Pushing Daisies or Eli Stone, both pn the bubble as they have underperformed in their sophomore seasons. The fans of Pushing Daisies continue to send letters, daisy seeds, and daisies to the network in an effort to convince them to keep the show on the air.

All of the other Science Fiction and Fantasy shows from the current season should be safe for now. Check back with us for any breaking updates in the coming weeks.

Television Review - Sanctuary

Sci Fi Channel, 9 PM EST, Fridays Rating (after five episodes): 3 out of 5 stars

Sanctuary tells the story of Dr. Helen Magnus who runs a vast refuge for “abnormals”, beings with special abilities who are the result of genetic mutations. Some of these creatures stay at her sanctuary voluntarily, while other, more vicious beings are kept there as prisoners because of the danger they present to the outside world. The show began life as a web-only series comprised of eight webisodes, but has now transitioned to a more customary format as a weekly series on the Sci Fi Channel. Both the web-series and television adaptation come from Stargate veterans Damian Kindler and Martin Wood (creators / executive producers) and Amanda Tapping (executive producer, Dr. Magnus).

The pilot episode follows the first four webisodes fairly closely though it makes a few changes to the characters and does not provide as much backstory on Dr. Magnus (some of that starts to show up in later episodes). Since then, it has followed the format of Magnus and her team, consisting of her daughter Ashley (Emilie Ullerup) a forensic psychiatrist Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne), investigating reports of abnormals. And while the series showed a lot of promise early on, it has since settled into formulaic “freak of the week” episodes.

My biggest complaint about the series is basically the same one I had about the Stargate shows. They have some interesting story ideas, but rarely do more than scrape the surface of their potential. The creative team fails to delve into the possibilities of the ideas presented and instead they present straightforward action/adventure peppered with some intriguing concepts. The most recent episode from Sanctuary (“Nubbins”) provides a perfect example of this. This story about man-eating tribbles (yes, I typed that correctly), had a ton of potential for the series to have a little fun, make a few jabs at the Science Fiction genre, and establish a cool new species of creatures. Instead, they took the fairly straight-forward hunt-the-monster approach and the cast seemed to just sleepwalk through the episode. When the episode ended, I just felt disappointed that they did not do more with the concept.

Not that I don’t like the series, I have actually rather enjoyed it so far. I just wish they would present more substantive episodes. I have also noticed a downward trend in the quality of the episodes from the premiere to the most recent episode. Hopefully they manage to turn this around in the coming weeks.

As far as the cast, they do a good enough job of carrying the series, even making up at times where the scripts are wanting. Amanda Tapping steps into a completely different role from her Stargate days as the mysterious Dr. Helen Magnus. Robin Dunne plays Will Zimmerman as the outsider that the audience can identify with stepping into this odd menagerie of characters. And Emilie Ullerup spices up the series as the rash daughter of Magnus and primary abnormal hunter (one could almost take her for a relative of Elle from Heroes in her appearance and manner).

Sanctuary has been a ratings hit for the Sci Fi Channel, pulling the largest numbers for the debut of an original series on the channel since Eureka bowed in 2006. It likely will secure a place as one of the flagship shows for that channel’s Friday night lineup.

Overall, I would say that the series shows promise and could develop into a strong performer for the genre. The creative team just needs to go beneath the surface and explore the full potential of their stories.

-John J. Joex

Watch Sanctuary Online at SciFi.com

Television Review - The Eleventh Hour

CBS, 10 PM EST, Thursdays

Rating (after 5 episodes): 2.5 out of 5 stars

There are people out there who would use the advances of science to their own personal gain and/or to the detriment of others. In doing so, sometimes things get out of hand and the threat of these abuses could reach catastrophic proportions. It is at this “eleventh hour” that special science investigator Jason Hood is called in to help out. Thus the premise of this new CBS series based on the British show of the same name which starred Patrick Stewart.

Like several other new series from the current season, this one skirts along the edge of the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre. It does not go quite as far as FOX’s Fringe, which has much stronger Science Fiction leanings, but it definitely has more genre elements than CBS’s The Mentalist, which is just a crime procedural with a twist. I have viewed two episodes of the British original, and American version follows it closely. In fact, the first and fifth episodes (“Resurrection” and “Containment), are essentially remakes of episodes from the British pilot (though scaled back to 60 minutes from the original’s 90 minute run time).

