Recently in TV Category

After seeing the show Mad Men get all sorts of accolades I started watching it.  Due to having a 3 hour commute a day, I went through the first season in a couple of weeks.  It's all about an advertising agency in Manhattan in the 60s, and is pretty interesting, if for nothing more than what appears to be a pretty accurate and complete look at life 50 years ago.  More interesting for a thirtysomething to see what life was like in my parents time than a walk down memory lane like it is for one of my aunts.  

Once you get past the "ha ha look at the crazy things we used to think and do back then!" that's thrown in your face (to remind you it's the 60s and letting your kids play in large plastic bags was just fine) it's an oddly compelling show, even though it seems like there isn't any real point to the seasons.  Most shows have an over-arching storyline to each season, whereas this one seems (so far) to be mostly showing you life, and the ups and downs of the various characters.

However, I did learn some things from it:

• Smoking.  Everyone, and all the time.
• Drinking, all the time, is not only acceptable but expected.  Breakfast, lunch, dinner, in the office, in meetings, and everywhere in between. Apparently businessmen in the 60s all had a bottle of scotch (or 7) on their desks all the time.
• Womanizing and non-politically correct attitudes towards women.  Slapping ass, sleeping with the secretaries, utilizing the famous "casting couch", and betting on underwear color, then chasing down and tackling omen at parties to see who won the bet.... all perfectly acceptable.
• Men make all the decisions, deal with all the money.
• #1 No one is homosexual.  #2 If you were, see #1.
• Did I mention everyone smoked?

I have a lot of spare time in my commute, and the hours make it not good "thinking" time, but more "stare like a slobbering idiot at a dumb TV show or movie" time (kinda like my weekends). Since February of this year I've been watching Lost for the first time, from Season 1 Episode 1 a couple of days into the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, to finishing the last 30 minutes of the last episode of Season 6 (the last season) over my lunch hour at work today.

Don't read more unless you want some major spoilers from a few random thoughts about the series finale...

My review of the first of the new 24 and their collection of the latest and greatest cliches. Or, a quick and dirty 24 plot generator.

• Jack is retired
  
• Jack is trying to get back to normal life
  
• Random un-named-but-brown-and-islamic country is on the verge of some great peace breakthrough with the USA [saluting]
  
• [bad guys] do [bad things] in something unrelated
  
• [random person] has information that he can only get to Jack
  
• Jack still has a hotline to the Prez and calls in a favour
  
• Jack has to get [random person] to a place far from where he is
  
• Jack and [random person] opt to walk down the street 12 blocks instead of just taking a Taxi
  
• At the last second more [bad things] from [bad guys] happen
  
• Jack still tries to get back to normal life
  
• Freddie Prince Jr.? WTF?
  
• Starbuck works at CTU!? Awesome. She's hot too.
  
• Random interpersonal things happen at CTU to gie the illusion that there is character development
  
• Random un-named-but-brown-and-islamic president seems good and noble but [close person] and [other close person] seem creepy
  
• Cloe is still at CTU and all moody.
  
• Cloe is suddenly crippled by a new system. "Ha ha look at the geek who doesn't know stuff!". Oh what an original plot twist.
  
• Cloe says something ironic and 4th wall breaking... "didn't this happen too fast?"
  
• Jack is brought back to CTU when he just wants to get back to normal life.
  
• Hey look, they may have solved it in the first 2 episodes! What are the chances there'll be a [plot twist]
  
• Random [bad guys] still seem to have unlimited money and personnel to do [bad things] and [bad guy leaders] are all placed high up as [trusted figures]
  
• Technology!!
  
• [Bad guys] appear to have a line to [really high up person]
  
• [Good CTU agent] has a mysterious past and a work cell phone number available to [unsavoury people from the past]
  
• More random interpersonal stuff happens
  
• [Bad person suspect] is brought into CTU (I'll bet Jack will get to interrogate [bad person suspect])
  
• They won't listen to Jack!
  
• Jack is given the standard "I know you've been a good cop for [long time], but I'm just going to ignore your well thought out argument" response to a well thought out argument.
  
• I bet Jack will go rouge!
  
• Jack still tries to get back to normal life
  
• Jack ignores going back to normal life
  
• Cloe can't pull up a user dossier, but hack hack into archives of [surveillance] and pull up imagery needed in a few seconds.
  
• Technology. ENHANCE!!
  
• Jack and Cloe get themselves into trouble with their own team (I'll bet they have to go rouge!)
  
• Jack convinces a government agency he doesn't work for to give him support, personnel, weapons from the armory to [follow a wild and crazy hunch]
  
• DRAMATIC PLOT TWIST!
  

Then repeat the last 3 steps for the rest of the season.

I'm so glad I got my MythTV box updated over the weekend with now a total of three TV tuner cards, allowing me to record three shows simultaneously, with the option of watching "normal" tv as well (not through the PVR at all but on the TV normally).

So tonight we have:

• Prison Break (new episode). Grrr... once again I'm sucked in. Dammit.
  
