So much for that Veronica Mars movie

Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, OpEd, Reality-Free

Remember that Veronica Mars movie that so many people were talking about? Well, according to an interview with series star Kristen Bell, it ain't happening. She and series creator Rob Thomas pitched the idea to Joel Silver and there was a resounding lack of interest. She suggested that fans try a letter-writing campaign.

I'm kind of surprised at that reaction, given that Veronica Mars is a recognizable brand name and would be relatively cheap to make (it's not exactly laden with special effects). While I considered the series to be a Buffy clone (that solved mysteries rather than fought vampires), it was a pretty good show in the beginning.

The only show I can think of that quickly went from TV to cancellation to a movie would be Firefly and that happened because of stellar DVD sales. So, if you really want that Veronica Mars movie, along with the letter-writing campaign, start buying more DVDs of the show.

 

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Happy birthday, America from Marvin Gaye

It’s a holiday weekend, friends… so let’s enjoy a quick clip from the TV archives while we celebrate and relax. From the broadcast of the 1983 NBA All-Star game:[...]

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Don't Forget to Tivo - Saturday 7/4

Basic:

• ABC has repeats of Wipeout, Castle and a new Eli Stone at 10
• CBS has repeats of 48 Hours Mystery, Harper's Island and the special Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular at 10
  
• NBC has a new Kings at 8, the special Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular at 9 and a repeat of Law & Order: SVU
• Fox has repeats of Cops
• CW has local programming

Cable:

• APL has a new Dogs 101 at 10

Marathons Today

• Animal Planet: Dogs 101
• BET: Sister,Sister
• Discovery: Deadliest Catch
  
• Disc Health: The Critical Hour
  
• History: The Revolution and The Presidents
• ID: Wicked Attraction
• SCI: Mantracker
  
• Sci-Fi: The Twilight Zone
• Style: Clean House
• Travel: Extreme...
• TruTV: Ocean Force
• TVLand: Leave it to Beaver, Andy Griffith Show and Roseanne
• USA: James Bond Movies
  

     - Season Premiere       - First Run     - Series/Special Premiere
All times are Eastern

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New love interest will heat up Eureka

Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Interviews, Reality-Free

It's been a long time (almost a year at this point) since Sci Fi's surprise hit Eureka has been on the air. The show, a casualty of last year's writers strike and this year's recession woes, returns next Friday, July 10 at 9 PM with the final 10 episodes of season 3.

Series star Colin Ferguson and co-creator Jamie Paglia spoke to reporters on a media call and dished a little dirt on all the mid-season drama that's coming up. After the jump we'll get into Sheriff Carter finally having a "real honest love interest," the possibility of two well-liked characters making a re-appearance on the show, and, sadly, the one face that we won't be seeing (at all) around Eureka. Just a heads up to serious spoiler-phobes, there's an answer to at least one question you may want to avoid.

Continue reading New love interest will heat up Eureka

 

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Do You Watch Fireworks on TV

It's the Fourth of July! Time for sparklers, barbecues, and, for most of us, fireworks! Surely you'll go see live fireworks if possible, but what if it's not possible? Or what if you're feeling lazy? Would you tune into a fireworks show on TV? Or just skip the whole sheBANG (get it?!)?

Do You Watch Fireworks on TV? Sure! If I can't see them live, I'm happy to watch them on TV. No way. It's live fireworks or no fireworks at all! They show fireworks on TV?!

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Tue, Jun 30, 09 - Arrested Development

11.30 Arrested Development

Arrested Development. Episode 12. "Marta Complex" Marta realises she's made a huge mistake and starts to notice Michael as a romantic possibilty, sadly Michael makes a huge mistake when trying to figure out who Marta might be romantically interested in. George Michael, meanwhile, learns that him thinking of Maeby as his cousin might - in fact - be a huge mistake...

Some of the funniest/cleverest stuff ever to appear on AD comes in this episode, where Michael is led on a trail of misunderstanding using the spanish word for 'brother'.

Portia de Rossi continues to be underused, however. Lindsay has no plots of her own and exists merely to be Michael's confidant.

Guest star Carl Weathers (in his second and final appearence this season) gets some of the biggest laughs of the episode. His ongoing obsession with food is so, so funny.

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Mon, Jun 29, 09 - Arrested Development, The
Rockford Files

05.30 Arrested Development
09.00 The Rockford Files

Arrested Development. Episode 11. "Public Relations" Michael hires a Public Relations expert to improve the image of the Bluth family. Meanwhile Tobias meets Carl Weathers.

It's rare that I can point at something in Arrested Development and say I don't like it, but here's one example. In a show with much organic continuity the character of Jessie sticks out like a sore thumb. She pops up, out of the blue, impacts strongly on each regular character and - even worse - becomes a love interest for Michael (who already has a better/sweeter/nicer love interest possibility in Marta). Jill Ritchie fails to make much of an impression in the part.

Carl Weathers, however, makes a fantastic impression on his first appearence. The idea of introducing Weathers as himself is truly inspired. But making him a miser is... beyond inspired. That is simply genius. And Weathers plays it to the hilt. One of the truly great joys of Arrested Development.



The Rockford Files. Episode 1. "Backlash of the Hunter" Rockford investigates the murder of a wino.