Rufus Sewell brings a different interpretation to the Jason Hood character than the venerable Patrick Stewart’s portrayal. Stewart played Hood as a rather grim and crotchety character who has little patience with those who would misuse science. The younger Sewell’s character still shows this lack of patience, but his Hood has more people skills and is someone you can more easily warm up to. And as much as I like Stewart as an actor, I prefer Sewell in this role.

Mary Shelton plays Rachel Young, Hood’s FBI handler/partner. She is the tough “guy” to his more cerebral investigator. In the British series, the Young character was necessary as an aid for the elderly Hood. In this version, Young’s presence is explained because of previous attempts on Hood’s life.

The series does not have the same X-Files feel than Fringe has despite the fact that they cover similar territory. Instead, The Eleventh Hour seems more like CSI with a few cutting-edge science concepts thrown in for good measure (which makes sense seeing as they share the same executive producer, Jerry Bruckheimer). This does make for some interesting stories, but I can see where the show would appeal more to the CSI crowd than Science Fiction fans. The remakes of the British episodes have had the most genre appeal so far, and when that material runs out (only four episodes were made across the seas), I wonder if the series will veer even further away from the Science Fiction elements. No story arcs have developed at this point either, though it looks like the Geppetto character introduced in the pilot could become a recurring villain.

Ratings-wise, CBS can definitely count this one as a hit. It has not pulled the same number of total viewers as their other hit new series, The Mentalist, but it’s not too far behind. It also does not skew as high with the more coveted 18-49 demographic as say Fringe, but that’s typical of shows on CBS. The network can’t like that it loses a fair number of viewers from its CSI lead-in, but this should not put the show’s status in jeopardy. In fact, this series might be a likely candidate to move to the slot following The Ghost Whisperer on Fridays (recently vacated by the failed Ex-List) should CBS consider shuffling its schedule.

The Eleventh Hour is a decent show, though not engaging enough that I will tune in each week. Its primary strength comes from Sewell’s portrayal of Jason Hood, but it needs to keep a close tie to its cutting-edge science elements to make it stand out as more than just another crime drama.

-John J. Joex

Buy the Original British Eleventh Hour at the Axiom's Edge Webstore

Watch The Eleventh Hour Online at CBS.com

Weekly Update – Fuller Could Return to Heroes; Lost / Dollhouse Premieres Set; Ratings Update; New Batman Premieres; CW Withdraws The Graysons

Fuller Could Return to Heroes: Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me) has been approached to return to NBC’s ailing Heroes. This past week, show-runners Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander were released in light of the show’s slumping ratings and severe criticism of the show from fans and critics (TV Guide recently polled its readers on how they would fix the show). Fuller served as writer / co-executive producer during Heroes' well-regarded first season writing such outstanding episodes as “The Company Man”. Fuller is currently committed to Pushing Daisies which is in its second season but has been experiencing a significant ratings drop-off. He has indicated that if ABC does not pick up additional episodes of Daisies, he could definitely return to Heroes.

ABC Sets Lost Premiere: ABC has announced January 21st as the return date for Lost which will also be moving back to its original timeslot on Wednesdays at 9 PM EST. The series will have a 3 hour premiere for its fifth season which will include a clips show lead-in followed by the first two episodes of the season back to back. Season 5 will have a total of 17 episodes.

FOX Sets Dollhouse Premiere, Sarah Connor Move: FOX has announced February 13th as the premiere date for Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. The series will air in the Friday 9 PM EST timeslot and will have a lead-in from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles which will re-locate from its Monday night timeslot (no word yet on when this change will occur). While FOX’s The X-Files once flourished on Fridays, that night has since become a slow ratings time for the major networks. CBS’s supernatural series The Ghost Whisperer has done well on Fridays, though, so perhaps FOX’s two genre entries will develop a following as well. A new trailer for Dollhouse is available online: www.dollverse.com/trailer/

Ratings Update: Most of the series from the first half of the week took a bye with election coverage taking the forefront. NBC’s Knight Rider took a serious hit this week, dropping to a 1.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic and pulling fewer total viewers than the Spanish network Univision in that hour. On Thursdays, CBS’s The Eleventh Hour and ABC’s Life on Mars seem to have settled in to pretty stable numbers and will likely both receive a full season pickup. On Friday, The Ghost Whisperer pulled its highest numbers of the year (11 million viewers / 2.8 rating in 18-49 demo) in a pivotal episode for the series. Keep up with the weekly ratings with our Network Ratings Tracker as well as the likelihood of cancellation with the Renew/Cancel Index at TV by Numbers.

