Tag: Star Trek VOY

Purchase Diary 2016 – August – December

DVD / Blu-ray, Purchase Diary 2016

Waiting… (2005)


Aug 3rd – €1.38 @ Amazon.de

Running Time: 1h 30m

Price per Hour: €0.92

Howard the Duck (1986)

Aug 11th – €8.99 @ Drogerie Müller

Running Time: 1h 50m

Price per Hour: €4.90

Inside Out (2015)

Aug 12th – €9.90 @ Amazon.de

Running Time: 1h 35m

Price per Hour: €6.25

Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014)

Aug 12th – €12.97 @ Amazon.de

Running Time: 1h 12m

Price per Hour: €10.81

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2012)

Aug 12th – €12.97 @ Amazon.de

Running Time: 2h 28m

Price per Hour: €5.26

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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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… And those that did neither nor

Short Review, TV Season 2009/10 Diary

Deutsche Version | Those that came … those that went … those that did both … and those that did neither nor

The Big Bang Theory

A sitcom (with laugh track) about four scientists and their hot neighbour.
I’m still enjoying this show very much. I don’t understand why they broke Penny and Leonard up (especially because it felt like one of the most normal relationships on TV) but at least they didn’t put any bad blood between them.

Bones

Forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan and FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth investigate murders where only a skeleton is left of the victim.
Quite a few episodes of this season where just “OK” but it’s still watch-worthy and I assume that next season will have a totally new dynamic due to the “time leap”.

Burn Notice

Michael Westen is a former spy who has been “expelled”. He now works as a “problem solver” for people whom the police can’t help.
It’s a good show but I hope that one day they’ll drop the whole “I want to go back to the spy game” aspect of it and just run with the main plot.

Castle

Richard Castle is a best-selling thriller author who solves crimes with Detective Kate Beckett who has become his inspiration for his novel heroine “Nikki Heat”.
They are only in their second year and both characters already know they have feelings for each other. Progress! While the WTWT is certainly an aspect of the show that can’t be ignored, I tune in because of the crimes they have to solve and the ways they do it. For me, it’s the unofficial sequel to Murder She Wrote.

Chuck

A guy who works in an electronics superstore get all the secrets of the government uploaded into his brain. From now on he works as a spy and helps to put the members of the most dangerous organisations behind bars.
I enjoyed the first third of the third season but then disliked where the show was going with Shaw and Sarah. Not because I’m a Charah shipper (I am that, too ;)) but because it didn’t feel real that Sarah would tell Shaw (who just came into her life) things, she didn’t share with Chuck. But now the show is great again, and I can’t wait to see the finale and the fourth season.

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TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 13-16

Misc

Deutsche Version | CW 13-15 | CW 13-17

Romantically Challenged 1×01 Don’t Be Yourself
What I’ve seen so far is a run-of-the-mill sitcom and I’ve seen nothing (except for Alyssa of course ;)) that makes this one special. Maybe I watch a few more episodes, maybe I don’t. But I honestly don’t think I’ll miss something if I don’t.

10 Things I Hate About You 1×14 Meat Is Murder
It was really cool how Blank played Kat while being completely honest with her.
But I also liked how Bianca tried to smooth things up with Cameron and how she “trained” Stacy (especially on the topic of LOST) so that she would be perfect for Cameron.

Bones 5×18 The Predator in the Pool
Rena Sofer, huh? I can see why Booth would be attracted to her. I find it fascinating who both Bs know that it’s “wrong” what they are doing and yet go through with it (for now). But I liked the uncomfortable look on Brennan’s face because the ball is on her side now and she has to act.
As for the case: A lot of convenient coincidences in this one (like the fish burping out the skull at the right moment). I have no problem with written coincidences on TV shows but please not too many and not blatantly obvious.

Castle 2×21 Den of Thieves
Michael Trucco, huh? Starbuck fell for him, Penny fell for him – so why not Kate?
I really liked it that Ryan and especially Esposito played a bigger role than usual. They have been criminally underused so far. And it was great how the two of them and Castle totally “inconspicuously” investigated Trucco’s character.
I also liked how the episode ended and they all covered for Esposito.

Cougar Town 1×20 Wake Up Time
Again the men were the highlight of the episode. Grayson on the emotional level, Andy on the funny level and Bobby on his usual weird level. Too bad Kylie is gone already; I really thought she and Grayson made a nice couple.

And now for “emotional chicken”:

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TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 01-02

TV Season 2009/10 Diary

Deutsche Version | CW 50-01 | CW 02-04

How I Met Your Mother 5×12 Girls Vs. Suits
That was an awesome episode. In fact it was – dare I say it? – legen … Wait for it! … dary! I’d say it was without problem the best episode this season, especially the end of course. When the song is available on iTunes, I’ll buy it. I’m only wondering where Barney got that German T-Shirt…

The Big Bang Theory 5×12 The Psychic Vortex
Battle of the sitcoms tonight. This episode was even better than the HIMYM one. Raj’s and Sheldon’s dates were super cool and Sheldon’s behaviour made me laugh so hard. It’s curious: By now it’s pretty predictable what Sheldon is going to do next but when he actually does it, it’s still funny as hell.

Castle 2×12 A Rose for Everafter
That was a really nice and sweet episode. When I read that Alyssa Milano would play an Ex of Rick’s I thought they would play it more humorously with bickering and such but this way was also good. It made this episode different from the others.
Though I have to say this was the first time that I thought about Nathan’s age because they claimed Rick and Kyra had been going to college together. Nathan (1971) is actually only one year older than Alyssa (1972) but I thought he would be way in his 40s already.

Chuck 3×01 Chuck vs the Pink Slip
Chuck’s finally back. As the tag line says “No More Mr. Nice Spy”. While I don’t think that I will miss Anna I believe I’ll miss Emmit. He was Chuck’s (and everyone else’s) nemesis at the Buy More and unless they intend to drastically cut back on the Buy More storyline, they will have to find a new obstacle for them to overcome.
The only thing that bugged me about Anna’s departure was the “reason” why she left Morgan – especially after I re-watched the last episodes of season 2 a few days ago and from that POV it does not make much sense.

Chuck 3×02 Chuck vs the Three Words
Chuck’s new abilities are a genius idea of the writers, especially with the “problem” that they don’t emerge on command. I really loved it how he “found his way” through the laser security but I also loved his speech at the door. Yes, we are back to square one, but at least the three of them are back together as a team.

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MacGyver

DVD / Blu-ray

I was getting in the mood and have started watching MacGyver again, starting with the first season from 1985/86. And I love to see so…

Smallville: Season 6

DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Smallville Marathon

Deutsche Version | Season 5 | Season 7

Disc 1

Zod

Synopsis: By destroying Brainiac with the kryptonian knife, Clark opened the portal for Zod. Zod has taken over Lex’s body and is now trying to conquer the world by removing its technology. And there’s no one who can stop him, because Clark was banished to the Phantom Zone.

My Opinion: This was a great conclusion to the cliffhanger, although once again it could have lasted longer. I see the problem that if Clark would have remained longer in the Phantom Zone, Zod would have caused more havoc and probably more people would have seen him, which would be devastating for Lex. But still, two or three episodes would have been cool.
I find it funny that Aaron Ashmore is playing Jimmy Olsen, while his identical twin brother Shawn has been a recurring FotW in the early seasons, yet no one seems to see the resemblance. 😉

Sneeze

Synopsis: Clark vigorously tries to repair the damage that has been caused by Zod. But even he gets exhausted at one point and his immune system was weakened due to his stay in the Phantom Zone. Clark has catched the “common” cold and now sneezes barn doors halfway across the county.
Meanhwile Lex gets abducted because some people want to find out how he has done the things he has done while he was being possessed by Zod.

My Opinion: They skipped that episode in the last season, probably because there aren’t many abilities left and also probably because he has been human during a few episodes. When I first watched this episode I thought Oliver Queen would just be another adversary of Lex’s, just as Victoria Hardwick or Jason Teague. How wrong I was.

BTW: When Justin Hartley (Oliver) smiles, don’t you think that he has a striking resemblance to the young Ben Affleck?

Wither

Synopsis: Someone – or something – is killing a young woman near a make-out-zone and her friend has mysteriously vanished.  But then is found, but he dies at the hospital because a plant is growing out of his stomach. And this plant can hurt even Clark.

My Opinion: Instead of FotWs we will see beings from the Phantom Zone in this season. While I found this episode to be entertaining, I still think that Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan was the more interesting plant. 😉
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Stargate SG-1: Season 7

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

Deutsche Version | Season 6 | Season 8

Disc 1

Fallen

Synopsis: SG-1 is still searching for the “Lost City” or – as Jonas translates it now – “City of the Lost”, a city of the Ancients that wasn’t fully completed. They try to find the city with the help of the Gate addresses Jack entered into the computer when he had the knowledge of the Ancients. But they find something different – someone, to be precise.

My Opinion: The attack on Anubis’s ship was a nice homage to the battle above Yavin in Star Wars IV, including Jack’s comment that his F-302 (it’s obviously not eXperimental anymore) should have the call sign “Red Leader”. Michael Shanks has re-joined the main cast and returns to his role as Dr. Daniel Jackson. And while I liked Jonas, Daniel is somehow better. Jack and Daniel know each other for over seven years and even in the end Jonas was still “the new guy”. The chemistry between Jack and Daniel worked instantaneously again in terms of: they like each other but are totally different.

Homecoming

Synopsis: Daniel and Jonas are still aboard Anubis’s ship which hovers now over the capitol of Kelowna. Anubis wants to have the Naqahdriah and the knowledge of how to create a stable reaction.

My Opinion: On one hand it’s understandable that Jonas returns home. Daniel is back and all three countries on his home planet know about the Stargate now. It’s a bit sad, though. But since Daniel and he had basically the same role within SG-1 it would be hard to acknowledge this fact in future scripts.

Fragile Balance

Synopsis: When Jack awakes one morning, he is a teenanger of fifteen years. No one believes that he is Colonel Jack O’Neill. After his DNA has been confirmed they try to find out what happened and how to reverse it.

My Opinion: This time I even looked on the clock. The first appearance of RDA was in the 31st minute of this 42 minute episode. On the other hand one has to get used to it since his screen time will drop considerably from the 8th season on.
But it was good to see that not all Asgard are good and perfect, that even they have black sheeps.

Orpheus

Synopsis: After T’ealc has been wounded on a mission, he begins to doubt himself. Since he has lost “Junior” and has begun to inject Tretonin he doesn’t feel as a full-fledged Jaffa anymore. But then there’s a new crisis arising, Bra’tac and Rya’c are prisoners in a work camp that one only leaves dead.

My Opinion: A very good episode to show that something has changed for Teal’c. A symbiote has been part of his body for about 90 years (Teal’c is approximately 104 years old at this time) and now this part is missing. I can imagine that this is hard to get used to. I also liked the scene where his son helped im through the crisis by letting Teal’c kill the other Jaffa with his bare hands.
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Angel: Season 1

Angel Marathon, DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon

Deutsche Version | Angel Marathon | Season 2

Disc 1

City of

Synopsis: Angel left Buffy and Sunnydale because he can’t be with her. After he moved into his basement apartment in L.A. he encounters Doyle, a half-demon. Doyle gets visions from “The Powers That Be” that show him which lives Angel must touch to find true salvation. It isn’t enough to save lives, he must save the souls as well. During the attempt to help a waitress who is terrorized by a former friend of hers he meets a powerful vampire…

My Opinion: This “The Powers That Be”-arc comes a bit surprisingly because we’ve already known Angel for three years. But they had to find a way for being Angel not just a Buffy-replacement.

Lonely Hearts

Synopsis: A serial killer haunts the single bars of L.A.. It’s a demon who needs a new body on a regular basis until he finds the right one. Angel decides to stop him.

My Opinion: I like this new female cop. It remains to be seen when she will find out who/what Angel really is. But that depends on whether she is a recurring character. I’d like that.

In the Dark

Synopsis: After Buffy took the “Gem of Amara” (a ring that makes a vampire invincible) from Spike she sends it to Angel. But Spike doesn’t give up that easily and he follows the ring to L.A.

My Opinion: Love to see Spike bad-ass-phase again, before he became “Hostile 17”, before the chip. I alos liked the decission to willingly destroy the ring instead of simply getting it lost somehow.

I Fall to Pieces

Synopsis: Angel helps a young woman who is stalked by her ex-boyfriend (strictly speaking they never were a pair). But this man is a surgeon with a very unique amputation technique.

My Opinion: Freak of the Week. Nothing exceptional.
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