I love “How I Met Your Mother.” I discovered it thanks to Netflix and an admiration of Neil Patrick Harris. I’m a little annoyed at the stunt casting that was done to get Britney Spears on there. Now sure how or why that came about, nor do I care. I’m not a Britney fan, I don’t care how often she derails and I’m actually annoyed at the amount of media coverage she generates.

So that said, I forgot to watch her episode on Monday, opting instead to catch it on my DVR over my lunch break yesterday. Funny episode - enjoyed the B-movie back and forthing between Ted and his dermatologist - and Britney, for the total of two minutes of screen time she had, was all right. Unobtrusive even. She didn’t make my skin crawl which is a good thing I’ve seen worse stunt casting.

What makes this show full of win and awesome for me though is Neil Patrick Harris. I can’t tell you how many hypothetical 5s my daughter and I have done since we started watching.

————————————————————
Worth checking out: http://have-you-met-ted.com/ - I might do this from time to time if I come across other great fansites for shows.

Twitter This

Username: Password:

Fans of “Jericho” rallied hard enough to convince a mighty network not to cancel the show despite low ratings. When word came out last year that CBS was going to cancel the post-apocalyptic drama, fans sent 40,000 pounds of peanuts to the network. Skeet Ulrich, one of the stars, uttered, “Nuts!” in the season 1 finale.

I didn’t know that actually. I wasn’t watching. What killed the show for me was not a bad storyline, or terrible writing. It was the overly long hiatus the network sent the show on in the middle of the season. I watched the start and I really liked it. It was on the way to becoming appointment TV for me. Then came the break where I moved on to other shows, did other things in my life and kind of stopped caring what was going to happen next. It’s sort of the same thing that happened to me with “Lost.” I simply lost interest when the show was off the air for an extended period. Maybe I have a short attention span. I don’t know.

So when it came back, I didn’t really feel like re-investing my time in it. I think it’s great what the die-hard fans of the show did to get it back on the air. Networks don’t change their minds very often especially if there is money involved.  I wish something like this had happened for “Firefly” and “Angel.” But “Jericho” came back for  another 7  episodes. Unfortunately, the numbers just weren’t there. And the episode airing tonight, “Patriots and Tyrants,” is the series finale.

It was a valiant effort Jericho fans. I applaud you guys. And I wonder WTF the network did with all those peanuts.

Twitter This

Username: Password:

Color me excited! I love me some Gordon Ramsay, most particularly when he’s shouting at some culinarily-challenged chef-wannabe who’s making bonehead mistakes like trying to serve spaghetti that’s been binned.

This will be the show’s fourth season (and I never expected it to get past one or two season, to be honest)  of heated battles, junk food cuisine, fun rewards, lots of sucking up, lots of competitive, arrogant cooks and most importantly, lots of swearing. Anyone who’s ever worked in a proper kitchen knows it’s an almost necessary component of chefdom. It’s a high-pressure field and all that pressure needs a release.

Ramsay also revealed to Entertainment Tonight that the possibility for a fifth season is good because they’ve already filmed it. Sweet!

Twitter This

Username: Password:

Good news Browncoats! Rumours have abounded for some time now about a top secret project involving Nathan Fillion (Captain Mal, “Firefly” and Caleb, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) and Joss Whedon (creator of Firefly and Buffy). Last night, the man himself confirmed the rumours and released details on the project in a post on his awesome fansite, Whedonesque.com:

So…..

The bag is catless.

During the strike I started writing a musical intended as a limited internet series, 3 episodes of approximately 10 minutes each. Writing with me was my brother Jed, his fiancee Maurissa, and my other brother Zack. To my shock and surprise, we finished it. To my greater shock and surprise, we managed (with the help of many people I’ll be praising at length soon) to drag it into preproduction (yes, just as DOLLHOUSE was given a start date two months away and all my comics were due.) And today, after a grueling week of writing everything ever while trying to be a producer, I got to start shooting. A musical.

This much I will say: It’s the story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to. And I’m having the time of my life.

“DOCTOR HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG BLOG”

Neil Patrick Harris…..as Dr. Horrible
Nathan Fillion……….as Captain Hammer
Felicia Day………….as Penny

And a cast of Dozens!

Coming soon.

-j.

[Full link to the entire comment thread on Whedonesque]

Yes, the AWESOME Neil Patrick Harris is also starring in this little endeavour It’s going to be… Legend…. wait for it… Dary!

Fans of Buffy will also recognize Felicia Day who played Vi, one of the potentials, and who has since gone on to appear in “Monk” and “The Guild.”

This is going to be cool! I love the title. I love the premise. I love that it’s a musical (Joss impressed the ever-loving hell out of me with the Buffy Musical.) I can’t wait to see this!

Will post premiere dates as soon as they’re announced

Twitter This

Username: Password:

I think I started watching AI in the middle of the first season, mainly just to see what the hype was about. It was all right. I felt elated for Kelly Clarkson when she won and I enjoyed Cowell’s scathing remarks, cringed at Paula’s simpering, and thought if Randy Jackson says, “Dawg” one more time I may have to be committed.

When it was over, I didn’t think about it much. The next season, I watched through the excruciating auditions until soulful Ruben beat out Rick Astley wannabe, Clay Aiken. Then I persevered through season three when Fantasia won.

And then… I couldn’t be bothered to watch it anymore. It’s as simple as that. The show seemed stale to me. Simon was still snarky, Paula was still simpering and I teetered on the brink of sanity with every “Dawg” out of Randy’s mouth. Please, for the love of Elvis find a new euphemism.