• Terminator (new episode). Ditto.
  
• The Big Bang Theory (season 2 premier)... I hope it's as amusing as last season.
  
• Heroes Clip Show. Nothing new it sounds like, but probably it's a good idea to remind yourself of what happened last season.
  

• Heroes (the actual episode). I so hope it's kick ass like season 1 and not sucky like season 2.
  
• Prison Break (same as before). Luckily this has a second showing so I don't need 4 TV tuner cards.
  
• Boston Legal (new episode, season premier maybe?). I got into this at the end of last season, it's fairly amusing, not a must-see like Heroes or Prison Break though.
  
• The Mentalist (season pilot). This could be interesting, I almost hope it completely sucks so I don't have to add more TV to my watching list.
  
• Heroes (the second hour of the premier). Hoping still that this doesn't suck.
  

Well, the dirge of crap that has come through the boob tube all summer is finally over and the "real" shows are now starting, or re-starting. There are a few coming back and a few new ones, figured I'd run through my TV schedule this month, give some ratings and see what is going to stay and what will last only a few episodes before being ghosted by the studios.

The Shield

The problem with a lot of these shows is it feels like more time has passed, and I had completely forgotten all the nuances of plot that were around the characters in this. In the start I was a bit worried that it'd just be a spaghetti of plotlines that I'd have to trudge through. Most of them simplified themselves out and Michael Chiklis was back to causing shit, lying to people left right and center, and doing what he has always done.

My rating (with only one show so far) is 4/5 stars for quality, 4/5 chance of keeping on watching (note that the bad quality of a show doesn't mean I won't watch it... I'm a media whore).

Prison Break

*sigh* Another season, another contrived plot to have the same characters doing pretty much the same thing with some slight twist to make it reasonable to call it a plot for the next season. IE: season 1, get out of prison, season 2, be on the run after escaping from prison and be on the run from the "good" guys, season 3, escape from a different season, but this time some of the "good" guys from season 1 are in there as well. So now we have season 4.

In this seaons plot so far, all the loose ends were tied up and the seeds of this seasons "mission" were set up by the end of the first hour of the two hour premier. This season's plot, which is to take down the evil corporation that was behind being put in jail in the first season, with people who knew the characters father who was also trying to take down the.... no, forget it, it doesn't matter really, each episode will end on a cliffhanger, the plot will progress just enough to keep you from realizing what they're doing to you, and in the end they'll set up a dramatic ending and get you set up for season 5. At least this one isn't people breaking out of prison (at least yet).

Rating 2.5/5, chances of watching, 4/5.

America's Next Top Model

Same crap, new season. Same batch of interchangeable, overly emoting, overly hyper attention-whore girls. Same critique, same judges, same challenges. The only new and potentially interesting (but not really) aspect this season is the inclusion of a transvestite in the contestants. Ironically enough (not really) the one girl most vocal about how s(he) didn't belong was the first to be sent home. They had said before how a "top" model can look like a tranny, seems they wanted to test the theory. My prediction is that s(he) will stick around a while, cause lots of controversy, be involved in at least one nude photo shoot, and then be voted out mid-season amid accolades of how s(he) helped further awareness and the cause of transgendered people everywhere. Then s(he) and all the contestants and winners return to obscurity after becoming the 10th (or is it 11th) "top" model. Seriously, has anyone seen any of the previous winners anywhere after the show? Anyone?

Last season they made a big deal because a contestant had aspergers, this I figure is just upping the ante a bit. The next season I'm expecting an all-midget lineup.

Rating 3/5, chances of watching 5/5 (but only for the photography aspect you understand?).

Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles

Premiering tonight, just before episode 2 of Prison Break. Taking up exactly where season 1 left off this at least doesn't do the "clean up loose ends right away and start a new tact" thing. Kinda. Actually no, they did pretty much exactly that and (spoiler alert, select to un-hide) completely reversed Summer Glau's role in the first 30 minutes from protecting terminator to attacking terminator... at least for some of the episode.

I wasn't hugely into this show for season 1 to be honest, it always felt like a really low budget terminator movie that some film school student had done. Different actors, lower budget, etc. Still not terrible, but it never seemed to escape feeling like a cheap knock off from the movie.

Rating 3.5/5, chances of watching 3.5/5.

Beverly Hills 90210 2.0

No. Freakin. Way.
Actually I did record this as I remember enjoying the first one in the throws of teen angst back in the 90s. Luckily for me the PVR was on the fritz and it recorded without sound. I flipped through it a few minutes at a time just to see what it looked like and decided "never" based on that alone. Maybe the current generation will appreciate it though.

Tomorrow is the premier of the first new show of the season, Fringe which sounds like a bit of a different version of the X-Files. We'll see how that goes. Survivor, Heroes, The Office, and Knight Rider, and Dexter are all upcoming in the next weeks.

I was going to take a bit of time tonight to trash the Knight Rider movie from last night, but it looks like IO9 has already done that far better than I could, with pictures and everything.

