Tuesday Night Mid-Season Finales

SPOILERS: NCIS, Glee, SGU, and Riese

Whoops....I guess I fell a liiiittle behind. My bad.

Damn, this is a lot more stuff to go through than all the Monday ones. Once again, aiming for impact and general opinion rather than specifics, sorry, or else this post would be way too long and I'd never get to enjoy my vacation.

Which is going great, by the way. I love holidays. Video games, home cooked meals, being driven crazy by your family (but of course you still really love them)....thank goodness none of them read this blog.

Also, if you're interested in plays and/or gay rights, I highly recommend the play called "The Laramie Project"; very moving and emotional. On a similar note, hurrah for the end of Don't Ask Don't Tell! (You can tell when I started writing this post by this paragraph)

Anyways, Riese actually turned out rather less disappointing towards the end. My final say would be, watch it if you enjoy artsy sci-fi or fantasy. It's nothing really original and the actors fall flat at times of the potential I know they have (kind of like watching Natalie Portman in Star Wars - you can tell she's trying but the dialouge she has to work with is just too awful). However, I was struck by the beauty of the show - the costumes, the gadgets, the scenery, all really stunning. It's aesthetics make it past that dividing line that makes certain steampunks shine while others are merely clunky and flashy. If you have some time to spare this break, watch it, and maybe like me you'll look forward to a potential second season. But you'll also see that it's no surprise that they weren't given their own TV show - this is no Sanctuary.

Sad News (part 2)

Last time I posted under this heading it was because the Sanctuary premiere had been postponed a month. Unfortunately, this news also has its roots in SyFy. Courtesy of blastr.com:

"Syfy announced today it will end its original action-adventure series Stargate Universeonce the show returns to finish its second season in the spring of 2011. The upcoming 10 episodes will be the series' last."

Some people are sad, and some people are relieved. Interestingly, this means both of SyFy's Tuesday night shows have been cancelled (SGU and Caprica) while Sanctuary is thriving in it's Friday night slot.

My opinion is leaning towards the relieved. I'm always sad to see a show with potential cancelled, and SGU did have some gems with the characters of T.J., Rush [above], Eli, and even Young at times. Season 1 stumbled trying to find it's footing, and Season 2 seemed to be headed in the right direction until...

It turned out there was a higher intelligence involved in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation. And then the religion metaphor, which was actually somewhat lovely to see at points, became heavy handed and substituted in in the place of science and actual ongoing action and drama.

So maybe it's time for the show to end. Like Dollhouse, the remaining episodes may spur them into actually reaching some resolution for the fans. Or like Kyle XY, Firefly, Jake 2.0, or the Middleman, maybe we'll be left throwing things at the TV going "WHAT THE @*&$#(@*#& you can't end it there! That didn't explain anything!!"

What do you think. Not given the chance to shine or a decision that should have been made ages ago?

Tuesday November 9 and 16, 2010

SPOILERS: Glee, Riese, Stargate Universe, and NCIS

Hello world! I am writing to you (and programing from) the glorious Pittsburgh airport, in a desperate attempt to fulfill my promise to catch up. Ehhhhh. More and more bullets. And don't even think about an episode of the day. Or pictures. I'm that behind, sorry.

Also, I've come to the conclusion that it's not Amanda Tapping's fault. Not even Morgan Freeman could make the Riese narration bearable.

Finally, I've got a question for all the SGU watchers: At the end of last weeks episode, did Rush deliberately miss? I'm not sure myself. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Tuesday November 2, 2010

SPOILERS: Riese and Stargate Universe

No NCIS or Glee, so this was a thoroughly Sci-fi/SyFy day. Though the best sci-fi of the week honor most certainly goes to Sanctuary (more on that later), Stargate Universe did pull out a good episode.

As for Riese....Ehh. One plus, however, is one of the cutest kidnapped tattooed babies ever. Really. So adorable.

Tuesday October 26, 2010

SPOILERS: Stargate Universe, NCIS, Glee, and Riese

Tuesday also turned out to be a hell-of-a-day, which would explain why it took be three days to catch up on all of it. It made me 1) feel emotions for Matthew Scott on SGU, 2) become terrified about Abby's mental health on NCIS, 3) come to the realization that Amanda Tapping is no Morgan Freeman, and 4) once again question what the hell determines what gets censored on Glee. 

And in case you're confused, Reise (a.k.a. Riese: Kingdom Falling) is a web series that was just officially picked up SyFy and is now being put up in pieces online on the SyFy website and Hulu. I'm not familiar with it, but the cast is a who's who of minor actors from other SyFy shows, and it's narrated by Amanda Tapping, so I thought I'd give it a chance and let you know what I think. The theme is typical fantasy with a steampunk sense of style.

Episode of the Day: Glee, "Rocky Horror Glee Show"

Tuesday October 19, 2010

SPOILERS: NCIS and Stargate Universe

No Glee last week. BUMMER. But we get Rocky Horror Picture Show this week, so hang in there!

Episode of the Day: Not that I have huge diversity to pick from, but I'll give it to SGU episode "Pathogen" for making me feel emotions during an episode about Chloe. Well, they weren't about her. But still, baby steps.

Tuesday October 12, 2010

SPOILERS: Stargate Universe, NCIS, Glee

And...onto the late Tuesday post. There's a handy little pic in the SGU summary for those of you who are as confused as I am about telling the supporting cast of scientists apart.

Episode of the Day: Ouch, actually hard. They were all surprisingly great. So I'm going to have to go for a pity  handout and give it to NCIS for "Royals and Loyals" as I don't think they'll be winning again this season with the way Glee and SGU are headed.

However, I do want to give a small shout out for the brilliant song choice of Tina/Mike Chang's duet of "Sing" from A Chorus Line. Absolute perfection. Probably the best 3 minutes of TV from this week (excluding the Sanctuary premiere).

Tuesday October 5, 2010

SPOILERS: NCIS, Glee, Stargate Universe

AHHHH MIDTERMS! Bad bad bad bad. Very delayed. Therefore bullet form and no pics. Which is bad because Grilled Cheezus was my favorite Glee episode of the season, possibly of all time. Sorry sorry sorry sorry!!!! Maybe I'll go back and flesh this out next weekend. But probably not.

Episode of the Day: No question, Glee, "Grilled Cheezus". However, I would like to point out that SGU had a stellar, no pun intended, episode in the form of "Aftermath"

Tuesday September 28, 2010

SPOIELRS: Glee, NCIS, Stargate Universe

What a diverse bunch of shows to be watching Tuesday night. We got procedural (NCIS), sci-fi (Stargate Universe), and whatever the hell you call Glee - musical dramedy? Anyway, all three shows had a good week, which, considering how nervous I was about the SGU premiere, is quite good news.

Episode of the Day: No question, "Brittney/Brittany", Glee

Sanctuary/SGU Update

Just a brief note for any Sanctuary AND Stargate Universe fans out there.

SyFy has updated their schedule, so the final news is in. (for now)

SGU is definitely staying with it premiere on Tuesday, September 28 at 9.
Sanctuary is definitely moving its premiere to Friday, October 15 at 10.

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.

...

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).

Stargate Universe Episode 17 - "Pain"

SPOILERS: Friday night's episode

When it comes to Stargate Universe, I still have not made up my mind about the series; not just how it compares to the rest of the franchise, but also whether I would be watching it if it was a standalone. Pain did very little to change my mind one way or another, which is surprising for such an emotional and action-low episode but there's still plenty to talk about, especially what it says about the characters and actors.