Batman Premieres on Cartoon Network: Friday November 14th marks the last of the Fall premieres in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre when Batman: The Brave and the Bold bows on Cartoon Network at 8 PM EST. The series will team up Batman with a different superhero from the DC Universe each week similar to the comic book it is based on. The team ups for the first three episodes will be The Blue Beetle, Plastic Man, then Aquaman.

CW Withdraws The Graysons: Plans for a Smallville-like series based on Dick Grayson’s pre-Robin years have been dropped by the CW Network. Word is that Warner Brothers Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov changed his mind about moving forward with the project. No word on whether the CW’s struggles to remain viable played a part in the decision.

Hulu Awards Week 3: Sam Christopher's List

Hulu Awards Week 3:

Sports Programming Finals:

American Gladiators: I don’t have any problem with any of the other contenders, but let’s face it, none of the others have Crush. After watching her in The Joust I can only say that girl can hit me with a stick anytime.

Best Classic TV Series Round 2 Nominations:

Two of my original nominations made the semifinal so I was left to find a third.

1. Bewitched
2. The Three Stooges Collection 1934-1936
3. Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Not choosing this show in the first round was like tearing my arm off. AH was an amazing scenarist, with a deliberately understated style that many writers in today’s TV market could stand to emulate.

(See my previous post for comments on the other shows above.)


Best Show of the Seventies Round 2 Nominations:

All of my original picks went through to round two (Adam-12 was mentioned in my column but was left off the nomination list when I was informed I only had four choices) but now there needs to be five, so…

1. The Rockford Files
2. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
3. The Bob Newhart Show
4. Barney Miller
5. Charlie’s Angels: As I waded through a veritable sea of great TV to make this last choice the question arose: Who would I want to wade through an ocean with more than Charlie’s Angels? Farrah, Kate, and Jaclyn would make the perfect beach companions: great to look at, fun to talk to, and if anyone kicks sand in my face I’ll just let the girls take care of him and use the money I would’ve sent to Charles Atlas to buy more comics. And suntan lotion.

(See my previous post for comments on the other shows above.)


Best Show of the Eighties Round 2 Nominations:

1. The White Shadow
2. Hill Street Blues
3. The Facts of Life
4. Fame
5. The Incredible Hulk: I always loved The Fugitive and Lou Ferrigno had nearly as big a chest as Elvira, my pick that didn’t make it through.

(See my previous post for comments on the other shows above.)


Best Documentary Feature:

1. Pride of the Yankees: This biopic about the life and times of all-time great Lou Gehrig, with Gary Cooper in the lead, isn’t really a documentary but it’s on the list and it’s always been a favorite for me. Possibly the second-best sports film ever (after Caddyshack).
2. Cosmic Voyage: Those of us interested in science fiction should never forget the hard science behind the fiction. And this was narrated by Easy Reader—always a plus.
3. Heart of Geauxld: The Story of the 2007 LSU Fighting Tigers: Football. SEC Football. I think that should say enough.

Best Horror Movie:

1. The Thing: Carpenter’s reworking of the classic John W. Campbell short story “Who Goes There?” is a classic in its own right.
2. 28 Days Later: A fantastic “on edge” film that pursues its theme with a ruthless logic seldom equaled in the horror genre.

Best Dramatic Short:

1. Save the Children: Norwegian children selling lottery tickets in front of a gas station? Poignant and funny, this really grabbed me. A must-see.
2. The Pick Up: The whole film is an old man shuffling around a room trying to fix a stepladder. Very good, although the ending is slightly telegraphed.
3. Mere Oblivion: A young guy (listed as Kenny Bunkport on the site—ugh!) takes his grandmother to a fancy restaurant and gets a surprise. Just an excellent piece of drama. And comedy.

(Editor's Note: The general public can participate in the nominations as well. Go to the links above for any or all of the categories you are interested in and cast your vote for the shows you think should win. All of the general votes will be tallied up and count as one panelist in deciding the final winners. PSW)

Hulu Awards Week 3: John J. Joex’s List

Round 1 nominations for Week 3 of the Hulu Awards were in the following three categories:

Best Documentary Feature:

Hulu.com has a limited number of offerings in this category and some only marginally count as documentaries. Still, there were a few good ones to pick from.

My Nominations:

1. Koyaanisqatsi – This 1982 movie directed by Godfrey Reggio uses slow motion and time-lapse photography set to the minimalist music of Phillip Glass to show modern life and its imbalances. It truly is a work of art and like other cinematic masterpieces such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Fantasia is best experienced on the big screen.
2. Australia: The Land Before Time – I have always had a fascination for Australia and this documentary provides an interesting view of how life manages to survive in the harsh environment that makes up the majority of this continent.
3. Split: A Divided America – Provides an insightful look at how the United States has become a split nation focusing primarily on the fallout from the 2004 Presidential Election. It takes neither a Liberal or Conservative stance as it tries to present a good sampling of perspectives.

