Tag: The Big Bang Theory

TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 08-09

TV Season 2009/10 Diary

Deutsche Version | CW 07 | CW 09-10

Chuck 3×08 Chuck vs the Fake Name
Chuck sad. The path of the hero is a lonely one.
I think Chuck made the right choice (even though it was cruel to her) but I’m also sad that Hannah is gone (at least I assume she won’t be there in the next episode).
What I personally would love to see would be an episode where Team Bartowski has to hunt random bad guy into a mall and Hannah is in one of the lanes. Casey is running behind bad guy, Chuck comes from the side, does one of his dorky moves and brings down bad guy. Casey cuffs him and when the Mall Cops arrive, Sarah IDs herself as CIA – with Hannah witnessing all this from afar and finally understanding (yes, I know the scenario is a lot like the one in Smallville‘s Promise, but I loved that scene, too).
PS: Is it just me or does “Sam(antha) Lisa” not really roll off the tongue?

How I Met Your Mother 5×16 Hooked
Barney’s history of jobs for attractive women was very funny but the episode as a whole wasn’t as memorable (in fact, having it watched two days ago I’ve already forgotten most about it).

Smallville 9×14 Conspiracy
This is an episode I have some issues with. And all these issues are connected to Chloe, my once favourite character of the show. But since the Doomsday/Brainiac arc she has changed.
While it’s technically true that Clark has lost his moral compass at times, it’s always been when he was under influence of something (e.g. Red K) but I can’t remember him doing anything immoral when he was “normal”. He might not have done what was necessary (for example: before and during Zod’s first appearance) but that is a big diff from doing what’s morally right.
And why she is blaming him for the disaster that was Doomsday is beyond me; I’d say Clark is one of the least guilty in that whole affair.
I fear that when Zod finds the tracers in the ID that this will be the reason he convinces his people that Kal-El and the Earthlings are not to be trusted and he will use them against him.

The Big Bang Theory 3×16 The Excelsior Acquisition
Also an average episode. Granted the bit with the Restraining Order was funny but overall it was pretty predictable.
And let’s face it: DC also has it’s share of identical-initial-names: Lex Luthor, Lana Lang, Lois Lane, …

Two and a Half Men 7×15 Tinkle Like a Princess
This was a good sad episode that showed the door isn’t closed. And yet Charlie remained Charlie (with the church and afterwards). I like it that there’s hope after all (even though only he viewer can see it right now).
I also liked the opening theme spoof with the growing Jake – they either used it for the first time or I just didn’t notice it before.

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TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 05-06

TV Season 2009/10 Diary

Deutsche Version | CW 04-05 | CW 07

Chuck 3×07 Chuck vs the Mask
This episode has cause quite an Internet Backdraft, for example: Chuck, “Chuck vs. the Mask”: Night at the museum, The Double-Edged Sword Of Devotion: ‘Chuck’ Vs. The Entitled Fan Base.
I agree on the part that Sarah/Clark KentShaw was indeed a bit rushed. But I disagree on the Chuck/Lana LangHannah part. And I think that both couples actually do have chemistry. Maybe that’s the reason people are so irritated about it.
I also agree on the assessment of one of the commentators on the first link that Chuck is trying to wear a mask to become a better spy and that he runs the risk of becoming the mask. My prognosis is that the mask is shattered when (and I’m totally guessing here, I have no actual spoiler infos) something happens to Hannah – she’s only a guest star after all.
So in sum, I liked this episode because I didn’t think it was unbelievable what I saw.

Heroes 4×19 Chapter Eighteen ‘Brave New World’
When a friend told me last week that this would be the season finale I was stumped. I couldn’t fathom how they could bring all these loose ends together in just one episode. They somehow did but it felt very rushed and in my opinion it fell a bit flat – but that seems to be a Heroes tradition since season one.
I liked it when they started slow, I got a bit bored when it didn’t speed up in the middle and then it end abruptly.
To be perfectly honest I wouldn’t care if there were never a fifth season – but if there is I’m probably going to watch it anyway in the slim hope that they manage to return to the quality of the first season (excluding the end).
Heroes seems to be the perfect example of a New Year rocket. It rises fast, burns brightly and is burned out even faster.

