Tag: Highlander

TV Junkie: A History

Thought Storm, TV Season Diary

I watched a lot of TV shows over the years. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. And I watched accross the board.

Keep in mind that I’m only 35 years old.

I watched The Guiding Light for two years straight (it’s a soap opera whose German title was the Springfield Story). I watched medical shows like Trapper John M.D. and lawyer shows like L.A. Law. I watched the 80s action shows from MacGuyver to Riptide. I even watched Love Boat every weekday on one of the first private channels in Germany: Sat.1. I got up at 6am on every Saturday morning to watch Rawhide (Tausend Meilen Staub, lit. “A Thousand Miles of Dust”) with a very young and pre-Fistful Clint Eastwood. I knew who Daniel Boone was around the same time I met the Cartwrights as well as the men from the Shiloh Ranch.

And last weekend I binge-watched the first Netflix show House of Cards (Big recommendation! Kevin Spacey is a brilliant Magnificent Bastard!) and I got curious as to how many shows I watched intently over the past two and a half decades.

With the help of the list on the German site Wunschliste.de I created a list of “my” shows.

I only counted live-action fiction shows, no animated shows may they be Saturday morning cartoons like Yogi Bear or Scooby-Doo or evening shows like The Simpsons or South Park. No scripted reality (which I’m avoiding to 99% anyway with the exception of Comic Book Men). In this list are only shows which I followed for more than a year unless the show itself didn’t last that long.

And the answer was: 244 246 247. Two hundred and fourty four six seven different shows I watched with active interest since I’ve started watching television. And the worst thing is: Of most of these shows I watched 90% or more episodes at least once.

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TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 18

TV Season 2009/10 Diary

Deutsche Version | CW 13-17 | CW 13-19

Chuck 3×15 Chuck versus the Role Models
Again, I’ve enjoyed this episode very much. Loved the tiger even without Mike Tyson.
I also liked the hint to an oncoming arc in the end. I strongly suspect that the Chuck gang and the Awesome family will soon cross paths again.

And I loved this little spoof of Hart to Hart (not to mention the blink towards LOST at the end) (warning: contains spoilers if you’re not up2date):

And here’s the original:

LOST 6×14 The Candidate
Just like with Supernatural they seem to be cleaning up the game board for the Grand Finale.
What disturbed me most about the Kwon’s death was not that it happened after they reunited after being apart for three years (bad things happen…) but that neither Jin nor Sun thought about their daughter at that moment, a child that will now be raised without parents. I understand that a little more from Jin’s perspective since he never saw his child and it was three years since Sun had been pregnant but Sun should have said something!

The Big Bang Theory 3×20 The Spaghetti Catalyst
I loved it how Leonard and Penny behaved like divorced parents (IMHO with switched gender roles – she takes him to Disneyworld and he has to deal with his nightmares afterwards) and how Sheldon – who loves them both – has a hard time deciding of whom to hang with.

How I Met Your Mother 5×21 Twin Beds
This story was not well constructed. I get that Barney and Ted might have regrets but how it played out was not well executed IMHO – especially since Don is basically an unknown to me. How often have we seen this guy? Three, four times? And now I should care about him?
I also didn’t like the twin bed story, it felt contrived.

Community 1×23 Modern Warfare
I can’t even count how many references this episode alone had – and still was able to tell a fully fledged story: First there were the named references to Friends and Cheers then it seemed like a post-apocalyptic movie, then Abed quoted The Terminator and fought like in The Matrix (including bullet-time at a later point), then there was this doomsday movie scene where people are warming their hands over a burning barrel in the midst of destruction (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow), the mention of the Neutral Zone (Star Trek), The Prize (Highlander), the gun taped on the back (Die Hard) and I’m pretty sure Señor Chang’s golden guns were from some movie, too.
I’m also sure I did not mention every reference here nor do I think that I caught all of them. Two words: Absolutely hilarious.

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Movie Watchings 2009 – July

DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Movie Watchings 2009

Deutsche Version | June | August

July, 12th

13 Going on 30

Jennifer Garner    …    Jenna Rink
Mark Ruffalo   …    Matt Flamhaff
Judy Greer   …    Lucy Wyman
Andy Serkis   …    Richard Kneeland
Kathy Baker   …    Bev Rink

Synopsis: It’s 1987 and Jenna has her 13th birthday. But it ends in disaster and she wishes nothing more than to be 30. And then her wish gets granted. When she awakes it’s 2004 and she’s Jennifer Garner and editor of the glamour magazine “Poise”. But she’s still 13 and she finds herself in a world where everything is different and – most importantly – where she’s different.

My Opinion: Jennifer Garner is a great 13-year-old. It’s funny to watch her react to things like a small girl would react. I also liked the fact that it turned out to be her that sold the front cover topics to their competitor and not Tom-Tom/Lucy because that would have been too obvious. What I didn’t care much about was Mark Ruffalo, I have nothing against the actor, I just don’t care about him in any of his movies.

And now:

‘Cause this is Thriller!

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Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Season 1

DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Mini Marathon

Deutsche Version

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Cast

Season 1

Disc 1

Pilot

Synopsis: It’s the year 1999 and Judgement Day hasn’t happened – yet. Sarah and John are constantly switching aliases and living placaes. But one day two cyborgs have still found them: One comes in the form of a young girl called Cameron and she was sent to protect John. And the other is a classical terminator. They try to escape him but in the end there’s no place they can hide, just another time.

My Opinion: To fully enjoy the show one has to put it in a parallel universe to the movies. It’s similar to the Highlander movie (There can be only one!) and the series. While I liked the general general idea of the show I had a problem with some story elements. For example: Cameron took the other cyborg out with a power surge. In my unprofessional opinion two minutes should have been enough to somehow destroy him or at least to damage him severely – he can’t resist after all. And some of the stuff in the vault seemed unlikely, too. Even if I knew how to build a microchip in 1965 there wouldn’t be the the technology (wafers etc.) to actually do it. But they had to find a way to push the series forward to today and it was fairly ok.
So I like the story but one mustn’t think to much about the logic.

Gnothi Seauton

Synopsis: They jumped eight years into the future, into 2007. And now all three of them need new identities to blend in. Cameron leads Sarah to a group of resistance fighters who were send back by John to destroy Skynet before it goes operational. But when that fails they have to visit an old friend. Meanwhile John explores the technological differences between 1999 and 2007.

My Opinion: The writers are obviously not very burdened with the complex issues that go with time-travel. It seems that whenever they need it they will send people back and forth through time as if nothing could disrupt the timeline. But if that were so then we would be back on the concept of a time-loop as the movie Terminator had present it (It has always happened that way and always will be, there’s nothing we can do about it). But Terminator 2 had thrown that overboard and declared that the timeline can be changed and (as Doc Brown explained it in Back to the Future 2) that will result in another timeline. I also had a problem with that “Zombie Terminator” who can obviously walk without its head attached – I thought the “eyes” were its optical sensors?
Another thing I noticed: I don’t know how far ahead the pilot was shot and what they thought would happen after it, but I didn’t have the feeling to see a Mrs. Dyson or a detective who was eight years older than in the pilot. They should have used a better mask to make them look younger in the pilot (Look at Bruce Boxleitner in Babylon 5: In the Beginning!)
Too bad Enrique had to die, I would have liked it to see Tony Amendola (Master Bra’tac in Stargate SG-1) more often.

The Turk

Synopsis: Sarah is looking for former employees of Cyberdyne Systems to check whether they are continuing the Skynet project or doing something else dangerous. Connor and Cameron pose as siblings in their new school and try to blend in.

My Opinion: Is it my imagination or did the metall skeleton of that terminator look a bit too shiny? He had been blasted to peaces and has lain in the garbage. Which brings up another question: How did he get there in the first place? He wasn’t within the time bubble and thus hasn’t travelled with the others. What happend to that bank building in the last eight years and why has no one ever found the skeleton or the head – which lay quite open on the side of the street?
And when Sarah burned down Andy’s house the fires looked digital – and fake. Don’t they have the money anymore to burn down a real, wooden facade?

Disc 1 – My Opinion: The show is enjoyable, the characters are fine. But as you can see the show opens a can of questions for me and they bother me because that makes me thinking that either the writers didn’t see this problems or they thought the viewers wouldn’t notice or that the viewers wouldn’t care. None of which is really an acceptable answer in my opinion. But I will continue to watch and see how it unfolds.
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Stargate SG-1: Season 9

DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, SG-1 Marathon

Deutsche Version| Season 8| Season 10

Disc 1

Avalon

Synopsis: Lt. Colonel Mitchell has taken over the command of SG-1. The problem is: There is no SG-1 anymore. Teal’c is council member on Dakara, Sam has been reassigned to Area 51 and Daniel is about to leave to Atlantis.
But then Vala Mal Doran comes to Earth and brings an enrycpted tablet, written in Ancient. It points to a secret location on Earth that is supposed to contain treasures. Vala binds Daniel to herself with a special set of “hand cuffs” and they go off on the search for Avalon, the resting place of King Arthur.