Honorable Mention: Paul Mooney's Analyzing White America – White people beware (myself included). Comedian Paul Mooney takes dead aim in his often humorous yet hard to swallow diatribe on post-911 America.

Guilty Pleasure: Burger Town – Don’t get me started on food, it’s a particular favorite subject of mine. This documentary looks at several of the Burger legends focusing on those that got started on the West Coast including McDonalds, Big Boy, and In-N-Out Burger. Not quite as snappy as similar shows that have appeared on The Food Channel and other cable channels, but still entertaining.


Best Dramatic Short:

This category contained a plethora of oddities (as you would expect for this milieu of filmmaking), but there were a few gems among them.

My Nominations:

1. David Bianchi's Soldier – This riveting piece provides a smack in the face to the realities and horrors of war.
2. I'll Save The Multiverse – A fun little romp through parallel dimensions to save the universe.
3. Between the Flags – Two guys waiting around for a riot to start making small talk and finding others ways to pass the time. Like something you would expect from Kevin Smith.

Not for the Feint of Heart: The Brain Eater – Overly morbid and somewhat nonsensical. For gore fans only.


Best Horror Movie:

I’m not a huge horror fan, but I have seen enough to have a good feel for the genre and Hulu.com has some good choices available.

My Nominations:

1. John Carpenter’s The Thing – An easy choice. One of the few remakes that actually surpasses the original (quite a feat to, considering its classic status), this movie manages to deliver a good story, while providing plenty of frights as well. An all time classic among Horror and Science Fiction films.
2. The Toxic Avenger – This raunchy movie is a great parody of horror/gore genre and put Troma Entertainment on the map.

Guilty Pleasure: The Car – This 1977 movie is really pretty bad, but provides some good campy B-Movie fun (essentially it is Jaws with a car replacing the shark). A perfect target for Mystery Science Theater 3000.


Sports Programming Finals:

NHL – I’m not into the extreme sports or reality/game show offerings representing three of the five finalists and no football choices made it to this round, so I will go with this one because it provides really good coverage of the NHL.


Best Show of the Eighties Round 2 Nominations:

Since all of my Round 1 nominations made it to this round, the choices are pretty simple. See my previous post for my comments on these shows.

1. Miami Vice
2. Hill Street Blues
3. WKRP in Cincinnati
4. The White Shadow
5. St. Elsewhere

Best Show of the Seventies Round 2 Nominations:

All but one of my Round 1 nominations moved up so I tacked on Night Galley in the number 5 slot. See my previous post for my comments on these shows.

1. Barney Miller
2. Mary Tyler Moore Show
3. The Bob Newhart Show
4. The Rockford Files
5. Night Gallery

Best Classic TV Series Round 2 Nominations:

Somehow I missed The Dick Van Dyke Show in Round 1 so I am making up for that in the Round 2 nominations. See my previous post for my comments on these shows.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Three Stooges Collection 1934-1936

(Editor's Note: The general public can participate in the nominations as well. Go to the links above for any or all of the categories you are interested in and cast your vote for the shows you think should win. All of the general votes will be tallied up and count as one panelist in deciding the final winners. PSW)

Sam Christopher's Quick Hits

First this week we have Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #1. Question: What is this obsession Marvel has with “forgotten heroes”? The “first” Captain America that no one had ever heard of, then The Sentry, Marvel’s answer to Superman who no one remembers, and now the Blue Marvel, Marvel’s other answer to Superman who no one remembers. And Kevin Greviouox and Matt Broome have taken that concept one step further here by making this “Superman” black and having Presdient John F. Kennedy ask him to stop helping people as the Blue Marvel because of racism. First, I don’t buy JFK doing that—just can’t see it. Second, it’s not very good. Although it is much better than Marvel Apes.

Next, Adventure Comics Special featuring The Guardian. This direct follow-up to the Jimmy Olson Special gives us The Guardian’s story, why he ran and hid himself away and what he’s waiting for. An Alex Jones vision of paradise, this ties the now-defunct Cadmus (seen cleared out in the Olson Special) with all manner of military black ops programs and fills in some of the blanks on the plot to kill Superman. My question here, though, is why they don’t just clone Supes himself and program that clone—or hundred or thousand clones—to attack relentlessly until they kill him. They cloned him once (Superboy); just set them all to self-destruct afterward. And what happens to this well-laid plan now that there are around a hundred-thousand Kryptonians flying around? Oh, well, still a lot of story left in this one, and this was a good ish.