House M.D. 6×13 5 to 9
That was a great Cuddy episode, it worked really well. From this point of view it’s even more astonishing how Cuddy can bear House and his games and habits.
What bothered me about this (and also last(?)) episode is Lucas’s behaviour. House is a jerkass (with a heart of gold), he always has been and Cuddy knows that. But Lucas isn’t that much better. We saw him threaten House and Wilson over the condo issue and now he’s betting with House about his sex with Cuddy?! If he isn’t a good person, Cuddy might as well choose the original bad one instead of this copycat…

Human Target 1×05 Run
The show is very predictable; there are no hidden plots or meaning, no surprises: WYSIWYG. For example, it was totally obvious that the D.A. was his daughter. But somehow that is part of the fun. It’s like riding a rollercoaster. You know it’ll be fast, you’ll get two downhills, maybe a looping but in the end you’ll get safely back to the station.

Castle 2×15 Suicide Squeeze
Parts of the reveal were pretty predictable this time, with Castle’s background and all… Apart from that not much else happened either.

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TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 04-05

TV Season 2009/10 Diary

Deutsche Version | CW 04 | CW 05-06

Chuck 3×06 Chuck vs Nacho Sampler
Interesting choice of conspiracy partners. I don’t think both will found out but just one of them and he/she will help Chuck cover it up for the other one. On the one hand if it would be his sister, Awesome could finally relax before he breaks. If it would be Morgan it would certainly be fun because he would be a sure candidate for interfering in the wrong moments.
It was also an interesting use of flashbacks to show how much Chuck and Chuck has changed over the past few years. On some level I’m sad that the show has lost its more lighter tone on the other hand I do like it.

Heroes 4×18 Chapter Seventeen ‘The Wall’
So I was right, it will go out in a fight of Specials vs Specials vs. Normals. I liked this episode because this “compressed time” gave Sylar and Peter the chance to deal with their issues. But it’ll only work if the writers don’t come up with yet another Face Heel Turn for Sylar – it’s already hardly believable how often Sylar switched sides…
Now I am keen to see the fight between Samuel’s ma/en and Sylar/Peter. I don’t see him having the slightest chance against them, especially if Peter copies Sylars abilities.

How I Met Your Mother 5×14 Perfect Week
It was OK, but since I knew neither the moderator nor the Yankees baseballer I assume some of the    punchlines got lost on me.

House M.D. 6×12 Moving the Chains
House is doing nice things and still remains a scheming mastermind. 😉 I liked both side-stories about Foreman’s brother and the condo pranks. The case was also mildly interesting but pretty routine…

Life Unexpected 1×03 Rent Uncollected
Huh. They pretend to have problems, but they actually don’t. This time Baze had a big row with his parents but in the end his daughter who has known him for merely a week fixes things and the episode ends with a roof-top party.
I had hoped for a more realistic portrayal but this episode was too much 7th Heaven for my taste. If this continues, I’ll drop it again.

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TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 02-04

TV Season 2009/10 Diary

Deutsche Version | CW 01-02 | CW 04

Human Target 1×01 Pilot
The pilot episode certainly looked interesting. The action was well balanced above realistic and below unrealistic. It looks like as if it’s going to be Die Hard or Lethal Weapon in a series format and I certainly will watch more episodes of it.
“You wore a vest? Where’s my vest?” – “I’m your vest.”

24 8×01 – 8×04 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Dammit. I should have known better. I decided to watch the season en bloc when it is over. But I just had to peak a little and was already drawn back in…
I love Jack’s new “Are we done here? Can I go home now?” attitude. Of course they aren’t done and Jack can’t go home.
When I read that that Freddie Prince jr. (Wing Commander, Scooby Doo) – He married my Buffy, dammit!!! – would take the part of the leading CTU Field Officer I was a bit worried. But he has gotten older and looks like he can pull it off.
Of course there are again the typical 24 plot points like the incompetent CTU boss, the CTU member who has private problems and I am already wondering who the mole is – but that’s OK, it’s 24 after all.
What I also like is that – aside from the 24 alumni who have returned this season – these episodes feel like a huge School Reunion party: The aforementioned Freddie Prince jr., Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica) – looks gorgeous btw -, Paul Wesley (Stefan in The Vampire Diaries), Cliff Simon (Ba’al in Stargate SG-1), David Anders (Takezo Kensei / Adam Monroe in Heroes, Julian Sark in Alias), Jürgen Prochnow (Dune, Das Boot) and according to the CTU files Callum Keith Rennie (Ray in Due South, Leoben in Battlestar Galactica) will also appear anytime soon. 🙂

