TVSquad

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.

(S05E11) When I heard that we were going to be doing an X-Files week for Retro Squad the first thing that came to mind was "Killswitch." It has long been my favorite episode of the series. Aside from being a great story, it also serves as a marker for where my interest in the series changed.

By the time they made it to "Killswitch," X-Files had started to lose me with the mythology episodes. In the beginning it was almost annoying when there would be a standalone episode. I was so engrossed in the bigger picture story that it was like being forced to take a week off from that which I was really interested in. By season five, though, that interest had waned. Not that the show had gotten bad, just that it was pretty clear that those big answers weren't coming any time soon, so I started looking forward to these episodes more and more. And for me, "Killswitch" is the pinnacle of The X-Files in that form.

(S01E04) Brett and I are sharing reviewing duties of Drive and I have to tell you right away that I am not as in love with this show as Brett is. I adore Tim Minear and almost everything he does, but I'm not completely sold on this series. Too many of the characters bother me. I find blondie Ivy extremely annoying, and I find Ellie (the soldier's wife) and Violet (the so-called high school Junior) to be over-actors. The reason I'm holding on is simple: Alex Tully. I was intrigued following the last five minutes of last week's episode when we found out that Tully used to be a bad ass bank robber.

(S01E01/S01E02) To be honest, I was sold on this one long before we finally got a look at what the Drive team has been working on all this time. I count myself as a Tim Minear fan, so his involvement was enough to get me interested. Add in a cast including Nathan Fillion (Firefly), Melanie Lynskey (Two And A Half Men), Kevin Alejandro (Sleeper Cell), Kristin Lehman (Tilt), Dylan Baker (The Book Of Daniel), and Taryn Manning (Hustle & Flow), and you really have something.

Among the many complaints over how Fox handled Tim Minear's last two projects, Wonderfalls and The Inside, was that they didn't promote the shows well. Fortunately for his next series, that doesn't seem to be the case. I was watching NASCAR's big Bud Shootout this weekend and was happy to see a promo for the show. They also got spots during the Sunday animation block. Add in some showings during Prison Break and 24 and I don't think there is much more that the network can do to let people know about the show.

In case you missed it, because you forgot to watch the big NASCAR race, you can view the new promo online. The official site has yet to be updated, but that's the beauty of YouTube, right? I'm already sold on the show. With Minear at the helm, and Nathan Fillion, Kristin Lehman (pictured), Melanie Lynskey, Kevin Alejandro, and Taryn Manning, among others, on the screen, it looks fantastic. Decide for yourself though, the new promo is after the jump.

Here's a bit of good news. Fox has ordered 12 episodes of Tim Minear's new show, Drive. That's a little surprising because it looked like the show was dead up until the announcement. In September, the network made Minear a Consulting Producer on Standoff, which implied that there wouldn't be any need for him to be off making his new show. Now they are saying that Minear will remain with Standoff until they finish their 13 episode production order, which doesn't really bode well for that show.

Drive tells the story of an underground race across America and stars Alan Ruck (Spin City), Kristin Lehman (Tilt), and Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men). That's a pretty good start to a cast, but really, if it is made by Minear, it could star the finger puppet troupe from Mrs. Jablonski's first grade class and I would still watch it. The show is set to launch in the spring, hopefully not on Friday night at 9.