And the Good Riddance Award goes to... Cavemen! Here to accept the award for Cavemen is... well... nobody. How awkward would that be? The Cavemen looking at me with their big crazy eyebrows. Me looking back with my big crazy beard. "Uh... here ya go... Try the shrimp." In the end, it was a close race back at TV Squad HQ. The boys from ABC just edged out the runner-up, Bionic Woman.
BionicWoman-related stories
The Good Riddance Award: Winner - VIDEO
Continue reading The Good Riddance Award: Winner - VIDEO
The What the *#@#%! Were They Thinking? Award nominees
When Keith and I were discussing some of the awards that we were going to do for the TV Squad Awards, we initially thought that doing an award about miscasting was going to get us a ton of nominees. Then we started thinking about it, and we couldn't come up with too many names off the tops of our heads. It seemed like our readers were equally flummoxed, as our call for considerations got less nominees than many of the other categories. I guess casting directors and producers are doing a much better job these days, since it seems like Elizabeth Röhm-esque casting disasters are happening less often.But some names did emerge, which I'll list after the jump. The Squadders will choose the winner, and you'll get a chance to select the Readers' Choice for this award in the poll at the end of the list. So, here are the four people whose casting made us wonder just what the heck people in Hollywood are thinking:
Continue reading The What the *#@#%! Were They Thinking? Award nominees
The Good Riddance Award nominees
Alright, here we go. The readers, and team TV Squad, have spoken. It's almost a little depressing that there were so many shows that received consideration for the award. Clearly, this wasn't a banner year for the networks. But that's good though. With all of those shows sent packing, there's that much more room on the schedule next season. Here's hoping all that valuable space gets put to good use, and that someone learns from the following examples. After the jump, the nominees, and your chance to vote for the TV Squad reader award.
Continue reading The Good Riddance Award nominees
Children of Men: The series
Since it looks like Bionic Woman is not coming back to NBC, although nothing's been confirmed, the executive producer is moving on. David Eick is writing a pilot based on the Alfonso Cuarón film Children of Men for SciFi.The film, brilliantly directed by the Mexican filmmaker, was a grim tale about the future -- England in 2027 -- where women have become completely infertile and the human race faces a major crises with less than a century to survive.
Continue reading Children of Men: The series
Why aren't networks streaming more episodes?
Considering the dearth of new scripted programs, I can't help but wonder why the networks aren't streaming more episodes of their shows online. Why just the last three to five episodes? With a prolonged break between new episodes inevitable, wouldn't it make sense to have more of the existing episodes available online. Especially for shows like Journeyman and Bionic Woman, who haven't exactly lit up the ratings but haven't officially been canceled yet.But NBC.com has up the last four to five episodes of each. And considering the linear nature of some aspects of the show, especially Journeyman, why not give bored TV fans the opportunity to watch the entire series online? You've already proven you're going to fill up the airwaves with reality dreck.
Continue reading Why aren't networks streaming more episodes?
Friday Night Lights: Bad Ideas
(S02E02) As I was watching the show tonight, thoughts on this post were running through my head. Initially I planned on doing like last week and pushing the Landry/Tyra stuff to the end of the post, after we go through the parts of the episode that actually make some sense. But then I typed out that episode title, "Bad Ideas", and I just can't get over how well that fits. They may have intended that title as a reference to what is going on with many of the characters. Things like Tami's admission that her insistence that she and Julie stay in Dillon was a bad idea, how Buddy's own actions have created his situation, the experimental Mexican surgery proposed to Street, or even Antwone's trip to the Justin Timberlake concert. To me though, THE bad idea is nothing that any of the characters are doing. It is this Landry and Tyra story that the writers and producers have cooked up. So we'll get started there, after the jump.
Continue reading Friday Night Lights: Bad Ideas
Why isn't the original Bionic Woman on DVD yet?
Since NBC just launched the remake of the 70s sci-fi drama The Bionic Woman (I still love you Lindsay Wagner), some people are wondering if we'll ever see the original on DVD. TVGuide.com has an interesting story explaining why the original show (and the show it was spun off from, The Six Million Dollar Man) hasn't been released on DVD yet. And, you guessed it, is has to do with licenses and ownership.
Continue reading Why isn't the original Bionic Woman on DVD yet?
Bionic Woman: Paradise Lost
(S01E02)"God you're a douche." - Jaime, to Jonas
Last week I mentioned that Bionic Woman had a lot of Alias in it, and the opening scenes of this second episode solidifies that viewpoint a little bit more, with Jaime's fiancee dead and her friends moving on with their lives ("I'm gonna to be a scumbag lawyer, you guys!") and Jaime stuck at a bartending job and feeling a little lost, a little unfulfilled.
Time to save the world!
Continue reading Bionic Woman: Paradise Lost
Bionic Woman: Second Chances (series premiere)
(S01E01)"I guess that makes me your landlord." - Jonas Bledsoe, explaining to Jamie Sommers who he is and all the money he spent on her
Sometimes I really hate first episodes of TV shows. They have to have so much exposition and explain everything and set everything up so fast. In the first 15 minutes of Bionic Woman, the following occurs: we meet the evil killer bionic woman, who is killed by one of her cohorts after a rampage; we're introduced to Jamie and her job as a bartender; we meet her kid sister and see them argue about their absent father; we meet her boyfriend the professor/scientist; and we find out that Jamie is pregnant.