Life Unexpected 1×01 Pilot
I was made aware of this series at least twice. The second time was a few days ago when blogs reviewed the pilot episode. But I’ve seen bits and pieces of this episode before – most likely in a trailer a few months back. And even though I had forgotten the show in the meantime I now remember that I decided back then that I’d give it a try.
I really liked the pilot. The characters are believable and down-to-earth. Even though the show runs on The CW this isn’t Beverly Hills 90210 or Gossip Girl, this is different. As with every show it now depends on what kind of storylines they are going to tell and how this triangle+attachments is going to work out.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand 1×01 / 1×02 The Red Serpent / Sacramentum Gladiatorum
Lots of nudity (male and female). Even more blood. Better you put a bucket below your telly in case it spills out of the screen. The optic leans more towards 300 than Gladiator, especially when there’s blood flowing. The problem is the story. These first two episodes show how Spartacus became a Gladiator but it didn’t give the viewer an idea what the entire show is going to be about. And that’s why I am not yet convinced. To quote Buffy‘s Spike: “I love a good slaughter as much as the next bloke” but I also need a real story in between.
Time will tell … at least you now get the chance you never got with Xena: To see Lucy Lawless in the nude. 😉

Chuck 3×04 Chuck vs Operation Awesome
The only thing I’ve ever seen Brandon Routh in was Superman Returns but here he didn’t remind me of his character there. I like him as addition to the team because he could stir things up a little.
I don’t know if it’s just my imagination because they announced it but the show actually feels a bit less funny and a bit more serious. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still an Action Comedy and there’s plenty of fun in it. But the general tone during the spy action seems to have darkened a little since last year. I’m not complaining – I like it.

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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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TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 50-01

TV Season 2009/10 Diary

Deutsche Version | CW 46-50 | CW 01-02

How I Met Your Mother 5×11 Last Cigarette Ever
I am soo glad I never started smoking… It was an OK episode but except for the “time travel” nothing noteworthy happened.

The Big Bang Theory 3×11 The Maternal Congruence
That was a great episode, Leonard’s mother (Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife btw) is a great addition to the gang especially because of her relationship to both Leonard and Sheldon. And I loved her observation of Raj’s and Howard’s “relationship” because it isn’t entirely unfounded if you have watched the previous episodes. 😉

Two and a Half Men 7×11 Warning, It’s Dirty
Another great episode I enjoyed a lot. Too bad Charlie Sheen seems to be an entirely different personality in real life.  Undecided

The Good Wife 1×10 Lifeguard
I don’t really know what to think about this part of the American judical system: That every important position is decided by an election where not necessarily the more competent person wins but the more popular. Like they pointed out in this episode: She has a disadvantage with the voters because she has an English surname. WTF has the surname to do with the ability to be a good judge?!
But the episode was really great. As I often pointed out I am normally not too much into here-and-now-realism shows, I like it a bit more “extravagant”. But every now and then I get drawn in by a show with a “normal” story and The Good Wife certainly belongs on this list.

The Good Wife 1×11 Infamy
Another really good episode and argument about the First Amendment. I liked both cases and I am getting ever more curious what the case against her husband is really about. I also learned something new today, namely that the judge can overrule the jury’s verdict. Why then have a jury in the first place?

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TV Shows – A Decade in Retrospect

Short Review, Thought Storm

Deutsche Version

Since everybody seems to be starting to count at zero instead of one the first decade of this century and millennium is now over. So it’s time to recap these past ten years and take a look at the TV Shows it has given us.

Let me give my résumé at the beginning: Of the four decades I know TV Shows from (70s – 00s) this was without question the best decade for us TV junkies. When you read my review you might say in the end “Hey what about <insert your favourite here>?” (e.g. The Sopranos, Dexter, The Wire, Six Feet Under, …) but that’s exactly my point. This decade has given us so many outstanding shows that it was impossible to watch them all. Also, everybody has a different set of favourite genres but I’d say that every genre got their fair share of excellent series in the last years.