So I was kept up-to-date - not by choice mind you - on the following seasons by friends and coworkers who were still tuning in. That’s what I can’t understand. It’s the same show ever season. Same judges, same squeaky clean host, same set of rags to riches stories of the contestants, same manufactured music geared at making money rather than being an art form (you could say I’m… cynical.) - what the hell is the appeal? Why does this show continue to be such a juggernaut and ratings draw?

I haven’t got a clue. I just know I’m tired of watching it, tired of hearing about it, tired of the judges, tired of Seacrest, tired of entertainment news filled with the boring gossip on the contestants. I don’t know how much life is left in the show, but with my luck, it will end up like the annual Eurovision song contest and never ever end.

Twitter This

Username: Password:

Kiefer Sutherland will be back as Jack Bauer sooner than expected thanks to the news of a two-hour prequel planned for Fall. Ahhh Jack. How I miss your steely stare and your Thighs of Doom. Yes I said Thighs of Doom, for Jack Bauer can extricate himself from any sticky situation by merely wrapping his legs around a baddie’s neck and squeezing the life out of them. It’s awesome.

The next season of the show will finally venture away from L.A. I’ve heard, instead choosing D.C. as it’s locale du jour. There is a new, female, president played by the most excellent Cherry Jones and an inexplicable return of a certain Cubs fan.

I can’t wait!

Twitter This

Username: Password:

Whedonites rejoice! Joss is coming back to the telly. On FOX no less. I’m wondering if I should be worried. The same network that canceled the marvelousness that was Firefly is now giving Joss another shot with another sci-fi show? Did they grow a brain? Did they kick themselves for canceling Firefly when they saw it become a cult classic that shows no sign of stopping?

I don’t suppose we’ll ever know for sure. But if I’m being completely honest, I don’t really care about the “how” of it. I just care that I get to see another product of Joss’ fertile imagination. Yes, I love Joss Whedon and anything he creates. Don’t care who knows it either.

ANYWAY… So the new show is called “Dollhouse” and will star Eliza Dushku (Faith from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”.) Sci-fi website Io9 has the scoop on the first official description of the show:

The drama stars Dushku as Echo, a member of a group of men and women who are imprinted with different personalities for different assignments. In between tasks they are mind-wiped, living like children in Dollhouse, a futuristic dorm/lab. A group of people, known as “Actives” (or “Dolls”), have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas and hired out for particular jobs, crimes, fantasies and occasional good deeds. When not imprinted, the Actives live, childlike and unremembering, in a hidden facility nicknamed “The Dollhouse”. Although the Actives are ostensibly volunteers, the operation is highly illegal, and under constant threat from a determined federal agent on one end and an insane rogue Active on the other. The story hinges around a greater and more subtle threat: Echo, a female Active, begins, in her mind-wiped state, to become self-aware.

Sounds pretty cool and weird and interesting to me. There are a ton of rumours floating around about the show involving casting and whether Whedon will use other Buffy alumni. I’ll keep you posted.

Twitter This

Username: Password:

Sometimes I get hooked on shows outside of the main networks. I speak of Doctor Who and Torchwood which air on BBC America and Project Runway on Bravo.

A friend of mine has been a Who (New Who, btw, not the originals) fan for years and has bugged me tirelessly to check it out.  I always put it off because I have vague memories of the old series that my dad used to watch and back then I wasn’t as into the sci-fi as I am now. I’ve come to accept and embrace my inner geek.  Anyway, the old series never appealed to me so I wasn’t very interested in the new series of Who.

Of course, I’m kicking myself now but what can you do? Anyway, I highly recommend throwing all three series of Doctor Who into your Netflix Queue or borrowing it from a friend, or if you’re independently wealthy, you can buy the DVDs (my one and only complaint is the price of the DVD sets. $60 to $80 for a thirteen episode season? WTF?)

The new series has two new Docs, Christopher Eccleston (who was fantastic in 28 Days Later and is also in “Heroes”) and David Tennant (Whom Potter fans will recognize as the bloke who played Barty Crouch Junior in “Goblet of Fire”) and oh the adventures they have. It’s amazing, bittersweet, hilarious, strange, intriguing, creepifying, and so much fun.
I honestly cannot say enough good things about it.

Same goes for its spinoff, “Torchwood.” The spinoff is darker and sexier - more adult fare rather than the family fare Doctor Who mostly is. Torchwood follows Captain Jack Harkness, a former Time Agent who now heads up the Torchwood Institute, which, according the the IMDb is “…a renegade criminal investigation group founded by Queen Victoria to battle hostile extraterrestrial and supernatural threats.” It’s just as fantastic as Doctor Who although in the first series, it did stumble a bit as they tried to find their footing. But I’m about 3/4ths of the way through the second series and there hasn’t been a single misstep. Both shows are currently airing Saturday evenings on the Beeb.

Finally, I hate to admit that I’m hooked on Project Runway. Something about watching a bunch of catty designers bitch and moan their way through a bunch of weird challenges just floats my boat and I don’t know why. I don’t particularly follow the fashion world - closest I’ve ever been to it was going to a Lexus fashion show in Pebble Beach where I met Malcolm McDonald which thrilled me more than seeing the clothes. But I do really enjoy seeing the final products these designers turn out from seemingly nothing. The season finale is coming up on Wednesday, March 5th. I can’t stand the little weasel but I hope Christian wins.

I’ll probably talk more about these shows in posts to come because I love them so much. Until then, check out Who and Torchwood. You won’t regret it.

Twitter This

Username: Password: