(E02) The whole strategy behind the Village has been turned on its head and it's certainly interesting to watch. Two is bound and determined to have everyone who lives there believe that the Village is all there is, there is no world outside of the Village and the Village is all they've ever known. He's even got tangible proof to back that up.
It's an interesting change from the original, and again makes you wonder just who would be willing to invest this kind of money into a bizarre prison like this. Is the citizenry drugged, or just brainwashed? Why is Six so adamant that he is not a number, he is a free man, if no one else in the village is so sure? Or are they just being more quiet about it?
We've even reached the point in the series where as a viewer I'm not sure if what I'm seeing is real, much less what Six is seeing and experiencing. But it was nice to meet his brother and see that he has a family in the Village. "Uncle Six" indeed.
(E01) I can't help but feel tempted to compare this to the Patrick McGoohan classic from the '60s, but that wouldn't be fair. Attitudes, technologies and even our expectations of TV programming have changed so much in the intervening time. And yet, as an homage to the original, there are many elements to this new AMC mini-series that nod back to the classic paranoia suspense saga.
While The Village has been updated to be a much larger and more vibrant desert oasis (think kitschy Las Vegas) than the original's sleepy seaside villas, it's still as much an enigma, even in this first hour. And while Jim Caviezel doesn't command the role of Number 6 as powerfully as McGoohan, really who could? So I give him a pass, and enjoy him for what he brings, and try not to hear McGoohan's booming defiance when Caviezel shouts: "I am not a number! I am a free man!"
The first thing I noticed about AMC's reboot of the classic Patrick McGoohan series The Prisoner was its style. The original is a very stylized piece of work, but as someone who didn't see it back in 1967-1968 when it first aired -- I'm not that old! -- I'm not sure if its visual presentation was wholly unique in itself, or more a reflection of the '60s style in general. Certainly the '60s have become infamous for some weird fashion and design choices.
Some of that '60s nostalgia creeped into the architecture and dress of the Villagers this time around without overwhelming the tone, and I think it's a wonderful homage to the original. But I'm more impressed that this re-imagining manages to capture the same sense of paranoia and confusion that the first did, without simply retelling the same story in the same way. And it's those differences that are truly modernizing the story in a great way.
(S08E13) Just three more episodes till the end of Monk, so it sort of feels like they're wrapping up some loose ends. Tonight, the focus was on Leland Francis Stottlemeyer, Monk's best friend, the guy who has been solidly behind Adrian through all the difficult years since Trudy's death, helping Monk to cope and remain gainfully employed as a police consultant.
Leland's always been a good guy, but not so lucky in love. As the title suggested, if Mr. Monk is the best man, that means that Leland was the groom. More about the nuptials after the jump.
(S01E04) "Yeah, and I didn't even have to go to prison first." - Lauren, after Caffrey pointed out that she just joined the team
I want Neal Caffrey's life. He gets out of jail by promising to help the FBI with cases with his expertise in ... well, just about everything. And he gets to do it from the penthouse apartment of an incredibly cool Manhattan mansion. This is a lesson for all the kids out there. If you are going to be a criminal, make sure those crimes are in fields where the U.S. government will have no choice but to take you out of jail and have you help them because they can't solve cases without you.
Can Heather Locklear save the new Melrose Place? Who knows. But she makes her big return as Amanda next week, and here's the scene. By the way the staff looks at her when she's walking down the hall it's like she rose from the dead or something. Not sure why the other blond in the scene turns around and the first thing she looks at are the Amanda's shoes.
"Did you hear who's going to play during the Super Bowl halftime show?"
"No, who?"
"That's what I just said. Who."
"No, seriously. Which is the band that's going to appear?"
"It's Who."
"I'm not talking proper English. Which band will be on CBS's halftime show on February 7 at Landshark Stadium in Miami?"
"The Who -- you know, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend. 'Tommy, can you hear me?'"
"Oh! Why didn't you just say that!"
Okay, I couldn't resist the nod to Abbott and Costello's Who's On First. But the fact is that Sports Illustrated has spread the word that The Who will star in the Super Bowl big, overblown half-time pageant. This follows the safe pattern the NFL has been employing since the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake costume malfunction; that is, stick with classic rock stars who are guaranteed to do their hits and not disrobe. That's why we've had Prince, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and now The Who. All superstar acts, no controversy.
So Heroes is probably on its way out this season or next, so how about a new series where a group of people find themselves with super powers?
Misfits is a British show about a group of teens who are struck by lightning and find they can do incredible things, including turn invisible, hear people's thoughts, control time (of course!), and send people into a sexual frenzy. Wow, all this time I've had a superpower and I didn't even know it (I'm talking about hearing people's thoughts). Here's a sneak peek, though it doesn't show that much. It premieres tonight at 8 on E4. It's Heroes + swearing!
[via HeatWorld]
AMC is certainly pulling out all the stops to promote their re-imagining of The Prisoner. The new mini-series airs for three nights straight, starting Sunday November 15 at 8/7 Central. The network was kind enough to send out a press kit in anticipation of the new series, and right off I have to give them credit for sticking to their theme.