But let’s face it: There’s rarely any series (if there’s one at all) that could keep up the quality and its appeal for its entire run. Some had a bad year in between, some fell short at the end. But even in these “bad years” they had more quality episodes in it than entire shows from previous decades. So all the shows I am going to name have of course aspects that can be criticized and I invite you to do so.

For me the most outstanding characteristic of this past decade’s shows is that they are more often than not more about the “journey” of the character(s) than the actual events. It’s not the character who shines a light upon the unfolding events but it’s the events that shine a light upon the character and his development. I have to say that shows (hereby excluding comedy shows that work with stereo- and archetypes) that don’t have a real character development don’t interest me at all. But if the character development is interesting I might even watch shows from genres that usually don’t interest me at all.

If the character development is interesting enough I might even set the fact aside that my second favourite characteristic is missing: A real story-arc. The first TV Show in my TV universe that had a real story-arc, was Babylon 5. Later Star Trek: DS9 did the same albeit not in that quality and complexity. But these shows were two of the rare exception in the 90s (another famous exception would be Twin Peaks, but I never watched it). It seemed that viewers weren’t interested in either developing characters or story-arcs.

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TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 46-50

TV Season 2009/10 Diary

Deutsche Version | CW 47-49 | CW 50-01

The Big Bang Theory 3×10 The Athens Recurrence
I do that very rarely but I watched the scene where Penny recites the physics stuff three times in a row. It’s so great to see her keep a straight face and the others get dumbfounded. Sheldon can be so proud of her.  Clap
I also really liked the reference to the pilot when Penny explained why Sheldon sits where he sits.

Two and a Half Men 7×10 That’s Why They Call It Ball Room
This was a cool episode, it had many scenes that made me laugh, for example the couch incident or Alan’s wedding video or the dance lessons. I also liked that Jake had a few more scenes but I still feel they should make at least one entire episode about him again sometime soon.

Bones 5×10 The Goop on the Girl
“You look like sisters.” 😀 I really liked Zooey Deschanel’s appearance on the show, it was really funny. It also kinda answers the question why Brennan behaves the way she does even when she had a normal childhood until the age of 16. It must be a gene running in the family. 😉
What I didn’t like was Booth dissing that radio man for having a negative opinion of the U.S.. But I think that’s a cultural difference. In Germany we’ve come to love criticizing our country and everything the parliament (we elected) does.

Castle 2×11 The Fifth Bullet
This one had a really nice assortment of guest actors: Marc Blucas (Buffy‘s Riley), Anne Dudek (House‘s Cutthroat Bitch) and Carlo Rota (24‘s Morris O’Brian). I especially like Carlo because he often plays (he was recently on Stargate Universe, too) these somewhat grumpy character’s that aren’t really likeable (because they aren’t really supposed to be) and he does a great job with them because you actually don’t like the characters but you don’t transfer that to the actor.
But I also liked Marc Blucas in his amnesia role, he was a nice guy.

FlashForward 1×10 A561984
So Dominic’s character doesn’t actually belong to the evil bad guys. But he was still the most interesting character in this episode. I honestly don’t know if I will even remember this show when it starts to air again in 4(!) months.

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TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 45-48

TV Season 2009/10 Diary

Deutsche Version | CW 40-47 | CW 47-49

How I Met Your Mother 5×09 Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap
Lily’s “you’re dead to me” stare reminded me of good ol’ Willow days. *sentimental* And both Lily’s father’s game ideas (especially the burst gall bladder!) as well as Barney’s slap fear were great.

Castle 2×10 One Man’s Treasure
Whoah, what a game of three-sided Xanatos Gambit. Although one must not think too hard about it or else Fridge Logic will kick in. (just a note: I was just looking for that “Fridge Logic” link and got lost in the Tropes for over half an hour…)

The Big Bang Theory 3×09 The Vengeance Formulation
Loved Howard in this episode but the others were great, too. Finally an episode again where the whole cast could chip in. Though I wondered why Katee had this somewhat odd make-up.

House M.D. 6×08 Ignorance Is Bliss
I get the feeling that House (the character) has lost his edge. His schemes are not as entertaining anymore and he even backs down.

Two and a Half Men 7×09 Captain Terry’s Spray-On Hair
While this was still a great episode I noticed that Jake’s missing more and more from the show. He’s often only seen in one scene and then he’s gone again. Soon they have to rename it to “Two Men and Chelsea”.

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