The Asylum of Horror #1- I bought this because… well, whyever I bought this it isn’t very good. An anthology of 18 illustrations and stories, this is only a slightly mixed bag, with the bad far outweighing the good, although most of the artwork is excellent. Aaron Rintoul’s "Black Milk" was by far the best thing in here—I wouldn’t mind seeing this as the basis for a miniseries, or even a running series—with "Nenad gucunja" and Frank Forte’s "Infector" "winning" a close race with "My Diary: Love or Obsession" by Szymon Kudranski for the worst. Special dispensation goes to Kevin Colden for his "Caveat Emptor" for dumbest ending, far too heavy-handed to be truly offensive. On the other hand, the story illustrates exactly how I look at the Republican and Democrat Parties, so…

And, Dark Horse gives us Kull #1, the first of a new series starring the consensus second-best creation of Robert E. Howard. Arvid Nelson and Will Conrad team to tell a tale of a newly-crowned King of Valusia attempting to consolidate his power by bringing to heel the last openly defiant noble of the previous regime. Kull’s army storms the noble’s fortress stronghold only to find a horror older than Man himself, then, later, that the vicissitudes of empire and governance are both subtle and gross. All in all, an excellent start to what we hope will be a long-running series. (I thought this was to be a mini but am pleasantly surprised.)

Other comics:
Final Crisis: Resist- Okay, I guess. Nothing special unless you love Checkmate, which I don’t.

Justice Society of America #20- Can’t say enough about this universe-spanning event. It’s the “JSA of Two Worlds” battling it out as Power Girl—both of her-- wonders what’s gone wrong and the 30th Century Starman finally begins to piece together his role in all this.

Marvel Zombies 3 #2- The Zombie Kingpin uses his indomitable will to both control the super powered walking dead and keep from eating his still-living wife? Meh. Not a bad ish, all told, but that part is lame.

Iron Man The End- Bernard Chang penciled this David Michelinie and Bob Layton-written story. Okay, but jumps around a little too much. We never really get to know Nick Travis, or really see the problems that grow between he and Tony. A one-shot that really needed to be a mini-series.

-Sam Christopher

Television Review - Life on Mars

ABC, 10 PM EST, Thursdays

Rating (after four episodes): 3 out of 5 stars

Life on Mars follows the same premise as the British series upon which it is based, and tells the story of detective Sam Tyler who gets hit by a car in 2008 and finds himself transported to the year 1973. Apparently there is a Sam Tyler living in that year as well and also working for the police force, so he assumes his duties until he can figure out what happened to him. He decides that it must be one of several possibilities including that he is in a coma and dreaming, that he is in a parallel universe, that he is insane, or that he really did travel back in time.

I was skeptical when I first heard this premise, thinking it would have limited interest to fans of the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre. I mean, come on: first episode he travels back in time and from there on we have Starsky and Hutch revisited, right? The first five episodes have definitely tempered my skepticism, though, as we have seen some rather interesting stories unfold. The series explains Sam’s new kid on the block status by showing in the first episode that he was supposed to be transferring to a new precinct in New York (that happens to be the same one he works at in 2008) from another location (it’s just part of the over all mystery on what happened to the actual Sam Tyler from 1973 and why he did not show up for his reassignment). The precinct is overrun by corruption and has a hard-nosed, do-it-my-way chief overseeing its day-to-day operations. Sam immediately runs afoul of his chief and fellow detectives as he clashes with them over there less sophisticated methods of crime fighting and their Dirty Harry approach to dealing with criminals.

While this sounds like yet another variation on the well tread “fish out of water” gimmick, Life on Mars manages to spin the material well enough that it does not feel overly contrived and hackneyed (the producers of My Own Worst Enemy could take a few pointers from this crew). The series also has not fallen into the standard action/adventure cop show or police procedural rut (though it has numerous homages to seventies cop shows). The stories tend to contrast 70’s attitudes and sensibilities with a more modern day view to paint a picture of how much the world has changed from then to now. Of course Sam is a bit too much of a Boy Scout and there is a bit too much of the superior modern day ideals vs. backward seventies attitudes bent to it, but it doesn’t take that too far.

