Tomorrow will be my last day off and then I will return to work and since I am planning on watching all three The Lord of the Rings movies, I thought, I could finish my statistics.

In the last 5.5 weeks I’ve watched the following TV Show seasons (the + indicates that I watched episodes of the currently running season):

24 7
Alias  2-3
Bones 2-4 (+5)
Burn Notice 2 (+3)
Dollhouse 1 (+2)
How I Met Your Mother 1-4 (+5)
Supernatural 3-4 (+5)
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles 2
True Blood 1-2
Two and a Half Men 6 (+7)

10 Things I Hate About You (+1)
The Big Bang Theory (+3)
Castle (+2)
Cougar Town (+1)
FlashForward (+1)
Gossip Girl (+3)
House M.D. (+6)
Leverage (+2)
Smallville (+9)

I additionally watched 31 pilot movies or pilot episodes and 15 (tomorrow 18) movies.

I consider it time well spent.

Categories: DVD / Blu-ray
Tags: Statistics
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Deutsche Version | Part 8

Burn Notice

What’s the show about?
Michael Westen used to be a spy. But one day he got “burned” and was dumped in Miami. Ever since he tries to find out why he was burned and by whom. In the meantime he helps people the normal police can’t or won’t help. He has help, though: A trigger-happy ex-girlfriend, who used to rob banks for the IRA; another retired spy who has settled down in Miami and makes his “special lady friends” happy; and his mother!

“Pilot”
Michael Westen was about to finalize a deal with a local crime lord to protect a certain piece of land in Africa, but when he tries to get the money wired he’s informed that the deal is off because he got burned. Although they beat the crap out of him he manages to escape. The next time he regains full consciousness, he’s in Miami and his “emergency contact” (his ex-girlfriend) Fiona is sitting by his bed. He tries to find out why he got burned and how his mother had fount out that he was in town. Since his credit cards won’t work anymore he takes a small job to find out who stole a number of paintings from a rich man’s house.

My Opinion
In the beginning it was just OK, but it got better with every episode, especially when the “burn notice” arc fully kicked in. The characters are all great, especially when Michael’s mother Madeline becomes more and more involved in Michael’s cases and he has to deal with her and Fi at the same time. The show is very humorous but it’s still an action show and people get killed all the time – but usually not by any of the good guys: Michael is a master “chess player”, he usually manages to make the bad boys kill each other, thus solving the problem.

So, that’s all folks, no more pilots in the pipeline…

Categories: DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Pilot Marathon
Tags: Burn Notice
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FlashForward @ IMDb
FlashForward @ Wikipedia

So far, this day has been like every other day. But suddenly everyone all over the world blacks out. At the exact same moment, for the exact same time: 2 minutes, 17 seconds. But they didn’t simply black out, all (OK, most of them) caught a glipmse of the future, they saw themselves six months from now, on April 29th, 2010. And when they wake up again the world lays in chaos. Cars have crashed into each other, helicopters and planes have crashed, patients died on the operating table.
And the big questions are: What has happened, will it happen again and will it come true what people saw.

I’m hooked. I just watched the first episode and I really liked the premise, especially because of that last event in the episode. This could be a really great mystery show, if done right. Let’s see if they do it right.

Categories: Short Review
Tags: FlashForward
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Deutsche Version | Part 7 | Part 9

True Blood

What’s the show about?
Based upon the “Sookie Stackhouse” book series by Charlaine Harris. Sookie is a waitress in Bon Temps, Louisiana and she can read minds. She’s fallen in love with a Vampire who has been around since the Civil War. The Vampires have come out of the coffin since the Japanese have invented artificial blood and Vampires need no longer feed off of Humans. The new stuff is called Tru:Blood.

“Strange Love”
Sookie Stackhouse is totally excited when her first Vampire walks into the bar where she works. And the best part of it: She can’t read his mind. The thoughts of all the people around her are constantly raining upon her but he is totally quiet. But she’s not the only one who has identified him as Vampire. So have the Rattrays and they pin him down and try to drain him dry for his “V” – Vampire blood, an aphrodisiac for Humans.

My Opinion
A bit lengthy at times but otherwise very interesting and sometimes disturbing. The show is very open about a lot of topics and also very (very, very!) visual. And except for having Vampires living openly amongst Humans the show also shows other mystical abilities like Sookie’s mind-reading and someone else’s shape-shifting. The interesting part about this show is the fact that Vampires aren’t a secret and how both sides try to deal with that fact (Vampire rights, racism, …).

(more…)

Categories: DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Pilot Marathon
Tags: Bones · Charmed · Dragon Ball · Dragon Ball Z · Due South · Friends · How I Met Your Mother · Joey · Jurassic Park · Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman · Primeval · Smallville · Superman · The Big Bang Theory · The Fall Guy · True Blood · Two and a Half Men
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Cougar Town @ IMDb
Cougar Town @ Wikipedia

Cougar Town is a new sitcom featuring Courteney Cox (Monica Gellar in Friends) who plays a 40-year-old single mother with a 17-year-old son and now she tries to date again. And her target is a man much younger than her.

The first episode was funny and Monica Jules was as quirky as ever but I’ll have to watch a few more episodes to make up my mind.

Categories: Short Review
Tags: Cougar Town · Friends
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Deutsche Version | Part 6 | Part 8

Two and a Half Men

What’s the show about?
After his wife has thrown him out, Alan Harper has moved in with his brother Charlie who is a ad jingle composer, a womanizer and lives on a beach house. On the weekends Alan’s son Jake lives also there.

