Notes on Future Spoilers

As Comic-Con was a recent event, and since, as you can see by my eager post below concerning Sanctuary, you can tell I follow Comic-Con news, I feel it's necessary I make clear what I will and will not be posting about my discoveries as I muddle my way through the overwhelming amount of panel videos and exclusive cast interviews.

My future spoiler policy is only for basic season arcs, general episode plot lines, or romantic developments. I do not like having distinct future spoilers. When I post future spoilers they are meant to make you excited about or encourage discussion for the next season or episode. 

Here are some examples (taken from old seasons of shows). [I've hidden them below the read more line in case you don't even want to read old spoilers]

Note on Posts

So I've decided that I really like using a week review post like I did for last week; it relieves the burden of feeling like I need to write a lot about a mediocre episode. In the future I'll do full reviews of episodes that are incredibly significant (for better or for worse) and finales. Otherwise, with the number of shows that I watch it's really difficult to pull out full posts on each episode. If you don't want to wait that long or have an issue with it, please let me know, it's open for debate!

However, if you want my initial reaction to this Tuesday's trio of Covert Affairs, Warehouse 13, and White Collar it goes as follows: great, wonderfully adorable, and fantastic. Basically, it was an apology letter from USA and SyFy written to me after last week. 

The basic plan for the rest of the summer is: Covert Affairs, White Collar, Warehouse 13, SYTYCD, and Eureka. So I should be able to post my reviews by Saturday. I also watch True Blood, which shows on Sundays; I can include it, but it will delay the posting.

So please, discuss, comment, complain, argue, let me know if this is acceptable!

Sanctuary Season 3 Preview

Spoilers: It's a preview video. So yes. But only as far as guest characters and basic outline of some future episodes. My review of the video is posted in the comments section - therefore comments are open for spoilers as well.

So, Comic-Con is officially my favorite media related event ever thanks to the extreme number of cast interviews, previews, spoilers, and announcements it spawns. And though I've been picking my way through all of it, my day was officially made by finding this; the Season 3 preview for Sanctuary. I've mentioned this show before, it's wonderful, fun, original, and it's got Amanda Tapping.

Sanctuary fans - good news! The show was finally picked up for a full season (20 episodes) which for one thing, means an extended arc and more guest stars. I don't want to say anymore - just check out the video.

Non-Sanctuary fans - you can watch it for a good time, as it will catch you up on the season 2 finale, but otherwise you won't understand much of what makes it so awesome. I do, however, happen to know that Sidereel has excellent links for both seasons - not that I in anyway support illegally watching shows. I plan to buy both seasons and put them next to my DVDs of Firefly and Buffy because they are just as much fun to rewatch.

http://video.syfy.com/shows/sanctuary#////shows/sanctuary/whats_hot_5/sanctuary--comiccon-2010-trailer/v1241259

What do you think? Favorite part? Mine's at about 11 seconds from the end.

Week in Review: Overall, Not Bad, Not Great

SPOILERS: Last week's episodes of White Collar, Warehouse 13, Covert Affairs, SYTYCD, and Eureka

...and references to Jake 2.0 and the Middleman but I don't know if that counts as a spoiler

So, I've been watching Jake 2.0 all weekend, and I have to say, I'm halfway through the whole series and loving every episode. Of course, the fact that half the series consists of about 8 episode also makes me want to burst into tears. In other words I'm suffering from Firefly syndrome. Or, since it was in part written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and they didn't even ever air the last episodes, maybe it's Middleman-emonia. Horrible disease; symptoms include speaking in runon sentences and compulsion to curse using odd phrases like "Grapes of Wrath, Dubby!".

Anyways, last week's TV programming was in a similar vein; some good, some bad, all mixing for a thoroughly "eh" week.

On the bright side of last week, I saw A Little Night Music last Saturday, saw Promises, Promises this Friday, and I finally got my hands on a copy of Lord Sunday by Garth Nix. Oh, and I met Bill Nye the Science Guy. So you'll understand if I was a bit busy to do some posting. 

Note: If you didn't understand any of that, get to the googling! Or just wait till I post about them. Up to you.

Recycling - Good for the Environment, but TV?

Warning : this may approach venting proportions at times.

We see it all the time in movie theaters nowadays - remakes of old movie franchises, Broadway shows, and comics; all stories we've seen before which producers are determined to sell to us one more time. After all, why make something new when it's already a hit? It's even happening in video games - between last year and this year, it's been the era of sequels. Just look at Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, Civ 4 and 5, Fallout 3 : New Vegas, Fable 3, Assassin's Creed 2, and Final Fantasy XIII.