And the Science Fiction elements do not get lost amongst the police procedural elements of the show. They do not receive the focus, but they are intertwined throughout each episode. Sam hears voices of people who could not exist in 1973 and sees things that can’t be real during that year and there’s this strange little robot that keeps popping up. These provide hints that things are not really as they seem and Sam tries to key into them to help decipher his predicament. He also openly talks with several of the people from 1973 about his situation. This provides a nice change of pace from other shows dealing with people out of place who try to hide their dilemma. The people that he talks to try to humor his delusions while at the same time appear to half believe him.

As with any series, the actors can make or break it, and Life on Mars has a cast definitely up to the challenge. Jason O'Mara, a James Caan look-alike, plays Sam Tyler with the mystified, wide-eyed demeanor of a person trying to keep a grip on his sanity. His relationship with Lieutenant Gene Hunt (played by film-veteran Harvey Keitel) defines the series. Hunt is the hardened, corrupt cop that believes his dubious methods ultimately bring the greatest justice. However, he shows some signs of remorse for his questionable decisions, and though he clashes with Sam, he also seems to see him as a possible means to redemption. While these two provide the series focus, other characters shine as well. Michael Imperioli plays essentially the same character as he did on The Sopranos, only this time he is on the other side of the law. Gretchen Mol plays a seventies police woman relegated to passing out parking tickets and other administrative tasks on a police force which has yet to grasp liberation. And Tanya Fischer plays Sam’s trippy neighbor, Windy, who still has not let go of the sixties.

Life on Mars experienced some early behind the scenes shake-ups as David E. Kelley bowed out after ABC rebuffed his pilot and a new creative team came in and moved the series location to New York and recast practically every role (with only Jason O’Mara sticking around). This would spell doom for most series, but the show has managed to weather these early bumps. In the ratings, it has performed well (ranking as one of the higher rated new shows), though it regularly loses as much as 50% of the audience from its Grey’s Anatomy lead-in. Its numbers should keep it safe for now, though it would not surprise me to see ABC shift it to a different timeslot.

Overall, I think the series shows promise, but I wonder how far they can stretch this concept. Seems like it could grow tired before too long and start to experience a significant drop-off in its quality and ratings. Personally, I would be content if they wrapped this one up after one full season. The British original ran for two thirteen episode seasons and ended with a series wrap-up. Unfortunately, American television tries to milk a concept for as many episodes as possible, often stretching it way too thin (and often ending due to cancellation without providing a satisfying conclusion). We will have to see how they proceed with this one and how much life it has.

-John J. Joex

Watch Life on Mars Online at ABC.com

Television Review - My Own Worst Enemy

NBC, 10 PM EST, Mondays Rating (after three episodes): 2 out of 5 Stars

I usually give a show about four episodes or more before I sit down and write a review in order to get a good feel for the characters, the premise, and how the series is developing. For My Own Worst Enemy, though, I decided to give up after three because it is just annoying me too much. If Prime Time had less options with Science Fiction and Fantasy leanings, I might stick around longer, but there are just too many other shows to watch to clutter up my schedule with this one. Still I will go ahead pass along a review based on my thoughts from the first three installments.

First the good: Christian Slater. His performance drives this series and provides the one hook that brought me back through the three episodes I watched. He plays two characters. One is Henry Spivey, a middle-class working man with a wife, two kids, and a dog. The other is Edward Albright, a highly trained espionage agent who can and will kill with little remorse. The gimmick? They are the same person. You see, the organization that Edward works for planted a micro-chip in his brain that switches between the two personalities. When they don’t need Edward, they switch him off and Henry takes over leading his normal everyday life. But of course, the micro-chip malfunctions and now they switch personalities at random times. Slater does an excellent job of pulling off this dual psyche at odds with itself which includes a riotous ongoing argument that Henry and Edward have with each other via video recordings.

Now on to the bad: the premise. Why on earth would this secretive organization that Edward works for bother with creating these multiple personalities for their agents (Henry/Edward is just one of many such agents)? It can’t be to act as a cover because in the first episode the bad guy tracked down the non-agent personality Henry to his home pretty easily. It just makes no sense to me that they would do this in the first place. It doesn’t seem like a logical or practical course of action, just a silly contrivance to give the TV series a reason for being. Once Henry/Edward “breaks”, higher-ups at the secretive organization start to talk about terminating him, but you know that’s not going to happen, because then the series ends. So now we have a repetitive formula where each week Henry/Edward switches to the wrong personality at the wrong time and finds his life in danger because of it. This is not good story-telling, its just contrivances and gimmicks forcing the main characters into life or death situations which you know will never really result in an important character’s demise. It is also an unfortunate waste of Christian Slater’s talent. And do we really need one more shadowy organization operating outside the bounds of the law to get things done quickly and efficiently (no word on whether Edward’s group has any links to the Berkut Group from last year’s failed Bionic Woman and whether Jaime Sommers will pop by for a team-up episode). This device has just become too tired and My Own Worst Enemy offers no new spin on it.

