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What Did You Watch? 2011-11-10 (Thursday)

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Obveeus

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Nov 11, 2011, 7:29:27 AM11/11/11
to

I watched:

WHITNEY: I saw the entire thing and I still don't buy that she can play
basketball. I would like the opportunity to explain to her what she should
be doing with her hands, though. Meanwhile, the support cast on this show
is starting to find an even tone and isn't nearly as annoying.

HORRIBLE BOSSES: horrible movie...still way better than BRIDESMAIDS, but
horrible none-the-less. I find it amazing how many bad movies are passed
off as comedy these days.

CMA Awards...just the 6 minute clip of Lionel Richie: He sings on stage
with three different sets of country stars, every one of which ruins
perfectly good songs.

Meanwhile, LAST FRIDAY NIGHT was the only tune from the most recently
charting episode of GLEE to make the HOT100...#72.

What did you watch?


Jim G.

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Nov 11, 2011, 10:28:50 AM11/11/11
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Obveeus sent the following on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 07:29:27 -0500:
>
> What did you watch?

In addition to deciding (after the first few minutes) that this was as
good a time as any to bail on COVERT AFFAIRS, I watched...

TERRA NOVA (FOX, 7 PM) / Nightfall

This one was so full of problems once again that it deserves more of a
detailed synopsis, so here goes.

A meteor and its attendant electromagnetic pulse knock out all
technology in the colony, making it a really bad day to have left the
compound (thereby entering the realm of dinosaurs and Sixers) without
letting someone else know where you're going to be. Fortunately, no one
is stupid enough to do that sort of thing, even without an EMP. Oh,
wait. I guess at least two people *were* that stupid. Elsewhere, I'm
guessing that they'll be getting a lead-lined safe sooner, rather than
later, for storing a backup chip for the chip-making machine itself so
that it can make other chips. Otherwise, it's kinda like having to email
customer support to get help with an email access problem. And over in
the hospital area, there is an apparent shortage of doctors and nurses,
as Dr. Mom has to dump surgical work on an untrained person who, of
course, screws up in the end. Just how badly was that clinic run (and
understaffed) before Mom arrived, exactly? And why didn't they bring
more doctors and nurses along with Dr. Mom in that pass if they're that
short-staffed? (Keep in mind how many people we saw going through the
stargate, after all.) Of course, the patient here was making like a
drama queen over a simple parasite infection even *before* the clueless
person was put in charge of his care, so he sorta deserved to be scared
like that.

Elsewhere, Daddy Shannon and Zoe get trapped in a room and Zoe has to
save them, as the designers of the colony cleverly made at least one of
its access tunnels too small for an adult to use, and they didn't put an
emergency door release on the *inside* of the room in which they were
trapped. Yeah, those design elements make a lot of sense. Back in the
woods, pretty young Maddy admits to Reynolds that she has never been
kissed. Oh, please. Was every guy in the future gay, or something? Or
was this just another bone of this type tossed out to the socially
awkward young (and not so young) and never-been-kissed subset of skiffy
fans watching from their bunks in their parents' basements? Back with
Dad and Zoe, the munchkin kinda redeems herself in this one by
overcoming her fear of spiders, which allows her to free herself and
Dad. And in spite of making her character as annoying as possible at
times in the past, there's no denying that the little actress is as cute
as the ol' bug in a rug, and she *does* come through like a champ here.
And once she frees her dad, Dad joins up with Taylor, gets in a pretty
neat (nicely choreographed and physics-violating) fight, and chases a
guy who, having gotten away, cleverly decides to climb onto a metal roof
and proceed to make a ton of noise while he doubles back *towards* Dad.
Yeah, because that makes a ton of sense, too. I guess just leaving the
compound quietly at that point would have been too easy, or something.
Maybe he--oh, never mind.

Then, once the bad guys win a significant victory by obtaining the
oh-so-important and mysterious device doohickey (that was basically
unguarded with a "STEAL ME" neon sign attached to it), Taylor screams
"Mira!" through the main gate at Mira because ... well, I'm at a loss,
seeing as how it accomplishes nothing except to point out that Taylor's
vision is not failing. Then it's the morning after and Mom isn't the
least bit worried that Maddy is missing. She didn't even know that Maddy
had been unaccounted for at any time the previous day or overnight!
That's what I call responsible and caring parenting! And things wrap up
with the introduction of Taylor's son, who seems to have a tad bit of a
chip on his shoulder--and the device doohickey in his hands.

In the end, the writing in this one was back to the pilot's level of
stupidity, but oddly enough, in spite of it all, I found myself enjoying
it quite a bit because (a) most of the stupid didn't originate with the
main characters and (b) some of those main characters have grown on me.
But really, this was a very, very poorly written effort all around.

Grade: C-

--
Jim G. | Waukesha, WI
NoCLoDS Founding Member (No Cop, Lawyer or Doctor Shows)

David Johnston

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Nov 11, 2011, 11:14:26 AM11/11/11
to
On the day I realized that I had been premature and winter wasn't quite
here after all, I watched:

GARROW'S LAW (PBS)

Garrow defends an accused homosexual rapist on charges of sodomy. Cause
you know that's a bigger deal than rape in seventeenth century England.
Garrow is of course consistently anachronistic...or perhaps a man
ahead of his time. Meanwhile Garrow is still being sued for criminal
conversation, which is totally not what it sounds like. All he has to
do to win is to not see the woman he loves. Guess what he does.

THE CONCLAVE (Movie on Bravo Canada)

Rodrigo Borgia bumbles his way through the election of the King of the
Hawkmen...er Pope...knowing that he'll be killed if he backs the wrong
horse.

POP UP VIDEO (MuchMoreMusic)

The nice thing about this show is that they dig up older videos for it.
I was startled by the Destiny's Child song because the whole thing
sounded like the opening of Stevie Nicks "Edge of Seventeen". And yeah,
there was a popup about it.

MAGNUM P.I. (DVD)

An episode where Magnum commits what is unquestionably premeditated
murder. No self-defense, no defense of others. He just murders a guy.
It makes me wonder...does anyone remember Magnum well enough to know
what episode I'm talking about? They almost managed to make the
Manchurian Candidate premise believable...and no, there was also no
diminished capacity defense. Not for Magnum. Back in the day, it must
have been shocking. Unprecedented or nearly. Does anyone know of an
earlier case of a television hero committing murder? Even the victim
couldn't believe Magnum really was going to do it.

BONES (Fox)

Kind of went for a little gross-out factor there. Now I've got the
munchies. Also a new squintern appears. Fight!

PRIMEVAL (Space)

In the fifth series premiere, Siddig's character reveals that he's busy
working on creating the nightmarish future that their more imaginary
critters come from. "Unlimited energy" Yeah. Right. Connor responds
with idiotic excitement.


Ian J. Ball

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Nov 11, 2011, 11:28:10 AM11/11/11
to
In article <j9j4f9$k2i$1...@dont-email.me>, "Obveeus" <Obv...@aol.com>
wrote:

> What did you watch?

Wizards of Waverly Place (recorded) - "Wizards vs. Everything". You
know, based on this episode, there is now an easy resolution to this
thing - Justin decides to be with Juliet and Alex decides to be with
Mason, so they both throw the Wizards competition and let Max win.
What's so hard about putting together that "Wizards" wrap-up movie
again?! Oh yeah, that's right - I think Selena Gomez's ego is the
problem... >:/
Oh, yeah - they defeated Gorag in this one. Murder count: That's now
at least two people, by my count, that the Russos have out-and-out
killed: the first was that annoying girl from "Lemonade Mouth", and then
John Rubenstein here. How do these guys get away with that?! And Prof.
Crumbs knows that Harper knows, but seems content to let that little
magic-exposure slip-up slide by...

Psych (recorded) - The comic book episode. This one wasn't as good as
the first three episodes of the season, but it wasn't totally without
some chuckles either. Fair epie.

I then switched back-and-forth between "Charlie's Angels" and "The
Vampire Diaries" (mostly):

Charlie's Angels - In this one, Minka Kelly doesn't get beaten up
(Boo!...), but she does engage in hand-to-staff combat with another
hottie chyck (yay?!...). The story of this one isn't worth repeating.
The problem with this show was definitely that they played it too
straight - this show should have been played in the tone of "VIP" or
"She Spies": it they had done that, it might of worked. But the terrible
acting and line-delivery here was never going to work with a show played
mostly 'straight'. :/

The Vampire Diaries - A mostly disappointing Fall finale, as the plot
really isn't advanced appreciably IMO. And Claire Holt wasn't in it
much. :/