Though some TV shows we always expect to see, like procedurals and teen dramas, we usually hold the hope that when a show promising innovation and quirkiness comes along, it will actually deliver. Look at Joss Whedon - that man does not know the meaning of cliche except when it comes to lamp-shading himself or others. And thanks to our relatively short attention span to TV shows, we have only maybe a decades worth of shows at a time to stand up to.

This whole issue has been brought to my attention rather painfully by my recent watching of a certain show for the first time. About a nerdy guy. Now, this guy, he fixes computers. Until one day, oops, something happens that isn't supposed to, and he has a computer in him that gives him unique abilities such that a secret spy team (as least in part comprised by the NSA) is built for him. Oh, and the computer can't be removed. Bye bye normal loser life, hello lying to everyone. Think you know the show?

It's not Chuck. Well it is. Chuck was premiered in 2007. You know what else it describes? Jake 2.0 (which was shown for one season is 2003).

Yeah. Not so original sounding the second time around. This summer I decided to watch Chuck since I'd heard so much about - and I found it fun, unexpected, and a really cool idea. However, when I posted about Covert Affairs, a friend of mine pointed out that Christopher Gorham used to be the star of a sci fi show I would like - Jake 2.0. And while watching it I thought...wow, it's Chuck. But older. And still really good.

Note: Jake Foley was played by Christopher Gorham. Which means he's been a tech guy for both the NSA and CIA. And he's damn good at it - even though his two characters are extremely different.

I could be ok with similar premises. (Think X-Men versus Heroes) But the most recent episode I watched, the third one, focuses on the manly action guy of the team, Kyle, and his past relationship with another spy. And you know what it made me think of? The Chuck episode about Casey and Karina.

So my question is, does anyone else know any shows like this? Should this not bug me this much or does this stop other people from watching new shows for the fear that they will not be anything new? And does anyone else agree that this is proof that the best super spies are incredibly adorable computer nerds?

Covert Affairs - "Pilot"

SPOILERS: Really? Do I need to even say it?

As I've already said more than a few times, if you're a James Bond fan, you need to be watching this show. I was totally uninterested up until a day before the premiere, when I saw a blurb about one of the character's (Auggie). When the night of the premiere came I didn't decide until 9:58 that I was going to watch it, mostly because Warehouse 13 had been a huge disappointment and I didn't want my night to end on a bad note. Totally a fantastic decision on my part. Go me.

(Unless otherwise cited, pics are courtesy of usanetwork.com)

EVERYTHING that I've been watching

SPOILERS: Since I'm catching up, most descriptions are vague, but they do cover recent episodes of Stargate Universe, Royal Pains, Burn Notice, Eureka, Warehouse 13, Covert Affairs, White Collar, and SYTYCD. Also a few crossover spoilers I've picked up.

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Don't say I didn't warn you

Yes, I have lots of catching up to do. Part of my lack of enthusiasm for posting is because, to be totally honest, I'm a bit disappointed with summer programming so far. It's neither bad nor good, thoroughly not worth writing about. With one MAJOR exception. If you have ever been a James Bond fan, you should be watching Covert Affairs. Not to say you must be a James Bond fan to enjoy it, but for those of us who are it is absolutely wonderful, and though I watched the premiere on a last minute whim, I will be anxiously counting down the seconds until the next episode. But more to come later (as the newest show, it's at the end, and will probably get it's own separate review).

Warehouse 13 Season 2 Episode 1 - "Time Will Tell"

SPOILERS: Massive ones, since this was the season premiere

First off, I think it's necessary to give props to SyFy for one hell of an advertising campaign. I did not like this show for the majority of last summer, but I kept watching due to their fantastic guest stars. It wasn't until the introduction of MacPherson, a truly delightful villain, that I really began getting interested. Yet somehow, between the bus campaigns, the excessive commercials on Comedy Central, and the advertisement on the NYT webpage, I became extremely excited for this episode - and though I'm iffy about how some mysteries turned out, the episode certainly did not fail to disappoint in terms of shockers. (All photos courtesy of syfy.com)

And before this goes any futher - DID YOU SEE WHO'S ON NEXT WEEK? Jewel Staite and Sean Maher - Kaylee and Simon from Firefly. I'm just going to fangirl for a little bit now........
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Ok, all better.