Ratings-wise, the series has barely registered through its first three episodes. The premiere pulled slightly lower numbers than what the cancelled Journeyman saw in that timeslot last year, and the numbers have only gone downhill from there. NBC has told the producers of Medium to gear up for an early start (it was originally slated to return in January), so I would say that it could likely take over the Monday 10 PM slot as soon as December. I’ll admit that it’s possible that My Own Worst Enemy could expand beyond its contrived premise and develop into a more engaging series, but seeing as it is sinking fast in the ratings, I doubt it will get the chance.

-John J. Joex

Watch My Own Worst Enemy Online at Hulu.com

Weekly Update – David Tennant to Leave Dr. Who; Ratings Winners and Losers; Heroes Shake-Up; Ex-List Pulled

After several weeks of speculation, David Tennant has officially announced that he will depart from his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor. He will finish out his time by appearing in four specials next year, but a new Doctor will take his place when the series resumes weekly episodes. Tennant has become one of the most popular actors to play the Doctor and previously producers of the series tried to strike a deal for him to appear in a Doctor Who movie so that he would remain in the role. Nothing surfaced from those talks. Currently there is much speculation about who will replace Tennant, but nothing is confirmed at the present time . . . The ratings seemed to have settled in now and I think we can get a good idea of who are the winners and losers so far this season. The winners number the fewest with The Mentalist and The Eleventh Hour taking top honors, and maybe Fringe making an argument for inclusion as well. The losers are Valentine, My Own Worst Enemy, Eli Stone, and (unfortunately) Pushing Daisies. Each of these shows currently face a high risk of cancellation. The underperformers so far this season include The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Chuck, Heroes, and Life on Mars. The first three have received a full season pickup, but will most likely need to improve their numbers to continue beyond the current season. Life on Mars, though pulling lower numbers than what ABC would like, most likely will get a full season pickup as well. Holding steady this season are Smallville, Supernatural, and The Ghost Whisperer. Keep up with the weekly ratings with our Network Ratings Tracker as well as the likelihood of cancellation with the Renew/Cancel Index at TV by Numbers . . . Heroes co-executive producers Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb have been released from their duties as day-to-day show runners the series. Both had been with the show since it began and were let go because NBC is unhappy with the direction, cost, and ratings of Heroes this season. There is no word at this point who will replace them. Series creator and executive producer, Tim Kring, has promised to simply the stories going forward through Season 3 . . . Even though we do not consider The Ex-List to be in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre, we believe that our readers will be interested to know that it has been pulled from the schedule for poor performance. It debuted in the Friday 9 PM slot held last year by fan favorite Moonlight to mediocre numbers and only went downhill from there. This past week, a rerun of NCIS ran in its place and pulled twice the numbers that The Ex-List had seen in the works before being pulled. While CBS has not officially canceled the series, its return is unlikely.

Sam Christopher's Quick Hits

In Thor #11, Joe Straczynski (Rising Stars, The Twelve) continues his take on Asgard’s rebirth on Earth with an introspective issue in which Thor’s mortal alter ego, Don Blake, goes to New York to visit old flame Jane Foster, Thor himself visits the shrine of the fallen Captain America and actually talks with Cap’s spirit, and an Asgardian is killed. Loki’s sly evil, by the way, begins to infect even Balder the Brave with doubt. Just another excellent installment.

Which leads us to the last issue of the thunder god’s SI mini, Secret Invasion: Thor #3, wrapping up the story by Matt Fraction and Doug Braithwaite of the Skrull attack on Asgard. Beta Ray Bill, having stood in for Thor while Donald Blake was delivering a baby in nearby Broxton, lies broken after facing a Super-Skrull armed with Bill’s own enchanted hammer, Stormbreaker. Blake, the mortal vessel for Thor’s spirit, stands tall against the Super-Skrull while bereft of Mjolnir. And that’s just the splash page! Battles are fought, friends are reunited, gods are bloodied, and Asgard falls (literally)!

DC Universe: Decisions #4 was a pleasant surprise all the way around. Superman not only didn’t tell me who to vote for, he even basically apologized for all the other heroes doing it earlier in the series. Also, Hal Jordan was shown to be a true hero—something we don’t see often enough—and the story had a very satisfying ending which really only set up a follow-up story in Teen Titans, which I stopped buying awhile ago but I may think about picking up now.