Continue reading Bionic Woman: Second Chances (series premiere)
Bionic Woman -- An early look
When I first heard that NBC was going to remake the 1970s The Bionic Woman, a spin-off of The Six Million Dollar Man, I got more giddy than a schoolgirl with a new Bratz doll -- that is what the kiddies are into, right?
The teaser video for the new Bionic Woman was intriguing to say the least. My first thought was, "Oh my God! This is my new Heroes. " I mean really how could you go wrong in the 18-24 male demo with a hot girl who kicks butt? It is practically like giving a grown-up Claire Bennett (another Heroes reference) her own show.
I heard earlier that Bionic Woman was supposed to be one of the best shows of the fall season ... excitement levels rising. I also found out that I would get to watch the pilot episode of Bionic Woman and get to tell you guys about it ... excitement levels out of control.
So let's see if the show can live up to my own hype.
Continue reading Bionic Woman -- An early look
Jason Katims added to Bionic Woman team
NBC has brought in Friday Night Lights executive producer Jason Katims to consult on Bionic Woman, after Glen Morgan left over those curious 'creative differences.' It's certainly not a new story, a producer getting an extra iron in the fire even though they have a show already on the schedule. Although, usually we see this with producers who have established hits on their hands. This one comes as a bit of a surprise to me, given the tenuous nature of FNL's position. Don't get me wrong, I'm as much in the bag for the show, and Katims, as anybody. But we have to be realistic and admit that the renewal did come as something of a surprise after the way the show performed in the ratings last season. Renewing it was a gamble for the network, so is pulling one of the people credited with giving it that quality away to work on another show really the best idea? I certainly think that Katims can be a help to the Bionic Woman team, but I hope that Friday Night Lights doesn't suffer for it.
[ via Ausiello Report ]
NBC fall TV pilots coming to Video On Demand systems
School is back in session, the U.S. Open has begun, and another Bush appointee has resigned. You know what that means, don't you? It means that the new fall TV season is fast approaching. With it comes the push by the networks to promote the crap out of their new shows. Okay, so they've been promoting the crap out of them since the end of the last television season, but now it's going to start to get annoying. I'm talking about last-week-advertising-before-elections annoying.
NBC will lead this charge by making the pilots for their upcoming fall shows available on cable and satellite Video On Demand systems (known as VOD henceforth). Partnering with NBC in this venture are cable companies Comcast, Cox, Charter and Time Warner and the satellite services DirectTV and DISH Network. The pilot episodes of Chuck, Bionic Woman, Life and Journeyman, as well as a 30-minute fall preview special, will be available on September 10th.
Continue reading NBC fall TV pilots coming to Video On Demand systems
How bionic are you? Take the NBC quiz (and feel stupid)
Let me start this out by saying that I am quite possibly mentally impaired. I am not sure how I function on a day-to-day basis. I took this online quiz to promote NBC's new fall series, Bionic Woman, and I failed. Miserably.The gimmick here is: 'How Bionic Are You?' There are five different tests in the quiz. One is a math test, which I knew I wouldn't do well at because I suck at math (especially when I have to do quick math!). A couple of the other tests are hand-eye coordination, which were okay. But, I completely bombed (as in, 0%) the last two tests. I didn't even understand the fourth one and I can't even explain what happened on the fifth one, where I also scored 0%.
Go take it and tell me how you did: I'm sure everyone will beat my score of 28% Bionic!
The good, the bad and the ugly in fall TV
You can probably tell fall TV's almost here by how many Back to You ads Fox pumps during So You Think You Can Dance.But is Pushing Daisies as good as the commercials look? Will Bionic Woman be the next Battlestar Galactica? And can a show based on a Geico commercial be anything but terrible?
After watching all the pilots (lucky me), I started thinking about my best and worst list. I always get envious of movie critics at the end of the year, with their top 10s, top 20s -- heck, I've seen top 100s. Well, the fall season is the TV fan's time to shine.
So, I've made my list and checked it twice. Bionic is among the best and Cavemen one of the worst. Check out my full list of best and worst new fall TV shows.
Whatdo you think will end up on your best and worst list?
Ronald Moore reups with NBC Universal
Ron Moore, he of the super-stupendous remake of Battlestar Galactica, will be sticking around the television universe for a few more years. According to press reports Moore has signed a two-year, seven-figure deal with Universal Media Studios, which is part of NBC Universal.
This deal means that he will continue to work with partner David Eick on BSG, which ends its run after this season (the fourth). He'll also work on other projects for the studio. This means that you could see something from Ron on NBC, USA, or SciFi Channel in the near future. There's even talk that Moore could have a new series on the air as early as fall 2008.
And, who knows? If Bionic Woman, which Eick is heading up, needs a bit of help perhaps Moore will stop in to give him a hand.
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