The Secret Circle - This, OTOH, was chock full of salty goodness, IMO.
I've already mentioned details in another thread. But, to summarize:
Gramma Jane is losing her mind thanks to the spell evil 'rents
Charles and Dawn cast. Dawn tries to imply that Charles screwed the
spell up, but I'm thinking Dawn sabotaged it to get Jane out of the way.
And Dawn is still angling for possession of the crystal, but Charles is
having none of it.
We later find out that Dawn was once a "disciple" of John Blackwell.
This explains her total evilness. I like what the show's done here: they
started out the show having you think that Charles Meade was the evilest
one - but I think it's going to turn out that Dawn Chamberlain is the
*really* evil one. I bet, before this is over, Charles is going to save
them all from Dawn.
With help from (evol?) Jake, Cassie finds her family tree. It seems
her father, John Blackwell's family was once the "Balcoin" family, and
they were into some heavy, freaky Black Magic s***. Look out!! And
(Evol?) Jake has fallen for Cassie! Who didn't see that coming?!
Apparently, what's really magic is Cassie's vajayjay... or something!
Also, Jake survives the quasi-cliffhanger, so I'm certain he'll be
back...
And finally, the BIGGEST revelation of all: Cassie and Faye are
sisters!! You see, at the end, Jake references that Cassie is "...not
John Blackwell's only offspring". This, combined with this episode's
revelation that Dawn was scr**ing John Blackwell seems to pretty firmly
establish that Faye is John Blackwell's other offspring. If true, it
means Faye should be capable of the same freaky off-the-book magic that
Cassie is capable of (and Faye's about the *last* person you want having
access to that kind of magic!!). Now, it's possible that this is
misdirection, and Melissa or even Diana are John Blackwell's offspring.
(And I can always dream that it's Adam! as that will either end the
Cassie/Adam-Luv4EVER storyline... or send it in a *really* creepy
direction!!) But there are just too many storyline possibilities if it
turns out Cassie and Faye are sisters for them to pass the obvious
'twist' up.
This one returns in January. I'm now quite curious to see where they
go from here.

The Mentalist was a rerun, so I did not pay attention to it.

Recorded for later: OLTL, The Big Bang Theory, Rules of Engagement, and
Person of Interest (even though it was a rerun too...).

--
"I'm giving you the chance to *be there in time*."
- Mr. Finch in Pilot, "Person of Interest", 09/22/11

Ubiquitous

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Nov 11, 2011, 11:29:40 AM11/11/11
to
In article <j9j4f9$k2i$1...@dont-email.me>, Obv...@aol.com wrote:

>What did you watch?

SOLAR BABIES:
THIS movie was worse than I remember! Something about some kids on a Mad
Maxx style orphanage who sneak out of their compound to go roll-skating.
One day, the little boy from E.T. (I think) finds an intelligent sphere
and the bad guys try to get it for some reason. I must admit Sarah Douglass
makes a good sexy bitch and manages to deliver her ridiculous lines in
an entertaining manner "This robot was PROGRAMMED to like taking things
apart!".

CHARLIE'S ANGELS:
"Royal Angels". This week, the angels have to guard a college basketball
champ who's really heir to the throne somewhere in Africa. For SOME
unexplained reason, Bosley plays on the same team (or maybe he's a coach
of some sort) and good friends with him. Kinda predictible that gur cevapr'f
tveysevraq jnf vaibyirq jvgu gur nffnffvangvba bs uvf sngure, gur xvat, tho.

TOP SECRET RECIPES:
This week, Todd wagers that he can duplicate Dippin' Dots, the ice cream
that comes in tiny pellets (I could have sworn it was made for NASA). As
documentary reality shows (?) go, it's pretty good, but I am still a bit
skeptical about some of the scenes that transpire, like the CEO not
immediately noticing one of the camermen sneaking over to the machine that
makes the product while talking to Todd. In the end, tho, it's rather
pointless because it's easier to just buy the real thing than to try and
make it yourself, but it was funny watching Todd try to obtain liquid
nitrogen by going to a dermatologist and pretending to want to have a
wart frozen off by himself at home. His attempt failed because he tried
to adjust the flavors after burning his tongue on the liquid nitrogen.

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA:
"The Gang Gets Trapped". The gang sneak into someone's home to retrieve an
'artifact' but have to hide when they discover the residents, a southern
(Texan?) family, is home. Not that great an ep, but it was funny when they
revealed the residents jrer bevragny.

THE LEAGUE:
"Yobogoya!" Taco competes in a jingle contest for Yobogoya, some sort of
$2 five-pound cup of mystery meat. Meanwhile, Andre goes "urban foraging",
Ruxin hides his cold from his festivus boss (Ray Liotta), and Jenny,
her husband, and Pete, engage in "Shadow League" activities to help Taco
pick a line-up so Ruxin doesnt get him expelled for inactivity.

THE LEAGUE:
"Carmenjello". Andre is accused of racism after calling a janitor (played
by the guy from MADtv who played the high school coach with hiked-up
shorts) by the name on his jumpsuit (we have a title!). This became a
typical "I'm not a racist!" ep but I did get a good laugh about their
clever twist on the trite bon motts about "the color of my skin" after he
caught Peter taking a picture of his back at the spa for use as the color
to paint his bedroom walls.

BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD:
"The Return of Cornholio". Holy crap!

--
"If Barack Obama isn't careful, he will become the Jimmy Carter of the
21st century."

shawn

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Nov 11, 2011, 11:37:42 AM11/11/11
to
On Fri, 11 Nov 2011 08:28:10 -0800, "Ian J. Ball"
<ijball-...@mac.invalid> wrote:

>In article <j9j4f9$k2i$1...@dont-email.me>, "Obveeus" <Obv...@aol.com>
>wrote:
>
>> What did you watch?
>
>Wizards of Waverly Place (recorded) - "Wizards vs. Everything". You
>know, based on this episode, there is now an easy resolution to this
>thing - Justin decides to be with Juliet and Alex decides to be with
>Mason, so they both throw the Wizards competition and let Max win.
>What's so hard about putting together that "Wizards" wrap-up movie
>again?! Oh yeah, that's right - I think Selena Gomez's ego is the
>problem... >:/
> Oh, yeah - they defeated Gorag in this one. Murder count: That's now
>at least two people, by my count, that the Russos have out-and-out
>killed: the first was that annoying girl from "Lemonade Mouth", and then
>John Rubenstein here. How do these guys get away with that?! And Prof.
>Crumbs knows that Harper knows, but seems content to let that little
>magic-exposure slip-up slide by...

The writers long gave up on the idea of holding to any internal
consistency or having there be any consequences for negative actions
even if that's something as bad as murder.


Ubiquitous

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Nov 11, 2011, 11:37:30 AM11/11/11
to
ijball-...@mac.invalid wrote:

>Charlie's Angels - In this one, Minka Kelly doesn't get beaten up
>(Boo!...), but she does engage in hand-to-staff combat with another
>hottie chyck (yay?!...). The story of this one isn't worth repeating.
>The problem with this show was definitely that they played it too
>straight - this show should have been played in the tone of "VIP" or
>"She Spies": it they had done that, it might of worked. But the terrible
>acting and line-delivery here was never going to work with a show played
>mostly 'straight'. :/

Perhaps they should play it more gay, especially the fighting scenes?

Mason Barge

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Nov 11, 2011, 11:46:38 AM11/11/11
to
On Fri, 11 Nov 2011 09:28:50 -0600, Jim G. <jimg...@geemail.com> wrote:

>Obveeus sent the following on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 07:29:27 -0500:
>>
>> What did you watch?
>
>In addition to deciding (after the first few minutes) that this was as
>good a time as any to bail on COVERT AFFAIRS, I watched...
>
>TERRA NOVA (FOX, 7 PM) / Nightfall
>

Hahaha.

"Don't come running to me when that thing breaks down." ~ My Dad
>
[...]
> Elsewhere, I'm
>guessing that they'll be getting a lead-lined safe sooner, rather than
>later, for storing a backup chip for the chip-making machine itself so
>that it can make other chips.

I could be wrong here, but I think what you need is an electroconductive
grid around it ("Faraday Cage"), not a lead-lined safe. It's not
radioactivity, it's more like a radio wave.

[...]
> And in spite of making her character as annoying as possible at
>times in the past, there's no denying that the little actress is as cute
>as the ol' bug in a rug,

Yeah, they've got a lot of the cutest young actresses around. IIRC the
sister and the old girlfriend were both young A+ beauties.

Mason Barge

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Nov 11, 2011, 12:21:33 PM11/11/11
to
On Fri, 11 Nov 2011 07:29:27 -0500, "Obveeus" <Obv...@aol.com> wrote:

>
>I watched:

American Horror Story: (DVR):

I hate to say it, but I'm actually starting to enjoy this. The story
lines and concept are sometimes hard to follow and you really can't just
jump in and watch an episode, but it gets major points both for
originality and casting.

The big minus is getting past the "premise" that it's a horror show, a
genre that is associated (with good reason) for schlock. But they really
have a lot of the better-done interpersonal drama on t.v.

This episode pulled together an excellent thread about the teenage
daughter's romance with a penitent ghost of an ex-mass-murderer. Both the
actors are fabulous -- I'm thinking Taissa Farmiga is going to follow her
sister Vera into the movies, as a highly-respected character actress.

(I actually just saw Vera in a horror movie, a "Bad Seed" knock-off called
"Joshua" that was actually pretty good. Vera was excellent in her part.)

Big names Connie Britton and Jessica Lange are pulling their weight. Dylan
McDermott luckily is not used as a real leading man and does okay. It's an
ensemble cast despite the central dad-mom-daughter family.

And two really pleasant surprises -- Zoe from "Caprica" and Jenna from
"Awkward." playing a victim of said mass-murdering-boyfriend who wants
revenge on him in the afterlife.

If you actually sit down and watch this, it gets better every week. I'm
amazed to say this, but it looks like they actually will be able to
sustain the concept over time as the focus shifts from mystery to drama
(inside the ghost-horror framework, of course).

Never thought I'd say this, but:
Grade: B+

Ubiquitous

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Nov 11, 2011, 12:27:00 PM11/11/11
to
mason...@gmail.com wrote:

>American Horror Story: (DVR):
>
> [...]
>
>This episode pulled together an excellent thread about the teenage
>daughter's romance with a penitent ghost of an ex-mass-murderer.

I did not get that impression of him from the first couple eps I saw.
Wait, I thought he had killed himself.

Patty Winter

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Nov 11, 2011, 12:27:17 PM11/11/11
to

In article <j9jhl0$8th$1...@dont-email.me>,
David Johnston <Da...@block.net> wrote:
>
>BONES (Fox)
>
>Kind of went for a little gross-out factor there. Now I've got the
>munchies. Also a new squintern appears. Fight!

I really like the new squint, and it looks like they got his situation
resolved so that he can stay. That python was smaller than I expected,
so it never occurred to me that he was hiding where he was. The main
storyline was so-so. I hope the writers show Brennan getting a clue
sometime soon, because I'm getting tired of the, "Oh, I should have
shared that with you?" scenes between her and Booth. As Angela said,
"Why do I even try?"


BIG BANG THEORY (CBS)

Pretty funny storyline with Sheldon and the bird. (Nicely trained
blue jay there.) The storyline with Leonard and Penny was okay.
At least now she knows what he really does and doesn't like; maybe
they can start again on a more honest basis. That's assuming that
he's completely broken off with Priya; I don't recall her being
mentioned at all in this ep.


Patty

Message has been deleted

David Johnston

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Nov 11, 2011, 12:47:32 PM11/11/11
to
On 11/11/2011 10:40 AM, Pinstripe Sniper wrote:
> David Johnston<Da...@block.net> wrote:
>
>> MAGNUM P.I. (DVD)
>>
>> An episode where Magnum commits what is unquestionably premeditated
>> murder. No self-defense, no defense of others. He just murders a guy.
>> It makes me wonder...does anyone remember Magnum well enough to know
>> what episode I'm talking about? They almost managed to make the
>> Manchurian Candidate premise believable...and no, there was also no
>> diminished capacity defense. Not for Magnum. Back in the day, it must
>> have been shocking. Unprecedented or nearly. Does anyone know of an
>> earlier case of a television hero committing murder? Even the victim
>> couldn't believe Magnum really was going to do it.
>
> Um...while I'm pretty sure I've seen every Magnum ep, many have faded
> in memory. Was this the Mac revenge arc? Something like "Did you see
> the sunrise..."<Colt 1911 .45 gun shot>

You win one internet.
Message has been deleted
Message has been deleted
Message has been deleted

Jim G.

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Nov 11, 2011, 2:52:18 PM11/11/11
to
Pinstripe Sniper sent the following on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:04:27 GMT:
> While I can't really ding this thoughtful and humorous slam of the
> absolute best Sci Fi programming currently airing on Mondays at 8PM on
> Fox, it would seem that the Jim G. will go back to a restaurant that
> served him turds and whey. :-)

Heh. Again, some of the characters have started to grow on me in spite
of my best efforts to keep them at a mockable distance. It also helps
that not every episode has been as stupid as the pilot or this one. If
they *had* been, I wouldn't have made it past the first three episodes.

Jim G.

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Nov 11, 2011, 2:52:18 PM11/11/11
to
Mason Barge sent the following on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:46:38 -0500:
> On Fri, 11 Nov 2011 09:28:50 -0600, Jim G. <jimg...@geemail.com> wrote:
>
> >Obveeus sent the following on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 07:29:27 -0500:
> >>
> >> What did you watch?
> >
> >In addition to deciding (after the first few minutes) that this was as
> >good a time as any to bail on COVERT AFFAIRS, I watched...
> >
> >TERRA NOVA (FOX, 7 PM) / Nightfall
> >
>
> Hahaha.
>
> "Don't come running to me when that thing breaks down." ~ My Dad
> >
> [...]
> > Elsewhere, I'm
> >guessing that they'll be getting a lead-lined safe sooner, rather than
> >later, for storing a backup chip for the chip-making machine itself so
> >that it can make other chips.
>
> I could be wrong here, but I think what you need is an electroconductive
> grid around it ("Faraday Cage"), not a lead-lined safe. It's not
> radioactivity, it's more like a radio wave.

Fair enough. I am not a physicist and merely used lead as it's the usual
shielding material that comes to mind. The point is that whatever is
required should be *quickly* put into place to ensure that the
chip-making machine is always available for use.

> [...]
> > And in spite of making her character as annoying as possible at
> >times in the past, there's no denying that the little actress is as cute
> >as the ol' bug in a rug,
>
> Yeah, they've got a lot of the cutest young actresses around. IIRC the
> sister and the old girlfriend were both young A+ beauties.

The daughters are both cute, as is Mom. Actually, cute is probably not
enough for Mom and Maddy, but beyond the family, it's more of a mix.
Even Josh's new friend seems to be getting less and less physically
attractive as things move along.

Ubiquitous

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Nov 11, 2011, 3:10:43 PM11/11/11
to
Prepare for the wrath of AlGore!

Stephen Newport

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Nov 11, 2011, 4:22:17 PM11/11/11
to
PARKS AND REC-- cute. Not bad. THE OFFICE-- painful.