In Superman #681, the story of New Krypton unfolds further. Better than the Special from last week, chapter two has Supes bringing a Kryptonian delegation to Metropolis to meet the President, which goes pretty well-- especially the Prez’s joke to Supergirl’s mother and father about them owing him a plane (Kara destroyed Air Force One in the Amazons Attack miniseries)—until an old enemy shows up. An old enemy who’s killed a Superman before.

Other comics:
Finally got Epilogue #2 (special thanks goes out to Richard at Futurevisions in Pensacola, Fl.) and it was well worth the wait. I just can’t say enough about the Kyle Hotz art on this book.

Dark Horse’s latest Solomon Kane tale deepens the mystery in issue #2, whetting our appetites for not only the rest of this series but also the upcoming Kull mini.

Justice League of America #26 is the end of the Second Coming storyline and an interesting glimpse at an Elseworlds-type JLA. Spider spins his web.

Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns brings us yet another color of ring, this time in possession of as close to DC Zombies as we’re likely to get.

I bought Avengers: The Initiative #18 after my pleasant surprise at the SI-centric New Avengers and Mighty Avengers. Not happy at all. At. All.

One last thing in comics: This week I bought the Tomb of Dracula Omnibus, collecting issues 1-31 and Giant Size 1-4, along with Werewolf by Night #15 of Marvel’s stellar ‘70s Prince of Darkness title in color. An incredible volume, as much as I love the Essentials’ black and white reprints there’s nothing quite like seeing that amazing Colan artwork in color. Comes in two covers, one the first ish cover and the other a new Gene Colan creation (I bought the new).

Movies:
The Frozen Ghost: An Inner Sanctum Mystery
(2 stars out of 5)—The Inner Sanctum was a radio show from the ‘40s which featured mystery tales with a supernatural bent. Lon Chaney Jr. was featured in 6 films using this imprint. In The Frozen Ghost, Chaney plays Alex Gregor, a hypnotist who performs under the name of Gregor the Great, who believes he has murdered a man through hypnosis. His manager and a patron who owns a wax museum have a sinister plan this circumstance helps to put in motion. Shenanigans ensue. Chaney’s acting, usually suspect, is very average at best in this film, which I enjoyed more because I love old movies than for any other reason. The action, direction, and story are very workman-like yet fun. Nothing special.

Black Friday
(2 stars out of 5)—Boris Karloff plays Dr. Earnest Sovac, a kindly if slightly unethical scientist, who saves his best friend, Prof. George Kingsley (played by Stanley Ridges), by transplanting a part of an injured gangster’s brain into Kingsley. The story then becomes a study in personality as the two very different men battle for domination of the shared body. Originally, Karloff was to play Kingsley, with Bela Lugosi essaying the Sovac role, but apparently Karloff, who I consider to be the single greatest actor in horror history (although I never argue with the choice of Price or Lee), wasn’t convincing enough in the gangster part of the role. An interesting film if only for the Karloff-Lugosi connection and the fact that Curt Siodmak (The Wolfman, Earth vs. The Flying Saucers) wrote the screenplay. Siodmak would return to the theme of dominant personality again and again, most notably in the celebrated Donavan’s Brain.

Earth vs. the Spider
(1958) (1.5 stars out of 5)—Typical Bert I. Gordon hijinks (his initials aren’t B.I.G. for nothing) about a girl, her boyfriend, their science teacher, and an eight-foot tall spider who belongs to no one. The title should have been “Small Town vs. the Spider”, though, as no one outside the town ever even sees the spider, much less fights it. A similar film to 1955’s Tarantula—except they never explain how this film’s arachnid reaches its gargantuan size, they capture this spider within the first fifteen minutes only to have it awaken later in town to wreak havoc, and Clint Eastwood doesn’t show up to bomb this spider to oblivion… Never mind, the two films are really nothing alike. Beyond the big spider of the title. And the lack of budget.


The Flesh Eaters
(1 star out of 5)—Great Mystery Science 3000 fodder about a starlet, her gal Friday, and the pilot hired to take them to a Caribbean island forced to land on an island inhabited only by a reclusive, creepy marine biologist. The surrounding ocean is infested with glowing creatures that strip all flesh… well, I’m sure you can get that from the title. For a picture made by Vulcan Productions it’s not very logical. Or fascinating. The ending is especially lame: The flesh eating creature is destroyed by blood.