Some press kits seem to have random objects thrown in that have little or nothing to do with the show they're promoting. Everything that I found within this little box worked toward establishing the feeling of paranoia that pervades the world of The Prisoner. Even better, aside from the DVDs themselves, I could imagine this being the propaganda kit I would receive were I to ever wake up in the village.
This might sound more overdue than According to Jim's cancellation, but one of TV's greatest creators is getting the Hall of Fame treatment.
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry will join the ranks of the Television Academy's Hall of Fame next year at a special induction ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Other inductees include Candice Bergen, production and art director Charles Lisanby, announcer Don Pardo, Tom and Dick Smothers and game show producer Bob Stewart. Is there anyone that they left off the list?
The term "adult video games" sounds admittedly dirty, so we'll steer clear of that and call CBS Consumer Products' upcoming line of TV series-based titles "grown up."
CBS announced in a press release that they're breaking out a line of games related to hit shows that aren't exactly on the kids' radars -- what with their rock n' roll and their Hula-Hoops and their "Beavis and Buttheads." You'd expect to see console or computer games based on The Clone Wars or Battlestar Galatica, but Diagnosis: Murder and Hollywood Squares? What would Paul Lynde say?
But, those latter two shows are on the list, with a PC & Mac game heading our way in 2010 for Diagnosis and an iPod Touch and iPhone game of Squares coming next year.
I don't want to say that I'm psychic or anything (I'm not, though I can bend spoons), but I had a feeling that Eastwick wouldn't last beyond one season after I saw the new shows at the ABC upfront. I don't know why or how I thought that, probably a combination of the plot, the time slot, the network it was on, and how programming on the networks is these days, but I just didn't think it would last.
There's more news coming from ABC too, and this is actually surprising: they've ordered 5 more episodes of The Forgotten. That's a show I thought would be gone quick too. It still could be, since ratings aren't great (though better than Eastwick's) and it hasn't exactly been critically-acclaimed.
Think of the most popular American daytime soap. Then, multiply that by a factor of 10. That's the ongoing craze known as the BBC's immortal EastEnders. Premiering in 1985, the working-class melodrama remains one of the U.K.'s highest-rated series.
Now, EastEnders is set to kick off its own web spinoff series next year. According to a Beeb press release, the online BBC Vision Multiplatform commissioned EastEnders: E20 to go live in January, 2010.
In addition to taking advantage of TV's online evolution, the web series will help to celebrated the EastEnders 25th anniversary.
Now, the question is if anyone in Hollywood can catch on to moves like these and adapt more successful U.S. shows into big name web series. Shows like 24 tried brief web dalliances, but nothing this ambitious has yet to take flight from American networks.
(S01E03) "I like my miracles with more smiting and lightning." - Burke
Would the FBI really help a bad guy get a church Bible back? Sure, it turned out to be a very important Bible, but the way that Barelli just comes into the FBI and asks for their help in getting the book back and the chief takes him seriously from the get-go didn't ring true to me. Sure, Burke told him to just go to the local police, but then the chief pulls him aside and says that he doesn't need the Archdiocese breathing down his neck about it. That just seemed like a way for the writers to justify the plot in the first place.
I'm all for more Westerns on television. It's a genre that lends itself well to the ongoing storytelling format that a regular TV series allows. So when I saw an article that FX was gearing up Reconstruction, a series set in the post-Civil War era of American history, I was pretty excited.
Creators Joshua Brand and Peter Horton thought it would make a good allegory for today's world, dealing with the economic crisis and even the ongoing war. "How does one heal after (a war)? How do you find your humanity again?" asked Horton. These are things the show hopes to deal with.
It centers around Jason, an East Coaster who comes back from the war changed. He finds refuge in a small town in Missour, where the saga will unfold. All of this was great, until I got to one line in the Reuters story: "Brand, the co-creator of St. Elsewhere, is writing the script for the project, which will include magical elements, with thirtysomething actor-turned-director Horton attached to take the helm." Magical elements? What?! Why?
The first thing I noticed about AMC's reboot of the classic Patrick McGoohan series The Prisoner was its style. The original is a very stylized piece of work, but as someone who didn't see it back in 1967-1968 when it first aired -- I'm not that old! -- I'm not sure if its visual presentation was wholly unique in itself, or more a reflection of the '60s style in general. Certainly the '60s have become infamous for some weird fashion and design choices.
"Did you hear who's going to play during the 
This might sound more overdue than According to Jim's cancellation, but one of TV's greatest creators is getting the Hall of Fame treatment. 
The term "adult video games" sounds admittedly dirty, so we'll steer clear of that and call CBS Consumer Products' upcoming line of TV series-based titles "grown up."
Think of the most popular American daytime soap. Then, multiply that by a factor of 10. That's the ongoing craze known as the BBC's immortal EastEnders. Premiering in 1985, the working-class melodrama remains one of the U.K.'s highest-rated series.
I'm all for more Westerns on television. It's a genre that lends itself well to the ongoing storytelling format that a regular TV series allows. So when I saw an article that FX was gearing up Reconstruction, a series set in the post-Civil War era of American history, I was pretty excited.
The Prisoner -- An early look
Sesame Street's 40th: Five funniest characters
Sesame Street's 40th: Five biggest controversies