**************************
Another definition of a one percenter: I used to dislike at least 99 per
cent of television programming. Now I *actively resent* it.

David Barnett

unread,
Nov 11, 2011, 5:29:25 PM11/11/11
to
In article <j9jhl0$8th$1...@dont-email.me>, Da...@block.net says...
<snip>
> PRIMEVAL (Space)
> In the fifth series premiere, Siddig's character reveals that he's busy
> working on creating the nightmarish future that their more imaginary
> critters come from. "Unlimited energy" Yeah. Right. Connor responds
> with idiotic excitement.

I watched that series earlier this year.
I like Siddig, and tho he was doing what you say, I was happy to see him
in this show.

--
David Barnett

erilar

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Nov 11, 2011, 5:38:03 PM11/11/11
to
In article <4ebd5af5$0$1731$742e...@news.sonic.net>,
Patty Winter <pat...@wintertime.com> wrote:

>
> In article <j9jhl0$8th$1...@dont-email.me>,
> David Johnston <Da...@block.net> wrote:
> >
> >BONES (Fox)
> >
> >Kind of went for a little gross-out factor there. Now I've got the
> >munchies. Also a new squintern appears. Fight!
>
> I really like the new squint, and it looks like they got his situation
> resolved so that he can stay. That python was smaller than I expected,
> so it never occurred to me that he was hiding where he was. The main
> storyline was so-so. I hope the writers show Brennan getting a clue
> sometime soon, because I'm getting tired of the, "Oh, I should have
> shared that with you?" scenes between her and Booth. As Angela said,
> "Why do I even try?"

I liked the new squint before they even got to the first commercial 8-)
Bones "channeling" Booth was pretty silly, though.

--
Erilar, biblioholic medievalist


Mason Barge

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Nov 11, 2011, 6:13:03 PM11/11/11
to
The new girlfriend (and I'm taking this from the first two episodes, since
I don't even look at it anymore) was nothing great although attractive
enough in real life terms. But IIRC, the "girl he left behind" was a
stone-cold fox.

Mason Barge

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Nov 11, 2011, 6:16:06 PM11/11/11
to
On Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:27:00 -0500, Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:

>mason...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>>American Horror Story: (DVR):
>>
>> [...]
>>
>>This episode pulled together an excellent thread about the teenage
>>daughter's romance with a penitent ghost of an ex-mass-murderer.
>
>I did not get that impression of him from the first couple eps I saw.
>Wait, I thought he had killed himself.

It was in this episode. It was "suicide by cop".

But his ghost seems honestly remorseful about killing all those kids.

The show is very strange. There are three stages of life, although I
guess that's true of any ghost story. But here, the ghosts have lives
that are a lot closer to real life; now we have ghosts who want revenge on
other ghosts and beat each other up!

Ubiquitous

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Nov 11, 2011, 6:40:18 PM11/11/11
to
mason...@gmail.com wrote:
>On Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:27:00 -0500, Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net>
wrote:
>>mason...@gmail.com wrote:

>>>American Horror Story: (DVR):
>>>This episode pulled together an excellent thread about the teenage
>>>daughter's romance with a penitent ghost of an ex-mass-murderer.
>>
>>I did not get that impression of him from the first couple eps I saw.
>>Wait, I thought he had killed himself.
>
>It was in this episode. It was "suicide by cop".

Ah, that explains it.

>But his ghost seems honestly remorseful about killing all those kids.

Wait, I thought it was someone else who killed his own children; or am
I confusing this show with Amityville?

~consul

unread,
Nov 11, 2011, 6:41:40 PM11/11/11
to
'tis on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 08:28:10 -0800, wrote Ian J. Ball thus to essay our thoughts to discern upon
-------- Original Message --------
> The Secret Circle - This, OTOH, was chock full of salty goodness, IMO.
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> We later find out that Dawn was once a "disciple" of John Blackwell.
> This explains her total evilness. I like what the show's done here: they
> started out the show having you think that Charles Meade was the evilest
> one - but I think it's going to turn out that Dawn Chamberlain is the
> *really* evil one. I bet, before this is over, Charles is going to save
> them all from Dawn.

I am feeling that Charles is coopted by the demon worm.
--
"... respect, all good works are not done by only good folk. For here, at the end of all things, we shall do what needs to be done."
--till next time, consul -x- <<poetry.dolphins-cove.com>>

Jim G.