“Pilot”
Just when he was about to get laid, Charlie’s brother Alan calls him and asks whether he can move in for a few days when he’s already standing in front of Charlie’s bedroom door. Alan’s wife has thrown him out but he believes that it’s just a phase – Charlie doubts it. And on the weekend Alan’s son Jake also moves also in. Charlie’s life is about to be turned upside down.

My Opinion
Charlie and Jake are a great team and Alan has a cool dry humour when it comes to Charlie’s sex life and his behaviour towards women. But the supporting cast is also awesome: Bertha the housekeeper and grandma Evelyn and Rose – Charlie’s personal stalker. One of the funniest sitcoms these days and from the same producers as The Big Bang Theory.

(more…)

Categories: DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Pilot Marathon
Tags: 21 Jump Street · Ally McBeal · Dollhouse · Leverage · Night Court · Roseanne · SeaQuest DSV · Terminator · The A-Team · The Big Bang Theory · The IT Crowd · Two and a Half Men
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Deutsche Version

Last weekend I watched the extended version of 24: Redemption and then the seventh season of 24.

The movie while still in “real time” was a nice change of pace with that african location and not having to save the world but just a group of orphans. That was a good idea and well done if you ask me.

The seventh season is a different matter. Don’t get me wrong, I did really like it. It was way better than the fourth and fifth season and I’d say the show has turned upwards again since the beginning of the sixth season.

Let me first describe what I didn’t like and then go to the good parts.

The season had many elements every previous season also had and that makes it somewhat predictable.
First and foremost, nobody trusts Jack and they only get in his way – everybody should know by now that Jack is always right.
Then there’s this huge threat by “the man” that is resolved precisely after 12 hours and is replaced by the threat of “the man behind the man”. So once the big bad is identified you know that he will be dead by half-time and the true evil will appear.
Then there’s Jack’s superior who makes always the wrong or the slow decision and is either killed this season or the next. The only exception to this rule was James Morrison’s character Bill Buchanan who was introduced in the fourth season as Jack’s new boss.
And then there are two conspiracies within the government, one on a political level and one on the personal level in close proximity to the president.

All the above applies also to the seventh season.

But they also made some changes. The two most important are the decommissioning of CTU and to give Jack a new (female) partner.
No one really knows why they did it – after all, CTU saved the day at least six times before, but they did. Bill was retired, Chloe a stay-at-home mom and Jack was on the run. Now he’s back and he has to testify about his actions in front of a Senate hearing – which of course lasts only until the next crisis arises.
Jack only works in an advising capacity with FBI agent Renee Walker who is totally against methods such as torturing that have been used by the CTU and Jack. But this wouldn’t be 24 if that resolution would survive the first contact with the enemy. Still she tries to restrain Jack and is actually getting through to him.
And we have a new president, a woman this time. And I really like her. She reminds me a lot of the late President David Palmer and that’s a good thing in my book.
I also think that this was the first time I liked Kim Bauer and her behaviour. She’s certainly grown as a person.
Another moment that I thought was impressive was when Jack changed his shirt and Renee could see all the scars that he has “collected” over the years and when it dawned to her what he himself endured (the scars the Chinese gave to his hands at the beginning of the sixth season were gone though – I assume it was a make-up decision to “forget” them or he would have to wear them all the time).
And the last thing I’d like to add is the topic of this year’s longest day: That they questioned the reasonability of private army companies like BlackStarckwater and pointed out the danger that they represent.

The seventh season had an end that could have served as series finale but since there will be an eighth sure I am sure that I will tune in.

Categories: DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon
Tags: 24
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Deutsche Version

Today I watched the most part of the second season (til the end) and I have to say I am torn.

The show felt odd/strange most of the time (I’d say “merkwürdig” in German). This entire three dots arc was unsatisfactory because they made new riddles all the times and every solution was a dead end. And when the solution appeared it happened in a moment where no one could care less.

And then there was this Riley arc that I only liked until a certain point. (btw: the actress of Riley reminded me a lot of LOST’s Claire) I would have liked it much better if she would have been an actual girl from this time and not yet another future gal.

There were also a number of weird episodes that tried to change the way of storytelling but it rarely worked out for me.

The only thing that worked really well and that made me wanting to see another season was the open end cliffhanger. But that’s not enough and I can understand why the ratings were constantly dropping.

Categories: Short Review
Tags: LOST · Terminator
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It’s September 10th and Christmas has begun in the local supermarket…

Categories: Misc
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Deutsche Version | Part 5 | Part 7

Since I’ve purchased quite a number of new TV shows, I thought to resurrect this marathon.

V

(1983)

What’s the show about?
A group of underground rebels fights against an alien race who have invaded Earth without making it appear as such. The resistance cell is a motley crew with all kinds of backgrounds and their goal is it to expel the aliens again. And their sign is the “V” – for “Victory!”.

“V”
One day a number of huge space ships appear all over the world. But they don’t come as enemies, but as friends. In exchange for a certain chemical the aliens give us cures for all kinds of diseases and improve our technology. But the aliens and their intentions are not what they appear to be.

My Opinion
The show comprises of the two mini-series V (1983), V: The Final Battle (1984) and the one-season-show V (1984). It has aged quite well, the storytelling stands out for a show of its time and the special effects don’t look that bad, either. It’s still very watchable and that the subject is still interesting is proven by the fact that a remake of the show will come to television land this fall.

(more…)

Categories: DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Pilot Marathon
Tags: Alias · Angel · Beverly Hills 90210 · Buffy the Vampire Slayer · Chuck · Doctor Who · Early Edition · Friday Night Lights · Friends · Gossip Girl · Hackers · House M.D. · M*A*S*H · Scrubs · Smallville · Supernatural · The O.C. · V · Veronica Mars
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