My Opinion: In an early episode of the eight season Sam asked how people like her are ever going to have a family. If she would become pregnant could she simply take maternity leave? The absence of Sam in this and the following episodes is exactly for this reason: Amanda Tapping is on maternity leave.
But the chemistry between Daniel and Vala works very well again. The attempts of Mitchell (Ben Browder, John Crichton in Farscape) “to bring the band back together” are honourable but (so far) in vain.
O’Neill was promoted to Major General and has turned the command over to Major General Landry (Beau Bridges). This marks the end of Richard Dean Anderson as regular cast.

Avalon, Part 2

Synopsis: After they’ve successfully solved the puzzles in the cave, Daniel discovers a device of the Ancient’s that stands in relation to the stones Joe Spencer and Jack have been using for years. They suspect that it is a means of communication. Since Daniel and Vala are still “bound” to each other they try it together – and land in a remote place in foreign bodies. They don’t find the Ancients there but worshippers of the Ori.
In the meantime the situation in the newly found Jaffa council develops differently than Bra’tac and Teal’c had hoped.

My Opinion: I liked the fact that they’ve established a permanent doctor again (Lexa Doig, “Rommie” in Andromeda). They haven’t had one since the death of Dr. Frasier.
But I didn’t understand how the First Prime of a backwater Goa’uld could gather that many followers. A Jaffa (it hadn’t to be the First Prime) of a System Lord would have been more believable.

Origin

Synopsis: Daniel and Vala have been brought to the “City of the Gods” by the Prior. There he meets the leader of the Priors and he learns that the Ori are Ancients, too. But the Ori believe that the mortals should worship them. Anyone who doesn’t follow the “path of enlightenment” will be destroyed. Through the arrival of Daniel and Vala the Ori have learned of our galaxy and they have sent their first Priors.

My Opinion: As if by magic a new enemy emerges that is more powerful than Anubis or the Replicators. The fact that the Ori cannot come here themselves makes this war winnable. In terms of Dragonball, we have reached the Buu Saga.

The Ties That Bind

Synopsis: Although the “hand cuffs” have been removed, Daniel and Vala still cannot part without collapsing. They try to find out why that is and how to undo it. But for this they have to “retrieve” a few items.

My Opinion: The story and the looks of this episode felt like a mixture of Farscape and Firefly. This is no critizism, since Mitchell shouldn’t be a simple copy of Jack and Vala isn’t an ordinary SG team member. I liked it a lot.
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Stargate SG-1: Season 4

DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, SG-1 Marathon

Deutsche Version | Stargate SG-1: Season 3 | Stargate SG-1: Season 5

Disc 1

Small Victories

Synopsis: Thor’s ship has been successfully destroyed during the re-entrance into the atmosphere but one of the Replicators did survive. It manages to rescue itself to a russian submarine. There it kills the entire crew and begins to replicate. In Thor’s home galaxy things aren’t good either, the Asgard have no weapon to defeat the Replicators and they close in on one of the Asgard planets.

My Opinion: It was cool how Thor tried to explain that the Asgard are to intelligent to find a primitive way to destroy the Replicators. 🙂 I also liked the fact the russians actually spoke russian without being subtitled. It wasn’t necessary for the understanding to know what they said – I understood it nonetheless. 😉 (The one asks what is making that noise and the other one actually replies that it could be the bugs from the previous episode!)

The Other Side

Synopsis: It’s one of the rare moments when someone “calls” Earth and not the other way around. The people of the planet Euronda ask for help since there is a world war on their planet. If Earth gives them all the heavy water they need, they would give all their technology in exchange.

My Opinion: What bothered me about this was the initial behaviour of Jack’s. He behaved more like in Shades of Grey as I would expect of him. He only comes around when René Auberjonois’s (Odo in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) character turns against Teal’c. I didn’t like it much.

Upgrades

Synopsis: The Tok’ra Freya/Anise (Freya is the host) brings an ancient technology to Earth. But she only does it because it doesn’t work on Goa’uld/Tok’ra/Jaffa. After SG-1 (except for Teal’c) has put the armbands on many of their abilities enhance by several degrees: strength, speed, sight. Unfortunately the armbands can’t be removed and the human body isn’t able to cope with these changes over a longer period of time.

My Opinion: This episode and the behaviour of SG-1 was funny, especially the entire scene in the restaurant. But it also showed again that the team will be there for one another, no matter the price.

Crossroads

Synopsis: A friend of Teal’c’s, the high priestess Shan’auc, did manage to communicate with her Goa’uld larva. She convinced it that it should join the Tok’ra. But this must happen soon since the larva is fully grown and cannot remain in Shan’auc much longer.