The first episode of The Rockford Files is as good as any episode of The Rockford Files. Only the presence of Robert Donley as Rocky, and Jim's constant obsession with money, might tip the casual viewer off to the fact that this is the first story to feature the famous private eye.

James Garner, Lindsay Wagner, Stuart Margolin, Nita Talbot and William Smith are five of my favourite perfomers so it's a blast to see all of them together. Margolin, in particular, does a fantastic job of almost stealing the pilot out from under Garner. But he doesn't quite manage it. This is Garner's show all the way. He makes Jim Rockford likable. Because, as written here, the character could easily come across as too self-interested to be heroic. He gives his client a lot of grief over money-matters and that's not how TV private eyes behave. That's not how heroes behave. It's a risk. But, instead of disliking the guy, thanks to Garner's considerable star-power we wind up laughing every time Jim pulls out a piece of paper and explains to Sara how this latest activity will impact on her bill.

The story is straight-forward. Rockford really has nothing to go on, but - in classic TV tradition - the bad guys get nervous when he starts to poke around and their response to him is what tips Rockford off to the fact that there is a crime to be investigated and allows the story to move forward.

The climax is nice. Bigger than your typical Rockford Files, with a plane/car gun battle in the desert.

The actual ending, where Jim ends up in Jail for carrying a gun without a permit, is nothing short of superb.

35 years after it's debut, this pilot still shines of quality storytelling.

Best bit? Jim lures a thug into the Men's Room, spreads hand-lotion on the floor and causes the guy to end up flat on his back, where Jim punches his lights out and ties his feet together with his own belt before making an escape. Hilarious.

Highlight? The Rockford Files (quality)
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Sun, Jun 28, 09 - Big Bang Theory, Doctor Who

06.00 The Big Bang Theory
06.30 Doctor Who

The Big Bang Theory. Season 2, Episode 18. "The Work Song Nanocluster" Hair accessory business.

A standard sit-com storyline is given the BBT treatment. Since sit-coms began there have been stories where the regulars band together and run their own business from home. And, in every example, there's always an impending deadline and chaos.

It's funny, but not the best use of BBT's characters.

Doctor Who. Season 28, Episode 11. "Fear Her" Drawings coming to life and people turning into drawings.

Doctor Who excels at making the ordinary into something otherworldly and scary. That's part of it's appeal. On Doctor Who stuff that you see every day becomes imbued with fantasy elements and it becomes easy of children to play games based on Doctor Who.

In this episode, an ordinary estate of houses becomes the lair of something sinister. There's much mileage gotten from basic pencil drawings and a wonderful sequence using the idea of something scary in the closet.

Wonderful.

Sadly, the actual story and the ending (in particular) is naff. An alien motivated by loneliness and just looking for companionship and love is a bit hard to swallow. The final sequence where The Doctor runs with the Olympic Torch is truly stomach-churning. Not helped one bit by an awful commentary about 'love' and stuff.

Rubbish.

Highlight? The Big Bang Theory (funny)
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Stargate SG-1: Children Of The Gods Blasts Onto
DVD July 21

Re-mastered. Re-cut. Re-imagined? Remarkable! The thrilling pilot episode of television's longest running Sci-Fi series is available to own on DVD. With exclusive special features and masterful[...] Read more!

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Fri, Jun 26, 09 - Arrested Development, In Plain
Sight, Burn Notice

07.00 Arrested Development
08.00 In Plain Sight
11.30 Burn Notice

Arrested Development. Episode 10. "Pier Pressure" Michael sets up an elaborate sting operation to keep his son off drugs.

Of course he does.

Wow. This is as good as it gets, baby. An prime example of Arrested Development firing on all cylinders. If you don't cry tears of laugher watching this one then there is no hope for you.

Strucure-wise, the story involves all the regulars in an organic way. No muscles are strained or pulled to get this story to work. Even better, it adds to, and advances, all ongoing storylines.

A perfect episode.



In Plain Sight. Season 2, Episode 9. "Who's Bugging Mary" Brandi is arrested.

No case-of-the-week. Instead, the show's simmering subplots take centre-stage. Mary is a fascinating central character. Flawed, but very human and likable. Her family are awful. Yet, they are believable and - just like Mary - very, very human. As dreadful families go, they might be the best on TV right now.

There's much to love here, but I'm particular impressed by Mary's hate/hate relationship with Eleanor.

And it's becoming more and more obvious that Marshall is in love with his partner. Poor schmuck. I don't blame him, however...

Burn Notice. Season 3, Episode 4. "Fearless Leader" Michael goes after a bad guy, as a means towards getting the police off his back.

Another break with formula? Two weeks in a row? Wow. When Paxson was introduced I assumed the show would eventually bring her over to Michael's side and make her like him. I figured she's chase him for - say - six episodes, then get herself into some kind of trouble and have to turn to him for help. Wrong! Michael - because he's much smarter than me - immediately decides to do something proactive and get the good detective off him back. He finds out who else she wants behind bars and sets about making that happen.

There's also a wonderful twist where one of the bad guys does something unexpected and Michael does something unexpected in return.

It's a clever, fun story and an example of Burn Notice at it's best.

Highlight? Burn Notice (clever)
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