TV: virtuality

its too bad that fox dumped this one, because this is a really good story. fox aired this two hour 'movie' recently, but its not really a movie, it was a pilot for a new television series by the creator of the 'battlestar galactica' reboot on sci-fi. fox must have paid for the pilot to be made but then canned the show, figuring they wanted to get something for the money they spent, they aired the pilot even though there is no show coming. the story is that of a crew on a deep space mission that has recently left earth, it is filled with many different types of people and each of them has an interesting story to tell. the crew is, apart from being on a mission to find a new inhabitable planet, also on a reality show. the company behind the mission used that as a way to pay for the trek. so we get to see these crew members going about their ship activities, and we also get to have interviews with them explaining what they are thinking, like a reality show. also, in order to allow the crew members some r and r, each of them has a virtual reality helmet that they can wear which takes them to a holodeck type fantasy. as they crew gets closer and closer to the point of no return, bad things keep happening. the vr helmets start to have mysterious visions, the doctor is diagnosed with an incurable disease, and the captain is mysteriously killed. with no way to turn back, the remaining crew must do the best they can. all this makes for a really interesting premise for a continuing show, but unfortunately, instead we get a great start with no chance of ever seeing where their stories will lead. way to go fox, you totally ruined another great sci-fi show that could have been.

TV. hollywood's best directors

i recently came across this show on the reelz channel. after watching a half dozen episodes, i must say that i really enjoy it! the format is pretty standard, a well known director talks about his films. but here's the part that makes it so special: its only the director talking about his films. there is no reporter or journalist trying to look smart by playing off of them, its just the director reminiscing about his work on the films during his career. the only form of structure that is placed on the show is a few themed headings such as 'first film', or 'pre production', and at the end 'last thoughts'. it allows the director to talk about whatever part of the process, or whatever part of their careers they choose to. watching such directors as chris columbus, jan van bont, rob reiner, george lucas, and others, one of the interesting aspects of these guys it how they honestly talk about their hits and misses. for the most part, they are honest about their work and acknowledge where there may have been missteps. the only drawback to the show is the obvious lack of production money, which doesnt have any baring on the interviews themselves, but is apparent when they try to show the movies the directors are talking about. reelz channel obviously doesnt have enough money to pay for the rights to show clips of the films, choosing instead to just show still photos from the movies being discussed. other than that, though, the in depth exploration of the directors about their own career and craft is really very interesting!

DVD. true blood

diana suckered me into seeing this. i had no interest in it, but she got a copy from her friend, so we gave it a try. on a friday night we watched one, figured we had some extra time, so we watched another. by sunday evening we had finished the whole season! the story follows a southern town as they deal with the fact that vampires are real. sookie, a local waitress, becomes entangled with a vampire who is traveling through. over the course of the season we follow their relationship as they try to make sense of their differences as well as everyone elses opinion of what's going on. also, there happens to be a slew of murders going on in this town and some people are pretty curious about the vampire's involvement.over all the series is pretty good, there is a strong southern dirty style to the show and an interesting premise at its base: if vampires no longer need to feed on humans, could they be accepted and live among us? this question is just one of many different layers that the show deals with, this question in particular is used as a metaphor for the plight of gays in america. there are other deep issues as well, but the show rarely takes time to linger on the issues, the depth does not bog down the action. i enjoyed the twists and turns, the murder mystery, and the relationships between many of the different characters. with that said, this show falls into the same problem that so many other shows succumb to: the characters are not even remotely believable. they act one way during one episode, and then change completely to suit the story told in the next episode. and worst of all- almost all the problems they face could be solved with just a little clear thinking and a good honest discussion. i always think that its a bad sign of writing to contrive a conflict instead of dealing with any real issues. sookie, the main character is one of the worst culprits of them all. she's about as clear headed as a bowl of mud. most of the time i didn't really feel very sorry for her, she brought it on herself! oh, but even worse then her is her brother jason! what a complete idiot! he life is terrible and falling apart because he just does whatever others tell him to do- grow a pair already! but back to the good: the quality of the show is very high, it looks great. another aspect that i really enjoyed, which is easily noticeable when you watch the episodes back to back, is that each episode starts off immediately after the last one like its one big giant movie with no wasted time to slow down between episodes.

TV. philanthropist

after watching a couple episodes of this show, i've got to say: i'm hooked! the premise is simple, its about a billionaire who realizes that he can use his money to help others so he does. its a scripted show that follows teddy rist as he travels the globe helping out those he meets along the way. the first episode found him meeting a doctor in africa who desperately needed medical supplies but kept getting stopped by crooked government workers. rist takes it upon himself to make sure the supplies get to where they need to be, he bribes people who stand in his way, he even buys a motorcycle off a guy and delivers it as far as he can himself while being shot at by the ganglord's own men. the show is able to keep a high level of excitement through out and we quickly begin to care for those who are involved. using the plot device of rist retelling the story at a bar, we are able to flash back to the story and see how he got to where he is now. its really cool because this guy is basically batman but without the costume- a rich bruce wayne who decides he must help those around him. the show includes some of his coworkers as well and even shows how rist is able to do all this good stuff while still making sure that his companies are turning profits.
this is a summer show and is limited to only an eight episode run for its first season. unfortunately i am getting a strong feeling that this is going to be all we see of 'the philanthropist', so i'm making sure i enjoy it while i can!