lately the sci fi channel has been doing some pretty good stuff. i keep hearing from all the critics that battlestar galactica is really good, but im still not going to watch it. dont know why, just dont want to. but some of the other stuff on the network has blown me away.
first off, for some reason that i cannot explain, i have recently begun to really enjoy 'stargate sg1'. im not entirely sure why i have been enjoying it- perhaps its the empty spot in my heart now that all the star trek shows are off the air, or maybe its a love for macgyver that just never went away. im not sure why, but ive been watching episodes every once in a while and just totally impressed and surprised by the creative plots and the great sense of humor the caracters share.
another awesome show that was on this summer is called '
eureka'. i didnt put much stock in it at first. the premise is this: a down on his luck shariff stumbles upon a town that is home to the smarted people in america. they are all working for the government creating crazy new inventions like invisibility. sounds kind of silly to me. but it is done really well. the guy who plays the shariff (
colin ferguson) is hilarious and plays it just right. all the crazy people and all the people of the town are ernest about their work, but the show is perfectly ballanced in that it doesnt take them too seriously. i hear that it will be back for another season in the spring. i look forward to it!
the latest mini series that they showed was called "
the lost room" and it was really good. the story is about a guy who finds a key that can open any door, and on the other side is a hotel room. after in the room he can go anywhere he wants. he begins to be drawn into a group of people who are collecting all the different 'items' that were once in that hotel room. sounds wierd, but it was really cool. the main actor is
peter krause (whom i have loved ever since he was casey on sports night) and he does a great job as a detective who loses his daughter in the hotel room and now must do what ever he can to get her back. i was impressed with the way they were able to draw me in and give me significant answers that actually made me care more (something 'lost' should learn from...) some of the ideas and directions of the story were so thought-provolking, that two weeks later im still caught up in the story. the ending was smaller than i expected, but it hit just the right notes to say that this story is over, but the room isnt done yet. i hope this is something that can turn into an ongoing series, or at least another mini series or two.
a while ago TNT had a mini series based on the short stories of steven king in 'nightmares and dreamscapes'. i had never read any of the short stories, but i saw the cast of people who signed up to do this thing and figured id tune in to see what it was all about. it turned out to be 8 short stories, each adapted into a one hour drama/mystery. some of them were really bad (the ones with claire forlani, tom berenger, jeremy sisto, and steven webber), some of them were kind of interesting (the ones with william h macy and william hurt), and then there was one called "the end of the whole mess" with ron livingston and henry thomas which was mind-blowing! i had to watch it a second and third time just to totally appreciate the story and its implications. in fact, among my friends, it actually was a turning point in our discussions and understanding of goals and the future. 'true north' is now a standard part of our vocabulary.
