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Monday, September 24, 2007

New TV Season: Monday Night

Normally I'm not a huge TV watcher, but this season looks like it'll have a good solid core of sci-fi and nerdery. Today I parked it on NBC for three hours and this is what I thought.

8 PM: Chuck
Executive Summary: Computer geek gets all the secrets and intel of both the CIA and NSA uploaded into his brain. Both agencies send agents to "acquire" him. Hijinks ensue.
What's it like:
Jake 2.0, but with more humor and less cheesy nanotech.
Did I like it: Look, it has Adam Baldwin in it, and any time there's a show featuring my go-to guy for guns, muscles, and thuggery, I watch. It's actually a lot better than I expected it would be.
Is it fun: Hell yes. I hope they put more nerd humor in, actually.
Is it sexy: It's an 8 pm show. Still, the female lead was shown in her underwear twice. (Sadly, no equal time for Adam Baldwin.)
Will I keep watching: Hell yes.

9 PM: Heroes
Executive Summary:If you haven't heard of Heroes yet, you've been living under a rock for the past year. Go away.
What's it like: The episode is called "Four Months Later." Guess what it's about?
Did I like it: For the season premiere, it was actually kind of flat. There was no sense of tension that carried the last half of season 1. I'll keep watching, of course, because it's goddamn Heroes.
Is it fun/sexy/exciting: Not this episode, because it lacked the heart and soul of season 1: Peter Petrelli. And there are lots of unanswered questions from last year that need resolving. I have high hopes for future episodes, though.
Will I keep watching: You betcha.

10 PM: Journeyman
Executive Summary: Newspaper guy travels into the past, and fixes things that went wrong.
What's it like: Quantum Leap, minus the science fiction and great acting.
Did I like it: It's... okay. I'll give it another few viewings to see if the series catches its stride.
Is it fun/sexy/exciting: Sadly, no. The first episode seemed to have too much gravitas and not enough adventure. It's basically a relationship drama with elements of time travel thrown in.
Will I keep watching: It has two more weeks to grab me.

17 comments:

  1. You're wrong about tonight's Heroes. It was first-rate.

    But I forgive you.

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  2. I was just going to say that exact thing.

    I didn't get to watch Chuck, but you're right on about Journeyman.

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  3. Heroes season two has started?

    Nice.

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  4. how can you diss Jake 2.0? Even with the cheesy nanotech. :)

    Unfortunately my DVR hated me last night, so I won't get to watch the shows until tonight.

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  5. didn't you see Peter at the end in the shipping container?? He's still alive!! What I want to know is who will Dominic Keating play?(Malcom Reed in Star Trek Enterprise) *sigh* I hardly watched TV all summer.. now I'm sucked in already.. I need a tv by my computer

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  6. I was trying not to spoil it for the West Coasters and people who recorded it, Cressa.

    And two minutes of Peter at the very end of the show barely counts.

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  7. What makes Journeyman better/different than Early Edition? O.o

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  8. I don't dislike Peter, but I hardly consider him the heart of the show. He's always come across as the "glue" character, which also tends to make him somewhat bland. The others seem to exist for me as characters, while Peter tends to be more a function of plot.

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  9. All I'm saying is, for some reason I didn't have a feeling of "OMFG that was AWESOME!" at the end of the show last night.

    Now, that feeling certainly isn't necessary for every episode. But for the season premiere? You bet.

    I guess I'm a little annoyed at all the stuff that happened off-camera "during the summer": Heidi leaving Nathan, Nathan's breakdown, Matt's divorce and adoption of Molly.

    And didn't Nathan win the election? If so, why is he drunk and bearded? Naturally, I can infer that grief from losing his brother caused him to resign, but it would have been nice to have SEEN it, you know?

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  10. Liq: I wasn't dissing. The difference here is that, best I could tell, Jake 2.0 tried to be serious in its execution, and Chuck is all about the funny.

    Nathan: You assume I watched an episode of Early Edition, which I haven't. To the best of my knowledge, though, the only thing that time-traveled in E.E. was the newspaper, not a person.

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  11. I wonder how any single episode that only opens up lots of loose ends and threads can be great. Is there any single episode of Heroes that is "Great!" I'm not sure there is, but the combination of the whole is.

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  12. On the other hand, there's a British show called The IT Crowd, which is sort of like Chuck, but minus the Jake 2.0 bits. You should watch it.

    http://tv-links.co.uk/listings/1/1379

    I echo Nathan's point. I read your description, and it sounds exactly like Early Edition. Or maybe Early Edition + Seven Days.

    Also, did you watch Reaper tonight? If so, was it any good? It looked interesting, but borderlined on the moronic humour that makes me pass on anything SNL-related.

    Oh, and I'm also going to miss Bionic Woman due to work, so let me know how that goes, if you watch it tomorrow .. er, tonight. The lead was in Jekyll, which I also highly recommend.

    http://tv-links.co.uk/listings/1/5215

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  13. ok, so i watched them all last night, and i have to say Chuck...AWESOME!

    If you watched it that totally made sense, if you didn't...well go watch it.

    Gonna watch Reaper tonight, that's the only show I think will be able to dethrone Chuck as my favorite show of the season...knocking out smallville and heroes from top spot.

    On another note...the two minutes at the end with Peter was worthless...we'll just have to trust in their story telling abilities...they did good last year.

    @Cressa - Put a tuner card in your computer, and buy a second monitor...that's what I did...of course I never do anything but watch the show when it comes to the shows I actually really like. :)

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  14. liqued, I have the second monitor, but the video tuner card is a no go as I'm on a laptop.. That is the one downfall of laptops, you can't add extra cards.

    I agree it wasn't much with Peter, but at least he's alive.

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  15. I have a Slingbox, and that's another one of the great uses for it. Not only can I watch TV from my laptop at work after all my co-workers leave, but I can watch on my 2nd computer while I'm gaming at home. (I don't do it that often, though. Hard to concentrate on CoH if a good show is on.)

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  16. Do what I do, Mekadave: play CoH totally by SMELL. I find Trolls are especially pungent...

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  17. Playing video games by smell. Brilliant..

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