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Nov 12, 2011, 10:20:02 AM11/12/11
to
Mason Barge sent the following on 11/11/2011 5:13 PM:
> On Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:52:18 -0600, Jim G.<jimg...@geemail.com> wrote:
>
>> Mason Barge sent the following on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:46:38 -0500:
>>>
>>> Hahaha.
>>>
>>> "Don't come running to me when that thing breaks down." ~ My Dad
>>> [...]
>>>
>>> I could be wrong here, but I think what you need is an electroconductive
>>> grid around it ("Faraday Cage"), not a lead-lined safe. It's not
>>> radioactivity, it's more like a radio wave.
>>
>> Fair enough. I am not a physicist and merely used lead as it's the usual
>> shielding material that comes to mind. The point is that whatever is
>> required should be *quickly* put into place to ensure that the
>> chip-making machine is always available for use.
>>
>>> [...]
>>>
>>> Yeah, they've got a lot of the cutest young actresses around. IIRC the
>>> sister and the old girlfriend were both young A+ beauties.
>>
>> The daughters are both cute, as is Mom. Actually, cute is probably not
>> enough for Mom and Maddy, but beyond the family, it's more of a mix.
>> Even Josh's new friend seems to be getting less and less physically
>> attractive as things move along.
>
> The new girlfriend (and I'm taking this from the first two episodes, since
> I don't even look at it anymore) was nothing great although attractive
> enough in real life terms. But IIRC, the "girl he left behind" was a
> stone-cold fox.

She didn't stand out for me at all. In fact, I can only recall her being
shown through a screen or a grate or some such thing, so I'm not even
sure *what* she looked like beyond a vague recollection of a face in
shadows or some such thing.
Message has been deleted

Charles Bishop

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Nov 12, 2011, 2:03:09 PM11/12/11
to
In article <4ebd5af5$0$1731$742e...@news.sonic.net>, Patty Winter
<pat...@wintertime.com> wrote:

[snip]
>
>BIG BANG THEORY (CBS)
>
>Pretty funny storyline with Sheldon and the bird. (Nicely trained
>blue jay there.) The storyline with Leonard and Penny was okay.
>At least now she knows what he really does and doesn't like; maybe
>they can start again on a more honest basis. That's assuming that
>he's completely broken off with Priya; I don't recall her being
>mentioned at all in this ep.

It's not a California Jay though, either a scrub jay (southeren CA) or a
birdIcan'trememberthenameof (northern CA). Oh, I just did: Stellar's(sp?)
jay.

Still an handsome bird. Eastern US region? Or, west of the Rockies?

--
charles

Seapig

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Nov 12, 2011, 6:33:16 PM11/12/11
to
On Nov 11, 8:28 am, "Ian J. Ball" <ijball-NO_S...@mac.invalid> wrote:
> Charlie's Angels - In this one, Minka Kelly doesn't get beaten up
> (Boo!...), but she does engage in hand-to-staff combat with another
> hottie chyck (yay?!...). The story of this one isn't worth repeating.
> The problem with this show was definitely that they played it too
> straight - this show should have been played in the tone of "VIP" or
> "She Spies": it they had done that, it might of worked. But the terrible
> acting and line-delivery here was never going to work with a show played
> mostly 'straight'.  :/

Don't forget the writing. I was going to make a list of everything
that made no sense in this episode, but that would be beating a dead
horse, or kicking a dead horse when it's down, some cliche must apply.

I agree that they would have been better off going the "VIP" or "She
Spies" route. If they were going to be stupid, they should have
embraced their stupidity. The combination of stupid and taking
themselves seriously was a disaster. The sad thing is that I think a
"Charlie's Angels" done right could work, but this was such a
spectacular failure that it will probably be another 30 years before
somebody gets to try again.

Jeremy

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Nov 12, 2011, 10:26:08 PM11/12/11
to
On Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:52:18 -0600, Jim G. <jimg...@geemail.com>
wrote:

>Pinstripe Sniper sent the following on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:04:27 GMT:
>> While I can't really ding this thoughtful and humorous slam of the
>> absolute best Sci Fi programming currently airing on Mondays at 8PM on
>> Fox, it would seem that the Jim G. will go back to a restaurant that
>> served him turds and whey. :-)
>
>Heh. Again, some of the characters have started to grow on me in spite
>of my best efforts to keep them at a mockable distance. It also helps
>that not every episode has been as stupid as the pilot or this one. If
>they *had* been, I wouldn't have made it past the first three episodes.

I think it's pretty darned impressive that Terra Nova has dominated
discussions here and created super long threads! Despite whatever
slams we might have, I still consider that a kind of success not all
shows enjoy. Who ever talks about Body Of Proof or Against The Wall?
:)

anim8rfsk

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Nov 13, 2011, 6:40:51 AM11/13/11
to
That was Kara, right? If so, played by Romy Poulier. Google images for
her are at best variable; the only thing for sure is she looks stupid as a
blonde.

--
sent from a borrowed ipad

anim8rfsk

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Nov 13, 2011, 8:20:32 AM11/13/11
to
I think that shows that we WANT to like it, the the writing is so terrible
that it's not possible.

