Thursday, October 05, 2006

Wednesday Night TV Extravaganza: Runway, Lost and other stuff (no not the Lost kind of other)

*****************SPOILERS ABOUT WEDNESDAY NIGHTS TV BELOW****************************

PROJECT RUNWAY:
My original title for today's post was going to be; "Tim Gunn Set to Dull", but that's not really fair because last night's reunion was dull thanks to everyone but Tim. In fact the little video they put together of Tim's vocabulary was the the highlight of my Wednesday night TV extravaganza. Heidi is just grating on my last nerve. Maybe it's her German accent, maybe it's her laugh, but whatever it is I'm sick of her. Glad she's going off to spawn another Seal baby so I can regroup. After all this is the first Runway I've watched from beginning to end every Wednesday. The biggest disappointment however, must be that Bradley was seen and not heard. Clearly his early departure had something to do with this but in my mind Bradley was the breakout star of this season. At least we got some new footage of him making weird noises and we got to see his new crazy buzz cut look to offset his crazy hippie look from the season. Other points of interest? Well Michael took home the fan prize which probably means we shouldn't bet on him in the finals. Good for him though, I'm solidly behind Michael or Jeffrey to win it all but I'm betting Uli pulls it out. Oh and don't get me started on Jan Michael Vincent. That's right either the guy from Airwolf or the guy that got kicked off for cheating was back last night and despite the drama Bravo tried to induce it turned into a big wine and cheese fest between the guy and Heidi. Really who am I supposed to cheer for in that epic struggle? Anyway the whole reunion just seemed to be kind of blah but perhaps that's because I just got done watching...

LOST:
Let me start off by saying after sleeping on it I really liked last night's season 3 opener, however there were some pretty glaring negatives. First off, ABC am I watching Lost or a preview of The Nine. There were more breaks last night then in Evil Knevil's bones. Seriously give us 5 more minutes or cut down on the ads. Also the pacing just seemed odd. One of the first commercial breaks just came out of nowhere and made no sense dramatically or timing wise. Lastly I'm sick of Jack. I used to write “Kate and Jack Forever” on my notebook but now I'm squarely behind Sawyer or even Henry hooking up with Kate. We get it Jack's a stubborn asshole who drove his wife away and his father back to the bottle. Unless we have a flashback where Jack's in southeast Asia getting his tats then give it a rest. Now the good. I loved the symmetry to last year's opening with both the song and the focus on just one group of the Losties. I like the introduction of Juliet and I'm crazy for the Other's camp. Big 3 questions from last night:
1. Which Stephen King book was the Other's book club reading?- TiVo freeze frame clearly shows a C as the first letter so I'm guessing Carrie which makes me think of psychic Walt. Does he have a female counterpart? Check out image 33 on the official Lost gallery for more on this idea. (Credit Pink is the New blog for reporting this one and note that after you get to season 3 episode 1 you might have to click to picture 33 twice to see the "real" deal).

2. What happened between the time Kate was with Henry and when she saw Sawyer?- Her wrists looked awfully hurt for having cuffs on for breakfast. Also why did she eat Sawyer's fish biscuit when she just had eggs and bacon? Me thinks we've got a gap here that may be filled in later with some rather unpleasant stuff.

3. How did the Other's get all the info on Jack?- Psychic or could it be the theory that Jack's dad is some kind of recruiter for Dharma or Hanso or could it simply be the Others have an internet connection and pulled up Jack's obit plus some other stuff.
Scenes from next week look top notch so I'm already jonesing and willing to let the negatives slide except for the god damn commercials.

THE NINE Vs. KIDNAPPED:
I've really enjoyed the first two eps of Kidnapped. Probably one of my favorite new shows next to Studio 60. However last night I could either tape the third ep or tape the premiere of The Nine. I opted for The Nine just in case my TiVo was lying and Lost went a little long. As of now I haven't watched it yet and I just might not. After the incredible onslaught of ads I'm Nined out. To top it off there have been some lukewarm reviews so I think that's a good reason to stick to Kidnapped. Except NBC is run by a bunch of idiot Howie Mandel loving children. The Hollywood Reporter has broken the story that NBC is halting production on Kidnapped as of episode 13. Supposedly they will air all 13 but for a show that was designed to be 24 like and last the whole year, I'm guessing we'll either be given a clumsy ending or none at all. Damn you NBC keep your finger off the cancel button. I hear Studio 60 has lost about 30% of it's initial viewers so I'm worried that will be next.

JERICHO:
This was a show I was willing to give a chance and so far I'm sort of digging it. The concept of a small town dealing with a post apocalyptic US is the kind of thing that greases my rail and so far there has been enough of that to keep my attention. The dialogue is horrible though and the majority of the characters have one note personalities and back stories. For now I'll keep my eye on it but interest is beginning to wander.

SOUTH PARK:
Finally last night brought the season premiere of South Park. The ep was okay which is pretty much what I expect from the show. Like The Simpsons, South Park has now been around so long that I'm satisfied with a good effort. I do want to take the time though and acknowledge the fact that SP is still on the air and how remarkable that is. Matt and Trey still run South Park with a commitment and tenacity that most creators would have run out of by now. Credit must also go to Comedy Central for sticking with the guys (for the most part) through all the controversy and protests. I honestly never thought that 10 seasons ago when me and my friends were just discovering Santa vs. Jesus that we'd still have a South Park on Wednesdays and to be honest we're still lucky to have them.

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