My Opinion: It was somehow predictable that the Goa’uld would betray Shan’auc but I liked to see Peter Wingfield (Methos in Highlander) again. And I could understand Jack’s disappointment that they’ve fleeced by the Tok’ra again.
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Angel: Season 2

Angel Marathon, DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon

Deutsche Version | Season 1 | Season 3

Disc 1

Judgement

Synopsis: After Angel accidentally killed the demon bodyguard of a young, pregnant woman he feels obliged to take his role. But the young woman wants nothing to do with hin. On the other hand she needs a champion for the tribunal she has to face.

My Opinion: Karaoke, I love karaoke. 🙂 It was simply cute to see Angel croaking on that stage. And the jousting on the middle of the main road: great idea. I liked that episode.

Are You Now, Or Have You Ever Been?

Synopsis: Something strange happened in the long-closed Hyperion Hotel. Angel has lived there in the 1950s and something is pulling him back there.

My Opinion: We have seen it in the first season due to Angel’s age we are able to see flashbacks into former times and thus connect the past and the present. I’ve always liked that in Highlander and I did like it here, too.

First Impressions

Synopsis: Cordelia gets a vision of Gunn being in mortal danger, but she can’t reach neither Angel nor Wesley. Because Angel has sweet dreams about Darla.

My Opinion: It looks like Darla is indeed becoming the season enemy and I think that could become very interesting. After all, Angel was the best enemy Buffy ever had.

Untouched

Synopsis: A young woman has extreme telekinetic abilities when she feels herself endangered. Angel tries to help but Wolfram & Hart has also an elaborated interest in her.

My Opinion: The Darla plot continues. But Angel is able to rain on the lawyer’s parade. What I did notice (again) was the fact that in Angel much more humans get killed (I mean the humans that get killed by the good guys) than in Buffy. Granted they are all bad guys but I noticed it anyway.
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The Pilot Marathon Part 4

DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Pilot Marathon

Deutsche Version | Part 3 | Part 5

The King of Queens

What’s the show about?
Doug Heffernan is a delivery man for International Parcel Service (IPS). His wife, Carrie, works as a secretary for a law firm. Both live in a house in Queens, New York and in the basement of that house lives Carrie’s father Arthur. That living arrangement leads to all kinds of funny situations.

“Pilot”
Doug has just got his new TV which is placed in Doug’s sanctuary – the basement, when Carrie’s sister comes to the house to tell them that Arthur’s wife (or girlfriend? – she does not seem to be Carrie’s or her sister’s mother) has just died. When Arthur tries to live alone he accidentally burns down his house and has to move into the basement of the Heffernan’s house…

My Opinion
Another really good sitcom and this one I’ll finish when I get the remaining seasons on DVD.
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Babylon 5: Season 3

B5 Marathon, DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon

Season 2 | Season 4

Point of No Return

Disc 1

Matters of Honor

Synopsis: A Ranger training post is sealed of with mines and one ranger who could escape asks Babylon 5 for help. Meanwhile Londo tries to cut his connections to Mr. Morden and his associates. Also a representative of Earth comes to Babylon 5 to investigate about the Shadow vessel that destroyed Lt. Keffer’s Starfury.

My opinion: I always liked Marcus and I sure love the White Star. But Sheridan has to be a bit mad to try a stunt like the one in this episode. Cheesy Good introduction to the next step of the story.

Convictions

Synopsis: A series of bombings shake Babylon 5. Bombs planted by a person who has no political agenda but to spread fear. And when Lennier tries to save Londo he gets badly hurt.

My opinion: While I never really understood the motives of the bomber I really liked the tube scene between Londo and G’Kar. I also liked the arrival of the monks around brother Theo who will stay for a while on the station.

A Day in the Strife

Synopsis: A probe approaches Babylon 5 and transmits a message: When Babylon 5 can answer a series of highly complicated questions, they will receive important knowledge in return. If not, the probe will explode and take B5 with it.

My opinion: Another average episode, there’s not really much to say about it.

Passing Through Gethsemane

Synopsis: Again we see the monks. But one of them is troubled because he gets flashes of memories but he can’t remember the events. Meanwhile Lyta Alexander return to the station on a Vorlon(!) transprt ship. She has been to the Vorlon homeworld but is forbidden to tell about it. She now works for the Vorlons and must hide from the Psi Corps.

My opninion: Great episode about crime and punishment. To see the life of a mind-wiped person and how the victims of a crime can’t let go. I really liked the acting of Brad Dourif (Dune, Deadwood) and the actions of brother Theo at the end of the episode.
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