David Johnston

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Nov 13, 2011, 11:29:21 AM11/13/11
to
Science fiction programs are inherently more conversable because they
have world building issues that mundane cop shows never have.

Dano

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Nov 13, 2011, 11:38:05 AM11/13/11
to
"David Johnston" wrote in message news:j9or91$fe4$3...@dont-email.me...
=========================================

I think sci-fi fans (and I count myself one...though I'm not a fan of this
show) are generally more geeky and tend to post more. Period. :)

Message has been deleted

Jim G.

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Nov 13, 2011, 2:09:31 PM11/13/11
to
Jeremy sent the following on Sun, 13 Nov 2011 11:26:08 +0800:
It speaks to the fact that many on RAT *want* to like and support SF
efforts, but not lazy and stupid ones. Call it tough love, or some such
thing.

Jim G.

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Nov 13, 2011, 2:09:31 PM11/13/11
to
anim8rfsk sent the following on Sun, 13 Nov 2011 11:40:51 GMT:
I have no idea. I just remember that she made almost no impression on
me, whether good or bad. OTOH, I *do* remember commenting at the time to
the effect that there were many other things that should have been given
the pilot time that was devoted to her bit, which should have been done
via flashback in a later episode if they chose to pursue the story line.
They cut so many logic corners in the pilot that any time devoted to
undoing some of that damage would have been preferable to a disjointed
bit showing Josh pining for the girl he's leaving behind.

erilar

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Nov 13, 2011, 5:42:57 PM11/13/11
to
In article <18dub7l8g1e78nf2n...@4ax.com>,
Jeremy <jer...@supernews.spamtrap> wrote:

> I think it's pretty darned impressive that Terra Nova has dominated
> discussions here and created super long threads! Despite whatever
> slams we might have, I still consider that a kind of success not all
> shows enjoy. Who ever talks about Body Of Proof or Against The Wall?
> :)

Possibly because there's nothing wrong, or at least nothing obvious to
the non-medically-educated, with Body of Proof?

--
Erilar, biblioholic medievalist


Mason Barge

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Nov 14, 2011, 5:38:57 PM11/14/11
to
On Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:40:18 -0500, Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:

>mason...@gmail.com wrote:
>>On Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:27:00 -0500, Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net>
>wrote:
>>>mason...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>>>>American Horror Story: (DVR):
>>>>This episode pulled together an excellent thread about the teenage
>>>>daughter's romance with a penitent ghost of an ex-mass-murderer.
>>>
>>>I did not get that impression of him from the first couple eps I saw.
>>>Wait, I thought he had killed himself.
>>
>>It was in this episode. It was "suicide by cop".
>
>Ah, that explains it.
>
>>But his ghost seems honestly remorseful about killing all those kids.
>
>Wait, I thought it was someone else who killed his own children; or am
>I confusing this show with Amityville?

I think the ghost with the burned face torched the wife and kids.

The boyfriend (Toby?) gunned down 5 kids in the school library, including
two actresses I recognized (the girl from "Awkward." and Zoe from Caprica,
in a blonde wig). Then he pulled a gun on the SWAT team that came to
arrest him, which is how he died.

Ken Wesson

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Nov 17, 2011, 1:01:06 AM11/17/11
to
On Fri, 11 Nov 2011 09:28:50 -0600, Jim G. wrote:

[Terra Nova]

> Back in the woods, pretty young Maddy admits to Reynolds that she has
> never been kissed. Oh, please. Was every guy in the future gay, or
> something?

Nah. Strict population controls, remember? So, they let the PTC and their
ilk "win" and outlaw all sex, making out, touching, kissing, dressing
provocatively, etc. before the age of 21. :)

> Then, once the bad guys win a significant victory by obtaining the
> oh-so-important and mysterious device doohickey (that was basically
> unguarded with a "STEAL ME" neon sign attached to it), Taylor screams
> "Mira!" through the main gate at Mira because ... well, I'm at a loss,
> seeing as how it accomplishes nothing except to point out that Taylor's
> vision is not failing.

Same purpose as the infamous "KHAAAAAAN! KHAAAAAAAN!" scene in Star Trek
II.

> Then it's the morning after and Mom isn't the least bit worried that
> Maddy is missing. She didn't even know that Maddy had been unaccounted
> for at any time the previous day or overnight! That's what I call
> responsible and caring parenting!

Forgot about the frantic clogged ER already, have we? Which wasn't
"understaffed" so much as it was "overwhelmed by a sudden, large-scale
emergency". That happens even to real-world ERs, you know.

> In the end, the writing in this one was back to the pilot's level of
> stupidity, but oddly enough, in spite of it all, I found myself enjoying
> it quite a bit because (a) most of the stupid didn't originate with the
> main characters and (b) some of those main characters have grown on me.
> But really, this was a very, very poorly written effort all around.

Hey, it beats the ever-loving *shit* out of last year's "The Event".
Count your blessings.
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