I Love My TeeVee

I remember when I saw the first promo for Heroes last summer. My immediate reaction was "Please, God, let it not suck," quickly followed by "And let it last at least a season." Imagine my delight when not only did it not suck -- in fact, it's incredible -- but it became the breakout hit of the season. Hiro is reason alone to watch it.

Heroes returned to TV last night, and there was much rejoicing across the land. You just gotta love a show that does an episode called "Six Months Ago" and then later that same season does anther called "Five Years In The Future" (next week's episode.)

If for some bizarre reason you haven't been watching the show -- I'm looking at you, Isabella -- then proceed immediately to this site where you can watch every single episode that's been shown. There are currently 19 of them, and the season will end with #22. If you are a comic book nerd, like science fiction/fantasy, or just enjoy good television, there is no reason for not watching this show.

Fortunately, it seems like most of America agrees with me on this (a fact which slightly disturbs me, truth be told), so I don't need to campaign on behalf of Heroes. However, there are other shows chock-full of geeky goodness that also deserve your attention.

Battlestar Galactica is the single best sci-fi show out there, point blank. If you aren't watching it you are an uncultured ruffian, and I spurn you as I would spurn a rabid dog. Luckily, you have all year to get caught up, as the new season doesn't start until 2008. *sobs quietly*

Included for your viewing pleasure are a series of clips taken from Episode 304. It's a "good parts" compilation of nothing but action, and is as close to sequential as I could find. If this doesn't excite your geeky heart, nothing will.








Hankering for something a bit more modern? Then try Jericho, a story about a small Kansas town cut off from civilization when no less than twenty-three American cities are destroyed by nuclear bombs. It's kind of "Lost" meets "The Day After", except that unlike Lost there is no mystical weirdness going on and there seems to be a payoff every few episodes. In fact, by the end of this season I expect we will know exactly who was responsible for the bombing.

I'm honestly not sure if this show will be renewed for another season or not. I urge you all to please give it a try, as it is one of the most intelligent TV shows out there. I don't have any video clips to show you (sorry about that), but if you go here you can watch, for free, every single episode currently aired. The show is at 8 pm on CBS, and new episodes are uploaded to the website the next day.

Edit: I found a clip. It's not the best in the world, but at least it's not a crappy music video.


Speaking of potentially doomed good shows, there's The Dresden Files. It's a show about Harry Dresden, a wizard, who is sort of a magical Private Investigator who also consults with the Chicago P.D. to help solve occult crimes. The entire show reminds me of a World of Darkness RPG, and I mean that as a compliment.

Now, I don't practice magic, but I am fairly well-read on occultism, and I can tell you that this show goes to great pains to make its magic "feel" believable. It's almost like someone read Isaac Bonewits' Laws of Magic before writing this series. I don't know if it was Jim Butcher, the man who writes the series of novels that Dresden Files is based off, or if it's just a really good team of scriptwriters, but either way, credit is due. The show is just fun to watch, and never talks down to its viewers.

Here are some of the promos which aired for the show in January:






This is the last scene of episode 4. A bit long, and spoileriffic if you haven't seen it already, but if gives you a good look at the methodology of the magic. In this instance, Harry is helping a young man who (sold his soul) to exorcise the demon-taint inside him.


This show is also potentially on the chopping block, so if you enjoy it I implore you to go to the Save Harry Dresden! webpage. Send an email to feedback@scifi.com, if you do nothing else. I mentioned that I would be buying the DVD set of the first season, and would happily buy more if they continue the series. Money talks, you see.

I can't seem to think of a good closing paragraph, so I guess I'll just end with cheese: Tune in tomorrow! Same Lurking time, same Rhythmic channel!