I also recommend reading the live blog if you watched the show, and re-live the cheese.

So after a minor speed bump at the start of my watching experience (brother-in-law coming over and hanging out for an hour), I finally managed to finish watching jPod.... here's a few thoughts.

First of all, the first episode is the "introductory" episode, so it's a bit clunkier than I presume future episodes will be. The video tapes that the characters do to introduce themselves to their new boss (and of course the audience) feel a bit odd, but they are actually pretty much how the book starts. The Vancouver setting is nice as well, though the only parts you really see are a couple of shots of downtown and the marina. What can I say, I'm a sucker for Canadian content! It was filmed when there was snow on the ground though...

The plot also follows pretty much the start of the book, very accurately actually, surprisingly so. I'm sure that the various plot points will be hit in future episodes expand off into other storylines. I like the name of the company being made "Neuromatic Arts" (or whatever it is... it's as thinly veiled Electronic Arts Vancouver as in the book :)

The casting is great as well, Alan Thicke wasn't quite as good as I thought he'd be at the start, but again, I'm sure that things will settle down and get better. The main characters of Ethan, his Mother, Cowboy and John Doe are all sucked directly from my brain when I read the book. The character of Steven (the new boss) seems to be trying a bit too hard to be Steve Carell in The Office, with a real sweet bit thrown in as well.

The main problem this series is going to have is if you haven't read the book it may seem odd and disjointed, whereas if you have read the book, you'll be impressed with the accuracy to the book, and how well the characters have been fleshed out.

Episode 1 ends at the point that Ethan discovers his new "roommates" courtesy of his brother. I'm looking forward to episode 2!

All geeks..... don't forget that jPod starts tonight on CBC at 9pm PST. I finished the book in two days and am so hoping that the series lives up to it. There is such potential there for a great series....

Well, it's 10:30pm and my morning project took about 12 hours to do, but it's done now. It started out with "why don't I just throw a spare hard drive into my MythTV system and install the latest version to see how well it works?" That part went fine, but as soon as I did that (and did some blowing out of dust and grime), the system refused to stay on for more than a few seconds. Going through the BIOS was fine, as was running memtest86, but as soon as the MythBuntu CD started booting, power turned off. Very weird.

Eventually I pulled yet-another system out of the basement (if anyone remembers or cares, the current mythbox was cobbled together from spare system bits a few months ago) and installed the Ubuntu version called MythBuntu. This went fine, the install was great, my PVR350 was nicely supported.... almost. I could get TV output to the screen very easily, but it turns out the ivtv-fb driver that is needed for output to the screen only works with kernel 2.6.18-2.6.21. MythBuntu only has kernel 2.6.22 and 2.6.15 available. Bah.

So next step was to download KnoppMyth, which is what is installed on the current system. It had grown very stagnant though, and was way out of date (hence the weekend project to update it).

I have to say, KnoppMyth rocks. Basically it was boot, hit enter a few times, follow the prompts and voila. It supports the TV out for the PVR-350 out of the box (a big PITA historically for the PVR350), and a bunch of stuff is fixed. IE:

• Sound is now properly looped through the audio card, so I don't have to swap audio cables when I move from watching recorded TV to playing videos.
  
• Video playing now puts the video window in the foreground properly (before I would have to stop / start videos a few times (or hit 'f' to go from fullscreen to un-fullscreen and back) as the video would start playing "behind" the black background).
  
• No configuration was needed for the remote.
  

A few other nice things I found:

• Network remote (usable from a webpage)
  
• Some nice redesigns in the MythWeb page
  
• An iPod transcoding system right out of the box
  
• Did I mention that everything just worked?
  

The only minor tweaks I found I had to do were:

• To play divx 5 encoded AVIs I had to change the mplayer command line to be "-vo x11" instead of "-vo xv" to not have a weird ghosting color thing
  
• Disable using the hardware decoder in the PVR350 in the mythtv setup (eh?) to get hardware accelerated performance playing videos.
  

So massive kudos to the KnoppMyth folks. Also kudos to Brian who stopped by and helped out, and also took some of my old hardware off of my hands (to build his own mythtv box after I showed him how cool this one was).

So now I have a fully working system, I have an Schedules Direct account (and will be paying the $20 for a year subscription when my 7 day trial is up and will have no problem doing so) so I have my listings back! Now to get another tuner card so I don't have to decide between show A and show B :)

Seriously, their humorous little skits in between who-cares awards could really use some work.... I've never seen people like John Stewart be so completely un-funny. However, I did find a very funny picture of a mom bird feeding a baby bird to make me feel better.

Speaking of TV and movies.

• Shoot 'Em Up (trailer) - Saw this last night with Dana.... very funny, completely un-serious, full of shooting (go figure) and blood and gore and as much action as you can shake a stick at, luckily it only had a paper-thin plot to interrupt all the action.
  
• The Lost Room - This was the sci-fi series a couple of years ago I finally got around to watching. A bit long, but a really well written story with lots of twists and turns.